The Founding of Rumble.

Chapter 9: The Isles of Barbarians.

Hi everyone.

Here it is, the next chapter as promised. I hope you all enjoy it, as usual this has basic editing so, please, don't be an asshat but also remember to leave comments, they make me smile and let me know I am on the right track.

Also, my Barbarians, if you haven't noticed, are based LOSELY on Nordic Vikings, I do research and have picked the parts of the ancient culture that work within the world I have created. I am by no means an expert on them, nor does my depiction even begin to scratch the surface of the complex culture they had. Please remember this going forward.

Have fun

PS. You little monsters, because I know you, and how you love to deep dive what I create, I had to math in this chapter. Granted it isn't complicated, I came up with it late at night but still... MATH! 😠

Chapter 9: The Isles of Barbarians

The sun was rising the next day, Tore had chosen to sail through the night, more so when he realised, he had a favourable wind, and his bearings were perfect according to the stars. Jayda had spent the entire night working on the pendants because she knew that sometime tomorrow morning, they would make landfall and she needed them done before they did that. She was thankful for the fact she had could cast light magic which allowed her to see what she was doing, that she didn't need to hide her race which allowed her to use her breath to heat silver to mould and fuse it, and that she could go days without sleep if she needed. Tore yawned as he huddled near the suspended stove which they used to warm food or boil water when at sea. He was brewing herbal tea as the rest of his ship started to wake.

Hammocks were put away so that people could do their morning wake up stretches. "Land Ho!" Kjotvi called, he and Tore had taken turns steering the ship in the night. Tore glanced up and smiled, his breath came out visible as he sighed, the first sight of his home country after over a year away filled him with joy.

They were going to be showing up a whole week early thanks to meeting Jayda's aunt. However, that posed a problem, if the ice pack that usually locked the port in was still too thick, they wouldn't be able to break through with their ship, even Iron Wood had its limit, and thick ice was unforgiving.

Once they were close enough, they dropped the yard and sail and moved to rowing as that was the safest way to approach the port as the wind wasn't with them. As they got closer to the mouth of the port a horn was blown from a watch tower and drums started to be played.

Jayda glanced to the nearest person to find out what those meant, "The horn means a ship is coming in." Hauk told her. "The drums are warning people on standby to leave to get their arses into gear."

Tore frowned, "It also means the port is still packed with ice and they are hoping we will be able to clear it."

Astra stored her oar and stood, "Jayda taught me a spell, who has good control of their ice magic." she asked and several held their hands up. "Let's go thin the ice," she gestured them up front to teach them the spell.

Tore cast Jayda a quizzical look. Jayda rubbed the back of her neck a little bashfully, "I may have pranked her by thinning the ice under her feet causing her to crash through it. It was a pond, so she only got wet up until her waist so... not exactly dangerous. She then spent the next two weeks making ice appear in my clothes at odd times in retaliation and only stopped when I taught her the spell, I used to prank her."

Tore and the people around him chuckled in amusement, Jayda's prank and Astra's retaliation showed just how good of friends they were. Jayda walked around and offered everyone a pendant; the edges were coated in sterling silver to protect them from being cut by the scale. She had also done little dragon carvings on the scale and braided the cord threaded through the holes she had moulded into the silver.