The coast of Nordland is carved out of the same mold as the neighboring Osterland. Both are cold and desolate, full of rolling hills and steep cliffs. But there are relatively many human settlements, clinging to the sloping coastline, with lanterns swaying in the waves, like cruise ships sailing in the mist and night.
The fleet sailed across the Salz River under the curious gaze of humans, although at this time there is no second navy in Nordland, Magnus has not yet been born, and Westland has not split from the Empire. However, the Nords who live along the coast have withstood invasions for thousands of years, so they have built complete coastal defenses, ranging from battleships, fortresses, observation towers to fortified islands.
Mannerheim Island is located at the estuary of the Salz River in the Bay of Drosseppur near the Osterland. Darkus was too lazy to bother. He dismissed Renn and Genevieve and planned to go to the island at night. Thoughts swirling around. He stopped at Sarka just to get some sideshows. There are a lot of sea charts in Naggaroth. It was just a matter of his words. He had a monster shop here just to find something different, such as sea monsters and the like. , of course the previous shipwreck site was an unexpected gain.
As the Champion of Marcelan, those charts marked with sea monsters are a reference for Darkus during his free Pokémon journey in the future. He didn't think there were any rare things in the island's library, and he wasn't interested in them. Don't let the whole thing drown in the library, which would be worthless. As for those hymns praising Mannann, they are sold in all the major Mannann temples in the old world. Maybe they can also be found in the market of Krakalond. After all, there are many on the ship, right?
The coastal area of Drosippur Bay is dotted with small fishing villages that feed off the Claw Sea, and human ships become densely populated here, especially at night. Smuggling ships docked in remote bays to trade, loading and unloading prohibited goods on moonlit nights. Some daring smuggling ships tried to get close to them, but they did not drive them away or warn them. The waterline of the smuggling ships was filled with crossbow arrows, but they were blasted away by the Eagle Claw crossbow cannon on the Falcon ship.
The fleet soon arrived at Dietshafen, which is the base of the Nord Navy. Of course, there are many other ports on the coast belonging to the navy or Nord nobles, such as some castles, towers, towers and other messy systems. , these watchtowers are connected into a tight chain, and each lock is illuminated by light to gain insight into the situation.
But according to the Claw Sea manual, this chain is not impeccable, and corruption and neglect of duty have caused the lights of the watchtower to flicker on and off.
Darkus has no intention of stopping at Dieterschafen. It feels like taking a long-distance sleeper train in the previous life. You have to get off the train at five o'clock in the morning and wake up at three or four o'clock to wait for the time to arrive. And a normal person would not choose to eat instant noodles at that time. At most, he would eat something to cushion his meal and wait for breakfast after getting off the bus. This is the mentality he has now.
After sailing through Dieterschafen, the fleet arrived at the outskirts of Hagendorf. Here is where to start. Apart from the previous castle, this is the leftmost end of the chain. The town is located at the mouth of the River Demster. Due to its remoteness and distance from the Salzine River, normal trade unloading here is usually very small, but the docks here are full of ships, and the smuggling vessels are larger than those on the Salzne River. There is more over there, because entering the bayou and traveling upriver leads you into the heart of Lauren Loren, making it an ideal place for illegal business.
This is a good landing site and there is a little bit of Enil activity in Hagendorf. In the year 738 of the Imperial Calendar, Aenir signed the "Treaty of Leaves" with the nobles of Nordland. There were a large number of Aenir and Aenir in the forest on the land between the Demster River and the Salz River. Human activities, Sessenmund, the capital of Nordland, are also in this area.
Moreover, there is another theory in Hagendorf, that is, in the year 2390 of the Imperial Calendar, Archaon was born here...
After some entanglement, Darkus did not choose to dock near Hagendorf. The original plan was to dock near Hagendorf, and then drive the Falcon into the Demster River or burn it down, but the fickle man changed his mind and decided to go to another area to see , this is more convenient, and maybe the ships don’t need to be burned down. They can be used as political investments and favors. After all, elves have a long lifespan.
And according to the Stormweaver High Priest Belloda, landing the fleet in Elsin Alvin on the vernal equinox will make the rest of the journey extra smooth.
The fleet sailed away from the strong winds that spread from Dietshafen to Hagendorf and continued westward. To the far west is Shipwreck's Cape, a large promontory isolated from the rest of Nordland and lacking any sense of control. In addition to the struggling Norden people, this headland is also home to a tribe of sea goblins named Rivaz.
The Haitian Goblin is a variant of the Goblin. Darkus once saw it at the market in Krakalond. The poor Haitian Goblin was like a monkey, curled up in a glass bottle, with its head and nose exposed. In the air, the way he needs to raise his head when ventilating is particularly funny.
The Nordens are not Nords, and there is no relationship between the two. The predecessors of this group of people are the Norscans, who have nothing to do with extremes. Because they do not believe in the Chaos Gods or cannot stay in Norsca, Choosing to go south, these Norscans, who were previously colonizers, have completely integrated into the imperial culture.
However, it was too far away from Darkus' newly chosen destination, and another night's sail would have brought him to the landing site.
Just when Darkus was preparing to have a good sleep and face his cousin tomorrow with a radiant face, a Norscan fleet in the north also adjusted its direction.
When Darkus made a large circle in the Sea of Claws, Ulfric was not idle either. In his sleep, he saw a vision of guidance given to him by the snake god.
What is a snake god? That's what Slaanesh is called among the Norscans...
The Teeth of the Sea returned from the Dark Land and was somewhat damaged and needed maintenance. Fortunately, although Ormskro was destroyed, the port was still intact. Ulfric simply took advantage of this opportunity to change to a larger ship that could accommodate more warriors. He built a new hull, a new Hague. In his words, this ship had forty The bench ship would be the greatest Norscan long ship.
It took Ulfric a long time to find the traces of the dryads, and it took some time to find the ideal place to fight the monster.
In the legend of the Norscans, there used to be many tree spirits wandering deep in the forests of Norsca. They fought with the first Norscans who came here. When the Norscans were looking for suitable buildings, They slaughtered the Norscans mercilessly as they stripped trees from their homes and ships. In despair, the Norscans called to the dark gods, and the fire appeared out of thin air without having to drill wood to make fire.
this! It is the power of the dark gods! Armor and weapons can be conjured out of thin air, not to mention fire.
The Norscans claimed the forest for themselves with ax and fire, and the few surviving dryads retreated into the oldest and most impenetrable forests. Legend has it that some of the greatest heroes are known for slaying these horrific survivors, and the heroes built the King's Hall from the wooden bones of the Dryads. As mentioned before, the capital of the Skelling tribe is in the mountains, not on the seaside. According to legend, it is the place where a Skelling chief was buried after fighting the tree spirit.
As time went on, stories about the dryads dwindled. It is said that Ulfric seeks the last one, as it is the most powerful and fearsome of its kind. Many brave warriors entered the forest and never came out, only to be seen months later with their entrails scattered on the branches. Anyone who entered its territory would be dealt with, and any Norscan who took wood from the forest was said to have will be vengeful, bringing destruction to the entire village as it rises from the forest to avenge the fallen tree.
Ulfric lured the dryad out of the forest, and then used the same tactics as the mammoths to deal with the dryad. Finally, the dryad, which was larger than any mammoth, fell. While the hull was being built, he found the two most powerful chiefs of the Sali tribe. The moment the hull was built and the bow image was transferred to the new Sea Tooth, the Sali tribe was so overwhelmed. The mighty fleet of longships set off.
In the Kingdom of Cosqui in Ulthuan, a group of female assur woke up before dawn, or most of them didn't sleep. Because today is the Spring Equinox, today is a very important day for them. In Asul society, there is no saying about going out for an outing on the vernal equinox, but the vernal equinox is a day to pray to the mother goddess Isha. They will go to a shrine of Isha in the center of the woods to pray for Isha’s blessings. their healthy lives.
Kaia Vanmaris, who was sitting in front of the dressing table, covered her mouth gracefully and yawned, then looked at herself in the mirror, her eyes flashed with blue light, and occasionally arcs of electricity flashed through her eyes. , after looking at it for a while, she looked at the maid who was serving her dressing in the mirror. She could see that her maid got up much earlier than she did, because her maid had already dressed up exquisitely.
Like the group of female Asurs in the Cosquei Kingdom, Kaia also woke up extra early today because today is the Spring Equinox, and she is extra busy as the ruler of the Storm Zone. She will first go to Isa's shrine to observe the ceremony in the morning, prepare tributes for Marcelan at noon, place them in the cave to offer to Marcelan when the tide is low in the afternoon, and attend Loic's ceremony in the evening. celebration.
"You're not married yet, why should you go? Could it be..." a somewhat bored Kaia joked.
The girl didn't say anything, but lowered her head shyly, but the movements in her hands did not stop, and she continued to braid Kaiya's hair.
"As someone who has been there, my advice to you is to dress yourself up in the afternoon. Relatively speaking, Loik's celebration is more important to you."
The girl still didn't say anything, just nodded shyly. A knowing smile appeared on Kaia's face. She didn't think the maid who served her was rude at all. In her opinion, this was just a sign of a young girl's love of youth. Then she frowned again and started thinking. She was considering whether to go to Norden next and buy some long ships from those Norscans who could communicate. The area she ruled received fewer and fewer reinforcements and supplies, and the ancient roads leading here were occupied by weeds and thorns.
Soon Kaiya's thoughts drifted to the area shrouded in mist. She could sense that huge changes had taken place there two months ago, but she didn't know the specific situation at all. She has also done divination in the past two months, and every time the divination showed auspicious signs, but she also did not know where the auspicious signs were or when they would appear. She is just a spell caster who is good at using the wind of Aegir. She occasionally does divination to predict the future. She cannot reach the level of "prophet" Liv.
"Madam, the guards of Theatirta asked me to convey to you that the three ships that appeared in the north a month ago have appeared again. They appeared in the east at dawn and are heading here." A maid knocked on the door. Pushing the door open, she first saluted Kaiya, and then spoke slowly.
"It seems we have guests?" Kaia continued to joke. The three ships were discovered by Theatirta after they last appeared in this area. At first, she thought the ships would come over, but they didn't, and instead sailed over. Towards the north. As a ruler with a good heritage, she knew that the three ships were in the form of elves. She thought that the three ships would not appear again, but...
the maid saluted again, slowly retreated to the door, opened the door with her backhand, and retreated directly without turning around. The door was slowly closed, no There was a hint of movement. However, before three minutes had passed, the door was pushed open again. This time it was completely different from the elegance and lightness just now. The face of the elegant maid showed panic and panic.
"Ships...ships...many boats, Norscan...ships..." The maid didn't even call her lady, she said in a panic. Her words were lost when she spoke. In just three minutes, It was like she had become an elf.
Kaia stood up directly from the chair, then she grinned and took a breath. She did this not because of the many ships the maid said, but when she stood up, her hair was held tightly by the dazed maid. After the maid let go of her hair, she quickly walked out the door. The nervous look on the maid's face told her that the situation was urgent, and she wanted to go to Theatir Tower to see the specific situation.
Ignoring the guard who saluted her and prepared to report the situation, Kaia could see that the guard looked more nervous than the maid. After walking to the courtyard, she looked in the direction of Theatirta, and her eyes became increasingly blue. , then her body floated from the ground and flew straight to the terrace in the center of the tower.
Kaia, who was standing on the terrace, could already see the elven ships heading here from the east, and she could even see the Norscan longships heading here from the north. She did not stop, but entered the tower from the terrace. Inside, lift up your skirt and quickly climb up the stairs leading to the top of the tower.
Kaiya, who reached the top of the tower, took a deep breath before she could take a breath. With her eyes widened, she saw countless densely packed dots on the sea in the north, as if covering the entire sea, and each dot represented something. A Norscan longship, representing at least twenty raiders aboard.
Belloda, who was still sleeping in the cabin, fell into a dream. She could feel that she had returned to the long-lost Kingdom of Cosqui, the land that gave birth to her and raised her. In the dream, she got up very early. After dressing up, she and a group of female companions happily walked towards the woods with the shrine of Isa. She could feel that in the dream, she was married and was about to give birth. A new life, but she still doesn't know who she is marrying.
Belloda and her female companions were chatting and laughing on the road. Some of the female companions who had given birth to children shared and joked with each other about their experiences and postures to get pregnant. Some female companions are shy and do not talk about these things. They talk about the name of the future baby, with a maternal smile on their face, looking forward to the future of their unborn child. She was wearing a cyan silk skirt that was very common in the Kingdom of Cosqui. The bottom of the skirt was rusted with ocean waves. Seahorses, dolphins and other sea creatures were jumping on the waves. As she walked happily, a large pair of them popped out of the skirt. posture.
Belloda, who was wearing sandals, stepped on the ground under her feet, and the air mixed with the smell of salt poured into her nostrils. The cold sea breeze blew her hair. She closed her eyes and enjoyed this moment. She felt unprecedented happiness.
Just when Belloda was immersed in this moment and tears were about to flow from her eyes, she was awakened. At first she thought she had woken up from her dream, but she didn't. Instead, a female companion was pulling her arm.
"What are you thinking about? They are all gone." Alicia, who was walking among the female companions, found Belloda staying where she was. When she returned, she grabbed Belloda's arm and said cheerfully.
"Alicia?" Belloda said with some surprise. She and Alicia have a very good relationship, but they haven't seen each other for a long time. A happy smile appeared on her face.
"Have you decided what to name your child?" Alicia's smile was infectious.
"Not yet." Belloda said with an unconscious smile.
"I got a prophecy from the gods that these are a pair of boys, they are twins." Alicia touched her bulging belly with a happy face, and she continued, "Alasya and I have discussed it, The one born first is called Tyrion, and the one born later is called Teclis. I hope they can spend this life happily."
Belloda, who was about to say something, suddenly changed his expression.
"What's wrong?" Alicia had curiosity on her face.
"Alicia, I'm glad to see you again." Belloda, who looked around but saw nothing but everything was normal, returned to her smile. She smiled and said to Alicia, and then she said, "I may not be able to go with you next time. I have some things to deal with."
After finishing speaking, Belloda hugged Alicia tightly. She knew that the source of the sound was not within the dream, but outside the dream. . She initially thought the sound was in a dream because she could often hear it when she was growing up in the Kingdom of Cosqui. The sound represented an imminent invasion from the sea.
At the same time that Belloda woke up, the sleeping Druchi on the three falcon ships were also awakened by the sound.
"What happened?" Darkus didn't have any weird dreams that night. He slept particularly well that night. He had already sat up and asked Genevieve as he pushed in the door.
"The sound came from a very tall spire. We have arrived, but I am not sure if it is a sound to welcome us, because one of the crew members said it was the sound of an alarm." Genevieve said casually , and then poured the water from the bucket in his hand into the basin.
After washing, Darkus came to the deck. He could see the spire standing on the cliff without a monocular. This spire was full of ancient style and could even be traced back to the Balshana era. He had read relevant information from the manual of the Sea of Claws. This was one of Enil's main areas of activity. But what he didn't expect was that this spire was actually...so tall. Tal Alessi The three-meter-high lighthouse is completely incomparable to this one. This one must be two hundred and fifty meters high. You can even see the fog shrouding Obion Island, right?
"Yankee's longships! North, lots of them, lots of them!" The lookout at the top of the mast was still performing his duty on the last leg of the journey, and he roared loudly when he discovered that the sea level in the north was abnormal.
Don't wait any longer tonight. I feel like I'm not in good shape today.
A book friend was right. I made a mistake before. In Norsca, the Eagle God is Tzeentch, and the Raven God is Nurgle... This is too Tzeentch.
Needless to say, the dog god is Khorne, and the snake god is Slaanesh.