NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

AeonIlluminate · Oct 26, 2023

Skippy said:
If we both work together, how can we fail?

Minor, very minor point, Norse fights run on who is better at killing people, not the Power of Friendship. The guys who live in that world know this, and know that the Power of Friendship is a very good way to get yourself gutted by the BBEG or his minions.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Oct 26, 2023

Skippy said:
The Ignition action can probably wait a turn I think. At least that's what I went for in my plan.

As far as qualification goes, I think that the anchor may well be our breath itself, or some other fundamental bodily thing. (Maybe linked to our divine heritage, maybe not.) Given how Norse cultivation is about simplicity, it would actually make a lot of sense if the simplest Anchors are the hardest to unlock, but also more powerful.

Fair enough. As noted above, added to my plan as well.

Skippy said:
In some ways I think now is the best time, because grief focuses the mind. Steinarr was killed by a coordinated attack from someone who clearly meant him (and by extension our family) harm. Corpsemaker was in our home threatening us just a few weeks ago. Our family is under threat, and Steelfathers are almost certainly part of it.

It's that time when the going gets tough, and the tough have to get going.

Here I disagree. I think this amounts to taking advantage of our brother's grief to get him to do things he wouldn't if he were clear headed. That feels very wrong to me. Grief can also make one emotional, and may make his emotional reaction more volatile, which is potentially very bad.

Skippy said:
That's a fair point and I'm amenable to tweaking the training dice, I just would prefer it's on more core skills than wrestling or social tricks. Admittedly the update with Corpsemaker did flag up that his social tricks were clearly better than ours, so perhaps there's value in it...

Wrestling features nowhere in my plan? The stuff you're dropping is Social stuff, our most important Tactics Trick (the one that gauges enemy dice), and upping Chop to 5 (which is just a basic combat enhancement, and a pretty cheap one). And we eventually want to get some skills to 6 and see what we get (both combat and non-combat)...we need to get at least one combat skill at 5 before we can do that. Just refusing to ever increase combat skills isn't really viable.

Skippy said:
On the Book disclosure risk, I think the best option is to spend a Reward Dice and ask Fister. Personally, I am very sure that poetic allusion will not trigger disclosure, because I suspect that this is part of why Odin gave the mead of poetry to men - thematically it fits too well. But I would be happy to spend my remaining Reward Dice to make sure and assuage any fears.

@Imperial Fister, if we hide the secret of Odr cultivation through metaphor and poetic allusion - nothing literal, just repeated implications through repeated themes and poetic metaphor in stories which together start to form a picture - is this a Disclosure risk?

This is fair. If a Reward Die indicates this is Disclosure free I'll add it to my plan.

The Lone badger · Oct 26, 2023

alexthealright said:
Trapping a Steelfather for forever is much harder than killing them once

But don't you want to contribute to creating labyrinths containing an ancient sealed evil that is now slowly corrupting the land so some future hero can have a proper saga? Pay it forward and all that.

Skippy · Oct 26, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Here I disagree. I think this amounts to taking advantage of our brother's grief to get him to do things he wouldn't if he were clear headed. That feels very wrong to me. Grief can also make one emotional, and may make his emotional reaction more volatile, which is potentially very bad.

It's been at least a few weeks and possibly a month or more since the funeral, depending on when that was in last turn and when this conversation happens in this one. I think that's long enough for this not to be manipulative.

But I think it's good to have this talk sooner rather than later, when our minds are still focused by the very real threat of the people who would smile at murdering us and our children.

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Wrestling features nowhere in my plan? The stuff you're dropping is Social stuff, our most important Tactics Trick (the one that gauges enemy dice), and upping Chop to 5 (which is just a basic combat enhancement, and a pretty cheap one). And we eventually want to get some skills to 6 and see what we get (both combat and non-combat)...we need to get at least one combat skill at 5 before we can do that. Just refusing to ever increase combat skills isn't really viable.

Yeah, fair, you know what, I'll change it back. No one is going to be voting for my plan based on training die allocations anyway.

(I thought there was a wrestling Trick you were training somewhere? Must have misread.)

Shard said:
Like, if this was the Manhattan Project, you are trying to rush to build the bomb, without having yet figured out how to build a Centrifuge (including materials), how to power that centrifuge, worked on the engineering defficulties of engineering a bomb, figuring out a delivery mechanism, or a mine to mine the plutonium to even start centrifuging into bomb material, etcetera.

No, I am saying I want us to start building a centrifuge, and do basic research, to begin the long and bumpy road to building a bomb. I have no illusions that our first attempts will be successful,. But that requires us to actually start. Simply putting it off forever and thinking happy thoughts will not produce progress. Neither will it remove the inconvenient reality that a Steelfather was in our workshop and not-so-subtly threatening to kill us and our children only a few weeks ago.

Being able to defeat a Steelfather isn't some esoteric and strange thing. It is, ultimately, the only test that matters, because Steelfathers and the rare heroes who can kill them are the real power players in the Norse world. We are at the level of a high-end Ironbrother now, and Steelfathers are one rank up from that. It's time to start. We may spend a few years working towards this - it took us about this long work out how to set up our soulscape and defuse the traps for the next realm of Odr cultivation - but that requires us to actually start work.

AeonIlluminate said:
Minor, very minor point, Norse fights run on who is better at killing people, not the Power of Friendship. The guys who live in that world know this, and know that the Power of Friendship is a very good way to get yourself gutted by the BBEG or his minions.

It's appealing to our shared family bond, and our faith in ourselves as Steinarr's heirs and true heroic cultivators who can overcome all obstacles. We aren't saying that the Power of Friendship will overcome, we're saying that hard work and our own heroic genius will allow us to overcome and obstacle and surpass any foe. You know... like a cultivator ought to.

uri · Oct 26, 2023

So, this is somthing I wanted to do for some time. This plan is basically identical to deadman's but it infuses all of the skills that aren't infused.

it's high time we do this as it dosnt cost even half a turn of odr production.

[X] Plan Books, Books, Books and skill infusion
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something (Free Action)
--[X] Fix the Runes on our Work Knife from last turn (+16 successes fromTools/Workshop)
--[X] "May using me teach how to use a blade." - Hopefully a TrainingItem for Pierce and Slash

-[X] (Underhouse) What would you like to use the Underhouse for?
--[X] Search the empty bedroom for the ledger

-[X] Write A Book
–[X] Specifically, this is the 'public consumption' book. A book including all the mechanics of basic Orthstirr cultivation (the three stats, Aspects, Tricks, Styles, Hugareida, and so on) and the skills and nature of Norse life that we would want our children to be instructed in. Including the necessary prerequisites of Odr cultivation (like weaving, needlebinding, and farming), but not anything that would trigger Disclosure.

-[X] (Personal) Spend time with...
--[X] Halfdan
--[X] Check in with him if he and his family are really alright after the events of the raid and see how everyone is doing
--[X] Talk to him about why Reidar Swordfury was after him and his situation with regards to Vestfold

-[X] [Social] Erect a Runestone for Steinarr honoring his life and accomplishments

-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] The hills!
---[X] (Optional) Range further from your home
---[X] (Optional)Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)

-[X] Special Note: On all Crafting add the following if possible unless otherwise specified:
--[X] For metal items have Heat Hold available just in case
--[X] Using Sundersight (+1d3 Successes)
--[X] Stoking Frami, Virthing, and Saemd (for +1 Success each, +3 successes total) to enhance the crafting process

Training:

-[X] (Research)
--[X] Work on learning how to undo needlebinding more quickly and easily –1 Research
--[X] Work on teaching Bjorney Eyespeech – 1 Research
--[X] Try and Infuse 1 Odr into the chicken in our soulscape's Hamr, see if we can apply that process to other people –1 Research
---[X] If it still seems hungry afterwards, feed it
--[X] Try and carefully invert Ignition away from ourselves and see what it does – 1 Research
--[X] Try and do the Burl and Bridge thing Solrun suggested to us – 1Research
--[X] Attempting to recruit the half-formed spirit-wisps in our soulscape –1 Research

-[X] (Training) Hamr (255 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Chop 12xp (6xp)
--[X] Train Thermic Reckoning 36xp (18xp)
--[X] Train Brazier Bomb 4xp (2xp)

-[X] (Training) Hugr (255 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Contested Movement 28xp (14xp)
--[X] Train Silver-Tongue 12xp (6xp)
--[X] Train Light-Touch 6xp (3xp)
--[X] Train Contention-Connection 6xp (3xp)
--[X] Train Effort Gauge 28xp (14xp)

-[X] (Training) Fylgja (102 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train a Fylgja Trick for improving spiritual perception and especially spiritual overwatch 3 xp

-[X] (Work Dice Usage)
--[X] Buildings, Resources, and Livestock: 2 Living Space, 2 Storage, otherwise maxed out (65 Total)
--[X] Construction: Put 19 into Workshop (19 Total)
--[X] Conversion: Spend for 6 Research Dice (12 Total)

-[X] (Incidentals)
--[X] Infuse 64 Odr into Hugr
---[X] Take our normal precautions for Infusing Hugr
---[X] Place the new Frenzy in 3 empty Pockets
--[X] Adding Taafl Board Capacity Gains to: Abjorn, Hallbjorn,
--[X] Receiving Metal from Dwarves: 24 oz Forged Iron, 6 oz Storm Iron
--[X] infuse 1 Odr to the following skills:Strike ,Bash, Slash, Pierce, Throw, Shoot, Dodge, Labor, Overland, Barb-Tongue, Design, Artcraft, Housecraft, Armorcraft, Wildcraft, Management, Sailing, for a total of 17 Odr.
---[X] take all the precautions we normally take when infusing Hugr.

Alloys:
-[X] (Alloy Slots)
--[X] Assign ???

Capacity:
-[X] (Capacity Slots)
--[X] Assign Beaconlight, and Vows of Love.

Fylgja:
-[X] (Standing Orders)
--[X] Assign our Fylgja's remaining standing order to providing spiritual overwatch for us.

TheCount · Oct 26, 2023

Hm.... Well, this is gonna be a slig, this revenge

Imperial Fister said:
"We, as Seers, are essentially beacons blazing away in the branches. With souls that are significantly more habitable to spirits, we are both the first choice and only choice for a wiser spirit seeking to experience sensation. As such, it is very important to take the necessary precautions whenever you walk the branches—as I have, of course, taught you. Fortunately, these precautions often prove redundant given that spirits are often slain by each other or by one's litilfylgjur when the opportunity to enter a Seer's soul presents itself."

Good thing we set up our defensive wards, huh?

Imperial Fister said:
[ ] Search the empty bedroom for the ledger

We already found it though?

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
1. Do we want to do item investigations (including the blood) as one of our 6 Research Actions? I'm down with doing so but unsure what to drop.

~~~Edit: I would say either the chicken or the ignition one, leaning to ignition. Edit end~~~

I would like to, yes.... But which ones, is the question.

Imperial Fister said:
-1 Multiplying Fish (It multiplies upon poke, getting slightly smaller each time, will provide a total of 60 Food before running out)
-1 Automatic Comb. It combs your hair automatically! Nifty!
-1 Weird stick thing. It leaves a dark trail where the point touches.
-1 Weird teeth necklace thing. Six large, pointy teeth sit on a woven cord. Each tooth hums with power.
-1 False Eye. This is a strange, see-through, false eyeball that seems to contain a slumbering spirit.
-1 Dwarven Hammer and Chisel. You're not really sure what it does, but it sure does *something!*
-1 Clay Bottle of Earthblood. Earthblood, of course, being lava.
-1 Vial of Liquid Sunlight. Incased in crystal, this bottle contains the liquid light of the river Leiptr
-1 Strange Ice Sword
-3 pots of a strange substance found in the Underhouse
-1 Strange Sword (Probably A Katana) (7d6 Dice. ???)
-1 Glass Vial of Blood

So, I thought we already finished the fish and the hammer and chisel, but apparently there is more to them?

We should do the pentl, the necklace.... And probably ask help from Sten for the katana and the carbone flour.
Oh! Maybe ask him for the teeth too? He does magic, so it might help?
These, with the blood would take at least 5 dice.

No idea why seeingsnow is on the unidentified list though

World Illusion · Oct 26, 2023

infusing the skills is a good breakpoint to aim for, are there any others we could get with our budget this turn?

also, couldnt we ask seeingsnow to use his psychometry on the dwarf ipad to read it's past and see the combinations used?

DeadmanwalkingXI · Oct 26, 2023

Skippy said:
It's been at least a few weeks and possibly a month or more since the funeral, depending on when that was in last turn and when this conversation happens in this one. I think that's long enough for this not to be manipulative.

But I think it's good to have this talk sooner rather than later, when our minds are still focused by the very real threat of the people who would smile at murdering us and our children.

Still feels off to me. And risky. I think it's worse now than it would be in a turn or two, if we even want to do it.

Skippy said:
Yeah, fair, you know what, I'll change it back. No one is going to be voting for my plan based on training die allocations anyway.

(I thought there was a wrestling Trick you were training somewhere? Must have misread.)

There was getting Knee-Drop Back-Breaker to Refined, but we completed that last turn. I'm not against grabbing another wrestling Trick at some point, I guess, but I think were mostly done there. I'd like to get Glima to 6 (because it's half done and thus quite cheap) at some point for a cheap 3 Combat Pool and being better at opposed wrestling contests, but it's hardly urgent.

uri said:
So, this is somthing I wanted to do for some time. This plan is basically identical to deadman's but it infuses all of the skills that aren't infused.

it's high time we do this as it dosnt cost even half a turn of odr production.

I have mixed feelings on this idea. Pre-Disclosure information, I was all for it, but even then I'd be a little worried about doing them all at once with no prep and it makes Disclosure much worse if it ever happens, which is a notable risk.

Really, there's also the cognitive load on IF...if we get them all now, very few will do anything special because he's sure not coming up with 17 all at once. Done over time more might have special stuff like Calm Charges.

TheCount said:
~~~Edit: I would say either the chicken or the ignition one, leaning to ignition. Edit end~~~

That was definitely the right one to drop. I think Skippy has convinced me to try and get the Time Stands Still style working instead, which seems reasonable enough.

Shard · Oct 26, 2023

Skippy said:
No, I am saying I want us to start building a centrifuge, and do basic research, to begin the long and bumpy road to building a bomb. I have no illusions that our first attempts will be successful,. But that requires us to actually start. Simply putting it off forever and thinking happy thoughts will not produce progress. Neither will it remove the inconvenient reality that a Steelfather was in our workshop and not-so-subtly threatening to kill us and our children only a few weeks ago.

Being able to defeat a Steelfather isn't some esoteric and strange thing. It is, ultimately, the only test that matters, because Steelfathers and the rare heroes who can kill them are the real power players in the Norse world. We are at the level of a high-end Ironbrother now, and Steelfathers are one rank up from that. It's time to start. We may spend a few years working towards this - it took us about this long work out how to set up our soulscape and defuse the traps for the next realm of Odr cultivation - but that requires us to actually start work.

No.

This is like trying to develop a 'Detect Phylactery' spell as a level 5 wizard aimed at a level 15 wizard. Your attempts will bounce off their Magic Resistance, Screen and Mind Blank no matter how hard you work, how lucky you are, or how creative you are with the wording of your feeble level 3 custom divination spell.

It is completely unproductive. You're trying to cast Resurrection without having figured out Raise Dead. You don't even know where to start on dragging a soul from the afterlife to reality.

You know what is productive? Figuring out things we can actually work on so we can hit being a level 7 wizard, then a level 9 wizard, and so on. Like those fundamental tools we are missing in our toolkit. Like working on our Stage 2 of 9(?) Soulscape cultivation. Figuring out Seidr stuff. Working on Martial Arts, Hugareida Alloys, and so forth.

World Illusion · Oct 27, 2023

Shard said:
No.

This is like trying to develop a 'Detect Phylactery' spell as a level 5 wizard aimed at a level 15 wizard. Your attempts will bounce off their Magic Resistance, Screen and Mind Blank no matter how hard you work, how lucky you are, or how creative you are with the wording of your feeble level 3 custom divination spell.

It is completely unproductive. You're trying to cast Resurrection without having figured out Raise Dead. You don't even know where to start on dragging a soul from the afterlife to reality.

You know what is productive? Figuring out things we can actually work on so we can hit being a level 7 wizard, then a level 9 wizard, and so on. Like those fundamental tools we are missing in our toolkit. Like working on our Stage 2 of 9(?) Soulscape cultivation. Figuring out Seidr stuff. Working on Martial Arts, Hugareida Alloys, and so forth.

this is wild speculation, the steelfathers are not unbeatable. all of our attempts to counter them are not going to bounce off of unknown and unforeseeable protections. the steelfathers are only a tier above us (high ironbrother level) so its more like a 11th level wizard researching the life of a lich to try and figure out where their evil stronghold might be and what spells they know. its opposition research, and it best that we do it sooner, rather than later. when we get to steelfather level, we may be too busy or we may be attacked preemptively. lets be ready beforehand

alexthealright · Oct 27, 2023

World Illusion said:
this is wild speculation, the steelfathers are not unbeatable. all of our attempts to counter them are not going to bounce off of unknown and unforeseeable protections. the steelfathers are only a tier above us (high ironbrother level) so its more like a 11th level wizard researching the life of a lich to try and figure out where their evil stronghold might be and what spells they know. its opposition research, and it best that we do it sooner, rather than later. when we get to steelfather level, we may be too busy or we may be attacked preemptively. lets be ready beforehand

As a matter of fact there is the entirety of Near Peak and Peak between us and any given Steelfather, we're strong but absolutely not that strong.

Skippy · Oct 27, 2023

This is definitely true for Halla where she is now, and it's worth remembering. Overconfidence is a killer and all that. But also, we're a cultivator, and our whole deal is about meeting new challenges head-on and surpassing them.

Like, we got given a pretty hard education in the school of hard knocks the first time she fought Hooknails, and were significantly outclassed by him. So we knuckled down, trained hard, and spent a lot of time meditating and developing powerful new techniques, and the next time we fought him? We were able to defeat him, and moved up two whole rankings. If we spend the next few years until the War Arc training just as hard, developing even more busted Kung-Fu Bullshit, and working to unlock the secret of Steel and how to unmake it... we could jump two rankings again. It is demonstrably possible.

Ultimately the only thing I'm certain about is that if we assume that we cannot met a challenge, then we have defeated ourselves. All I'm proposing is that we make a real attempt, and see where it takes us.

TheCount · Oct 27, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
That was definitely the right one to drop. I think Skippy has convinced me to try and get the Time Stands Still style working instead, which seems reasonable enough.

We know nothing about that style though, not to mention even if there already exist a style for standstill, we can't learn it without a teacher.
And the pen would make doing the book easier, not to mention any other writing or drafting up blueprints for other stuff.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Oct 27, 2023

TheCount said:
We know nothing about that style though, not to mention even if there already exist a style for standstill, we can't learn it without a teacher.
And the pen would make doing the book easier, not to mention any other writing or drafting up blueprints for other stuff.

We already learned part of it without a teacher, apparently. It's worth a try to see if we can expand on that a bit.

And I mean...we can use it without studying it. The studying is to figure out how to reproduce it and how it works. Also, it's probably a pencil, not a pen.

TheCount · Oct 27, 2023

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
We already learned part of it without a teacher, apparently. It's worth a try to see if we can expand on that a bit.

Expand? Sure.
Learn? Nope.
Not even reverse engineering it is possible.

TheCount said:
But lets just ask: @Imperial Fister if we have every other requirement and leads on what a style does, can we rewrite to skip the teaching part, practically reinvent/reverse engineer it without a teacher?

Imperial Fister said:
You cannot, no.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Oct 27, 2023

TheCount said:
Expand? Sure.
Learn? Nope.
Not even reverse engineering it is possible.

That's specifically on using a Rewrite to avoid needing a teacher for something that otherwise does. We don't even know this Style needs a teacher. We know nothing about it. Maybe we're inventing it...someone has to do that and they obviously can't have a teacher.

Skippy · Oct 27, 2023

TheCount said:
Expand? Sure.
Learn? Nope.
Not even reverse engineering it is possible.

The last turn where we researched it pretty clearly indicated that we're on the right track with breath being the key, and likely the "fuel" of the parent style in the same sense that our blood/heartbeat is the "fuel" of Stoker State.

Imperial Fister said:
Experimenting with Time Stands Still
After some experimentation with Time Stands Still, you discover that;
-Using your breath sparingly causes the Time Stands Still effect to 'stutter'. This feels important.

It may be that what @Imperial Fister was talking about in the post you quoted was about not being able to get around needing Anchor for a Style, which Halla already has in this case. Maybe whatever kind of Style the parent style of Time Stands Still classes as is different from the more tradition-based Styles. Or perhaps this is a new Style that Hall herself is developing -they must originate somewhere after all. Whatever the answer I'm not sure, Fister would need to say.

But it has been textually stated to us by a recent update that we are on the cusp of a breakthrough here, and I think we should follow that lead.

TheCount · Oct 27, 2023

Both of you have good points, yeah.

DeadmanwalkingXI · Oct 27, 2023

Okay, updated the Underhouse Action somewhat, and after a suggestion on Discord added trying to add an Experience to our Work Knife, specifically:

--[ ] Try and place the Experience of working alongside Abjorn on the farm into the item

Hopefully imparting some good feelings and maybe Abjorn's skills into the item. We'll see how that works.

Klaus Wulfenback · Oct 27, 2023

[X] Plan Books, Books, Books and skill infusion

Mystic Pentagram · Oct 27, 2023

[X] Plan Books, Books, Books

The Plan is good, but i have some troughts regarding next turns.

I agree we should dedicate some actions to forge equipment for Dorri. It is pretty important.

I think we could learn some more Hugareida. Trying to alloy Sunfire and maybe learn Lighting using the Copper Rod. Having more Hugareida is ALWAYS better in my opinion. Even if we don't have them at high level. I mean, would have anybody expected Clearwater to be so important for defeating Hooknails?

Having more options for attack and utility gives us more possibilities to do things.

If we have success recruiting the lesser Proto-Spirits this turn. We could try recruiting the skogtatt when we can. Also, we should visit again Jurgen's Cave and talk with him. Maybe trade something and estabilish ourselves as friendly neighbors. If we Socialize with both Jurgen and the skogtatt, maybe we will finnaly complete the Speaking-Out-of-Law Boon.

Anon · Oct 27, 2023

[X] Plan Books, Books, Books

fearsome hill · Oct 27, 2023

What species of tree is the yggdrasil?

Mystic Pentagram · Oct 27, 2023

I was thinking.

Since now we have saved his famly and household twice, and his son married our sister so our clans are basicaly united.

Is there any chance that Halfdan or one of his children will swear to us and become our Huskarl?

Exmorri · Oct 27, 2023

World Illusion said:
i also think we should prep to raid/trade with christians again. we can get books on architecture and engineering for our soulscape projects and the fame we need to keep pushing our limits

AeonIlluminate said:
Ever so slight issue, people aren't gonna be writing this kind of information down for something like 9500-10000 QuestYears. To get it, we either need to get a good long look at an example of the architecture we want, and then we can make a similar structure, or if we want to get a general overview of proper castle construction techniques we would need to send a kid off to have an apprenticeship under a professional castle designer and then have them be the next person we play as, and get the data from him when we build stuff.

Frontinus wrote De aquaeductu around 100AD, it is very much a book on architecture and construction, drawing on De architectura a century earlier. Not only were the Romans writing it down, they had an ongoing tradition of it. It went into obscurity somewhere in the Middle Ages and popped up again in the Renaissance OTL. A couple of these might be floating around Italy and Greece and Byzantium in quest time. Such books are still unlikely to make it to Norse trade, we should go on an Adventure! to get them.

NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

The power of friendship and aggressive landscaping

Labrador Wrestling Champion

One and Many

Labrador Wrestling Champion

Labrador Wrestling Champion