[b]X) Pray for salvation and the answers.[/b]

[hider=The Leviathan]
Danr's sleep had been long and deep; it felt like he had been asleep for months! Of course, the thunderous rains woke him up, just like they woke up the rest of the village and probably even the stones and trees themselves. Coming down so hard, the rain leaked through the roofs. The tribespeople scurried to patch the leaks and make sure that the rafters above stayed strong and that the ceilings didn't come crashing down.

Then the wolves started howling, though. They bayed and whined, roared and cowered in the corners. The thunder and lightning usually provoked some reaction from them, but this was something else entirely. This commotion heralded something horrible that was about to happen.

...and then that something did happen, when the Great Leviathan rose up from the depths. Its skin was black as the night and its colossal form blocked out a thousand stars in the sky. Njor was within sight of the shores, sure, but the settlement was also upon a rise and a fair distance away from the water. None of that mattered; the beast was so enormous that its tentacle reached all the way to the village and obliterated an entire building with one small flick. The three people that had been patching that hut's roof were instantly killed by the Leviathan. As Danr ran outside of his mead hall he saw the thing's great eyes, and he thought that they locked sight with one another for a brief moment. The great warrior and fearless chieftain felt fear creep into his heart as his knees began to buckle. He shivered with a chill that no amount of snow or ice had ever inflicted upon an Ard. The only thing more horrifying than the beast was the realization hat this was no nightmare...

But then, the great beast was gone as soon as it had came. The storm left with it. Somehow the great waves, the torrential deluge of rain, and the Leviathan's rage hadn't left the fishing rafts and pier beyond repair. When morning came, the bravest of men ventured close to the waters and began to fix the pier and rafts, yet none dared to go fishing. Who could blame them? In any case, the hunting was still good and the crops bountiful, cotton, grain, and all. The Ards wouldn't starve if they stopped fishing for a while, but they very well might die if that beast returned.

The elders convened in Danr's mead hall and discussed what to do next. Some suggested trying to appease the Leviathan with offerings, or even worshiping it as some sort of dark god. Others recounted the tales of how anything that survived its wrath was great indeed and would have a glorious destiny, and proclaimed that the Leviathan was a blessing and a good omen. Some thought it would return, others thought that it wouldn't...

Danr listened to them all, many speaking as if they were sure that their words were golden and true. Some of the elders even began to argue about who was right. but how could any of them know for sure? The chieftain finally came to a decision and proclaimed that they would build a shrine to Father Frost, the very icy god that had desroyed their ancient homeland and sent them fleeing here.

Some saw that as madness; bringing Father Frost's gaze to their new land would only mean that the winter, death, and ice would creep south and follow them from their old homeland. Father Frost was a pitiless master, after all. Yet Danr and some of the others insisted that Father Frost would help them. The Ards were his chosen people, after all. The sacred ice flowed through their veins, and they had been the only tribe to survive the god's wrath and escape their frigid homeland.

So through near equal persuasion and intimidation, Danr brought all the elders to his side. With their unanimous support, he knew that there would be no rebellion or objection amongst the tribe. By noon they had already begun to build a stonehenge around one great boulder in the ground. The central boulder was flattened using mining tools, transformed into a ceremonial slab. It was there that they might leave offerings of food, drink, gold, and weapons for Father Frost. In times of dire need or for special festivals, they might even sacrifice animals or captives of war. Of course, with Danr having no knowledge of any skraelings (not even the ones that his lumberjacks had just encountered) he was afraid of what might need be done if Father Frost ever demanded a human sacrifice.

In any case, the best stonemason in Njor began work on a statue of Father Frost to show the world of the god's glory, but it would be some time before that statue was ready to add to the shrine. Danr could not afford to wait that time, so the moment that the shrine was built he sent some of the elders that had once been holy men to bring offerings and remain at the shrine throughout the cold night, praying to Father Frost to make himself known once more to his chosen people and tell them about the great Leviathan that had come with the storm. Danr and the elders dared not ask more of Father Frost, for fear of him asking for a sacrifice greater than they wished to offer.[/hider]
[hider=Summary]
-The Ards built a shrine to Father Frost and offered him food, then prayed throughout the night asking him to tell them about the Leviathan and what they need to do.
-After seeing the giant sea monster come out of the ocean and smash a building, the Ards are of course scared to go out on the fishing rafts, at least for now.[/hider]