Editing Sven Langbard

{{Infobox Individual
|image             = Sven Langbard.png
|species           = Human
|job               = Viking
|affiliation       = The Colonel
|birth             = [[975]] [[AD]]
|origin            = [[Norway]], [[Earth]]
|first cs          = The Legions of Death (game)
|appearances       = [[PROSE]]: {{cs|Revelry of the Redacted (short story)}}
}}
'''Sven Langbard''', ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}}, {{cs|The Legions of Death game)|namedpart=Role Playing the Adventure}}) also sometimes modernised as '''Sven Longbeard''', (([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}}) was an [[11th century]] [[Viking]] who became a [[companion]] of the [[Renegade Time Lord]] known as [[the Colonel]] after helping him to defeat a [[Sontaran officer (The Legions of Death)|Sontaran]]. He may have been involved in the Colonel's battle against [[The War Chief (The Legions of Death)|the War Chief]] in [[1st century]] [[Britain]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Legions of Death (game)}})

== Biography ==
=== Origins ===
Sven Langbard was born in [[975]] [[AD]] in [[Norway]]. He was a "fairly typical Viking warrior, interested in pillage and plunder" until one day, with Sven nearing [[30 (number)|30]], his longship crossed paths with a crashed [[Sontaran scout-ship]]. The [[Sontaran officer (The Legions of Death)|Sontaran officer]] had survived the crash and single-handedly took command of Sven's band of Vikings; with no way to contact his people, the Sontaran hoped to become a local overlord and eventually take over the whole of the [[Earth]] in the name of the [[Sontaran Empire]]. The [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] dispatched [[the Colonel]] to investigate; Sven, who disliked his new leader, assisted the [[Time Lord]]. Awed by the Gallifreyan's [[supernatural]] powers, Sven regarded him as "a kind of [[god]]" and decided to stow away on [[the Colonel's TARDIS]], hoping to "get a glimpse of [[Valhalla]]", and was reluctantly accepted as an ongoing [[companion]] by the Colonel thereafter. 

On one occasion, Sven "picked up a [[Dalek]] and used it to knock down three others", which meant he was severely disappointed in the aliens' combat prowess and reverted to hoping to someday meet a Sontaran in one-on-one combat ad his greatest hoped; despite "the vast physical strength of the Sontarans", several of his fellow TARDIS-travellers "[we]re betting on Sven to win such a fight". ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}}) 

=== In Roman Britain ===
Seven may have been among the Colonel and-or his daughter [[Leora]]'s party of companions when, ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}}) while in flight in the [[Time Vortex]], they detected the energy signature of an unauthorised TARDIS stationed in [[Britain]] in [[43]] [[A.D.]] and decided to investigate. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Temporal Anomaly}}) The [[Third Doctor]] and one or more of his companions may also have been involved. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}}) With their TARDIS (or TARDISes) locking them out after they ventured out, the time-travellers had no choice but to join up with the remainders of a Roman scouting party which had been ambushed by unexpected, anachronistic Briton forces. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Field of Battle}}, {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Falco's Story}}) Their subsequent misadventures may have split the party as some of them were captured, ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Player Options}}) ending up, either way, with some of them being taken to the Britons' camp to be interrogated by [[Cunovellasus]] ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=In the Briton camp}}) while others reached the Roman camp, ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=In the Roman camp}}) If he found himself among the Britons, Sven would understand their mindset better than the others, and be an asset in negotiating with them. On the other hand, at the Roman camp, his barbarian-like demeanour would contribute to [[Lucius Geta]] and [[Posides]]'s suspicions that the travellers were Briton spies. ([[GAME]]: {{cs|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Role Playing the Adventure}})

The time-travellers eventually discovered that the culprit was [[The War Chief (The Legions of Death)|the War Chief]], posing as the "war god" of the [[Sacred Wood]], who had been interfering with the Roman conquest of Britain as part of a scheme to take over the entire [[Roman Empire]] from within by hypnotising [[Emperor of Rome|Emperor]] [[Claudius]]. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=The War Chief}}) With the help of Roman [[Tribune]] [[Marcus Cornelius Falco]] and Briton [[Princess]] [[Branimandua]], they eventually managed to foil his operation by smashing his [[Processing Machine]]s, but in all likelihood he managed to escape. Falco, Branimandua or both may then have joined the group of time-travellers as additional [[companion]]s. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Escape}}, {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedep=Ending the Adventure}})

== Physical appearance ==
Sven was a broad, muscular man of "gigantic" height with long, dirty-blond hair and an unkempt [[beard]]. He was said to look "every inch a Viking even" even when he adopted "more civilised clothing" than his typical hairy [[breeches]], scale-armour [[hauberk]], and conical [[helmet]]. He was also rarely seen without a "small arsenal of edged weapons" on his belt. ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}})

== Personality ==
Sven had a "friendly and cheerful" disposition but was largely amoral; he followed [[the Colonel]] into battle for love of a "good fight" and thirst for glory, as well as because he believed the Colonel to be a [(god]], rather than because of an inner drive do protect the innocent. He was, nevertheless, "hearty and good-natured, a good friend" and a "loyal comrade"; indeed, even to his foes, he was "a cheerful enemy who [fought] for fun, not for hate". He disliked [[bath]]ing and dressing up in modern outfits, also "def[ying] anyone to rim his hair or beard".

Despite his coarse manner, he was not unintelligent, where practical matters were concerned, but had little head for anything beyond combat: "[[architecture]] he evaluate[d] for defensibility, artefacts for value as plunder, people for usefulness as fighters or as [[slave]]s". ([[GAME]]: {{cite source|The Legions of Death (game)|namedpart=Player Characters}})

{{NameSort}}
[[Category:10th century individuals]]
[[Category:11th century individuals]]
[[Category:Vikings]]
[[Category:Human time travellers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Colonel]]