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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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And voting is now closed
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Aug 18, 2023 at 6:17 PM, finished with 99 posts and 19 votes.
  • [X] (Optional) You're not sure that you can handle this with the men you have, perhaps you should see if there are any men of the Danelaw in the area?
    [X] Plan the Element of Surprise
    -[X] We will scout the castle using our flygia before finalising our plan, to gather more information, particularly ways to lure the knights outside the castle. But provisionally, our idea is:
    -[X] Up the River, you'll sail up the river straight to the castle's walls
    -[X] ...After having deposited a strike team, who will climb up the cliff using the distraction of our frontal attack, assaulting their way through the castle, eliminating any surprised combatants they find, and then attacking the garrison on the walls from behind as they're engaged with us.
    -[X] This will deal a fatal blow to the defender's morale, and may even lead defenders fighting outside the walls (cough cough, Knights) to assume the castle has fallen.
    [X] Plan the Element of Surprise
    -[X] We will scout the castle using our flygia before finalising our plan, to gather more information, particularly ways to lure the knights outside the castle. But provisionally, our idea is:
    -[X] Up the River, you'll sail up the river straight to the castle's walls
    - [x] ...After having deposited a strike team of our stealthiest killers lead by Heima Smiles, who will climb up the cliff using the distraction of our frontal assault, slaughtering their way through the castle and then attacking the garrison on the walls from behind as they're engaged with us.
    [X] Plan: use the waterfront.
    -[X] (Optional) You're not sure that you can handle this with the men you have, perhaps you should see if there are any men of the Danelaw in the area?
    -[X] We will scout the castle using our flygia before finalising our plan, to gather more information, particularly ways to lure the knights outside the castle. But provisionally, our idea is:
    -[X] Use the waterwolfs fur to make clothes, so a strike team, so they can can swim under water and sneak into the castle, take down any Wacthmen/guards, and than open up the castle for the rest of men. But only after the knigths had left the castle.
    -[X] Makes a lots strawmen and had some of our men take them and set up a fake camp. The idea is to bait the knigths out of the castle, by making them think that a raid is come over land. The camp should be a bit far away from the castle, but still to be able seen from the castle.
    -[X] Once the knigth had left the castle, had our strike team begin the plan. We should take down the noble and the Thanes as fast as posseble.
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By the way, I'm planning on rolling your hamingja for the people in the area. If you'd like to bolster that roll with Reward Dice, your time is now
 
...

Huh, that suggests to me that becoming a Steelfather requires you to both be a Fylgjaskinn, and to do something absolutely awful to turn your Fylgja into Steel.

The Fylgja is your Soul, it just gives itself a shell in the form of an animal to exist outside of it. It's your one Companion that will never abandon you--it's an indescribable betrayal to effectively kill it in this fashion simply to make yourself deathless.

Notably as well though, it does seem to soft confirm that a Steelfather's mind is not similarly protected. Presumably, they never die of old age (Presumably because Steel is more powerful than the Nornir--as it's confirmed as a global phenomena that transcends your culture--and if your body and soul are protected by it, then by definition your Fated Day will never come unless something bypasses it), but eventually their mind just breaks down when it reaches it's limitations after gathering too much data, or wearing out, or anything like that--because we know that Norse aren't immune to aging, they just tend to die before they start experiencing the consequences of it. Their body and soul might be unchanging and undying, but their mind is something separate, and will eventually wear down or simply reach capacity. Since Hugr we know doesn't make you smarter, just quicker of thought and more perceptive. Good Hugr might forestall this decay by giving your mind greater storage capacity, but that can't be sustained indefinitely given the increasing costs of raising an Attribute--and I wouldn't be surprised if Steelfathers also trained very slowly as well, if they can train at all anymore. Certainly, it's unlikely they've got much Hamingja left after such a play.
 
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Imperial Fister said:
You got it

Ahem

When Steel becomes the soul, the soul becomes the body. A Steelfather's skin is his soul. Anything that happens to the body, also happens to the soul.
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A question thats been rattling around in my mind for a long time... Can steel scratch steel?
If we managed to incapacitate a Steelfather, could we carve "Clan Volsung was here" on his forehead? (Or the secret to Odr cultivation, to turn him into a walking disclosure)
 
Toboe said:
A question thats been rattling around in my mind for a long time... Can steel scratch steel?
If we managed to incapacitate a Steelfather, could we carve "Clan Volsung was here" on his forehead? (Or the secret to Odr cultivation, to turn him into a walking disclosure)
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We would need to figure out how to damage steel in the first place.
 
I would bet more on the Steel transformation having to do with the soulscape than the fylgja, myself. I suspect there's other paths to developing one's fylgja than fylgjaskin.
 
CedeTheBees said:
Pneuma is his Hamingja equivalent, not Grace.

Grace is a separate thing.
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I feel like that's a very fine line of distinction. I'm betting that when you roll for something Hamingja-like, you roll Grace, not Pneuma, just based on scaling. Pneuma directly grants Grace so calling it the Hamingja equivalent is still correct, but they do not work the same.

Regardless of the semantic distinction, Hamingja is fungible to some degree and cannot have Orthstirr put into it, so I highly doubt you can Infuse it.

KreenWarrior said:
I would bet more on the Steel transformation having to do with the soulscape than the fylgja, myself. I suspect there's other paths to developing one's fylgja than fylgjaskin.
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We know for a fact there are other Fylgja options, yeah.

Imperial Fister said:
By the way, I'm planning on rolling your hamingja for the people in the area. If you'd like to bolster that roll with Reward Dice, your time is now
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@Imperial Fister I'll put 1 Reward Die towards this.
 
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Summer 9/Voyage 1.9 | Unruly Thanes 0
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] **Plan the Element of Surprise**
    -[X] We will scout the castle using our flygia before finalising our plan, to gather more information, particularly ways to lure the knights outside the castle. But provisionally, our idea is:
    -[X] Up the River, you'll sail up the river straight to the castle's walls
    -[X] ...After having deposited a strike team, who will climb up the cliff using the distraction of our frontal attack, assaulting their way through the castle, eliminating any surprised combatants they find, and then attacking the garrison on the walls from behind as they're engaged with us.
    -[X] This will deal a fatal blow to the defender's morale, and may even lead defenders fighting outside the walls (cough cough, Knights) to assume the castle has fallen.

    [X] (Optional) You're not sure that you can handle this with the men you have, perhaps you should see if there are any men of the Danelaw in the area?
    0~0~0
    Norsemen in the area (Hamingja: 6x2, 5x5, 4x4, 3x3, 2x1, 1x1)19+2(Reward Dice)=21 Successes
    When sieging anywhere, you want to have at least twice as many men as the enemy—ideally thrice or more. Men will die when you're assaulting fortified structures. It's a simple fact of combat and, as bitter-tasting as it is, it's important that you have the manpower to fill the holes they leave.

    Unfortunately, you don't have the manpower to take Daw's Castle—flat out. Maybe, maybe if you caught them by utter surprise you could do it—but that's a fool's dream at best. Thanks to the series of sea-forts and coastal watchtowers that King Alfred ordered built many decades ago, any ship that dares approach the coast will swiftly be known about far and wide. As a result, the people in Daw's Castle will know of your presence, though that doesn't mean they know you're going for them.

    As long as you don't give it away, you'll be able to catch them off-balance—but not off-guard. While they won't be ready for you, they'll still have their armor donned and their weapons close enough to grab at the first sign of trouble. There'll be at least one person near any beacons and, if lit, they'll first spell danger and then disaster—if you're still there by the time proper reinforcements can arrive, that is.

    The problem is, there's no good way to approach them while still retaining the element of surprise. As you sit in your tent and pore over the maps, you just can't find an angle. Approaching up the river means passing by Watchet, who'll certainly send out an alert to nearby towns and forts. Scaling the cliffside, while doable, is still a dangerous task—even more so if whoever's on watch isn't blind and starts dropping stuff on you. The only way you can think to approach would be overland, but that comes with its own downsides in the form of not having an easy way to retreat.

    Maybe if you—

    The tent-flap swings open as a puzzled Svend Sulsson steps into your space, "Hey, uh, boss? You might want to come have a look at this."

    You sigh and rub at your eyes, "Just tell me what it is."

    Svend blinks and leans back out of the tent before yelling, "Oscar! What kind of ships where they again?"

    Ships?

    Oscar Sharphone's shouted voice answers Svend from beyond sight of the tent, "I don't fucking know! Small ones, I guess? Go ask Eric, or even Nokkvi!"

    Svend huffs and goes to do just that, but Eric beats him to it, "Karvi! Two of them, sixteen oars each!"

    Svend shuffles out of the way as you exit your tent, a slight frown on your face and a crease between your brows. The ground—still wet from the storm earlier that day, which had forced you ashore—squelches and squishes beneath your shoes as you make your way down to the shore.

    Sure enough, there's a pair of sixteen-oared karvi heading straight towards you. They both have their sails up, as is only wise when in bowshot of the shore, and rely on their crew's strength to row safely to shore.

    At the dragon-prow of the first-most ship stood a man with a foot on the railing. As he drew closer and his figure grew clearer, the shaped, pointed beard on his face took on an unusual white hue.

    A smile creeps up your face as recognition blossoms and Stigr races forward. As the man sets foot on the sand, Stigr hits him like a sling-stone—Stigmar not too far behind.

    "Stigulf!" Stigr's happy shout causes the building tension to evaporate as Stigulf Snowbeard returns his brother's hug. Stigmar leaps in a half-step behind, his weight sending all three brothers tumbling to the waves lapping at the sandy beach. Even Stigulf can barely keep the smile off his face as he reunites with his family.

    As you turn to Abjorn—who had drawn up next to you as the ships drew in—your words die on your lips. Not an inch of Abjorn so much as twitches as the second ship makes landfall, he doesn't even breath as his eyes stay locked to its master as he sets ashore.

    Though he'd left long before you'd gotten to know Abjorn, the resemblance is unmistakable. Farbjorn Vidsson towers over everyone in attendance—Abjorn included. His body is covered in hardened, thickly-corded muscle that sits eager to be used. His hands more resemble bricks then they do appendages and his eyes could scare even the unruliest child straight.

    He carries no weapons and wears no armor—for why would a man with skin of iron require such paltry, fleeting tools? The world bows to his presence as he locks eyes with Abjorn—the unmistakable aura of the odr cultivator making itself known.

    You swallow the dryness in your throat as your concerned thoughts turn to Abjorn. All his life, he's been compared to the man before you and never favorably. How must he feel, to finally be looking eye-to-eye with Farbjorn after so long?

    As the pile of brothers-named-Stig quickly devolves into an impromptu wrestling match, Farbjorn strides forward. Every step he takes sends shivers down the sand, but Abjorn stands firm all the same.

    Farbjorn stops just out of Abjorn's reach, his face an unfeeling wall of iron. Eventually, he speaks with a voice like crackling lightning, "Does Father still live?"

    "He does," Abjorn nods.

    A flicker of disappointment flashes across Farbjorn's face as his shoulders slump near imperceptivity. "Damn," he grunts out through a heavy frown. His eyes flick to you, "Who's this?"

    "Halla Skyfire," you answer as you step forward and extend a hand, "Abjorn's my husband."

    Farbjorn eyes you and your bold hand for a long moment. Taking it, he nods his respect to you, "Farbjorn Bleedingstone," and to your husband. "Abjorn, you're a lucky man."

    Abjorn looks like he might pass out.

    0~0~0

    After leading Stigulf Snowbeard and Farbjorn Bleedingstone to your tent and laying out the situation, they both agree to lend their strength and that of their men to the fight, which bolsters your forces by another thirty-six warriors—which brings your total to seventy-four, yourself included.

    Stigulf seems to be about equal to Heima Smiles, but Farbjorn outclasses them both by a sea-mile. He is, without a doubt, nearing the peak of power—if he's not there already.

    (Farbjorn Bleedingstone's Felag has Allied itself to Yours!)
    Farbjorn's Ship, the Crush-Dragon
    Crush-Dragon's[/I] Crew]
    -Farbjorn Bleedingstone (Near-Peak)
    -1 Top
    -2 Lower Tops
    -6 Upper Middle
    -8 Middles
    Stigulf's Ship, the Golden Glimmer
    Golden Glimmer's[/I] Crew]
    -Stigulf Snowbeard (Upper Top)
    -1 Lower Top
    -4 Upper Middle
    -7 Middles
    -6 Lower Middles
    0~0~0
    (Tactics: 6x1, 5x5, 4x1, 3x2, 2x2, 1x3)10+5(Frenzy)+3(Scouting Rank)=18 Successes

    As you make camp a few beaches away from Daw's Castle, you send out your fylgja to do a little bit of scouting. If the storm hadn't thrown Farbjorn and Stigulf off-course—which allowed them to meet up with you—then what you see may very well have cratered any hope you had of winning the day.

    For you see, the garrison of Daw's Castle has been reinforced by a group of fifteen Norse mercenaries. Their strength isn't anything overly stand-out—mostly around the middle of the power ranking—except for the man who leads them, a man with hair of red and eyes of steel.

    A beardless face, your kinsman is tall and slender with a certain graceful flair to every movement. A strange, one-edged and curving sword hangs from his belt while a sax sits at its side. He's clearly strong—the world bows to his whims in the tell-tale way of the odr cultivator, after all—but he seems to lack any obvious hint of what he might be capable of. Which is rather disconcerting.

    Still, even with his men bolstering their ranks, you still well outnumber Daw's Castle. Unfortunately, as the onus of initiation is on you, you won't be able to see how they react until combat has begun. Even with that in mind, you can still get a general understanding of priorities.

    Tobias Belanger will be focused on keeping himself safe and, once that's secured, repelling any attack. Louis Dubois will leap into the biggest clump of enemies he can find. Serge Gagnon will be focused on responding to the situation, with emphasis on eliminating high-threats first. His Squire is going to seek out the strongest person that he believes he can defeat. The Priest... you have no idea on.

    The Thanes and Mercenaries will, unless given direction, act independently. Your Kinsman will likely lead his men, giving them direction in battle. You get the feeling that you and he will end up fighting, at some point. That's just how these things tend to play out, in your experience.

    Endurance: (13/13) | Frenzy: (5/5) (+5 to all Combat Rolls) | Armor Health: (17/17) (+4 to Defense)
    Orthstirr: (520/660) | Odr: (36)
    ( ) Frami: 220 | ( ) Virthing: 220 | ( ) Saemd: 220
    Sagaseeker has 49 orthstirr in his reservoir.
    Your Armor has 13 orthstirr in its reservoir.
    Shapeshifting is granting you (+1 Damage and +1 Attack-Speed)
    Your combat pool is 109d6 and you have 15d6 Stoked Dice

    What is your battleplan?
    [ ] Plan name
    -[ ] Plan

    0~0~0

    AN: I'm a little uncertain on how this one will work out, mechanics wise.

    And no longer uncertain

    25-minute moratorium.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Nice! Critical success on recruiting helpers!

    Of course, they'll also want a taste of the loot, but it's all good.

    Imperial Fister said:
    Endurance: (13/13) | Frenzy: (5/5) (+5 to all Combat Rolls) | Armor Health: (17/17) (+4 to Defense)
    Orthstirr: (520/660) | Odr: (36)
    ( ) Frami: 220 | ( ) Virthing: 220 | ( ) Saemd: 220
    Sagaseeker has 49 orthstirr in his reservoir.
    Your Armor has 13 orthstirr in its reservoir.
    Shapeshifting is granting you (+1 Damage and +1 Attack-Speed)
    Your combat pool is 109d6 and you have 15d6 Stoked Dice

    What do you and your men do?
    [ ] (Plan Name)
    -[ ] (Dice) Attack
    -[ ] (Dice) Defense
    -[ ] (Dice) Intercept
    -[ ] (Dice) (Trick) (Orthstirr)
    -[ ] Tactics Write in
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    Uh, don't you want us to write in our finalised battle plan? It's sort of hard to put dice towards Attack, Defence, and so on when we don't know where in the battle we are or who we're fighting.
     
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