[VI2 AAR] Of Ravens and Dragons

[lord of eras]

Prologue:
It was winter in Jelling.

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In the the black night not illuminated by sun or moon but by the dim light of the distant stars snowflakes fell like blossoms from the sky and swirled around in the wind. In the houses all the inhabitant's of the Danish city where kings and jarls meet huddled around the fire, trying to hold on to some shred of warmth. Though the King is higher and mightier than his subjects, he was no more impervious to cold and frost, and consequentially the great table at which the King and his Jarls, and other people of note, I among them, was placed near the place where great stocks of wood burned to a crisp to warm us. After what was approximately the sixth round of ale, the King of Denmark said a few words that changed the night unbidden: " You, Huskarl, you served across the sea in the island of Britjan. Surely you must have many interesting tales from that long period? What's your name again? Guthrum? Guthlaf? Oh, right, Gudrod." Surprised at being called on, I replied :" Yes, my lord. In fact, I have just thought of a most interesting tale. But, I must warn you, once I have begun the telling, you will be unable to stop listening, which may deprive you of the sleep we all know you require to run our great kingdom." "Gudrod, I would stay up until next week to hear your tale." he said with a certain trace of doubt. "Very well, I shall tell it. Doubtless all of you have heard parts of it, but having participated in most of it, I can relate it most fully of any man here. It is, of course, the saga of our conquests in Britjan, which I joined in the summer of 851..."
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Chapter 1- Taking Flight
"My tale begins in the summer of the year 851, in a town named Cantwareburh.

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I had been sent by good king Horik to Britjan to be Prince Ketil's second-in-command and from this position report to the King on our progress in the conquest of the island. After being unloaded on the coast of a land called East Anglia, I met one of our commanders, Captain Njal. He had attempted to lay siege to a nearby unaffiliated settlement called Medeshamsted, but after approaching the town he discovered he was out numbered and broke off the siege.

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Using directions from the locals to whom I disguised myself as a spy heading to Cantwareburh on the orders of the Saxon king to spy on our troops who were already known to have taken the town, within a week I made it to the capital of Cantware.
On a sunny morning I reached the town, and immediately made my way to a long house right next to the town square, which I took to be the headquarters of Ketil's army.

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My assumption was proven to be correct, as I opened the door and was immediately challenged by a strong voice:"Who goes there?"
Taking a few steps forward, I saw the voice originated from a rather heavyset guard.

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Again, he spoke, this time in a much louder voice: "Who are you, and by what right do you enter the great Ketil's hall?"
I replied in a stern voice:" I am Gudrod, a Huskarl of King Horik. I am sent here by his order to be second-in-command to the great Prince Ketil and advise him."
Now, had the guard been trained in the arts of the mind a little more instead of training in the art of killing, he would not have let me in then and there. But he could not be bothered to investigate further, and so he said:"Carry on."
I did so, and it appeared I had arrived at a rather good time. Ketil, who I had known from years of training together at Horik's court, seemed to be in council with his various commanders. The fierce blue eyes of all assembled turned to the newcomer, and I introduced myself: "I am Gudrod. I am here on a mission from the King."
Ketil spoke first: "Ah, Gudrod. It is very good to see you again indeed. I trust you bring news from our far-off homeland?" "Indeed I do, my lord," I replied, "a very good piece of news, in fact. You see, I was not the only one your father is sending to aid you. Horik himself is unable to come, but he is sending some spearmen and Huskarls such as myself to reinforce you in your campaigns. Sea Captain Thorvald is shipping them here, and they should arrive in Britjan within three seasons."

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"Very good. Now let's see this letter of yours." Apparently he had noticed the letter from Horik sticking out of my pack. He paused for a few minutes, after which he said:" Well then, it says you are to be my second in command. All right then. Everyone, please welcome your new leader, under me of course, Gudrod Haraldsson of Jelling!" No applause. Ketil continued, with a slight mark of concern appearing on his face. "Now let's get to business. As you all know, we have scored a major victory in capturing Cantwareburh for the King. However, it is also known that a true Dane never rests while his enemies live. And the fall of one town has not toppled the West Saxon kingdom. It is a blow for them, especially now we have a foothold in their land, but they are still defiant and numerous. Not only that, but I have received reports saying that unrest is rising among the populace here, and that will lead to riots. That will cause us to lose precious manpower, which we cannot afford. Therefore, I have decided that we shall leave the town tomorrow, leaving Erik here," he gestured at an older man, who seemed not to be pleased at Ketil's intentions,"in charge of a skeleton force to keep order. Runolf the spy will go ahead of us to scout out possible settlements to attack. Are we all agreed?" Judging solely by facial expressions, Ketil was alone in this plan, as his subordinates showed their obvious displeasure at leaving the comforts, though scant in this hostile land, of a walled settlement. But they knew better than to anger their commander. "Yes!" went the shout, and Ketil concluded: "We leave tomorrow at dawn." I was then shown to a bed in an adjoining room as the council dispersed.
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The day passed uneventfully, except for the swift departure of Runolf the aforementioned spy. As I lay on my bed trying to sleep, I thought: Just my luck, I arrive and then everybody departs!
Eventually I drifted off to sleep, only to wake as the sun made its first steps up the strange British sky.
"Come, Huskarl!" came a voice. After a few second I realized it belonged to Ketil. "It is time you assumed your duties as my direct subordinate! Here, take these." Drowsily, I recognized the items he presented to me as the raiment and axe of a Hirdmann, a Danish commander's bodyguard. "As your lord, I expect you to fight alongside me in the Hirdmenn." This was not unexpected, it was only obvious for a prince and his subordinate, I had often dreamt of being a Hirdmann in my youth at Horik's court and on my way across the stormy sea. Out of my room's window I already saw our troops being mustered. After an hour or two of preparation, we stood in formation at the gate of Cantwareburh, me at front with Ketil. We left, and I thought: This is it. Your first battle, Gudrod. Are you ready to enter Valhalla at such an early age?
But I managed to dismiss that cowardly thought, and instead said to myself: I will not fail. I will not enter Valhalla until I am old and grey and fought many, many battles. I will never fail myself, or my lord, Ketil, Horik, or any other.


So, I'm back. After months of absence from these forums following the untimely demise of my Romano-British AAR, I have returned to grace you with an epic tale of conquest and duty. This chapter was not, as you may imagine, supposed to be action-packed or suspenseful. Instead, this first chapter was intended to introduce my protagonist and world, and give you a little taste of what's to come in this new tale.

I hope you enjoyed this opening, but mainly I hope you will follow Gudrod in the many battles and trials that await him in this embattled land.

Lord of Eras

[McScottish]

I like it! Shall be watching this one, as I watch all AAR's. Love the intro and look very forward to seeing more.

[lord of eras]

Chapter 2- Raven Rising
My tale continued. "And so, as summer ended and winter set in, we left Cantwareburh.
Two pieces of news arrived on the third day of our journey, one good and one bad. The first came a few minutes after mid-day, as an unidentified figure came to our camp, running as fast as its legs would allow. As the guards halted him at the entrance, I came with Ketil to see who it was. Then we saw it was no enemy. A familiar but ragged-looking Dane came, and before anyone spoke I realized who it was. Erik, the middle-aged commander Ketil had left in charge of Cantwareburh. He said:"We are defeated. Those treacherous Christ-worshipping toads rebelled and pushed us out of the town. I almost died, and it is all thanks to you!"

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He pointed at Ketil. "Now, " the Prince responded, "let's not argue among ourselves. We may have lost Cantwareburh, but it is irrelevant now. Once we have more troops we can spare to retake lost towns we will re-conquer Cantwareburh, but for now we must focus on defeating those who are an actual threat, such as the West Saxon kingdom." Erik reluctantly gave up on his indictment of the Prince in the disaster, and went to a tent that was vacated by a group of understandably dismayed spearmen, cursing all the way.
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The second piece of news, one more uplifting, came after sundown. Runolf, our spy, had returned from scouting out the land. He said to the gathered commanders:" I have traveled north-east of our camp, and I bring good news. A few day's march from here is a Saxon-held town called Lundenwic. It is lightly garrisoned by a few hastily-mustered peasants and a token unit of spearmen. It is only fortified by a wooden wall, and it is not governed by anyone of note in the Saxon hierarchy. We should be easily able to conquer it."

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Delighted, the Prince considered this, and then replied:"Very well. March ahead of us and reenter Lundenwic. When we are at the walls we will give you a signal and you will open the gates. Understood?" "Yes lord!" Runolf replied, and he was off like the shadow he was.

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And so, we broke camp, and marched north, to Lundenwic. Within five days we were at the walls. Beyond the wall I could see frightened Saxons scurrying to and fro like the mice whose courage they shared.
A single arrow was fired in the air, and within seconds the gate was open. Ketil shouted:"Sons of Odin to me!"
A few minutes later we were all gathered by the Prince. He did not give any speech, later explained by his saying:" Such a minor foe deserves no speech."

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Ketil commanded the spearmen and axemen and also the Huskarls to charge through the open gate, and so they did, streaming into Lundenwic, frightening the gathered Christ-worshippers.

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We were far too many and too strong for those cowardly Saxons to stand and fight for any length of time, and so before long they fled like the cowards they were.

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But then they gathered some inner courage and stood their ground within sight of the town square.

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Soon, though, our brave spearmen slaughtered their Saxon counterparts until only nine of the Christ-worshippers remained, who promptly retreated to the square, where a strange obelisk stood, perhaps a memorial to times gone by when the Saxons worshipped Thor and Woden too, before Christ came to Britjan.

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Now, with the only unit which could offer any semblance of serious resistance mostly defeated, Ketil ordered all who had remained outside the town, and we charged in, axes held high. When I arrived at the square some peasants had held their ground, desperately holding on to every inch of the wooden platform.
Among them was a Saxon in armor, whom I took to be their commander.
He fought bravely, the proverbial lion leading an army of sheep.
He would go to Christ quickly in reward.
We fought some more, and soon in the chaos of the battle for the square a spear thrust slew the captain, who later I learned was called Leofgar.

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Demoralized by the loss of their commander, the Saxons fought on to the last peasant protecting the corpse of his captain, but he swiftly joined Leofgar.
With all the Saxons now dead, all of our army rejoiced, swords, axes, and spears held in the air in triumph.

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The battle, my first ever, was over, and it was a resounding success.

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Following the battle, Ketil rounded up all of the people of Lundenwic, who cowered in fear of the Danes as they were forcibly led out of their homes to the square where their failed protectors were now food for the carrion birds.
Ketil decided not to fully exterminate the city, after all, dead men don't pay taxes.
Instead, he decided to take some of the men, women, and children, and pack them off to Denmark to be sold as slaves.

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1123 Saxons were deported from Lundenwic that day, sadly being led out of their town to begin a new life of slavery in our land.
Meanwhile, from the homes they left behind, our men happily looted 202 shillings worth of items, which went straight to our war chest. Perhaps more, much more, was looted, but a Dane does not give up anything easily, and they were forgiven for withholding some of their plunder.
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At night, in my bed in the captured Saxon fort, I tormented myself with thoughts of the battle.
Coward, I said to myself, your first battle, and you didn't even get a speck of blood on your axe! What a manly Dane you are!
Indeed, I was more than a little disappointed at not having much of an active role in the battle, but then, as always, I managed to console myself: If you had ran to fight with the common axemen, not only would you have been disobeying your lord, but you may have been slain. Yes, the best death a Dane can have is death in battle, but what worth is there in dying pointlessly and dishonorably in disobedience as you would have?
I slept, dreaming of great battles and glory and of the mead of Valhalla...
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I woke to shouts:"All hail our new Jarl!" Bolting out of bed, I sought Ketil to find out what was happening. He said:" Today you will receive great honor!" He read my puzzled expression, and continued:"Today is both my wedding day and the day the first Danish Jarldom is created in Britjan. You see, you will be acting in lieu of my father in granting me the title of Jarl of East Seaxe." East Seaxe, I remembered, that's the name of the land surrounding Lundenwic.
The next hour, I was standing in the town square where not one day earlier Leofgar fell, but now it was cleaned of filthy Saxon bodies.

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Inside the hall, I had been witness to the marriage of Ketil and Esgerth, a young camp follower the Prince had recently become enamored of. Now, I stood in front of the Prince and his new wife, and said that all assembled, proud Danes and the remaining Saxons in Lundenwic who had been compelled to attend, could hear, loud and clear,:"Now, I declare you, Ketil Horiksson, in presence of the gods of Asgard and the approval of King Horik, the first Jarl of East Seaxe!"
Why, you may ask, did Ketil take this supposedly meaningless step?
Well, you see, Ketil had decided that there must now be a change from what had gone before in our conquests in Britjan. Previously, we had sailed across from Denmark, fought a little, burned and pillaged, took some slaves, and then sailed back to Denmark. Now, we were here to stay, and we would need some shred of legitimacy to rule in Britjan.
A great feast in the Jarl's hall then took place, where mead flowed like water, and I believe I had a few rounds too many. The Saxons who still ruled much of Britjan were forgotten, as was the fall of Cantwareburh, and also the many battles that yet waited. All there was was the hall, the mead, and the increasingly attractive prospect of a warm bed...
End Chapter 2

[lord of eras]

Chapter 3- Hostile Negotiations
After pausing for yet another round of mead, I continued to tell my story:
"My eyes opened. For a moment I could not say where I was, but then I remembered: Yesterday saw the wedding of Prince Ketil and his taking of the title of Jarl of East Seaxe, and I was in Lundenwic. I dressed and hurried out into the main hall of the town to start my day. The newly minted Jarl soon came out of his own room, and spotted me. He bid me good morning and told me that I was to assume guard duty on the walls. Guard duty! For a high Hirdmann like me? But I knew better than to question my lord, and soon I had donned my armor and axe and headed for the wall.
Hours passed as I looked out into the East Seaxe horizon, and nothing moved outside the walls.
But then a speck appeared, miles away. Curiously, I followed the speck as it neared the wall. Soon the identity of the speck was visible: it was a horse. Continuing to follow it, I soon realized that it carried an all too familiar banner: the Saxon dragon against a beige background. At first I thought it was an entire Saxon army, but to my relief I found it was only one horse. By the time half an hour had passed I saw a balding figure with a bit of a white beard atop the saddle of the horse. As he stopped by the gate, I came down from the wall and shouted at him:"Stop! You are in the realm of the great Jarl Ketil of East Seaxe! State your business, Christ-worshipper!" Unfazed by my shouting he replied:" My name is Cuthred. I am an emissary of the rightful king of this land, Ethelwulf of Wessex. He has sent me to negotiate with this usurper 'Jarl' of yours." I opened the gate for him, but I checked him for weapons, and confiscated a small dagger. "You get this back when you are outside of the walls." I told him. I escorted him through the village lanes of Lundenwic, to the administrative hall in the center. I opened the door for him, and addressed all the Danes walking and talking in the hall:" This is Cuthred, an emissary of King Ethelwulf of Wessex. He is here to negotiate with our great prince Ketil." Cuthred walked over to the throne were Ketil sat, and said:" I am here on a mission from my great king in Uintanceaster. He has told me I am to offer you a cessation of hostilities."

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"We do not make peace for free, with no sacrifices on the other side other than what we have already gained. We will, however, stop our war if your 'great king' agrees to pay us a tribute of 1000 shillings every season for three seasons, to compensate what we have spent fighting his weaklings he calls an 'army'. These are our terms for peace, take them or leave them."
The balding Saxon seemed to consider that for a few minutes , at the end of which he said: "We are not scared weaklings to give you tribute to go away! We will not pander to your barbaric demands! We will soon destroy you on the field of battle and your frightened brethren will give us tribute to leave their pitiful selves alone!"

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"Sad," Ketil said, "you have doomed your kingdom with your angry words."
I escorted Cuthred out of Lundenwic and gave him his dagger back. As he rode away I thought I could detect a slight trace of regret on his face....
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We left Lundenwic the next day. Ketil had decided we must again leave comfortable town for more conquests, because, as he said:" The Dragon yet lives, and a live dragon is always a dangerous one."
The next week we were attacked by a pitiful Saxon army in the countryside.

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But swiftly our brave men killed their commander Coelwine,

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and his forces were put to flight.

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Three days later we came to Dorcic, a town garrisoned by the heir to the Saxon throne, Ethelstan, and an unknown other unit.

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Ketil had us build many rams, for the walls of Dorcic were more heavily fortified than those at Cantawareburh and Lundenwic.

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Those were days of great bravado , the anticipation of great glory and plunder ran high in our camp.
One day, a week later, these high spirits were shattered. A messenger came to Ketil's command tent, saying:"My lord! The gates of Dorcic are opening! Ethelstan has dredged up some courage and is preparing to attack us! Fifty one Saxon are coming from the south to reinforce him. They are led by one Oswald."

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"Pah!" said Ketil, "we will crush them like the milksops they are!"
But I saw more than a hint of doubt in his face as he witnessed the Saxons charging out of their dragon-adorned gate.
Our army was now caught between hammer and anvil, and when the hammer bangs upon the anvil, it is always most unfortunate for that which is caught between...

[Fides]

Nice. Keep going!