Wolfang
Baron
1.
This young blond youth with eyes the color of the northern sea had proven himself a man many times over the years, fighting Ilati and Thaek navy off their Island many times. He did not consider it a burden, it was his duty. An ‘Ir must always defend his island, no matter what the cost. The ‘‘Ir’’ were the ruling Lords of the furthest island joined to the Straet Islands, Schaem. He was not really an ‘Ir, not a pure blooded one anyway. He had been sired a bastard by Affer ‘Ir who after having played a major part in the taking of Cluch and the surrounding lands from the Ilati had been given his own island by the Lord of Over-Schaem.
The ‘Ir had never ruled land that had been part of the Straet Islands. They had had their own fleet of longboats, maybe even a few villages that paid them tribute in Thaek and Ilati, but controlling one of the 55 islands of Straet was considered the highest honor, only only living on one of the five holy islands was considered more honorable: Straet itself, Plutonii, Fliit, Aard and Over-Schaem.
Yes, even though Tusk ‘Ir or Tusk had not reached the age of fifteen yet, which was the age of manhood, he had shown that he was a capable fighter, and that alone should have been enough. He had thought that he would only serve as one of the raiders or maybe even captain one of his father’s ships. Instead, he was accorded an even greater honor. After the feast to celebrate his birthday, he was led towards the docks of Schaem where a splendid longboat awaited him.
‘Tusk’ his father had said ‘I gift you this boat so you may win your place in this world just as I did when I was young. I wish you good plundering and I grant you my blessing as a father, may the Eye of Rithir be upon you.’ Tusk had then beamed at his ship, if things didn’t go well he would always be accepted back to Schaem, something, he obviously, didn’t plan on doing.
He thought about all of this as he lay on his cot. Tomorrow he would embark on his great journey. To travel far and wide across the seas was every islanders dream. Straet was the most powerful nation just because they managed to steal most of the riches that the other countries acquired through honest labor. Islanders had no gold, nor much of any kind of material at that. The only thing they had in excess were the iron-fields. Yes, the islands were like the wastes in many ways. The few people who had gone to the wastes or the broken mountains said that the wastes were similarly covered with iron but in much larger amounts. They said that the nearer you went to the Broken Mountains, the more of these iron shells there were. Therefore the islanders used what they had to make themselves a better living and one of the many things you could do with iron was to forge weapons. Having iron lying around it was only a matter of uniting the islands before they could become the most powerful nation in the world, or at least, in the known world.
Several days after his coming to manhood, Tusk had been able to gather a willing crew of raiding Schaem. Knowing that he would be leaving soon, young men had been asking to be accept onto his boat. The young men knew that if they stayed to join the Affer ‘Ir fleet, that they would need to take a lot more time before they went up the ranks and make themselves a decent living. By joining Tusks ‘fleet’, they had a chance at quickly commanding a ship under him if the raids were successful.
He stood up and dressed into his tough leather clothes. Everyone knew that wearing mail was extremely unwise upon the sea as the early Islanders had done. His leather clothes had been acquired during a quick raid into a Thaek village. He had found them in one of the larger manors and had claimed them for his own. Leather armor was worth ten chainmail armors on the islands, where animals of any kind were rare and worth a fortune.
He was going to miss the moat he had lived in since his mother had died. He could still remember the times he and the other kids would play on the wooden palisade, or roll down the man made hills. He had strapped his plain battleaxe around his shoulder and stepped out through the gate and into the village. The daily pillaging had made Schaem one of the most important southern ports and it had quickly become a city. All the raiders from the northern islands had to pass through Schaem before going to Ilati and while going back to their home islands, many stopped and spent some of their money in the alehouses and brothels by the harbor.
Tusk had seen this village grow into what it was today and suddenly felt a burning urge to be able to do the same thing as his father had done. Turning a forgotten and small village into a prosperous town.
He walked through the village nodding towards familiar faces as everyone watched him pass by. They all knew he would be leaving Schaem and maybe, one day, come back a hero.
He was already nearing the docks and could see his awaiting crew. Although he did not know his half brother well, Fir ‘Jiit had been one of the first to ask if he could be one of his men. He could not deny him that and hoped that he would get to know him better in the process. His brother had been born to another man of the ‘Jiit line before Tusk had been born. Fir had lived in Over-Schaem most of his life and had only come to visit a few times.
Among the crew were his good friends Oraet ‘Tum, who he had appointed as second in command, Flae ‘Juuk and Sael ‘Puny. They had known each other from childhood and were all sons of some of the most respected captains of the Schaem fleet. Among the crew were the three ‘Jinn brothers and Golae ‘Ur, a far relation of the ‘Ir. The whole crew was made op of young men eager to prove themselves in battle and full of ambition. He had been careful not to choose men of families with feuds between each other, there was nothing worse than not knowing if the man next to you would help you if it meant your life. The crew neared the twenty five men and they all neared him as he walked towards him. They must all have come soon, fearing to be left behind if they somehow had come too late.
Oraet walked towards him ‘Here is our great captain! Deemed ourselves fit to sail the seas have we!’
‘Shut up or I’ll have you strung up for mutiny!’ They both laughed and Oraet patted him welcome.
This was the moment they had all been waiting for, they would be heading towards adventure. He walked towards his longboat admiring it all the way and hopped into it.
‘Alright boys! If you manage to paddle this boat outside the harbor I might consider plundering a village or two!’ Tusk turned around and already the men were loading food and flasks of water into the longboat. It was not long before the drum was being beaten at a steady beat by Ulaf ‘Tum, the oldest man aboard nearing is 24th birthday. A little crowd had gathered upon the docks to wave farewell to their sons, the largest part made up of the ‘Jinn families who were plentiful in numbers across the southern islands.
Before long they had reached the open sea far enough that they wouldn’t smash against the rocks or iron shells sticking out of the sea. Before they could unfurl the sails they had to paddle past one of the largest and last iron shells. The cylindrical shaped piece of iron jutted out of the sea, leaning towards the far horizon,almost as if it were marking the end of their old lives and pointing the way towards their future.
Oraet approached Tusk ‘ I decided to make a few adjustments to the ship before we set sail’
Tusk looked over his shoulder, what mischief had Oraet been up to whilst he had been preparing himself for departure at the moat. ‘What did you do this time?’
‘No need to glare at me like that, I didn’t do nothing wrong!’
Tusk kept glaring towards Oraet.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I did it behind your back but I decided that any ship holding someone the likes of you should be recognizable from miles away. I told me ma the same thing, she agreed, so I took her the red sails and she made a few adjustments…’ Oraet looked nervously towards the mast where two of the men were unfurling it, they must have passed the iron shell.
As Tusk turned around to watch, the sail finally managed to unfurl. The sail was red and in the middle of it a beautiful wolf head had been stitched into it glaring out towards the front of the boat. Wolves were the stuff of legends, from the time before the iron shells had fallen from the sky to punish man for not listening to Rithir, god of all. No one even knows when Rithir decided to punish man. But the scars could still be seen across the landscape.
Oraet knew that Tusk had been fascinated by the stories of before the punishment. He did not really believe most of the stories but nevertheless he had listened attently as the village elders passed the stories of the punishment down through each generation.
If Tusk ever became a famous raider, merchants and villagers would be shivering at the sight of the wolfs eyes looking towards them. The longboat could now be considered an instrument of punishment, at least that’s what Oraet hoped people would think of when they saw the wolves.
‘And? What do you think of it?’
‘To be honest with you, it couldn’t have been better.’ Tusk said, a smile spread across his face.
‘So?’ Oraet asked ‘Where are we headed?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that, I’ve decided we should skip the big Ilati fish until we are more powerful, let’s set sail and head towards the western shore of Thaek.’
‘Alright, we’ll turn the ship ‘round’ he turned to face Ulaf ‘Set sail for western Thaek’
‘Alright boys! We’re setting sail for Thaek! Turn it about!’ Bellowed Ulaf.
The crew cheered, they had a concrete destination and would be reaching Thaek before long.
This young blond youth with eyes the color of the northern sea had proven himself a man many times over the years, fighting Ilati and Thaek navy off their Island many times. He did not consider it a burden, it was his duty. An ‘Ir must always defend his island, no matter what the cost. The ‘‘Ir’’ were the ruling Lords of the furthest island joined to the Straet Islands, Schaem. He was not really an ‘Ir, not a pure blooded one anyway. He had been sired a bastard by Affer ‘Ir who after having played a major part in the taking of Cluch and the surrounding lands from the Ilati had been given his own island by the Lord of Over-Schaem.
The ‘Ir had never ruled land that had been part of the Straet Islands. They had had their own fleet of longboats, maybe even a few villages that paid them tribute in Thaek and Ilati, but controlling one of the 55 islands of Straet was considered the highest honor, only only living on one of the five holy islands was considered more honorable: Straet itself, Plutonii, Fliit, Aard and Over-Schaem.
Yes, even though Tusk ‘Ir or Tusk had not reached the age of fifteen yet, which was the age of manhood, he had shown that he was a capable fighter, and that alone should have been enough. He had thought that he would only serve as one of the raiders or maybe even captain one of his father’s ships. Instead, he was accorded an even greater honor. After the feast to celebrate his birthday, he was led towards the docks of Schaem where a splendid longboat awaited him.
‘Tusk’ his father had said ‘I gift you this boat so you may win your place in this world just as I did when I was young. I wish you good plundering and I grant you my blessing as a father, may the Eye of Rithir be upon you.’ Tusk had then beamed at his ship, if things didn’t go well he would always be accepted back to Schaem, something, he obviously, didn’t plan on doing.
He thought about all of this as he lay on his cot. Tomorrow he would embark on his great journey. To travel far and wide across the seas was every islanders dream. Straet was the most powerful nation just because they managed to steal most of the riches that the other countries acquired through honest labor. Islanders had no gold, nor much of any kind of material at that. The only thing they had in excess were the iron-fields. Yes, the islands were like the wastes in many ways. The few people who had gone to the wastes or the broken mountains said that the wastes were similarly covered with iron but in much larger amounts. They said that the nearer you went to the Broken Mountains, the more of these iron shells there were. Therefore the islanders used what they had to make themselves a better living and one of the many things you could do with iron was to forge weapons. Having iron lying around it was only a matter of uniting the islands before they could become the most powerful nation in the world, or at least, in the known world.
Several days after his coming to manhood, Tusk had been able to gather a willing crew of raiding Schaem. Knowing that he would be leaving soon, young men had been asking to be accept onto his boat. The young men knew that if they stayed to join the Affer ‘Ir fleet, that they would need to take a lot more time before they went up the ranks and make themselves a decent living. By joining Tusks ‘fleet’, they had a chance at quickly commanding a ship under him if the raids were successful.
He stood up and dressed into his tough leather clothes. Everyone knew that wearing mail was extremely unwise upon the sea as the early Islanders had done. His leather clothes had been acquired during a quick raid into a Thaek village. He had found them in one of the larger manors and had claimed them for his own. Leather armor was worth ten chainmail armors on the islands, where animals of any kind were rare and worth a fortune.
He was going to miss the moat he had lived in since his mother had died. He could still remember the times he and the other kids would play on the wooden palisade, or roll down the man made hills. He had strapped his plain battleaxe around his shoulder and stepped out through the gate and into the village. The daily pillaging had made Schaem one of the most important southern ports and it had quickly become a city. All the raiders from the northern islands had to pass through Schaem before going to Ilati and while going back to their home islands, many stopped and spent some of their money in the alehouses and brothels by the harbor.
Tusk had seen this village grow into what it was today and suddenly felt a burning urge to be able to do the same thing as his father had done. Turning a forgotten and small village into a prosperous town.
He walked through the village nodding towards familiar faces as everyone watched him pass by. They all knew he would be leaving Schaem and maybe, one day, come back a hero.
He was already nearing the docks and could see his awaiting crew. Although he did not know his half brother well, Fir ‘Jiit had been one of the first to ask if he could be one of his men. He could not deny him that and hoped that he would get to know him better in the process. His brother had been born to another man of the ‘Jiit line before Tusk had been born. Fir had lived in Over-Schaem most of his life and had only come to visit a few times.
Among the crew were his good friends Oraet ‘Tum, who he had appointed as second in command, Flae ‘Juuk and Sael ‘Puny. They had known each other from childhood and were all sons of some of the most respected captains of the Schaem fleet. Among the crew were the three ‘Jinn brothers and Golae ‘Ur, a far relation of the ‘Ir. The whole crew was made op of young men eager to prove themselves in battle and full of ambition. He had been careful not to choose men of families with feuds between each other, there was nothing worse than not knowing if the man next to you would help you if it meant your life. The crew neared the twenty five men and they all neared him as he walked towards him. They must all have come soon, fearing to be left behind if they somehow had come too late.
Oraet walked towards him ‘Here is our great captain! Deemed ourselves fit to sail the seas have we!’
‘Shut up or I’ll have you strung up for mutiny!’ They both laughed and Oraet patted him welcome.
This was the moment they had all been waiting for, they would be heading towards adventure. He walked towards his longboat admiring it all the way and hopped into it.
‘Alright boys! If you manage to paddle this boat outside the harbor I might consider plundering a village or two!’ Tusk turned around and already the men were loading food and flasks of water into the longboat. It was not long before the drum was being beaten at a steady beat by Ulaf ‘Tum, the oldest man aboard nearing is 24th birthday. A little crowd had gathered upon the docks to wave farewell to their sons, the largest part made up of the ‘Jinn families who were plentiful in numbers across the southern islands.
Before long they had reached the open sea far enough that they wouldn’t smash against the rocks or iron shells sticking out of the sea. Before they could unfurl the sails they had to paddle past one of the largest and last iron shells. The cylindrical shaped piece of iron jutted out of the sea, leaning towards the far horizon,almost as if it were marking the end of their old lives and pointing the way towards their future.
Oraet approached Tusk ‘ I decided to make a few adjustments to the ship before we set sail’
Tusk looked over his shoulder, what mischief had Oraet been up to whilst he had been preparing himself for departure at the moat. ‘What did you do this time?’
‘No need to glare at me like that, I didn’t do nothing wrong!’
Tusk kept glaring towards Oraet.
‘Okay, I’m sorry I did it behind your back but I decided that any ship holding someone the likes of you should be recognizable from miles away. I told me ma the same thing, she agreed, so I took her the red sails and she made a few adjustments…’ Oraet looked nervously towards the mast where two of the men were unfurling it, they must have passed the iron shell.
As Tusk turned around to watch, the sail finally managed to unfurl. The sail was red and in the middle of it a beautiful wolf head had been stitched into it glaring out towards the front of the boat. Wolves were the stuff of legends, from the time before the iron shells had fallen from the sky to punish man for not listening to Rithir, god of all. No one even knows when Rithir decided to punish man. But the scars could still be seen across the landscape.
Oraet knew that Tusk had been fascinated by the stories of before the punishment. He did not really believe most of the stories but nevertheless he had listened attently as the village elders passed the stories of the punishment down through each generation.
If Tusk ever became a famous raider, merchants and villagers would be shivering at the sight of the wolfs eyes looking towards them. The longboat could now be considered an instrument of punishment, at least that’s what Oraet hoped people would think of when they saw the wolves.
‘And? What do you think of it?’
‘To be honest with you, it couldn’t have been better.’ Tusk said, a smile spread across his face.
‘So?’ Oraet asked ‘Where are we headed?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that, I’ve decided we should skip the big Ilati fish until we are more powerful, let’s set sail and head towards the western shore of Thaek.’
‘Alright, we’ll turn the ship ‘round’ he turned to face Ulaf ‘Set sail for western Thaek’
‘Alright boys! We’re setting sail for Thaek! Turn it about!’ Bellowed Ulaf.
The crew cheered, they had a concrete destination and would be reaching Thaek before long.
