Wends: The Slavic Pirates that the Vikings Feared
The Vikings have long been recognized as the lords of the early medieval ocean. In their speedy longships they travelled from Britain to Persia, leaving behind burned monasteries and looted settlements. Men and women prayed for God to save them from the wrath of the Northmen, and children were told to behave - lest the Vikings come for them next.
But there was a people, that even the Vikings feared. They came from the southern baltic in similar ships as theirs, but faster, and far more numerous. These fleets were mobile cavalry units, carrying horses and riders, quickly able to make landfall and sweep the countryside. Their raids were swift, deadly, and profitable. The shores of Denmark, Sweden and Norway were littered with corpses, and smoking ruins. Nowhere was safe... from the Wends.