NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Creating runework to dispel it still sounds like the best option to me... would it be possible to write the phrase on another object, and then hit him with said object? Like a rock? We did it with a tree branch when we broke into Horra's Sanctum, but I'm not sure if the runes would actually work if we tried to use it that way.

Click to shrink...

Should work with the right phrasing. That's why I was thinking a knife...we word it so that it breaks free anyone or anything it cuts.

Alternatively, we could carve a giant runestone that effects an area and carry it in our fylgja or a Pocket and plunk it down when the fight starts. That sounds fun, and should be really powerful, at least in theory.

 

[Mystic Pentagram]

Creating runework to dispel it still sounds like the best option to me... would it be possible to write the phrase on another object, and then hit him with said object? Like a rock? We did it with a tree branch when we broke into Horra's Sanctum, but I'm not sure if the runes would actually work if we tried to use it that way.

Click to shrink...

We could draw them on the ground, or buy an animal and kill it to use its blood to paint the runes.

 

[Toboe]

Scouting out potential friends for your children (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 6x8, 5x4)24x2(Max Success)+1=49 Successes, wtf
After quite a bit of talking to people, particularly couples both new and old, you've come up with a list of potential friends to set up playdates with for your children.

There are more boys than there are girls, at the moment, but that's likely to change in the future. None of the children are from families in the Valley, they're all either from the Hading side of the fjord or the coastline.

Boys
Henrik - Age 2, Bold, Rude, Rowdy (Great Potential)
Hrimnir - Age 1, Bossy, Quiet, Sharp (Good Potential)
Kjaran - Age 0, Small, Loud, Rowdy (Great Potential)
Klaus - Age 3, Friendly, Bold, Charming (Incredible Potential)
Lieknir - Age 1, Rude, Sharp, Quick (Good Potential)
Markvard - Age 1, Big, Loud, Friendly (Unstoppable Potential)
Liknvidr - Age 2, Quick, Sharp, Bossy (Good Potential)
Lodvig - Age 0, Big, Loud, Rowdy (Great Potential)
Hring - Age 0, Slow, Charming, Friendly (Good Potential)
Rodgeirr - Age 1, Quick, Small, Sharp (Great Potential)
Runolfr - Age 0, Bold, Rude, Big (Good Potential)
Ryggia - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Rowdy (Incredible Potential)
Oddkell - Age 0, Smelly, Slow, Bold (Poor Potential)
Oddmarr - Age 3, Slow, Big, Rude (Good Potential)

Girls
Brigida - Age 0, Quiet, Sharp, Quick (Great Potential)
Gudveig - Age 2, Loud, Big, Bold (Good Potential)
Gylla - Age 0, Quick, Sharp, Friendly (Great Potential)
Helga - Age 3, Quiet, Bold, Quick (Incredible Potential)
Hilda - Age 0, Loud, Rude, Bold (Good Potential)
Kadrina - Age 1, Sharp, Charming, Rowdy (Unstoppable Potential)
Radgirdr - Age 1, Slow, Big, Friendly (Great Potential)
Rinda - Age 1, Small, Bossy, Rowdy (Good Potential)
Siggunr - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Friendly (Incredible Potential)

Click to shrink...

The odds of this happening is 1 in 531441, or rolling 2 Natural 100s in a row and then winning a coinflip.

That's insane. This is probably the most unlikely roll in the whole game, likely the luckiest roll we will ever get in the whole game.

Click to shrink...

Oh, the Magoose dice are having a fieldtrip.
@Magoose
Your dice are traveling!


[X] Plan Deeds, not Words

[X] Plan Incredible Potential and a few Sharp Characters (+Radgirdr)
-[X]Klaus - Age 3, Friendly, Bold, Charming (Incredible Potential)
-[X]Markvard - Age 1, Big, Loud, Friendly (Unstoppable Potential)
-[X]Rodgeirr - Age 1, Quick, Small, Sharp (Great Potential)
-[X]Ryggia - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Rowdy (Incredible Potential)
-[X]Brigida - Age 0, Quiet, Sharp, Quick (Great Potential)
-[X]Gylla - Age 0, Quick, Sharp, Friendly (Great Potential)
-[X]Helga - Age 3, Quiet, Bold, Quick (Incredible Potential)
-[X]Kadrina - Age 1, Sharp, Charming, Rowdy (Unstoppable Potential)
-[X]Radgirdr - Age 1, Slow, Big, Friendly (Great Potential)
-[X]Siggunr - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Friendly (Incredible Potential)

 

[Shard]

Iron-Silver Seid Defusing Idea:

Silver Part:

Wolves' war chief, wind's cousin,
Woden's warrior shackled.

Seer's sees you spineless,
Seidr seen twisted darkly.

Unbind, Seidr's mockery,
Unmade, windless shackles.

Thrall's shame suffers silence,
Thor guards nape from Nidigr.

(This is a Skaldic Verse, which basically says 'Dispel the Seidr in his Nape that's fucking over the Berserk Harald Wolfwind')

Iron Part:

Iron, human's brother,
Ire's upon the curse felt,

By blood I know torment,
By bone I take thy place.

Curse touches me not thee,
Cull my body instead.

Magic's victim am I,
Mar in your stead myself.

(Skaldic verse relation to Iron being Humanity's brother, this one calling on how brothers would suffer for the other. The intention is that it will basically eat the surviving bit of magic targeting Wolfwind.)

The Runes for the Iron portion will be on the interior of the Iron-Silver bracelet, touching the skin.

---

On some level this does feel a little optimistic, there's no way we can just remove an upper Ironbrother-level enemy from Horra and then add him to our allies, can we? Getting Wolfwind as a Huskarl would be beyond insane if it's even remotely possible, especially at Halla's level of power.

Havign said that I kind of like the Iron Bracelet anti-magic effect, it's kind of thematic too.

I think I'm getting a hang of the Skaldic 'everything is 6 *bleep* syllables' part of Skaldic verses.

 

[Simon_Jester]

Important thing to note; Blackhand is telling you what he would do, with his entire *gestures wildly at Blackhand* that he's got going on. That is the solution that he would go with, which is not necessarily the only or most optimal solution.

Sirihand Statements are not WoGs and should not be treated that way.

'Get a lawyer and let them handle it. Be very strong so people would rather just settle informally rather than through the legal system, where things might escalate to frankly ridiculous levels.'

Click to shrink...

Good job making your next Sirihand statement such a perfect illustration of your observation about Sirihand statements. Sort of like how if we asked Blackhand what he would do about a charging bull, he'd obviously give my old standby NorseQuest response:

'Suplex the fucking thing into a tree a few times and show it who's boss.'

Some people have strategies for getting results that work well for them, but might not work well for everyone else.

That fucking killed me 🤣🤣

Click to shrink...

It is later revealed that the entire case was a plot by the Enemy to cause Blackhand to die of laughter, and it nearly worked.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

(This is a Skaldic Verse, which basically says 'Dispel the Seidr in his Nape that's fucking over the Berserk Harald Wolfwind')

Click to shrink...

I'm really reluctant to use anything that assumes this is seidr. It's probably pure shapecrafting, honestly, and whether that's seidr is ambiguous enough we should go with something a bit less tied to it being seidr-based.

There's also the issue of where we get the two bracelets...we cannot make bracelets and sure don't have access to an iron one for sale. I think this whole plan needs to be reconsidered in terms of details.

On some level this does feel a little optimistic, there's no way we can just remove an upper Ironbrother-level enemy from Horra and then add him to our allies, can we? Getting Wolfwind as a Huskarl would be beyond insane if it's even remotely possible, especially at Halla's level of power.

Click to shrink...

I mean, us saving him leading to him swearing himself to our service is a hell of a leap. I think we can indeed get him to switch sides and help kill Horra if we play it right (remember, we were specifically told that the way Horra dies is when one of his enslaved creatures turns on him...that is very much an intended win condition here), and if he sticks around after that he'll be friendly, but, like, the way Halfdan is friendly, a mentor and friend, not swearing allegiance.

 

[Shard]

I'm really reluctant to use anything that assumes this is seidr. It's probably pure shapecrafting, honestly, and whether that's seidr is ambiguous enough we should go with something a bit less tied to it being seidr-based.

There's also the issue of where we get the two bracelets...we cannot make bracelets and sure don't have access to an iron one for sale. I think this whole plan needs to be reconsidered in terms of details.

Click to shrink...

Well.. shapecrafting is Seidr.

I mean personally I don't have high hopes for anything that realies on us hitting Harald so I'm seeing if giving him a gift might work.

Maybe the Seeress can unbind his Seidr though. She's the actual Seidr master here.

I mean, us saving him leading to him swearing himself to our service is a hell of a leap. I think we can indeed get him to switch sides and help kill Horra if we play it right (remember, we were specifically told that the way Horra dies is when one of his enslaved creatures turns on him...that is very much an intended win condition here), and if he sticks around after that he'll be friendly, but, like, the way Halfdan is friendly, a mentor and friend, not swearing allegiance.

Click to shrink...

Whoever frees him would basically be freeing him from Thralldom. Though of course pledging Huskarl is arguably a leap.

He's kind of in a fucked up situation isn't he? I wonder how he even got into this mess. Did he get told that Horra was a Shapecrafter, then got shenanigan'ed?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Well.. shapecrafting is Seidr.

Click to shrink...

Imperial Fister has actually given two different answers to that question, and most shapecrafters would certainly claim it wasn't whichever is true. Which makes it...ambiguous at best.

I mean personally I don't have high hopes for anything that realies on us hitting Harald so I'm seeing if giving him a gift might work.

Maybe the Seeress can unbind his Seidr though. She's the actual Seidr master here.

Click to shrink...

I'm not against giving him a gift necessarily, I'm saying that we literally don't have an iron bracelet to give him or any way of getting one, and even the silver option is expensive and loses us other opportunities.

We can come up with a better gift that does neither, I think. Maybe a tool of some sort like a work knife? Or a sax, of course? The important thing for our purposes is the rune work, and using a knife to sever Horra's hold on him has some useful symbolism...

Whoever frees him would basically be freeing him from Thralldom. Though of course pledging Huskarl is arguably a leap.

Click to shrink...

It's definitely a big deal and him swearing an oath to be our ally would not be surprising. Him swearing to serve us would be.

He's kind of in a fucked up situation isn't he? I wonder how he even got into this mess. Did he get told that Horra was a Shapecrafter, then got shenanigan'ed?

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I think shapecrafted berserks (which is to say all of them but us) often wind up visiting shapecrafters for more work either out of necessity or just because they're used to it, and Horra put a bomb in him while he was under for the rest of the operation.

 

[Shard]

I'm not against giving him a gift necessarily, I'm saying that we literally don't have an iron bracelet to give him or any way of getting one, and even the silver option is expensive and loses us other opportunities.

Click to shrink...

I was thinking Sten's Ironbloom honestly. We have some Iron to work with.

 

[Constenanto]

I don't think Wolfwind would swear allegiance to us, if only because he's getting an a huskarl that's Ironbrother+ tier seems wild at our current power level, lmao.

I think we can expect some eternal oath of friendship between our bloodline, like Halfdan, maybe... but I don't expect him to swear allegiance to us.

I was thinking Sten's Ironbloom honestly. We have some Iron to work with.

Click to shrink...

I don't think Sten's Ironbloom is permanent? Not 100% on that, but it checks out, considering he told us to go buy our own iron.

 

[Shard]

We should try to upgrade Fight of My Life at some point. It's fricking amazing witb it's versatility.

... Hey Blackhand,

Is it possible to inflict so much Nid on someone that they have no Orthsirr left? What happens to that person in that case?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

I was thinking Sten's Ironbloom honestly. We have some Iron to work with.

Click to shrink...

That's possible. I'm not sure Sten does bracelets either, though. That's a specific Artcraft Trick and one we haven't seen him demonstrate previously. I wouldn't make plans heavily based around it.

We should try to upgrade Fight of My Life at some point. It's fricking amazing witb it's versatility.

Click to shrink...

It's solid in things like this where we don't have other dice adders or if we want to, like, add it to a Tactics roll...but Tactics aside in most actual fights, it's effectively only a free 5 Orthstirr, which is nice but hardly overwhelming. If we get an opportunity where it's not up against another really good Muna or the upgrade is better than getting it twice per fight we should definitely consider it, but that's a highly specific scenario.

 

[Shard]

It's solid in things like this where we don't have other dice adders or if we want to, like, add it to a Tactics roll...but Tactics aside in most actual fights, it's effectively only a free 5 Orthstirr, which is nice but hardly overwhelming. If we get an opportunity where it's not up against another really good Muna or the upgrade is better than getting it twice per fight we should definitely consider it, but that's a highly specific scenario.

Click to shrink...

It's more we can add it to places where its hard to get dice - Tactics, Raw Hamr, Hamingja, Silver Tongue - That makes Fight of Our Life amazing. It can change the course of a battle.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

It's more we can add it to places where its hard to get dice - Tactics, Raw Hamr, Hamingja, Silver Tongue - That makes Fight of Our Life amazing. It can change the course of a battle.

Click to shrink...

This is true, and I don't dispute it, but the only times we could upgrade it, it was against getting Puncture and Punching Upwards and stuff like that...it's good, and fight changing, but not as compared to the stuff it's been up against. If that trend continues upgrading it is gonna be tricky.

 

[Shard]

I remember Fister saying that if Halla reached her maximum potential she could 1v1 a Steelfather. But that was before Odr.. What's her maximum potential now?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

I remember Fister saying that if Halla reached her maximum potential she could 1v1 a Steelfather. But that was before Odr.. What's her maximum potential now?

Click to shrink...

I mean, in theory, with luck, she could match Blackhand since that's all he was: a highly competent and experienced Odr-based cultivator. Of course, I suspect that involves navigating several different lethal traps in her cultivation, so getting there is iffy.

 

[Constenanto]

Didn't Imperial say 'maximum' potential? Would that not include Halla with Odr, too? I mean, now that I think about it, you're probably right, because I don't see why Blackhand would be able to kill nine Steelfathers with preparation - at what I assume wasn't his max potential either, since he hadn't reached the highest Realm - yet Halla only being able to fight one Steelfather at hers. I know Hallr is a badass, but that disparity is still wild...

@Imperial Fister, did your 'maximum potential' statement include Halla with true cultivation, and if not, how strong would Halla be if she managed to reach her maximum potential with true cultivation?

By the way, Hallr mentioned that we'd be able to recognise people with Odr, right? Did Hallr ever clarify if Ironjaw had Odr? It feels reasonable enough to assume that Ironjaw is a cultivator of some kind - a proper one, not a Norse psuedo-cultivator - but that doesn't necessarily mean he has Odr.

 

[TheCount]

By the way, Hallr mentioned that we'd be able to recognise people with Odr, right? Did Hallr ever clarify if Ironjaw had Odr? It feels reasonable enough to assume that Ironjaw is a cultivator of some kind - a proper one, not a Norse psuedo-cultivator - but that doesn't necessarily mean he has Odr.

Click to shrink...

Hallr talked shop with Ironjaw, so its sure he has Odr.

"Hey Blackhand? With who you shared your knowledge of Odr? And wich one of them is more likely to have survived the Enemy retaliation?"

Click to shrink...

'I know I spoke to Ironjaw on the topic. But anyone else is likely going to be dead by now."

Click to shrink...

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Hallr talked shop with Ironjaw, so its sure he has Odr.

Click to shrink...

No it isn't. It's likely but not sure...we don't know that he actually did anything with the knowledge.

 

[Toboe]

Didn't Imperial say 'maximum' potential? Would that not include Halla with Odr, too? I mean, now that I think about it, you're probably right, because I don't see why Blackhand would be able to kill nine Steelfathers with preparation - at what I assume wasn't his max potential either, since he hadn't reached the highest Realm - yet Halla only being able to fight one Steelfather at hers. I know Hallr is a badass, but that disparity is still wild...

@Imperial Fister, did your 'maximum potential' statement include Halla with true cultivation, and if not, how strong would Halla be if she managed to reach her maximum potential with true cultivation?

By the way, Hallr mentioned that we'd be able to recognise people with Odr, right? Did Hallr ever clarify if Ironjaw had Odr? It feels reasonable enough to assume that Ironjaw is a cultivator of some kind - a proper one, not a Norse psuedo-cultivator - but that doesn't necessarily mean he has Odr.

Click to shrink...

It could be that Blackhand had mentors and help that just isn't available to us.

Like... Blackhand being child #24 in alt Norsequest, where they avoided game over by selecting 'inherited memory' for achieving charred soul before a nat1 got them killed by 9 steelfathers. (Or maybe they didn't select it and it was a ??? effect that was revealed on Hallas birth)
Now on child #25 they have to regain most of what they gained over 24 lives but have the 'past player characters stay available to guide their descendants' gimmick to help them.

Then Halla is good, but not good enough to make up for all the generations of preparation that were lost.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

It could be that Blackhand had mentors and help that just isn't available to us.

Like... Blackhand being child #24 in alt Norsequest, where they avoided game over by selecting 'inherited memory' for achieving charred soul before a nat1 got them killed by 9 steelfathers. (Or maybe they didn't select it and it was a ??? effect that was revealed on Hallas birth)
Now on child #25 they have to regain most of what they gained over 24 lives but have the 'past player characters stay available to guide their descendants' gimmick to help them.

Then Halla is good, but not good enough to make up for all the generations of preparation that were lost.

Click to shrink...

He'd have been child #6 at most since that's how many generations there are between him and Odin, but yes, I suspect he had a lot of info we didn't.

 

[Shard]

Hey Blackhand,

1) Are there any 'External' powers that would be good for me to get? Fervor, Vaki, other forces..
2) Also, do you know if the other cultures have their own equivalents to 'An Enemy' of some sort?
3) ..And.. if what I figure of The Enemy is right.. how do they not know everything when they are the Earth, Sea and Sky all?

 

[Constenanto]

It could be that Blackhand had mentors and help that just isn't available to us.

Like... Blackhand being child #24 in alt Norsequest, where they avoided game over by selecting 'inherited memory' for achieving charred soul before a nat1 got them killed by 9 steelfathers. (Or maybe they didn't select it and it was a ??? effect that was revealed on Hallas birth)
Now on child #25 they have to regain most of what they gained over 24 lives but have the 'past player characters stay available to guide their descendants' gimmick to help them.

Then Halla is good, but not good enough to make up for all the generations of preparation that were lost.

Click to shrink...

I mean, even without his preparations, he still managed to kill 4 Steelfathers, while fighting nine...

Meanwhile, Halla only has a decent chance of taking out one, but fighting any more than one still sounds like a death sentence for her.

I might just be underestimating how strong a Steelfather is... I don't really know how strong they are compared to an Ironbrother, just that they're 'really strong'. But even then, that still makes Hallr impressive as fuck. Still... I assume either Halla can't reach the same realm Blackhand was at/can't reach the highest realm, or Imperial wasn't talking about Halla as a true cultivator, because only being able to take out one Steelfather after reaching the highest realm in Norse cultivation sounds, uh... very mediocre, considering Hallr took on more than quintuple that, and still hadn't reached the highest realm.

 

[Shard]

Power Demands Sacrifice.
All Men Die.
Memory is Forever.

Is one of the stages of True Norse Cultivation 'ascending' into your Saga? You die, but Memory is Forever.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Power Demands Sacrifice.
All Men Die.
Memory is Forever.

Is one of the stages of True Norse Cultivation 'ascending' into your Saga? You die, but Memory is Forever.

Click to shrink...

I think the Gods are the final stage of Saga Cultivation. Which, well, they aren't dead but 'ascended into their Saga' may not be a bad description of them...