Chapter 1: Prologue
Deep beneath the ocean's surface, miles and miles below, a young man grieved. This man was not an ordinary man, but a mystical Scandinavian being. He was a havsrå or in his case, more specifically, a havsmän.
He and his family grieved for his lost young, for you see, the recently born havsbarn had been stolen from him, with no trace left behind by the cruel net of a fisherman. Their wails and moans stirred the ocean, causing a great turmoil on the surface; one that would damn any sailor, any fishermen, any man who dared sail a similar treacherous vessel as the one who had taken his young away from him.
It is said that that day many ships were sunk by the havsrå's devestated, devestating cry.
Years and years crept by, each day the man and his family searched for his young, each day any ship who dared sail through their waters suffered great losses, seldom were any men spared. Those who were spared spoke of beautiful beings who would lure men towards the edge of the ship and would drag them under; Of beautiful songs so full of sorrow and anger that the ocean itself would become enraged and destroy anything in its path, turning ships to ruin and causing anything caught in this phenomenon to be lost forever.
Meanwhile, the young havsbarn lived with the fisherman who had discovered him and his lover. He was given the name of Peter Kirkland and denied knowledge of his origin and even true identity. Four years passed living with this family before his village was attacked and they were separated. Young Peter was lost in the panic as villagers rushed out of the burning remains of the village, taking only what they could carry. His guardians searched high and low as long as they could, but it became increasingly hard to maintain hope that he wasn't one of the many lives lost. Eventually, they fled the charred remains of the village in tears, presuming him to be dead. Little did they know that the young boy had hidden under the port, the waves' gentle rhythm calling to him and soothing him, dissipating his fear, and drying his tears.
He remained there for hours, through the attack of the village, and even after the whole thing had ended, until he was discovered by a group of passing warriors who had seen the burnt down little village and decided to investigate. It was the leader of these warriors who took the boy in as his own and raised him, a large, intimidating viking by the name of Berwald. He taught the boy to fight and hunt and Peter went 3 more years unaware of who he was, unaware of the extent his family went through to find him, until a chance encounter the day he turned seven.
