NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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Despite the distinct sense of defeat looming in the horizon, you can't quite keep the smile off your face.

Gods, it's good to fight! Win or lose, it's like a lover's touch to your soul.

Heart pounding in your ears, you crouch down and eye your brother.

Eric stands before you, focused and ready for battle. Shield and sax in hand, he meets your eager gaze with eyes of iron.

"You're having fun," Eric dryly observes as he runs a hand through his sweat-slick hair.

"I always am!" You reply and raise your axe high.

You bring it down and battle is once again met between brother and sister.
(Trick Attack: 19 vs Defense: 2, Attacker Wins, Disables Shield)
Whipping your free hand back, orthstirr sparks and you hurl the invisible folds of Standstill. It hurtles through the air, spinning and extending to its limits.

Though he can't see it, Eric still senses incoming orthstirr. He shifts, shield dropping in front of the invisible hugareida — just as you planned!

Standstill wraps around the shield, arresting its ability to move and trapping it in the air. Eric tries to move it but finds it stuck fast.

His eyes shoot open. "Hugareida?!" He half-asks half-shouts as he lets go of his shield and it stays hanging midair.

You dart around the frozen shield, Eric's eyes snapping first to your movement and then to your axe, its Honed edge shining with crimson orthstirr.
(Honed Attack: 8 vs Unshielded Defense: 3, Attacker Wins, -2 Endurance)
You bring it down as he backs off and the orthstirr-coated edge carves through his thigh. The iron scent of blood fills the air as Eric's newly freed-hand swings back in, a tightly wound ball of wind rapidly spinning in his palm.

A sense of time slowing down passes over you, Standstill trickling back in. Your axe is already starting another strike, but Eric's palm is nearly ready to unleash its charge. It's a race against time, speed versus speed, hamr versus hamr.
(Halla's Hamr: 14 vs Eric's Hamr: 14, Tie. Reroll: H's Hamr: 16, E's Hamr: 17, Eric Wins)
(Trick Attack: 20 vs Unshielded Defense: 6, Attacker Wins, -1 Endurance)
You laugh as orthstirr screams and wind throws you from your feet. Shear wind cuts small wounds in your skin as you tumble, laughing all the way.
(Hamr (Recovery): 6, 4, 6, 2, 4) 5 Successes
Bouncing once, twice, you land on unsteady feet. You steady yourself just in time for Eric to take two steps forward and hurl his hand with a heavy stomp, an arrow of air leaving his grip.
(Trick Attack: 5 vs Unshielded Defense: 5, Defender Wins Ties)
Strands of hair are shorn from your head as you duck the throw. Winds batter at your back as you move with burning axe in hand. Eric pulls his hand back yet again, an arrow of wind forming in his grip as he steps forward and hurls it.

Time slows to a trickle yet again as the arrow leaves his grasp. Idly noting that you could, feasibly replicate this effect, you swing your axe forth.

It's a race once more, with victory on the line. Will Eric's arrow hit you before your axe breaks flesh? Will his blood spill before his arrow saves the day?

There's only one way to find out and you are eager to see it through.
(Halla's Hamr: 23 vs Eric's Hamr: 22, Halla Wins)
Axe carves through wind-borne arrow and carries on to flesh.
(Honed Attack: 7 vs Unshielded Defense: 5, Attacker Wins, -1 Endurance)
Blood sprays around your axe as Eric stumbles back, red leaking from his wrist. You raise your axe to give chase, but something holds your limbs as Eric grimaces and signals defeat.

"Did you really have to break my wrist when I'm about to meet with Stigrun's father?" Eric grunts through pain-clenched teeth.

"Sorry, Eric. I, uh," you scratch at your head, idly noting the missing strands of hair, "got a little carried away. You'll be fine, right? Asvir has good healers."

"Even if it'll heal good as new, it's not exactly a good look to show up to your potential father-in-law with a broken wrist, Halla." Eric huffs, clearly rather cross with you.

Alright, Halla, think. Eric's your brother, you've got to make it up to him somehow.

A jingle in your pocket gives you an idea.

"I'll pay for your healing!" You immediately offer, fishing out your money.
(Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 1, 1, 2, 4, 1, 5, 6) 1 Success
Eric looks at you for a long moment before sighing. "Fine, just, hand it over."

You do and he looks at the coins in his hand. "Thanks, Halla..."

"...It's not enough, is it?" A sinking feeling settles in your gut.

"It'll suffice," he says, the lie clear in his eyes.

Thinking quickly, your hand darts to your belt pouch and comes back with your spare work-knife in hand. Eric blinks as you offer it to him.

"I said I'd pay, this should cover it."

Eric's eyes soften. "Keep it, Halla. Your coins too."

He presses the coins into your palm despite your protests.

(Eric's Relations stay the same)
(Standstill: Contested-Movement added to Incomplete Tricks, (3/9) till Learned)
(Bloodlust Reset)
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Personal (Pick 2/3, if no Exploration is picked):
[ ] (Personal) Abjorn came by, asking if you wanted to go walking with him.
[ ] (Personal) Stigr came by, asking if you wanted to go fishing with him. (Hamr+Fishing)
[ ] (Personal) Attend Eric's Wedding (Hugr+Silver-Tongue)
[ ] (Personal) Ask Randi to tell you some stories
-[ ] (Optional) Write in the topic
[ ] (Violent) Pick a fight or spar with...
-[ ] Asva (You doubt she'd be willing to fight you, but maybe you can needle her enough?)
-[ ] Someone else (Write in)
[ ] (Personal) Spend time with... (Write in)
[ ] (Crafting) Try to make something (Write in) (Hugr+Some kind of crafting skill)
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Exploration/Travel (Pick 1 or none):
[ ] (Visit) Go visit...
-[ ] The Witch! (Actually, it's probably a good idea to avoid her entirely)
-[ ] Asvir!
-[ ] Vidby, Abjorn's Farm
-[ ] Kerby, Stigr's Farm
-[ ] Buriby, Osborn's Farm (Has a guaranteed chance of ending in a fight)
-[ ] Glebby, Sverre's Farm
-[ ] Runby, Aki's Farm
-[ ] Horrby, Horra's Farm (Has a very good chance of ending in a fight)
-[ ] The one at the bottom of the river
[ ] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
-[ ] The fields!
-[ ] The Hading!
-[ ] The hills!
--[ ] (Optional) Towards where the flaming thing landed. Maybe there's something you missed?
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Training: You have 10d6 training dice to spend as you see fit.
[ ] (Blackhand) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Steinarr's Training) Ask Steinarr to teach you a trick/some tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hamr (15 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hamr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hugr (6 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hugr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Fylgja (1 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a fylgja skill or trick (Write in)
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Orthstirr Available: 17
How do you want to use your orthstirr?
[ ] (Orthstirr Usage) (Write in)
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Fylgja Capacity: 0/2
-
-
Do you want to withdraw or deposit anything in your fylgja?
[ ] Write in (Optional)
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(Random POV: 4)

Across the Baltic Sea, in the land of the Finns, a red-haired smith pulls his sword from the chest of the last attacker. He breathes heavily and looks to his small family as they emerge from their hiding spot behind a pile of rocks.

His pregnant wife and young daughter look to him with worry in their eyes. He meets their gaze with one of resolute determination.

They share a nod and the smith looks to the sea, towards where he was born. Towards where he knows he and his young family will find protection.

Sten Iskearauta is heading home.
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AN: Spars will always give you an incomplete trick as well as some progress on it.

You can store more in your fylgja than just hugareida or muna. You can store anything you want in them, with the exception of non-hugareida tricks.

25-minute moratorium.

There's a solid chance that there won't be an update tomorrow, on account of an art gallery I'm, somehow, being exhibited in and also KSP2 coming out. Fair warning for that.

This is a bit of a departure from the 'On Norse' formula as this isn't a breakdown of real life Norse society but of NorseQuest Norse society. Specifically, it's a breakdown of its healing, as well as brief asides on the Bodies of NorseQuest Norsemen and a bit on Shapeshifting.

Healing is deceptively easy. From an onlooker's perspective, all it consists of is laying hands on somebody and surging orthstirr, or giving them some kind of potion, or performing some kind of ritual. This is incorrect.

While the process itself is quick and simple, allowing for sub-five minute operations in some cases, the learning behind it takes a lifetime to learn and longer to master. Generations of healers pass their knowledge on to their descendants and apprentices, who further refine and study it before passing it on further. These scraps of knowledge are jealously guarded secrets, meaning that just because Stungir of Bumfuckville can heal a broken pelvis in a jiffy doesn't mean Hrogi of Stanktown can as well. Hrogi probably knows a way of doing it, but probably not one as efficient or as effective as Stungir's. And since it's not as efficient, Hrogi has to spend more resources on it to match effectiveness, which jacks up the price.

A cheap healing can cost two or three ounces of silver. Though, of course, priority is given to those willing to pay more. And if you've got a meeting with your potential father-in-law coming up later that day... The standard fee might not get you healed in time to be on time.

Fortunately for both the healer's energy and the patient's wallet, the bodies of the Norsemen are very malleable things. They remember what form they should be in, but lack the power to fix it themselves. If a patient has sufficiently high enough hamr to have developed some level of shapeshifting, they could very well simply will their body back into shape. They could even go so far as simply sticking a chopped-off limb back on, should that be the case.

But that, of course, requires shapeshifting-levels of hamr (Hamr 7 and beyond) in order to work.