Thread: Tribute and Dowry

He sat well atop his warhorse. Having lead 10,000 Kutrigars out of south central Europe to claim tribute from the Danube tribes, pressing forth with 9,000 riders strong, Ozira now had crossed the Rhine upon the threshold of the Frankish Kingdoms. The Bavarians had fallen already, leading the remaining Franks to unite under the Kingdom of Neustria. As he marched his riders north towards Paris, messages came that their king would make tribute of his daughter to Ozira so that the advance of the Avars would stop. Oriza sent his acceptance of marriage back to the king, he would gladly accept this daughter of the mighty king of the Franks and, as dowry, he would take half their kingdoms. This would include the already conquered Bavaria, half of Austria, all of Burgundy and portions of Aquitaine. He did not wait for a response, but took his war camp to the gates of Paris itself, where the defending Frankish armies were holed up in her walls. He waited several days and on the eve of his attack, the king sent word that the terms would be accepted, withholding all of Austria and Aquitaine. Oriza cared little for either, but rather only placed them on the table to show how much power he really had. This daughter of the King, tribute for Avar and the holding of Bavaria would do well for this conquest. Matters were already calling his attention back with the Eastern Roman Empire, tributes had stopped flowing from Constantinople. Thus arose the morning of the marriage. Oriza had his best furs, bringing those exotic pelts given him by Saracen emissaries, that of the cheetah. This was drapped over his ring mail, symbolizing his relationship to the animal spirits. Oriza was leader of the Ayi, the leading clan of the Avar whose animal spirit was the bear. He did not forgo his ancestors and his lineage, he wore a pendant necklace adorned with bear claws for those that he had personally hunted. He was of the Bozmak, those legendary Avar, marked by the Kasis, or priests, for their naturally strong association with their animal totem. Outside the Avar, it was but rumor that the Bozmak could take the shape of their spirit animals. Oriza knew the truth of this. His mount was dark of hair and mane, it clod its large hooves into the muddy ground of the hill he claimed for his marriage. A morning fog rose out of the grounds on the field before him, spreading out thin at the top of the hill but thickening near the gates of Paris. Oriza was a tall man, pushing six feet in height and full of muscles. What battle scars and nicks showed were worn well on his tan skin. His hands and forearms were bear, exposing more testament to his experience on the battlefield. As he awaited the contingent from Neustria, he rubbed over the scars on his left arm. Hed allowed representatives from each of the Frankish Kingdoms to attend this ceremony and celebration, if they so choose it, as foreign dignitaries in a special pavilion reserved for them. They would not be allowed to partake of the customary dancing and fighting that general ensued during Avarian fetes. Only time would tell which of their leaders might brave a night with the barbarians as he claimed his tribute and his new wife.