I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Just as a heads up, probably not going to be posting an update today as I have the first session of a vampire the masquerade campaign to attend and I'm not entirely sure how long it'll run
NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)
- Thread starter I.F. Ister
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Action
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- 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
Good luck and don't forget the sunscreen
- Location
- Under your couch
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- He/Him
Good luck and don't forget the sunscreen
And that's advice coming from The Count himself.
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I'll call voting in 30 minutes
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Alright, voting is now closed
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I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
I'll need an Overland roll, please, as well as a Tactics
- Location
- Many Places
Tactics is 18 dice correct?
Edit: Cool that's 15 successes
Edit: Cool that's 15 successes
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Should be 16, as we have a Kenning that adds +1d.
- Location
- United States
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- They/Them
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Cool, that's 11 successes on Overland, and 22 on Tactics (after adding Frenzy).
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
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- He/They
11 Successes, eh? Just barely good enough to succeed without complications
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And the Longstride Kenning is finally actually relevant!
Wolinian Adventures 0
I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] Strike hard, strike fast, leave no time for them to ready themselves nor call for help
Do you beat the scouts? (Overland: 11) 11 Successes
A rumble fills the air as a herd of deer freeze mid-meal. Mouth full with grass and bark, the antler-crowned king of the forest gazes to the West, where birds of all feathers flock together into the skies. The cries of the feathered-folk sound the alarm to all the denizens of the forest, telling the tale that will soon be upon them.
The smell of oiled iron fills the air as the trees shake and the wind shudders. Blood will be spilled on this day, the king of the forest knows that all too well. The source of that sanguine ichor, that life-giving liquid, though, is still known only to those who will spill it.
At the head of the great host of iron-clad warriors is a fiery-maned woman. She leads the charge with a gusto, her weapon held high and defiant of all the people of the forest. Rabbits flee in terror as squirrels scramble up trees. A hog, normally a great foe to the king, squeals upon seeing those eyes burning bright as she streaks across the forest floor, her men keeping pace with her as best they can.
Bursting through the tree line, her shadow falls across the village of Grodno as she leaps into the air. The flash of sunlight on iron is the only warning the villagers receive before she falls upon them like a fox among hens.
Her weapon sings songs of bloody violence as she swipes a man's head from his shoulders and lodges the blade in the chest of another. Wrenching it free, she pivots and leaps once again. Bounding through the village as her men stream in behind her, she strikes both left and right as she charges with an honest love for violence.
Blood soaks the ground as women clutch their children and men struggle for their weapons. A horn's mournful call rings out from the ring of sharpened wood stakes at the center of the village, but it's too late for any meaningful defense to be mounted.
As the palisade's gate finally starts to close, the steel-eyed woman crashes into it with a cloak of flaming wings at her side. An explosion of fire rips from her flesh as the logs shatter into splinters. A man charges her, only to met with a face full of flames as she whirls to and fro, her eyes darting around the once-protected interior. Searching for something, she doesn't see the scouts emerging from the woods, eyes full of horror as they realize they were too late.
The woman's steel gaze lands on the largest, most-gilded building of the lot. A grin slides up her face as, with a practiced pirouette, her weapon whips around and bashes aside the paltry line forming up to stop her.
Diving past the warriors as her men rush in and lock them down, the woman races across the open space and reaches the building's ironwood doorway in record time.
Just as she aims to wrench open the door, it leaps from its home with tremendous force! She dodges with ease as the door sails over the walls and into the smoke-choked village—someone having accidentally knocked over a cooking fire in the chaos—but it wasn't the door that was the threat here, not at all.
From the shadow-slicked doorway steps a man in a suit of iron. He's not from these parts, not with the plates of shining metal covering his body and the leg-length sword of blazing black fire in his hands, but here he stands in defense of it all the same.
The woman freezes as her eyes gain a semblance of the full moon's glow. A name slips from her mouth, a name that clearly has meaning to her, though the king of the forest knows it not.
"*Gabriel?!*"
0~0~0
You stare in shock and horror as the man you left in Wessex stands before you in Wolin. Gabriel's helmet covers his face, but his eyes peer out from the shadows of the visor. Blue eyes widen ever so slightly as your face meets his gaze, but they harden instantly as they see the smoke rising in your wake and the blood covering Sagaseeker.
"Halla," Gabriel replies as he hardens his heart and lifts his sword, his voice with an iron echo as the helm muffles the noise, "I can't let you harm these people any further."
"I'm only here for the scholar," you try a last-minute attempt at diplomacy, knowing in your heart that it would be in vain.
"What a coincidence," Gabriel's sword doesn't waver, though his jaw clenches tight, "so am I."
0~0~0
(Tactics: 15+7) 22 Successes
Gabriel stands before you as a man significantly stronger than last you saw. He's advanced quickly, far too quickly for a Christian such as he.
His armor is covered in magic of a divine sort as fires lurk beneath the surface. The Blackstone Blade burns bright on the surface of his unfamiliar sword, the flickers telling of his advancement in far greater detail than you suspect you'd ever receive from him.
Gabriel stands at the Fourth Bead of the Sixth Decade and he is a force to be reckoned with.
He's going to attempt to wear you down with high-powered attacks before finishing you off in the next round. He's a fair bit faster than you are and his strength is your equal, though his muscles are leaner than your own to better support his tremendous speed. His blows will, at the very least, match your own in impact.
Endurance: (17/17) | Frenzy: (7/7) (+7 to all Combat Rolls) | Armor: (42/42) (+9 to Defense)
Orthstirr: (1483/1483) | Odr: (65)
( ) Frami: 495 | ( ) Virthing: 495 | ( ) Saemd: 494
Sagaseeker has 80 orthstirr in his reservoir.
Emberguard has 28 orthstirr in its reservoir.
Shapeshifting (8 Slots) + Runes are granting you (+1 Damage, +3 Attack-Speed)
Shapecrafted Slots are granting you (+5 Attack-Speed)
Your combat pool is 141d6 and you have 21d6 Stoked Dice
What do you do?
[ ] (Plan Name)
-[ ] (Dice) Attack
-[ ] (Dice) Defense
-[ ] (Dice) Intercept
-[ ] (Dice) (Trick) (Orthstirr)
-[ ] Tactics Write in
0~0~0
AN: Looks like you've met an old friend, eh? Please feel free to ask me questions regarding his tactics.
15-minute moratorium.
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Can we negotiate here? We'd give up the scholar rather than fight Gabriel, I'm pretty sure...we want him but he's not essential. We made a deal to recover Johannes ship and stuff, but that seems...negotiable.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
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- He/Him
Call me skeptical, but I'm doubtful this is actually Gabriel. For him to just randomly be here and to resort to violence without any meaningful attempt at diplomacy, it doesn't feel right. It feels more like some sort of deception or trick being played upon us.
This is why I don't think this is really Gabriel, but a deception being played upon us. If it is really Gabriel here, then Halla would at least consider giving the scholar to him. After all, our oath is to retrieve Johannes' money with the scholar just being the reward.
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Possible. Him being here to retrieve the same guy isn't impossible, though. We are here for someone who knows Latin, and if they're, say, a Churchman from Wessex...
Yeah, I do agree his behavior is weird. And the Slavs are known for trickery in general. I think trying to negotiate is still right...if he's a fake talking should reveal that quickly.
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- Location
- In the oldest city on the oldest land
Do his tactics feel familiar to how he fought before. Are they an evolution of his previous fighting style or completely different.
It seems unlikely to me that this is all a fake-out, I think that would feel unsatisfying.
We have to consider that fate and destiny are active forces that play a role in events. It's quite possible that Gabriel was sent here to stop us (or at least make it difficult) precisely because if we manage to rescue the Latin scholar, then we will go on to create Norse armour, causing a major shift in the balance of power between the Norse and Christian worlds.
We have to consider that fate and destiny are active forces that play a role in events. It's quite possible that Gabriel was sent here to stop us (or at least make it difficult) precisely because if we manage to rescue the Latin scholar, then we will go on to create Norse armour, causing a major shift in the balance of power between the Norse and Christian worlds.
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I mean, we were specifically warned about the Slavs using trickery and Masks. This being a fake has been foreshadowed if true.
This, however, is also very possible. Gabriel being here in truth could also certainly be the case.
So, @Imperial Fister in terms of Gabriel's tactics, does he have a plan for Contested Movement? And can we tell what it is if so? We've messed him up with that before. If he doesn't have a plan, that's indicative it's not really him, and if he does, we want to know it.
Also, because I'm now keeping a count, how many Slavs has Halla killed personally here? It sounds like a couple, but knowing would be good.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
True, it is impossible for this to be the real deal, but it feels to coincidental to have our old friend/rival just coming to the defence of our enemies with only a token attempt at diplomacy when our current enemies are notable for being deceptive foes. It feels more like a Slav mind game being played on Halla.
As you say, an actual attempt at negotiating a diplomatic solution will reveal whether or not this is the real Gabriel or a trick.
[X] Offer to let Gabriel have the scholar.
-[X] Let him know about Steinarr's death even if he insists on fighting.
Hmm, I wonder if this is a Slav cultivator pretending to be Gabriel to throw us off.
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I am strongly against letting Gabriel have the scholar. He's a warrior and we're a warrior, and we're on two different sides.
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Slight rewording here:
[X] Offer to let Gabriel have the scholar.
-[X] Note that there is stuff we need here, we made a deal, but we can negotiate for the rest
-[X] Let him know about Steinarr's death even if he insists on fighting. Simply phrase it as 'You should know, my father was killed.' and see how he reacts.
I think we need to phrase the Steinarr thing specifically...the real Gabriel will react differently to that than a fake who hears it phrased that way. and we can't just retreat without Johannes stuff. The scholar he can have, but we need to retrieve that stuff.
Unless we plan to enslave the scholar we kind of have to let Gabriel have him. He's gonna prefer going with Gabriel to us...I am against enslaving him or preventing him from leaving with a countryman or coreligionist if that's his desire.
[X] Offer to let Gabriel have the scholar.
-[X] Note that there is stuff we need here, we made a deal, but we can negotiate for the rest
-[X] Let him know about Steinarr's death even if he insists on fighting. Simply phrase it as 'You should know, my father was killed.' and see how he reacts.
I think we need to phrase the Steinarr thing specifically...the real Gabriel will react differently to that than a fake who hears it phrased that way. and we can't just retreat without Johannes stuff. The scholar he can have, but we need to retrieve that stuff.
Unless we plan to enslave the scholar we kind of have to let Gabriel have him. He's gonna prefer going with Gabriel to us...I am against enslaving him or preventing him from leaving with a countryman or coreligionist if that's his desire.
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I.F. Ister
Fortifying The Thread
- Pronouns
- He/They
Voting is now open
As best you can tell, this is Gabriel.
His tactics have evolved in a manner almost reminiscent of your own.
He's going to be ready for anything you've used against him before or that he's seen.
As best you can tell, this is Gabriel.
His tactics have evolved in a manner almost reminiscent of your own.
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