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The problem is that a guy who's senile and berserk and as strong as Steinarr is probably a very dangerous guy for friend and foe alike.
Where do you get the idea of Steinarr going berserk from?
Why would we not warn him against infusing Hugr?
I doubt it. I mean, Odin knows it's hard to become an Odr cultivator in the mortal world; he's probably taken plenty of Einherjar who don't have that going for them.
Yes.
I'm not talking about "He needs realm x to get in".
I'm saying "maybe after becoming Einherjar you are stuck at the realm when you lost your Orthstirr by dying your true death".
Also Also: Ymir is our enemy, and is kind of dick. There is absolutely zero reason to believe it would balk at a chance to kill us just because Steinarr is nearing death or suffering cognitive decline. Indeed, the fact that Steinarr is not at 100% gives it a better chance of killing us and eliminating one more potential problem down the line. To assume the Enemy would not send a full retaliation is inviting calamity.
He is the enemy of all cultivators.
And while I can't find it atm, I'm certain we previously got the reward dice reward of "the enemy will let disclosure happen if it thinks nothing will come of it".
And how much more "nothing will come of it" than "disclosure to someone who is only lucid enough to fight because of an extremely rare ingredient and will probably not survive the day" does it get?
 
[X] Side with Dorri and mop up the foraging bands

You can't fight on an empty stomach.
Kind of a waste Dori didn't tell the people to burn the supplies left behind, but well, packing it up slows the raiders as well.
Also, Firestorm test run!!!!!!!

"Valkyries are capable of wrapping those they deem worthy in shrouds of magical protection. Their magic makes mine look like a parlor trick, yet this... I can't imagine that anyone else other then the Gods would be capable of such a thing." Solrun tries a laugh, like she can't believe that it exists, "I can't even feel its presence, let alone see or even attempt to do anything about it! The only reason I know it's there is that I can't feel his soul!"
Steinarr has earned great honors in his life, no wonder the gods have put him on the fast track... if only the dementia didn't pop up with it though...

And yeah, while Solrun made a bargain that's obviously tragic, at least, Kola will be in good care. There are so many worse things Solrun could have promised her for or to.
Alright, now that you've had a couple hours to let it marinate, how was the update? I managed to find some extra motivation and put a little extra effort into the last few updates, so I'd like to know what you folks think.
Heart rending! How could you? TT.TT
But it is part of life, yes, and Steinarr has been very blessed, by what i picked up from the Norse culture in the time of the quest is played.
May he either go out in glory, making sure everyone is safe or among his family without pain.
 
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He is the enemy of all cultivators.
And while I can't find it atm, I'm certain we previously got the reward dice reward of "the enemy will let disclosure happen if it thinks nothing will come of it".
And how much more "nothing will come of it" than "disclosure to someone who is only lucid enough to fight because of an extremely rare ingredient and will probably not survive the day" does it get?

Halla is still the one Disclosing, and this gives the Enemy the opportunity to kill her. The Enemy wants to eliminate Odr cultivators on general principle. This relies on the assumption that the Enemy would act in exactly the way we need them to and not take a chance to kill us, generally a pretty poor thing to do about enemies, and one we have no evidence for and quite strong reasons against. If becoming an Odr cultivator actually works at combatting Steinarr's cognitive decline in the way you suggest (which given what Solrun said about Blackhand, feels less likely), then it's also not guaranteed that Steinnarr won't survive the day, and the Enemy would know that this could lead to his rejuvenation because it knows far more than we do about Odr cultivation.

Honestly, I get the impulse to look for magic bullets here, because I love Steinarr too. More than I thought I did honestly before suddenly being forced to grapple with the prospect of losing him. If there's even a longshot, crazy plan which could help him, I'd be the first one to stand beside you and argue for it, even if this means riding into the jaws of Hel, or challenging Odin himself to a rap battle. I also really respect the courage of actually trying to come up with a creative, risky solution, having been there myself. But it feels like there are strong reasons that this plan sadly would not work.
 
If becoming an Odr cultivator actually works at combatting Steinarr's cognitive decline in the way you suggest
...
Would you be so kind to quote where I say or imply that becoming an Odr cultivator would combat Steinarrs cognitive decline?
Either I have been ambiguous about what I intend (give him the best chance to burn as bright as possible in a last moment of glory) or you are the third (!) person reacting to something I didn't say.
 
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Would you be so kind to quote where I say or imply that becoming an Odr cultivator would combat Steinarrs cognitive decline?
Either I have been ambiguous about what I intend (give him the best chance to burn as bright as possible in a last moment of glory) or you are the third (!) person reacting to something I didn't say.

Sorry, I had kind of thought this was the jist of your proposal, but looking back, I see that I was mistaken. Apologies!

I think the reason a few people made the same mistake is possibly because so many people right now were trying to think up ways to help heal Steinarr, people assumed your proposal was intending to do the same thing.
 
maybe we can try go for Idunn's apples ourselves? Solrun managed to get only the skins, but maybe we can find a way to get an apple? I doubt it will be easy, of course. but we have one advantage Solrun doesn't have- relation to the gods. Odin seems to favor us. its worth trying, its the best chance we have to save Steinnar. and its an adventure worthy of Halla's saga.

its actually likely to be less dangerous then many of our other adventures. the gods aren't hostile for us, and while Idunn wouldn't easily part with her apples she likely wouldn't do anything bad to us.

the biggest challenge is obviously getting to Idunn, but we can talk with Solrun for advice perhaps? and we are just working on the travel seidr
 
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[X] Side with Dorri and mop up the foraging bands

If Solrun/Kolla is any indication, she'll label out a price that the players are going to say 'um... no'.
 
Kind of a waste Dori didn't tell the people to burn the supplies left behind,

If Dorri's plan works we'll be able to recapture some, maybe most, of those supplies. And if that food is captured or destroyed a lot of the valley is gonna have a hard, hungry winter since this is the last turn of summer. Dorri has to worry about that too.
its actually likely to be less dangerous then many of our other adventures.
Nothing about this quest has suggested that seizing immortality, or even temporary life extension would be safe or easy. Best case scenario it's like retrieving Aki's soul, where the dangers are avoidable, but if an abyssling gets us it's a total quest end, and if we piss off Modgudr to the point of violence there's no combat rolls just death
 
Yeah, I think Idrun's apples would be good as it would allow us to remain in perfect health and youth until your Fated Day, but would not actually allow us to entirely avoid it.

Possibly the predestination of fate would mean that someone who gained eternal youth would always be fated to die at the age of five hundred rather than seventy. It seems like something similar must be the case with Steelfathers; they can't avoid their Fated Day, but since they don't age normally, it can be a lot further off.
 
Yeah, I think Idrun's apples would be good as it would allow us to remain in perfect health and youth until your Fated Day, but would not actually allow us to entirely avoid it.

Possibly the predestination of fate would mean that someone who gained eternal youth would always be fated to die at the age of five hundred rather than seventy. It seems like something similar must be the case with Steelfathers; they can't avoid their Fated Day, but since they don't age normally, it can be a lot further off.
Depends on how Fated Days work. Could be that Steel is simply greater than the Nornar, could be that Steelfathers aren't Norse anymore so no Fated Day, could be that the Nornar declaration of Fated Days is an ex post facto thing decided when you die but then declared at your birth because time, so on, so forth.
 
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Depends on how Fated Days work. Could be that Steel is simply greater than the Nornar, could be that Steelfathers aren't Norse anymore so no Fated Day, could be that the Nornar declaration of Fated Days is an ex post facto thing decided when you die but then declared at yoir birth because time, so on, so forth.

These are not impossible, but all of them are less likely, I think. The Norns are so fundamental to Norse cosmology that I'd be really surprised if Steelfathers were able to override them, and we've had no indication that Steelfathers are no longer Norse cultivators and a lot of stuff suggesting they are. Whilst some Steelfathers may believe they've escaped mortality, everything we've been lead to believe by IF and the considerable disdain Blackhand holds them in suggests that this is probably a delusion on their part.

It definitely seems to me like Fated Days must be decided from outside of linear time in some way, allowing them to incorporate all the facts of a person's life, but I think they do need to be decided in advance in some sense or the concept loses a lot of its weight. Also, IF said that your first death on your Fated Day "sticks", and this only really works if the Norns know in advance which day it is. Of course the Norns could simply be sitting outside of time and playing it by ear, then going back in time and tweaking everything to fit, but this seems inelegant.
 
Whilst some Steelfathers may believe they've escaped mortality, everything we've been lead to believe by IF and the considerable disdain Blackhand holds them in suggests that this is probably a delusion on their part.

Can you say Frog in a well?
Seriously its like everyone and their mother thinks they're immortal. It is almost like death is a fundamental part of life. If you make the premise of your cultivation that of a story then it must have an ending.
 
These are not impossible, but all of them are less likely, I think. The Norns are so fundamental to Norse cosmology that I'd be really surprised if Steelfathers were able to override them, and we've had no indication that Steelfathers are no longer Norse cultivators and a lot of stuff suggesting they are. Whilst some Steelfathers may believe they've escaped mortality, everything we've been lead to believe by IF and the considerable disdain Blackhand holds them in suggests that this is probably a delusion on their part.

It definitely seems to me like Fated Days must be decided from outside of linear time in some way, allowing them to incorporate all the facts of a person's life, but I think they do need to be decided in advance in some sense or the concept loses a lot of its weight. Also, IF said that your first death on your Fated Day "sticks", and this only really works if the Norns know in advance which day it is. Of course the Norns could simply be sitting outside of time and playing it by ear, then going back in time and tweaking everything to fit, but this seems inelegant.
Hmm. Fated Days also well.. Do the Norse actually have good calenders in this time period? Fated Days might be a whole lot more vague and more a general area in time. Also, the Nornar could just be really good at predicting things. Or Fated Days are more of a 'we expect you to be this relevant, and this is thus how long you get to live' kind of thing.

Steelfathers could also be functionally dead as far as the Norns are concerned, too. The way they gain Orthstirr is very similar to that of a Realized Item. Perhaps the Norns consider them as effectively an NPC after they become a Steelfather?
 
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I mean, in the myths Idunn's apples made you eternaly young but not unkillable, nothing is really impossible to kill in Norse Mythology.

So maybe Idunn's apples in this Quest make sure you can't die of old age and you don't feel its effects, but can still be killed by other means. So you still have a Fated Day, but instead of it possibly begin "dies peacefuly in his sleep at 90 years old" it will be granted to be something like "killed at 340 years old after begin stabbed in the heart by a spear" or "dies at 500 years old after an earthquake buries his house 1 mile underground".
 
I mean, in the myths Idunn's apples made you eternaly young but not unkillable, nothing is really impossible to kill in Norse Mythology.

So maybe Idunn's apples in this Quest make sure you can't die of old age and you don't feel its effects, but can still be killed by other means. So you still have a Fated Day, but instead of it possibly begin "dies peacefuly in his sleep at 90 years old" it will be granted to be something like "killed at 340 years old after begin stabbed in the heart by a spear" or "dies at 500 years old after an earthquake buries his house 1 mile underground".
The Norns can't choose how you die just when you die so it would be "He will die on his 90th birthday" or something not "He will be poisoned on his 90th birthday"
 
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I mean, for all we know, Ragnarok could have already happened and whenever the gods show up on Midgard they're really, like, ghosts.
 
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