Cheers! That really clears lots things up - I was wondering why we were investing just one training die in lots of different things.
Yup. 30 dice invested in 1 die increments make for 30 successes while they'd average more like 20 successes if all put in one thing. Sometimes you need 20 successes in one thing, of course, but if you need 30 different things anyway and aren't in a hurry...
I think I also understand the Odr/Orthstirr distinction for infusing/investing into stats now - infusing with Odr essentially means we have more Orthstirr free for other things, like Tricks, rather than needing to invest it in those stats every turn?
Among many other things, yes, that's correct.
It also increases various other stuff associated with the stat beyond even what you get when filling it full of Orthstirr (extra Endurance and Shapeshifting Slots for Hamr, extra Capacity and Alloy slots for Hugr, and so on), and sometimes provides other benefits (Frenzy is based on our Infused Hugr, while Calm Charges are based on our Infused Composure).
So, my two pence here.
Reading this and looking back, the impression I get is that Runar constantly reminds Aki that he's a disappointment who killed his mother in childbirth, and that Aki feels tied to his father largely by guilt. Aki deserves to be around people who appreciate and love him for the great young man is, not constantly comparing him to the imaginary able-bodied son who he isn't. So I think Aki should stay with us, he will be better off in the long run if he isn't trapped in a co-dependent relationship. Runar might be too, honestly.
That's not the vibe I've gotten from them to be honest. It's not Runar who says things like that, it's
literally everyone else. From what we've seen Runar is supportive of his son, it's just that having literally only one supportive person in your whole life is not really sufficient. We've tried to provide more, and have managed it in ourselves, but Abjorn is quiet and not even our other friends always manage to be supportive (Stigr is kind of a dick to Aki a lot of the time, for example, though we call him on it).
Now, this kind of relationship isn't impossible, as we've only met his father a few times, and don't see them alone together, but from what we can tell all of Aki's issues seem to be based on the entire society he's living in wanting him to be the imaginary able-bodied man he isn't (which it definitely does), not specifically his father.
In particular, there've been some hints that Aki, and his father continuing to care for him, is part of the reason that his father has been unable to get remarried or make a lot of friends, which is part of why their farm is severely understaffed and was struggling before the livestock infusion we gave them. There have been no hints that his father blames him for that, but he's a smart kid and literally has psychic visions, so he knows. That's enough to hit him hard in the confidence even if his dad is great about it.
