Would sheep help more, or chickens, for example? Like, do they need a better field/food exchange ratio lowering the needed work (which would be chickens or cattle) or a side business to make cash (which would indicate sheep).
They just don't have enough hands available to grow Food and Fodder both. Aki isn't exactly very good at the more fiddly bits of farming, like weeding or measuring fertility. His raven is simply too big for things of that nature.
Probably. We can't exactly give them those, however. We don't own any thralls, after all, and gifting people is weird and ethically unpleasant anyway.
We could give them oxen, which serve a similar role, though...+2 Successes on one action per turn is the equivalent of 3 dice only more reliable and while not likely as good as a thrall, that's nothing to sneeze at...
They just don't have enough hands available to grow Food and Fodder both. Aki isn't exactly very good at the more fiddly bits of farming, like weeding or measuring fertility. His raven is simply too big for things of that nature.
Hmmm. Do they really need to grow food? Wouldn't a milk cow be sufficient to take care of both of them under the circumstances? What livestock do they actually have?
Would oxen be the best help we could provide then? We have potentially two decent oxen to give away if we decide to. Actually...how many dice is a Thrall expected to provide? Oxen probably aren't better but they might be on par.
Hmmm. Do they really need to grow food? Wouldn't a milk cow be sufficient to take care of both of them under the circumstances? What livestock do they actually have?
That's more or less what they have anyways. They've got a few sheep and that's it. They can keep themselves alive and are able to pay taxes, so they're not in danger or anything, but they're just kinda poor. Can't go raiding cause there's no one to watch the house.
Scheduled vote count started by Imperial Fister on Apr 16, 2023 at 8:25 PM, finished with 78 posts and 19 votes.
He does. He also knows how to make alcohol, as you know well.
They just don't have enough hands available to grow Food and Fodder both. Aki isn't exactly very good at the more fiddly bits of farming, like weeding or measuring fertility. His raven is simply too big for things of that nature.
You could buy thralls and give them to him, but I don't think that's a very attractive solution to most of you folks.
Otherwise, Count's got the right of it. It's the Fodder situation that they're struggling with, not so much a lack of any single animal.
You don't need to, I was gonna include it because that's the kind of person Halla is.
So we could give a lavish gift of Livestock + Fodder (Stig + Aki) and overpay Stig in Fodder and that would make a good dent in the situation of Aki+his Father and maybe allow Stig to keep the farm a while longer until he needs to find a wife and/or buy thralls/hire helping hands?
Also maybe we should make a good poem about the hunt for the pole, could get Aki some more initial Orthstirr.
Hmmm. So a Good Ox is on par with a thrall (+3 successes equals +3 dice and +1 success, mathematically)...a Decent Ox (+2 successes) and a plow (+3 dice) is likely better (if a tad pricier). Interesting.
That's more or less what they have anyways. They've got a few sheep and that's it. They can keep themselves alive and are able to pay taxes, so they're not in danger or anything, but they're just kinda poor. Can't go raiding cause there's no one to watch the house.
What do they have in the way of farm tools? Would a Good quality plow or scythe make a big difference or not? +3 dice is a lot, but if they already have Decent ones, +1 die is a lot less.
So we could give a lavish gift of Livestock + Fodder (Stig + Aki) and overpay Stig in Fodder and that would make a good dent in the situation of Aki+his Father and maybe allow Stig to keep the farm a while longer until he needs to find a wife and/or buy thralls/hire helping hands?
Also maybe we should make a good poem about the hunt for the pole, could get Aki some more initial Orthstirr.
Sadly, we can't actually make gifts in Fodder right now...we don't even have enough of that ourselves. We'll need to go buy some during Summer...but buying Fodder in Winter is probably ruinously overpriced and not a good call. We can give livestock and tools that drastically improve the ability to gain fodder, however, if we choose carefully (a Decent Ox can, with their bonus successes alone, pretty much do 1 and 1/3 fields per year if you have the unused fields for it, and only costs 6 Fodder per year, so they're effectively a net of +10 Fodder per year every year). I think tools to allow them to fix the situation are also likely to be better received than 'giant bag of oats' as well.
For the poem, that seems possible. We'll need to fit it in somewhere...
so our current stock of animals takes 20 fodder per turn and each year is 6 turns. We have 6 fields that produce a maximum of 12 fodder each per year, giving us a shortfall of 48 fodder per year that it looks like we'll just have to buy using our patently ridiculous 51 per turn food income. I don't know if oxes still require fodder, but if they do, we should consider just slaughtering our ox as soon as the Good one becomes available, if not sooner. the basic bull that's on the way is also marked for dinner, as our fine one vastly outclasses it. We might also slaughter our decent heiffer for the superior one on the way.
What do they have in the way of farm tools? Would a Good quality plow or scythe make a big difference or not? +3 dice is a lot, but if they already have Decent ones, +1 die is a lot less.
Do keep in mind though, a thrall is a person who can act on their own judgement while an Ox.... well, it either its the weed or not. if it doesn't eat the fodder right off the stalk...
Hm.... Perhaps, this is the reason we will study the damn scarecrow assassin, to make farmer puppets.
Welp, let hope they don't know arts/magic and its just the claws they will attack with.
Still want to ask both Steinar and Hallr if they seen its like though.
"I've been asking around if anyone knows of any shapecrafters in the area, but nobody was able to give me straight answers. Not even the Jarl of Jurgdby could look me in the eye." You can't look away from those eyes of cold steel, no matter how much the desire grips at your heart. "Will you be any different?"
Is being a shapecrafters a decent job? or does it have nid or Odrengskapr including aspects?
Because i would love to have a future character being one...
Oh, also, do we really only have 1 visit per season? it was kinda a long time what with the raid....
so our current stock of animals takes 20 fodder per turn and each year is 6 turns. We have 6 fields that produce a maximum of 12 fodder each per year, giving us a shortfall of 48 fodder per year that it looks like we'll just have to buy using our patently ridiculous 51 per turn food income. I don't know if oxes still require fodder, but if they do, we should consider just slaughtering our ox as soon as the Good one becomes available, if not sooner. the basic bull that's on the way is also marked for dinner, as our fine one vastly outclasses it. We might also slaughter our decent heiffer for the superior one on the way.
Our current animals actually only take 18, the 20 is an error. Additionally, per Word of QM, we can use one field multiple times in one year for multiple crops. We could get 144 Fodder out of two crops in all fields every year...if we had the Management dice, which we do not. We probably can do one crop on each field and then another crop on three of them, though, which is what's needed for 108 Fodder (the amount to take care of 18 per turn).
That said, our new animals would take the total to something like 25 per turn plus and be totally unsustainable, which is why we're selling them or giving them away. My current plan is actually to get us down to 16 fodder per turn (dropping our total number of chickens, replacing animals with better versions, selling or gifting the rest), which would be one less field needing to be harvested twice and make things significantly more sustainable (though we will continue to need to sell or gift excess animals for a while).
The basic plan I'm looking at is that we wind up with the following: 5 Fine Hens, 1 Superior Hen, 1 Fine Rooster, 7 Fine Ewes, 1 Fine Ram, 3 Fine Cows, 1 Superior Cow, 1 Fine Bull, 1 Good Ox.
We sell or gift the following: 8 Fine Hens, 1 Good Hen, 1 Fine Rooster, 1 Good Ewe, 1 Fine Ewe, 1 Fine Ram, 1 Decent Cow, 1 Decent Bull (can be made into an ox if its new owner wants), 1 Decent Ox,
We slaughter the following: 1 Decent Ewe, 1 Basic Bull, (+16 Food Storage, -2 Meat-Keeping Sticks). Which we slaughter as we'd be ashamed to even give the bull away and the ewe is too cheap to be worth selling, IMO (plus Halla likes mutton).
Do keep in mind though, a thrall is a person who can act on their own judgement while an Ox.... well, it either its the weed or not. if it doesn't eat the fodder right off the stalk...
We do, yeah. It's to keep us from doing huge multi-post actions every single turn and is pretty reasonable as such. Check the Visit actions on our last turn's options...they're listed as 'Unavailable'.
Is being a shapecrafters a decent job? or does it have nid or Odrengskapr including aspects?
Because i would love to have a future character being one...
Shapecrafters do crazy things with flesh. It doesn't have nid or odrengskapr aspects as they typically just manage animals and the like. You can go to one to have your body checked over, to see what you're lacking in or if there's anything weird with your body, and also pay them to give you single-use shapeshifting slots/more advanced shapeshifting things.
They also are involved in the creation of Berserks.
I can try my hand if anybody is willing to supply a list of kennings for all, what? 7 members of the pole & troll hunting party? Im guessing it should focus most on Aki and his rune reading & raven abilities. Or did you mean in character?
Hmmm. Giving a Good Plow would still allow them to sell their old tools and get more than enough for a Good Scythe and thus +2 dice total if they wanted, though...yeah, that's still a solid gift, and well suited thematically to be paired with an ox to boot.
Shapecrafters do crazy things with flesh. It doesn't have nid or odrengskapr aspects as they typically just manage animals and the like. You can go to one to have your body checked over, to see what you're lacking in or if there's anything weird with your body, and also pay them to give you single-use shapeshifting slots/more advanced shapeshifting things.
They also are involved in the creation of Berserks.
I can try my hand if anybody is willing to supply a list of kennings for all, what? 7 members of the pole & troll hunting party? Im guessing it should focus most on Aki and his rune reading & raven abilities. Or did you mean in character?
I meant IC, but was thinking a bit (without any noteworthy successes) about omake stuff.
One line that may have something worth keeping:
Wary Aki, weapon wing
for the fact that his spirit sight helps him see traps and the fact that he has his fylgja upgraded a second time by age 12 (!)
I meant IC, but was thinking a bit (without any noteworthy successes) about omake stuff.
One line that may have something worth keeping:
Wary Aki, weapon wing
Wary Aki, weapon wing
Sweeping feathers show swords swing
Spirit sight sees Sly-ones strike
Blindr beckons no brawl this night
As Rúnatýr reckons Bǫlverkrs Rune
Deep-Earth Dweller fell for Stone Kins Tune
Troll tussles nīðing tribal
Crow Caller's Kin Kills Troll for libel
Runatyr is another name for Odin,
And Bolverkr means evil maker,
Deep-Dweller simply means troll,
Crow caller means gravedigger.
And stone kin should be obvios.
to imply that whoever sent the troll to live on Steinarrs land is as shameful as being a troll itself and give the story a cliffhanger ending (the troll went to fight whoever sent it, without us admitting that we know who)
Probably not, but the Oxford Dictionary isnt invented yet so I think its ok. Also bards are not exactly know for their . . . adherance to rules, so to speak.
to imply that whoever sent the troll to live on Steinarrs land is as shameful as being a troll itself and give the story a cliffhanger ending (the troll went to fight whoever sent it, without us admitting that we know who)
[X] Muna: The Taming of Freedfire Alt (Improves Ignition Hugareida)
[X] Plan Opening The Meteor
-[X] (Personal) Spend time with...
--[X] Stigandr
--[X] Invite him to spar and train with the rest of us
-[X] (Personal) Spend time with...(again)
--[X] Aki
--[X] Also invite him to spar and train with the rest of us
-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] The hills!
---[X] (Optional) Towards where the flaming thing landed. Maybe there's something you missed?
---[X] Get Sten and Aki and Gabriel and everyone's help to finally open the meteor
-[X] Make a sacrifice to the Gods (+1 Hamingja for 40 Food)
-[X] Donate to a family in need (+1 Drengskapr for 12 Food)
-[X] (Research)
--[X] See if you can Weave Virthing and Saemd together in advance, and store the finished product in your Soul Space while what's in your Aspects recovers. The Major Risk only seems to appear when the Gate is opened and your Aspects are depleted after all. Do _not_ Burn your Aspects in tandem though, we are just checking if we can store the longer lasting bits in our soul space! 1d6
--[X] Share some of our Odr with the Hearthroot in our Soul Space, we have a field, let's try to farm it and see what happens! 1d6
--[X] Do more bible reading with Jerasmus 1d6
-[X] (Blackhand's Training) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks (Write in)
--[X] Train Kindle-Spinner 2d6 (1d6)
--[X] Train Firebomb-Strike 2d6 (1d6)
--[X] Train Ember-Winged Cloak 2d6 (1d6)
--[X] Train Campfire 2d6 (1d6)
-[X] (Training) Tricks
--[X] Train Sidestep 1d6
--[X] Train Magnify-Sight 1d6
--[X] Train a Trick to deal a lot of damage...on par with Leaping Cleave but with fewer drawbacks and maybe without the defense stripping or a higher cost. Just a high damage attack, probably using Pierce 1d6
--[X] Train some sort of active persuasion-based Silver-Tongue Trick...something that will let us put extra dice into persuasion attempts like we did with the troll (without needing to activate our Twist) 1d6
--[X] Train a Composure Trick to resist mental or emotional influences that Hallr can't help us with (ie: things to induce 'hot' emotions) 1d6
--[X] Train 'Teaching' Wordplay Skill-Trick 1d6
--[X] Train 'Tracking' Wildcraft Skill-Trick 1d6
-[X] (Training) Hamr (3 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Hamr itself 6d6
-[X] (Training) Hugr (30 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Armorcraft 1d6
--[X] Train Barb-Tongue 1d6
--[X] Train Housecraft 1d6
--[X] Train Scouting 1d6
--[X] Train Silver-Tongue 1d6
--[X] Train Weaponcraft 1d6
--[X] Train Wildcraft 1d6
--[X] Train Wordplay 1d6
-[X] (Training) Fylgja (14 success to rank up)
--[X] Train Fylgja Itself 1d6
-[X] Management
--[X] (Construction) Improve Decent House 1d6
--[X] (Multicraft) Make Meat-Keeping Sticks 11d6
--[X] (Multicraft) Make Exploding Charms 5d6
--[X] (Fields) Clear Fields 11d6 (6d6 from Scythe and Plow, +2 Successes from Ox)
--[X] (Resources) Cloth 8d6 (3d6 from Wood Axe)
-[X] (Orthstirr Usage)
--[X] 5/6 Hamr (Depending on whether Hamr rises)
---[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, 4 Housecraft, 2 Management, 3 Scouting, 3 Silver-Tongue, 3 Strategy, 3 Tactics, 4 Wordplay, 4 Wildcraft (29 total)
--[X] 4 Fylgja
--[X] 1 First Impression
--[X] 166/165 free for tricks (Depending on whether Hamr rises)
0~0~0
(Sidestep: 4)1 Success. (Magnify-Sight: 2)1 Failure (Skewer-Flick: 4)1 Success
"Halfdan, are there any good moves or tricks with the atgeir?" You ask after running through a short drill.
Halfdan pauses and turns to you, a look of incredulity on his face. "Yes, yes there are."
He then proceeds to show you a trick he learned, one of the basics of atgeir usage. A thrusting impale to skewer them on the end of your weapon. A twist of the hips and push of the body to lift them into the air and then a sharp, powerful flick to throw them aside like so much garbage.
Skewer-Flick Trick sounds rather useful for battlefield control. Being able to toss around your enemies? Stop them from ganging up? Invaluable.
(+1 to Sidestep)
(Skewer-Flick Trick added to Pierce Vague Tricks)
0~0~0 (Hugareida #1: 4, 6)3+1=4 Successes. (#2: 3, 5)3+1=4 Successes. (#3: 3, 5)3+1=4 Successes. (Campfire: 6, 1)1+1=2 Successes (Goal-Tell: 3)1 Success. (Cool-Off: 6)2 Successes. (Teaching: 6)2 Successes. (Tracking: 4)1 Success.
"Blackhand, how do I keep calm?" You ask as you sit in a snow-filled field.
Blackhand chuckles, 'Not exactly something our family has an easy time doing.'
Rolling your eyes, you gesture for him to go on.
'But, I can remember one; Cool-Off. Useful in theory, even more so in practice. It floods your mind with calming thoughts, allowing you to re-establish control... if a hostile trick is affecting your emotions, then it will try to overcome it but that is not a guarantee.'
"Cool-Off," you say as you work the word around your mouth. Finding it satisfactory, you commit it to memory as you ask the next question on your mind. "Are there any tricks to help me convince people of things?"
'Yes, but I won't teach you them. Not all of them.' It's clear by the way he speaks what he thinks of such tricks.
"Why not?" However, you don't know the reason.
'Because it is a despicable thing to convince a man that he wants to be enthralled.'
A frown creases your face. "If a man were to be enthralled, then he was always meant to be enthralled."
Blackhand scoffs. 'If that were true, then the Enemy would never lose.'
The frown deepens. You still don't get it.
He sighs and switches tactics. 'You love Abjorn, right? With all your heart?'
You're on your feet in an instant, your confusion forgotten in the face of raw fury. "What kind of question is that?! Of course I do! I'm carrying three of his children!"
'Even if your heart was wrong?'
"...What are you getting at? What's the point of this?"
'I have met and killed many men that thought themselves as seducers of women. I have seen the effects a silver-coated tongue can have on even the most ironclad marriages. Do not ever think you could never be tempted, for people like that inevitably break.'
Fear grips your heart and you breathe heavily. The snow provides a cushioned seat as you sit back down. "How... How I can stop that from happening?"
'Discern the goals of all those you meet. That is step one to convince someone of anything.'
You nod, swallowing your fear. "I... I'll do that."
(+4 to Kindle Spinner)
(+4 to Firebomb Strike)
(+4 to EWC)
(+2 to Campfire)
(Goal-Tell Trick added to Silver-Tongue Vague Tricks.)
(Cool-Off Trick added to Composure Vague Tricks)
(+2 to Teaching)
(+1 to Tracking)
0~0~0 (Hamr Training: 1, 4, 4, 1, 6, 5, 1)3 Successes
Hurling two boulders down the hill, you wipe the sweat from your brow as one of the nascent souls in your womb decides to try a kick.
You laugh, rubbing your belly. "Precocious little thing, aren't you?"
They kick again.
(Hamr Rank Up!)
0~0~0 (Armorcraft: 5)3 Successes (Barb-Tongue: 2)1 failure (Housecraft: 5)3 Successes (Scouting: 4)1 Success (Silver-Tongue: 2)1 Failure (Weaponcraft: 6)3 Successes (Wildcraft: 1)1 Success (Wordplay: 3)1 Success
...
(Armorcraft Rank Up!)
(+3 to Housecraft)
(+1 to Scouting)
(+3 to Weaponcraft)
(+1 to Wildcraft)
(+1 to Wordplay)
0~0~0 (Fylgja Training: 3)1 Success
...
(+1 to Fylgja)
(Improve Decent House: 3)5 Successes
...
(+5 Successes to Improving Your House)
0~0~0 (Cloth: 5, 6, 1, 1, 5, 2, 1, 6)16+16=32 Cloth
...
(+32 Cloth)
0~0~0 (Clearing Fields: 6x1, 5x1, 4x2, 3x2, 2x3, 1x2)3+2=5 Successes
...
(Field #4 Cleared!)
(Field #5 Cleared!)
0~0~0 (Rooster: 1st Hen: Decent Rooster. 2nd Hen: Fine Hen. 3rd Hen: Good Hen. 4th Hen: Good Hen) (Ram: 1st: Good Ram. 2nd: Fine Ram. 3rd: Fine Ewe.)
...
(+1 Decent Rooster, +1 Fine Hen, +2 Good Hens added to next year)
(+1 Fine Ram, +1 Good Ram, +1 Fine Ewe added to next year)
0~0~0 (Meat-Keeping Sticks: 4x2, 3x1, 2x4, 1x4)5-6(Tools and Workshop)=1 Successes (Exploding Charms: 5x2, 4x1, 3x1, 2x1)5+6(Tools and Workshop)=11 Successes
...
(+3 Exploding Charms)
Messing around with Virthing and Saemd
Once more you find yourself standing upon the flat stone under the ancient ash, though now it bears a load of snow and ice atop its smooth surface.
Taking a seat, you close your eyes and stoke your virthing and your saemd
Buoyed by a full reservoir of orthstirr, they twist, turn, and weave into that familiar length of woven cloth floating in your soul.
Hours pass as it slowly unravels, leaving you with refilling Aspects and little progress made.
It... It feels as though you're on the right path... but you're not there yet. Maybe you're skipping a step? Maybe there's something you're missing? Something with things unraveling? Maybe both are true? Or maybe you only need one?
A frown crosses your face as you climb to your feet. This will take more thinking.
0~0~0 Watering the Hearthroot
Standing before the Well in your soul, you breath in, hold, and then breath out. Sticking out an arm, you flex your will and call up a single drop of odr.
The pool of red ripples and shudders as a non-insubstantial portion of its mass rises up and out of the depths. While compared to the pool it is quite a lot, in comparison to your soul and the depths of the Well it... it really isn't all that much — not at all!
Regardless of how large or how small it may be, the mote floats above your outstretched palm. Taking it in hand, you walk slowly but surely towards the infant plant growing in your soul.
The Hearthroot is a baby plant, merely an infant. But even in its youth, it almost seems to have a reaction as you bring the odr to it. It acts almost as if it thirsts for the drop. Which, upon further thinking, is likely what's happening.
Well, you'd best not keep it waiting!
Tilting your hand to the side, you allow the drop of odr to roll off your hand and splash beside the plant. The moment it touches the ground, the Hearthroot greedily sucks it up.
Its leaves sparkle as more grow. Branches sprout from the stem, adding more leaves to the count as the stem grows thicker and sturdier.
Tilting your spiritly head to the side, you note that it resembles some kind of bush. Perhaps it makes berries? If so, you may need to revise that name...
(-1 Odr)
0~0~0 Bible Study Time
A big boat? Two of every animal? Huh?
You squint as Jerasmus reads out another part of the Bible.
"The Bible is weird."
"Indeed! Thankfully, the Old Testament isn't something we as Christians have to follow." He laughs, fingering his smock and the clothes underneath it. "I do rather enjoy the mixing of cloth."
"What?"
He only laughs.
(+1 to understanding the Bible)
0~0~0 Talking to Stigr
When you arrive at Stigr's house, it is to the picture of neglection.
The fields haven't been furrowed, not properly. The house has missing foundation-stones. The barn is leaking.
It simply isn't being maintained.
A quick glance around tells you exactly why; there's simply not enough people around to do the job.
Striding up to the front door, you carefully knock — not wanting to blow the thing off its hinges! — and wait for your presence to be answered. Moments later, the door swings open to reveal an older woman's face.
There's no doubt in your mind as to the identity of this woman; Stigr's mother, Idonea Hemmingasdottir. Her face is clothed in wrinkles, the sign of a life hard lived, but a lively spark dances in those eyes nonetheless. Her gaze darts across your face and form as she calls to her youngest son.
Over her shoulder, as Stigr thumps towards the door, you spy a seldom seen figure; the eldest of three brothers, Stigulf Snowbeard. He's a large man, a Berserk if the rumors are true. The most notable detail of his form is the bushy beard that naturally bears snow white colors.
He spoons a bit of soup into his mouth, nodding as he catches your gaze. His eyes clearly show his age of twenty-five. Before you can note any further features, however, Stigr comes rounding the corner at a frantic pace.
His face lights up as he sees yours. "Halla!"
"Stigr!" You shout as you draw him into a hug. He frowns as he has to adjust for your stomach, but you make it work.
Idonea waves goodbye as you set to wandering with Stigr.
"And here I thought I was the lucky one," Stigr says, a sly smirk on his face as you stroll across the derelict fields, "to land a catch like you, Abjorn must have quite the gilded fate indeed."
You scoff, rolling your eyes. "I'm not that special."
It's Stigr's turn to scoff as a mocking laugh slips past his lips. "'Not that special', she says. Like she didn't kick the ass of a Priest in single-combat!"
You shrug, a smile on your face. You don't exactly have a response to that so you'll just accept the praise.
"Seriously, though," Stigr says as he continues on, "I can't say that I'm not not not a tiny bit jealous of him," it takes a moment for you to parse his speech, which gives him time to shrug and move on, "Oh well, nothing more than a path untrodden."
With thin lips, you gaze at the sky. After a few moments of that, Stigr keeps talking. "Stigulf's going to the Danelaw, you know?"
Your thoughts dart to the Englishman in your home. "Huh, really?"
"Yeah," he nods, running teeth along his lips, "he's gonna fight for King Guthrum, as they clash with Wessex. Mom's gonna go up to Jurgdby, stay with Stigrun and your brother."
A frown crosses your lips. "Why is that?"
He laughs and casts an arm about in a broad, wild gesture. "Look around you! The farm's falling apart at the seams!" He shakes his head as he finds his footing. "...Dad was a workhorse, able to keep a farm of our size running more or less by himself. With him gone and Stigmar with you..." Stigr shrugs, a grim look on his face. "Ah, well, nothing that can be done I guess."
"If Stigulf is going to the Danelaw and Idonea is going to Jurgdby, then..." You trail off leadingly and Stigr picks up the slack.
"What am I doing?" You nod and he continues. "Well... I dunno. Maybe I'll do some wandering, pop by Geirstadt and do a little banditry? Maybe I'll even join Ulf in the Danelaw?"
"Well," you say as you extend a hand and an offer, "you're always welcome at my hearth, no matter what you decide."
He takes it. "Thanks, Halla."
"Anytime, Stigr."
(Stigr will now add 2d6 to your training pool, until he eventually leaves)
0~0~0 Talking to Aki
"Hey Aki do you want to-"
The blind boy pierces you with his unseeing gaze. "Spar with you? I'm blind, Halla. I'm not exactly fit for combat."
You frown. It feels like you're doing that a lot. You're gonna get wrinkles at this rate! "Then what about the fylgja?"
He sighs bitterly, dodging the question. "Fine, fine, I'll spar with you... just take it easy on me."
(+1d6 to Training Pool from Aki)
0~0~0 Cracking Open the Meteor
The wind howls as you crunch through the snow, the meteor just after the ridge.
A rather eclectic mix of people trail behind you as you lead the way. The same crew that broke the curse. Aki, Stigmar, Stigr, Sten, Gabriel, Abjorn, and you.
Cresting the top of the crater, you point a finger at the hefty chunk of carved rock down below. "There it is, Gabriel!"
He nods as he adjusts how Sparrowflight sits on his hip. "So, I'm gonna have to ask you to keep what you see here a secret, alright?" He asks that to everyone and everyone gives their word. "Alright, then... here goes nothing."
With a flying leap taking him through the air, he lands before the meteor with a graceful bounce. Stripping the glove from his hand, he slowly, carefully presses it against the ridged, wrinkled surface of the meteor.
Closing his eyes, he begins to recite some kind of prayer in Latin.
His hair begins to whip as the wind picks up — his golden locks have lengthened considerably since he was freed. Energy forms around him with a blot-like smell, the power flowing across his body as his breath hitches and the energy catches on something.
Smoothing out his clothes, he steadies his breathing and resumes the prayer — right where he left off. What can only be the 'Zeal' he spoke of creeps through his body and out his hand before disappearing into the meteor.
Watching from on high, Aki's face pinches and twists as his brows rise further and further on his head. "That... how...?"
"What is it?" You whisper as you lean in close to the younger boy.
"I... I'll tell you later, I need to see him not die first."
You shrug. If that's that, then you'll just have to wait.
Fortunately, you don't have long to wait as Gabriel opens his eyes and clears his throat.
"It's open."
His weary words echo across the snow-swept landscape as a sharp hiss escapes the rock. Cracks spiderweb across its image-encrusted surface as it shatters like ice. Shards of stone fall like drops of water as it reveals its secrets.
What lays within?
[ ] A sword like a lover's touch, bundled away in cloth.
[ ] A small green figurine of some kind of cat. It has a mischievous look on its face.
[ ] A pouch of unknown seeds bristling with dangerous potential.
0~0~0
AN: Sorry this took a hot minute. Also sorry if the quality isn't up to par, I'm not super sure on this one.
We're on the right track, and Jerasmus seemed to have a Hint for us there too. It seems that preparatory stuff needs to be done on an Aspect by Aspect scale, but weaving in tandem causes it to dissolve over time.
There's more to this too apparently given the short vote?
[X] A pouch of unknown seeds bristling with dangerous potential.
We know this kind of thing helps with Norse Cultivation.
Also, yay for Hamr 6!
Are we still at Risk of Complications @Imperial Fister ? Or is Hamr 6 sufficiently Robust that even giant babies are manageable?
