Astrudr the Honey Keeper {Trudie}

Character Name: Astrudr {Known to everyone as "Trudie"}

Name Meaning: god-strength

Age: 50

Date of Birth: Spring 2960

Race: Beorning

Residence: The Vales of Anduin, in the home of Heard.

Profession: Beekeeper, Baker, House-bear.

Appearance:
On the short side for a Beorning, Trudie stands at a mere seven feet 1/4 inch, looking up to nearly all of her people, at least, those of age. A bit on the fluffy side, she has tawny hair and amber eyes, and toothy smile nestled between red, rosy cheeks, and skin tanned from working outdoors. 

Trudie is a skilled skin-changer. When in her bear form, she is soft and fluffy with tawny fur, standing at a mere 14 feet from nose to toes.

Personality:

Trudie has what cold be considered a fluffy personality. She is capable, happy-go-lucky, and has a disarming nature that can turn the eyes of even the most taciturn bear. She is unpretentious, and warm in relation to nearly every Beorning she crosses path with, as well as many of the forest creatures, speaking well the language of bears and of bees.

Bees need their nectar, as the Beornings need the bees. A devoted beekeeper, she spends a great amount of time in the meadows surrounding her home, gardening and tending to the wildflowers, and filling vases of them to decorate her home where the windows stand open wide and the bees buzz in and out to collect nectar even from her windowsills. Second to her flower tending come the bee skeps themselves, which Trudie keeps in fine repair, and carefully gathers the honey from, without harming a single bee. Her third mission is to process the honey, of which their house is filled with cupboards and jars, and jars, upon jars and jars of. She has no hesitancy to work with the traders who come through looking for honey and comb from her stores. And lastly she bakes. Trudie's honeycakes are known through the Vales as some of the best, for she has perfected her skill over many moons and delights in it, and her husbear always takes the first taste of any new recipe she tries. It is rare that those other than the Beornings themselves have ever tasted one of her cakes; and she has never shared her secret recipe.

Trudie is a skilled skin changer, having learned at only the age of a toddler to shift into her bear form and climb out of sight up the nearest tree in search of hives while her parents frantically tried to wrestle her down. Though, she uses her skill for little else than honey collecting, to the displeasure of some. In Trudie's world house-bears are just as important as war-bears, for someone must stay home to guard home and cub and and feed the warriors upon their return.

Her husbear and grandcubs are her greatest delight. As a beartaker of the little ones, she keeps at least one eye on them usually. As long as they are within roaring distance of one Beorning or another, she does not mind if they run a bit feral and wild safe in the vales. Trudie has very little patience for anyone who may lay threat to the grandcubs she is raising, and has been known to shift rapidly to raging grandmama-bear to protect them from any wild creature which may wish to harm them. It can also be said that her fluffy nature can be decimated by a single word against her wonderfully brave and strong Heard, and nobody should dare insult his lack of shifting ability in her earshot.





Parents:
Klólâk, father. (Claw - boundary line)
Býfridr, mother. (Bee - protection)

Husbear: Heard

Cubs:
Ealdian, son. Deceased.
Nelda, daughter-in-law. Deceased.

Grandcubs:
Orvin, grandson.
Wilona, granddaughter.

History:

Before the war that drove the great dragon Smaug to his death, the skin changers lived alone, scattered up and down the Misty Mountains, sometimes by word of mouth discovering one another and raising small families until they were run off by the woodsmen, or decimated by the orcs. Perhaps almost vanquished.

It was not long after the Battle of the Five Armies that the renown of Beorn spread into every dell from the north to the south of the Misty Mountains, It was then that the forest men; those who were shifters drew together and began to live truly as a clan, beginning in part with a small village, but as time went on and word spread, it slowly expanded as people came from up and down the mountains to be with those who were like them.

The Beornings found that they could work well together. Though bears are solitary creatures, the bear-men found that they could patrol the forests and mountain passes together and stave off the goblin, orc, and warg with greater ferocity than ever before. They became their own nation. A 'people' to themselves. It was also found that once the surrounding lands were cleared of orcs, their village could thrive in safety.

Those skin-changing men and women of the first generation began to pair off and take husband and wife, building homes much in the style of Beorn's, living off the land, and creating families of their own. For the first time, the cubs born to the skin changers could have playmates, and refuge within the Vales of the Anduin. They grew strong and hardy, and wild.

Klólâk and Býfridr congregated in the Vales of the Anduin and became a mated pair. Klólâk, taking the form of a great grey bear; was among the first to join alongside Beorn in the clearing of the mountain passes, while Býfridr in those days would remain in the Vales and craft great feasts for the patrols upon their return.

Astrudr was of the first generation born in the Vales; the first generation which came to be called Beornings beneath their leader, Beorn of renown, and her cub-hood was full of romps in the meadows of the Vale, sticking by her Mother's side and learning the art of gardening and bee-keeping. Learning the recipes of honey cakes, and how to tend to the hives and cows. She became known as Trudie among her people.

It was after twelve springs that in the boughs of a tree as Trudie came seeking a stray colony of bees that were setting up shop, that she looked down upon the Chieftan's first son, Heard, and saw him with tears in his eyes. She knew why, for it was the day that his second son Grim, was given the title of Grimbeorn, and Heard was no longer considered the heir to Beorn's name, all for the sake that Heard had never come able to change skins.

Trudie never told Heard of the day she had seen him cry, remaining patient and motionless within the tree until she had watched his large form lumber off, but she took a fondness to him that day, and over years she gained his friendship and trust, making known her affections. She never judged him for his inability to shift-change, for he too was fierce and though he did not see it, Trudie saw that his shape did not hold him back. None could stand against the axe of Heard.

Eventually taken to wife by Heard, they sired a son, Ealdian. Ealdian's skill was apparent from the start, and while her husband taught him by way of axe, Grimbeorn taught him, as his Father before, in the wielding of tooth and claw. And while Grimbeorn would not be distracted from his duties while taking a wife, Ealdian became considered the next heir of the title of the Beornings, and all were pleased for he would make a fine leader.

There was one difference of opinion taken by Ealdian however, and that was his desire to raise a family of his own. Nelda came as his wife, a strong leader in battle herself, and she bore twin cubs, taking several years break from her duties, though returned thereafter to patrol alongside Ealdian while he continued to gain in skill.

That was until the autumn of 3009, when the Beornings were diverting a large pack of wargs from the pass, Ealdian and Nelda, being the faster among them, led the wargs and orc riders on a chase down the mountainside to where the rest of the Beornings were gathered ready to decimate them. It was when Nelda's foot became caught in a snare, set of orcish design, and the wargs closing the gap between them, that Nelda shifted back to her human form to use her hands and free herself. Not moving quickly enough, the wargs descended on her thin human skin and pierced her to death. Ealdian, hearing the scream, turned and dove straight into the pack, well overnumbered and also lost his life. Upon hearing the fight the rest of the Beornings found their way to the feasting wargs and managed to kill the ones which had lingered, though many had already escaped their tooth and claws. Grimbeorn was among the patrol and had been the one to take the word back to Heard and Astrudr that their son, and Grimbeorn's heir, had been killed.

Trudie was torn by the news of her son's death, though capable and able to carry on, she easily took in her two grandcubs, Wilona and Orvin, to raise as her own, and still she has Heard beside her.