The year, by the reckoning of the followers of Christ, is 8974 AD and you, Halla Steinarsdottir, have just turned sixteen.
Which makes you an adult...
Well, you're not sure what you were really expecting. It's not like there's much of a difference between you at fifteen and you now.
With your newfound adulthood comes certain responsibilities, though. Responsibilities like caring for the family while the men are away.
Like now.
"Halla," Steinarr says with a grim look on his face. He's belting his mail shirt tight. "That draugr you fought can't have been the only one out there, there's been too many weird sightings for that. I need you to keep the house while Sten and I report this to the Thing. The Jarl's Thing."
"The... the Jarl of
Jurgdby?" You nearly trip over yourself as you follow your father to Sten, who waits by the door. He too wears a shirt of mail and he's strapping a helmet on his head. He has a cloak draped across his body, leaving an arm free and unhindered. "But... you can't be going now, there aren't any ships heading west yet!"
"That is true," Sten adds after sharing a goodbye kiss with his wife. "Ice hasn't cracked, so we have to go on foot."
"There are draugar in the Hading and we need to clear them out, before they start preying on people and livestock." Steinarr clicks his tongue against his teeth, holding your objection at bay. "Asvir has the power, but the potential costs could leave them crippled at the start of the raiding season. So the Jarl of Jurgdby, with his Kyrsvikingar, is our best and likely only bet."
"How long will it be before you return?" Asveig asks with the now not-so-little Sterki on her breast. Her stomach is starting to swell again; you might be having another little sibling soon.
"Four days' time, the Meinvaldfjord causing no troubles," Stein snorts as he says that, like he can't even believe the words he speaks.
"In all likelihood, the Meinvaldfjord will hold us captive for a few days at least, no more than five." Steinarr runs finger and thumb across his chin and jaw. "I would imagine we'll be back in a week-and-a-half."
Your breath freezes in your throat as your heart pounds hammers against your ears. A
week-and-a-half?! You're not ready for that, you
can't be ready for that!
'
Then what was the point of all that training?' Blackhand's scoffing voice nearly knocks you flat. '
This is what you wanted, isn't it? To be treated as a man, as a warrior?'
He's... he's right
"And you want
Halla to watch the house?" Asveig's jaw hangs open. "She can't... I've tolerated this... this
idiocy for long enough, but I have to put my foot down!"
Steinarr scowls, but keeps his voice level. "Our daughter is an accomplished warrior. She's slain man and monster both, she can do this."
You release the breath frozen in your throat and let your shoulders sit naturally. Setting your jaw and gritting your teeth, you make your choice.
"I'll do it." Your words put a stop to your parents' argument. Asveig scowls as Steinarr smiles.
He puts his hand on your shoulder and meets your gaze with eyes of fire and steel — exact copies of the eyes you bear. "I trust you, Halla. Make me proud."
"I will, I promise."
0~0~0
In the silence of the third night, the sudden battering against the window turns your blood to ice.
You snap wide awake in an instant, Sagaseeker already in your grasp as you leap to your feet.
Just as quickly as it arrived, the rattling disappears into the night. Its sudden absence leaves you uncertain, but what you do know...
Is that there's something outside the door. Its wet, ragged wheezes are loud enough to wake the house as it shuffles along.
In your bones, you know this to be an enemy. A dangerous one.
One you'll have to fight.
Your fylgja wouldn't have woken you otherwise.
"Gabriel," you hiss at the Christian Squire as he rubs at his eyes. Hooking a foot around the fancy sword — Sparrowflight — hanging from the wall, you flick it up and over to the blonde boy. He snatches it out of the air and looks to you as you lay a hand on the door, "I'm going out, keep them safe."
"I... I will, on my pride as a Squire I swear it." He nods, making a snap decision while warring with his emotions.
"W-what's," Drifa yawns as she slips free from Minna's terrified grasp, "going on?"
"A monster, dear child, has found its way to the doorstep our Young Lady has sworn to protect," Jerasmus says from the corner furthest from the hearth. His legs are crossed and a quarterstaff balances in his lap as he finishes his prayer.
He's no fighter, despite Blackhand's misgivings, but even the sworn-pacifist has taken up arms tonight.
"A monster?" Drifa's eyes sparkle as a brilliant smile smashes its way onto her face. "I wanna fight it too!" Minna gasps, eyes filling with faint-hearted terror as she drags a squirming Drifa back to her blanket. "
Mama! It's not fair, lemme fight!"
You smile as Drifa tries her hardest to squirm from her mother's grasp, to little avail. But, speaking of mothers...
You meet your mother's gaze and find her unreadable.
"Well?" She asks, Asva suddenly looking very uncomfortable right now, "Aren't you going out?"
"I am."
"Then the only way you're walking through that door again is as a corpse or a victor."
"Time, then, to find out which I am."
You step through the door and go to meet your fate.
0~0~0
The monster twitches as it stares at the full moon hanging in the night sky. A red, pointed cap sits on its head — the only evidence to what it once was.
It towers over you, utterly dominating the landscape. It is a twisted mass of cancerous growths and rotting flesh-swamps once called skin. Its body and limbs are made of stitched-together arms, hands-interlocked as they wrap around themselves over and over again. To call it living would be to tell a lie.
Perhaps, once, it was among the living. Now, though, it is little more than a cruel mockery of the human form.
It turns its red eyes onto you and purple sludge drips from its slack jaw as it eyes you hungrily.
"...hunger...unsatisfied," it groans, its voice a dozen whispering husks all stitched together, "need... more..."
'
Good luck, Halla. No matter what, know that I will always be proud of you.'
0~0~0
(Hugr (Tactics): 3, 1, 6, 2, 6, 6, 5, 3, 3, 4) 10 Successes
The monster stands in the middle of the three fields your family farms while you stand on your doorstep, the door closed behind you. Your house sits on a low, sloping hill, a rocky path leads down the hill and to the rest of the farm. Behind the house is Sten's forge as well as the barn and toolshed. A low-standing wall — a fence, really — surrounds the hill save for the open gap.
Snow covers the ground, hiding any sort of rocks you might be able to use. It is dark out, but not as dark as it could be thanks to the light of the moon. You can see perfectly fine, as well as you normally can.
The monster was once a nisse, your farm's fjoesnisse, to be specific — if your suspicions about the bowl of porridge are true. What it is now, of course, is an utter mystery. It stands at least three times taller than you with thin shoulders and very long, oversized limbs to match. It has a hunch to its shape and poison in its mouth. Its fingers drag along the ground.
It looks
very strong, perhaps the strongest thing you've ever seen. How it compares to your father... you don't know. From what you recall from Randi's stories, nisse are strong enough to crush a cow's skull with a casual swat and possess illusionary powers. You find yourself doubting that it still has those powers in this form, but you can't be sure.
What you do know is that it has a very poisonous bite. So poisonous that it requires supernatural, otherworldly healing to cure. Healing that you don't have access to, as far as you are aware. Better not get bit, then.
From where you're standing, its plan appears to be... you're having trouble reading its movements, thanks to unfamiliarity with the form. All you can really tell, at the moment, is that it's going to be rather aggressive and rely on its raw strength.
You have 5/5 Endurance | 8/8 Armor | N/A Shield
You have 58/58 orthstirr in reserve and neither Frami (20), Virthing (19), nor Saemd (19) are tapped
Sagaseeker has 8 orthstirr in its reservoir
You can put 29 more points of orthstirr into your Combat Pool.
You have 7d6 in your Combat Pool
What do you do?
[ ] (Plan Name)
-[ ] (Dice) Attack
-[ ] (Dice) Defense
-[ ] (Dice) Intercept
-[ ] (Dice) (Trick) (Orthstirr)
-[ ] Tactics Write in
0~0~0
AN: I've refunded all your orthstirr for this fight. You're sitting on a full tank of power right now.
Well, this is it. This is your boss fight. Good luck, everyone, I'm rooting for you.
Alectai, I'm sorry for the stress this is probably causing you.
25-minute moratorium. Depending on how quickly you figure out a plan of action, the vote might be called early. Obviously only if you're okay with it. I don't want you to feel rushed on something as important as this.
