NorseQuest (A Norse Xianxia)

[Alectai]

[X] Yes, there is
-[X] Aki's soul may be asleep, but he may be dreaming. "I don't know if you're going to remember this later, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you're willing to be part of a great struggle, then remember. All three Aspects when you're at rest and weave them together, do it inside the fence of a farm, and have company to wake you up from the shock of the impact. It's dangerous, but you've never shied away from that. This is the gift of knowledge I offer to you, for your friendship, and the hurt you took aiding me and my kin, whether you take it up or not is your choice and your own story."

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Huh.

With Aki asleep there goes the plan of telling him anything. Darn. With that out the window I honestly have no idea what we still have to do here and am thinking we just leave? Unless someone has something really specific...

Also, as a difference between 4 and 6 I think that Reward die was very relevant. I guess the -7 on the final roll was based on how well we did on the first two? That makes sense anyway.

Where the hell did that -7 come from? Was Astmundur helping us the entire time?

Wait, what? We got a -7. Yet somehow we still managed to flawlessly make it back? Something ain't right.

Click to shrink...

We succeeded even with the -7. If the -7 is the reflection of difficulty, then exceeding it means we did indeed get back. That follows, I think. It's if the -7 resulted in a failure (a very real possibility) that we'd have...issues.

[X] Yes, there is
-[X] Aki's soul may be asleep, but he may be dreaming. "I don't know if you're going to remember this later, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you're willing to be part of a great struggle, then remember. All three Aspects when you're at rest, do it inside the fence of a farm, and have company to wake you up from the shock of the impact. It's dangerous, but you've never shied away from that. This is the gift I offer you, for your friendship, and the hurt you took aiding me."

Click to shrink...

Oooh. I'm honestly not sure about this. Could be a great idea, could be a terrible one. If you're gonna do it you need to tell him to weave the aspects together or it won't do anything, though.

 

[Alectai]

Edited.

Basically, there's no reason not to try. Since the Enemy can't meddle here.

Anyway, I think we managed to pull it off? The difficulties were high but we made every roll, despite Fate itself straining to make those a bunch of fails.

 

[Constenanto]

Oooh. I'm honestly not sure about this. Could be a great idea, could be a terrible one. If you're gonna do it you need to tell him to weave the aspects together or it won't do anything, though.

Click to shrink...

I don't see the harm in telling him, to be honest. Unless he only recalls parts of it... which would be horrible. But assuming he remembers it, then as long as we instruct him correctly he can become an true cultivator without risk of dying.

Admittedly, we should probably train Aki if he does become a cultivator, since becoming one paints a target on your back. At least, more so than we are right now. I doubt the Enemy would send a hit squad after him, but the Enemy is clearly opportunistic enough to capitalise on moments of weakness, and I wouldn't want to find Aki dead at the hands of a squad of Foemen or something.

 

[Alectai]

We know he's been Very Interested, and we're never going to get another opportunity to execute a Free Disclosure like this again. It might not work, but it's worth the try.

Man though, the Calm Charge was super necessary. That was a lot of bad dice there!

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

I don't see the harm in telling him, to be honest. Unless he only recalls parts of it... which would be horrible. But assuming he remembers it, then as long as we instruct him correctly he can become an true cultivator without risk of dying.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure even the 'inside your fence' first try has a pretty solid risk of death (though much lower than the 'outside your fence' version, mind you). There are likely ways to make it safer that we haven't figured out yet.

Admittedly, we should probably train Aki if he does become a cultivator, since becoming one paints a target on your back. At least, more so than we are right now. I doubt the Enemy would send a hit squad after him, but the Enemy is clearly opportunistic enough to capitalise on moments of weakness, and I wouldn't want to find Aki dead at the hands of a squad of Foemen or something.

Click to shrink...

I mean, he's already part of the regular sparring...given the vast differences between his combat style and ours I suspect that's as much training as we can readily give him in combat. We could theoretically train him in cultivation but we'd need to be real careful. Maybe he could just watch us do it once he started?

 

[Toboe]

We know he's been Very Interested, and we're never going to get another opportunity to execute a Free Disclosure like this again. It might not work, but it's worth the try.

Click to shrink...

What is stopping us from later learning from the Seeress how to open the way into Ginnungagap and then do it just for a disclosure?
Or even, once we got to know her enough to trust her, ask her to take the three of us (Halla, Aki, Seeress) into Ginnunga, tell the 2, then return?

 

[Alectai]

What is stopping us from later learning from the Seeress how to open the way into Ginnungagap and then do it just for a disclosure?
Or even, once we got to know her enough to trust her, ask her to take the three of us (Halla, Aki, Seeress) into Ginnunga, tell the 2, then return?

Click to shrink...

Modgud told us she liked her privacy, it's one thing if we've got a reason to be here, but it's another thing entirely to make a habit of it for no real reason.

Anyway, I guess we pulled off the Save Aki Arc @Imperial Fister ? I don't think there was any massive time distortion getting there, and we made all the rolls. Maybe not by huge margins but we still got them.

 

[Constenanto]

I mean, he's already part of the regular sparring...given the vast differences between his combat style and ours I suspect that's as much training as we can readily give him in combat. We could theoretically train him in cultivation but we'd need to be real careful. Maybe he could just watch us do it once he started?

Click to shrink...

🤷‍♂️

I don't really know what else we can do to be honest, I just don't want Aki getting killed. Frankly, I have no idea how fylgja combat works, so I have no idea if teaching Aki our combat skills would work - if I had to hazard a guess, I imagine they wouldn't.

I'm pretty sure even the 'inside your fence' first try has a pretty solid risk of death (though much lower than the 'outside your fence' version, mind you). There are likely ways to make it safer that we haven't figured out yet.

Click to shrink...

I mean, power demands sacrifice. I don't imagine there'd be any way to completely reduce the risk of becoming a cultivator. If cultivating inside still has a decent chance of killing someone, then I don't see why it'd exist, since anyone that is a cultivator would have no reason to do such a thing. I mean, yeah, something might exist that makes cultivating inside a necessity, but we don't know that for certain. Same with an uninitiated cultivating inside - we don't actually know if it would kill them.

 

[MrRageQuit]

[X] Yes, there is
-[X] Aki's soul may be asleep, but he may be dreaming. "I don't know if you're going to remember this later, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you're willing to be part of a great struggle, then remember. All three Aspects when you're at rest and weave them together, do it inside the fence of a farm, and have company to wake you up from the shock of the impact. It's dangerous, but you've never shied away from that. This is the gift of knowledge I offer to you, for your friendship, and the hurt you took aiding me and my kin, whether you take it up or not is your choice and your own story."

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

🤷‍♂️

I don't really know what else we can do to be honest, I just don't want Aki getting killed. Frankly, I have no idea how fylgja combat works, so I have no idea if teaching Aki our combat skills would work - if I had to hazard a guess, I imagine they wouldn't.

Click to shrink...

Skills we actually should be able to train (and I'd assume we already are), as the Fylgja does use your dice pool...Tricks probably not so much, though, since those mostly tend to be specific to, like, having arms.

I mean, power demands sacrifice. I don't imagine there'd be any way to completely reduce the risk of becoming a cultivator. If cultivating inside still has a decent chance of killing someone, then I don't see why it'd exist, since anyone that is a cultivator would have no reason to do such a thing. I mean, yeah, something might exist that makes cultivating inside a necessity, but we don't know that for certain. Same with an uninitiated cultivating inside - we don't actually know if it would kill them.

Click to shrink...

Oh totally, I'm just noting risks.

 

[Constenanto]

Oh totally, I'm just noting risks.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I just wanted to point out that I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Aki will die. That's not to say I don't think that Aki doesn't have a chance of kicking the bucket, but I imagine he has a pretty decent chance of surviving. If anything, I imagine it'd depend on him, probably.

By the way, would people with less orthstirr have an easier time of opening the Gate for the first time? Since the amount of odr let in to your soul is based on how much orthstirr you have - to be more specific, how much orthstirr your Aspects have. If so, then Aki would probably have the easiest time out of anyone in our gang when becoming a cultivator... No offense to him.

 

[Toboe]

Modgud told us she liked her privacy, it's one thing if we've got a reason to be here, but it's another thing entirely to make a habit of it for no real reason.

Click to shrink...

Spreading the knowledge that the enemy of our people wants to destroy to destroy us sounds like a pretty good reason, if we make sure to not disturb her more than absolutely necessary (by our presence) to pass on the secret.

[X] Yes, there is
-[X] Aki's soul may be asleep, but he may be dreaming. "I don't know if you're going to remember this later, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you're willing to be part of a great struggle, then remember. All three Aspects when you're at rest and weave them together, do it inside the fence of a farm, and have company to wake you up from the shock of the impact. It's dangerous, but you've never shied away from that. This is the gift of knowledge I offer to you, for your friendship, and the hurt you took aiding me and my kin, whether you take it up or not is your choice and your own story."

Click to shrink...

Maybe, "Weaving aspects, two to reach a door, all three to open it. The first time you open the door you will pass out, your Orth flowing out and if you keep it open too long you will die true death. The civilization of home slows both danger & reward. Friends can help re-awaken you."?

By the way, would people with less orthstirr have an easier time of opening the Gate for the first time? Since the amount of odr let in to your soul is based on how much orthstirr you have - to be more specific, how much orthstirr your Aspects have. If so, then Aki would probably have the easiest time out of anyone in our gang becoming a cultivator... No offense to him.

Click to shrink...

Or they might have a harder time.
It could be (kinda assuming it is) that the true death happens when you cultivate for more Orth than you have. So Orthstirr rich -> can survive longer, Orthstirr poor -> needs to close the door quickly.

 

[Alectai]

We can't micro it too much, stick to the main three points. "Weave all three Aspects together, do it inside the border of a farm, have friends on hand to help wake you". Those are the most likely to be remembered later.

 

[Constenanto]

Or they might have a harder time.
It could be (kinda assuming it is) that the true death happens when you cultivate for more Orth than you have. So Orthstirr rich -> can survive longer, Orthstirr poor -> needs to close the door quickly.

Click to shrink...

I mean, we haven't really had any indication that having more orthstirr makes odr easier to handle. The only correlation we know of between orthstirr and odr is that having more orthstirr means more odr. Whether that's due to orthstirr deciding how much odr you can take in, or orthstirr deciding how much odr is drawn into your soul, we dunno.

Well, I say that, but we got 8 odr when we first opened the Gate. 240~ orthstirr seems about right for Halla post-raid. Meaning that the odr corresponded to how much orthstirr we had. And it can't be that we could only retain 8 odr, because the well was specifically said to be several times deeper than we were tall... If it really did get more than 8 odr, it definitely would've been capable of retaining it.

 

[seekingflame]

Do we need to tell him to open the Gate? feels kinda risky to give him all this info when he is half asleep. And the retaliation was about knowing, not opening. There is a chance that only telling him about Odr and cultivation will put him beyond whatever mechanism the Enemy use and will be much less risk in case that opening the Gate is not a matter of doing in inside a home.

 

[Toboe]

[X] No, there is not

 

[Constenanto]

And the retaliation was about knowing, not opening. There is a chance that only telling him about Odr and cultivation will put him beyond whatever mechanism the Enemy use and will be much less risk in case that opening the Gate is not a matter of doing in inside a home.

Click to shrink...

The Enemy doesn't need somebody to disclose odr for them to attack - we know this, since he jumped us with the Foemen. It's just that, disclosing info about odr is 100% guaranteed to get a reaction from the Enemy. We know for a fact that the Enemy has some sort of insight into odr - or possibly just orthstirr, as it may have seen the decrease in our Aspects - given that it knew when we fucked up our Aspects, and just because there won't be a retaliatory force doesn't mean Aki will be beyond the Enemy, or won't be at risk of attack.

Now, that's not to say we shouldn't tell Aki. This is probably going to be the only chance we're going to get to tell someone without risk of the Enemy sending a kill-squad. Aki is also one of the best options, since his Soulsight actually gives him greater insight into the workings of the soul - and odr primarily interacts with the soul, so it's safe to assume he'd be a great help when it comes to researching true cultivation. We won't be able to come back here, since Modgudr says she likes her privacy, and I'd really like to avoid pissing her off. Not to mention that Aki can simply choose to not do it if he feels that its too dangerous, or he might not even recall this at all.

 

[Alectai]

The issue is that this is one of the few places where we know for sure he won't notice Disclosure. And we know Aki's wanted to know for a while, and his Soulsight means that he's going to be very good at it.

Now, I don't know what kind of roll it would take to hopefully maximize retention, but it is what it is.

 

[seekingflame]

I'm not saying not to disclosure, I'm just saying it might be better to only tell about Odr and tell him to not yet try and open the Gate, because we are not yet sure we have it nailed down, and our main suspect of something that could help, Seidr, is just around the corner.

On that thought, I'm curious, if Odr is an internal resource not depending on outside stimuli like Orth, is it possible to pass it to someone who 'discovered' their soul but did not yet open the gate? Giving Aki one Odr to throw at Composure for the Calm charge, or some other trick, might be one of the keys we need for a safe Gating.

 

[The Lone badger]

I'm torn. It really does seem like we're not actually on the bridge - the update calls out at least three occasions where things Don't Seem Right.

OTOH sailing home would be a fun adventure.

 

[Constenanto]

On that thought, I'm curious, if Odr is an internal resource not depending on outside stimuli like Orth, is it possible to pass it to someone who 'discovered' their soul but did not yet open the gate? Giving Aki one Odr to throw at Composure for the Calm charge, or some other trick, might be one of the keys we need for a safe Gating.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it'd be possible? To actually retain odr, you need a Soulscape. You don't get a functioning Soulscape until you open the Gate - up till then, it's just a blank void where your Soulscape should be.

Huh. Now that I think about it, is Aki's Soulsight not good enough to see our Soulscape? He's never said a word about it before.

 

[7734]

[X] Yes, there is
-[X] Aki's soul may be asleep, but he may be dreaming. "I don't know if you're going to remember this later, but I'm going to tell you anyway. If you're willing to be part of a great struggle, then remember. All three Aspects when you're at rest and weave them together, do it inside the fence of a farm, and have company to wake you up from the shock of the impact. It's dangerous, but you've never shied away from that. This is the gift of knowledge I offer to you, for your friendship, and the hurt you took aiding me and my kin, whether you take it up or not is your choice and your own story."

 

[dreamdweller]

[X] Alectai

 

[Alectai]

I don't think it'd be possible? To actually retain odr, you need a Soulscape. You don't get a functioning Soulscape until you open the Gate - up till then, it's just a blank void where your Soulscape should be.

Huh. Now that I think about it, is Aki's Soulsight not good enough to see our Soulscape? He's never said a word about it before.

Click to shrink...

It gets auto redacted