[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
Yeah, that seems fine. I just didn't want one write in of 'tell them everything' to win because nobody was voting, but this works. If they wanna kill some of the 'survivors' of the 40 men from Rogaland, we'd be down with that. This does reveal we know someone was behind it, but that's probably acceptable.
[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
I think the faces of Slavic warriors are reference to multi headed/faced slavic gods like Svetovit or Triglav. Other than that I haven't caught any references to irl pre-christian slavs. I'm surprised there's not much said about mead as it was also widely popular among slavic people, but I guess this talk focused on differences rather than similarities.
[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
I think the faces of Slavic warriors are reference to multi headed/faced slavic gods like Svetovit or Triglav. Other than that I haven't caught any references to irl pre-christian slavs. I'm surprised there's not much said about mead as it was also widely popular among slavic people, but I guess this talk focused on differences rather than similarities.
It's not exactly super easy to find things to mention, unfortunately, as there are very, very few sources to base off of. However, the mead was included as part of hospitality, as giving beer and alcohol was a staple of good hospitality for the Norse.
0~0~0
I'll go ahead and call voting now
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Nov 11, 2023 at 11:47 PM, finished with 38 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
[X] Take him up on his offer
-[X] Demo the speech we planned, where we briefly introduce ourselves, talk about the raid on the Hading, and how assassins used the raid as cover to come and attack Steinarr. Recount how he stood against forty men like a hero and slew them all, and that we personally witnessed a Valykrie arriving for him. Explain that we are going to scatter his ashes over Gotland and give news of his death to all of his kin we know of. We and our brothers are doing everything we can to track down and the men who sent the assassins, and seek vengeance.
0~0~0
A smooth, polished stump cradles your rear as you sit next to Hall Water-Watcher. He tends to a crackling fire from a stump of his own as the smoke wards away the baleful buzzing of irritant insects. Gentle eyes meet yours as he waits for you to speak, perfectly content to sit in silence for however long it takes for you to feel ready.
"It's..." You begin hesitantly, unsure of how best to speak your words, "It's my father, Steinarr, he's, well, he's... Passed."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Hall sighs as his lips thin and his head hangs low, "I have heard great things about my uncle and wished to meet him one day, but, alas, such things were not meant to be. Forgive me for asking, but," Hall turns to you with gently tilted head, "how did he die? If it's not too painful, of course."
"Dad died like a lion," your eyes drift towards the fire as you recount the tale. "With sword in hand and fire in his heart, he fought forty men all by his lonesome—a portion of a raid sent to kill him. I arrived just in time, after fighting a duel with an enemy champion, to witness a Valkyrie take his soul to the Gods."
"A worthy end to a heroic man," Hall nods as he reaches into his shirt and retrieves an odd, corked bottle. Popping the cork with a thumb, he dumps the silvery contents onto the fire. An eruption of iridescent flames springs forth from the ember heart as the rainbow colors seems to almost carry your words to the highest peaks.
"What," your brows furrow as the flames die down, "what was that?"
"The residue of a rainbow," Hall answers readily, eager to share his knowledge with the youth, "a tradition of the Gutes, to pour rain dust onto a fire at a warrior's passing. It is said to help a man's soul reach the Gods, though I doubt that Steinarr needs any aid there."
"I... Thank you," you wipe a bit of dampness away from your eyes, "and thank you for letting me talk. I, I'm feeling much better now."
"Anything for kin," he draws you into a fatherly hug...
...Gods, you miss Dad.
0~0~0
"And so," you say as you stand before the gathered elders of Svarthondsholl—the eight oldest and wisest of your kin—"I intend to fulfil Steinarr's final request and spread his ashes over his birthplace, over the corpse of Gotland."
You'd spent the last two hours going over the events leading up to Steinarr's death, few able to believe that a man such as he was dead, and so were feeling rather exhausted by the proceedings. Question after question passed the elders' lips as they struggled to grasp the truth of the matter. The asked of his killers, of their reasons for the killing, of who was behind it, and what you and your brothers meant to do over it.
An angry-browed man with a long, gray beard stands up as the previous elder sits back down. Randver Ice-Eater was his name and he'd been a thorn in your side ever since you stepped foot through the doors. "You say you know the name of the one who would have Steinarr dead, but refuse to tell us it? Why?"
You set your jaw and meet his steel with your own, "Because, if we're not careful, it'll be all for naught. My brothers and I are working towards solidifying our case before the Thing and, once all is said and done, we will call upon your aid to take vengeance upon Dad's killers."
Randver scowls, anger flashing in his eyes as he spits, "It sounds to me like you're just a c-"
He doesn't get to finish that sentence, not with his knees buckling and giving out under him. He collapses into his chair, gasping and clawing at his wheezing throat.
"Speak not if your words be nid, disobedient child of mine sister," an ancient voice bearing an archaic accent rumbles from the shadows as a man steps into the room. He's nearly bent double with age and his face bears more wrinkles than the night sky has stars. He shuffles in with pink slippers on his feet and a sheathed sword as a cane in his hand. His beard—easily as long as he is tall—drags across the ground as a young attendant desperately tries to tuck it into his belt. "If Birna heard the words you speak to kin of you and mine both, she'd take a beating to your woeful hide."
"U-uncle," the sole woman on the council—an old mother by the name of Eyes-Amma—stutters in fear as her uncle sweeps into the room. "You're supposed to be resting!"
"I be Brimir, I do as it pleases me," Brimir answers matter-of-factly as he plops himself down in the high seat—which had as of yet been empty. "Now then, fire-hearted child of mine youngest brother," he laces his fingers across the pommel of his black-feather sword as his eyes fall upon you—and you realize, with a shock, that he's blind, "tell your Uncle the cause of all this chaos."
Swallowing, you do just that. You tell him of the raid, of how it was meant to slay Steinarr. You speak of how you intend to spread his ashes over Gotland and how you mean to take vengeance once you've gotten all your affairs in order. All the while, as you recount your story once again, Brimir listens ever-so-carefully to every word.
At the end of it, he closes his eyes and, for a moment, you fear he may have dozed off only for his blind gaze to once more fall upon you. "I hear your struggles and wish you good tides. You will have aid when the day of death comes, so goes the words of Brimir."
With that, he closes his eyes and a gentle snoring springs from his lips.
0~0~0
"So," Hall meets you outside the hall of your kinsmen, "how did it go?"
You're not really sure how to answer that, so you just try your best, "Brimir said that I would have your aid in taking vengeance, and then went to sleep."
Hall chuckles, "That does sound like my father." 'Brimir always was both the most and least like me.'
What do you do next?
[ ] Seek out some merchants
[ ] Wander the streets of Svarthondsholl, see what there is to find
[ ] Perhaps you can spar with some of your kinsmen?
[ ] You've had enough of Svarthondsholl, get a move on
[ ] Write in
[X] Perhaps you can spar with some of your kinsmen?
@Imperial Fister How long will Halla be staying here? Do we have a limit on how many actions we can expect to take like in Denmark or will we just be allowed to do stuff until we choose to leave?
@Imperial Fister How long will Halla be staying here? Do we have a limit on how many actions we can expect to take like in Denmark or will we just be allowed to do stuff until we choose to leave?
After sparring, I'd be torn between either doing some light trading (I doubt they have much we want or we much they do, since they live closer to where we bought healing clay than we do), or writing in some kind of 'introduce our kids to their cousins' playdate, if there's any kids around their ages.
@Imperial Fister How long will Halla be staying here? Do we have a limit on how many actions we can expect to take like in Denmark or will we just be allowed to do stuff until we choose to leave?
After sparring, I'd be torn between either doing some light trading (I doubt they have much we want or we much they do, since they live closer to where we bought healing clay than we do), or writing in some kind of 'introduce our kids to their cousins' playdate, if there's any kids around their ages.
I don't think playdates are the best idea. We don't want to get too attached here when I'm pretty sure this place is doomed. We'd take in refugees, but there's no guarantee the small children ours played with would be among them, and I doubt we can get them to change their way of life enough to not be doomed.
Merchants are solid if we're going to do the side-quest next (we can sell the Cooling Clay and free up some capacity), but upon learning more about the slavs, I think doing that on the way back is better. Maybe just walk around and see what there is to see...
