Rise of Rurik

The sun never seemed to set, it was pinned to the western horizon like a pushpin, and the blood-red glow shone across the fjord.

The Balmers erected a wooden altar near the coast, and the entire tribe brought their families from various small settlements, and for a time the largest port was crowded with ships.

This is the sacrifice of the locals on the summer solstice. Looking at the grand scale, Rurik has to admit that the sacrifices of the Balmers are obviously more lively.

But this sacrifice had nothing to do with the happy and peaceful atmosphere. He noticed that the faces of the people gathered were as solemn as iron.

Perhaps because of the disaster that just happened, people in a settlement were completely destroyed by landslides and mudslides caused by the storm, and people's mood was extremely sad.

Or for other reasons, it is also possible that their sacrifices are always so serious that they are suffocating.

As a distinguished guest of the tribe and the husband of the leader's daughter, Rurik naturally followed Magnut, the leader, and was able to stand at the honorable point and witness the entire sacrifice process.

Despite the summer solstice, the cold from the North Pole shows no sign of letting up.

Rurik saw more than two dozen men with antlers on their heads and in deerskins approaching the altar solemnly.

"That's your priest." Rurik muttered casually with a blank face.

"Yes. How about your priests?"

"There are more priests than our Ross. You... priests are all men?"

"Of course. Are all your priests of Ross women all women?"

When Rurik heard this, he wanted to answer in the affirmative, and then just thought about it and shut up.

After a while, some shirtless men also walked into the altar under the gaze of thousands of Balmers.

"They, too, are priests?" Rurik asked cautiously, realizing that something was wrong.

Magnut's eyes were iron, and his calm face showed murderous aura: "That's a sacrifice. They will sacrifice their own lives to the gods. I think you know this very well."

Rurik did know that, but he felt a chill down his spine when we met today.

Listen! The priests began to sing lengthy sacrificial songs, as if in doing so they would be able to get in touch with Odin in some way.

This time was not boring, Rurik's feet were dripping with sweat,

He noticed that there were tens of thousands of people watching the entire sacrifice site, and they all kept silent.

Such a regular silence was terrifying, and Rurik's eyes were mainly fixed on the naked men in the altar.

Until the thing that was supposed to happen suddenly happened.

Almost a high priest character issued an order!

Rurik's back was slapped by Magnut himself: "Boy, the most critical moment is here!"

The scene is suffocating!

Rurik's eyes widened, he knew that in his noble capacity, he had to stare to see all the endings on the altar. As for Noren, who was beside her, she had already hid behind her father because of the terrible scene.

The god-worshippers commit suicide, and any cry of pain is disrespectful to Odin.

However, the priests did not believe that the suicide suicide really had an incomparably strong willpower, so when the suicide suicide stabbed himself in the throat with a dagger, the priests, like a "wrong person", stabbed the suicide suicide with a short spear in the back. , piercing its heart with precision.

"Perhaps the same madness is the savage sacrifices of Maya and Aztec! In order to survive in a difficult environment, you will not hesitate to use this kind of self-mutilation in order to obtain the grace of God..."

Of course Rurik thought in his heart that such sacrifices were a weakening of his own labor force and were simply not desirable. But the Balmers thought it was necessary before great things were done, and its existence was justified by the people of the tribe.

Walking on a battlefield full of corpses, Rurik today is not afraid. But now, his heart was beating wildly.

More than a dozen suicides died for all the people of the Balmoc tribe, their bodies were covered with dry wood, and finally turned into ashes in the flames...

One would like to believe that these brave men represent the will of the entire Balmer, whose souls have gone to Valhalla in the sky to report to Odin.

Such a grand sacrifice is really rare for the Balmerk tribe. In the past, the sacrifice was just the sacrifice of some old and weak sheep, but now it is human sacrifice.

Everyone knows the reason. These days, the public opinion field of the entire tribe has also been agitated because of the great event of exploring and looting the British islands.

Young people are eager to try, one by one impoverished small families, they hope that a looting will make their family rich quickly.

They didn't have such an idea before, or a few people moved a little bit, after all, they lacked the courage to act on a large scale.

Now, Rurik of Ross is like a god, giving the brothers courage!

The sacrificial activity culminated with a violent pillar of fire.

I don't know how long the fire will burn, and the people's eyes are on another important event.

The day after the summer solstice sacrifice, it was difficult for people in the daylight to judge the exact time. After all, everyone had some repairs, and it was time to carry out the wedding of those two people.

Rurik, he knew that he would experience ten or twenty weddings in his life.

After all, it's a wedding, so it should be made more grand, right?

Unfortunately, the wedding ceremony of the Balmers always seems to be simple and to the point.

No games, no complicated rituals.

Yes, it's just the oath of the two people and "crossing a glass of wine". After these two ceremonies are completed, all the onlookers are witnesses of the wedding, and they can be recognized as husband and wife. It was only then that the clan could rejoice, and for the newlyweds, they were supposed to go to a private place, and the next day the mother of the bride would personally examine it, to announce to friends and relatives that her daughter was a woman.

love? romantic? Do not! Balmers are very straightforward. They regard sons-in-law as sons and daughters-in-law as daughters. It is this wonderful marriage system. Balmers has grown from an aggregate of a group of families to its current strength after operating for hundreds of years. scale. They only hope that a couple of new couples can desperately conceive children, and the tribe has a steady stream of new births to offset the harsh natural erosion.

Rurik changed into the white and noble clothes he had been wearing when he came, and Noren was also dressed in plain clothes, with a wreath of wild flowers on his head, and crystal clear gems on his neck and ears (also Rurik himself). sent by gram).

It was in such a strange atmosphere that Rurik and Noren, in the presence of all the priests and the heads of the families, held up the vodka in the glass (which Rurik had brought) and insisted on facing the sun. , and then the two of them drank the glass of wine together.

The extremely spicy taste was so shocking that Noren blushed. She knew that this was a major event in her life, and she could not reveal her decadence. She didn't understand why her father would fall in love with this kind of spirits as long as he licked it. She really couldn't like it.

They cheered for the new couple, and the leaders of the various families came to pay their respects.

Noren is such a beautiful girl, the jewel of the whole fjord. These family leaders, they want this girl to be their son's wife, but...

Obviously this is Noren's fate, she is Rurik's wife, is the wife of the Duke of Ross.

"Girl! You're going to have at least five sons for your husband."

"Noren, you should know your mission. This is our alliance with Rose. Your stomach must live up to your expectations."

"Serve your husband well. Rurik is the most perfect man I have ever met, and you must be faithful to him forever!"

...

One after another, the family leaders took turns to "make trouble", and their words were obviously aimed at Noron on purpose, and their words were mostly warning.

In this regard, Rurik remained silent for the time being, while Magnute and Imbjöger also stared coldly.

This is the fate of women in Balmerque. After marriage, a woman must be loyal to her husband, unless her husband dies in an unfortunate way before remarrying. This is a tribe in the extreme northern region dominated by men and violence. They cannot bear the infidelity of women, and they also require women to take care of the logistics of the family. Noren, a naive, romantic and pampered girl, was scolded by those uncles for a moment as if she had done something wrong.

Of course, this "uncle's scolding" is also mixed with some venting of anger.

After all, these men are very rational. Behind their warning to Noren, they are also making a clear statement to Rurik that all powerful forces in Balmerk support the alliance with Ross very much.

It was the first night after Rurik and Noren were married, and the sun was still fixed on the horizon.

Thinking back on what happened at the wedding, Noren felt a stone weighed down in his heart.

She tried to get close to Rurik by drinking alcohol, but... Rurik subconsciously refused.

"You...why? According to tradition, tomorrow my mother must..."

"No." Rurik's mind was in a mess. After all, the girl Noren was about the same age as him. It was fine for Rumia, but this Noren...

"Why? You clearly said that you like me very much. I... is already your woman." At this point, Noren sighed, and she was so brave that she couldn't care so much. Maybe she became a woman of Russ, and she had the power of a bear in that moment.

After all, Noren is not Rumia, and it is too early to truly be a mother. But this wise girl knows that her thin shoulders bear the future destiny of the entire Balmer people.

The most important point is that she doesn't want her to be looked down upon by her clansmen, and she also doesn't want her husband Rurik to bear some unfavorable rumors.

The next day, the sun on the western horizon shifted almost to the east, and then began to rise slowly.

A new day has come.

According to the tradition, Yingbjög checked Noren very nervously, only to know that his daughter experienced a lot of pain yesterday, but she seemed weak and she managed to survive.

Imbjög immediately announced the good news to him, and soon, the news spread throughout most of the clan, and the event of "Rurik of Russ and Noron united" must be known to everyone.

Rurik, he always has some sense of guilt, but what he gets is the praise of all the family leaders!

What has always made Rurik a little strange is that these guys in power in Balmerk are not enthusiastic about signing written covenant documents, or they lack awareness.

They are particularly certain that a truly stable alliance should be linked by blood relatives.

Noren, her status is more important than a written document, she is the bond of the alliance contract.

It's just pity this girl, she really tossed herself to have a good rest for a few days before she can continue to walk happily.

However, in the days that followed, the major events facing the Balmers had nothing to do with the so-called happiness.

People were serious, they were making a batch of jerky, they were building wooden poles to hold the spearheads in place.

They mend the oars, mend the sails. A new round shield was made from oak and pine, and the words spelled in rune letters were made to smear the shield with morale.

All the powerful families of the Balmerc tribe were involved in exploratory expeditions to Britain.

Some families sent more than 10 troops, some sent 50 or 100 troops, like the most honorable and powerful leader of Magnut, who assembled 200 young men of prosperous age.

The time is just entering July, which should be the warmest season, and the climate during this period is still somewhat elusive. For example, there was a sudden drizzle yesterday, and then the cool north wind blew the earth relatively dry. The warm wind from the south is frequented from time to time, but suddenly the wind direction has changed again.

Unsurprisingly, Rurik was elected by all the families to be the commander-in-chief of the army!

After all, Rurik had an unusual military career!

Biyonny and Floki, and even all the Balmers who have been in the Rus-controlled area, they have seen too many things with their own eyes, and they highly respect Rurik's military command ability. It would be wiser to have him as commander-in-chief.

In fact, the troops of the Balmers are already on standby, and they can paddle out at any time. They were the quintessential Viking army, able to assemble, move and disappear suddenly. On the other hand, the Rus army is not even an "atypical Viking army" today. The Rus army is already another banner for the entire Baltic world.

Rurik ordered the assembling of the Balmerk army, and on a relatively warm noon, as many as 998 Balmerk warriors gathered into a group with their various weapons.

Rurik stood on a high wooden platform and watched the so-called army under the platform with mixed feelings.

"That's it? It's an army? It's a bunch of shirtless armed gangsters! Well, that's what real Vikings are, poor but savage."

The depreciation in his heart was deep in his heart. On the eve of the expedition, Rurik felt that he still wanted to shout something to let these guys who were looting and making a fortune, or who controlled the British farm to grow their own wheat, let them ignite more violently. Fighting fire.

Need some lengthy speech?

You don't have to.

For this group of naive, basically ignorant, bestiality-probably more than human-like guys, the best speech is to frantically repeat a few simple slogans.

Rurik drew his gleaming short steel sword in public, the peak pointed to the southwest.

"I! Rurik! Your trustworthy war chief!"

"All the family leaders support me! You must support me too!"

"We move! You follow my big ship!"

"We rush to the Isle of Britain! Find the local village! Find the local city! We attack! We loot! You snatch what you need as you can! You will all get rich!"

What do they understand about this group of ordinary and wild Balmerk warriors?

Who is the leader? Rurik of Ross.

How did the brothers sail away? Follow the Ross ship.

What did the brothers do after landing on the island? Looting, the good stuff is yours.

When are you leaving? The Ross ship left, and the brothers followed.

Their eyes were only gold, silver, wheat, leather cloth and women, and they hoped to make a fortune in the First World War.

Of course, there are also many people who think that their tribe is essentially a giant union of many large and small families. Although it is not as powerful as the Bergen people, it must be very powerful.

It is said that Rurik of Ross has divine help and has won many victories at a young age. Now because of his marriage with Noron, everyone wants to believe that Lord Rurik has stood on the position of the Balmers and will definitely bring The brothers are victorious. Since victory is inevitable, perhaps after this year's victorious exploration and looting, the brothers will no longer have to organize a huge fleet next year, but will greet like-minded friends, organize small boats to cross the sea, and spontaneously build new ships on that road. balmerck.

As for the colonization ideas of this group of Balmerks, Rurik does not want to listen to it for the time being. But he liked this kind of thing from the beginning, because the Viking Age had inevitably come!

It is best for the Balmers to expand themselves. In the future, their expansion results, the stronger Rus forces under their own rule, can naturally use reasonable and reasonable so-called alliance methods to make the native nobles of Balmers respect the Duke of Ross as the greatest. the nobility.

Of course, Noren was destined to have some children, boys and girls. Rurik had already planned in his heart that his wife and concubine Noren was not destined to become a queen, but her son would naturally represent Rose and become the ruler of Balmerk's forces. Rurik admired the Habsburg family's tactics, and he had to practice it himself.

There was no time to train the nine hundred and ninety-eight Balmerk Viking warriors, and perhaps there was no need.

This was a bad time, and Rurik did not believe in the fighting power of the ancestors of the Scots, and in countries such as Northumbria, how the local armies would be able to fight. In terms of historical inertia, those kingdoms were bound to be defeated and permanently conquered by a group of armed Norwegian and Danish fishermen.

But in today's era, the heavy equipment installed on the Avrora can be used for land warfare, torsion slingshots and bull catapults, a proper high-tech lethal weapon! Coupled with the terrifying steel-armed crossbow, even if the number of such weapons is small, it is enough to increase the comprehensive combat effectiveness of a thousand Vikings in Balmerk by several floors.

The day of the expedition was also fixed, the fifth day of July in the Julian calendar.