Kjartan

8

not in glory, but in silence, watching, waiting. Agnar, Kjartan’s loyal brother-in-arms since youth, with his two young sons Bjorn and Thorsten, and wife Astrid is nestled beneath Ragnarstead fights beside him against the northern Hrafnar clan. noble warrior of Ragnarstead, Agnar helps unite the clans, endure brutal winters, and steers Kjartan from vengeance’s edge. His honor, wisdom, and unwavering loyalty make him Kjartan’s most trusted ally in war and peace. Now, the Hrafnar came. Their longships, black as ravens’ wings, sliced through the fog. Torches flared. Screams followed. The elders hesitated. The young men trembled. But Kjartan did not. He turned, eyes blazing, and raised his axe. “To the pass!” No grand speech. No boastful cry. Just resolve. And in that moment, the mountains seemed to lean in, listening.  For the first time, the wind carried not just frost—but fate. Later, they would call it the dawn of his rise. But Kjartan felt only the weight. And the visions—drowning men, whispering stones, a figure crowned in antlers—growing louder with every step. Leadership was not won with steel alone. It was paid for in blood, in dreams, in the silence between heartbeats. And his reckoning had only just begun.