I remember that naming your child after an ancestor means they receive more hamimgja, or something along those lines? If we named one of our children after Halla, and then named the rest after Abjorn, and we chose the kid that was named after Halla to be our successor character, wouldn't they have received a lot more of Halla's soul? I recall that Hallr's was so diminished because a lot of kids were named after him.
Yeah, but we're named after Hallr, which is clearly a boys name. It doesn't need to be a 1:1 copy of her name - it just needs to be derived from it.
Also, I want to ask Hallr if there's anything we can do with an armband. From what I can tell, they're somewhat noteworthy in Norse culture, and Hallr seems like our best bet right now. Him, Steinar or Folkmarr.
I remember that naming your child after an ancestor means they receive more hamimgja, or something along those lines? If we named one of our children after Halla, and then named the rest after Abjorn, and we chose the kid that was named after Halla to be our successor character, wouldn't they have received a lot more of Halla's soul? I recall that Hallr's was so diminished because a lot of kids were named after him.
[X] Plan Our First Raid
-[X] Lotharingia (Christian-Frisians/Franks/Saxons) (Middle-Distance)
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
--[X] Abjorn Vidsson, your husband
--[X] Ask about sparring/training with him once we get home
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (again)
--[X] The one who keeps watching the water
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (and again)
--[X] The one who is humming a tune
-[X] Train Reinforce Shield 8d6
-[X] (Blackhand's Training) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks (Write in)
--[X] Ask about what Fire Hugareida there are, and how they can be learned and combined (specifically, we're interested in learning Campfire and hearing what alloying it and Ignite would do)
-[X] (Orthstirr Usage)
--[X] 5 Hamr
---[X] 4 Chop, 4 Defend, 4 Dodge, 4 Glima, 3 Bash, 3 Pierce, 3 Throw, 2 Labor, 3 Overland (30 total)
--[X] 6 Hugr
---[X] 3 Composure, 1 Saliling, 3 Scouting, 3 Silver-Tongue, 3 Strategy, 3 Tactics, 4 Wordplay, 3 Wildcraft (23 total)
--[X] 4 Fylgja
--[X] 1 First Impression
--[X] 29 free for tricks
0~0~0
(Reinforce-Shield: 4, 6, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 5)10+6(Reward Dice)=16 Successes
One day, while rowing in the late-morning sun, you notice something a bit odd about your arms.
Truth be told, while you knew how 'entertaining' sailing would be, you didn't quite understand just how boring it truly would be.
The first few hours were terrifying on a deeply instinctual level. For a girl raised on the outskirts of a forest, the wide-open ocean struck some secret chord hidden deep inside your soul. It reminded you of your first time in Asvir, though you've grown a lot since then.
The next few hours were of wonder. Sure, you'd seen the ocean before, but you'd never been on it. Now, with the wind in your hair and that air in your lungs? It was wondrous!
And then the wonder subsided. And the boredom swept in.
So you started playing with your orthstirr. Anything to pass the time as you rowed and sailed — often both at the same time. Little animals grew on your arm and you formed little forests and plains for them to play in. At the corner of the woods was a little house surrounded by fields, your and Abjorn's smiling faces peering from the window.
Over time, you tired of even that and resorted to just making swirling designs and geometric patterns on your arms.
And then the oar ahead of you slipped free from the felagi's grasp. It sailed through the air, snapping out at you with tremendous force. Invoking Standstill, you did the only thing you could think of.
You raised your orthstirr-covered arms.
It didn't stop it, not at all, but what happened was far more interesting. You see, it didn't stop it, but it did slow the oar down. What would've been a heavy bruise or worse was instead just a light, stinging bump.
The oarsman apologized profusely and you waved him off, saying that everything was okay, no harm no foul.
But even as you spoke, your thoughts were awhirl with new ideas and potential tricks.
If you were just a little bit stronger, just a bit more skilled with its use, you would've completely deflected the oar.
Something to think about, for sure.
(Reinforce-Shield Mastered!)
(+4 to Reinforce Trick!)
0~0~0 (Hugareida Trick Training: 4, 4) 2+1=3 Successes
During one of the breaks aboard the Treadfast, you decided to practice your 'flying'.
Truth be told, it's not so much 'flying' as it is just shooting fire from your virthing and riding the recoil, but if it works, then it works!
The good news is that you didn't embarrass yourself. The better news is that you managed to refine it greatly!
Once you got back on board and the other felagi started showing off their abilities — Folkmarr has some kind of lion-projection? Whatever it is, it's not a fylgja — you took some time to yourself. You've got some questions for Blackhand and privacy is a boon when it comes to that.
"Can you teach me Campfire and also what happens when you Alloy Campfire with Ignition?" Your words are quick, quiet, and to-the-point. You've no patience for eavesdroppers, not at this time and likely not ever.
'It won't be easy, but I can do it. As for your other question, you can get Wildfire from an Ignition-heavy Alloy and Forgefire from a Campfire-heavy Alloy.' A light frown graces your face as you hear unfamiliar hugareida. Blackhand, of course, notices and explains, 'Forgefire is similar to Campfire, but is more suited towards combat. Very good for its aptitude towards working with arms and armor as well as its propensity towards melting things. Sten wields Forgefire, though his isn't an Alloy.'
You nod along, taking mental note of the lesson.
(Ember-Winged Cloak is now Refined!)
(Campfire (Grade 0) added to Hugareida)
0~0~0 Abjorn Time
"Abjorn?" You ask during the afternoon break, your husband stirring from his nap beside you.
"Mhyes?" He replies, dreary-eyed as he yawns. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he gives you his full attention.
"When we kissed, beneath the tree, I got a muna from it and a hugareida from that." You demonstrate Standstill by freezing an oar in the air. "Did you get anything?"
He blinks and runs a hand through his bedhead. Taking out your comb, you start to brush his hair as he starts to speak, "I think I did, but I'm not super sure how to use it." He shrugs, disrupting your work. You scowl, resolving to give him braids if he keeps this up. "I asked dad and he said that it was stupid and useless, that I'd best forget about it."
Your scowl deepens, for far different reasons. "Well that's bullshit. What've you got?"
He swallows, cheeks reddening. Is he embarrassed about this? You want to laugh, but... but that would just be cruel. "I, um, I-I think it's called 'Leverage', or something?"
"Leverage?" You brows furrow as you mouth the name. "Like, as in lifting stuff?"
"I think so, yeah," he bobs his head, "the tree was heavy." Stifling a snort, you pat him on the shoulder as you finish combing his hair. That was such an Abjorn-way to put things — when he does things like that, you can't help but remember why you married him in the first place.
"Well, if you want, we can figure out how to use it properly when we get back home. That sound good?"
"I'd like that, yes." He's quick to answer, almost like he hopes that your offer would take up a lot of time. You scoff to yourself, hasn't he ever heard of multi-tasking?
(Abjorn's Leverage Added to Training!)
0~0~0 Water Watching Guy (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 6, 1, 3, 1, 6, 5, 3, 4, 2, 3)7+1(FirstImpressions)=8 Successes
The man watching the water with a focused, intense eye doesn't even look up as you approach. He simply raises a hand, the other clutching a winged spear, and says, "Hail, sister."
"Good morning," is your response. Not the most eloquent of words, but it works. You sit down on across from him as he keeps watching the waters. "I'm Halla Longstride and, if you don't mind me asking, what're you doing?"
"Name's Audrikr Fishfighter, and I'm waiting for sea monsters." You eye the calm waters with a doubtful brow. Sea monsters? In these waters?
"Really?" You squint at the bark-haired man, who shrugs. "What kind of sea monsters do you think we'll run into?"
"Probably just serpents, but there're some different possibilities." Clicking his tongue, Audrikr nods his helmeted head towards a quartet of glowing dots deep beneath the waves. "Like draugar."
Sagaseeker almost leaps to your hand as you swallow a gulp. Fighting on a karve would be awful in perfect conditions, let alone with a polearm, so you instead lay a hand on Thievesbane.
"Calm yourself, sister." Audrikr shakes his head, though he doesn't relax his grip on his spear. "If they were going to do something, then they'd have already done it. They're just following, watching us."
"For now." You mutter, thinking back to the draugr you fought.
"And that's why I've got the spear." He shoots you the first look of the conversation, his eyes full of sardonic mirth.
Well, you can't argue with that.
(+2 Relations with Audrikr Fishfighter)
0~0~0 Guy Humming (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 4, 2, 6, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2)3+1(FirstImpressions)=4 Successes
All throughout the time you spent onboard the Treadfast, there's been a soft tune floating through the air. The source of it, of course, is a shorter man that looks vaguely familiar to you. It takes you a moment to place the memory, but then it hits you like a tidal wave.
"Hey, weren't you the guy who was behind me in the trials?" The humming stops as the smaller man flinches.
"Y-yeah, that's me? Why?" He winces, as if expecting you to... do something, you're not sure.
"No reason, just happy to see that you made it through." You hold out your hand and he stares at it fearfully, "Halla Longstride."
"B-barki Bertholdsson." He shakily takes your hand, his fingers soft and weak. His face isn't just beardless, it's downright smooth! There's not even an inch of peach fuzz!
How in all the realms did he manage to get on this boat? Your eyes trace his form and snap wide in surprise. He's not even bearing any sort of arms!
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you have any weapons?" The moment you asked that question, you knew it was a mistake as he started shaking and shivering violently. His face paled and turned a sickly green as he rushed to the ship's wall.
The noises that immediately followed weren't very pleasant, to say the least.
Well, there've been worse introductions. Probably.
(+1 Relations with Barki Bertholdsson)
0~0~0 Arriving in Lotharingia (Events? Nothing) Treadfast softly lands against the sandy beach — a first for you — and Folkmarr leaps from the prow.
"Welcome to Lotharingia, gentlemen!" He shouts, spreading his arms wide as he laughs. "Here we have Franks, Saxons, and the Frisians! And, best of all, they're all weak Christians!"
You and the rest of the felag hop off after him and gather around him as he gives you scouting directives. Upon returning from your scouting missions, he lays out the options for your first raid target.
"First, we have a collection of farmhouses on a shallow stream — but not shallow enough to ward Treadfast away." Folkmarr frowns as he recites the report. "Probably around, oh, fifteen men and half that in women and children. Very little in the way of gold or glory there, gentlemen."
"Next," Folkmarr seems a bit happier with this prospect, though it's clear his sights are on a greater target, "we have a fishing village. Likely around thirty to forty men and about eighty women and children. There's a decent chance we run into something valuable there, but also just as likely that there's nothing."
"Third on our list," there's a grin on his face as he lists this one off, "is what appears to be a merchant town. Around a hundred fighting men, thrice that in women and children. Very good chance that there're some stronger fighters among their number, too, which will provide ample opportunity for orthstirr."
"And last, gentlemen," Folkmarr seems almost ecstatic as he lays this one out, "is a Knightly manor. It's on a hill, with a large stretch of cleared forest around it. No sneaking up on this one, but the glory that comes from killing a Knight..." He smiles, sparkles in his eyes, "is more than worth its weight in gold."
What do you vote for?
[ ] The Farmhouses (Lowest Danger) (Lowest Loot) (+Heat)
[ ] The Village (Low Danger) (Low Loot) (++Heat)
[ ] The Town (Medium Danger) (Medium Loot) (+++Heat)
[ ] The Manor (High Danger) (High Loot) (++++Heat)
Note: There is a chance, however small, that there is a Knight in any of these locations.
Note2: The more Heat you accrue, the more pissed off the local nobility will get. The higher the Heat, the bigger the bounty + the better funded hunting parties will be. Right now, you've got the element of surprise so there's nobody hunting for you.
0~0~0
What personal actions do you take while raiding? (Pick 3)
[ ] Recite poetry to the felag (Hugr (Wordplay))
[ ] Try to make/fix something (Write in) (Hugr+Crafting)
[ ] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
-[ ] Folkmarr Manetaker, the Jarl in charge of the felag
-[ ] Abjorn Vidsson, your husband
-[ ] Stigmar Kersson, Stigandr's brother
-[ ] Barki Bertholdsson, the beardless boy
-[ ] The one with the luxurious hair
-[ ] The one with shaking, paranoid eyes
-[ ] The one who looks *incredibly* bored
-[ ] Audrikr Fishfighter, the sardonic hirdman
-[ ] The one who tries to sleep all the time
-[ ] The one who keeps making arrows
-[ ] The one with the sack of coins and many knives
0~0~0
Training: You have 8d6 training dice to spend as you see fit.
[ ] (Research) Try to figure out how things work (Write in)
[ ] (Blackhand) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hamr (30 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hamr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hugr (31 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hugr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Fylgja (16 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a fylgja skill or trick (Write in)
0~0~0
Orthstirr Available: 98
How do you want to use your orthstirr? You can turn on passive tricks here.
[ ] (Orthstirr Usage) (Write in)
0~0~0
Fylgja Capacity: 4/4
Do you want to withdraw or deposit anything in your fylgja?
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
Equipment Management
What do you want to have equipped? Leaving this blank means that no changes are made.
[ ] Write in (Optional)
0~0~0
Also, Abjorn's got Leverage? Who the hell said Leverage isn't a great idea? That's fantastic. It just needs a bit of clever thinking to turn it into a beast. For instance, I can absolutely see Leverage used with a shield turning into something to knock the other guy prone, or using it to hurl really big projectiles a long way.
"When we kissed, beneath the tree, I got a muna from it and a hugareida from that." You demonstrate Standstill by freezing an oar in the air. "Did you get anything?"
He blinks and runs a hand through his bedhead. Taking out your comb, you start to brush his hair as he starts to speak, "I think I did, but I'm not super sure how to use it." He shrugs, disrupting your work. You scowl, resolving to give him braids if he keeps this up. "I asked dad and he said that it was stupid and useless, that I'd best forget about it."
Also, Reinforce is really damn good. It doesn't look like there's a limit in how much Orthstirr you can use on it, which means you can turn a handful of defense dice into a much bigger number fairly efficiently.
[ ] The Town (Medium Danger) (Medium Loot) (+++Heat)
I want to go after the town; it seems challenging, and has decent rewards. The fishing village and farming houses seem safe, sure, but they have poor loot and even then we'd probably steamroll them. I'd find it much more entertaining if we got into a fight (and I'm sure Halla would, too).
As for our hugareida - I'm all for Forgefire. Campfire, but it also has combat capabilities too? Hell yeah. I'm assuming it'd be less bombastic than Ignition, and more so your average flames, but I still want it.
Lastly, regarding Reinforce... from what I understand, it's Hone, but we don't need to add a dice to every single action before we can add more than one dice to an action, @Imperial Fister?
[ ] The Manor (High Danger) (High Loot) (++++Heat)
So, lets go hunt ourselves a knight?
[ ] Recite poetry to the felag (Hugr (Wordplay))
Lets show that we can make reasonably good poetry out of their stories.
[ ] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
-[ ] Folkmarr Manetaker, the Jarl in charge of the felag
-[ ] Barki Bertholdsson, the beardless boy
We showede preference for our hubby, lets see what Folkmarr is all about.
Also: WTF, how did "beardless boy" get into the group? Theres gotta be more than meets the eye.
Lastly, regarding Reinforce... from what I understand, it's Hone, but we don't need to add a dice to every single action before we can add more than one dice to an action, @Imperial Fister?
-[X] The Town (Medium Danger) (Medium Loot) (+++Heat)
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
--[X] Folkmarr Manetaker, the Jarl in charge of the felag
--[X] Make sure Abjorn is also involved
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (again)
--[X] The one who looks *incredibly* bored
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (and once more)
--[X] The one with the luxurious hair
Training:
-[X] Train Reinforce 8d6 + 1 Reward Die from @DeadmanwalkingXI
The manor is maybe a tad rich for my blood, and I'd like to meet more new people...though cozying up to our leader is also pretty reasonable. We do still want to max out our dice on Reinforce this turn because any excess gets converted to Hamingja, which is great, hence all the dice and a Reward Die to boot (plus, we're close enough we'll likely get there before the next conception check).
We can already do that with a weapon, or at least we have historically. From the wording it looks like the advantage is that it works on all defenses for a single cost...if that's not the case, what is the advantage?
We can already do that with a weapon, or at least we have historically. From the wording it looks like the advantage is that it works on all defenses for a single cost...if that's not the case, what is the advantage?
Well, 3 dice (Defend+Hone+Reinforce) on defense rolls instead of 2 (Defend+Hone). Also a smaller pool to have to fill up, meaning that it wraps around quicker. And it can be used on objects/whatever you're touching. You could, for example, Reinforce a wall to stop it from breaking and so on and so forth
I'm inclined to go either Town or Manor. The others seem like kind of a waste.
On heat generation, I note that there's a matter of efficiency. Like, hitting the village woudl result in 2 heat. Hitting the Manor woudl result in 4. I guarantee that the Manor results in more than twice as much loot as the Village does. If we're looking to maximize gains per heat, then, we want to go as high on the scale as we think we can manage. Likewise if we're looking to maximize gains per time.
I think the Town id well within our capabilities. I think the manor might be a bit of a stretch, but is still potentially doable.
Well, 3 dice (Defend+Hone+Reinforce) on defense rolls instead of 2 (Defend+Hone). Also a smaller pool to have to fill up, meaning that it wraps around quicker. And it can be used on objects/whatever you're touching. You could, for example, Reinforce a wall to stop it from breaking and so on and so forth
Okay, cool. That makes a lot of sense...I wasn't even thinking about stacking, but that's especially good against people without Tricks, though only those threatening enough we think they're worth spending orthstirr on (would've been very nice against the nisse, for example).
-[X] The Manor (High Danger) (High Loot) (++++Heat)
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
--[X] Folkmarr Manetaker, the Jarl in charge of the felag
--[X] Make sure Abjorn is also involved
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (again)
--[X] The one who looks *incredibly* bored
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (and once more)
--[X] The one with the luxurious hair
Training:
-[X] Train Reinforce 8d6 + 1 Reward Die from @DeadmanwalkingXI
[X] Plan Raid The Manor, but with poetry
-[X] The Manor (High Danger) (High Loot) (++++Heat)
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi
--[X] Folkmarr Manetaker, the Jarl in charge of the felag
--[X] Make sure Abjorn is also involved
-[X] Get to know/spend time with the other felagi (again)
--[X] The one who looks *incredibly* bored
-[X] Recite poetry to the felag (Hugr (Wordplay))
Training:
-[X] Train Reinforce 8d6 + 1 Reward Die from @DeadmanwalkingXI
Orthstirr:
-[X] (Orthstirr Usage)
--[X] 5 Hamr
---[X] 4 Chop, 4 Defend, 4 Dodge, 4 Glima, 3 Bash, 3 Pierce, 3 Throw, 2 Labor, 3 Overland (30 total)
--[X] 6 Hugr
---[X] 3 Composure, 3 Scouting, 3 Silver-Tongue, 3 Strategy, 3 Tactics, 4 Wordplay, 3 Wildcraft (22 total)
--[X] 4 Fylgja
--[X] 1 First Impression
--[X] 30 free for tricks
I think the real question is if we have anyone on this trip who can be reliably expected to match a knight. Halla... can't. The fight against Gabriel (nascent knight, no platemail, wearing shackles) wasn't but so long ago, and she didn't win it by a huge margin. I think that Halla could probably handle an unshackled squire wearing plate at this point, but if she and Abjorn are this teams idea of "heavy hitter" then picking a fight with the knight at the manor is maybe not so bright... unless we wolfpack him, I guess?
Okay. It's true. I suspect that the knight could probably take any one of us, but vikings have no problem with outnumbering people, and a manor isn't likely to have more than one knight, or anyone else at the same tier. So overall, as a group, I thin we can handle this one.
