Fictional Character Biography
Arak's mother, Star-of-Dawn (of the Quontauka Indian tribe) was seduced by the evil serpent god while wandering alone. She realized at the last moment what was happening, and tried to escape before the final act. Responding to her prayers, she was rescued by He-No, the Thunder God, who took her into his realm. Under his care she recovered from the serpent god's poisonous bite, and she gave herself to him in gratitude. Although she enjoyed her time with him, she did not really love him, and missed her people; so he returned her to her tribe. Her grandfather, the tribal shaman, recognized the touch of both deities upon her, and that she bore He-No's child. She named him Bright-Sky-After-Storm, for 'he will follow in his father's footsteps, who is the thunder'. Years later, a tribe that worshipped the serpent deity attacked while the serpent itself attacked He-No; the Thunder God was winning but saw his son about to die. He struck down the attacker, suffering severe wounds in the process. While most of his tribe was slaughtered, his father arranged for Bright-Sky-After-Storm to wind up in a canoe and float out to sea, beyond his enemies' reach.
Bright-Sky-After-Storm was discovered as a boy in a canoe out at sea by Vikings. Bright-Sky-After-Storm is rescued just before the canoe sinks. He is unconscious, but awakens just long enough to utter the phrase He-No (a reference to his Native American father) a few times and swing a knife at the Viking leader. He was not attacking, but cut off the leader's necklace which has a hammer symbol called a hammer of thunder (related to the god Thor from Norse mythology). The leader wants to kill him, but another Viking stops him and adopts the boy. He names him Arak (intended as "Eric" but Bright-Sky-After-Storm mispronounced it) and raises Bright-Sky-After-Storm as a Viking, trained in warfare. Arak is particularly effective with a small axe, similar in proportion to a native American club he was found with, but can also use a sword, shield, and bow.
Arak joins the Vikings as a young man on their raids. They consist mostly of raiding monasteries for treasure, including a huge gold bejeweled cross which the captain hangs upside down on the mast as a good luck hammer of thunder. Near the end of the first issue, a sea serpent sent by the sorceress Angelica attacks the Vikings and some monks. All of the Vikings, including Arak's adoptive father, are killed. Arak seizes the gold cross and says "Hammer of one god, or cross of another, strike for me now!"; he throws the cross, which has a sharp bottom, at the serpent. The cross pierces the roof of its mouth and enters its brain, killing it. Arak manages to save one monk. The monk tells him that God has delivered them. Arak replies he does not know it if it had been the monk's god, Thunder, or his own god, whom he had all but forgotten.
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