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NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

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Alectai said:
Take your time, we were expecting this to be a WORDS arc anyway.

God, I hope we've prepared enough. We've plucked each thread save the Dwarf one to the limit, but even with that, I still halfway feel we're in a pinch.
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God, what an anticlimax it would be if we *didn't* manage to get him outlawed after all this. That would be a complete disaster. Whether Steinarr managed to kill him or not after that things would get wrecked.
 
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Horra on Trial: Opening Act
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Deeds, not Words
    -[X] We're in a time of economic troubles, and we should all be pulling together as a community to get through this all, what, with the iron shortage, and the bandit troubles,
    -[X] On that note, we've been doing our own part to help sort that out, aside from our charitable donations and support of our neighbors from outside attackers, we've taken the liberty of bringing our family and friends to the east, and striking down the vikingr felag led by Lars Forkbranch and all, how's that reduced pressure actually working out for us all? Make it a big dramatic show, with a poetry slam and whatnot, to stir the hearts and minds of the audience. **(Pump this roll with 4 Odr)**
    -[X] The point of this is to establish ourselves as one who's actively supporting the community in a troubled time with deeds and actions. Not someone who's getting fat off the misery of everyone else, and in doing so, neuter the value of Horra's Giant Pile of Money. He can't just giga brain and go "I'm rich because I'm the smartest" when he's now insulting everyone in the valley who's being menaced by this bullshit. Or rather, he can, but the only ones who'll fall for it are those who we probably couldn't have swayed to begin with.

    [X] Just An Armring
    -[X] Purchase a Fancy Armring for 18 oz. silver

    [X] Playdates By Potential
    -[X] Klaus - Age 3, Friendly, Bold, Charming (Incredible Potential)
    -[X] Markvard - Age 1, Big, Loud, Friendly (Unstoppable Potential)
    -[X] Ryggia - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Rowdy (Incredible Potential)
    -[X] Helga - Age 3, Quiet, Bold, Quick (Incredible Potential)
    -[X] Kadrina - Age 1, Sharp, Charming, Rowdy (Unstoppable Potential)
    -[X] Siggunr - Age 2, Bold, Charming, Friendly (Incredible Potential)
    0~0~0

    The sun is only just beginning to peak over the tree-lined horizon when you arrive at court — a circle of chairs at the top of a hill occupied by judges, with witnesses, the Lawspeaker, and Dorri Rattlespear, entourage included, occupying the outer rings.

    Dorri is an older man with cautious, calculating eyes. The gray in his short, triangular beard is more than enough to prove his age. He's dressed in a fine, blue shirt embroidered with gold thread — silk, if your eyes aren't deceiving you.

    But while the Headsman is without a doubt an impressive man, he's not what draws your gaze. No, that honor belongs to his right hand man, Logi Firehair — suitably seated on his right.

    Logi Firehair is a powerfully built man with thick arms crossed and legs spread wide. Shining silver eyes dart to and fro, determining the level of threat each and every person poses. Not only is his hair as red as yours, but tiny tongues of flame burn harmlessly at the ends.

    'Kennings,' Blackhand says with a bemused snort.

    His face is as stern as stone and his mouth is twisted in a permanent, deep-set scowl. A naked svida leans propped up against his knee, its well-used iron gleaming in the early morning sun. The blade of a svida is a lengthy, rectangular thing — roughly three feet long and lacking a point with which to thrust — while the sweat-stained wooden handle is only a hand in length. A shield hangs from the back of his chair while he's slipped a sax through the belt tightly securing his mail.

    All in all, he's not a man you want to make an enemy of. Hopefully, that won't ever be the case.

    Regardless, you enter the innermost ring of chair with your head held high and confidence in every step. Sten and Abjorn are on your flanks as you take your seat and Horra makes his entrance.

    Horra Hasvisson, hated enemy and repentless scoundrel, meets your burning glare with pair of cold eyes. Wealth flows off him in heavy waves as he makes his way into court. His clothes scream opulence with silk folds and gold and silver thread decorating the borders. Gemstones sparkle in a well arranged display of wealth and power — the power of a man to make wealth in a time such as this.

    He sits down across from you, Hasvir and Wolfwind on either side. Logi's eyes are fixed on Wolfwind, correcting finding him as big of a threat as you know him to be. Horra's entourage is far larger than yours, a show of power and a subtle threat in of itself. Among them is a young man who resembles a younger Wolfwind — a son, perhaps?

    Regardless, the Lawspeaker rises as Horra takes his seat.

    The Lawspeaker is an aged man with deeply carved wrinkles. A single eye peers from that wizened old face, the other closed shut for the rest of time — a recent wound, or so goes the rumors. His shoulders are broad and his body still healthy, but this is a man whose time has long since passed.

    He coughs, throat dry from age, as he begins reciting the purpose of this court. "Halla Longstride is accusing Horra Hasvisson of acts most heinous, of aiding and abetting bandits harassing the lands, making illegal dealings with dwarves, and many accounts of thievery including, but not limited to, livestock stealing and grave robbing, as well as the raising of draugar with evil intent." The witnesses begin to murmur as the brows of the judges rise high on their heads. "Horra Hasvisson is accusing Halla Longstride of acts most heinous, of trespassing and of thievery." You wince as the Lawspeaker bows his head and turns to the Headsman. "Headsman Dorri, the Oathring."

    The Headsman nods as he rises to his feet and picks up the cloth-covered stump sitting next to his chair. He carries it into the center of court and carefully places it down with as much reverence as possible. Taking hold of the cloth, he reveals the Oathring embedded into the wood of the stump.

    The Oathring is a twisting band of intertwining gold and silver. It's about the size of a plate and a display of wealth in of itself.

    The Headsman draws his work knife and runs it across his palm — not a twitch to be had on his face. Deep red blood drips from between his clenched fingers and wets the ring below his outstretched hand.

    "I swear that I, Dorri Rattlespear, Headsman of Asvir, shall be a true and honest witness to this court case."

    The oath snaps into place as the Headsman takes a seat. One by one, each of the witnesses rises and repeats that oath, then the judges, and then it comes to you and Horra.

    Horra stands across from you as you approach the Oathring, work knives in hand. It would be *so easy* to just leap over the stump and jam your knife into his chest, but, with gritted teeth and burning eyes, you manage to hold yourself back.

    Your palm stings as you draw your knife across your skin and hold out your hand. Horra does the same as you lock eyes.

    "I, Halla Longstride, swear to speak nothing but the truth." Your blood wets the Oathring.

    "I, Horra Hasvisson, swear to speak nothing but the truth." His blood wets the Oathring.

    With that, you return to your seat as Horra remains standing, as is his right as the accused.

    The Lawspeaker rises to his feet. "Let this court proceed honorably and with accordance to the Gods." He sits back down and the court begins in earnest.

    "My name is Horra Hasvisson and long has my family called this land home." Horra spreads his arms wide, showing off how the precious metals and gemstones shimmer and shine as they catch the light in just the right ways. "This land has been good to me and I, turn, have been good to it. Room and board I have provided to all those who have come seeking it. The friends I have earned know me well for the lavish gifts laid upon their shoulders."
    (Horra's Silver-Tongue: 6x4, 5x3, 4x1, 3x4, 2x1, 1x2)14+10=24 Successes
    Three of the judges seem to be a bit more partial to Horra after this then before, with one even nodding along — you assume that particularly small-faced judge as the one rumored to be susceptible to bribery.

    With that, Horra sits down and the floor is yours.

    Taking a deep breath, you feel Abjorn's hand on your shoulder as he offers you a supportive nod. You return it with interest and take to the field.

    All eyes are on you as you stand before the circle of judges. You slowly turn, meeting each of their gazes as you prepare to make your opening speech.

    "My name is Halla Longstride and I am worthy of your respect." Which implies that Horra is not. You have to be very, very careful with how you word things as insulting the man would do far more than simply hurt your case. Each word is carefully calculated, the result of years spent composing poems and playfully batting at your friends and family. "When Halfdan the Dane's farm was attacked by bandits, who was it that rushed to the defense of his house and home? When families starved in winter, who was it that offered the fruit of their own lands to keep those families fed? When raiders led by Lars Forkbranch prowled the hills of the Kallakeld Jarldom, who was it that gathered their friends and family to deal with that threat? And who was successful?" You spread your arms wide as you utter a single, solemn word;

    "Me."
    (Your Silver-Tongue: 6x1, 5x3, 4x5, 1x3-3)13+1(Odr)+1(First Impressions)+9(Drengskapr)=24 Successes
    Your words resonate deeply with the judges, drawing three to a favorable stance in an instant.

    You return to your seat as the Lawspeaker rises, a twinkle in his eye as he brings the trial to the first phase of arguing.

    'You did well, but it's not over yet.'

    0~0~0
    (Hugr (Tactics): 5x3, 4x5, 3x1, 1x2)10+3(Frenzy)+1(Rounds)=14 Successes

    Two judges are firmly on your side with three leaning your way. One judge is firmly on Horra's side and two lean his way. One judge is undecided — who, as it turns out, is the elephant merchant...

    Horra's planning on going on the offensive with one of his accusations towards you. At the moment, you don't have any sentences to serve or fines to pay. At the moment, Horra has no sentences to serve or fines to pay.

    What do you do?
    [ ] Write in

    0~0~0

    AN: If you need more direction with the write in, I can give you some more leading lines.

    25-minute moratorium. Let's get this bread.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Huh, he's accusing us of trespassing and thievery, and yet the only thing that is hypothetically possible is trespassing, unless he's going to admit that he's been sending arms to bandits and how dare we steal them.

    Still, we gave as good as we got! Didn't defang him entirely because his rolls were hot and his Bribery Score was stupidly powerful, but we did manage to match his advantage through sheer HONOR. Odr helped though.

    Actually, did we end up wasting the extra Odr? Or did it just pan out that way because we rolled exactly 3 failures, and therefore we took 3 failures off the table and added one automatic success?
     
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    Imperial Fister said:
    Logi Firehair is a powerfully built man with thick arms crossed and legs spread wide. Shining silver eyes dart to and fro, determining the level of threat each and every person poses. Not only is his hair as red as yours, but tiny tongues of flame burn harmlessly at the ends.

    'Kennings,' Blackhand says with a bemused snort.
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    Blackhand, you say this is due to his Kenning, but come on, the dude is named Logi.

    The Norns sealed his fate the moment his parents first adressed him.
     
    So, should we go on the defensive, and counter-attack? I mean, we can't really, since we have no idea what he's going to accuse of. Not sure what we should do here...
     
    Dromuthra said:
    We HAVE stolen from him; we stole a glue-tree seed with our owl. And our owl HAS been on his land, which his daughter saw/can prove.
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    This might have been the trap, yeah. I wasn't aware that trespassing/spying was that serious of an offense, but we certainly did commit them. A lot of our testimony is based on spycraft, yeah.

    We could try cutting that avenue off, stating we'll admit to those crimes and pay fair recompense, then challenge him to say under oath that he didn't raise the draugr or supply the bandits.

    Edit: @Imperial Fister what would the usual penalty be for trespassing and stealing a twig? I really can't see that being outlawry.
     
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    Trespassing doesn't seem like it'd be too bad, but thievery feels like it could get you a Lesser Outlawing, depending on what's stolen. Hopefully just stealing a twig is a fine.
     
    KreenWarrior said:
    We could try cutting that avenue off, stating we'll admit to those crimes and pay fair recompense, then challenge him to say under oath that he didn't raise the draugr or supply the bandits.
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    He could be doing it indirectly
    We could ask him if he to say if he does not have an small army worth of Drauger inside a hidden room on his land.
    Or he is directly or indirectly selling sunlight weapons to dwarfs (has exaserbated the war and thus the shortage of iron)

    Edit: ask if he has in his or his families possession a corpse or drauger made from the corpse of an elephant (or you known describe it)
     
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    [x] Plan Cut Him Off
    -[x] Admit flat out to theft of the sealwood twig and your spywork. Put up 200 ozs of silver to declare the matter settled and call for an immediate vote on that issue. If he refers to it again, hammer in how the matter is closed and he's wasting the Court's time.
    -[x] Once that matter is cleared, start hammering the troubling implications of Horra's wealth while bandits and draugr are haunting the land, layering in how you've fought both. Point out that he has no great farmland to bring in income. Then describe what we saw on his land - the weapons, the sealwood, and how the bandits are being supplied with weapons. We can produce one of the ballista so the court can see it. Have Sten testify to the dwarven nature of the construction and it's destructive capabilities.

    We obviously want to get to the scorn pole, the troll, the dwarves and the draugr, but I figure we can start with the direct stuff first and move down the line in a later check. The scorn pole, troll, and draugr all point to the Horra Is an Evil Wizard narrative, while wealth and banditry point towards a Horra is a Dick Profiting off Ill Gotten Gains narrative.
     
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    [ ] Plan: Start with the Reason
    -[ ] He's only got two accusations he's made, Trespassing and Thievery--and the latter requires him to admit that he's been supplying a hostile Felag with arms and armaments, since you've otherwise been very careful not to touch a damn thing that belongs to him, which means you can safely deny any such accusations as a fabrication. So he's going to start with Trespassing and try to use that to sow doubt as to your intentions, and yes, you trespassed, and you'll happily pay the fine involved, but you hardly did so without cause.
    -[ ] So start with the reason why you Trespassed. The tale of the curse upon Steinby. Bring out the Scorn-Pole, tell the tale of the spell that befell your father, the company that marched into the hills to find the source of the curse, the Troll that was guarding it. That you and your fellows unraveled the spell upon it, and when the Troll emerged later, that through clever words you brought it to believe that it had been betrayed by the one who offered it a 'Home' in this place, as long as it defended the Scorn-Pole--one that, you would note, made use of a horse head taken from the sireling of the prize winning horse Stronghoof, brought to a contest hosted by Runar by one Hasvir. Now, while it is entirely possible that this is a coincidence, or a false name, the fact that the Troll had immediately turned towards Horrby, slew several farmhands on the way in, and then was promptly struck down by Horra Hasvisson through a dagger bearing the power of the Sun, before being ground to dust by his son Hasvir, does strongly suggest a connection. Strongly enough that you felt the need to investigate further, but out of respect for this court and the people of this court, you saw the importance of confirming your suspicions beyond any reasonable doubt rather than re-ignite a feud that had long fallen to peace. After all, have we not been living as neighbors in the same valley peaceably for many years now?
    -[ ]Further Strategy and elaboration: Use the Scorn-Pole Incident as our inciting factor, leverage how the preponderance of evidence pointed towards Horra desiring to reignite a feud that had long been quiet, but us wanting to be certain before escalating the issue. Straight up deny any accusations of thievery because we didn't take a damned thing--except in the case of the ballista, in which case, explain that you acquired this on a shipment going to the camp of Jordan Sharkmouth and his Felag, bandits who have been menacing the people of the north. Explain the make of the ballista, the discoveries you and Sten made of it and its likely origins, and then draw a connection between a short fellow wreathed in shadows discussing matters with him, and the sudden infusion of sun-infused armaments currently being wielded by the Lurkalings, Sun Infused weapons that you yourself witnessed Horra wielding. Isn't that something how dwarf-designed weapons are appearing from his workshops, while weapons no dwarf could hope to forge are appearing in a war in the deeps. Why, it's almost like they're meddling in each other's politics

    This effectively parries both of his accusations, legally speaking, while going on the offense. We might have to pay a modest fine on the Trespassing (Though given the evidence behind our trepass, they're liable to be 'Slap on the Wrist' level), but we didn't steal a god damn thing unless he's going to openly admit to selling weapons to foreign Vikingr raiding the valley. Birb Gacha is not something we consciously decide after all, and we've never made use of any Sealwood Products yet. He might have an accusation, but we can safely deny it except for the most important part, which is also a trap
     
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    Imperial Fister said:
    Logi Firehair is a powerfully built man with thick arms crossed and legs spread wide. Shining silver eyes dart to and fro, determining the level of threat each and every person poses. Not only is his hair as red as yours, but tiny tongues of flame burn harmlessly at the ends.

    'Kennings,' Blackhand says with a bemused snort.
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    heh. hoping there will be a journal update now.
    Imperial Fister said:
    "My name is Halla Longstride and I am worthy of your respect."
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    ngl, i winced.
    in most other situations, this would be a bad flag.... but cultural honor systems are weird.
    Imperial Fister said:
    Two judges are firmly on your side with three leaning your way. One judge is firmly on Horra's side and two lean his way. One judge is undecided — who, as it turns out, is the elephant merchant...
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    neat.... this means we just need to sway 1 more to lean for us, then we can bomb the merchant with the elephant.
     
    I don't think Birb Gacha is something we can claim to having stolen anything with. We were actually quite careful to limit what we did to observation for the most part, except for the Ballista, which we stole after we confirmed it was being delivered to bandits.

    Realistically, the worst we can take from that is a modest fine, because it's weaksauce as hell, and we're willing to take that on the chin.
     
    While putting a lot of cards on the table is kinda a risk the fact that Horra has deep ties here means he needs to be put over the fire before people would be willing to throw him under the bus. By framing it as him trying to reignite a fued HE was on the losing end in his 'home town' (which he ran to) puts him in the dog house.

    Edit: Especially after he took pains to make sure our dad didn't know he was here. And we specifically didn't tell him until the evidence that Horra was targeting us was monumental.
     
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