Oh and also 7 so you can indulge in talking about your ocs (the beloved beans)!! <333
I ended up busy all day yesterday so I decided to add some little drawings to spice up my reply <3 I'm gonna resist yapping about Baldur and Cato for this one, and I'm gonna save our sweet Bjorn and Eret for later yaps. Instead I decided to focus on some other dragon hunter OCs!
People who have read OTWD might remember Sikka for her antler hood or nadder spear, but under the hood she's got incredible tattoos called tunniit. Tunniit are part of the Inuit tattooing tradition that Eret’s tattoos were inspired by. In real life they’re typically seen on women, and these days a lot of women are getting them again to keep their traditions alive, so I decided that based on Eret’s I would give each northern tribe their own kakiniit that identify their tribal affiliation and family. Since our httyd northern tribes live in the Arctic between Greenland and Russia, I figure the tradition probably spread from Greenland! The forehead portion is similar triangle shape for everyone in Sikka’s tribe and represent antlers (there might be variations in exact design based on the family). The chin portion represents one's individual role or honors a family member. Sikka's represents a herder tracking the hoofprints of a reindeer, and her mother had the same. She belongs to the Reindeer Tribe of Reindeer Valley, near Griselda's Fortress and was only 16 when she joined Cato's crew (she's ~21 in OTWD). Griselda refused to hire her at first bc her mother had ended up in a terrible, fatal conflict with one of Griselda's top men that caused controversy between her tribe and the hunting operation, but Cato insisted on giving her a chance. He's extremely proud of her skill and loyalty, and she loves him like a brother, so betraying him in OTWD was not an easy decision. The moment he realizes Sikka's abandoned him is when he decides our heroes have really got to pay, bc he hasn't just lost a payday or even his second chance with Gustav but also his horned shadow. I'm SO excited to see her again in Into the Polar Night, she's going to have a very important role and I think it'll surprise everyone. Hopefully it won't be too long before I post a playlist for her <3
The other two OCs here will only appear in Gustav's short which is tentatively titled How To Hunt Your Dragon LOL
Ragnall is the quartermaster of the Goregutter, the first hunting ship that Gustav and Cato work on, and he's essentially Gustav's boss despite not being much older than him. He manages the ship and deck for the captain Harald Bloodaxe, who handles the business side like choosing where to port and hunt. Ragnall does hunt dragons but he doesn't manage the dragon hold where they're kept, that's up to a slavic man named Wyrmhart (Cato's boss). His mother was the witch Skuld, and he grew up working whaling boats in Thunderhead Bay, and some of the men grumble that he practices witchcraft. He's strict but generally fair, and likes Gustav just because he's a high quality sailor relative to a lot of the hunters. On the other hand, he despises the mainland vikings who are converting to christianity and their christian Saxon neighbors, so he's particularly prejudiced against Cato, who barely even speaks fluent norse at this point (if he'd bother to ask, he'd learn that Cato isn't a christian, but you know how prejudices are). Ragnall is pretty important to the overall OTWD series for a few different reasons actually, so I can't wait to write his story. I think everyone will find it shocking and fun hehe >:)
Siraj is the 19 year old son of an extremely wealthy trade lord from Marrakesh who pays to bring a lot of Griselda's cargo through the Mediterranean. He's apprenticing under Harald and Ragnall to learn the ropes (literally) of sailing and managing a trade business because his father wants him to have practical knowledge before taking over the business, since he's been raised in a very privileged and comfortable life. He went to university in Marrakesh, so he speaks multiple languages and really boggles Gustav's mind with his knowledge haha. He's really sociable and is Gustav's first friend on the Goregutter, they have a fun gang of friends. The only thing he's not involved with is the actual dragon hunting, since that has nothing to do with running a trade empire. He does go home after his time on the Goregutter so he isn't involved in the plot of ITPN or TOTG, but I imagine that he keeps traveling all over the Silk Road and making friends everywhere before taking over his dad's business.
Whew that was some MAJOR yapping but I'm so glad for the chance to talk about some of my dragon hunters. A lot of the hunters are just background people to me, like the background Berserkers, and I don't really consider them OCs, but these three definitely are <33 my actual reaction to this ask:
