The Prodigal Prince

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

Description

Eivor met with her brother Sigurd, who just returned from a two-year journey away from Norway in Constantinople.

Dialogue

Eivor travelled to the harbor, finding a newly returned Sigurd.

• Sigurd: Hey, hey! Careful with that one.

Sigurd spotted Eivor approaching.

• Sigurd: Eivor!
• Eivor: Sigurd!
• Sigurd: O, look at you, blood-soaked drengr. Have you been warring without me?

Eivor embraced her brother.

• Eivor: Ah, and you, salt-cured vikingr. I smell the stink of a dozen kingdoms in your beard.
• Sigurd: It's just the start.

Sigurd spotted his wife Randvi approaching them both.

• Sigurd: Randvi, my dear wife. Your husband returns, bringing gifts and riches to share.

Sigurd gave Randvi a kiss on her cheeks.

• Randvi: And new friends, I see.

The three turned towards two hooded individuals, who proceeded to took off their hood.

• Sigurd: Yes! Basim... and Hytham. We met in Miklagard, and they showed me her buried secrets.
• Basim: We are grateful to Sigurd for his invitation, and eager to pay tribute to your king.
• Eivor: My brother is always very careful with the company he keeps. If you are standing safely beside him, he must like you.
• Sigurd: Eivor, save the introductions until our bellies are full. I will see my father, tell him of my time away.

Eivor and Randvi walked with Sigurd to the longhouse.

• Sigurd: This morning we traded with a ship passing south. They told us Eivor the Wolf-Kissed was captured by Kjotve's men.
• Eivor: They must have cut the tale short. I killed my captors and recovered my crew. And for that, your father scolded me. You know where I stand, Brother. Nothing short of war will dislodge Kjotve from our lands. But he disagrees.
• Sigurd: I know, I know. Father thinks too much and acts too little. Today that changes. I promise you. By the winter's end, the name Kjotve the Cruel will be a curse on the lips of a drunken fool.

They reached the longhouse, where King Styrbjorn awaited.

• Styrbjorn: My son. Welcome home.

Sigurd and Styrbjorn hugged.

• Sigurd: Ah, Father...
• Styrbjorn: Tonight we feast and celebrate your return, Sigurd. The tables are laid with barley and lamb, bread and mead—
• Sigurd: And no more, I beg you. I want nothing you would not serve a thrall (slave). Let me be the one to honor you. I bring gifts and tales from faraway lands. After two winters away, I am full up with both.
• Styrbjorn: Very well, very well. Come inside.
• Sigurd: And when we are fat and satisfied, Father, we will talk of Kjotve and his clan. And how we may end their terror, once and for all. He has dogged us too long. Shamed us for too many seasons. I know this. Eivor knows this... It ends now.
• Styrbjorn: Yes, of course. When the time is right.

The family then feasted. Sigurd regaled his clan with tales of his travels while Eivor sat and listened.

• Sigurd: Through Rusland we barreled down the Volga river, raiding as we went, shadowy tribes hurling spears at our ship. At Miklagard, we saw men bedecked in riches as vibrant as the Bifrost itself. These we took for our troubles, of course! We sailed to Rome, then Africa. Past oceans of sand, warriors of all colors, and beauty the eyes must weep to behold. And now, I have returned! With riches and glory to share with my family, my friends, my ice-forged drengir! So take what you desire from my hoard. For this... this is only a taste of things to come. Tomorrow, the Raven Clan starts anew!
• Styrbjorn: Skal, Sigurd.
• Sigurd: Skal!
• Eivor: And you, Eivor. Come! I have something special for you.

Eivor got up from her seat and approached Sigurd.

• Sigurd: I thought long and hard on a gift worthy of you.
• Eivor: You have snared my curiosity, Brother. What is it?
• Sigurd: Not yet. Drinks first! To my first night in Fornburg in over two winters. It must end with me soaked and wall-eyed, shouting at the shadows of trolls!
• Eivor: And you want me to sail with you on these honey-waves?
• Sigurd: Yes! You are stuck with me, drengr. Now drink!

Eivor downed her drink.

• Sigurd: Gah! You would put Thor to shame!

I should've gone easy on you.You make everything a challenge.This is strong stuff.

• Eivor: Forgive me. On your first day back, I should have let you win.
• Sigurd: Gods, you should have let me start!

• Eivor: It is good to have you back, Sigurd.
• Sigurd: Yes, I have missed this terribly. When I first met Basim, I regaled him with tales of our homeland. And it was then I felt a hard longing to return at once.

Sigurd then saw Basim and Hytham and motioned them closer.

• Sigurd: Come.
  This brings us to your gift. These excellent men were my shepherds through much of their homeland, the Abbasid Caliphate. They are a clan not joined by blood, but by a common idea. A brotherhood of shadows executing their own form of justice. In my time with them, they shared many of their most hidden secrets. For which I am grateful. And now... I gift one of these secrets to you. A weapon, for the finest warrior I know.

Sigurd passed the Hidden Blade to Eivor, Hytham look on unimpressed.

A thing of beauty.It looks harmless.Hytham looks offended.

• Eivor: Beautiful craftsmanship. What kind of smith makes a weapon like this?
• Basim: It is less a weapon than a tool. One we have used for centuries to fight injustice and evil.

• Hytham: Mentor, I must protest. This is deeply unorthodox. Our wrist-blade is a sacred tool—
• Basim: Do not make a fetish out of cold metal, Hytham. What matters is the mind of the one who wields it.
  Please. Try it on.

Eivor placed the Hidden Blade on her wrist, with the blade facing the outside.

• Basim: The blade should ride on the underside of your arm. To conceal it from your target.
• Eivor: I have no wish to hide this. And I would rather not make the same mistake you two have.
  I like it.
• Hytham: This is no mistake. This is a voluntary sacrifice to prove our devotion to—

Basim cut him off.

• Basim: A good start, Eivor. but you must learn how to use it effectively.
• Sigurd: Outside. This is not something for all eyes.
• Eivor: Lead on.

Eivor followed Sigurd, Basim, and Hytham outside.

• Eivor: This clan of yours. It has a name?
• Basim: Indeed, but among the tenants of our creed is a vow to never reveal too much to outsiders. In time, you may learn more. But not here, where the walls and trees may have ears.
• Eivor: I look forward to it.

They arrived at yard with test dummies set up.

• Basim: Here, let me lead you through our most basic techniques. Wielded with skill and care, our blade delivers a singular killing blow. As you near your target, find your window to strike. Timing is essential.

Eivor 'assassinated' a nearby dummy.

• Basim: Excellent.
• Eivor: I have not seen a blade so sharp.
• Basim: Some targets are trickier than others. Keep that in mind before you strike.

Eivor then 'assassinated' a sturdier dummy.

• Hytham: A decent attempt.
• Basim: Take that one down from the ledge.

Eivor performed a 'ledge assassination' on the higher dummy.

• Basim: That's it.
• Sigurd: How about a challenge? Leap down upon that target from above.

Eivor then 'air assassinated' the next dummy.

• Basim: A perfect strike.
  Use your surroundings when possible. Strike from that haystack, for instance.

Eivor then 'stealth assassinated' the final dummy from the haystack.

• Basim: Exactly. Just like that.
• Hytham: Mentor, does Eivor intend to join us?
• Basim: Not that I am aware.
• Hytham: Then why offer her the blade? Surely we have more—
• Basim: Hytham. Hush.
  You wield the blade well.
• Sigurd: Let us leave Eivor to enjoy her gift in peace. Come.
  Eivor. Let us walk to the docks and take in the night air.

Eivor followed Sigurd to the docks.

• Sigurd: What do you make of my new friends?
• Eivor: They seem generous and menacing in equal measure.
• Sigurd: I know what you mean. And they have learning too. They wield numbers and writing as if it were magic. Basim has shown me so much about the world. All of which I will share with you... when the time is right.

The siblings reached the docks.

• Sigurd: Ah! I missed the smell of this land.
• Eivor: Have you returned for good, or do you mean to join this shadow brotherhood?
• Sigurd: Leave all that aside, Eivor. Tonight we are family again. The here and now is what matters. Our kinship, our clan... our glory.
• Eivor: I missed you, Brother. Your clear head and your courage. We have not had enough of both in recent months.
• Sigurd: You flatter me, Wolf-Kissed. Keep it up.
• Eivor: From here to Valhalla, I will always be by your side, Sigurd. Always.
• Sigurd: This fjord has grown too small to contain me, or I too large. There is so much more beyond these stony fangs that rise around us. England, Ireland, Francia... all greener pastures, ripe for the plucking.
  Tomorrow we make new war on Kjotve. And reclaim the lands he took from us. And from there, we build a kingdom. For us.
• Eivor: I'm with you. Only say the word.
• Sigurd: Good. Get some rest and return here at first light.

Eivor and Sigurd walked back to the longhouse together.

Outcome

Eivor was reunited with her brother Sigurd, who returned home after a two-year journey. She was introduced to his new found friends, the Hidden Ones Basim Ibn Ishaq and Hytham, and was gifted a Hidden Blade.

References

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla