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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Hmmm. How about this:


Brave Sven was cursed to be forgotten
for he was the brother of three mighty warriors
the first was powerful and wrestled giants, trolls and men,
the second was nimble, quick with grace like no other,
the third was clever, with tongue and wits to charm the very birds,
so in their shadow Sven the brave has ever dwelled, unspoken
so when the warriors were away Sven rose and told them
I have no brother, swear by Odin and he was right, he did not lie.
how can this be?

This admittedly ditches a lot of the poetry, which is sad, but it gives the gist?
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I guess that can work, yeah. sad to see the poetry go, perhaps if it can be condensed a bit
Brave Sven was cursed to be forgotten
for he was the brother of three mighty warriors

the first, whose strength was legend
even the biggest giants he wrestled
he fought with a sword of steel
and brought monsters to heel
the second was nimble
with grace like no other
to the sky he leapt
he was faster than thunder
the third was clever then all
his wits would render the gods' null
his riddles told in metre sharp
his words as charming as a harp
in their shadow Sven the brave has dwelled,
so when the warriors were away
Sven rose and told them all
I have no brother, I do not lie
And swear by Odin he was right.
how can this be, that I would ask?

the idea is to use the embellished tales to distract from the core issue. the condensed version doesn't do that as well. that said, this version can easily be condensed by ditching the two later lines of each warrior, without losing too much. in condensed form, it would be

Brave Sven was cursed to be forgotten
for he was the brother of three mighty warriors

the first, whose strength was legend
even the biggest giants he wrestled
the second was nimble
with grace like no other
the third was clever then all
His wits would render the gods' null
in their shadow Sven the brave has dwelled,
so when the warriors were away
Sven rose and told them all
I have no brother, I do not lie
And swear by Odin he was right.
how can this be, that I would ask?
 
One way to do it is if IF gives us, like, 3 riddles and we have a day to solve all three, and we return the favor. And then, if we both have solved all of them, we do it again.

Not quite accurate to what's going on with the contest, but shouldn't be too out there, either.
 
[X] Challenge him to a game or contest of your choosing
-[X] Specifically, challenge him to a contest of riddles
 
A bit more philosophical than a straight riddle but this is the second good idea that I've had.
Three bands of five outlaws are feuding. Each is alike in strength and unyielding in their hate of the others. One night each band decides to attack one of the others. The first captures a single warrior of the second, the second brings death to two of the third, and the third steals three chests of gold from the first. Who has won the night?

The first band, they have won the least glory at the moment but they are also the only ones to come out at full fighting strength for the next battle.
 
DeadmanwalkingXI said:
One way to do it is if IF gives us, like, 3 riddles and we have a day to solve all three, and we return the favor. And then, if we both have solved all of them, we do it again.

Not quite accurate to what's going on with the contest, but shouldn't be too out there, either.
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Well, it would be good for our saga if the riddling continues for awhile.

Provided, you know, we win.
 
Shard said:
Well, it would be good for our saga if the riddling continues for awhile.

Provided, you know, we win.
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I think, thematically, the riddle contest goes for a while no matter what, as that's the cool thing to do narratively. If we win after the first exchange OOC some easy riddles on both sides may be presumed to have occurred first and will be added to the narrative. I believe IF said something to that effect on Discord.

Tylonius said:
Look on the bright side. If we lose, no one will ever find out about it!
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My impression was that if we lost we probably didn't die (though we would likely lose the Food, which would still be pretty bad).
 
[X] Challenge him to a game or contest of your choosing
-[X] Specifically, challenge him to a contest of riddles

Let's goooo
 
Alright, voting is now closed

Also, if you happen to be a fan of Renaissance Era Italian Noble House Politicking, then boy do I have a game for you. Great Houses of Calderia just came out into Early Access. I played the demo a bunch and it's pretty good.
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Aug 29, 2023 at 8:02 PM, finished with 165 posts and 14 votes.
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I'm not like, super confident in the riddles, but yeah I agree that it was the best option we could've picked. Well, it was either this or a contest of blacksmithing.
 
mythfan12 said:
Blacksmithing wouldn't have won because people are sure if we get into a roll-off we're gonna lose.
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It depends on if he's hard capped in some way. Like, no number of dice would let him beat us at blacksmithing if he lacked Forgefire (or some equivalent) since items cap at Superior without that, or at knitting if he lacked the Skill-Trick (since he'd be capped at very low quality IIRC)...the issue is that those tend to be very binary, either he doesn't have the prerequisite needed and loses, or he does have it and we lose.

So it's super risky without knowing more about him.
 
@DeadmanwalkingXI, after testing them on some friends, I tweaked my two to be a bit better:

I grow a fluffy beard but have no mouth,
No shield but stand in a phalanx with my kin,
Guarding the road of roads,
I am so weak a child can slay me,
Yet I can lift men and heavy stones,
Who am I?

Answer: A reed.

Note on clues:
Line 1: Reeds have little hairs that grow to disperse their seeds through wind. Quite distinctive when you've seen them, like a less extreme version of cattails.
Line 2: Reeds grow in thick clumps all standing straight, pretty self-explanatory.
Line 3: "The Road of Roads" is a kenning for river which is in the riddles Odin gives to King Heidrik.
Line 4: A reed can be broken by a child.
Line 5: Reed baskets and reed boats go back centuries and would be known to the Norse as they were to most Eurasian cultures.

Note: A lot of people were getting "mussels" or a bearded axe so I tweaked the mention of the beard. The mention of "grow" makes it clearer that the beard is not a permeant state. Mouth also felt more natural than eyes as it's right next to where beards normally are.

Beginning as a foundling in the muck,
Trained in the school of hard knocks,
Plying my trade diving into the salt sea,
I can earn my weight in gold,
Yet few men wish to receive me as a gift,
What am I?

Iron, or a sword/spearhead.

Line 1: A foundling in the muck = Bog Iron
Line 2: The school of hard knocks = The hammer of the smith
Line 3: The Salt Sea = Blood
Line 4: Worth my weight in gold = A sword can win gold and fame.
Line 5: Few men which to "receive" a sword or a spear in the guts.

Note: I think that "I can earn my weight in gold is a bit more indicative of the meaning, as a sword or spearhead is not literally worth its weight in gold, but can be used to get it."

Please use these amended versions for any riddling we're doing.
 
Hmmm, @Imperial Fister, could we request an arbiter, so that if the answers to a riddle are ambiguous, or someone tries a "what have I got in my pockets" trick, there's someone to rule?

Either an external arbiter, or if he's not willing to agree to that, which he won't be, then someone from our crew who swears on their honour, name and family to be impartial?

I realise this seems like a waste of time, but I have just thought of an incredibly sneaky plan here.

DeadmanwalkingXI said:
Noted and added to the list I'm keeping.
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Everyone thought your one was really good btw.
 
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