064

I was disappointed with the goods Skarde delivered, twenty Finnish slaves, 211 pounds of iron and only 509 pounds of limestone ... the latter I needed a lot more... Skarde was a retailer and I needed a wholesaler.

- Skarde, I'm buying everything you've delivered now, but I need more limestone ... a lot more. If you agree, I will send my boats with you, this way they will bring more of it. Of course you will get the appropriate payment.

- Jarl Ulf, how much do you need? Maybe I will do one or two more expeditions and it will be enough for your needs? Then you won't have to pay any more.

- I need 5,000 pounds of limestone and maybe more in the future. One or two expeditions will not satisfy my needs... you want to protect your source, but sometimes it's better to sacrifice something and gain something else in return ... Come with me, I will show you our new goods, maybe they will interest you, these are not things that are common in these areas.

I took Skarde to my father's house, which was temporarily used as my private warehouse, and showed him the things looted in the west ... clothes, fabrics, wine, tools and utensils, there were also some sculptures made of stone ... things completely useless for me, but likely to gain a high value... and in the end we made a deal, my ships will go with him and they will bring a limestone, in return he will get the contents of my warehouse ... although the value of the warehouse was greater than the limestone, access to a fixed source was priceless for me ... especially since the source was in Denmark.

I collected slaves who knew building and construction, the stones had been prepared for several months and I ordered them to start building the wall, I also gave them 200 helpers ... the assumption was that the wall was to be 4.5 meters high, 2.5 wide and over two 2 kilometers long, with two gates ... I was aware that we wouldn't be able to finish the construction before winter, but building half shouldn't be a problem.

All the rented ships returned, the average loot wasn't the worst, but only by chance. One of the crews found a small port with three merchant ships and seized the opportunity. The rest of the crews weren't so lucky. They plundered several small fishing and agricultural settlements. Perhaps they will understand that raid planning is not a skill that everyone has.

It's harvest time, I went to see how my slave village was doing ... and as expected. Despite the poor soil, their fields yielded more crops than farms in better lands. I let them keep half the harvest so they could feed themselves, and the rest of the grain was to be used as winter stock for the slaves in Kategat. We also hunted seals and caught fish all the time. Breeding hares was also effective, the female gave birth to 2 to 5 cubs and could have been pregnant three times a year ... it was a natural meat factory.

Everything is slowly taking shape ... although there is still a lot of work ahead of us. Our next task was to build a permanent market near the beach and build a temple, but I did the last one myself and regarding market, when traders came, or the residents wanted to sell something, they set up their stand wherever they could. Thanks to the market, there will be a little more order here.

I chose the three largest trees in the area, ordered my slave to cut them down and transport them to Kattegat. After getting rid of the branch and bark, I started carving ... the next six months I was going to spend only on this.

The following months passed, autumn turned into winter ... life slowly moved on. It is 784, my daughter is one year old. I often took her to my father's house, which was now serving as a carpentry workshop, mine was too small to hold three 10-meter logs. I spread the fur on the log and put Yrsa on it. I gave her pieces of wood to play with, sang to her or I told her stories, though I doubt she understood anything... and so on day after day... After some time Siggy's daughter joined us ... and working in the company of two children is a challenge for me. I am trying to be a better father than before, but my attitude towards children hasn't changed much.

When I was close to completing the work, I ordered slaves to dig three holes three meters deep and prepare the mortar ... the logs were 10 meters high, but for security and stability, three meters were to be dug into the ground.

Apart from Lagertha, Siggy, Eric and Leif, not many people knew what I did, at the end of March, in the evening, I ordered the sculptures to be moved to a designated place by slave. First, in the center, there is a statue of Týr, on the left a statue of Freyja, and a statue of Odin on the right.

After several hours of work, we managed to put a monument in the their place ... and I returned home to catch some sleep ... it was long six months, seven days a week, 8 or 10 hours a day.

In the morning it will be a big surprise for the inhabitants of Kattegat and I hope that the news about it will spread quickly throughout Scandinavia and I will be able to count on profits from religious tourism, of course the importance of Kattegat will also increase... Maybe I will start manufacturing gods figures, small in size, and sell them. This one helps with sex, this one gives courage ... and this one heals a hangover .. There is potential in that.

I was tired but happy ... Tomorrow I will have to sacrifice some slaves and then arrange a meeting with my people... but first I need to sleep.