Chapter 152: The Shepherd And The Flock

### Story Date

Monday, 31 October, AD 1043/6552 ε.Κ/24 Rabi’ al-Awwal 435 AH/24 Yang-Yue Huangyou Era Year 1/24 Gormánuður ÅrO -1/24 Cheshvan AM 4804

## Appearances

### Locations

Attaleia
London
Vedrarfjord
Constantinople
East Thrace
Berk
Selymbria
Between Paris and Saint-Denis

*Folklore continued to evolve in the North Sea Empire, despite the claims of certain prescriptivist academics to the contrary. While certainly there were heroic tales of the exploits of the leading families and individuals of the Empire, there were other, more wide-ranging developments beyond these individual works. One of the most infamous examples is how, within the space of a generation, an entire new class of minor malevolent entity had entered the stories and traditions of many of the ethnic and cultural groups in the Empire—that of the* kroaziad*, taken from the Brezhoneg word for crusader. By the 1070s, instances of this genre of folklore and folktales were commonly recorded, and it is possible to track the development and spread of this particular class over the prior and subsequent decades.*

*While the particulars differ between different ethnic and social groups, the general commonalities of the kroaziad are that they are disembodied malicious spirits sourced from the souls of Christian Crusaders slain in their attacks on Imperial communities; that their abilities , in their weakened state, mostly amount to causing minor problems and inconveniences for the household thus afflicted; and that their agreed-upon leader is the knight Sir Henry of Brittany. Other details vary between different groups. On the topic of removal, for example, the Breizhad hold that the best way to be rid of them is to shake a pouch filled with dragon-scales, while the Jews state that they cannot stand running water, and the Danes believe that a hearth-fire will repel them. The reasons for the spirits staying in this world and not moving onto the afterlife are likewise varied; among the Breizhad, the local psychopomp, Ankou, is believed to refuse to allow them to sully their cart, while the Jews state that the spirits themselves are responsible for their circumstance through a rejection of accepting responsibility for their crimes, and the Swedes state that neither Odin, Freyja, Rán, nor Hel allowed them into their realms, citing ‘standards’.*

*—Ten Thousand Living Tales: The Oral Traditions, Cordova Academic Press Ltd., 1545*

## Synopsis

* Mulan realises that Berk values scholarly pursuits, which gives her ideas on what the Song Dynasty can offer them.
* The Healers, with Mwenda leading, begin operating on Stoick. They successfully pull out the spear.
* Following Normandy's and Breizh's annexations, their people are eligible for Food and Bed Rights and Eire exports surplus food to them.
* Hikmat, yet another of Octavianus' sex slaves, petitions the Bog Burglars for sanctuary.
* Hiccup and Dagur discover Toothless can write.
* The headman of Sigurd’s Stratiotika Ktemata admits that Dragon Dung is a potent fertiliser and advises Sigurd of the best way to convince others of the benefits.
* News of Stoick's survival spreads and the people of the Kingdom of Berk cheer.
* Mor enters into labour.
* Macarius's parents and the monks discover he has been harbouring Florian.
* Father Pierre receives news from Orvi that Stoick survived and that Paris will be spared.
* The Pechenegs attack Constantinople.

## Trivia

Hiccup mentions learning to read by being introduced to the letters with honey on them, so he would associate them with sweetness. This is another Jewish practice that Dror introduced to the Hooligans.

The runes Toothless is writing are the Younger Futhark.

## Characters

### Humans

* Fa Mulan
* Li Shang
* Mala
* Yao
* Malachi
* Naphtali the Radhanite
* Boarguts Sheepwitsson
* Ruffnut Thicknutsdóttir
* Mwenda
* Nanna clan Hofferson
* Stoick the Vast
* Sölrun
* Hákon Mortensson
* Gunvor Dugaldsdóttir
* Fintan mac Ionatan
* Teárlag Eimhirsdóttir
* Hikmat (first appearance)
* Hiccup clan Haddock
* Dagur mac Oswald
* Sigurd Spiteloutsson
* Tuffnut Thicknutsson
* Mór nic Echmarcach
* Esther bat Rivkah clan Haddock
* Nittai ben Bethuel
* Macarius
* Macarius's mother (first appearance)
* Macarius's father (first appearance)
* Brother Anargyros and two other monks
* Father Pierre of Wellebou
* William of Normandy?
* Folarin
* Orvi clan Hofferson

### Dragons

* Boarguts's dragons
* Toothless
* Hookfang
* Florian
* Orvi's dragon