Well, 'Finland' is specifically mentioned as a place in Egils Saga alongside Kvenland. Kvenland was the area of modern day Finland that was ruled by the Norse.

From Chapter 14 - Thorolf again in Finmark (Bolded by me):
"Finmark is a wide tract; it is bounded westwards by the sea, wherefrom large firths run in; by sea also northwards and round to the east; but southwards lies Norway; and Finmark stretches along nearly all the inland region to the south, as also does Halogaland outside. But eastwards from Naumdale is Jamtaland, then Helsingjaland and Kvenland, then Finland, then Kirialaland; along all these lands to the north lies Finmark, and there are wide inhabited fell-districts, some in dales, some by lakes. The lakes of Finmark are wonderfully large, and by the lakes there are extensive forests. But high fells lie behind from end to end of the Mark, and this ridge is called Keels."

It's kind of a mess. There is really not a lot of scholarly consensus on where Kvenland was, other than a rough region.

Like, the bit you quote from Egil's Saga is definitely one of the more relevant mentions, but it is also true that "Kvenland" is used in a variety of sources sources to refer to a range of possible places encompassing parts of modern-day Finland and Sweden. It was definitely a real place and probably existed on the border of the Norse world and other Finnish tribes, but beyond that, it's kind of hard to say. Even the mention of "Finland" in that excerpt is apparently suggested to be a later addition by someone who did not recognise Kvenland anymore (according to Wikipedia).

EDIT: If that's where NorseQuest Kvenland is though then that makes sense. The only thing reading around about it has convinced me of is there's quite a wide range of possibilities, and Kvenland is not actually necessarily synonymous with all of Finno-Scandia.

If you go to Bornholm, you won't be meeting Ironjaw—as he won't be there. Nobody meets with Ironjaw, he meets with you.

Ironjaw has to be introduced in a very specific way, I'm afraid.

Could we leave him a message? Seems polite.
 
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I mean I'm not hugely fussed.

In some weird way, it feels more polite to inform him sooner rather than latter, I think? Functionally it's the same time added to our journey either way, which is not a lot as it's a small detour and we have to go between the island and Sweden anyway. But it's not the biggest deal in the world either way.
 
Gotland Calls | Denmark 1
[X] Go to the Jarl's hall and greet him
0~0~0

Wood planks greet your feet as you walk across the oaken streets of Hedeby. What strikes you most of the greatest city in Denmark is the smell that seems to ever-linger regardless of how often the people bathe. Passing by a washing house, you shake your head as people enter and exit yet still the stench remains.

Fortunately, your business is not with the smelly denizens of Hedeby, but with the one who would call it his. Sitting atop a centrally-located hill inside a smaller-yet-equally-foreboding ring of shaven wood spikes is a building of iron, wood, and stone. From the roof of the tallest building you've ever seen—barring Winchester, of course—sprouts an oak that casts all of Hedeby in its shadow.

Gold-engraved iron lanterns filled with earth's blood dangle off low-hanging branches as you pass under an archway of carved wood held up by the efforts of two men of oaken might. As you press your hands to surface of the double-doored entrance—both doors easily three times your height!—you catch the sounds of hundreds of men feasting upon the finest food in all of Denmark.

Pushing open the doors, you're greeted with silence as three-hundred eye-pairings turn to you. Upon a shining seat of gem-encrusted Steel sits the man you've come to see, the Jarl of Hedeby and Steelfather of the Eikarmenn, Jarl Iwan Oak-Eyes.

Iwan Oak-Eyes sits with head resting against the trunk of the great oak around which he's built his home—the seat of Steel positioned between two of the largest roots, the rest serving as benches for his men to rest upon. His eyes shine with curiosity as he nods to one of his attendants, who quickly move to refill the goblet in hand. Around him sits twelve armed and armored men bearing his face and likeness in upon their heads, his Ironmasks ever-ready for war.

With a surprising lack of hatred in your heart, you take a deep breath and steady yourself, eyes fixed to the man you've come to see.

How do you wish to handle this?
[ ] Write in

0~0~0

AN: One more Steelfather for you to meet, how exciting!

No moratorium and short vote.
 
I think this? We're basically just giving him a heads up on why a large group of armed people are wandering through. If he has something he wants to say, that's fine, but we're just trying to be polite. We'd probably sell to him if he wants our wood, but we're not really here to sell to him specifically.

[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.
 
Idea for an Overland/Hamr training item it/when we get a chance for it. Iron ball and chains attached to the ankle via cuffs, or maybe just special boots if the cuffs are a no-go. With runes that say "May this burden I bear make whoever wears me strong and swift" or something along those lines. Maybe bear bone ash both for the pun and as a compounding effect? Bears are strong and way faster than you'd expect.

This item isn't a huge priority obviously but it might be worth making eventually.

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[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.

This feels like a solid greeting.
 
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[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.

Yeah, this seems good enough
 
I dunno how I'd word it, but I just wanna introduce ourselves and our party, say we are here to pay respects to the Jarl and his hard, and then note that we are on a mission of trade alongside being a funerary procession for Steinnar once known as Freedfire.

Could this blow up? Yeah. Maybe he has enemies here. But he also traveled the world and made a lot of friends in his younger days. His reputation might be a boon.
 
Idea for an Overland/Hamr training item it/when we get a chance for it. Iron ball and chains attached to the ankle via cuffs, or maybe just special boots if the cuffs are a no-go. With runes that say "May this burden I bear make whoever wears me strong and swift" or something along those lines. Maybe bear bone ash both for the pun and as a compounding effect? Bears are strong and way faster than you'd expect.

This item isn't a huge priority obviously but it might be worth making eventually.

This is thematically cool...but we can fly. Our Overland gets rolled almost never...I highly suspect we will never increase it again. We probably want one of these for the kids eventually but, well, 'eventually'.

I dunno how I'd word it, but I just wanna introduce ourselves and our party, say we are here to pay respects to the Jarl and his hard, and then note that we are on a mission of trade alongside being a funerary procession for Steinnar once known as Freedfire.

For the record, it was my intention that this be included in my plan/suggestion. It says we tell him why we're here and this is why were here.
 
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[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.
 
This is thematically cool...but we can fly. Our Overland gets rolled almost never...I highly suspect we will never increase it again. We probably want one of these for the kids eventually but, well, 'eventually'.

Yeah I kinda figured that would be the case. But who knows there's always the possibility of flying not being an option or not being feasible. Like if Halla needs to traverse the Metal Mountain and there's an explicit no flying clause or something.
 
[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.

Is there any reason to be an ass?
 
[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.
 
Yeah I kinda figured that would be the case. But who knows there's always the possibility of flying not being an option or not being feasible. Like if Halla needs to traverse the Metal Mountain and there's an explicit no flying clause or something.

Oh, we may yet need to make Overland checks, and there's even an Overland Trick I'd like us to get at Rough...but they're not common enough that a Training Item is gonna be worth it.

Is there any reason to be an ass?

Interestingly, even less than usual...it seems like the burning hatred for Steelfathers is more Blackhand leaking than it is us. We can keep chill around them better with him gone. That's good to know.
 
[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.
 
For the record, it was my intention that this be included in my plan/suggestion. It says we tell him why we're here and this is why were here.

Fair. I started writing my post before anyone replied because I am replying/reading at work. Your option works for me.

Glad we aren't being forced to cause a scene vs steelfathers.

Oh, we may yet need to make Overland checks, and there's even an Overland Trick I'd like us to get at Rough...but they're not common enough that a Training Item is gonna be worth it.

Every training item we make is one our kids can make use of in time. So there's some value in it. I could see value in making an item for every single skill we know of, over time.
 
Every training item we make is one our kids can make use of in time. So there's some value in it. I could see value in making an item for every single skill we know of, over time.

This is certainly true to some degree. That said, it's a long term thing rather than an immediate term one, and NQ2 is gonna revamp the system with a shorter skill list as well, so I'd say skills we're likely never raising remain lower priority. I'd vote for a bunch of skills over Overland if we were doing additional Training Items. Starting with a plow to help train Farmwork, as that's essential and also gives us Work Dice.
 
[X] Politely introduce ourselves and explain why we're passing through, including mentioning what goods we have. We thought we'd inform him as a courtesy.

Looks fine to me. Is not like we have come for him specificaly.
 
This is certainly true to some degree. That said, it's a long term thing rather than an immediate term one, and NQ2 is gonna revamp the system with a shorter skill list as well, so I'd say skills we're likely never raising remain lower priority. I'd vote for a bunch of skills over Overland if we were doing additional Training Items. Starting with a plow to help train Farmwork, as that's essential and also gives us Work Dice.

Fair, I would like items for our crafts and design skills and our labor and farmwork too, for sure. Setting aside an action every other turn or so to make another new training tool seems reasonable, though I guess with there being no downtime it can be hard to justify. Always something more important to do.
 
Fair, I would like items for our crafts and design skills and our labor and farmwork too, for sure. Setting aside an action every other turn or so to make another new training tool seems reasonable, though I guess with there being no downtime it can be hard to justify. Always something more important to do.

All our crafting skills, including Design, are covered by our Tools, which act as a Training Item for all of them. Outside of combat skills, those not covered are Farmwork, Labor, Overland, Barb-Tongue, Composure, Management, Sailing, and Strategy.

Strategy has been stated to not get used much in this life, so that's probably not worth it. Other than that, I'd prioritize a Farmwork + Labor Item first if we can manage it, then Composure, then maybe Sailing, then the other skills, but they're really not nearly as essential.

In terms of combat skills, I'm not sure we need any additional items, though one for Defend + Dodge isn't completely unreasonable.
 
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