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IN MEMORIAM

MAGNUS VARGSON - (507 CY to 496 CY)

"Cattle die, kinsmen die, every man is mortal, but fame never dies for one who earns it."  ~Odin Allfatherm>

Magnus Vargson's family emigrated from the frozen North when he was but a young child. He never learned the reason for this, but assumed it wasn't just for the weather. Raised in the town of Djekul , he was trained to be a leatherworker. It was honest work, yet all the while the words "fame never dies for one who earns it" kept coming back to him. He was selected to represent his town in a competition for a spot in the Adventurer's Guild and won a spot in the company of a pixie, a humorless cleric, a hot-headed magic user, and a free spirited bard.

As the fates would have it, he and his companions were magically swept by unholy powers to a dark realm where he was beset upon by all manner of the vile undead. He teamed up with a ranger and half-orc warrior thief. Together the companions explored this evil world searching for an escape. In short order, their pixie perished and they entered into the acquaintance of a noble cavalier and forest-mage. Their adventures took them to the brink of death and tested their sanity at every turn. The forest-mage took his leave of the group and the free spirited bard fell to the will of a wicked magical item. The most recent companion joined their band a short time later, a goodly nanny with arcane and divine attunement. Together they made the best of their unfortunate situation.

Magnus became a beacon of honor in this sea of despair. Where lesser men might have given in to the insidious nature of the place, Magnus only grew more resolved, leaving a wake of carnage and death to his foes fierce enough to send shivers down the very spine of Ravenloft itself. Eventually he defeated an evil of untold power and won his freedom with an unimaginable brutality that could only be fueled by the beating of a Viking heart. He had been tested by darkness, but the light of his forefather’s prevailed, roaring his name at the sun once more – “I am Magnus Vargson, slayer of the endless night!”

Unfortunately, his walk in the sun would be far too short, for even after claiming his prize, his honor would not yet be sated. In an act of selflessness so sincere, so without hope of reward or laurels, choosing to forgo his very life to fulfill an oath he made to relieve the suffering of a creature he barely knew. To fulfill his sense of honor, this man was willing to sacrifice his eternal afterlife, his place by the side of his forbearers; a sacrifice so noble, so pure, as to move the hearts of the gods.

"Cattle die, kinsmen die, every man is mortal, but fame never dies for one who earns it."  Well, friend Magnus, you have indeed earned it.

We are all the better for knowing you...you will be missed.

 --- Dedicated with admiration by your companions in “The Company of the Mists” ---

 

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