NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)
- Thread starter I.F. Ister
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Action
-
- Tags
- norse mythology (mythology) original xianxia cultivation western cultivation ask sirihand did your mother tell you anything? discussion pleases yggdrasil farming gloating gets people killed granary management hubris is a coward's word you will die norsemen do not die when they are killed the qm has a bad memory the qm is bad at math viking courtroom drama (legal drama) vikings
- Pronouns
- He/Him
We all sort of grew up together though Stigmar was older. So Abjorn was at least in 'my brother's friend' category even before we started living together, and they've likely grown closer since (we all started living together 4 and a half years ago). That's close enough to pat him on the shoulder after he got rejected or the equivalent...we're closer to him, but having a woman console him on his lack of luck with women might be a tad awkward.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Hypothesis: over cultivating world timelines, Darwinian pressure between Halla's day and the scientist's day resulted in all the actually hyper-aggressive thurs getting killed.
Under a Falling Tree (Skippy)
Okay, here we go, I offer myself as tribute!
Under a Falling Tree
The shieldmaiden steals out,
stealthy Eve seeks bridewealth.
Thud! as her boy beloved
breaks bough with one blow. Now
she's in trouble, tree falls
to top her. Time stops, boy
catches trunk, he's a hunk!
Here is bliss - love's first kiss.
So this was my first attempt at a loose approximation of dróttkvætt in English.
Structurally dróttkvætt follows a strict set of rules; each line is six syllables, and each line ending in a trochee, that is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. There is both an alliterative scheme and a rhyming scheme; with odd numbered lines having a half rhyme and two alliterations, whilst the succeeding even numbered lines continue the alliteration on their first stressed syllable, and have a full rhyme. This is notably a lot easier in Old Norse which has like a million different ways to modify stresses and endings on each word, and where words can more easily be in different places in sentences depending on context.
The rhyming and alliteration are both syllabic, rather than on full words, but in Ian Crockatt's translations there often seems to be word rhyming going on as well, and I think this is because the words are mostly one or two syllables anyway, so in practice often it's the same thing. The biggest thing I find hard to figure out is syllable stress, although reading the poem aloud is often helpful. Also Google tells me that single-syllable words in English can never be stressed by definition, but Crockatt often uses single syllable words in places where according to the scheme they should be stressed syllables all the time; I think this is because when spoken these should get emphasis? I've tried my best to follow his example, much less competently.
Here's the poem with alliteration underlined, bold for stress, red for half-rhymes, and blue for full rhymes.
The shieldmaiden steals out,
stealthy Eve seeks bridewealth.
Thud! as her boy beloved
breaks bough with one blow. Now
she's in trouble, tree falls
to top her. Time stops, boy
catches trunk, he's a hunk!
Here is bliss - love's first kiss.
You'll notice that line seven is sort of a cheat as it's also a full rhyme, but I liked it so I kept it. Some of the syllable stresses are, uh, approximate. But that's the rough idea, anyway!
Structurally dróttkvætt follows a strict set of rules; each line is six syllables, and each line ending in a trochee, that is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. There is both an alliterative scheme and a rhyming scheme; with odd numbered lines having a half rhyme and two alliterations, whilst the succeeding even numbered lines continue the alliteration on their first stressed syllable, and have a full rhyme. This is notably a lot easier in Old Norse which has like a million different ways to modify stresses and endings on each word, and where words can more easily be in different places in sentences depending on context.
The rhyming and alliteration are both syllabic, rather than on full words, but in Ian Crockatt's translations there often seems to be word rhyming going on as well, and I think this is because the words are mostly one or two syllables anyway, so in practice often it's the same thing. The biggest thing I find hard to figure out is syllable stress, although reading the poem aloud is often helpful. Also Google tells me that single-syllable words in English can never be stressed by definition, but Crockatt often uses single syllable words in places where according to the scheme they should be stressed syllables all the time; I think this is because when spoken these should get emphasis? I've tried my best to follow his example, much less competently.
Here's the poem with alliteration underlined, bold for stress, red for half-rhymes, and blue for full rhymes.
The shieldmaiden steals out,
stealthy Eve seeks bridewealth.
Thud! as her boy beloved
breaks bough with one blow. Now
she's in trouble, tree falls
to top her. Time stops, boy
catches trunk, he's a hunk!
Here is bliss - love's first kiss.
You'll notice that line seven is sort of a cheat as it's also a full rhyme, but I liked it so I kept it. Some of the syllable stresses are, uh, approximate. But that's the rough idea, anyway!
[X] (Boy) Steinulfr
[X] (Girl) Asveig
I Iike this names.
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Stigmar, who is off by himself after a rather sour discussion with a woman
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
We absolutely need to talk with Asva and Dorri, and i want to grow closer to Stigmar. He is been with us for a long time and deserves our attention.
By the way what did we gain from eating Moonless Night heart? On the character sheet i can't find anything new. Our newborn children gained a Trait but what did Halla get?
[X] (Girl) Asveig
I Iike this names.
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Stigmar, who is off by himself after a rather sour discussion with a woman
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
We absolutely need to talk with Asva and Dorri, and i want to grow closer to Stigmar. He is been with us for a long time and deserves our attention.
By the way what did we gain from eating Moonless Night heart? On the character sheet i can't find anything new. Our newborn children gained a Trait but what did Halla get?
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Probably nothing. It all went to the kids...which is fine. We picked the choice we did to benefit them.
[X] Lidrun, who hasn't stopped staring at you since she arrived
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
And before people start posting about "No thralls, because it's bad" we can see if there is any in the market, buy them and give them a ride home after we are done.
Kind of doubt anyone would tag along for one and half year just to teach it.
There might be someone in the Danelaw who knows it, but good luck finding them.
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
We could go get a thrall that knows that and English....
And before people start posting about "No thralls, because it's bad" we can see if there is any in the market, buy them and give them a ride home after we are done.
Kind of doubt anyone would tag along for one and half year just to teach it.
There might be someone in the Danelaw who knows it, but good luck finding them.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Thralls who know Latin are gonna be in real short supply. I'd be down for buying one (and eventually freeing them) if we could find one, but that's a tall order (and capturing them is right out, IMO). I think, given King Alfred's emphasis on teaching people things like the bible in English, we've actually got better odds of being able to find some sort of book to help with translation between the two when we're next in Wessex.
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- Location
- Many Places
That would have to be a priest or maybe a noble (not really sure how many nobles would be both literate and more specifically able to read Latin)
And how many of them you can find as thralls.
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Lidrun, who hasn't stopped staring at you since she arrived
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
-[X] Deploy Abjorn to go and have a bro moment with Stigmar
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
-[X] Deploy Abjorn to go and have a bro moment with Stigmar
[X] Lidrun, who hasn't stopped staring at you since she arrived
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
We can talk to Stigmar later, woman problems don't seem to be that important that we have to speak to him right now.
[X] (Girl) Asveig
[X] (Boy) Steinulfr
I like Asveig for the girl. I'm so-so on Steinulfr for the boy, but it's fine enough.
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
We can talk to Stigmar later, woman problems don't seem to be that important that we have to speak to him right now.
[X] (Girl) Asveig
[X] (Boy) Steinulfr
I like Asveig for the girl. I'm so-so on Steinulfr for the boy, but it's fine enough.
So, i was thinking abaout wich of the children should be our next character.
Until now Sigurdr was the thread favorite, but Steinulfr and Asveig show a lot of potential and i would like to see how we can play them.
Personaly i am more in favor for Steinulfr, since we already played a female main character so i would like to change a bit.
Until now Sigurdr was the thread favorite, but Steinulfr and Asveig show a lot of potential and i would like to see how we can play them.
Personaly i am more in favor for Steinulfr, since we already played a female main character so i would like to change a bit.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
For comparison purposes, Sigurdr has the following Traits:
-Bold
-Handsome
-Wanderlust
-Nearsighted
-Heroic and Passionate
While the twins have:
-Eyes of the Full Moon
-Shadowy Shroud
-Born With A Hammer In Hand
-Bloodlust
-Irreverent, Snarky, and Disconcerting
All three have: Friendly, Stoic Silence, all four stat boosters, Bloody Basics, and Born of Fire.
Sigurdr also has the puuko, which seems worth mentioning, as does him likely being closer with Asgeirr and Eyvor. So it depends what we're aiming for...Sigurdr is a bit more 'romance novel hero' (and has his fellow triplets to look after given their respective traits) while the twins are a bit more mystical, sneaky, and crafting-focused, and have less of a leader between the two of them.
I'm personally torn...it'll depend on what their personalities wind up looking like as they grow as much as anything, I think.
-Bold
-Handsome
-Wanderlust
-Nearsighted
-Heroic and Passionate
While the twins have:
-Eyes of the Full Moon
-Shadowy Shroud
-Born With A Hammer In Hand
-Bloodlust
-Irreverent, Snarky, and Disconcerting
All three have: Friendly, Stoic Silence, all four stat boosters, Bloody Basics, and Born of Fire.
Sigurdr also has the puuko, which seems worth mentioning, as does him likely being closer with Asgeirr and Eyvor. So it depends what we're aiming for...Sigurdr is a bit more 'romance novel hero' (and has his fellow triplets to look after given their respective traits) while the twins are a bit more mystical, sneaky, and crafting-focused, and have less of a leader between the two of them.
I'm personally torn...it'll depend on what their personalities wind up looking like as they grow as much as anything, I think.
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While the "Eyes full of the moon" and "Shadowy Shroud" are interesting, they are both tainted by "Bloodlust".
So I'd go "Hallbjorn", "Sigurd", "twin girl".
Otoh, this is true.
Guess I could warm up to twin girl if she goes for the mystical and the friendly+bloodlust combo turns out as "friendly person that will absolutely wreck your shit if you try to hurt her or her family" (as opposed to Hallas magicalgirl-y "friendship through fighting")
This!
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both twins have seeing eyes, so we can likely get them to apprentice with Solrun. it would be very funny if she teaches four generations of Blackhand descendents( well three, as she skips one generation)
I really like Sigurdr as the next PC mostly for the Wanderlust trait. Halla's story is set mostly in her local region, with the outside world explored only through the raids. Sigurdr could be a great charismatic adventurer type, perhaps even a leader of a group of like-minded adventurers. He could even follow in his grandpa's footsteps and travel all the way to Constantinople.
And given that Halla thinks that the twins' souls are really similar, they seem like they'd be the type of twins who'd finish each others' sentences. Would they even be good as solo PCs?
And given that Halla thinks that the twins' souls are really similar, they seem like they'd be the type of twins who'd finish each others' sentences. Would they even be good as solo PCs?
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
All our children have Seeing Eyes.
It will be wild when they grow older.
Especially if we like teach them all Seidr.
Abby Normal
High Clerk of the Ymaryn
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Lidrun, who hasn't stopped staring at you since she arrived
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
[X] Asva, who clearly wants to talk to you
[X] Dorri Rattlespear, who arrived with an offer for you
All of our kids are pretty overpowered for begin so young, some of them are already stronger than mortal adults.
With all their Traits combined, they are probably going to be the most powerful of their generation in the Valley.
New Shenanigans goal unlocked: Have Steinarr take lessons from Solrun.
Jokes aside:
Main prio (like being a warrior for Halla): Seeress + Cultivation,
Side jobs (like Smithing for Halla): Warrior, Shapecrafter
Stuff she also does sometimes (like poetry for Halla): Smithing, maybe Shapecrafter (if having it as a side job would be too much, I doubt thread would go along with having Warrior as less than side job), maybe poetry?
could make for a really interesting character...
Yeah, warming up to twin girl if her character evolves in an interesting way.
They could grow to be finishing each others sentences, or they could be a showcase how Muna and general experiences shape a person.
A twin that gets us and could finish our sentences could be fun.
A twin that show the difference in outcome from "Same nature, similar (but not exactly same) nurture" would be interesting if written well (and I believe IF could pull it of).
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Probably not a big one. The 'purely personality' Traits are intended to be more flavor than mechanically significant.
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