OOM: Uppsala

[bigarmy_strangepants]

Inside the tent, it's murky and a bit smelly, and full of rather drunk people lying around and laughing.

"Athelstan, pour your friend a drink," Ragnar calls from somewhere in the middle, waving at the people entering.

Comments

[athelstanthescribe]

"Of course", he says, hiding his relief and amusement at Ragnar clearly being in a relaxed mood. "What will you have, mead or ale?"

[capture_eternity]

"Mead please," Dorian says, looking around.

"Greetings, noble Ragnar Lothbrok!" he adds, sweeping a deep bow.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"You sound quite foreign," Ragnar declares. "Is your friend foreign, Athelstan? Did you find yourself another Christian here, of all places?"

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan's face is a picture of schooled neutrality as he pours the mead.

"Earl Ragnar, I present Dorian, a merchant from Germany."

[capture_eternity]

"I am a Frankish merchant, and deeply honoured to meet you!" Dorian declares, bowing again.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"We don't do that here," Ragnar says, amused. "Have your drink and relax."

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan steps forward and offers Dorian the drink.

"This is a very relaxed occasion", he says with a smile.

[capture_eternity]

"Thank you," Dorian says, taking the drink and looking for a place to sit down and suitably relax.

Some of the people in the tent are quite pretty, he notices.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Just pop your bottom down," Ragnar says, waving his hand at him. "You're as nervous as a dog who's smelling a rabbit."

[athelstanthescribe]

"He's heard stories", Athelstan puts in. "Inaccurate stories."

[capture_eternity]

"Yes, you're not half as scary as I expected Vikings to be," Dorian says, sitting down and taking a sip of his mead. "Oooh, that's not bad!"

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"You're not a very experienced merchant yet," Ragnar states.

[athelstanthescribe]

"This is your first time in the North, isn't it, Dorian?"

[capture_eternity]

"It is!" Dorian agrees. "And it's all rather different from what I expected. The men are much friendlier, and the women are very lovely, and everybody seems to have so much fun."

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"This is really your first cup of mead?" Ragnar asks, as if doubting it in view of Dorian's effusive vagueness.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan laughs quietly to himself and lets Dorian handle that one.

[capture_eternity]

"Yes?"

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"Then you probably swam in on a river of good Frankish wine, to look at you," Ragnar concludes, quietly shaking his head with a smirk.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Not that there's anything wrong with that", Athelstan says cheerfully.

[capture_eternity]

Dorian takes another sip from his mead.

"This is a chance to be cheerful and be merry, honour the gods and enjoy the good life they've given you?" he says, looking at Ragnar as if trying to gauge his reaction, his opinion.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"The gods aren't quite as easy as you might think, in the south where the sun is warm and all the answers are set down in books you can carry around with you," Ragnar says, looking over towards Athelstan with a little amused shake of his head. Poor monk was probably lonely for anybody a little bit more like himself.

"The gods do ask for something back, and we wouldn't dare tell them no. Mortals and gods have a more complicated bargain than you seem to believe."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Ask?" Athelstan says from the background, raising his eyebrows. "When did any god ask? Gods give, and they take away."

[capture_eternity]

"Do you have seers who tell you what the gods want?" Dorian asks, curious.

[bigarmy_strangepants]

"They translate the signs the gods give us," Ragnar says, "same as Athelstan here translates all the foreign languages other people speak. But just like it's possible to learn those, it's not all that hard to understand the gods yourself."

He takes a deep sip from his own cup of mead.

"When the gods have to make demands, it's too late; we should have paid attention long before that. They give and take; we ask and we offer, and just like merchants at the market, we strike a bargain and live another year without them taking too much."

[athelstanthescribe]

"If they're inclined to listen", Athelstan says softly. "But they have their own will, and sometimes there's no changing it."