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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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Could we convince everyone to follow us to the Sanctum or does everything have to take place in the court area?
 
That's the kill-shot, to be fired after Horra? has blown most of his bonus stack and any remaining trump cards. As that's the one he absolutely cannot deflect.
 
[X] Plan: Press the Attack

I might be more aggressive and just try to win it here, but if we're gonna slow play this is fine.

Imperial Fister said:
Hasvir takes to the stand, his head already shaking as he makes his denials. "I swear on the name I bear that I have never even touched Stronghoof, let alone brought him out to horse fights. I hate horses, can't stand the things. Whoever did this could not have been me."
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I think I figured it out. The Drysalt thing indicated the possibility of either comprehensive shapeshifting or illusion magic being available to the family. That's not Hasvir. Probably another one of Horra's sons? Horra swore he was who he said he was by name, so did his son in law, this guy didn't.

I think Horra, meanwhile, was surprised by the horse-fighting (and thus the stallion's fame).
 
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I'm inclined to agree, which is why we're trying to fork them into a bad position. The more resources Horra blows covering his ass and pushing irrelevant stuff, the less he'll have when we draw the knives.
 
DeadmanwalkingXI said:
I think I figured it out. The Drysalt thing indicated the possibility of either comprehensive shapeshifting or illusion magic being available to the family. That's not Hasvir. Probably another one of Horra's sons? Horra swore he was who he said he was by name, so did his son in law, this guy didn't.

I think Horra, meanwhile, was surprised by the horse-fighting (and thus the stallion's fame).
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Then it would be really usefull if we could argue him into a position where "Hasvir" not starting his names under oath is really awkward for them.
 
Could well be the daughter, who seem to be against us after all. Special fylgja-eyes could well indicate mastery of other spooky arts. The only one who swore not to be involved was Hasvir.


Edit: Using the daughter is particularly smart if she's not called to testify.
 
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KreenWarrior said:
Could well be the daughter, who seem to be against us after all. Special fylgja-eyes could well indicate mastery of other spooky arts. The only one who swore not to be involved was Hasvir.
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She could be the one impersonating Hasvir, but there sort of has to be an impersonator, because what 'Hasvir' just denied isn't the scorn pole but ever being involved with horses at all, which we know is false from various other testimony we've heard.

It would technically be possible for this to be the real Hasvir and the one who took the horse out horse-fighting to be the fake, but then this one wouldn't have avoided swearing that he was Hasvir Horrason.
 
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DeadmanwalkingXI said:
She could be the one impersonating Hasvir, but there sort of has to be an impersonator, because what 'Hasvir' just denied isn't the scorn pole but ever being involved with horses at all, which we know is false from various other testimony.
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Which testimony in particular incidentally?

But yeah, conspicuously, 'Hasvir' has been very careful not to say his name so far when under oath.
 
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Alectai said:
Which testimony in particular incidentally?

But yeah, conspicuously, 'Hasvir' has been very careful not to say his name so far when under oath.
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Aki literally saw (well, through his fylgja) someone named Hasvir bring Stronghoof to a horse fight. Could've been a fake, as I noted above, but the refusal of 'Hasvir' to confirm his name here makes me doubt it. As do the judges reactions (ie: they act like Stronghoof being brought around by Hasvir was a thing people knew about).

Or maybe Hasvir doesn't even exist? What if it's an identity the family made up and is used by various of them at various times? That'd be interesting if so...
 
DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Aki literally saw (well, through his fylgja) someone named Hasvir bring Stronghoof to a horse fight. Could've been a fake, as I noted above, but the refusal to confirm his name here makes me doubt it.

Or maybe Hasvir doesn't even exist? What if it's an identity the family made up and is used by various of them at various times? That'd be interesting if so...
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That'd be really weird because it means they' playing that game even when allegedly not being watched.
 
Alectai said:
That'd be really weird because it means they' playing that game even when allegedly not being watched.
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Well, watched by who? Their own subordinates are not loyal out of anything but fear and they are thus effectively always being watched. I can see it being useful in a few ways, potentially. Especially as a pre-established scapegoat many can swear to the existence of.

Like, if that's true and Hasvir gets outlawed, well, they can just abandon the identity, or continue to live in comfort while Hasvir 'lives in the woods' and makes continued attacks at us.
 
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Imperial Fister said:
Let all the Little-Watchers bear witness to Stronghoof's Sireling. Let them know no rest till ESONTRIARWOR is driven from the land in mind, body, and soul. May any who dare disrupt this righteous act have their face suffer worse than the downy-cheeks of RJUNNTABLS. Let all who continue learn the pain of Thorthur Skarfr meeting Helgi Droplaugarson.'

"So..." You begin while running thumb and forefinger along chin and jaw, "who did you say Stronghoof belonged to?"

"A man called Hasvir," Aki says with a shrug. "He didn't give his father's name, but he had a lot of money so Runar let him join. A mistake, turns out, as Stronghoof demolished the competition. Killed three horses before the day was out."
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Ah you're right. To say I've been distracted today is an understatement (Stuff has been Happening). That's interesting. But yes, I suspect...

Hmm.

Using the horse's name on the scorn pole is very conspicuous. There's no reason to leave such an incriminating name if one didn't want to. Nor to publicly show off the horse. Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if there's been a trap element to this from the start. Hopefully we have enough genuine evidence to flip it.

(To quote GotG 3, if you know it's a trap, it's not a trap, it's a faceoff).
 
I like the plan, I just liked the wording on troll from the earlier plan.
Imperial Fister said:
tell the tale of the spell that befell your father, the company that marched into the hills to find the source of the curse, the Troll that was guarding it. That you and your fellows unraveled the spell upon it, and when the Troll emerged later, that through clever words you brought it to believe that it had been betrayed by the one who offered it a 'Home' in this place, as long as it defended the Scorn-Pole--
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To what you have it now
Alectai said:
And yet, defending this very Scorn-Pole was a Troll! When my fellows and I undid the spell on the Pole, we laid a trap for the Troll. When it was injured, I tricked it into thinking it had been betrayed whomever set up the Scorn-Pole.
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It just seems to flow better and speaks better of us.
 
I've made an adjustment on the plan to add a contingency if 'Hasvir' does that squirrely thing where he tries to answer without giving his name again.

EDIT: The plan usually isn't taken verbatim, it's just a good outline.
 
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The name thing is good to check, but it could easily be the real Hasvir here, with an impostor present at the horse fight. That would be my play. Horra leaving a trail back to himself for Sten to follow after Steinarr died of the curse, so Sten would waste himself in vengeance that later could be proven unlawful, wittling away at our family piece by piece.
 
Alectai said:
Except the issue here is that Horra apparently didn't know about the Scorn-Pole.
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Not necessarily. He was surprised by some aspect of the whole thing...I suspect it was Stronghoof being famous. Like, he asked for a horse skull and made the Scorn Pole (or had it made...but the malice there seems like he did it personally, IMO) but wasn't aware that the name itself would give away anything because he didn't know Stronghoof was famous.
 
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