Standing in the longhouse of the Black Skull tribe, Todd was close to the fire pit in the center of the house and looked at the decorative shield hanging on the wall.
These wooden shields are made of fine birch wood and iron sheets, and the surface is painted with pigments of different colors to depict important events in the clan over the years.
The longhouse is dark and damp, with no floor and only dirt. In the bitter cold land of the North Island, trees are rare and stones are rare. These "Black Skull" tribesmen use straw bricks, which are made of grass and soil, to build walls.
The mixed embryos are slightly fired and the bricks are very durable in winter.
Nuan. In an important place like the tribal hall, the Black Skull people used wooden boards to make a sandwich wall on the inside of the brick wall. They deliberately left a distance in the middle. When they knock it up with their knuckles, they can hear a thumping echo.
, this is mainly done to prevent the board from getting wet and rotten.
Huggins took Morgan into the longhouse. The latter looked much more honest. He said nothing after entering the house, but the expression on his face still looked a little angry and ashamed.
Listening to the knight's whispered report, Todd gained some understanding of the current situation of the "Black Skull" tribe.
At its peak, the tribe once had 500 people, including 160 warriors and 14 berserkers. However, as the tribe's food dwindled and the southern expedition failed, the population plummeted. Now there are less than 200 people and 46 warriors left in the entire tribe.
, there are only 5 berserkers left.
The Morgan in front of him is the leader of the entire "Blackhead" tribe, and his father is the missing previous leader - Saklu.
Todd has now completely remembered his fight against the pirates. The pirates who fought against the church forces at that time seemed to be from the "Black Skull", and the berserker who almost changed the situation of the battle was Sakru.
"Morgan, tell me, how are your people living now?"
Hearing the condescending question, the Black Skull Chief's tone sounded helpless and sad: "What else can we do?! We have no food, no medicine, the mothers don't have enough milk to raise their children, and the soldiers have no food for half a month.
After tasting the taste of the wine, even the handles of the weapons are rusty and rotten! A week ago, several elders in the clan quietly self-exiled in order to save food in the village and never came back..."
Morgan raised his head, his eyes full of doubts and pain: "Outlander! Why do you still come to disturb the life of "Black Skull"? If you are here to rob, then you will be disappointed. There is no place for you here.
Looted property.”
The patriarch pointed his finger at Lev beside Todd: "Why don't you try your luck at Claw? I heard that they teamed up with the barbarians to go south and robbed a lot of good things."
Lev was still translating the other party's language, but after hearing Morgan's words, his face turned pale with fright. He quickly glanced at Todd's expression and refuted loudly: "Don't talk nonsense! The coalition forces of Talon and Barbarians are here.
In front of Lord Todd is just a group of losers who are not worth mentioning!"
"You mean, the coalition of claws and barbarians was defeated?!" Morgan opened his mouth in surprise, looking at the young man sitting in a high position and the knight in armor next to him: "Outlander, I think I need
Rethink your strength..."
Todd looked at the "shield painting" on the wall again and said slowly: "Chief Morgan, I came to the North Island not to plunder, but also to make enemies... I came here to make some friends."
Morgan laughed: "Making friends? This is really interesting."
Todd nodded towards Huggins: "I will allocate part of the medicine and food to provide to your tribe."
The patriarch was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and looked forward: "There is a saying in the North Island, the more fragrant the wine, the more incurable the poison. Tell me, strangers, what do you want?
Will my people become your thugs?"
Todd smiled and shook his head: "I don't have any conditions, just think of it as a gift."
Morgan was in disbelief, and his expression looked doubtful: "I don't know the purpose of your move, but if you do it out of good intentions, I think we might be able to become friends."
Todd glanced at the sky outside the house and said to Morgan: "I will rest here all day and then visit your neighbors."
The leader of the "Black Skull" glanced at Lev, who was full of panic, and asked strangely: "The Claw tribe? Do you also plan to make friends with them?"
Todd laughed: "No, I plan to collect debts."
The next day, when Todd woke up from the tent with back pain, the Muxi Expeditionary Force had completed preparations for departure.
The leader of the "Black Skull" and six warriors were waiting at the beach early. Last night, he watched his clan members eat their first full meal in months, and watched his warriors drink wine after a long absence.
Over the wine, Morgan officially changed the name of Todd from "outsider" to "friend".
-----This is a gorgeous dividing line--
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----This is a gorgeous dividing line---
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"I brought my own translator." Morgan pointed at a soldier beside him and glanced at Lev fiercely.
Todd saw the latter shrinking his head and smiled indifferently.
Huggins came to Todd's side, lowered his head and said, "General commander, everything is ready and ready to go at any time."
The latter looked at the vast sea in front of him, nodded and said: "Notify everyone, let's go, the target is 'Claw Island'!"
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As the warship faced the wind and waves, Morgan looked at the increasingly clear outline of the island in the distance, walked to Todd, and said to him: "That's Talon Island."
The latter thought for a while and then said: "Why is the island where Talon lives called 'Claw Island', but the island where you live is called 'Nieper'?"
Morgan slapped his hand heavily on the side of the ship and said in a deep voice: "The island where the Black Skull tribe once lived is called Black Skull Island, but now it has fallen into the hands of Talon, and we have also been removed from that island.
I arrived at my current residence."
Todd nodded and said: "I once heard Lev say something about the customs of the North Island. Regarding the fighting and obedience of the North Islanders, can you explain it to me?"
Morgan thought for a moment and said: "In general, it can be described in two words, faith and tradition. Let's talk about faith first. People in the North Island believe in gods. They believe that the gods all live in a place called Asgard.
The place is equivalent to where heaven is. There is also a hell in the underground world, which is called Ni
Fulheim. The North Islanders firmly believe that if a man dies gloriously in battle, his soul can enter Valhalla, the palace of Asgard in heaven, where the warrior spirits will feast, sing and tell legends. If you are born as a warrior
And the most bleak thing is to die in bed, then you will only deserve to go to the underworld and endure eternal torture."
"Regarding tradition, North Islanders live a family life. Parents, children, grandparents, aunts and nephews live under the same roof. They are loyal to each other. If a member of the family is bullied, the whole family will go to the tribal meeting to demand justice. If a person
When a man is killed, his family will most likely demand compensation in money or land. If the tribe
The assembly believed that they did have the right to make such a request. The murderer's family readily paid the compensation, and everything was business as usual; but if the deceased's family felt that the verdict was unfair, they would privately kill a member of the other party.
So resentment retaliates, and endless feuds may become an additional tradition in ancient family lines.”
"If enemies meet at sea, the North Islanders will abide by the ancient tradition. We will tie the boats together, put a gangplank on the bow, and then go up to the duel one after another. Everyone who steps on the gangplank will face this fate or
Kill all the opponents, or die in battle yourself, and let the people behind
The companions avenge themselves. If you feel scared, you can turn around and jump into the sea. No one will hunt down the deserters, but a person who gives up his qualifications to fight is no different from the dead. From now on, even his family will ignore his existence. Therefore, he is the first in line at the bow of the ship.
Those who go into battle are usually the most elite warriors in the tribe."
Todd listened to the other party's story and nodded slowly.
"General commander! There is a group of heavily armed soldiers ambushing in the woods on the shore!" Edgar's shout interrupted the conversation between the two.
Morgan looked into the distance with some surprise. Claw Island was still 10 kilometers away from the ship. The scenery in the distance was blurry. How on earth did he discover those ambushers?!
Todd looked back at Lev, who was holding his head and shaking like chaff, and turned to Huggins expressionlessly: "Go ahead as planned."
The knight nodded and loudly ordered his men to carry out a sealed wooden box from the cabin.
I opened the wooden box, then opened the layers of oil paper and lime powder, and finally took out six 40-centimeter-square folded cloth bags.
Huggins pulled out the telescopic strap of the cloth bag, waited for the warship to sail to a place only 150 meters away from the coast, and lit the fuse of the explosive bag. The knight grabbed the telescopic strap of the cloth bag with both hands and kept his feet in place.
It started to spin, using the power of the "keel"'s waist and high-speed centrifugal force, to throw the lit explosive package into the woods on the shore in the form of a "throwing hammer".
Just when Morgan was confused, the sound of an earth-shattering explosion came from a hundred meters away. The huge shock wave uprooted the trees and blew the seawater backwards towards the warship.
The leader of the "Black Skull" stood unsteadily and fell on the deck. He looked at the "mushroom cloud" of flames rising from the woods in the distance. A dozen warriors dropped their weapons and shields, and their whole bodies were on fire.
He ran out, and after burning for dozens of seconds, he finally fell motionless on the beach.
Todd signaled the warship to move forward and lower the gangplank.
The head of the Knights looked at Morgan, who was lying sideways on the deck, frightened, and said calmly: "It's time to collect the debt."