I'm out of my depth here, but isn't Norse slavery different from American slavery?
I understand being a slave is undesirable in both cases, but in this case I believe Jerasmus and Gabriel's options were "die here or serve Steinarr as farmhands", and Steinarr's treatment, while rigid, follows certain rules (code of ethics?) and is much more pallatable than American slavery was.
Again, I'm not knowledgeable in this topic.
Most slavery was not quite as bad as chattel slavery in the Americas. It was still pretty bad, though.
Thralls were forced to obey their masters, including things like a female thrall being raped being not legally a thing, and their children were in fact also thralls so it wasn't just your problem, on the other hand they were theoretically paid a wage (though their masters could easily screw them over on that), and they could and were freed fairly often, including buying their freedom (though they remained low-ish status), and killing them was still illegal and resulted in needing to pay a man's price.
So, like, not as bad as chattel slavery, but still pretty bad.
What, so by your logic, the entire public will judge her as a man when it comes to anything she does, despite having no reason to see her as anything but a girl? That just seems illogical to me.
I think you're overestimating how rare female warriors were in Norse culture. They weren't the norm by any means, but the idea wasn't foreign or incomprehensible either (Freya and the Valkyries are good mythological examples), and women have been found buried with their swords. The downside we received for being female was on par with being a man who can't grow a beard...people are a bit dubious of our abilities as a warrior by default, but they don't think it's impossible.
And yes, if she acts as a warrior, most people will treat her as one.
I think you're overestimating how rare female warriors were in Norse culture. They weren't the norm by any means, but the idea wasn't foreign or incomprehensible either (Freya and the Valkyries are good mythological examples), and women have been found buried with their swords. The downside we received for being female was on par with being a man who can't grow a beard...people are a bit dubious of our abilities as a warrior by default,
If anything, doesn't this support my point? Like, I'm not saying people won't treat us as a warrior ever, but I don't see why people would do so now, given they don't have a reason to even see us as one right now.
[X] Plan Seizing The Opening
-[X] 29d6 Attack (all in tricks)
-[X] 0d6 Defense
-[X] 0d6 Intercept
-[X] Make one 8d (9d with Hugr) Inertia-Arresting Throw to disarm him (-6 Orthstirr), then three Honed 8d Power-Chop attacks (-6 orthstirr), be prepared to abort one Power Chop for a 7d Hefty-Halter Chop if necessary to stop a serious attack (-3 Orthstirr)
-[X] Be prepared to use Contested Movement (-3 Orthstirr) or Halting Vortex (-8 Orthstirr) as necessary to defend, though they probably won't be
-[X] Tactics - Basically, freeze his sword and go to town with the atgeir. It's simple, but it should be effective and it's not wildly expensive if he really is going full defense.
0~0~0
You wave your arm through the air as you rush in. Standstill trails invisibly behind your fingers as you take a handful of power. (Hugareida Trick Attack: 41 vs Defense: 20, Attacker Wins)
With a flick of the wrist, you send Standstill out in a spinning cloak of inertia-arresting force.
Invisible to the naked eye and unknowable in purpose, Standstill-in-use is still extremely obvious to anyone with the slightest bit of heightened senses. Gabriel, of course, is one of those people.
He flicks his sword into the cloak's path and bats it aside. Unfortunately for him, the spin wraps the blade in cloak and locks it in the air.
Gabriel's mouth flies open in shock as he stumbles back. His eyes stay glued to the sword hanging mid-air, as if he can't believe what he's seeing.
He's not distracted enough to miss you closing in, of course, but without his weapon how is he supposed to defend himself now?
You bounce off the ground and rear back Sagaseeker. Crimson orthstirr coats its purring form as you spin and swing with all your might. (Trick Attack: 27 vs Defense: 18, Attacker Wins. 2 Endurance Damage Dealt)
His forearm darts up, snow-like power glowing from within. You meet his enhanced arm with your strike and find yourself lagging, for just a moment, yes, but it's certainly noticeable!
Sagaseeker slams into his arm with a heavy thump that has you sympathy-wincing. Gabriel stumbles back, an ugly purple bruise already springing up on his arm, but he's still ready to fight.
You touch on the ground and immediately spring into your next Power-Chop — this one an overhead strike. (Trick Attack: 19 vs Defense: 20, Defender Wins)
You bring Sagaseeker down with orthstirr blazing off its blunt iron. Gabriel looks up, his arms following his head as he readies his hands.
Blazing crimson meets glowing white-gold as iron meets flesh and iron is found wanting.
Gabriel throws the atgeir aside as he stifles a cry of pain. His teeth grind together as his palms smoke. But he's still in action and he knows it.
With a powerful shoulder-check, he shoves you back and moves towards his sword. Quick to recover, you dash after him with atgeir raised.
He tugs at the sword, only find that it truly is stuck steadfast. Eyes wide, he glances back just in time for your third Power-Chop to make itself known. (Trick Attack: 23 vs Defense: 20, Attacker Wins. 2 Endurance Damage Dealt)
Gabriel reacts instantly. He spins, dancing around the sword to use it as a make-shift shield.
A shield you meet head-on.
Sagaseeker's might frees the sword, yes, but it also throws Gabriel to the ground. The sword slips from his grip and bounces down the hill.
He looks to it and then to you as you bring Sagaseeker's tip to his throat.
"Yield." You demand, imperious steel in your voice.
"I yield." He wheezes through gritted teeth.
You nod and stab Sagaseeker into the ground next to him. He flinches, but blinks as you reach down and offer a hand.
He stares for a long minute which quickly bores you. But just as you go to pull back, he takes your hand in his and you haul him to his feet.
With your hand in his, he shakes it. "My name is Gabriel Blackstone, Squire on the Eighth Bead of the Second Decade."
You return the shake and brush a loose strand of hair from your face. "Halla Steinarsdottir," you blink and scramble for a response to the second thing he said, "uh, age fifteen?"
He stands frozen, still shaking your hand. He seems a little bit lost as he looks at you.
...Maybe he doesn't know how to respond to that either?
You cough and he flinches. He quickly releases your hand and steps away, a light streak of pink on his face. There's a lot of horror in his eyes, but what is there to be horrified about?
You look over your shoulder, but find nothing standing behind you.
...Weird.
You ignore Blackhand's laughter as you collect the fallen sword and make your way home. After getting cleaned up, of course!
Pick 2 as a reward;
[ ] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[ ] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[ ] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
0~0~0
Would you like to keep your previous plan or create a new one?
[ ] Yes, keep the previous plan
[ ] No, make a new one (Proceed to Planning Options)
Personal (Pick 2/3, if no Exploration is picked):
[ ] (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?)
-[ ] ...Drifa? (Maybe when she's older...)
-[ ] Someone else (Write in)
[ ] (Personal) Spend time with... (Write in)
[ ] (Shopping) Ask Steinarr to buy something for you (Write in) (Can only be used to buy or sell things you are already aware of and cannot haggle)
[ ] (Crafting) Try to make something (Write in) (Hugr+Some kind of crafting skill)
0~0~0
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)
--[ ] Rather than visiting normally, you instead stealthily approach and try to scout it out.
-[ ] Halfdanby, Halfdan's Farm
[ ] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
-[ ] Go Exploring with Drifa!
-[ ] The fields!
-[ ] The Hading!
--[ ] (Optional) Try to find those bandits you heard about
-[ ] The hills!
--[ ] (Optional) Towards where the flaming thing landed. Maybe there's something you missed?
0~0~0
Training: You have 15d6 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 (8 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hamr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hugr (31 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hugr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Fylgja (16 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a fylgja skill or trick (Write in)
0~0~0
Orthstirr Available: 38
How do you want to use your orthstirr? You can turn on passive tricks here.
[ ] (Orthstirr Usage) (Write in)
0~0~0
Fylgja Capacity: 0/4
Do you want to withdraw or deposit anything in your fylgja?
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
Equipment Management
What do you want to have equipped? Leaving this blank means that no changes are made.
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
AN: And there we have it, the end of your first Gabriel Spar! I really enjoyed writing that fight; I hope you enjoyed reading it.
I love it when a plan comes together. That went perfectly and I'm very pleased about exactly that.
As for rewards:
[ ] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
This one is a must-have. Training dice are fantastic and the Relations up is nice as well (this takes him to a positive number!).
As for the other benefit I have no idea...I could go either way on that one. And I don't see this changing the previous plan notably, so I'll still be voting for that. We'd need to assign the two new training dice (assuming we pick that option as we should), but as the author of the previous plan, I'd just put them into Hamr (we really need to get that to 5).
If anything, doesn't this support my point? Like, I'm not saying people won't treat us as a warrior ever, but I don't see why people would do so now, given they don't have a reason to even see us as one right now.
I mean, we've now killed three men in battle, our first at the age of 12 (well, one was a boy our own age...still counts). I think people will in fact be inclined to see us as a warrior under the circumstances.
I mean, we've now killed three men in battle (well, one was a boy our own age...still counts). I think people will in fact be inclined to see us as a warrior under the circumstances.
Eh, fair enough, I guess? I mean, from what I understand, no one knows about the thief, but the Hod incident needed the involvement of the Headman, so that definitely became public. The fact we get orthstirr means that us saving Halfdan's farm is also in circulation, even if it's only brought up in passing.
It's just that, if the stigma of a woman being a warrior was so easy to overcome, I feel like there wouldn't be an actual disadvantage from it. But I can't argue with the facts.
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[X] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
[X] Yes, keep the previous plan
-[X] Assign the 2 new Training Dice to Hamr
Honestly, I couldn't go either way on the second boon - I just chose the trick because I thought it was cool, and having a powerful trick for the upcomijg boss battle would be nice. That, and I don't see us fighting another Knight/Squire/Page anytime soon, so getting the thing that was immediately useful seems like a good idea. Though I guess we could spar with Gabriel again? Nevermind, it specifies 9 different Pages/Squires/Knights. I don't see that happening for a while.
Anyway, that was a very cool end to a very cool fight. Made all the more cooler by the fact that we actually won. I enjoyed it alot.
I don't really understand what you mean by this, but I don't see why Halla being known as 'the rowdy girl' would mean that she shouldn't deal with this. By getting slapped by a thrall, it's an insult to her person, not to mention that it'd be seen as weak not to retaliate as Gabriel is her social inferior. 'Rowdy' means noisy and disorderly - usually someone that's prone to making trouble or getting into fights. She's not expected to fight him herself, but what I'm saying is that the village shouldn't be surprised if she did, given her reputation.
What I'm saying is:
Gabriel slapping her hard enough to draw blood is bad. REALLY bad. "We could kill him for that and be seen as acting correctly"[1] level of bad.
If Halla/Steinarr don't react to that appropriately that is shameful.
If we are acting as a warrior and beat his ass in this "spar" we can count that as having dealt with it. (See the "Fortunately, holmgang isn't strictly lethal")
If we are using "we aren't a warrior" as an excuse for loosing, that means we didn't deal with that insult.
[1]
We have QM confirmation that it is holmgang level of insulting. We don't have to kill him for it, but we could.
Striking someone hard enough to draw blood is at that level of insult. Fortunately, holmgang isn't strictly lethal. There was also a less formal version of holmgang which I cannot remember the name of right now.
Scouting on its own probably not. A Scouting Trick to increase eyesight, however, seems very doable...it would just negate our penalty rather than giving a bonus like it would for someone else and still cost orthstirr, but it seems doable.
Eh, fair enough, I guess? I mean, from what I understand, no one knows about the thief, but the Hod incident needed the involvement of the Headman, so that definitely became public. The fact we get orthstirr means that us saving Halfdan's farm is also in circulation, even if it's only brought up in passing.
It's just that, if the stigma of a woman being a warrior was so easy to overcome, I feel like there wouldn't be an actual disadvantage from it. But I can't argue with the facts.
I mean, killing your first man at the age of 12 and two others before you even hit adulthood (including a blooded warrior) isn't easy. That's a 'performing way above expectations' level of murderousness.
[ ] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[ ] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
Honestly, I couldn't go either way on the second boon - I just chose the trick because I thought it was cool. That, and I don't see us fighting another Knight/Squire/Page anytime soon. Though I guess we could spar with Gabriel again?
Anyway, that was a very cool end to a very cool fight. Made all the more cooler by the fact that we actually won. I enjoyed it alot.
What I'm saying is:
Gabriel slapping her hard enough to draw blood is bad. REALLY bad. "We could kill him for that and be seen as acting correctly"[1] level of bad.
If Halla/Steinarr don't react to that appropriately that is shameful.
If we are acting as a warrior and beat his ass in this "spar" we can count that as having dealt with it. (See the "Fortunately, holmgang isn't strictly lethal")
If we are using "we aren't a warrior" as an excuse for loosing, that means we didn't deal with that insult.
I'm with you right up until the last bit. I'm technically with you on that as well, but where we disagree is I don't think we'd need an excuse for having lost at all. By challenging him to an informal duel we're giving him the status of a warrior, which anyone who's fought a squire and knows how the manacles work will find reasonable, and losing a duel is not inherently a shameful act. It's not great, but it's not terrible either.
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel. [X] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
[X] Yes, keep the previous plan
-[X] Assign the 2 new Training Dice to Hamr
EDIT: Upon reflection, I don't care which of the other two options wins. The trick is cool, but we get no progression on it, and the Trait is cool but won't become anything any time soon. I am ambivalent.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
[X] Yes, keep the previous plan
Not inherently, sure.
But how it came about makes it clear it is a duel about the insult from the slap.
And losing it should bring the shame from the insult.
Gabriel slapping her hard enough to draw blood is bad. REALLY bad. "We could kill him for that and be seen as acting correctly"[1] level of bad.
If Halla/Steinarr don't react to that appropriately that is shameful.
If we are acting as a warrior and beat his ass in this "spar" we can count that as having dealt with it. (See the "Fortunately, holmgang isn't strictly lethal")
If we are using "we aren't a warrior" as an excuse for loosing, that means we didn't deal with that insult.
All true, except my point was that we weren't using it as an excuse - just that no one even saw Halla as a warrior to begin with. But I guess with our recent actions that's starting to change, so 'A Woman in a Man's World' can go and cry I guess.
Also, I think that we should do something about Stig's potential nidheart and also ask Hallr about combining muna. Not necessarily on this turn, but just stuff I think we should do.
Not inherently, sure.
But how it came about makes it clear it is a duel about the insult from the slap.
And losing it should bring the shame from the insult.
I don't think that's quite how it works. Being willing to duel, to fight for your honor, already greatly reduces the shame of the insult in question. Like, the reason it's shameful is you just took it, fighting over it and losing is much less bad because you were willing to fight, and the courage to do that is the socially important thing. Prowess is also relevant, but more in terms of gaining positive reputation...you can at least mostly avoid nid and other bad consequences by just displaying bravery, I think.
Also, I think that we should do something about Stig's potential nidheart and also ask Hallr about combining muna. Not necessarily on this turn, but just stuff I think we should do.
The current plan actually includes asking the seeress about Stigandr, if she's available (if she isn't, we can't do anything until Summer). And I guess we can ask Hallr that, but I feel like doing so before we even have a second Muna is a bit premature.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[X] Yes, keep the previous plan
-[X] Assign the 2 new Training Dice to Hamr
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[X] Vague Trick: Stomping-Power-Lunge Trick - A powerful Pierce trick that sees the wielder stomp the ground before delivering a potent attack. The stomp itself can also deal significant damage to a prone opponent.
[X] Yes, keep the previous plan
-[X] Assign the 2 new Training Dice to Hamr
Eh, I don't see why not. There's no guarantee we'll be getting a second muna anytime soon, and I'd rather we just get the information on hoe it works from him, incase it's a rare occurrence or he knows some trick that can aid it. Mostly I'm just scared that we'll never do it, and then Hallr would die for real or something. Granted, there's literally nothing at all that indicates Hallr is going to die soon, or if it could even be done, or why someone would do it. I'm just paranoid.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
Once Halla attends the Raid Trials, word will have got around enough for her status as a warrior to be known. Until then, she's sort of in a nebulous position as people are pretty sure she's doing warrior stuff, but it's just not confirmed without a doubt.
On if losing to Gabriel would be Odrengskapr or not. I'm not a fan of 'hidden costs' in real life or in quests. If something has a consequence like Odrengskapr, it will be listed clearly.
Eh, I don't see why not. There's no guarantee we'll be getting a second muna anytime soon, and I'd rather we just get the information on hoe it works from him, incase it's a rare occurrence or he knows some trick that can aid it. Mostly I'm just scared that we'll never do it, and then Hallr would die for real or something. Granted, there's literally nothing at all that indicates Hallr is going to die soon, or if it could even be done, or why someone would do it. I'm just paranoid.
I mean, all indications are that he super can't given that it's been stated we pass him on to our next character. And combining hugareida is apparently what you get from Hugr 7, so it can't be that rare.
But sure, I'll throw it into the next plan I make...asking doesn't cost us anything after all.
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
All true, except my point was that we weren't using it as an excuse - just that no one even saw Halla as a warrior to begin with. But I guess with our recent actions that's starting to change, so 'A Woman in a Man's World' can go and cry I guess.
And my point is that if people don't see us as a warrior then our "spar" with Gabriel doesn't count as dealing with the slap, when it absolutely needed to be dealt with, leading to bigger issues unless Steinarr deals with it. (Steinarr dealing with it probably would have been killing Gabriel)
[X] Incomplete Boon: Knightslayer - Unlocks certain scenes and makes it easier to battle Pages, Squires, and Knights. Unlock by dueling and defeating 9 different Pages, Squires, and/or Knights (1/9)
[X] Sparring with Gabriel - +2 training dice and +3 Relations with Gabriel.
I don't think the trick is very useful right now since we would have to train it.
How does Holmgang even work in this setting anyway? There's like, the Norns.
