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1 Introduction
This describes the transcribed account of Izaz's travels to Mountain Settlement.
See also The Org Ambassador Sagas.
2 Dramatis Personae
2.1 Izaz ibn Fadlan
Royal historian and messenger from Baghdad.
2.2 Afsar the Green
Ambassador from Baghdad, mentor of Izaz, and rumoured to also have half-troll ancestry.
2.3 Yarl Duff
A leader from the far north, former vaeringi, and friend of Izaz.
2.4 Folk of the Mountain Settlement
2.4.1 Yarl Erni the Black
A just and powerful leader of the far north, former vaeringi, and friend of Duff.
2.4.2 Swinger
Erni's second. A former merchant who now owns a farm, but imfamously not a farmer.
2.4.3 Biter
Swinger's son. A skald working for Erni.
2.4.4 Franco the Seawalker
A raider from the west who joined Erni. He prefers riding horses to sailing.
2.4.5 Jan the Hill
A nearby rival of Erni.
2.4.6 Rel the Norse
Farmer, particularly of goats. Loves to drink and play music.
2.4.7 Magne the Brit
Rel's older companion on the farm. Also loves to play music.
2.4.8 Fell the Fast Skiis
A sailor working for Swinger who used to work in the north.
2.4.9 Jan the Scot
A rich sailor working for Swinger who owns many longskips.
2.5 The Bondfolk
2.5.1 Yarl Frey of the Bondfolk
2.5.2 Couk the Smith
A thrall working for the Bondfolk to make weapons.
2.6 The Skipfolk
2.6.1 Yarl Klaus of the Skipfolk
3 The Story
3.1 1010-08-20
The crops died in the drought. The folks lacked both hay and food. Izaz went farther north to deliver a message from Yarl Duff to Yarl Erni at Mountain Settlement.
3.2 1011-08-03
Izaz worked hard. Swinger and Erni the Black called Izaz. They cheered for Izaz. They gave em a gold ring for eir performance. Erni told Izaz E should become a raider. Izaz said E would wait until the time was right. Again Erni insisted, but Izaz refused. Still happy, Erni and Izaz continued to repair the land.
3.3 1011-05-31
Jan the Hill grew jealous of Erni's riches. One day E asked Swinger if they could get rid of Yarl Erni together. Swinger said this would benefit both of them. Swinger would become the new yarl and Jan could have all disputed lands. That night they visited Erni and all drank much mead. When Erni had eir fill, they tied em up and sent em down the river in a barrel.
3.4 1012-12-01
Erni had disappeared. It happened that Swinger and Franco split the territory, each becoming new yarls.
3.5 1012-12-13
It happened once that Swinger asked Izaz to work more of the land and teach longhouse construction. Swinger said the knowledge of the south about steel might help with quality over the existing iron work. Izaz went to a thing to talk to Franco and eir farmers. They had older buildings in poor shape.
Izaz explained eir ideas, "We can reuse this same tool if we stand this way when we cut. We can build better tools. Some of these tools might also serve as weapons, if needed."
But Franco said Izaz was stupid. And E told all eir farmers not to listen to Izaz. Franco threatened to tell Swinger. But Izaz showed Franco that these ideas were already the case on eir own wive's farms. Humiliated, Franco left. The Steel Conversion Project continued.
3.6 1012-12-21
Before Joulu, Swinger called Izaz to eir hall and demanded to know of the new longhouse construction since during the winter most of the farming had stopped. Izaz set down eir noon time bread. Usually, Swinger would not call on Izaz for days if not weeks. There were also times when no one would know where to find Swinger.
But today something special had happened. A longship had returned from the west. Swinger wanted Izaz to inspect the condition of the cargo. The cargo included steel weapons from neighbouring yarls, Frey and Klaus.
"Make sure the weapons make it to the arms hall."
Izaz quickly finished eir meal and proceeded to inspect the weapons. He found Rel the Norse and Magne the Brit herding the goats to the barn to escape the snow. Rel said E had not seen Swinger. He had also sent a message with one of eir thralls, but without answer.
Rel and Izaz walked back to Swinger's hall. They found Fell the Fast, but no Swinger. By the time, the sun left the sky and the air became colder and colder. Rel and Magne wanted to attend Joulu and Izaz felt tired from work. Izaz inspected the weapons and separated those of lower quality to another pile. Next to the lesser pile, Izaz left a log with some of the defects. Included with the log, Izaz remkared that some of these weapons look too much like the tools that Franco might dislike or feel dissatisfied with.
"I fear Frey and Klaus might take advantage of us if we do not demand better weapon smithing. We should send them a ledger and they should produce our order from that. We do not need some of these extra weapons." Izaz also though some of these weapons could barely function as farm tools.
"The shaft of this spear would snap if bent into and used as a hoe. We should not replace existing weapons with these false improvements."
Izaz left for home while the others continued to their Joulu festival.
3.7 1012-12-27
On this day, that morning, Swinger asked Izaz to speak privately together with Franco about a new ship mounted weapon. The three gathered and all sat around a fire in the center of the longhouse. But Franco picked up the log with the message from Izaz and stuttered angrily about the dishonour in these cursed words by a foreigner.
"Franco, none of this means anything about you or any of us. I only expressed my disgust in the quality of these weapons."
Jan the Scot arrived. As usual, everyone their seax, but Jan sat next to the fire also with sword, spear, axe, and shield. Jan dropped the shield and leaned on the spear. Izaz worried what this could mean and gripped eir seax from under eir cloak. Jan should not have come.
Franco threw the log into the fire. "You do not give me tongue about the weapon quality. Else, I will cut it out, foreigner."
Flustered, Swinger added, "The foreigner did have some important knowledge about these weapons. I asked for this task. But I agree, we should keep to among ourselves."
"Never speak to Rel again about any of this! That southern convert has no say in this!" And Franco spat into the fire and kicked the log as it started to burn. Jan dropped eir spear and picked up a bowl to spit a larger spit into the fire.
Izaz took a deep breath. "I beg your forgiveness, Franco. I stand together with everyone here."
Franco continued, "I already knew everything the foreigner said." But Izaz thought this unlikely. No one would willing go into battle with new, worse weapons. "Now we have a new problem. We will need to deal with Rel. Swinger, you need to check your thralls and foreigners."
Again Izaz spoke, "I work for the yarls to please ye both. I do not always understand the local ways."
Swinger grinned and replied, "We intentionally keep this understanding from you, foreigner, so we can better prepare raids, a knowledge you do not have."
Jan spat into the fire again. "You cannot understand this, foreigner. We know weapons and raiding." He continued to drink from the bowl and spit into the fire. Izaz apologized again, but Jan spoke louder. "Stop talking, foreigner. I deserve respect! Maybe we really should cut out your tongue."
Izaz felt eir hands sweating and shaking. Bad odds, three northern raiders all with bloodlust in their eyes. Their actions would only hurt themselves. Izaz in fact had forgotten more about weapons and war from traveling the north lands than these beasts had ever known together. But E kept quiet.
Swinger spoke to Jan, "We should make the foreigner fix these weapons. Surely we can fix these new acquisitions."
For hours (TIMERULE 3:20) the three belittled and mocked Izaz. E prepared for execution, but it never came.
To the surprise of Izaz, at the end, Jan looked back at em and said, "Foreigner, I should probably treat you more fairly. I apologize as well."
3.8 1013-01-09
Franco invited Izaz to a small lookout outpost with a practice archery range at the top of one of the hills for mead. "Come and we will discuss how to fix our weapons.” But upon reaching outpost, Izaz found no one there. Franco had decided to go drink somewhere else and one of the farmers to pass on this news to Izaz. However, the farmer told Izaz that Franco had invited others to drink the mead and to not share it with Izaz.
3.9 1013-01-10
Then one of the Skipfolk, Couk the Smith arrived at the mountain settlement. Izaz had sent a message to the Skipfolk to send one of their finest workers to help fix the weapons. In exchange, Izaz offered to contribute some of eir own wealth.
But no one would allow Couk to speak. Instead, Franco, Rel, Swinger, and Couk's master spat at each other about the quality of the weapons.
The Skipfolk master said E could do no better work as long as the payments remained so meager. "Ye must pay us more if ye want another sample of weapons before we build them. Otherwise, we must provide them all and all at once. Ye get what ye got!"
The conversation degraded into the meaning of the word "sample". But no lawyers or sages nearby could come to an agreement. They would need to discuss this soon at the next thing. Izaz had never heard such bickering from speakers of the same language about the meaning of their own words.
Couk and Izaz never had the chance to discuss fixing the weapons.