Aki chose to develop his Fylgja into being a Swordraven.. which seems pretty suboptimal to me TBH. But then he otherwise would be unable to fight, and 'Son of Elm' is probably a grievous insult in Norse society.
Aki chose to develop his Fylgja into being a Swordraven.. which seems pretty suboptimal to me TBH. But then he otherwise would be unable to fight, and 'Son of Elm' is probably a grievous insult in Norse society.
From our own options, it didn't look to me like going a different route from your original Fylgja bonus was a bad call. Like, our own choice of Wizard Owl was thematically on point, but Shield Owl would've also been solid.
(Disclaimer: Mentions of Domestic Violence)
(You have cultivated 20 odr)
-Cool Times with Blackhand and Abjorn
[X] Plan Sparring With Steinarr
-[X] (Crafting) Try to make something
--[X] Forged Iron Pot (+15 successes from Tools/Workshop)
--[X] Add runes to it saying "What is cooked in this pot will be healthy to eat."
--[X] Add the bone ash of a particularly tasty sheep to the forging
--[X] Switch Forgefire Slots to Dice before starting and back afterwards
--[X] Burning Frami, Virthing, and Saemd (for +1 Success each, +3 successes total) to enhance the crafting process
-[X] (Visit) Go visit...
--[X] Hasviby, Hasvir's Farm
--[X] Tell him we have, kind of accidentally, probably found the location of Hirkir and would happily go with him to retrieve his brother
--[X] We are not going alone but with multiple comrades (probably Abjorn, Stigmar, Tryggr, and Trausti)...if asked why we brought them we can mention Hooknails and the possibility of people from Rogaland being about, and also that the place we're going is further into the Hading which is never perfectly safe
-[X] (Violent) Pick a fight or spar with...
--[X] Spar with Steinarr
--[X] Ask him about Flame-Tending Blade at some point before or after if we can arrange it...there's something weird there that he might know about.
-[X] (Exploration) Go on a walk through...
--[X] The fields!
--[X] Try and find additional tracks from the six-toed creature and maybe what it is and where it lives.
---[X] (Optional) Send your fylgja in your place (Does not cost an action)
-[X] (Rolled)
--[X] Train Kindle-Spinner 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Firebomb-Strike 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Ember-Winged Cloak 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Campfire 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Heat Hold 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Forge Weld 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Explosive Reactive Armor 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Fireside Barrage 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
--[X] Train Flame Tending Blade 2d6 (1d6) (+1 Success from Born of Fire)
---[X] Try and figure out what makes it different from our other Tricks.
--[X] Train Backstep 1d6
--[X] Train Long-Lunge 1d6
--[X] Train a Bash Trick for stunning an opponent 1d6
--[X] Train a Shoot Trick focused on high damage available at long ranges 1d6
--[X] Train an Atgeir Hugareida Trick for forced movement, hopefully forcing the target to go wherever we like 1d6
--[X] Train an 'Atgeir Guard' Hugareida Trick like Sword Guard but designed to work to defend either us or someone else 1d6
--[X] Train an Atgeir Hugareida Trick to counterattack anyone who attempts to attack through the 'Atgeir Guard' Trick above 1d6
--[X] Train Clearwater 4d6
--[X] Train Fylgja Itself 4d6
-[X] (Research)
--[X] Continue working on our soulscape's fence 1d6
--[X] Continue setting up our soulscape's land as a farm 1d6
--[X] Try and figure out what the weird tooth necklace does 1d6
--[X] Try and use Recall like a bow to propel a Trick and see how that works 1d6
--[X] Try and experiment with using Recall and/or seidr and the above Tricks channeled through different materials (ie: try and use it to throw a Kindle Spinner while doing it through Ashen Kiss) 1d6
--[X] Invest 10 Orthstirr into a Pocket and try and make a dedicated Brewery Pocket...see what we can do with that 1d6
--[X] Investigate our physical farm for anything that might be causing a spiritual blockage at our metaphorical gate (ie: our cultivation spot) 1d6
-[X] (Drifa) Teach Drifa some of your tricks
--[X] Continue our basic combat curriculum 1d6
-[X] (Training) Solo Seidr Training
--[X] Quickest Stitch 1d6 x
--[X] Draw Poison 1d6 x
--[X] Sear Diseased Flesh 1d6 x
-[X] (Blackhand's Training) Try to develop old/train new hugareida tricks
--[X] Train Halting Vortex 1d6 x
--[X] Train Mire Ward 1d6 x
--[X] Train Slipstream 1d6 x
--[X] Train Gale Spear 1d6 x
--[X] Train Sword Guard 1d6 x
--[X] Train Sword Strike 1d6 x
-[X] (Training) Tricks
--[X] Talk to Sten about how to make Jewelry and how to Decorate weapons
--[X] Train Sharpen 1d6 x
--[X] Train Focus Guard 1d6 x
--[X] Train Sowing Sight 1d6 X
--[X] Train Harvesting Sense 1d6 X
--[X] Train 'Residence' Design Skill-Trick 1d6 x
--[X] Train 'Utility' Design Skill-Trick 1d6 x
--[X] Train 'Stealth' Wildcraft Skill-Trick 1d6 x
--[X] Train 'Jewelry' Artcraft Skill-Trick 1d6 (+1 Success from Sten) x
--[X] Train 'Decorate' Artcraft Skill-Trick 1d6 (+1 Success from Sten) x
-[X] (Training) Hamr (119 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Hamr itself 1d6 x
--[X] Train Farmwork 1d6 X
--[X] Train Labor 1d6 X
--[X] Train Defend 1d6 x
--[X] Train Dodge 1d6 x
--[X] Train Shoot 1d6 x
--[X] Train Strike 1d6 x
-[X] (Training) Hugr (57 successes to rank up)
--[X] Train Hugr itself 1d6 x
--[X] Train Artcraft 1d6 (+1 success from Sten) x
--[X] Train Design 1d6 x
--[X] Train Silver-Tongue 1d6 x
--[X] Train Tactics 1d6 x
You sigh as you struggle to maintain the ghostly form of an atgeir. It's hard work, you know!
(+1 to Heat Hold)
(+2 to Backstep)
(+2 to Stunner Slam)
(+2 to Meteoric Shot)
(+1 to Atgeir Bodyguard)
0~0~0
Rolled (Clearwater: 4, 1, 5, 2) 1 Success (Kindle-Spinner: 6, 6) 5 Successes. (Firebomb Strike: 6, 1) 2 Successes. (EWC: 3, 6) 4 Successes. (Campfire: 4, 4) 3 Successes. (Forge Weld: 5, 3) 4 Successes. (ERA: 6, 6) 5 Successes. (Fireside Barrage: 1, 3) 1 Success. (Flame-Tending Blade: 1, 1) 1 Failure. (Fylgja: 5, 3, 3, 1) 3 Successes.
You scowl with a face full of soot. You cough, waving aside the smoke cloud choking your throat.
This damned Explosive Reactive Armor! Sometimes it explodes too easily, so you thicken the layers! But guess what, now it's too thick! So then you thin it out again and boom, literally.
You sigh as you get back to work. There's only one way to get better at it... even if it tastes like ash.
(+1 to Clearwater)
(+5 to Kindle Spinner)
(+2 to Firebomb Strike)
(+4 to EWC)
(+3 to Campfire)
(+4 to Forge Weld
(ERA is now Rough!)
(+1 to Fireside Barrage)
(+3 to Fylgja)
Soulscape Fence (Labor: 6x3, 5x1, 4x2, 3x4, 2x1, 1x1) 12 Successes. Sowing soul-fields (Farmwork: 6x1, 5x4, 3x2, 2x3, 1x2) 7 Successes
You wipe your brow as the final fencepost slides into place and the final beam sits nicely in its groove. As the final hammer blow falls and the fence is finished, a sense of serene security falls across your being, like a warm blanket on a cold morning or the embrace of a lover after a long journey away.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the farm plots. While you managed to sow most of the fields, you weren't quite able to get the last few before exhaustion took over. Still, while it's not complete, it feels right to have crops growing in your soul.
It seems that you've made good progress today!
(Your Soul gains a Superior Quality Fence)
(You are now protected from Spiritual Predators)
0~0~0 The weird tooth necklace
You stare at the necklace of threaded teeth. It doesn't stare back.
You scowl. It does not scowl back.
Fine, then, keep your secrets!
While you don't manage to figure anything out about the necklace, as a result of a lack of ideas, you do notice that the teeth seem... almost flimsy, if that makes any sense? It feels like you could, if so desired, crush them and release the energy stored within.
0~0~0 Recall Experimentation
You yelp as you duck away from the Kindle Spinner hurtling towards your face. Ashen Kiss nearly slips from your hand, but you manage to jerk around just enough that the fiery ball misses you.
Your laugh is a stressed one as you gaze at the tree the Kindle Spinner exploded against. Turns out, grabbing a trick with Recall makes the trick fly at you!
On a side note, it seems that channeling fire-based attacks through Ashen Kiss reduces the orthstirr cost by half!
0~0~0 Brewery Pocket
Orthstirr swirls about your soulscape as you feed it into the pockets of woven power hanging from the ceiling of your soul. Slowly but surely, the chosen Pocket inflates and expands, growing heavy with potential.
As you experiment, you find yourself bombarded by ideas of alcoholic concoctions — both mundane and otherwise. Hmm... it seems that you can add ingredients to a Brewery Pocket and, over a period of time, it will ferment and turn into alcoholic beverages that, depending on the ingredients, can have a variety of different effects!
(Brewery Pocket added to soulscape)
0~0~0 Investigating physical farm for anything that might cause spiritual blockage
As you shovel snow from your doorstep, something almost feels familiar about it. But, why is that? Is there somewhere you know that has something blocking something?
Food Supply: 24 (5 Extra with MKS)
Goods Supply: 49
Storage Used: 73
Storage Free: 27
0~0~0 Forged Iron Pot (Hugr (Housecraft): 5x3, 4x4, 3x4, 2x1, 1x6)7+15(Tools/Workshop)+3(Aspects)=25 Successes. Runes: (Artcraft: 6x4, 5x3, 4x3, 3x2, 2x1)18+15(Tools/Workshop)=33 Successes, which upgrades quality to Grand, which then is also upgraded to Mastercraft.
"Halla..." Abjorn is uncharacteristically morose as he approaches you one night after dinner. He's frowning, which for Abjorn means that he's actually somewhat upset. "I like the pot you made, but... well..." He trails off with a grimace.
"Is there something wrong?" It's not like him to be this skittish.
The frown deepens. "The pot is very nice, but it... well, it makes everything taste like sheep."
Your brows furrow as you cock your head to the side. "I don't see the problem here?"
"Halla, I love you more than life itself," your brows shooting high on your head as he opens up with that, "so please don't divorce me over this."
You squint, your brows only gaining height. "...Right?"
"I don't really... like mutton all that much?" His voice rises as he stops, like he's phrasing a statement as a question.
"But you love mutton!" He's always so happy when you serve it to him! How could he hate it?!
"I love your cooking," he clarifies very carefully, "but you cook a lot of mutton. Plain mutton with very little flavorful nuance, because that's how you like it."
"'Very little flavorful nuance'?!" Your mouth falls open in astonishment as you place a hand to your chest. Abjorn shuffles awkwardly, his fingers twisting together.
"I have a good nose," he says as he taps said nose, "and so I can pick up a greater range of flavor. It's why Asgeirr is always the first to finish on mutton night."
"B-but that's because he can't get enough of it! He's always asking for seconds!" You shake your head side-to-side, not quite willing to believe what you're hearing.
"He only gets seconds because you give it to him after he finishes."
"Th-that's not true!" You scowl as you mentally flail around in search of any argument at all, even straws will do. Abjorn seizes the opportunity to press the attack.
He leans forward slight, his brows starting to angle in. "Furthermore, we slaughter at least a dozen sheep a year from how often we eat them, sheep that could go towards making better clothing."
"Oh so that's what this is about," your scowl deepens as you find your footing. Planting hands on hips, your brows angle in to mirror his, "you and your obsession with nice clothes!"
He fully scowls now, you've struck a nerve. "There's nothing wrong with wanting nice clothes!"
"There is when I make you nice clothes," you gesture at him with a scoff, "like the clothes you're wearing right now!"
"Is a man not entitled to wanting better clothes in his own home?"
"It's not your home, though!" You roar as you jam a finger into you chest. "It's mine."
Abjorn's jaw clenches as his scowl gains a dark shade. His fingers twitch.
Your Frenzy triggers as it detects a threat.
A blanket of quiet falls across the house, the only sounds are the soft breathing of your sleeping children.
Shame burns in your husband's eyes as he turns away — the smell of nid-burnt orthstirr trailing behind him. He points a weary finger at the door, a guilt-ridden slouch to his posture as he refuses to look at you. "I'm... I'm going outside for a bit."
He carefully shuts the door behind him, not waiting for your response.
You release a breath you didn't realize you were holding.
'That...' Blackhand starts up a little awkwardly, 'could have gone better.'
"Shut it, Blackhand," you growl as you collapse into a chair, your heart pounding in your ears.
'Shutting it!'
He falls silent and you focus on calming your fiery fighting blood. How in all the realms did that escalate like that? Did you do something wrong? He was going to h-hit you! O-or at least he gave it enough thought that Frenzy activated...
H-he still loves you, right? You didn't just ruin your marriage over some damned mutton, did you?
'No, he loves you yet,' Blackhand says, breaking his silence after you cool your head, 'but you did touch upon some things that I suspect I know the answers to.*'
"Oh yeah?" You say as you scoff and hang your head. "Go on, then, tell me how it's my fault."
'I'd say the blame lies more on him then you, at least in the latter half. But regardless,' he coughs, 'from an outside perspective, you do eat a rather large amount of mutton, when compared to other meats at least.'
"I... guess that's true," you scowl, not exactly happy with what you're hearing.
'And he's a rather large lad who only stopped growing recently, yes?'
"That's also true..." You squint, wondering where he's going with this.
'Well, he must have outgrown his clothes quite frequently, which would need to be replaced on a regular basis.'
"And that doesn't exactly lend itself towards having nice clothes..." You trail off as you see the logic. "Ah, dammit," you sigh as you slump, your elbows on your knees, "I fucked up."
'Not as bad as I did with my second and third wives. Nobody tried to assassinate the other and no threats of castration were nearly carried out, which is a significant improvement!'
"Still, it's my fault that he almost hit me."
'Well that's just plain incorrect.' You blink as he snorts. 'The only thing you did wrong was push back as hard as you did on the mutton topic.'
"But if I hadn't done that, then this wouldn't have happened!"
'True, but it's his fault he let his anger get the best of him. Same with you letting your fighting blood boil over.'
"That's..." you trail off as you sigh, knowing his words to be true no matter how much you may wish otherwise. "You're... right and... well, thank you, Blackhand," you yawn as you consider sleeping, but the thought that Abjorn wouldn't be there at your side stops that idea in its tracks.
'Always, Halla. Now, let's go find that husband of yours before he does something stupid.'
You grin as you set out to do just that.
(Masterwork Forged Iron Pot added to Inventory)
(Bone Ash makes everything taste a little like mutton)
(Runes double dice added to hamr training)
0~0~0 Visiting Hasvir's Farm
"Wait, wait, wait," Hasvir says as you reveal just where his brother is, "Hirkir's where?"
You oblige him, "Deep in the Hading in a dead witch's hut. My friends and I," you wave a hand at the part you brought along — that being Abjorn, Stigmar, Tryggr, and Trausti, "were going to go get him when we realized that you would probably want to come too."
He squints and sighs as he grabs his sword. "Alright, lets go grab him." He pauses as he straps his sword to his belt, "Thank you, by the way, for coming to me about this."
"Of course," you nod, "if it were my brother out there, I would hope somebody would do the same for me!"
After that, you set out into the Hading and make haste through the woods. Soon after, you arrive before the Hading Witch's hut. The kicked-in door has been rebuilt, at least somewhat — likely by Hirkir, all things considered.
However, that's not where the ritual chamber is. The ritual chamber lies outside the house, down a flight of stairs hidden in the roots.
The only question is...
Where to first?
[ ] The Hut, where Hirkir resides
[ ] The Ritual Chamber, where the corpse of the Witch lays
0~0~0
AN: I'm rather nervous about this one
My apologies if it's shit or clumsily handled, inspiration took hold.
No moratorium, but I had a lot of things distract me from writing so it's a bit too late for a second update unfortunately
Uh, okay, putting that aside, the bone ash thing might not have been a great call, but we really should make Abjorn some good stuff now that he's fully grown I guess?
Also, blockage, blockage, came to mind with the snow clearing. I'll have to review things I think.
That aside, is Superior Fence the cap for Realm 1 @Imperial Fister ? Or is that just the limit of what we can make at present?
Our first proper married couple fight, what a milestone.
Honestly really enjoyed this update, it was just the right mix of fraught and heartwarming, I thought it was really well done. The bit when Halla's Frenzy activated was really tense and gripping; I suppose that kind of thing comes with the territory when you have a marriage between two murder-wizards, and they have a proper angry-crying "THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO PACK THE DISHWASHER!!" style argument.
We should make some nice clothes for Abjorn as a present at a suitable interval after this, he's a good guy.
Seriously, I think we just see now how people can train higher levels of Attributes if you can use runes to create circumstances that let you double your dice in Attribute Training
Does this apply to the entire household incidentally? That's a hell of a bonus to our faction if we can just make people better at training their Attributes.
We'd be hard pressed to do better than Superior here then, since we don't have tools or boons or anything like that which would apply here. This isn't something that a couple more dice will change either.
I feel like "redesign" is maybe a bit hard given we're talking about uh, bone ash which has been incorporated into the structure of the steel "forged iron" via carburisation, so IDK how we'd really unring that bell?
We might just need to make another one and keep this one for Mutton Stew Day, assuming that we don't need to eat from it every day of the week to get the bonus... Or, Abjorn mentioned part of his issue was that Halla likes her mutton kinda plain, so maybe we can experiment more with adding spices/herbs to the mix?
investigating dwarven grove
When comparing the dwarves' grotto to your own, you can't shake the feeling that if their grove is a locked door, yours is a door with a broken lock. Well, perhaps that's not entirely accurate.
It's more like your grove's keyhole has been blocked, if that makes any sense.
0~0~0 Investigating physical farm for anything that might cause spiritual blockage
As you shovel snow from your doorstep, something almost feels familiar about it. But, why is that? Is there somewhere you know that has something blocking something?
Hmm, with the pot Halla doesn't need to slaughter so many sheep to keep eating the taste of Mutton. But we should definitely create another pot with a different bone ash, bone ash from a particularly healthy animal? Also, probably pick up some sewing tricks/tools to create better clothes?
As you shovel snow from your doorstep, something almost feels familiar about it. But, why is that? Is there somewhere you know that has something blocking something?
