Call it a day and go home
In the split seconds you have before the tree closes in on itself, you make your decision. Today is not the day that you would be following a sorcerer into their domain, into the seat of their power. That just sounds like you're begging to be smeared on the wall by some kind of screwed up trap or security measure.
You're brave, bold, and perhaps a little foolhardy, but you're not stupid.
If anyone calls you that, they can say it again to Sagaseeker's edge!
Regardless, even if you're not following Horra, you still made out with a lot of new information — details that would have been an utter pain to unwittingly encounter. It'll be bad even with forewarning, but at least you're not walking into oversized bows and glue traps unaware.
As you flap your wings and take once more to the air, you decide to review the information gathered. Namely, the bows, the sealwood, the camps, Horra's hideout, and that Horra's daughter exists.
Out of all the things you learned, what draws the eye the most is the prospect of facing those odd, oversized, tension-operated machines. The designs implied that they'll be stationary, or at least mostly immobile. That means that even though they may have tremendous damage potential, they'll still be vulnerable to return fire — taken literally in the case of your father.
It would be mighty useful to have something like that on a raid in case you ran into a Knight...
A sad, but resolute man sitting astride a horned horse in a field of demolished flowers appears before your mind's eye as your thoughts drift to the raid. You scowl, pushing aside that line of thinking. For now, at least.
But even as you try, your thoughts stubbornly refuse to bend the knee to your will.
Now that you're a farmer and a mother in truth, you can't help but empathize with the Knight as he watched his hard work be demolished around him. How it would feel for your fields to turn to stomp-churned mud and trampled plants, to have the knowledge that your death would see to the destruction of all you lived for.
It would simply...
Swallowing the dryness in your throat, a surge of potent willpower has you back on the matter at hand.
The bow-machine would be useful, but so would the ability to stick people to the ground, to stop them from being able to dodge the shots in the first place. You could easily cover an exposed flank with a scattered line of sticky traps. Anyone falling for it would be easy pickings for any archers or ranged weapon users looking their way.
Not a good situation to be in by any stretch of the imagination. Not at all.
Bandits armed with either or even both of those things would be a nasty fight. Fortunate that you'll be able to learn the locations of their camps relatively easily — which, over the course of the next few days, you do.
Two bandit camps lie to the East while only one stands in the North. It would appear that the bandits have been having trouble up North, or perhaps the East is simply fattier? Whatever the reason, you now know their locations.
And speaking of scouting locations, Horra's hideout springs to mind. The true gem of this little escapade.
With that little piece of information committed, you now have several avenues open to you. Evidence gathering, a regularly walked route which leaves Horra alone, a place that you know he'll be at if you ever need him away from something. There's a lot you can do with information like that!
However, the existence of Horra's daughter puts a kink in the plan. How did she see through the rags? What was that flicker of recognition? Why didn't she reveal your presence? Does she have her own agenda?
Now that you think about it, though, it seems that Horra's exceptional children are rather... odd, to say the least. Hasvir has an attitude that straddles the line between confidence and arrogance, but he doesn't seem stupid. The daughter... there's just not enough known about her to draw any real conclusions, though she has to have some kind of magical knowledge, right?
Compared to those two, Knappr, Hod, and the as-of-yet unknown brother aren't all that special. They'd put up a fight, that much is certain, but you don't think that they would be all that much trouble to take on.
But that might be hubris talking.
'Good catch,' Blackhand says with a sagely nod.
Regardless, you arrive back at your farm with more than enough time to kiss Abjorn goodnight and put the children to bed.
0~0~0
Personal (Pick 2/3, if no Exploration is picked):
[ ] (Empty Sack) ...Maybe you should try stuffing that empty sack full of straw? (Costs 6 Fodder)
[ ] (Violent) Pick a fight or spar with... (Sparring with people reveals a summery of their character sheets)
-[ ] Spar with Abjorn, your husband
-[ ] Spar with Gabriel, without armor
--[ ] (Optional) With armor
-[ ] Spar with Stigmar
-[ ] Spar with Stigr
-[ ] Spar with Aki
-[ ] Someone else (Write in)
[ ] (Personal) Spend time with... (Write in)
[ ] (Shopping) Ask Abjorn to buy something for you (Write in) (Can only be used to buy or sell things you are already aware of and cannot haggle)
[ ] (Court) Send Abjorn to make a case at the Thing (Write in) (Can only be selected on Turn 3 of a Season)
[ ] (Crafting) Try to make something (Write in) (Hugr+Some kind of crafting skill)
-[ ] (Optional) Focus on repairing something (Write in)
[ ] (Poetry) Try to realize an Inspiration (Write in one of your Inspirations)
0~0~0
Exploration/Travel (Pick 1 or none):
[ ] (Visit) Go visit... (Unavailable)
-[ ] The Witch! (Actually, it's probably a good idea to avoid her entirely)
-[ ] Asvir!
-[ ] Steinby, your Father's Farm
-[ ] Vidby, Vidar's Farm
-[ ] Kerby, Stigr's Farm
-[ ] Buriby, Osborn's Farm (Has a guaranteed chance of ending in a fight)
-[ ] Glebby, Sverre's Farm
-[ ] Runby, Aki's Farm
-[ ] Horrby, Horra's Farm (Has a very good chance of ending in a fight)
--[ ] Rather than visiting normally, you instead stealthily approach and try to scout it out.
-[ ] Halfdanby, Halfdan's Farm
[ ] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
-[ ] The fields!
-[ ] The Hading!
--[ ] (Optional) Try to find those bandits you heard about
-[ ] The hills!
[ ] (Battle) Go and attack somewhere...
-[ ] Attack the bandit camp to the North
-[ ] Attack one of the bandit camps to the East
0~0~0
Training: You have 28d6 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)
[ ] (Steinarr's Training) Ask Steinarr to teach you a trick/some tricks (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hamr (61 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hamr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Hugr (27 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a hugr skill or trick (Write in)
[ ] (Training) Fylgja (10 successes to rank up)
-[ ] (Optional) Train a fylgja skill or trick (Write in)
0~0~0
Orthstirr Available: 279
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
(Wizard-Owl Gacha: 6x3, 5x1, 3x3, 2x3, 1x3) 5 Successes (Relevancy: 6)
As you're pulled away from the warmth of Abjorn by the soft hooting of your fylgja, you're met with a twig clutched in your owl's mouth. The twig leaks a white substance which you swiftly recognize as the sap from the sealwood tree!
The only problem is that there's not a lot of it, so you'll only be able to make one bigger thing or two smaller things, if you stretch your supply.
Well, you shrug and stow the twig away as you pat the owl on the head, at least you've got a sample to test!
(A sealwood twig has been added to your Inventory)
0~0~0
AN: And there we go, the update for today as well as the owl gacha.
I've added in a small section for going to go attack something. I ask that you only do one of those a season — outstanding circumstances being the exception to this, of course.
I've also added an option to send Abjorn to the Thing, though it will be available next turn.
25-minute moratorium. Don't expect any further updates, though, as I'll be working on interludes throughout the day.
Note: Land Management is currently suspended as it is going through needed overhauls.
