A Red Sea BR21 January 684

Egill the Red smiled as he and his men feasted in the great hall of Castile Klasring. King Elgfrothi had spared no expense in the celebrations, and his men cheered and laughed as the saga was sung in front of the great fire. Egills fleet had still not left Varyag home waters, and was instead held back clearing pirates from the nearby waters. Though this angered Egill he knew it was no wrong to be doing so, still he wished he was raiding the soft men to the west like his cousin Bagsecg. There should not have been pirates in Varyag waters at all, but Elgfrothis father had become weak in his dotage, and had allowed much to slip in his last years. The new king Elgfrothi was determined to reclaim the seas and strengthen the city, as well as raising more raiding fleets and armies to harass the cities to the west. Egill admired Elgfrothi; though he had not earned his saga name yet he was still a great leader of men, and no doubt would have one before the next winter came. The room went silent as the tale of Egills battle was told. Egill knew that this was just a minor skirmish, but allowed the men their fun. They would be pushed hard over the next year and likely many would die. Those would be the sagas truly worth hearing. The song told of Egills cunning and guile. He had lured the pirates into attacking a couple of merchant ships,

heavy with stone as if to look a worthy prize. The few pirate ships had taken the bait, and from hidden inlets his fleet of Dragonships and the fleet from Castile Klasring had lunched their attack. The battle had been over before it started. Those that did not surrender immediately were taken or sunk, their crews brought back to the city for Elgfrothis judgement. The King raised his arm to this, and brought it down in a swift cutting motion. The men cheered as the saga told of the execution of the pirates, their corpses hung above the harbour mouth to warn others of their folly. The room burst into cheers once the saga was finished, and Thorik Raven-Hair took the floor to preach the words of Oden, with many a man swearing a blood oath to follow the warrior gods ways. Elgfrothi smiled at Egill and they quietly discussed the readiness of the fleet building ports hidden to the north. Egills uncle Jarl Ketill was known in the city for his work in raiding the southern isles, and now was one of the men responsible for raising fleets. Jarl Wulfrik, a cousin to Elgfrothi, was another fleet builder. There were others that Egill did not know, hidden just as his uncles settlement was. Elgfrothi went on to talk of the armies he was building, and of the importance of knowledge of those he would conquer in the name of the Varyag. Finally Thoriks preaching finished, and the celebrations began to calm down. Many of Egills crews carried on their feasting until the next day, whilst his captains made their way to the Kings table where they discussed Elgfrothis plans for the Varyags waves of raiding fleets. Egill stayed for a few more hours before heading to the dock berths to begin the refit of his newly acquired ships.