NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

Toboe said:
Why not learn the runes to the point of not accidentally blowing shit up?

Because apparently that doesn't work. Like, per stuff the QM has said, Runes are too real to use for anything but magic because when you write them you make the thing you write true...so you write 'fire' and suddenly there's fire. The blowing stuff up (or other equivalent problems) is not exclusively a problem of those who are unskilled.

Now, in theory, we could find a way to somehow make that not true in a dazzling display of unparalleled genius no Norseman has yet managed...but I think the best avenue to actually achieve that is to learn another written language where that doesn't happen and figure out what the difference is between the two.

Toboe · Mar 10, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Now, in theory, we could find a way to somehow make that not true in a dazzling display of unparalleled genius no Norseman has yet managed

Iirc the Slagson nametag contained runes, so it must be possible to write them without blowing stuff up.

I think the issue in

Imperial Fister said:
If the spoken word has very literal power, then the written word will have even more.

In short, yes.

Technically, there's no such thing as magic runes because runes are an alphabet, not symbols or pictographs. By writing runes down at all, you're telling the world that such a thing is true.

This is going to be one of the hurdles to get around/over when trying to codify Norse cultivation. How do you write stuff down when every time you do it blows up?

Is not that runes are magic or stuff. It is that norse cultivation has very strongly held ideas about words and those carry over to the written word. So writing by norse cultivators involves (accidental) cultivation, which, if not properly managed, leads to exploding.

Or in other words i think the issue isn't norse cultivators writing with runes, it is norse cultivators writing.

Would kinda explain the different cultivation traditions:
Norse cultivators deeply believe in honor -> their cultivation is Orthstirr/Drengskapr based.
Chinese cultivators deeply believe in selfimprovement -> their cultivation is selfimprovement based
Christians deeply believe in bible-god -> they get bible-god styled miracles.
Christians believe in bible-god is disturbed enough -> their miracle fails.

TheCount · Mar 10, 2023

Toboe said:
Is that analogue to Wanderlust and Bloodlust, that we get a curiosity we need to satiate or at some point Halla would try to sate her addiction without our input? (Or other way to put it: we can supress the disadvantage by learning regularily)

I imagine it's more similar to the witch's greed roll, perhaps a composure roll to resist it.

The problem starts when we get others in trouble for the knowledge.

Imperial Fister said:
You'll get opportunities to do stuff like this again in the future, though with different options

So, Fyjgla have a evolution/tech tree? Can't wait for the next milestone.

The snake fyjgla theory seems more and more likely, especially if it's battle version gets poison.

Though, I still don't like the idea of bringing ours into the fight....

DaveLurksHere · Mar 10, 2023

[x] If he hit you... then you want to hit him back. (Spar with Gabriel)
[x] Wizard-Owl
I'm sorry, but I don't want Halla to turn into Odin and suck off corpses for knowledge or something

TheCount · Mar 10, 2023

DaveLurksHere said:
I'm sorry, but I don't want Halla to turn into Odin and suck off corpses for knowledge or something

We could learn how how to take their knowledge in better ways, yeah.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

Toboe said:
Iirc the Slagson nametag contained runes, so it must be possible to write them without blowing stuff up.

As I said, the issue is that it makes them true, not that they always blow up. It's that all writing is magical and warps the world which makes codifying things really hard as it can't readily be used for 'mere' record keeping. I would not at all assume that the Slagson nametag is non-magical...just that it's magic is the non-explosive variety (specifically, it probably made him mystically part of the group, which likely had a variety of effects).

Toboe said:
I think the issue in

Is not that runes are magic or stuff. It is that norse cultivation has very strongly held ideas about words and those carry over to the written word. So writing by norse cultivators involves (accidental) cultivation, which, if not properly managed, leads to exploding.

Or in other words i think the issue isn't norse cultivators writing with runes, it is norse cultivators writing.

This is definitely possible. We'd find out if we learned another language and tried writing in it.

Toboe said:
Would kinda explain the different cultivation traditions:
Norse cultivators deeply believe in honor -> their cultivation is Orthstirr/Drengskapr based.
Chinese cultivators deeply believe in selfimprovement -> their cultivation is selfimprovement based
Christians deeply believe in bible-god -> they get bible-god styled miracles.
Christians believe in bible-god is disturbed enough -> their miracle fails.

There's definitely some of this going on, yeah, but it's more complicated than just that. Orthstirr is the equivalent of Qi in a more traditional Xianxia, and is indeed powered by fame and renown (though also by Virtue in the Norse definition...we've gained Drengskapr for things there was only a single witness to), but things other than Orthstirr are relevant to how powerful a Norseman is (just look at Horra).

TheCount said:
So, Fyjgla have a evolution/tech tree? Can't wait for the next milestone.

It's probably not until level 7 (that'd fit the pattern of other stats getting stuff at 7 and also that we got stuff from Fylgja at 1 and 4...1, 4, 7 is a good progression), so I suspect it's definitely be quite a ways off (we are 112 successes away from that, and are likely to invest the 31 to get Hugr to 7 and the 104 to get Hamr to 7 first...at 247 successes away it'll be a while).

TheCount said:
The snake fyjgla theory seems more and more likely, especially if it's battle version gets poison.

This does seem pretty plausible, yeah. Horra sending his fylgja out to murder his enemies children in the cradle does seem like the sort of thing he'd do. It might also be something else entirely, of course.

TheCount said:
Though, I still don't like the idea of bringing ours into the fight....

We don't have to. And, indeed, unless we go Shield-Owl probably will not.

Eternal_0bserver · Mar 10, 2023

In fact, how should the transmission of myopia by inheritance work at all? It makes about as much sense as passing on any other injury, like a broken nose or a severed leg. And although the predisposition is inherited, that would mean that this predisposition already exists in Halla's DNA, and therefore has a chance to be inherited in any case.

Omegahugger · Mar 10, 2023

Eternal_0bserver said:
In fact, how should the transmission of myopia by inheritance work at all? It makes about as much sense as passing on any other injury, like a broken nose or a severed leg. And although the predisposition is inherited, that would mean that this predisposition already exists in Halla's DNA, and therefore has a chance to be inherited in any case.

We got our literal grandfather passed on from our father, and there's a trait that lets our descendants know techniques from day one. Presumeably inheritance in Xianxia works differently than in real life.

Probably tied to our Charred Soul trait which lets our protagonist stature be passed on.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

Omegahugger said:
We got our literal grandfather passed on from our father, and there's a trait that lets our descendants know techniques from day one. Presumeably inheritance in Xianxia works differently than in real life.

Probably tied to our Charred Soul trait which lets our protagonist stature be passed on.

Pretty much this. The traits we pass down are as much magical as physical, so something that wouldn't normally be genetic getting passed down is entirely reasonable. Whether that's because the magic changes the DNA or something else entirely is less clear, but also barely matters. Either way all sorts of stuff gets passed down that you wouldn't expect.

DaveLurksHere · Mar 10, 2023

Honestly, the myopia being inheritable is not that big of a deal, by the the time we have to play as Halla's kids, Halla should've already found a way to deal with it that can also be passed down, whether it be glasses or transmogrification or teaching them shapeshifting or making magical replacement eyes

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

DaveLurksHere said:
Honestly, the myopia being inheritable is not that big of a deal, by the the time we have to play as Halla's kids, Halla should've already found a way to deal with it that can also be passed down, whether it be glasses or transmogrification or teaching them shapeshifting or making magical replacement eyes

Shapeshifting requires Hamr 7...that's not impossible to teach to your kids but it sure isn't easy either, and leaves them without a solution for quite a while. If we do wind up going Wizard-Owl I think we should look for something more immediate and easily teachable as a solution to compensate like a Scouting Trick to enhance vision.

Toboe · Mar 10, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
This is definitely possible. We'd find out if we learned another language and tried writing in it.

Not against learning other languages writing too.
But find the non-runes qualifier odd.
And am interested in learning runes for its benefits.

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
It's probably not until level 7 (that'd fit the pattern of other stats getting stuff at 7 and also that we got stuff from Fylgja at 1 and 4...1, 4, 7 is a good progression), so I suspect it's definitely be quite a ways off (we are 112 successes away from that, and are likely to invest the 31 to get Hugr to 7 and the 104 to get Hamr to 7 first...at 247 successes away it'll be a while).

The Progression would be really fitting, being Initial unlock, then after gaining 3 levels and then after another 3 levels.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

Toboe said:
Not against learning other languages writing too.
But find the non-runes qualifier odd.

I mean...we already know runes? So I was just saying I wanted to learn a different language...sorry if my terminology was confusing.

Toboe said:
And am interested in learning runes for its benefits.

I believe we straight up know runes once we've completed Imaging Skill-Trick. Hallr gave us the knowledge and that Skill-Trick plus our level of Artcraft let us make them.

Toboe said:
The Progression would be really fitting, being Initial unlock, then after gaining 3 levels and then after another 3 levels.

Yep. It fits all existing patterns so well I'd be shocked if it worked any differently.

Toboe · Mar 10, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
I mean...we already know runes? So I was saying I wanted to learn a different language...sorry if my terminology was confusing.

I believe we straight up know runes once we've completed Imaging Skill-Trick. Hallr gave us the knowledge and that Skill-Trick plus our level of Artcraft let us make them.

Ah, If you took runes for granted and meant additional writing then sure, that makes sense.

Eh, sure on learning other writings in general.
100% on board with doing so as backup after failing with runes.

TheCount · Mar 10, 2023

Let's just ask...

@Imperial Fister , does Halla knows runes? Can she write them?
Or was that bit with Gabriel's manacles a one time thing, courtesy of blackhand?

Also, when will Steinar and Abjorn go on the raid?
Edit: Also also, can we watch when Abjorn does the trial?

kalugin · Mar 10, 2023

[x] Learning Owl
[x] If he hit you... then you want to hit him back. (Spar with Gabriel)

Shard · Mar 10, 2023

I wonder if the reason Halla is facing a boss fight is because Blackhand's nemeses have concluded that they did not succeed in killing Blackhand just by targeting his Male Descendents.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

TheCount said:
Let's just ask...

@Imperial Fister , does Halla knows runes? Can she write them?
Or was that bit with Gabriel's manacles a one time thing, courtesy of blackhand?

I mean she can't write them very well yet because Imaging isn't done...but I think we do indeed recognize them. There've been several mentions of Halla doing so.

TheCount said:
Also, when will Steinar and Abjorn go on the raid?
Edit: Also also, can we watch when Abjorn does the trial?

Raiding is a summertime activity, so apparently next year with Halla. Which is what we asked for, after all. It sounded like they might be going this year but summer's over and they never did, so...

Shard said:
I wonder if the reason Halla is facing a boss fight is because Blackhand's nemeses have concluded that they did not succeed in killing Blackhand just by targeting his Male Descendents.

I don't think so. I legitimately think this is either just a local monster or, more likely, something to do with Horra, who was never Blackhand's enemy only the rest of the family (if he'd touched them before Hallr's death, he wouldn't be alive given what we know of both men).

uri · Mar 10, 2023

[X] Learning-Owl

TheCount · Mar 10, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Raiding is a summertime activity, so apparently next year with Halla. Which is what we asked for, after all. It sounded like they might be going this year but summer's over and they never did, so...

Nah, see, we are still 15.
Abjorn is already 16.
They go next summer, then the three of us go together on the year after next.

We will have a summer without both Steinar and Abjorn.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

TheCount said:
Nah, see, we are still 15.
Abjorn is already 16.
They go next summer, then the three of us go together on the year after next.

We will have a summer without both Steinar and Abjorn.

No. Norsemen all count their birthday as Yule, so we turn 16 at the end of Winter (in three turns...this is also when we fight the boss...Abjorn turns 17 at the same time) and can then immediately challenge the Raid Test and go raiding, which is the plan barring, y'know, death or dismemberment or something.

Abjorn could've gone this year, but he appears to have held off for us, which was sweet of him.

TheCount · Mar 10, 2023

Huh... I could have sworn....
Meh. Guess we will see then.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Mar 10, 2023

TheCount said:
Huh... I could have sworn....
Meh. Guess we will see then.

Yeah, I thought they were going before us, too...but that would've been this summer if true, and summer is over, so clearly that's not what happened.

w4terghost · Mar 10, 2023

[X] Wizard-Owl
Want spells.

Exmorri · Mar 10, 2023

[X] Wizard-Owl

NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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