Henrik had to choose a council but he suffered from a problem that no one really liked him and he didn't know why. sure at feasts and hunts they were all smiling and pretending but he knew they didn't enjoy his company. Though it didn't bother him as long as he could keep drinking his wine. The collection of courtiers available to him wasn't that impressive, except for a chancellor that were actually quite competent and were well accustomed to the Christian lord thoughts.Chief Henrik immediately sent his council out on their missions, specifically his well educated spymaster Jens of Uppåkra and chancellor Lennart of Helsingborg to Ringsted in Sjælland.The demesne of Henrik isn't a very impressive one, he is the self-proclaimed chieftain of the old county known as Skåne that used to belong to the Hildetönn, He was quite quick to replace the various leaders of the cities and castles with people of his faith however King Knud IV demanded that Lund remained untouched and that the bishop remained. The King claimed that Henrik as a heathen lived at his mercy. Of course this angered Henrik as the laws of the realm clearly stated that the county was his and his alone to govern and this was clearly breaching the chieftains rights, pagan or not.Trough the many feasts at the castle of Ringsted in Sjælland Henrik had acquainted Duke Harald of Jylland, Prince of Denmark. He knew how upset he was that his own father preferred his landless brother Svend over him for the crown of Denmark.The King dares to claim elective succession law while he controlled majority of the land in his realm, making him and his sons the only possible electors with him having the majority weight of votes. Too add salt to the injury, a royal courier enters his chambers as he is clunking down his cheap wine. As he reads, angers overtake him and he throws the bottle at the courtier.He roars at the poor boy that had travelled across the sound.With the courier was a royal decree to revoke Skåne's rights to autonomy, giving more centralized control to the king and making Henrik owe his liege levy and tax.Obviously Henrik's loyalty to his liege was tested when he couldn't even be guaranteed his old rights. At least he gets some good news when he receives a letter from his steward Gotfred accompanied with a bag of gold. Its the tithe of the peasants in the city of Dalby that they had been refusing to pay.It goes a couple of months and in early winter a message arrive to Henrik's court carrying a scroll with the royal seal. The chieftain sighs, rolls his eyes and reluctantly accepts the message. The news from the capital is that his liege have put Jens of Uppåkra in the dungeons while he was trying to learn how to improve the Scanian troops by observing the Danish royal army. The Danish king keep taking liberties at Henrik's expense and this time he has had enough and answers the King by claiming he is the offspring of cattle and should be hung from a tree and beaten.Now instead he has to replace his trusted Spymaster with his catholic wife who is the only one that shows anything that could resemble promise of intrigue. However now our dear chieftain had to keep a wake eye at night when he went to bed with his wife.Apparently the King didn't care about Henrik's threat and demands as he later started a war with the independent Count of Lübeck that had been refusing the Danish King of what he saw was Danish by ancient rights. Obviously this war would be a short one as there were no powerful lord backing the small but rich count of Lübeck. While the coward that held the Danish crown called on his in-laws, the Norwegian and Swedish king. However this served as a warning of caution to our Henrik to keep a calm head for now.Shortly after the war of Lübeck the Norwegian Invasion of the British Isles starts, of course backed by the Danish king. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth as he has to send his men of to fight for the Norwegian king in England. However he started to sense an opportunity was brewing.......and joined a faction that had been formed by the Count of Fyn who apparently also was displeased with his lord....The time passes on slowly in Skåne and the county has a longer period of peace and as the King is off fighting in the Isles it makes lifes so much easier for Henrik and his subjects. However at next Autumn his wife falls gravely ill having caught the Great Pox. Luckily for Henrik he doesn't care much for his wife and already starts inviting débutantes to his court to replace her when she is gone. However while happily having a feast and flirting with the girls, the maiden taking care of his sick wife comes and whispers to his ear.The next day he immediately visits the Temple at Uppåkra and sacrifices a goat in Eir's honour begging her for mercy and help to his wife and his unborn child, his first child and future heir.His prayers are answered and after several stressful months his wife deliver a healthy baby boy which Henrik names Ubbe. Unfortunately his stubborn wife lives trough the whole thing...The armies of Norway and Denmark are still fighting in the English fields, taking its sweet time. Henrik also gets some ideas of conquest of his own in the Isles. He looks to the small county of Ulster with no allies or relatives that can aid him. The Only thing he needs is the means to get there. His coffers were full, even with his expensive drinking habits, so he orders and pays for a shipyard at the coast of his castle Trelleborg in order to house the ships needed to invade the Irish lands.However Skjalm, the Count of Fyn. visits our chieftain and tells him that the Danish king had to pull his entire army to support Norway in England as the Anglo-Saxon king put up a valiant resistance which was giving them the opportunity they had waited for...