Rise of Rurik

The arrogant polar bears who dominate the northern ice and snow world, only when they saw the sudden and mass death of their companions did they really realize who is the real owner of the ice and snow world.

They gave up the food in their mouths one after another, although the stinking food was just a meal they had to eat to recover their strength after hibernation.

They began to turn around and flee to the woods, but couldn't really escape the hunters.

It's like war!

When the polar bear towers its head majestically, Cowen hunters should be on high alert. Now that they have escaped, the hunters have no longer cared about the trapped beasts. They were originally relatively short, and they relied on the iron spears and bows and arrows in their hands to chase and beat the fleeing bears.

However, the mercenaries of the Rus people interpret what is called the great change of the hunting era!

The cheapest, one-time-use glass arrow cluster crossbow arrows were reloaded, the mercenaries fired freely, and the fleeing bears were also hit by arrows.

Arrows that can be cut with slightly flat tails, even without feathers, are barely stable at high speeds.

A large number of crossbow arrows hit the bear before the Kowen pursuers, and the bear fell painfully in the clumsy and frightened run.

Just as Rurik and the blacksmith Klavassen discussed at the beginning, the glass arrow cluster's crossbow arrows are cheap to make, but have very special lethality to light armored units.

The relatively sharp glass arrow cluster pierced the bear's skin, and the arrow cluster broke within the bear's flesh. The more the bear struggles, the more the foreign objects in its body cut through its fragile organs, achieving sustained damage.

The Kewen hunters rushed up one after another and stabbed the struggling bear. After a complete kill, their target immediately changed.

Let's talk about these polar bears.

They ended their hibernation, dragging their hungry and emaciated bodies around for food. They are omnivores and therefore scavenge in extreme conditions.

They smelled the faint odor in the air, so they spontaneously ran to the quiet mines and found food to feed their stomachs under the hillside.

They are originally scattered hunters, usually only in September during the "salmon tide", will they gather in large numbers in some estuaries to catch the fish they need in peace. The biggest reason for their harmony is that they had enough food for a while, and now they don't care about the existence of a large number of competitors in order to fill their stomachs.

Bears are bears, they have only animal nature, and they are not the first to retreat in the face of the approaching strange things.

It is this hesitation that has made a fortune for mankind.

At one point more than thirty bears gathered near the mine, but as many as twenty were hunted together!

The unprecedented success shocked Mechasta, and what shocked him even more was that almost all of the hunts were crossbows in the hands of the Ross mercenaries, completing the initial and most important killing.

The crossbow, which unprecedentedly strengthened the hunter's combat effectiveness, also greatly increased the tragic war.

Police such as these tragically decaying dead, turned into polar bear meals, they are all their own people, and they are almost all killed by crossbow shooting.

Mechasta found several rusted crossbow arrows with feathers, combined with the smashed faces of the deceased, he determined that the murder weapon was the crossbow.

All members of the missing expedition, except for the executed Woima Kashad, have been found, and here they are, exposed to the wild for five full months!

Subsequent troops arrived one after another, and when Rurik stood under the mine again, he could already see that the vanguard was already holding a dagger full of bear blood, cutting off the entire bear skin.

The bear's head was cut off first. It was heavy and ferocious, and it needed a hunter to pick it up with all his strength.

Being able to hold and hold a bear's head high is a self-evidence to the hunter's strength.

Now, Mechasta has collected twenty bear heads and arranged them in a more orderly manner for his master to inspect.

Rurik finally arrived, his ankles sore from the long walk.

This is probably the case for most people. In fact, everyone's clothing, especially the leather boots on their feet, is more suitable for walking on snow and ice. It is really laborious to walk on the pine needle mat.

Seeing the arrival of the little master, Mechasta didn't bother to wipe the bear blood on his face, and hurried to report the situation.

Rurik just wanted to rest for a while. Seeing that Mechasta, who came running, looked a little embarrassed, he had to ask cautiously: "What's the matter? What monster did you fight with? Blood stains on your face..."

"It's a bear! It's bear blood." Mechasta bowed slightly with joy, "Please come with me and see our spoils."

"Let's go then." Rurik shook his neck and signaled his resting subordinates to continue on their way. Finally, everyone stood on the top of the low hill and completed today's action.

He led his men, especially the boys who were leaving Roseburg for the first time.

When everyone saw a lot of hideous bear heads piled up on the soft pine needles, even Rurik couldn't help taking a deep breath.

"This...you just killed them?" Rurik asked cautiously.

At this time, Mechasta lost his previous joy and said with a sullen face: "Master, we killed a lot of bears, but let some escape."

"It doesn't matter. I don't think you have a record of killing so many bears in one go in your life."

"You're absolutely right. But to attract a large number of bears to one place to encircle them, it really takes some bait."

bait? Rurik was very excited to hear that. He saw that the pioneers he had sent out had no casualties, and that the bears were being hunted on a massive scale. Is bear hunting still like fishing and casting a net? Just release a few bait and get a lot of hunting done?

But he noticed Mechasta's solemn expression and realized that it might not be easy.

"Tell me, what bait are you talking about?" Rurik asked.

"Just there, please... come with me."

Hearing his words, Rurik suddenly realized, and his nose also smelled a faint stench in the air that was different from the bloody smell, like the smell of seal meat that had been left for several days.

Rurik motioned for all the warriors of the tribe to follow him, including the boys and girls under his command.

He already knew what he would see next, and when he thought of seeing a terrible scene, he could have ordered all the children under his command to avoid it, but when he thought of today's era, he must live strong in such a wild world, even if it is Children, perseverance also needs to be like steel. Mental stimulation? ! Come on then! Young warriors cannot be afraid of corpses.

Rurik knew that at the beginning of the year, when the team was evacuated from here, some of the dead bodies of the enemy were collected by the large team, and many of them were scattered in the wilderness without being collected.

He finally followed in Mechasta's footsteps and approached the so-called "mass grave", which was a snow nest where the dead bodies were piled up a few months ago.

Most of the ice and snow have melted, and a large number of dead bodies are lying on the pine needles. They begin to decay rapidly, and their broken bodies have changed, and a lot of grass is struggling to grow.

Many children covered their mouths and noses, and Rurik's maids huddled together in horror, covering their eyes subconsciously.

Like Seporava, she threw herself directly into her brother's arms, daring not to look at the corpses of her clan.

And the Carlotta sisters, they just stared silently. It cannot be said that their hearts are cold-blooded, but that they have already experienced mental stimulation even more terrifying than this, and seeing a large number of deaths again, their hearts have long been numb.

The mood of those Ross soldiers did not fluctuate. Some who had experienced the battle, they recalled the environment here, and began to recall the battle.

Mechasta looked downcast. It is true that any leader would feel sorry for the large number of corpses of his followers. The man's sad expression was familiar to Rurik, and he wanted to come to his father Otto with the same sad expression when he talked about the graves on Tombstone Island.

"Yes, these people are your followers. I took part in that battle, I shot your soldiers. I have to do this, or I'm the one lying here..." Rurik's words were extremely serious. He was explaining the rationale for his killing.

Mechasta didn't have any meaning to blame for this. He just saw the hatred of the corpses of the troops. When he thought of the powerful army of the Rus, any thoughts of resistance immediately disappeared. We can say that this guy is a coward who betrayed his courage. He is indeed rational and has realized another way of survival: if you can't beat them, become one of them.

Mechasta still had a sullen face: "Master, I only have one request. I want to bury them and build a tomb for them here."

"Okay! I've already had this idea. We're already under the mine, and I tell you, the top of the mountain is the mine developed by your expedition team, and there are also the bodies of your people on it."

"Ah!?" Another piece of bad news like a thunderbolt. Mechasta froze for a moment, then pleaded with a trembling voice: "I hope you may allow us to bury them all."

"Of course. Not only will I be buried, but I will also set up a burial area. Your shamans are still in the team, and I will complete a burial for your people before the sun goes down today, and allow you to perform sacrifices. ."

Suddenly, Mechasta's nose was sore, and he knelt down with a bang, thanking the Rus for their kindness.

Ah, although it is true that the Rus killed the expedition. Mechasta doesn't care whether the Rus people's current decision is hypocritical, because things are developing as Rurik said, the Rus people really began to fill the soil directly on the rotten corpse to make a big tomb!

A group of shovels began to dig some wet soil, and a group of people of the Iron Squirrel Tribe began to bury their dead tribesmen with all kinds of tools at hand, or with only their hands.

Some women recognize the dead as their relatives, and they bury the dead in grief, but are unable to speak of their hatred of the Rus.

They had to compromise, but the development of things made them more and more gratified.

The tribe's shaman, Polla, has been living well. During the period when Rosberg lived, everyone believed that this woman was affirmed by the Russians.

Why is this so? I am afraid the most direct reason is precisely because she is a psychic.

The tribesmen were burying the corpses. From time to time, there were male tribesmen and mercenaries from the Rus who wrapped the limp corpses in sackcloth and walked down from the top of the mountain, throwing the corpses into the graves. The Rus are cleaning the battlefield they should have cleaned four months ago.

They even threw the spears and some small wooden shields they found into the graves as funeral objects for the deceased.

During the entire burial, Porra, a wizard dressed as an owl, twisted her body violently in the sun, mumbling words that no one could understand.

She was actually relaxing her own words, including the muttering, which were meaningless words that obeyed her own heart.

She is such a person, who believes that all things have animism and that she can talk to the deceased in the sea of ​​​​souls.

She fell into madness, subconsciously thinking that the soul of the deceased could return to the sea of ​​​​souls because of the rest, and the deceased had no hatred for the Rus who killed him. Whether it was out of inner meditation or purely political purposes, the shaman in his madness had already thought about what to say during the evening sacrifice.

Mechasta took his people to bury the dead, and Rurik fully supported it. They did it slowly, and Rurik took his own Ruth tribes up to the low hills and once again occupied the mines developed by the Kovins.

Although it has been four months, traces of the destroyed tents are still visible. All indications are that there is human activity here, and now, humans have occupied it.

Without Rurik's orders, Kawi, armed with a rock-cutting axe and hammer, began digging for open-pit ore that could be found everywhere.

I have to say, the ore is really easy to find! Although the whole mine has a large amount of gray granite, the excellent metallurgical experts immediately identified the ore veins while standing on the top of the mountain.

The formation of chromite is peculiar, when magma rich in iron and chromium are accidentally pushed to the surface by the mantle, forming thin filamentous veins. They are essentially different from the color of the surrounding granite, and this difference is really vivid in the eyes.

Kawhi and his blacksmith students from Lord of Salmon started digging and shoving the rock in the state of crumbs into prepared burlap pockets. Carrying these ores away is really a physical task, and Kawei can't take care of that much anymore. After all, in his opinion, the biggest obstacle to iron smelting in his family has never been that there is too little labor when ironing, but the ore difficult to obtain. Not to mention high-quality ores, even low-quality ores are difficult to obtain!

Different from the reddish iron oxide and blackened magnets in the mountainous area of ​​Roseburg, the iron ore here is more specially made of metal, in short, it is very shiny. Kawi didn't know that this was chromite. He actually knew that there was an element marked as Cr on the "element table" that Rurik took out, but he couldn't know its actual existence.

In fact, this is not surprising, because there is only one chrome ore in the whole of Europe, and it was also discovered by humans in 830 AD. It is very interesting that the first people to excavate chrome ore on this plane were actually a group of ancient Finns who gradually left the Stone Age and marched into the Iron Age, which should have only been the concept of legend in history.

History has finally returned to normal in some respects. The Kovins finally settled at the mouth of the river in the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, as legend has it. They settled for iron ore. With altars and tombs erected, the Kovins settled. The literati have not moved far away.

The unnamed river finally has a name. Its name should have been called "Kemi River". Due to a small change in history, it is naturally pronounced "Aironorava" in the language of the Kewen people, which is "Iron Squirrel River". The name is indeed a bit odd, it is named after the Kowen tribe who settled here.

The sky was getting darker, and all the people who went to the mines this night could only sleep in the forest.

Not afraid of sleeping in the open, they lit a bonfire, started cutting polar bear meat, and grilled it on the fire to feed their stomachs.

A gigantic tomb was filled with earth, and the tribal shaman ordered a gigantic pyre built from pine branches.

Kawei took the children down the mountain with heavy ores on their backs. To smelt these ores, a furnace needs to be built, which takes a little time. Due to exhaustion, Kawi didn't want to do anything, and his eyes gradually aimed at the lively Kewen people.

"Hehe, are you preparing for a major sacrifice? Are you praying for the dead?"

Although he is not a warrior, he does not believe in Odin, the patron saint of warriors. As a worshiper of the Blacksmith God, he has doubts about Valhalla. After learning about Kewen's beliefs about the sea of ​​souls and animism, his own beliefs became even more confusing.

"Maybe the gods of the eastern land will protect these people forever."

The Iron Squirrel Tribe needed a key priest to secure their hearts, and Rurik knew this all too well, and this time she decided to take part in it herself.

In his view, the conquest of the spirit is obviously more effective than the conquest and suppression of force.

Rurik needed the affirmation of these tribesmen, but they knew that the leader of Ross valued them and respected them.

But almost all Rus people have no interest in the bonfire sacrifice activities of the aliens. They didn't care about the noise of those people, so they lit their own bonfires by the woods, built their shacks, ate a few bites of salty bear meat, boiled some wheat kernels they carried, and finished the meal. , and then rested in a drowsy state.

It is really difficult to get one's own people to participate in the rituals of aliens. But Rurik would not participate alone. Even if it was for money, his mercenaries participated in the bonfire sacrifice as representatives of the Ross warriors.

Some of the Rus fell asleep, while others were bored and could only watch the Kovins, men and women, young and old, dancing frantically to the bonfire.

Rurik, this time he actually joined the crazy bonfire dance.

In fact, the so-called dance is that everyone gathers in a ring, circles around the bonfire, and mutters some simple prayers from the Kowen people.

"God of owls! Appear! Communicate with the sea of ​​souls! Let the dead return!"

They were mostly muttering these words, although it felt a bit absurd, Rurik took his mercenaries and mingled with the Kewen people, stunned to pray for the dead.

It should be noted that although the Rus also prayed for the dead, this work was generally performed by a professional group of priests who received support.

Rurik actually put down his noble glory and participated in the sacrifice of the defeated. In a trance, the men and women of the Kewen people felt that this child of Rus who knew his own language was the one who received the envoy.

The people in the circle were divided into three layers. Just in front of the crackling fire, the shaman Porra was shaking violently, as if caught in the wind of horns.

As her madness abruptly ended, the circling crowd knelt down one after another.

Of course, Rurik and his mercenaries withdrew, they were not Kewen after all.

The shaman chanted ancient and obscure incantations while banging on her harmonica, making sounds impossible in nature, as if they were the medium of communication with the sea of ​​souls.

She was praying, and finally, after a surly roar, she announced the result that everyone wanted most.

"Their souls have returned to the Sea of ​​Souls! They are finally at rest! They no longer have hatred for the Rus! They want our lives to return to peace."

Hearing that, all the kneeling people stood up, and in an instant, many people were overjoyed.

Now Rurik understood it completely, and when he asked himself, he had to admire the wit of this female shaman.

Since the high-level personnel of the Iron Squirrel Tribe are all sworn to cooperate, they are also guiding the cooperation of other tribes. In the current situation, Rurik feels that he is still missing a major promise.

He approached the blazing bonfire and exclaimed, "People of the Iron Pine Tribe! This is your new home. Your cemetery and altar have been established, and you will do your own sacrifices without any interference, you will do In the future, you only need to pay a part of the tribute to me, and organize people to fight for me during the war. My descendants and I will admit that you are the most loyal servants of our Rus.

You are loyal to me, and I will protect you. From now on, you will make iron tools, hunt wild animals, and cut wood for a living. You provide me with a large amount of iron, hides, and wood in exchange for my oats and other supplies.

I participated in your priesthood, I participated in the battle and killed the dead, and the undead of the dead have forgiven me.

Now ask all of you to identify with my rule, and you will be rewarded forever for your loyalty. "

At the end of the day, Rurik was emphasizing one thing: Surrender will be favored.

But he did not expect that the simple tribesmen believed more in "the revelation of the owl god". The meaning of the god was very clear. Although Rurik was a Rus, he could indeed exist as his own.

Righteousness is fairness and freedom in the hearts of the people. Rurik's generosity and support were seen by these scholars and benefited. Especially after this sacrifice, no one regards Rurik as an outsider anymore. They have evolved to bow down to Rurik more than their true leader, Mechasta.

No, Mechasta was the first to kneel, causing other tribesmen to kneel one after another, and even the shaman to kneel.

The good show developed into this, and Rurik watched it all with a blank face, while the Ross people who didn't sleep to watch the show all stood up one after another. They all exclaimed silently, the king Rurik completely tamed those tribesmen, just like taming a group of calves.