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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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I love Short King Blackhand. Rock on my dude.

Imperial Fister said:
'I was 5'2". Not everyone gets a full foot of height... Or any, for that matter.

I have had to actually jump to hit people in the face before. It, uh, well, you should count yourself lucky with your height because, even if you do land the blow, it looks comical.'
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Hallr "Mario" Blackhand

EDIT: Saw this.
fearsome hill said:
btw wth is a "well strung arrow"
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Imperial Fister said:
A metaphor relating to an arrow that was shot well. A well-strung arrow will hit the target perfectly. I'm not really familiar with the 'arrow through cheese' part of it, though, perhaps it's a British thing? Or maybe it's just a Skippy thing?
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AeonIlluminate said:
I'm from a bit south of London, and I've never heard a phrase like that before, so I'd put it down as either a Skippy or northerner thing
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fearsome hill said:
weird.
google gave no results for "well strung arrow" but two people knew it so it has to be atleast mildly popular.
a mystery for the ages.
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So, I'm fairly sure a bow being "well-strung" is an idiom which means that it has been strung artfully and correctly, with the implication being that the bow shoots well and powerfully as a result. Not super common, but if you search for "well-strung" plus terms like bow, arrow, archery, etc., you get a few hits, including an article about Stoic philosophy and an Urban Dictionary article of all things, and this passage from Pope's translation of the Illiad. So an arrow that is well-strung is going to be a fast and powerful arrow, or that was my thought.

The cheese bit was just me, since the obvious connotation is that an arrow that can piece flesh or even armour is going to make short work of something soft. It's sort of similar to the much more common idiom of "a knife through butter", and I think I have used cheese before as a simile in military-SF or something to describe like, how the hull of a civilian freighter were not rated to withstand railgun shells or something? If it came across as a bit random then I understand, it's just a phrasing I liked.
 
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DeadmanwalkingXI said:
It's probably narrative rather than biological. If your legend involves being short you stay short. Our legend probably involves us being notably shorter than Abjorn as our only real 'size factor', so we could grow...but only so far. Actually, by that metric I bet we can only grow more than we currently have if he does. That'd make sense to me.
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Oh, that makes sense to me. I'm now imagining Blackhand as being like Wolverine. He even had blackened bones where Wolverine has bone claws, ha!
 
Imperial Fister said:
'I was 5'2". Not everyone gets a full foot of height... Or any, for that matter.

I have had to actually jump to hit people in the face before. It, uh, well, you should count yourself lucky with your height because, even if you do land the blow, it looks comical.'
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Evidently, Blackhand should've learned the Shoryuken while he was traveling. Nothing comical about that one.
 
Well, I'm a bit late. Sorry about that, everyone! I got super distracted playing the Elder Scrolls mod for CK3

Anyways, voting is now closed
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Sep 29, 2023 at 6:00 PM, finished with 24 posts and 10 votes.
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Summer 10/Ice Sword 2
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Counterbreeze
    -[X] Proceed forward, using a Semi-Halting Vortex to keep snow out of our eyes, Banish the Night to provide illumination, and North-Knowing Trick to help navigate, while using Sailwind to provide counter-breezes and Veto Motion to keep the wind from moving us as necessary.
    0~0~0

    Snow crunches underfoot as you grit your teeth and soldier on. The storm bites at your ears and nose, turning both as red as your hair. While a conjuring of Semi-Halting Vortex helps keep the snow from your eyes, it doesn't solve the underlying problem. It's like if you were to bandage a an infected, scabbed-over wound. Sure, it'll stop any future bleeding, but it's not going to purge the infection!

    Fortunately, you came prepared!

    Crimson-glowing orthstirr pools between your brows as, rather then connect with that strange something like normal, it latches onto what can only be described as 'veins'. Regardless of the oddity, it still works as its subtle pull directs you to the left—towards whatever serves as 'north' in the Ice Sword's soulscape.

    'I wonder what would happen if you used this trick in your own soul?' Blackhand muses as you carefully stay on course. 'I imagine that it'd point to your farm, but why? And what if it doesn't?'

    You frown as you consider his musings. As you do, a question springs back to mind, a question that you'd been meaning to ask for some time now, "So, how does the North-Knowing trick work, anyways?"

    'It works by connecting to something called a 'magnetosphere',' he hums to himself as a light frown graces his 'features'. 'This was once explained to me by a friend in my youth, a friend whose name now escapes my traitorous memory.'

    "Okay, so," you frown as you roll the unfamiliar, oddly-difficult-to-speak syllables around your mouth, "what's a mag-knee-toe-sphere?" It's very clearly not Norse in origin, so it's only logical that an inferior tongue would produce such an unwieldy word!

    'I'm not sure I ever really understood how it works,' Blackhand admits as he quickly moves on, 'but, you know how cloth sometimes sticks to you? Or when you get shocked after touching certain things?'

    You nod, "Yeah, happens a lot in winter."

    'The magnetosphere is what causes that to happen,' Blackhand pauses a moment before quickly appending his statement with an, 'I think, anyways.'

    "And how does that work?" You squint as you wave your free arm around, "Sticking to and shocking stuff are two completely different things!"

    Blackhand 'shrugs', 'Like I said, I don't know. I think it has something to do with the little flame, but I'm not well-versed with that either.'

    You don't get a chance to ask him anything more as, with not an ounce of warning, the blizzard stops.

    The sudden lack of wind-pressure sends you stumbling, but—with wildly waving arms—you manage to stay, mostly, upright. Glancing around, you find yourself at the edge of what appears to be an abandoned village. The ringing ting of iron-on-iron echoes out from the single occupied building in all the village—the smithy.

    Swallowing the sudden lump invading your throat, you force your way through the greasy malaise and deeper into that forest of long empty nests. As you draw closer, the source of the sound makes itself clear as a hammer rises and falls in a fashion that feels wrong to your senses.

    An old man stands hunching over an anvil, his back to you. He's stripped to his waist, seemingly uncaring of the cold. His back may as well be a single surface with all the layers of corded, knotted muscle covering it. His hair is whiter then snow and falls uncombed and unkempt around his back, shoulders, and—presumably—face. He lifts the hammer again and you realize just what makes you feel that way.

    Despite the obvious effort the smith is giving his work, no progress can be made with a cold, unfired forge. He doesn't seem to care, though, given the way his hammer rises and falls in an unceasing tempo.

    You don't get the feeling that he's hostile, but it's probably a good idea to play it safe regardless.

    What do you do?
    [ ] Write in

    0~0~0

    AN: This one was a real 'stream of conscious', so apologies if there's anything weird in the grammar! My fingers were barely able to keep up with the speed of my thoughts!

    No moratorium, short vote.

    Also, if you are a patron and didn't see, you have received your monthly Reward Dice.
     
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    • Magnetosphere? That's very very curious - in RL the first inklings of its existence happened in 1600. Mind you, Wikipedia says people knew about magnets and how those worked with navigation in the 11th-13th centuries, depending on where exactly you were. I guess some bright spark put the pieces together much earlier?

    And Halla is a Norse supremacist I see. Not that I should be surprised, she's only slightly ever been made to consider, at all, the flaws in their worldview.

    DeadmanwalkingXI said:
    We could try engaging him smith to smith, maybe? Maybe offer our help?
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    As good as any idea, I suppose.
     
    MrRageQuit said:
    And Halla is a Norse supremacist I see. Not that I should be surprised, she's only slightly ever been made to consider, at all, the flaws in their worldview.
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    The Norse believe their language is fundamentally magical and better than other languages because of that...remember, it was the Runes Odin sacrificed an eye for. Technically speaking, she doesn't need to believe their culture is better to believe their language is, because the two beliefs are only loosely connected...they believe their culture is better for normal cultural supremacist reasons, they believe the language is better because it's literally magic.
     
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    So...in the absence of other ideas, a plan:

    [X] Plan Helpful Fellow Crafter
    -[X] Politely offer to help the smith. Does he need the forge lit or some other form of aid?
    -[X] Use Goal Tell to judge what kind of help is best to offer and other social Tricks as necessary.

    Happy to adjust if other people have ideas for additions to that.
     
    DeadmanwalkingXI said:
    So...in the absence of other ideas, a plan:

    [X] Plan Helpful Fellow Crafter
    -[X] Politely offer to help the smith. Does he need the forge lit or some other form of aid?
    -[X] Use Goal Tell to judge what kind of help is best to offer and other social Tricks as necessary.

    Happy to adjust if other people have ideas for additions to that.
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    Do we want to assume that having a lit forge is actually a benefit for an ice sword smith?
     
    Huh, interesting! It's peculiar that he remembers the word "magnetosphere", versus something like magnetism.

    The magnetosphere is a fairly advanced concept. You need to to actually know a bit about the shape and properties of magnetic fields and relate this to the Earth, not just have a vague concept of magnetism or magnetic North. Now, Blackhand also relates static electricity to it, which is not really the same thing. But he's also only got fragments of memories to work with, and if you were giving someone a primer on electricity and magnetism, you might naturally touch on both. The fact that Blackhand relates it to the "little flame" implies whoever was telling him about it had quite a deep understanding of the underlying physics. The relationship between electricity and magnetism was not formally established until the 19th century.

    I wonder who this mysterious friend was? There's no historical culture from the time that would know about the shape and structure of Earth's magnetic field. There are some who had discovered magnets, so perhaps given the longer timespan, some philosopher took this and made some follow-up discoveries? A cultivator's lifespan and ability to conduct experiments by flying around might allow for that. Or perhaps Blackhand's friend was the last survivor from some lost fantastical civilisation with advanced science, or had seen knowledge handed down from them?

    I'm intrigued.

    Anyway, as far as the vote, goes, I don't have a better suggestion than Deadman's.

    [X] Plan Helpful Fellow Crafter
     
    And the vote is now closed
    Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Sep 30, 2023 at 4:46 PM, finished with 15 posts and 5 votes.
    • [X] Plan Helpful Fellow Crafter
      -[X] Politely offer to help the smith. Does he need the forge lit or some other form of aid?
      -[X] Use Goal Tell to judge what kind of help is best to offer and other social Tricks as necessary.
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    Summer 10/Ice Sword 3
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Helpful Fellow Crafter
    -[X] Politely offer to help the smith. Does he need the forge lit or some other form of aid?
    -[X] Use Goal Tell to judge what kind of help is best to offer and other social Tricks as necessary.
    0~0~0

    Clearing your throat load enough to announce your presence, you greet the smith with a wave and a, "Hello there! I see you're trying to work some iron! Do you need any help, say, lighting your forge?"

    The smith says nothing. He merely swings his hammer again and again, to little avail.

    You try again for the same irritating result. A scowl passes across your face as even going so far as tapping the smith on the shoulder draws nothing more then a hammer swing from the white-haired smith.

    You were about to give the man a piece of your mind when a familiar voice calls out, "Halt, heathen, for you will find no mind to converse with in him."

    "He the guy that forged you?" You nod towards the smith.

    "In a manner of speaking," the sword answers cryptically, as things so often do. "Have you come to kill me? To drag me kicking and screaming back to whence I came?"

    Your eyes narrow at that. Something weird is going on here, that much is clear. Just what and how weird, however, are mysteries you have yet to answer.

    What do you do?
    [ ] Write in

    (Goal Tell says that the spirit wants to... stay as it is? What?)

    0~0~0

    AN: A bit of a short one. Perhaps short enough to allow for a third update, but we will see.

    No moratorium.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • I think we just say we're not here to kill it or change it. We want to understand it. Our goal is knowledge. We'd be willing to make some sorts of deals as well.

    Does that sound good to people?
     
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