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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:05 am
Some of his Reavers complained that Aesir's rules about mint and fermented fruit were too strict. Aesir could sympathize, since he enjoyed inebriation just as much as they did, but he wasn't about to change the rules of his raiding crew. He didn't like having members of his crew performing at anything less than their best, and he made it very clear to everyone that he would not tolerate laziness in the mornings, no matter how soft their heads felt.
Just the same, he didn't particularly enjoy having to mete out punishment to people who broke his rules. Particularly the morning before they got back to the pride. His second - his second - had been guilty of oversleeping and drunkenness, and so Aesir had been forced to dole out the punishment he'd earned. And that meant that his second arrived back at the pride looking like he'd been thoroughly beaten - which he had been. It just didn't look good.
And yet it could be good for his reputation, Aesir mused as he made his way to his den. The party celebrating his band's return was over - had been for hours - and he was still more than a little drunk. Not so drunk he couldn't think or walk straight, but enough that he didn't really trust himself to speak well or deal well with surprises. Which was why he was taking a back route to his den. It would decrease the likelihood of surprises or conversation. Or surprise conversations.
Um. Yeah, this is back-dated like woah. It's from when Aesir's still a Captain. I just felt like it, I'm afraid. Sorry.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:07 am
Dóttir'stryk had only just returned from her first viking a few weeks ago, and her adult features were still softened by adolescence despite the rough scabs along her shoulder from a wound. She was a mix of coarse beauty and tender innocence, but she was determined to be the former. Her father was too quiet, too silently abrasive for her to be anything but the female version of himself without feeling ostracized. All the same, it was difficult for her to contain her own socially expressive personality.
And it was because of that that she was wandering just then. Her father was off... doing whatever it was that he did when they weren't out raiding. That left her bored, and she was seeking out some sort of conversation that didn't involve watching her father or his Reavers chewing on old bones.
She knew of Captain Aesir, though she hadn't spoken with him much. It was a bit of a surprise when she ran into him, so her bright eyes widened and her brows raised. Inclining her head to one side, she frowned before venturing, "Captain, someday I will kill you."
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:55 am
Aesir winced when he saw a pair of bright eyes glowing golden in the moonlight. The voice which went with them was less telling than the eyes themselves. He recognized those eyes, but he was more used to seeing them in a different spot in the darkness, belonging to a larger lion, the father of the lioness who now accosted him.
"Not today," he answered by rote. At least that much was routine and he didn't have to think about it.
The knowledge that he was speaking - or rather being spoken to by - Dóttir'stryk was not enough to make Aesir sober, but it was enough to make him aware that he should probably not knock her over and attempt to have his way with her. Or smack her upside of her head for being stupid enough to talk to him when he was obviously trying to avoid people. Those were his two first inclinations, and since neither of them were valid options, he had to think a little.
"Dóttir'stryk, yes?" He was almost one hundred percent sure, but he was also drunk, and would like to make up those last few percentage points with confirmation. "You came back from your first viking recently."
She hadn't been on his viking. Aesir didn't tend to take female Reavers with him, as a rule. They were simply too distracting to everyone else on the raid. He didn't mind having something fun to spend his nights with, but if there weren't enough to go around, there was always trouble, and a viking band couldn't afford that sort of division or disagreement.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 6:42 pm
Accosted. She'd be amused if she knew that was what he thought of this chance meeting, that she was verbally accosting him. Although she was mildly social, she was not good enough at reading others to recognize just what he thought of this meeting. She did, however, recognized that he was inebriated, and that amused her enough that her lips curled upward in a silent, subtle display of just that. Amusement, because even in the face of possible danger she found such frivolity humorous.
She wasn't nervous. Perhaps she should have been; he was stronger, and larger than she, but she was essentially still riding the crest of the wave of confidence following her entrance into adulthood. She was puffed up, and sure enough of herself and her good breeding to believe she might stand a chance against a large portion of the lions in the pride. Besides, she'd put up a big enough fight that most of them would decide she wasn't worth it soon enough. If he did try to knock her aside or have his way with her, he'd have a damn good fight accomplishing much.
Dótti didn't acknowledge the conclusion of the greeting. It was routine enough that it was like exchanging air. It was what followed that interested her, and she nodded slightly when he spoke her name. Her own brows rose when he added that little detail, but she nodded more deeply and replied, "Yes, on both accounts. I returned not too long ago." She looked him over briefly, taking in his state before returning her golden eyes to his face, "You've returned much more recently, I believe."
Whether he brought along female Reavers or not, she didn't know. As a rule, she had attended her first viking under her father's command. She did not know whether she would venture out beneath other Captains; she hadn't thought that far ahead.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:02 pm
"A successful viking, your first one. Wasn't it?"
Things like long-term memory, into which anything more than a few hours old fell, was one of the faculties Aesir lost when drunk on mint. Oh, it wasn't that he couldn't remember, he just didn't always remember things correctly. He became a much better storyteller when he was drunk for just that purpose. He could be uproariously funny when he was telling tales, or even dramatic and moving. Unfortunately, he could never quite capture that quality sober.
"I remember your father saying he was proud of you on that viking," he continued.
Now he was definitely lying, but not with any sort of malicious intent. He was sure her father would have said that, or something like it, had he been a more talkative sort. As it was, she must have at least done well, or else there might have been negative comments. A lack of comment at all could be construed as well-enough done. Besides, he needed something to say to her, didn't he?
"I did just come back from my own," he agreed. "No Thralls, but it was a good haul. Well, it wasn't bad. There've definitely been worse. And no one died."
He couldn't say no one was hurt, but the worst injuries sustained on his viking had been ones he'd inflicted himself, so he could still count the excursion as a success overall. He just needed to find someone else to act as his second-in-command. Shame, really, but it was best to find these things out early. Good thing the incident happened on the way back, too, for that matter.
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:27 pm
Dótti was unlike her father in that she was more easily swayed and distracted by flowery words and wandering phrases often employed by the more talented storytellers, whereas Rå'styrke concerned himself with the bare minimum: facts, and only facts. On the other hand, Dótti had enjoyed the campfire reminisces of returning warriors for a significant majority of her lifespan.
All the same, Aesir was not telling stories now and she had, unfortunately, inherited very little aptitude for embellishment from her gruff father and absent mother. She had a recollection of this particular captain's entertaining drunken tirades, so rather than embarrass herself with any lackluster attempt at mimicry, she settled with a small shrug, "It was successful, though nothing particular to boast of. I did not attain a Thrall for myself."
Rather than trailing off, her train of words ended abruptly. There was nothing more to be said on it, though she did arched a brow at his blatant lie. Her father said very little to anyone, least of all on the subject of his grown offspring. Her molten gold eyes studied the male in the low light, calculating his intent in the fallacy but decided on merely another noncommittal shrug for response. "No deaths at all? What a pity." Her sarcasm was dry, and fleeting, "Congratulations on your raiding, all the same." Additional conversation seemed prudent, so she added, "Will you be raiding again soon?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:47 pm
"If you're going to be reaving a lot, you probably don't need a thrall for the time being," Aesir pointed out. "They won't have enough to occupy their time with you away. Unless you end up taking them with you."
Aesir wouldn't have known what to do with a thrall if he had one. Maybe if she was pretty, he'd cover her from time to time, but he didn't care for the idea of siring a litter of cubs on a thrall, even if he made her his saltwife. He didn't want to think of any of that right now. A wife would nag him about his mint, too, probably.
"Nearly had a death," he confided. "My second got drunk and sloppy. I can't tolerate that on a viking. It's different here, of course."
He actually bit his tongue to shut himself up. He was talking too much, and he was not being particularly charming or clever. It would not be good for his reputation if he kept on like that. Better to be silent.
"Probably I will," he answered her. "Before the seasons change so we can collect some herdbeasts I think. Not glorious, but necessary."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 3:08 pm
" True." She acquiesced to his observation without truly processing information that had already been given to her by her stoic father. Despite her intention to remain mum on the subject, she did add with a rueful grin, " I might appreciate the conquest all the same." Sometimes it seemed as if that was by how reaving wealth was measured, " They would, I imagine, merely get in the way." She had no desire to have thralls tagging along like whimpering, dependent puppies. For that matter, she also had no desire to allow a thrall to get cubs on her. Any lion so easily taken captive was unlikely to produce suitable young warriors for the pride, and Dótti would not be strapped with useless lumps of fur. She would not nag a male for his mint, but she was not exactly the wife-ing type for that matter, either. Cubs, perhaps; wife, not likely. Her brows purposefully lowered and she considered her response carefully, " It sounds as if you may need a new second." It was her own passing observation; one she doubted he would take seriously. Although Dótti may have opted to take note of his flapping tongue, she decided not to. She was not intimately acquainted with the captain to say whether he was talking overmuch or the usual. Instead, she settled for a brief shrug, " Glory can unexpectedly be foisted upon the unwitting. You never know what you'll run into."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 3:16 pm
"I expect I will," he agreed ruefully. He had really liked the second he'd selected. He was ruthless, efficient, and obedient. Except for this one thing, but this was not a minor thing to Aesir. He would not tolerate sloppiness in his band.
It occurred to him that Dotti might be angling for the position, but he didn't linger on the thought. He could not take a female reaver on as his second. The difficulties that would cause in the pride were immense. He would spend all his time defending his decision and she would spend all her time defending her position. Probably it was hard enough for her just proving to other reavers that she was every bit as much of a reaver as they were, even if she didn't have a p***s.
"Herdbeasts, I hope," he answered dryly, though he grinned to let her know he wasn't dismissing her optimism. "You can't eat treasure."
That was something he'd thought Gunne was rather stupid about. The warlord would rather see his reavers and captains bringing back thralls and booty than useful things like beasts for the herds in the seasons when they didn't go viking. It meant lean months once they thinned the herds, and also that the herds never improved through breeding because they were too quickly eaten. Aesir thought that was a stupid way to do things.
"I am going to bed," he announced. "Tomorrow I plan to wake my band up at an unreasonably early hour and make them drill, so I need sleep."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:12 pm
Sloppiness seemed it would be at the top of every captain's s**t list. It led to inaccuracy and confusion on the raid, and likely insubordination as well. She let her lips twitch in a slight smile at his agreement, but did not address it further. It was not her place. She had no aspirations to be Aesir's second. Some day she might set her sights on such a position, and she would attain it once she did, but until then she was content to stretch her claws and learn new tricks from old lions. She knew that she had a position to defend in the pride as it was, and at least as a reaver she had the time to gain experience both in raiding and brawling. From a young age she had learned to use her slighter build to her advantage against males, though against females she had some advantage with her larger size. She was formidable enough to not be completely concerned with her defenses. " Herdbeasts, of course." She was amused at the idea of eating treasure, but she gave in to logic for the now. After all, he was right, they had to eat sometime. Dotti did not, however, care to pass judgment on their warlord; mostly for her own skin. Nevertheless, her mind followed his line of thought. She was aware of the consistently thinning herd, the inbreeding (or complete lackthereof) and the efficiency that would be regularly installations of new beasts. Her brow quirked at his indication of departure, golden eyes sparking with sudden mirth as she spoke, " I am sure they look forward to the sunrise."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:47 pm
Aesir grinned evilly. "I'm sure they would, if they knew how they'd be greeting it."
He winked and slipped past Dotti. He was proud of his reavers for their performance on this viking, for the most part, but that didn't mean he was going to let them go soft. Any one of them who didn't get up and make it through drills would not be asked to accompany him on his next viking. It would be fun.
"Sleep well, reaver."
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