Well, I've been finishing some research papers and then moving to place without internet. It took me a while to get everything up again.
Under the Raven Banner:A Norse Pagan AAR
- Thread starter Hundhedning
- Start date
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Part 18:
The Bitter Horn
The Bitter Horn
In the beginning of his reign, many had felt skepticism towards the new king. Helge was very young and seemed to be dominated by his mother in those early years of his reign. His distrustful disposition did not improve things, but over the course of fighting rebellions across his realm he gradually won acceptance from the bönder of the kingdom.
Still, the many campaigns of war earned Helge enemies, even though they did not always show themselves openly...
----------
The great hall, Skilfing Castle, spring of 1181
The laughter echoed throughout the hall. The many Skilfing clansmen and their closest men filled the room. The king's table was as always the most prestigious, seating Helge's brothers Harald and Valdemar (Jarls of Uppland and the Tavasts, respectively) as well as his old great uncle Erdenis, called the Blind, from across the sea and the Skilfings of Jämtland, who rarely left their northern mountains. Scattered throughout the hall were also several of the Saxon de Leyburnes, who wisely had married into the royal clan. In a corner was also the emissary of the "King of Norway", the Jarl of Ranrike, surrounded by smiling nobles.
Helge took a deep drink from his horn. Things were actually starting to fall into place, now. Most of the vassals were in line. No insane relative had tried to claim the throne. Young Haldor, his five-year-old, was showing promise and had just started to follow his father around. Helge smiled at his queen and drank some more of his mead - bitter mead, just as he liked it. Perhaps it would soon be time to look outwards again. The chieftains of Hjaltland had fallen into line again and the northern shores of Bretland were not far away... Helge cleared his throat. Damn, he had a sore throat today. He tried to lift his hand to grab his mead horn and realized that he hardly could move it.
"What?" he tried to say, but all that came out of his mouth was a unintelligible groan. He stumbled to his feet with a sense of panic running through him as the lights and sounds from the feast were starting to fade. He felt himself fall.
Then everything went black.
Just as everything is looking sunny *wham* the head honcho gets whacked. Hate it when that happens 
Just as everything is looking sunny *wham* the head honcho gets whacked. Hate it when that happens
Yes, and the guy had potential, too. Most annoying.
Part 19:
The King-Child
The King-Child
The Skilfing Castle, Södermanland, april 1181
The young woman quickly stormed through the living quarters of the main royal castle. The child in her arms made weak attempts at resistance, but the girl's grip was firm.
"Why did daddy throw up, nana? Why did he fall? Is he sick?" The boy looked slightly worried, still not quite old enough to understand what just had happened. When the king fell, the great hall had erupted in chaos. Accusations had started to fly almost immedately, and the young nursemaid had grabbed the five-year-old prince Haldor and fled when the first sword was drawn.
"Shhhh, be quiet now, everything will be fine," she said, as much to calm herself as to calm the boy.
She opened the door to chamber where the youngest children slept and played and put the boy down.
"Now Haldor," she said with a slightly unsteady voice, "I need you to be a big, brave boy for a while and wait here while I go and get..." her voice trailed off. "...um, some things. You can do that, can't you?" She forced a smile.
The boy looked at her with big eyes. "All right, nana, I can wait." He seemed confused. He could not put words on it, but something was wrong. Why did nana look so strange?
The door closed. Haldor was alone. In the distance he could hear running feet, angry voices, and, just once, a woman screaming.
------------------
Later, the door opened again and a stern elderly woman walked in. Her gaunt features softened somewhat as she looked at the boy. "This boy will be my fifth king," she thought to herself. With a slight moan and creaking knees she sat down next to the boy who was to be king. "Ah, the years pass by so quickly."
"Hello, Haldor. Are you all right?"
"Aunt Ziedas, where's daddy?"
The old gyðja sighed. "There will be plenty of time to talk about that later. Right now, you know that old aunt Ziedas is your friend, don't you m'boy?"
The boy nodded, and suddenly lept forward and hugged the old woman. Surprised, Ziedas twitched and then hugged the boy.
Behind them, the door swung open. Ziedas spoke without looking.
"If you make me turn around and see who's there, you will regret it," she said softly.
The door closed again. With slightly blurred eyes, the old priestess hugged the boy and whispered "Yes, don't worry, Haldor. I will take care of you now."
Last edited:
For the record, Ziedas Skilfing is one of the younger children of the extremely fertile king Rörek, making her the sister of Haldor's grandmother's grandfather.
Not at that time. Helge's new wife, a Rurikovich princess, was pregnant when he died.
Oh no, the updates are slowing down again! I can't take it anymore! *Nodscouterr has gained the trait Crazed*
Yes, unfortunately. It's summer and I have moved to a place where I was lacking internet access for some time.
Part 20
The Skilfing Castle, Södermanland, april 1181. The next day.
The throne room was not filled, at least not with people. The atmosphere was nevertheless crowded and tense. The remaining nobles huddled in groups, eyeing each other nervously. Nobody had thus far been able to find out exactly who had put the poison in the king’s mead. To make things worse who would now be king?
The back door opened and two people entered the room. The first was an old and gnarled woman, heavily lening against her cane. The second was a small child, walking directly behind the old gydja. The woman stopped next to the high seat, while the toddler climbed up on top of it and stood up. The room fell silent.
Ziedas raised her voice and called out:
-All hail Haldor, the new King of the North!
Low grumblings could be heard from the corners of the room. Most of the courtiers and nobles raised loud hails to the Child-King, but it it was obvious that not all were pleased with this.
- A-as my first act…
King Haldor glanced insecurely at his great-aunt , who nodded and smiled encouragingly.
-…as king I’ll… kni- … crown, no!... GIVE out the trait- traditional fiefs…
The grumbling quieted and several nobles took one unconscious step forward.
------------------------
Haldor proved to be a resilient young men. Many would have buried themselves in self-pity or indulged in physical pleasures if they had been placed at the head of such a large realm at such an early age. Not so prince Haldor. Instead, he tried to learn the duties of a king as best he knew how. Perhaps the influence of an older and wiser counselor was there in the background?
Part 20:
The Consolidation
The Consolidation
The Skilfing Castle, Södermanland, april 1181. The next day.
The throne room was not filled, at least not with people. The atmosphere was nevertheless crowded and tense. The remaining nobles huddled in groups, eyeing each other nervously. Nobody had thus far been able to find out exactly who had put the poison in the king’s mead. To make things worse who would now be king?
The back door opened and two people entered the room. The first was an old and gnarled woman, heavily lening against her cane. The second was a small child, walking directly behind the old gydja. The woman stopped next to the high seat, while the toddler climbed up on top of it and stood up. The room fell silent.
Ziedas raised her voice and called out:
-All hail Haldor, the new King of the North!
Low grumblings could be heard from the corners of the room. Most of the courtiers and nobles raised loud hails to the Child-King, but it it was obvious that not all were pleased with this.
- A-as my first act…
King Haldor glanced insecurely at his great-aunt , who nodded and smiled encouragingly.
-…as king I’ll… kni- … crown, no!... GIVE out the trait- traditional fiefs…
The grumbling quieted and several nobles took one unconscious step forward.
------------------------
Haldor proved to be a resilient young men. Many would have buried themselves in self-pity or indulged in physical pleasures if they had been placed at the head of such a large realm at such an early age. Not so prince Haldor. Instead, he tried to learn the duties of a king as best he knew how. Perhaps the influence of an older and wiser counselor was there in the background?
No, disaster?
Update-time of the year?
Well, what can I say? It's been a crazy time for me. IRL obligations took most of my time last year and this until now. Plus, I just didn't have the inspiration to continue the AAR. I've never forgotten the Skilfings completely, though...
The Blood Ravens
Even though Haldor mangade to buy off most of the hesitant vassals with a generous distribution of titles, rebellions still broke out in the provinces. The peasants of Livland rebelled again and again, and duke Rostislav of Tver decided that King Haldor was weakened enough that it would be possible to make an attempt at Holmgård.
Tverkriget 1181
The Tver war was, essentially, a minor affair in the sense that the realm never was threatened. The Russian princes from time to time went to war with the Norse-realm when they perceived a weakness, and result of this usually came down to a series of confused raids between the forces of the border Jarls and the mobilized Russian Druzina. This time was no different. Prince Rostislav issued a proclamation of war (based primarily around the horrific treatment of the Christians in Trans-Portage, the chief of which had rebelled against Haldor last autumn), and how the great city of Novgorod would finally be liberated from the pagans.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
On the pagan side, the border Jarls (under the leadership of the aging Jarl Erdenis of Lithuania, the great-grand-uncle of king Haldor) mobilized and after a few initial losses managed to push back Tver and lay siege to their home castles, eagerly pillaging the countryside as they did so. It finally ended in the summer of 1183, with a most predictable outcome:
This proved to be the last campaign of the aging, blind jarl of the Lithuanians. On the road home from the siege of Vyazma, the old man fell ill with the fever and never woke up. With that, the last ruler of the Lithuanians who had been born in in Svithiod died.
Part 21
The Blood Ravens
The Blood Ravens
Even though Haldor mangade to buy off most of the hesitant vassals with a generous distribution of titles, rebellions still broke out in the provinces. The peasants of Livland rebelled again and again, and duke Rostislav of Tver decided that King Haldor was weakened enough that it would be possible to make an attempt at Holmgård.
Tverkriget 1181
The Tver war was, essentially, a minor affair in the sense that the realm never was threatened. The Russian princes from time to time went to war with the Norse-realm when they perceived a weakness, and result of this usually came down to a series of confused raids between the forces of the border Jarls and the mobilized Russian Druzina. This time was no different. Prince Rostislav issued a proclamation of war (based primarily around the horrific treatment of the Christians in Trans-Portage, the chief of which had rebelled against Haldor last autumn), and how the great city of Novgorod would finally be liberated from the pagans.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
On the pagan side, the border Jarls (under the leadership of the aging Jarl Erdenis of Lithuania, the great-grand-uncle of king Haldor) mobilized and after a few initial losses managed to push back Tver and lay siege to their home castles, eagerly pillaging the countryside as they did so. It finally ended in the summer of 1183, with a most predictable outcome:
This proved to be the last campaign of the aging, blind jarl of the Lithuanians. On the road home from the siege of Vyazma, the old man fell ill with the fever and never woke up. With that, the last ruler of the Lithuanians who had been born in in Svithiod died.
Last edited:
Thanks! I had a few minutes and decided to pick up this old story again.
