The sun seems to never set. It is like a thumbtack nailed to the western horizon, and the blood-red glow shines on the entire fjord.
The Balmoks built a wooden altar near the coast. People from the entire tribe came with their families from various small settlements. For a time, the largest port was crowded with ships.
This is the local people's sacrifice for the summer solstice. Looking at the grand scale, Rurik had to admit that the Balmok people's sacrifice activities were obviously more lively.
But this sacrifice had nothing to do with the joyful and peaceful atmosphere. He noticed that the faces of the people gathered were as solemn as iron.
Perhaps it was the disaster that just happened. The people in a settlement were completely destroyed by landslides and mudslides caused by the storm, and the people felt extremely sad.
Or it may be because of other reasons, or maybe their sacrifices are always so solemn and suffocating.
As a distinguished guest of the tribe and the husband of the leader’s daughter, Rurik naturally followed the leader Magnut and was able to stand and witness the entire sacrificial process.
Although it is the summer solstice, the cold from the Arctic shows no sign of letting up.
Rurik saw more than twenty men with antlers on their heads and deer skins approaching the altar seriously.
"That's your priest." Rurik mumbled casually with a dull face.
"Not bad. How does it compare with your priests?"
"There are more priests than us in Rus. Your... priests are all men?"
< p>"Of course. Aren't all your priests in Rus's women?"When Rurik heard this, he wanted to answer in the affirmative, and then he thought about it and simply shut up.
A moment later, some shirtless men also walked into the altar under the gaze of thousands of Balmoks.
"Are they also priests?" Rurik realized something was wrong and still asked cautiously.
Magnut’s eyes were steely, and there was murderous intent under his calm face: “Those are sacrifices. They will sacrifice their lives to the gods. I think you know this very well.”
Rurik does know that, but seeing each other today really makes his spine shiver.
Listen! The priests began to sing long sacrificial songs, as if doing so could establish some kind of contact with Odin.
This period was not boring. The soles of Rurik's feet were dripping with sweat. He noticed that tens of thousands of people gathered around the entire sacrificial place, and they all remained silent.
Such a disciplined silence was intimidating, and Rurik’s eyes were mainly fixed on the bare-backed men at the altar.
Until what was supposed to happen suddenly happened.
Almost a high priest character issued the order!
Rurik's back was suddenly patted by Magnut himself: "Boy, the most critical moment has arrived!"
The scene was suffocating!
Rurik’s eyes widened, he knew clearly thatWith his noble status, he must open his eyes to see the end of everything on the altar. As for Nolen, who was beside her, she had already hid behind her father due to the terrifying scene.
Those who worship God kill themselves. Any wail of pain is disrespectful to Odin.
However, the priests did not believe that the suicide victim really had extremely strong willpower, so when the suicide victim stabbed himself in the throat with a dagger, the priests, like "the wrong person", held short. The spear struck the self-inflicted man in the back and accurately penetrated his heart.
"Perhaps equally crazy are the barbaric priests of the Mayans and Aztecs! In order to survive in a difficult environment, you do not hesitate to inflict such self-mutilation in order to obtain the favor of the gods..."
Rurik certainly believed in his heart that such a sacrifice would weaken his own labor force and was not advisable at all. But the Balmoq people believe that this is a necessary thing before doing big things, and its existence is reasonable for the people of the tribe.
Walking around a battlefield littered with corpses, today’s Rurik will not be afraid. But now, his heart was racing.
More than a dozen suicide victims died for the people of the Balmok tribe. Their bodies were covered with dry firewood and eventually turned into ashes and smoke in the flames...
People Want to believe that these brave people represent the will of the entire Balmok people, and their souls have gone to Valhalla in the sky to report to Odin.
Such a grand sacrifice is rare for the Balmok tribe. In the past, sacrifices were just sacrifices of old and weak sheep, but now they are sacrificed by human beings.
Everyone knows the reason. In the past few days, the public opinion field of the entire tribe has also been agitated because of the major events related to exploring and plundering the British islands.
Young people are eager to give it a try. Small poor families are hoping that a robbery will make their family rich quickly.
In the past, they did not have such an idea, or a few people had a little thought, but after all, they lacked the courage to take large-scale actions.
Now, Rurik of Rus is like a god coming to the world, giving the brothers courage!
The sacrificial activities reached their peak with the violent pillar of fire.
I don’t know how long the fire will continue to burn, and the people’s eyes are focused on another important event.
On the day after the summer solstice sacrifice, people in the daytime had difficulty judging the exact time. After all, everyone had made some adjustments, and it was time to carry out the wedding of the two people.
Rurik, he knew that he would experience ten or even twenty weddings in his life.
It is a wedding after all, it should be grand no matter what, right?
Unfortunately, the wedding ceremonies of the Balmok people always seem to be simple and concise.
No games, no complicated rituals.
Some are just two people's vows and "drinking a glass of wine." After completing these two ceremonies, all the onlookers who are witnesses of the wedding can recognize the two as husband and wife. It was not until this time that the tribecan be happy, and for the newlyweds, they should go to a private place, and wait until the next day for the bride's mother to check in person to announce to relatives and friends that her daughter has become a woman.
Love? romantic? No! The Balmok people are very straightforward. They regard their son-in-law as their son and their daughter-in-law as their daughter. It is this wonderful marriage system that has allowed Balmok to grow from an aggregation of a group of families to its current strength after operating for hundreds of years. scale. They only want a new couple to work hard to conceive a child, so that the tribe can have a steady stream of new people to offset the erosion of the harsh nature.
Rurik put on the white and noble clothes he had worn when he came, and Noren was also in plain clothes, with a wreath of wild flowers on his head, and crystal clear clothes on his neck and ears. gems (itself also a gift from Rurik).
It was in such a strange atmosphere that Rurik and Nolen, witnessed by all the priests and respectable family leaders, held up the vodka in the glass (Rurik still brought it) came), pointed towards the sun, and then the two of them drank the glass of wine together.
The extremely spicy taste shocked Nolen's face and turned red. She knew that this was a major event in her life and she could not show her dejection. She didn't understand why her father would fall in love with this strong drink after just one lick. She really couldn't like it.
They cheered for the newlyweds, and the heads of various families came to pay their respects.
Noren is really a beautiful girl, the pearl of the entire fjord. These family leaders, they want this girl to become the wife of their son, but...
Obviously this is Nolen's fate. She is Rurik's wife, the wife of Duke Ross.
"Girl! You have to give birth to at least five sons for your husband."
"Nolen, you should know your mission. This is our alliance with Ross, yours." Your belly must be strong."
"Serve your husband well. Rurik is the most perfect man I have ever seen, and you must always be loyal to him!"
...
p>The family leaders took turns to "attack" each other. Their words were obviously deliberately aimed at Nolen, and many of their words were warning.
In this regard, Rurik remained silent for the time being, while Magnut and Imbjorg also stared coldly.
This is the fate of Balmok women. After marriage, a woman must be loyal to her husband, and can only remarry unless her husband dies. This is a tribe in the far north dominated by men and violence. They cannot tolerate women's infidelity and require women to take care of the family's logistics and production. Nolen, an innocent, romantic and pampered girl, was harshly criticized by the uncles for a moment as if she had done something wrong.
Of course, this "uncle's harsh criticism" is also mixed with some venting of anger.
After all, these men are very rational. Behind their warning to Nolen, they are also making a clear statement to Rurik that all powerful people in BalmokStrong, very supportive of the alliance with Ross.
This was the first night after Rurik and Nolen got married, and the sun was still fixed on the horizon.
Recalling what happened at the wedding, Nolen felt a weight on his heart.
She tried to get close to Rurik while drinking, but... Rurik subconsciously refused.
"You...why? According to tradition, my mother must..."
"No." Rurik's mind was in a mess, after all, this girl Nolen's She is about the same age as herself, which is fine for Rumia, but this Noren...
"Why? You clearly said that you like me very much. I... am already your woman." At this time, Nolen made up her mind, and she was so brave that she no longer cared about so much. Maybe the woman who became a Rus had the power of a bear at that moment.
After all, Nolen is not Rumia, and it is too early to truly become a mother. But this smart girl knew that her thin shoulders carried the future destiny of the entire Balmok people.
The most important point is that she does not want to be looked down upon by her tribe, and she also does not want her husband Rurik to be burdened with some unfavorable rumors.
The next day, the sun on the western horizon simply moved to a position relatively east, and then began to rise slowly.
A new day has finally arrived.
Yingbjerg followed the tradition and checked Nolen very nervously, only to realize that his daughter had experienced a lot of pain yesterday, but she seemed to be weak and managed to survive it.
Yingbjorg immediately announced this good news to the people. Soon, the news spread throughout most of the tribe. Eventually, the matter of "the union of Rurik of Rus and Noren" will be known to everyone.
Rurik, he always feels a little guilty, but what he gets is the praise of all the family leaders!
What has always made Rurik a little strange is that the powerful guys in Balmok are not enthusiastic about signing written covenant documents, or they lack knowledge.
They are particularly certain that a truly stable alliance should be linked by blood relatives.
Nolen, her status is more important than a written document, she is the link of the alliance contract.
I just pity this girl, she really puts herself through such a hard time that she has to rest for a few days before she can continue to walk happily.
However, in the following days, the major events faced by the Balmok people had nothing to do with so-called happiness.
The people remained serious. They were making a batch of dried fish and making wooden poles to fix the spearheads.
They repaired the oars and mended the sails. He also pieced together a new round shield from oak and pine wood, and made ink to paint the shield with the word "morale" spelled out in runes.
All the powerful families in the Balmok tribe devoted themselves to the exploratory expedition to Britain.
Some families sent more than ten troops,Some sent fifty or a hundred troops, such as the most noble and powerful leader Magnut, who gathered two hundred young and powerful young men.
It has just entered July, which is supposed to be the warmest season, but the climate during this period is still somewhat elusive. For example, yesterday there was a sudden drizzle, and then the cool north wind made the earth relatively dry. The gentle wind from the south came from time to time, but suddenly the wind direction changed again.
Rurik was elected as the commander-in-chief of the army by all the families as expected!
After all, Rurik’s military career was extraordinary!
Byony and Floki, and even all the Balmoks who have been to the Ross-controlled areas, have seen too many things with their own eyes, and they highly respect Rurik's military command ability. It would be wise for him to be the commander-in-chief.
In fact, the Balmok army is already on standby, and they can paddle out at any time. They are the most typical Viking army, able to assemble suddenly, move suddenly and disappear suddenly. On the other hand, the Russian army is not even considered a "national Viking army" to this day. The Russian army has set another banner for the entire Baltic world.
Rurik ordered the assembly of the Balmok army. On a relatively warm noon, as many as 998 Balmok warriors gathered together with their own various weapons.
Rurik stood on a wooden high platform, looking at the so-called army below with mixed feelings.
"That's it? Can it be considered an army? Just a group of shirtless armed bandits! Anyway, that's what real Vikings should be like, poor but barbaric."
The disparagement in his heart was suppressed in his heart. On the eve of this expedition, Rurik consciously still wanted to shout something to make these guys who were interested in looting to make a fortune or control the British farms to grow their own wheat more violent. The fire of fighting spirit.
Need any lengthy speech?
No need to.
For this group of simple, basically ignorant guys, whose bestiality is more likely than human, the best speech is to repeat a few simple slogans crazily.
Rurik drew out his shining short steel sword in front of everyone, and pointed the peak directly to the southwest.
"I! Rurik! I am 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 British Isles! Find the local villages! Find the local cities! We attack! We plunder! You use your own Go and grab what you need!"
What do they understand about this group of ordinary and wild Balmok warriors?
Who is the leader? Rurik of Rus.
How do brothers sail away? Followed by the Ross ship.
What do the brothers do after landing on the island? Loot and keep the good stuff for yourself.
When will you leave? The Ross ship left, and the brothers retreated with it.
They only have gold, silver, wheat, leather, cloth and women in their eyes. They hope to make a fortune from one 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 itself.
It is said that Rurik of Rus has divine help and has achieved many victories at a young age. Now because of his marriage to Nolen, everyone wants to believe that Lord Rurik has stood by the Balmoks. In terms of stance, he will definitely lead his brothers to victory. Since victory is inevitable, perhaps after this year's successful exploration and plundering, the brothers will no longer have to organize a huge fleet next year. Instead, they will call on like-minded friends, organize small boats to cross the sea, and spontaneously build a new one on that road. Balmok.
As for the colonial ideas of this group of Balmoks, Rurik didn’t want to listen for the time being. But he had been happy with this kind of thing from the beginning, because the Viking Age was inevitable!
It is best for the Balmoks to expand themselves. In the future, the results of their expansion and the more powerful Rus forces under their own rule can naturally use reasonable and reasonable so-called alliance methods to make the native nobles of Balmoks Honor the Duke of Ross as the greatest nobleman.
Of course, Nolen was destined to give birth to some children, boys and girls. Rurik had already planned deep in his heart that his concubine Noren was destined not to become the queen, but her heirs would naturally represent Rus and become the ruler of the Balmok forces. Rurik admired the methods of the Habsburg family, and he must practice them.
There is no time to properly train the 998 Balmok Viking warriors, and perhaps there is no need.
This was a bad era. Rurik did not believe in the fighting effectiveness of the local armies of the ancestors of the Scots and countries such as Northumbria. In terms of historical inertia, those kingdoms were bound to be defeated by a group of armed fishermen from Norway and Denmark and suffered permanent conquest.
But in today's era, the heavy equipment installed on the Avora can be used in land warfare, such as torsion slingshots and bull trebuchets, which are high-tech deadly weapons! Coupled with the terrifying steel-arm crossbow, even if the number of these weapons is small, it is enough to increase the overall combat effectiveness of a thousand Balmok Vikings by several levels.
The day of the expedition was also set, the fifth day of July in the Julian calendar.