Andrei Ehrenström

Andrei Ehrenström is the oldest of 4 children, and son of Konstantin and Deanna Ehrenström; he lives in District 7 where he works as a carpenter. His application can be found here.

Andrei Mattias Ehrenström

Background
District	7
Age	22
Profession	Carpenter
Height/Weight	6'5"/225 lbs
Hair/Eyes	Brown/Brown
Parents	Konstantin Ehrenström (father) Deanna Ehrenström (mother)
Siblings	Leif Ehrenström (brother) Freja Ehrenström (sister) Aniike Ehrenström (sister)
Weapons	Axe ('Skeggjöld') Knife ('Hrund')
Ship	Ehrenleaf
played by Artemis

Early Life

For the most part, Andrei would say his upbringing was normal, though his parents might beg to differ by the fact that he was their first child. According to him, he doesn't much remember anything before he was about 5 years old, and anything between then and now can largely be condensed to stories about him getting into fights with schoolkids and watching his father work the shop.

But, it is just a little more complicated than that. When Andrei was 6 years old, his first sibling would join the family; a little brother named Leif. Initially, he was neither charmed nor thrilled by this crying, drooling pink thing his parents had brought home, especially not when Leif was old enough to be out of a crib and shared a room with him. But, as Leif got older and began toddling after his big brother, Andrei did eventually warm up to the role... though he did more than his share of tormenting Leif as siblings do.

Meanwhile, Andrei would frequently spend time with his father watching him work in the carpentry shop. Konstantin's family had been in carpentry --in its various forms-- for several generations, though he wouldn't start learning himself until he was old enough to apprentice at 14. Somewhere around the house, the toys Andrei made for his siblings track his progress; his first attempts were crude at best, growing more ornate and sophisticated as he honed his skills; the various scars on his hands are a more permanent catalog of the learning process.

By that time, the family had gotten even bigger; twins didn't just run in the Ehrenström family, they rampaged. It was considered nothing short of a miracle that Deanna was pregnant again, but came as little surprise to Konstantin that their little miracle wasn't just one, but two baby girls. Freja and Aniike would, in no time at all, come to have the entire family wrapped around their little fingers; Andrei especially. With Konstantin and Deanna ever the busier with work to support the growing family, Andrei had a very heavy hand in raising his brother and sisters from that point forward. He credits many years of babysitting and generally looking after them with the reason for why he is the only one able to flawlessly tell Freja and Aniike apart.

Siblings

His reserved nature shouldn't be mistaken for weakness, however. Being the oldest of 4 siblings has instilled in Andrei a powerful sense of responsibility to take care of and protect his brother and sisters, a duty that he takes very seriously. His siblings could easily describe him as attentive and warmhearted, bending over backwards and taking on extra work to make their lives a little bit easier; on the flip side, however, he is ferociously protective of his siblings and has earned a reputation as a brawler for the number of times he's come to their aid.

Present

Andrei was, thankfully, fortunate enough to have avoided the Reapings (not that it stopped Konstantin from grappling and roughhousing with his oldest son to try and teach him to defend himself). His siblings are all still eligible, and unable to stand by helpless, Andrei has been teaching his brother and sisters everything he knows about combat... Which, unfortunately, is wildly informal and largely improvised, backed only by his experience getting into spats over the years. Though he is a grown man, Andrei still lives with his parents, working his hands to the bone as a carpenter to ensure that Leif, Freja and Aniike never have to take tessarae. Though the family doesn't have much, they have enough to try and swing the odds in their favor.

Trivia

• Ehrenström family naming dynamic is (loosely) Swedish
• Andrei, Romanian form of 'Andrew', means 'man' or 'of a man' _{Swedish spelling: Andrej}
• Mattias, Swedish form of 'Matthias/Matthew', means 'gift of god'
• Ehrenström is a two-part Swedish surname; 'Ehren' meaning 'alder tree' and 'ström' meaning 'stream'
• Konstantin, derivative of Constans, meaning 'steadfast'
• Leif is a Swedish name meaning 'heir' or 'descendant'
• Freja is a Swedish name meaning 'lady', also refers to Norse goddess of love, beauty, war and death
• Aniike, form of Swedish 'Annika' ('Anna'), meaning 'favor' or 'grace'
• Andrei's axe Skeggjöld is named after a Valkyrie whose name means 'axe age'
• Andrei's knife Hrund is named after a Valkyrie whose name means 'pricker'