[X] Decline.

This is Loki we are dealing with. I'm a bit suspicious about this deal.

[X] Your hands crackle with lightning as you slay down the Knights/Vikings with your seidr.

Just for the awesomeness factor.
 
[X] Decline.

I might be willing to take the deal if I could think of a good form of seidr, but honestly I don't think we need Rulership Seidr, and we're otherwise pretty solid...

[X] Your hands crackle with lightning as you slay down the Knights/Vikings with your seidr.

Yeah, this sounds fun.
 
"Yes, people don't like to be snuck up on and being able to see invisible people is a common way to avoid that," says Lady Loki, "That or something to boost one's ears or nose to detect those they cannot see. People always think of direct invisibility when going unseen, but what about that which is seen yet ignored?"

"What do you mean?" you ask again.

"How many nobles ignore their servants, treating them like furniture?" says Lady Loki with a grin on her face, "Or how many drunks think nothing of a comely barmaid getting their empty mugs? Or another warrior in the army? Invisibility can be fitting in and getting ignored as a consequence of that. And all of that can be done with mundane skill and no seidr involved. When spells and enchantments do get involved? You can get your run of a castle or camp with nobody stopping you. Sometimes they can even help you out, thinking that they are aiding a comrade. "
Loki knows their stuff this is what their godhood covers after all.

Emotion Seidr is basically emotion manipulation. What it does and how noticable varies on the user and spell. It can effect your own emotions, those of your allies or those of your enemies. You could use it to strike fear into the enemy, raise the morale of your allies or use it to keep your own emotions in check amongst other things.

As for dishonourable, it varies. Some people consider all seidr to be dishonourable while others only find seidr that mess with minds or opponents to be dishonourable. Others are more pragmatic about it, seeing it as just another tool or weapon. That said, emotions can be positive so earning access to Emotion Seidr isn't seen as purely negative as Deception Seidr as the former is acquired via strong emotions while the latter almost universially requires the individual to be deceptiful.
That makes sense Seidr happens because of who a person is and what a person does so if a person does something or is something the culture doesn't accept it would create a Seidr the culture wouldn't accept.

[X] Plan: The king is a spellcaster
-[X] Accept the mysterious offer of your teacher.
--[X] Ruler Seidr

I agree the plan is for Torvald to become a petty King so getting Seidr that will help with that will be useful. Also I bet important Rulers have it and getting an education in it will be useful.

[X] Your hands firmly grip your Adamantine Sword as you cut down the Vikings/Knights.

This will make it more of a challenge but will also possibly earn him a martial Kenning and if not marital experience.
 
[X] Plan: The king is a spellcaster
-[X] Accept the mysterious offer of your teacher.
--[X] Ruler Seidr
 
When someone super powerful gives you an opportunity, grab it with both hands! That's the protagonist attitude to have!

Even if it burns you, it's a great story!
 
[X] Accept the mysterious offer of your teacher.
[X] Your hands crackle with lightning as you slay down the Knights/Vikings with your seidr.
 
[X] Plan: The king is a spellcaster

[X] Your hands crackle with lightning as you slay down the Knights/Vikings with your seidr.

We've got a lot of magic know how at this point. We're just fine in a melee, but we're better with magic.
 
Whoops. Forgot I hadn't closed the vote yet.
Adhoc vote count started by Oshha on May 7, 2024 at 5:13 AM, finished with 19 posts and 9 votes.
 
A Choice Is Made
[X] Accept the mysterious offer of your teacher.
-[X] Ruler Seidr
[X] Your hands crackle with lightning as you slay down the Knights/Vikings with your seidr.

Your hands crackle with lightning as you unleash the fury of the skies upon your foes, smiting knights and electrocuting vikings for you are Queen Torhild Adamantine-Beauty, mighty seeress and mistress of seidr. You are the daughter of Sigurdr Princess-Taker and like your father before you, none are capable of standing in your way.

With dreams of conquest and queenship, you have a good night's sleep, waking well-rested in the morning as the sun rises.

***​

You notice something is off when you first woke up as for the first time, you don't feel uncomfortable as Torhild. No, it is quite the opposite as for once, it actually feels natural. No discomfort to ignore, no nagging feeling that it is right, just your body being your body.

And yet something doesn't feel right. Why would you feel uncomfortable as Torhild? You are Torhild right? Why would you think otherwise?

Except you remember a second lifetime, one as Torvald Sigurdrsson rather than Torhild Sigurdrsdottir. Why in the names of the Gods would you have two sets of conflicting memories? You aren't sure, but you are certain who is to blame and that is your teacher, the Trickster God.

"Lady Loki!" you call as you look around the campsite for your teacher.

"W-what is it?" asks Erika as your huskarl wakes with a yawn.

"Torhild," replies Lady Loki from where she is cooking breakfast, "I see you made your choice."

"What did you do?" you demand as Erika looks confused between you and the third member of your group

"I gave you a choice," answers your teacher before Erika falls back down into her makeshift bed to your alarm, "Don't worry, I only put her back to sleep."

"Why can I remember growing up as both Torvald and Torhild?" you demand, "What sort of choice leads to that?"

"I gave you a choice between being Torhild the Seeress and Torvald the Swordsman," replies Lady Loki with an annoying grin on her face, "You were in conflict over the two so I gave you a chance to resolve it before you come of age."

"That wasn't the choice," you protest, "It was between using my seidr and my sword."

"Not my fault you didn't read between the lines," answers your teacher with a dismissive shrug, "You are Torhild now and as far as anyone is concerned, you have always been Torhild. Honestly girl, be grateful that I let you keep your memories of being Torvald. I could have just wiped your memories and let your existence as Torvald just be forgotten."

You want to argue more, but you bite back on the temptation. Lady Loki has already done the deed and you can't see any good from arguing with her over it. Being Torhild in truth is hardly the worst fate out there and antagonising the deity could easily make things worse for you.

"Now," says Lady Loki as she clasps her hands together with a gleam in her eye, "Let us discuss my payment for teaching you Ruler Seidr."

***​

Astrid the Warrior-Witch had been searching for her hidden lover for over a year now. Not that she had ever admitted her feelings to the other woman and Torhild had always been too dense to pick up on how she felt about her. Astrid would have thought that Torhild didn't share her proclivities if she hadn't caught the other girl repeatedly ogling her chest when she thought no one was looking.

A year since Loki had kidnapped Torhild and sent Astrid on a quest to find her. Hopefully Loki has allowed Torhild to make productive use of her time. Astrid knows that she has certainly grown a lot over the last year of adventuring across the lands. And given how she inexplicably gained a Boon of Loki check though no clear action on her part, Astrid can only guess that Torhild is responsible for it.

The young woman has gone through a lot in her year of adventuring. She has earnt more Piety and Prestige than she had in the rest of her life. She has claimed the Kenning Warrior-Witch and she gained at least one Trait in every category. She has carved herself a name across the lands as a budding adventurer and future legend of her generation.

And yet it hasn't been enough. She still hunted down dozens of monsters and ridded the land of more than one band of outlaws. Astrid walks in the footsteps of her mother and even as she grows her legend, she continues to fail in her quest.

That isn't enough to stop the young shieldmaiden. She is an Adventurer and a Heroine, defined in her by her Traits and so Astrid continues in her quest.A quest that has led her back to Vestfold as she seeks yet more leads on the beautiful wandering seeress and her pretty apprentice Torhild.

The local market is busy as expected of a thriving city like Vestfold. Merchants hawk their wares while individuals of means some to see if there is anything to catch their eye. Astrid must count herself amongst the latter as while she is primarily here for information, she cannot deny that she is keeping an eye out for things to spend her hard-earnt coin on.

Then she spots a merchant with an interesting set of products on display. Over the last year, Astrid has been able to acquire a steel axe and some enchanted jewellery, but her armour remains mundane and iron. Which to be fair, that is still fairly impressive by any reasonable standard, but Astrid finds herself looking for an upgrade. Hopefully she'll find something here in Vestfold, but if she doesn't, she'll just settle for enchanting one of her existing pieces of armour. Fortunately for Astrid, it seems that the gods are smiling upon her as this merchant has some very high quality pieces of armour amongst her wares.

"What sort of material is that chainmail forged from?" asks Astrid as she inspects a blue-white piece of armour that reminds her of Torhild's sword.

She wants to say it is adamantine and certainly looks like it is to her, but Astrid doesn'r want to get her hopes up. After all, what sort of merchant would be selling adamantine armour in the open market. Even if she was, surely she would have drawn a massive crowd by now.

"Adamantine," answers the merchant in a hushed tone, "I take it you are interested?"

"What is the price?" inquires Astrid quietly, all but certain that it will be beyond her means.

"I'm sure we can come to an arrangement," says the merchant with a grin on her face, "I shall warn you, it comes as part of a set with this steel helmet."

"Why is adamantine paired with steel?" the shieldmaiden asks warily as something does feel right about this, "And what sort of arrangement are you thinking of?"
"Why the one we just agreed to?" replies the merchant and Astrid's head feels foggy for a moment before she shakes it off.

"Of course," agrees Astrid though she cannot shake the nagging feeling that something isn't quite right, "Thanks for the armour and information."

What were the terms of their agreement again? Astrid gets the armour and information on where to find Torhild and in return, she paid…what did she pay? Does it matter anymore since it has already been paid? Yes, yes it should except no, it doesn't matter.

Ugh, her head hurts.

Astrid shakes her head again as she walks away with her new acquisitions, clearing away the fog that replaced her doubts. She has a solid lead on her quest and she isn't about to let it go to waste. She just has to go and deal with yet another spot of trouble.

What will Astrid face before being reunited with Torhild?
[ ] Troll. There is a troll in the area who has claimed Torhild for dinner.
[ ] Witch. There is a rogue seidr user in the area that is holding Torhild captive.
[ ] Bandits. There is a band of outlaws in the area who have taken Torhild hostage.

***​

Torhild Sigurdrsdottir (Age 16)

Hamingja (Fate) = 4

Bloodline = Descendent of Thor (Unlocks access to Lightning, Thunder and Storm magic. Provides a boost to all Lightning, Thunder and Storm magic. Moderate Bonus to Strength. Minor Prestige Gain per month & Minor Piety Gain per month. You have red hair.)
Kenning (Epithet) = Adamantine-Beauty (Your body is made of living Adamantine. Major Boost to Presence).

Hamr (Body) = Olympic
-Strength = Olympic
-Constitution = Average
-Agility = Olympic

Hugr (Mind) = Olympic
-Will = Below Average
-Intellect = Olympic
-Presence = Peak Human

Fylgia (Familiar) = Lynx. (Your spells and other magic are more potent and powerful)

Traits
Hugr/Stubborn. You have a raw determination that refuses to be beaten without a fight, no matter how long the odds. Gain Advantage on Will.
-Tier 1.
Hugr/Clever. You are quick witted, just able to grasp and see things that elude most others, no matter how intelligent they are. Gain Advantage on Intellect.
-Tier 1.
Hamr/Lightning Blood. Lightning travels through your veins. Pass or win on a single Agility roll per Encounter or Fight.
-Tier 1.
Hugr/Boon of Loki. The Jotunn Loki Laufeyjarson has granted you a boon, giving you an innate advantage to decisive others. Gain Advantage on Deception Checks.
-Tier 1.
Hamr/Seer Body. Your body is well-suited for channelling seidr. Your Hugr contributes twice as much to Spell Slots.
-Tier 1.
Hugr/Loki's Favour. You have earnt the positive favour of Loki. Minor Hamingja Gain per year.
-Tier 1.
Hamr/Magic Resistance. Your body is naturally good at rejecting magic. All unwanted magical effects are downgraded by one degree.
-Tier 1.
Hugr/Emotion Control. You have a talent for keeping firm control over your emotions and feelings. You have control over your emotional state.
-Tier 1.
Hugr/Empowered Seidr. Your magic is inherently powerful and abnormally strong. Your spells and other magic are more potent and powerful.
-Tier 1.

Items of Note
Adamantine Sword of Swiftness (Excellent) = Major bonus to Attack, Deals Very High Damage. Anti-Magic effect allows it to bypass weak magic and reduce moderate or stronger magic. Enchanted to grant a free additional attack for every attack made with targets having Disadvantage to defend against the additional attack.
Iron Helmet (Decent) = Minor bonus to Defence, Blocks a single Critical Hit
Gambeson of Lightning Speed (Decent) = Major to Defence Rolls, Boosts your speed and reaction times.
Golden Armband of Fire Resistance (Excellent) = Greatly reduces fire damage taken.
Seersilk Dress of Deceptive Invisibility (Excellent) = Boosts the wearer's spells and other magic by one degree whilst worn. Allows the wear to freely take on different appearance albeit limited to a beautiful woman wearing a beautiful dress. Invisibility via perception filter, making the wearer fit into wherever they are in the eyes of others, which can be manipulated by what appearance the wearer has taken.

Skills
Athletics (Strength) = Novice
Deception (Presence) = Expert
History/Norse (Intellect) = Proficient
Lightning Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Master
Thunder Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Expert
Storm Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Expert
Deception Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Expert
Emotion Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Proficient
Anti-Magic Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Proficient
Ruler Seidr Knowledge (Intellect) = Proficient
Seeress Knowledge = Expert
Perception (Will) = Novice
Persuasion (Presence) = Proficient
Spoken Language/Norse (Intellect) = Expert
Swordsmanship (Strength) = Master
Writing/Runes (Intellect) = Expert

Seidr (Magic)
Daily Number of Spell Points = High

Lightning Seidr Spells (Level 3)
Thunder Seidr Spells (Level 2)
Storm Seidr Spells (Level 2)
Deception Seidr Spells (Level 3)
Emotion Seidr Spells (Level 1)
Metal Seidr Spells (Level 1)
Anti-Magic Seidr Spells (Level 1)
Ruler Seidr Spells (Level 2)


Relationships
Your Subordinates
Stormber = Your pet Wyvern. She is currently two years old.
Erika Alvarsdottir = Your first huskarl.

Your Kin
High Chief Sigurdr Princess-Taker = Your father and ruler of Torstensby.
Ingrid Goodwife = Your mother.
Torsten Sigurdrsson = Your older brother by three years and heir apparent to Torstensby.
Brunhildr Sigurdrsdottir = Your older half-sister by two years.
Brandr Sigurdrsson = Your older half-brother by six months.
Sigrid Sigurdrsdottir = Your younger half-sister by one year.
Gunnar Sigurdrsson = Your younger half-brother by three years.

Torstensby
Wulfwynn Rosegarden = Your childhood thrall.
Astrid Bjornsdottir = Your childhood friend.
Thane Bjorn Knightslayer = Your father's best friend and father of Astrid.

***​

Sorry about how long this update took. I closed the vote and started writing it only to come down with a somewhat bad cold. Anyway, the last vote was a secret test by Loki to see if the protagonist would remain as Torhild or go back to being Torvald. Beyond that, Astrid and Torvald/Torhild are going to be reunited and I was planning on that in this update except I decided to cut things short after how long it took to get this far.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
 
Why didn't I think about such an obvious source of events?
But in any case, now we can freely use magic.

@Oshha Now that we have learned this, what does Ruler Seidr give us?

[X] Troll. There is a troll in the area who has claimed Torhild for dinner.
 
[X] Troll. There is a troll in the area who has claimed Torhild for dinner.

We can learn shapeshifting if we want to be a dude again. We're probably going to get offered it again next time we get a trait.
 
We can learn shapeshifting if we want to be a dude again. We're probably going to get offered it again next time we get a trait.
We only need to convince Loki to give us Seidr transformations. I mean, Loki will probably understand how uncomfortable it can be to be stuck in one guise, especially against his will.
 
Loki just optimizing Torvald/Torhild's build (being a woman is better for magic in this setting... and I guess being a man is better for weapons) up to and including redoing memories/the timeline @_@
 
Like, with how often Torvald got turned into a girl, this was bound to happen at some point.
It has happened twice?
@Oshha Now that we have learned this, what does Ruler Seidr give us?
It is mainly buffs and debuffs within your territory or towards your subjects. I won't be coming up for specific spells because I don't feel like going into that level of detail.
(being a woman is better for magic in this setting... and I guess being a man is better for weapons)
Women are naturally magically stronger while men are naturally physically stronger.
 
[X] Troll. There is a troll in the area who has claimed Torhild for dinner.

This particular sequence of events leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, not because of the gender swap but because it was done against our protagonist's will, which I find really icky on a variety of levels.
 
This particular sequence of events leaves a really bad taste in my mouth, not because of the gender swap but because it was done against our protagonist's will, which I find really icky on a variety of levels.
That was intentional. This is ultimately the work of a god playing with a mortal for their amusement rather than anything the protagonist wanted or asked for. Loki could have made the true choice being made clear to Torvald and chose not to because they found it more entertaining.
 
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Knowing what Loki's entertainment can be, in a sense we were lucky that we got at least some benefit from it.
 
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