章節 42: Chapter 42: Culture Shock
Beyond the Wall Aiden had learned much about the Free Folk, he actually met real giants who were thought to be exctinct, he also met the various tribes, which he didn't like all of them.
There were several different groups of Free Folk, the most numerous was the "woodsmen" who lived amongst the Haunted Forest. They wore heavy animal furs from all the animals they hunted and mostly used stone weapons and tools. They sometimes had metal weapons they took from men of the Night Watch that ventured beyond the wall, but it was rare.
Then there were the Frozen Shore tribes who lived along the coast, they wore sea shells to decorate their clothing. Like the woodsmen, they mainly used weapons made from stone but also the bones of sea creatures, but occasionally they too had iron weapons from raiding Bear Island regularly.
The Hornfoots were from the Frostfang Mountains, they were called such because their feet were hard and black due to they didn't wear any boots. There wasn't any large animals in the mountains so they wore small scraps of fur with bones of animals for clothing.
The Cave people also hailed from the same region, but unlike the Hornfoots they lived within the caves, they used moss as clothing and did trade with other tribes so they were a little better off than the Hornfoots.
The Thenns were the most hated of all the tribes, Aiden had many run ins with this group, they regularly practiced cannibalism and ritualistic scarification. They were also the most technologically advanced of all the tribes, they made weapons and armor out of bronze. Upon seeing Aiden, who unlike the other people of the tribes didn't stink or was dirty, they tried multiple times to eat him.
The last group was the Giants, led by Mag the Mighty, were the smallest group, but also the most dangerous. They were extremely strong and used tree trunks as weapons, sometimes they even tied boulders to the end of their clubs which made them a dangerous foe. They were hardly dressed, mearly wrapping whatever cloth or furs they could find and had domesticated large woolly mammoths as mounts.
After meeting with Mance Raider he learned much about the man, he was born beyond the Wall, as a babe his mother left him with the Nights Watch who took him in. They trained him and fed him, but he didn't like that he couldn't have a family.
So one day he abandoned his Watch and went back beyond the Wall, he eventually found a tribe that took him in, he found a wife and had children. He stayed away from the Wall, since he knew that should he be found by the Nights Watch, they would execute him for abandoning his Watch.
He became the newest King Beyond the Wall due to his village being attacked by the Others, his wife and children along with many of his village were killed and turned into Wights. Before he ran he made sure to kill his wife and children using a flaming log, he didn't want his loved ones being controlled like they were.
After escaping Mance began to take action to become King Beyond the Wall, because he was taught by Aemon Targaryen, the Maester of Castle Black, he knew more of what the Others were than the other Free Folk.
He used his knowledge to gain followers, most Free Folk were illiterate, they were survivalists, not merchants. There was no education system for the Free Folk, so counting and hunting was about all they could do. There were healers who had passed their knowledge down but they were few and far between.
Healers marked their huts in specific ways, not only to allow villagers to easily locate them, but also if another tribe attacked, the healer wouldn't be touched or even captured really. Instead they were mearly relocated and treated respectfully.
It was a bit of a culture shock to Aiden, their ways were brutal and barbaric to him. For example, to get a wife or husband, they would basically kidnap the woman or man they wished to marry. It was frowned upon to kidnap already claimed women or men but young girls and boys were free pickings.
If you were able to get away from the house with the man or woman, successfully fighting off not only the man or woman they wanted but also their family, then from that point on they were married. The family could do nothing but accept it, however if the man or woman who stole their mate grew weak or was abusive, they ran the risk of being killed in their sleep by the one they stole.
South of the Wall this was basically rape, the Free Folk only considered it rape if the man or woman was already married, if they weren't claimed by another then it wasn't, it was stealing a wife or husband.
This had caused a big problem for Aiden, so when he learned of this, he made sure to not sleep within the camp. He was the cleanest and most handsome of men, he wasn't dirty and smelly like all the others due to his biology.
Kryptonians didn't have to bath or wash, their cells were in a constant state of renewal and they didn't sweat. Even if they did get dirt on themselves it would just be pushed off by their bio-electric field. So he was an anomaly within the Free Folk camp.
Val and her sister Ygritte were the main ones that were after Aiden, and in order to not be stolen themselves since after meeting Aiden, they spent most of their time at night hunting him down.
It wasn't that Aiden didn't find them attractive, but to be forced into a marriage and basically getting raped didn't sit well with him. He spent his nights searching for Wights, this way he didn't have to kill the two girls.
The issue was the rules were different for men and woman, a man had to escape with the woman fully, they had to make it all the way back to their own hut before it was official. But women only needed to steal something of the mans, usually a weapon or armor, but it could be anything. A pillow or blanket, spoon or bowl, then they had to bring what they stole home.
If they were able to do this then they could claim the man after they made it back home with what they stole. This was why Aiden did his best to keep everything he owned away, many women, after seeing Aiden didn't have anything on him, had gifted him many things by the women so they could try to steal it back and stake their claim.
To top it off, the women would have to be killed when they made their attempt, cause otherwise if you left them alive, they can use their own defeat as a means to get what they wanted. You would've basically captured them and were already in your own home so the ceremony would be completed and they would be your wife moving forward, unless you killed them rather than capturing, this was not something Aiden wanted.
Lucky for Aiden he was able to see thru these womens ploy, so he was very careful to avoid being put into that position. So rather than remain in camp during the night, Aiden went hunting for Wights. His heat vision was their worst enemy, so as time went by Aiden became famous amongs the Free Folk. He had rescued many tribes during his time in the "true north" as the Free Folk called their lands beyond the Wall.
Many began to see him as a Champion sent by the Old Gods, while others saw him as one of the Old Gods themselves, especially by those that he saved. When these tribes began to congregate and merge with Mance Rayder's camp, these thoughts were disseminated throughout the camp at a rapid pace.
Aiden paid it no mind, his focus was to handle the Wights first, then he could focus on the Night King. After some time he began to realize that there was something commanding the Wights, but it wasn't the Night King directly. He came to this conclusion due to seeing the condition of the Wights.
Since he began taking out the Wights, in the beginning he was finding them to be rather human in appearance, they didn't show much decay due to only being dead a short time before being turned, but after a few months of him being here that had quickly changed.
Now the creatures were monstrous things, more skeleton than human. They had been dead for months, years or even decades. So he knew whatever was creating these Wights was here, south of the Land of Always Winter, due to realizing that within the ground there wasn't many bodies.
By using his x-ray vision he could see that ancient creatures and humans were sparse, the only ones left in the ground were the incomplete bodies, or ones that had decayed too much. This told him there were limitations on what could be used to turn the dead into Wights.
Tonight however, Aiden stumbled upon a large homestead as he was flying thru the Haunted Forest, he detected many living people at the location so decided to investigate.
What he found both shocked and angered him at the same time. He found multiple women, all ranging from old to young, many of the older ones, 19 in total, were at different stages of pregnancy. While there were four young girls, one was still a babe while the other three were only a few years older.
They were performing various tasks, around the house while the younger ones sat around a fire, a single man looking to be in his mid to late fiftys was the only male. He was a powerfully built man with greying hair, a drooping mouth, flat nose and was missing an ear, signs of frostbite showing on what was left of the missing ear.
This thru up a red flag for Aiden, he could see that some women did have male babies in their womb, but no other male was within this house, not even a newly born one. So using his ability to peer into their mind, he used it on the man sitting at the head of the hall on a makeshift thrown.
As he delved into the man's mind, two figures lept out of the shadows, going on the attack, Aiden ignored the two, knowing exactly who they were, but focused on retriving the information on what was going on at this house. What he saw disgusted him.
All these women were the man's daughters who he took as his wives forcefully, as soon as they reached of age he would marry the next one and impregnate them, creating more wives. When he saw what this man named Craster did with his sons he couldn't believe what he saw.
'He made a deal with the White Walkers, he gives all his male children to them, keeping only his daughters as breeding tools. In return the Wights and White Walkers leave this place alone.' Aiden thought after leaving the man's mind.
Quickly turning around and grabbing the two figures by their throats, his eyes red from anger. He angrily asked, "What is this place? Why hasn't the Free Folk ended this savage?"
The two figures were Val and Ygritte who had just happened to be in the area hunting for some breakfast, upon noticing Aiden land they both stopped tracking the deer they were hunting and went after him.
But seeing Aiden's attitude right now scared them, Val was the first to answer.
"That be Crasters Keep. He is allied with the crows on the Wall. He be protected by the crows and the Others. Any who have tried to end his life have been hunted down by the Others."
"Aye, he be the son of a crow and a Free Folk woman from White Tree. He allows the crows who come beyond their wall to stay with him, giving them information about other tribes. He a traitor, kinslayer, liar, raper and craven. Many have wanted to end the cunt but all who tried were killed by the Others who are hidden around his house." Ygritte explained as both their faces turned red as they were being choked.
Realizing he was killing them accidentally, Aiden dropped both women to the ground, then asked, "The Nights Watch know about this? That he is breaking just about every law the Old and New Gods have."
Both women coughed and rubbed their necks, but rather than be angered they both had smiles. They had won, even if Aiden didn't want to accept it he was theirs and they his. Aiden didn't care at this point, he was wanting to end the man's life.
Val answered, "Aye, though those crows don't know that he gives the male babes to the Others, they know he be killing them, and that all those women be his daughters and wives. But because they gain much from him, they overlook his transgressions. Guess they prefer having a safe roof over their heads and information provided about other tribes more than they care about what happens to us Free Folk."
"Aye, he be more southerner than he be one of us. No Free Folk like the man, he has regular dealings with those crows, his blood is black and is cursed by the Old Gods. Many believe he worships the Others rather than the Old Gods. Otherwise he wouldn't be fucking his own daughters, or killing his own sons." Ygritte stated then spit on the ground as a show of disrespect.
"Tormund has been wanting to kill that cunt for a while now, it was why our village was attacked. He led a group of warriors to kill that fucker, but was set upon by the Others before they could attack. Those that survived were followed back and our camp was attacked by the dead the following day." Val explained.
Aiden couldn't believe what he was hearing, though he knew it to be true. Much of his respect for the Nights Watch disappeared instantly. He used his vision and began to search around the house, to see if what they said was true, it wasn't until he checked underground that he saw several Wights, hidden just beyond the outskirts of the homestead.
Hearing a small group of people approaching from the south, Aiden grabbed both women by their armors, and flew up into the air. Looking towards the direction of the noise, Aiden saw it was three men in black armor and cloaks. They were Rangers from the Nights Watch heading towards the homestead.
Aiden decided to see for himself, if these men really did nothing, he would end these men's lives along with Craster.
Even if they were at war with the Free Folk, Aiden felt that allowing innocent women to suffer, even if they are your enemy, was too much. You were just asking for the cycle to continue. It would be one thing if their religion didn't see anything wrong with what was happening, but both the Old Gods and Faith taught kinslaying and incest were wrong.
So they were purposely overlooking their own beliefs just to get benefits. He watched as they approached the house, intent on seeing what this was about.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票