It may not be the greatest, but I did enjoy my little RPG with Erik the Heathen. I didn't have an AAR in mind so I don't have great screenshots, sorry about that. However, with my non-native English, here it is:
An honest man to the last of his days Erik only wanted to regain the throne that rightfully belonged to him. In an increasingly Christian Sweden he kept the old faith alive, though he was never a deeply religious man. He resigned his post as marshal to King Stenkil of Sweden and went to his domain at Uppsala to consolidate his power. There he defeated a small rebellion by one of his vassals Count Olaf of Alandia and took his lands. But King Stenkil and Erik hated each other deeply. So much so that Stenkil continually harassed Erik by slandering him to his subjects and disparaging him at every opportunity. So Stenkil, many say, encouraged by his Christian chaplain, challenged Erik to a duel. Erik and Stenkil squared off at the sight of the old gods and the new. The victory went to Erik. Aware that the dead king's relatives, his nephews as his sister was married to Stenkil, would persecute him, Erik immediately escaped to Upsala and called his warriors.
Very soon the news of the duel spread throughout the country. Inge, son of the dead king, was proclaimed king. Erik marched with his troops south. Three times his troops faced the forces of King Inge. He three times he was defeated. He fled to the frozen north. Wild lands where Christians had never set foot. Desperate he tried to gather gold and troops, but it was impossible. It was in those harsh winter months, in the year 1069, that his friendship with one of his vassals Count Björn of Helsingia blossomed. His wife also sent news mocking the siege of Upsala, his eldest son had been born and bore the same name. Desperate and stressed by the situation, he decided to surrender to his nephew, leaving his friend Björn in the care of his son and his dukedom. Erik the Heathen was dragged through the streets of the capital when he showed up alone and unarmed. His nephew made a spectacle of his figure. A symbol of the victory of Christ over the pagans. Publicly humiliated he was thrown into the deepest dungeons to die of hunger and cold. But Erik resisted. Three years later, his friend Björn was able to send him a message. Although King Inge had been offered gold for his ransom, he refused. Björn claimed to fear the worst. Erik's fury was so great that his fists smashed through the bars like paper. He hit the guards with them and quickly managed to escape and head to Upsala. At home he was able to hug and briefly meet his son, greet her friend and hate her wife as he had always hated her. He ordered the troops to be prepared, fearing that his nephew would send after him. But the next horse to arrive from the capital was a messenger announcing that the king had died of a long illness and that his brother Erik had been hailed by the Christian lords as the new king of Sweden.
Erik spent the next year gathering strength and rebuilding his reputation after humiliation at the hands of his nephew. For this he traveled to Estonia where he created a reputation as a great duelist and even to Finland. He also fortified his castle at Upsala. But with the coffers empty, he then resorted to looting the old pagan temple of Uppsala, earning many enmities in the process. However, no one opposed him since he was well aware of the strength of his arms. His power grew so much that his nephew, the other Erik, offered him the position of marshal. It was the sign he needed, the king was weak. He called his warriors to him and once more marched south.
It was called "The War of the Two Eriks" later, at that time it was just the war. From the year 1078 to 1084, for six long years, Sweden was dyed red. No sooner had Erik the Heathen achieved a victory than news of an approaching force reached him. During the many battles his prestige would skyrocket. He being feared as a great warrior throughout Scandinavia. Finally, Erik captured his nephew of the same name, and locked him up but kept his life and titles. Not so his honor since he would spend the rest of his days in the dungeons being taken out sporadically to receive the ridicule of the people.
Erik the Heathen erected a runestone to celebrate his accession to the throne. The victory of Ragnar's descendant over the upstarts.
King of the Swedes made his faithful friend Björn the Duke of Helsinga, giving him gold to also build a fortress and making him Lord of the Marches and Marshal of the kingdom. He took Iliana as a concubine, a pagan woman as well as the one who once challenged him to a duel when she tried to cross his farm with a house party. She bore him a son, her second, whom she named Björn in honor of both her ancestor and her friend. Erik went south and ravaged the Baltics for the next few years, once sacking even the capital of the Danes, taking many members of the royal house hostage. He had no qualms about saying that like his ancestors he loved gold. That was how his name ran from mouth to mouth, granting him the fame of the ancient Vikings. At that time his friend converted to the Christian faith. Though hurt at first, Erik decided that shared memories of him were more important and continued to give her a seat of honor at his table. His wife Sigrid gave him another son whom he named Ring in those days and then betrayed him. When she announced a third pregnancy Erik just couldn't believe it. The plundering of him took him for a long time to the lands of Estonia and Pomerania. She did not deny it, the child she was expecting was not hers. The spymaster discovered that the third son was born to a Norwegian soldier who had spent some months in Upsala. Erik sought him out and killed him in a duel. Her wife was arrested and in a rage Erik ordered her to be hanged.
He took Pergrube, the daughter of a Lithuanian warlord, as his wife, and over the years she would bear him three sons: Arne, Verspeja his only female daughter, and Astrad.
Sweden's succession was a problem. Erik knew that once he was gone the Christian lords would choose one of their own religion to rule over them. His friend insisted and begged him to convert. He told her that there was much to be gained by embracing Christ and not just the salvation of his soul. He put for example Harald Haldrada king of Norway and England. The Holy Roman Emperor to the south and the many hosts and riches of him. In the year 1085, being the godfather of baptism Harald Haldrada King Erik the Pagan, his wife, children and his court were baptized in the cold waters of Uppsala. A grand tournament commemorated the occasion with contenders from all over Scandinavia, and later that month Erik knelt before the Prince Bishop of Skara to receive the crown and legitimacy of the Christians. However, his conversion brought little change to the country, the common pagan people were not disturbed and their customs respected. Erik himself to the end of his days would continue to observe many of the ancient rites and thus teach his children. His concubine Igne maintained her status as commander of the kingdom and was his official mistress. The Swedish lords were content with this and a pact to support their firstborn son was made. The crown would remain in the family after his death.
The gates of Christianity were opened to Erik the Heathen. With the death of Harald Haldrada just months after Erik's conversion the honor of being the "last Viking" fell entirely to him.
His son Erik was betrothed to the first daughter of his friend the Duke of Helsingen to further unite the two houses. Björn, his son with Inge, was betrothed to Thorborg, eldest son of Magnus, son of Haldrada, who now inherited the kingdoms of England and Norway.From Hungary the regents of the young queen sent messengers for her to be engaged to her son Ring and so it was done, so that Ring reigns over the Hungarians, while Arn became engaged to one of the daughters of the king of the Poles, the younger children remained unmarried.
Then came the time to pay for marriages. Erik sailed to Hungary to help his future daughter-in-law against the men of the steppe. Although he did not get to fight since a stroke of luck allowed the Hungarians to capture the steppe lord and accept peace. Back in Sweden he went to England. The Anglo-Saxon nobles had taken up arms to proclaim the last heir of the Wessex house, a lost priest in a small church, as their new king. For Erik it was essential that the Norwegians retain power since the girl promised to her son would inherit those lands as Magnus did not have sons. Victory after victory the weight fell on his men as Magnus fought a pagan rebellion in Norway. When England was pacified he returned home to learn that Magnus now had a male heir. England would be lost for now, but Erik locked himself in home trips, feasts and continual duels with great warriors in Scandinavia cementing his fame. Peace reigned when in the year 1097 an army of pagans arose in the north, they were crushed without hatred by Erik and the leader of him banished once defeated.
Duels, feasts and hunts, gold in abundance. Sweden was rich, but Erik did not hide his disgust for his first-born heir, who he did not consider a great warrior to the point that many nicknamed him "the reckless" unlike his other sons who dressed in bear skins and went off on their own to look for fights in forests and mountains. So he asked permission to travel to Constantinople and make a name for himself out of the shadow of his father, I accept with pride. Years later Björn also asked him to join the Varegos and once again Erik accepted. Björn was his favorite, the young man was a renowned warrior before he turned 18 and the son of his beloved Inge. Björn went south to the lands of Constantinople and his mother saw him off at the port, they would never see each other again. Inge had kept the ancient beliefs but once she was old and though she was still fierce she became fearful of the Christian god and embraced him wholeheartedly in her soul. God claimed her by her side and Erik the Heathen would miss her dearly. Not only had he loved her, Igne plundered the Baltic, fought in England and Hungary with him, all the while leading his armies. A page closed with her departure.
In the same year tragedy struck him again. His firstborn son, Erik the Reckless, had died fighting in Asia. The men who brought him his son's weapons told him that in the end he died a hero.
Erik saw one of his sons go off to be king of the Hungarians and another marry in pomp in Upsala with the Polish princess. Finally, Björn returned, his favorite son, his new heir, who was no longer the same. Quiet, depressed and full of nightmares. With tastes that were said to be very normal in Greece but that seemed less counterproductive to Erik since Björn did not touch the Norwegian princess who was now his wife. But Björn was still a great warrior and the son of his beloved Inge so he just looked away. When his son Arn asked him to go serve in Constantinople, he told him no. Arn was less of a warrior than the first son he feared would be certain death. Even Björn came back changed, he wouldn't risk Arn.
For the year 1103 the pope called for a great crusade, forgiveness of sins for the participants who waged war in the East. Egypt where the holy family had hidden, from where God called his people, would be recovered for Christianity. Erik the Heathen called his men, boarded the ships and sailed to the East accompanied by the two Björns, his son and his friend. The glory was so great, the strength and fierceness was so great that even the lord of the Saracens invited him to the palace to meet him. He promised her that if he defeated his best warrior he would give up his lands. Erik the Heathen, in the middle of the desert, killed the bear covered in armor. The war was over, though his enemies said that there had really been too much fighting and the Saracen simply wanted to make a dramatic exit. Surrounded by kings from all over Christendom and lords who had taken the cross, he feared that the decision of who should have the new kingdom would come by the sword. But the sultan's men leaving Cairo had secretly brought Erik's men into the city and they placed their banners on the walls and controlled the treasure left behind. Arn son of Erik would be the new king of Egypt.
Loaded with honor, glory and gold, with his name on the lips of all Christendom, he returned to Sweden. From Hungary I heard how his son was now a recognized hero among the people of the country. For on his return from the crusade he had lived through such adventures that he considered himself a new Odysseus, whatever that may be.
A great banquet was held at Upsala and Erik the Heathen who was prince, duke and king was acclaimed by men of the old and new religions. It was January 27, 1106. Erik was at the zenith of his reign. He was a Viking, a Crusader, a pagan king, and a Christian. While he went up to the tower to go to bed full of pride, Erik heard a noise and a rumble like never before. An immense field of green, angels and Valkyries fought fiercely. They fought for his soul because at the age of 75 Erik the Pagan had died.
An honest man to the last of his days Erik only wanted to regain the throne that rightfully belonged to him. In an increasingly Christian Sweden he kept the old faith alive, though he was never a deeply religious man. He resigned his post as marshal to King Stenkil of Sweden and went to his domain at Uppsala to consolidate his power. There he defeated a small rebellion by one of his vassals Count Olaf of Alandia and took his lands. But King Stenkil and Erik hated each other deeply. So much so that Stenkil continually harassed Erik by slandering him to his subjects and disparaging him at every opportunity. So Stenkil, many say, encouraged by his Christian chaplain, challenged Erik to a duel. Erik and Stenkil squared off at the sight of the old gods and the new. The victory went to Erik. Aware that the dead king's relatives, his nephews as his sister was married to Stenkil, would persecute him, Erik immediately escaped to Upsala and called his warriors.
Very soon the news of the duel spread throughout the country. Inge, son of the dead king, was proclaimed king. Erik marched with his troops south. Three times his troops faced the forces of King Inge. He three times he was defeated. He fled to the frozen north. Wild lands where Christians had never set foot. Desperate he tried to gather gold and troops, but it was impossible. It was in those harsh winter months, in the year 1069, that his friendship with one of his vassals Count Björn of Helsingia blossomed. His wife also sent news mocking the siege of Upsala, his eldest son had been born and bore the same name. Desperate and stressed by the situation, he decided to surrender to his nephew, leaving his friend Björn in the care of his son and his dukedom. Erik the Heathen was dragged through the streets of the capital when he showed up alone and unarmed. His nephew made a spectacle of his figure. A symbol of the victory of Christ over the pagans. Publicly humiliated he was thrown into the deepest dungeons to die of hunger and cold. But Erik resisted. Three years later, his friend Björn was able to send him a message. Although King Inge had been offered gold for his ransom, he refused. Björn claimed to fear the worst. Erik's fury was so great that his fists smashed through the bars like paper. He hit the guards with them and quickly managed to escape and head to Upsala. At home he was able to hug and briefly meet his son, greet her friend and hate her wife as he had always hated her. He ordered the troops to be prepared, fearing that his nephew would send after him. But the next horse to arrive from the capital was a messenger announcing that the king had died of a long illness and that his brother Erik had been hailed by the Christian lords as the new king of Sweden.
Erik spent the next year gathering strength and rebuilding his reputation after humiliation at the hands of his nephew. For this he traveled to Estonia where he created a reputation as a great duelist and even to Finland. He also fortified his castle at Upsala. But with the coffers empty, he then resorted to looting the old pagan temple of Uppsala, earning many enmities in the process. However, no one opposed him since he was well aware of the strength of his arms. His power grew so much that his nephew, the other Erik, offered him the position of marshal. It was the sign he needed, the king was weak. He called his warriors to him and once more marched south.
It was called "The War of the Two Eriks" later, at that time it was just the war. From the year 1078 to 1084, for six long years, Sweden was dyed red. No sooner had Erik the Heathen achieved a victory than news of an approaching force reached him. During the many battles his prestige would skyrocket. He being feared as a great warrior throughout Scandinavia. Finally, Erik captured his nephew of the same name, and locked him up but kept his life and titles. Not so his honor since he would spend the rest of his days in the dungeons being taken out sporadically to receive the ridicule of the people.
Erik the Heathen erected a runestone to celebrate his accession to the throne. The victory of Ragnar's descendant over the upstarts.
King of the Swedes made his faithful friend Björn the Duke of Helsinga, giving him gold to also build a fortress and making him Lord of the Marches and Marshal of the kingdom. He took Iliana as a concubine, a pagan woman as well as the one who once challenged him to a duel when she tried to cross his farm with a house party. She bore him a son, her second, whom she named Björn in honor of both her ancestor and her friend. Erik went south and ravaged the Baltics for the next few years, once sacking even the capital of the Danes, taking many members of the royal house hostage. He had no qualms about saying that like his ancestors he loved gold. That was how his name ran from mouth to mouth, granting him the fame of the ancient Vikings. At that time his friend converted to the Christian faith. Though hurt at first, Erik decided that shared memories of him were more important and continued to give her a seat of honor at his table. His wife Sigrid gave him another son whom he named Ring in those days and then betrayed him. When she announced a third pregnancy Erik just couldn't believe it. The plundering of him took him for a long time to the lands of Estonia and Pomerania. She did not deny it, the child she was expecting was not hers. The spymaster discovered that the third son was born to a Norwegian soldier who had spent some months in Upsala. Erik sought him out and killed him in a duel. Her wife was arrested and in a rage Erik ordered her to be hanged.
He took Pergrube, the daughter of a Lithuanian warlord, as his wife, and over the years she would bear him three sons: Arne, Verspeja his only female daughter, and Astrad.
Sweden's succession was a problem. Erik knew that once he was gone the Christian lords would choose one of their own religion to rule over them. His friend insisted and begged him to convert. He told her that there was much to be gained by embracing Christ and not just the salvation of his soul. He put for example Harald Haldrada king of Norway and England. The Holy Roman Emperor to the south and the many hosts and riches of him. In the year 1085, being the godfather of baptism Harald Haldrada King Erik the Pagan, his wife, children and his court were baptized in the cold waters of Uppsala. A grand tournament commemorated the occasion with contenders from all over Scandinavia, and later that month Erik knelt before the Prince Bishop of Skara to receive the crown and legitimacy of the Christians. However, his conversion brought little change to the country, the common pagan people were not disturbed and their customs respected. Erik himself to the end of his days would continue to observe many of the ancient rites and thus teach his children. His concubine Igne maintained her status as commander of the kingdom and was his official mistress. The Swedish lords were content with this and a pact to support their firstborn son was made. The crown would remain in the family after his death.
The gates of Christianity were opened to Erik the Heathen. With the death of Harald Haldrada just months after Erik's conversion the honor of being the "last Viking" fell entirely to him.
His son Erik was betrothed to the first daughter of his friend the Duke of Helsingen to further unite the two houses. Björn, his son with Inge, was betrothed to Thorborg, eldest son of Magnus, son of Haldrada, who now inherited the kingdoms of England and Norway.From Hungary the regents of the young queen sent messengers for her to be engaged to her son Ring and so it was done, so that Ring reigns over the Hungarians, while Arn became engaged to one of the daughters of the king of the Poles, the younger children remained unmarried.
Then came the time to pay for marriages. Erik sailed to Hungary to help his future daughter-in-law against the men of the steppe. Although he did not get to fight since a stroke of luck allowed the Hungarians to capture the steppe lord and accept peace. Back in Sweden he went to England. The Anglo-Saxon nobles had taken up arms to proclaim the last heir of the Wessex house, a lost priest in a small church, as their new king. For Erik it was essential that the Norwegians retain power since the girl promised to her son would inherit those lands as Magnus did not have sons. Victory after victory the weight fell on his men as Magnus fought a pagan rebellion in Norway. When England was pacified he returned home to learn that Magnus now had a male heir. England would be lost for now, but Erik locked himself in home trips, feasts and continual duels with great warriors in Scandinavia cementing his fame. Peace reigned when in the year 1097 an army of pagans arose in the north, they were crushed without hatred by Erik and the leader of him banished once defeated.
Duels, feasts and hunts, gold in abundance. Sweden was rich, but Erik did not hide his disgust for his first-born heir, who he did not consider a great warrior to the point that many nicknamed him "the reckless" unlike his other sons who dressed in bear skins and went off on their own to look for fights in forests and mountains. So he asked permission to travel to Constantinople and make a name for himself out of the shadow of his father, I accept with pride. Years later Björn also asked him to join the Varegos and once again Erik accepted. Björn was his favorite, the young man was a renowned warrior before he turned 18 and the son of his beloved Inge. Björn went south to the lands of Constantinople and his mother saw him off at the port, they would never see each other again. Inge had kept the ancient beliefs but once she was old and though she was still fierce she became fearful of the Christian god and embraced him wholeheartedly in her soul. God claimed her by her side and Erik the Heathen would miss her dearly. Not only had he loved her, Igne plundered the Baltic, fought in England and Hungary with him, all the while leading his armies. A page closed with her departure.
In the same year tragedy struck him again. His firstborn son, Erik the Reckless, had died fighting in Asia. The men who brought him his son's weapons told him that in the end he died a hero.
Erik saw one of his sons go off to be king of the Hungarians and another marry in pomp in Upsala with the Polish princess. Finally, Björn returned, his favorite son, his new heir, who was no longer the same. Quiet, depressed and full of nightmares. With tastes that were said to be very normal in Greece but that seemed less counterproductive to Erik since Björn did not touch the Norwegian princess who was now his wife. But Björn was still a great warrior and the son of his beloved Inge so he just looked away. When his son Arn asked him to go serve in Constantinople, he told him no. Arn was less of a warrior than the first son he feared would be certain death. Even Björn came back changed, he wouldn't risk Arn.
For the year 1103 the pope called for a great crusade, forgiveness of sins for the participants who waged war in the East. Egypt where the holy family had hidden, from where God called his people, would be recovered for Christianity. Erik the Heathen called his men, boarded the ships and sailed to the East accompanied by the two Björns, his son and his friend. The glory was so great, the strength and fierceness was so great that even the lord of the Saracens invited him to the palace to meet him. He promised her that if he defeated his best warrior he would give up his lands. Erik the Heathen, in the middle of the desert, killed the bear covered in armor. The war was over, though his enemies said that there had really been too much fighting and the Saracen simply wanted to make a dramatic exit. Surrounded by kings from all over Christendom and lords who had taken the cross, he feared that the decision of who should have the new kingdom would come by the sword. But the sultan's men leaving Cairo had secretly brought Erik's men into the city and they placed their banners on the walls and controlled the treasure left behind. Arn son of Erik would be the new king of Egypt.
Loaded with honor, glory and gold, with his name on the lips of all Christendom, he returned to Sweden. From Hungary I heard how his son was now a recognized hero among the people of the country. For on his return from the crusade he had lived through such adventures that he considered himself a new Odysseus, whatever that may be.
A great banquet was held at Upsala and Erik the Heathen who was prince, duke and king was acclaimed by men of the old and new religions. It was January 27, 1106. Erik was at the zenith of his reign. He was a Viking, a Crusader, a pagan king, and a Christian. While he went up to the tower to go to bed full of pride, Erik heard a noise and a rumble like never before. An immense field of green, angels and Valkyries fought fiercely. They fought for his soul because at the age of 75 Erik the Pagan had died.
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