Arinlag Fivefish

Within the Kingswood lies the log cabin of the nordabjorn bard Arinlag Fivefish (35.04). As he is a bear and not a man, the elves tolerate his presence, if just barely. Although few travellers venture this deep into the Kingswood, Arinlag welcomes those who do, provided they pay him well with songs, stories and tales from home. Those who bore him are required to amuse him in other ways that they may not find so pleasant. If the elves notice that Arinlag has visitors, they will attempt to lure them out into the Kingswood where they may be freely killed or captured. The bear cares little if his visitors fall for elven wiles and lets any foolish enough to do so go to their fates.

Although Arinlag lives alone (except for several mules), there are three sets of everything from plates to chairs to beds in this house, one seeming to have been designed for a lady bear and another for a child. The story behind this is that Arinlag and Kavanjr were once rivals for the love of Karsta the Slender, the favorite daughter of the bjornajarl himself.

They fought for Karsta first with rhymes (Arinlag singing of a single eye that was too tired to look up at the moon) and then with claws and teeth. Foolishly, Arinlag let Kavanjr choose the site of their duel and the older bear chose the middle of a nearby lake. The rangy young bear had difficulty keeping his head above water while the older bard was kept afloat by his great paunch, which let him rain down blows on Arinlag. Following his defeat, which he barely survived, Arinlag Fivefish was exiled from the Marche of the bears and has been biding his time until the day of his return when he will be able take back Karsta Thoreksdottir and the cute cub that he believes to be his. While he waits, Arinlag has been eating well and sports a most impressive gut.

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Categories: Bards , Characters , Marche of the Winterjarl , Kingswood


Original: https://shrouded-lands.fandom.com/wiki/Arinlag_Fivefish