Riverland

The months went by and there were no more fighting due to the execution of the hex. All that had been achieved by the freedom of religion had been literally torched. There was no point in discussing a common temple, because of the hostile attitude between the Vanirs and the Christians. Harald’s people were reassigned from the seas to the colony. In a way, Dan’s worst case scenario with militia inside the colony was made true.

The return of the scouts was therefore a very welcome break. However, the colonists were curios why only two boats, and not four, returned. Anyway, as soon as they settled, they were called in for an extended board meeting. Welcome, welcome our bold scouts, Thorleif greeted. We are very pleased to see you again, and extremely curious I must admit. I can almost not wait to hear of all your experiences. But first, I am certain I sent four ships and not two. Am I correct? They had to laugh. Yes, and we have not been quite obedient, I guess, Lars replied. Have you not? Thorleif asked. Well not quite right that either, Lars hesitated.

You see, we did as you told and sailed south as far as we could. We saw a large bay and a river going southwest into the land. But we also saw that the mainland continued further south. We all decided that we should part into two teams, because both options seemed right. Tore and his team continued southwards, while I and my team continued down the river to the southwest. I believe the other team will be here soon, because they are skilled and careful. That is a relief, Thorleif interrupted. In fact I am very happy about your decision, especially when I see that you are so well. Oh by the way, there were not any Romans following you back, I hope. There are no Romans here, I can ensure you, and Lars laughed. He waited a little and added, but there are hunters of some kind here. I do not think we should worry more about them than the alien hunters back in Greenland though, he added.

We sailed far down the rivers. In my view it must have been rather parallel to the coastline Tore sailed. This is a huge land I can ensure you. It can even be as far stretched as Norway. We did not reach the end of the river, though, and we have no idea of how far it goes in any direction. All we know is that it is huge and it is certainly a good land. So tell me what it is like, Thorleif asked curiously. There are so many impressions, it is hard to tell. But I am not wrong when I say it looks very much like Scandinavia. There board was excited. They all had to leave Scandinavia once, and now it seems that a home might be right in front of them. There are of course some differences, Lars said. There are not the steep and narrow fjords. It seems more like as if Sweden was the Atlantic coastline. The trees, the fishes, the wildlife is almost the same. There are salmon, deer, elk, just as we are used too. I think it will be easy to make things grow here.

What about the natives then, Thorleif asked. The Skrallings, Lars said and bowed his head. Well I can tell you at once, they shot at us with arrows. He looked up again. I do not know whether they were stupid or scared. But they did not hit and maybe it was not the intention either. They looked like the natives of Greenland. These had adapted as hunters, though. They are as small, they talk different and we could not see any houses, merely tents. Maybe they are nomads that happened to travel by. Quite frankly, we were told not to encounter stranger, so we did not. By the way, we called them Skrallings, because they were not exactly the bold warrior we anticipated. That is fine, Thorleif responded smiling. This is very good news. This is very good news indeed.

Thorleif started to remember. The Greenland colonists kept their distance to the so-called Skrallings. They were alien to each other and that seemed to be determined. The Skrallings were skilled hunters and used small single canoes made for that purpose. They seemed to be able to adapt to any environment, by keeping the tribes small, keeping warm and keeping a simple lifestyle. Thorleif remember an incident when some fishers were determined to capture one to find out who they are and how to relate to them. They managed to trap one after a long and complicated hunt. They brought him to the colony and presented him for Harald. The interrogation turned out harsh, and when cornered, the Skralling simply bit of his own tongue. Then it became uncertain what happened, but somehow the Skralling managed to escape with several colonists following. The tragedy happened when he was corned at a cliff. The colonists were certain that they had him once again. Then he jumped down and got killed by the fall. There were no attempts to make contact after that. Thorleif feared it would lead to war.

After breaking up the meeting, Thorleif went for a walk in the village. He needed to think for his own. The winter could be chilly. The wind from the open sea brought frost upon them. People were getting together and kept mostly indoors. He looked at the village and noticed that it was about to form three separate groups. This colony is to cultural complex for so few people, he thought. Thorleif feared that a major conflict could break out any time now. He suspected that the Vanirs and Christians will be the first to fight. Or maybe, he thought, maybe the Vanirs will arrange a fight between the Christians and the Asirs to weaken them in advance. He stopped himself in such speculations. Damn it, it’s gone to my head too. We need to settle this now.