Espen Varangr | Lutra

Name: Espen Varangr
Face Claim: Rodrigo Santoro
Age: 35
Birth Season: Autumn
Physical Description: Espen is on the taller side, striking an intimidating figure at 6'3" and over 200lbs of toned muscle. Tall, dark, and handsome, he's quite easy on the eyes and he's well aware, using it to his advantage with his natural charm. He has a bit of a limp when in rains due to an old leg injury

Family:
Stasia Aex (mother, Elder, OPEN), Atrus Varangr (father, Jarl)
Siblings: Roan Varangr , OPEN
Children: Jesper (son, 15), Lise (daughter, 5)

Rank: Elder
Occupation: Warrior/Hunter
Home: Lutra
Combat Experience: Espen has been a fighter all his life. He wouldn't say he enjoys it, but he does see it as necessary.
Education: He has a basic understanding of reading and writing as taught by his father, but otherwise has very little formal education. He's quite good with numbers despite this. He's a warrior by primary trade, but has picked up quite the skill in carpentry, making anything from chairs, to tents, to bows, and even small boats. He can speak Lutrian.
Magic: Espen has used his bond magic extensively, constantly having a companion with him. He's always had an affinity for animals and while he often had a raven when he was younger, he can manage to bond with a small wolf, or at least he could if he could find one willing. His current familiar is a frost fox.

---

Personality:
Espen is a social butterfly. Not that he wouldn't hit you if you used that specific metaphor to his face. He's easy going and caring of his own, specifically his warriors and his family. Despite his warrior exterior, he's also got a very warm social exterior. He enjoys a good conversation over drinks and is always ready get into trouble.

While he prefers to work and fight smarter, not harder, he can have an impulsiveness about him and does enjoy working off his stress and aggression through a good brawl or raid. He can be a brutal commander, expecting a lot of his warriors as Jarl, but also quite free spirited, always open to a drink and a good fight, all of which makes being a part of his raiding parties appealing. If a warrior can't measure up to him in a fight, they aren't worth their weight.

Friendly as he is, Espen isn't a great family man, especially when it comes to children. He loves his children, but had one way before he was ready to be a parent and the other he struggles how to raise on his own. Thankfully, he's had some help of a close friend otherwise he never would have managed.

---

History:
Espen is a native of Lutra, born to a strong warrior in his mother and a knowledgeable shaman in his father. He and his siblings had to work had to prove their worth like any Lutrian child. He had never been close with his father, but when the man adopted another young boy to take him in as an apprentice, Espen was more than a little jealous of the attention Roan received. But he was still his brother and while he teased Roan a lot, he was always quick to defend him from others. He was his brother, after all, by birth or not. As they grew up, Espen came to have a lot more appreciation for his younger brother's skills and wits, even if he's a bit...delicate sometimes.

Espen made a name for himself as a fighter first, taking part in many brawls and mock duels with other young men, seeking to prove their skill for their first raid. He was thirteen when his mother first took him with her. It was at once the most terrible and most exciting thing he ever experienced. He didn't get his first kill until he was fifteen, clumsily fighting off a man who tried to gouge the young Lutrian's eyes out.

His father taught him to be skilled with his hands, and while Espen looks down on the softer work of a healer, he values what he learned and works as a skilled carpenter, doubling his worth by being able to perform a valuable trade.

When he was seventeen, he found Eira Olsen when his raiding party was returning to camp. They passed near a recently ransacked village and while most searched the wreckage for left over goods and supplies, he followed a set of small footprints into the nearby woods, discovering the small girl injured and confused. Not knowing what else to do with her and since she had no memory of her name or family, he took her as a captive of sorts? His mother suggested he give her to one of their slaves to raise her.

Although never married, Espen has had quite a few relationships, some serious, some less so, but he has fathered two children. His oldest, his son Jesper, was formally adopted into his mother's family when she married, although Espen has always done his duty to take care of the boy growing up and offer what support he can, if only barely. His daughter he has had a bit more involvement with, as her mother died in a raid a year ago.

He recently assumed one of the Elder positions, making him one of the youngest on the council. Like some Elders, he continues to lead raids, though not as often as he would like.

---

OOC INFO
Census Code: Espen Varangr | Male | 35 | Autumn | Elder | Warrior | Rodrigo Santoro
Other Characters: Harlan Rost Hunt Valier Kiili Shepherds