Britni Background (Patreon)

DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT GIGANTIC SPOILERS. UNLIKE COCO'S TWISTS, BRITNI'S HAVE GIGANTIC IMPACT ON THE PLOT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Basic Facts

Britni is twenty-one years old. Her true name is Brigitte, but as a child she hated the name and her mother started calling her the Karnallian equivalent Britni because it sounded cuter. She is half-Midgardian and half-Karnallian. Her class as an adventure is simply 'Viking'. She has been an adventurer for three years and was promoted to Silver-rank at the same time as Marlie, a year and two months into her career. Before this, she spent eight years training in Midgard. She was born in Imperalis, but her family is royalty back in Midgard and she is in the line of succession to become the next Jarl of the Snaerwild Isles. Her true eye color is green, but she permanently altered it through a Chroma Crystal contact lens which essentially dyed it. Similarly, her natural skin is incredibly pale and is dyed through similar methods. She keeps methods to reverse these handy on her at all times.

Family

Britni's mother, Sigrid, was a powerful warrior who participated in the Young Lion Rebellion. This would've had huge political ramifications, if the Young Lion hadn't won. She was the embodiment of what it meant to be a Viking. Loud, crass, loved to fight and sing and drink. Everyone loved her, and the blood of Thor ran even stronger in her than anyone else in her family in generations. She was part of a new age of Viking thought, believing that the people of Midgard should make an attempt to distance themselves from their raiding and pillaging ways now that they are part of the greater Realmspace as a whole. Their beliefs and actions have stopped Midgard from receiving all the benefits that come along with inter-realm affairs. Sigrid wanted to redefine Viking culture to be more about exploration and adventure, leaving their problematic roots behind. Britni inherited her charisma from her mother. It was a wild idea, but she pulled many to her cause. After her father retired his leadership of the Leiptr-Vikings, she was given the position and the permission to do with her men as she pleased. Not all were happy by this decision, but Sigrid wasted no time in putting her beliefs into action.

Before her disappearance as will be detailed later, Britni and her mother were remarkably close. Britni followed her everywhere, even though they shared little interests. More importantly, Sigrid spoiled Britni absolutely rotten-yet not in a way that made Britni a brat. She was a good child at the time, who just so happen to get everything she ever wanted. Britni misses her dearly, though her indoctrination has dulled some of the pain.

Britni's father is not going to ever be a part of the story. I'm saying that plainly right now. His identity will be revealed here, however, because it does factor into her story a little bit. She is one of Theostus Lundreame's many illegitimate bastards, and thus is Sam's older half-sister. This fact is not very special, considering how many bastions he has. They became quite close during his rebellion and she was one of many lovers he had during the war. She could've ended up marrying him, because political marriage uniting the realms of Midgard and Karnalle would've been beneficial to both, but they were too much alike. After the war, both of them just wanted to explore and go off on adventures more than anything else. They still kept in contact before her disappearance, and by contact I mean they were still frequently seeing each other under political pretenses to bone, but it was a mutual choice not to involve him in Britni's life.

Her grandfather is Jarl Eirik, former leader of the Leiptr-Vikings and current Ambassador to Karnalle on behalf of the current Konungr of Midgard, whom he is sworn brothers with. In his time, the Jarl was regarded as the strongest man to have ever led the Leiptr-Vikings, though most of his exploits are in the forms of defending the Realm of Midgard from its many enemies. He is a large man, near 7 feet tall even in his old age and bursting with thick, corded muscles, his beard being the stuff of legends. Britni was remarkably close to him during her early years. Although he is more of a traditionalist then his daughter Sigrid and believes in the value of a good pillaging here and there, he recognizes the need for Midgard to change its ways before it's too late. Thus, he gave command of the Leiptr-Vikings to Sigrid in the hopes that her idealism might inspire more of the same. He's the sort of person who knows his ideals are dying and has made peace with that, knowing he himself may not be able to change but that there remains hope for those who come after him.

After Sigrid's appearance, however, Jarl Eirik began changing slowly. At first, he believed in raising Britni the same way that Sigrid did, but over the course of four years he became more and more strict until the little girl could scarcely believe her grandfather was the same man she used to love so much.

Bjarte, Britni's uncle, is a talented skald with a voice like honey, a charming face, and flowing golden hair. In her early years, Britni and he were very close even though Sigrid tried to keep them apart whenever she saw her brother getting too close to her daughter. This was the one thing Britni would ever defy her mother about, as she loved to listen to her uncle Bjarte sing the stories of Midgard. Britni preferred his songs about love and romance, and was often afraid of his more gory details of Midgard and its heroes, which he subjected her to an inappropriate number of times. After the disappearance of his sister, Bjarte disappeared himself for a whole year. After his return, Eirik's personality began to shift. Bjarte's relationship with Britni changed dramatically after she turned ten years old and her training began.

Elof and Eluf are Britni's cousins, the twin sons of Bjarte. They are incredibly unlike their father in every way. They are brainless where he is clever, strong where he is swift, massive where he is thin and lanky. They have always scared Britni, long before they ever gave her a real reason to be afraid of them. Even in the current day she is terrified just to look at them. They are blond haired, blue-eyed, walk around without shirts and nearly every inch of their body is covered in Midgardian tattoos. They both wear big helms would darken their faces and make their blue eyes look really creepy.

Early Life

Britni was born in Imperalis a few years after the rebellion had wrapped up, a product of the ongoing fling between the King of Karnalle and Sigrid. Rather than forcing her daughter to go through the barbaric ways that Midgardians often raise their children, Sigrid integrated her daughter into Karnallian life. She spent her days walking the city with her daughter, buying her pretty clothes, lots of cute toys, and even makeup after the young Britni developed an interest in it.

Many members of her people, the Leiptr-Vikings, disapproved of how Sigrid was raising her daughter. The only problem was they were all too weak to stop her. Her grandfather, Jarl Eirik, took a middle-of-the-road stance and spoiled his granddaughter while also trying to get her interested in things like axes and swords and slaughter. Young Britni didn't like these things. She was a tender, innocent little angel.

The biggest person of influence who disagreed with the way Sigrid was raising Britni was her uncle Bjarte, who on the surface made Britni think he was her close friend would listen to any of her problems, when in reality he was looking for any chance he could to implant ideas in the young child's malleable mind. Sigrid was wise to this and they fought many times, but Eirik would not allow Sigrid to deny her brother the right to bond with his niece. She begrudgingly had to accept that her brother would have a measure of influence over her daughter, but she worked to minimalize it as often as she could.

Eventually, Jarl Eirik's duties as Ambassador to Karnalle became increasingly stressful as the realm of Midgard was put under heavier and heavier political scrutiny due to its many infractions against the inter-realm community. His workload increased to the point where he had to give up leadership of the Leiptr-Vikings to his daughter Sigrid, giving his blessing to Sigrid's radical ideas for societal change. The mounting political pressure made Eirik understand that Sigrid's way forward was perhaps the only way Midgard could avoid being squashed by its enemies.

Sigrid was excited to make use of her new powers, and preparations began for a test voyage to change the reputation of Midgard's Vikings from plundering warriors into discoverers who could be a benefit to the Inter-realm community.

Mother Sails Away and the Following Years

Sigrid received the blessing of Midgard's Konungr and the Inter-realm Senate to head a small fleet of Viking Voidships past the edges of charted voidspace in the hopes of discovering a new Realm. The journey was to take a year at most, and Britni was saddened at her mother's departure. Saddened, yet proud. She understood the monumentous endeavor her mother was trying to accomplish here and while she may have cried while watching her mother set sail, Britni couldn't wait to see her again.

A year passed, only for no one to return. At this time, Bjarte departed with his sons, leaving Britni even more alone. Another year passed before Jarl Eirik was forced to consider the fact that Sigrid wasn't coming home. Bjarte did make it home at the end of that year, though. Which is when things began to change. After her mother's honorary funeral, Jarl Eirik gradually started to change his behavior towards Britni. He would yell at her, not allow her to leave the embassy, force her into training many hours of the day and forbid her from wearing her fancy clothes anywhere outside of her room. He was now determined that she must become a Viking to follow in her mother's footsteps, whether she wanted to or not.

His foreign-policy took on renewed vigor, only it seemed to be headed in the opposite direction. He no longer believed in his daughter's ambitions, instead pushing for Midgard to be allowed to go back to its raiding and pillaging ways so long as they targeted the lesser realms while the important realms were was given a cut of the spoils. Naturally, this was met with fierce backlash, but he did not change his stance.

Bjarte took the opportunity to become even closer to his niece, becoming her closest ally and confidant whenever her grandfather would rage against her or punish her in some new way. He was always there for her, ready to sing her song of heroes who endured far worse and to encourage her to try her best. At times, his mask would slip and he would tell her that her grandfather was right about this or that and that when she was older she would understand, but for the most part, she believed her uncle loved her more than anyone else. Everything was going according to plan.

Breaking Britni

When Britni turned ten years old, Jarl Eirik had grown disillusioned with Britni's progress into becoming a Viking. He called Britni to his hall and told her they would be leaving Karnalle as of that day. She was given no explanation, her possessions were packed, and she was forced onto a voidship. They sailed to Midgard- one of its most dangerous regions. A place known as Ymir's Expanse, an archipelago of many small islands said to be the shattered bones of the giant Ymir. Every single one of those islands was dangerous beyond measure.

After their arrival, Eirik had a small boat prepared off the coast. Without knowing what was happening, Britni was forced to take every last one of her outfits, every toy her mother had ever gotten her, and every ounce of makeup she owned, before pushing the boat to sea. Her grandfather then handed her a bow and a flaming arrow, explaining this was a funeral for her old self. 'Britni' would die today. Only Brigitte would be allowed to come home to Karnalle, no matter how many years that took.

Britni had no choice, and she saw her life go up in flames. After it was done, it was all she could do to cry. The only problem was Brigitte did not cry, and her cousins started to beat her on the spot for doing so. The rules of her new life was explained to her by her grandfather. Bjarte, his sons, and a faction of the Leiptr-Vikings who followed him would oversee Britni's training from that point on. She would have to survive on her own. They would not be helping her- on the contrary- they would show up from time to time and push her to her limits.

If Britni ever got too comfortable and stuck around in one spot for too long, someone would show up, raid her camp and destroy her possessions. When she was at her weakest, someone would show up to try and finish her off. When she was on the verge of a major success, someone would show up and kick her down before she could accomplish. Every day of her life for eight years was psychological torture. She was never safe, no one ever tried to help her... save for Bjarte.

Bjarte was always quick to remind her that they were doing this because they loved her, that it was her grandfather's fault all this was happening, and that they were innocent. He would constantly show up at her lowest and reinforce the fact that he was her greatest friend- essentially her father- and that he had his way none of this would be happening. Of course, he also encouraged her to become strong. He told her that this was only happening because she had it inside her to become great- a true Midgardian who could surpass the strength of her mother.

His whisperings included fascist rhetoric about Midgard needing to return to the ways of old, reinforcing to Britni that she would one day become leader of the Leiptr-Vikings. Britni didn't fully believe it, but she didn't have anyone else to rely on. His ideals started poisoning her mind. There is only merit in strength. Nothing else is important. If you want something, take it and kill whoever is in your way. Hard times make hard men. One belief that stuck was the one which would get her into a lot of trouble in her adult life- the belief that men should act like men and those who didn't were less than filth in the eyes of the Gods.

For those eight years, Britni was beaten to a pulp, allowed to rest and regain her strength, and beaten down even harder than before. Her training is meant to be a dark mirror of exactly what Coye went through, which will serve as something that connects them when they actually talk about it. His was voluntary, hers was torture. A torture which only ended when at her lowest point, she begged to the Gods to let her die. She didn't want to go to Valhalla, or Helheim, or anything. She just wanted it all to stop. Forever.

A bolt of lightning struck her from the sky, but she was not granted the release she wished for. The dormant powers of Thor were awakened in her blood, granting her the ability to generate and control lightning from within her body that she exhibits to this day.

The person who emerged from those eight years was neither Britni nor Brigitte, it was a husk. A husk who would do anything in order to survive, including play the role that was expected of her. She has severe PTSD from her ordeal, and she relies on alcohol or alchemical potions brewed by Tiph to get her through the night without dreaming. She is unsettled by winter, doesn't like going out in the snow, is traumatized by the sight of her cousins, and likely has more irrational fears as well.

Britni didn't even believe it when Bjarte appeared to congratulate her. She believed this was all a trick and that they would surprise her any second, turn on her and attack. It wasn't until she first stepped foot back on solid ground in Karnalle that Britni realized her torture had finally drawn to a close.

Return

Upon her return, Britni was able to play the role of Brigitte around her family. She was celebrated by her grandfather for becoming the sort of Viking always knew she could become. A feast was held in her honor, and Britni drank alcohol for the first time in her life. It numbed the pain, a fact which she would surely remember.

When the festivities drew to a close, Jarl Eirik ordered an exhibition to show off the results of her training. A host of Vikings was put up against her and she was asked to send them each to Valhalla. She did so without batting an eye. So pleased was the Jarl that he wanted to show his favor by granting Britni a single wish- anything her heart desired. Britni was so broken that she couldn't even think of anything she wanted, giving Bjarte the perfect moment to step in.

Her beloved uncle, her friend through it all, knew what she most desired even when she herself didn't. He suggested to Jarl Eirik that Britni be given freedom- freedom to continue her training in any manner she saw fit away from the Leiptr-Viking if she so chose. A spark of hope entered Britni's eyes upon his suggestion. Her grandfather thought this was a fine idea. Any true Viking had to make their way in the world alone at some point, and before she became leader of the Leiptr-Vikings, such experience was necessary. Bjarte suggested she become an adventurer and see Karnalle for herself.

Britni took this suggestion without a second thought, never even realizing it was just another step in the master plan.

Adventuring Career

Britni left the next day and went down river to Perlshaw, where she first spent a few weeks blowing tons of gold which her family had gifted her on frivolous shit to make her feel better. The last thing she wanted was to start fighting again, but she knew this freedom would only last so long. She decided she would make the most of it, and now that no one was looking, she would live her own life again until further notice. She bought fancy clothes, makeup, dyed her hair, changed the color of her eyes and magically tanned her skin. It made her feel a little better, but she still wasn't happy.

When she finally ran out of gold, she joined the Guild and played the role of the charismatic and friendly warrior, becoming friends with Marlie as noted elsewhere. After a while, Britni became so good at the role she started to forget it was an act. Over the next two years she gained friends and her heart started to heal. The looming future of her family calling her back always weighed at the back of her mind, but after a while, she started to feel truly free. Like those days could go on forever and that everything until then was just a bad dream.

Eventually, she and her party accepted the offer to transfer to Cransmere...

Life in Cransmere/Coye

...where everything was shortly fucked up beyond repair. We will now discuss why exactly Britni fell in love with Coye.

It was her first or second week on the job, and because of her training and everything she went through, Britni dramatically underestimated the psychological effects of the Gnarled Woods. She is especially vulnerable to them and prefers not to accept quests inside them, owing to one incident in particular. She thought she could handle it on her own, so Britni accepted a solo quest while her party was doing other things.

She became lost and disoriented, wandering deeper into the forest than she ever meant to. She underprepared the amount of rations and ate all her food way too fast. The woods reminded her of being stalked back in Midgard, her already heightened paranoia going absolutely crazy as her mental state deteriorated. Monsters were chasing her. She put down some, until her strength faded and she could only run. Eventually, she couldn't even do that.

All of her strength had left her, and Britni gave up. She sprawled out on the forest floor and accepted her death, her mind going back to that nihilistic place it did during her training where she comforted herself knowing it would all be over soon. It was night, a death sentence for almost any adventurer... yet, Britni wasn't the only adventurer who was in the woods that night.

Coye had heard Britni screaming as she was being pursued, and with torch in hand, he followed after the noises. Britni was near unconscious, but she heard the sounds of battle near her. The next thing she knew, a Valkyrie was attending to her wounds, giving her food, and putting water to her lips. She begged the Valkyrie to leave her be, that dying now was preferable to everything that would happen in her future, but the Valkyrie wouldn't. He told her that was just the woods talking, and that they needed to get her out of here. Coye carried Britni on his back all the way back to the Guild, avoiding monsters and all the danger in his way.

The reason Coye doesn't remember this? It wasn’t the first time he saved someone from the woods like this, it wasn’t a big deal to him and he forgot. He doesn’t believe it was worth mentioning to Shayla as far as the time she asked him about it goes. She will freak out and call him stupid when learns this.

Britni woke up the next day, assuming that it was all a dream... Until she saw her Valkyrie eating breakfast in the corner of the cafeteria alone like a weirdo. It was then that she realized her savior was a boy, and it was quite literally love at first sight. The only problem was that Coye, awkward as ever, pretended not to recognize her. She shut down at the way he dismissed her and he eventually forgot about the incident.

It didn’t help that Britni’s pride caused her not to bring it up again. After she recovered, she dug around information on him concocted the scheme which we are now familiar with. Bully him, break him, and turn him into something he's not. Exactly the same thing that was done to her. She's not exactly doing it that way consciously or trying to imitate the torture she was put through, everything she's done is mild in comparison to that, but the principle is the same. It was beaten into her and that's quite sad.

Not as sad as what will start happening when Coye starts seducing her friends and sets off a chain of events he had no idea would occur. After Tiph's betrayal, Britni will absolutely lose her shit and destroy her former friend's alchemy shack and completely ostracize her from the group. Her paranoia starts to worsen as she remembers all the days living in fear for the next time someone she loved would betray her or kick her when she was down.

The reader will think Britni is a massive bitch, and they will see Coco's defection as a point where Britni should reflect on her actions, without knowing that she genuinely can't after everything she's been through. Losing her pet will bring her to such toxic levels of spite that Marlie will inevitably have to cut ties with her for her own mental health.

There will be some titanic ramifications after the last of her friends leaves her and she has no one left in her corner... no one, except for the one man who'd stood up for her her entire life. In her greatest moment of weakness, Bjarte arrives in Cransmere to summon Britni home.

Bjarte's True Intentions and Future Arc

Aside from the disappearance of Britni's mother, nearly every bad thing that has ever happened to Britni be traced back to her uncle Bjarte. He is much more than a simple skald who likes to sing, he is an ultranationalist obsessed with stories from Midgard's antiquity. He despises the direction Midgard is heading, becoming weaker and abandoning its ways. His disappearance after Sigrid's was to locate a relic of great power which would facilitate his plan. It was a necklace, and amulets, or a ring, something to that effect, which he gave his father Jarl Eirik as a gift. It was actually a trinket blessed by the God Loki, and it turns its wearer into the thrall of whoever gave the gift. The entire time, Britni's grandfather was nothing but her uncle's literal puppet who has been on autopilot ever since she was eight.

He positioned himself so that he was always there to comfort Britni because he views her as the potential heroine of the greatest epic yet to be told- the resurgence of Midgard. She comes from immensely powerful stock, the great Leiptr-Vikings and the Lundreame royal family. Sure, she isn't full-blooded, but nobody is perfect. Bjarte believed that if he orchestrated Britni's life he could turn her into the next leader of Midgard and her strength would force the other Realms to bow to their power.

His goal in giving her freedom after the eight years of torture was so that she would go out in the world and make connections, friends, maybe a lover or two. He wanted Britni to experience a few years of happiness before he would orchestrate the demise of everyone close to her. Bjarte wasn't expecting he wouldn't have to lift a finger for her to lose everything, and he certainly never expected she would return voluntarily.

He's probably spying on her in some way, as he knew precisely when to show up.

He embodies none of the traits he espouses. He worships big, muscular Viking warriors when he is just a spindly skald whose only gift is singing, playing instruments, and reciting poetry. He resented his sister for being everything he wished he could be, and his true plan borders on lunacy.

He has connections to many other Jarl's and Viking chiefs who similarly long for the old days and he has them waiting on his command back in Midgard. When the time comes, the plan is to unite against the current regime and install Brigitte as the heroine out of an epic who takes the crown and leads her people into a new age of glory. If he can't be the star of this return to the old age, Bjarte will content himself by being its author.

Of course, this path is doomed to failure. Midgard will be put down by the other Realms, but at least it’d get to go out strong. A Ragnarok of his own making- that’s how far Bjarte is willing to go to avoid change.

The arc featuring Britni's redemption in the future will see the main cast trying to rescue her, or more precisely, making her realize she wants to be rescued after which point they will have to fight against the Leiptr-Vikings as controlled by Bjarte. His sons are mid-bosses, Jarl Eirik the puppet being a raid boss-type opponent for the entire party to fight against until it comes down solely to Coye and Britni.

Britni will not suddenly get over all of her issues and instantly join Coye's harem after this. It's going to be a long road for her. I don't know what will set off the chain that makes Coye and everyone else realize she's even worth saving after everything she did to them, but I am positive that aspect will fall into place when I'm further along and I don't want to bother myself in the short term thinking about.

The goal is to make all of her actions sympathetic in retrospect, which while difficult to pull off will be one hell the twist in the end.