Name: Marika Skarbo
Alias: "Ice Queen"
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Powers: Controls and conjures weather, particularly frigid weather and ice for battle, thanks to runes she discovered while working with her father excavating the ancient Viking settlements of Northern Norway. She also gained a resistance to cold weather and temperature.
Defensive Spells
Armor of the Snofjell: A suit of armor made of thick ice coats Marika's body, protecting her from most physical attacks. However, movement is greatly decreased and her other ice related spells are weaker, having to concentrate on keeping the armor up. This can be used once a day for a duration of up to three hours.
Wall of the Isentykk: A more versatile defensive spell, a wall of ice forms and rises in a spot in front of Marika, shielding from any projectile damage. It is not a large wall but it is small enough to hide behind. This rune is able to be used three times per day.
Breath of the Kulingsor: A strong wind whips up and blows back the opponent. This is not meant to damage, it is meant to repel, it sends the target back by one hundred meters. This is a powerful spell, so it can only be cast once per day. It was used to launch Viking ships with a strong head wind.
Offensive Spells
Orb of the Fryserask: Her basic attack spell, an orb of ice is shot from the palm of her hand, flash freezing whatever it comes into contact with in a couple seconds. It doesn't extend very far since it is a localized spell, and she has to fire it off in bursts, it can't be concentrated.
Shard of the Bladistapp: A more damaging attack spell, icicles are fired towards an opponent. These icicles are incredibly sharp, able to break bones and slice flesh, but they take more effort to get ready. As such, this run can only be used once per encounter, up to three times a day.
Voice of the Himmelsk Skadi: A blisteringly cold wind is unleashed at a target, air currents being sharp enough to slash through clothes and into skin. It's nowhere near as sharp as the icicles, but it is much more accurate, able to envelop it's intended recipient. It can only be used twice a day.
Blast of the Tungstorm: The most powerful rune in her arsenal, the immediate area is consumed by a powerful blizzard. Marika has yet to put this one into action, but preliminary studies show that it could be related to the state the book was found in. While protected from the cold due to the inherited abilities, this has double the cast time of the other runes and says nothing about recovery. Hence, it's likely to be a spell that will be a last resort, draining all energy from Marika.
Equipment: When out of ancient power, she turns to her last resort weapons, a pair of daggers sporting four inch blades.
Appearance: Marika looks like the typical Scandinavian woman, standing at 5'8", approx. 120lbs. She has long blonde hair that goes down to the shoulder blades when not tied up in buns behind her head. Her skin is pale white, a result of the long Nordic winters affording her little time to tan and her body temperature being lower than normal. It is now colored by the black Norse writing that now covers her body from neck to toe. Her eyes are a cold light blue, and they grow colder when activating the runes, the irises being consumed by a brighter light blue, the same color that the rune's writing on her body turns when activated.
She is currently wearing a brown cloak that she "borrowed" from one of the people at the university. Underneath she has on a rose colored blouse, a long brown skirt end just above the ankles, and a pair of well-worn brown loafers. The runes that adorn her body are visible on her exposed hands, ankles and along the sides of her neck.
Character Background: Marika was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway in 1904. Her mother died when she was young from consumption, so she was raised by her father who was one of the foremost scholars of Norse mythology and culture in the world. She was left with her grandparents in the city until she was ten, when her father decided to bring Marika with him on his jaunts around Scandinavia, and on the lecture circuit of northern Europe. He taught her about his research, about their ancestors, about his life. They bonded quickly, she gained the same passion for the Vikings as her father and in time, she became just as well versed in the ancient Norse myths and lifestyle.
Their biggest discovery as a team came in 1929. The pair found a cave exposed by a recently receded glacier in the Saltfjellet mountain range. Once inside, they discovered a strange sight. Numerous skeletons inhabited the chamber, still dressed in Viking equipment save for one smaller skeleton in lighter clothes, obviously a woman. There was a stone altar, ringed by torches long snuffed out, and a book preserved by hundreds of years in an ice-sealed vacuum. The writing was in Old Norse, and hard to read, but after a couple months of studying, the Skarbos learned the stories of a tradition of a hand-picked maiden, sent up into the mountains for a ceremony that would allow her to control the harsh Winter weather and allow the Vikings good favor when out at sea. The ceremony involved tattooing the woman in the ancient incantations and leaving her in the cave to see over the weather patterns along the coast, until she was unable to fulfil her duties, in which case a new woman would be brought up. There was no explanation for why the skeletons in the cave were found in such a state, but it was assumed to be a tragic piece of timing, weather-wise.
The massive book was studied by the Skarbos for a couple of years, but it proved difficult to translate, even with their combined years of knowledge. Some of the writing was Norse, but another, more archaic language was hiding the bulk of the information. The efforts were reduced in half when Morten Skarbo was killed. The elder Skarbo was in Zurich for a lecture at the university when on a side expedition in the Alps, a freak avalanche buried him and his climbing party. Marika was devastated by the loss of her father, her research partner, her friend, but she resolved to press on, and get the translations done in his memory.
Still, the process was slow, and slowed down by the new role Marika took up as the go to speaker on Norse mythology and culture. She travelled the world, with burgeoning air travel opening up many more opportunities to speak to a broader audience. She worked on the book on the side, continuing up to 1933, when she went to New York to give a lecture at Columbia University.
She was in her afforded room when the Event struck, still pouring over that old book. It came with a sort of pressure that Marika had never experienced before. It was overwhelming, and it caused her to fall unconscious. She had no idea how long she was out, it was certainly noisier outside as panic and chaos spread through the city. When she went to pull herself up, that's when she saw her arms covered in writing, similar to that of the untranslatable text. Except now she could read it. She could understand all of it, and the power it contained. The Vikings weren't telling another myth about controlling the weather. It was how they gained the advantage in civilization's early history. A quick examination showed that the writings covered her entire body save for the head, and a short read through of one of the basic passages resulted in her dresser being coated in ice. Unsure what to do trapped in this strange world with these new found powers, she adorned herself with a meagre cloak and ran to City Hall, seeking the Mayor's guidance in what should be done. There she was convinced to join his defence force, until such a time that they be returned to the original world and she can return home to Norway.
