That story is a little weird in several ways and even within the context of the story, it's more like Utgard-Loki said that the Midgard Serpent was his cat and pointed Thor at one of his coils (disguised as a cat with an illusion) than that Jormungandr was literally a cat somehow.
Really, if you take that story literally, Utgard-Loki is by far the most powerful creature ever shown in Norse Mythology given that the Norse Gods are not immune to old age and yet he has some otherwise unseen personification of that concept working for him.
That story is a little weird in several ways and even within the context of the story, it's more like Utgard-Loki said that the Midgard Serpent was his cat and pointed Thor at one of his coils (disguised as a cat with an illusion) than that Jormungandr was literally a cat somehow.
Considering we definitely had personified Fire, Thought and Old Age take the stage in the story, having a giant serpent also be a cat is not a big stretch. Especially considering that Jormangandr is the child of two Jotun, a group that commonly has access to shapeshifting.
Considering we definitely had personified Fire, Thought and Old Age take the stage in the story, having a giant serpent also be a cat is not a big stretch. Especially considering that Jormangandr is the child of two Jotun, a group that commonly has access to shapeshifting.
That's sort of what I meant about it being weird. A lot of people are pretty sure that's a fairy tale that happens to use characters from Norse mythology rather than something any actual followers of the religion believed. Those kinds of personifications are not seen almost anywhere else, and are weirdly discordant with the rest of the mythology.
And I mean, if you assume that Jormungandr did it himself, it's still less 'was once a guy's cat' and more 'once turned into a cat to mess with Thor', which seems much more plausible if you assume shapeshifting powers. On the other hand, if Jormungandr has shapeshifting, you'd think he'd use it some other time but that literally never happens.
[X] Plan More Witchcraft And Feelings (but without the Witch)
-[X] (Seasonal) Help prepare the yearly offering to the gods.
--[X] (Abjorn's Feelings) You have come to a conclusion about Abjorn, but his thoughts are currently unknown. You need to find out.
---[X] Tell him in a straightforward fashion that Halla is interested and explain why as clearly as we can
-[X] (Visit) Go visit...
--[X] Runby, Aki's Farm
-[X] (Training) Hamr (15 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Shields 1d6
-[X] (Training) Hugr (7 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Poetry 1d6
-[X] (Training) Fylgja (2 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Fylgja Itself 1d6
--[X] Train Command 1d6
-[X] (Orthstirr Usage)
--[X] 4 Hamr
--[X] 4 Hugr
--[X] 2 Silver-Tongue
--[X] 1 free for tricks
0~0~0
(Shield Training: 2) 1 Failure
You stare at the shield, the shield continues to do nothing.
Why did you think you could practice defending when you had nothing to defend against?
Making the Owl follow your commands comes as naturally as breathing. You don't even really have to think about it doing it, it just happens naturally. It's like you were trying to move your arm. No matter how hard you think about moving your arm, it doesn't happen until you just do it.
Which makes sense, given that it is not simply an extension of yourself, it is you.
(Command Rank Up! F.Endurance and F.Capacity unlocked! 1 Success Left)
0~0~0 Confessing at the feast (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 6, 6, 4, 4, 6, 3, 3) 10 Successes... Oh my goodness
The bonfire wasn't the only thing warming your face that night as you joined Abjorn's family for a feast.
You sat next to Abjorn as you dined on lamb. Vidar Kurlisson, Abjorn's father, knew that Steinarr was away on a raid, so he invited you and your family to feast with him and his. You accepted, of course. Such an offer could not be lightly refused!
Conversation sprung up around you, but you couldn't make out much if any of the words. Asva is trying to talk your ear off, but you have eyes only for Abjorn. You're waiting for the perfect opportunity to talk to him alone, to tell him how you feel.
Vidar threw another dozen logs on the fire, throwing sparks into the air. He reached for another log but found only air.
Your host frowned and turned to his youngest son — his eldest, Farbjorn, was off raiding with Steinarr. "Abjorn! We've run out of firewood."
Abjorn nods and takes a last bite of lamb before rising to his feet. He steps away from the fire and the shadows start swallowing his large form.
Your eyes widen. This is your chance!
You leap to your feet, citing that you need to go relief yourself, and slink off into the darkness.
Abjorn passes his family's tool shed and seemingly forgets to grab an axe, so you do for him. By the time you turn around, he's already entering the woods.
You hurry after him, wood axe in hand. The strange sense of familiarity flows through you before you realize that the last time you went into the woods with a wood axe, you destroyed a man's soul. You pause, the memory crashing over you like waves on the shore.
Scowling, you shake your head and get back to moving. You're wasting precious time on meaningless thoughts!
You find Abjorn just as he stops before a rather large tree — by far the largest tree in these lightly forested woods. It would take two entire Abjorns to completely envelop the trunk!
He places a palm against the tree and focuses his orthstirr as his right hand curls into a fist. You still, pulse pounding in your ears as Abjorn's red-orange orthstirr swirls around his body.
Abjorn taps his orthstirr-coated knuckles against the wood. He takes a deep breath and slowly releases it, drawing his fist back at his breathing's pace.
You watch, excitement building. You just know that Abjorn's about to do something really ho-
A sharp, ear-ringing crack splits the air as the fist blurs into motion. It hits the tree with troll-like force, leaving a shield-sized crater in its wake. Bark and wood explodes from the other side of the trunk as the tree groans and sways from the impact.
It tilts to one side and a series of sharp cracks signal its fall. There's a broad smile on Abjorn's face as his orthstirr swirls around his body. He follows the tree's trajectory and locks gazes with you.
He pales.
It takes you no time at all to realize why.
The tree hurtles towards you at great speed. You can't dodge and you left your shield at home!
You stand frozen, wide-eyed, as the tree descends upon you. You can't breathe, you can't move! You can't even close your eyes as your fate rushes to meet you.
And then Abjorn steps in the way.
And he catches the tree.
The wood axe falls from your hand and you soon follow. You look up from your knees to Abjorn's towering, struggling form.
He caught the beast on his back, one palm pressed against the tree above him and the other pressed against the trunk at his side. His knees threaten to buckle, to give out under the weight he carries on his back, but he holds firm. Every drop of orthstirr in his body goes into keeping you safe.
Abjorn's eyes stay screwed shut and something clicks in your brain.
He couldn't have known that he was strong enough to catch the tree. He couldn't have known that he wouldn't be instantly crushed by the falling weight.
But he did it anyways, for you.
You climb to your feet, taking care to not make a sound. It's a good thing that Abjorn's bent over, or else you'd struggle to reach him even on your tippy-toes!
You palm presses against his scratchy cheek — his orangish-red whiskers only just beginning to grow in bulk — and his eyes snap open to find you looking up at him. The confusion in his gaze makes you smile as you stand up as tall as you can.
It's a good thing that your favorite food is mutton because you can taste the lamb in his breath.
The tree rolls off his shoulder and thumps against the ground hard enough that the blast of wind sends your hair whipping.
But as his arms wrap around you, you find yourself not caring.
As the world comes to a complete stop around you and Abjorn, you find that you truly understand what it means to be at a Standstill. I'm very proud of you, Halla
(+1 Relationship with Abjorn. You are now lovers. Keep at 10 to marry when you come of age)
(Muna Gained! First Kiss Under A Falling Tree.)
(Hugareida: Standstill Unlocked!)
(Journal Updated: Abjorn's Feelings is now complete!)
(Journal Updated: What are Muna?)
(Journal Updated: What are Hugareida?)
0~0~0 Visiting Runby
As you exit the forest, the first thing you notice about Runby is how poor it is.
Barren fields, dilapidated buildings. The place is a mess.
Not many people want to deal with the father of Witch-Spawn, as Aki is sometimes called.
You don't see Aki's father anywhere, though Aki himself is watching you from a stump not too far away. Seems like he's expecting you, given the other stump and bundle of food laid out.
What do you do?
[ ] Write in
0~0~0
AN: My plans! My beautiful, beautiful plans!
F.Endurance and F.Capacity both refer to your fylgja's attributes. For most people with active fylgjur, the fylgja is their weakspot. You can 'store' spells, hugareidir, and muna in your fylgja, which uses its capacity.
If your F.Endurance drops to 0, then the fylgja and you are taken out of the fight.
By training your fylgja stat, both of those attributes increase.
Huh. Slightly below average training rolls (though, to draw attention to how that works, if all 4d6 were on one roll, it would've gotten 1 success...we got three instead by splitting them...the difference won't usually be that big, but it exists).
But that Silver Tongue roll definitely makes it all worth it. And we see what Muna and Hugareida are...sort of. Seems like muna are important moments in time (deeds? memories? Something like that anyway) that provide access to specific magics (ie: hugareida) that resonate with the important moment in question. Something like dao insights in a more traditional xianxia, but directly providing a technique equivalent.
Okay, that checks out...that means everyone can get them and we definitely need to talk to dad about them and what we can do with ours (something time based, it sounds like).
More importantly, we apparently unlocked ZA WORLDO from a moment of WAFF, that's great.
Speaking of which, was getting what's apparently a time-stopping Ultimate Magic out of this a consequence of getting 10 successes on the Confession Roll or what @Imperial Fister ?
Speaking of which, was getting what's apparently a time-stopping Ultimate Magic out of this a consequence of getting 10 successes on the Confession Roll or what @Imperial Fister ?
Older English books say "Surt". (Poetic Edda's "Surt from the south comes / with flickering flame" is stuck in my head from reading as a child.) Modern Norwegian also names him "Surt".
AFAIK, calling him "Surtr" is the product of a recent English fashion for extreme literalism in foreign names, despite the fact that the final -r appearing in the Norse name is a case inflection, the way we say -ed for past tense verbs in English. It's sorta like if he were titled "The Surt" and then Frenchmen started calling him "Le Thesurt".
Likewise for the world serpent, "Jormungand". Jormun="huge", Gand="staff" (also "mast", euphemism for penis, or anything elongated), and the case inflection -r in Jormungandr is less part of the name and more part of the Norse grammar which IMO should not be carried over to English.
Something funny is that the "Gand" is the same word as appears in the familiar name Gandalf (staff-elf, "elf" in the sense of magical being) in Lord of the Rings, and you can see the case inflection at work because that name shows up written in Norse as Gandalfr, not Gandralf.
Aw. Our spiritual patron is proud of us. That's sweet, also makes me more inclined to think they have our best interests at heart, which makes me worry about the witch a bit more...
[X] Sit down and politely ask about the witch (since there seems to be a weird vibe there), and strike up a conversation about fylgja and seidr in general.
I'm kinda at a loss for a more detailed plan...but this is what we came here for, right?
EDIT:
[X] Show Aki your fylgja, thank him for the hint and tell him about the witches weird behaviour. Invite him to join us and our friends when we go check out the meteor.
From context, Hugareida seem to be magical abilities granted by a specific muna and muna are something like particularly relevant events/moments...but that second part is pretty much entirely from context gained right now.
Doing a bit of looking up the actual words with Google, I don't find hugareida anywhere, but muna has several meanings including 'memory' or 'to remember' but also 'to have an impact/make a difference'. So I guess, 'impactful memory' is maybe a valid translation in this context? Something like that, anyway.
True! But it's always true that a roll with the dice split each to a different thing will grant an equal or greater number of successes than pooling any number of them together. The probabilities just favor it.
That doesn't in any way mean we should never invest more than one die in something (we need to raise many things faster and more reliably than that), and it would take too long to get, say 8 successes, at an average of one success per turn that it's likely not worth it...but it's worth keeping in mind how mathematically effective investing one die at a time is, especially when we have so many things at 0-1 we probably want at least a couple of points in.
Like, spending 3 dice each turn in single die increments on stuff that only needs one or two successes to rank up is a good strategy and I think we should do it most turns going forward until we're out of things that we want that are available that cheaply.
Hugareida is a complete fabrication of the setting. It is a crude welding of two words into one. Heck, the -a part isn't even part of the original word's conjugation, iirc.
I really suck at understanding how language work. Like, I can't tell you what the heck genitive means.
What is it with these dice rolls whenever Abjorn is involved? I guess the dice are also diehard fans of Abjorn and Halla. Anyway, it was nice to see it finally happening. Didn't take too long to do so, either, like some other quests I've seen.
Somewhat confused on where the hugareidr came from, though. Did we stop the tree, or something? Either way, can't wait to explore it and muna further. I'm trusting the witch less and less though, especially with how supportive the spirit has been so far.
What is it with these dice rolls whenever Abjorn is involved? I guess the dice are also diehard fans of Abjorn and Halla. Anyway, it was nice to see it finally happening. Didn't take too long to do so, either, like some other quests I've seen.
Somewhat confused on where the hugareidr came from, though. Did we stop the tree, or something? Either way, can't wait to explore it and muna further. I'm trusting the witch less and less though, especially with how supportive the spirit has been so far.
I don't think Halla did anything in that moment, the hugareida is, I think, just based on an emotionally and perhaps philosophically important moment and how it felt and shaped you. In this case, Halla felt time stand still, so she can now use magic to make things stand still. If she'd had a moment of burning rage that was equally important to her, she might similarly get the ability to, say, conjure fire even if there was no actual fire involved in the moment in question.
