Thread: Darkness Has Its Teachings (Athene & Alvis Alendran)

The ice had lingered long this year. The men had grown restless because of it, used to being aboard the ships and out into the wider world by now, but such had not been the skein that the Norns had woven this year. Skadi had been slow to loose her grip on the world, but it didn't seem to both the jarl. As the harbour was clearing up quickly, the ships was being made ready. Normally he only sent out one ship at a atime, and rarely did he ever send them both to the same placer, but with the late start to the year, he was going to have to make up for lost time. Each ship ran with a good complement of warriors, but not packed to capacity. He wanted room for plenty of plunder. A warrior testing the ropes that ran to the sails of one of the ships spared a glance up to the long house that the Jarl called home and held court within. The man himself stood at the edge of hte rock bluff the longhouse occupied, giving him a commanding view of the goings on within the large village. Even from this distance, the Jarl was impossible to miss. A tall man, broad in the shoulders, with a mane of hair the colour of rotted frost. He was a beacon to anyone that knew of him. Goormr Frostmane, Reaver of the North, and a rising star among the Jarls of the lands. His successful raids had been the talk of many, and had attracted the young from many surrounding villages that had little hope of inheritance adn sought to better themselves. Rumour and legend held that he had sailed for several season with the warriors of Jomsvik, and if such was true then he had been a member of the most feared company of warriors in the North. Goormr turned away, and began the walk to reach the docks themselves. If all went well, the ships should be loaded and ready to sail before too much longer, and he wanted to be underway before the sun set. They'd lost enough of the year. He flexed his hands unconciously, the large, often scarred implements that he had used to carve his way to his current status. His life had not been simple, earning his npalce as Jarl not by birth, but by deed, lading more successful and efficient raids than the previous Jarl, and then defeating him in fair and bloody combat. The village had not been opposed to the change, finding Goormr to be fair in his judgements, generous with the sharing of wealth, and merciless in combat. The village had been very well built, rumour holding that it had been laid out by a man captured from far distant lands. 'Rome' they had called it, but such a place was a land shrouded in mystery. It's people ahd come north before, briefly, but the cold and fierceness of the people had not lent them much welcome. Each building was constructed from a combination of stone adn wood, the stone coming partway up the base, lending each on a solid foundation to set on. The longhouse was no different, and the stone of hte bluff had been carved and hewn out to make proper steps to ascend. The outer edges of the village were more traditional, construction, more ramshackle in comparison, but still serviceable for those that couldn't make it into the inner buildings. Goormr stepped onto the dock beside the ship he planned on sailing on, and looked to his navigator. Is all in readiness? He asked quietly. The other man nodded. Aye Jarl. We're loaded, the men stand ready, we can be underway within moments of your word. Came the expected, the hoped for reply. The word is given. We sail with the tide. The other man nodded, adn stood, giving a bellow to the quiet morning air, shattering any semblance of peace. Men flooded forward, all of them eager to be on the way. Goormr ignored them for now, taking up his place at the bow of the ship, looking out across the calm waters. It wasn't long before the ship moved away from the dock, oars dipping into the water and pushing them along. Such continued until they cleared the short river that led to the sea, and the sail was cast into the wind, pulling them along. COntrary to other voyages that were sent, the ships bore to the west. New, rich lands for hte taking. Goormr smiled.