Updates 45 (couldn't think of anything witty)

[Mamorien]

Secondary Character Deaths, Explicit Mention of Torture

Yes, mothers, A Thing of Vikings, containing 10% more less, is absolutely indistinguishable from a dead crab! So read A Thing of Vikings and go to heaven!

The New Year's Fire Rout was a pivotal military battle between the Pecheneg-led conqueror coalition and the Song Dynasty. While Song casualties were heavy—estimates range between 45,000 and 70,000 dead between the initial attack and the aftermath—they also dealt the Pecheneg coalition their first significant defeat after a string of unresisted conquests. Proportionately speaking the Pecheneg losses were heavier than that of the Song, and the complete rout of the Pecheneg forces and the subsequent political developments began a short-lived period of political infighting and consolidation among the coalition, buying the Song and their neighbors time to prepare a response…

At the Pecheneg forward striking base near Ninxia, Drago receives an unexpected honor from the Kagan. On the ridge in Iceland where the Puffspikes nest, Toothless hopes his sister (who gets a name, Fearless) will learn to trust at least his walker. Down in Höfn, Mildew gives the Thingmen an understandable bollocking for their failure to recapture Hiccup. In Bianjing's Dragon Pavilion, Emperor Zhào Zhēn honors the young woman who, in leading the Fire Rout, brought further honor and glory to an already legendary name. Back on the Buffalord nesting ridge, Astrid enjoys a moment of relief between battles and other excitements. One of those excitements involves Toothless carrying Hiccup into the Grímsvötn nest, accompanied by Fearless, to attempt negotiations with Screaming White. When this goes much as you might expect, Hiccup and his bud excuse themselves expeditiously, then deal with the aftermath. Back on the ridge, Astrid and Eret exchange information, then get brought up to speed on the situation with the local flyers. On his estate in Kappadokia, Sigurd wakes up with his loves, preparing to go back to the world. Back in Höfn, Mildew makes a last grasp at what's already starting to slip away from him, even as Astrid prepares to free some thralls. Toothless and Fearless lead Mildew and his crew into the abandoned Esjufjöll nest, but there's a late arrival. Fearless sends her brother away while she holds off the Screaming Death, demonstrating The Third Principle of Sentient Life* in the process. Mildew gets to participate in her demonstration, a thing that couldn't (or at least shouldn't) happen to a nicer guy.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/69449391

The Third Principle Of Sentient Life is the capacity for self-sacrifice, the conscious ability to override evolution and self-preservation for a cause, a friend, a loved one.