Outlaw (A Norse Xianxia)

The Norse are all cultivators by at least some definitions, gaining power via Ordstirr, a measure of their glory and reputation. Universal powers that come with Ordstirr and experience include being physically and, to some degree, mentally superhuman. The three fundamental principles of their cultivation are "Power Demands Sacrifice", "All Men Die" and "Memory Is Forever".

Being physically superhuman, for the Norse, involves being inhumanly strong and fast and so on, but also notably includes them receiving physical damage and just keeping going...just about any adult Norseman can receive an apparently fatal wound and just walk it off and eventually heal with how many fatal wounds they can take varying from Norseman to Norseman. As they grow in power they also develop low-level shapeshifting abilities, allowing them to boost their senses, strength, speed, and so on even further...they can keep a few of these alterations active at any one time, and swap them out outside of combat (at very high levels, they can do these swaps in combat as well). Norsewomen are generally worse at this than Norsemen (seldom reaching the shapeshifting levels), but that's cultural rather than actually enforced by the cultivation system. These abilities all fall under Hamr, the Norse word for 'body'.

Being mentally superhuman notably does not include superhumanly smart. It's more a matter of superhuman sensory perception, willpower, and the speed at which they think. Still very useful of course. At higher levels, they gain the ability to alloy together multiple Kunna (see below), or other abilities, creating cool meldings of those things. At extremely high levels they also gain Rewrites, the ability to impose their will upon reality and very occasionally (a few times per season) temporarily just change a detail about how their magic or abilities work. Norsemen are normally worse at this than Norsewomen, but again that's just a cultural standard, not enforced by anything. These abilities all fall under Hugr, the Norse word for 'mind'.

All Norsemen also have a Fated Day, a day when they are doomed by fate to die. No injury, no matter how severe, that they receive before that day can really kill them in a metaphysical sense. Which means that, any time they die prior to that, a seeress can shove their soul back in their body if the body is even vaguely intact, and if the body is not intact, a shapecrafter can make a new one out of any piece of the body, even a lock of hair. Most Norse people thus keep a lock of hair somewhere hidden in their house just in case. There are some ways around this, such as 'soul killing' attacks (a bit of a misnomer, the soul eventually recovers, but not in time to get brought back like this), or formal duels that call upon the Gods (the Gods make sure the loser is not brought back). Of course, as an Outlaw, Barki is unlikely to receive any of this treatment...his bodily death may well be his last one, even if it is not yet his Fated Day.

In addition to just baseline superhuman abilities and not dying, the Norse have what they refer to as 'Tricks'. These would likely be called 'Techniques' in a more traditional xianxia, and can do most of the stuff you'd expect of that, allowing flashier superhuman feats like leaping attacks, deadly palm-strikes, and so on, but also social and mental feats or superhuman prowess at farming, all at the cost of Ordstirr when used. Many Tricks have very prosaic names and get reinvented enough by different people that these names are not standardized. Example names include things like Sowing Sense (a farming Trick) and Leaping Cleave (an attack Trick).

Ordstirr is, as mentioned above, how the Norse gain power. Specifically, their Ordstirr pool determines how long they can fight and how many abilities they can use in rapid succession. Relatedly, all Norse have three 'Aspects' which can be called upon to replenish their Ordstirr pool (1/3 of it for each). Generally, Ordstirr recovers more quickly than Aspects so you usually only use them once you're out, meaning that if you're talking about using your Aspects you're talking about tapping into the bottom half of your total power. Ordstirr and Aspects recover relatively quickly outside of battle (we're talking minutes to hours, not usually more).

Gaining Ordstirr is done by gaining fame and renown, by being seen as a laudable and honorable person (wealth counts for this, by the way). Contrariwise, one can gain Nid by being seen as dishonorable and unpleasant, such as due to being caught in a lie or breaking an oath. Gaining nid permanently strips some Ordstirr from the person in question, and can even kill you if you gain too much (and such a death is damaging to the soul). Stealing is also nid, as is attacking human enemies from surprise (you can sneak up on them, but need to make them aware of your presence before attacking...a warcry is fine, but not stabbing them before making them aware).

It is worth bearing in mind that not resorting to violence when insulted can lead to nid for the insulted person, so be very careful when insulting people, as their choices tend to be nid or stabbing you. The same is true of 'shaming blows' which include attacking people with your feet, a closed fist, or an improvised weapon, and some specific tactics like groin shots...using these kinds of attacks on other Norsemen inflicts nid and thus pisses them off (note that this does not include wrestling or even palm strikes...it isn't all unarmed attacks).

Muna are important memories that the Norse gain power from, think moments of enlightenment in a more traditional xianxia. They can be about anything, and can grant many abilities that are below this Quest's level of abstraction, or can grant access to Kunna (this is how Kunna are gained and does not need to be paid for separately), but can also grant discrete and unique magical powers or Twists.

Twists are 'twists in the narrative' either gained through Muna or from a Skald (who can give them out). They give benefits when playing into a specific narrative trope. There is a Twist for a man never being recognized if he's wearing a dress, for instance, or the Punching Up Twist, which grants bonuses when fighting opponents who are significantly superior. The most common Twist among experienced warriors is Puncture, which allows you to ignore 'perfect' defenses, those that are assured to always work. You become the narrative moment when such perfection fails. Puncture, and perfect defenses, are generally below this Quest's level of abstraction, so you don't need to pay for it, but it can be used in description.

Most Tricks of the Norse are wildly individualized, but a relative handful see very common usage either among everyone, or everyone who reaches a certain level of combat skill, they are as follows:

Hone: Creates an edge of Ordstirr over your weapon, improving its cutting ability. A trick basically all warriors are familiar with.
Reinforce: Reinforces and item with Ordstirr allowing for better defenses with a shield, weapon, or even clothing. Not super powerful, doesn't even fully negate home, also known by all warriors universally.
Recall: The ability to send out a string of Ordstirr and pull items toward you. There is a combat version called Quick Recall that does so instantly. Not necessarily universal among warriors, but common among the more intellectual Norse.
Sharpen: This lets you actually shave off the edge of your weapon with Ordstirr rendering it supernaturally sharp and deadly. Of course, you also just literally peeled off a piece of your weapon, so overuse is gonna destroy it. Known only among experienced warriors.
Fortify: A suped up version of Reinforce that also has the disadvantage of freezing whatever object you are using to defend in place, which can be awkward. It is notably more powerful than Reinforce, though. Again, known only among experienced warriors.

All of these tend to be below the Quest's level of abstraction, and most other Tricks are much more interesting, but these are what every Norseman probably at least knows the existence of.

This is technically universal magic...or would be if everyone was literate and good at writing. The way it works is that you carve runes into something saying a phrase, and then when a liquid is poured into the runes (this is why they need to be carved into something) whatever effect they say happens, happens, with the effect being more powerful but shorter in duration the more valuable the liquid used (this destroys the liquid over time, paint is standard and least valuable, then animal blood, then human blood as humans are descended from the Gods). This can be used to conjure liquids, but not solids, and may have some limitations even on liquids. Other effects can include personal enhancements, mind control effects, and all sorts of other weirdness.

Exact wording is very important here. We know of at least one accidental love spell, which ended badly for everyone involved.

The Norse have a lot of stuff they can do with magical crafting, here's a quick summary:
Skill Alone: As part of being superhuman the Norse can make impossibly perfect items...these don't have special powers, but you don't need anything but skill to do it, either...you can just make super-good swords, plows, cloaks, etc.
Animal Parts: The Norse can gain some of the power of a magical creature by eating its heart, and use the other pieces of such creatures in crafting to grant appropriate abilities. Bone-ash from any creature may also similarly be added to smithing, granting abilities based on its thematic appropriateness.
Other Ingredients: Magical plants and such can also obviously be used to great effect similar to animal parts.
Stored Experiences: Individuals dedicated to their crafting may give up one of their senses or suffer the death of their Fylgja (see below) to gain the ability to infuse experiences into the items they craft, granting those items magical powers independent of runes or magical ingredients. This is also an important prerequisite for many more advanced seidr abilities (again, see below).

A Fylgja is a reflection of a Norseman's soul. It generally just serves them as intuition, but a Seeress can, with a ritual, externalize it, "unveiling" it and putting it in animal form. Once this is done, it may be either physical or spiritual at the owner's discretion (it needs to not be viewed to go into spirit mode, but can do things like duck behind a tree), and the Norseman may see through its eyes, making it useful for scouting when physical (when in spirit form, it is in the spirit world, and cannot scout physical things).

Additionally, when the spirit is unveiled its animal form is determined by the Norseman's personality and it grants a permanent bonus to the Norseman based on their impression of the creature it represents (ie: a Wolf grants bonus damage, a Raven grants prophetic visions, an owl grants greater facility with magic, a bear grants greater resilience, and so on). If you invest more into Fylgja beyond the basics, it evolves, becoming first a specialized creature of it's type (a War Hound rather than just a dog), then a supernatural creature (a phoenix would fit here, if a bit outside the Norse paradigm), then a specialized supernatural creature (a War Dragon or what have you). At each level it provides increasing bonuses to its bearer on top of the initial one and becomes more resilient and capable in a fight. All fylgjas also have some amount of extradimensional space, allowing them to carry and provide cool stuff to their better half.

Now, there's a downside to this, and a potentially really severe one. If your fylgja dies, you die. It is you, after all, an external manifestation of part of your soul. This death is not necessarily permanent, but it's harder to recover from than most...assuming it is not your Fated Day, your soul is trapped in Ginnungagap...that's what happens to all Norse souls when they die and it's not their Fated Day, but the Fylgja part of their soul normally puts them to sleep and keeps them from going insane...if your fylgja is dead, it can't do that, so you're just trapped in complete sensory deprivation until you are either resurrected or driven insane. Which brings us to the other problem, which is that a seeress bring back Norsemen's souls uses their Fylgja to do so...so with the Fylgja dead, that doesn't work. Instead, someone has to physically enter Ginnungagap and rescue you...luckily, a Seeress can call upon the family's fylgjukonna (a family guardian spirit) to do this, but that better happen quick or there's a problem.

Are exactly what they sound like. You have a magic bloodline with cool magical effects...many bloodlines enable specific Martial Styles (see below), but there aren't really any strong commonalities in what they do. It varies a lot.

Kunna are conceptual magics. Generally gained through specific pivotal life events, they provide conceptual power over a specific area like 'Fire' or 'Swords', and allow summoning up and manipulating the thing in question. Items created by this are not permanent, and last only until the Ordstirr composing them is withdrawn, but they can still do all sorts of impressive stuff.

Martial Styles are, well, what they sound like. Most are tied to something important like a geographical feature, bloodline, specific Kunna, and so on. Regardless, they're basically anime/xianxia martial arts, allowing all sorts of cool stuff within their thematic domain. A potent kind of Trick only available to Martial Styles are Finales, which tend to auto-win fights if they land, but cannot be used too early in a fight and cost an entire Aspect to use.

Of particular note is Glima, which is Norse wrestling, and a Martial Style most Norsemen possess at least the basics of. It can do some seriously impressive stuff in combination with Norse general physical prowess.

This is the magic of seeresses. It primarily involves dealing and bargaining with spirits, but that makes it very versatile magic indeed, capable of divination, blessings, curses, healing, warding, and a host of other things. It's not usually great for direct combat and applications of force, but it can do a lot of subtler things. Most women know a bit of seidr for household stuff, but not much of the theory of how it works or things that are generalizable. Seeresses are more inherently vulnerable to spiritual attacks and predators than other Norse people, though they have the magic to overcome that disadvantage.

Exactly what it sounds like. A shapecrafter can manipulate the physical forms of others (or themselves) granting permanent effects for as long as the body lasts (if they have to grow you a new one, the effects they put on your old one would not apply). They can also create horrible constructed monsters and similar things. Do not let a shapecrafter you are fighting touch you or you are deeply screwed. Notably, they do this by manipulating the natural shapeshifting abilities of the Norse, so it wouldn't necessarily work on non-Norsemen. As mentioned, they can grow whole new bodies for people and similar things.

The downside of being a shapecrafter, however, is madness. Exact forms vary but expect paranoia and mad scientist tendencies. They are not well.

Skalds have power over illusions, some interesting tricks blunting the weapons of others or making their clothing count as armor, and most importantly knowing things and enforcing narrative rules on the world (Norse cultivation does this already, but a powerful skald can weaponize it). They are trapped in only speaking in rhyme as they become more powerful. They can also create and provide Twists (mentioned above).

Berserks are made by a shapecrafter. They receive an inhuman ability to analyze their opponents in combat and act appropriately, making them very dangerous foes, as well as somewhat greater resilience. They can also take advantage of the Berserkergang Martial Style, which allows them to enter a truly mad state, where they are absurdly powerful but also unable to tell friend from foe, and fall unconscious after only a few minutes and are then bedridden for up to months.

Steel is magic in Norsequest. It is the essence of stasis and unchangingness, is effectively unbreakable, and a body killed by it cannot be brought back (you need a shapecrafter to make a new one). It is bad juju and hard to make. Steelfathers, some of the rulers of Norse society, take on some of its aspects, becoming effectively invulnerable in most ways. What would be called 'steel' in real life is instead called 'forged iron' and making it is a secret of the dwarves. 'Bog iron' is, well, iron and what most Norsemen generally use.

A secret trick that allows for drinking the blood of a more powerful creature and gaining permanent empowerment thereby. Barki probably doesn't know how to do this.

Like Ordstirr but much more hardcore, and much harder to get. Barki knows nothing of this, but it came up in the original NorseQuest so you may see it mentioned.

Other cultivation systems all work completely differently from this. The Christians of the Carolingian Empire are mostly not cultivators at all, and those that are, are powered by their faith rather than glory, live hundreds of years but cannot come back from the dead if killed, and are broken into multiple kinds of cultivators (Knight, Priests, and Nobles) with very different abilities. They just don't work the same at all. More details may be added if we run into other cultivation systems