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Heroic Knight
 
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Last Login: Wednesday, March 03, 2010 6:24 PM
Posts: 148,
Visits: 1,895
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All hail Eyolf Hammerhand, undisputed king of the North.
All morn the king, his supreme sacrifice an example to us all on the festival of Freyrblot
The king lays dead and all is in disarray as those few of us present for the most holy of festivals, besieged by the Vitchrist acknowledging Finehair in our own lands, they put our people to the sword and torch, setting Viking against Viking in a war where none will profit.
Jarl Dreng and the noble hersir Helfdane set to the defense of the realm, ably advised by the tactical nouse of Svein and his brothers. I Eyvind provide insight into the omens of the gods as we eagerly await the arrival of Knud, chosen of Eyolf.
As the night draws on we revel in the glory of the gods and regale one another with tales of the exploits of Hammerhand and the Gods and of the many raids that led us to days of wealth and plenty.
Come the morning more of Finehair’s men are discovered in the woods by Fionavara as she gathers herbs and adds her own sacrifices and blessings in the grove of Freyr, surrounding the hallowed body of Eyolf with Blooms of crimson red to represent the blood he spilled to revitalize his lands.
Together she, Dreng and I remove Eyolf’s hammer, the shard of Mjollinir from the grove, I explain that whilst Eyolf has given his blood in sacrifice, the hammer represents the land and has been carried through the generations by those who would lead. Dreng cautions against any who might wield it in battle bearing the hammer until the new king is named, thus it is Fionavara who cradles it in her arms as we return to camp.
Tensions rise as Knud fails to arrive for the festival, there are fears he has been waylaid by Finehair and discussions wander over the possibility of who should be named king should Knud have fallen.
Despite my distrust of Dreng at the Thing of Hoyanger I am aware that he is the only named Jarl in the camp, this is tempered by the fact that his household lay dead or scattered and that Helfdane is the only one amongst us who commands a force of men. I am willing to be convinced by either parties claim for leadership in our defense but it seems that Freyr has intervened by sending prophecies to Dreng in the night, I try to interpret these dreams to the throng but my words are mistaken by many as support for Dreng, I council that we should consult Odin, the all seeing, so that I might read his wisdom in the matter but again I am shouted down.. I despair and see the best way to promote unity in our number is to find Knud, so set off in haste on the 2 day journey to his long hall.
Luck and the blessings of the Gods run with me once more as no more than half of one hour of my journey is behind me when I meet Knud and his retinue on their way to the festival, hastily I explain all that has happened as we make our way back to the Grove.
Once there it was short work for a man as deft with words as Knud to impose the will of Eyolf on the gathering and be proclaimed king of Hadeland. Jarl Dreng became hammer of the North, being presented with the shard of Mjollinir and became defender of the lands. Helfdane I was pleased to see was elevated to Jarldom in recognition of his contribution to the defence of the lands.
Finehair of course had other plans for Hadeland and it was now that he made them plain. One of his Jarls, flanked by two huscarls march into our camp and lay out his offer. We could leave in peace to continue our lives elsewhere, or we could stand, fight and die, but either way Finehair would be king of all Norway.
Knud took this offer in the manner that it was delivered and promised to think on it, agreeing to send emissaries to their boat within 3 hours to deliver his answer. It quickly became clear that all would stand and die here in defence of the land but we sought a way to turn this situation to our own advantage. There was also the important matter of the Freyrblot and sacrifices of great personal value to be made by all.
This galvanized the warp and weft of our minds, it had come to our notice that Finehair was rumoured to be a worshiper of the Vitchrist, the single Christian deity who preached love and mercy whilst launching the most bloody murders and tortures across the lands that had ever been witnessed. Perhaps if we could reveal to people that the advancement of the Vitchrist would mean the end of our true gods and our way of life they would abandon his cause and flock to our banner…
Knud sent me as Priest of Odin along with Fogle and Tindalos, the priests of Freyr to invite all of Finehair’s men present to attend the sacred grove, witness our sacrifices to the Gods and the look on as we consulted Odin for his blessings and teachings as how to proceed against Finehair. We made it plain that we would honour any readings of the runes that indicated we must leave and we made blood oaths to these men that they would only be harmed by the followers of Knud over our dead bodies. They promised to think on this invitation and would convey their intentions to Knud in due course.
At the appointed hour we made our way to the grove of Freyr, Ulf and I had brewed a powerful concoction to aid our commune with the gods, made of henbane, fly agaric and mead it made a potent and deadly mixture.
Before the reading though must come the sacrifices, Knud first as was befitting the king, many sacrificed much to Freyr in the hope that our prayers would be answered, the land revitalized and Finehair and his men repulsed once more.
Knud gave up one of his most trusted Thralls into the arms of Freyr, I gave my necklace of truth speaking, it was the only thing of any true value that I possessed. Perhaps the most poignant of sacrifices was the young woman who gave up her womb, her next born son as a sacrifice would be sworn as a priest of Freyr. Tindalos made it plain that any man who took this woman would have his virility struck from him unless he came truly in the name of Freyr.
After the sacrifices then the reading. As we had agreed I drew the runes and gave their meanings whilst Ulf pondered the Odin’s wisdom and delivered the verdict. The question was clear enough, would the rule of Finehair diminish the power of our true gods in this land. As I read, truly I saw Odin’s wisdom the last Rune drawn, the rune of action, was Raido, the cart wheel and the circle of life a Rune often depicting a journey. It intimated to me that we should leave, we should not needlessly spill our blood on these lands but move on and honor the gods in our own way and seek another chance to face down Finehair and his ever expanding domain.
Ulf though saw it differently, I bowed to his age and experience and kept my mouth shut, he read that Odin would have us fight these men and die if need be and so it was. As part of our pact Finehair’s men were now allowed to leave peacefully, what we did not know was that they took this chance, with us all in the grove, to march back through our camp and steal weapons, armour and riches, damn them for thieves and looters.
Time wore on and the effects of Ulf’s brew was heavy on my mind, I saw ghosts and images, apparitions from the past, those I had known before their faces changing into those I now thought of as my friends, black demons assailed me from the trees and the face of Knud warped into that of Finehair, my mind was a ragged cloth, caught in the breeze of the gods insanity, I had glimpsed Bifrost and it had tipped my mind toward unhinging.
Later as I recovered Knud called upon me, there was one newly come into our camp who proclaimed himself a skald, yet when asked to recount a tale of heroics he could but splutter and stutter and mumbled some half excuse about being under the effects of too much ale the night before. This man was to be questioned by Knud, yet he needed me to ensure that his words would not be those of a snake. Unfortunate then that my fabled necklace of Ansuz, rune of words and truths, steeped in magic and forged with my own blood now lay at the feet of dead Eyolf in the grove of Freyr.
It was not outside my power however to call down Odin’s will, focusing my energies upon the Rune carved deep into my own flesh I channeled the will of Odin and seared the mark upon the forehead of this supposed skald, drained and enfeebled I dropped back onto a bench as Knud proceeded to question the man.
It turned out that he was a spy and an assassin working for Finehair, it was by his hand that Skymir was slain and it seemed he had sworn a blood oath to serve Finehair until his death, it was an easy decision for Knud to release him from that oath swiftly and permanently.
I must admit that my stomach weakened as the bowels of this unfortunate fool loosed themselves on his demise, I stumbled outside and sought some air in the woods, making some excuse of searching for herbs. I promised not to travel far from camp and quietly went about this meditative task.
Within a short while I chanced upon Helfdane’s men with Fionavara, they too were searching for herbs, it seemed sensible to split up, 2 of the men with Fionavara and two, Bosey and Perryn to travel with me, our keen eyes would surely find many useful medicinal plants. Sure enough in some quiet grove we espied some plants but this is the last I remember, hit heavily from behind I remember tumbling headlong toward the undergrowth, ambushed no doubt, my last thought that I hoped the others managed to escape….. My tale it seemed had come to an end.
More doubtless took place, many struggles with the seemingly endless hordes of Finehair, groups of backstabbing Turks, hired to assassinate Knud, skalds telling tales of Fenris and the spider, daughters being married to Helfdane by drunken mothers, thralls pissing in the cider… the night wore on and the group must have wondered if they would see the morning.
Morning did come though and a plan was struck, it seemed the reading had been accurate after all, a journey, steal one of Finehair’s boats and make for Iceland, there men could be found, a relative of Fionavara was a Jarl there and an alliance could be made, there may even have been a hint of marriage between King Knud and Fionavara to cement such an alliance but then there is always a lot of talk on long sea journeys….
What now for King Knud, where his kingdom, where his people and what power will he wield?
Vikings III Invasion – Be part of the story
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Prodigal
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 5:52 PM
Posts: 602,
Visits: 3,064
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| I approve of this, and enjoyed reading it ... Nicely written.
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