Veyr Atlisson was born in 778 AD, and three years after his birth, his parents welcomed twin daughter, Mirona and Dagana. It was very shortly after the twins were born that Veyr’s father died of infection. Within a year, his mother was remarried. It took eight years before his mother and step-father were able to welcome another child (and not for a lack of trying), a daughter they named Noor.
Although he was naturally gifted with a sword, Veyr spent much of his early teenage years training to make himself even better. By the time he was fifteen, he knew right where to stab to be certain his opponent would die, and he knew where to stab if he wanted the person to possibly survive. And once he turned sixteen, Mirona began joining him to train.
At seventeen, Veyr left to join the vikings in their attacks on England. Although Mirona originally wanted to come, she changed her mind upon learning her twin was engaged to be married. When Veyr returned, Dagana had only just discovered she was pregnant with what would become her first child.
Veyr learned much about pregnancy in the following seven months, much of which he discovered was not pretty. But after the bloodshed he had seen and brought, he figured he couldn’t complain too much. So he stayed and helped as best he could, even being made to assist in delivering Dagana’s child when she went into labor.
It was shortly after the baby was born that the trouble began with Noor. She began lashing out at people more, getting into more fights. Not wanting to alarm Dagana, who was still recovering from her birth, Veyr and Mirona discussed what they could do to help Noor. Knowing their sister would not stop fighting, they instead decided it would be best to teach her how to fight properly, so she didn’t get herself killed.
Noor was soon equal to Mirona with a sword, though Mirona never got sick when on a boat.
The following years continued much the same, mostly uneventful. Veyr would leave for raids, earning his place among the high-ranks and giving people cause to fear his name. Mirona soon discovered that, while the thought of marriage made her stomach turn, she greatly enjoyed having sex. She began spending more time in the beds of a small handful over lovers, or sometimes invited several of them to her bed. Noor continued getting into fights, which Mirona often had to come to sort out.
Many years later, Veyr returned to discover Mirona was pregnant with one of her lover’s children. He stayed in their village after this, knowing that his presence would ensure Mirona’s safety. And it did. It also drew attention from a being much older and stronger than any of them.
Veyr was on patrol when he first heard the being, a voice that was neither male nor female. It was not even human. Whoever, or whatever, was speaking was smart, staying hidden under a hood and in the shadows of a cliff. But the offer made by the being was a tempting one: the gift of immortality, and in return, Veyr’s protection, should it be needed.
The being was no fool. It knew Veyr would never accept unless the offer was made to each of his sisters. And so, he brought them to the cliff, where the being made the same offer to each of them.
Mirona, it deemed, was unfit to accept until after she gave birth; accepting then would extend the offer to the unborn baby, who would then remain that same age for all eternity. Even after Mirona birthed her child, it would remain that of a four month old fetus, unable to truly survive outside of its mother. It would not die of sickness or starvation, and one of them would have to kill it. Mirona said she would accept the offer as soon as she’d given birth.
Dagana refused, insisting that she was happy as she was. She had a loving husband, several beautiful children, and a cozy home. She did not want immortality, just to see her children grow safely into adults.
Noor, though, agreed immediately. She was not pregnant; she’d never shown interest in any man, or woman, for that matter. She had nothing to hold her to mortal life. But she did have a desire to live forever, to see the world with Veyr, as Veyr would see it. And so, at the age of twenty-two, Noor was made immortal.
Knowing at least two of his sisters would be with him, Veyr, at thirty-four years old, agreed to the offer. As soon as he accepted, pain ripped through him, lighting every nerve on fire. He does not remember the pain subsiding, only waking up in his bed in Dagana’s home, covered in sweat. Noor was in the bed beside him, in a similar condition. He vaguely recalls Dagana joking that the pair finally understood what childbirth felt like, before she left to get them food.
Four months later, Mirona went into labor. It was difficult, as the baby was in breech position. Other complications continued to come up, and before the baby was born, Mirona died. Although they eventually managed to get the baby out, it too had died, and the pair were given funeral rites together.
Veyr and Noor stayed for as long as they could, but eventually they knew they’d have to leave, as they were no longer aging. However, they returned frequently to see Dagana and her children and, eventually, her grandchildren. After Dagana passed away, however, it became difficult to maintain constant contact with her descendants, and so, Veyr and Noor stopped returning to the village to visit.
Things were mostly uneventful for close to a thousand years. The pair went on raids together for awhile, then Veyr began bouncing from one army to another, just to be able to continue fighting and staying up to date on the weapons. Noor, with her short-temper, often got into violent bar fights that ended with someone dead - and clearly not herself.
However, exactly one thousand years after they accepted the offer to be made immortal, something truly changed in Noor. She began lashing out even more so than was normal, and she began attacking everyone, including Veyr. Although he did his best to stop her, to get her to calm down, it was of little use. She was no longer his baby sister, and he had to stop her.
At the end of a nasty fight, one that left Veyr with most of the scars he has today, Veyr was able to kill Noor, by bashing her head in with a rock. He’d initially tried stabbing her and shooting her, but it only slowed her down for a few moments. And so, he eventually had to completely destroy her, to prevent any possibility of her not being dead. He burned her body, and then set sail for the Americas, where he has been ever since.
