Unless I'm mistaken, Gabriel had a trait or armor modification specifically for the fact that he did not have a horse or bird anymore, so he might just not be able to bond ever again.
 
A thought, if Gabriel actually just got here there would be an English ship somewhere in the area recently which I feel like would have been noticed?
 
Gabriel said he's also here for the scholar, so if he's real, he was probably sent here on a rescue mission from whatever Lord is the scholar's patron. Or, maybe he was sent by the Christian god or a priest to prevent us from learning Latin. That seems pretty unlikely to me though, it can't be that hard to learn given how many Latin readers must be around.
 
Frankly, if they've got that level of micro and awareness of things that aren't going on in their own territory, and are malicious enough to send a friend who has no direct investment in this rather than someone who could just waltz in and do the job who was closer and stronger...

Well, I'm not sure what to think.

It'd be a gigantic stretch for it to be Gabriel though, because there was no foreshadowing.

That'd be a shitty narrative, and this isn't on Christian Lands, which means their own power shouldn't take primacy here. We should still be on Story based Cultivation, and that means you have to foreshadow things or else it's a shitty twist.
 
We're in Slav lands, we're not sure what the paradigm is here. It might not be story-based.
 
I don't think it's that weird of a twist. We know nothing about this Thrall. We didn't get many options but we also didn't push for any options on finding out more about the thrall. For all we know it could be a scholar who is also Royalty, we did after all just slave two royals from slavery.

If Latin is as important as I've thought it might be before, where its imperative to Christian cultivation and Christian cultivation is closely guarded and only given to a chosen few, then that just makes it make more sense that a knight would be sent.


Yeah. It being Gabriel is a bit of a stretch if you consider that there's thousands of knights. But it's not that much of a threat if you consider there's like... 5 we know the names of.
 
Sometimes a twist needs to be foreshadowed, sometimes it's fine in retrospect, such as when a "scholar who knows Latin" is almost by definition a Christian priest, and there's nothing unusual about the idea that someone would be sent to rescue a Christian priest, and hey, the enemies in this area are level-appropriate for Halla, and thus are also level-appropriate for Gabriel, whose entire schtick is being a Gohan whose power got unlocked by spending time with us and in being qualified to use magic weapons.

Like, I don't want to get too caught up in either position, but I don't think it's nice to call it a shitty twist. Running into the same people over and over is just kind of how stories work.
 
such as when a "scholar who knows Latin" is almost by definition a Christian priest,

I don't necessarily disagree with the rest, but this is just flatly untrue. Latin was not a secret language in this era, priests certainly knew it but it was commonly known by scholars and the nobility as well. Someone knowing Latin might be a priest, it's true, but 'almost certainly' is really overselling how likely that part is. Like, almost all literate people are likely to be literate in Latin in many places (not Wessex, as Alfred made a real effort to put things in English, but elsewhere).

Of course, the person doesn't have to be a priest for Gabriel to be here to rescue them, they need to be important and from Wessex. Which is a different but smaller group of people.
 
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Hey IF, did Mscislaw say anything about what kind of tricks we could expect from the Wolinians? And anything about Masks?
 
I do agree it's not Gabriel.

Everything we know, so far, points to it being a trick.

And, it's just my opinion, but even if it's Gabriel, there is no reason not to hit him in welcome. We know he is sturdy enough to take him and we would spar anyways.

Only reason I could see why he is here is that wessex's scribe or one of their ally got kidnapped... But there is no reason why he would be either here alone nor treating with the leader.
Last we knew, he had not the gift or tounges nor is the Danelaw or England is a place he would need it.
Gabriel stands at the Fourth Bead of the Sixth Decade and he is a force to be reckoned with.
If this is true, not just an illusion, I am happy for him!
On that note though... I know IF said Halla feels it's Gabriel, but I gotta ask.

Halla, can you differentiate the power of cultivators by culture? Or it's all the same just by different names?

So, Gabriel wants to overwhelm us, huh? Sounds like a poor decision :V

I say we lean on the defense, mostly ready to avoid stuff as the slaws are known poison enjoyers, so that's a lot of side steps or slice asides, with a good helping of IAS.
Even if it's Gabriel, that would still work against him.

I want to bath him in devouring blaze, see how that act with his armor/grace.

We should probably also set up a minefield, like against Hooknail.

Hm..... Can we pull him in the sky with (fast)recall?
 
[X] Use The Mind's Eye Blinks to see if that's actually Gabriel, adding 3 Odr.
-[X] Assuming that doesn't reveal anything, offer to let Gabriel have the scholar.
-[X] Note that there is stuff we need here, we made a deal, but we can negotiate for the rest
-[X] Let him know about Steinarr's death even if he insists on fighting. Simply phrase it as 'You should know, my father was killed.' and see how he reacts.

I don't think this is a trick. I belive this is really Gabriel, but checking anyway dosen't hurt.

Anyway he can have the scholar, we can find another for ourselves. There is plenty of ways to do it. Like visiting a Christian city and recruiting a priest. Or raiding a Monastery.
 
Just do some quick objectification of Gabriel (idk, maybe some quick fan art) and then ask if he is single. Though he might take it the wrong way.
I mean, we know he has muscles, so we could just look at him as the slab of muscle he is....
As for the second half, just offer him our help as a wing woman and help with the fertility blessings both :V
 
Anyway he can have the scholar, we can find another for ourselves. There is plenty of ways to do it. Like visiting a Christian city and recruiting a priest. Or raiding a Monastery.
I've got serious doubts about a Carolingan Priest willing to teach a Norseperson Latin, given how restricted Latin is (and consider that they would have to leave their church to stay with us to do so). The willingness of a Nun or Priest we kidnap from a monastery being willing to teach us Latin sounds even lower.
 
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I've got serious doubts about a Carolingan Priest willing to teach a Norseperson Latin, given how restricted Latin is (and consider that they would have to leave their church to stay with us to do so). The willingness of a Nun or Priest we kidnap from a monastery being willing to teach us Latin sounds even lower.

It depends on the priest, but I'm a bit dubious, yeah. Non-priests, however, seem potentially more recruitable.
 
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