NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)
- Thread starter I.F. Ister
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- Original Fantasy Action
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- norse mythology (mythology) original xianxia cultivation western cultivation ask sirihand did your mother tell you anything? discussion pleases yggdrasil farming gloating gets people killed granary management hubris is a coward's word you will die norsemen do not die when they are killed the qm has a bad memory the qm is bad at math viking courtroom drama (legal drama) vikings
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They probably gain power from faith, and particularly acts of faith. Their own faith, certainly, but also that of people in them. Power in this world is cultural, so I suspect that if you're a Chivalric Cultivator you gain Fervor from your own devotion, but also from behaving As A Knight Should. Likewise, if you instead are a Clerical Cultivator you instead gain it from behaving As A Priest Should, and so on.
This would actually make a lot of sense with why Errants seem less powerful, from description, since by being a catch-all, there's less resonance to acting As An Errant Should and it therefore grants less power.
So, like, Knights and Errants probably gain power from combat to some degree, but a Priest wouldn't unless protecting their flock or church, and a Noble wouldn't unless on their liege's orders or protecting their demesne.
Looks good. With the number changes, I'd argue that low end Knights (like, 4th Decade, maybe 5th) and random Trolls are probably towards the high end of Expert rather than hitting Master, but the actual categories seem just about right.
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
I mean, at the end of the day, it's not a rigid doctrine. People can be weak and strong within their category, it's that the majority of Knights are somewhere in the Master tier, with the weakest ones 'Merely' being Peak Experts, with the strongest edging into Heroic tier.
(I do suspect Crucifix Knights--Fifteenth Decade and anything beyond that--are very much Beyond Heroic though)
With the revised numbers, Halla is currently a Nearly Peak Adept, who can punch up comfortably into Expert against someone tough, and will probably reach actual Expert this year, if only the very bottom of it.
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True enough. Mostly just noting for the record.
Beat me to it. Yep, that seems correct and seems about right given what she's capable of.
Though my own analysis estimates we'll likely hit 77 dice this year or thereabouts (we can get 6 more dice from getting Strike and shoot to 3 and Dodge and Defend to 4, plus another 3-ish from making ourselves a sword), which is still low-end expert, but starting to really get there.
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Man, now I'm wondering if Knights and Squires (and maybe Pages if they existed) specifically cultivate through the very concept of Noblesse Oblige itself.
Also I wonder if we can actually convince Aki to take up Seidr tutelage under the Seeress when we meet him again since that's probably the only way he can be able to have a measure of independent power for himself with his various handicaps and skills even of society will think lesser of him for such and also his own pride.
Also I wonder if we can actually convince Aki to take up Seidr tutelage under the Seeress when we meet him again since that's probably the only way he can be able to have a measure of independent power for himself with his various handicaps and skills even of society will think lesser of him for such and also his own pride.
Something i thought about and wanted to mention in my Aki write in (and generally before) but didn't find good words that aren't condescending.
Aki Seer would fit so well.
His Seersight.
The story of Odin paying one eye for wisdom and the paralel of Aki being blind unless he looks through his Fylgja.
The paralels between Odins raven and Aki having a raven Fylgja.
It would be so fitting.
Though he would have to overcome a bunch of prejudice.
One issue, it might make people not want to have Sigurd as wisdom seeking wanderer, since Aki would already have the role of Odin refernce, and prefer a more murderhobo interpretation of the wanderlust.
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Shapescrafting is seidr, or at least seidr adjacent, so it's possible.
Shard
One and Many
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- Malaysia
I'm a little annoyed I arrived too late to get in on the questioning honestly. I would have suggested we not ask about destabilizing someone else's gate, or at least gone about it obliquely, as that seems like kind of a taboo topic. Since, you know, destroying people's souls.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
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Almost done, just need to format. You folks asked a lot of questions, lmao.
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It got multiple votes, so it gets asked. Hopefully rolled in with my curses/evil spirits question since that's phrased specifically to make it clear we need to know this stuff to stop it, not because we want to do it.
As far as i understand, the condition is "at least 2 votes", though questions may get "will answer some other time, answering everything would take too long"ed.
Summer 8/Asvir Visit 5.2 - The Great Infodumping
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
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[X] Hey, Gary Tuskpuncher is selling these weird, cheese-covered sticks of bread, maybe you should go buy one?
[X] How would you go about reinforcing the gate and the pathways, specifically? Or guiding the energy to heal? x
[X] Is there any seidr for gathering information, or does that all fall under seersight?
[X] How do curses work then? Defending against them seems like we'd need to know more about their mechanism. Ditto evil spirits.
[X] You said a connection to the Dark Forest, I've heard it a time or two from Blackhand, how does that interact with Seidr and what are the big things I need to worry about with it? x
[X] [Questions]Do you realize what you did to yourself by inviting my questions? x
[X] How much do you know about this... gate? x
[X] Is there a way to *de*stabilize someone's gate if you prefer their soul be obliterated? x
[X] Would it be possible to manipulate another person's Aspects with seidr?
[X] What would happen if you let some of the energy that came in through the gate remain? x
[X] [Questions] You said that Stabilizing Palm opens a gate which the body closes. Is there Seidr to force close the gate? x
[X] [Questions] You said that Stabilizing Palm opens a gate which the body closes. Is there Seidr to enter the gate, like with your Fylgja? x
[X] [Questions] How long would it take to learn the fertility spell? would it make someone who is very good at it even better? Would be something good to train Seidr at home, i could judge its effectiveness, and thereby how well I made it, based on my husbands.... *cough cough* x
[X] [Questions] You and Blackhand had this trick where you looked each other in the eye to talk, can you teach me that? Could i use that with my Fylgja to send messages?
[X] [Questions] How does the "need to earn learning Seidr" work? What would I have to have my kids do so i can teach them basics when they are old enough?
[X] [Questions] How does the spirit work, like finding a Nisse for your farm, work?
[X] [Questions] What kind of blessings are there?
[X] [Questions] Do Seeresses use runes like weapon smith do?
[X] [Questions] Do Seeresses use items to enhance their capabilities? Like fighters use high quality weapons.
[X] [Questions] Is there a use for ones Fylgja in Seidr? x
[X] [Questions] Do you know anything about shapecrafting?
[X] How would you go about reinforcing the gate and the pathways, specifically? Or guiding the energy to heal? x
[X] Is there any seidr for gathering information, or does that all fall under seersight?
[X] How do curses work then? Defending against them seems like we'd need to know more about their mechanism. Ditto evil spirits.
[X] You said a connection to the Dark Forest, I've heard it a time or two from Blackhand, how does that interact with Seidr and what are the big things I need to worry about with it? x
[X] [Questions]Do you realize what you did to yourself by inviting my questions? x
[X] How much do you know about this... gate? x
[X] Is there a way to *de*stabilize someone's gate if you prefer their soul be obliterated? x
[X] Would it be possible to manipulate another person's Aspects with seidr?
[X] What would happen if you let some of the energy that came in through the gate remain? x
[X] [Questions] You said that Stabilizing Palm opens a gate which the body closes. Is there Seidr to force close the gate? x
[X] [Questions] You said that Stabilizing Palm opens a gate which the body closes. Is there Seidr to enter the gate, like with your Fylgja? x
[X] [Questions] How long would it take to learn the fertility spell? would it make someone who is very good at it even better? Would be something good to train Seidr at home, i could judge its effectiveness, and thereby how well I made it, based on my husbands.... *cough cough* x
[X] [Questions] You and Blackhand had this trick where you looked each other in the eye to talk, can you teach me that? Could i use that with my Fylgja to send messages?
[X] [Questions] How does the "need to earn learning Seidr" work? What would I have to have my kids do so i can teach them basics when they are old enough?
[X] [Questions] How does the spirit work, like finding a Nisse for your farm, work?
[X] [Questions] What kind of blessings are there?
[X] [Questions] Do Seeresses use runes like weapon smith do?
[X] [Questions] Do Seeresses use items to enhance their capabilities? Like fighters use high quality weapons.
[X] [Questions] Is there a use for ones Fylgja in Seidr? x
[X] [Questions] Do you know anything about shapecrafting?
A grin splits your face in two as the Seeress sighs, already rubbing at her temple. An opportunity to ask *questions?* She shouldn't have! What a glorious gift that is!
"I have many questions," you declare, certain that your ancestors are nodding along with you.
"Gods give me strength," the Seeress mutters as she takes a seat, Blackhand cackling all the while, "If there was any lingering doubt to whose granddaughter you were, it's been dispelled now."
'Halla is Odin's direct descendent, Solrun, it can only be expected that she has questions on the mind.'
The Seeress rolls her eyes before waving you to begin, which you do with gusto.
"So, you mentioned a gate, what is it? And what happens if any of the gate's power is left behind?"
She squints as Blackhand can't stop chuckling. "The gate? It's the gate between the the soul and what lies beyond, the inside and the outside. If you are alive, if you can create, you have a gate." She hiss through her teeth as she considers the next question. "Nothing good, I can assure you. The energy is naturally chaotic and, when introduced to a space as naturally orderly as the soul, the results can be... rather explosive, in a spiritual sense." She's speaking from experience here, that much is obvious. Probably not a good idea to pry, though.
"Can it be used in battle?" The potential such a potent trump card has is rather a lot, if possible.
"The energy or the opening of the gate?" She quirks her head to the side and snorts. "You really are just like your grandfather."
'No, she's better.'
You blink. "Uh, both? I guess?"
The Seeress laughs. "Of course that's the answer. But, to answer your question, yes. The energy — which is referred to as odr — can provide a potent boost to power in the form of the Berserk's Frenzy as well as storing odr in fasts to enhance ability at a later date. As for opening an enemy's gate as a combat technique..." She frowns. "You only really get to do something like that once. After you open the door, the knowledge that you can do things like that is known and you're driven out or killed by fearful mobs of armed and extremely dangerous men."
"I'll keep that in mind..." Wait... she knows about odr? Or at least, she knows enough to know its name? Hm... you'll have to figure out a way to broach that question without giving it away, "So, you said something about strengthening pathways and guiding this 'odr' along, right? As well as opening and closing the gate? How's that work?"
She flicks her hand to the side and the teacup leaps to her hand. "The same principles behind how Recall works. You extend your orthstirr beyond the limits of your body using the strength of your will. Seidr, in truth, is just stacking commands on top of each other, like runes but in a more raw, primal way." She sips her tea as you process that.
"So, do you have to enter the gate in order for it to work or just open it? Do I have to send my fylgja through it or something?"
"I highly advise against ever entering the gate as surrounding yourself in odr is a surefire way of dying horribly." She shakes her head back and forth, tongue clicking against her teeth. "But, certain spells require letting things through the gate. Sometimes, for example, you need to create a link between the Dark Forest and that specific gate in order to do such things, which is something I will teach you at a later date."
"You mentioned the Dark Forest and I've heard that a couple of times from Blackhand, but how does it interact with seidr?" You run thumb and forefinger across chin and jaw, still thinking of how to ask about how she knows the name odr.
"High seidr involves interacting with worldly and otherworldly spirits, which is the difference between low and high seidr. If you are trying to utilize an otherworldly spirit in your spells, such as one from the Dark Forest, then you need to let it through either your own or someone else's gate, depending on the spell that's being cast."
"Is there anything I need to worry about involving the Dark Forest?" The name alone doesn't exactly fill you with confidence...
"Dark Forest spirits are things I will teach you about at a later date, when I am certain that you won't accidentally summon something that decides your soul is a good place to set up shop. The spirits of the Dark Forest are tricky and are more than willing to play the long con, if you will."
"Right... so, how do you contact otherworldly spirits? Do you use your fylgja or something?"
She gives you a dry look and sips from her tea. "We'll start with worldly spirits and work our way up from there. For example," she taps the cauldron, "this is a method of attracting a worldly spirit — which is a spirit that calls Midgard home — that you can then make a deal with to produce some sort of effect, like increased fertility."
"Speaking of the fertility spell, how does that work? How long does it take to learn? Would it further improve already high fertility? Would it be something good to train seidr with at home? I could even judge the effectiveness based on Abjorn's..." You blink, realizing that you might have been a bit too enthusiastic about that particular topic...
A silence falls between you and the Seeress, who's giving you the oddest look. Eventually, she shakes her head. "Your husband must have the strongest hips in all the realms."
"I'm not that baby crazy!"
'No, no you are,' Blackhand says moments before the Seeress snorts.
"You're worse than Blackhand, who had more lovers then I have fingers and toes." She laughs. "I should know, having been one of them!"
Your face burns hotter than the sun as you scratch at your cheek. "Ah... Well, um," the flush intensifies, "c-can you still answer the question, please?"
"Of course I can," she smiles behind her teacup, "It doesn't take long to learn, but gathering the materials does. This spell specifically makes use of three cow fetuses, nine fertilized chicken eggs, and eighty-one golden elm leaves." The Seeress shrugs, "Your sister paid a high price, so I put in extra effort with the numbers and ingredients. By swapping out the ingredients and varying up the amount, one can produce a variety of different strengths to the spell. And as for if it's a good training tool... only if you want a lot of children all at once," she snorts, "maybe if you sacrificed the right things, you might be able to convince the Nornir to let you have more children than you otherwise would."
"Thank you." Your mind is already swimming with possibilities.
"It is no problem," she smiles, "now, the rest of your questions?"
You match her smile and launch into a barrage of questions, all with different answers. She has no idea what you're talking about with blessings. Seeresses sometimes make use of runes, but mostly as a training tool. Seeresses do have special tools to help them, like a specially prepared cauldron and specially-treated staves.
Eye-Talking is a low seidr spell that she would be happy to teach you. You can talk to spirits to gain information, Seersight is not required to do so. Curses are often hooked onto the hamingja of the afflicted. Shapecrafting is a form of low seidr. She's not aware of any way to manipulate someone else's Aspects. You can attract a multitude of different spirits for different purposes through different rituals.
But no matter what question you ask, you can't quite find the question that gets you what you want; how she can talk about odr like that, without the world stopping her from hearing it.
"Why do you need to 'earn' the right to learn seidr? How would I go about teaching it to my children?" This is your final question, if you don't think of a good way of probing the topic... you might not get another chance this time around.
She frowns and stirs her tea with a bit of extended orthstirr — she'd brewed herself several new cups over the course of the conversation. "An odd phenomenon that we seidr practitioners have observed is that attempting to teach someone about odr — which is intrinsic to how seidr operates — is impossible without the student having 'earned' the right to do so." Her lips thin as her frown deepens — the tea still a little too hot, "The general consensus is that it's always been this way, as even the All-Father had to earn the right to learn runes and seidr, but that doesn't explain why runes are, in comparison, so much easier to learn than seidr is."
"There is no power without sacrifice..." You trail off, mouth twisting into a frown. Well, at least you learned the reason behind her being able to say the name of odr.
"And the greater the power, the greater the sacrifice," the Seeress finishes for you as she drinks — her tea having cooled enough for her. She frowns as she glances out the window, at the sun starting to hang low in the sky. "I'm sure that you have other tasks in Asvir before the day is out, so you had best get going if you wish to see them through."
You asked so many questions that you burned through most of the day, it would seem. Your joints pop as you stand up from your chair and stretch. After giving thanks to your teacher, you make your way out of the tent and into the evening sun.
With the little time you have left, do you still wish to go to Gary Tuskpuncher's cheesy bread stall? Or do you wish to go somewhere else?
[ ] Why is this even a question? You're going to get those godsdamned breadsticks or so help you Odin!
[ ] Actually, you'll hold off on that for now. Instead, you'll...
-[ ] Go to the markets
--[ ] Write in what you're after
-[ ] Speak to the Headsman
--[ ] Write in what you want to speak to him about
-[ ] The raiding trials are about to start, go observe them!
-[ ] You have a lot to think about, it's time to go home
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AN: I'm very sorry that I didn't go through with the breadsticks option, but it is getting quite late and I'd like to get this out. You folks asked a few more questions then I thought you would! Next time around, I'll have better criteria
If I accidentally missed a question, then that's my bad. I tried to add questions together, so if it wasn't explicitly answered, then it might've been answered implicitly.
No moratorium.
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Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Interesting. You're allowed to know about Odr--but only in the context of it being dangerous and explosive and fatal. (Which it is--if you fuck up channeling it of course) . Seidr itself looks like Odin managed to do a runaround on the Enemy by figuring out a way to teach something adjacent to True Cultivation in a way that prevents him from actively interfering.
We also figured out just why Shapecrafting was a Win, it allowed people to store some limited quantities of Odr without actually storing it in the Soulspace, which starts Cultivation. They basically managed to sneak some of the benefits of Odr into the basic system under the Enemy's nose.
Notably, this means Halla would be a disgustingly skilled Shapecrafter. Most have to extract Odr from monsters and natural sources, Halla can just generate a portion herself and go from there.
So, with all this sorted out, how does Seidr work, mechanically @Imperial Fister , and do we get some Training Dice from the Seeress to learn it? Are they just Weird Tricks or is it a separate sub-system? Or is further Seid gated behind learning that Spell she told us to learn?
Also, the Odr Channeling looks super fucking handy as well.
We also figured out just why Shapecrafting was a Win, it allowed people to store some limited quantities of Odr without actually storing it in the Soulspace, which starts Cultivation. They basically managed to sneak some of the benefits of Odr into the basic system under the Enemy's nose.
Notably, this means Halla would be a disgustingly skilled Shapecrafter. Most have to extract Odr from monsters and natural sources, Halla can just generate a portion herself and go from there.
So, with all this sorted out, how does Seidr work, mechanically @Imperial Fister , and do we get some Training Dice from the Seeress to learn it? Are they just Weird Tricks or is it a separate sub-system? Or is further Seid gated behind learning that Spell she told us to learn?
Also, the Odr Channeling looks super fucking handy as well.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
[X] Why is this even a question? You're going to get those godsdamned breadsticks or so help you Odin!
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
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[X] Why is this even a question? You're going to get those godsdamned breadsticks or so help you Odin!
Halla has her priorities straight.
Halla has her priorities straight.
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Hey Blackhand would it be safe to tell the Seeress we know a bit about Odr and how to use it? About how to cultivate more 'safely'?
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Will we have time to do anything else if we get breadsticks? Because we 100% need to go livestock shopping. I'm fine with breadsticks, but not if they actually prevent us from doing something necessary.
Technically we don't know this. I agree it's likely, but technically, it's possible that if someone paid a sufficient price, they could learn the whole thing without the Enemy's interference. We don't actually know for sure.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
[X] Why is this even a question? You're going to get those godsdamned breadsticks or so help you Odin!
[X] Actually, you'll hold off on that for now. Instead, you'll...
-[X] Go to the markets to buy livestock.
[X] Actually, you'll hold off on that for now. Instead, you'll...
-[X] Go to the markets to buy livestock.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
...
oh
OH
THAT'S HOW IT WORKS
When you do Disclosure, the Enemy forces their way in as the administrator of the Trial to Earn the Right, and then sets up a Trial that will absolutely kill you. And ideally, everyone around you too.
It's the same thing as the Debt Fuckery presumably. He's everywhere, so he's always the first 'On the Scene' to administer a Trial like that, outside of something that's had a proper Tradition carved in that takes precent (Presumably, this is why he gets so snitty and progress, because he loses his First Mover Advantage when an institution gets fully established, and thus he can't force an Unwinnable Trial in anymore.)
It is--in effect--that the Enemy is effectively the proverbial Heavens from a more typical Xianxia setting, except unlike the Heavens where they're generally a machine executing a function, the Enemy wants you to fail, and thus any time you give him an opening, he'll exploit it to the greatest opportunity possible with the intent to have you killed.
The right to know about Odr requires a Trial of some sort, we undertook that Trial when we Opened the Gate, but if we pass it on, we then have to take a Trial to gain the right to teach others. Which the Enemy leverages as force sufficient to guarantee your death absent external powers.
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[X] Why is this even a question? You're going to get those godsdamned breadsticks or so help you Odin!
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Damn. Important question - does this apply to writing though? Because it sounds like it's configured for Norse customs, where writing isn't much of a thing.
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