Bjarte the Burner

Bjarte serves as the defensive magical specialist and warder for Yngvild’s specialised hunting party. Her primary narrative function is to provide an absolute counter to magical surveillance, using her expertise in anti-scrying to hide the party as they seek the hidden Chestnut Lodge. She represents the high-stakes consequences of the Great Schism, embodying the trauma and paranoia of a veteran operative whose past “messy” magic has made her a fugitive.

Bjarte is defined by an all-encompassing, obsessive paranoia that is, in reality, a collection of necessary precautions. Because she is hunted by factions still seeking retribution for her actions during the Great Schism, she is intensely reclusive. During her time as escort for Yngvild for the Skyssian Board of Trade, she remained confined almost exclusively to her cabin.

Her moniker, “The Burner,” refers to her mastery of destructive fire and transmutation magic. While she was once a highly aggressive offensive combatant, she now applies these talents toward defensive concealment. Her arcane repertoire includes:

• Warding: The ability to seal physical locations against entry or detection; notably, she warded the party's cabin during their voyage to Dry Hook.
• Anti-Scrying: Persistent enchantments designed to disguise Yngvild and Jerre from magical observation.
• Amulet Communication: Use of a magical amulet that facilitates telepathic communication between party members.

Bjarte’s history is inextricably linked to the Great Schism, the violent internal conflict between factions of Skyssian heroes. During this era, Bjarte was a prominent operative involved in the suppression of the Godbloods, a faction whose goals clashed with her own. It was during these dark days that she committed the series of killings that earned her the “Burner” title and forced her into a life of permanent fugitive status.

During the height of the religious upheavals, Bjarte and her long-term partner alfinna were contracted to eliminate Skyssian sleeper agents hidden within a convent in the Grand Duchy of Dalreoch. While alfinna located the targets in a hidden sub-basement, Bjarte used a messy fire transmutation that incinerated the entire wing. The unique thermal signature of her magic was documented by academics at the University of Dalreoch, marking her as a target for future investigation.

While Queen Caoimhe was living at Southope, Bjarte and alfinna wer part of a death squad that targetted the Berenician King Edmund. During a hunting party, Alfinna caused the King's horse to fatally throw him off, while Bjarte used lethal magic to facilitate their escape after they'd killed the King. The incident left multiple Berenician Yeomen dead with “fatal burns inside their armour” despite their outer clothing remaining untouched, a signature later associated with other political assassinations by Skyssians.

Bjarte’s paranoia became obsessive following a mission to retrieve a stolen ledger from a Zushonian estate. Despite successfully recovering the item, the party was observed via a rare scrying mirror. Bjarte unleashed a firestorm to destroy the evidence, but realised too late that the mirror remained unbroken amidst the flames. Through the glass, she felt the cold, calculating gaze of the Earl of Stylhet. Since then, she has lived in fear that the world's premier spymaster knows her face and can track the signature of her fire magic.

During the pre-dawn capture of their ship by Fearchar Murchadh, Bjarte’s survival instincts took over. She slipped out of a cabin window to avoid the pirates, an act that broke her protective ward and allowed the Murchadh raiders to find and steal the sentient sword Jafnadr. She stayed in the water to keep the critically wounded Gudrun afloat until they were rescued by a pilot boat and brought into the Board of Trade office in Dry Hook.

• Yngvild: Her current ward and the primary focus of her anti-scrying protections.
• alfinna: Her previous partner during the Great Schism, with whom she shared many high stakes clandestine operations.
• Gudrun: Her current partner, a seeker with whom she has shared several clandestine operations.
• Jerre: A companion she helps hide from surveillance; currently a prisoner of the pirates.
• Earl of Stylhet: The master spymaster who represents her greatest fear and the primary reason for her reclusive lifestyle.
• Fearchar Murchadh: The pirate captain who broke her ward and stole Jafnadr.

• University of Dalreoch: The academic institution that monitors the messy and dangerous fire transmutation magic she specialises in.
• Dry Hook: The site of her recent rescue and the current base for the survivors.
• Chestnut Lodge: The hidden objective she is currently attempting to locate.
• Dael Riata: The kingdom where many of her early purges took place.