Solvi Mistdottir.
That was the name given to the child that the clan found in the mists while on the way to raid in another clans lands.
She should not have been found at all, should not have survived. None of them should have. The mists were thick that night, heavy and low, obscuring vision that was more than a foot or two in front of their faces. The clan moved as one, practiced hunters and fighters, but what they lacked on this misty night was their spotters. Spotters that could have told them the trap they were walking into. That the clan they were about to raid knew about their plans, and was going to strike back.
And so their fate should have been sealed, if not for the wailing that suddenly came from behind them. It was singular, and high pitched, a baby's wail, crying out into the dark.
The reaction was immediate, thinking they had been sneaked up upon, they drew swords and turned to face their enemy charging into battle with war cries and stomping feet, only to eventually be left with... Nothing. Nothing but the babe they found laying on the ground.
How the babe was not trampled by the horde of stomping feet itself was a mystery, they were past her, around her, but the biggest mystery was where she came from. They had walked this path, had she been there the whole time, surely she would have been found, at the least by being stepped on or kicked. And they were moving slow, the mist was deep but it was still not easy to overlook a babe at your feet.
Many babies were left to die in the woods sometimes. Those that were deformed, or sickly, those that would be a burden to the clan. But this was not their worry. Some say the babe was a trap, or worse, some kind of omen, that it should be put down now, to spare itself and them. However the babe was quickly surrounded by women. Those who worshipped Freya and Frigg sought to protect it. Some of the men as well, who worship the goddesses still seeking their own children, stepped in to sway the voices to let the child live, and be taken with them.
It would not be until the next day, when the mists were cleared, and the clan went back to see if the raid could still be made, that it would become clear to them the trap that they would have walked into. From dug holes filled with spies, net traps still placed ready to be tripped, and other such things. It was clear that had they advanced, they would have lost many lives. And so that is how life for Solvi started.
At first she was adopted by one of the lower families of the tribe. One without much land, wealth, and animals. But also with out too many mouths to feed as well. But things changed as she grew, and her powers started to develop. At first, the family, who managed to have only one other child, and a girl, thought they were blessed by Frigg. Solvi was smart and quick witted. Or at least, that is what everyone thought. And it was true to an extent, she was smart, and very quick on the draw, but then she started to see things, know things, that no one but the clan's oracles should know.
When she was five, she ran to the beach crying, in hysterics, begging the men not to go out fishing, that they would not come back. She told them about a sudden storm, the wrath of Thor for something someone had done. They of course dismissed her, dismissed what she "saw" as a dream, and her mother quickly swept her away to not bother the men as they were about to set out. It would be days before those men were seen again, and only a third of their number returned. They spoke of clear skies turning dark, and waves that battered and broke the hulls of their ships. Men dragged under the sea as if witches themselves grasped their ankles. Many minds turned to Solvi, but, it was surly a coincidence right? No child, especially a girl child, would be so blessed by Odin with vision and knowledge. To see even what the oracles couldn't. And so it was forgotten until the next prediction, and the next, and the next.
They were not all big life threatening things. Some could be as simple as comforting another child for their favorite doll falling in the fire, days before that ever happened. Or refusing to enter the Jarl's house minutes before a wild dog they were breaking got lose, and bit two of the men, to simply being in the right place at the right time to prevent something from happening. Such as walking from the dinner table into the kitchen right as her mother knocked a favorite pot off the shelf, that should have shattered if it had not fell into her hands.
Word got around, as word does, about Solvi, and her powers. Again, some thought she should be cast out, killed, that her powers must come from demons, that Odin would never bestow such a gift on a girl child. But they were quickly shut down. It had been years, she was family, part of the tribe now. And while her predictions unnerved many, she also enamored herself to most that she helped. And so she stayed as part of the tribe, and she grew.
Years passed, and Solvi's powers continued to grow as well, though for the most part, she acted like a normal child of her age, and was treated like one, though, perhaps her words were heeded a bit more. Adults often asked for advice without her knowing why they were really asking. She knew she was different of course, no one could hide that, and she was smart enough to figure it out early, but, she never cared. She just acted like tribe, like family, so she was happy to help where she could.
There was a divide however. It started out small, but as she aged, only continued to grow.
As a child she was never allowed to learn how to fight. It was not uncommon for girl children not to fight, but the ones that wanted to, were generally taught and allowed. Shield maidens were a respected thing in her clan. Many females donned a shield and sword and joined in the raids. But she was never allowed. She was always given excuses, but, the real reasons were clear, at least to her.
They did not want her to get hurt, and risk damaging her sight. Damaging what made her different, but useful. But there was another reason as well, a darker one most men would not admit to as well. Fear. Fear that teaching her how to fight could lead to her using her powers in battle.
Solvi protested this, but eventually it was accepted, and life moved on. However there were little things, more and more, that made her feel like she was on the outskirts of the tribe. She was allowed to learn medicine, and cooking, and excelled at them, but people rarely would ask for her food, or her care. Not all would treat her in such a way of course, but most.
And so more time passes, more years, until she gets to the age of adulthood, and then another much more devastating divide would be shown. While others around her were pairing up, sometimes in pairs of twos, or sometimes more, she was left out. All teenagers drink, do mushrooms and other drugs, this was an accepted part of the culture, as was sex. But, when it came to finding someone for herself, she was always left to the side.
By the time she was old enough to even think about sex, boys, and some girls, had all ready been warned of her. That while she was pretty, and personable, to never get that close to the witch. To never let her seduce you and bed her, and to never risk wasting your seed in her womb. Solvi did not know this of course, but still, its effect was clear enough.
The older she got, the more she yearned to be seen as an adult, to be seen as a woman. To find herself a mate and be a wife and a mother. To honor Freya and Frigg. But everywhere she looked in the tribe, men turned from her. And it did not take her long to figure out why. She was always smart after all, but it did not take smarts to figure this out and soon resentment started to grow.
It would be another few years before the incident happened which brought her to Sigil. Another few years before the blood covered the ground and fed the soil, before the screams filled the night air. Before chaos, turned to sudden silence. And in all those years, her resentment grew. She offered prayers to Freya and Frigg to help her be a mother, even if it did not involve a man to marry. She offered prayers to Odin for wisdom and knowledge. Prayers to Loki for the cunning to trick people to try to see her as more then the witch (a name she eventually found out about). Prays to Thor for strength, and justice. And these prayers went unanswered, at least, as she saw it. And during these years resentment grew, until that final night.
No one treated her badly some would say. But while she was accepted and called family, she was also an outcast. Hell, even slaves could partner and breed with permissions. She wanted nothing more than to be part of her family, as she always saw them as such. But it was clear while she might have been "part" of them, she was also a part always to be kept at arms length. So she started dreaming about a way to get back at the tribe. To make them suffer. To show them what it felt like to be called a witch by her family.
And so the visions started. Visions of a strange land, will strange people and creatures. At first, they terrified her. Ships that fell in the air, demons and devils and monstrosities walking around all together along with humans. She expected a laughter at every second, but it never came. She offered many prayers to free her from these nightmares, but relief did not come. Eventually though, things changed. She learned more and more about the land each time she saw it, and in her dreams, she started to explore it. She saw the places, the people, the creatures. She explored the bazaar and the bar long before she ever step foot there. She explored under Sigil, the flying ships, and the portals, though she never stepped through them.
her exploration was all dream like however. Not crisp and clear details and sharp memory, but fuzzy images and pictures that made this place feel known to her. That is, until she got to Dead God's Rock. This place, was perfect, clear, detailed, and she did not know why.
She saw this place for weeks in her sleep, and got used to it. She heard the people talking, the whispers, trying to tell her something, but she could never quite make out what it was. And then there was one night the dream was different. Not about Sigil, or dream walking. But about her clan, and their slaughter. Her clan would be invaded the next night. Two other clans, at war with each other, deciding to settle their disputes by joining forces to take out a third clan, and split their land and riches between them. Everyone would die. Blood would flow freely, and very little mercy would be given. And so before the next night she simply walked away.
She said no words to anyone. Simply packing a bag for herself, and heading off, she was not stopped or questioned because she was an adult, and so she was gone. She watched the slaughter of her people that night from a near by bluff. High enough to see the fires, and hear the screams, but far enough to not be a part of any of it. and so she watched them all die, before falling asleep that night.
This time, the whispers in her dream were still there, and still unclear, but, she somehow understood them. They were not coherent sentences, but words said over and over until their meaning was understood. "Seer," "Sigil of one," "your will made this happen," "you changed the world," "selfish," "witch," "Sigil," "blood," "blessed," "second chance." In the whispers, which became almost maddening, a light appeared, no not a light, a doorway. a portal, opening in the middle of the darkness for her to step through. And so she did. The next time she opened her physical eyes, she was not on the bluff over looking her camp, but in a new place that was all ready familiar to her. Sitting on the Sigil's hard ground, getting rained on by Sigil's dirty rain.
Daughter of the mists.
