The Berserker

That armor doesn't look very warm, you say? Barb doesn't care. You don't get to be a berserker by letting a petty thing like "cold" stop you. She's unashamed of her eccentricities, chest always puffed out with logic-defying pride. She can put up a hell of a fight, too, until her very last breath... and then some, with Grim on her team. Barb exemplifies the ferocity and loyalty valued by the lupine people.

It's surprisingly easy to forget that a fire can't burn forever, though. As high as Barb's high points can be, she can also burn out and hit some pretty low lows if she's not careful. Barb has a tendency to forget that a true warrior must stop fighting every so often to refuel and recharge. When she does hit these points of burnout, she tends to retreat to her bestial form and slink away from the group to mope, sometimes bemoaning that she's been truly spent this time and the party should move on without her. It's times like these that a pep talk and some soup are in serious order.

Biography

Early Years

Barb wasn't always an adventurer. Until recently, her strength was purely for performance, working as a strongwoman in a traveling circus troupe. Back then it was easy for her to rally her optimism for a crowd. Her inflated ego worked to her advantage.

Then

It wasn't to last. No source of fuel lasts forever, not even admiration, and Barb began to struggle. This caused her to face a number of... well... let's call them "creative differences" with her fellow performers. So she ran off to seek her fortune elsewhere, borrowing a few of the sword-juggler's props and sharpening them for good measure. Barb also made sure to actually practice with the things. A fighter with no finesse is no fighter at all.

Now

Rather than being recruited into the necromancer's party, it is Barb who approaches them in a local tavern. And by "approaches," i mean "flings the doors open and announces herself." They know the least about her, but she is willing to prove herself however she can.

Notes

Barb is a lycanthrope, one of a category of beastfolk that can change into an animal more closely resembling their wild counterpart. In Barb's case, this animal form is that of a wolf. It's unknown why some beastfolk can change shape and others cannot; some pin the blame on the gods of old, others on some twist of genetics. Regardless of why, there has been some historical tension between lycanthrope and non-lycanthrope beastfolk. The relationship between Barb and Ceri carries some of this tension.

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