Lemminkainen

Primary descriptor: Rogue

Lemminkainen, alias Ahti, Farmind (Kaukomieli), Kauko, Islander, Wonton Loverboy (lieto Lemmin poika), Avegard, and several others), is a Finnish man, about 5'10'' tall, handsome, well-built with thick black hair and beard. He can however, change his appearance with magic (see below) but is immediately recognisable in any of his forms by those who know him.

ATTRIBUTES

Scale: (Poor, Average, Good, Very Good, Exceptional, Supernatural)

Strength: (Very Good)

Stamina: (Exceptional)

Lemminkainen is used to long hunting trips in the icy tundra as well as the physically demanding work of a shaman.

Dexterity: (Very Good)

Willpower: (Good)

Perception: (Average)

Intellegence: (Average)

Lemminkainen has a reputation for poor judgement, he is, in fact, on the low end of average, he has a tendency to leap into situations prematurely.

Charisma: (Exceptional)

A known womaniser and carrouser, Lemminkainen is smooth-tongued and captivating, even when not employing magic.

SKILLS (c.1200 AD)

Seamanship (Very Good), Hunting (Exceptional), Ski (Very Good), Farm (Poor), Animal Husbandry (Poor), Shipwright (Good), Sing (Exceptional), Fish (Average), Swim (Good), Survival (Semi-Arctic) (Very Good), Navigation (Good).

Languages: Finnish, Old Norse (Native), Lappish (Very Good), Latin (Poor), Old Dravidian (Average), Frankish (Average), Gaelic (Good), Middle High German (Average), Provencal (Good), Several Central Asian Dialects (Good), Smatterings of: Greek, several N. African Dialects, Mid-Eastern Languages, Persian, Old Celtic, Hungarian, Russian, Early Tang Chinese, Old English, Middle English, Middle French, a few Native American tongues, Arabic.

Area Knowledges: Finland, Scandinavia, India, Central Asia, Provence

Combat: Sword (Exceptional), Crossbow (Very Good), Wrestling (Very Good), Fisticuffs (Good).

Ability: MAGIC

         Lemminkainen's magic is basically shamanic. He calls upon spirits and sometimes falls into trances, and all of his magic involves singing. The formula is usually in the "spirit language" an animalistic tongue with which he can also communicate with animals.

Influence: (Very Good)

Working mostly on animals and people with average or lower willpower, this ability requires a long, sung oratory. Lemminkainen affects people on a very emotional level, making them obey his simple commands. Examples from the Kalevala include making a dog be quiet, singing men to sleep and urging men to war.

Invocation of Spirits: (Very Good)

Lemminkainen invokes spirits for two main reasons. One is protection, this must be done before a combat situation and involves asking the local spirits to protect him from danger (the game mechanics are yet to be worked out). The second is aid, in which he again asks the local spirits for help in exchange for a later sacrifice. The game effect is a temporary increase of one level in an ability. Example: He asks the forest spirits to aid his hunting, and his hunting is increased (appropriately) to Supernatural. This works best in areas high in local spirits (natural settings) in low-tech areas (hunting, fencing, sailing, usu). Finally, Lemminkainen often asks Ukko, the sky god, for a storm or other phenomenon in times of crisis, and is fairly often heard.

Shapechange: (Good)

Lemminkainen can change his appearance. He is always male (whether this is due to preference or ability is unknown), but can change hair colour, height and features. In times of great emergency he can change into an animal form (usually an eagle or fox). In this form he can still cast spells (as he can still speak the spirit tongue).

Travel: (Average)

Like every shaman, Lemminkainen can walk the different planes. He does this in a trance state and only rarely. He can converse with gods, the dead, and other other-worldly beings, but the validity of these travels are questionable (like it is with any shaman or spirit medium).

Immortality:

As Lemminkainen most often describes it, after his first death he was resurrected with a rebuilt and tougher body (the original was dismembered). Besides being slightly more difficult to injure, he also heals quicker. He also leads a "charmed life" with fate often intervening at times of mortal danger. Lemminkainen claims that over the centuries he has so annoyed Tuoni, the god of the dead, that Tuoni is doing his best to keep Lemminkainen on the mortal plane and out of his hair. Those who know Lemminkainen well find this explanation perfectly reasonable.

HISTORY

         Very little is actually known of Lemminkainen's history, as he is a terrible braggart, liar, and teller of tales. Many of his tales can be dismissed due to erroneous facts (meeting Jesus Christ in an English Alehouse, for example), the following history up to 1200 AD has been checked with witnesses and intense questioning and is believed mostly accurate:

         Lemminkainen's date of birth is not known, but has been estimated to be between 1 and 300 AD. It is known that he was accompaning raiders against the Roman Empire by the end of the 4th Century. After the fall of Rome he begins a tour of North Africa, the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and Western China that lasts several centuries. He returns to Europe, through Russia, by the 9th Century and accompanies the Viking Reavers. He claims to have been at the battle of Vin Moor with Egil in 937 and to have accompanied Leif Erikson to America. He spent several decades in the Celtic lands, studying with the bards, and has most recently been dividing his time between Iceland, Germany and Provence.

PERSONALITY

         Lemminkainen is a womaniser, rogue, listless wanderer, adventurer and pagan cultural hero. He is brave to foolhardiness, cocky, and vain. He spends his life looking for adventure and women. He is never grave and hardly serious. He is dashing and an accomplished liar. In many ways he is similar to other trickster heroes, laughing at taunts, plunging into danger and skillfully fleeing when things get over his head. He is forever boasting of his own prowess. He favours style over substance, more concerned with cutting a good figure than actually accomplishing anything. He is very much larger than life, swept up into his environment. He will take on the look and trappings of the times. His memory is terrible, so he embellishes with tales. His singing is legendary, and he is accomplished in several forms.