Fast friend and follower
Foeslaying warrior
Stalwart stands defending
Strong of arm and of heart
Longer than lifetimes his
Loyalty lingering
Brave beyond boundaries
His best for his brother
'For Stigmar' a poem about a guy who may not be the greatest warrior (he's fine, but gets overshadowed), but swore eternal loyalty because we helped his brother and has never wavered from that or even hesitated to wade into the thick of it with things that outclassed him.
Over whale-road past Gotling's home
To sup with Rurikids and sail past Pechengs
Riding rowing benches, while shoulder-bearing his home past dancing waters
so did Crowfeeder's bearer come to the lands of the Greeks
Warring across the backs of cetus' friends
bringing forth lindworms to the city of hot waters where Sassinids stay
Passing between Scylla and Charbodis without fear
Thus was this man from Thule.
After the great polutasvarf given as due
Returned in glory under clear roof of the world, was the great flame lay slain
Ash and oak and thorn bore witness to blood-oath then
For great was the wroth born there
Now Skyfire, daughter of this great man
Leaves her runes in this stone, gifted from mountain-friends
Proclaiming the death of the outlaw Horra, kinslayer and draugr-maker
Completing her quest and feud
Breach from home's hearth beneath
Bringing death to fledglings
Wound-hoe [1] held brings foe-woe [2] Wanderlust bloodlusted
Blade split in battle-bit
Brings sword to arm fighting [3]
Sword-sleep brought at price steep [4]
Stigr Safety-Bringer.
[1] Sword
[2] Killing enemies, duh
[3] My best go at representing how Stigr jammed Wanderlust into his arm to keep fighting after it broke. Also a reference to 'sword-arm'... you know, your fighting arm.
[4] Stigr's bodily death fighting off Troll-men.
Pronounce Stigr as two syllables, not one. ('Stig-er')
Foe-Woe is two words, but pronounce it kind of like if it was a single word... Look, it just is, okay? Woe-Foe and 'foe woe' just doesn't work.
Audrikr looks between the two of you before sighing. Reaching out, he bops you on the head. "Go on, tell her."
"Halla," You say, swallowing a lump in your throat as you take a breath, "I'm sorry for how I treated you, that was wrong of me. That was an abuse of power, an abuse of my status as Jarl, and never should have happened."
She blinks as you fall silent.
"Folkmarr," she frowns and you wince, "I need to think on this some, but I hear your words."
"I..." It's.. not ideal, but you can work with this. "I understand. If there's anything I can do to show you... all you need to do is ask."
"Well... there is one thing you can do for me..."
"Name it."
"Your father has given me Ship and Sail to kill Horra Hasvisson and his army of Draugr. I want your help with it."
You agree immediately.
(Your relations with Halla have been set to 4)
AN: I was considering letting you guys have the option to refuse, but like hell would it have even been a vote, or even been in character lmao.
Finally we can fix our relationship, god, fuck that specific trait interaction so much, I swear when we have children we better dump enough Hamingja to make sure it never comes up again.
At least now all we have to do is kill some Draugr and Horra and call this stupid episode over.
Also by gods that trial was such a shitshow. Wasn't Drysalt supposed to be like, the endgame bossfight?
Finally we can fix our relationship, god, fuck that specific trait interaction so much, I swear when we have children we better dump enough Hamingja to make sure it never comes up again.
At least now all we have to do is kill some Draugr and Horra and call this stupid episode over.
Also by gods that trial was such a shitshow. Wasn't Drysalt supposed to be like, the endgame bossfight?
Yeah, it's another instance of her 'Valley Immigrant' trait having.. exciting interactions with her other traits and the info she gathered before the trial.
Which would have been enough to like outlaw him several times over, to be clear. She just made an incorrect assumption. Again.
As for Horra.. well, let's just say he's been preparing to kill Steinarr for some time.
Herself
Her father, Steinarr Freedfire
Her brother, Sten Iskearauta
Her Huskarls, Stigmar Kersson, plus two bandits she recruited from Lar Forkbeard's Felag
Haleikr, Haklangr's Brother (Halla found his body)
An elephant merchant (Halla found the elephant.. in the room)
You and Audrikr
Torsten Twoshield, who's related to Steinarr somehow?
Someone's Swordraven Fylgja
Herself
Her father, Steinarr Freedfire
Her brother, Sten Iskearauta
Her Huskarls, Stigmar Kersson, plus two bandits she recruited from Lar Forkbeard's Felag
Haleikr, Haklangr's Brother (Halla found his body)
An elephant merchant (Halla found the elephant.. in the room)
You and Audrikr
Torsten Twoshield, who's related to Steinarr somehow?
Someone's Swordraven Fylgja
That.. honestly sounds like total overkill? Like holy shit, this is an entire Felag composed of people who are among the literal best fighters in the valley. Is Horra even going to get combat turns before he dies horribly?
That.. honestly sounds like total overkill? Like holy shit, this is an entire Felag composed of people who are among the literal best fighters in the valley. Is Horra even going to get combat turns before he dies horribly?
[><] Muna: Unbroken Skin (Gain Twist: Untouchable)
[><] Muna: Second Sun (Gain Ignition Hugareida)
Think these are the best options here. We're a Jarl, we'll have more than enough Orthsirr to permafuel any Twist we get. And if that bomb is any indication, Ignition is some hot shit.
Well, you'd need to have a Fylgja, then figure out the runes she used, then [SPOILERS], but yes.
Fragment said:
[><] Muna: Unbroken Skin (Gain Twist: Untouchable)
[><] Muna: Second Sun (Gain Ignition Hugareida)
Think these are the best options here. We're a Jarl, we'll have more than enough Orthsirr to permafuel any Twist we get. And if that bomb is any indication, Ignition is some hot shit.
The rest of the ceremony is little more than blurs of movement and snippets of sound. The only things you truly remember are the vows you made and the rings you exchanged on the hilts of swords old and new.
So how I imagine (part of) the ceremony going on in Norse Xianxialand with Aspect stoking is..
Wedding (Aspect Stoking)
The guests watched as Halla and Abjorn's aspects were stoked to their full glory.
Halla's Saemd flowed over her bridal crown, candleflames burning over her spikes of iron. She wore a cloak of owl feathers, all singed at the tip and held with a clasp of silver. Surrounding her was a halo of crimson flames, burning patches of grass here and there. His warrior-wife shining brightly in all her glory.
Abjorn wore a crown of iron swords, and around his neck was a bearskin pelt as a cloak. About him his Frami was something felt more than seen, like the force of a bear pushing down upon you. It all fitted the Abjorn as she knew him so perfectly.
The two embraced, and there they watched as Abjorn's bearskin pelt caught fire from the crimson fire outlining Halla touching it. The flames spread through his cloak with all the rapidity of a wildfire, yet leaving him unharmed. They watched as the all the force of a bear was put into gently putting his pawprint onto the clasp holding her cloak together. As if the bear was leaving as much of her untouched as he could.
Sees souls without seeing
Spies the future in dreams
Kindles counselor's craft
Clever, cunning, and quick
Fine feathered friend he is
Following felag's need
Sly scouting seeks foemen
So swiftly strikes Swordwing
'For Aki', my poem about our good friend Aki, emphasizing his perceptiveness, good advice in general, and the fact that he's never hesitated to back us up in a fight. It's maybe a bit on the aspirational side when it comes to his battle prowess, but it seems valid. I'm not perfectly happy treating 'kindles' as a word beginning with 'C', but it otherwise seems okay.
If granted a Reward Die for this I will put it towards the Labor check to save him.
Lancer's endurance is representative of the abnormal vitality the Norse had, with examples including Lancer shrugging off stopped hearts and broken ribs. Her luck stat signifies the ability she had in life to overcome enemies greater than herself, and her notably high hamingja.
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance (C Rank): Due to the blood of gods running through Lancer's veins, magecraft of C rank and lower cannot affect her. The heavily diluted nature of her blood results in a diminished value.
Personal Skills:
Born of Fire(A Rank): Thanks to the actions of Lancer's grandfather, all of his descendants are intertwined with the concept of fire itself. Naturally, this extends to Lancer - as a result, she has greatly enhanced capabilities when it comes to anything related to fire. She is also resistant to fire and fire-adjacent attacks.
Rune Magecraft (C Rank): Although never formally taught in the art of runes, Lancer's inherited memories from her grandfather grant her the ability to use them regardless, and her quick wit makes her all the more greater at runic magecraft.
Battle Continuation (A Rank): Due to her high hamr on top of the supernatural robustness of the Norse, Lancer can keep on fighting even when she should be dead by all accounts. Missing limbs and caved-in chests will do nothing to stop her once she gets going.
Punching Up (B Rank): In life, Lancer fought in several battles one would consider 'impossible to win'. Despite that, she eked out a victory every single time. When fighting those that would severely outclass her, Lancer can receive a temporary boost that increases her fighting potential immensely, allowing her to hit outside her weight class for a while.
Divinity (D Rank): Despite being descended from the Allfather himself, Odin, Lancer does not enjoy the benefits of the divine, as a consequence of the blood being diluted over time.
Noble Phantasm:
Daughter of Ash (Anti-Unit, B Rank): The crystallisation of Lancer's insights into fire, Daughter of Ash encompasses her mastery of flame. Using it, Lancer can emit and manipulate fire of all kinds - although she favours explosive, high-intensity bursts of flame. Neither is she limited to attacks, either; Lancer's control of fire allows her to fashion incandescent wings that grant her the ability to fly, or can create a balefire capable of drawing in malicious spirits.
Time Stands Still (Anti-Unit, B- Rank): In spite of her bloodthirsty nature, Lancer was also capable of appreciating the quiet, intimate moments with her loved ones. Oftentimes, she found the moment stuck in her memory, as if frozen in time. From that, she gained the ability to replicate a mere fraction of that feeling. Time Stand Still allows Lancer to manipulate inertia; which allows her to pull off feats such as stopping attacks in their tracks, arresting the inertia of opponents to freeze them in place, or slowing down her own sense of time to react to attacks.
Sagaseeker (Anti-Unit, C+ Rank): Lancer wields the atgeir Sagaseeker, which is what grants her the eponymous name of Lancer. Lancer was no master of the atgeir, but in spite of that she made up for her lack of mastery via her various tricks. Such tricks include empowered chops, brutal leaps that would carve flesh from bone, or deadly strikes that would skewer any who fell victim to them. When releasing its true name, Sagaseeker glows with the might of its wielder, and becomes adorned with crimson owl feathers - a visual representation of the odr poured into the weapon when stoked to its full power.
Decided to try and make a Servant sheet for Halla... not sure if I did a good job of it, but I don't think I could've done better. Enjoyed writing it at the very least.
Had we learned Seidr, I would've made it one of her Noble Phantasms and made it so she could be summoned as a Caster, but as of right now she doesn't know any Seidr aside from Stabilising Palm, and I don't think her hugareida are enough to qualify her for Caster.
Admittedly, I just made 'Askrsaga' up on the spot. I didn't want to name it 'Hallasaga', as this story feels more of like a cumulative effort of our family rather than just one member. Like, yeah, right now it's just Halla... but even then, there's still Blackhand. From what I can tell, 'Askrsaga' should translate to 'Saga of Ash'. 'Saga of Char' might've made more sense - since Charred Soul - but it didn't sound as good to me, so I went with ash instead.
Making her parameters was honestly pretty hard... it's difficult to measure Halla's strength using the parameters in Fate, while also keeping in mind other Servants. Like, I don't think Halla is as strong as Siegfried - who has also has a B in Strength - but with her strength she definitely doesn't belong in C tier, either, in my opinion. I just ended up treating Siegfried in Fate as different to Siegfried/Sigurd in NorseQuest, as I imagine he'd have an A in Strength.
Does anyone actually know how to do the thing where they write in small subscript above a word? Not like TM or R, but actually above the word. It bugs me a lot that I couldn't add what I wanted to add using it.
At farm she called to arms:
Aid by bucket or blade!
Outstrip [1] them does owlbear[2],
Outmanned [3] the bandits rout.
Swordhand of his he swears [4],
Sworn worn sword [5] spear [6] gifted.
[1] How Halla/Abjorn outnumbered and defeated the Stoneson harassing Jordan.
[2] Halla and Abjorn
[3] Both how said Stoneson/Ironbrother candidate got kneed, as well as how the bandits or rather Reidar Swordfury ran away.
[4] Haldan's promise of alliance.
[5] Wanderlust
[6] Sagaseeker
This was easier that the last one. Hopefully that means I ranked up Hugr/Wordplay and didn't just get a lucky roll.
No wait, the word stressors in order to abide by 'no stressed last word' are actually pretty artificial for this one. Nevermind.
Bold = Stressed
Underline = Rhymes
Hal-la vi-sits Half-dan,
His home bur-ning glo-wing.
At farm she called to arms: Aid by buck-et or blade!
Out-strip them does owl-bear, Out-manned the ban-dits rout.
Sword-hand of his he swears, Sworn worn sword spear gift-ed.
AN: I was hunting for good piece to write poetry about, and noticed that Halla was rhyming with her declaration "We will lend our neighbors aid, whether by blade or by bucket." Subsequently the rest of the poetry was constructed around that.
Somehow I'm pretty sure this would be a lot easier if I was writing this in Norse. I might even be able to slip in doublemeanings and all that that Norse poetry (or poetry in general really) is famous for with a more 'natural' language for Skaldic Poetry!
