Combat & War

Combat and war seem to be one of those things that you just can't avoid, so yah better be ready at all times. Because of the great honor that can come from winning a battle the Valgarins never shy from battle, and are willing to die if the cause is something that they believe in. They fight with all there heart and soul. They will run right into the middle of the fray, rather then staying on the fringes try to avoid being hit. “Yer foe can not hurt yah if he as no head.”

Valgarin Warfare

While the Valgarins may seem disorganized to an outsider in how they divide themselves into clans and how they lack a unified army, they are in fact just as organized as they need to be. Each laird or thane has a personal hird, a group of men and women acting as soldiers, bodyguards and law enforcers for the leader of their clan. Also, each thane and laird has in turn swore an oath to serve the king in the same way as their hirdsmen/women serve them, so if the kingdom as a whole is threatened they will all heed the high kings call and band together to defend the lands, along with the kings own personal hird.

All Valgarin children and young adults receive some basic training to protect themselves and help do their part in protecting their clan and their home. Those who show a talent for it or express an interest to do so are chosen to train more extensively to become hirdsmen/women. After a few years of training and after a final test to prove themselves they swear their oaths to serve the clans leader. After this they are considered members of the hird and as such they are traditionally given a scramasax, a kind of single-edged war knife, with a special sheath marked and decorated in a special way to show which clan the hirdsman belongs to. These war knives hang in their sheaths horizontally at the front of the hirdsmen/women belt to always show off their loyalty, and to act as a form of protection.
Even in combat however the Valgarins are known to outsiders as disorganized brutes with little planning in their actions, which is just as far from the truth. The Valgarin warriors wear no specific uniform, except for the blades given to them by their laird/thane, which along with their generally ragged appearance help their opponents believe even more in their lack of organization, which they gladly take advantage of. They usually fight on a line with large wooden round shields and short spears, axes or long swords while wearing have chain mail or leather armors. Adornments and coloring of shields and clothing vary greatly from clan to clan, and between the Skoll and the Ceiki. While their general styles of fighting rely more on strength then technique this is not at all to say that they lack skill, as many tend to believe.

A common form of training within the hirds, and between the hirds as well at times, are various simple war games. The most common one is known as "Yrsa's Circle" and would easiest be described as a form of free-for-all dueling. All the combatants stand in a circle until the leader of the ring announces the game as started. The point of the game then is to maneuver in such a way as to avoid one on one fighting and get others to show their back to you. This is a very popular game since it is based around two of the most basic ideas to Valgarin warriors. These are that the most honor is gained not from acting fancy but from being the one left standing, which means there is nothing wrong (quite the opposite) in killing someone from behind, and also that in a one on one duel you always have more or less a fifty percent chance of winning, which is why it is always best to be in a situation where you are not by yourself.

Rules To Sioba Wrestling

(called Indian Wrestling where I am from)

The two contestants clasp hands together, cuffed fingers in cuffed fingers. They then place their two adjoining legs behind one another. This part is important as well, as they should both try to insure they have the best vantage. There is a call to start, to which the contestants try to knock the other off balance and to the floor of the ship, only using the clasped hands to pull and push, and the adjoining legs to trip. The winner is the one standing. Ties are resulted if both fall. While it may seem this would be to the stronger, that is not so at all(though and Ogre would surely have a great advantage). Balance, speed and leverage are all a part of it, as well as the roll of the waves of the sea. It is a simple game to pass time, though the champions of this are held in high regard among the crew.

Table of Contents

Home Page
Cheat Sheet
Fiction Facts
Terms
Updates

Character

Clothing
Common Trades
Food
Occupations
Personality
Physical Description

Kingdom

Animals
Crafts
Geography
Government
Homes
Hostiles
Imports/Exports
Introduction
Language
Other Kingdoms
Resources
Town

Culture

Art & Literature
Combat & War
Drugs & Gambling
Family
Hospitality
Life to Death
Slavery
Superstitions

Religion

Becoming a Völva
Creation Myth
God
Holidays
Prayers
Relationship
Rituals
Rune Calling
The Talon Circle
Worship

Social

Criminals/Outcasts
Interaction
Laws/Enforcement
Politics
Social Orders
Social Organization

Stories

Battle Anthem
Dorian the Winter Trader
Dyrling Brides
Earning your sea legs
Going Home
Hallaic Wall
The Initiate
The Story of the Two Sacred Eggs

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