Days Gone By - Fantasy Denmark Quest

[Chehrazad]

This thing all things devours,
Birds, beasts, trees, and flowers.
Gnaws iron bites steel,
Grinds hard stones to meal,
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down


Days Gone By​

You grew up among the lands of Dahniz, it which is named for its king whose own name had been Dahn the elder, who slew the great serpent that threatened to eat the entire world and gnaw at the roots of the tree with a thousand roots and he did make of its bones many relics for the good men and good women of his manifold descendants. And with these weapons did the companions of Dahn drive away the dominion of the giants of old which ruled the land of Dahniz and were given the name of the Dahns, for they are ever since the descendants of Dahn.

Your name is Dagmar Axelendatter and you live in the castle of jarl Knud Guldhaend Jansoen who is well-known for his wealth and his generosity and had lost his left hand in the southern kingdoms. From the spoils did he melt down his gold and make for himself a new hand which failed to preserve the functionality of his old one of flesh and blood, but was very beautiful to see and spoke well and far of his fabulous wealth.

Your mother is Adhelin Biaverdatter of the castle by the fjord which is named Vajala and lies in the lands of Juel, your father's name is Axelen Detlefsoen who comes from distant Sjae and trades both in the silver coinage of your home and the currencies of the southern kingdoms and the great empire that is said to unite them. For he is a trader who travels sometimes with the longships and was appointed hirdsman to the jarl for but three summers ago and then does he bring home gifts for you and your mother which are manifold and delightful. Six summers ago, when your father returned from the longships, he did so in a great coat of blue and gold which he had taken from a wealthy southern chieftain. From the spoils did he give you a gift which you value much and find to be of great value still.

This gift was a:

[ ] Rusty Blade - Rusty blade taken from the sea; this sword is simple and unadorned, blunt and rusty. Its only markings are a set of now-unreadable letters upon it's blade. Belonged to a friend of your father who rests now in the halls of the wife of the sea king. His sword remains with you; useless as it is.

[ ] Fine Chalice - Feast-chalice used by wealthy hirdsmen of the south; it is a gaudy thing inlaid with cinnabar and made of crystal. It is pretty and you sometimes like to pretend you are a wealthy chieftain's daughter of the south.

[ ] Southern Tome - Far southern tome of learning from lands beyond the south, where they say men and women dress alike and swords curve like blades of grass. The book is unreadable, written in some snaking, curling script, but it is full of flowery illustrations and beautiful creatures of distant myth. How it arrived in southern hands is unknown.

In the old days, the longships would return and all the women and the children would stand at the harbour by the shores of the great fjord and await the return of their husbands and fathers, who would be bedecked in gold and other treasures and return with many stories of distant plunder and valour in the southern lands. These days are different; the winters are longer, the longships return with less and less every summer that passes and the harvests are barren. They say that the gods have cursed the land because the king has failed to honour them, and certainly do rumors from the royal seat of Jaellang pass even here that he is growing fat and old and that the cult house is ignored and that the sacrifices are used for lavish feasts instead.

Five summers ago, a woman came who said that she had no name and that she would be called by Sees-The-Ocean-From-Above and you knew that she stood among the ranks of the wisdoms, for they are a strange lot and believe that to name something is to diminish it and control it and their sorts who do not care for the commands of jarls or kings. She stayed there for a winter and a summer and you found her strange, but friendly and she taught you many things such as the names of the flowers and what lies at the end of the old, crooked road by which you have never traveled. At the end of her stay she asked your father if she could take you with her and teach you in the wise ways and make you a wisdom, and with his permission did you leave with her and were imparted the secrets of:

[ ] Uruz - You have understood the secrets of the auroch, which is the king of all beasts that walk the land. You speak the language of the animals that walk the earth and graze upon the fields, but not the birds for only the goldcrest is king of the birds and none but the old dragons control the goldcrest.

[ ] Kaunan - You have studied the plagues and diseases and you know how to curse as a sailor and curse as a witch, you can brew plagues in your bowl and curse men who offend you with ulcers, but this is a risky path to walk for it is not seen well amongst many.

[ ] Raido - You learned the true way of the journey and horses obey you and understand you and all roads lead to your destination and you travel with a brisk pace that is not slowed by hunger or thirst or tiredness.

[ ] Hagalaz - The hail is the truth that your master imparted to you; the mastery of the weather is a harsh one, for one must wrestle with the rams that drive the thunder and chase the clouds and many a weather-wisdom has found herself outmatched by their thunderous gait.

You mastered the runes of seidrara which they say is the language that the gods speak in their ancient great halls, when they feast upon the flesh of their enemies and suck the marrow from their bones. And the sign of mastery of such a rune is a staff by which one shall know that a wisdom is approaching and that one should be afraid and in awe for wisdoms are not quick to anger, but their ire is a terrible thing. At the end of your apprenticeship, which was this summer, your master gave you one such staff; a hand-made staff of iron-capped oaken wood which was a sign of the end of your youth for the wise are children as long as they are beholden to a master and she informed you that it was ancient custom to never wield one's staff before lightning had struck it:

[ ] Traditionalist - You placed your staff into the ground and sat before it and waited and fasted until lightning struck it, for so it was ancient custom amongst the wise of Dahniz and the wise of Juel and a sign of humility and submission to the will of the gods.

[ ] Meridianist - Your master struck lightning into the staff and gave you several sun-turns of rations and wished you well on your way, for such is the way of the wealthy southern wisdoms who are named praester and this is a sign of confidence in one's abilities and trust in one's master.

After you took on your staff, your teacher gave you a name, to reflect your training and your apprenticeship, as well as one particular deed which you performed that either impressed or disappointed her faith in you. The second name protects you from rivals and others, so that you do not find yourself in the thrall of some wisdom who came to learn your first name and so that you can walk in the world of spirits as an equal to they who bear their nature as their names:

[ ] What is your name? - The second name is often a title, which describes a particular specialty of yours; you do not need to come up with a name but should mention one single deed that impressed or disappointed your mentor, as well as a general theme for your character, from which I will produce a name.

Finally, you went on your way into the lands of Dahniz, where you had been born and raised and would now travel abroad on your return to the familiar fields and palisades of Aelberg in which you expect to arrive threescore sun-turns from the passing of the winter solstice that was three days ago.

---XXX---​

This is an original quest, focusing on the land of Dahniz, roughly analogous to the pre-Christian Denmark of the early medieval; you play as a wisdom, a sort of wandering priest-magician role, studying the seidrara, a language which describes the secrets of the worlds and all which they contain.

This quest is a narrative quest; there will never be a choice which is strictly worse than other choices, you will not be killed or punished for voting wrong, you will not be rewarded for voting correctly. It is a story first and foremost, albeit a highly interactive and mutable one. Therefore, I will not be using the normal voting system, every vote after this one will come with an associated modifier based on the character's personality. I will lock the thread after the designated voting period has passed and count every vote by hand; I reserve the right to dismiss any vote that does not come with a rationale associated with it. This quest does not respect rationalistic arguments made from the basis of a system or a modern, materialistic worldview. This quest uses no system but what I keep for myself.

Any statement that I make over any platform of communication is to be taken as non-canon unless I explicitly state so. I will never lie to you, but I may mislead you, either due to dramatic buildup, misunderstandings or simply because it amused me to do so.