The sun seems to never set. It is like a thumbtack nailed to the western horizon, and its blood-red glow illuminates 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 has to admit that the Balmok people's sacrifice activities are 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, where people in a settlement were completely destroyed by landslides and mudslides caused by a storm, and people were in a very sad mood.
Or maybe it's because of other reasons, or maybe their sacrifices are always so serious that it's 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 sacrifice 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 muttered casually with a dull face.
"Not bad. How does it compare to your priests?"
"There are more priests than us in Rus. Are all your...priests men?"
"Of course. Aren't all your priests in Rus's women?"
When Rurik heard this, he wanted to answer in the affirmative, and then thought about it and simply shut up.
After a while, 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.
Magnute's eyes were as 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 did know it, but meeting him today made him feel chills down his spine.
Listen! The priests began to sing long sacrificial songs, as if doing so could establish some kind of contact with Odin.
This period of time was not boring. Rurik's soles were dripping with sweat. He noticed that tens of thousands of people gathered around the entire sacrificial site, and they all remained silent.
Such formal 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 role issuing orders!
Rurik's back was suddenly patted by Magnut himself: "Boy, the most critical moment has arrived!"
The scene is breathtaking!
Rurik's eyes widened. He knew that with his noble status, he had to stare clearly to see all the endings on the altar. But Nolen beside him had already hid behind her father due to the terrifying scene.
Those who worship God commit suicide, and 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 a "wrong person", stabbed the suicide victim in the back with a short spear.
, accurately piercing his heart.
"Perhaps the ones who are equally crazy are the barbaric priests of the Maya 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..."
Of course, Rurik believed in his heart that such a sacrifice would weaken his own labor force and was not advisable at all. However, the Balmoks believed that this was a necessary thing before doing big things, and its existence was reasonable for the people of the tribe.
Rurik would not be afraid of walking on a battlefield littered with corpses. But now, his heart is beating wildly.
More than a dozen suicide victims died for the sake of all 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 that their souls have gone to Valhalla in heaven to report to Odin.
Such grand sacrifices are 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 been agitated because of the major events related to exploring and plundering the British islands.
Young people are eager to give it a try, and every small poor family hopes that a robbery will make their family rich quickly.
They didn't have such an idea before, 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 violent pillars 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 Festival, people in the daytime had difficulty judging the exact time. After all, everyone had made some adjustments and it was time to hold the wedding of the two people.
Rurik knew that he would experience ten or even twenty weddings in his life.
After all, it is a wedding. 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 "cup of wine". After completing these two ceremonies, all the onlookers, as witnesses of the wedding, can recognize the two as husband and wife. Only then can the tribe be happy, and for a couple
The newlyweds should go to a private place and wait until the next day for the bride's mother to personally inspect her to announce to relatives and friends that her daughter has become a woman.
Love? Romance? 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 the Balmok people operate from the aggregation of a group of families.
It took hundreds of years to reach the current scale of strength. They only wanted a new couple to work hard to conceive a child, so that the tribe had 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 gems on his neck and ears (he was also Rurik).
Sent by Ke).
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 (which Rurik brought) and pointed towards the sun.
, and then the two of them drank the glass of wine together.
The extremely spicy taste was so shocking that Nolen blushed. She knew that this was a major event in her life and she could not show her decadence. She didn't understand why her father would fall in love with this kind of liquor after just one lick.
Really can't like it.
They cheered for the newlyweds, and the heads of various families came to pay their respects.
Nolen is really a beautiful girl, the pearl of the entire fjord. These family leaders, they want this girl to become their son's wife, but...
Obviously this is Noren's fate. She is the wife of Rurik and the wife of the Duke of Ross.
"Girl! You must give birth to at least five sons for your husband."
"Nolen, you should know your mission. This is our alliance with Ross, and you must keep up with it."
"Serve your husband well. Rurik is the most perfect man I have ever seen. You must always be loyal to him!"
…
One by one, the family leaders took turns to "attack". 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 stand a woman's infidelity, and they also
Women are required to take care of the family's logistics and production. It's hard for Nolen, an innocent, romantic and pampered girl, to be harshly criticized by the uncles 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 forces in Balmok strongly support 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 like a stone was weighing on his heart.
She tried to get close to Rurik under the influence of alcohol, but... Rurik subconsciously refused.
"You...why? According to tradition, my mother must..."
"No." Rurik's mind was in a mess. After all, Nolen was about the same age as him. It was fine for Rumia, but this Nolen...
"Why? You clearly said that you like me very much. I... am already your woman." At this point, Nolen made up her mind, and she was so brave that she no longer cared about so much. Maybe she became a Russian.
The woman gained the power of a bear at that moment.
After all, Noren is not Rumia, and it is too early to truly become a mother. But this smart girl knows very well that her thin shoulders bear the future destiny of the entire Balmok people.
The most important point is that she doesn't want to be looked down upon by her tribe, and she also doesn't 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.
Yingbjorg followed the tradition and checked Nolen very nervously, only to realize that his daughter had experienced a lot of pain yesterday, but she managed to survive despite being so weak.
Imbjorg immediately announced this good news to the people. Soon, the news spread to most of the tribe, and eventually the "union of Rurik of Rus and Noren" would 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 determined on one thing, that is, 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 put herself through such a hard time that she has to take a good 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.
People remained serious. They were making a batch of dried fish and making wooden poles to fix the spearheads.
They repaired oars and repaired sails. They also pieced together new round shields from oak and pine wood, and made ink to smear the shields with morale words spelled out in runes.
All the powerful families of the Balmoq tribe devoted themselves to the exploratory expedition to Britain.
Some families sent more than ten troops, and some sent fifty or a hundred troops. For example, the most noble and powerful leader Magnut gathered 200 young and powerful young men.
It has just entered July, which is supposed to be the warmest season. The climate during this period is still a bit unpredictable. For example, yesterday there was a sudden drizzle, and then the cool north wind blew the earth relatively dry. The south is warm and humid.
The wind comes from time to time, but suddenly the direction of the wind changes again.
Not surprisingly, Rurik was elected as the commander-in-chief of the army by all the families!
After all, Rurik’s military career was extraordinary!
Biyoni and Floki, and even all the Balmoks who have been to the areas controlled by the Rus, have seen too many things with their own eyes, and they highly respect Rurik's military commanding ability. It is wise to have him as the commander-in-chief.
Nothing more.
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 ready to fight today.
The "atypical Viking army" is not even considered. The Russian army has set another banner for the entire Baltic world.
Rurik ordered the assembly of the Balmok army, and on a relatively warm noon, as many as 998 Balmok warriors gathered together with their various weapons.
Rurik stood on a high wooden platform, looking at the so-called army below with mixed feelings.
"That's it? Can it be considered an army? It's 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, and make them ignite more violently.
The fire of fighting spirit.
Need any lengthy speech?
It's not necessary.
For this group of simple, basically ignorant guys, whose bestiality is more likely than humane, the best speech is to repeat a few simple slogans crazily.
Rurik drew out his shining short steel sword in front of everyone, pointing its peak directly to the southwest.
"I! Rurik! I am your trustworthy war chief!"
"All the family leaders support me! You must support me too!"
"Let's move! You follow my big ship and move!"
"We rush to the British Isles! Find the local villages! Find the local cities! We attack! We loot! You use your own ability to grab what you need! You will all become rich!"
What did they understand about this group of ordinary and wild Balmok warriors?
Who was the leader? Rurik of Rus.
How can the brothers sail away? Follow the Ross ship closely.
What do the brothers do after landing on the island? Loot and keep the good things for yourself.
When will we leave? The Ross ship will leave, and the brothers will follow.
They only have gold, silver, wheat, leather, cloth and women in their eyes. They hope to make a fortune by fighting.
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 on the side of the Balmoks and will definitely take it with him.
The brothers won victory. Since victory is inevitable, perhaps after this year's successful expedition and plunder, next year the brothers will no longer have to organize a huge fleet. Instead, they will call on like-minded friends, organize small boats to cross the sea, and spontaneously
On that road build New 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 to see this kind of thing from the beginning, because the Viking Age had inevitably arrived!
It is best for the Balmok people to expand themselves. In the future, as a result of their expansion, the more powerful Ross forces under their own rule can naturally use reasonable and reasonable so-called alliance methods to make the native nobles of Balmok respect the Duke of Ross as the greatest.
of nobility.
Of course, Noren is destined to give birth to some children, whether boys or girls. Rurik has already planned in his heart that his wife Noren is destined not to become the queen, but her children will naturally represent Ross and become Baal.
Rurik, the ruler of the Merck power, admired the methods of the Habsburg family, and he must practice them.
There is no time to properly train the nine hundred and ninety-eight Balmok Viking warriors, and perhaps there is no need.
This was a bad era. Rurik didn't believe how effective the local armies of the ancestors of the Scots and Northumbria and other countries would be. In terms of historical inertia, those kingdoms were bound to be defeated by a group of people.
The armed fishermen of Norway and Denmark were defeated and permanently conquered.
But in today's era, the heavy equipment installed on the Avrora can be used in land warfare. Torque slingshots and bull trebuchets are high-tech deadly weapons! In addition, 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 for the expedition was also fixed, the fifth day of July in the Julian calendar.