It's certainly possible that Odin is the Enemy, though that would raise a fuckton of followup questions.

If it's Odin that's The Enemy, its only because he thinks it will prevent Ragnarok.

I've always been of the mind that Odin's Greatest Motivation has been and will always be to prevent his Fated End come The Twilight of The Gods or at the very least, slow its coming.

His seeking of Knowledge and Power is always thus pointed to that end.

That it has nice effects for others, like when he stole the Blood Mead Of Poetry, is more just sort of extra mead in the stein, if ya will

Also something to consider as a total digression, The Æsir are just a kind of Giant when you really get down to it? They're just The Giants Who Won. Odin is the son of Borr who is the son of Buri, who was born, licked free or formed from Salt and Ice, depending on how you look at it, shortly after newly-born-but-still-a-full-adult giant Yimir, who was nursing from the same teat of the Primordial Cow that licked Buri into being.

Primordial Norse Myth Is Weird
 
Like, we can't give away food to hungry people just because we're also sacrificing? That just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If we have enough food charity seems like it should always be an option. Maybe it takes too much time to do both? But even then we should be able to spend an action on it...
How about this. You get one surplus action at base, but another action would take from your personal actions. Is that good?

If not, we can go to, like, two at base or something.

@Imperial Fister, did something come out of the leverage training ideas with Abjorn, that was voted for in Summer 5, Turn 3? There was no mention of it in the update, so was Abjorn not interestad at all, or did the ideas fail?
Ah, damn, looks like I forgot to put something in. Yes, he's taking your advice
Also, Steinarr is soon to die. Are we never getting his POV interlude about his thoughts on Halla's life-and-death adventures?
You are.
, he's an only child,
He has an older brother who he got compared to a lot. Asulfr is his name.

He doesn't come home very often.
@Imperial Fister how big is The Danelaw right now?
Mercia is split in half by the Borough Jarls. Northumbria is barely clinging to life as Jorvik steadily devours it piece by piece. East Anglia is Danish, which leaves Wessex alone to stem the tide. To their credit, the men of Wessex have fought tooth and nail to the bloody knife for every inch of land that they've been forced to give up.

0~0~0

I'll call voting in an hour and a half, as though it isn't very close it could still very well swing around.
 
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How about this. You get one surplus action at base, but another action would take from your personal actions. Is that good?

If not, we can go to, like, two at base or something.

Either of those sound fine to me, yeah. The second is self-evidently better for us mechanically (and would thus be preferable to us the players on that level), but either would make sense depending on how much time the actions really take in-universe (and thus solve the gameplay/story segregation issue).

He has an older brother who he got compared to a lot. Asulfr is his name.

He doesn't come home very often.

Huh. Must've just been thinking about his mother dying and his dad having no kids thereafter.
 
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Annnd voting is now closed
Either of those sound fine to me, yeah. The second is self-evidently better for us mechanically (and would thus be preferable to us the players on that level), but either would make sense depending on how much time the actions really take in-universe (and thus solve the gameplay/story segregation issue).
I'll go with the second in this case. One thing to keep in mind is that the gods won't be impressed by the same ritual being done in the same way over and over again.
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Apr 11, 2023 at 7:26 PM, finished with 270 posts and 16 votes.
 
I figure there's probably a yearly cap for this kind of thing, so it works, and it probably gets recalculated every year to require increasing amounts or something.
 
Winter 5/Investigating Steinby 1
Talking to Drifa
Drifa crouches in the middle of the field, hands on her knees and shoes flat against the ground. Golden stalks of grain that should've been harvested by now sway to and fro as gusts of wind playfully bat at healthy, red strands of hair.

Drifa's dress — of soft blue, woolen make — is spackled with mud and dirt, more than enough evidence of the kind of things she likes to get up to. A girl after your own heart.

"How goes it, cousin-mine?" Drifa perks up as your words reach her ears. Springing to her feet — which sends her shooting well beyond the grain-ears — she bounces to a stop before you as her hair whips in the wind.

"Halla!" She sings your name as she wraps her arms around your waist — and the baby bump slowly, but steadily, growing from your stomach. Ever since the battle with the nisse-turned-monstrosity, she's practically worshipped the ground you walk on. She's even gone as far as claiming one of the larger Asvir boys as 'her Abjorn', not that she really understands what such a thing means.

Fortunately, Sten took it in good humor and didn't do anything untoward after tracking the boy down and cornering him in a dark alleyway. So that's nice.

With a slight surge of strength, you peel your niece away from your unborn children. While she would never mean you or them any harm, she is young and simply doesn't know her own strength. She's surprisingly strong for her age, as many of the Asvir boys perilously learned.

Casting your gaze past the smiling face of your eldest niece, you lay eyes on the greenery she had been studying. It's a tiny growth, a spring shoot far out of season. It won't survive the winter, so what has it capturing Drifa's attention so?

Crouching down beside Drifa, you jerk a finger at the plant — the ground surrounding it heavily scorched and lightly smoking. "What've you got here?"

"A plant!" She says matter-of-factly, her hands on her hips and pride in her spine. "A magic one!"

A brow arches upon your face. You don't doubt her, she's not one to tell tall tales, but children often find many mundanities magical, "a magic plant? What makes it magic?"

"Because it keeps living after I burn it?" She looks at you like you're the silly one.

The right brow joins its brother high on your head. If that's the case... it truly would be magical. "Can you show me?"

She grins, big and wide, as she rolls up a slightly singed sleeve. Crimson orthstirr sparks as licks of flame ignite in her palm. Thrusting her palm forward, she drenches the little sproutling in crimson fire.

This continues on for a few seconds as the ground darkens ever further. By the time the flames let up, the plant is as fine as ever. In fact, it almost seems to be better, to be slightly bigger than it was before.

You find yourself doubting that such a thing is your kin, so how can it thrive in fire?

What is this plant?

"See?" Drifa gestures at the plant, her palm smoking painlessly as she points, "Magic."

You nod almost absent-mindedly as Blackhand begins to speak, the lesson clear even before words leave his 'lips.'

'In order to understand the unknown, you must engage it with all of your senses. Touch, Sight, Hearing, Smell, and, last of all, Taste.'

Your lips curl down as you regard the small hint of unmarred green peeking from the scorched ground. Do you really want to eat some random seed?

[ ] Of course you do, why is this even a question?
[ ] Pass on this for now, go talk to someone else or enter the house
-[ ] Sten, at the forge
-[ ] Asva, with the milk
-[ ] Enter the Farmhouse

0~0~0

AN: Not much to say here.

No moratorium and short voting period.
 
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Huh, is that Campfire or does Drifa have an actual Fire Hugareida as a bean?

[X] Of course you do, why is this even a question?

YOLO. We're probably not going to suddenly get annihilated by a seed our ancestor told us to taste while we still have a little bit of plot armor.
 
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[X] Of course you do, why is this even a question?

Did this even need a vote lmao
 
Oh Gods, I am so torn on this. I'd normally be all for eating the random magic plant, but Halla is pregnant, which makes me hesitate. Still, I cannot resist the siren song of temptation.

[X] Of course you do, why is this even a question?

I figure there's probably a yearly cap for this kind of thing, so it works, and it probably gets recalculated every year to require increasing amounts or something.

For sacrifices? Definitely. For charity the 'cost' of gaining Drengskapr it's probably more variable than escalating, since that's more about who's in need and how much so (and thus how good you look for helping them).
 
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[x] Of course you do, why is this even a question?

I mean, I assume this will have consequences since we're given a vote, but not necessarily wholely negative ones.
 
[X] Of course you do, why is this even a question?

Its unanimous.

Also its nice to catch an update before midnight.
 
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