NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

[Alectai]

... So, basically, huh.

If we were to hypothetically tell an Outlaw about Odr Cultivation, the Enemy wouldn't give a shit because it wouldn't be useful to them. Because they can't actually cultivate Odr without Land or Holdings of their own.

If they pass it on, then they're on the hook for Disclosure, not us. The Enemy only cares if they think the person might be able to Cultivate Odr in some sense, and cares a lot if they can tell others.

Presumably, the Enemy also won't give a shit if we tell someone who's incapable of passing the word on, who also just Can't Cultivate Odr at All.

The implication I get is "The Enemy can be Tricked... But you'll only get away with it once, and it has to be a genuinely novel approach"

 

[OneArmedYeti]

Honestly," she shakes her head, "the fact that you decided to breed with one of them is disgusting."

Click to shrink...

I've never gone from "interesting character" to "I want her to watch while Abjorn decapitates her boyfriend" so quickly.

Edit:
"Do you want to know what that man there is? What his saga is? That man you loved? He's part of the backstory of my son's sword and father."

 

[alexthealright]

I've never gone from "interesting character" to "I want her to watch while Abjorn decapitates her boyfriend" so quickly.

Click to shrink...

Same but with her getting set on fire instead

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

I want her dead, but some suffering first would be nice. On the other hand 'shooting is never too good for your enemies' is on the Evil Overlord list for a reason, and I hate leaving live enemies behind me, so I'd accept a quick death.

 

[Shard]

"Humanity are better then animals because they are capable of more." You can reckon where she's going next, and you hate it with every fiber of your being, "Therefore, those with odr are better then humans. Honestly," she shakes her head, "the fact that you decided to breed with one of them is disgusting."

Click to shrink...

I.. what? Lidrun, what? Why did you feel the need to make a new enemy?

Anyway, remember the Evil Overlord's guideline: Shooting is never too good for our enemies.

She nods, "My apologies, I've just been so..." she trails off with a squint, "Well, I've missed you over Winter..."

Click to shrink...

I feel a little bad for Solrun in that we've separated her from her daughter Kolla. Maybe we should invite her to stay at our home over the summer if she would like?

"How do I 'shut down' my senses?"

The Seeress frowns, "That is the hard part, unfortunately, as it can't be taught. I," she presses her hands to her chest, "don't have a sense of smell, so I simply spread that sensation to my other senses. You could sacrifice one of your senses to get it, or, if you were willing to have your fylgja killed, then that experience would give you something to draw from, but..."

Click to shrink...

Would alloying Standstill on our senses work?

... I don't think it would.

I think we could try poisoning ourselves with something that leaves a sense nonfunctional, then cure it after.

"Indeed," she claps her hands and moves on. "Fylgjukona are spirits that guard, protect, and foster a family under their care. They are responsible for the management of fylgjur as well as hamingja. They draw power from the hamingja of their charges while sending visions and warnings via the fylgjur of a family. You can contact a family's fylgjukona to learn information about said family, if they know it."

Click to shrink...

Fylgjur and Hamingja... Are Fylgjur related to Hamingja? Fylgjukona is kind of words, I think I'll call it F. Fylgja or something.

So. What qualifies as a family? Do families automatically have a F. Fylgja? Does Steinarr's F. Fylgja watch over us, or only Steinarr and his unmarried children? What happens to a F. Fylgja once the last member of the family dies? Does our family have our own F. Fylgja?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

I think we could try poisoning ourselves with something that leaves a sense nonfunctional, then cure it after.

Click to shrink...

I think just stabbing out our eyes or putting holes in our eardrums would also work. We'd likely need to remain without the sense for at least a bit (I'm thinking several days), but it should be doable.

 

[Shard]

Furthermore, after some discussion on the discord (link to which is in my sig), I've decided to float the idea of swapping from training dice to just flat xp. The reason for this is that while Deadman does a fantastic job, it simply isn't healthy for a quest to rely on one person who understands the mechanics to make plans. This should, hopefully, cut down on the complexity of plans, allowing for others to take a crack at it.

Click to shrink...

Yes, thank the gods.

Just in this turns plan alone that would have been - 33% wordcount, and in future plans that's - 50% to - 66% wordcount hell.

She was not beyond Realm 1.

She was beyond Saga Establishment, though

Click to shrink...

I thought our definition of Realm 1 was Saga Establishment. After Saga Establishment you're in Realm 2.

[X] Who, if any, would you like to bring?
-[X] Abjorn and Stigmar.
[X] What's the general way you're going to be approaching this?
-[X] Diplomatically, see what's up first.

I'm sorry, Abjorn should be stuck to us like glue.

I do think that 'if people attack our home' is a legitimate worry, though. And if we bring everyone there's literally no heavy hitters at home.

 

[Mystic Pentagram]

[X] Who, if any, would you like to bring?
-[X] Abjorn, Stigmar, Vagn, Tryggr, and Trausti
[X] What's the general way you're going to be approaching this?
-[X] Diplomatically, see what's up first

 

[The Lone badger]

I worry that Miss Snake-Tail is going to do something stupid like try to seduce Abjorn (in order to run our nose in it).

 

[Shard]

I worry that Miss Snake-Tail is going to do something stupid like try to seduce Abjorn (in order to run our nose in it).

Click to shrink...

That would never work.

I would be more concerned about Lidrun spinning up stories about us to give us negative kennings and whatnot and dragging us away from doing things we would rather be doing to go and deal with them instead. It's certain to be a frustrating experience.

 

[Skippy]

I'd kind of like to beat her in a poetry slam. That feels like it would be more of a profound defeat than merely beating her in a fight.

However, although Halla is a poet, I'm not sure it's a core enough aspect of her identity or something we've done enough for it to make sense that we'd challenge a Skald and win. Like, between the collective poets of the Quest, I think we could pull it off collaboratively in a similar way to the riddle game. But it might feel a bit too far out of left field.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

That would never work.

I would be more concerned about Lidrun spinning up stories about us to give us negative kennings and whatnot and dragging us away from doing things we would rather be doing to go and deal with them instead. It's certain to be a frustrating experience.

Click to shrink...

I think this is unlikely...we only have one skald as an enemy and I doubt she actively wants us messing with her in exchange, and we 100% would. If we mess with her she'll do this, but not otherwise.

 

[Solar Saiyan]

Why did Lidrun suddenly go off on us? Like making an enemy of a fellow Odr cultivator when they were friendly to you and invited you to a feast in their home seems really foolish.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Why did Lidrun suddenly go off on us? Like making an enemy of a fellow Odr cultivator when they were friendly to you and invited you to a feast in their home seems really foolish.

Click to shrink...

I mean, in context, it seems like simple prejudice. She's horribly prejudiced against non-Odr cultivators. She reacted the same way a white supremacist might if a white woman introduced them to her black husband...it wasn't calculated in advance, it was just her letting her prejudices run her decision making.

 

[The Lone badger]

Why did Lidrun suddenly go off on us? Like making an enemy of a fellow Odr cultivator when they were friendly to you and invited you to a feast in their home seems really foolish.

Click to shrink...

To prompt a response. She wanted to see how we'd react.
As a skald reading people is her thing, and someone she doesn't have the measure of is in some ways more of a danger to her than a known enemy.

 

[Shard]

I don't know why she decided to go and convert us from a friendly to an enemy either. That seems pretty pointless on her part.

 

[Solar Saiyan]

Um, she does know that every Odr cultivator came up from that muck she is talking about? Like no one was born wielding Odr. Any of the people she disparaged here can become capable of wielding Odr if they are told about it. Like I am sure Lidrun also had to be initiated to Odr before she became one, and had the support of a senior cultivator who made sure she didnt explode her soul.

Also, @Imperial Fister, how did the first people to dicover Odr cultivate without knowing about the gate closing thing?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Um, she does know that every Odr cultivator came up from that muck she is talking about? Like no one was born wielding Odr. Any of the people she disparaged here can become capable of wielding Odr if they are told about it. Like I am sure Lidrun also had to be initiated to Odr before she became one, and had the support of a senior cultivator who made sure she didnt explode her soul.

Click to shrink...

This last part isn't actually true. The survival rate of the self-initiated isn't great, but it's not zero either, so it's very possible Lidrun is indeed self-initiated. Her view that Odr cultivation is a sign if inherent worth would make more sense from that perspective, that they arose from the muck but they are above it now by their own merits.

That's not less prejudiced but it's a slightly different thing.

 

[Skippy]

Why did Lidrun suddenly go off on us? Like making an enemy of a fellow Odr cultivator when they were friendly to you and invited you to a feast in their home seems really foolish.

Click to shrink...

The thing which strikes me is that she seemed to get along with Halla fine when they met in Asvir? It seems like something recent must have triggered this. I almost wonder if Lidrun took the invitation as an insult, perhaps?

Or rather, it upset her to see Halla surrounded by friends and warmth, and she took the initiation as an implication that Halla considered herself as superior, deigning to share some good cheer. (Which is wrong on multiple levels, of course, but it's how someone very wrapped up in themselves can think.) The fact that she brought up Halla's marriage to Abjorn seems kind of relevant here. Perhaps it actually conceals a degree of hidden jealousy?

Halla was surrounded by people who loved her, people who would grieve if she was gone, people she matters to. And Halla has all of that without having to give up being a warrior, or an Odr cultivator, or anything really. Before the age of twenty five, Halla has six children, a devoted husband, her own loyal huscarls equipped in full armour, two horses and a twenty two bench longship which the sons of the valley would fight among themselves for the chance to crew.

By contrast, Lidrun seems to move from place to place living the life of a Skald, dependent on the largesse of jarls and kings, and doesn't mention any family or friends. So maybe on some level Lidrun's desire to lash out at Halla was driven by an envy and resentment that she can't admit to herself. That's a shame if so, but I don't know how we could have avoided it or can go back from here.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Or rather, it upset her to see Halla surrounded by friends and warmth, and she took the initiation as an implication that Halla considered herself as better than her, deigning to share some good cheer. (Which is wrong on multiple levels, of course, but it's how someone very wrapped up in themselves can think.) The fact that she brought up Halla's marriage to Abjorn seems kind of relevant here. Perhaps it actually conceals a degree of hidden jealousy?

Click to shrink...

Jealousy is also possible, but I wouldn't dismiss prejudice...I don't think she would've said that stuff about non-Odr cultivators if she didn't mean it. Jealousy being a compounding motive is very plausible, but I think she expressed her real views there.

 

[Skippy]

Jealousy is also possible, but I wouldn't dismiss prejudice...I don't think she would've said that stuff about non-Odr cultivators if she didn't mean it. Jealousy being a compounding motive is very plausible, but I think she expressed her real views there.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I think there definitely is genuine prejudice at work too, no doubt about it, but the way she said it felt a bit... sour grapes to me, if that makes sense?

 

[Aabcehmu]

She's also a step beyond Saga Establishment or whatever, which means she's more advanced than Halla, which I imagine makes her feel she is Halla's natural superior, which could contribute to making an enemy of Halla feels irrelevant and also make Halla being happy and enjoying herself more than Lidrun does sting that much more (and thus instill a desire to get one over Halla to prove to herself that she still is better than her).

 

[I.F. Ister]

Just to let you know, choosing to sacrifice a sense so you can capture experiences will render that sense unusable to you.

 

[Aabcehmu]

Just to let you know, choosing to sacrifice a sense so you can capture experiences will render that sense unusable to you.

Click to shrink...

So, no using the memory of lacking a sense to capture it.

I'd guess that the alloying Standstill idea is probably the next best bet, then. Maybe not to blind/deafen/etc. us, but using it in the moment, to 'freeze' our sensorium, so that we're just continuously undergoing whatever experience we're trying to capture? Like alloying Standstill to our sense of touch so that we just continuous feel the same sensation of touch as the moment we alloyed it, regardless of what we're actually touching?

 

[Shard]

-[ ] Kerby, Stigr's Farm

Click to shrink...

-[ ] Runby, Aki's Farm

Click to shrink...

These should be removed from the turn plans..

A couple of questions for our characters @Imperial Fister

Halla:
1) Does Clearwater, Campfire, Ignition, Forgefire, Firestorm, Gale, Sword, Atgeir, all have a 'shroud' or some equivalent like Standstill, or is Standstill unique (among the Hugareidas you have) in this?
2) Did Puncture seem like it could be alloyed to other things while it was alloyed to Ignition?
3) Can you, if you wanted to for some reason, cast Ignition or other Hugareida as a 'lower' level of 'comprehension', i.e like at Ignition level 1 instead of your level 6, letting someone with Ignition 3 cancel it out?

Abjorn:
1) Does Leverage have some sort of 'shroud' or similar that you 'use'?

Blackhand:
1) Do you know if a Knight's Rebuke qualifies as a Perfect Defence for purposes of Puncture?
2) Have you ever tried infusing Odr into your Muna or your understanding of a Hugareida?

Click to shrink...

(@Imperial Fister)

She nods, "My apologies, I've just been so..." she trails off with a squint, "Well, I've missed you over Winter..."

Click to shrink...

Is Solrun like, alone during Winter?

should anything happen at home while you're away, they won't be there to help.

Click to shrink...

I think that perhaps as a general policy, we might want to leave some capable combatants back at home.

We've had Trollmen try to kill us all before, after all.