The saint's body will eventually turn into ashes. During this night, many people recalled all the past related to Vilia and everything the old priest had done for the tribe. They kept vigil for Vilia until dawn.
At dawn, the noise in Fort Ross still woke up the entire tribe.
Rurik didn’t want to worry about those rumors for the time being. After all, he returned, and any rumors were self-defeating.
He must use some strong means to deter the conspirators within the tribe, as well as some people who hide deeply.
He boasted that he must take certain measures as soon as possible to bring a different starting point to the "post-Vilia era".
At dawn, Otto woke up early, he was worried and sad.
Niya tried her best to stay calm, but shed tears inadvertently.
Rurik had already woken up and was staying at home with his parents, wives and concubines, eating dried meat and wheat cakes.
Everyone remained silent until Rurik made a shocking statement: "I will take immediate action and demolish the longhouse today."
Niya was shocked: "You What are you talking about?"
"Tear down the long house of worship."
The son's face was solemn, it didn't look like he was talking nonsense. Niya dissuaded her almost instinctively: "Don't be delusional, that's a sacred area. You can't do that."
"No! The priest's longhouse is sacred because of Vilia. She died, there It makes no sense."
"But..."
"Let him do it." Otto stopped his wife.
"You! Otto, have you two discussed this?"
"Yes, I will take action immediately." Say it, Rurik quickly ate the wheat cake , stood up suddenly, and walked out of the house amidst the surprise of his mother and female relatives.
The outdoor temperature is still below freezing. Although it is close to March, the sea ice shows no signs of thawing. People who dig ice holes to catch seals and fish must still be cautious. Use an ax to cut out half a meter of ice.
Even at this low temperature, a large number of people have appeared outdoors. Wearing thick leather coats and plush hats, they moved spontaneously towards the long house of the priests.
Rurik came to his mercenary camp with his capable mercenary men on guard, and gave an order to the sleeping mercenary warriors to assemble quickly.
"Are everyone here? Yevluo, please count."
After a while, Yevluo completed the statistical task and reported carefully: "One hundred and fifty All the brothers are here."
"Very good! You are all my confidants," Rurik shouted, "Bring an axe, prepare some hemp rope, and follow me! You will do whatever I ask you to do. If you dare to refuse, you will be guilty and will be killed!”
The cold did not wake everyone up, but Rurik gave a serious and terrifying order. People were so shocked that their hearts beat faster.
A mighty armyHeading to the sacrificial longhouse, all this happened under Otto's watch and permission.
There were people standing on both sides of the winding road, and everyone had different opinions. They didn’t know what Lord Rurik wanted to do when he moved out the mercenary army.
The earth was shaking. At this moment, the priestesses in the chief priest's house noticed something strange.
Rumia, who has been guarding Vilia’s gray body until now, sheds tears when she thinks about the past few years.
The body has been placed in the lobby of the longhouse. A large number of oil lamps are arranged around the body, creating a strong sense of ceremony.
It’s very noisy outdoors.
"Go and see if the person carrying the body is here?" She greeted casually, but unexpectedly Rurik hurriedly opened the door curtain and entered.
"Rurik, you are here!" Rumia immediately came over.
"Is everything okay?" Rurik asked casually with a sullen face.
"Everything is fine. Is the ceremony about to begin?"
"Yes! You..." Rurik looked around and ordered seriously: "Rumia, come here, Stand next to me. I will arrange for people to move all the objects in the long house. "Ah? What are you doing?" Rumia felt puzzled. If it is moved to the final cremation altar, do other objects also need to be buried with it?
Rurik sighed and looked at Rumia sincerely: "This longhouse was built for Vilia. It is no longer sacred and has no meaning of existence. Now, I will "Tear it down."
"Tear it down?" Rumia looked stunned, and the other priests were also at a loss.
Rurik hadn’t finished what he said. As a group of mercenaries rolling up their linen sleeves entered the "sacred area" with serious faces, the priestesses instantly understood what Rurik was saying. Feixu began to accuse mortals of breaking into the holy realm.
"This place is no longer sacred! You women..." Rurik scolded angrily, pointing casually: "You priestesses, you have been assisting Vilia in serving Odin, and now Vilia Now that you have become Valkyrie, what about you? There is no need for you to continue to exist.”
After that, Rurik made a gesture, and Jevro came menacingly with his men in hand. In fact, Rurik initially thought about dismissing the group of priestesses. Later, he thought about it and decided to kill them under Otto's hint.
They easily arrested all the ordinary priestesses present, grabbed their arms one by one, and forced them to kneel on the ground.
The priestesses wailed in horror. They didn't know what happened and were struggling to beg for mercy. Unfortunately, any struggle was meaningless.
Rumia approached Rurik in panic: "You! They...what are you going to do to them?"
Rurik's eyes were extremely determined, and he didn't To speak is just to extend the right fist to send a "do it" signal.
The mercenary soldiers took out hemp ropes and began to hang the kneeling priestess.
"Oh! How could this be possible..." For a moment, Rumia's forehead was covered with sweat. She looked into Rurik's eyes and begged: "Why kill them? They are priestesses! Today's ceremony... "
"We will never need them again!" Rurik suddenly hugged Rumia in his arms, held her tightly, put his mouth against her ear, and whispered coldly: " You are our high priest, you are my woman, and you must lie next to me every night, not this priest longhouse. There will be no priests in the longhouse! You will be buried with Vilia! I will appoint some new priestesses to be your assistants. I will build a permanent temple and build a statue of the god. Now, close your eyes and don’t think about anything.”
Of all the priestesses, only Parla survived. Of course, that woman was expelled by the group of hanged priestesses early on, and she essentially had nothing to do with the sacrificial group. She became a master of making soap and created a lot of wealth for her master. Not only would Rurik not harm such a woman, but he would also continue to give her important responsibilities.
Seeing the horrific death scene in front of him, Rurik felt a little touched in his heart, but that was all.
None of the summer priestesses in the longhouse survived. They were given a "bloodless execution" and lay down next to Vilia's body one by one.
This is one of the Viking funeral rites.
When some tribal leaders died, their female slaves were buried with them. By the same token, if the high priest of Rus dies, what reason does her ordinary priests have to continue to live?
"Sir, everything is done." Jevro asked seriously and somewhat fearfully, "What to do next?"
"Pick up these corpses with leather and carry them out. Then move all the coins away. After you finish moving the things inside, wait for my order to demolish the house."
The mercenaries have taken action!
The mercenaries outside formed a human wall to prevent the gathered Russian people from moving around. The people had different opinions. They saw Lord Rurik's men entering the longhouse with their own eyes. When they were surprised, they saw those people coming out carrying some strange things.
No! That's actually a human! It's a dead person! Those hanging braids are all...
People were shocked to realize that a large number of priestesses... were dead?
The scene was very noisy for a time, but Otto was not surprised at all. He pushed away the crowd and raised his arms: "Don't be surprised! These dead priestesses are willing to be buried with Vilia. Their souls have entered Asgard, where they will continue to assist our Valkyrie! Sperosvilia!"
Otto roared like this, and everyone's mood calmed down a little.
Suddenly someone questioned again: "Where is our new high priest? Where is Lord Rurik's Rumia?"
At that moment, Rumia was wearing a deer-antlered helmet and holding a Walking out of the emergency with Vilia's gem-encrusted wooden staffThe longhouse of the priests awaiting demolition.
She is much shorter than the average Russian woman, and her current height is exactly the same as that of Vilia during her lifetime. Many people were almost dazzled by the sight, and were shocked that a Vilia was resurrected.
"I! High Priest Rumia, all rituals today and in the future will be performed by me. All new subordinate priests are born! I am Lord Rurik's servant, all new subordinates Priests are all servants of Lord Rurik!"
Rumia already understood everything. She readily accepted her new mission and lost all thought of the priest's longhouse and everything in it. think. Following the words of the Rurik Assault Cult, she informally announced one thing to the people outdoors - all future sacrifices would only obey the orders of Rurik, the son of God.
There are indeed careerists in the Ross tribe, but such people are very few. Most of the people, especially the women in the tribe who have lost their husbands and sons, ordinary families, and orphans from all over the country, fully support all Rurik's ideas, and hope that Lord Rurik will control greater power and wealth. , so that you can drink one more mouthful of soup.
They watched in astonishment as the remains of the buried priestess were removed, and then looked at the large number of money suitcases in astonishment.
Rurik personally held the precious parchment, which was a "Holy Roman Relic", even though its title was "Exodus". In addition, all the wooden documents engraved with the past of the Russians were tied up with hemp ropes and carried out.
Rurik finally appeared. No one noticed the book he was holding. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at the holy object lifted by the eight people behind him!
It’s Vilia’s body!
Otto gave an order: "Kneel down before our High Priest of Vilia!"
Russian men and women knelt down one after another, and Otto also greeted him. Go up and become Vilia's pallbearer.
This old woman who looks like a dead tree has dedicated her life to the Ross tribe. At this moment, she is lying peacefully on the wooden bed, covered with a snow-white polar bear skin, just like the surrounding world and the frozen sea, a piece of White.
The team slowly walked towards the towering cremation altar, and all the Ross people along the way knelt to bid farewell to Vilia's holy remains.
Gould, the fat businessman, knelt down with his whole family.
The Hotla family, a famous shipbuilding family, knelt down with his friends.
The Fordegen family, the owners of the tailoring workshop, knelt down.
A large number of businessmen knelt down.
There are also travelers from the old Eric family from Denmark and the Balmok tribe from afar. They are guests and they also kneel down for the lost high priest of Rus.
Their kneeling came from the heart, such as Biyongni, but when he learned that the high priest of Ross died at the age of eighty, he immediately believed the fact that the high priest ascended to heaven and became the Valkyrie. In Biyoni's concept, no mortal can live to be eighty years old, so the old woman who was lifted up by the Duke of Ross himself must be realsacred.
The longhouse of the priests has become empty, all useful things have been moved away, and the rest is demolition work.
In the end, the Ross people spontaneously obeyed this order. They brought various tools and quickly reduced the old longhouse to ruins.
A large amount of old building wood will be turned into fuel for the wooden platform, only the more than fifty thirty-meter-long oak beams on the collapsed roof! Among them, the largest and most important oak beam, Rurik did not hesitate to use it as the keel of a new ship.
The golden light of the sun shines on the whole white world. In the days when Rurik no longer belongs to the tribe, Klavassen’s blacksmith shop allows Lilia to continue to work in addition to nursing the child. Make some dark lenses. Now, two hundred Russians put on sunglasses, and the sunshine in the snow was no longer dazzling. They stayed in front of the firewood pile filled with wood blocks for a long time.
It was also them, this group of people wearing sunglasses, who assisted Rurik's elite mercenaries in moving the remains of the buried lower-level priestess to the pyre. At this moment, they saw the ferocious face of the priestess and the severe marks on her neck.
They were not willing, but were killed!
Who did it? Otto must have given the order. .
But this is their fate! Sooner or later they will be buried with Vilia.
In the end, Villa's body was placed on the top of the pyre, and then a large amount of hot seal oil began to be sprinkled on the pyre at the bottom of the platform. In order to make the combustion faster and more complete, Rurik could only do this.
This is a large-scale cremation. Burning the deceased to ashes will probably take a day and a night at the earliest. Rurik just hopes that this will end soon...
The sun will finally rise to the sky, and the time of sacrifice is now.
The high priest Rumia appeared wearing a deer-antlered helmet, and the so-called lower-level priestesses following behind her were actually a group of girls? !
No! These girls all wear unique silver jewelry, and each silver jewelry hanging on their chest is inlaid with a different gold crest. How could they be lower-level priestesses? Everyone knew that they were a group of slaves brought by Otto from Novgorod to Rurik, and now their exact identities were all the wives and concubines of Lord Rurik.
Rumia has the largest silver jewelry. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this short woman has an extremely noble status among wives and concubines, and she is also the new high priest.
After a while, more children appeared!
A large number of boys held up "spears". They actually held extremely long wooden sticks, with white cloth tied to each stick. They are children trained and fed by Rurik, and future warriors who are loyal to Rurik personally. Farewell to the high priest Vilia must be a special trial in their lives.
They lined up in the same neat line as during training, all dressed in plain clothes. They lined up in a matrix one after another and stood around the wooden platform. Their absolute neatness greatly enhanced the solemnity of the ceremony.
Another group of girls appeared. Two hundred girls around ten years old were also dressed in pure white. They tied white cloth strips on their foreheads, each carrying a bow tied with white cloth strips, and arrows hanging from hemp ropes around their waists. Bag, there are a few arrows in the bag.
The final funeral can finally begin!
As many as ten reindeer were sacrificed, and they were stabbed to death one by one by Rurik with a sword, and then the deer carcasses were dragged directly to the ice. A group of strong men dug holes in the ice and let all the deer's blood flow into the ocean.
Under the gaze of as many as eight thousand pairs of eyes, Rumia shouted loudly: "O God of the Ocean! Please accept our sacrifice! Let Sperosvilia's remains in the world return to Ocean!”
These reindeer are not dedicated to Odin, but to the ocean. As for the deer carcass, it naturally became human food, especially as a reward meal for the men participating in the sacrificial activities.
Rumia began to sing the ancient sacrificial prayers of the Ross tribe, and some older people finally realized that what this girl was singing was the prayers dedicated to the death of great people. People listened to Rumia's solo in silence, and then heard the chorus of a large number of girls, especially the Russian war song "Holy War". The war hymn is sung to Odin! The Rus believed that one of the incarnations of Odin was the sun.
At noon, Rurik washed his hands full of deer blood, stood on a high place, held up a flaming pine torch, and shouted loudly: "Russians! Our high priest Wei! Leah spent eighty years completing her sacred mission! Odin was her father, and now Odin has taken her away! Our Valkyrie! Watching our actions from the sky!"
"I! I am also a descendant of Odin, Odin! Ding protects me and is invincible! Odin protects me from the wind, snow and heat! I will lead you to glory. All those who surrender to Ross and ally with Ross will receive the glory rewarded by Odin. Now, I will start a new era! Let's go!"
At this point, the boys and girls began to yell "Ula" rhythmically according to Rurik's previous arrangement.
The sound of Ula, Rurik wanted to use it as the unique Viking war cry of the Rus.
Rurik endured the pain in his throat, approached the pyre with a tragic expression, and threw the torch with all his strength.
The flames burned quickly when they came into contact with the flammable seal oil, and the charcoal in the pyre had already been soaked in the oil. Almost instantly, a terrifying pillar of fire shot straight into the sky.
Rurik felt the terrifying heat, and the onlookers retreated subconsciously. Rurik squinted his eyes and raised his head, watching Vilia's body being engulfed by the yellowing flames...
The flames shocked everyone. Regardless of whether everyone reacted or not, Rurik announced in public that he belonged to His time has officially arrived! The so-called Vilia was the one chosen by Odin, and Rurik was the second. Those who believe that Rurik is a holy person, based on today's ritualsstyle, which greatly strengthened the power of their faith. As for the careerists, some began to waver.
Ryurik does not expect that a group of guys who question his status will quickly change their views. He believes that at least those guys know what it means to be vicious.
His estimate was correct. The Russians cannot tolerate that their leader is not a brave and fierce warrior. Now everyone is more aware than ever that although Rurik is still an underage child (less than twelve years old), he already has the mentality of a warrior. Then everyone just needs to wait a little while for this child to grow into a man who is stronger and more powerful than his father.
The fire burned for three full days, and everything was finally reduced to ashes.
Velia's last skeleton was also turned into powder in the flames, and all the ashes were mixed together and sent into the sea by the Rus.
The cremation altar has completely disappeared. On top of the black remains left behind, a permanent temple will be built, and this is another story.