- Eivor: Explain the race to me.
- Toka: Run along the lit pathway as fast as that old swine Hermod. The first to do two laps win.
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Skal!
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Skal! 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[edit | edit source]
The raiders celebrate the victorious siege of Paris.
Dialogue[edit | edit source]
Eivor went to Toka Sinricsdottir, who was calling out to her.
- Toka: Eivor! Come here! Have you ever seen something like this?
Eivor talked with Toka.
- Eivor: What is this? Racing against pigs?
- Toka: Yes! What is more amusing than watching drunken men race against pigs?
- Eivor: We have done worse things to entertain ourselves.
- Toka: Would you like to try, Eivor? There is a small prize for the winner. Or... are you not fast enough?
- Eivor: Where do I start?
- Eivor: Good sport, Eivor! You will start here. Run when the pig starts running. To raise the stakes and fun, I will join you too. Ready?
- Eivor: Almost convinced me. I will return later.
- Toka: Shameful, Eivor! One does not shy away from a challenge like this!
- Eivor could had come back to talk with Toka again.
- Eivor: Pig races haven't finished??
- Eivor: You can still run one?
Eivor and Toka raced against the pig.
- Toka: You are fast, Eivor! But I will catch up soon enough!
- Eivor: Try!
- Toka: Are you tired, Eivor? Age catches up with all of us, I guess.
- Eivor: Just warming up.
- Toka: Shit! Look at us, losing to a pig! The gods surely sent Gullinbursti!
- Eivor: How they mock us.
Eivor finished the race.
- Eivor: They don't make pigs that fast in England. O, and you're pretty quick as well.
- Toka: I won the race, but Hermod is the big winner tonight.
- Eivor: (laughs) Another victory for my saga.
- Toka: Seems your legs were blessed.
- Eivor: No matter the winner, the joy was in the doing.
- Toka: Indeed! And we sure sliced open Francia's belly this time, eh? Now to feast on her entrails!
- Eivor: The winnings are worthy of a serpent's lair.
- Toka: And the roads glistened from the dew of slaughter!
- Eivor: Yes. Though, one wonders if such butchery was needed.
- Eivor: No lessons today, Eivor. I doubt I will remember them.
- Eivor: Truly, Toka. Tonight we drink.
- Toka: And tomorrow... we vomit.
- Eivor: Listen to my words, Toka. Long after the bodies are buried and the houses rebuilt, the Franks will remember this day. All we have is an uneasy truce with Charles.
- Eivor: And glory worthy of our ancestors.
- Eivor: Maybe you should put down that ale-prow for a time.
- Toka: Without doubt. But that time has not yet come!
- Eivor: You are hopeless.
- Toka: That is clear. I took a handsome sword amid the fighting. Have it. A keepsake to remember this day by.
- Eivor: You honor me. I will cherish the blade.
- Toka: By the way, I was surprised you gave the boy to Charles. It is an ill fate to be prince to such a lord.
- Eivor: You're right, Toka. But what I did was not for Bernard. It was for us. And for my clan.
Eivor left Toka as she received the Ring-sword. Eivor later met with Pierre.
- Pierre: Ah, Eivor. Here is something even you have never done. Tossing food for sport.
Eivor talked with Pierre.
- Eivor: Cheese throwing?
- Pierre: The most pungent game of them all. Nastier than Charles himself.
- Eivor: You... enjoy this?
- Pierre: I prefer to eat the cheese, but who am I to question the games of the people. So, want to toss some cheese?
- Eivor: How do I win this game?
- Pierre: You need to throw at least two blocks of cheese past the green banner. Quite simple. O, and you have three tries to get it done.
- Eivor: Will not hurt to try. Should be easy.
- Pierre: Just try not to hit anyone.
- Eivor: Maybe later. I will leave you to the cheese.
- Pierre: Take too long and there will only be crumbs left to toss.
- Eivor could had come back to talk with Pierre.
- Eivor: Still throwing cheese?
- Pierre: Yes. So, feeling sharp, Eivor?
Eivor played the cheese toss game.
- Pierre: Bravo, Eivor.
- Pierre: O, need to throw harder than that!
Eivor continued playing the game.
- Pierre: Shame. I guess if you can't beat them, you eat them.
- Eivor: You expected a different outcome?
- Pierre: I thought you best for rallying a siege and swinging a sharp stick. Was not sure how you would toss some cheese.
- Eivor: There is much about me you don't know, Pierre.
- Pierre: O? Pray tell, what else should I know?
- Eivor: I could tell you... or I could show you...
- Pierre: In return, I could also show you a few tricks, of the Frankish persuasion.
- Eivor: I will have to repay the favor then, with my own set of skills.
- Pierre: Shall we find someplace quiet, then? Away from this rabble.
- Eivor: Lead the way.
Eivor and Pierre walked away to find a secluded space. Time passed as Eivor and Pierre were kissing each other.
- Pierre: That was... nice.
- Eivor: It was.
- Pierre: I hope you know... well, Eivor. You know how I am. I indulge in the finer things in life. Various fine things, in fact, and—
- Eivor: Pierre, we both know what this was.
- Pierre: Then good.
Eivor and Pierre walked back to the celebration.
- Pierre: Is this something they do often where you're from? I think I might like it there.
- Eivor: (laughs)
- Eivor: Worry not about what I might teach.
- Pierre: Right. Plenty to celebrate about this night, don't let me spoil your fun. Go on.
- Eivor: Worry not about what I might teach.
- Pierre: Right. Plenty to celebrate about this night, don't let me spoil your fun. Go on.
Eivor left Pierre.
- Eivor: Something was amiss with Sigfred earlier. A little ale may have lifted his spirits by now.
Eivor went back to the longhouse and talked with Sigfred, skulking at his chair. Sigfred took notice of Eivor's presence and talked with her.
- Sigfred: Eivor the Talker.
- Eivor: Quite a trove of riches, Sigfred.
- Sigfred: What were you doing with Count Odo as Charles' army marched on me and my men?
- Eivor: I was trying to gain his surrender. What of it?
- Sigfred: Is it not strange that you met with Odo, Richardis, even Charles himself, and yet all three still walk around with their heads?
- Eivor: Everything I have done has been for my clan.
Sigfred looked at Eivor and pondered.
- Sigfred: It is curious that we must drench our blades in battle-sweat to enjoy a night like this.
- Eivor: We fight because we must, born in blood, doomed in die, our threads woven by unseen hands.
- Eivor: There need not be blood for us to celebrate. We find countless reasons to feast.
- Eivor: This celebration is not about us and those we killed. It is for our dead. So that we may honor them.
- Sigfred: Hmph. The Frankish blood... the feasting... I still feel nothing. I find no peace in any of it.
- Eivor: You avenged your murdered people. You gained glory in their names.
- Sigfred: Is that why I did what I did? Vengeance and glory? I wonder anymore why any of us do the things we do. Is it Valhalla? Is it clan? Or maybe we grant ourselves reasons to go from one mead cup to the next. Maybe there are no reasons, and we are no different than wolves, driven by some inner hunger we can never understand.
- Eivor: That may be, but for the sake of our peoples we must continue to act otherwise.
- Sigfred: No. I do not believe there is a hall waiting for us. This world is our hall. We get but one. I shall not pretend. Francia's cup overflows with lush farmland, fat farmers, and fatter purses. All the more for us to drink. Tomorrow, we quit this place and head south for greater bounties than even a king can grant.
- Eivor: We gave Charles our word.
- Sigfred added more if Eivor did not give Bernard away.
- Sigfred: Our word? You are the one who failed to return his son Bernard. Have you forgotten?
- Eivor: That was different. Charles would have—
Sigfred smashed his fist on a table.
- Sigfred: Fuck Charles! We spared Paris today, but tomorrow we march for Burgundy. And after that, all of Francia.
- Eivor: I cannot let you do it, Sigfred.
Sigfred threw his cup onto the floor, startling his men.
- Sigfred: Then stop me.
Sigfred left as his people saw the awkward outburst.
- Eivor: I need to go after him.
Eivor followed his trail and found Sigfred at the Burial Mounds. Eivor went and talked with Sigfred, who held an axe near Sinric's grave.
- Sigfred: Will it be a holmgang then, Wolf-Kissed?
- Eivor: I only ask that you honor your agreement.
- Sigfred: What does a crow-starver like Charles know about honor? I owe him nothing.
Sigfred looked at Sinric's grave and then back at Eivor.
- Sigfred: And he owes me everything.
- Eivor: No amount of Frankish blood will bring Sinric or the others back. Some wrongs can never be made right.
- Sigfred: All this talk of right and wrong. Honor. As if we can judge. It has no meaning. Can we explain all the blood on our hands, Eivor? Or are we two jesters on this Frankish stage, awaiting our final performance? Draw your weapon.
- Eivor: If you want to find peace, this is not the way. We must build fresh bonds, look forward to something new.
- Sigfred: Look forward. Look back. It is death in both directions. We are but a morning fog that will inevitably lift. Now answer my challenge or dishonor yourself!
- Eivor: Your sorrow will linger if you do not face it directly. My blood, the blood of more Franks, will be no salve for your grief.
Sigfred looked behind him to see the elk grazing.
- Sigfred: It is as if you speak with Sinric's voice. I have been at sea with no stars to guide by since he died.
- Eivor: And if your brother were here, what would be his counsel?
- Sigfred: To move forward. To live.
Sigfred dropped his axe at Sinric's grave.
- Sigfred: My time here is over. My kin are dead. The ones who remain must decide what is right for themselves. Let it be Toka's time.
- Eivor: What will you do?
- Sigfred: Leave this place. Ask different questions. Forget everything I know and... and find a new way.
Sigfred walked off towards the elk. Toka ran into the conversation.
- Toka: Sigfred!
Sigfred turned around and nodded, as he left.
- Toka: Where is he going?
- Eivor: Away.
- Toka: Then I am going with him.
- Eivor: No, Toka. Your clan needs you.
Eivor and Toka looked at Sinric's grave, before leaving. Both Vikings went back to Melun and discussed Sigfred's departure.
- Toka: A solitary man, but never more so than when he stood alone, tasked with rousing our desperate clan.
- Eivor: He led well, but all leaders must one day step aside. That, or see others die because they held onto power for too long.
- Eivor: You have killed yourself, Sigfred.
- Sigfred: Ha! If that is so, I will embrace the quiet that awaits.
- Sigfred: I knew it would come to this, the moment I saw you.
- Eivor: I did not come here to kill you. But I will!
- Eivor: This is madness.
- Sigfred: Madness? No, Talker. It is who we are.
- Sigfred: You are close, Eivor!
- Eivor: This is your doing. You forced my hand.
- Sigfred: And I welcome the long dark.
- Eivor: Toka, I—
- Toka: I know. He chose this.
Toka walked to Sigfred's corpse and sent him to Valhalla.
- Toka: May you find peace in the great hall. And when you drink with Father again, tell him of the glory I won for us.
Eivor saw another elk appear besides the first one. Time passed as a funeral mound was made for Sigfred, with Eivor, Toka, and his clan attending the service. Toka walked forward, laying down a sword in commemoration and cried as Eivor comforted her. Later, Toka and Eivor talked back at Melun.
- Toka: I thought him a saga hero, never to fall.
- Eivor: He was formidable. But stubborn.
- Eivor: If it is death you want, fine, I will give it to you. But this is your doing, Sigfred.
- Sigfred: Finally, the fabled Eivor of the Raven Clan has come.
- Sigfred: I knew it would come to this, the moment I saw you.
- Eivor: I did not come here to kill you. But I will!
- Eivor: This is madness.
- Sigfred: Madness? No, Talker. It is who we are.
- Sigfred: You are close, Eivor!
- Eivor: This is your doing. You forced my hand.
- Sigfred: And I welcome the long dark.
- Eivor: Toka, I—
- Toka: I know. He chose this.
- Toka: May you find peace in the great hall. And when you drink with Father again, tell him of the glory I won for us.
- Toka: I thought him a saga hero, never to fall.
- Eivor: He was formidable. But stubborn.
- Toka: When his strong voice echoed in this place, we knew what to do. We had courage... daring...
Eivor stood up and poured herself and Toka a drink.
- Eivor: And his fire still burns in your folk. Skal!
- Toka: Skal.
Eivor sat back down.
- Toka: I lack a taste for mulled wine.
- Eivor: Sometimes a leader must drink the thing they wish not to.
Pierre walked into the hall.
- Pierre: I have word from Count Odo.
- Eivor: What does he want?
- Pierre: An audience with Eivor, it is urgent. He says the queen may be in peril. My spies confirmed this. Charles has been hunting again for her and the boy.
- Toka: What do you think?
- Eivor: Odo would not lie. If he says it's urgent, I must go. I owe the queen a debt and I am honor bound to see this through.
- Toka: Then go. You have fortune's favor, Wolf-Kissed.
Eivor nodded and left.
Outcome[edit | edit source]
Toka became leader of her clan and Eivor left to meet with Odo to learn of the peril Richardis was in.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Toka challenging Eivor to a race during the celebrations -
Eivor racing with Toka and a pig -
An angry Sigfred leaving the longhouse and the celebrations -
Sigfred reflecting on Eivor's words
