She sat upon the bluff, high above the ocean, looking and wondering how long it will be before she sees the ship come into sight. Each day since he went away it had been her custom to sit like this, sending her love to him. But now for the past week she had sat from daylight till dark, for it is time for his return. Down below her she could hear the sounds of the rest of the clan laughing, dancing and sometimes arguing between themselves.

From time to time someone would call and ask her were they in sight, but always the answer was no. None had thought to bring her a drink or food and as it became dark the revelry became more pronounced and the promisquance became the usual interest amongst them. She sat on, not taking any part in the activities below, and because of this she was not liked very much by them. It did not matter to them that she was Thor’s wench who stood beside he who was head of the clan.

They thought that she was too aloof and distant from them and as they were doing what was frowned upon she made them feel uncomfortable. It pleased her to be left alone with her thoughts, her longing for Thor, for he was all she thought about, he was the centre of her universe, and she longed to see him again. Reluctantly she rose and descended making her way to her bed. She tossed and turned for some time and finally rose and went to her place on the bluff.

She sat with head upon her knees sleepily waiting the dawn. As dawn broke she became aware of someone calling her name "Marion". She looked up and there close by was the ship with her love. Joyously she ran to the shore and swan out to the ship, for she could not wait even the short time it would take them to get to shore. Many hands helped her on to the deck and she was in his arms. Quickly the others pulled to shore and they too were off to their wives and family.

Suddenly there was a shout of anger for as they entered the door they were confronted by their wives sleeping with the men who had been left behind. Thor and Marion were oblivious to any but themselves and while the anger raged around them they were in their own little world making up for lost time. There was a knock on the door and Thor answered. A young boy stood there shaking, for he knew it was not done to be there when Thor had just returned, but the children were all afraid of what was going on in the village. After explaining to Thor why he was there Thor told him to go to the outlander and tell him to quieten things down and that there had better not be any deaths or badly injured people. If he had to go down there and quiet them let them beware.

The anger raged through the day and far into the night, but none saw Thor or Marion.

The outlander was a young man who Thor had brought with him on one of his journeys. He had saved Thor from death and they became close friends. He was a wanderer so he jumped at the chance to go to Thor's village which by this time was known throughout the region for it’s way of life. The clan had come to this little cove, many years before on the two vessels that belonged to Thor. They had come a long way, for they had been sickened at the debauchery and wars that were the normal on the other side of the mountain.

The last time Thor was away the outlander Armagh-Di stayed behind with Marion and his sister Neria who was married to Olaf. Soon there was an attraction between Neria and his friend Armagh-Di. She became pregnant and had to tell Marion. When the child was born it was dark like Armagh-Di and as all the village were fair there was no mistaking who or what had happened.

When there was a dispute like this the old law was to allow the husband to fight to the death the one who had done this. Thor saw no way out of this for his friend so he had to let them fight. Much to every ones surprise it was Olaf who was killed, as he was much bigger than the other all thought it would be the demise of the Armagh-Di. Quickly Thor changed the law so that never again anyone would be killed in that way again. Thor was a very large man of great beauty, loved by all who saw him. He was just and it was his wish that they should live in peace and harmony with everyone.

There were strict rules by which they lived, but every now and then when he was away and those left behind, got bored and reverted to the old ways. There had been many babies born in this way but as they all had the same colouring no questions had been asked. Now here were all these people caught out in the act . Gradually the noise lowered and continued in their houses at a much quieter pitch.

Even though Thor was just, the clan were afraid of him when they had been caught out in a wrong act, so that next morning there was an uneasy silence, for they did not know what his reaction would be. The village was set in a beautiful and very safe harbour. On arrival there had been about one hundred people. The main building was the council house set in the middle of a horseshoe of small dwellings. Thor and Marion lived in a larger house on the hill above the council house. From there he could observe all that was taking place.

They lived by what trade they could get, buying from one place and selling at another, then buying the things that the clan needed to survive. In their wanderings many people heard of the ideal place of their homeland and wanted to become a part of this place. Some found favour with Thor and he brought them back with them on their return from trade, others made up a group and travelled over the mountains. So their were now many who arrived without the right attitude, so that the morality was not always what Thor had envisioned. As they arrived buildings stretched beyond the cove into the hills behind to accommodate them.

And so it was the day after their return from the sea. As Thor walked into the council house all talking ceased. You could smell the fear of those who had erred. Those who were in the wrong sat on one side. The others on the other side while the wives sat at the back. Then Armagh-Di brought each case to be tried. The husbands were given the choice of fighting for his woman or letting her go and then choose a new wife. If the wife did not want to go back to her husband she had the right to leave him and choose a new husband, for Thor gave women equal rights as well.

This time Thor called all to council and chose his friend Armagh-Di as leader for by now he was in high esteem in the village because they had seen his strength in battle and his wisdom also. He was to choose six men and women to help him lead the village when Thor was away.

There was to be work created to keep all occupied and if any were caught with another that they didn’t belong to they would be taken on the next journey and left along the way, for they would not be welcome here any more.

In his wanderings Armagh-Di had seen many unusual things. One of them was small boats with a small mast and a sail rig on it.   He had thought much upon this and felt that there would be less trouble if every one had something to do. So while Thor had been away, he had drawn some plans of this on a much bigger size. Before Thor left on his next trip Armagh-Di asked him to bring back many rolls of tent canvas, as he had plans of putting the people to work, he did not say what this work was to be as he didn’t know if he could succeed.

As soon as Thor was out of sight he gathered all who were left behind and showed them what he wanted them to help him with. There was great excitement for at lest there was something to keep them from being bored, so they cleared the space needed, cut down trees splitting them and doing all the things to make this great thing happen. Even the women helped for they were all very strong. All this took almost a year, and by the time Thor was due to be back all was finished but the sails and in the meantime they rolled it into the water upon lots of logs. They then spent much time learning how to sail the ship.

By the time Thor returned they were quite proficient. Now all that needed to be done was the sails. When Thor first saw the ship he was astounded, for here was a large ship with a pole sticking up in the middle and one on either side a little smaller. He soon saw the possibilities that this ship would bring. It was decided that here was a production that would keep order with the clan and stop the need for Thor to spend so much time away from his beloved Marion, for this would bring in the money needed to supply the clan with their worldly needs.

Years went by with fewer trips all seemed happy. By now the village had grown to almost city proportions with much of the out lying shores becoming built up with houses. On one such trip Thor decided that as it was some time since he had been away, he would take this one last trip before retiring. As he left he was informed that a few of the people had come down with a mysterious illness. The council was told to take it in hand and do what was necessary. They were not able to control this illness and many began to die. Soon it was raging through the village completely out of control. In trying to save the people, as they died their bodies were all put into one house and when full it was torched.

At last there were only very few left and they too were becoming ill. Marion lay ill, knowing that the end was near. She and Thor's sister Neria went to the last house left shutting themselves away so that there would be none to have the task of taking them there at the end. Marion wept bitterly for she had not the chance to say goodbye to Thor, and so it was that she died.

In the meantime upon the ship they also were having troubles. First one then another became ill and died. Soon there were only a few left, too few to handle the ship. Out of the horizon a terrible storm came up and the few that were left knew that they would not be able to survive. Thor stood on the deck looking toward home calling to Marion in his last goodbye as slowly the ship capsized and went to the bottom of the sea.