Dazedly staring at the bloody mess he had created, Erik absentmindedly wiped away some of the red, warm liquid that had splashed on his face.

In his head he knew what he had just done was bad, he had just murdered a man! But he also did not feel like he had done anything wrong. Of course, he was aware enough to see the connection between his impulsive actions and his bonds to Chaos.

“I apologise for this filth’s transgression towards you, mighty Champion. Has your anger… subsided? Should I call for more thralls for you (to slay) before heading to the Hall?”

Sigrun, although surprised at Erik’s sudden action, was not perturbed in the slightest by the bloodshed.

‘Ah yes, Norsca no, this entire world is a kill-or-die place and the people are long desensitized to death. And thralls are less than livestock to the Norscans. Stolen, bred and raised in their tens of thousands to perform manual labour and to be used as sacrifices for the Chaos Gods and their Daemons.’

Shaking his head, both to clear his head and to tell Sigrun more thralls aren’t necessary, Erik shifted his attention to the GAO screen. After mentally clicking on the icon, a new screen appeared, giving Erik a good overview of its functions and information.

~Bleep! – Player information displayed!

Player: Erik –
Affiliation: Chaos, Frost Wolf Tribe (Skaeling Confederacy)
Patron: Khorne; Slaanesh; Nurgle; Tzeentch

Player stats:
Strength (STR):                15
Dexterity (DEX):              8
Constitution (CON):      12
Wisdom (WIS):                 30
Charisma (CHAR):           10

Player Favour:
Khorne:               10
Slaanesh:            15
Nurgle:                0
Tzeentch:           0

(Earn Favour by performing actions that either directly please your Patron or are in line with their commandments.)

Player weapon proficiencies:
Unarmed:           75
One-handed:    82 (+7)
Two-handed:    125
Polearms:           75
Archery:              50
Throwing:           50
Firearms:            50

Player armour proficiencies:
Unarmoured:                   10
Medium armour:            30
Heavy armour:                60
Magic armour:                (LOCKED)

Player magic proficiencies: (LOCKED)~

Looking at the string of words and values, Erik recalled that in the game version, an average man would have around 10 stat points in each category. Of course, different races and different ethnicities created differences in this average, but it nonetheless held true. For Norscans this usually meant an increase in STR & CON with a decrease in DEX & WIS. And Player Characters would usually start with slightly above average stats along with a couple of freely distributable stat-points. But, as the first GAO message had told him, this was reality and no longer within the bounds of the game. Was that why his physical stats represented those of a new Norscan character while his WIS reflected more of his past self?

‘I need power!’ –came yet another impulsive thought. And after he struck the long dead thrall five more times, he heard a ‘ding’ and a small pop-up notified him of another increase to his one-handed proficiency. Did this mean he could still increase his stats and proficiencies in a similar way as in-game? This required further experimentation!

But first, Erik needed to wash off some of the blood that had stained his skin. Nothing to be done about the clothes right now, but having filth stuck to his body made him irritated. And he still needed to go and meet the Frost Wolf Jarl.

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After quickly cleaning up a little, Erik finally stepped out of the cabin into the cold air. Sigrun came out after him and she had been quietly watching him after he killed the thrall and, after a short pause, seemingly without reason struck the body again.

When she spotted another thrall nearby she simply moved her head to have the thrall go inside. Presumably, the dead body on the floor as well as the bloodstains would be taken care of while Erik spoke with the Jarl.

Shifting his attention from this small show, Erik looked around the square outside the cabin. It was a large open space surrounded on three sides by huts and cabins of various sizes and to his back were his own cabin, a number of large wooden halls as well as the huge Jarl’s Hall. Behind these luxurious dwellings was a sheer cliff, several hundred meters tall reaching for the sky and providing ample protection against the elements and wild beasts alike.

Due to the size of the settlement, Erik couldn’t see it but he assumed that surrounding the rest of the settlement was a strong palisade. Complete with a spiked moat and watchtowers, as was customary for Norscan settlements.

All in all, Erik estimated there could be as many as 70.000 people living in and around this settlement. Which is a huge number, were it not for the fact that 40.000 of those were weak and replaceable thralls of all ages and the remaining 30.000 included roughly 8.000 Marauder warriors, 10.000 women and the rest were elderly and young children.

And in a hostile land like Norsca, it was no wonder they relied heavily on hunting and raiding to build up enough resources to last them through the dark days of winter.

On the square itself a small crowd of Marauders and other idlers that had heard of Erik’s awakening and came to see this Champion of the Four Gods had gathered. Not too many, since everyone was with their tasks, but still a good 100 tribesmen had gathered.

Erik followed along as Sigrun showed the way to the Jarl’s Hall. A courtesy, since it was the largest building on the same square, but a necessity nonetheless. The short walk also gave Erik the opportunity to get a good look at the gathered tribesmen.

Most of them wore large coats, some trimmed with fur or even with large fur cloaks able to stave off the Norscan cold. The men were all very tall, many actually taller than Erik. And they were muscular as well. Not the same refined muscles like Erik, but large bulging masses that stood out even under their thick clothes. Erik also realised that to them, he must look like a man of average height with no visible muscles. And whether he imagined it or not, Erik felt like the Marauders were disappointed or disillusioned from his ‘scrawny’ body.

The one thing he did have them beat though was his handsome face. The men on the square for the most part had large square faces, often with long beards, greasy blond, red or brown hair and a lot of them sported scars as well. This feeling of superiority in looks gave Erik yet another little high.

Especially so since the women among the crowd seemed to be far more interested in him after getting a look at him. He could well imagine those women’s feelings after seeing an incredibly handsome man after being forced to see just the boring, dull and brutish faces of their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

~Bleep! – Player Erik earned Favour! Slaanesh approves your vanity!

As for the looks of disdain he received from the men, Erik internally scoffed and resolved to show them all later. He knew from his earlier talk with Sigrun that he would have to fight at least one of the Frost Wolves’ Marauder warriors to prove his worth and have a place to stay. And he could feel a strong competitive urge growing within him.

~Bleep! – Player Erik earned Favour! Khorne approves your competitive spirit!

It seemed that this was somewhat similar to the game too, where small things like ‘conversational options’ could earn small amounts of Favour. Erik knew he would need it too, since while the initial Favour cost of, for example, improving stats were very low, at a 10:1 conversion of Favour to stats, but it would quickly become hard to the point where even an enormous amount of Favour wouldn’t be able to increase 1 more stat-point.

While Erik mulled over his thoughts, he continued looking around, noticing more and more little details. For example, there were clear differences in social status between the people waiting and wandering around the square.

Thralls dressed in filthy rags and thin from malnourishment scuttled about at the edge of the square, carrying firewood, tools and other things from one place to another.

Most men of the Norscan tribes were well built Marauders, warriors, but a number of Norscan men were ill-suited for such a combat heavy lifestyle. And they were worse off for it, since there was a stark contrast between the bearing of these freemen and the confident Marauders.

And very notable was the confidence of the Norscan women. They were not as portrayed in history books of the pre-modern era, oppressed and worn out. Instead, they walked with their backs straight, brazenly looked men in the eyes and confidently ordered about their thralls. Erik did notice that a lot of them were in varying stages of pregnancy though, which he quickly connected to the harshness of the world that required a steady supply of children. After all, those children are necessary to preserve the existence of the tribe and with a 50/50 survival rate to adolescence, a lot of them are necessary.

~Bleep! – Player Erik earned Favour! Tzeentch approves your ability to think and reason!

Dismissing the pop-up, Erik decided to have another talk with Sigrun later to try and gain a better insight in Norscan, or rather Skaeling, culture and customs.

All this took only five or so minutes as Erik and Sigrun walked side by side towards the Jarl’s Hall. And when they arrived, the guards at the door made way to let them in unopposed. Erik did take note of the finely crafted armour and gleaming weapons as well as the fluid, trained movement of these exceptional warriors. These were no mere Marauders, but the bodyguards of an important Norscan chieftain. If he recalled, they were called bondsmen or huskarls, and they were the cream of the crop of a tribe’s warriors. And again Erik heard a short bleep to notify another increase in Khornite favour as his fighting spirit was aroused.

But before he could start training to satiate this eagerness to fight, he would first need to eat and talk with the Frost Wolf Jarl. To learn his intentions and to plan the fight ahead.

Macrendil-Ysmir

Short explanation on the GAO system and values. Its very similar to Mount & Blade Warband in the sense that using f.e. a 2Handed sword increases your 2handed proficiency, making the player swing faster and deal more damage. In this story, a value of <50 is a beginner. 50-100 is militia/slightly trained. 100-150 is a trained soldier. 150-200 is a veteran. 200-250 are exceptional fighters and bodyguard material. Everyone over 250 are basically Champions or really incredible and famous fighters.

As for stats, as mentioned 10 for everything is a global average. Norscans are bigger and stronger, but also less agile and dumber, maintaining the 10-point average. Erik's high WIS stat is a benefit of receiving good education back on earth. He's also had prior training handling cold weapons, as will be explained in a later chapter. Also, having a STR stat of lets say 30 would allow a man to cave leave a hole in concrete and 50 would allow a man to bend an iron bar with his bare hands. 

Thank you for reading!