Book 4, Chapter 33: The Shepherd And The Flock
Folklore continued to evolve in the North Sea Empire, despite the claims of certain prescriptivist academics to the contrary. While certainly there were heroic tales of the exploits of the leading families and individuals of the Empire, there were other, more wide-ranging developments beyond these individual works. One of the most infamous examples is how, within the space of a generation, an entire new class of minor malevolent entity had entered the stories and traditions of many of the ethnic and cultural groups in the Empire—that of the kroaziad, taken from the Brezhoneg word for crusader. By the 1070s, instances of this genre of folklore and folktales were commonly recorded, and it is possible to track the development and spread of this particular class over the prior and subsequent decades.
While the particulars differ between different ethnic and social groups, the general commonalities of the kroaziad are that they are disembodied malicious spirits sourced from the souls of Christian Crusaders slain in their attacks on Imperial communities; that their abilities , in their weakened state, mostly amount to causing minor problems and inconveniences for the household thus afflicted; and that their agreed-upon leader is the knight Sir Henry of Brittany. Other details vary between different groups. On the topic of removal, for example, the Breizhad hold that the best way to be rid of them is to shake a pouch filled with dragon-scales, while the Jews state that they cannot stand running water, and the Danes believe that a hearth-fire will repel them. The reasons for the spirits staying in this world and not moving onto the afterlife are likewise varied; among the Breizhad, the local psychopomp, Ankou, is believed to refuse to allow them to sully their cart, while the Jews state that the spirits themselves are responsible for their circumstance through a rejection of accepting responsibility for their crimes, and the Swedes state that neither Odin, Freyja, Rán, nor Hel allowed them into their realms, citing standards.
—Ten Thousand Living Tales: The Oral Traditions, Cordova Academic Press Ltd., 1545
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Zigzagged. Mor mentions that when news of her father dying reached her home, some people actually cheered, some wept, and many were simply ambivalent and explicitly contrasts it to people universally cheering at the news Stoick will survive his wounds.
- Cliffhanger: The chapter ends with the news of the Pechenegs attacking Constantinople. Earlier it left Tuffnut and Mor on a cliffhanger when her water broke.
- Content Warnings:Chapter Trigger Warnings: Explicit Depictions of Medical Surgery, Implied Mention of Past Non-Con
- Double-Meaning Title: The chapter shows Father Pierre and his "flock" of worshipers, and a literal shepherd and flock with Macarius. Both shepherds embody the theme of protecting the weak.
- Emasculated Cuckold: Discussed. Part of the reason Hikmat is all too happy to work in one of the Bog Burglar Brothels is because she knows Octavianus will feel cucked over it.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Mulan correctly reasons that since all the Dragon Mail stations across the different nations have the same design, they must have all been built by one power and from there, incorrectly concludes that therefore, there is only one Dragon-riding power besides the Pechenegs.
- Everyone Has Standards: The Swedes believe that the Norse Deities they worship refuse to accept the kroaziad into their realms because they have standards they expect out of their potential warriors.
- Internal Reveal:
- Macarius' family and the Christian monks finds out about Florian.
- Hiccup finds out about the Pecheneg dragon riders in this chapter.
- Irony: Gunvor comments to Hakon on the oddity of vikings giving food rather than raiding for it when they send food shipments to the newly annexed Brittany.
- It Can Think: Toothless is actually shown learning to write, to the extent that he can write "Yes" and Hiccup's name, although he finds it easier to write in runes as opposed to Latin or Arabic due to the straight lines.
- Never My Fault: The Jews theorize that the kroaziad are stuck as ghosts due to their refusal to take responsibility for their wrongdoings.
- The Scapegoat: Discussed. One of the Jews fears Stoick will blame them for his injuries due to his receiving them as a result of him wanting to visit Henry so he could talk about them but Esther assures him Stoick is a lot wiser than that.
- Unproblematic Prostitution: Hikmat wishes to join a brothel because she likes sex and because she can cuckold Octavianus.
- Villainous Legacy: According to the epigraph, Sir Henry has become a folklore legend as the leader of the kroaziad ghosts.
