#Ravensthorpe

[unteriors]

Spence Street, Ravensthorpe, Western Australia.

[aiisstuffnthings]

Breather

[misfit-lunitic]

"The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." -MAYA ANGELOU

[brasideios]

A Random Valhalla Fanfic Snippet

A couple of years ago, I replaced my iPad mini with an iPad, and since then, I’ve not really looked in the notes app. And the thing is, I used to write all my fanfic there. The notes app was basically broken and refused to move things to the cloud, so I used to email them to myself. But there were things I never bothered to move.

Anyway, in the search for old login details today, I booted up ye olde iPad mini, and on a whim, peeped into my notes app. I really had forgotten the volume of writing I’d left behind.

The good news is the app & cloud decided to oblige me at last, and all my writing has now been moved from the local drive to the cloud - hooray!

It opened on a snippet of AC Valhalla fic that I have no recollection of writing. I have no idea where it was going. I don’t think I knew even in March of 2021.

But heck. I’m posting it here because I felt like I was visiting old friends for a moment, and maybe someone else might like to as well. Nostalgia: my besetting sin :)

8 Mar 21.

Petra was up before the rest of the village most days, and this morning was no different. It was just as the world began to tip from dark to light, while the seasons began to tip from light to dark - the beginning of autumn, the air redolent with smoke, and the soft drip of rain from the eves into thick leaves below.

As she slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder and ducked out the door, a breeze was blowing high in the landmark tree, flapping the green banners against the lightening sky, and she could just make out the shifting shapes of clouds - she thought it likely to rain again before midday.

She cut through the town, heading towards the western edge of the village down near the river; passing the bureau where she caught a glimpse of Hytham rubbing his eyes in candlelight, a scroll already in hand though not yet unrolled; then she passed the cartographers and Swanburrow’s home, and there the woods took over.

She could always breathe easier beyond the small community. Being in the forest, the quiet of the hunt - that was what she lived for.

It’d been difficult in the first years, when she and Eivor had briefly been seeing each other. She’d hoped for more, but the whole time knowing deep down that that was more than she could really hope for; so when it’d petered out, she hadn’t been surprised.

What she hadn’t expected was Ubba Ragnarsson. When he’d appeared in the village and taken up his place as Eivor’s consort, there’d been real bitterness. Seeing them together, so totally in love, was enough to make her sick. She was ashamed now of the times she had tried to persuade Wallace to leave the village. Fortunately, he’d only shaken his head and told her he’d warned her not to get involved, and she’d just have to learn to live with it.

They hadn’t talked for a time; but that too had passed. And she had learnt to live with it, though it was still not easy sometimes…

She pushed these thoughts aside as she reached the quiet rustle of the woods. Hunting required concentration. There was no time to dwell.

Hytham heard rather than saw Petra passing outside, and glanced out into the relative darkness to gauge how long it would be before the sun came up.

He’d agreed to meet with Olsen, the cartographer, early. He’d returned to Ravensthorpe from Lunden with a new map he promised Hytham he’d want to see. Hytham had suggested he show him it straight away - sleep, like everything else, could wait - but it’d been very late, and Olsen said laughingly that he wanted to bathe and get some rest.

Hytham didn’t understand this weakness to fatigue. He slept little and lightly himself, but he knew better than to press him. He’d learnt the hard way to bend to the needs of others...

There was the sudden clanging of the bell at the Jomsviking Hall, carried across the town on the wind. Eivor was awake then, he thought, preparing to go on a raid.

Hytham frowned. He didn’t understand their obsession with that particular activity at all; but he added with a sigh to himself, people in general were an enigma to him.

Vagn was woken by the bell. He stirred, but by his side Earys sat bolt upright.

‘That fucking bell,’ she said, and hastily stood to dress. ‘I swear I’m going to fling it in the river.’

‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Vagn said comfortably, smiling happily at her as she stormed towards the door. He loved to see her angry. At her infernal best.

She paused before going outside to blow him a kiss, then she was gone.

Vagn lingered lazily for a moment. He could hear both Eivor and Ubba talking outside with a cluster of keen Jomsvikingr in preparation for the raid.

He should get up. He would get up. Any moment now…

Eivor’s lieutenant, Varfeitr, saw Earys leaving Vagn’s hut and raised a hand in respectful greeting.

She nodded and passed on, and he turned to Eivor.

‘Rollo wants to come with us. He’s been petitioning me relentlessly.’

Eivor grinned.

‘Rollo! I thought he had his hands full?’

Tove, who’d been sleeping with him since Yule, had caught him making eyes and crude suggestions to Sunniva when he’d drunk too much ale. Sunniva had, of course, laughed in his face, and told him she had more than enough trouble with two lovers and a small daughter - but Tove had been wildly furious, no matter how many times he’d apologised.

Varfeitr smiled. ‘He does - I think that’s why he wants to come.’

Eivor considered this. ‘Alright. Take orders to the barracks. Tell him he can go. You’ll raid along the border of Snotinghamscire. There’s a letter that needs taking to Vili Hemmingson. Be sure you see it delivered.’

Ubba looked at Eivor from the side of his eye, lips pursed.

Varfeitr nodded. ‘You wish me to lead?’

‘It’s your decision. Finnr can do it if you’d rather come with us to the Exe.’

‘No - I’ll go north, make sure the letter reaches Hemsthorpe.’

Eivor rested a hand on his shoulder for a moment, and said ‘My thanks. Travel safely.’

‘You too, my jarl.’

Vagn had finally dragged himself from his bed. He emerged out of the hut just as the sun peeped over the hills and through the trees.

He said cheerfully, ‘You’re early and loud this morning.’

Eivor smiled. ‘Ravensthorpe is making you soft.’

Vagn chuckled, but didn’t deny it.

‘The Exe today you said?

‘Last raid of the season I think.’

He pondered the sky, as though the future days could be read there.

‘We might risk another yet - but we’ll see what the weather does.’

He went to oversee last minute preparations, and Eivor turned to Ubba.

‘You’ll be alright here, with Norna?’

‘Of course,’ he said, smiling, though feeling a little terse. He hated watching the raiders leave. That first day was always the worst. By tomorrow, he knew, he would have got over it.

Eivor studied his face a moment, then nodded, reassured.

‘Then I’ll see you in a few days.’

‘You will. Be safe.’

Eivor grinned. ‘Of course. Then he turned away - but he paused a moment to look back and say, ‘No jumping off the lookout this time.’

Ubba only grunted, but he couldn’t entirely repress the smile this roused. Eivor would never let him forget about the damn broken leg.

[artschoolglasses]

The Ravensthorpe Docks

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

[emmanuelle-la-rosa]

Rav3nsthorpe

[everythingvalhalladd]

Reading the mother’s note in Tarben’s bakery after the grocery shopping trip… 🥹

[felicity-b]

[floralpunkbarton]

i'm tryin to work and all my brain will let stick to the wall is "valhalla au but eivor is Seriously Hurt in the fight against kjotve and can't follow sigurd to england right away (like. a year or two delay.)"

[reiverreturns]

so you’re telling me eivor “you could have wisdom! glory! power! what more do you need?” “everything else” varinsdottir really decided to leave england on a whim but went out of her way to say goodbye to:

aelfred (rat bastard)

guthrum (yawn)

harald (great hair less than 30 seconds screentime in the original game)

and she wouldn’t travel to say goodbye to:

valdis, oswald, and broder who lost a brother fighting to rescue sigurd from fulke

ljufvina, who has always been a firm friend and sacrificed so much fighting under eivor’s banner

stowe and erke, a perpetual reminder to her that what is good and what is right don’t always align

vili, the man who knows her heart as she knows his, her longest and often-closest friend

ceolbert, a man who left this world too soon but left such a mark on eivor that she would visit his grave and mourn him long after he was gone

are you really telling me that ubi. with a straight face. in this economy.

[reyofsunshne]

Hangovers, Havi and Shameless Flirting - Chapter 11

I'm back from my trip, and that means more Eivor! We are almost allowed to kiss outside of our dreams now! (not kidding this time!)

[ive-been-quested]

That was literally pointless it was like they were so afraid of making people mad they didn't even want to give her an actual ending and yet STILL managed to piss us off.

[troublemakingrebel]

“Could be chieftain of your own clan with courage like that!”

“No less than the King of Mercia, brother! One of these days...”

[shadxwcd]

@ofspvrta requested a starter from RANDVI!

Today was a day where time in nature was needed. She had just had enough of the Hall and of writing and of people approaching her to have official messages recorded down for Eivor and Sigurd when they return. She needed time just alone to feel whatever feeling this was in peace.

So she had taken her bathing things and gone to the river far upstream from the town, where there were some good rocks to perch on and plenty of birdsong and lush greenery to admire within the woods. Randvi had bathed and now sat with damp hair and clean robes on one of the rocks, eyes closed just trying to focus only on nature and not on her own claustrophobic frustration.

Hearing footsteps approaching, she tried to ignore it and hope that whoever it was would respect that she had been bathing and leave her alone. The fact that they didn't brought her momentary frustration before she peaked out of one eye and saw Kassandra approaching. She and, assumedly, Eivor had returned.

"You certainly make a good tracker." She murmurs quietly, letting Kassandra approach. One of two people who could be with her now. "Though I suppose I didn't cover my tracks."

[magstorrn]

chilling in the ravensthorpe longhouse after sigurd just completely ruined holger's life and suddenly the disembodied voice of basim thanks eivor for taking good care of hytham... like you're welcome bro but where are you