ulfric of skarvheim is born of the hafniring, a wildling clan of the far north. his people are raiders, hunters, and berserkers—wolves who bow to no king, no jarl beyond their own. they take what they need, spill blood when they must, and ask nothing from the gods but a death worthy of valhalla.

his father, styr bjornsson, is a bastard with no claim but the one he carves with his fists. his mother, sakari, is apsáalooke, taken from the south long ago. he is the third-born of styr’s children. hallkell, the eldest, is meant to take their father’s place. veigr, the second, fights without thought, eager for the next kill. ormr, the snake, is different—sharp-tongued and patient, a man who wins battles without lifting a blade. brynja, their sister, refuses to stand behind men.

it is ormr who undoes them. he whispers into the dark, feeds the fire between hallkell and veigr, turns them against each other. when the fighting ends, hallkell lies dead, veigr’s jaws stained with his brother’s blood. styr does not hesitate. he cuts veigr down.

the clan fractures. brothers turn against brothers. styr will burn everything before he lets his sons rise against him. ulfric sees the end before it comes. he will not fight his kin for the scraps of a broken clan. so he leaves. he does not look back.