video, un: wolfkissed

[raven_sage]

[A panning shot of the outdoors; it appears to be a meadow by the river to the west of Camelot. Eivor speaks from off-screen]

Yes...this will do.

[The screen turns to Eivor's face; she appears to be walking as she speaks.]

The Fae Queen makes her demands and Arthur would have us mired in endless debate, but I know my course of action. Our worlds are frozen in a moment without end; I have seen this calamity for myself thanks to Ardenbury-thegn's boon. I will not waste time on debate, or to submit to these demands of trials and trade.

In my world, the kings of Christian lands pay the Danegeld, tribute offered to raiders such as our own to keep their lands from becoming our hunting grounds. Even the great emperor of Miklagard who supposedly stands above those kings pays us our due. Those who do not, we overrun and take what we wish from them ourselves. As with them, so will this Queen Mab.

Here, in this field I will build a longship, with oars to row up-river, to Celliwig. I will have warriors with me. We will find a village, or some other gathering of Mab's Fae, and we will burn it. We will burn their homes, we will burn their fields and we shall take anything of value that we like. We will send a message to Queen Mab that she will pay our Danegeld; whatever relic, knowledge or power that she possesses that will help undo this calamity, she will surrender...or all of Celliwig becomes our hunting ground.

I need warriors for this raid, and to assist in the building of the longship. We must transport the materials from Camelot to this location to build the ship. The Fae are said to possess illusions, and I will need people with the ability to dispel this magic. I know such power exists, and we will need it for this venture to succeed.

Come with me, and your reward will be this; whatever you take, you keep. Your spoils will be your own. If any Fae draw their blades against you, deal with them as you like, as warriors, and take from them what you will. But know this, any Fae who flee or cower before us, they are to be left alone. Anyone who takes a life in such dishonour will forfeit their spoils and will answer to me, besides. This is about sending a message to Queen Mab that we will not submit to her demands or dance to her song. And we will need someone to deliver that message to her.

If you would join me, come to the docks at New Camelot. That is where the materials we will need for our longship are. And we will make ready to go a-viking.

Comments

Video | un: kratos

[worldsokayestdad]

[The man on screen just looks tired. Like, of course someone wants to run off and start shit with the fae. This is why the universe can't have nice things.]

Following this course of action would be deeply unwise. I hope I don't need to explain why that is.

video; un: ensignledo

[ferrytale]

[ ledo just looks vaguely confused, but he's more or less been like that since he got here, technically. ]

I was told that the situation involving these Fae is a complicated one, with many angles. Your words seem to suggest that you are at least partly in agreement, given your rule to spare some of them or face consequences.

This is unclear. What do you hope to accomplish in this way? Why would the enemy not simply regroup and strike back?

[raven_sage]

It was unwise of this Mab to make demands of us. Is it not in her best interest to offer aid, if she has any to give? But she does not, she bides us "prove" ourselves to her. So I intend to reply with a much shorter, sharper message. We do not intend to waste time with her petty tasks.

I have fought kings before and come out the victor. This queen will be no different.

[raven_sage]

There is no honour or glory in killing those too weak to fight. The survivors will be the means that our demands are issued to their queen.

Let her send soldiers, then, and empty her lands. While she makes ready for war, we shall slip back in, and burn more of her countryside, drive her people from their homes and destroy their livelihoods and fields. How long can she hope to prosecute a war without food for her troops, and while her citizens are displaced of their homes and villages, when it would just be easier to give us the help she is apparently capable of giving now?

A group of ten warriors can burn a village easily enough and melt back into the countryside before her soldiers can mobilize to fight us. She will send her warriors on a fruitless chase around the countryside and will not find us while her people pay the price for her arrogance.

And so she will pay, in the end. They all do.

text, un: selcouth

[sulit]

[Isn't this interesting... Don't mind her if she just casually peruses this entire thing you have going on here.]

Well. Good luck with that! I think you're going to need it, what with the way things usually go here.

[raven_sage]

Ha! If it was not a challenge, it would not be worth doing.

voice; un: stranger

[eightfoldfiend]

So it's to be a raid, is it?

[worldsokayestdad]

As frustrating as this situation is, inviting conflict will only serve to set us back. Say you go through with this, say you lead a charge on Celliwig. You have no way of knowing what sort of manpower this queen has, or how far she would be willing to go to retaliate against us. You may be willing to show mercy to Celliwig's noncombatants, but who's to say that they would show us the same curtesy? There are too many unknown factors in a situation like this.

Re: voice; un: stranger

[raven_sage]

Aye, that it is! If this queen wishes to make demands of us, we shall make one of our own right back, and in her own realm, to make sure she hears us clearly.

[eightfoldfiend]

You know the King is considering military action himself. Would that not send the same message?

I'm sure she'd hear you if you united your voice with his.

[ferrytale]

I see.

So in this world of abundant resources, you give yourself an advantage by creating scarcity. That sounds logical. I am accustomed to facing an enemy with no such reliance on land or food.

I have also not been in this world long and I do not understand the role of honour in the matter. Is that what you hope to gain from their leader?

[ not that he's judging, only finding the various motivations people have to do things around here curious. ]

[sulit]

Interesting answer~

What do you plan to do when the people you're trying to recruit decide to fight against you instead?

That's likely to happen, you know. It was about a month ago that someone asked if murder was a bad thing, and everyone had very lively opinions about that one.

[raven_sage]

[Eivor snorts derisively.] The king is too busy asking everyone in the kingdom what they think he should do. He can catch up to me once I've given my message directly to the queen herself.

[raven_sage]

[She laughs.] Then we'll know everything we need to know once I'm finished, won't we?

To gain knowledge, requires work and sacrifice. Just ask Odin, after he was done hanging himself from Yggdrasil.

[raven_sage]

Depends on who I'm killing and for what reason.

I never say no to a good tussle, but perhaps if they are so intent on proving me wrong, they should stick to rushing to fulfill her Faenesses' every whim and passing fancy. I think I get results faster.

[raven_sage]

War is expensive business my friend, in many respects. If she cannot pay, her rule will suffer and her people lose faith. A small raiding force will be difficult to track even through her own territory, and we can flee with impunity back to Camelot quickly. The more she spreads her forces thin to try and snare us, the easier it becomes for us to slip by. By the time they ride to meet us, we are already gone. How much fight will her people have when their stomachs are growling, and they have no protection from the sun's heat, the wind's bite, or the rain's chill? Easier to just give us what we want and be done with it, in that case.

[She shakes her head] No, that is not it. Honour comes from within, from one's actions and bearing. To kill a foe in battle is good; the valkyrja come to collect the fallen dead at battle's end and bear them away to Odin's mead hall. This is a good death, and brings honour to the one who did the slaying, for he has acted properly as a warrior should, and he will be celebrated by his men and his victories cheered.

To kill those who will not fight, who cower before you or flee, this is not a good death and consigns the soul to the freezing wastes of Helheim. It diminishes the warrior who makes the kill, and his men will lose respect for him and follow him no more. There is a way to do things and a way not to, even in raiding. And the Raven Clan keeps the old ways, even if all of Norway no longer does. This is what it means to act honourably.

You a fighter yourself? Could use some volunteers instead of these nay-saying milksops.

[worldsokayestdad]

[There is the slightest hint of recognition, a slight twitch of the eye, when Eivor says that name. Yggdrasil, it's a name he hadn't expected to hear again, much less in a place like this. Still, the odds of her speaking of the same Yggdrasil that he knows are extremely slim, so he's going to try not to let it distract him.]

I... You aren't wrong about that. Nothing ever comes easily, but there are better ways to handle this than resorting to violence. The king wasn't able to negotiate with her, but that doesn't mean that one of us wouldn't be able to. Peacefully. Something like what you're proposing should only be used as a last resort.

[raven_sage]

Then by all means, try. A longship and crew will not happen over night after all. You have some weeks ahead. If your methods succeed, then we shall share a drink as friends and toast to your success.

But if nothing has come of them by the time my Drakkar is finished, then I set sail up-river to Celliwig with any warriors who will join me, and what happens after that is in the hands of the Nornir to weave. Agreed?

[eightfoldfiend]

A valid point.

[Rustling, then his deep voice nearly lilts into a purr.]

I will assist in this raid.

[sulit]

You'll certainly get *some* kind of result. I'm positive of that~

[She has absolutely no idea if it'll be a good or bad result, but it won't be nothing, that's for sure. Which means it'll be an interesting endeavor to watch play out.]

Do you build boats often where you're from? Row up rivers and attack fae queens?

[committing]

"This is about sending a message to Queen Mab?" Get real.

[raven_sage]

["Get real"? Eivor doesn't understand the phrase, but Blake's disapproval is easy enough to feel.]

I am not in the habit of speaking falsely. If you disapprove, fine, but do not question my motives.

pretend i formatted the first one correctly; voice | un: b.belladonna

[committing]

Oh, I'm not questioning your motives. They're plain enough.

What makes you feel as if you have the right to decide what's best for all of us, and to plunge us into a conflict you have every reason to believe the majority of us would like to avoid? Life experience? It sounds to me like what you're really interested in is violence for its own sake and all the spoils you'll get out of it.

[thearchitect]; text (this is so deeply Eivor it made me smile)

[emet_sulk]

What is it with you mortals and warring with each other all the time? Can't the world be at peace for one godsdamned cycle of seasons?

[raven_sage]

Then by all means, dance to the Fae queen's tune. I'm sure once she sees that she can make any demands of you she wishes, she will surely give us the help we have already asked her for.

In the meantime, I shall see to my own plans. I bet I get results faster.

You betray your own ignorance of my motives. I will take no share of the spoils, I have no need of them. The message I send to Queen Mab is why I intend to go to Celliwig. But what warleader doesn't ensure those who follow her are properly rewarded?

If it is a choice between useless talk and taking action, my course is clear. It always will be.