[center][b]Ards[/b][/center]

[b]A) Improve Food / X) Improve Morale[/b]
[hider=Warriors' Return]

Early in the morn, Dag and several of the hunters were out in a nearby wood setting up even more traps to capture wolves. One pack would not be enough; the tribe would need a great many of the beasts as some would no doubt resist domestication, and afterwards the tamed dogs would ideally be bred for useful traits. Such taming and breeding would call for a variety of different wolves, so Dag would not rest until he had filled the new wolf pens. Or until he spotted figures in the distance, as it happened.

From between the trees one of the hunters spotted a band of figures in the distance, trudging down one of the rolling hills. Calling Dag and the other hunters to attention, one of the men with keen eyes was quick to announce that those were fellow Ards. It would seem that one of the scout parties had returned. The hunters abandoned their work for the time to meet with the scouts and escort them back to the village. The scouts had little to say; they had seen little yet more hills and scattered forest, and after several days of travel on nothing save dried meat and empty bellies they were in little mood to talk.

Fortunately, Njor was already beginning to enjoy the benefits of the newly built fishing rafts. Fresh fish were cooked for the ravenous men, who gladly accepted the succulent seafood. Their faces, and indeed those of the entire village, lit up at the taste of something other than the preserved meats that they had subsisted on for so long. Later that afternoon another scout party found its way back to Njor. They too received a small feast of fish. By nightfall Danr arrived as well along with the third group. Now that all the scouts were back, with every man alive no less, Dag arranged for a much larger celebration. 

Fish, meats, and even what miscellaneous scraps of other foods that the tribe had gathered from the forest were all prepared. Within the mead hall the Ard tribe feasted. This celebration turned out better than the last. The celebration was much more lively with dance and such now that all the men were back, the food was far less bland, and this time a pack of wolves did attack. The scouts recounted tales of what they had seen, though some were doubtless a bit disappointed at the lack of excitement to the stories. There had been no signs of skraelings, though there was a great mountain and a river further to the southwest. More expeditions would have to be sent as the land seemed to stretch on and on and the distant mountain in particular engaged the curiosity of some of the tribesmen, particularly those that had been miners and smiths before the Ards migrated to these lands. But for now, Danr was satisfied with the knowledge that no skraelings were in the immediate vicinity.

The celebration went on long into the night, until at last the people grew tired and left to the nearby longhouses to retire for the night, hopefully in good spirits. The Ards had experienced a hard past few years, but things seemed to be turning for the better. With any luck the tribe would be in high spirits after this; a thought that pleased Danr, as a tribe with good morale was a tribe with more motivation and harder working people.

The next day, while his foolish son took some of the best hunters looking for ragged wolves and some of the people made use of the new fishing rafts, Danr put the rest of the people to work. Some crops would be good to supplement the tribe's current food sources, the chieftain reasoned. Dried meat and fish would keep their bellies full, yet such a diet was still lacking. To be healthy and have an acceptable amount of variety some basic grains and vegetables would go a long ways.

The Ards were not especially good farmers, hailing from a land with harsh winters and poor soil, but in times past they had grown some hardier crops using fish, food scraps, and their livestocks' waste as fertilizers to grow foods. On their ships some of the former farmers had the foresight to have carried seeds: the Ards still had some precious seeds for barley, rye, and cabbage. Danr ordered some small farms to be built a small ways away from the hill that the mead hall and longhouses were built upon, so that the farms would not be in the way of the additional housing and fortifications that would eventually be constructed around Njor. Keeping to tradition, the Ards dug holes in the soil placed a short distance apart. Then, they filled the holes with chum and food scraps before planting the seeds on top. It would be some time before the crops would grow and feed the tribe, but by then they would no doubt be welcome.

In the meantime, Danr had construction begin on several drying racks and a smokehouse. Using those, the tribe would be able to cook their fish and meat in different ways, as well as better preserve it for the winter. The aged chieftain still remembered the times of famine that tainted memories of his youth. It brought a smile to his scarred face to think of how the Ards would soon have no worries of hunger.

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[b]Summary:[/b]
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-Danr and the scouts are back and a celebration was held to celebrate their return. Hopefully it increased the tribe's morale.
-Work has begun on a smokehouse and drying racks.
-The Ards have planted small gardens of rye, cabbage, and barley. They fertilized their small farms using fish and food scraps.
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