[X] Leave, you need to think about this, talk to someone about this. Maybe mother knows?
High chance of success
Low chance to lose sanity
No chance to repair relationship with Agnar for another week
Agnar-quest, where the hardest thing isn't organizing a war or running a country. It's trying to be a good person in the face of madness; in some cases literally.
Also, are we sure Elsa's mom will help?
I have a funny theory.
A chapter or two ago, Fergus, elsa's uncle, brings up the idea of a 'Death Cult.' Our in-universe mother knows exactly what they are, but she stops him from informing Elsa and Anna. Now, our father brings up info that Elsa's heritage is in question. I think dear demigoddess mother was in said cult, or at least a cult. She must have done some sort of cult ritual to be as great as she is with the usual ritual cost.
Evidence article one: Her stats. Obviously, a result of or by-product of her past cultist behavior.( Please, disregard the QM insistence of using a random # generator. It's clear the ritual blindsided him in his own DARK FANTASY SETTING).
What was the ritual for? Power? Full access to all her potential? Greatness? It doesn't quite matter because now Elsa and Anna are paying part of the cost. Which brings us to our second piece of evidence?
Evidence article two: The cost. Obviously, this hypothetical-ritual needs to be 'paid for' as all cult-rituals/old magic demand. Human sacrifice, of the self or others, was a big component in the olden tales in humanity's history. This cost was mostly covered by the toll Elsa, the First born daughter.
In older stories, the witch/curse/demon-contract always seems to call for the first-born child of the family. Usually, the sons, but I image rituals don't discriminate against daughters. Now, what exactly was this cost I believe might exist?
The cost was an affliction upon the body-mind-soul of those near her; specifically, her children. Why these three components and not say body-mind-magic? Look back at the paths on Elsa's character sheet, and see that they read: Body, Mind, Soul. Also, notice how unnatural low her strength stat appears before we began to fix it. That stat was 0.8, not even 1, and we would be helpless against everything. Then, there is the issue to Elsa's connection to the 'Pit' or the 'Dark' as the tag on top the webpage implies. This seems to have changed Elsa's soul, either twisting it or making it the opposite of what humans have. With the Lovecraftien-undertones( and hard to read text) back when we seizured in the library with Anna, I would bet on the latter option. Incidentally, the difference of her soul or a by-product of the magic ritual helps give Elsa a stronger ability to use magic. The curse has afflicted Elsa with a weak Body, and a Dark Soul( I see the joke, and I think this is the best analogy for Elsa). However, Elsa didn't pay for the full curse since her mind isn't under any 'special' effects, but Anna paid the remainder. Anna's genius is the curse of the mind. She is a genius too far ahead of her time, alone, and coping with the strangeness of the world as best as her logical mind can handle.
Why is this the case? Maybe, Idna knew and she tried to spread the costs. Maybe, whatever magic or entity( Remember the lovecraft undertones) saw that Idna was trying to meta-game the ritual. As a result, the costs were 'spread' so when she saw the full effects Idna would be shocked. Maybe, Idna thought that she would pay the costs, but at the end of her life. Maybe the cost is spread to three people with the third being her husband. Considering all the low rolls involving him, the curse could make the children( Anna and Elsa) monstrous, drive the husband insane or suicide, and Idna forever alone. We have one final piece of evidence to this theory. The new stat of Humanity.
For Elsa, what would be best for her is to have relatively high Humanity, and high Sanity. This allows Elsa to live happily without feeling worry over her state of being. A low Humanity- low Sanity combo would result in a wild animal, feral human, or a monster. All of which, are generally lose conditions. Another lose condition might be having high Humanity, but low Sanity which results in a gibbering wreck of a human being. A being with high Sanity but low Humanity results in something which would be bad for all nearby humans as the QM described, but what sort of humans could originate from such a balance? For a half-human like Elsa, this could be a monster as she allows herself to indulge in humans, but what about someone who is full human? Would this result in a sociopath as the individual has no strong empathy towards others? How about a psychopath who is all right with causing pain and death?
What about an individual who in their youth dabbles in the occult rituals practiced by a Death Cult, a cult which might worship strong magic-users, in order to make gains? Someone like Idna Lothbrok!
Edit: This started out as a joke which spiraled out of control. I still thought it was worth posting.
Wow. That was... ugh... I knew this was a possibility but damn. Now I feel like running to Elsa's more positive relationships for relief because I'm worried how spectacularly we'll ruin the people who share her father's concerns.
[X] Leave, you need to think about this, talk to someone about this. Maybe mother knows?
I say we finally get someone to help us control this shit. Enough faffing about with sister and mother, bring in priests, necromancers, demons, vampires i don't care anyone who might have an idea of how to get some control over this ludicrous bullshit.
Also from now on communication with father only through letters, exclusively through letters, its shitty but its better than losing control in his presence.
But all he does is chuckle bitterly, sitting down to hang his head on the table. And with each laugh, you can feel another crack in your heart.
You leave. You need to think about this, talk to someone about this. Maybe mother knows?
And so you turn and run. You run through the halls as tears escape you. You force the darkest of thoughts from your mind, struggling to keep your head above the mad waters immersing you.
"You're a monster after all"
"Shut up," You mutter to yourself.
"Even your own father is scared of you"
"Shut up" You hiss, your eyes burning.
"But they don't matter anyways…"
"Shut up!" You shout.
"...they're all just Meat"
And all you can do is whimper as you try to keep the traitorous thoughts from your soul.
You try not to think of the servants you run past as food. You try not to let your magic leak out and rip the heat from all around you.
You desperately try to outrun the abomination of your mind.
"Run little girl run, but you'll never outrun the end"
And then, like a beacon in the darkest night, music. The soft, beautiful, and soulful music of your mother. A violin, played with the expertise of the nimble fae, dancing between light and air notes with dark undertones.
You barrel towards it, the world blurring around you as tears fill your eyes.
Moments later you crash through the wooden door from which they emanate. Barely cognizant of the world around you, your crash into your mother's towering legs.
Instantly, you feel her warmth and love pass over you, sweeping the darkest fears away. Like a burning fire, she purges the whispers in your mind, the terrors in your heart, and the desires in your pit with her very presence.
Everything else falls away, all that exists is you and her.
Feed Esoteric: Mother's love
Feed: Environment
+20 Satiety
+10 Sanity
And you cry.
You let it all out, letting the tears carry away your pain, letting your sobbing ease your burden. All the while you can hear the steady, soothing, hum of your mother's voice in your ear, worming its way into your soul to pacify your being.
And after what feels like hours, finally, you're at peace.
When you finally open your eyes, you're greeted with a world of frost.
The whole room around you is coated with a layer of white. Ice covers nearly every exposed surface.
"Elsa" Your mother's voice calls, pulling you from your own twisted thoughts.
Despite the cold around you, despite the icy layer upon everything, despite the way the Pit is greedily sucking in every ounce of heat it could, your mother looks just as kind and regal as ever.
"Elsa, sweetie, what's wrong?" Completely unburdened by the cold of your alabaster flesh and the frosted room she reaches out and gently rubs the tears from your cheek.
She smiles down at you, her love and concern radiating out from her like the sun. You drink it in, bringing a measure of peace to your disturbed mind.
"Elsa?"
You sniffle, the pain still fresh, the memory still cutting deep into your mind. "I…"
You don't want to say it.
"He…"
You don't want to acknowledge it, to bring it back up.
Now that you finally have a measure of comfort, now that you finally feel at peace, you don't want to dig in the wound.
You just want to bury it in the past.
To pretend it never happened.
But…
"Elsa, please, tell me what's wrong?"
There's hurt in your mother's voice. Seeing you in such pain hurts her, you realize. She needs to do something to help. She needs to right this wrong.
But she can't do it without your help.
"Father…"
Her aura flares in anger. "What did he-"
"-Am I really your daughter?" You interrupt, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
"I-what?" Your mother recoils. You wince as you feel the burst of pain in her.
"I...I tried to talk to father…" You began, "But I-I'm more monstrous now," You mutter, looking at your unnaturally white skin. Black veins throbbing in and out of the milky flesh.
"H-he said he d-didn't know if I-I was e-ever really his d-daughter." You whimper.
"He said I was a curse from the gods."
Your mother goes still.
She trembles, her arms shaking around you. Her heart pounds against your chest, the rhythm of it booming in your ear. She clenches her fist, her eyes sealed tight, and takes a deep breath.
And then she burns.
It starts as a simmering song. A simple quiet beat of drums. Humming horns provide an overarching power to it all.
You think you've gone mad for a moment, a melody from nowhere, but then you notice it. It's thick with mother's scent, the beat in tune with the rhythm of mother's soul. It is mother's music, her very being, made manifest. More than that, it is her will, her passion, so furious and powerful that it vibrates reality itself to her whims, conscious or not.
And the under beat of menace grows, it climbs with her anger. Something tries to contain it, to keep it down. Something trying to keep her calm, as if trying to convince her not to be angry, to not feel such hate.
But it doesn't matter. Like a boiling pot, it climbs and rages. The undertone of menace building and building
When it finally explodes with Fury.
The song explodes and the world flickers around you, an image of fire is burned into your mind. Your mother's will warps reality, her fury a tangible presence in existence. The deep, reverberating, bass of the music pounds on the walls of the room, a fiery wind whipping up around you.
The drums of war thunder in your ears. The horns of havoc cry out all around, screaming out for penance. The rhythm of wrath burns through the room. The world warps to its tune, an invisible inferno scorching black everything around you. Wood peels, metal melts, and ice vaporizes.
Images of blood and fire spark in your mind's eye. Your tongue and nose choked with the thick scent of copper and soot. Fury thunders in your head, threatening to crack your skull open with its intensity.
The way reality bends to your mother's anger terrifies you, her wrath acting like a force of nature. The pounding in your mind makes you unsure if it's even real, or if the sheer force of your mother's emotions is burning this into your empathically sensitive mind.
"M-mother?" You whimper, fear once more dripping into you.
Suddenly, the music stops, cutting off abruptly.
You mother takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Elsa. You didn't need to hear that."
"W-what was…"
"Another time," She dismisses, readjusting you in her arms.
You almost try to pursue it, but a subtle pressure on your mind convinces you not to.
Mother's explanation:
27 + 55 = 82
Major Success
"Now…" She sighs, a weight in her breath, "Agnar...said something he shouldn't have. And it's unlocked the door to some things I'd have rather never been opened. Nonetheless, if I never tell you the truth, it'll just keep eating away at you."
"But!" She interjected, cupping my face with one hand and forcing me to look her in the eye. You meet her smoldering emerald gaze with your own icy sapphire, being swept along for the ride by the current of fear and charisma.
"Elsa, no matter what I say, I will always love you." She declares with all her heart and soul. You can taste the pure passion and sincerity in the air. It's overpowering, your mother nearly drowning you in her emotional outpour. But most worrying was the undeniable fear you could smell in her.
"Do you understand?" She shakes your head
"I-I...y-yes mother." You stutter, leagues out of your depth and just trying to hold on to what's left of you sanity.
Then she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as if to center her thoughts, and breathes out.
"Nearly 17 years ago, Agnar and I got married." She begins. All the while, a song of a different tune played from her soul and fill the room with her heart.
"It...nice. Agnar was such a dutiful young man back then. Charming in his earnest, in how he tried to always do right by his kingdom and loved ones. He never really had much in the way of his own passions." She chuckled, "I truly loved him back then. Him and his stewardly ways."
"The first year was nice, and soon I was pregnant with child."
"But…" A sour note entered the melody. "My child died just months before they could enter the world."
"And we were met with another bloody miscarriage the next year, and the year after."
"Finally, on the fourth year, I carried a baby to term, giving birth to a beautiful baby girl." She said, a fond smile on her lips.
You could do the basic math. That had to have been when you were born. The miraculous child who lived.
But...if that was true, why did the melody of mother's soul yet twist so darkly?
"But she was weak." Your mother continued, pain bleeding into her being, "She was so weak and frail. So pale and sickly."
"I tried everything, the best healers in the whole kingdom were there, all of our prayers went to her, but…"
"In the end, she died, not a week after being born."
You breath stilled, your heart stopped. Ice seeped into your very veins at the words she spoke.
"She was as cold as the mountain winds, a still corpse." Your mother says through choked throat. "She was taken from me before she could even live, just like all the other."
"I-I thought I was cursed. I was scared, terrified, and distraught." She croaks, "I'd always dreamed of having a family. Of having children of my own to love and cherish."
"It was a nightmare. Hel on earth. My life was torn asunder by what seemed to be the cursed will of the gods. They sought fit to ruin me and mine, to tear apart my brightest dreams and deepest desires."
"But I refused them." She growled, a lair of heat and defiance in her voice. "There was one I worshipped above all, one who I've always faithful towards. My eternal patron, and father of all."
"One who was my last hope."
And with her last word, you could feel an opening. One left just for you.
"W-who?" You ask tentatively, frightened by the dark direction it had turned.
Your mother smiles down at you, and as she does, you feel, for the first time, true measure of fear for your mother. "Odin, sweetie."
"Old man Death himself"
The melody took a dark turn, not sad, not malevolent, but a layer of firm menace, of resolute dread.
"You father, distraught as he was, wanted nothing to do with the cold body of our child, nor the rituals of the North. None of them did. So, I left." She continues, her words weaving with the music of her essence effortlessly, "I whisked my dead child away in the cold of night, leaving for heart of my religion,
"Jättesgrav"
"The coldest, most northernmost territory in all the lands. It's where the oldest, and most important shrine to Odin lies. And it's where I found my path." She smiles, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "They welcomed me back as a bloodied and beloved sister of the community. They shared in my sorrow, and they knew my purpose."
"The night I arrived there, I left the cold corpse of my beloved daughter at the base of the shrine and prayed with all I had for his blessing."
"Death presides over all of the cycles, for that which lives must inevitably die, and from death, life begins anew. If any could save me, he could. And as a faithful devotee, I could only hope he would send his blessings my way."
"All day and night I humbled myself before his temple. I devoted myself to my prayers. I immersed myself in the people of Jättesgrav once more. The people, in turn, prayed with me for a miracle, for I'd proven myself one of them. I was more than a guest, I was a sister, a part of their family, and we would do anything for each other."
"And on the third night, when I prayed at the temple in the dead of night, in my solemn vigil, I heard a cry burst out in the dead silence."
Your mother looks down at you, eyes soft with warm, her warm hand gently stroking your cheek as she looks at you like you were not a curse, but a miracle.
"I looked, I searched for the source, and there you were." Her eyes are wet with tears. Sheer unbridled happiness burning throughout her, "A little baby girl, crying on the snow-covered foot of the shrine."
"Though all you had was cold snow to cover you, you cried with strong and hearty lungs, crying out for a mother to take you. You had pale white skin and a short head of blonde hair. "
"I reached down, picking you up, and the moment I did you stopped crying and looked up at me with those big blue eyes of yours," She says as she wiped more tears from your cheek. Looking up you can't help but see her own wet eyes in return. "You looked at me with so much innocence and you needed me. You looked at me with the pure love of a baby who'd found their mother. And in that moment, I knew."
"You were mine. A gift from Odin himself, and one I would treasure for all of eternity."
She presses you tightly to her chest, kissing the crown of your head before holding you close.
"Elsa, I can't tell you what that meant to me. No words can express what I felt, to finally have my child, happy and healthy, in my arms." She cries, "It was the happiest day of my life."
And it's true. She doesn't need words, not when you can feel it rolling off over her. It's a corona of bright and pure love, relief, and happiness. It' blinding, overpowering, but most of all it's a beacon of comfort in the hellish world you'd been living.
And it all makes you feel...
[ ] Loved
This is more than you'd ever wanted. Your mother's love has been confirmed and solidified in a way you'd never thought possible. You trust her implicitly, and you now know what she went through to have you.
[ ] Concerned, but open.
You love your mother, but you can't help but be somewhat unsettled by the words she speaks. Still, she is your mother, she probably knows best.
[ ] Scared
You don't understand what's happening anymore. You thought you knew your mother, but you were clearly wrong. This talk of sacrifices, worshipping Death, it's all wrong, and it's all terrifying.
And yet…
It doesn't matter.
"...The whole city celebrated you for two days and nights. A massive festival after you were anointed…"
You can hear your mother's words, you can taste her aura, you can feel your own incredible physical comfort.
"...My family rejoiced when I returned to them…"
But it doesn't matter.
"...but your father…"
Because her words feel like the ocean's been dropped on your head.
"...Still, I don't think he really noticed a difference. Not until today, at least…"
And it all falls away.
All your life, there'd been a wall. A black wall of glass reflecting back at you. You rarely ever noticed it was there, but the more you tried to look through it, the more you'd just see your reflection.
And all throughout your life, there's been certain shocks, certain events that have made tiny cracks in the wall.
More recently, large crevices have appeared, carved by painful revelations and mysteries. And yet, the wall held.
Until your mother's truth smashed it with a hammer.
The moment she did, the moment she reminded you of it all, you couldn't help but take a peek. Just a tiny peek into the unknown, in the dark sea of memory. It consumes you. Hitting you like a rogue wave, it drowns you in its depths, enveloping you completely.
And you remember. You remember it all. You remember the empty dark. You remember the crushing cold. The eternal absence. You remember what comes before the morning, that which exists between stars.
You remember being in the Pit. But calling it a Pit does it no justice. It's weak, wrong, and completely inaccurate. A pit is contained, it has boundaries. It's a just a large hole. This was more than a trivial pit. You remember something far grander. Something words can't even begin to describe. You remember a desolate nothingness that encompassed all that has or will exist.
You remember the Void.
Remember being Nothing.
Elsa's reaction:
4
Major Failure
And it breaks you.
The last thing you can remember is your mother crying out for you as you black out.
Pick a strain of Madness for Elsa.
[ ] Gluton
Elsa's bond to the Pit strengthens greatly, binding her closer to its hungering hole. As a result, her strength grows, but so too does her hunger, to the point she can't help but see the people and life around her as merely food.
-50% to Max Satiety
-10 Sanity
+ 5 Levels
Ignores Loved ones.
[ ] Cold
With the memories of nothingness fresh in her mind, Elsa can't help but feel numb to it all. Her Sanity rises, as does her mental resilience, but she loses touch with her emotions, making her seem cold and distant to the world. With those she loves, this diminishes, as they know her best, but even they can't help but admit to her frosty exterior.
+25% Max Sanity and Endurance
-25% Charisma
-10 to all rolls when conversing with others.
Negated by relationship bonuses.
[ ] Lonely
The cold and empty memories of her time in the Pit scare her, making her afraid of being alone. Instead, she reaches out and selfishly holds any relationship close, refusing to let it go. At the same time, being alone eats away at what sanity she has left.
-10 Sanity
-10 Sanity when alone
-2 Sanity for every day Elsa doesn't interact with anyone.
+5 Sanity for each nearby loved one.
+25% Charisma
Greatly strengthens bonds with loved ones.
[ ] Smothered
The cold empty Pit was dark and long, but it was home for so long. As disturbed by it as she is, Elsa can't but find it familiar and welcoming. It is people, noise, energy, and chaos that disturbs her. Throngs of people make her feel smothered.
Elsa becomes Smothered when near either large groups of people or with people she doesn't know.
-10 Sanity
+20 Sanity when alone
+15 to all rolls when alone.
-10 Sanity when Smothered.
-2 Sanity per day Smothered.
-10 to all rolls when Smothered
[ ] Listener.
With memories of the Void retained, Elsa can understand the voices that come from her Pit more easily, as well as sift through them. As a result, they can tell her secrets, give her hints, and provide advice. All she has to do is pick truths from the lies.
Elsa hears voices in her head frequently. They can provide answers and help.
In many cases, these answers are things no one else could provide, or at least not with the same perspective or insight. Some of them are even deeper truths about existence.
However, they may have their own agenda, and can and will lie to twist you towards it.
-10 Sanity
/-|-\
\/-\_|_/-\/
/\-/_|_\-/\
\-|-/
A/n:
Right...so...
You've snapped. You've literally gone insane.
Fortunately, it's only a little bit. That last roll was, essentially, a sanity check. Which you failed miserably. Normally you'd be alright-ish, just with less sanity. But you were already at half sanity when you lost more, resulting in, well, this.
You remember your time in the Void when you where a part of the Nothing. Which...is not something meant for mortal minds, which you are now. As such, your mind broke a bit.
So, now you get to pick which flavor of madness Elsa has.
Also!
The truth is revealed.
It's kind of funny, if you'd picked Odin way back when instead of the Raven you probably would have learned part of this already.
Still, I shall confirm that this means you aren't actually blood-related to your family. So if you ever decide to get intimate with Anna it's not technically incest. Though I feel like Anna would really be the one to nitpick about that.
Sides, your both way too young to start talking about things like that. I mean, you don't know if it's possible to even feel lust yet!
But in other news, yes, all things considered, it's not totally unreasonable for your father to be a bit...concerned...about your existence. Your mother basically went up the mountain to her death cult with a dead baby, and came back with a living baby who started exhibiting magic powers that some trolls called the child of darkness.
So...yeah.
Still, it's not all bad news. Your mom 120% loves you, and there's at least one territory in the kingdom that thinks you're the chosen one.
Anyways, I'm getting tired so I'll head to bed and see what ya'll decide to do when get up.
Though I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something...
