Iskjerne Vikings's Story

After a few days of travelling, Kettil Flatnose would reach the Weargtooth Mountains in the north. His cattle wagon moved slow and steady over the grassy hills and swamplands, heading back towards Iskjerne Bay along the viking trade routes to and from the mountains. Halfway there, he looked up to see a lone horseman approaching his spoked wheeled supply cart at great speed. "Whoa," he said, pulling on the reigns to stop his cattle. He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a glass telescope, peering through it. There in the distance he could see the lone rider carrying a flagpole. It was waving a white flag with a black raven banner. Upon seeing this, Kettil would give the reigns a light snap. "Onward," he said, causing his cattle wagon to continue forward.

Within minutes, the two riders would close in on each other and meet face to face. It was Bruni the Steward, one of his fellow vikings whom King Sigurd had sent out to warn the others. "My lord Kettil, we've been expecting you," Bruni said, stopping his horse near the wagon. "What news have you from up country?" Kettil asked. "Bad news sire," Bruni answered. "Iskjerne Bay has been invaded by foreigners. Our king has declared war against the Taiyou emperor," he said, pulling the small wooden gemstone tiara from his pouch. "I'm to deliver this item to the forge for inspection," Bruni said, handing Princess Yukiko's tiara over to the craftsman. Kettil examined the tiara closely before handing it back to him. "Well then I suggest you make haste, I have a delivery to make" Kettil said before snapping the reigns again, causing his cattle to speed up.

"Go with the gods," Bruni the Steward said before kicking his heels through the stirrups, causing his brown horse with one white sock to take off again past Kettil's wheel cart and south towards the other mountain range. Kettil Flatnose glanced up at the shadowy sky and whispered quietly, "Are you listening?". He was talking to the Norse gods, wondering if they could hear and see everything that was happening as he continued on his journey north. After another day had passed, Kettil finally reached the rocky trail leading up the snowcapped mountains. The storm clouds here were the same as in other places, he thought as he continued up the Weargtooth Mountains to the ravine.

Kettil Flatnose continued through Asvith's Ravine on his way to the forge at Iskjerne Bay on the edge of the Weargtooth Mountains, being driven along in his spoked wheeled supply wagon by four giant oxen. As he neared the steep rocky trail over the mountains, a gust of wind suddenly blew his wide brimmed pointed hat off his head. Kettil placed his hand on his head to catch it as he looked up to see an enormous jotunn towering high above him. There before him was a single dwarven fisherman, whistling and singing a dwarfish folk song while fishing in the,,, sand? What was he expecting to catch in the ravine?

Just then, his questions were answered as Dvalinn the Dvergar felt his line go tense. He had snagged something with his hook. Something very big, as he struggled to hold on to his fishing pole. Suddenly, a massive white serpent would emerge from the sands and slither around Asvith's ankle on it's way up the mountains towards Iskjerne, directly ahead of Kettil along the winding trail. Dvalinn held on tightly and reeled in, jumping off of Asvith's toe on to Hoargraskr's scaley back as the colossus zoomed past him. Kettil couldn't believe his eyes. He shook his head quietly and continued on his way.

Brunni the Steward arrived in the Kadota Peaks from the northwest, riding a brown horse with one white sock and a black mane. He was holding a flagpole, waving a white banner bearing the black raven symbol of the House of Munso as he headed through Mount Daya on his way to Rainbow Falls with a message from Sigurd Hring, the King of Iskjerne Bay.

The vikings wasted little time in planning ahead. They used stones and logs to help slide the Hregg Drekki back down the hill slope on to the beach and into the water, while several workers began moving the debri aside so they could rebuild while the thralls and slaves went about picking up weapons and dead bodies to throw on to the funeral pyre later that evening. Among the dead was Jarl Evan Skjalsson, who had a throwing axe imbedded in his forehead as they lifted his body into the wheel cart. Kraiger Nallesson and Seno Miyagi, along with a couple of the captured Crusraiders from Erling Snake's army, were escorted to the dungeon inside the tower on the rockface cliff within the mountainside as the Norse women and nurses ran around offering firstaid and helping the injured vikings. All of the captives would've noticed some of the nurses bringing out bowls of garlic and onion soup and offering it to the injured vikings laying on the ground.

"I want heralds travelling north, south, east and west throughout Ellaria, have them come back with some good news for once" King Sigurd commanded, his voice echoing throughout the large wooden open hall. Prince Hrollaug nodded before carrying out his father's orders. King Sigurd then sat down at the large crescent shaped wooden dining table between Yukiko and Takao, who were seated at opposite ends as their meals were brought to them. Sigurd waited for everyone else besides Lord Bruce to exit the doors before he decided to address the silent open hall. "A blind man wishes to see. An ignorant man chooses not to. And a fool... Well... A fool makes assumptions. Do you all know who built this settlement?" He suddenly asked randomly, taking a bite of meat with a fork while looking down at his plate. He then glanced up to Lord Bruce, who was standing over by the doors with his hands folded down in front of him, looking at his bandaged shoulder to see if it needed to be changed with a fresh cloth. "Lord Bruce... Translate" he said unempatheticly. Bruce sighed and repeated Sigurd's question in Taiyou the best he could, using the knowledge that Takao had given him.

After his words were repeated, King Sigurd began to tell a story in his own native tongue. "A long time ago, there was a mighty king named Egil the Old who built a settlement here," he said as Bruce continued to translate his words into Taiyou for Yukiko and Takao to understand. "King Egil built a farmstead, a great hall, even a dock where fishing ships could land. He created a currency, conquered his enemies, established laws and expanded his kingdom," Sigurd said, taking another gulp of mead from his mug."...But he was foolish. He didn't see the error of his ways. His kingdom grew too big. His laws failed. They depleted the forests, exhausted the land and ran out of food. King Egil died of starvation," he said, taking another bite of horse meat as Bruce translated everything. "His skeleton is buried in that cave out there," King Sigurd motioned with his fork while chewing. Afterwards, he finished the rest of his meal before setting his cup on his plate and pushing it aside. Sigurd then folded his arms, resting his elbows on the crimson red tablecloth. "Tell me everything I need to know to defeat my enemy," Sigurd said deviously, looking directly at Yukiko Takayama with the most devilish grin on his face as Lord Bruce translated his command into broken Taiyou, looking over to Takao for clarification.

Meanwhile, outside the great hall around the settlement, Gwyneth was counting her Skegkattr shield-maidens as she rallied them back towards the ship. Prince Hrollaug would likewise gather up the Berserkers and climb aboard the Hreggdrekki as they pushed it into the water. But just as they were about to head out, Kettil Flatnose called to Hrollaug from the shore. He was riding a cattle wagon carrying supplies, and two more magical gemstones that would prove useful to the prince and his crew. Hrollaug jumped off the ship's bow into the shallows and walked up the sands as Kettil climbed down out of the wagon and gave him a quick hug, handing Rollo the gemstones. "You know what to do," the old man said as workers began approaching the wheel cart. Hrollaug nodded then ran down the beach and climbed back on to the bow of the ship, removing the broken black gemstone eyes from the dragon-headed prow and replacing them with the two feintly glowing purple gemstones.

Kettil turned again to look back at the gathering crowd of viking laborers. He removed the beige canvas tarp from the supply wagon, then gestured for the vikings to unload it. "Come on. Quickly, quickly, I don't have all day" he said, waving them along as the workers unloaded all of the new weapons, armor, tools and supplies. Meanwhile, nine of the völvas in the black veils would continue chanting in a circle inside the ringfort, led by Ingrid the Witch, strengthening their spell of protection over the fortress. At that moment, three more witches would break off from the rest and go their seperate ways. Vala walked down towards the bay area north of the ringfort and stood barefoot on the shore, sticking her long elmwood staff into the water. Tora would leave the ringfort and head east up the hill slope towards the Weargtooth mountains, placing her staff against one of the rocks near the cave entrance while Naya left the ringfort heading west into the open fields where he stood on a grassy hilltop and raised her staff towards the sky, chanting her magical incantations.

As this was happening, Jarl Evan's leaderless Harii warriors were merged with Jarl Ivan's ghost warriors, becoming a single force under his command. Jarl Einar Fatbelly would assemble his Svinfylking warriors, while Jarl Hroi Whitebeard prepared the Ulfhednar for battle. Uvle Brede took command of the Riders of Gislamark as they grabbed the new weapons and armour that their thralls and stewards had brought to them and prepped their Arctic Ellarian war horses. Arwaki the Swede started arming the Archers of Telemark with new arrowheads and attachments for their longbows. Hrothbrodd the Indomitable and a small handful of tongueless bearskinned warriors would spread out to guard the gates and entrances or passageways around Iskjerne Bay while Dag the Fat just sat alone by himself on a tree stump, fumbling with a tiny bone whistle attached to his hemp necklace. The builders continued to rebuild the ringfort's outer wall as the slaves and other captives worked to cleanup the debri and rubble. The farmers took to their fields again as some of their earthware houses were used as temporary hospitals for injured vikings, where the bedmaidens, women and children helped to provide care and do other things to support the village.

Brunni the Steward had left on a brown horse with one white sock, heading southeast over the mountains with the red gemstone wooden tiara in his pouch while waving the raven's banner. Are the One-Eyed headed directly south over the mountains towards the Ettonian border, also on horseback. The third rider, Krokk the Thrall, carried the raven banner north towards the Tartarean coast. The fourth rider was Aurn, who rode his own black horse with four white socks and a white mane heading east. These four had been deployed by Prince Hrollaug himself, on a quest to find help.

King Sigurd listened quietly as Princess Yukiko explained the situation to him in English, a language that both King Sigurd and Lord Bruce spoke fluently. "Your survival, is secured with diplomacy. This is not a war you will win" Yukiko assured them. Everyone else would turn their attention to King Sigurd at that moment, but King Sigurd kept his gaze on Yukiko, taking a mental note of how clever she was. He watched her posture as she spoke, and was impressed that she spoke fluent English, a fact that Sigurd did not know until now. Meanwhile, as the guards escorted Kraiger and Miyagi to the watchtower dungeon, a single covert agent had wiggled their way into Iskjerne Bay by unknown means, escaping detection from all the Harii ghost warriors as he grabbed the compound bow strapped across his back, and drew a single monomolecularly sharpened steel-carbide tipped broad-head arrow. He lined up the sights of the bow onto the lone woman Tora, watching carefully as she moved to place her staff against the rock face. 

The Shinobi loosed a single arrow, which left his bow in a muted, almost silent 'thwip', and sent the single arrow careening towards the woman's neck, his aim anticipated for her movements. The Instant the arrow was loosed, the Shinobi was gone, scrambling into the rocks of the mountainside, and seemingly vanishing entirely. The arrow would sail like a bullet towards Tora's neck as she placed the lower tip of her wooden staff on the rock. The shinobi's aim was true, with stealth precision. A flawless execution, almost equal to the quality of elven bowmanship.

Tora the Volva was not a typical viking or a shield-maiden, however. She was a natural witch, a sorceress, priestess and seeress. She was versed in Galdr magic, and Seidr, and was gifted with special abilities as a result. Tora could hear things, see things, and sense things that normal vikings could not. As the arrow thwipped towards her, Tora deflected it away from her body with the upper end of her wooden staff. A light "tick" could be heard as the upper shaft of the witch's staff hit the upper shaft of the arrow, deflecting it off to the side as it hit the ground. Tora looked down at the arrow and narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth in anger. But when she looked back up, the shinobi was already gone. Tora began her kulning, a loud high-pitched call used by the volvas to communicate over vast distances. The witches kulning was a song style practiced exclusively by certain women within the viking community. It was almost like a high frequency code language for the nature witches as Tora's beautiful singing voice echoed over the hills and open country across the bay area. Other volvas soon called back all across Iskjerne, the song of the witches sounding like a choir of distant angelic voices.

By now, the vikings had spread out and were beginning to take up positions within the settlement. Svinfylkings took up their defenses all around the three concentric ringwalls around the fortress, as archers took to the towers along the outer wall. The Ulfhednar seperated into 3 packs of lupine warriors in wolf pelts who patrolled the unfenced village and many farmsteads. The Harii ghost warriors, much like the lone shinobi who had infiltrated their settlement, would go stealth again and take up positions throughout Iskjerne Bay; in the small forest, in the rocks, in the high grass, wherever they could hide without being seen. It was their duty to protect the settlement from foreign spies and domestic assassins using their own counter espionage and covert network of guerrilla warriors to snuff out any secret weapons, infiltrations or hidden threats.

The Berserkers maintained their positions at the entrances and main gate, preferring to take up more solitary posts within the settlement. These shirtless berserkers in bearskins, the largest and strongest of all the vikings, were given their space and respect as they operated alone, for the most part, standing out apart from all the others. The nine witches in the inner wall of the ringfort continued their chanting, adding strength to the invisible forcefield around the whole outer wall. Each volva chanted her own unique spell over the growing forcefield, so that nine different qualities went into its making. All the while, thralls and servants continued to work quickly in cleaning up the scene as builders continued to repair the outer wall, reinforcing it with mortar, brick and stone.

Wheelbarrows were being hauled back and forth as the moat around the ringfort was widened and deepened, and a place was set for the newly crafted drawbridge gate entrance. Ropes and pullies moved and turned as workers lifted heavy logs and rocks over the walls and around the buildings. Kettil Flatnose finished emptying his cattle wagon and climbed back into the cart, tossing the canvas tarp into the back of the wagon before grabbing the reigns. He had finished his delivery, and would now drive his wagon along the dirt road heading southwest again towards the Weargtooth Mountains, to the forge in the rocky trail. King Sigurd sat on this throne and pondered his next decision.

As the workers hustled to finish rebuilding the Iskjerne Ringfort's outer wall, the inner circle of nine witches in black veils started to physically manifest the results of their magical incantations. Soon, nine separate Wards appeared in yet another circle, within the invisible spherical forcefield around the viking stronghold. Each ward was located in nine strategic locations around the outer wall, each one becoming vaguely visible as a transparent blueish clear magical shield operating on Gaia's own supply of mana.

These nine Wards around the ringfort's outer wall served as buffers of mysterious magical anti-magic, thin transparent slightly curved walls which would nullify any magical attacks going into the ringfort, while still allowing the volvas to send their own spells outward from behind the wards. As this was happening, the original invisible forcefield around Iskjerne Bay continued to strengthen, the large colorless, odorless bubble working together with the nine smaller magical blue wards inside of it to protect the Viking settlement. Then as six of the volvas continued to chant Old Norse incantations in a circle, three more witches would break off from their ritualistic pagan dance and step out of the circle as the others closed the gap between them, holding hands and forming a magical ring of mysterious ladies in black.

The three witches formed a triangle around the six other witches in the circle. These three would stop chanting and look up, lifting their open hands towards the sky before clapping once and standing perfectly still with their hands out like picturesque statues, never moving an inch as the circle of six volvas continued dancing clockwise between them while holding hands and interlocking their elmwood staffs together. As the witches kulning reached them, the three volvur forming the triangle would call back to Tora by joining in her song over the mountains, hills and plains. Their beautiful voices would echo for miles, reaching Tora's ears from the distance as she turned her attention back to the rock beneath the end of her staff. Tora would give the rock a light gentle tap with the lower end of her staff before standing still and waiting.

Vala started whispering quietly. Soon, the water in the bay would start to withdraw from the shore slowly as the tide went down. Vala looked up towards the clouds above, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a clear sunstone. She held the stone up and peered through it into the sky. The sunstone showed her exactly where the sun was hidden even behind the dark clouds. Meanwhile, the other witch Naya the Volva maintained her post in the open fields on top of a hill, answering Tora's distant kulning with a call of her own before whispering quietly over her long staff, still raising it towards the sky. Soon, the breeze would soften as the wind began to die down. The raven banners hanging throughout Iskjerne Bay would stop waving or blowing around, suddenly going completely limp as the breeze stopped.

Sigurd Hring was still sitting in the great mead hall scratching his chin while tapping his fingertips on the large wooden crescent shaped table in front of him. He was contemplating whether or not to kill Yukiko and Takao, and save himself the headache, or whether they might prove more useful to him alive. It was not an easy decision to make. Both of them were Taiyou, and the Taiyou had already proven to Sigurd that they had no honor. Their words could not be trusted. Especially the princess' words, Sigurd thought, taking note of her slyness and calm demeanor. Yukiko was almost too calm, and that made the King feel uneasy because that meant she was either foolish like Shimizu, or else very clever. Sigurd was not oblivious to her mannerisms as Yukiko neglected to accept the king's hospitality, completely ignoring the nice warm healthy meal he had prepared for her.

"With all due respect your Highness, we Norsemen do not control millions of worlds like your people do. This world, here, now, is all we know. We live here. Most of us will raise their families and die here. We did not come here to start a war. Look around you. War is all we've ever known. We didn't come here for riches or treasure. We came here for the soil, the earth, a place to settle down and farm, and hopefully live in peace. This hall, this table, the very ground you are sitting on right now is sacred to us. We Norsemen built this settlement with our own sweat, blood and tears, and we will happily give all of our lives down to the last warrior to defend it," King Sigurd said casually, looking over at the princess. He paused for a moment before continuing his speech.

"Your emperor underestimated us once, he will do it again. You can believe me when I tell you that my army is fully prepared to meet the Taiyou in open battle. No matter how many tens of millions of soldiers they bring. They will never enter this great hall, much less penetrate the ringfort's inner wall. You are currently sitting in the safest place you could be right now," Sigurd said before finishing his mug of mead. He set his mug down slowly on the table, looking over to Takao before turning his attention back to Yukiko, nodding gently. "You should eat something. Our climate here is cold and the weather is harsh. I need you both to stay healthy and strong incase I find a use for you," the king remarked. "The food is not poisoned. You may relax. Nobody is going to hurt you here. Not without my permission," he added, metaphorically referring to the incident on the hillside.

King Sigurd stood up and walked over to the large heavy arched wooden twin doors, opening them. He turned and nodded quietly, paying his respects to Princess Yukiko Takayama and Takao Eguchi before turning and exiting the great hall, just as four Berserker guards came walking into the hall before closing the doors again. Lord Bruce kept his hands folded quietly the whole time, never moving around as he kept his gaze on Takao and Yukiko from the hall entrance. The two of them were alone now, with just the four guards and Lord Bruce, as King Sigurd made his way down the porch steps and looked up into the sky. He felt a light shockwave and watched the sky light up with a blast from high above as the towering jotunn Asvith Thrym punched the Mizuho, causing a huge sonic boom and shockwave that was large enough for the Iskjerne vikings to barely feel it back on the planet's surface. It wasn't much to Sigurd, just a loud boom followed by a mild ground tremor, but the sky was lit up brightly enough to blind anyone who happened to look up anywhere through the clouds at that moment, as the Mizuho's wingshield illuminated the sky with enough intensity for white and pink brilliant light to penetrate the thick grey veil hovering over Iskjerne.

Within a few seconds the microwave brightness of the sky would fade and get dimmer again, leaving only a beautiful radiant wing-shaped colorful nebula over a pastel blue background of yellowish suns, whitish moons and sparkling stars. Just then, a meteor flew over Iskjerne Bay appearing like a green shooting star to King Sigurd, who marvelled at the sheer size of the four great giants on the horizon. One second the meteor was there, then it disappeared again over the mountains. Sigurd glanced down afterwards just in time to notice a little red fox as it canted it's head and darted back down from the rocks, skittering across a fallen log, and scrambling up a small pine tree in the far distance, seemingly startled by the volva's kulning as she sang. Meanwhile, two of the Harii approached Iskjerne's cave entrance to the Rikkisopi Cave System, noticing that the cave entrance had been closed off by a recent avalanche behind a blanket of snow and ice.

The Harii would patrol the area, soon finding a set of unknown footprints in the snow. They could see where someone had slid down the rocks, being able to detect the little clues left behind by the shinobi, whose presence they were not yet aware of. But the footprints in the snow, though hard to make out, seemed oftly smaller and thinner than most viking feet. The Harii quickly determined that the tracks were not made with typical heavy weatherproof snow boots. Either someone's child was running around unsupervised, or the Harii had themselves an intruder. The two ghost warriors would keep following the footprints and tracks left in the rocks and snow, hoping they might eventually lead on to someone or something of interest.

Prince Hrollaug and his crew would raise the black flag with the white raven banner on it while rowing the Hregg Drekki out into deeper waters as they headed north away from the fjords and out into the open seas. Once the vikings got far enough away from the land, Hrollaug ordered his crew to reattach the wooden dragon-headed prow to the front bow of the langskip, having waited to do so in order to not frighten off or offend the landvaettir at Iskjerne Bay, while Gwyneth and her Skogkattr shield-maidens went along for the naval journey on the longship with Hrollaug's berserkers. In all the Hregg Drekki had a strong crew of 200 vikings altogether, not including Gwyneth or Hrollaug, who stood at opposite ends of the mighty ship, watching everything around them from all sides as they ventured into the Tartarean High Seas.

Brunni the Steward rode over Mount Daya from the northwest, riding a brown horse with one white sock and a black mane. He was holding a flagpole, waving a white banner bearing the black raven symbol of the House of Munso as he headed through Rainbow Falls on his way to Rainbow Forge with a message from Sigurd Hring, the King of Iskjerne Bay. Brunni the Steward travelled fast at a full gallop, his horse's iron-shod hooves kicking up small pebbles and dirt as it left a cloud of dust in its wake, pitter pattering up the rocky trail towards the forge. Brunni kept his boots in the stirrups, holding on to the horse's saddle and reigns for dear life as he nudged the equidus to go faster, traveling close to 55 miles per hour up the mountainside. "Hyah!!" he shouted, giving the leather reigns a light snap. Brunni looked up towards the cloud covered sky just in time to witness a break in the overcast. There above him on the horizon were four enormous giants getting ready to fight as a green meteor sailed across the sky, appearing from Sundance Lake before disappearing over the mountaintops towards the Kadota Empyrean Coast, while high above the clouds Brunni could notice a pinkish wing-shaped nebula.

As he turned his eyes back down towards the rocky road in front of him, Brunni suddenly noticed a young girl running up the path in the far distance. Fantasia Dvetisic ran back to alert the rest of Rainbow Forge of the arrival of Brunni, humming an age old tune as she went. She had snuck away to a cave not far off which had fantastic acoustics and was returning before anyone took note of her absence. Or so she hoped. As she arrived at Rainbow Forge, she would immediately notice all the commotion and chaos as hundreds of workers, builders, inventors, alchemists and blacksmiths were scrambling around, extremely busy with their labor trying to restore the viking's production facility. They were so busy in fact that nobody even noticed she had left. Brokkr the Smith was walking around issuing orders and giving commands when he finally noticed her. "You there... girl. Don't just stand there, get back to work!" he shouted before walking past her to go yell at someone else.

The Falls were noisy and busy as hundreds of Viking general workers, miners, lumberjacks, builders, craftsmen, smiths, woodcarvers, metalworkers, inventors and alchemists continued hustling around Rainbow Forge in an attempt to advance the isolated Old Norse civilization. Some were pushing wheelbarrows, while others were driving animal wagons loaded with wood, metal or stone. Still others were hitting their two-handed pickaxes against the rocks, extracting all kinds of precious metals and gemstones while the laborers carried these basic elements back to the factories to be studied, purified, tempered and polished. The lumberjacks were busy at the sawmill, prepping the large wooden tree logs delivered to them by convenient sleds, ropes, pullies and lumber wagons from the nearest forest. The alchemists were also hard at work in the medieval laboratory, mixing potions, grinding different stones and metals into fine dust, and experimenting with different medicines, pigments, tinctures, chemicals, bleaches and hair dyes, soaps, oils and alloys while many skilled craftsmen and inventors would tinker with the Taiyou technology they had stolen in an attempt to reverse engineer it, or re-invent similar technological advancements using their own primitive Viking Age technology.

But the most impressive sight to behold at Rainbow Forge were the blacksmiths, woodcarvers and metalworkers, who spent countless hours, days, weeks and sometimes even months to perfect their Viking arts and crafts. They would carve large pillars and thick wooden doors, or wooden statues, dragon-headed ship prows, oars, wooden masts and beams, chairs, benches, wooden tables, bowls, cups, forks, spoons, ladles, tool handles and arrow shafts, spears, small children's toys, crude nautical compasses, Hneftafl board game pieces, spoked wheels, snow skiis and anything else which might serve the Viking civilization. The smiths had replaced the broken Rainbow Anvil with a newer one made of harder material and were hammering away. They created intricate round viking shields and precious expensive swords made of wolfram and crucible steel, tempering the fine flexible blades in the back of Brunnard's workshop using hand-powered fans and air pumps to keep their fires burning constantly at the perfect temperature. Two blacksmiths would work together to keep the fires burning at a constant fixed temperature, coating their bricks with mud and clay while alternating and juggling the task between them so that the fires would never stop burning, even if one of the smiths took a break. The kilns were baking porcelain and clay while the furnaces were red hot with glowing embers as metalworkers put hammer to anvil, sparks flying from the tedious process of removing impurities such as excess carbon while adding new alloys together with the hot iron ores such as nickel and chromium.

Inside the yellow workshop with the bright red painted door, towards the large warehouse in the back, craftsmen were using their loud heavy machinery to make all different kinds of objects from various metals that had come in from the furnaces. There were copper wires, springs and coils, gold bullion slabs and silver bricks, iron rings and chains, steel plates and frames, wolfram axe heads, spear heads, arrowheads and shield bosses. The workers used wooden molds or stone molds they had whittled or chiseled out to pour in liquid steel for their casting process. They fashioned simple nails, knives, hollow pipes, helmets of various types and styles, brooches from naturally occurring electrum, belt buckles, brass armbands, stirrups, bracelets, necklaces, crowns and rings. They crafted simple sheer scissors, combs, toothpicks, tweezers, wine pitchers and jugs, metal washers, bolts, nuts, screws, tiny teethed wheels and gears. All of their finished products would either be stacked and stored neatly in the warehouse for storage, or else loaded up on the many wagons going to and from Mount Daya to Iskjerne Bay.

“I admire your confidence.” Yukiko said calmly, in English once again. But she didn’t think the Taiyou would fight them in open battle, she knew the tactics of the generals that Shimizu would no doubt recruit to fight them. What she didn't know, however, is that King Sigurd had no intentions of fighting the Taiyou head on. The Ringtaker had his own tricks up his sleeve. Yukiko’s eyes followed Sigurd’s movements as he made his way over towards the doorway to the great hall, the sounds of the Mizuho’s shields repelling Thrym’s attack were not lost on the Princess, who could feel the trembling table, dishes and silverwear as the sonic boom from the hybrid ship's impact with Thrym's mountainous fist reached the planet. "There is a way to stop this before the fighting starts, if you’re interested, obviously you know where to find me.” Yukiko said as Sigurd paid his respects. She slowly inclined her head in acknowledgement, and watched him as he left the mead hall.

After a moment, Yukiko would turn her attention to Lord Bruce of Essex, again speaking in English, a language that was pretty much the same as his own native Anglish tongue. "Where will I be quartered?” Yukiko inquired. "This is your quarters for the time being," Bruce said directly, affirming her situation. The great hall was simple and probably not very accomodating to the Taiyou princess. There were no mattresses, and no cushions apart from the thick quilt blankets, wool beddings and frameless straw beds. She would be forced to urinate in a crude tin bucket and sleep next to the dog beds, but at least there was a central firepit and the thick wooden walls were insulated enough to keep her warm, even during the most extreme arctic weather. Although it seemed like a prison to Yukiko, such simple earthwork was actually quite comfortable and luxurious to the battle-hardened Iskjerne vikings. “What of Seno?” She asked. “If your king releases him back to my people, they will likely hear him in negotiations, this situation does not have to come to bloodshed.” Yukiko added, before she started to go back to her meal. "Seno is of no concern to you now," Bruce assured her, keeping his hands folded while guarding the entrance to the great hall. By now, Yukiko and Takao could notice the blood seeping through Bruce's bandaged torso near his shoulder. His injury had not stopped bleeding yet, but Bruce stood tall and upright, ignoring the pain as he kept his posture and his composure, keeping a watchful eye on the four berserkers who guarded Yukiko and Takao.

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As the months had passed by, Iskjerne's viking population had grown considerably. There were at least one hundred Harii ghost warriors now, all of them like watchful ravens, providing nearly two hundred extra eyes and ears for the Viking konung. The black bodypainted warriors were clever and stealthy. While some of them followed the various fading tracks in the snow, they left behind hardly any of their own, instead trodding lightly on top of the snowy terrain while wearing very wide snowshoes attached to their thick black feathered winter boots which evenly distributed their weight, preventing their feet from sinking into the snow while enabling them to get around faster without exhausting as much energy. Some of them even wore black feathered hooded cloaks as they followed the fox tracks and the smaller human tracks into the scrub brush, prodding the bushes with their pronged spears, atgeirs and pitchforks.

It wasn't long before the two Harii near the caved-in entrance to Iskjerne's cave system would gain ground and close the distance between themselves and the mysterious intruder they had been tracking. They followed the fading tracks into a clearing in the foilage overlooking a small mushroom field, noticing that some of the caps had been plucked. Walking further on, they would find a strange man standing on a small path, but the man didn’t stand out. His face was painted a dark brown, and he was wearing a fox’s pelt over his head, like a hood. The man’s coat also seemed to be made from thick animal furs, which would provide ample warmth in the cold climate of Iskjerne Bay, the pommel of a sheathed sword sticking out among the pelts, along with various leather satchels. When the mysterious shroom thief spotted the Harii, he didn't even move. Instead, he just looked at them silently as the two ghost warriors stopped, staring back at him.

"I wasn't aware that the Vulpini tribe had joined us," one of the Harii whispered quietly to the other. "They haven't," the other Harii whispered back, slowly reaching behind him for his elmwood longbow as he kept his eyes on the brown-faced intruder wearing the foxpelt. "You should go warn the others. I'll take care of this," he said quietly before emerging from the bushes beneath the tall evergreen trees, pointing his loaded longbow at the shinobi with three individual arrows notched to his bowstring. "Greetings friend. Mind telling me what you're doing way out here?" the Harii warrior asked politely, pointing the arrows at the mysterious thief's midsection as the other Harii ran back to go inform the others. The ghost warrior with the longbow was painted black from head to toe, wearing an elaborately carved wooden cuirass with a crucible steel metal chestplate attached to it over a black cast iron ring-mail shirt tunic. His trousers were very baggy, with the pantlegs tucked into his knee-high leg stockings and tied to his feathered black snow boots near the ankles. He wore a raven-feathered hooded cloak, not unsimilar to the ninja's hooded foxpelt, and on his neck he wore a leather necklace with a tiny bone pendant carved in the shape of a naked woman. He had a small but thick bushy black beard and spoke with a strong Germanic accent as he approached the stranger slowly with caution, never even noticing the tiny winged creature that spoke to the shinobi.

The Falls were noisy and busy as hundreds of Viking general workers, miners, lumberjacks, builders, craftsmen, smiths, woodcarvers, metalworkers, inventors and alchemists continued hustling around Rainbow Forge in an attempt to advance the isolated Old Norse civilization. Some were pushing wheelbarrows, while others were driving animal wagons loaded with wood, metal or stone. Still others were hitting their two-handed pickaxes against the rocks, extracting all kinds of precious metals and gemstones while the laborers carried these basic elements back to the factories to be studied, purified, tempered and polished. The lumberjacks were busy at the sawmill, prepping the large wooden tree logs delivered to them by convenient sleds, ropes, pullies and lumber wagons from the nearest forest. The alchemists were also hard at work in the medieval laboratory, mixing potions, grinding different stones and metals into fine dust, and experimenting with different medicines, pigments, tinctures, chemicals, bleaches and hair dyes, soaps, oils and alloys while many skilled craftsmen and inventors would tinker with the Taiyou technology they had stolen in an attempt to reverse engineer it, or re-invent similar technological advancements using their own primitive Viking Age technology.

But the most impressive sight to behold at Rainbow Forge were the blacksmiths, woodcarvers and metalworkers, who spent countless hours, days, weeks and sometimes even months to perfect their Viking arts and crafts. They would carve large pillars and thick wooden doors, or wooden statues, dragon-headed ship prows, oars, wooden masts and beams, chairs, benches, wooden tables, bowls, cups, forks, spoons, ladles, tool handles and arrow shafts, spears, small children's toys, crude nautical compasses, Hneftafl board game pieces, spoked wheels, snow skiis and anything else which might serve the Viking civilization. The smiths had replaced the broken Rainbow Anvil with a newer one made of harder material and were hammering away. They created intricate round viking shields and precious expensive swords made of wolfram and crucible steel, tempering the fine flexible blades in the back of Brunnard's workshop using hand-powered fans and air pumps to keep their fires burning constantly at the perfect temperature. Two blacksmiths would work together to keep the fires burning at a constant fixed temperature, coating their bricks with mud and clay while alternating and juggling the task between them so that the fires would never stop burning, even if one of the smiths took a break. The kilns were baking porcelain and clay while the furnaces were red hot with glowing embers as metalworkers put hammer to anvil, sparks flying from the tedious process of removing impurities such as excess carbon while adding new alloys together with the hot iron ores such as nickel and chromium.

Inside the yellow workshop with the bright red painted door, towards the large warehouse in the back, craftsmen were using their loud heavy machinery to make all different kinds of objects from various metals that had come in from the furnaces. There were copper wires, springs and coils, gold bullion slabs and silver bricks, iron rings and chains, steel plates and frames, wolfram axe heads, spear heads, arrowheads and shield bosses. The workers used wooden molds or stone molds they had whittled or chiseled out to pour in liquid steel for their casting process. They fashioned simple nails, knives, hollow pipes, helmets of various types and styles, brooches from naturally occurring electrum, belt buckles, brass armbands, stirrups, bracelets, necklaces, crowns and rings. They crafted simple sheer scissors, combs, toothpicks, tweezers, wine pitchers and jugs, metal washers, bolts, nuts, screws, tiny teethed wheels and gears. All of their finished products would either be stacked and stored neatly in the warehouse for storage, or else loaded up on the many wagons going to and from Mount Daya to Iskjerne Bay.