The Pardoner's Tale

The Pardoner's Tale was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.

Description

Eivor found a man sitting beside the road and talking to himself.

Dialogue

Eivor saw a man in black robes sitting at the edge of a forest.

• Anglo-Saxon Man: Hearken to me, if wisdom you seek.

She approached him.

• Eivor: I am here, old man. Tell me your tale.
• Anglo-Saxon Man: Three young men came to me not long ago. Braggarts, full of drink and sin. Death had claimed a friend of theirs, so they set out to find Death, and teach him a lesson.
• Eivor: That is foolish. We Norse do not seek to control death. We embrace it.
• Anglo-Saxon Man: Aye. But rudely they demanded of me, "Tell us where to find Death! You are old, you must know him!" "Look no further," said I. "He is under the great oak in the forest behind me." And that is where they went.

Eivor decided to see the fate of the three young men, and went into the forest.

• Eivor: A strange tale, and one that lingers like a terrible dream.

She found a very imposing tree.

• Eivor: Is this the great oak the old man spoke of?

Eivor recreating the scene of the deaths

Under the oak tree, Eivor found a campfire and the three men, all dead.

• Eivor: Death. So this is what the old man meant. But what happened here?

She approached one of the corpses.

• Eivor: By his pallor, I would say poison took this one's life. What was he reaching for, I wonder?

She investigated another corpse.

• Eivor: Strangled. That is no bandit's work.

She checked on the corpse closest to the tree.

• Eivor: Killed by poison. No sign of a struggle. He must have taken it unknowingly.

Near the campfire there were the remains of a meal.

• Eivor: Food and ale. But why make a camp here, if they were searching for Death as the old man said?

Near the oak tree, she noticed a big urn of silver besides a shallow excavation site.

• Eivor: Silver. No doubt this played some part in this sorry scene.

Having gathered enough evidence, she reconstructed the scene.

The three men celebrating their discovery of the treasure

• Eivor: The three men found hidden treasure beneath the tree. They made camp while they decided how to split the prize. Two of them turned on the third. But he was one step ahead of them, and had already poisoned their ale. So the glister of silver drove these greedy fools to murder. It seems they found Death after all. Or Death found them.

Eivor left the campsite to report her findings to the old man but only found a note in his place.

Fragment

Kjotve – Rogaland

Berthtulf, Osgar, Siweard

By the big tree just north of the ruins in the heart of the forest east of Croydene.

Outcome

Eivor investigated the crime scene and figured out what happened.

Behind the scenes

This memory is a reference to The Pardoner's Tale, one of The Canterbury Tales. This is a tale of morale; greed is the root of all evils. It is said three men set out to kill Death. They encounter an old man who says they'll find him beneath a tree. They go to the tree and find treasure, so they decide to stay. Eventually they all murder each other in order to claim the treasure for themselves.

Gallery

• 
  Eivor hearing thre man's story
• 
  One of the men dying to poison

References

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla