Part 379: 1359: Ramifications of Horsetheft

Pitiful Blue Jays. Our vengeance has only just begun.




First, we shall make peace with the other clan we are currently feuding with... the Jenestni. Once our warfare has ended, we will be able to destroy the Blue Jays unto their last man, burn their every stead, and send every child mewling to their tribemates to beg for shelter.

That, and no less, is the price for endangering the blood of the furious queen Umathkar.



Brodasart, son of the prosperous carl Glendara, has been slain in an ambush. Friends, who were with him when he was attacked, report that the assailants were relatives of Ranggara Dark-Eyes of the Bayberry clan. According to his friends, the killers said to them, "Stand aside, for our quarrel is only with the family that killed our kinsman, not with others of the Kuchulainn clan." Everyone remembers the incident in which Rangarda stole Glendara's prize stallion, and Glendara's children slew one of Rangarda's sons while retrieving it.

Compose a poem in honor of Brodasart.

Encourage Glendara to swear off vengeance.

Raid the Bayberry clan.

Sacrifice to the gods in honor of Brodasart.

Take no action.

Warn Bayberry leaders that more killing may follow.

We must attend to our own clan, peacefully if possible, but if that is not enough, then by warlike means.

Glendara is within her rights to pursue vengeance. The people will be unhappy if we try to convince her to forswear these rights.

Although it would be good to maintain strong relations with the Bayberries, it would be bad to injure the feelings of our own people.

The carls were once worried that Glendara would start a feud, but Brodasart was a popular fellow, and now they are hungry for vengeance.

It is at times like this that our thoughts must turn to the gods, who were the first to experience the pangs of loss, and thus laid the way for the rest of us.

It is as I said. Womanish pride has led to the spilling of manly blood.