> [!info] Metadata > - length:: microfiction > - time:: before [[2021-09-29 Liminal (MF)]] > - market:: [[The Iceberg]] > - protagonist:: [[Stef]] > - mentions:: > - location:: [[Ghoug]] > - pitch:: > - afterword:: [[2022-11-30 When an AI is so wrong it's actually helpful]] > - wordcount:: 136 > - [[Scandinavian rituals involved sacrifices in bogs]] > - [[Scandinavians used bog iron instead of mining]] Drums beat and wild boars screamed as Stef signalled the start of sacrifices meant to imbue her new ship with the strength to stand against bog rot and woodsucker sprites. Her whole body tense, she watched as four acolytes brought blood and myrtle to the dockside altar in a cauldron of glassy black; an heirloom, ancient and precious, but no less sturdy for its age. A fierce smile split her face as she took the cauldron, muscles bulging with the strain, and splashed the contents across the elevated hull. "Spite!" she screamed, loud and piercing as a raven scout spotting carrion, and named her ship for the reminder it would serve; for why else but rage against her gainsayers would she be planning to cross the sea at the head of a fleet? _Need_ was too weak a word.