Banished/North Story: Nurembega Vikings

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January to April 933

Meat smoker Waabakwa’s son Myeengun is now an adult. It was pretty cold this winter, with heavy snowfall all the way from January to March. It has been a long time since the gathering of firewood was not enough to heat up the houses, but this year the settlers was forced to chop up good building material too keep warm. The seeds were sown in the middle of April

Native refugee Waubun chopping firewood.

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May to August 933

It is now 20 years since the Vikings ship reached the bank of Wolastoq river. Celebrated with an extra lavish summer solstice feast and offering. Cattle and sheep were offered to the twins Freya and Freyr *, wildflowers and herbs was brought to every home, keeping away evil spirits. A large bonfire was lit up in the center of Bjørn’s Ting, burning throughout the night to scare the darkness away. A trader from the Odanak came to the hamlet in July, we bought some pear seeds. Later the same month Brun’s son Otto and his native wife Memengwaa got a 2^nd daughter Matilda. Otto is just as his father, amongst the trælle especially trusted by the Jarl. Holding a higher rank than other trælle in the hamlet, as leader of the market place.  

* Freya: a Goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, seeing and influencing the future. Freyr: a God, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, prosperity, fair weather and good harvest.

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September to November 933

Signe, the wife of Jarl Bjørn, took a few hands away from the chop fields this season, to save workers for the important firewood collection. Never the less it was a fine rye harvest. The fortification is slowly being erected along the riverbank from the bridge to the western corner of the hamlet, but there is still a lot to be done before the hamlet is fully protected against attacks from all directions. The snow came in late November but its just a few degrees below zero.

 

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December 933 to February 934

The Frank couple Theudoald and Judith worked with glass back in Thionville, before they were captured by the Vikings. They talked to Jarl Bjørn about the possibility to produce simple glassware, from the sand in the river. Soon a sand dig was located at the south side of the river.

 

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March to June 934

It was a mild winter, and with early spring temperatures just below zero, look like a good crop season, but just as we entered April it dropped again to -7°C. Herleif Bloodsword and Ysabel’s daughter Rúna turned 12 and became an adult. It was several days into may before the frost cleared and the seeds could be sown. The previous summer Herleif and Ysabel’s son Einarr, fell in love with Frank couple Theudoald and Judith’s daughter Bertrada, all living in Herleif Bloodsword’s longhouse Smiðrsjøt. She got pregnant and gave birth to a son Fálki. Being a mother of a son of Viking blood, Bertrada was now a free woman. The family stayed in Smiðrsjøt longhouse. 

A new chop field with barley was sown this season.

 

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July to September 934

A native child was found in the forest, could be from the hamlet, could be left by any tribe traveling by. The child was about 2 years old. Jarl Bjørn and Signe adopted him and took him into their household. They named him Væni. Over spring and summer focus had been on construction projects and the food stock had dropped a lot, not very worrying, but a lot lower than previous years. The crop harvest was fine but far from perfect.

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October 934 to January 935

A large feasting hall was created for Jarl Bjørn and his trusted men to drink mjǫð and öl *, eat the best food and socialize, while the common træl or native was working in the woods or fields.

* Mead and beer/ale    

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February to May 935

A pottery started production close to the clay dig. Native couple Asin and Ziigwan’s daughter Bineshii turned 12 years old. Another year with late sowing, starting a week into May. Gyðja Herleifdóttir * and her husband Charibert got a daughter Tóla

* Gyðja daughter of Herleif

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June to September 935

A trader from the Odanak tribe came to Bjørn’s Torp in June, we bought 500 pounds of salted fish. Blacksmith Brun and Freja’s son Ansgar turned twelve. A dairy hut was erected next to the cattle pasture, turning milk into skyr. The harvest was quite bad this season, especially the rye.   

 

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October to December 935

A trader from the Nanénot tribe came to the hamlet, be bought twenty warm reindeer parkas, one hundred and fifty pounds of smoked meat and one hundred and fifty pounds of smoked fish from him. Frank trælle Philip and Gisela got another son, Dagobert. In November suddenly a tornado moved towards the hamlet from east. Luckily it crossed the river just as it would hit, but killed two people and 22 chickens, before in disappeared into the woodland. Native woman, 48 years old Miinan not only lost her husband, the meat smoker Waabakwa, but also her first born son Myeengun.

 

 

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Those tornadoes is why I have disasters switched off in Banished, even worst is when what's left catches on fire and the few survivors are frantically trying to find an undamaged well so they can throw water on the flames 

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Yes, I can see that would potentially be a horrifying disaster. Pretty bad in tropic, but I guess a lot worse in this one. Anyway, in storytelling it is fine with a lot of drama.

 

 

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January to April 936

After the tornado, it was snowing throughout the winter, with moderate temperatures at -5 to -7°C. In March Frank couple Theudoald and Judith’s glass work was finished. Jarl Bjørn decided to give freedom to the entire Theudoald family, recognizing the importance of their glass work skills. Besides the parents also the two daughters Fastrada and Clotilde. The firstborn daughter Bertrada, was already given freedom when she gave birth to Herleif and Ysabel’s grandson Fálki in 934. Sowing began in early April. Clotilde became an about later the same month.

The Glass Workshop

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May to August 936

Native couple Waubun and Okwi’s son Paco became an adult. All in all, 59 people live in the hamlet. 6 Nobel Vikings of which 3 are children. Another 8 of Viking blood, of which 4 are children. 8 free persons of which only Bjørn’s adopted son Væni is a child. 17 trælle and 20 natives.

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September to December 936

The summer have been warm and sunny, providing for a rich harvest with relative low labor cost. A trader from the far away Sikumiut tribe came to the hamlet, we bought 100 pounds of Pebber, 250 pounds of Apple, 175 pounds of Turnips and 250 pounds of Beans. The noble couple from Óðinsborg, Styrbjørn and Astrid got another child, a daughter they named her Frøydís. Before the Jól blót, the storage of food and brewage reached an all-time high. The Jól blót in the feasting hall lasted 7 days.     

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January to April 937

Frank couple Hugbert and Richilde got a daughter Rotrudis in February. Native couple Nawat and Angeni’s son Moki turned 12 in March, now considered an adult. The neighborhood Elfrtorp, located southeast of the market square have grown rapidly over the last years. The Frank Hugbert family, Native Asin family, Miinan and her daughter all have their own separate houses. All in service of Jarl Bjørn and his family, living in Jarlsbo, the only longhouse in the area.  

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Maj to September 937

A trader from the Odanak tribe came in May, we bought 12 living chickens, restocking what we lost to the tornado. Native couple Asin and Ziigwan got a daughter, she was named Istas. In September Herleif’s son Einarr and his Frank wife Bertrada got another son, he was named Arnulfr. It was a colder summer this year and also a bit too dry. The harvest will be alright but significantly smaller than the best years.

A fresh supply of chickens.

 

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October 937 to January 938

While food production has been very fine, there have been a limited inflow of stone and firewood over the latest seasons. The Vikings have realized a quarry is urgently needed, to supply further construction projects and a dedicated forester family is needed to keep a steady inflow of wood. Meanwhile many trælle and natives, have been send deep into the woods to collect stones from the ground, but we got a snowstorm with very low temperatures, making the work difficult and dangerous. Boulders are cut to stone in the mason.        

Paco carrying a boulder to be cut in the stone mason.