Bjorg "Ben" Jorgensen
Ben hailed from the distant kingdom of Birma, far to the north and west of the main setting of the campaign. He was a volot - a descendant of the great Jotuns, as his family told him. The family was among the last in the land, and the elders sent Ben to the east. There, in the Svora mountains, they swore, there lived others of his kind. Ben sent forth to find them, and to prove he was worthy of his exalted ancestors.
After many months on the road, Ben arrived at Malinka - the estate of the Archbishop of Ladeisk. Wishing to deflect questions about religion, Ben began to ask around about heroic undertakings he might contribute to. Soon, he was told that a man named Yuri Barolov was recruiting a band to chase down hundreds of Kochmak raiders to rescue his family. Feeling that the great odds against success made this a pursuit worthy of him, Ben immediately agreed. Thus did he come to join the party.
But Ben's road proved ill-aspected. Just as he stepped outside the gates of Malinka, Ben saw a man in a tree. The man, Lokan, never having seen a giant before, tossed a crabapple at Ben. Jovially replying to the jest, Ben scooped Lokan up, and tossed him into the tree, nearly killing him. Ben's efforts to revive the man were futile, and only Kesha, who was just existing the estate and heard Yuri's entreaties, was able to save his life.
As they traveled toward Vladykino, the party encountered a swarm of mosquitoes. Wishing to rid his companions of the pesky nuisance, Ben tossed a burning uprooted tree at Yuri's horse, and a boulder at Kesha. Ben finally did succeed in quashing the bugs with more boulders, but by then, his companions had already begun to call his attempts to help "bear's services" - as likely to result in the death of whoever he was trying to help as they were in aiding that person.
In Vladykino, Lokan procured two pigs from Zbigniev's mill, and the companions roasted them. But poor planning resulted in a late start for roasting the second pig. Given Ben's voracious appetite, he could eat a pig all by himself. After the first pig was done, Yuri decided to leave, fearing that the Kochmaki were getting too far away. Ben stayed behind, waiting for the second pig, and Kesha kept him company, as he wanted to give the destroyed village one last search.
Finally, the pair set out with their cooked pig. However, they could not catch up to their mounted companions, and soon became lost. The territory was unfamiliar to Ben, and Kesha had trouble orienting himself during daylight hours. After days of travel, they antagonized some foreigners in a hamlet. The foreigners pursued Kesha, and retreated only after catching sight of Ben. By then, their food stocks were depleted. Ben succeeded in killing a deer with a rock to the head, but their prey was soon smelled by wolves, who attacked the pair, and likely, devoured them.
Ben was last seen by Yuri, Alden, Lokan and Fedor at the pig roast in Vladykino.
He appears in Chapters 5, 6, and 7.
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