The Siege of Paris 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 and her allies besieged Paris.
Dialogue[]
Eivor, Sigfred, and Toka Sinricsdottir, with their warriors, broke through the entrance of Île de la Cité.
- Sigfred: To the palace! Fire and vengeance! Faster, faster! Catch them off guard!
- Goll: Follow me, warriors! To Hel or victory!
Eivor followed Goll as they withstood any incoming Frankish soldiers. Eivor and Goll treaded lightly when they saw bodies of their own in their path.
- Goll: Warriors, halt! There is a deep wrongness here. These dead. They are all Norse.
- Sigfred: Where are those Frankish dogs? This silence gnaws my guts. Shields up and close ranks.
Eivor, Goll, Sigfred, and Toka were surrounded by Frankish soldiers as they neared the palace. The Vikings were soon surrounded by fire as Count Odo looked upon them from the palace's walls. Eivor and her allies attacked the ambushers.
- Sigfred: Forward! Spare no one, attack!
- Eivor: They're too many. Sigfred, we must retreat.
- Sigfred: Fall back, warriors! Fall back!
Eivor and her allies are fighting while succumbing to some losses. Goll appeared to fend off her attackers.
- Goll: Come fight me, cowards!
Odo held up a crossbow and shot Goll dead. Sigfred came and kneeled to see his fallen thegn while Eivor came nearby Sigfred.
- Eivor: They're cutting us down!
Sigfred stood up.
- Sigfred: Fall back! Fall back!
Eivor, Sigfred, and Toka, with their warriors, ran back from the ambush, leaving their fallen behind. Eivor and Sigfred regrouped away from the palace.
- Sigfred: Damn the gods! I walked right into Odo's trap like a yearling elk.
- Eivor: Do not lose heart, Sigfred. Battle is a fickle goddess.
Toka ran into the conversation hastily.
- Toka: Uncle, it is worse. The scouts report that warrior priest, uh—
- Eivor: Gozlin.
- Toka: Yes, he rallies a large force of Franks in the east, in that church.
- Sigfred: Damn the gods. They will crush us out in the open. What do we do?
- Toka: Our catapults could hit that church, but they have no way to aim.
- Eivor: We should light signal fires on the towers. That will give the catapults something to target.
- Sigfred: Yes, do it. I will get the wounded out and alert the catapults before rejoining you.
- Eivor: Good. And I will take down this warrior-priest Gozlin before he rallies the Franks.
Sigfred left as Eivor escorted Toka to the towers.
- Toka: Eivor, keep up! We must light those towers.
Toka and Eivor took to the rooftops as they ran to the towers. They encountered guards atop on the roofs.
- Toka: Watch out!
Toka and Eivor also had to dodge friendly fire from the catapults.
- Toka: Damn their aim! Where are they shooting?
Toka and Eivor noticed the first tower as Toka saw incoming Frankish soldiers.
- Toka: Eivor! Climb up and light the towers. I will take out the guards below.
Eivor climbed to the top of the tower and lit its beacon.
- Eivor: That's one tower. Now for number two.
Eivor headed to the next tower. Eivor climbed to the top of the second tower and lit its beacon. The catapults aimed and hit the gates open.
- Eivor: The gates are down. Charge!
Norse warriors barged in as Gozlin retreated to the church with guards surrounding him. Eivor entered into the area of Saint-Étienne. Eivor probed the area around the church and found a note from a soldier.
Captain, Alert!
- My Captain,
We have captured an ally of the Norse and are interrogating him in the nearby church belltower.
This traitor broke into the locked church by some unknown means.
Luckily, we caught the thief before he could sneak in.
- Serjeant Umbert
Eivor went to save the pantomime from his capture.
- Pantomime 1: You there, help! Yes, you, the hulking barbarian! Please, help me!
Eivor saved the pantomime.
- Eivor: I remember you, the silent jester from the tavern.
- Pantomime 1: You have earned my eternal gratitude. I assume you seek the war-priest Gozlin? Please, take the church key. It's brought me only trouble.
- Eivor: Thanks. It seems you found your tongue, after all.
Eivor left the pantomime and headed to the second floor of the church. Using the key, Eivor opened the locked door. Within the second floor, Eivor came across a father and his son talking.
- French Man 1: Hush, my son, you didn't see anything. You're scared, that's all.
- French Child 1: No, Papa, I did! The big cross moved, it wobbled.
- French Man 1: Perhaps it was a sign just for you. Now pray silently like Mémé taught.
Eivor moved to the corridor, where Gozlin was calming down civilians within the church.
- Gozlin: Fear not, brethren! We are safe behind these stone walls, safe in God's house.
- French Soldier 1: Safe? The Northmen have broken through the city gates!
- Gozlin: And ran right into our trap. Even now, our warriors gather for my devastating counter-attack. We will crush them between the towers and the walls. We will slay them all and burn their villages! Now pray with me, good people. Pray to God and all the saints to deliver us from this plague of heathens.
- French Soldier 1: Pray for what? A quick death? You have failed us, bishop!
- Gozlin: We shall pray that King Charles and his army arrives to smite our godless foes. Have faith.
- French Woman 1: You pray for a rescue from Charles the Fat? Truly, we are doomed!
- French Soldier 1: The Mad King drinks wine while Paris burns!
- Gozlin: O ye of little faith! I command you to pray with me! Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name
Eivor found a note to Bishop Gozlin.
Crucial Repairs
- Bishop Gozlin,
I implore you to spend some coin and repair the church's walls. The fittings on the giant cross are near rusted through and could give way at any moment, wounding your parishioners.
Faith alone cannot sustain masonry!
Sincerely,
Brother Armand
- Eivor: If that cross falls on someone, it could be deadly.
Eivor went to the back of the giant cross and noticed some oil jars. Using them, Eivor set them off. Below, Gozlin heard a noise as he saw the giant cross wiggle. The giant cross fell on top of Gozlin, crushing him. Eivor walked to Gozlin, bleeding out on the floor.
- Gozlin: My God ... is that a darkness ... or a light ... argh...
Gozlin succumbed to his wound.
- Eivor: Join your Nailed God in death, as you served him in life.
Eivor heard a man's prayer as she went looking for the main door key.
- Eivor: Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
Eivor looked around more and noticed guards talking.
- French Soldier 2: We should be inside, praying with Lord Gozlin.
- French Soldier 3: Captain says we stay here and watch for our flag-bearers. If they fall, we fall back to the church through the front door.
- French Soldier 2: The men are jumpy. If the flag-bearers fall, they will desert.
Eivor heard that the captain will appear if the flag-bearers were taken out. When Eivor took out the flag-bearers, the captain appeared as he held the key for the front door of the church. After taking the key, Eivor headed to the church and unlocked the door. Eivor walked in and saw Gozlin surrounded by parishioners. Gozlin noticed Eivor's presence.
- Gozlin: You! You foul beast. You Northmen slaughtered my brother.
Gozlin frowned as he dismissed the civilians around him.
- Gozlin: Now I shall wreak a terrible vengeance upon you.
- Eivor: He stood in my way. Now you, too, stand in my way.
- Gozlin: O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, how long shall the wicked triumph?
Gozlin unsheathed his longsword and challenged Eivor. Eivor and Gozlin fought.
- Gozlin: Die, heathen!
Eivor managed to weaken Gozlin half-way through their fight.
- Gozlin: God give me strength! No! This cannot be. God, heal me!
Eivor defeated Gozlin in battle as the priest laid on the floor, bleeding.
- Gozlin: Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit...
Gozlin passed away.
Eivor made way to the entrance, where Sigfred and Toka entered to meet with her. Sigfred, with his axe, stared at the citizens within the church.
- French Child 2: Mama, I'm scared.
- Sigfred: Clear the hall!
- French Woman 2: Hush child, hush.
- Toka: Come, Eivor. The fighting still rages through the streets. We need your strength.
Eivor nodded and left with Toka while Sigfred stayed in the church. Moments passed as Toka and Eivor awaited outside. A bloodied Sigfred walked outside as Toka gasped in shock.
- Sigfred: Blood red wine for your drinking horn, my brother.
Sigfred left the church as he killed everyone inside.
- Eivor: How does this end, Toka? Killing everyone?
- Toka: It is as I feared, the bloodlust is upon him. He will slaughter the whole city.
Sigfred rallied his warriors.
- Eivor: If I can reach Count Odo, I can make him surrender, to stop this madness.
- Toka: Sigfred's warriors have surrounded the gates to Odo's palace. With Gozlin dead, the streets are ours. We are moving the catapults to batter the palace gates down.
- Eivor: There must be another way over, under, or around those walls.
- Toka: Nolwenn once spoke of a tunnel in the southwest.
- Eivor: One way or another, I'll get in.
Eivor left as Paris was shown to be on fire.
Outcome[]
After Eivor defeated Gozlin, Sigfred, consumed by bloodlust, sought to slaughter the city. Eivor decided to meet with Odo to stop the madness.