| “ | For all know Freihild, because she is deft in all things. | ” |
— Gudkind, Dark Age, Chapter 28
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Friehild is an Obsidian. She is Sefi's personal assassin and the vynKjr (leader) of the skuggi spirit warriors. She is introduced in Dark Age in Ephraim ti Horn's narrative, charged with protecting Pax Augustus during his time as ward of the Alltribe.
Freihild and the skuggi view Darrow as a God, Pax as a Godchild.
Appearance[]
She is young and pretty, lithe instead of muscular, without the hirsute appearance common in Obsidians. Her face is free of scars, beautiful, and tattooed with subtle black markings. Her cheekbones are sharp, eyes slanted and closer to dark blue than Obsidian black. She has eyelashes of a deer. She served a tour or two in the Free Legions.
Involvement[]
Before we meet Freihild she has a big reputation. Darrow says Rhonna loves Screwface almost as much as she loves Freihild. Ozgard tells Ephraim that Freihild and the skuggi castrated the Syndicate men who came looking for Ephraim in Sefi's domain.
We meet Freihild instructing Pax and Electra amongst the young Obsidians of the Alltribe. She partakes in Ephraim's lesson about lying in the game of Karachi, and Ephraim lets her beat him once. Freihild and Valdir the Unshorn are seen more than once and often, admiring each other and looking at each other in lust, and Pax reveals to Ephraim that she is sleeping with Valdir.
Per Sefi's orders, Freihild and her skuggi learn from Ephraim how to be better liars, thus better soldiers, able to do more than just fight. Later, Freihild successfully leads the skuggi in taking the mines of Cimmeria, which leads to a celebration in the form of a drake hunt. Electra rides with Freihild on a griffin in flushing out the drake from its alpine cavern. During the hunt, Sefi is unable to make the killshot on the drake, and is almost killed. However, it's by Freihild's protection that Sefi, and Pax riding with her, is able to survive. Freihild narrowly misses stabbing the drake in its weak spot before Ephraim takes aim and shoots it dead.
Freihild and Ephraim's names are chanted and celebrated. They are given necklaces of dragon teeth and marked as drakeslayers. During the celebration Freihild brims with life which causes drunk Valdir to swoon over her with lust which Sefi notices, but doesn't say anything.
Freihild accompanies Ephraim and Ozgard to drop the dragon skull at the Valkyrie Spires where Ozgard will perform a ritual in Godspeak. Sefi gives her blessing before they leave, where she dips her finger in blood and pressing it to their foreheads. When she gives her blessing to Freihild, Sefi pusher her finger in hard enough to leave a nail gash.
While Ozgard prepares for the ritual, Freihild admits to Ephraim her love for Valdir. Ephraim asks her if she realizes how it makes Sefi look, especially after what happened at the drake hunt. He asks her if she wants to be Queen, but she says no. She knows that she must break it off with Valdir, for the sake of the Alltribe. Feeling dour and weighed down by her decision, Freihild goes in search of nightgaze for the ritual.
Freihild doesn't return, and it's only after Ephraim and Ozgard stumble across some nightgaze on their own, they find her body, which has been pierced through by arrows and an iron hook. Killed by Volsung Fá, Freihild was able to mark him with a narrow scratch on his neck, which deemed her worthy is Fá's eyes.
The killer has eaten a part of her heart, which he considers as honoring her strength and gives the rest of her heart to Ephraim to bring to Sefi, with a warning message.
Freihild is mourned heavily, as she was much loved and highly respected. A feast is thrown in her honor. When Sefi gives a toast of remembrance at the feast, an outraged Valdir and his male braves point suspicion and frustration towards Sefi.