Overview
Sigurd leads Skarnheim from Rimvold and is Sigvariel, the ancient guardian of Malverand who held Varnhallow. He rejects the title of king and uses the Skarnheim Alliance to bring Svanhild, Thorik, Halgarr, Garrik, Silas, Jin, Lythariel, and Virel into northern defense and diplomacy.
As Sigvariel, he governed Varnhallow for the Malverand Empire, took the Hourglass Shard, became bound to Horol'Khai, and joined Michael / Eltaru in creating the temporal anomaly that preserved Varnhallow. As Sigurd, he leads Skarnheim through Varnhallow's attacks, the shaper threat, the Bjarnholt darkness front, and the aftermath of the anomaly's collapse.
Appearance
Sigurd is a large, broad-shouldered man with golden braided hair, a braided beard, crystal-clear eyes, and a runed staff. In the Malverand era, his hair is at times silver-streaked. He commonly wears heavy northern clothing when traveling from Rimvold, including a thick winter coat and fur-lined cloak.
The hourglass mark in his palm is his most distinctive visible sign. It glows when he draws on Horol'Khai's power, dims as her life nears its end, and is gone after her final dissolution in the void.
Abilities
Sigurd is a powerful temporal and ice mage. His temporal field slows fast opponents, distorts motion, restrains timerift effects, and lets him cast timerifts with Deylin from the void. In duels, his time-slowing magic overwhelms or checks fighters such as Jin, Kaelion, and Eira unless they can counter it directly.
His ice magic is equally practical in combat. He creates ice walls, shields, platforms, barbed ice lances, freezing waves, and airborne paths, and he uses these spells to protect allies as well as attack. During the Shaper Attack on Rimvold, he directs the city's defensive network through the burning hourglass sigil in his palm and shields Skarnheim's forces.
Sigurd also carries a Malverand heart, the ancient life-sustaining work used by Malverand survivors. The hourglass shard and Horol'Khai give him access to advanced temporal work. His power weakens after Varnhallow breaks and Horol'Khai approaches her end.
History
Sigvariel comes from the eastern lands during Malverand's rise and becomes an ice mage on Barachiel's council. When Malverand expands, he and Uriandel push east; Uriandel takes Ashenford, and Sigvariel takes Varnhallow. Astralynne becomes Sigvariel's capital before Uriandel's Abraxas-aligned forces devastate it and seize northern Varnhallow.
During Malverand's decline, Michael prepares an hourglass-shaped god core by feeding it his own essence and the essence of temporal mages. He engineers it so another temporal mage can claim it. Sigvariel takes the shard when his old shard is nearly depleted, and Horol'Khai emerges through that claiming. Michael and Sigvariel then commit to Barachiel's mission: they gather their strongest followers, seal Varnhallow in the temporal anomaly, and build an army for the campaign to remove Malverand's fallen guardians.
Sigvariel eventually leaves Varnhallow with The Eleven Stories of Old and reaches Rimvold safely. He places the book in the vaults. His memory of Varnhallow and Horol'Khai becomes fractured. Afterward, he lives as Sigurd and leads Skarnheim from Rimvold while Varnhallow attacks from the temporal anomaly.
Sigurd's later rule is dominated by Varnhallow's instability. He investigates machines and attacks coming from the anomaly, keeps Rimvold's gate and vault under guard, recruits Silas for aid, and calls talks with Svanhild, Thorik, Halgarr, Victor, Radomir, and leaders from Calthorpe and Strothgard during the Shaper Attack on Rimvold and darkness outbreaks near Bjarnholt. Rimvold becomes the northern response's command center through those meetings, reinforcements, gate security, and vault work.
When Varnhallow breaks, Horol'Khai returns to Sigurd and his memories begin to clear. His recovered memories restore his Sigvariel identity as guardian of Malverand. He joins Thalena, Virel, Thorik, and Lythariel in responding to the collapse, meets Eliona again as another Malverand survivor, and later reviews the Varnhallow plan during the Haverloch discussions.
Sigurd vanishes with Silas after both touch a strange cylinder in Rimvold. Inside the void, he joins Thalena, Deylin, Lunorax, Silas, and Horol'Khai to complete the timerift loop that sends selected people into Varnhallow and the past. Deylin and Sigurd cast the timerifts. Thalena and Silas hold the void open, and Horol'Khai spends the last of her essence guiding the sequence. After years in the void, Sigurd remains with the missing group near the Chronasis gate and recalls Horol'Khai's promised gift when Lunorax proves to be that gift.
Relationships
- Horol'Khai: Sigurd's bound god, closest magical bond, and partner in the Varnhallow plan. She returns to him after the anomaly collapses and embraces him before dissolving.
- Michael / Eltaru: Sigurd's ancient ally in Malverand and co-architect of the Varnhallow anomaly.
- Isandriel: The guardian Barachiel created as a failsafe. Sigurd and Michael prepare Varnhallow's army for the campaign to remove Malverand's fallen guardians.
- Svanhild, Thorik, and Halgarr: Sigurd's closest northern allies during Varnhallow's attacks, the Bjarnholt darkness front, and the Shaper Attack on Rimvold.
- Silas, Jin, Lythariel, Virel, and Thalena: Later allies who aid Skarnheim through Varnhallow's collapse, the Shaper Attack on Rimvold, and the void loop.
- Uriandel, Eliona, and Raphael: Ancient Malverand survivors whose failures and surviving factions Sigurd later confronts.