
Audun the Vault (died 21 December 875) was a Northumbrian Danish thane from Jorvik (York) and a Preost and Warden of Law of the Order of the Ancients during the late 9th century AD. He organized a massacre at the city's Yuletide festival in 875 AD, but he was assassinated by the Viking warrior and Hidden Ones ally Eivor.
Biography[]
After Audun's raiding days ended, he chose to live out his later years as a wealthy, important man in the town of Jorvik. Honored by Halfdan himself, he accepted a thane's ring after the sacking of Jorvik. But when the Order of the Ancients tempted him with even wealth and power, he was no one to refuse.
The Vault[]
Audun served on the city's council alongside King Ricsige of Northumbria, Faravid, and Hjorr Halfsson, and he secretly provided a council seal to the dockmaster and fellow Order member Grigorii the Needle in order to forge council documents permitting him to confiscate merchants' wares; Grigorii would then melt down the merchants' silver into bars and coins, or sell the exotic goods for more silver. Audun used this silver to fund an extravagant Yuletide festival in York in December 875 AD, even as the city suffered from severe money shortages and its merchants grew restless. In addition, he helped Abbess Ingeborg to collect Christian texts and burn them, hoping to erase any beliefs which went against their worship of the old gods.

Audun and Ingeborg in December of 875 AD
Audun managed to keep his cover following the arrival of the Viking warrior and Hidden Ones ally Eivor in the city in December of 875 AD, coming across as a cheerful and trustworthy man. However, Eivor grew suspicious of him after discovering that Ingeborg was the member of the Order known as "the Firebrand", as he had seen Audun talking with Ingeborg in the city archives just hours before he discovered Ingeborg's burning of sacred texts and assassinated her at York Minster. In her last words, she bragged that one of "the four" was "theirs", referring to one of the for council members being loyal to the Order; it was some time before Eivor realized the meaning. Eivor also assassinated Grigorii at the Coppergate Market after discovering his loyalty to the Order, and he found the stolen council seal. This led Eivor and Ljufvina Bjarmarsdottir to deduce that one of the council members was an Order member, and they went on to investigate the archives and find a hidden room containing poisoned wine. They realized that the Order was planning to poison someone at the Yuletide festival, so they headed to the Jorvik Theatre (the old Roman amphitheatre) to investigate.
Death[]

Audun's death
Eivor went around to the council members, testing their knowledge by offering to drink wine with them. When Eivor invited Audun to have wine with him, Audun flat-out refused, saying that the wine was solely for the guests. This led Eivor to suspect Audun of being responsible, but, as he had to consult with Ljufvina before dealing with the unidentified Order member known only as "the Vault", he saw Audun take the stage with four nobles and make a toast with them. As the nobles started to choke and die from the poison, Audun insulted their lust for indulgence and their foolish pride, and he said that nobility was a death sentence. Eivor proceeded to chase Audun, shooting him in the back with an arrow before approaching him and stabbing him in the gut with a hidden blade. Audun was unrepentant in his last words, reiterating his insults towards the privileged nobles and expressing his pride in providing funds for the Order's future.