Mother Grissel is a monk who lives a plain life dedicated to the recently edified Saint Arnold. She lives only to serve her community and God, and whilst not praying spends her life attempting to become a master brewer of her order. She lives in a small abbey near York, where she goes from time to time to sell her wares. Her arch rival, Father Tisseur, lives at a monastery on the far side of York and is her prime competition in the Yorvik beer market. As he can't seem to out craft her, he spends a lot of effort trying to ruin her brews!
The abbot recently called her to his office and told of a vision he had been granted by Saint Arnold, in it he was told that it was important that she was the one to answer the letter recently received by the abbey asking for someone to go and provide aid to the Queen Regent. It was not long thereafter she was on the road to Oxford, where the first meeting would be held.
Mother Grissel is a monk from the Abbey of Saint Arnold of the Holy Spirit, near York. The Abbey is reknowned for its brews, and rumour has it Mother Grissel is one of the top brewers there. Apparently she has been called by God to assist the Queen Regent.
Born not only a bastard, but also left-handed, John did not have a happy childhood. He was shunned by the strongly Christian people of his village, being almost constantly accused of heresy and dealings with evil magics. As soon as he was old enough, he set out into the wilderness and has made his living there ever since. He honed his skills as a hunter and trapper, living off the land and selling furs and surplus meat to small villages. Ever cautious of a repeat of the events of his childhood, he never stayed long. His only friends were his horse, Greymane, and a tamed pyewacket called Shifty. Tending to stay away from civilisation as much as possible, he even had dealings with the Wolves and Outlaws, selling them furs and skins and even helping them out from time to time when the going was tough.
One day, short of food and options, he picked up on a bounty for some fierce creatures terrorising a village. Being good at what he does, he had soon trapped the creatures and killed them. Finding that there was good money to be made here, he continued to take work like this where he could and quickly found he was gaining a reputation as a monster hunter. Eventually, he was even honoured with a rank in the Knights of St George for his services to monster slaying. Suddenly everyone’s happy to see him and they’re not trying to accuse him of heresy anymore. Let’s just hope it stays that way…
John is an accomplished hunter and tracker. He knows the forests of northern England like the back of his hand. He's come to Oxford to offer his services, sell his spoils, and see what all the fuss is about.
Erika (“the Ready”, as in “ready for anything”) likes to think of herself as the last true Viking. She left her homeland of Sweden as a lowly deckhand on her uncle’s longship over 20 years ago, along with her best friend Hilda. Since then, they faced many trials of the high seas such as serpents, storms, and sirens. Erika proved her worth and rose to be second in command, standing proudly at her uncle’s side. It seems that a Fey took interest in Erika and her adventures, appearing to her many times and in places all over Europe. It called itself Tempest, and proved to be a nuisance most of the time, although they did once teach Erika a spell.
A vicious monster attack at sea left her uncle mortally wounded. Lying on his deathbed, he passed to her his trusty sword and an old amulet. The amulet was of great importance, he said. Unfortunately, he died before he could tell her exactly why.
Erika then took up captaincy of the ship and continued her uncle’s legacy for several years until one day they were caught in a storm, the worst any of them had ever seen. They thought they were done for until a figure emerged from the wind and rain – it was Tempest, and they came with an offer. Erika and Hilda would be spared from their watery grave and in exchange would promise to repay the favour at a later date. They woke up on the shore near London – no ship, no crew, no supplies, but alive.
Erika is well-known as a sailor and trader, with more than a little money to her name. Word is that she’s a good bet for getting passage overseas, although she’s been looking a bit downtrodden recently. Come to think of it, she’s been in port for a lot longer than usual, hasn’t she?
Harry is an upstanding pillar of the community in his home town of Merthyr Tydfil. He was a bit of an outcast when he was younger, prone to a few strange habits, but under the tutelage of his guardian Old Gilbert he became the perfect, church-going citizen he is today. He works as a thatcher, hence the name, and likes to spend his evenings chatting with his neighbours in the local tavern. He always seems to be in a good mood, and gets on well with everyone.
He also likes secretly placing small tokens of Ankou around the town and plotting the downfall of Christianity. Old Gilbert is, in fact, a heathen and one of the Inheritors of the Old Ways. He is a priest of Ankou and has been biding his time until the Old Gods may rise again. Now Harry has been taught the ways of death and sacrifice, too – a suitable outlet for his morbid curiosity.
Old Gilbert has sent Harry to the meetings in Oxford in order that he learn more about the world, expand his knowledge of the faith, and find allies towards the goal of bringing Christianity to its knees so that the Old Gods may once again stand tall.
Harry is a thatcher from Wales. He enjoys a good day’s work followed by an evening in the tavern, and is just looking to see how he can stop things falling apart after the death of the King.