The King of Nordahl was dead.
A pillar of black smoke curled into the heavens from the funeral pyre on the gravelly beach. The funeral revelry had begun when the balefire was lit four hours earlier, and it showed no signs of slowing down. All of the members of the King's host had made their peace with his passing long before: his wound had meant that death was only a matter of time, and not very much of that. Thus, all that was left was the celebration of the life of a man who had united the land of Nordahl for the first time in five generations.
Three men were not joining in the great feast and all of the entertainments to be found there. In a small map-covered room attached to the side of one of the longhouses, the sons of the King of Nordahl sat around a table. The mood around the table was, to put it lightly, grim.
"The Jarl of Hvergelmir, too, has turned against us," the largest and oldest of the trio said. As one, every pair of eyes turned to the lake in the center of the northernmost continent of the map. "We can expect the rest to follow suit shortly enough. Once the formal mourning period is over, they'll attack. We all know that we can't hope to prevail against the forces of every Jarl on this continent."
"The land of Nordahl, then, has become quite inhospitable to anyone who once followed the King," said the youngest of the three. The middle son snorted with amusement.
"Why Pyri, I do believe that you have just made the most understated comment in your roughly nineteen years of existence." Colorless, calculating grey eyes danced with mirth as he leaned forward and studied the map. "With Hvergelmir having joined the alliance against us -and that didn't take him long at all, did it?- the sons and host of Varan need to find a new place to stay. If nothing else, we need to get out of Nordahl long enough for this pack of opportunistic raiders and cutthroats to forget about the former King." Aurelius Varan smiled with a sudden thought and tapped the continent just south of Nordahl.
"I take it that you both remember our little sojourns to the Suderlands back in our wayward youth?" The oldest smiled with fond memories.
"With great nostalgia, for the most part. You propose taking the host down there? We will be hard-pressed to find unclaimed land large enough to settle all of the families, and I doubt that any of the kingdoms down there would take kindly to an army led by the sons of Varan landing on their shores." The youngest son winced at the prospect of trying to fight off any of the united kingdoms of the Suderlanders. "Yes, Pyri was there when we tried raiding Thrasymachus. Nasty business, that, and it was only an independent city we tried to sack, not a kingdom. And another thing, how are we supposed to work out who is to lead the entire host?" The eldest laced his fingers, waiting to hear what course of action Aurelius would suggest. The middle son was known for cautious deliberation, preferring to know all of the relevant facts about a matter before making any decisions.
"I am quite aware of the difficulties posed by attempting to keep the entire host intact, Eli, which is why I propose that we split the host into three parts," Aurelius said as he raised a hand to forestall any arguments. "Listen to my words before you reach any conclusions. As things currently stand, we need to leave Nordahl for a very long time: quite possibly the rest of our lives. That means carving out a living in the Suderlands. The problem is that all three of us have very different ideas of what we should do. Thus, I believe that it is in our best interest to divide everything our father had between the three of us and let each make his own way. A year hence, we shall meet up in one of the more neutral cities and discuss our progress. What are your thoughts?"
Pyriphlegethon, the youngest, was the first to speak. "I am in favor of this course of action, so long as I can take those warriors with families. I want to make a kingdom for myself in the Suderlands, and the westernmost lands of Vytal are quite fractured. It should prove easy enough to conquer a small kingdom. What about you, Eli?" Elivagar Varan tapped a small island to the north of the middle and easternmost continents on the map.
"I will happily take the warriors without families and those who are only betrothed. I plan on setting up a fortress on Kraken Island." Kraken Island was so named because, on a map, it resembled some sort of massive sea creature. The island was surrounded by treacherous conditions in the ocean around it, and storms frequently lashed the waters. It required skilled navigators, resilient ships, and extremely precise charts to safely land: this was probably why no one had yet made any serious attempt at colonization. "Obviously, I will need most of the dragonships. If I leave each of you a dozen, as well as most of the transports, will that suffice?" Aurelius and Pyriphlegethon both nodded. "Excellent. From there, I think that I will try raiding the Sunrise Lands. I've always been interested in those stories of a wealthy people with brightly-colored eyes. What do you want, Auri?" Aurelius smiled lopsidedly.
"Hel's Angels, the larger share of Father's wealth, and a few of the more sturdy ships." Pyri barked a short laugh and nodded at Eli, who reluctantly tossed a small pouch filled with gold across the table. Aurelius looked at Elivagar with bemusement written clear across his face.
"You bet that I would not take Hel's Angels?" Eli shrugged.
"We all knew you were going to suggest splitting the host when we walked in. One of the benefits of having lived with you for twenty-one tortuous years," said Elivagar with a small grin that took the sting out of the words. "I made a bet that you would ask for something besides Hel's Angels, at least at first, just to make a hash of our expectations." Aurelius shrugged.
"I'll admit, that option was a close second," Auri chuckled. "At any rate, I'm reasonably sure that we all knew what each of us wanted going in. With that in mind, I say that we give the host a few days for their celebration. The next couple of months are going to be hard enough, so let's allow them to have some fun before we get down to business. On the one-year anniversary of Father's death, we'll meet up in this city, here." Auri laid a finger on city on the coast of the Emerald Sea, so named because of the greenish hue of the waters that lay between the continents of Vytal and Gehenna. Aurelius got up from the table and walked to a nearby cabinet, pulling out drinking horns and a bottle of wine. "This is a bottle of that vintage from Fleur. I've been saving it for an occasion like this for years," he said as walked over and passed out the filled horns. "To King Varan, greatest scion of that great line." All three raised their horns in a toast and drew long draughts. As Auri began to refill each of their horns, Eli looked at him quizzically.
"One last thing, brother. You haven't told us what you are planning to do in the year you have to yourself.
Aurelius smiled knowingly and leaned back in his chair. "I hear that there has been a war going on in Vytal for almost forty years now. A hundred and twenty, if one counts the Vallian conquest of Fleur. I plan on taking my family and Hel's Angels down to those kingdoms and, well... deciding what to do from there." Aurelius chuckled with a dark sense of humor that was fully shared by his brothers.
"All I'm going to say is that, if it turns out the City of Vale has been burned down by the time you arrive there for our reunion, you should not be in any way surprised. And we can always hold our reunion amidst the ashes, should worst come to worst." His two brothers laughed knowingly.