That's totally fair for experimental or innovative rune-carving, but I was more talking about duplicating the rune-patterns we already know. What happens if we just spend a Personal Action on 'Make as many Meat-Keeping Sticks as possible'? Because we may well want to do exactly that at some point.
That's what Multi-Crafting is for. The crafting Personal Action is to make a single, potentially high quality item while Multi-Crafting can only make Basic/non-quality items like Meat-Keeping Sticks.
Also, I'll call voting in an hour and a half, so vote while you have the chance!
Fair. We can maximize that even more with cattle (cattle provide 12 Food and weight maybe twice what the heaviest pigs to...I'd expect 5-6 Food on a pig and 2-3 on a Sheep or Goat...chickens are probably 1, but are also an ongoing source of food from the eggs), but there are more reasons to keep cattle alive (pigs are pretty much kept solely to be eaten).
Advantage of pigs is numbers - you can get 24+ piglets in a year (though this is on a modern pig with more than a thousand years of additional breeding) and they're somewhat easier to pen/feed.
I wrote up a thing comparing all the livestock advantages/disadvantages but then remembered this is Xianxia Viking Quest, not "become a medieval livestock merchant" Quest .
If we want to be serious about livestock though we definitely need additional help just to watch them and make sure they don't get eaten by wolves - Gabriel is one option, we could also hire out from family or at town.
I wrote up a thing comparing all the livestock advantages/disadvantages but then remembered this is Xianxia Viking Quest, not "become a medieval livestock merchant" Quest .
Advantage of pigs is numbers - you can get 24+ piglets in a year (though this is on a modern pig with more than a thousand years of additional breeding) and they're somewhat easier to pen/feed.
Fair, though that runs into the 'we have to feed them' problem. Right now we have only three fields, so we actually can't afford to feed an unlimited number of animals. Pigs may take less effort to pen and feed than some animals, but it isn't none...I think we need more prep work before we actually start taking advantage of escalating numbers like this.
I wrote up a thing comparing all the livestock advantages/disadvantages but then remembered this is Xianxia Viking Quest, not "become a medieval livestock merchant" Quest .
If we want to be serious about livestock though we definitely need additional help just to watch them and make sure they don't get eaten by wolves - Gabriel is one option, we could also hire out from family or at town.
Generally speaking, given the era, most people aren't really for hire like this, as I understand it. We probably need to buy thralls if we want extra help. We can free them, if we like (which still leaves them very low status and likely stuck working for us in practice even if they're technically free to leave, but it's a definite improvement), but freemen in general probably aren't gonna be available for this kind of work on any long term basis.
They are, actually. Farmhands are freemen who don't own land, whose families are often housed on the farms that they work at. I've mentioned them offhand a couple of times in story.
They are, actually. Farmhands are freemen who don't own land, whose families are often housed on the farms that they work at. I've mentioned them offhand a couple of times in story.
I may have made this sound more interesting than it was: Chickens: Chickens are machines that make more chickens. I don't even really want to try to research chicken math, but they're very good at laying eggs and will lay fertilized ones with [some frequency] if there are roosters around. They can be kept in pens/henhouses and eat pretty much whatever, but you do have to feed them. Goats: Goats can famously eat anything. They have 1-3 kids per year, and female goats give milk. Reach maturity in 6-9 months. They can be penned in small numbers but in large numbers have to be watched over - see the word 'goatherd'. Sheep: Sheep have 1-3 lambs per year. Female sheep give milk, and both male and female sheep give wool. You can eat young lamb, or old mutton - mutton is famously more tough, but still edible. Sheep have to be watched - see the word 'shepherd' - to graze them and keep them from wandering off, as well as defended from predators. Pigs: Animals bred solely to transform feed into meat. They can have up to two litters a year at 12+ piglets a litter, and famously can eat slop (though I think if you're serious about pig-keeping you pay attention to the diet like with any other animal). They can be penned or released into woodlands and rounded up later, though that can result in wild boars. Cattle: The most prestigious farm animal, many cultures (including the one Halla's in) measure wealth in part by how many cows you keep in your herd. They give lots of milk (though we're centuries before modern milk cow breeding) and have 1-2 calves each year (and you want to calve them to keep the milk going). Cows are also important in that they can pull plows and do other labor. Generally you castrate male cattle for either meat or labor animals, but not sure if that was practiced back in this time period - if not, bulls are super dangerous. Cows need to be watched and grazed, but at least are somewhat less vulnerable to predators due to being big, strong herd animals. Horses: Kept on a farm, but they don't make meat (except in emergencies) or sellable products. They can be bred for labor, riding or battle - Vikings don't seem to have used warhorses, so probably draft animals and riding. Icelandic horses are famous and were taken from Norway to Iceland, so our horses would probably be the ancestors of the Icelandic horse. Horses are expensive, delicate animals that require a lot of expertise to take care of, which feeds into the prestige; that said, Icelandic horses are hardier than average and have winter coats, which is cool.
Generally all these animals are going to be less productive than modern versions because they are lacking more than a thousand years of selective breeding, but some benchmarks to look at.
Disclaimer: I am not a farmer, this is just pop-culture osmosis and quick research.
Doesn't matter, I still find it cool. Have a reward dice.
The Norse did use horses for 'battle', but not any actual fighting. If a Norseman were to use horses in battle, it would be to get them to the fight where they'd then dismount to fight on foot.
With mossy earth softening the ground, Gabriel Blackstone knelt with head bent, eyes closed, palms pressed, and fingers laced.
He breathed in and Fervor flowed like water down his throat.
It washed through his Temple, coating each nook and cranny with divine light. Waves of power soaked the tapestries and splashed against the stained glass. It pooled beneath the tabernacle, the few motes of Holy Spirit he had contained inside.
He breathed out and Fervor poured like steam from his mouth.
It retreated down the halls and side-passageways. It pulled away from the tapestries and left the glass windows sparkling, twinkling in the midday light. All was gone but the pool before the tabernacle. Shining with Heavenly splendor, the pool of divine Fervor began to sink into the marble floors.
His shackles clanked and Fervor evaporated. It turned to dust and ash in an instant, dirtying his Temple and leaving the taste of salt in his mouth.
He sighed and opened his eyes to the small, secluded grotto he'd found. Freeing his fingers from their bonds, he climbed to his feet just as the sky began to darken.
As a cultivator only on the Eighth Bead of the Second Decade, the bitter taste of defeat was a very familiar flavor. He'd long since gotten used to its sting as his rivals in the Order ground him down. But he would grow and learn from his mistakes. With Lord Highwater having chosen him as Squire, he would finally be free to flourish and prosper.
He had been riding with Lord Highwater to a village hugging the coast, where he was to receive his Armor and take his vows. But then, in a lazy afternoon of fire, death, and blood, it was all taken from him.
Just like that, it was gone. His plans, his ambitions, his dreams, his everything! It all went up in a puff of acrid, bitter smoke. Nothing was left now but ash, dust, and the laughter of feasting crows.
The last thing Lord Highwater ever did was confirm Gabriel's survival. Even in death, even as his murderer's sword pierced through his viewing port, Lord Highwater was an icon of chivalric virtue. True to his word, the Viking left Gabriel alive.
Alive, yes, but in chains and his power suppressed.
For two — three this coming winter — years has he suffered the indignity of these chains, has his cultivation stagnated. The fact that his power — even as meager as it was — would let him live past these heathen dogs was a poor balm to his soul's wounds.
But at least he was the third strongest on the farm. At least he had that...
Until she happened. Until Halla Steinarsdottir, the Murderer's second daughter, forced herself into his life. In Wessex, she would be nothing more than a pawn for her father to use in political games. Here, she was even less.
Yet she beat him like a dog. Broke his Focus over her knee like a twig and beat him black and blue with an ease and power that vastly surpassed his own.
It took her four years to reach that level of power, according to her. Four years to not only match, but exceed him in power. It took him seven — seven! — long years of constant training to reach the modicum of power he now possessed and she does it in four.
The worst of it all, though, was that he couldn't even hate her for it. That would be too easy. Not simply because of her status as God's Punishment for the Sinful, but for her damn beauty. She had the face and body of a warrior-angel yet the manners of a churl. She enjoyed mutton — mutton! — of all things, like some kind of savage.
Well, at least she'd be married one day and he'd never have her progress thrown in his face again.
Even if some small, traitorous part of him felt a pang of jealousy at that thought.
0~0~0
Well would you look at that, I finished Gabriel's first interlude just as voting ended. Nice
Voting is closed, by the way.
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Mar 22, 2023 at 6:57 PM, finished with 87 posts and 9 votes.
Hang on. I'm assuming he ranked Steinar higher than himself, right? And this ranking was pre-spar. So Halla isn't second. And I'm pretty sure Eric or Sten weren't here when Gabriel was brought, so that'd leave Asveig, Asva, Sterki or Jerasmus.
...So is the second Jerasmus?
And like, I wonder what's up with the Christian cultivation. My initial assumption would be that, since it takes so much longer for someone to become a Knight, a Knight would be stronger than a Norse cultivator, but clearly that isn't true. Also, Halla is really strong for her age. And like, I don't think orthstirr is as easy to obtain as we've been making it seem.
...alright, maybe a 'no' to buying Gabriel lol. That would definitely be salting the wound. On the other hand, Steinarr won't free him and we probably would so...
Hang on. I'm assuming he ranked Steinar higher than himself, right? And this ranking was pre-spar. So Halla isn't second. And I'm pretty sure Eric or Sten weren't here when Gabriel was brought, so that'd leave Asveig, Asva, Sterki or Jerasmus.
And like, I wonder what's up with the Christian cultivation. My initial assumption would be that, since it takes so much longer for someone to become a Knight, a Knight would be stronger than a Norse cultivator, but clearly that isn't true. Also, Halla is really strong for her age. And like, I don't think orthstirr is as easy to obtain as we've been making it seem.
I think a Knight is stronger than most Norse cultivators. Heck, I think Gabriel is a lot stronger than most Norse cultivators his age...it's just that so is Halla. As I just did an analysis of, Halla is terrifying for her age as compared to most of her peers. Gabriel coming in behind her in power is not as much of a big deal as he feels it is in the moment.
...alright, maybe a 'no' to buying Gabriel lol. That would definitely be salting the wound. On the other hand, Steinarr won't free him and we probably would so...
Gabriel was on the farm before Sten arrived. And like - at least, from how I understand Gabriel - I don't think Gabriel would automatically rank Sten higher than him without having seen him do anything but forge. I could easily be wrong though.
Gabriel was on the farm before Sten arrived. And like - at least, from how I understand Gabriel - I don't think Gabriel would automatically rank Sten higher than him without having seen him do anything but forge. I could easily be wrong though.
Yeah, Gabriel was there first, but not by much, and at the time in question (immediately after the spar), Sten had been there for a while. And I'm pretty sure Gabriel can tell that Sten is a terrifying dude...experienced martial artists can generally tell that about another even in real life, something that tends to be even more true of cultivators. He's probably seen him, like, spar with Steinarr at least once to boot...I suspect that very much revealed him as a scary guy.
Anyways, we have our info on Christian cultivation. Unlike Norse Cultivation, and presumably like Chinese cultivation, it seems to involve permanent effects. Presumably the first Decade is constructing your internal castle, while the second is building the Tabernacle?
Well, I can't say I blame you, Abjorn is basically as perfect a husband as can be. Unfortunately for you, Halla got here first so the big bear is ours!
Well, I can't say I blame you, Abjorn is basically as perfect a husband as can be. Unfortunately for you, Halla got here first so the big bear is ours!
Anyways, we have our info on Christian cultivation. Unlike Norse Cultivation, and presumably like Chinese cultivation, it seems to involve permanent effects. Presumably the first Decade is constructing your internal castle, while the second is building the Tabernacle?
Yeah, I theorized that before in passing, but it's good to get something resembling confirmation.
I think that, unlike Norse cultivation, more 'refined' schools probably have several important differences:
1. As they advance they 'invest' into stats permanently, rather than all such investment being temporary like a Norseman. So Gabriel is always walking around with his Hamr equivalent maxed. It's plausible that they actually can't invest Fervor into stats in a temporary fashion (or only in a very limited way...maybe one point per stat or something), though it's also possible they just don't do that much because it's less efficient for them.
2. Smaller pools of power. We know that Knights get some potent effects from Focus and recover some Fervor every turn, and it now seems likely they don't need to spend it on bumping their stats, but I think the counterpoint to that has to be a much smaller pool. Given that we now know that 'eighth bead of the second decade' is indeed a Cultivation term, I'm suspicious it refers to his Fervor Pool (ie: he has a pool of 18).
3. This one is completely speculative (the others are speculative, but evidence-based), but I suspect Norse Tricks are both easier to learn and a lot more expensive than those of more refined types of cultivation. Like, I bet the 'rough trick' level is basically nonexistent and you're not considered proficient until you hit the equivalent of Mastered. I suspect this is paired with getting Mastered being a bit cheaper than for a Norseman (though Perfected, if available, is probably still a long ways off). Like, by refined standards Norsemen mostly use a bunch of half-learned and deeply inefficient techniques.
Or at least, I think those are true of Christian Cultivation (at least as practiced by Knights) and probably Chinese Cultivation (as they'd definitely make sense there).
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