Notes from Eivor's travels

This page will be designed to be like Egyptian Notes, for notes found in AC: Valhalla that aren't tied to any specific memory but are in the game and often contain relevant information.

I have no idea how to name this though as they're not all in England (like Egyptian). I was thinking more along the lines of Floating conversations instead, Floating notes, but i'm not sure if that's correct either.

Some notes may turn out to be related to a mission so we can move those to the correct pages when needed.

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Throughout her travels across the 9th century England, Norway and Vinland and through dreams in Asgard and Jötunheimr, Viking shieldmaiden Eivor Varinsdottir came across notes and inscriptions that contained information on people, businesses, and events. These included messages written on paper and walls. Most of these texts were found in military and bandit camps, cities, and other places of interest.

England

Earnningstone

Letter from Wigmund

Thegn Wimbald,

Your offerings have been quite generous. My men fight well, they sleep well, and they are in good spirits, and it is all because they are well fed.

Their efficiency is key to our victory, so it remains imperative that this partnership continues until the Danish threat is obliterated, for the sake of all who call Grantebridge their home.

Rest assured the Order of the Ancients recognizes your contributions and will see to it that you are adequately rewarded.

Wigmund

Ragnarsson Lookout

Squatter's Note

Last week it was laughter, songs, fires, and the smell of roast piglet. Days later, I hear nothing but the pitter-patter of rabbits and the cawing of crows who feed on the scraps. I see nothing but light smoke and burning embers. The army led by the sons of Ragnar is gone.

Many would see this for what it is, an abandoned settlement left to ruin. But for a blacksmith, in this desolate landscape lies a hoard of treasure. I will gather the tools and weapons left behind and bring them to Father. What is fair, we will sell. What is broken, we will melt.

I hate the Danes for what they take, but love them for what they leave.

Ravensthorpe

Alvis & Holger's House

A Half-Finished FlytNote to an Unknown Flyter'Twas Not I: A Poem by HolgerSecret Flyting Notes

Let me warn you, dear flyter

I'm more than I seem

A wordsmith's worst nightmare

Make bad poets scream (?)

Try ... Though I look like a dream (?)

Or ... But look like a dream (?)

Steam
Deem
Gleam

Your flyting has much improved since last we dueled, but I wish to give a small note. You use many lines akin to this:

"And this fight I will win"

"And your face I do scorn"

I have made it my own rule never to use this construction, as it places the emphasis quite in the weaker place an feels quite twisted around. This may work elegantly in a poem, but in flyting, it makes you sound desparate, and a flyter must NEVER SOUND DESPERATE. The words must flow as water, and not like water your words must flow.

How could I be I?

I who seeks beauty as a value above all!

It is a crime to live? I say to live is to paint!

And to borrow a token that bothers no one?

Injstice, I say! And I am colored as foul!

Telka - She's a smile like a horse, and her hair looks like straw // Throw some mead down her gullet, and meat in her maw

Gunnar - A missshapen old fool stuck bent over his forge // Just to look on that face always raises my gorge // (a bit weak?)

Randvi - Sigurd's wife? Ha! The woman's in love with a table. // She'd make love to the pawns and her maps were she able.

Holger - Too easy.

Bakery

Unfinished letter to WilfTarben's JournalVery Old Letter

Wilf,

I can scarcely say how many times I have sat down with the intention to write this letter.

It has at times begun with an apology for having abandoned you and our gang.

It has at other times begun with a condemnation of all that you have done to me and others that you call your dearest.

Today, it begins with a word: goodbye. As long as

(letter ends here with a scribble)

Eivor reassures me that this was my decision, and that I have earned my own freedom, but this is modesty. Without Eivor, I would still be hiding behind a name, still be in bondage to the family. Still stealing, still hurting, still killing. It was the encouragement and support I needed to finally take this step on the path to my new life.

I will give this new liberty a few days to sink in. But I must confess, that as the chains fall away, my heart is beaking a little quicker. Perhaps it is only circumstance and the euphoria of my new existence, but something in me was stirred, beyond simple admiration. If things continue this way, I may have to speak more candidly of my feelings, but until then, I will rest easy, bake bread, and look, smiling, toward the future.

Tarben,

I pray this finds you safe.

There is little time left for me now, though the fever comes and goes.

An infection. In a life of violence and battle, I am taken by an infection?

Perhaps it is the way of things.

Perhaps the quickness of the deaths I have visited upon the weak has numbed me to the slow ones.

The ones that give you time to consider.

I will not drag this letter out, as I am being dragged out.

The thirst for blood was instilled in you by me. It was not how you were made.

You were born kind, sweet, loving. Soft and healing.

Your strength is in that, despite your size.

I should have understood this, and let you be the pacifist.

So instead, while you still live, know that you can be.

Know you can stop fighting, stop killing. Stop seeking glory there. Instead, love. Heal. Embrace. Bake. Be the you I did not let you become. And when they remember me as "The Merciless", do not let it be with praise.
There is no glory in the power I wielded.
And in the next life, I will do better.

I love you.
Your Mother

Barracks

Note to Raiders from Eydis

We are never safe. Constant vigilance. Keep your eyes and ears sharp. Keep your bodies strong. And keep your heads in the battle, even in moments of peace. Never let your guard down, for that is when they strike. And whoever keeps leaving their sweat-soaked wraps in the box with the clean ones, I will find you, and I will send you to Hel myself.

Blacksmith

Love Letter to Gunnar

(The handwriting is far too difficult to read.)

Brewery

Telka's Recipe for a Winter BrewNote for Tekla: "My sweet Valkyrie"

In a cauldron, take last year's barley that's grown some colorful friends, roast it over a low fire until the stink is replaced with the smell of burned syrup

Take equel parts new wheat, soak it in clear ice water for two days, and add to the cauldron with enough water to fill to the top

Boil it over a hot fire for a morning, strain into a tub and re-boil the grains one more time
Add to a cooled broth five apples, a bush of lavender, one medium plant of sage, and a fist-sized ball of pine tar

Cover your tub and forget about your brew for twenty nights

Store in a barrel and keep for cold eves that need a bit of warming

Dearest Tekla,

Your hair is the color of autumn wheat,

Your voice flows like a spring thaw.

I long to warm your bed in the cold night,

And watch your breast heave gently as you dream.

Cartographer

Olsen Journal One: Caveside cliff!Olsen Journal Two: No more cliffs!

Followed a ram in the northern range today. He climbed about halfway up a granite cliff face before he disappeared. At first I thought he had fallen when I wasn't looking, but upon closer inspection, it seems there may be a cave there. Not sure how deep it goes, but it at least fits a whole goat inside! Must remember to venture there with a rope and some tackle soon. Could be treasure inside!

Well! I found the cave that I was curious about. Larger than I expected, but not quite large enough. Turns out it was already occupied. Hard to tell if it was the same ram I saw before, but regardless he was not happy to see me. We had a brief standoff before he chased me out. Good thing the rope was dangling at the mouth othewise I would have been butted right off.

That said, I did see something glittering behind him... I'll mark it down. Could be a prize for someone braver than me.

Cattle Farm

Letter from Bronson

Winfrith. Bertham has been coming around to see my Mayda. Twice now I have caught them sneaking out together and they may have been kissing. I am sure this concerns you as much as it does me. I suggest telling your son to find other pursuits! What is happening between them is very worrying.

Bronson

Fishing Hut

Merton Journal OneMerton Journal TwoMerton Journal Three

My daughter and her husband did not exggerate: Arth truly is a soft little fellow. I can see why they sent him to me. If he wields an axe like he wields a fishing rope, though, I doubt I should let him near even the firewood! Not if I want him to keep all his toes. Seems my work is cut out for me, whether I teach him fighting or fishery. So much for retirement.

Perhaps I judged too quickly! Arth is proving himself to be quite the capable little fisher. He used a knot today I'Ve never seen before, and when I asked him about it, he said he did it in a dream! And sometimes he seems to know what the fish will do before they do! Maybe I'll give him a little more to do. Can't be too easy on him though, he may get lazy!

Had a wonderful conversation with Telka! It's been so long since I had the opportunity to discuss alchemical philosophy with anyone. Her thoughts on dreams as mirror realms reminded me of my berserker visions. I hope we have the opportunity to converse again soon. Such a bright mind. Perhaps I'll have her help teach Arth.

Fowl Farm

Unsent letter from MaydaLetter from Bertham

Curse you! I'm constantly distracted and it is all thanks to you! It's very hard to think of my responsibilities when I keep pondering the shape of your nose and the smell of your neck.

I don't want to wait to see you! Meet me tomorrow in the clearing near the trout creek around midday. Or perhaps I shouldn't give awya our meeting spot. To anyone reading this, I don't know what you're talking about. Who is Bertham?

I've never met him!

Mind your own business!

Dear Mayda,

I started writing about seven other letters to you, all of them terrible.

I don't really know what to say expect that you are always on my mind. And every time I see you in town, it feels like there are frogs swimming around in my stomach, but in a good way.

I'll be dreaming of you tonight.

Yours,
Bertham

Grain Farm

Viggo's RemindersLetter from Gudrun to Runa

Check seeds for insects

Mark fields for barley, oats, rye

Check Tekla's wheat needs for the season

Review plow blade with Gunnar

The children are gettign into such trouble lately! Just the other day, they brought in a whole box of squirrels they'd trapped and let them loose inside our house! There must have been twelve or thirteen of them, and it was pure chaos. They ran all about and covered all of my sailcloth in their droppings (the squirrels, I mean, not the children)! I know I am not encouraging such behavior, so I wrote in hopes that we might be able to form some sort of coalition and ensure that we are aligned on their discipline. Do let me know what you think.

Hidden Ones Bureau

A Letter from Mentor Rayhan

Hytham,

We are dismayed by the news of Basim's betrayal, yet only faintly surprised. His adherence to our creed had lately seemed secondary to a personal mania that has dogged him for many years. In sending him north, we had hoped the distance would focus his attention on his duty and distract him from obsessions. It seems instead he was chasing them.

At your soonest opportunity, we would hear from you in person to gain a full accounting. Our next council comes two summers from now. Mentor Fuladh of the Justanid region will host us at our newly constructed fortress Aluh-Amut in Deylam. We hope to see you there, if only to confer upon you a new title. For all you have achieved, the rank of acyolyte is no longer suitable.

Until then, continue our great work as you have done so well, and bring our light to the darkened corners of this world.

With Peace, Justice, and Wisdom,

– Mentor Rayhan

Hunter's Hut

Story from PetraWallace's To-Do ListPetra's Journal

Four weeks ago was out with Yanli searching for rabbits (stew).

Not far out in northern wood. Found many rabbit scraps and skins and bones, clearly work of wolves.

Our traps mostly empty save one buck caught probably that morning. Yanli and I remained close, avoiding wolves.

Saw movement in bush, thought it was a wolf caught on one of our traps.

Yelled for Yanli to ensure she did not approach. Suddenly, beast emerges from bush.

Scale similar to bear cub, but ears gave it away.

Rabbit. Impossible size.

Huge.

It saw me and immediately ran. Faster than lightning. yanli also witnessed.

In bush, saw destroyed trap. Nothing could have caught this creature.

Wallace could have made entire coat from its pelt.

Could be a forest god.

Need bigger knife.

Ask Gunnar for new scraper

Collect pine bark in Western forest

Check with Petra about next week's hunt

Remind Knud not to shit in the piss pot

Wallace went missing on way home from Peterborough. Tracked him with Eivor.

Accidentally ingested mushrooms.

Saw magnitude of the universe and its divine complexities. Talked with White Elk. Found Wallace. Was glad.

Eivor very interesting. Striking. Powerful. But also very entertaining.

Would like to know more. Much more.

Also, need new skinning knife. Current one dull.

Kari's House

Entreaty from Kari's former husband

Kari, please let me back into your life. None of the others meant anything compared to you. Not even the very pretty ones. If you take me back, I swear I will be the husband you believed I was when we married.

Longhouse

Joy: A Poem by HolgerThank-You from CeolbertRandvi's To-DosScribble from Randvi

We know such joy in this new land,

That it feels new to my heart.

And on this shore where I do stand,

I will make a new artistic start.

Thus I shout to the gods above to grant me their gifts!

Happiness!

Comfort!

Women! Men! Others!

Horses!

Things that bring joy!

Art! Painting! Epics!

Rhyme!

Other things as I think on them!

A wooden spoon!

Dog!

(this poem continues for several dozen pages...)

I wished to thank you and Eivor and the rest of the settlement for the great kindness you have shown me, and the things you have all taught me. Though I may have felt a nuisance at times, the days I spent with all of you were joyous and educational. Though I go now to do the work that I am meant for, I know that I will return to this place and its people one day, and I look forward to that. Take care, until we meet again.

Ceolbert

- Rowan wants more salt for the horses

- Tekla says Holger too loud in mornings

- Speak to Petra about grouse

- Yanli (Yan Li?) preparing fish for feast next week

- Octavian requesting wine

- Alvis teaching children insults

- Merton made very good fish pie. Request recipe

It is becoming increasingly difficult to look across the alliance table at Eivor and not think of what could be. I tell myself it is only Sigurd's absence, but the lie grows thinner, weaker by the day.

Museum

Letter from Octavian's Very Real Lover

To my sweet-scented little hyssop,

My darling Octavian, I was shocked to read your letter! Your new friends do not believe that I exist? Do they think that you make it your business to invent faraway lovers, when you have so many nobler and more compelling pursuits? Well, I say let them think whatever they like. I am as real as you are handsome, and I cannot wait to finally arrive in the settlement and show them all how genuine and corporeal I am. In the meantime, continue adding to the finest collection of all things Roman in the land, and keep being as wonderful as you always are. I will see you as soon as I am able to make my way over!

Julia

(the handwriting is very similar to Octavian's.)

Reda's tent

Reda's Note to the Thousand Eyes

Request granted, for your ingenuity is admirable and deserves reward. The labor union is approved! May this usher in a new era of thrilling quests and contract killings, but now with fairer wages and more days of rest.

Seer's Hut

Valka's Notes on Eivor's JourneyScattered Ingredients from Valka

Eivor Speaks of journeys into the lives of gods and gazing out through the eyes of Odin. Of all those I have helped to see the worlds beyond, the Wolf-Kissed's visions are the clearest, the most precise.

When I call out to the gods, they answer in riddles. A breeze through the meadow gras. The call of a crake. But no matter the infusion or the herb, they do not speak in the words and pictures that Eivor hears and sees.

In my weakest moments, I fear I do not have their favor. But I must be steadfast in my belief. They will show me what I need to see when I am ready. Always.

Juniper Berries

Gills of a perch

Talons of a white pidgeon

Red clay

Shipyard

Secret Message Not from KnudNote from Gudmund to GudrunNote from Gudrun to Gudmund

You smell like horse butt

You know that I adore you. But I must say, my sweet pea, that recently your boat-building plans have been very efficient and perfectly admirable but lacking in a certain ... flair? I would only genlty and lovingly suggest that next time you are drawing up new designs, you consider making the boats as beautiful as you are. Instead of just boring and functional.

I love you so much. I would very much like you to remember, my beloved, that boat-building is the work of a craftswoman and not an artist. Flair and beauty are all well and good for those soft-hearted builders who have the time for fanciful designs, but perhaps I would lovingly suggest that if you want to build a boat, you consider making it effective instead of finding new ways to pretty it up.

Stable and aviary

Tall and Proud, a poem by RowanRowan's first-week observations

Is there a better companion

A more loyal friend?

Four legs and all heart

That beats 'til the end.

Whether plowing a field

Or crossing great lands,

Their manes flow so freely,

Their dignity stands.

The Ragnarssons were one thing, but largely I thought them the exception and not the rule, as far as the Norse go. Yet these people, Sigurd and Eivor and Dag and Randvi and the others, they strike me as trustworthy. Perhaps I am simply tired of traveling, or perhaps Yanli's enthusiasm has won me over, but I think I may remain here.

Tattoo Shop

Love Note for Tove?Unsent Love Note from ToveTove's Tattoo IdeasTove's Tribute to Svend

You've enchanted me. Not a night goes by that I don't think of waking up next to you, teasing your sleepy mind out of its reveries.

The tattoo you gave me has healed well, but the mark you've left on my heart will not close without you.

I miss you and I cannot wait to see you again.

I received your message. You're a fool, but I feel you've left a mark on my heart, as well. I've applied a salve nightly to no avail. I still miss your humor, your hands, your eyes. I look forward to using your back as a canvas in the future, and to spending a little more time on mine.

A mushroom with fire circling out of it.

A dragon, breathing fire, with the wings of a bat and arms of a man.

Vines, with sharp thorns, twisting around an ankle or wrist?

Tree made out of feathers?

Note also: The dragon's arms are very muscular.

Kind Svend,

I will forever be thankful for your guidance and your care, and hear your voice in my ears as I mark the skin of those you so loved. Your spirit lives in our work forever. See you in the next realm.

Trading Post

Pending DeliveriesLetter from Yanli's Family

Stone slab: To the woman who owns the farm just southeast of Lincolnscire's southern bridge

Jar of rosewater mead: To the hermit hut at the feet of the mountain, north of Sabrina's spring in Glowecestrescire.

Crate of bowls: To the jewel maker in Ledecestre, between the church and the old Roman bathhouse.

Anvil: To the blacksmith in Lunden. His workshop is near th church, close to the west gate.

We have never been so pleased to receive a letter from you! What wonderful news! Our little flower has bloomed across the sea, and it feels as though it has been forever since you lived somewhere long enough for us to send you parcels.

I hope you will enjoy the spices and the oil. It broke our hearts to hear the things they have been feeding you! Perhaps if you offer them a bit of spice, their tongues will learn to pronounce your name properly, and you will not have to make it so easy for them!

Wandrie

Letter from Wigmund

Thegn Esefrith,

Rest assured that I understand your reticence. It is important your people maintain their trust in you. We cannot afford an uprising.

The guards I have sent along with this letter will ensure order is kept in your domain. Let them absorb any push back from the ceorls.

Lord Wigmund

Wayfarer's Camp

King Burgred's Decree

As the law states, outlaws will be taken prisoner, see their camps dismantled and their goods confiscated.

Jötunheimr

Útgarðar

New Tenant's JournalThief's Last Hope

So long I've waited, so long. Ever since I found where Gengnur hid his prize. Gengnur, the legend of the fighting pits who won the great tournament all those years ago, only to die of his wounds days later. No one ever found out what he did with his winnings. No one but me.

But if I'd have gone in there with a pickaxe, they'd all want a piece. So I bided my time till the old one died. Seven years I waited, till the earth took him and I could claim his house.

Soon I'll begin the digging. When the night is dark and the moon is cloaked by clouds. Won't be long.

Good things come to those who wait.

They are coming for me. I took it, and now they're coming. Didn't think they'd miss it. They had plenty.

I've been running for so long. I'm so tired of running. Can't run anymore.

Maybe I can talk to them. Maybe they'll listen to reason.