If we also consider all the historical and mythical things she references in the Hallamal, i am sure she put some passages abaout Steinarr, Blackhand and Solrun at least, then she will be one of THE main sources abaout Norse history.
IYeah, I think it would be odd if the Hallamal, even as a book primarily about farming, did not contain at least some basic information on Halla's lineage and family, given how important kin relations are for the Norse in terms of how the conceive of themselves within their social world. (As well as establishing Halla's bona fides as a landholder and farmer.) So yeah, I'd expect it to include some information about Halla, her family, and their family history as well as our immediate relatives going back at least to Blackhand. The book also includes a larger amount of accompanying poetry (this is where the Odr cultivation stuff is hidden), which given it is Norse poetry, is almost certainly also heavily going to be concerned with our family Saga, and various family legends. That's another opportunity for stories about Halla and her ancestors.
There may well be a poetic version of part or all of the Sigurdr and Fafnir story, as well as lots of academic debates over the reason why Halla would claim recent ancestry from a mythological figure.
Cause, a couple hundred/thousand years down the line, when all this stuff is first getting written down, people only have what's passed down orally to go off of. While oral history is actually quite good at recalling things, it does tend to shift over time as new, more exciting details are added and old, boring details are scratched off
Now here's an idea - making a spiritual settlement in the soulscape. Halla made her own farmstead and claimed space through her Saga. When she dies the farmstead remains, slowly starting to fade if her Glory isn't recalled.
Enter Stage left: The Successor. Breaking down the walls of their own soul and noticing in the distance of the Unsung Wilderness a speck of land.
The descendant finds it, then tethers their own Soulstead to Halla's, with her moving back into it. The plots of soulland are now neighbors, with Halla once again maintaining her own.
The process repeats until there's a burgeoning Charsoulby.
True Norse Cultivation spreads, other people related start finding it and adding their own.
The method spreads, no longer being a technique for Halla's lineage, but a cultural pillar for Norse clans.
...
The Norse are now taming the Wilds of that Sunless Sea.
[X] Secret of how spells are turned to craftwork
[X] Secret of the Rune Song
[X] Secret of the origins of _Maarahvas_
0~0~0
The first of your questions comes easily as your eyes fall to the gloves covering his hands. Spun from red-striped yarn and patterned with myriad geometric shapes, it stands out to your senses like a beacon in the night. Stuffed full to bursting with magic power, it couldn't be more obvious if it were trying.
"What is that," you point a finger at the gloves, "and how are they made?"
Raiko glances down at his gloves as he stretches and wiggles his fingers. His lips thin, pressed together tight, as he carefully works his way through the words as your eyes roam his clothing. It's only as he begins to speak that you notice the thumb-thick band of yarn wrapped around his left bicep.
"To make lettercraft," he begins as he works his hand free of the slightly too-small glove, "you must ride the waves of monu as you pour your thoughts, feelings, and base emotions into the art." He offers the glove to you, which you eagerly lean in to examine closely as he continues, "Sing your joy to the heavens, whisper your fears in the dark, chant yourself into an ecstasy as you weave and dye and knit the yarn." Eyes drifting from the glove to the hand it once cloaked, you can't help but note the wood surface of the 'skin'. "The words you use, the desires you hold, and the patterns you weave all have a role to play in the creation of lettercraft."
He breathes heavily as he finishes, talking so long in an unfamiliar tongue taking a lot out of him. Still, your curiosity remains unsated. He'll have to put up with your antics a little longer if he wants to go free, after all.
"The songs you mentioned," you start as he slips the glove back onto his hand, "how are they made?"
He sucks a sharp breath through his teeth, "That... is a good question that I will try my best to answer." A heavy frown creases his face as the corners of his mouth take a dive down his cheeks, "It, well, runic songs are performed to music. A kannel," he waves his hands in a vaguely board-shaped manner, "for us Maarahvas, a kantele for the Finns and Karelians, kokele for the Letts, and kankles for the Lithuanians." You have no idea who those last two groups are, but there's no chance to ask after them as he's already moving on, "You use a certain length and rate of speaking and, and, and," his mouth wobbles a bit like a fish as he struggles through the words, the frown only deepening the longer he flails. He reminds you a bit of a wounded, whimpering dog with how he stumbles through his words.
'This is just pathetic,' Blackhand sighs while you just can't take it anymore.
"It's fine," you wave the man off as you gesture to the armband, "If you tell me what that is, I'll count that as the second question."
"Th-thank you," Raiko breathes a deep sigh of relief as he deflates in on himself. Nodding readily, he reaches up and slips a finger beneath an edge. Hooking it around a hidden loop, he undoes the knot holding it tight to his arm and the entire limb falls clean off, hitting the table with the heavy clunk of wood on wood.
You blink, not having expected that. "I, well," you stare at the stump of a shoulder where his arm once sat, "What?"
"I miss an arm," he mumbles as he shuffles around in the seat, the tips of his ears burning bright red. Waving his other hand at the table-held limb, he clarifies, "That's the false real, uh," he blinks, suddenly lacking any words.
"...Replacement?" You offer a bit hesitantly.
Nodding, he snaps his fingers before him as a grin splits his face in two, "Yes! That's the word! Replacement!"
Replacement, huh? So, what does that mean, that Estones can't regrow their limbs or something? Or maybe he just couldn't afford it... The mail on his chest, though, says different things about his wealth. He's clearly flush enough to dress in a shirt of fine iron, so, unless the restoration of limbs is truly jaw-droppingly expensively, he could probably afford to have it done. But maybe there's another reason? Perhaps there's some advantage that comes with having a replacement limb of wood? It probably doesn't hurt as much when it's struck and you could probably use it to slip free of a grapple, but with how the strap is done it doesn't seem easy to undo in an emergen-
An awkward cough pulls you from your internal rambling, much to Blackhand's relief—your thoughts were starting to crowd him out! Raiko purses his lips as you blink, "Well, your next question?"
"Right, right..." You cough, eyes darting across the cloth-walled tent as you scramble to collect your thoughts. Your gaze lands on his expansive shoulders and you speak as the thoughts enter your mind, "So how did you get so big?"
Silence reigns as your words punctuate the rise of awkwardness. You swallow as Raiko stares, your cheeks warming with a sunshine-bright flush.
"We Maarahvas are the descendants of the Hiiglasi. Our words are the body, bone, and blood of our ancestors. To speak our keel is to invoke their strength." It's only thanks to your Seersight-enhanced eyes that you catch it, but his body grows with every syllable of Estonian that passes his lips. It is the slightest change one could imagine—a fraction of a fraction of a hair's breadth—but the meaning is stark to your senses.
For an Estonian, speaking and cultivating are one and the same.
...No wonder he's struggling so hard with the donsk tunga. Godly gifts clash against ancestral inheritance with every breath that escapes his lungs.
While you went into this with clear objectives, the sheer awkwardness caught you completely off-guard and left both you and Raiko scrambling for anything solid to land on.
'This fell apart harder than my bones did,' Blackhand drags a skeletal hand down his imaginary face as he sighs.
Still, you learned a lot! Like the fact that Estones can, in fact, be healed by your magics!
A useful bit of information, that.
(+29 Orthstirr)
(+1 Drengskapr)
(+1 Progress to Army Cleaver)
Choose one;
[ ] +1 Progress to Army Cleaver
[ ] +1 Hamingja
[ ] +Raiko Plotline
0~0~0
AN: Lots of information in this one ;P
No moratorium and short vote, next update is where you'll arrive in Gotland
edit: For the record, Raiko's plotline isn't necessarily in this lifetime. It might be something your next character pursues. Halla's life is already pretty full of plot lines to follow.
Army Cleaver would be a huge benefit to a war arc. It could be worthwhile to pursue it hard because of that. Traits have been a pretty big deal and getting one based on defeating armies before we face an army would be helpful. But that would require we seek out at least 4 more army tier fights before the war arc.
Plotlines are plotlines. Could be another path to power, we might be able to learn more about the runesongs and song crafting by following them. Could also gain us loyal foreigners which is just cool. I liked when we were the weird Viking who just happened to have a Knight friend.
Hamingja is always good, both for better luck and to have more training. It requires no time investment and is just Good. It's boring as an option but it's powerful and doesn't need us to change plans around it for it to provide anything.
For the record, Raiko's plotline isn't necessarily in this lifetime. It might be something your next character pursues. Halla's life is already pretty full of plot lines to follow. I'll be sure to edit this into the post itself.
Army Cleaver would be a huge benefit to a war arc. It could be worthwhile to pursue it hard because of that. Traits have been a pretty big deal and getting one based on defeating armies before we face an army would be helpful. But that would require we seek out at least 4 more army tier fights before the war arc.
More like 6...we're only hitting 3 even with the second one. Seems like a tall order to me...I'm dubious we hit it in time to matter. In terms of the plotline, it could be interesting, but eh. I like the basic option.
Despite saying it's the boring option I'm going to vote for it.
[X] +1 Hamingja
I think having an assured benefit even if it's smaller ultimately is good, I think we have enough plots to follow, and I'm not super interested in this guy ultimately. Maybe if we complete our Norsely Armor we will turn our attention to Estonian stuff for further improvements.
I am tempted by Army Clever, but i find new types of Cultivation too fascinating. I really want to learn more abaout the Cultivation Systems of the Baltics and see if we can try to learn some of their techniques and maybe incorporate them into our Cultivation.
My thirst for knowledge is worthy of the Allfather, and i want to share it with Halla!
Now here's an idea - making a spiritual settlement in the soulscape. Halla made her own farmstead and claimed space through her Saga. When she dies the farmstead remains, slowly starting to fade if her Glory isn't recalled.
Enter Stage left: The Successor. Breaking down the walls of their own soul and noticing in the distance of the Unsung Wilderness a speck of land.
The descendant finds it, then tethers their own Soulstead to Halla's, with her moving back into it. The plots of soulland are now neighbors, with Halla once again maintaining her own.
The process repeats until there's a burgeoning Charsoulby.
True Norse Cultivation spreads, other people related start finding it and adding their own.
The method spreads, no longer being a technique for Halla's lineage, but a cultural pillar for Norse clans.
...
The Norse are now taming the Wilds of that Sunless Sea.
I remember something similar in Etiopian mythology, or maybe it was another African mythology its been a long time.
Basicaly they belived that inside every person soul there was a village populated by ancestral spirits. This spirits were fed and appeased trough rituals and religious cerimonies, and their purpose was to mantain a person "spiritual health" and protect them from evil spirits who wanted to possess their body.
This will be very useful during the War Arc, which is coming sooner than we might like.
A Raiko Plotline is sorta interesting... but we have a lot of loose plot threads for Halla, and offering it to the next character might as well be offering beachfront property on the Moon for all that it is tangible or relevant now. Our next character is unlikely to lack for plotlines either.
Hamingja is great, but another incremental bit of Number Go Up is not as valuable to us as a Trait which makes us more of a force to be reckoned with when armies clash.
