Niklaus Gunnulf

The third son and fourth child born out of seven children, he was a child of a witch and a warrior. His father taught him how to fight on the battlefield. He had saved many of his fellow people on the battlefield and was held up in high esteem around the village. While His mother taught him how to use herbs to protect himself and fight off evil spirits. She was a healer in the village and someone people came to for fortunes. Their children were expected to do great things. The pressure of it was much to bear at times.

It was well known that the village Niklaus and his family lived in was the home of men who turned into wolves. Every full moon night, everyone was to lock their doors and put-up protections against the beasts. They would offer up livestock as a sacrifice so that the wolves were satiated. It was a routine that Niklaus knew well. He had always followed it until one night, his youngest brother, Erik, wanted to see the men turn into beasts. It would be dangerous, but Niklaus had always been curious himself as to how they did it. He took some of his mother's protective charms and they snuck out of their home when the moon was at its apex. They saw a group of men gathered in the woods, all of their bodies contorting in weird angles and most of them howling in screams of pain. It was fascinating to watch as their bodies turned.

The protection charms had worked until Erik had lost his on the walk back home. A wolf that had ventured towards the village, attacked both Niklaus and Erik. Niklaus was bitten and Erik was killed. He had to carry his brother's corpse back home. His mother and father were furious and mourned the loss of their youngest. They threw Niklaus out and disowned him. He thought that he would have no place to call home anymore. That he would starve, but he was welcomed by the men who turned into beasts whenever he told a stranger about how one of the wolves had bitten him. The next full moon was when he would turn. They all warned him about the excruciating pain, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come.