A Noble Escort was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.
Description[]
Eivor met with Hunwald at the docks of Ravensthorpe.
Dialogue[]
Some time after Dag Nithisson's passing, Eivor noticed a Saxon noble sitting at the docks of Ravensthorpe, drinking his fill of mead.
- Hunwald: Mmm. Quite delicious.
- Eivor: A Saxon noble. He's a long way from home.
Returning to the room with the Alliance Map, Eivor talked with Randvi about pledging to Lincolnscire.
- Eivor: What about Lincolnscire?
- Randvi: A rather boisterous man named Hunwald arrived recently, wishing to speak with you. On a matter of great importance, he said.
- Eivor: Where is he now?
- Randvi: Down at the docks, carousing with my scouts and scaring the fish from the river. He waits for you with great eagerness.
Eivor pledged to Lincolnscire.
- Eivor: He sounds charming. I will meet him at once.
- Randvi: Protect your ears.
Hunwald chatting with Norvid and Svanhildr
Eivor headed to the docks to meet Hunwald, who was talking with two of the Raven Clan's Norse members, Norvid and Svanhildr.
- Hunwald: This is true happiness, isn't it, men? Life in the rough, in the company of friends, sitting beside a carefree river!
- Norvid: I'm here for the mead, Lord-Boy.
- Hunwald: I just adore the laughter of the water, the spice of the mead in the nose, the spittle of shouting Danes!
- Svanhildr: Norse, you troll-wart!
- Hunwald: Norse! Yes, forgive me. Norse...
From a distance, Eivor continued to hear the young man talk with the warriors.
- Hunwald: *Coughs* Ah! Ahem. Went down the wrong pipe!
- Svanhildr: Caution, lord.
- Hunwald: Mm. This is strong stuff.
I taste a pinch of clover in the mead. Am I wrong?
Eivor approaching the conversation
Eivor approached the Saxon.
- Hunwald: You may think this odd, but our lively chatter here has inspired in me a short poem. May I recite it for you?
- Norvid: Go on, Lord-Boy. Make me tremble.
- Hunwald: O, indeed. I shall try! I call it, "Ode to a Hungry Flame.
Eivor entered the conversation.
- Eivor: Another skald come to join us?
- Hunwald: Me? O, goodness no, I'm no skald. No. Just a humble nobleman with an interest in versification! An amateur really...
An awkward silence occurred.
- Hunwald: Shall I continue...?
- Eivor: I'm not here to judge your poems, lord. Speak your purpose or down your mead.
- Hunwald: Y-yes, sorry. I have come at the hope of meeting Eivor, the great warrior of this clan... if such an audience is possible.
- Eivor: You're talking with her now. And you are...?
- Hunwald: Ah, by God's blood. my day begins with a lash of good fortune!
Norvid and Svanhildr raised their mugs, toasting Eivor's praise.
- Hunwald: Because her name alone dries the tongues of my enemies. If such a hero fought beside me, I'd fear nothing.
Eivor smirked.
- Eivor: What is your name, lord?
Hunwald stood up.
Hunwald informing Eivor of his plight
- Hunwald: I am Hunwald, loyal son of Lord Hundbeorht, the current Ealdorman of Lincolnscire, may God keep and cure him. You see, my father is ailing. And in his delirium, evil men have corrupted his judgment. A secret and powerful order, if the whispers are true. Only a month ago, without forewarning, Mercian soldiers chased me, his only son, from my home. I know not why, but I do know my father would never have ordered my exile.
- Eivor: Outcast from your family, that is a hard road to walk.
- Hunwald: Could one of your clan help me return to Lincoln? March beside me through the city gates and set me at my father's noble feet once again.
- Eivor: It may be we can help you. But we'll want something in return. An alliance between our clan and yours.
- Hunwald: And you shall have it! My father is a great friend of the Danes, in spite of the recent wars.
Hunwald nodded.
- (If Eivor did not tell Hunwald her identity earlier)
- Hunwald: Ah! You are the chieftain, here! I suspected as much.
Hunwald nodded.
- Hunwald: God praise you, Eivor.
- Eivor: I won't be leading you into the heart of a shield wall, but there will be danger. I want your word, you will follow my orders to the rune.
- Hunwald: I am yours to abuse!
- Eivor: If it comes to that...
- Hunwald: I'll wait for you in my safe haven. Botolphston to the northeast. From there, we shall make our way to Lincoln.
- Norvid: Goodbye, Lord-Boy! Safe travels!
- Hunwald: God bless and keep you all!
Hunwald left for his haven.
- Eivor: I fear I may be escorting that boy to his own execution.
- Svanhildr: That might shut him up.
From the conversation, Eivor garnered a clue from Hunwald that a nobleman in Lincolnscire was a member of the Order.
Eivor made the journey to the village of Botolphston, where she was met with distrust. She pulled up her hood and carefully made her way up the hill to the village longhouse at its peak. She overheard two people talking.
- Anglo-Saxon Man 1: You see Hunwald's back? Drinking and jabbering as always.
- Norse Woman 1: Hun-who?
- Anglo-Saxon Man 1: Hunwald, son of our ealdorman. Thinks himself a real wonder, slouching with the common folk. Ponce!
- Norse Woman 1: Ah, leave him be. If a man wants to drink in the dirt, let him."
Eivor entered the longhouse.
- Eivor: So this is Hunwald's "safe haven"?
Within, she heard the comments of the locals.
- Anglo-Saxon Soldier 1: Caught me a sturgeon on the river, yestermorn. Rare as teeth on a rooster, they are.
Another man yelled out for the ale-wife.
- Anglo-Saxon Man 2: A round of mead here! And be quick about it.
At the far end, Eivor spied Hunwald speaking with another man at a table.
- Hunwald: Though we be a Mercian shire today, tomorrow the Kingdom of Lindsey will rise again. As free as the wind on the back of my neck.
- Aelfgar: Your line of kings died long ago, Hunwald. We're in Lincolnscire now. Do you need a map to remember?
- Hunwald: Aelfgar, my dear man, I do not need a map to prove what my bones know for truth.
Aelfgar and Hunwald interrupted by Eivor's arrival
Eivor joined them at the table.
- Aelfgar: Hunwald. Who is this stranger?
- Hunwald: Eivor! Come! Sit!
Eivor sat beside Aelfgar and across from Hunwald as Hunwald turned to call to the barkeep.
- Hunwald: Bread and ale please, ale-wife!
Hunwald faced Eivor and Aelfgar again.
- Hunwald: I have been discussing my delicate situation with Aelfgar here.
- Eivor: Lord.
Aelfgar nodded.
- Hunwald: He is a nobleman like me, one of Lincolnscire's sturdy thegns.
- Aelfgar: Hunwald's idea of sturdy is a mug of ale that won't tip over.
- Hunwald: Aelfgar has pledged his loyalty to my family, the house of the ferocious swan!
Eivor socializes with Aelfgar across from Hunwald
Hunwald showed his family emblem.
- Hunwald: With his influence and your might, we shall rid Lincolnscire of the ruffians who plague this land, once and for all.
- Eivor: We're going to see your father, Hunwald. That's all.
- Hunwald: Indeed, Eivor! With speed and purpose! You are the axle to my wheel. The spark to my tinder!
- Eivor: Hunwald, your father is ill and your enemies have every advantage under the sun. Do you have a plan, or have I come all this way to watch you drink this watery piss?
- Hunwald: Of course, my friend. I am a man of action above all else. Ready to leap and dance and fight!
Aelfgar chuckled.
- Aelfgar: Are we talking about the same man? Your father is a spendthrift, Hunwald. He ran this shire into the muck.
- Hunwald: O, Aelfgar, you jest!
- Eivor: Hunwald, I don't know your friend here. And not knowing him, I don't trust him.
- Aelfgar: I'm his voice of reason, Eivor. And I've told him a thousand times, it's too dangerous for him in Lincolnscire.
Eivor, Hunwald and Aelfgar heckled by two drunken men
- Hunwald: Ah, yes, to Lincoln! Away! But with care. The road between here and there is teeming with brigands who wish me dead.
- Aelfgar: You daft lump of lard. A single Dane will not protect you against the whole of Mercia's army.
- Hunwald: I think you are wrong, Aelfgar. And here she'll prove it.
Two unknown men walked to the table.
- Cearl: I am hot for a fight, snow-dog! Give me half a chance, and I'll stove your heathen face right in!
Eivor stood up.
- Eivor: All right. A quick brawl to get familiar with the local dregs.
Eivor and Cearl began to fight.
- Cearl: I'll vomit on you, Dane! Won't think twice about it!
- Hunwald: Nothing welcomes us more into the day than a swift bruising!
- Eivor: Is that what it means to be your friend?
- Anglo-Saxon Man 3: Rip a lung out!
- Hunwald: We shall triumph, Eivor! We shall win this ugly row!
Eivor continued to wail on Cearl.
- Anglo-Saxon Woman 1: You're losing ground, you drunken sot!
- Hunwald: You're a fool to challenge this one!
Hunwald continued to praise his champion.
- Hunwald: By all the saints and martyrs, Eivor. You are a beast! Even Beowulf never fought so well!
Midway through the battle, Hunwald excused himself.
- Hunwald: Eivor! My bladder is bursting! I must step outside for a long deserved slash! Keep them dancing 'til I return!
- Eivor: Hunwald, do not wander!
- Cearl: I bleedin' love a good toss-around. Gives me life!
- Anglo-Saxon Man 2: Forget the pain, Cearl. Shake it off!
- Cearl: Lord, give me strength!
The fight ended.
- Anglo-Saxon Woman 2: Clear out, all of you! Before you kick up a fire!
- Cearl: Jesus, my bones are aching. Could use a dip in the sea.
- Anglo-Saxon Woman 2: Shut your hinge, Cearl. And stop dripping blood in my hall.
Eivor clutched her ribs, her pride injured worse than her bones.
- Cearl: A worthy tussle, Dane! Give this one a cup of mead! They are not the dogs we take them for.
The two men sat back down at their table.
- Cearl: Cheers to this Dane! One who knows the true worth of silver!
- Hunwald: You canny fox. That was incredible! Like watching a captain navigate the roiling waters of an angry river. I must void my bladder, Eivor. Then we shall set forth in search of adventure new!
Hunwald left to relieve himself.
- Aelfgar: You travel with a marked man at your side.
- Eivor: He's with me. He'll be fine.
- Aelfgar: If I had a scribe jot down all the occasions I'd warned that stupid boy, I'd be the most written about man in history.
- Eivor: Aelfgar... the boorish nag of Lincolnscire.
Eivor smirked at him, and after a moment to shake his head, he returned it.
- Hunwald: (scream)
Eivor drank some more.
- Eivor: A blood eagle. A raw, magnificent bird I'll tear from your guts.
She stood up as she described the process.
- Eivor: First, I crush your ribs. Then, I pull out your lungs, and stretch them into wings. So you can fly to your heaven as fast as possible.
Cearl's friend moved back.
- Cearl: Jesus. Fucking heathen.
The two men walked away.
- Hunwald: You canny fox. That was incredible! Like watching a captain navigate the roiling waters of an angry river. I must void my bladder, Eivor. Then we shall set forth in search of adventure new!
Hunwald left to relieve himself.
Eivor and Aelfgar discussing Hunwald
- Aelfgar: You travel with a marked man at your side.
- Eivor: He's with me. He'll be fine.
- Aelfgar: If I had a scribe jot down all the occasions I'd warned that stupid boy, I'd be the most written about man in history.
- Eivor: Aelfgar... the boorish nag of Lincolnscire.
Eivor smirked at him, and after a moment to shake his head, he returned it.
- Hunwald: (scream)
Eivor talked with Aelfgar.
- Aelfgar: Did you hear that scream? Sounded like Hunwald. He went out that side door.
Eivor discovering soldiers surrounding Hunwald
Eivor went outside the side door and saw Hunwald surrounded by soldiers.
- Hunwald: (scream)
- Eivor: Hunwald's in trouble.
- Anglo-Saxon Soldier 2: They call this patsy whelp a lord?
- Anglo-Saxon Soldier 3: Look at him! Soft as unbaked bread.
- Hunwald: Villains! Leave me be!
Eivor attacked and killed one of the soldiers.
- Eivor: Leave him be!
- Anglo-Saxon Soldier 4: Jesus! He's brought a bloody Dane!
Eivor killed another soldier.
- Anglo-Saxon Soldier 5: This ain't worth the silver they's paying us!
Hunwald was on the ground and acting melodramatic.
- Hunwald: O, I have been struck down! Pruned within an inch of my life! But I will survive, I must. Continue as you would, Eivor! And if I should expire, avenge me!
Eivor defeated Hunwald's attackers and then spoke with Hunwald.
- Hunwald: I live! I'm alive. Heaven have mercy!
- Eivor: Are you hurt?
Hunwald agreeing to set off to Lincoln
Hunwald stood up.
- Hunwald: Unbelievable! The Battle of Botolphston will be remembered for years to come! Aelfgar! We have won our first great victory.
Aelfgar nodded through his disapproval before walking back to the longhouse.
- Eivor: Hunwald, are you hurt?
- Hunwald: Never better, I...
- Eivor: We should get to Lincoln as quickly as we can.
- Hunwald: Yes... yes, you're right. Let's depart.
Outcome[]
Eivor reunited with Hunwald and saved him from the soldiers who meant him harm.
Behind the scenes[]
The dialogue from the soldiers who accost Hunwald does not seem tied to any soldiers in particular; killing them in sequence seems to trigger the lines from disembodied voice files, regardless of which guards are killed first, however killing them all in rapid succession (on Saga difficulty with the Focus of the Nornir ability, for example) seems to skip their lines and advance the quest logic straight to "reviving" Hunwald. Similarly, killing one from stealth causes Eivor to yell out "Leave him be!" and the guards yell out in reply, however they continue to stand idle until they actively detect the player.
Gallery[]
