"WULFGARD!" Wulfgard cringed as his name rang out across the paddock. The burly man turned sheepishly and looked over towards his long-suffering wife, Gutha. Instantly he checked around him. No - the field was plowed straight....almost. He hadn't gotten round to sowing the seeds yet, but they were all sitting in their bags neatly by the gate....he ran over all his jobs that he'd been ordered to do by the woman at the other end of the field, in payment for breaking her favourite jug, but couldn;t think that he'd done anything wrong. Still, he called back hesitantly. "Yes, dear?" "When I asked you to churn the cream, didn't you think to put the pot back into the storage shed, and not leave it in the sun? Thanks to you, we have no cream - that means no butter, either! And WHAT did you do to that hole in the fence? The pig nearly got into next door's fields - and goodness knows what we'd have had to give in land-price. Can you do NOTHING right?" "Obviously not." he muttered, and leant on his plow, waiting for the tirade to finish. When Gutha had left in exasperation, Wulfgard shrugged, left the plow and headed down towards the centre of his village, where the tavern was. He slunk in - difficult for a man of his bearing - and sat down a little too heavily on a bench, which groaned under his weight.

Utagh was making a cart for Teblane when he heard wulfgard's wife yelling at him and he could do nothing but laugh at him. He saw wulfgard walk to the tavern after getting chewed out about leaving the cream pot out. He knew that his friend needed someone to talk to so he decided to follow him. ( I did Teblane incase someone else wanted to join so they could have an open thing to jump into).

((OK, that's fine!)) Wulfgard groaned as his friend walked through the door. He could tell by the look on his face that he had heard everything. "You heard that, then? Eh, I'm not suprised. I think all of Rædvelt did." He stood, and made his way over to the communal mead barrels. Taking two horns, he handed one to Utagh. "I need a drink." The communal longhouse was filled with smoke from the central fire, and drips of rain were begining to fall through the single hole in the middle of the roof. Benches were laid out around the fire, on which some men sat, played drinking games, or slept. A few women scuttled round the edges of the longhouse, refilling empty horns or sitting on men's knees. The longhouse seemed pretty empty, and Wulfgard sighed again. "Looks like we've been left behind again, eh, Utagh? We get to tend the fields and the carts, and people like that Guthwine get all the glory. What happened to the old days, of drinking all night and fighting all day? You know, at this rate, we'll die old men in our beds, and never get to Vallhal. Me, now I could do with a good Valkyrie lass right now." He sniffed. "Nothing ever happens here."

Utagh filled his horn after his friend. " So did you hear about where there goin this time? There goin all the way accross the sea apperently theres a huge country stocked with gold just waiting to be picked."Utagh looked at his friend and waited for a reply. ( Sorry about the idal chat but it's your rp and you should start the action)

One of the men sleeping at a nearby table - probably snoring off a heavy bout of drinking the night before - groaned and fell off his bench, crashing to the floor. "Einar, you son of a whore! Haven't you even been home yet?" someone called. "Why, what time is it?" the drunken man called from the floor. "Past mid-day." "Good," Einar flipped one of his blond braids out of his eyes. "Time to start drinking again."

Utagh laughed at the drunken mans replie to the other mans question who just so happened to be almost as drunk. Then Utagh smelled something he recognized the smell from when he strikes the match and tinder to make the pitch for the wagon wheels. That smell was sulfur and it had no business in a wooden lodge.

"Einar!" Wulfgard roared in greeting and raised his horn in salute to the other man. "Come and join us, my friend!" He sniffed and nodded to the girl who was lighting the cooking fire at the side of the hut in the sunken pit. "Now, to answer you question, Utagh. And you, Einar. This morning, there was a ship pulled in at high tide. A lad was standing on the prow, waiting for us to see him, as is our custom. The longboat carried the sail markings of the king of the kingdom north of here - Baerwulf's land. Now Baerwulf's an old king, as everyone knows, and has few soldiers to fight for him. If he's sending a messenger lad down here, he must be in trouble. Well, how's how, Cheif Lief's calling a meeting - tomorrow morning. Every man-at-arms here is to attend. But for now..." He slapped the passing girl on the rump with his hand and laughed. "For now, the meat's roasting, the mead's poured, Einar's drunk, and so am I! Gods carry us to Vallhal!" He got up, swaying slightly, and grinned at the other two, wet patches of mead glinting in his beard where he had spilled it. "A song! A song!" Achorus of rather drunken voices chanted, and Wulfgard held up his hand. "A suitable one for our rather drunken friends, here I think. I looked over Bifrost and what did I see? Comin' for to carry me home? Brunhild and her Valkyries, Coming for to carry me home. If you get to Valhal before that I do, Coming for to carry me home, Then tell all my comrades I'm coming too, Coming for to carry me home. I'm sometimes up and sometimes down, Coming for to carry me home, But still by soul is Asgard-bound, Coming for to carry me home. We're going to Valhalla, with Odinn we will stay, Coming for to carry me home, We'll drink all the night and fight all the day, Coming for to carry me home." ((*cough* Sorry, couldn't resist adding in a flik there.))

Utagh said to wulfgard "old fool you can't even sing it right let me show you how it's done ( he sings the song pretty much the same)"Utagh gets up for some more mead but trips on another sleeping man and falls asleep himself.

Wulfgard bellowed a laugh as Utagh tripped, then downed more mead in a single gulp. One of the other men sat up and took a sip from the communal horn as it was passed around in the gesture of friendship. Wulfgard tottered over to Einar and sat down heavily. Suddenly the doors of the longhouse burst open, and every face, turned to see the man standing framed in the light from out side. Every drunken face quickly turned sober. Lief was standing there, affectionately called 'chief Lief' by his men, but his eyes were not happy ones. Wulfgard stood and walked up to Lief, putting his hand on his shoulder, and quietly offered him his horn of mead. Lief took a gulp then handed it back, nodding to Wulfgard. "Bring them." Lief nodded to the others, then turned and walked outside. Wulfgard followed, took a peek outside, then dashed back in. "Come on you lot, on your feet. Something's going on." He dashed back outside - not something easily done, considering his weight, and stood in silence as a bier, carried by three young lads passed by. On it was the body of a viking, terribly mauled. A woman followed behind, a white veil over her face. They carried the body down onto the deck of a longboat pulled up onto the dry beach of the river. Placing him carefully on the deck, the lads returned and lifted the woman high into the air as she spoke the ancient words, her voice carrying over the men easily, though tearfully. "Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother and my sister and my brothers. Lo, there I do see the line of my people back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me, they bid me to take my place among them in the hallowed halls of Valhalla, where the brave shall live forever!" The lads lowered her to the ground, and she replaced her veil, having removed it for the liturgy, then she walked and took her place beside the dead warrior. The lads moved away, and Lief and the messenger boy both threw burning brands onto the ship. The dry wood caught fire instantly. Wulfgard watched silently. "They bury him as a king." He whispered, finally. "She shall travel with him to Valhal."

Utagh was out of the bar just in time to see them light the boat on fire. He was sorry for the woman but also he knew that it was a blessing because when his father had died he got his entire inhertance. Everyone moved back into the bar to have a drink and to mourn there were songs of saddness the rest of the night Utagh fell asleep with his head on the bar after about another 8 or so cups of mead.

Wulfgard sat in quiet chat with another man, matching each other mead horn for mead horn. "He was a warrior from up north. Apparantly old king Beawulf sent him to protect the messenger lad. They were attacked by...well, something. He managed to protect the lad, and get him here, but he died just as they set foot on our land. It's a shame about the lass." "Who was she?" "His wife - he was bringing her here for saftey." "Huh. Saftey, then to be cast to the flames with her husband. Still, she'll be with him in Valhal. Pity to lose one so fine to the Valkyries, though. If I die tomorrow, Brunhild send me one like her!" "Here's to Odinn for that." The other man grinned, and they both gulped the last of the mead down. The funeral party came into the longhouse, and the feasting began. Dawn came slowly, and Wulfgard woke from his sleep with a groan. A woman handed him the communal bowl, and he splashed his face and took a slurp of the water. She moved on, and he looked round. Men were beginning to come to. He kicked Utagh in the side. "Wake up!"

"Wake up!" Einar heard Wulfgard shout and thought himself lucky that the big man was kicking Utagh, and not himself. But Einar got unsteadily to his feet anyway - as he did every morning - and looked around for the troll who'd been hammering on his skull all night... ~Oh right, that was probably the effects of the mead.~ Einar took the communal bowl from the woman, then splashed his face and blew his nose. Some yellow snot plunked into the murkey water. Then Einar passed it along to the next man. "Wulfgard! Let's go see this lad of Baerwulf's and hear what he has to say. I hope there's plunder in it!" Einar scratched his crotch, and waited for his companions.

Utagh slowly opened his eyes and wwondered what the horrible pain in his side was. When he saw Wulfgard hammering away at him with his foot, he jumped up and cursed the man out and at that point he noticed that he had a horrid headache. He heard a mans voice say something to Wulfgard and saw him start to take his leave so utagh started to follow him. They went outside and there was a man yapping on about needing help in another kingdom. One word caught his attention though,That word was dragon.As any goood viking should know a dragon hordes money and lays on it till no end.

Wulfguard grinned as Utagh woke up swearing, then followed Einar outside. Lief was standing outside the roundhouse, the usual gathering place. Someone was going on about fragons, but Wulfgard took no notice. There hadn't been a dragon in these lands for many years. He wandered up and took his place facing Lief. When everyone was quiet and settled, Lief raised his hand, and the young messenger-boy stepped forward. He turned to the men, and told them everything. Baerwulf had sent him to gather what men he could. Baerwulf's kigdom was under attack - they didn't know by what, only that it came at night, killed, slaughtered and burned. Many men had gone out to hunt it down - but none had returned...save one. He had gone out with yet another group to track the beast down - they knew it was a beast as they had seen the tracks it left, and returned alone and badly wounded. He had told them what he had seen - a plume of smoke rising from a cave, and a sudden burst of fire, which instantly killed his comrades. But Baerwulf had run out of men to hunt it down. He had sent the messenger boy to Lief to ask for help. Lief nodded to the Old One beside him. She opened her claw-like fist and cast the runes. The first rune to appear was the Futhark - Odinn's own rune. Lief nodded. The Gods would be looking down on them. The next runes followed in quick procession - the runes of war and death. She called on the men there to make themselves known if they would go. Wulfguard grinned and stood, beating at his chest. "Wulf is die firstamaen!" (Wulf is the first man!) Lief nodded at him, and he waited to see who else would join. ((OK, this bit WAS inspired by 13th Warrior. Only cos Aelfrun mentioned it!!))

Einar stepped forward. "Einar is the second man!" Lief shouted.

Utagh is the third, Utagh yelled at the top of his lungs. After that several ore men joined.

A man stepped forward, his long braid above his gnarled right ear swaying as he did grunted "Scaeldr be next!" No one in the crowd had seen him before and rightly so because he did not belong to their small village. The tall blond man was a traveling hunter, never staying in one place for more than a few weeks. His large Nordic sword, nearly as tall as he and as wide as his muscled arms, swung behind him as he moved off to the rear of the crowd, waiting for further instruction.

Utagh turned to talk to the strange man, " Thatsa large sword you carry friend but my question is can you use it? I got a feeling that whatever were goin after ain't gonna be small. (sorry if he's a little standoffish towards you but from what I know vikings didn't trust any people that weren't vikings )

Scaeldr turned to the man who had just insulted him. "Might'n ye want to find out fer yerself?" He let one hand find it's way to the large hilt of the weapon.

Wulfgard broke in by slapping the big man on the back, jovially. "Now then lads, why don't we settle that like civilised men?" He held up three horns of mead and grinned. "Last one under the table wins."