Chapter 55: Deep Dive
There has been no contact for decades, and Otto's description of the deer breeder is limited to the priest Veria.
He really didn't know that those deer breeders who were sitting on a lot of wealth were actually a group of guys who made good use of stone spears and bone arrows.
Otto is entirely out of some encounters with the Danes, thinking that those deer breeders must be brave and good at fighting.
Otherwise, how can they survive in this icy world?
Otto saw not only the potential for great wealth, but also the risk of looting that wealth.
If the deer breeder encountered is strong, he would not dare to attack easily.
He called everyone to explain the situation, and the twenty people acted immediately.
In an instant, everyone's goal was no longer to find snow sculptures and foxes, nor to hunt lone reindeer.
Now, the power of the tribe must be gathered, the deer herds of the deer farmers must be found, and then they must be wiped out.
The warriors of the Ross tribe have turned into hungry wolves, hungry for meat, large chunks of meat led by the alpha wolf.
Otto's 20 people immediately broke down into pieces, and they acted separately, as if casting a big net to catch potentially big fish.
They started out as scouts, and fifteen people participated in this large-scale "map scan".
They started with a sheltered camp, and then they built a search network with a width of more than ten kilometers.
They used the footprints of the deer as a reference, thinking of a high probability of moving in the right direction.
There is no doubt that Otto is a part of this search team. As the leader, he must bear a huge responsibility for the collective hunting.
Ordinary hunters don't need to think too much, because their leader Otto is a very good hunter, and individuals just need to follow him.
Because whether hunting or fighting, following the leader for so many years, the tribe has not failed.
Of course, there is a price to follow, and according to tradition, most of the gains go to the leader. Followers get a small part. In fact, according to past experience, it will be a "Drinking soup", and each individual receives a lot of goods.
Only two people stayed at the advancing camp, and the other three immediately rushed to the big camp, just to gather the scattered people to carry out an inevitable large-scale hunt.
Regarding this matter, everyone knows that the leader is gambling.
The situation has changed dramatically, don't expect to complete the hunt in ten days, it will be possible for everyone to gain a lot.
If you want great wealth, you must take great risks, but Otto bears a huge psychological pressure. If the search is fruitless, or the prey runs away, although he will not lose his leadership position, his personal prestige must be great. fall.
"The herd! Odin, if you love me, let me find them."
Otto had to firm up his beliefs, and he also believed that his subordinates would obey orders honestly.
The fastest time for the messenger to return to the big camp is around dark the next day. When a large number of people arrive at the so-called advanced camp with weapons and chainmail, it will be three days later.
If the prey cannot be found in these three days, everything will be for naught.
Snow is obviously not a good place to fight, even for those deer, the risk must be taken.
Thanks to the still strong body given by the long-term training, Otto can endure the extreme cold and exhaustion that ordinary people can't bear, and most of his subordinates are like this.
They proceeded along the trail, and the overall direction again turned to due north.
The weather on this day was quite clear, and the stars in the night sky echoed the ever-present Aurora. The light shines on the snow field, and the whole world appears very bright. So even in the polar night, as long as there are no dark clouds, there will be no pure darkness, and even hunters are very adaptable to this low-light world.
Compared with humans, those reindeer are more adapted to life under the extreme night, they are still in the gaps between the trees,
Use your thick mouth to poke the snow away and nibble on the grass roots below. Around them, some Sami herders constantly monitor their deer and every move around them, and the deer are attacked by arctic wolves.
Those herdsmen were people on foot, they wore thick deerskin coats, and always held wooden poles in their hands, the ends of which were hard and sharp spear points made of antlers.
Such a shape is like a soldier of the Stone Age. They never imagined that thousands of kilometers away in the south, the heavy cavalry of the Eastern Rome was fully armored.
After walking the whole day, Otto and his party walked a long way under Aurora's glow.
The search line is about ten kilometers long, and every unit that constitutes it has wide-eyed eyes.
Humans are not a race with good night vision, but fortunately, it is always enough under normal circumstances.
Ordinary people of the Ross tribe have no chance or plan to touch any books at all, especially the men of the tribe. Apart from resting in the longhouse, they prefer to stay outdoors on weekdays. Everyone's eyesight is excellent, and even if the light is bad at night, they can still detect abnormal changes in the woods in the distance.
They were especially alert to strange bright spots on the snowfields.
"As expected, there are wolves!"
Otto saw some green bright spots in the distance, which he knew very well were the fluorescent reflections of the wolf's eyes. Thinking of the possibility of fighting wolves, he could not help grasping his saber.
The people who went forward noticed the existence of the wolf, and everyone maintained basic vigilance. After all, everyone put on their own chain armor under the leather jacket, with a sword or an axe in their waists, and their backs were still on their backs. with a round shield.
The only thing that everyone doesn't wear is a metal helmet that takes both into account, that thing is too cold!
Maybe the wolves are smart. They watched in twos and threes from a distance, and did not disturb the progress of the strange people. They seemed to have sensed the danger.
The wolf has left after all. It stands to reason that if you can hunt wolves, the wolf skin is also a good protection against the cold, and the wolf head can be used as a symbol of personal strength.
After all, Otto's prey is not a wolf.
When everyone was tired, people began to gather together and dig holes in the snow. Use the various materials carried by the dragged sled to build a small nest to keep out the cold.
Everyone was convinced that they were moving in the right direction, because the footprints of the deer had not disappeared.
Because there is a hilly area in front of you, a lot of footprints extend in that direction, and there are trees everywhere in that area.
If it is clear that there are deer keepers, they will definitely put their homes in the woods.
After all, the wind and snow in this area are like knives, and everyone needs a barrier against the wind and snow.
In Rossburg, the settlement is located in a fjord, flanked by hills that largely offset the erosion of the northerly wind.
If the deer breeders were not fools, they would settle down in the woods.
Otto had a hunch, he felt that he would soon encounter those deer breeders, to be precise, it should be a distant witness.
In the middle of the night, he gathered all the fifteen people around him. First, he encouraged everyone about the hardships they had been traveling for a few days, and then drew a big pie in time.
Because Otto didn't know if he could run into those deer breeders in the next two days, and he didn't know where the people who reported the news went.
The group first gathered in a small forest, and Otto ordered everyone not to make a fire, but to eat cold dry meat.
Such a harsh order will inevitably lead to doubts, but his words make the doubters feel warm.
"I have a strong hunch that tomorrow we will find the deer breeders. So we have to rest well, and we will continue to dormant when it is dawn. When night falls again, we will continue to act."
There are still doubts. At this time, we are exhausted, and everyone is willing to bury the doubts in their hearts.
It has to be said that this exploration of the northeast direction is fruitful!
In this unknown land, people did encounter some wolves, and the presence of ferocious predators speaks volumes - this is by no means a barren place in appearance.
As long as they silently mount the furry ferrets hanging on their corsets, hunters with such harvests can't wait to peel off the fur of the arctic wolves that only expose their green eyes and wait until spring. Sell for a good price.
This exploration is of great value. After you go back, you can tell the clansmen that there are still a large number of wild beasts in the northeast inland that need to be caught. They are the wealth of walking.