We've been told they usually deal with falling overboard by walking to land along the bottom. So...less of a problem than for Devil Fruit users, but it does sound like they have issues swimming.
I mean, it makes sense.
Superiority through overwhelming firepower, when said firepower is made up by out manning your opponents from each power racket...
After all, its only Nid or Odreng to gang up against someone when they are equal or weaker than you, no?
Ganging up on people is almost always fine without being nid or odreng, outside something like a formal duel. You get more Orthstirr if you do stuff alone, but if they didn't want to get ganged up on they should've brought friends.
Ok after a short bit of google maps and the ol' wikipedia+calculator it would seem like the time it would take for an steelfather to walk to the coast of norway from the bottom of the middle of the atlantic ocean is aproximately 17* straight days of walking.
Additionally if the steelfather could run as fast as the fastest human currently alive they would need to travel for aproximately 4 days.
*assumptions made:
wikipedia says that a human can comfortably walk 5 km per hour. i dont know how steelfather physiology+norse physiology mash with needing to walk trough water so i just put their speed at 10km per hour
the steelfather is walking straight towards the coast of norway. if they have difficulties navigating towards a place 4500km away while underwater then they may be stuck for much longer.
0~0~0 Raising the Runestone + Speaking with Halfdan
Ropes strain against painted stone as men work as one to lift it towards the heavens. It is a contest between strength of arm and force of will against the weight of all-engrossing gravity. The world demands collapse as gritting teeth and straining muscle defy its will.
Slowly, impossibly, the strength of man wins out over the force of ages past. Carved history, tales of daring bravery and thunder-cracking might, rise from the dirt. The grooved surface of painted legacy turns its eyes skyward as your father's name stands forevermore on the towering, landscape-dominating runestone.
Steinarr Hallsson will be remembered under many names—Freedfire and Greenthumb not the least among them—but to you his name was and always will be Dad.
With sword and plow in hand and a dogged soul in his chest, he takes his place amongst his ancestors. Let the wise Gods part before his might as the lesser men tremble at his passing.
As you lay hand upon the sickeningly cold surface, you leave your teary-eyed, heart-aching mark in the stone. Breathing deep of the tear-salted air, you step away from both the rock and the sorrow of your heart. You'll miss him—by the Gods, you'll miss him!—but, at the very least, you'll see him once the Valkyries beckon your presence in the godly halls.
Until then, you'll just have to carry on. Life doesn't end just because someone has, you've still got work to do. The fields need tending for the coming Summer. The cattle need milking and their stomachs need their daily feed. The sheep need shearing and their wool needs to be spun. Cloth needs mending and tears need to be wiped away. Children need hugs and husbands need kisses.
Life moves on, so too must you.
Joining your family after they leave their own marks upon the hill-topping rock, you mingle with the feasting guests as they recover from the effort of raising the stone. From the corner of your eye, you spot Halfdan and his family as they arrive at the feast. As they start digging into the laid-out food and drink, you're reminded of something you've been meaning to ask for the longest time yet, unfortunately, never got the chance. Life, simply, gets in the way sometimes.
Extricating yourself from the conversation Eric, Audrikr, and Nokkvi Good-Oars had ambushed you with—which was of the various different methods to utilize ships in fishing—you make your way over to Halfdan as he enjoys a platter of sauce-marinated chicken wings. With a flick of the wrist and a flexing of will, a wing leaps to your hands as you rip into the savory, smoked flesh.
"I'm sorry about your father," Halfdan says after swallowing a mouthful of meat. "He and I may have been enemies at one point, but a life as storied as his deserves a fitting ending and I'm happy he had one."
"Thank you," your sincerity shines forth as you nod, "but I'm not here to speak of that."
"Oh?" Halfdan sets aside the platter as he leans in, curiosity shining in his gaze. "Have you finally accepted that the atgeir is future of warfare?"
You snort, "While I love the atgeir, I can't deny that swords are sexy."
"Damn fool! You'll see the truth one day!" Halfdan mock-scowls before breaking out into laughter. "Good fun, good fun," he wipes the tear from his eye before turning again to you. "Now then, what is it you're after?"
"Other then seeing how you and your family are doing after the raid, I'm thinking back to the day we met," Halfdan tilts his head to the side, surprise showing on his face. "Why was Reidar Swordfury after you?"
"My family are recovering well, thank you for asking," Halfdan nods half-heartedly, clearly distracted by the other question you've asked him. "Reidar Swordfury wanted to buy horses from me. I refused him, citing how suspicious he and his men were and how little I knew of them. He took that poorly and demanded the horses. When I refused him again, he drew iron," Halfdan shrugs, sending a nod your way, "and the rest is history."
Your brows furrow as you frown, "Did he say why he needed the horses?"
Halfdan shakes his head, "He avoided the question when I asked it of him, only saying that he didn't want to be late to 'something in Vestfold'. Seemed really anxious about not making it in time to whatever he had waiting for him there." (Raw Hugr Check: 18) 18 Successes, damn
As you add that information to the web of theories in your mind's eye, you can't help but feel the tickling of intuition in the back of your head. Following the guiding hand, you find yourself focusing on an aspect of Reidar's kenning, Swordfury. Specifically, the sword part of it.
If Reidar was after some kind of sword in Vestfold, then he may have feared someone else getting to it before he did. If it was a sword of renown, then retrieving it from a hypothetical rival would be that much harder. Have there been any swords of renown found in Vestfold recently?
...There is one, but if someone you're fated to duel to the death has that of all weapons, then you're in for a day of pain.
...Goodie.
Regardless, you've got some time before you and Reidar next meet, so you might as well enjoy what time you have before then.
Just as you intend to do just that, the crowd of feasting party-goers stills at the passage of a tall, bare-chested man. Stripped to the waist and clutching a wicked-looking, curved knife in hand, Vidar Bignose eyes the runestone with deeply sunken eyes. Heavy bags cling to his cheeks as he presses a hand to the rock and lowers his head.
"I failed you, o' Captain of mine," Vidar screws his eyelids shut as he whimpers, all eyes fixed to him. Abjorn steps forward, only to still as Sten places a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head, "I swore that I'd follow you wherever the winds may take you, that I'd fall by your side on the day of fate. I failed that oath, my word has been broken," he lifts the knife high above his head, its sharp point gleaming in the mid-day sun, "and only blood can mend this treachery."
The knife falls, plunging into Vidar's chest as, with closed eyes and gritting teeth, he carves a fist-sized hole in his body. The blood-drenched knife falls to the grass as trembling fingers reach into the cavity and find something precious.
"A curse!" Vidar cries his throat ragged as his hand finds purchase in his chest, "A curse upon all who'd disturb this stone!" His arm pulls back as his red-stained hand emerges with a fist-sized, beating mass between his fingers, "A curse upon all who'd bring me back!"
With a final roar of sorrow-wracked pain, Vidar crushes his own heart against the painted surface of the runestone.
Vidar Bignose would not pass on for another ten years, but his story ends nonetheless.
Abjorn Bearbreaker watches with horror as his father collapses to the floor.
He'll be managing the inheritance in the coming months.
0~0~0 Exploring further into the hills (Hamingja: 25) 25 Successes
As your fylgja soars above the ever-higher hills, you notice something rather odd. A large herd of prime cattle, all by their lonesome, without a tender anywhere in sight for miles!
...This could be a nice little boost to your livestock, if you were so bold as to make them your own.
0~0~0
Personal (Pick 2/3, if no Exploration is picked. 1 Free Social):
[ ] (Lost Herd?) There's a large herd of high-quality cattle out in the highlands beyond your property. Write in what you wish to do about it.
[ ] (Here, Kitty-Kitty) Attempt to make friends with the skogtatt
-[ ] (Write in) How do you go about this?
[ ] (Playdates) Set up a playdate between one/multiple of your kids and one/multiple of other kids. (Write in)
[ ] (Violent) Pick a fight or spar with... (Sparring with people reveals a summery of their character sheets)
-[ ] Spar with Abjorn, your husband
-[ ] Spar with Stigmar
-[ ] Someone else (Write in)
[ ] (Personal) Spend time with... (Write in)
[ ] (Shopping) Ask Abjorn to buy something for you (Write in) (Can only be used to buy or sell things you are already aware of and cannot haggle)
[ ] (Court) Send Abjorn to make a case at the Thing (Write in)
[ ] (Crafting) Try to make something (Write in) (Hugr+Some kind of crafting skill)
-[ ] (Optional) Focus on repairing something (Write in)
[ ] (Poetry) Try to realize an Inspiration (Write in one of your Inspirations)
0~0~0
Exploration/Travel (Pick 1 or none):
[ ] (Visit) Go visit... (1 Left)
-[ ] The Witch... even though she's dead
-[ ] Asvir!
--[ ] (Optional) Attend the Thing
-[ ] Buriby, Osborn's Farm
-[ ] Glebby, Sverre's Farm
-[ ] Hasviby, Hasvir's Farm
-[ ] Halfdanby, Halfdan's Farm
-[ ] Jurgen's Cave
[ ] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
-[ ] The fields!
--[ ] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
-[ ] The Hading!
--[ ] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
--[ ] (Optional) Try to find the Heart of the Hading
-[ ] The hills!
--[ ] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
--[ ] (Optional) Range further from your home
0~0~0
Training: You have 69 XP to spend as you see fit.
[ ] (Research) Try to figure out how things work (Write in)
[ ] (Seeress) Learn seidr with the Seeress (Only available during Summer)
-[ ] Write in up to 3 things to request of her
[ ] (Drifa) Teach Drifa some of your tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Blackhand) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hamr (255 XP to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hamr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hugr (255 XP to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hugr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Fylgja (102 XP to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a fylgja skill or trick (Write in)
0~0~0
Orthstirr Available: 1244
How do you want to use your orthstirr? You can turn on passive tricks here. (Leaving this blank is assumed to be boosting all your stats to max)
[ ] (Orthstirr Usage) (Write in) (Optional)
0~0~0
Fylgja Capacity: 13/13
Do you want to withdraw or deposit anything in your fylgja?
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
Equipment/Capacity/Shapeshifting/Alloy/Pocket/Whatever Management
What do you want to have equipped on your person, in your capacity, or for your shapeshifting? Leaving this blank means that no changes are made.
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
Property Management: You have 96 Work Dice Available
How do you want to use them? (Leaving this blank is assumed to be the same as last turn)
[ ] Write in (Optional)
Well. That's...certainly a set of things that happened.
I have literally no idea how to respond to any of that, really. I mean, Vidar just deciding he's done is, uh, well. That's a big thing, but there doesn't seem like a lot we can do about it, I don't think?
Do we want the cattle? They'd be a nice boost certainly, but spending an action to acquire them is an expense, right at the moment. We probably don't want to miss out on the opportunity, I guess?
"A curse!" Vidar cries his throat ragged as his hand finds purchase in his chest, "A curse upon all who'd disturb this stone!" His arm pulls back as his red-stained hand emerges with a fist-sized, beating mass between his fingers, "A curse upon all who'd bring me back!"
With a final roar of sorrow-wracked pain, Vidar crushes his own heart against the painted surface of the runestone.
Vidar Bignose would not pass on for another ten years, but his story ends nonetheless.
Huh...
We know that someone dying fylgja death separates part of their soul until they are ressurected, making the time spend being dead a torture, leading to sanity damage after a few days.
How is it with normal bodily death?
Would 10 years of that turn to torture, or does having your soul whole mean its just unconsciousness?
I have literally no idea how to respond to any of that, really. I mean, Vidar just deciding he's done is, uh, well. That's a big thing, but there doesn't seem like a lot we can do about it, I don't think?
Nothing we can do about it without EXTREMELY insulting him. And getting cursed.
Besides treating his death with respect: Aid burial, help Abjorn and any of his family humanely... general being a good fried to them.
Well.... Abjorn's brother is gonna be either very happy or kinda annoyed.
But man... 10 years in ginumapp.... that's a very big sacrifice, huh?
I know he was an asshole, but wow. That loyalty is good, too bad he did not had any of that in love for his kids.
Hope Abjorn will be okay.... but hey! We can drop by to Gabriel when we go for Abjorn's brother!
Do we want the cattle? They'd be a nice boost certainly, but spending an action to acquire them is an expense, right at the moment. We probably don't want to miss out on the opportunity, I guess?
I'm interested but actually expect them to belong to some mythical being. So head over there with the rope and stuff to lead them home, but also an apology gift for bothering whoever owns them if I end up being right.
Anyway. We've confirmed we can infuse others, and I think I want to get Heart of the Hading started this turn as well.
I'm thinking since we're at All-7 Infusion now, we spend this turn's income as a budget to strengthen our family and friends, and as our Social Option, we lay out the cards with our retainers and family.
"So, this is a project I've been batting around for a few years, and I'm confident I've developed it enough to let others benefit. It's a bit Seid adjacent, but I've developed a means of strengthening others, that I'm willing to offer you all."
With the caveats of "I'm fairly confident that using this technique on the Hamr is safe, Hugr is potentially dangerous, as you start producing Frenzy when I use it on that. The Fylgja I think is also safe, at least, I've not encountered any issues with mine."
Wait... can we send a message to Abjorn's brother through the fyjgulkuna? or did we got his Fyjgla's number?
Could we ask them to either pick up Gabriel or just be a messenger?
Hm... as for the westfold trainwreck.... what are the chances our amulet is the key to open the lock on whatever stores the sword?
I'm thinking since we're at All-7 Infusion now, we spend this turn's income as a budget to strengthen our family and friends, and as our Social Option, we lay out the cards with our retainers and family.
... Remind me, does skill infusion requires the stat infusion first? because if not, i want calm to give calm charge for our family, especially the kids!
... Remind me, does skill infusion requires the stat infusion first? because if not, i want calm to give calm charge for our family, especially the kids!
Kids don't get Infused, ideally, they don't get Infused until Inheritance, so we can cheese Disclosure with them. Help them get as strong as possible without touching into Odr, so they can handle the Pursuer, which will be the only threat in that case.
I'm thinking since we're at All-7 Infusion now, we spend this turn's income as a budget to strengthen our family and friends, and as our Social Option, we lay out the cards with our retainers and family.
Okay, so, my current idea for a plan, which I think is solid. An argument can be made for talking to Sten about Steel and maybe other stuff, but I think that narratively flows better next turn.
I do think we should do the 'multi-enemy' sparring now. We need the experience. I'm not at all sure about exactly who we should spar with for that, though. I'm also a tad ambivalent about whether to tell Kurt about the Infusions thing. I could go either way there...he's not being told at the moment.
In terms of xp, this front-loads the Hamr xp slightly, so we can hit level 9 next turn and invest the needed xp into our Unbinding Trick if the research pans out to make that viable.
EDIT: Added spending time with just Abjorn rather than the sparring, upon reflection.
[X] Plan Household Activities
-[X] (Personal) Spend time with...
--[X] Abjorn
--[X] Help him deal with whatever he's feeling about what happened to his father. Just generally be there for him.
-[X] (Lost Herd?) There's a large herd of high-quality cattle out in the highlands beyond your property. Write in what you wish to do about it.
--[X] Approach cautiously and with an eye towards seeing if the cattle belong to someone (using Tricks and Seidr to check for spirits and other weirdness in particular, plus our Hag Stone, and suggesting Abjorn use his sense of smell), bringing basic gifts (food, alcohol, maybe some money) to make friendly with anyone who shows up claiming ownership. We'll claim the herd if there's nobody there even after we check very thoroughly and make sure, though.
--[X] Keep the herd separate from our other cattle even after bringing it in, in case people show up later.
--[X] Bring Abjorn, Stigmar, and Vagn.
-[X] (Personal) Spend time with...
--[X] Our Household
--[X] See how everyone is doing, hang out with friends and stuff.
--[X] See if anyone is interested in having their Fylgja revealed. We need to grab some Experiences for that, but we want to do that anyway. Also check and see if anyone would like their stats Infused (though obviously, we talk around what we're actually doing).The latter offer is only for people sworn to us, we trust Vagn enough to tell him about this, but it requires us to make a permanent investment, so receiving it requires a permanent Oath.
-[X] [Social] (Playdates)
--[X] Klaus-Kjaran-Kadrina (Coast Family)
--[X] Hopefully a smaller gathering will give our kids more opportunities to bond.
-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] The hills!
---[X] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
---[X] (Optional) Range further from your home
-[X] Special Note: On all Crafting add the following if possible unless otherwise specified:
--[X] For metal items have Heat Hold available just in case
--[X] Using Sundersight (+1d3 Successes)
--[X] Stoking Frami, Virthing, and Saemd (for +1 Success each, +3 successes total) to enhance the crafting process
Training:
-[X] (Research)
--[X] Continue teaching Bjorney Eyespeech – 1 Research
--[X] Try and experiment with using a technique like Recall (ie: something telekinetic, using strings or fingers as our visualization) in our unbinding of needlebinding, doing it mentally rather than physically – 1 Research
--[X] Get the scarecrow's permission and try sewing gloves (filled with straw) onto the ends of its arms, potentially making slits so the straw it is filled with can mix with those in the gloves – 1 Research
--[X] Offer Odr, Food, and potentially places to stay or, in theory, Experiences, in our recruitment efforts for spirits to work for us, exact details depending on the specific spirit, what they offer us i exchange, and the other specifics of the arrangement –1 Research
--[X] Try and look through our Fylgja's eyes while it is in the fold between worlds and otherwise experiment with using it to perceive spirits – 1 Research
---[X] Use this in concert with our recruiting efforts to find recruitment targets and eliminate any we get a bad feeling about (especially from Weighed On The Scales, which we're certainly using) from consideration
--[X] Try and use a Rewrite to stretch the bounds of plausibility and make the Sunfire Hugareida as an Alloy out of Ignition and Unending Time In The Sun – 1 Research
-[X] (Training) Hamr (255 xp to rank up)
--[X] Train Hamr Itself 138xp (69xp)
-[X] (Work Dice Usage)
--[X] Buildings: 6 Quality, 2 Living Space, 1 Storage, 2 Workshop (13 Total)
--[X] Resources: 6 Quality, 8 Food, 0 Goods, 0 Silver (14 Total)
--[X] Livestock: 8 Quality, 7 Food, 0 Goods, 0 Silver (15 Total)
--[X] Crafting: Create two Superior Mail Shirts for Dorri's Deal (8 Total)
--[X] Construction: Improve Building – Workshop by 12 (12 Total)
--[X] Experiences: Capture the Experiences of the three things needed for Fylgja Revealing (27 Total)
--[X] Conversion: Spend for 6 Research Dice (12 Total)
-[X] (Capacity)
--[X] Remove Beaconlight, Vows of Love, Unleash Inferno, and Sailwind.
--[X] Add the three Fylgja Revealing Experiences
-[X] (Incidentals)
--[X] Adding Taafl Board Capacity Gains to: Sigurdr, Hallbjorn,
--[X] Receiving Metal from Dwarves: 24 oz Forged Iron, 6 oz Storm Iron
EDIT: Wait, this is the end of the year, we should try and do Sunfire as an Alloy this turn.
EDIT: Added a bit of additional clarification in a few areas.
We do. However, grabbing Experiences is work die intensive, let's say. Which means we want to stack multiple crafting actions into single turns if possible so we can reassign the Work Dice away from Workshop on non-crafting turns (and I think we do want to do the Fylgja/Infusion offer this turn, which involves a lot of Experience capturing). I also like the idea of doing the cover right before we head out for Gotland next turn. That seems poetic to me.
So I'm suggesting we do it next turn rather than this one for both mechanical and thematic reasons.
Did Vidar ever even meet his grandchildren? He doesn't seem like a big presence in anyone's lives except maybe Steinarr. Like he doesn't have friends so much as sparing partners. I dunno his life seems pretty empty and sad but when his children hate and fear him respectively I get the sense nobody will unambiguously miss him as a person. Maybe as an asset, he was one of the strongest fighters in the valley.
I wonder how much Steinarr knew about the treatment Vidar gave his children. There's a mention early on of Farbjorn was on the same raid as Steinarr so maybe that was his way of intervening? But then again for all we know Steinarr might not have even considered them friends so much as… my weirdly zealous former subordinate that I still feel kind of responsible for? I could also be misreading all of this of course but who knows.
