For the record, I basically agree with this in a general sense, but think it's worth noting that things we fix in regard to this kind of thing should generally stay fixed. Like, if we put real effort into patching things up with Abjorn, this kind of conflict shouldn't recur with him specifically for quite a while if at all. It sucks if effort doesn't get rewarded in a Quest like this, and that includes in regards to interpersonal stuff.
I think that human relationships are always a case of push and pull, yin and yang, friction and mending, and so on. But yeah in this instance I agree with you, I wouldn't want us to be having spats with Abjorn every other turn, he's our big bear ❤. Also it does not really suit Halla's dynamic with him. And yes, if we've put effort into restoring or improving a relationship, I think that feels like an earned victory, and it's nice for that to remain the case at least until there's a compelling reason for the status quo to change.
We have a lot of friends and relatives, and there's a lot of scope for more character drama without reusing the same characters too often. Also drama it does not mean they have to be upset with Halla; maybe we'll end up having to play Flying Marriage Counsellor to Sten and Minna, or something. Just a bit of conflict sometimes can create stakes, which makes it much sweeter and earned when we fix things and reap the rewards.
Like right now, I'm super excited for Abjorn's reaction when we make him a really nice set of swanky new clothes.
[X] Intervene (Silver-Tongue Check)
-[X] "If this was all a trick, then why would someone trying to trick you bring me with them? Everyone knows we dislike eachother!"
-[X] "Now open the door and stop being ungrateful to your brother who came all this way to find you."
0~0~0 (Hugr (Silver-Tongue): 6x1, 5x2, 4x2, 3x1, 2x2, 1x4)3-4(Difficulty)+2(Argument)=1 Success
"If this were all a trick," your sudden intrusion causes Hirkir to jolt, "then why would someone trying to trick you bring me?" You scoff and roll your eyes as you wave a hand at your surroundings. "Everyone knows we don't exactly like each other!"
Hirkir stands as still as a statue as he stares at you. He doesn't blink, not so much as a twitch as a buzzing fly lands on the surface of his eye. The fly rubs its forelegs together before taking off again.
A bead of sweat starts to trickle down the back of your neck as goosebumps wash over your skin in great waves of tension.
'Not quite the strongest argument that I've ever seen. Maybe you ca-'
"That makes sense to me!" Hirkir breaks the silence as the fly rots in mid-air. His head whips out, the smile now real as rushes towards Hasvir. "Oh how I've missed you! I thought you were dead!"
You feel weirdly sick as Hirkir embraces a rather unhappy Hasvir, who manages to wrench himself away from the shapecrafter.
'I hate shapecrafters,' Blackhand sighs as he does the verbal equivalent of rubbing one's temple, 'rationality is anathema to them.'
After that, Hirkir invites the rest of you into the Witch's once-home. The interior isn't... well, calling it 'disorderly' would be a compliment. Most of the furniture seems to be serving a higher purpose as firewood while cloth sacks and other minor tools scatter across the floor in piles of debris. A chill filters through a sheet nailed over a man-sized hole in the wall. Even the floorboards failed to escape damage, having been ripped up and snapped in half.
But despite the sheer amount of destruction, there's an odd sense of order to the chaos. Whoever did this was looking for something — or, more likely, someone.
The house is opened up to you. What do you wish to do?
[ ] Investigate the house
-[ ] Write in any specific things you wish to do, such as talking to Hirkir
[ ] Check out the Ritual Chamber
0~0~0
AN: And there we are, update 2 for the day. Lets see if we can't hit a few more, shall we? ;P
If she were a Norseperson, killing herself in her sanctuary might be a way to escape forms of magical pursuit... if she thought she could be revived. She's not Norse, but we don't know anything about how her cultivation does work, either.
We actually don't know this. I'd say the evidence is that she is Norse (or was before her death, anyway), in terms of both culture and cultivation, just not religiously. But religion wouldn't technically cut you off from being a cultivator in the Norse style, I don't think. She could also not be, but I wouldn't assume.
I'm pretty satisfied as is, but if I had to pick something, then more information on other cultivation systems. All of those seem super interesting, and more information on them is always very enlightening. Like, even if it's not directly helpful in any way, the more of it we get the better. Even just little details like what they call their stats and Trick-equivalents and things like that are always super interesting.
*ahem*
Mini-Interlude
Warmth floods the golden soul of slumbering sharp as a hand grips tight. A smile spreads across her face, the future brightening with every fiery heartbeat. A young soul needs a young master.
More normal turns. The adventures are fun and all and we get a bunch of extra othsirr and rewards from them.
But doing too much of them lowers our ability to actually advance between them and actually use our rewards.
Other then that, maybe more interaction with the kids? They are mostly in the background and it would be nice to see some mother son/daughter time's or seeing Halla teaching them about Norse society.
We have a lot of friends and relatives, and there's a lot of scope for more character drama without reusing the same characters too often. Also drama it does not mean they have to be upset with Halla; maybe we'll end up having to play Flying Marriage Counsellor to Sten and Minna, or something. Just a bit of conflict sometimes can create stakes, which makes it much sweeter and earned when we fix things and reap the rewards.
Very true! Character interaction is what drives stories forward and combat is just that with a more violent hat on. It's why I like writing duels more than group fights and also why the bodily death vs true death thing exists, so I can have fun re-occurring villains without having to author fiat them to stay alive!
Warmth floods the golden soul of slumbering sharp as a hand grips tight. A smile spreads across her face, the future brightening with every fiery heartbeat. A young soul needs a young master.
To return to something else or a minute, would it be alright if I quickly made my case for Halla to use the Flame-Tending Blade in our upcoming Spar with Steinarr?
- If we used Flame-Tending Blade in our spar with Steinarr, would it in any way increase the chance of him or us accidentally suffering true death as a the result of our spar?
- So long as we made sure to choose a deserted part of the Hading, is there a major risk of collateral damage to neighbour's property?
Just wanted to ask these to head off what I suspect are going to be the two major objections to trying it out.
We know that there are no dangers to doing so (thanks for answering IF), but I'd also like to briefly list the reasons why I think it would be a good idea to include in the spar:
1. It'd be Rad as Hell
If we're going to have this fight, then I think we want to make it as cool and spectacular as we possibly can. What would be a better climax than us charging our most powerful technique and unleashing it, as Steinarr responds with his own mysteries of sword-lore, and the two attacks clash in a tumultuous explosion of martial power?
2. Showing Dad Our Growth
Part of this spar is about us learning how far we still have to go, but it's also a nice opportunity for Steinarr to see how far his little girl has come. I think he'll be proud to see that we've begun to touch on some of the deeper mysteries of martial arts. Also if we want his expert advice on the Flame-Tending Blade, then I think a live demonstration will probably give us better results than just talking about it.
3. Ideal Field Test
We developed Flame-Tending Blade to be a powerful move for fighting serious opponents at least as strong or stronger than Halla. Steinarr is much stronger than us, and he's also vastly experienced. What better opportunity is there for us to see how the Flame-Tending Blade works against a real, formidable foe... and even more valuable as a learning experience, how a really experienced and powerful warrior like Steinarr might counter it?
Wanted to get ahead of things a little bit and discuss this now, so it's not happening when we've started the fight and a plan has already been posted.
I'm definitely down with using Flame Tending Blade, yeah. We probably don't want to go full 'no attacks' while we power it up, but we have a few ways to attack even while powering it, I think...I bet we can use a stored attack from a Fast for that if we choose to, for example, and while we only have one of those, if it's, like, a 3Fold IAT it'll hopefully buy us some time.
