If I had to guess, I imagine it's either something from True Norse Cultivation that's been twisted into some facsimile, sort of like how Shapecrafters can unlock someone's Frenzy, or it's something entirely foreign to True Cultivation.

I dunno if 'twisted' is right for shapecrafters. Again, the vibe I get is that they're the equivalent of Alchemists in a lot of classic xianxia. Their works can allow their beneficiaries to do stuff out of order or unlock aspects of their cultivation that would otherwise be unavailable, and that can cause damage long-term if you aren't careful, but that doesn't make them inherently bad or twisted.

For Steelfathers, I'm pretty sure bringing Steel into it is entirely foreign...the rest of the process I'm less sure of.
 
It wouldn't be too optimistic of me to say Halla is above/around Slagson level right now? I feel pretty confident that we can take that Skirsvikingar Slagson we fought all that time ago, especially since we were pretty weak at the time (admittedly, Abjorn also helped us). Even if he was exhausted and had lost a good chunk of his orthstirr at the time.

I dunno if 'twisted' is right for shapecrafters. Again, the vibe I get is that they're the equivalent of Alchemists in a lot of classic xianxia. Their works can allow their beneficiaries to do stuff out of order or unlock aspects of their cultivation that would otherwise be unavailable, and that can cause damage long-term if you aren't careful, but that doesn't make them inherently bad or twisted.



For Steelfathers, I'm pretty sure bringing Steel into it is entirely foreign...the rest of the process I'm less sure of.

Eh, fair enough. I also realise that Shapecrafters aren't the best comparison, just the best I could think of at the time. I personally agree with you that Steelfathers are a foreign concept, but I was just offering other theories for how they came to be. While Shapecrafters aren't outright twisted/corrupted, I still think what they do is unnatural, though.
 
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You just need to weave saemd and virthing together to make Pockets, right? No odr involved?

We tried it before our soulscape was filled with stuff and we had an odr well and it didn't work. Plus that's literally one step away from Odr-cultivation (just add Frami). It doesn't technically use Odr, but it's part of the same set of procedures.

It wouldn't be too optimistic of me to say Halla is above/around Slagson level right now? I feel pretty confident that we can take that Skirsvikingar Slagson we fought all that time ago, especially since we were pretty weak at the time (admittedly, Abjorn also helped us). Even if he was exhausted and had lost a good chunk of his orthstirr at the time.

Slagson is, like, the default for professional warriors. I think she hit that level when she got accepted into a felag (not that everyone in a felag does, but Halla was well above average then).

Eh, fair enough. I also realise that Shapecrafters aren't the best comparison, just the best I could think of at the time. I personally agree with you that Steelfathers are a foreign concept, but I was just offering other theories for how they came to be. While Shapecrafters aren't outright twisted/corrupted, I still think what they do is unnatural, though.

I mean, only in the sense that any human manipulation of natural processes is unnatural. Shapecrafting can clearly make horrors (Horra's version is Very Bad News), but I don't think that's inevitable by any means. It's basically magic surgery the same way alchemy is magic chemistry, is my impression.
 
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Slagson is, like, the default for professional warriors. I think she hit that level when she got accepted into a felag (not that everyone in a felag does, but Halla was well above average then).

I don't think this is true actually. Slagson is the lowest rank in a warband - like the Skirsvikings or Jomsvikings - but I don't think all professional warriors are equal to the weakest members of a waband. Otherwise the whole prestige of getting into one would be unwarranted if anyone in a felag can get into one (I think most people that join a felag are a lot weaker than the people in our felag - Audrikr is noted to be one of the strongest people we've met in the valley, and I imagine Folkmarr made sure to choose people that showed promise, rather than your dime-a-dozen raider).
 
I don't think this is true actually. Slagson is the lowest rank in a warband - like the Skirsvikings or Jomsvikings - but I don't think all professional warriors are equal to the weakest members of a waband. Otherwise the whole prestige of getting into one would be unwarranted if anyone in a felag can get into one (I think most people that join a felag are a lot weaker than the people in our felag - Audrikr is noted to be one of the strongest people we've met in the valley, and I imagine Folkmarr made sure to choose people that showed promise, rather than your dime-a-dozen raider).

That's why I added the parenthetical. And why I specified 'professional'. Like, most farmers who've gone on one raid would not be Slagson level, but people who make a living primarily with violence are, I think. Certainly anyone in the 'Top 20 in the Valley' list would be at least that level (and both Halla and Abjorn are on that list).

And Halla was, I think, already professional warrior level when she hit 16 and went on her first raid. Low-end professional warrior at the time, mind you, but still.
 
On Warbands
(This is true for NorseQuest's setting)

Warbands are a collection of people who have joined together for the express purpose of raiding. Unlike everybody else, they spend all their time training and waiting for raiding season to come rather than working the farms. They also will serve as mercenary forces for hire, not typically caring who their employers are.

Warbands operate like one big felag, with several smaller felags sprouting out from that. The Steelfather leads the entire overarching felag, with each of the Elder Brothers (high-ranking Ironbrothers) having their own felag of Younger Brothers (low-ranking Ironbrothers). Some Younger Brothers lead felags of Stonesons both Younger and Elder.

Some Elder Brothers will renounce any authority they had and don a mask of iron. These men are called 'Ironmasks' and serve as the honor guard for the Steelfather/any other person of interest. They no longer earn orthstirr for their acts, as their face is that of their Steelfather's. They are often times the most powerful members of a Warband — save for the Steelfather, of course.

Warbands reside in halls, typically on the coastline. It is not uncommon to see a hall spring up when a village gets big, as a sort of outpost for a Warband to scout out potential new members/counter rival Warbands in the area. There are a few dozen Warbands out there, with new ones springing up and dying out all the time. New Warbands don't tend to last very long if there isn't a Steelfather at the helm.

Warbands often employ a variety of non-combatants in their ranks (as much as a Norseman can be a non-combatant, anyways). Shapecrafters, ship-builders, seid-workers, Seeressess, rune-carvers, master smiths, and many more are all employed by a Warband.

The most prestigious Warband are the Jomsvikingar, though only because they refuse to acknowledge the Varangian Guard as a Warband and get extremely mad if you mention them in their presence.

0~0~0

I've settled on Stoneson as the new name for Slagson, by the way.
 
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Some Elder Brothers will renounce any authority they had and don a mask of iron. These men are called 'Ironmasks' and serve as the honor guard for the Steelfather/any other person of interest. They no longer earn orthstirr for their acts, as their face is that of their Steelfather's. They are often times the most powerful members of a Warband — save for the Steelfather, of course.
Do their acts still generate Orthstirr (and its just not them that get it) or do their actions stop generating Orthstirr?
 
Some Elder Brothers will renounce any authority they had and don a mask of iron. These men are called 'Ironmasks' and serve as the honor guard for the Steelfather/any other person of interest. They no longer earn orthstirr for their acts, as their face is that of their Steelfather's. They are often times the most powerful members of a Warband — save for the Steelfather, of course.

What's the incentive for doing this, I wonder? That's a big thing to give up so for this to be a common practice there must be benefits to this as well as drawbacks, whether they be social, financial, or mystical...I wonder what they are.
 
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So if we want to start spreading True Norse Cultivation, or at least build the foundations wich will allow its spreading later, we should create a new Warband.

If we're willing to make raiding a big thing of ours, then sure. It is one idea I had, but I think the general consensus of the thread is that we aren't going to be doing too much raiding (after Halla, that is)? Might be wrong there, but if I'm not, then trying to create a warband (at least, your typical example of a warband) wouldn't really work, since I imagine the reason a warband grows in the first place is impressionable young men wanting to get more glory, and raids are the best way to do that. Monster hunting might work? Or we could do something like the Varangian Guard, maybe? Although I'd have no idea how we'd set up something like that.
 
Warbands often employ a variety of non-combatants in their ranks (as much as a Norseman can be a non-combatant, anyways). Shapecrafters, ship-builders, seid-workers, Seeressess, rune-carvers, master smiths, and many more are all employed by a Warband.
well, guess we got a short list of professions to master. ship building does not seem important... but then, again, no ships no raiding far away lands.
 
A Warband? Not necessarily. I see it more as starting up some kind of Secret Society or something, which sometimes goes and fights but the point is wrenching free the Enemy's grasp while hopefully creating avenues that Norse people can find success in that aren't just "Burn Fight Kill!"
 
What's the incentive for doing this, I wonder? That's a big thing to give up so for this to be a common practice there must be benefits to this as well as drawbacks, whether they be social, financial, or mystical...I wonder what they are.
Cede is likely onto something with the orthstirr pooling - I would also note that this symbolic anonymity might provide some protection from the Enemy, seersight, nid, or other concepts that require the world to know your identity to target you.
 
Something that slipped my mind while I was writing up that info-post.

Warbands also act as mercenary forces for hire by anyone with sufficient coin, doesn't matter if they're Norse or Christian.
 
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Something that slipped my mind while I was writing up that info-post.

Warbands also act as mercenary forces for hire by anyone with sufficient coin, doesn't matter if they're Norse or Christian.

Oh, neat. So I guess that option is open to us...?

I think I'm still with Alectai's idea, though. A secret society sounds much better than a warband.
 
regardless of wether we want to start a warband, we should definitely start a Felag to get the large sums of raid loot and Ortthstirr. I think we will need both a lot of Frenzy and Orthstirr to really be Ironbrother tier.
 
regardless of wether we want to start a warband, we should definitely start a Felag to get the large sums of raid loot and Ortthstirr. I think we will need both a lot of Frenzy and Orthstirr to really be Ironbrother tier.

Can we even start one? From what I understand, the whole 'giving someone a part of your virthing/orthstirr' is integral to forming a felag, and only Jarls can do that. We're not a Jarl, no matter how strong we are.
 
Can we even start one? From what I understand, the whole 'giving someone a part of your virthing/orthstirr' is integral to forming a felag, and only Jarls can do that. We're not a Jarl, no matter how strong we are.
then I guess we just need to wait until after we dunk on Horra, so that the local Jarl will stop being so obstinate.
 
then I guess we just need to wait until after we dunk on Horra, so that the local Jarl will stop being so obstinate.
Looking forward to Folkmarrs reaction.
Halla, Abjorn, Stigmar and Stigandr, Tryggr and Trausti
We already have half a felag of felag material people. (Half of which Folkmarr chose for his first felag)


@Imperial Fister
He sighs, staring at the cloth ceiling of the tent. "I'll do it, and I'll take the blame for it, but you'll owe me for this. Is that clear?"
You said a debt we owed disappeared when our house was attacked and that afterwards we have no debts we owe.
Did Halla feel a debt being added at this moment? Was that ever resolved?
 
Wow! Just finished reading the quest and it's a fantastic one. If anyone has the time, could they point me to the answers to some questions? I've tried using the search function for some, but didn't manage to find them.
1: How extensive is the reach of the Nornir? If a person is born and they, "decide the moment of its death," what happens if that person eventually goes raiding outside of scandanavia and another pantheon decides they want that person turbo-murdered?
2: Is the Enemy's reach similarly limited? Do other pantheons have the same Enemy? Different ones? I know it was mentioned that if conversion happens a la otl that the Enemy would no longer be an issue.
3: Has there been a denial of the Enemy being someone like the original version of Satan (aka YHWH's prosecutor, who is also literally called the Enemy/adversary), possibly wearing a Norse guise? It would, I suspect, partly explain why the Enemy wouldn't be an issue after conversion, but also the Foemen -- the Norse are essentially being put on trial for their ancestors sin of genocide (species-cide?).
4: How much does the interpretation of the Norse pantheon in-quest draw from the post-christianity sources like the Prose Edda vs older sources?
Thanks so much/sorry for the trouble!
Edit:
5: Is there any significance to Thor's eyes being described as the color of steel?
 
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The fact that warrants do nothing but raid is perhaps another lever of influence the Enemy has on the system. The greatest warriors do nothing but make war but we know that housecraft and actual cultivation are part of the Norse system. The toughest guys around might have trouble cultivating even if they knew the details.
 
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