Chapter 144: The Fair Fame Never Dies Of Him Who Has Earned It

### Story Date

Sunday, 21 August, AD 1043/6551 ε.Κ/12 Muharram 435 AH/12 Guei-Yue Huangyou Era Year 1/12 Tvímánuður ÅrO -1/12 Elul AM 4803

## Appearances

### Locations

Aral Sea
Rouen
Don River
Kalinga Sea
Azaq
Berk
Selymbria
Kappadokia
Constantinople
Syr Darya River
Saint-Malo

*The Second Battle of the Seine River was then-Princess-Marshal Astrid Haddock I’s debut battle in the military sphere as a formal commander. This battle—insofar as it was a battle and not just a rout—left as much of an impact on the political and military spheres as it did on the landscape, where her artificial river-flood changed the course of the Seine River, closing one meander downstream of Rouen and creating a new oxbow lake. In the military and political calculus, it took some time for the full scale of her impact to penetrate. News was comparatively slow to get out, hampered by the fact that the Hooligans had their hands full with other considerations and problems, and was liberally mixed with rumor and hearsay, along with outright libel. But as the details spread in conjunction with her subsequent actions, the sheer lethality and pragmatism of the Princess-Marshal’s tactics combined with the reputation of Berk as a whole and her husband in particular. This was, after all, the first wife of the Hero, and she had clearly not gotten her position on nepotism. Her wife, Princess-Herald Wulfhild, made pointed use of her spouses’ reputations in her negotiations…*

*—Dragons of the North: Profiles Of The Viking Lords, Waterford University Press, 1733*

## Synopsis

* Özhan's men, including Teker, invades a camp containing Drago's forces. They successfully capture several dragons.
* Astrid meets Joan of Brittany, Henry the Sinister's wife, and she pretends to be yet another victim of his, even revealing a plan for Henry to rape Hawiz to sire a child with a claim to Brittany.
* Teker's strike force attack Drago. The are defeated, but manage to kill Elder Khurşӑ, which infuriates Drago and he orders his forces to take as many men and dragons as they could to defeat Özhan.
* Macarius finds and rescues a baby dragon that he names Florian.
* Reeling from the defeat his forces suffered at Özhan's hands, Drago meets Feng who introduces himself and offers his expertise to properly use dragon riders in battle.
* Berk holds a funeral for every life lost in the Jewish evacuation of Northern France and repelling Henry the Sinister's forces.
* Fjandi manages to return to Ben in the Byzantine Empire after being freed from the Pechenegs, and gets other dragon escapees to join him.
* Empress Theodora personally informs Sigurd that his father Spitelout died with honor in battle, and confesses that she ordered the Bureau of Barbarians to intercept his letters to him, recognising that it might not have been the most appropriate course of action. Sigurd in turn confesses he had improper relations with a prostitute and admits Heidrun's true gender and that she's pregnant, which Theodora forgives and is willing to make accommodations for.
* Feng proves his merit in battle against Özhan's forces.
* Henry the Sinister makes his way back to Brittany, where Astrid has him executed.

## Characters

### Humans

* Teker (first appearance)
* Hiccup clan Haddock
* Astrid Hákonsdóttir clan Haddock
* Jonna Asgersdóttir
* Joan of Brittany
* Li Shang
* Fa Mulan
* Mala
* Drago Bludvist
* Kasim
* Kelebek
* Toiréasa
* Heather
* Macarius (first appearance)
* Hsiao Feng (first appearance)
* Nittai ben Bethuel
* Stoick the Vast
* Clodgall Oxwitsson
* Hoark Clodgallsson
* William of Normandy
* Esther bat Rivkah clan Haddock
* Inga Roswynnsdóttir
* Heidrun Hallvarsdóttir
* Pelagia Triantafyllou
* Benjamin Axelsson
* Sigurd Trondsson
* Sophia Makris
* Theodora Porphyrogenita
* Gunnar Bræsisson
* Harald Sigurdsson
* Rivkah bat Hadassah
* Rivkah's sisters
* Rivkah (mother of Esther)
* Henry the Sinister (last appearance)

### Dragons

* Mushu
* Unnamed baby dragon (first appearance)
* Fjandi Fengur