NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Seems like a good idea, but i am not sure how much Halla likes democracy. Yes she is more egalitarian than others, but she still has the "might makes right" mindset of Norse culture.

If we rally enough people to settle there, and we unlock Jarlsoul, then maybe we could make our own kingdom.

But we would need more people loyal too us, and probably a lot of resources, and the ships to carry everything.

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Well, speaking to both of these, the actual Icelanders had no kings or jarls and were quite against the whole idea. So going there to start a kingdom seems like a very bad idea where all our neighbors would be motivated to kill us. Going there to get away from that sort of thing was more the norm.

Which doesn't mean becoming powerful there isn't valid, but it'd look real different.

 

[Tylonius]

The distant, apparently magically warded nature of the place does make it an interesting candidate for where we eventually found our... sect? What would a Norseman call a sect? The Romans and Greeks no doubt had Mystery Cults, the Christians have orders. What would the Norse have?

EDIT: Oh, of course. Warbands. A Norse sect is just a repurposed Warband.

 

[Mystic Pentagram]

Well, speaking to both of these, the actual Icelanders had no kings or jarls and were quite against the whole idea. So going there to start a kingdom seems like a very bad idea where all our neighbors would be motivated to kill us. Going there to get away from that sort of thing was more the norm.

Which doesn't mean becoming powerful there isn't valid, but it'd look real different.

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I meant kingdom more as nation than an actual monarchy. But i am sure Halla and her Household would quickly become pillars of the community in Iceland, especialy because its a less developed territory than the mainland and there would be less competition.

And i already knew that Iceland didn't have kings, they were basicaly Anarcho-Capitalists. Didn't work out reay well for them in the end, but i am sure we can change things.

Maybe introduce direct democracy in a Greek style? All Karls get a vote (hopefuly women too) and some can be elected to hold office (maybe just the landowners, because otherwise it would be a change too drastic for Norse culture).

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

The distant, apparently magically warded nature of the place does make it an interesting candidate for where we eventually found our... sect? What would a Norseman call a sect? The Romans and Greeks no doubt had Mystery Cults, the Christians have orders. What would the Norse have?

EDIT: Oh, of course. Warbands. A Norse sect is just a repurposed Warband.

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The term Alectai has been advocating is Lodge, and I'm inclined to agree. Our ideal organization would be significantly different structurally and a bit less completely martially focused than a Warband is.

I meant kingdom more as nation than an actual monarchy. But i am sure Halla and her Household would quickly become pillars of the community in Iceland, especialy because its a less developed territory than the mainland and there would be less competition.

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Fair. Just noting that it'd look pretty different as compared to actually being a king or jarl on the mainland.

And i already knew that Iceland didn't have kings, they were basicaly Anarcho-Capitalists. Didn't work out reay well for them in the end, but i am sure we can change things.

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It went pretty well comparatively for a while, before too many petty chieftains started feuding and became an issue.

Maybe introduce direct democracy in a Greek style? All Karls get a vote (hopefuly women too) and some can be elected to hold office (maybe just the landowners, because otherwise it would be a change too drastic for Norse culture).

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Something might be doable. I'm not sure if direct democracy like that actually winds up too different from what they already had, to be honest. That's basically a popularity contest given the numbers, and the most popular people already pretty much got to run things in Iceland in that era.

 

[Skippy]

Iceland has already been discovered, long ago Blackhand told us we have some kin who settled there.

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Oh really? That's good to know!

Timeline-wise, Iceland should've been discovered at this point, but only very thinly settled. What happened historically was a lot of people emigrated there after Harlad Fairhair took over all of Norway (as they didn't like the idea or had fought against him), and that hasn't happened yet. So, we're at the point in the timeline where it exists as a place we're aware of under that name, but people haven't been motivated to move there en masse as of yet.

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Heklr's statement that it required the ability of a Seer for Halla to "pierce the veil" and know about an Icelandic saga definitely seems to something weird and magical is going on with it, though.

 

[TheCount]

That's possible, yeah. We really need to get Eric talking about it but we have a huge number of other social actions to take as well, on top of the crafting.

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I have questions:
1) We have reason to ask Eric about this, both hooknails and Halvar said we should move out.
And the intel provided from Halvar is definitely important. That should be enough to get him talking a bit, right?
2) What other socials do we have? At most, I can think of the Headsman for the food or our family members.
3) crafting. The cindershooz Owl gives us an extra crafting action, right? Do we need to spend an action still on crafting to get that or not?

Edit: forgot the first question, it has been added.

 

[Toboe]

When he settles down after the Varangian Guard? Possibly. On the other hand, we're actually in good with Hal, and he's apparently blood-brothers with Harald Fairhair. So...staying in Norway under Fairhair may be a pretty good deal for our family, depending. Specifically, what route looks best likely depends heavily on how our Vestfold adventure goes. I'm very interested to see what happens there.

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Yup, after his big travel.

But if we get there before the big immigration waves, we could shape what iceland becomes and be/befriend the powerful. Means we'd be friends with the powers of both Iceland and Norway. (Assuming the not-wanderlust-y parts stay in Norway).

Seems like a good idea, but i am not sure how much Halla likes democracy. Yes she is more egalitarian than others, but she still has the "might makes right" mindset of Norse culture.

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Yeah, Halla would be on the edge I'd guess, could work but would probably be stretching it. (unless there are some developments)
But what about Sigurd? (Or any other non-bloodlust heir)
He could take egalitarianism as one of the big lessons he learns from Halla and grow further.
Iirc Halla already has ideas about Jarls being Jarls by earning the respect of their followers.

Electing their leaders wouldn't be far fetched as an idea.
Different localities having their leaders cooperate and electing regional leaders would be another step that could develop with good relations between them.

The term Alectai has been advocating is Lodge, and I'm inclined to agree. Our ideal organization would be significantly different structurally and a bit less completely martially focused than a Warband is.

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The term Lodge is a discord thing I guess?
Are there any thoughts on how to get secrets out of the "sect" and make them public knowledge?

 

[I.F. Ister]

Also you honestly got worryingly close with "twigs", well done! What did you think of the riddle @Imperial Fister? Was it too ambiguous?

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Very good riddle. If you hadn't used 'road of roads', I would've counted my answer as 'same answer' clause. However, there's only one meaning that can be drawn from the inclusion of road of roads and that is Reeds.

We could make him a giant iron wheel, that would be pretty sick.

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[Tylonius]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure it's in Halla's character to flee the war. Not unless we can find a way to convince all of our friends and family members to also come with us. And even then, fleeing and leaving behind all the minor characters we've come to know still feels shitty, and also possibly a source of Nid. It's gonna be difficult and bloody, and might very well get us killed, but I think Halla would stay and defend her home.

Also from a player perspective, it just kind of sounds fun? The chance to see IF go full out and have all these insane characters and powers smash into each other. Be a shame to miss that. I'm sure it'll also be tragic and anxiety inducing, and probably give Alectai a heart attack, but after all the build up I want to see it.

 

[seekingflame]

[X] Soulsight: The ability to read a soul like a book
The best way to solve a puzzle is to clip your answer from the guy sitting beside you who already answered.

 

[Toboe]

[X] Soulsight: The ability to read a soul like a book

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Heklr's statement that it required the ability of a Seer for Halla to "pierce the veil" and know about an Icelandic saga definitely seems to something weird and magical is going on with it, though.

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Yeah, there's something weird there.

I have questions:
1) We have reason to ask Eric about this, both hooknails and Halvar said we should move out.
And the intel provided from Halvar is definitely important. That should be enough to get him talking a bit, right?
2) What other socials do we have? At most, I can think of the Headsman for the food or our family members.
3) crafting. The cindershooz Owl gives us an extra crafting action, right? Do we need to spend an action still on crafting to get that or not?

Edit: forgot the first question, it has been added.

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1. Yes. We definitely want to talk with him.
2. We need to talk with Steinarr about the Gabriel thing, Minna and Sten about their whole deal, Halfdan about Reidar Swordfury and what was going on there, Asva about various stuff before she moves away...there's a bunch.
3. That's not quite what it does. It doubles our metal based crafting, so every action spent on that gives us 2 Projects. We need 10 actions worth of projects in the near future even so. We have a lot of crafts projects, some of them relatively urgent.

Yup, after his big travel.

But if we get there before the big immigration waves, we could shape what iceland becomes and be/befriend the powerful. Means we'd be friends with the powers of both Iceland and Norway. (Assuming the not-wanderlust-y parts stay in Norway).

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Probably too late. Harald Fairhair's rise is probably fairly imminent...certainly with Sigurdr's lifetime, but maybe much sooner.

The term Lodge is a discord thing I guess?
Are there any thoughts on how to get secrets out of the "sect" and make them public knowledge?

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I believe it's been mentioned in the thread a few times as well. And not yet.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure it's in Halla's character to flee the war. Not unless we can find a way to convince all of our friends and family members to also come with us. And even then, fleeing and leaving behind all the minor characters we've come to know still feels shitty, and also possibly a source of Nid. It's gonna be difficult and bloody, and might very well get us killed, but I think Halla would stay and defend her home.

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I don't think she'd probably leave. She also has very little loyalty to Oddr, however, so absent family connections her participation might be minimal.

Also from a player perspective, it just kind of sounds fun? The chance to see IF go full out and have all these insane characters and powers smash into each other. Be a shame to miss that. I'm sure it'll also be tragic and anxiety inducing, and probably give Alectai a heart attack, but after all the build up I want to see it.

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I'm personally rooting for basically citing that we have kin on the other side and getting to be one of the main people defending the Hading Valley itself rather than offensive operations. Minimize our role to some degree, and thus our risks, while still very much participating and getting to see some fighting. We'll see how well that particular plan goes.

 

[Mystic Pentagram]

It went pretty well comparatively for a while, before too many petty chieftains started feuding and became an issue.

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I also remember that the King of Norway fueled the strife in Iceland to conquer it. Some of those petty chieftains became his vassals.

But if we get there before the big immigration waves, we could shape what iceland becomes and be/befriend the powerful. Means we'd be friends with the powers of both Iceland and Norway. (Assuming the not-wanderlust-y parts stay in Norway).

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Getting first to a newly colonized land would allow us to shape its future as we wish, or at least give us a great influence. I like the idea.

Yeah, Halla would be on the edge I'd guess, could work but would probably be stretching it. (unless there are some developments)
But what about Sigurd? (Or any other non-bloodlust heir)
He could take egalitarianism as one of the big lessons he learns from Halla and grow further.
Iirc Halla already has ideas about Jarls being Jarls by earning the respect of their followers.

Electing their leaders wouldn't be far fetched as an idea.
Different localities having their leaders cooperate and electing regional leaders would be another step that could develop with good relations between them.

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Halla character seems very much inclined on challenging the social norms of Norse culture andbtry to change the world for the better, with her begin a warrior-woman who dosen't dislike Seidr and also taking care to use dimplomacy with foreigners and creatures who exist outside the Law.

So estabilishing a more egalitarian system in a new land seems in character for her.

 

[Toboe]

3. That's not quite what it does. It doubles our metal based crafting, so every action spent on that gives us 2 Projects. We need 10 actions worth of projects in the near future even so.

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Is that 10 actions worth of projects considering the ability to pair projects (like making 2 swords in 1 action) if they are similar enough?

And not yet.

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Makes the "sect" idea feel like betraying the goal, like we'd accept it being a secret as long as its a secret useful to us.

 

[mythfan12]

KSBD image

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Man Kill 6 Billion Demons really do be some Xianxia-adjacent shit, and I for one love it.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Is that 10 actions worth of projects considering the ability to pair projects (like making 2 swords in 1 action) if they are similar enough?

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They don't need to be related, they just both need to be smithing. The logic is we can smith things in half the time with our Fylgja's help so 1 action gets us 2 projects.

And yes, we have at least 20 things to make. 8 of them are armor and weapons for our retainers, 2 of them are armor and weapons for us. 1 is a helmet for Abjorn, at least 1 is a Tools for farming, I think 5 are Training items...I'd need to check the rest. But yeah, it's a lot.

Makes the "sect" idea feel like betraying the goal, like we'd accept it being a secret as long as its a secret useful to us.

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Disclosure creates some inherent limitations, and we also want to shape society. The idea of making it a Lodge is that people who join (and we can make the standards for that whatever we want...allowing women in, for example), allows us to disclose in an organized and effective fashion and shape the behavior of those we empower with it.

The eventual goal is for it to become ubiquitous, but controlling how that happens is useful.

 

[Skippy]

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I was thinking of that one. 😁

Man Kill 6 Billion Demons really do be some Xianxia-adjacent shit, and I for one love it.

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Yeah it's 110% over the top kung-fu-wizard bullshit and I love it.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not sure it's in Halla's character to flee the war. Not unless we can find a way to convince all of our friends and family members to also come with us. And even then, fleeing and leaving behind all the minor characters we've come to know still feels shitty, and also possibly a source of Nid. It's gonna be difficult and bloody, and might very well get us killed, but I think Halla would stay and defend her home.

Also from a player perspective, it just kind of sounds fun? The chance to see IF go full out and have all these insane characters and powers smash into each other. Be a shame to miss that. I'm sure it'll also be tragic and anxiety inducing, and probably give Alectai a heart attack, but after all the build up I want to see it.

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That's a good point, actually.

Probably too late. Harald Fairhair's rise is probably fairly imminent...certainly with Sigurdr's lifetime, but maybe much sooner.

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It's simple. We kill the Batman Harald Fairhair.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

It's simple. We kill the Batman Harald Fairhair.

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He's Hal's blood brother and Hal has sworn to not get married until he's made king. We simply can't screw over our cousin like that.

 

[Skippy]

He's Hal's blood brother and Hal has sworn to not get married until he's made king. We simply can't screw over our cousin like that.

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Honestly if we have to choose between Norway being consolidated under a guy who all the Sagas describe as a fairly brutal tyrant who put the hammer to free farmers (admittedly, they are somewhat biased sources, but it's inarguable that a single king will reduce the power and autonomy of land-owning farmers like us) or our cousin being sad, I am 100% willing to throw Hal under the bus.

We've met the guy once, and we can and will absolutely screw him over like that as far as I'm concerned. Sideways.

 

[Toboe]

They don't need to be related, they just both need to be smithing. The logic is we can smith things in half the time with our Fylgja's help.

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Not the fylgja bonus.
The thing we could already do before. Where projects had to be similar enough.

 

[alexthealright]

Honestly if we have to choose between Norway being consolidated under a guy who all the Sagas describe as a fairly brutal tyrant who put the hammer to free farmers (admittedly, they are somewhat biased sources, but it's inarguable that a single king will reduce the power and autonomy of land-owning farmers like us) or our cousin being sad, I am 100% will to throw Hal under the bus.

We've met the guy once, and we can and will absolutely screw him over like that as far as I'm concerned. Sideways.

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Same. I like Hal and I'm wary of pissing off another Heir but not that much

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Honestly if we have to choose between Norway being consolidated under a guy who all the Sagas describe as a fairly brutal tyrant who put the hammer to free farmers (admittedly, they are somewhat biased sources, but it's inarguable that a single king will reduce the power and autonomy of land-owning farmers like us) or our cousin being sad, I am 100% will to throw Hal under the bus.

We've met the guy once, and we can and will absolutely screw him over like that as far as I'm concerned. Sideways.

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I'm more talking from an in-character perspective. Like, Halla has no idea about any of that (since it has yet to happen) and wouldn't mess with her cousin like that unless given a reason.

Not the fylgja bonus.
The thing we could already do before. Where projects had to be similar enough.

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Ah! Yes, those numbers include that. Which is to say I'm counting Armor + Helm or paired weapons as single projects.

 

[Skippy]

Same. I like Hal and I'm wary of pissing off another Heir but not that much

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I mean, I was speaking a bit for dramatic effect there, but yes.

Sure, Hal seems like a decent guy, and he's our cousin, and that's worth some considerations. If he was drowning then I'd absolutely vote to throw him a rope, and if there was something we could do to help him that was not too crazy, then I would want to do it.

But "he's my cousin and he wants to get laid" does not balance with "sign away political destiny of an entire nation", you know? Like they're just in completely different leagues.

I'm more talking from an in-character perspective. Like, Halla has no idea about any of that (since it has yet to happen) and wouldn't mess with her cousin like that unless given a reason.

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That's fair enough, but I suspect that we or Sigurdr will not lack for in-character reasons to want to put Fairhair down like a rabid racoon once he begins his spree of conquests. His modus operandi in the Sagas is putting the hammer to landowners he dislikes and confiscating their property; the use of torture is mentioned in Egilssaga and others.

 

[alexthealright]

That's fair enough, but I suspect that we or Sigurdr will not lack for in-character reasons to want to put Fairhair down like a rabid racoon once he begins his spree of conquests. His modus operandi in the Sagas is putting the hammer to landowners he dislikes and confiscating their property; the use of torture is mentioned in Egilssaga and others.

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It's important to note that Fairhair is probably a Steelfather so the logistics of killing him are slightly problematic

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

That's fair enough, but I suspect that we or Sigurdr will not lack for in-character reasons to want to put Fairhair down like a rabid racoon once he begins his spree of conquests. His modus operandi in the Sagas is putting the hammer to landowners he dislikes and confiscating their property; the use of torture is mentioned in Egilssaga and others.

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In fairness, mostly he does that to landowners who oppose him, which is a worthwhile distinction...but everyone's taxes definitely go up at the very least, and he's definitely not super friendly. We'll have to see what the guy himself is like on the Vestfold trip. Influencing him for the better seems potentially possible, depending on what stage of his life he's in at this point.

The big wrench in the plans is whether he's a Steelfather yet, because he probably is by the time he's king, and if he's one already, well, we both won't like him, and won't have a good way to kill him. We'll have to see.