Chapter 1: Into the Thick of It
On January 1st 769 Markus Aesirling, an exile from Kingdom of Sjaelland and his hundred companions stormed a local village and declare himself Chief and ruler of the lands around the mouth of the Elbe River, To legitimize his conquest, Markus pledged loyalty to the Kingdom of Saxony, and was named High Chief, and given overlordship over the Northern Border of the Kingdom.
Hard times were coming for Saxony however, not from the North but from the South as a few years later the Ambitious Charles King of the Franks had marched north to christianize and subjugate the raiders who terrorized his people. The Saxons rose up in opposition, though ultimately would lose every battle and instead resort to guerilla warfare to bleed the Christians dry.
A Five year campaign of Winter, and costly victories had depleted Charles' original host of eight thousand down to a measly three, with more losses occurring from malnutrition and desertion alongside guerilla attacks.
The various chiefs of Saxony all rose in defense of their King, even Markus the Nord, who had no love for the Saxons, but even less love for the Christians who burned the countryside as they went. The war weeded out the weaker willed men in the Kingdom and it's leadership. The strong, prospered and Markus a foreigner ruling over a foreign land had risen to fame as one of the King's finest warriors.
The King of course was no longer a man, but a boy. Charles the Frank had butchered little Willichin of Saxony's father and grandfather both on the field throughout the war. Willichin was only a boy of four years old, and already plans were being made for when the war ended, some to overthrow the boy king while others to pursue other agendas. Nothing came of such plans however and the war ended not through any defeat of the Franks in Saxony buy of troubles at home.
One day Charles the Frank received news, of revolt in the lands of his late brother. His army weak and starving, it would be the excuse the King needed to retreat south. There was no fanfare or great celebration, the Franks simply left but the lesson has been learned, the Christians would return eventually, and Saxony must be stronger for when they do.
In the north, Chief Markus Aesirling used his reputation as a great and open handed conqueror to gather bands of ambitious warriors and marched west into Pomeranian territory. In these lands the local tribes were weak and divided and fell easy prey to veterans of the Frankish Invasion.
As the conquests continued Markus Aesirling took efforts to legitimize his conquests through the use of priests and likely fake runestones to justify the conquest of such weak willed tribes. With each conquest came more prestige, and more gold so much in fact that Eventually Markus would turn north, back to Slesvig.
Here the Markus the Nord also found victory, though at great cost as the march back into Slesvig was bloody and resistance was not the meager tribal bands of Pomerania but actual fighting men, the same stock as those who had enables Markus his success in the years before.
With his warring done, Markus now set about to consolidate his lands, which were as great as any Kings, at least his eyes. Still however one thing, evaded him however, the Mouth of the Elbe river, which was controlled by the Boy King of Saxony. For now such a prize was out of reach but it would not be so forever. There were other matters to attend to first, an Heir and proper rewards to be given out for the Thanes.
An heir came easy, as Markus was no stranger to a bed, or the womenfolk of his conquests. For a successor however he looked outwards, and used his vast wealth to purchase a mistress from the horse lords of the east. Small Tyke would bear the blood of his mother a woman who prayed to strange gods and did not speak any language the Norsemen knew. An heir was an heir however and as Tyke grew the boy was put through the motions of learning to lead and command.
Markus' domain meanwhile was experiencing quite the shift in demographic. As warriors called up in the wars came south they settled in the south, married and settled locally and brought with them scandinavian culture and the worship of Odin, Thor and Freya.
By the time young Tyke had come of age things were beginning to shift rather dramatically in the kingdom. Population levels had been rising ever since the climate had begun to grow warm but now the effects were being felt in full force. The Markus' small longhouse had become a makeshift court, with dozens of people opposed to the small group of companions and commanders that resided in it a decade ago.
By the time Tyke had reached the age of Four and Ten it had become clear, to rule would no longer only require loyal men to fight, but also an understanding of diplomacy and the growing classes of merchants, farmers and retired warriors that made up the people of the realm.
Tyke ultimately did not take well to his father's lessons, and the harder he was pushed the more reclusive and detached the boy became. Markus needed to try and make the best of a bad situation, and ultimately turned solidifying his son's ascent by removing potential threats before they could grow and bear fruit.
The heathen pomeranians who had been relatively quiet for fear of reprisal from their conquerors still plotted quietly in their forests for a chance of independence, and revenge. Their chieftains were captured, removed and offered up in sacrifice to the Aesir, a bloody example of what would happen to those who dissented the High Chief.
From the spoils of war Markus paid to erect a grand runestone, to legitimize himself as the ruler of his new lands but also his son and all of his blood, taking the name Aesirson and claiming descent from Odin, just as the Ynglings in the North claimed they descended from Frey.
While the new 'Aesirlings' consolidated themselves further, the Saxons busied themselves subjugating and growing stronger. The Boy King Willichin was now a man and had marched east to subjugate the Prussian tribes under himself, Meanwhile the ambitious son of the Chief of Brunswick marched north with Five Thousand Men and took the crown of Sjaelland for himself.
Germanic Conquests were growing more grand, and greater by the day. Ambitious Sons had already begun to take trips back south into the lands of Christendom to trade, speaking of vast wealth stored in stone buildings adorned with crosses and other meaningless symbols. There was only so much farmland and opportunity in the North after all, Perhaps the true opportunity's lay elsewhere, in the south and only required those crafty enough or strong enough to wrestle it away from those that lived there.
A Storm was brewing, and Europe did not know of the Hell that was about to be unleashed upon it.
