Hrane the Hunter

Hrane the Hunter, known to some by his real name Harald Sigurdsson is a former bandit, pirate and later member of the Companions who lived during the Dragon Crisis of the Fourth Era. A famous (or rather infamous) pirate whom many feared across the coast of the Sea of Ghosts, Hrane turned to piracy after deserting from Stormcloak service. After a rather successful two-year career his crew was executed by the Blood Horkers and he was left on an iceberg with just a knife. Experiencing a near encounter with death itself, he was saved by a merchant ship, aboard which a woman nursed him back to health. After that he swore to change his life around and become the man his father would want him to be.

Early Life
Harald was born at the begininng of the year 170 of the Fourth Era. His mother, Inga, died in childbirth, and so the burden of parenting was left on the shoulders of his father, Sigurd. Harald's father left him in the hands of his grandmother, and went to join the Empire in the Great War. After returning from the war, he was convinced by one of his former servicemen, Ulfric Stormcloak, to take back Markarth, where he died fighting off the Forsworn, leaving Harald now completely alone (his grandmother died mere days before his father). Not wanting to go to the dreaded Orphanage in Riften, with which his grandmother scared him when he misbehaved, he was taken in by the beggars who lived in the City of Kings. There, he learnt and developed under their guidance, until he was 18, now a rather street smart and socially competent man.

Stormcloaks and Desertion
Once he was of age, Harald felt obliged to join the army and fight for the freedom of his homeland. This, however, swiftly turned around after an ambush made by the Imperials not far from Dawnstar. Harald and a couple other men (including one of his best friends, a man called Geir) were presumed dead, and not willing to risk their necks anymore for very meek pay, they escaped and decided to take on a new, different lifestyle....

Piracy
Harald gathered a rather large group of deserters, bandits and highwaymen under his lead as he traversed Skyrim, using his social and combat skills as a mercenary, smuggler and petty assassin, until he was able to buy a longship, which he then used to raid the coasts along the Sea of Ghosts for the next two years. He was infamously known as Hrane the Hunter in many seaside villages of High Rock, Skyrim and Morrowind, due to his ruthless and unforgiving nature. Finally, his luck ran dry, and Harald came across a bigger threat than he was.

A New Beginning
One night, while they were all resting in a village they took over, Harald's crew was attacked by a rather large force of ships, which destroyed their longships and took the few survivors of the ensuing battle prisoner. Harald was beaten, tortured and in the end forced to watch as his best friend was turned into a pile of ash by the pirate leader, Haldyn, before being abandoned on an iceberg with but a small, engraved knife, with which he was to commit suicide. Broken both physically and mentally, Sigurdsson was on the brink of death, when he saw a light in the mist that ever engulfed the Sea of Ghosts. It was a merchant ship, of which he managed to gain the attention, and the men let him onboard. They led him under the deck, where he was left warm food and drink in a small cabin. After eating and resting, a young woman was sent to take care of his wounds. The same woman he later fell in love with, mutually. She nursed him back to health, and he decided to come with her to her home city, Markarth. There he met her family and father, a man named Thongvor, with whom he fell out. Harald swore that he will come back for Sigrid as a better man, and so he decided to join the Companions.

Personality and traits
A man of both ruthless agression and lustful passion, Harald was a complex man. His tough upbringing made him into a hardy, self-reliant and independent person, who did not like authority, although he was capable of listening to it if it meant he would profit off of it. Sigurdsson had a fairly fiery temperament and was capable of despicable acts of cruelty without much remorse, yet at the same time he was capable of compassion and great deals of empathy towards people he go to know and who got to know him. Socially competent, Harald was capable of taking on both the roles of a leader and a follower, and he had the charisma to make others think like him. He had a rather poor history with women, as he could never find a single woman that he could properly devote himself to, except for one, of course.

Skills
A hardened veteran when it came to using melee weaponry, Harald was skilled in using both the sword and the axe. He learned how to use both to great extent while in the Army and then, on his own, perfected the craft during his career as a pirate. Sigurdsson always carried at least his sword and axe with him, as to allow him to either dual wield or swap weapons should one break or be lost in battle. He was also skilled at using a simple round shield, with which he blocked many a mortal attacks aimed at him, be it arrows, bolts, swords, axes, maces or even spells. Harald was also fairly skilled in using two handed weapons, though he preffered to have a shield in one hand and a weapon in the other. Besides combat, Harald was also highly skilled at Speechcraft, a natural talent which he developed and mastered to great extent during his many years on the streets of Windhelm. Lockpicking was also a craft he caught onto during his time spent with the beggars. In battle, he preffered protection without overly limiting his mobility, and as such, he chose heavier armour like mail, studded leather and plate.

Equipment
On the daily, Harald always wore his custom crafted armour he originally put together using the loot from his many raids, adorning himself with protection, style, warmth and mobility in equal measure. In combat he always carried his sword and an axe at his belt, a shield oftentimes could be seen on his back, or, more often, in his left hand. The very knife that the Blood Horker leader Haldyn gave him to cut his own throat with sits in the ready at his right boot, should the need to use it arise.