Ake

Cropped dark hair and a short beard frame Ake's face. His clothing pairs a short-sleeved shirt with a dark sleeveless tunic, and pale banding from an under-layer shows at the arms. Where most of his fellow raiders armor themselves for battle, he goes about without any protective plating.

Ake carries a dismissive, belittling streak, quick to talk down to the men around him and to sharpen an argument rather than let it drop.

Ake serves in Askeladd's band through the invasion of England, and in November 1013 he joins the sacking of a farming settlement west of London near Bath. A capable warrior who fights with an axe behind a shield, he sits at the victory feast afterward, trading talk with other raiders, Tore among them, about their captain's plans. When Ake suggests the group is wringing the district dry before turning north toward the Danelaw, Tore asks why they steer clear of wealthier towns; Ake calls him a fool and points out that their numbers scarcely pass a hundred. The insult stings Tore's pride, and the exchange curdles into open jeering, with Tore branding him a cattle thief.

Neither man will back down, so the words spill over into a duel. Bjorn steps in, judges the matter already past mending, and leaves the pair to settle it, asking only to be told if either falls so that word can reach Askeladd. Ake's refusal to yield proves fatal: Tore drives a sword through his chest and kills him.