Video - Like a Lost Dog Ad, But For a Slave

[ragnarsson]

I seemed to have misplaced my slave priest. Since he belongs to me, if anyone could return him, I'd be most grateful. He's a little under six feet tall, black hair, blue eyes, and has a magic sword. Answers to the name Bishop Heahmund.

[Heahmund had stormed off in a huff after Ivar had found him the first time, but if he thinks the teenage Viking warlord who captured him back home is done with tormenting him, the priest is far from mistaken. Ivar's just getting started.]

He'll likely be quoting the Bible and telling you all how you're going to hell because he's extremely pompous and seems to think being a Christian bishop makes him better than everyone else. Be sure to let him know I'm looking for him.

Comments

[ragnarsson]

Did it ever have a positive one?

[He's pretty aware of what it makes him out to be. And is still in the state of not caring at all.]

I don't think he's lesser. [Alright, maybe just a little because Heahmund is a Christian, but really, Ivar thinks that about all Christians.] I simply think he is mine because I won him after defeating him in battle. It was the same as raiding a church for their golden treasures.

[Though he's not doing the best job of explaining it, Viking slaves had it better than a lot of other cultures that enslaved people. They actually had rights the ability to make their own choices, and the chance to be freed.]

[backwaterbelle]

Not particularly, no.

[Ivar, you're comparing a person to an object. Regardless of value, that's a huge denouncement right there.]

Ah'm going to counter that analogy with the fact that treasures are incapable of conscious thoughts and feelings. They ain't sentient beings.

[She sighs softly, knowing that he's not going to change his mind on the matter as Ivar's just as stubborn (if not more) than herself, and this is culturally ingrained within him.]

Ivar ah ain't forcin' you to do anythin', but ah wanted to explain how people with world's and histories like mine might react.

[ragnarsson]

If he really wanted to be free, he could have tried to kill me at any time. He hasn't. There is the fact I treat him decently enough to make him willing to fight for me.

[Heahmund might claim he fights for his God, but when he got right down to it, Ivar was the real one who had convinced him.]

They can think what they want. I don't care.

[Really the story of Ivar's life right there.]

[backwaterbelle]

Sugah you know very well that it ain't always that simple, but ah'd have to touch him to know the truth of things from his perspective. What people say and what people believe don't always align, especially when their life's on the line.

[She hums, and her tone has been surprisingly understanding and concerned for him throughout this talk.]

Ah know. You know ah do.

[ragnarsson]

I do know he's as crazy and bloodthirsty as I am. He enjoys killing even if he doesn't want to admit it.

[He says this all with no small amount of fondness. While Ivar may not quite be getting the concept of not owning someone, it's clear he doesn't hate Heahmund. The priest has definitely grown on him in their time together.]

[backwaterbelle]

Ah don't think you're crazy, and ah've seen crazy. [She pauses, frowning.] Ah've been in crazy's head.

[She knows far crazier than Ivar. Sure, she's biased and far more tolerant and liberal with the lines she draws, but Rogue's nearly always willing to give someone a chance or two.]

Do you trust him 'round kids?

[ragnarsson]

You're too kind, Rogue.

[Not sarcasm for once. Her words get a small smile out of the Viking. He's pretty sure she's wrong, because Ivar is completely unstable, but he'll take what he can get.]

I do. He'd never hurt someone he perceives as innocent.

[If that ever changed, Ivar would kill Heahmund himself. No one was going to ever pose a threat to his daughter.]

[backwaterbelle]

Not always. Just with those ah care 'bout.

[There are levels, and Rogue would trust him with her life. Not over his, perhaps, but it's more credit than she gives others.]

Good. Religion don't exactly stop people from doin' terrible things. Sometimes it encourages them.

[ragnarsson]

It's very much the truth. I think he uses the church as an excuse to be able to kill and enjoy it while he does so.

[Of course, the reason Ivar thinks this is because he does very much the same with his own religion. He would have been a vicious psychopath no matter where or when he was born, but the Norse culture gave him an excuse to indulge his tendencies, and to be praised for them by those around him to boot.]