NorseQuest: Collective Edition (NQCE) is an experimental riot-like quest heavily inspired by quests like Magna Graecia. In NQCE, a small fleet of Gutes fleeing the destruction of Gotland find themselves thrown significantly off-course by a freak, once-in-a-lifetime storm. Landing on the shores of a strange, foreign land, Grimfari Jarl (as played by me, I.F. Ister) leads his people (you, the playerbase) to build a new home in a far-off place.
Who will ascend to legend, their feats engraved in glory forever? Who will flounder and flail, failing to manage even the slaying of a single foe on the field of battle? Who will live simple lives, surrounded by the fruits of their labor?
Only time will tell, time and participation in NorseQuest: Collective Edition.
Gotland is dead, destroyed in the fighting between your once-ruler, Hallr Blackhand, and his foes the Jomsvikings.
You, however, have managed to escape with your lives—though your livelihoods have fallen to the wayside in the rush to escape. After leaving the island, the refugee fleet encountered a terrible storm which separated your group from the flotilla and stranded the lot of you far beyond the bounds of the known world.
Fortunately, it seems the Gods are with you, as you've spotted a shoreline on the horizon and found a lush, fertile land ripe for settling. Putting ashore just as dark clouds gather in your wake, your ships were upturned to serve as shelter against the rainfall.
Upon the storm's departure, a man known to some of you as 'Grimfari Jarl'—a fair and just ruler of his section of Gotland—took stock of your situation and came to the terrible realization that, of the five special roles necessary for the continued prosperity of any decent settlement, only two were represented amongst your group.
[ ] Gudrun Ravensight, a seeresss
(NQ Context: Seers and seeresses serve the spiritual needs of a community)
[ ] Hrolfr Jurgensson, a shapecrafter
(NQ Context: Shapecrafters modify the body, enhancing them to greater heights)
[ ] Magnus Flute, a skald
(NQ Context: Skalds create all manner of new things, such as stories of glory and means of magic)
[ ] Addling Coalbelch, a smith
[ ] Torkir Farisson, a shipwright
In the coming years, those gaps will need filling should you wish to prosper beyond your current status. For now, though, Grimfari Jarl asks for your names and talents so as to get a better understanding of who he will be working with for the foreseeable future. Once that business is concluded with, he will set to laying out tasks and asking for volunteers to fill them.
Player Characters and Guidelines
You, the players, have a central role to play in the telling of this tale. Though I will perform the duties of Jarl, Seer, and other more passive roles, it is up to you the players to determine how the events of the coming years play out through your actions and inactions as residents of this burgeoning settlement.
Guidelines for Character Creation
Upon deciding to create a character and participate in the quest, you are allotted 3 Progression Tokens, plus one per full year that has passed since game start (currently 4 PT total), with which to determine your character's starting situation. You may gain further Progression Tokens through play, but these 3+ are what you start with. There aren't any applications, you may join as you will it.
You may spend your Progression Tokens (Henceforth referred to as 'PTs') to grant your character skill beyond the norm in any given category of work. It is assumed that your characters have a basic competence in any given conventional field, so you need not worry for simple matters. Each further level in a field costs an additional single PT.
You may also spend PTs to unlock certain more esoteric abilities, such as kunna and martial styles.
-Kunna (hugareida for NQ returnees) are in a very literal sense your understanding of the world around you and your ability to thereby manipulate it. Fire kunna grants you the ability to blast flames and control fire. Sword kunna allows you to manifest spectral swords to do your bidding. If it exists in the world, theoretically there is a kunna for it. Note: You are limited to what the Norse in real life would have been able to comprehend. No manipulation of atmospheric pressure for you.
-Martial styles are, essentially, a catalogue of moves centered on some core ability. These can have all manner of odd affects and curious mechanics, though with the destruction of Gotland many of these styles have been largely lost to you. You may work to develop more in this land, but it will take time.
-Inherited Traits. Specifically, there are four categories of resource that are only available at character creation (in general, specific circumstances may grant them in play, but not PT alone). These are Bloodlines, either granting a specific power or a tie to a specific mythological being, Giant's Blood which is a specific version of that and makes one larger and better at shapeshifting, Seeing Eyes which lets you see magic and spiritual stuff and grants a Fylgja, and the final option is being a Berserk, which grants inhuman ability to analyze tactical situations, making for terrifying combatants, and makes available the Berserkergang Martial Style which involves the stereotypical berserk rage (for more info on all of these, see the Practical Norse Metaphysics post). Technically, berserk is not inborn, but the resources to induce it are not found here, so it is in practice. Only two of these traits at most may be purchased at character creation (or one at level 2).
I reserve the right to veto any use of PTs, though I will likely not be exercising that right especially often. I will also try to work with you as best as possible to adapt your desires to a workable state.
As for the softer aspects, such as personality, appearance, and relations to other PCs, you may proceed as you will, though I will ask that you at least provide a name and a brief blurb of character facts.
With regards to playing as members of a shared family, you may do so as long as everybody agrees to it. Otherwise, it is assumed that your characters have some family with them, sons, daughters, husbands, wives. I recommend assigning some measure of name to any offspring, for it is them that will take up your weapons should you fall and never again rise.
Guidelines for Roleplay
As a Norseman (or woman, I'm not delving much into Norse gender norms in this quest) your primary goal, no matter what you wind up doing, is to obtain *ordstirr*. Ordstirr in a literal sense is *word-glory* but, in the context of the setting as a xianxia, it is your qi-equivalent and having ordstirr allows you to generate PTs.
Ordstirr is gained and lost through your actions, inactions, and the likewise of your fellows. Doing well earns you ordstirr. Doing poorly costs you ordstirr. Should another player force you to lose ordstirr, they gain it and likewise if you force them to lose ordstirr.
However, no matter how much you may lust for ordstirr, keep in mind that you are also members of a community. If the community fails, your ordstirr gains are worthless as you'll all be dead.
And, speaking of death, should you die or be branded outlaw, you will be allowed to create a new character to continue participation. With regards to being an outlaw, you may continue playing said outlaw and, should you manage to survive until the decided time of exile is through, you may be reinstated in the community—depending on the nature of your outlawing, of course.
Players Versus Players
Inevitably, there comes a time where ire is displayed and tempers flare. In such a situation, whether it be through drawn weapons or the spoken word, it falls to the uninvolved playerbase to determine the winner(s) and the loser(s) after those involved engage in 'who would win' debates regarding their characters.
I, in my role as QM, have the final say in any deadlocked debates.
Settlement Mechanics
The health of the settlement is paramount to surviving in these unknown lands. Settlement Health is a nebulous and vague figure, though it is a binary one. If the Settlement Health is Good, then you are doing well. If the Settlement Health is Bad, then you are doing poorly. Ending a turn with more Good than Bad—as determined by the efforts of the players—will result in favorable events taking place and more opportunities to gain ordstirr. However, ordstirr can also be gained through weathering dis-favorable events or even excelling under duress.
Gathering resources and working fields are all methods by which one can improve the Settlement Health. As you currently lack much in the way of thralls, this will all need to be done by the players. Thralls free up your time, allowing you to engage in more ordstirr-lucrative enterprises.
Property Management
It would not be NorseQuest without some manner of property management. One use of PTs is in the advancement and enhancement of one's property. Securing land is to guarantee a steady income of ordstirr and, thus, PTs. The more land you have, the better off you are.
Starting off, the land is rough and untamed. You must first clear the land before any claims can be placed.
The Passage of Time and the Taking of Action
Each turn is one year split into two parts; summer and winter, with each player allowed an action per season. Summer is the time of action; winter the time of respite.
There are two types of action one can take; public and private. Public actions take place in the thread while private actions take place in PMs. Should you wish to engage in a private action, please contact me through a PM and I will see if I have enough spoons to manage it in addition to any other potential private actions that are going on concurrently.
Should an assignment take you beyond the realms of the settlement, they will be conducted through private actions. An example of this is if a group of players volunteer for scouting. All players participating in the scouting will be included as I run them through the events. The thread will only learn of the goings on when those involved return—if they return.
If anyone does not take an action, they are assumed to be working the fields and gathering resources.
A summery of all actions will be collected at the end of the turn and delivered by Grimfari to the thread at large.
0~0~0
This is likely going to be a clusterfuck, but I imagine such a thing as this would've been a clusterfuck had it happened in real life too. Hopefully it'll be entertaining.
Regardless, I'm going to create a post for the player character repository and one for the settlement. After that, you may begin posting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Settlement Status: Good
+Food Stocks are solid, plus they aren't poisoned!
-Morale is wavering with the Onigar Threat
-Running low on lumber
+Basic huts serving as shelter, enough for everyone to be dry... Though, there are plenty of grumbles about wanting more in life, especially now that they've been told to flourish and thrive.
+Light trenchwork
+Visual representation of surrounding areas, as provided by Moli Spotlight
+Freshwater, as provided by Liv Sweetwater
Current Population: ~120 or so, largely children or very young adults
-Gudrun Ravensight, seeress
-Hrolfr Jurgensson, shapecrafter
Group Stockpile (1 Unit is enough for 1 Project)
Material Stock:
6 Units of Basic Lumber (Tier 1 Wood)
13 Units of Quality Lumber (Tier 2 Wood)
2 Units of Quality Granite (Tier 2 Stone)
Fastener Stock:
13 Units of Vine Rope, Basic (Tier 1 Fastener)
NO Quality Nails (Tier 2 Fastener)
Textiles Stock:
11 Units of Sailcloth (Tier 3 Textile)
Fertilizer Stock:
380 Units of Bonemeal (Tier 1 Fertilizer)
Additional Notes:
-You have 3 ships of varying size. You used to have 5, but one was too damaged by the intro storm and so was unable to stop rot from setting in while another was destroyed during a fishing expedition.
-Your immediate surroundings are the bay, then a small, jungle-choked semi-flat area that leads into hills topped by more jungle before rapidly becoming mountainous yet still retaining the jungle. There's about five miles between the shore and the mountains. The shore seems to continue undisturbed as far as the eye can see, with south being the ocean and north being the mountains, beyond which you have no knowledge.
I'm going to organize the character sheets by clan-relations. You folks are encouraged to come up with clan names.
If there is anything wrong, please notify me or my character-sheet helpers @DeadmanwalkingXI and @Alectai and I or one of them will correct it. I've also made some minor adjustments, but they are cosmetic in nature.
Note: DeadmanwalkingXI is receiving 1 PT per season for doing the level-ups and seasonal Ordstirr gains on all sheets. Aabcehmu is also receiving 1 PT per season for keeping track of actions. @Shard gets to avoid the negative consequences of an experiment once per year for creating the TVTropes page for Norsequest.
Note: All ages are as of the Fall of Gotland (aka Year 0) at the moment. Changing them every year is...logistically problematic, so we'll update that at some point, but not every year.
New additions are always welcome! Independent PCs
Ivor Name-Giver aka Ivor Lindholm (18) (Literate)
Traits: Needle Kunna 3, Thread Kunna 1, Fire Kunna 1, Sewing 1, Cooking 1, Stealth 1, Fylgja (Scout Fox) 2, Improved Reflexes 1, Muna - Needle Dragon, Target-Tracking Eyes 2 (S), (Unspent 0/20, Ordstirr 0)
Rune Count: 1 (1)
Played by @KreenWarrior
Note: Blood-Siblings with Anja Storm-Eye, Kare Sky-Dancer, and Gefjosa Dreadbinder
A young man from a farming family with no daughters, he willingly embraced the path of learning "women's work" out of practicality. Threats of needles in the eye are a reasonably effective deterrent from taunting him about this.
Muna - Needle Dragon: Allows him to generate needle-dragons at reduced cost as well as produce further variations on the needle-dragon theme.
Mental Protection Charm
Runed Sword - "This counts as a needle for kunna effects" and "Any wounds caused by this weapon are moved to the victim's throat."
1 High Quality Gambeson
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Smokehouse (+2 Prestige)
Copper Cookware (+2 Prestige)
Trenches
3 Units of Salt
Agmundr Idskapadr (Literate, Smith-in-Training)
Traits: Swordplay 3, Hand Kunna 2, Sketching 1, Martial Style - Multiweapon Fighting 1, Glima 2, Fylgja (Gullinhorn) 3, Increased Speed 1 (S), (Unspent 0/22, Ordstirr 4)
Played by @Aabcehmu
Note: Blood Brothers with Rikard Villeson, Ragnarr Fair-Spoken, Sigmund Sigurdsson, and Amlóði Tooth-taker
Note: Speaks local language (1).
A young man of about 16, once truly glory-hungry but now somewhat more subdued. Inspired by the name his parents gave him from a young age, he dedicated almost all of his time to training with every sword he could talk someone into letting him hold, to the exclusion of other weapons, and eventually earning his own at a remarkably young age by proving his skill with them to an old blacksmith, Ásný, who unfortunately did not survive the journey to the new land (or at least, if she's alive, she's nowhere to be found).
He adventured as young men do, until eventually he encountered a reclusive outlaw and shapecrafter, who bested him (along with the rest of the group he was traveling with at the time), who captured them all and performed...unconventional shapecrafts on them, experimenting with forms which lacked all practical function or even coherent aesthetic, as if searching for something in the shapes of their bodies and failing to find it over and over. This was an incredibly grueling few months for all of them, but particularly for Agmundr, whose body was remade into a giant mass of hands, claws, and other similar appendages in all sorts of variations and constructions. Eventually the outlaw was killed by another (significantly older and more powerful) group of fighters not long before things went to shit on the island as a whole, and helped them all get into Grimfari Jarl's evacuation efforts. It took nearly as long for Hrolfr to put him back to rights, a process that was itself deeply uncomfortable for Agmundr and has left him deeply mistrustful of shapecrafters in general.
He did get a Hand Kunna out of it, at least, though this all happened recently enough before the flight from Gotland that he hasn't fully incorporated it into his combat routine yet.
Aspects: Frami: Simple aura of gleaming iron-gray Virthing: A cloak of sword-tips, clasped with a pair of hands Saemd: A crown of knives, plus a pair of hand-shaped antlers
Raised Platform
Tier 3 Forge - Can imbue one item per season made by Agmundr with a magical effect (+3 Prestige)
1 High Quality Gambeson
1 Unit Linen
Husband: Erik Olsen (26)
Children: Bo(5), Hilda(3), Aino(2)
1 PT in Wards
1 PT in Embroidery
1 PT in Awareness - Finding
Agnes was the eldest of her generation, which meant that her parents and aunts were always asking her to help watch over her younger brothers and cousins. Eventually she just seemed to always know where children are hiding, leading to a lot of grumpy faces. As recompense for babysitting, her aunts would teach her to sew wards and protection into clothes. Her mother was The 'spear' was a gift from her mother and largely ceremonial. Unfortunately had a Stillborn during the escape and with the terrible luck after of the voyage and landing has put her off on having anymore children.
Jörfling, a shore spirit
Recipe for Yellow Dye
Partially complete recipe for Red Dye
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Law Tapestry (+1 Prestige)
Basic Fence (+2 Prestige)
Shrine to Catl-Ossi (+1 Prestige)
1 High Quality Gambeson for Erik
3 Units of Basic Fishing Net
3 Units Linen
Rikard Villeson (Seeing Eyes, Worldly Education),
Traits: Fylgja (? Questing Badger) 3, Wrestling 3, Gregarious 1, Swordplay 2, Farming 1, Construction 1, Scouting 1, "Surprise Tool" 1, Stronger Muscles 1 (S), (Unspent 0/22, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @Alectai
Note: Blood Brothers with Ragnarr Fair-Spoken, Sigmund Sigurdsson, Agmundr Idskapadr, and Amlóði Tooth-taker
Note: Speaks local language (1).
An upbeat young man of 20 years, son of Ville Sharpbright, Varagnian adventurer and traveler of the the many realms, and while he hasn't quite inherited his father's keen battle sense that made him a strong arm of King Blackhand's warband, he makes up for this with keen insight and an easygoing demeanour--traits he'd certainly needed to woo Astrid Arvidsdottir, the sharp-tongued and whip clever child of a powerful local landowner. Sure, she's not exactly a vision of nordic beauty, and may have some somewhat exotic lineage from who-knows where, but hey, they get on well and have already had a pair of lovely young daughters who are surely not going to be hellraisers when they grow up, definitely.
PT for Seeing Eyes (Fylgja of a Badger)
PT for Talented Grappler (Glima/Fang Aptitude)
PT for Worldly Education (Representing the stories Rikard heard from his father's exploits and just generally being a sharp lad)
TURN ONE SUMMER: +11 Ordstirr
PT for Gregarious (Rikard gets along well with other people, his easygoing nature and sharp wit serving him well)
PT for Swordplay (The extensive foliage and dangerous threats have helped Rikard sharpen his bladework to a fine edge)
11 Ordstirr Remaining
TURN ONE WINTER: +15 Ordstirr
Shapecrafter Boon: Stronger Muscles
Seeress Boon: Fylgja Training (Upgrade to Questing-Badger)
2 PT for Wrestling 2 (Challenging the Onigar has shown that Rikard still has much to learn)
1 PT on Farming (Establishing oneself in this New World is hard work, but he's got the knack for it now!)
1 PT on Construction (The materials aren't great, but a good bit of love and care can make up for a lot
1 PT on Mushling Spawnbag (Why not? An extra set of hands in these times would be very valuable!)
2 Ordstirr Remaining
Basic Tier House (+2 Prestige)
Tier 1 Farm Plot
Basic Path
Mushling
Muspel-Bird Pet (+3 Prestige)
Runestone (+1 Prestige)
2.2 oz Silver
Bjorn (the apt) Bjornsonn Age 28 (Giant's Blood)
Traits: Fighting 3, Great Strength 1, Improved Shapeshifting 1, Improved Reflexes 1 (S), (Unspent 0/9, Ordstirr 2)
Note: Speaks local language (1).
Played by @Randomnerd
Appearance: Bjorn is more similar to a bear then a human. He's large, muscular and yet still has a beer belly. You can't see his mouth move when he talks because of his copious amounts of facial hair. Personality: Despite his intimidating appearance Bjorn is actually a very nice guy who is more then willing to take the time out of his day to help a neighbor. This of course doesn't mean he lacks a fight spirit, he is a Viking after all. He is slow to anger but if he is truly provoked the damage caused could be catastrophic. Even when he is not angry he enjoys a good raid, but even then he'll try to keep collateral damage to the minimum, He's there for loot, ordstirr and the thrill the fight, nothing more. When he is not raiding or helping out around town he can be found partaking in a truly astronomic amount of food and drink at the great hall or sleeping. He works as a Lumberjack between raids.
Tar Pit
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Basic Defenses (+2 Prestige)
3 Units Tar
1 Unit Tier 3 Wood
Oddr Gunnvaldsonn
Traits: Archery 1, Hunting 1, Leatherworking 1, Arrow Kunna 3, Enhanced Strength 1 (S), (Unspent 0/10, Ordstirr 3)
Played by @Starman
Note: Speaks local language (1).
Incredibly sick throughout the years preluding the destruction of Gotland, Oddr only survived the exodus fleet by the care of his sole surviving son, Gunnvald. In these new lands, Oddr was reinvigorated and is eager to make something of worth to pass on to his son before his life ends.
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Tier 1 Farm Plot
Bjorn Drakeslayer (45) (Giant's Blood)
Traits: Improved Shapeshifting 1, Archery 2, Overland 1, Scouting 1, Stealth 1, Great Strength 1, Fylgja (Lynx) 1, (Unspent 0/9, Ordstirr 4)
Played by @fearsome hill
Great in size, Bjorn is an otherwise normal looking norseman with dark hair and blue eyes. He has loved the bow since childhood, admiring it's precision along with the skill and power required to wield it. He wields it as his main weapon and the tool of his trade. Bjorn is a hunter and made his living by selling the many pelts and bits of the beasts he hunted.
Bjorn gained his kenning in a childhood act of wanton duck slaughter as he had heard that pillows made from their feathers were extremely comfortable.
Bjorn was a recluse by both personal choice and necessity, his choice of weapon made him a target of much derision and his choice of occupation meant that he spent large amounts of time alone in forests. Both made for poor social skills and few marriage prospects. Though Bjorn wishes for a wife he understands that he is unlikely to gain one.
Aspects: Frami: Vines of dark green Ordstirr growing around Bjorn's body. Virthing: A large hunter's cloak made of woven moss. Saemd: An expressionless mask made of serpentine.
Shitty Hunter's Shack (+1 Prestige)
Basic Tannery (+2 Prestige)
Tier 0 Arrows
Cloak of Bat Wings - Allows you to fall from large heights and land without any fear of pain or injury.
Amlóði Hårekson Aka Amlóði Tooth taker (Literate)
Traits: Medical Knowledge 2, Raiding 1, Fylgja (? Owl) 2, Muck Kunna 2, Farming 1, Bone Carving 1, Storage Fasts 2 (S), Muscles of Iron 1 (S), (Unspent 0/17, Ordstirr 9)
Played by @wabbitking
Note: Blood Brothers with Rikard Villeson, Ragnarr Fair-Spoken, Sigmund Sigurdsson, and Agmundr Idskapadr
The son of a semi infamous raider Amlóði gained literacy from various thralls and prisoners his father brought home. And used his knowledge by reading the occasional book and scroll his father also brought home. The one that resonate most with him was a treatise on medical knowledge which has served him well as he grew. The man might not be able to work healing magic but he can sew a wound shut make sure a broken leg doesn't get worse or remove a rotting tooth(hence his kenning). While not exactly the greatest of warriors this skill and a surprising amount of tactical knowledge by listing to his fathers stories and the occasional battle written down in his books has made his a useful member to have on the battlefield.
Family: Amlóði has a wife and three small children. A boy and two girls
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Deeply Buried Tin
1 Bottle Maize Liquor
Pair of 6" long onigar Horns
1 Unclaimed Seeress Reward
Arnleif Whistler (15) (Seeing Eyes)
Traits: Fylgja (??? Songbird) 3, Cat's Ears 1, Bird Kunna 2, Music Kunna 2, Wings 1 (S), (Unspent 0/14, Ordstirr 1)
Played by @CedeTheBees
Arnleif was always a rather restless child, always tapping and pacing and humming along to whatever songs were playing in their head. They were obsessed with keeping a beat, tilling the fields like a drum, mucking the stables with a dance. They rarely ever spoke, and even when the mood for words took them it was often more for lyrics than conversation. Most in the village thought them simple, slightly helpful sure, but unlikely to ever earn ordstirr.
On one especially lovely morning, Arneif was dancing he seabirds whistled, the wind hummed, the tides kept a rumbling beat, the village so far away sounding like applause. Arnleif was dancing along on the beach, collecting seashells as they went when a new player joined, throwing the song out of sync. A lone driftwolf stalked out of the foam with a growl. Arnleif barely had time to blink before it was leaping through the air. They did have just enough time to connect a few memories together-- a dog near the blacksmith's wincing from the clangs, the uncomfortable warbling from two sour notes crashing together, the long hours of practice getting their fylgja to sing a different tune-- and whistled high and clear from two throats. The notes from their human-mouth and their bird-mouth different enough to clash, but not so different as to harmonize. However painful it was for Arnleif, it was clear that the beast was suffering even more. They almost pitied the thing, writhing on the ground with blood gushing from the ears, pitied it enough to put it out of its misery.
Once their ears recovered enough, they noticed the distant noises of humanity were louder than before. Apparently their whistling was loud enough to hear from the village and drew a curious crowd to the scene. Thus was their kenning born.
There was talk of recruiting them as a scout for the village, but the Sundering of Gotland not even a week later put a stop to that. They'd have joined their family under the waters had they not managed to get flung into a fleeing boat.
Runa Vemontounge Age 16 (Iron Stomach Bloodline)
Traits: Cooking 1, Poison Kunna 1, (Unspent 0/3, Ordstirr 11)
Played by @Hex123
As one of the only people with an appreciable skill in cooking, Runa has taken it upon herself to become the camp cook much to the horror of everyone. While normally a nice kind young lady always willing to help her neighbors out, when it comes to cooking she becomes one of the most vicious and domineering people around. This is compounded by what her idea of edible food is. Since her family bloodline allows her to eat almost anything and come out fine she likes to experiment in the kitchen. She then gives these experimental dishes out to unsuspecting victims to taste test. The test subjects would almost certainly die without Runa pulling out the poison from them with her Kunna.
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Gudrun Rekavidrsdottir (Seeing Eyes, Literate)
Traits: Shields 1, Fylgja (Boar) 1, Mental Resistance 1, Wood Working 1, Lore 1, (Unspent 0/6, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @DiscordOxymoron
Gudsrun ???sdottir
1 PT to Shield
1 PT to being Literate?
1 PT to having Seeing Eyes? (Boar Spirit/Soul?)
A young woman, orphaned as a child, capable of using a shield adeptly as well as being a literate person: the former courtesy of being trained as a Shieldmaiden who has yet to finish her training/trials and the latter courtesy of simply curiosity. She's viewed as an odd person due to her rather behavior of looking around as if in search of something or nothing in particular. Gudrun's is of average height yet her body is muscled enough to indicate she is trained in martial prowess, whilst having rusted silver hair and bright crimson eyes.
None
Unnur Clean or Unnur the Unpleasant
Traits: Lye Kunna 1, Enhanced Malleability 1, (Unspent 1/3, Ordstirr 9)
Played by @Grytorm
Unnur Clean or Unnur the Unpleasant is a plain faced unmarried woman in her mid twenties. As the daughter of a shapecrafter Unnur had a difficult childhood which left her with few friends and a crooked nose. Before the fall of Gotland she had resolved herself to taking care of her father alone. The new world worries her.
None
Fernweh Enginweiss (Fey Birth)
Traits: Flower Kunna 3, Foraging 1, Swordplay 2, Really Quick 2, Martial Style - Blóm ok þorn 1, Enhanced Speed 1 (S), (Unspent 0/16, Ordstirr 0)
Note: Speaks local language (1).
Played by @Ralakesh
One day, a poor woman of Gute tribe gave birth to a son. And all was well, until, after a bad harvest, it became apparent to her that the child was a changeling, and her real son, without a doubt, was taken by nisse into their underground lairs. Saying that, she left the changeling in a meadow. Unfortunately, that woman never found her real son. Some suspected then that the woman abandoned her child out of necessity, not having enough food to feed her son, and spun a tale about the changeling to justify her actions. A deed foul, but at the same time understandable and, in a way, unavoidable.
However, the son she left behind miraculously survived, drinking milky sap of flowers instead of mother's milk and eating insects instead of bread. Now, he is a young man, no different than any other Norse of his age. Perhaps then, the poor woman was right, for no human child can survive Gotland wilderness without a home.
Martial Style - Blóm ok þorn - This martial style favours quick and flowing movements. Martial artists who practice this style never stop moving, never redirect their weapon, and instead follow its current, seemingly wasting their energy on slashing air. In truth, they build up momentum and speed, increasing the power of the impending strike
Ingegärd Svæindottir
Traits: Exploration 1, Survival 1, Travel Kunna 2, (Unspent 1/6, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @Clockmosis
Appearance: A young woman with a lithe, tall build, seaweed green hair, and sky blue eyes.
Personality: generally silent, unlike most of her kin she prefers to avoid conflict, even after personal insult.
General Bio: In her youth Ingegärd largely hid from the world running from home and simply wandeeing, preffering to ignore war and violence, when she could not avoid it she ran, usually into the wilds where she learned to survive and map as a child, in favt she was running from something when she joined the fleet. Unusually passive, she much prefers the wilds to human company. These new lands have much unknown territory, places Ingegärd would very much like to explore.
Basic Storage Loft (+2 Prestige)
Gold-Leaf Trees
Cool Stick Acquired -- It can speak to you!
Humble Shrine Acquired (+1 Prestige)
Network of Traps
Low Quality Bow
3 Units Beast Materials
Hrósvior Stigandsson
Traits: Rot Kunna 1, Farming 1, Martial Style - Fleet Footed Flurry 1, Fylgja (?) 1, Increased Speed 1 (S), Increased Reflexes 1 (S), (Unspent 0/6, Ordstirr 23)
Played by @Lo_and
Note: Speaks local language (1).
1 PT Rot Kunna, 1 PT Farming, 1 PT Martial Style "Fleet Footed Flurry" (lots of attacks that do little damage individually, + dodging opponents)
Appearance: A young man on verge of reaching 20, Hrósvior keeps his brown hair short, his face with not but stubble, and his clothes simple and clean. A little shorter than average with a wiry body, he is not much to look at aside from a pleasant enough face.
Personality: Standoffish and quiet, Hrósvior is one to keep to himself. His lack of social skills makes it easier to leave others alone, though those he is close with he would trust dearly. Focuses deeply on whatever task is at hand. Likes mushrooms and other fungi. Generally just odd, keeping strange hours, collecting random rocks and twigsthat catch his fancy, and focusing on inconsequential details.
Combat: With his martial style, Hrósvior is focused on whittling his opponents away and bleeding them dry. When facing someone heavily armored or quick footed, he turns to his Kunna in the hope of sapping away their strength. Uses a dagger.
I'm imagining in combat rot would be a damage over time thing with some extra flavor. Let me know if I need to change anything.
Dyri Seaborne (Aquatic Bloodline)
Traits: Spearplay 1, Swimming 1, Fylgja (?) 1, (Unspent 0/4, Ordstirr 13)
Played by @Vanestus
1PT in Swimming
1PT in Spearmanship
1PT for Water Breathing Bloodline
Appearance: 21 years old, tanned complexion, short wild blonde hair, thick beard, salt crusted(from how much time he spends in the ocean.), average height, lean muscled.
Backstory: A young orphan who washed ashore in a small fishing village, he has no memories of his life before waking up there. He made a living for himself aiding the fishermen of the village bring in the daily catch. He discovered his bloodline during a raid by a rival village when he saw out into the ocean to rescue a captive who had been dumped into the water as a distraction by the fleeing raiders. (Might do some more refing on this at some point.)
Personality: Though kind and affable, he feels distant from other people preferring the company of the sea.
Combat Style: While a skilled spearman on land, his true potential shines through when fight in the water using his swimming skills and bloodline to rapidly maneuver around foes.
Family: None that he knows of.
High Concept: Find Whale, Tame Whale, Enhance Whale, Take Whale Raiding
2.2 oz Silver
Vatn Galtison (Survivalist)
Traits: Axeplay 1, Bushcraft 2, Stealth 1, Martial Style - Raptor's Fall 1, (Unspent 0/6, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @Bass11
Backstory: This isn't the first time Vatn Galtison has been stranded in a strange new land, but this is the first time that there were other Norsemen with him. He'll be wanting to explore the land to see what's out there to better increase the survival of the village. No relation to Galti Hanison.
Axemanship 1
Bushcraft 1
Stealth 1
Martial Style - Raptor's Fall - Primary focus on creating and forcing opportunities to do fight ending damage through use of lose-lose options for the opponent "Take the Ax to the Chest or take it to the Shield and get staggered, hard" or environmental pressure "He's pushing me back, but if I go back further I'll fall in this ditch!"
Special Trait - Survivalist: Used to sleeping in bad conditions, Vatn receives no penalties for doing so.
1 Unit Hairy Scales
Campsite
Hammock (+1 Prestige)
Decoy House (+2 Prestige)
Passive Hunting
Passive Fishing
Personality: Naturally silent and always active, seemingly vibrating with unused energy when forced to stay still when not resting. Kind and gentle to younger children if awkward amongst those his age and older. When caught in a good mood can talk for hours and sing even longer, humming to himself regularly during work or hunting.
Backstory: When his mind found itself wandering amidst the hunt or while bathing in the sun, Akali considered the possibility that he had not been born as his fellow norsemen were but built in one of his fathers earlier fits of shaping madness.
His mother would tell him a story of strange fates; of her time as an adventurer on the high seas, the dangers she encountered and the treasures she plundered. By her word she found herself astray off the coasts of Gotland with her crew having starved, her luck turning even worse when she was shipwrecked by a leviathan of the seas.
According to her his father happened upon her and saw a free-if overly violent- thrall for the keeping and she wasted no time slowly seducing him until finally he was wrapped around her finger; she was taken care of and you were born.
From his fathers mouth spouted a tale of romance ; of lonesome days spent in the cavernous mountains of Gotland with only his craft and ever distant kin, only for his sorrow to be sated by an Amazoness of Dusky skin. She tried to choke him out with cloth at first sight, he'd never been more in love. From then he cared for and helped her recuperate until finally taking her to wife.
Akali inherited the blessings of his fathers labors and took to his mothers songs with fervor, but it was his desire for glory and battle under the sun that saw him find purpose in life. The new lands are rife with glory and adventure alongside danger and he eagerly awaits the challenge.
Family: Magni and Migna Arnolfson (12)
Appearance: Both darker skinned noting to their mother's foreign heritage though not inhumanly like Akali, Magni keeps his walnut hair short and curly with a constant mischievous grin and green eyes twinkling in contemplation of his surroundings. Migna bearing long smooth straight black hair and grey eyes; while better behaved, is no less energetic, keeping tabs on other kids their age and even checking in with adults trying to be helpful wherever she can.
Backstory: Born a few years after Akali they were quickly beloved and cared for by their parents and brother both. Spending time in the same mountain origins but not blessed with Akali's martial prowess they were even more sheltered and h knowledgeable of their land and it's customs. While they were not completely aware of the circumstances that forced their exodus from their lands they know that they still have their brother to protect and care for them.
Empty Oni Bracers
Empty Oni Talisman
Flint Deposits
T1 House (+2 Prestige)
T1 Coop (+2 Prestige)
2 Tier 2 Ropes
Skuli Draugrhater of Clan Jarngrima (Age: 21) (Curse of Servitude)
Traits: Fire Kunna 1, Shield Kunna 1, Axe Kunna 1, Martial Style - Untiring Against The Unending 2, Martial Style - Jarl's Sentinel 1, Axeplay 1, Shields 1, Fylgja (?) 1, Enhanced Endurance 1 (S), Enhanced Reflexes 1 (S), (Unspent 0/13, Ordstirr 8)
Played by @Abyssius
Traits:
- Kunna: Fire 1 "He will always remember the smoky smell of a viking funeral."
- Martial Style: Untiring against the Unending (Martial style focused on resisting against swarms of enemies). "The Battle of the Fallen Mound has teach several lessons to Skuli. If number is an advantage of the enemy, he will negate it".
- Axe: 1. "If things don't die, then they can only be cut to pieces".
- Artifact: Half Iron Mask (Increase chance of intercept attacks targetting the master). "An ancient relic if the Jarngrima family, battered but still full of power."
-Martial Style: Jarl's Sentinel (Protective combat style for defending those he swore the Loyalty Oath, connected to Curse of Servitude)
Flaw:
- Bloodline: Curse of servitude. "Some state that the Jarngrima has been cursed in ancient time or maybe it's something in their blood, but all the members who inherit this blood end one way or another as Huskarls or Ironmasks for a steelfather, their glory becoming part of the leader. Some fight against this flaw, other embrace it, but in the end every single one of them ends serving and never leading."
Family: Vigdis (Age: 20), Vestar (Age: 2)
Story: "Born as the son of an Ironmask, it was expect for him to join the the retinue as his father did before him. Unfortunately, when his party assembled a group with his companions and his son to investigate draugr seeings, they encountered an ancient draugr with dozens of undead servants. The battle lasted for two days, exploiting a near cave for protection, waiting for the Steelfather to send reinforcements. But they never came.
They emerged victorious, but his father encountered his Final Day and disgusted by the Steelfather, after giving his father the funerary rites, he decided to travel to Gotland, where he married Vigdis. Escaping barely the destruction together with the others, Skuli is feeling again its "curse" pressing against his will, but he's looking for someone worth to serve before taking the decision".
Appearance: Young man of 16 with dark hair and dark eyes. Of slight build. Tends to have an expression as if looking at nothing at all, or something unseen.
Personality: Of friendly disposition, Krakr seems to have trouble listening to people. Not out of mischief or misbehavior, but instead because he very easily gets distracted. He likes to get lost in worlds that are not the physical one around him. Whether that be the world unseen, the world yet-to-be-seen, or even worlds crafted in tales. When something is required of him, however, he is diligent and sometimes likes to undertake larger tasks of his own volition. Especially so if related to building experience and ability as a Seer.
Family: Son of Gudrun, under whom he is training to be a seer himself.
This is my first time doing anything like this or even interacting in any forum like this, so have patience with the wee baby please! I would appreciate guidance and the pointing out of errors!
Appearance: Young woman of 17. Willowy frame with long unkempt dark hair and bright eyes. Often has some kind of smile or smirk.
Personality: Keen to make friends but has a penchant for recklessness. Is absolutely fascinated with biology and finding then surpassing the limits of it. Is very clumsy at making friends.
Family:
1 High Quality Gambeson
Hulfr Hardwood (16/M)
Traits: Wood Kuna 2, Wood Working 3, Bowyer 1, Architect 1, Improved Multitasking 1, Improved Precision 1, Tireless 1, (Unspent 0/14, Ordstirr 1)
Played by @Zedalb
Name: Hulfr (16/M) Pt Expenditure: Wood Kuna 1, Wood Working 1, Bowyer 1, Architect 1 Personality: Hyper Fixated on wood working because he is terribly awkward. He relies upon keep himself busy to avoid small talk and the uses the quality of his work to earn respect while avoiding everyone he can. Appearance: An incredibly tall but very lanky individual. His hands are covered in small scars from practicing his trade. His hair always looks like it was cut with a crude knife, mostly because he cuts it with a crude knife whenever it gets long enough to interfere with his work.
Sea-Beast Leather Belt - Inured to the sea
Belt Knife - Searing Iron, Sea-Glass in the Hilt, Runes of Sure Grip
2 Units Basic Furniture (+4 Prestige)
Blood-Stopping Ferns
Anja Storm-Eye (Giant's Blood, Stormsoul Bloodline)
Traits: Improved Shapeshifting 2, Great Strength 2, Hard to Hurt 2, Improvised Weapons 1, Fylgja (Wolf) 1, Exceptional Reflexes 1, Enhanced Speed 1 (S), Enhanced Reflexes 1 (S), (Unspent 0/15, Ordstirr 11)
Played by @theknightofiron
Note: Blood-Siblings with Kare Sky Dancer, Gefjosa Dreadbinder, and Ivor Name-Giver
Anja is a huge girl on the cusp of adulthood, already seven foot tall and . she has long dark hair, gathered into several braids that frame her strong features and ice blue eyes. she's quiet, with few words to say but is a favourite of the many smaller children who often take to following her around and telling her to lift large or heavy objects around the settlement.
Stormsoul: You have a reserve of thunder-might tucked away in your soul. Drawing it forth turns your skin to storm and allows you to use it in whatever manner you so choose, enhancing and strengthening all the while.
T1 House (+2 Prestige)
1 High Quality Gambeson
Fire Clay Pocket
1 Unclaimed Seeress Reward
Stigg Drythroat
Traits: Carpentry 1, Helmsmanship 1, Axeplay 1, Water Kunna 1, (Unspent 0/4, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @The Chilly One
Name: Stigg Drythroat (He/Him) Age: 19 PT: 1 Carpentry, 1 Helmsmanship, 1 Ocean Kunna, 1 Axemanship Description: Stigg is a young man, of middling hight and blonde hair, he is more wiry than broad, and he has a goatee with two braided lengths hanging from it. His axe is not often far from him. Bio: Stigg, before the destruction of Gotland seemed destined for obscurity. His father, once a mighty warrior and master shipwright, broken by weight of tragedy and dishonor, becoming not but the town drunk, and his mother dead from the ordeal of his birth. His home of his youth naught but a shack by harbor. Stiggs youth was spent not in training or games, but in hard-labor, working as a hand for any shipwright who would have him.
When he finally reached the age of majority, his father was already dead, killed in some dispute over a tab and barmaid at a tavern, his only inheritance a Kunna of the ocean, which he seemed fated to never use... but the fall of Gotland, at least for this one, marks a chance to become more than a simple laborer for the rest of his life.
40 oz. Silver
0~0~0
Clan Jarnblod (Ironblood)
Kare Sky-Dancer (Stylish Falling Bloodline, Void Eagle Heart, Literate)
Traits: Archery 3, Lightning Kunna 2, Martial Style - Falling Flight 2, Martial Style - Arms of Ice 1, Wind Kunna 1, Fylgja (Spotter Eagle) 2, Muna - Over In An Instant 1, Void Eagle Gland (S), (Unspent 0/22, Ordstirr 10)
Played by @alexthealright
Note: Blood-Siblings with Anja Storm-Eye, Gefjosa Dreadbinder, and Ivor Name-Giver
In appearance he's a tall 20 year old, with long blond hair and big tattoo across his back of a hawk.
Personality wise he's generally unserious in any situation not involving bow repair or combat and kind, but takes promises, debt and revenge deathly seriously.
He has not married, claiming that he's waiting for that special someone.
He truly, deeply enjoys flying more than anything else in the world, which is helped by his 'Stylish Falling' bloodline, which allows him to pick the direction he falls in.
He claims Ragnarr Fair-Spoken as good friend and cousin, same as Moli Spotlight and Njall Redaxe. And has a recently adopted daughter
Astrid. She is a tall and muscular for a girl of 8 years with long red hair and bright green eyes, she has seeing eyes and for unrelated reasons was given Level 2 Frenzy by a Shapecrafter named Slipskin.
Astrid's Personality:
Dirty: Astrid has a flexible sense of hygiene and has no problem with complete filth, everyone around her tends to disagree with this.
Curious: Astrid wants to know everything about everyone and everything.
Hungry for Respect: Astrid wants to be taken seriously, she's not a kid she's almost 10!
Kind: Astrid tries to be as helpful as possible to as many people as possible.
Anger Issues: Astrid has a nasty habit of making uniquely hurtful comments when in a bad mood, helped significantly by her Frenzy.
Kare's Aspects appear as follows: Frami: Sky blue Ordstirr which crackles with lightning and wavers in the air like smoke. Virthing: A Cloak of eagle feathers with red runes recording his debts and promises on little tablets of silver and gold with arrow heads sown into the cloak. Saemd: A crackling circle of lightning and wind that screams in a chorus of horribly familiar voices which swirls above his head.
His Martial Style, Falling Flight, lets him speed and slow his falling as well as change which direction he's falling in without losing any momentum.
Tricks List:
Charged Body: speeds up movement and reaction time by supercharging the user's body with Lightning.
Solid-Shield: Makes a barrier of solid air to defend against attacks.
Thunder-Shot: Makes an arrow explode after it hits like a bolter shell.
Shock-Shot: After this arrow strikes the target it consistently shocks them, paralyzing them until someone pulls it out.
Full Power Armor Piercing Shot: Exactly what it sounds like.
His other Martial Style, Arms of Ice conjures literal arms of ice to aid him in battle.
Trick List:
Ice-Arm-Shield: Lets the user sacrifice one of their Ice Arms to defend against an attack as if they used the Strong Shield Trick.
Ice-Arm-Assault: Unleashes an overwhelming flurry of melee attacks, using the user's many limbs to great effect to strike from multiple angles at once.
Ice-Shattering-Swing: Hit someone so hard the ice arm you used shatters
Wind Kunna Tricks:
Wind-Sense: This trick allows the user to detect everything in a wide radius by detecting the disturbances in the air.
Wind-Whisper: This trick allows the user to silently communicate with others over a significant distance by making the wind carry your words.
Void Eagle Heart: Hereditary Trait - Void Step, can generate or replace functional body parts made of ice, Muna - Over in An Instant: Gives him an enormous burst of speed at the beginning of a fight. Void Eagle Gland: Tracks the position of spirits around it.
Basic House (Defensible, Protective Wards from Seeress) (+3 Prestige)
Wildlife Agitated On His Land
2.2 oz Silver
Ragnarr Fair-Spoken (Bleeding Edge Bloodline, Literate, Jarlsoul)
Traits: Social Skills 2, Spearplay 2, Shields 1, Martial Style - Bleeding Edge 2, Emotion Kunna 2, Force Kunna 2, Fylgja (Heraldhound) 3, Glima 1, Farming 1, Storage Fasts 1 (S), Improved Reflexes 2 (S), Improved Speed 1 (S), (Unspent 0/34, Ordstirr 7)
Twists: Punching Up, Hidden Blade, Sudden Interrupt,
Rune Count: 7 (7)
Played by @DeadmanwalkingXI
Title: Hersir
Note: Speaks local language (3).
Note: Blood Brothers with Rikard Villeson, Sigmund Sigurdsson, Agmundr Idskapadr, and Amlóði Tooth-taker
Appearance: Average-sized Norseman of about 25, but well-built and usually smiling, he is dark-haired and a bit darker skinned than many Norsemen, rumored to have come from a Sami grandmother on his father's side. Personality: Ragnar generally likes people and tries to help them, and is a very friendly man. He engages in fair dealings and likes it when other people do as well, he strives to always be polite and fair to others, and when others do not follow suit, he will try to persuade them at first, then become increasingly upset as they refuse to 'just deal fairly'...he killed a man in Rogaland over a business dispute in this vein, and was, in effect, exiled. Hence coming to Gotland (where his mother's family were from). Bloodline: Bleeding Edge is a bloodline based ability common but not universal on his mother's side of the family that involves the ability to control and harden one's own blood, forming blades and shields and so on (though, obviously, you must be bleeding for that to work). There is a Martial Style that builds on this ability, which Ragnarr has always wanted to explore further, but he's been busy. In Combat: Ragnar rarely uses his Emotion Kunna outside of combat (aside from the comfort those in distress), but in it he afflicts his foes with hesitation, doubt, and terror and takes advantage of any missteps to stab them with his spear or the blood items formed from Bleeding Edge. He is also good at protecting against emotional influences. Family: Ragnar's wife, Hekla, is a fine woman, an excellent cook, and once killed a Draugr with a frying pan...she and her husband get along very well, and have three children, the oldest being an 8 year old named Geirfinnr. Ragnar's father is dead, and his siblings far from here, but his mother lives with them and helps out, having not remarried and being a bit old for it now at 50 (she has Bleeding Edge and can use it defensively, but is not a dedicated warrior). Kare Sky-Dancer is a cousin on his mother's side (son of his mother's brother), as is Njall Redaxe (son of another sibling of his mother). Fylgja: Ragnarr's fylgja began as a Wolfhound, granting a bonus to aggressive actions, especially against more powerful foes. It evolved into a Hersir Wolfhound, increasing his combat prowess slightly and a bonus to determining capabilities, analyzing battlefields, helping him make decisions in tense situations, and inspiring those under him. Finally, it has now developed into a Heraldhound, that which heralds the coming of events. It now provides him with a sense for the impending--both good and ill. In combat this provides significant advantages as it allows for predicting enemy attacks and defenses before they even make them. Tricks: Ragnarr has the basic combat stuff, including Sharpen, a handful of farming and other basic non-combat tricks, and a wide array of social Tricks that are not relevant for combat.
These are a good selection of his Combat Tricks:
Induce Emotion (Emotion Kunna): Ragnarr can induce powerful emotions of whatever sort he desires in a specific target.
Read Emotion (Emotion Kunna): Ragnarr can read the emotions of everyone within the immediate area as easily as looking at them.
Emotional Shield (Emotion Kunna): Ragnarr can shield himself and others from emotional and mental effects using the power of his kunna.
Blood Armor (Bleeding Edge Martial Style): Can form a suit of armor out of blood. He can and does use hardened plates for the breastplate and long bones, though he must make do with mail at the joints as he has no idea how to articulate plate armor joints. This can be runed, though using non-permanent runes necessitates a sacrifice after the battle.
Blood Weapon (Bleeding Edge Martial Style): Creates a weapon, usually a spear or shield in his case, out of blood. This can be runed, though using non-permanent runes necessitates a sacrifice after the battle.
Sudden Switch (Bleeding Edge Martial Style): Suddenly change one blood item into another, a spear into a shield, a shield into a sax, a spear into a spear with different runes or a longer haft or barbs...
Twisting Shaft (Spear): Inspired by Gungnir and guided by threads of ordstirr between spear and target, this trick allows a thrown spear to actually twist in the air to hit its target, following them.
Flickering Stab (Spear): This trick speeds up a strike to the point where it leaves flickering afterimages in the air, with the combination of speed and overwhelming visual feedback making it nearly impossible for the target to react correctly in time to respond to the blow.
Crippling Stab (Spear): Aiming a blow at nerve clusters and injecting ordstirr into the wound, this trick can disable limbs or even incapacitate with pain on a successful strike. This is not usually a shaming strike.
Quick Shield (Shield): Can effortlessly move his shield to interpose itself between him or someone nearby and a threat it would normally be out of position to block.
Strong Shield (Shield): Essentially, you use your willpower to paint on a layer of ordstirr which explodes out in a minor burst of concussive force when impacted, stopping any damage from getting through and sending the attacker flying.
Sacrificial Shield (Shield): A powered up version of Strong Shield, this Trick is designed to protect the person behind it completely with a layer of ordstirr on the back side of the shield, but overpower the concussive blast normally used by Strong Shield and really amp up the damage to the attacker at the cost of the shield's structural integrity.
Forceful Strike (Force Kunna): This trick imparts the power of the Force Kunna onto a physical attack at either melee or range. It can be combined with various spear attacks, and often is.
Hand of Force (Force Kunna): This trick creates a 'hand' of raw force that can manipulate items or people at range, including using them to attack, doing things like yanking people's feet out from under them, and can act as a persistent defense if holding a shield.
Force Blast (Force Kunna): This unsubtle trick shoots out a burst of raw force at a target. It can also be used defensively to deflect attacks or projectiles, and/or in a small area to hit multiple targets or, for deflection purposes, one larger target.
Mental Protection Charm
Runed Spear - "Like Gungnir, I never miss the mark." on one side of the haft, "I am as difficult to break as the boughs of Yggdrasil" on the other side, and "Armor never slows or bars my way." on the spearhead.
Runed Bone Amulet - "My wearer is swift as Sleipnir's step."
3 Meat-Keeping Sticks
Basic Home w/Stone Foundation (+3 Prestige)
Basic Defenses (+2 Prestige)
Basic Coop (+2 Prestige)
Basic Furniture (+2 Prestige)
Pair of 6" long onigar Horns
Onigar Bones held in trust for Quest of Stone crew (Harald, Steinarr, Katla, Skuli, and Amlodi) [1 Full-Horn, 3 Half Horns]
Tier 1 Farm Plot
Moli Spotlight (Seeing Eyes, Skald-in-Training, Literate)
Traits: Glass Kunna 3, Light Kunna 2, Fylgja (Raven) 2, Mental Resistance 1, Increased Durability 1, Glassware Crafting 1, (Unspent 0/16, Ordstirr 4)
Twists: Punching Up, Sowing Seeds, Hidden Blade, Dealt Likewise, Sudden Interrupt, Overload, Matter Shift, Hidden in Rags, Dogged Pursuit, Trail of Blood, In Blood Reborn, Feigned Weakness, Sudden Burst, Unveiling Cloak, Andvaranaut's Curse,
Played by @Shard
(Age: 24 at time of landing)
Appearance: On the shorter side for a norseman, reddish hair, blue eyes. Tends to wear woolen clothes dyed yellow, has a faint patch of just-noticeably brighter light shining on him at all times (hence the kenning 'Spotlight'). Moli's Saemd is a gleaming glass crown, while his Virthing is a cloak of glass-raven feathers, tied together with black-colored hair. His Frami is a ball of light breaking into colors at the 'edges'.
Bio: Moli Spotlight is a craftsman who advertises his glassware with a literal spotlight, earning his the kenning 'Spotlight' by his fellow norse. He also has a habit of drawing attention to others with a spotlight when he thinks something interesting is going on. Like a business dispute. As a result of his Raven Fylgjur, Moli tends to wander into encounters much more often than not, for good and ill. Moli was the son of Sindri and Vigdis back on Gotland, but the two have been dead for some time now.
Combat: In battle Moli tends to blind his foes with light and then stab them with absurdly sharp glassware shards/weapons. Plus various Skaldic Tricks.
Family: Moli is married to Ljufa Gunnarsdottir (23 at time of Landing), a red-haired demure woman with scars from various childhood illnesses (she looks as if your face was beautiful pottery that shattered and then put together in the Kintsugi style) that led her to earning a Disease Kunna. A combination of which ended up driving most potential suitors away. This changed with a fateful encounter with a young Moli, whom she wound up saving from a pack of wolves with her kunna. They have three children: Sindri (6), Vigdis (4), Hrafn (2) [Ages at time of Landing]
Related PCs
Clan Jarnblod on Paternal Side
Valo Halvarson, Steinarr Stonelicker on Maternal Side (+Potentially Hrolfr Jurgensson and Hulfr Hardwood as well)
+Other potential relatives!
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Tier 1 Farm Plot
Basic shit-tier glass workshop (+2 Prestige)
1 Unit Glowcoral
Appearance: Short but wiry Norseman aged 21, pallid complexion
Personality: Njall knows that he's bad at talking, so he tries to do it as little as possible to avoid undue bloodshed. He developed this habit after he killed a boy his age in his youth and had to move to flee the boy's angry family.
Combat Style: Nain uses the Bleeding Edge Style of the Bleeding Edge Bloodline, focused on using his innate ability to shape his own blood into temporary blades, his favorite trick is to wet his axe before he heads into battle, using that to attack from an unexpected angle while he's mid axe swing.
Family: Recently married to a large but otherwise unexceptional woman, Snerra. He is cousins with Ragnarr Fair-Spoken and Kare Sky-Dancer through Njall's now deceased mother, who died along with his father in the fall of Gotland.
Horn-Spring Core: Like a tightly-wound spring, you have a core of densely-contained momentum contained deep within. At will--with exactly zero build-up or warning--you can explode into motion at truly incredible speed. The more you use this power, however, the more the core comes undone and the slower you move and with less ferocity. Not moving allows your core to rewind itself and, by completely unwinding, it rewinds back tighter.
Basic Fence around Clan Held Lands (+2 Prestige)
Mushling
Harald Logarson (14)
Traits: Farming 1, Soil Kunna 2, Martial Style - Prepare the Fields 3, Great Strength 1, Axeplay 1, Shields 1, Strong Bones 1 (S), (Unspent 0/14, Ordstirr 7)
Played by @OneArmedYeti
Progression tokens: 1 Farming, 1 to unlock Soil Kunna, 1 pt Martial Style "Preparing the Field" (A wide area style based around the rapid creation and destruction of earthworks and footing)
Harald was born the son of Thousand Akr Logar, so named because he cultivated more land than any man in Gotland had ever seen a single man till. Harald gained his understanding of Soil at the age of 13, when a pile of compost he was aerating with hand tools for his father(though not at his father's direction) collapsed underneath him and he was buried. There, in the dark hot fermenting pile he came to accept that he could not lift the pile off of himself or dig out, and understand that when he finally suffocated under it his death would enrich the Soil and feed his family like any other death on their farm. It was with a look of peace on his face and surrounded by a hollow sphere of of compacted dirt his arms couldn't move and air vents his hands didn't dig that his Father would find him upon his return from a hunt days later. Years later the fall of Gotland would find him a young man just coming into his own, thrown by his Father away from the violence and into a fleeing ship.
Aspects: Frami: A brown aura the shade of the dust that covers a farmer after a long day's work drapes Harald's skin and shield, clothes and tools. Virthing: Soil seems to fall from Harald's shoulders in a cascade down to the ground. Saemd: Harald's hair erupts into a green and brown mane of barley and flax, with golden grass shining through the underside and white blossoms wreathed around his head.
Fertile Land - Despite being Hills, allows you to grow things just as well as if you had normal land, if not better.
Tier 1 Farm Plot
Mushling
Mushling Spawnbag
? Units of Flax
1 Unit Glowcoral
5 Units Linen
1 Unit Tier 2 Wood
1 Half-Horn Onigar Heart (Eaten)
Steinarr Stonelicker (16)
Traits: Stone Kunna 3, Stoneworking 2, Throwing 2, Architecture 1, Teaching 1, Improved Durability 1, Fylgja (Cow) 1, Storage Fasts 1 (S), (Unspent 0/17, Ordstirr 7)
Note: Speaks local language (1).
Played by @Ulvlar
Family: Bastard brother to Ragnarr Fair-Spoken thorugh their Mother, and second maternal cousin to Moli Spotlight and Valo Halvarson.
First cousin to Moli Spotlight (wow again) thorugh mother.
Tall, hunched and a bit greyskinned due to stone dust.
Steinar Stonelicker in his youth dreamed about finding the perfect stone. He would try to find the rock by using the reasonable method of licking them, thus getting his kenning. Less concerned with people, and more concerned with how people can help him get his stonefix.
The char idea came to me by thinking about archelogists/geologist who will lick stones to identify them. Don't know how viable it is.
Tin - Can extract 1 unit per season, used to make bronze, will run out.
Extremely deep down Stone Deposits
Sigmund Sigurdsson (Tyr Bloodline 2, Full Body Flick, Bloody Stan's Heart)
Traits: Swordplay 3 (4 due to Bloodline), Shield Kunna 2, Martial Style - Tyrung 3, Glima 1, Fylgja (Weapon Ant) 2, Improved Reactions 1 (S), Supported Grip (S), (Unspent 0/26, Ordstirr 4)
Played by @Oshha
Note: Has Eyespeech
Note: Blood Brothers with Rikard Villeson, Ragnarr Fair-Spoken, Agmundr Idskapadr, and Amlóði Tooth-taker
PT Expenditure: 3 towards Level 2 Tyr Blood, Appearance: A young Norseman at eighteen, Sigmund is a tall man, limited only by his lack of Giant's Blood. With a head of fiery red hair, sharp green eyes and carefully kept beard, Sigmund has a muscular figure with broad shoulders and a square jawline that lean to an imposing or heroic appearance depending on whether you are a friend or foe to him. Personality: Sigmund is a friendly and jovial figure who likes to help others and has a strong sense of justice even as he is uncertain of his place in the world now that Gotland and all he has known is gone. Sigmund had originally intended to be a smith before recent events rendered that an effective impossibility. He loves his wife and children and in the absence of being a smith, Sigmund finds something in his blood calling him towards a path of heroics and justice. In Combat: Sigmund doesn't have a combat style of his own or any kunna to call upon at the moment. Because of this, he relies on a mixture of the basics to carry him to victory. He hopes to change this in the future by learning a martial style to use against his foes or developing kunna to wield in battle. Family: With both of his parents dying in Gotland, Sigmund has only his wife Torunn and their infant son Sigurd in his immediate family. He values both of them greatly with Torunn being his childhood sweetheart, who he married almost as soon as he came of age. Sigmund was drawn to Torunn for her caring nature and upbeat personality though her good looks certainly didn't hurt. He is related to Ragnarr Fair-Spoken, Kare Sky-Dancer and Njall Redaxe by being the son of a third sibling to Ragnarr's mother. Powers:
[Full Body Flick]
Full Body Flick allows him to put his entire body's strength into a single motion, but only one at a time.
[Bloody Stan's Heart]
-A 10 Yard field of invisible-to-the-naked-eye magic particles. They inform their master of the terrain details in that radius. Their master can spike the field up or down at will, strengthening or lessening the effects of gravity in that spiked area.
--Descendants will only receive the knowledge of terrain.
Oni Lightning Regeneration Ring
Lucky Stone
0.2 oz Silver
Basic House (Beach) (+2 Prestige)
Basic House (Hills) (+2 Prestige)
Basic Furniture (+2 Prestige)
Egging Frog Coop (+1 Prestige)
Gravity Tyrant Skull (+2 Prestige)
Tier 1 Farm Plot (Beach)
Unusually Springy Wood - 2 units/season if a Passive is spent. Can be used to make excellent bows. (Jungle Hills)
Quiet Spirits (Jungle Hills)
Retainers
Alyssa Worldwalker (Former Thrall)
Traits: Animal Handling 1, Archery 2, Fieldcraft 2, Spearplay 2, Mental Resistance 1, Fylgja (?) 1, (Unspent 0/12, Ordstirr 0)
Played by @Shine
Note: Speaks local language (2).
Far wandering spearwoman, daughter of a slave made free by her mother's master and lover, who felt deep guilt that his consort died a slave via childbirth.
Always haunted by her heritage, she chose to leave her father's homestead for adventure. Travelling tremendously far, she would befriend horse and bird and hound alike, and grew more comfortable in the wilds amongst beasts than amongst fellow man.
In the end, however, she was given shelter amongst Ragnarr's household when badly wounded, and so swore loyalty to them. As thus, she fought in the village;s defence when attacked, and came with you in your exodus.
She grieves most the loss of her beloved mount, who was lamed in the fighting. Nonetheless, travel has lifted her spirits somewhat, and she has grand hopes for the wonders of a foreign world.
Although initially cursed and sickened from an accident at sea, and then further laid out by many new, exotic diseases and allergies, Alyssa has finally recovered and is ready to serve. For this, she thanks the Seeress and Shapecrafter effusively, as well as the grand collection of foreign charms and trinkets stockpiled from her adventures.
A young man having just reached his age of majority, Gunnar possesses a lean, wiry build and hair of a very pale wheat colour hanging down to his neck. What little beard has actually grown in by this point is bound together in a single small braid, with a small tuft at the end from where goats have attempted to eat it. He possesses goat horns upon his brow.
From a family of Goatherds, though only his sister, an uncle and a handful of cousins survived the fall of Gotland and the trip to the new land, Gunnar has spent his entire life leaping along the sides of hills and rocky mountains, watching over the herds and gathering useful plants to trade to the seeresses, or whoever else may be interested. As a result, he has developed strong, firm leg muscles, and a solid awareness of his surroundings. From the many long generations tending their goats, Gunnar's family have developed a strange talent that aids in their ability to scale the cliffs, control over their bodies momentum granting them the ability to stop on a dime, and then burst into motion in a completely new direction, great for both leaping after goats and for sudden changes in the direction of an axe swing.
Gunnar is most known for possessing a brash, boisterous personality, unable to sit still for long periods of time and often pacing around his families herds or going off to explore in his free time. Prior to the exodus from Gotland, he would fairly regularly get into brawls with the boys of the neighbouring families, though rarely anything serious, but few, if any, of those neighbours were among those who landed with them.
In battle, Gunnar prefers to wield an axe in one hand and a seaxe in the other, leaning into his bloodline to let him unleash a flurry of harsh blows before scampering out of the way of retaliation, at the cost of his actual defensive abilities.
Skills: Bloodline - Charging Ram (1PT), Overland Talent (1PT), Scouting Talent (1PT) Gains: [Evil Joe's Heart]
-A 10 Yard field of invisible-to-the-naked-eye magic particles. They inform their master of the terrain details in that radius. Their master can spike the field up or down at will, strengthening or lessening the effects of gravity in that spiked area.
--Descendants will only receive the knowledge of terrain.
Aspects: Frami: An orangey aura, that seems to move like a living thing as it wraps itself around Gunnar Virthing: A cloak made of animal pelts, mostly those of the Storm Toad along with a couple patches of Gravity Tyrant skin, sewn together. Saemd: A crown of Gravity Tyrant teeth, with two Goat Horns rising from the sides.
Family:
Kol Redhair: A large boy since birth, by the age of six he was already big enough that some would mistake him for a grown man, helped by his incredible strength. Unfortunately, these traits came at the cost of his mother, during his birth, the poor woman physically splitting in half from the sheer size of the child she gave birth to. Combined with the red hair and steel-coloured eyes that he was born with, rather uncharacteristic of his family, and he was deeply disliked by the rest of his family, his father barely acknowledging him and his elder siblings frequently picking on him as he grew up. Fortunately, his maternal relatives still knew him to be blood, and he ended up being mostly looked after by them, spending a good deal of time with his older maternal cousins, Gunnar Toad-Terror and Liv Sweetwater. While his father and a number of his siblings survived the fall of Gotland with him, his already outcast status, combined with the grief of losing their homeland, has left the impressively large boy in the care of his cousins, Liv and Gunnar, once more.
Basic House - Storm Toad Skull (+3 Prestige)
Palisade - Defensive bonus if attacked (+2 Prestige)
Watchtower - Provides warning if anything approaches provided a Passive is spent on it (+2 Prestige)
Basic Fence (+2 Prestige)
1 Giant Cow (Njalla)
+Better Farm when one is acquired
9 Meat-Keeping Sticks
2.2 oz Silver
Liv Tiffersdottir, once known as Sweetwater (she/her, ~15.5 years old)
Traits: Clearwater Kunna 2, Architecture 2, Demolition 1, Shields 1, Brewing 1, (Unspent 0/9, Ordstirr 5)
Played by @Nando
Note: Owes one part of one kill to Fernweh Engenweiss.
PT expenditure: 1 in "Springs kunna"; 1 in "Architecture"; 1 in "using 'Architecture' and 'Springs' to tear things down" (like buildings and hills)
Bio: Liv is a young, unmarried woman. She usually wears her ash blonde hair in loose braids, tied back with a string.
Younger sister to Gunnar Tifferson.
Liv got her kenning from finding a new spring of clear, sweet water. She is a bit shy and prone to getting lost in her own thoughts. She's not afraid of doing her part, especially when it comes to laboring on construction sites, though!
Fighting: In the past Liv has made do with a spare ax and shield of her father, as well as her kunna, using it to disrupt her foes' footing and such.
Style: Will probably be more of a worker and explorer then a raider, I guess?
The Reborn Spring
Tier 1 Brewery (+2 Prestige)
3 Units Tier 1 Beer
1 Unit Tier 1 Maize Alcohol
Valo Halvarson (Njord Blood, Literate)
Traits: Archery 1, Navigation 2, Spearplay 2, Swimming 1, Fylgja (Sea Turtle) 1, Guiding Light Kunna 2, Ocean Kunna 2, Improved Danger Sense 1, Ice Breathing 1 (S), Fully Amphibious 1 (S), (Unspent 0/20, Ordstirr 3)
Played by @weeblypanda
Note: Speaks local language (1).
Appearance: A rather young man with very light Blue eyes and Pale Blonde hair. Still but the barest hint of fuzz growing and a little short even for a 16-year-old. His build is pretty lanky with long gangly limbs with barely any definition despite the gruffness of both his father and brother. Sports glazed eyes with dark rings from a lack of sleep. To his father's chagrin, he has an absent-minded look on his face.
Backstory: The youngest of four children and the second son, he was often left to his own devices on his family's farm. When not helping in the fields or practicing his bow & arrow, Valo spent a worrying amount of time staring at the Stars, enough to develop a Kunna. Before Blackhand sunk the island Valo was about to go out on his first raid. In the panic, Valo, his father Halvr Sunshaft, and his father's slave Charolette (a French peasant girl) were separated from the rest of his family (mother and elder siblings).
Personality: Valo is a lazy person. He wishes for nothing more than to star-gaze all night, to sleep throughout the day, and never work a minute more than necessary to eat. If it weren't for his love for family and strangely accommodating nature he would be a thoroughly repugnant person.
High Concept: I want to develop someone who will eventually be a navigator or even a non-seer diviner
PT spending: 1 PT Guiding-Light Kunna (Based on the North Star), 1 PT Navigation Talent, 1 PT Njord Blood
Kunna usage: help direct the ships, and arrows toward their intended target, occasionally to help track prey, predict the turning of the seasons,
Offensive: leading people astray, confusing senses, God Spike, sky control (norse believed the North Star was the end of the spike driven into the sky upon which it turned)
Other Related PCs: Moli Spotlight, Maternal Cousin
Note: Is equipped with an organ allowing him to breathe ice, both inhaling and exhaling.
Basic House w/Stone Floor and Stone Floor Extension(+3 Prestige)
Basic Smokehouse x2 (+4 Prestige)
Magic Net
Void Eagle Bones
Void Eagle Feathers
Amerion Wardson (15) (Literate)
Traits: Warding 2, Spirit-Contracts 1, Fire Kunna 2, Mental Resistance 1, Stealth 1, Storage Fasts 1 (S), (Unspent 0/11, Ordstirr 2)
Played by @EclipsedStar
Character Name: Amerion Wardson (15 Years old (at start of Quest)) (They/Them)
Initial CharGen PT Expenditure: 1PT Runes, 1PT Warding, 1PT Fire-Kunna
Appearance: Rather short and lean with fair-coloured skin, brown hair, and hazel coloured eyes.
Personality: Amerion is... very curious. Exceedingly so... sometimes a little too much. When it comes to Seidr-- Amerion can sometimes be a bit passionate about the subject or in trying to learn about it, but is, for the most part-- typically somewhat socially anxious/timid, preferring to avoid initiating social interactions whenever possible unless necessary, and prefers to keep to themselves. As a result of both this (and other factors)-- Amerion is sometimes a bit lost in their thoughts, sometimes coming across as a bit dazed or unfocussed.
Backstory: They'd always been curious... sometimes too curious, but perhaps that was for the best. Where others may have delved into satiating that curiosity with exploration... Amerion, Amerion wanted to better understand the world around them. Sure they'd heard of and seen what Seidr could do... but how did it actually work, and how could they do it themselves? They'd tried pestering their parents about the innerworkings of Warding-- the branch of Seidr their parents practised in maintaining and upkeeping the village's varying wards (in addition to a few other things)... but they never really explained how to do so. Something about the practice itself being fraught with danger (weren't all practices?), hidden complexities and wordplay? Rather-- their parents instead taught them some of the intricacies in Runes, basic phrases and words that could be powered for a temporary effect. Not like the lasting effect or permeance that Warding allowed.
It was with these thoughts-- and wanting to learn how such Warding was actually done that, in the dead of night, after just barely overhearing a hushed conversation-- barely catching the words 'summoning' and 'spirits'-- that they followed after their father towards the outskirts of the village. Having gotten sidetracked a few times by wanting to pause to look at the night-sky above them, it took them a bit to catch up to where their father had stalked off too-- just behind the earthworks around the village but far enough from the village proper that no one would disturb whatever was being done at this time of night. Squinting their eyes to see what they were looking at-- the sight only illuminated by moonlight and an exceedingly dim and flickering torch planted on the ground alongside an open urn, was a stone sunken into the earthen soil. Etched into it, in a polygonal pattern, were numerous repeating engravings with several stones planted at each edge of the polygonal shape. The edges of the polygon itself, were covered by smooth, reflective stones-- almost veritably covered in what could only be runes, and coloured a dark colour-- likely from the urn of... some sort of dark liquid-- probably blood. And there-- kneeling before that entire ensemble, was their father, indistinct words spoken aloud... and then a faint pressure. The runes surrounding the polygon and planted on the stones themselves seeming to glow with a sort of light as this... indistinct form appears within the bounds of the ritual circle. Muffled though it was by the distance from which they watched, catching only brief snippets of words-- they were able to make out some of the context of what was being said. The indistinct thing seemingly boasting of its many great feats as different Runes along the ritual circle lit up and dimmed in sequence with its movements, before finally, after some hidden queue, it ceased. The indistinct entity-- something that could surely only be a spirit, going quiet at the motion of one of their father's limbs-- some of the runes lighting up as he did so, before he began to speak... something about a contract and giving up... something? Listening and watching for as long as they dared, Amerion quickly scampered back to the village proper when it seemed things were wrapping up, before their father noticed that they were eavesdropping.
Over the next few months... this became somewhat normal. They'd stay up late into the night-- waiting to see if either of their parents would go out to summon and contract spirits in the dead-of-night when they were meant to be asleep-- and tag along from a distance, watching and listening from a distance, trying to understand what exactly it is that there parents were doing. Unfortunately... all good things came to an end. For all the danger that Amerion had heard when it comes to warding and summoning spirits... they hadn't actually seen anything dangerous? It wasn't the process of summoning spirits or warding that caused their parents' demise. It wasn't the usage of Seidr or some sort of accident when it came to experimentation... no... they and a portion of the village fell to disease. Just... disease. And so, now orphaned-- they were shunted off to their closest kin in a neighbouring village (practically the same village for all intents and purposes really with just how close the two were).
The next few years were... fraught with experimentation and getting accustomed to actually being apart of Clan Farfaxung (their mother having been... a bit estranged from the Clan-- but still close enough by blood to count). They'd learned more about Runes-- they'd learned how to manifest fire and flames alike within the palm of their hand... but they were no closer to understanding how Warding actually worked. They'd made a few attempts at replicating the ritual circle they'd seen their parents use... but they never aligned with the memories they had. The Runes of Protection they inscribed didn't look nearly as similar to the ones their parents used... but maybe that was just some sort of flourish they'd used when inscribing the runes, and didn't actually mean anything? It wasn't like that mattered anyways... every attempt at summoning spirits was met with just... nothing, none of that presence or appearance of an indistinct entity-- no lit up runes or any other indicaion of a spirit being summoned... nothing. Eventually... they caved and asked around-- trying to keep their questions as vague and indirect as possible-- before eventually arriving at the conclusion that there was some complex lattice of wards up around the village and surrounding area to essentially block a 'doorway' to the Ginnungagap being opened directly into the village-- something about an incident several years before they were born? Regardless... it came down to the fact that, so long as they were within the village-- which they didn't really have any excuse to leave without being asked why, worrying they'd be told 'Warding is dangerous without precautions-- do X instead' again, that they came to terms with the fact that they'd have to give up warding... for now. All they needed was to succeed once and show that they'd taken the 'proper precautions' (its not so hard to remember seeing Runes of Protection lining a ritual circle), and then... things would be fine and they wouldn't have to worry about anything they do being only in the short-term-- they'd have the reliable permeance of warding. But first... they needed to contract a spirit... something they couldn't do whilst in the village.
It wasn't until a few months after that revelation... that they found themselves huddled aboard a hardy-wooden boat, fleeing from Gotland, plumes of smoke and fire behind them as everything burned and battles raged-- that they remembered. They weren't within the village anymore... no more lattice of wards to stop Amerion from trying to summon spirits from the Ginnungagap-- and with all the chaos... Amerion didn't know or recognise a fair number of the survivors-- likely the same vice-versa... meaning no one would know. Finally-- after all this time, they could actually try and see if their memories and attempted replications of their parents' ritual circle allowed them to summon any spirits.
Combat: Amerion typically prefers utilising their Fire-Kunna to engage potential foes at range from a (moderately) safe distance, typically aiming to torch/scorch any sense they can see, so as to disorient or debilitate whatever foe is coming their way so that it's easier to continue to stay at range. Should that not work though-- Amerion typically also tries torching the maw of whatever foe they're fighting to burn them out from the inside... but given some foes, sometimes that doesn't work if they never open their maw, so sometimes burning away the joints connecting appendages to the body is the way Amerion takes things. Should any foe *actually* get close enough to them, or their flames prove to be ineffective, Amerion has a sword that they can draw upon. However, Amerion is not that used to using a sword-- and so their first instinct is actually to draw the dagger they have at their side for carving runes. If whatever foe is charging towards them isn't just a sudden surprise, or they've had time to internalise that getting into close-quarters combat is a very real possibility, then they may draw their sword-- typically heating the sword with their Fire Kunna as well in the process.
Family: Both Parents dead/no siblings, Distant cousin of 'Gunnar Toad-Terror aka Tifferson' through their mother's side, member of Clan Farfaxung (White Horse)
Spikes
Smargneisti, the fire spirit
Ash Seed
0~0~0
Clan Blomtamja (Flower-Tamer)
Gefjosa Dreadbinder aka Aslaugsdottir (14, She/Her) (Bloodline - Over-Quaff, Seeing Eyes)
Traits: Plow Kunna 2, Glima 2, Farming 2, Fylgja (Villagefeeder Ox) 2, Sorrow Kunna 2, Improved Durability 1, (Unspent 0/17, Ordstirr 6)
Twists: Push Through
Played by @CoatRackRanger
Note: Blood-Siblings with Anja Storm-Eye, Kare Sky-Dancer and Ivor Name-Giver
Pt Expenditure: 1 in Plow Kunna, 1 in Farming Skills, 1 in Seeing Eyes (Ox Fylgja revealed) Personality: Gefjosa was a homebody before the destruction of Gotland. Even then, she preferred to spend her time helping out around the farm, rather than socializing or wandering. At Gotland's end and during the fraught trip here, Gefjosa lost all of her family and her anti-social tendencies have been only reinforced. Appearance: Gefjosa has a plain face with light brown hair that she frequently lets fall over it. She is about average height appears but shorter as she is uncommonly wide for her age and sex. Generally, Gefjosa's clothing choices are intended to conceal her broad shoulders, broad hips, and strong arms. Style: Bro, I just wanna farm and do cotttagecore type shit.
Gefjosa's Traits
Bloodline - Over-Quaff
-Something has stirred in Gefjosa's blood… Before the Day of Broken Bones, the scent of mead and Seidr draughts made Gefjosa's nose crinkle… now, she can't pass the Seeress's home without her mouth starting to water.
-Gefjosa may drink any number of potions or utilize any number of consumables with suffering negative side-effects.
Farming 2
-Gefjosa is much more skilled at farming than the average Gute. She has a solid grasp of husbandry, agriculture, carpentry, and the plethora of other disciplines related to building and maintaining a farm.
-Each farming action Gefjosa performs generates substantially more resources.
-Changes that Gefjosa makes to the landscape are harder for others to undo and take longer to revert.
Glima 2
-All Norse learn Glima, some Norse know it. Gefjosa and her Uncle Njal have begun walking the path of knowledge together. Glima is the art of both becoming wind and catching it. Gefjosa is much better at the second part.
-Gefjosa can perform intermediate Glima techniques.
-Gefjosa's holds and grapples are particularly difficult to escape.
Plow Kunna 2
-To Gefjosa, the plow symbolizes persistence, toil, and hardship. However, she believes that it is through those things that good things are possible. It is a symbol both of hard, backbreaking work and the gradual but meaningful and lasting change it brings. To be like the Plow is to push through any adversity.
- Gefjosa can manifest a quasi-real plow to be used as farm equipment or an improvised weapon. The Plow counts as a Farming Tool of a quality equal to this trait's tier. When used as a weapon, it is especially effective for crushing and grinding.
-Focusing on her personal embodiment of the plow, Gefjosa is better at pushing through debilitating mental and physical effects.
Seeing Eyes
-Gefjosa sees things others do not. Unbidden, she catches glimpses of the true shapes, meanings, and futures of things. If nurtured, this gift may make Gefjosa into a seer one day. As it stands, Gefjosa has scarcely gotten over the belief that she'd gone mad and was hallucinating.
-Still, Gefjosa has a powerful soul whose shape is beginning to reveal itself, all on its own.
-Gefjosa infrequently catches glimpses of things as they are.
Ox Fylgja 2
-Gefjosa's Fylgja appears shaggy ox whose fur is covered with swirling patterns of bone dust and beaded with intricate bone ornaments. Wherever its hooves touch bare earth, weeds shrivel, and the soil grows dark and loamy.
-Either because she has not yet learned how or because some part of her soul is missing or damaged, Gefjosa cannot manifest the Villagefeeder Ox.
-The Villagefeeder Ox significantly increases Gefjosa's strength and durability, more so while not manifested.
-Gefjosa can perform an additional farming- or land-clearing-related minor action each season
Sorrow 2
- Gefjosa has felt the contours of Pain, its Blade, its Weight, its Darkness. Once, she thought it was hers alone but kind words from another opened her eyes. Pain can isolate, if it is allowed, but it can also bring understanding and connections. Embracing Sorrow means honoring what is passed; rejecting it means denying humanity.
-Gefjosa can use Sorrow's Knife to significantly sharpen herself or people/things she is immediately touching. Although this effect is physical, it is resisted as though it was emotional.
-Gefjosa can use Sorrow's Weight to significantly add mass to herself or people/things she is immediately touching. Although this effect is physical, it is resisted as though it was emotional.
-Gefjosa can use Sorrow's Darkness to dull or mute the perceptions of herself or people/things she is immediately touching.
Twist - Push Through
-Gefjosa can use this to 'push past' whatever obstacle--physical or otherwise--is blocking her path. Pain, physical injury, or mental compulsion, they all fall under this Twist's aegis.
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Very Nice Tunic (+4 Prestige)
Trenchwork Defenses (+2 Prestige)
Tier 1 Farm
1/3 Units of Glowcoral per year. As long as 1 Unit remains, the coral replenishes every year. (+1 Prestige)
Njal Ulfson (Bloodline - Over-Quaff, Giant's Blood)
Traits: Improved Shapeshifting 1, Plant Kunna 2, Glima 2, Throwing 1, Farming 1, Great Strength 1, Fylgja (Stag Beetle) 1, Springy Muscles 1 (S), (Unspent 0/12, Ordstirr 0)
Played by @mythfan12
A man of stocky build and good height, a chance happening in the forest led to him having a great appreciation for nature's bounty.
Basic House on Jungle Hills (+2 Prestige)
"Birch" Trees on Jungle Hills
Tier 2 Field (+1 Prestige)
Runestone (+2 Prestige)
12 Units of Flax
2.2 oz Silver
0~0~0
Clan Hœttrlág (Danger Log)
Erik Hardhead (Literate)
Traits: Carpentry 2, Force Kunna 2, Spear Kunna 2, Shields 1, Improved Shapeshifting 1, Storage Fasts 1 (S), (Unspent 0/13, Ordstirr 5)
Rune Count: 1 (1)
Played by @Simon_Jester
Appearance: Age 20, florid, ruddy complexion, dark brown hair, slightly taller than average, with unusually though not freakishly long arms.
Personality: Erik has a habit of taking very noticeable pauses, sometimes short, sometimes long, followed by abrupt action or speech. He likes to listen, but after he's listened for a while, he'll usually start liking to talk for a while. This pattern of cycling back and forth between action and inaction can be seen in most things he does. He has a reputation for perfectionism and carefully following through on agreements, but also for being rather inflexible about what he sees as an important matter, even by the standards of the honor-focused Norse.
His 'force' kunna tends to express itself with sudden, explosive bursts of force or motion. Thus, for instance, while his ability to lift or carry heavy burdens is unremarkable by the admittedly insane standards of the Norse, he often strikes much harder or faster than those who don't know him would expect. He got his nickname as a boy by headbutting a ship's anchor on a wager; the anchor lost.
Combat Style: Erik is a passable archer, but only uses the bow for hunting. His close combat with spear and shield is enough to see him through skirmishes- deft, but not the stuff of legend. What you really have to watch out for is when he throws the spear. Very forcefully.
Family: widowed mother Unna, age 46, wife Svanfrid, age 19, daughter Ingfrid, age 1.
Erik, Unna, Svanfrid, Ingfrid birthdays in
summer, winter, summer, winter
Bjorn Bone-Tyrant aka Bjarneson (Scent Detecting Bloodline)
Traits: Bone Kunna 3, Hunting 2, Stealth 1, Archery 1, Martial Style - Bloodhound's Pursuit 2, Fylgja (Bone Tyrant) 2, Increased Speed 1 (S), (Unspent 0/19, Ordstirr 1)
Played by @Walliseatscheese
Note: Speaks local language (2).
Brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, normal runabout childhood, learned his trade of Hunting from his mom, general interests of finding new skeletal systems.
The son of a reasonably competent hunter named Bridget, he learned his profession at her feet and through quite literally following in her footpaths as a youngster. It was during one of his younger misadventures trying to trail after his mother on a hunt that he found himself walking along a beach and looking across the small bay towards a cliffside.
It was thanks to that distance from the cliffs that he finally saw the truth of the Old Tales of Great Terrible Monsters that did and still do walk these lands, for the Bones of some Giant Beast with Teeth as long and sharp as axes were embedded in that cliffside, newly caught in the light of the Sun, and Bjorn knew that there had to be more of these Beasts out there, and that their Bones meant they could be hunted, and they could be killed.
With that, he knew the path he would walk in this life, to bring about a grand glory to his family and bring the head of one of these beasts as a prize for his mother, may the gods rest her weary bones.
Family: mother, younger sister, younger brother.
Basic House (+2 Prestige)
Basic Traps
Tier 1 Farm Plots
7 Time Gator Skeletons (+4 Prestige)
1 Unit of Hide
0~0~0
Clan Frostblood
Grid Frostdottir (Bloodline - Void Step 2, Frozen Form, Literate)
Traits: Ice Kunna 3, Emotion Kunna 2, Momentum Kunna 2, Shield Kunna 1, Wind Kunna 1, Beautiful 1, Fylgja (Nemean Lion) 3, (Unspent 0/26, Ordstirr 7)
Rune Count: 10 (10)
Played by @Jaguar2234
Note: Speaks local language (3).
Appearance: A 16 year old young woman with blond hair and striking Amethyst eyes . Quite tall for her age and her reaches all the way to her waist. Her build is quite lean as she hasn't experienced any physical labor.
Backstory: The middle child of three and the first and only daughter. Grid assisted her mother in all womanly tasks like sewing and cooking. She often enjoyed playing with snow during winter, which lead her to develop an Ice Kunna. In the panic she was seperated from her mother, father, and older brother and now has to take care of her 8-year old brother.
Personality: Grid dislikes any physical tasks becuases you often get dirty from doing them from sweat and dirt. She enjoys talking with others and was quite well connected with the other villagers. Her father had a thrall that was literate and she learned the Norse language from him. She is quite diligent with her tasks, when she is given one she will complete it to the best of her ability. She can be quite arrogant though about the skills that she is proficient in, and will assume that she is better than others in that regard.
High-Concept: I want her to become an ice mage that rules over others.
Mental Protection Charm
Runed Wand Inscribed With "Any being that the holder of this wand points to except themselves, will start to become encased in ice "
Rune Compass - Can locate Void Eagles ("Will point in the direction to the closest alive beast that is the same race as the beast's skin that is attached to this compass")
Rune Flashbang - "When this wood board breaks, 1 second later a big flash of light will come out of it"
Rune Necklace - "Any foe that wounds my wearer will suffer the same wounds they inflicted"
Rune Ring - "Any Ice generated by the wielder of this ring, their form cannot be changed by external forces, only by the wielder of this ring".
Rune Ring - "The wearer of this ring cannot be affected by illusions"
Basic House w/ 2 Void Eagle Skulls (+4 Prestige)
Basic Defenses (+2 Prestige)
Basic Storehouse (+2 Prestige)
2 Tier 1 Farm Plots
Black Communications Orb
9 Units Meat-Keeping Sticks
Mushling
Void Eagle Skin x2
Void Eagle Bones
Void Eagle Feathers
Void Eagle Eyes
Void Eagle Organ
Void Eagle Gland
2.2 oz Silver
Katla Hrafndottir (Seeing Eyes)
Traits: Fylgja (Gardener Snake) 2, Healing Seidr 1, Herbalism 3, Farming 1, Poison Kunna 1, (Unspent 0/12, Ordstirr 7)
Played by @Aria the Mage
Katla married Einar Frostson in her sixteenth summer, her husband two years older. They had been betrothed since she was eleven and he thirteen, and she was fond of him, though never truly close. She is now 18, and her daughter almost two. A widow (to the best of her knowledge, at least), she lives with her sister in law, Grid Frostdottir. She often wished to be a seer in her youth, though placed it aside, and thinks to take up that path if she can.
Not all who travel come home alone, and Eirny is the result of such a union. Her mother Revna a skald who traveled the world to collect stories alongside the many merchants of her home, when she came home she brought with her a mate most foreign - of swarthy complexion and dark hair, a follower of Muhammad. Their union was one that many told stories of - but few to the face of the strong. Khair-Uddin was a man tolerant of many things, but not of disrespect to his wife - nor to their shared daughter, and many a man faced his strange blade in battle, earning enemies aplenty, and isolating the family further - a strange union between Skald and Foreigner, bearing the fruit of a strange daughter.
Eirny was born with a darker complexion than any other on Gotland. And as all places do, those who are different are prone to experiencing problems. So Eirny learned violence young, reveling in the teachings of her father, even as her mother taught her of the proper way to live as Norse.
But it wasn't her father who taught her to wield the blade; he had intended his daughter a peaceful life. And yet, her hand was drawn to the shamshir. And each time he set it down, he found it within her hand once more. Each time she was sent to punishment, she disappeared - only to be found with it once more. It was only later that Khair-Uddin became aware of his daughter's talent; his forbidding of her desires ending.
For she moved with the natural grace of Worship, for the praise of Allah, in the movements that he had never taught her, in the art that she should never have learned. Not taught by man, but by blade - an act of purity in her movements, without thought, emptying herself to Allah in his eyes. The act enough for him to cease his search for a male heir.
And yet, all things come to an end. Revna refused to budge as doom came to Gotland. For someone had to witness the end of their leader, the end of their home, to see the story end. Khair-Uddin stood side by side with his wife, hand in hand, as their world ended. No futile attempt made; only a parting of ways with their daughter, a love passed on, and a trust in her survival.
She is left now with only one keepsake; her Father's sword, inscribed in the 'runes' of his home. A mysterious blade that had always drawn her towards it, for all her life.
Brynjar Bonespear (Berserk)
Traits: Bone Kunna 2, Blood Kunna 1, Thickened Skin 1 (S), (Unspent 0/6, Ordstirr 9)
Played by @Ryumancer
A young man known for his wolf-bone spear and armor... And for an incident when he was just a child in which his arm, severed by abnormally long claws, he reinforced with Kunna and wielded as an improvised spear to slay that very wolf as it turned towards the daughter of the family that cared for Brynjar when his own parents died. Lesser known are his insights on blood and the relationship between it and bone, gained by very nearly bleeding to death before he could be taken to Hrolfr for healing...
As a teen, he proposed to his caretaker's daughter, and was accepted into the family wholeheartedly. He further developed his dual Kunna during this time, developing such tricks as corrosive blood and a method of creating bone meal fertilizer (though farming could never be considered one of Brynjar's talents), and one of the local Berserks proved willing to teach Brynjar.
Upon the imminent destruction of Gotland, his wife pleaded with him, convinced him that there were other ways he could contribute than by fighting opponents he could not even so much as delay. And ashamed of his weakness (well, comparatively) as he was, he saw the wisdom in his wife's words and set about aiding Hrolfr and a few others in the mending of wounds and evacuation of Gotland.
Good spot for a mill
Ake Silverleaf (Loki's Blood)
Traits: Farming 1, (Unspent 1/3, Ordstirr 9)
Played by @ArcanaVitae
The second son out of three sons and two daughters of the strange coupling of the village's most prominent skald and shapecrafter. He inherited his mother's ability with farming, his father's talent for speech, and both of their knacks for mischief.
Miraculously Ake somehow became a respected member of the community through his efforts in trade and managed to earn his Kunna when earning himself a small fortune for through his efforts in farming and selling a crop with Silverleafs that his mother crafted.
None
Lindjorn Torbholm
Traits: Lore 2, (Unspent 0/3, Ordstirr 9)
Played by @Epic Bygones
Appearance: a matronly woman of undetermined age (she's had some work done, in more ways than one). She keeps her grey hair in a long braid, and she's missing the pinkie of the right hand, which is branded with a strange symbol that doesn't seem to mean anything to anyone.
Personality: no-nonsense and cryptic depending on the situation. Same goes for kind and rude.
Backstory: a mystery. Some say that even Epic Bygones doesn't know anything about her past.
None
0~0~0
Those Who Have Met Their Fated Day
Galti Hanison met his Fated Day in Winter, Year 1, in battle with a Sea Monster
Traits: Sailing 1, Ropework 1, Axemanship 1, (Unspent 0/3, Ordstirr 1)
Played by @Bass11
Backstory: A man of 26 years who spent the last couple of years of his life on one boat or another traveling from place to place. He has shown great talent for ropework and sailing while out at sea and took to those skills with aplomb.
Personal Resources:
3oz of Silver
3 Units of Quality Rope to you
Torgarr Villagefeeder met his Fated Day in Summer, Year 2, in battle with a skeletal horde
Traits: Farming 1, Earth Kunna 1, Plant Kunna 1, (Unspent 0/3, Ordstirr 5)
Played by @Sirrocco
Appearance: Short, stocky, age 23. His hair and skin are both somewhat darker than most - more towards the browner earth tones.
Personality: Torgarr likes to help. His family had a few miserable, lean years when he was quite young, and he decided that he hated that, and he's bent his efforts ever since to not ever having to watch his friends or family go hungry again. He loves to farm, and he loves being able to help people with the results, and he's made enough friends this way that they tend to quietly ignore the fact that he's not as aggressive as many of his peers. Being part of a community is very important to him, and he loves cooperation, and he's often happier helping someone else do something awesome than doing something awesome for himself.
Combat Style: He's not the most agile of norsemen, and his charge is an ungainly, lumbering thing, but he does just fine at standing his ground. He prefers the use of shield and a one-handed axe, with seax as backup. He's not particularly good at using his kunna to attack directly, but he's pretty good at disrupting his opponents with them - ensnaring them and befouling their footing. He particularly likes using this to give assists to his allies. When he is forced to fight one-on-one, his preferred tactic is to knock his opponent over and then try to choke them with earth, plants, and crippling blows until they can't stand back up again. He's... okay at it. Well, he's okay at it by Norse standards.
Favorite uses of Kunna: Earth to help work the fields and improve their fertility, Plant to encourage the growing crop. Both are also helpful in construction, he supposes, and building is nice enough, but bringing forth food from the earth is his true love.
Deeds: He's only really got one great deed to his name, and that's the one that gave him his name. At the age of 4, his village suffered starvation, and he hated it. At the age of 7 his village suffered starvation, and he hated it. At the age of 21, his village was on the verge of suffering starvation again... and he opened up the stores that he'd been building up ever since he started his own farm at 16 and just gave food away to whoever needed it, and his village did not suffer starvation that year after all. He's never been on a raid. The flight from Gottland was the first time he'd ever actually traveled the sea in a ship, and he hated absolutely everything about that experience. Given his choice, it'll be the last as well.
Family: He has no idea. He married a good woman. She bore him three children... and as fate would have it, his wife and children wound up on a different boat than he did in that desperate flight, and theirs was not one of the ones that made landfall with this group. The whole thing makes him sad. He's probably going to try to process it by Farming More.
Grimfari Jarl stands before a gathered crowd of hard-faced men and women, his arms spread wide to his sides. A man of middling age, a few wisps of gray twist in the tangle of coal-black hair on his head and face. Perched upon a beach boulder, he addresses the crowd in the manner of a Jarl.
"Friends," his words ring like the thunder of the departing storm, "we find ourselves in a position most poor. Stranded in unknown lands, not a familiar face beyond our own, and with the weight of tragedy in our hearts, no one would blame you had you just laid down and given up."
His eyes, sparkling and blue, meet each and every one of you in turn as he lets the silence reign for just a handful of moments more, "But we have not, why? Because we are Gutes, the wealthiest, most prosperous of all the Norseman tribes! We have faced countless troubles before and we have conquered them all time and time again. Let us make like our forefathers and scratch out a home from the wilds, a place to call our own once more!"
"To do this, we will have much work ahead of us. With the intention of preparing a foundation to build upon, I have devised a number of tasks that need doing. As Norsemen be we, I would be in the wrong to simply demand you fill roles and do work. In the tradition of our people," he thumps a hand to his chest, "you are all free to pick and choose your duties as you see fit, for you are free men and women all. What I lay out before you are options, no more, no less."
"First," he waves a broad gesture at the surrounding landscape, which even now seems to almost grasp at the collected survivors with arms of humidity and fingers of dense, rain-forged forests. His hand stops at the cauldron-shaped natural bay in which you find yourselves. Dark, sandy soil clings to the boots of those who walk across the beach as waves lap against the shore, "we must clear the land for our people to reside upon. We will need workers to topple trees, uproot underbrush, and shatter stones. Should it be deemed necessary, do not hesitate in putting the trees to the torch."
"Next," his finger climbs the rising mountains and uplands in the not-too-distant lands, "we must discern our surroundings, discover any potential neighbors, and determine if they are to be friend or foe. Small bands of two men, maybe three at most, might be sent to the north, west, and east. Additionally," he then pivots on his rock, his finger resting now on the waters lapping at the bay, "perhaps one or two of the ships might be spared the task of shelter and put to work in scouting the coastlines? I leave it up to your capable hands."
"With that," he folds his hands at the small of his back, "let us commence in our labors."
What do you wish to do?
(How you go about doing things should, like as not, be coordinated with the other people working on the same project, but you may go off on your own should you be so inclined.)
(Once the scouting groups form and set off, they'll be conducted in PMs. As will anybody going off on their own/small groups)
(In addition, unless you're going beyond the bounds of the settlement or otherwise specified, it is assumed that NPC family members are helping in whatever it is you are doing)
0~0~0
Settlement Status: Bad
-Low Food
-Ship-based Temporary Shelter
-No Defenses
-Little-to-no knowledge of surrounding area
Current Population: ~60 or so, largely children
-Gudrun Ravensight, seeress
-Hrolfr Jurgensson, shapecrafter
Additional Notes:
-You have 5 ships of varying size currently being used as temporary shelter. They will likely not survive extended use in this manner.
-Your immediate surroundings are the bay, then a small, jungle-choked semi-flat area that leads into hills topped by more jungle before rapidly becoming mountainous yet still retaining the jungle. There's about five miles between the shore and the mountains. The shore seems to continue undisturbed as far as the eye can see, with south being the ocean and north being the mountains, beyond which you have no knowledge.
Bjorn drakeslayers death poem, written posthumously by Bjorn Drakeslayer:
here came death to my corpse
to my body and my power
the bug took blood and prowess
stole from me my valor
To hel's halls i went
till seers hands brought me back
to these lands so dangerous
to these hills so perilous
(Bjorn is canonically bad at poetry)
tuli kuolo keholleni
verelleni väelleni
otti itikka arvoni
veipi vielä voimani
menin siitä helin halliin
sieltä sitten takas tuotiin
tantereille tappaville
mannuille murhaaville
We need to figure out either how to talk to Crabs, or how to kill like 30 (estimated, we didn't see them, it could be more, it's probably not less) giant armored tree clearing crustaceans.
The Report on the West: Rikard Villeson, Njall Redaxe, Valo Halvarson As Related by Rikard Villeson
"Brothers! Sisters! Kinsmen of all shapes and sizes! This place is a deathtrap full of all manner of horrors and wonders, I cannot wait to set our mark on it."
"All things aside, our trip to the West was well timed. Valo Halvarson took charge of the navigation of our boat, and we were able to make good progress mapping out the shore, we identified a fruit tree with some interesting yellow morsels on the way, but didn't take the time to get any samples, still, should be worth a look down the line. We were able to spy a river, where our trip came to a brief end, because we found a pair of the locals! What looked like an elder and a boy, no features I recognize, so we're definitely well off the beaten path at this point, but the point is that there's people here, which means there's opportunity for us in the long run and this is a place where people are able to live, all the dangers and calamities aside--I heard you guys were attacked by a tree of all things? And someone got drained of all their blood and someone else eaten by some giant eagle? Yeesh, plenty to do here.
All that aside, while we didn't have a shared tongue, food is a universal language, and when someone looks as hungry as this fellow did, even biscuits and dried meat can look appealing. Might have been able to hash some basics on communication out, but we had a spot of interruption by way of..."
He pauses for a moment to withdraw the carcass of a strange creature from the back of the boat, its neck clearly broken and its chest surprisingly wobbly looking, presumably from getting hit really damn hard there."
"Two of these little bastards, one tried to ambush me, but my good brother Njall's keen eye spotted it in time and he stood against it. The two of us together were able to bring the beastie down in short order, Njall through an incredible application of Kunna and strength like the bloody red arm of Thor!--they're sneaky and quick but not very well suited for a stand-up fight--Hollow bones as best as I could tell while I wrung its neck, it snapped pretty good. There was another that jumped the elder man and savaged him, but brother Valo moved like the first light of day off the sea, put his foot on the thing and booted the damn thing into the bush! Hopefully eaten by some other beastie.
The elder was out and hurting, but we decided to bring him and his boy to camp with us. Way I see it, we've got a chance at a local guide who might know the hazards if he can be saved--Njall did his best staunching the wound but we're no healers--and worst case scenario, the boy probably at least knows the local tongue, which'll save us some headaches while we poke around no doubt.
All in all, I think I'd call this a pretty damn solid little trip. So how'd everyone else do?
Started East, found some berrys, fruits, things that look weirdly like bananas (and I say that's weird because IRL bananas needed a massive breeding effort to be made properly human edible), leafy greens, etc etc, point is we have local plants we can gather for domestication efforts.
Ragnarr fell down a hole deep enough to be life threatening but managed to improvise a parachute in the moments he had to spare and landed like a badass rather than a dead man.
Said dead man was a skeleton that Ragnarr smote in one quick blow, brought the bones with us if anyone cares about that.
Meanwhile, Ivor and Bjorn were poking at vines to see if any were snakes, and it turns out there weren't any snakes.
Instead there was some sort of shelled ocotopus tentacle bastard that was going for Ivor's ears and I presume his brain while we were mildly distracted. Bjorn bone sharded the tentacles while Ivor smote the bastard right quick with his seaxe.
After that we decided to mark the cave on our maps, grabbed the corpse of the probable brain eater, some fruits and whatnot, and continued on our way to our objective, the ship out East.
No troubles worth a Nord's mention on our way there from the cave, and when we arrived we discovered that the ship had been dragged away from the shore, left on top of a hill, and an area around it cleared of the jungle with the stumps having snip marks on them.
Bjorn also smelled crab scent, which was noticed before we looked at the boat details.
We decided to try a diplomatic method of contact, because obviously something with intelligence did all of this and hopefully they'd be friendly crab people, right?
In return, we heard a loud Clackng sound.
We came to the decision to leave the tentacle monster out as a sort of offering, and to Clack Back using Bones.
The loud Clacking became louder.
The decision was made that we'd want to provide the intel we'd gathered and come to a more cohesive community decision on the topic of Crab Diplomacy, instead of diving in and getting ourselves killed due to being the wrong party build to deal with a "too many emotions to discern anything" amount of crabs.
So we returned back to base, swinging by and grabbing more edibles on our way back.
Anything I'm missing guys?
Edit: I swear I was working on this before the revelation of "Better Reports get more XP", but eh.
Our Foray was mostly peaceful. We saw one of those weird lizard things the western expedition saw but it had a weird boot print on it's face. HA!
The only other living beasts we encountered were weird flat mosquitos or were driven off by Brynjar before we ever saw them
We then came upon a pool with strange trees growing out of them. After throwing a few stone into it Brynjar decided to drink from it. Whih proved to be a dangerous mistake the supposed "water" was a viscous slime that began to choke him. However he skillfully used his Bone Kunna to create an air tube and scrapped the gunk out. And through this we learned that the slime absorbed blood and could have applications in stopping bloodflow.
As we neared where the hills end and the mountains began we saw a glimmer of metal and discovered a natural copper vein! However on the vein was a strange moss that shivered with anticipation at our prodding with a stick. We scrapped it off with a spear blade and carefully did not touch it with bare flesh. It seemed like a REALLY bad idea. Both will be taken to the Seeress for further inspection.
