Supernatural durability and keeping the edge for sharpness could maybe be Standstill based, for example.
NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)
- Thread starter I.F. Ister
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Action
-
- Tags
- norse mythology (mythology) original xianxia cultivation western cultivation ask sirihand did your mother tell you anything? discussion pleases yggdrasil farming gloating gets people killed granary management hubris is a coward's word you will die norsemen do not die when they are killed the qm has a bad memory the qm is bad at math viking courtroom drama (legal drama) vikings
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Potentially. But it would be a temporary change, not something suited for a gift.
If you were to ask Sten why he didn't put runes on Avow, he would say that steel doesn't need it.
sounds like witch BS, I personally am angry at her still
Oh yeah, the witch. We still owe her a favor.
@Imperial Fister
How long until us not paying back what we owe the witch becomes an issue?
@Imperial Fister
How long until us not paying back what we owe the witch becomes an issue?
I mean fire can be pretty bright, if we cant make a flashbang maybe a smoke bomb?
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I cannot answer that
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Not asking about what the witch may or may not do.
But breaking your word sounds very much like nid to me.
And we agreed to do her a favor. So, avoiding her too long may come to be seen as trying to avoid living up to our part of the bargain.
Or am I overly cautious with that?
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
The onus of favors is on the favor-holder to call it in
- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wait, are we supposed to go to the Witch, or will she come to us when she wants the favour?
It's a shame that we're Norse, honestly. I'm all for jumping her and taking her secret tomes and whatnot, but I don't think she has any secret tomes to actually share. All her knowledge is probably in her brain.
It's a shame that we're Norse, honestly. I'm all for jumping her and taking her secret tomes and whatnot, but I don't think she has any secret tomes to actually share. All her knowledge is probably in her brain.
Apparently she has to come to us. Or else our avoiding her would be avoiding paying our debts -> shameful.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
She'll come to you. She is the favor-holder.
And even if she did, it'd all be in weird code that you'd have to decode too
- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I wonder if we'll ever be able to get Sten to reforge Sagaseeker for us but with steel or some equally esoteric/high-quality metal. He seems pretty shy about steel, so that might not happen any time soon, but I wonder if he'll do it if we give him some of that Storm Iron or whatever it was we found in the shop that one time.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Honestly, as long as it is indeed an equivalent favor that the witch requests (and something we'd find dishonorable is not equivalent), I'm fine with it. I know Blackhand wants to kill her, but really, I'm fine with us just ignoring each other unless she messes with us and ours.
We'd need quite a lot of money for that (and specifically money we weren't using for anything else...we do have other priorities, I think, including stuff for the farm, buying Gabriel and Jerasmus, maybe even a mail shirt...lots of stuff), but he'd probably be willing if we requested it, yes.
We'd need quite a lot of money for that (and specifically money we weren't using for anything else...we do have other priorities, I think, including stuff for the farm, buying Gabriel and Jerasmus, maybe even a mail shirt...lots of stuff), but he'd probably be willing if we requested it, yes.
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Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] Use 75% (-54 Orthstirr)
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I think that I'm going to call the voting a little earlier than normal. Voting will be called in an hour and a half, so vote while you can!
Omnious, that.
But yeah, i still wanna meet her, just to get things sorted. Diplomatically.
Still, trading with her is ought to be interesting.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I don't think meeting with her is gonna be productive. I don't want to make any more deals with her, don't particularly want to take the risks killing her would involve (in particular killing someone you owe a favor to before paying them back feels dishonorable...we could maybe get away with it since she's a witch, but I'd rather not chance it), and don't think she'll call in her favor immediately just because we ask her to. Add in that dealing with her is a Visit and we only get one of those a season and need at least a couple sequential ones, possibly more, to work on killing Horra and I see absolutely no reason to seek her out any time in the next several years.
Now, if she seeks us out, that's another matter and depends on what she asks of us, but seeking her out? I'm against it.
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- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah, I'm also against visiting the Witch. We have no reason to believe that she won't attempt to take advantage of us again. I don't trust her to heed reason; if we visit her in her place of power, she's most likely going to take advantage of that and try and take us. Not to mention she may have actually prepared some countermeasures for Hallr this time around, and I don't want anything happening to him.
Now that I think about it, we should probably tell Abjorn that we owe a witch a favour. I believe we've already told Steinar, but I want to also tell Abjorn in case the Witch makes us do something dodgy. Like calling in a favour for a situation she engineered to trap us or something of the like.
Now that I think about it, we should probably tell Abjorn that we owe a witch a favour. I believe we've already told Steinar, but I want to also tell Abjorn in case the Witch makes us do something dodgy. Like calling in a favour for a situation she engineered to trap us or something of the like.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I mean, sure, we should tell him everything about everything, but if the favor is unreasonable we can just refuse. The favor she gave us was, by the Seeress's prices, worth about 3 ounces of silver. Any favor we'd charge much more for than that we are free to reject and tell her to come back when her request is more reasonable. Or say we'll charge her something on top of this counting as repaying the favor.
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- Location
- Bretonnia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eh, sure, but she can also just talk in technicalities and say that it isn't a 'terribly-hard favour' and we'd be hard-pressed to refuse her request unless we had a good reason to. Or at least, that's how I understand it.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Nah, she specified it as something 'equal in value'. Anything too much more valuable? Not something we're obligated to do. She did that because she was scared of Hallr, mind you, but she did it.
Like, we can't penny pinch too much...if she asked for, like, a cow or some other physical good worth anywhere south of 10 silver we'd probably give it to her even though that's a bit pricier, but at the same time we definitely don't owe her anything terribly expensive, dangerous, or inconvenient.
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I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Voting is now closed
Summer 5/Asvir Visit 3.5, The Raid Trials
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Use it all! (Uses all Reserve Orthstirr, not including stokables or Sagaseeker's reservoir)
Stretching your shoulders, you grin as you saunter on over to the first event; boulder throwing.
It isn't a very complex sport, boulder throwing. All it really comes down to is picking up the heaviest available rock and throwing it as far as you can manage. Simple, really.
The hard part, as so often is the case, is less the sport's difficulty and more the strength of the competitors.
The strength of today's aspirants? Eh, could be better — nobodies arguing that — but it could also be much worse.
Clapping your hands and stretching for a final time, you approach the largest boulder you can find. It truly is a massive thing, easily double your height and dozens upon dozens of times your weight. Crouching down, you stretch your arms as far as they'll go and lift with all your might — with your legs, of course.
Boulder Throwing (Hamr (Throwing): 2, 6, 5, 5, 3, 1, 6, 1, 4)8+10(Orthstirr)=18 Successes
On quaking legs and through gritted teeth, you take one, two steps before putting your back into it. With a roar that shook the earth, you hurl the rock with all your strength and anger behind it.
It's not a very accurate or precise throw, but it sails through the air nonetheless. Beautiful, it tumbles through the clouds as it careens in an arc towards the pebble-beach — where the furthest of throws landed.
Its splashdown throws a massive wall of water into the air as cheers spring to life around you.
You regard your throw with a careful eye as cheers blast against your ears. Not the best throw seen today, not quite, but certainly within the top five. Maybe even top three.
After wiping a bead of sweat from your brow and heaving a satisfied sigh, you pat the shoulder of the next man in line as you wander off. He nods his thanks, respect in his eyes, before stepping up. That poor guy, having to go after your showing.
With that done, you turn your attention to the next contest; log throwing.
Log Throwing (Hamr (Throwing): 3, 6, 3, 4, 6, 6, 3, 3, 3)12+11(Orthstirr)=23 Successes
This time, with this throw, you've definitely cinched the top three throws of the day. You're not really sure how someone is supposed to top throwing a log beyond the natural harbor Asvir resides in, but that's not exactly your problem, now is it?
You shoot an apologetic look to next man in line, but your heart isn't really in it. He sighs but steps up anyways. He's probably regretting getting out of bed today, what with the rock throwing and now this.
Well, with that out of the way, the next thing on your agenda is something you've been rather excited for. After all, jumping around tends to be your forte and getting a chance to compete with others, to show off your prowess?
It has you wearing a broad smile as you come to a stop before the ships lined up in a row. It's up to you how you want to approach it. Do you want to leap top-to-bottom, from prow to stern, or side-to-side, over all the ships put together?
Why is that even a question? You're doing side-to-side and its not even a competition!
Ship Leaping (Hamr (Overland): 5, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3, 5, 6, 6)11+20(Orthstirr)=31 Successes
Breathing in deeply, you take a runner's stance and wait for the signal. Fingers dig deep into the pebble beach as you count down the seconds.
"Go!" The proctor — the same one from the wrestling competition — shouts with barrel-like lungs and you blur into motion with glee in your smile and mania in your eyes.
Slingshotting ahead with a sharp whipcrack in your wake, your feet beat against the beach as you pummel across the pebbles. The wall of longships awaiting their felag looms closer and closer, swiftly closing the window of opportunity.
With a gleeful laugh, you throw yourself into the air, easily clearing the masts as you sail through the sky. Higher and higher you climb, arms spread out as you brush against low-hanging clouds. Hair whipping in the wind, you reach the apex of your perfect parabolic arc and begin the journey down.
The moment you touch the other side of the harbor, you throw yourself into a roll and safely come to a stop. One palm presses against the beach, the other faces the sky as you rise to your feet, laughter freely falling from your happy smile.
'That was very impressive, Halla,' Blackhand smiles as you start making your way back to Asvir, 'I'd be surprised if anyone could even come close, let alone ma-'
"Do you know what they're calling you?" A stranger's voice calls out to you from the waters, unknowingly interrupting Blackhand. A man no older than you breathes lightly as he emerges from the calm waves, a lion's mane is wrapped around his bare shoulders. He's drenched from the golden hair on his head to the red-dyed leather wrappings around his legs, yet a smile stretches from ear-to-ear.
There wasn't any splash, which means he didn't jump after you. So he must have swam here in the seconds it took for you to recover...
"Longstride, that's what they're calling you." He shakes his head, honest admiration in his eyes. There's something familiar about his gaze, like you've seen it somewhere before. "You're incredible, you know? I grew up hearing stories about your family, but seeing it in person? With my own two eyes? Simply incredible."
"Uh, thanks...?" You say, fishing for a name while carefully avoiding the muscular, toned torso freely displayed to the world. You're married, dammit! "And what were they calling me? 'Longstride' or something?"
"Folkmarr Manetaker," the Headsman's younger son plants his hands on his hips as he stands proud, the lion's mane flowing in the wind behind him, "and yes, they're calling you 'Halla Longstride'."
"Halla Longstride..." You whisper the name, tasting the sound of your kenning. Already, you feel lighter on your feet than you did before, like you could run a marathon or leap half-a-dozen ships with ease. Which, you suppose, you just did.
"Come on," Folkmarr draws you back to the present as he points a hand at Asvir, "let's get back to Asvir. I wanna see how far you can go!"
Your feet start moving before you tell them to, so eager are they to follow the young Jarl to Asvir.
'You should be careful of him, Halla,' Blackhand's warning draws you up short, 'He has hungry eyes, full of bold, brazen ambition.'
"Just like you and me..." you realize as waves lap at the beach and seabirds croon high above.
'Just like you and I.'
The return to Asvir is a blur and you swiftly find yourself lined up for the second-to-last challenge; a footrace around Asvir.
Race Running (Hamr (Overland): 3, 6, 1, 5, 5, 1, 6, 4, 4)9+16(Orthstirr)=25 Successes
After the feat you performed, nobody is really wanting to try against you in running, which means that you easily pull ahead and blow everyone out of the water.
It's not exactly very satisfying, but a victory is a victory.
Well, on to wrestling. That should be a fair bit more exciting!
Folkmarr shakes your hand as you step into the ring, a grin on his face and ambition burning in his eyes.
"I've been putting this off, you know." He shoots a grin at the spectator box, where his father, Dorri Rattlespear, sits with a dour look on his face. "Father was getting impatient with me, as I kept refusing challengers. What fortune it is that the only person here worth my time just arrived!"
He points a challenging finger at you. "Come, Halla Longstride, show your strength."
You crack your neck, returning the grin with one of your own. "Oh, I'm gonna do more than show."
Wrestling (Hamr (Glima): 5, 4, 4, 4, 2, 5, 2, 5, 3, 3)9+10(Orthstirr)=19 Successes
With a surge of strength, you barely manage to lift the young, laughing Jarl off his feet. You hurl him to the side, where he hits the ground in a roll, laughing all the way.
Leaping to his feet, he turns to you with a bead of sweat falling down his brow. "Truly magnificent."
"I have been told." You shrug, taking a drink of water offered by a thrall.
"Clearly not enough," Folkmarr says as a considering look enters his eye.
(Total Successes: 116) (Thresholds Passed? All)
He straightens up and golden orthstirr shines along his body. "Halla Longstride," Folkmarr begins, his voice that of a Jarl — imperious and commanding as he demands respect from all those who hear it — "kneel before me."
You're on the ground before you even notice it happening. He stands before you, virthing unfurling down his shoulders. It resembles a lion's pelt turned into a cloak. Gold thread dances around it, repeating the shape of lion and sword over and over again.
Invoking his Jarl's spirit, he reaches up and tears a strip away a strip of cloak. He wraps it around your shoulders — the orthstirr contained within almost bleeds into your soul — and captures your attention with his next words;
"Halla Longstride, I want you in my felag. Do you accept?"
[ ] "Yes, yes I do." (Join Folkmarr's felag and raid with them. +6 Relations with Folkmarr and +3 with his felag. +8 Orthstirr)
-[ ] (Optional) "But on one condition; my husband joins too." (Take a gamble. If Abjorn passed you'll look foolish. If he didn't, then you'll be quite the loyal wife.)
[ ] "I... Thank you for the offer, but I am not interested." (Refuse to join the Folkmarr's felag. -6 Relations with Folkmarr and -3 with his felag)
(Kenning Gained: Longstride!)
0~0~0
AN: I'm rather excited to see your reactions to this. No matter what you pick, you passed with utterly flying colors. Orthstirr will be awarded next update, when you set off on your raid.
No moratorium. I'd like to start the raid today.
Stretching your shoulders, you grin as you saunter on over to the first event; boulder throwing.
It isn't a very complex sport, boulder throwing. All it really comes down to is picking up the heaviest available rock and throwing it as far as you can manage. Simple, really.
The hard part, as so often is the case, is less the sport's difficulty and more the strength of the competitors.
The strength of today's aspirants? Eh, could be better — nobodies arguing that — but it could also be much worse.
Clapping your hands and stretching for a final time, you approach the largest boulder you can find. It truly is a massive thing, easily double your height and dozens upon dozens of times your weight. Crouching down, you stretch your arms as far as they'll go and lift with all your might — with your legs, of course.
Boulder Throwing (Hamr (Throwing): 2, 6, 5, 5, 3, 1, 6, 1, 4)8+10(Orthstirr)=18 Successes
On quaking legs and through gritted teeth, you take one, two steps before putting your back into it. With a roar that shook the earth, you hurl the rock with all your strength and anger behind it.
It's not a very accurate or precise throw, but it sails through the air nonetheless. Beautiful, it tumbles through the clouds as it careens in an arc towards the pebble-beach — where the furthest of throws landed.
Its splashdown throws a massive wall of water into the air as cheers spring to life around you.
You regard your throw with a careful eye as cheers blast against your ears. Not the best throw seen today, not quite, but certainly within the top five. Maybe even top three.
After wiping a bead of sweat from your brow and heaving a satisfied sigh, you pat the shoulder of the next man in line as you wander off. He nods his thanks, respect in his eyes, before stepping up. That poor guy, having to go after your showing.
With that done, you turn your attention to the next contest; log throwing.
Log Throwing (Hamr (Throwing): 3, 6, 3, 4, 6, 6, 3, 3, 3)12+11(Orthstirr)=23 Successes
This time, with this throw, you've definitely cinched the top three throws of the day. You're not really sure how someone is supposed to top throwing a log beyond the natural harbor Asvir resides in, but that's not exactly your problem, now is it?
You shoot an apologetic look to next man in line, but your heart isn't really in it. He sighs but steps up anyways. He's probably regretting getting out of bed today, what with the rock throwing and now this.
Well, with that out of the way, the next thing on your agenda is something you've been rather excited for. After all, jumping around tends to be your forte and getting a chance to compete with others, to show off your prowess?
It has you wearing a broad smile as you come to a stop before the ships lined up in a row. It's up to you how you want to approach it. Do you want to leap top-to-bottom, from prow to stern, or side-to-side, over all the ships put together?
Why is that even a question? You're doing side-to-side and its not even a competition!
Ship Leaping (Hamr (Overland): 5, 2, 5, 1, 6, 3, 5, 6, 6)11+20(Orthstirr)=31 Successes
Breathing in deeply, you take a runner's stance and wait for the signal. Fingers dig deep into the pebble beach as you count down the seconds.
"Go!" The proctor — the same one from the wrestling competition — shouts with barrel-like lungs and you blur into motion with glee in your smile and mania in your eyes.
Slingshotting ahead with a sharp whipcrack in your wake, your feet beat against the beach as you pummel across the pebbles. The wall of longships awaiting their felag looms closer and closer, swiftly closing the window of opportunity.
With a gleeful laugh, you throw yourself into the air, easily clearing the masts as you sail through the sky. Higher and higher you climb, arms spread out as you brush against low-hanging clouds. Hair whipping in the wind, you reach the apex of your perfect parabolic arc and begin the journey down.
The moment you touch the other side of the harbor, you throw yourself into a roll and safely come to a stop. One palm presses against the beach, the other faces the sky as you rise to your feet, laughter freely falling from your happy smile.
'That was very impressive, Halla,' Blackhand smiles as you start making your way back to Asvir, 'I'd be surprised if anyone could even come close, let alone ma-'
"Do you know what they're calling you?" A stranger's voice calls out to you from the waters, unknowingly interrupting Blackhand. A man no older than you breathes lightly as he emerges from the calm waves, a lion's mane is wrapped around his bare shoulders. He's drenched from the golden hair on his head to the red-dyed leather wrappings around his legs, yet a smile stretches from ear-to-ear.
There wasn't any splash, which means he didn't jump after you. So he must have swam here in the seconds it took for you to recover...
"Longstride, that's what they're calling you." He shakes his head, honest admiration in his eyes. There's something familiar about his gaze, like you've seen it somewhere before. "You're incredible, you know? I grew up hearing stories about your family, but seeing it in person? With my own two eyes? Simply incredible."
"Uh, thanks...?" You say, fishing for a name while carefully avoiding the muscular, toned torso freely displayed to the world. You're married, dammit! "And what were they calling me? 'Longstride' or something?"
"Folkmarr Manetaker," the Headsman's younger son plants his hands on his hips as he stands proud, the lion's mane flowing in the wind behind him, "and yes, they're calling you 'Halla Longstride'."
"Halla Longstride..." You whisper the name, tasting the sound of your kenning. Already, you feel lighter on your feet than you did before, like you could run a marathon or leap half-a-dozen ships with ease. Which, you suppose, you just did.
"Come on," Folkmarr draws you back to the present as he points a hand at Asvir, "let's get back to Asvir. I wanna see how far you can go!"
Your feet start moving before you tell them to, so eager are they to follow the young Jarl to Asvir.
'You should be careful of him, Halla,' Blackhand's warning draws you up short, 'He has hungry eyes, full of bold, brazen ambition.'
"Just like you and me..." you realize as waves lap at the beach and seabirds croon high above.
'Just like you and I.'
The return to Asvir is a blur and you swiftly find yourself lined up for the second-to-last challenge; a footrace around Asvir.
Race Running (Hamr (Overland): 3, 6, 1, 5, 5, 1, 6, 4, 4)9+16(Orthstirr)=25 Successes
After the feat you performed, nobody is really wanting to try against you in running, which means that you easily pull ahead and blow everyone out of the water.
It's not exactly very satisfying, but a victory is a victory.
Well, on to wrestling. That should be a fair bit more exciting!
Folkmarr shakes your hand as you step into the ring, a grin on his face and ambition burning in his eyes.
"I've been putting this off, you know." He shoots a grin at the spectator box, where his father, Dorri Rattlespear, sits with a dour look on his face. "Father was getting impatient with me, as I kept refusing challengers. What fortune it is that the only person here worth my time just arrived!"
He points a challenging finger at you. "Come, Halla Longstride, show your strength."
You crack your neck, returning the grin with one of your own. "Oh, I'm gonna do more than show."
Wrestling (Hamr (Glima): 5, 4, 4, 4, 2, 5, 2, 5, 3, 3)9+10(Orthstirr)=19 Successes
With a surge of strength, you barely manage to lift the young, laughing Jarl off his feet. You hurl him to the side, where he hits the ground in a roll, laughing all the way.
Leaping to his feet, he turns to you with a bead of sweat falling down his brow. "Truly magnificent."
"I have been told." You shrug, taking a drink of water offered by a thrall.
"Clearly not enough," Folkmarr says as a considering look enters his eye.
(Total Successes: 116) (Thresholds Passed? All)
He straightens up and golden orthstirr shines along his body. "Halla Longstride," Folkmarr begins, his voice that of a Jarl — imperious and commanding as he demands respect from all those who hear it — "kneel before me."
You're on the ground before you even notice it happening. He stands before you, virthing unfurling down his shoulders. It resembles a lion's pelt turned into a cloak. Gold thread dances around it, repeating the shape of lion and sword over and over again.
Invoking his Jarl's spirit, he reaches up and tears a strip away a strip of cloak. He wraps it around your shoulders — the orthstirr contained within almost bleeds into your soul — and captures your attention with his next words;
"Halla Longstride, I want you in my felag. Do you accept?"
[ ] "Yes, yes I do." (Join Folkmarr's felag and raid with them. +6 Relations with Folkmarr and +3 with his felag. +8 Orthstirr)
-[ ] (Optional) "But on one condition; my husband joins too." (Take a gamble. If Abjorn passed you'll look foolish. If he didn't, then you'll be quite the loyal wife.)
[ ] "I... Thank you for the offer, but I am not interested." (Refuse to join the Folkmarr's felag. -6 Relations with Folkmarr and -3 with his felag)
(Kenning Gained: Longstride!)
0~0~0
AN: I'm rather excited to see your reactions to this. No matter what you pick, you passed with utterly flying colors. Orthstirr will be awarded next update, when you set off on your raid.
No moratorium. I'd like to start the raid today.
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