Prompts and Responses

Prompts

 What do animals provide the sapient species of your world.
muspellheim dark elves use salamanders for travel and labor, but they also use them to harvest fire. the salamanders eat fire pockets and return to the elves, later spitting it out after its been digested. depending on the time of digestion the fire may come out still in fire form although less chaotic, able to be manipulated by (hardcore) firesmiths or spitten out after a long while as a solid physical chunk of heat, like a messy ingot. the difference is carbon level, and when alloyed with red iron, it enchants the metal in different ways. (heat resistance, fire damage, lighter structure, heavier structure, ability to bend, hardness etc.)
What I'm trying to say with my world.
Hmm.
Greed and tenacity are such powerful forces the gods can be rivaled with one's outright desire.

How do people in your world tame wild beasts? Are there techniques or strategies used for a particular species? Food, friendship, necessity, symbiosis. Magic galdr songs. [Tame checks...]

What is the punishment for murder in your most populous location? What is the process of finding a murderer guilty?:

• Murdering a person in power in Svartalfheim, a dark elf killing a higher level dark elf, well sometimes its looked up upon. It depends on how popular and powerful you are. If you were strong enough or stealthy enough to get away with the murder, without the murdered's friends/house getting immediate retribution, then the general dark elf idea is that it was a worthwhile killing. A culling one could say, of weaker beings.

On the otherhand, a dwarf murdering a dark elf does not get the same treatment. The council of 21 will decide their fate. Usually a total body branding as a warning for plotting murder. For murder, an execution via various methods. Beheading, crushing, drowning, magic torture etc.

• Humans in brekeyland base their laws on the council of thanes which cycle being Jarl. So their judicial system will vote on if someone is guilty, and if found so guilty for murder, the punishment is a quick hanging or an ax to the head on the gallows.

• Humans in hallstead. Usually the law will bring an accused before Hallbjorn or his most trusted left or right hand peoples. The judgement will be outright and instant, usually at the hands of the lawmen who captured the accused.

• Sometimes the lawmen dont want to bother their dear king so they take matters in to their own hand and deal punishments as they see fit for the accused. This is gaining popularity in the lawmen as of recent years.

• Gnomes rarely break laws but when they do the punishment for murder can be total petrification. The mind stays active and immortal, but the body is turned into a stump or mushroom or rock forever. Murder is highly frowned upon with gnomes, since their numbers are so low.

• Murder among giants is usually welcomed, but Utgard-Loki holds a strong fist of law in the stronghold of the giants in Utgard. If one murdered a friend of his, the whole group would rile and chase and kill the murderer. Guilty or not, they usually enact quick judgement.

• Light elves have several layers of law. After being arrested by law enforcement, they would be tried with a jury and a judge. Light elf punishments are less severe. Usually indentured servitude for the rest of your life. And a revoking of one's magic.

• The gods take things to odin, who has the wisdom to judge all manners.

Tell me about a conflict that changed the course of your world's history? The war between the Aesir and the Vanar. Ive not talked about it much but it was bloody an terrible. Gods vs Gods. Eventually they ceasefired, declared the Vanar as equivalent to the Aesir (although we all know the Aesir dont feel this way.) Craters and valleys left all over vanaheim from it.

What rumor or belief is ridiculous to many but fiercely believed by a large group of people? Hallbjorn was sent to Folkvangr to unite all of man and create a hall to rival Valhalla.

Describe an area of your world that seems to consistently become a warzone. Svartalfheim. Constant dwarven rebellions.

Instead of rescuing them, I let an important character in your world die. They were to be relevant throughout the rest of the timeline. What now? Ragnarok may not come, or at least not how it is prophesied. I've already done this by having Odin Vili and Ve kill Surtr.
If its a god who dies, well just look at Baldr. Hes fine in Hel.

what was the most important killing/murder in your world? the Death of Ymir is an important one. 7 of the 9 realms wouldnt exist without it.

How many competing histories are regarded and accepted as mainstream by a large part of your population. Are any of these looking like they will be rejected in the near future? oh, tons, everyone from world cultures who die and come to folkvangr, valhalla or hel probably believes their religion is true until they get here, then its just kinda of like, "welp i guess i worship odin now" or "fuck this i still worship my one true god, even though ive literally laid eyes on Freya" etc...

Who is the most feared in your world and why? What did they do to be feared. Who doesn't fear them? This is a tricky one. The gods probably fear Loki's tricks some great deal, Thor probably fears Jormungandr to some degree, and Odin fearful of Freya and the Norns. But the MOST fearful must probably be Nidhogg, the great eater of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Every living being that knows of the tree and the serpent understand that he seeks its demise via his jaws, and has to power to possibly bring the realms to a close.
Who doesnt fear Nidhogg? Hmm. Fenrir. Hel. Jormungandr. the Norns, the giants (fire and frost)

Does your world blame tragedy on external sources such as the media? In Midgard, magical beings and gods are blamed all the time for mishappenings, even though they are probably innocent. Elsewhere, the gods and the serpents and the Norns and witches in general are sometimes blamed.

What are your world's most bizarre or sudden deaths, whether it be kings, leaders, or celebrities? Prossibly when a god gets fed up with a human or someone, and just kills them suddenly. Being stepped on by giants is a big one too, thats why theyre all locked out of midgard. fire pockets in muspellheim suddenly bursting and roasting some poor desert elf.

What forms of body modification exist in your world? Are practices like hair dyes, braces, tattoos or piercings commonplace or unheard of? Teeth grinding, dying. Hair dying. Tattoos, rune tattoos, animal and plant "marks," scarification, piercings including giant gauges and dermals. Groups like Zavai Kahl's Iceborn dark elves will sometimes give themselves magical rune tattoos to stay warmer in areas like niflheim.

Is there a method of killing in your world renowned for its brutality? "The Blood Eagle is a form of punishment and execution, thought to be used by the Vikings. Carrying out the Blood Eagle was seen as a human sacrifice to the Norse God Odin. The graphic ritual execution method sees the victim's back sliced open, so their ribs and lungs could be pulled out, whilst still alive."

There is a settlement in your world that may or may not exist, but nobody knows - what is it rumoured to be like? The door to midgard. A large gate that possibly seperates the utgard sea and frost giants from Midgard

Does your world’s population have any social issues? Is this problem largely ignored or are there those who are fighting to resolve it? Lets start with the enslavement of the dwarves by the dark elves. Then with the human settlements of Hallstead essentially keeping this join us or die attitude to the other human settlements, leading to a deficit in human population outside of hallstead. Religious conflicts in Brekeyland between the humans there.
and then youve got the aesir who think theyre waaaay better than the vanar.

What conflicts are there between theology and science in your world? Science? what science? None of the tech in my world goes against the gods, in fact the gods love technological advancements and constantly look to brokkr and the dwarves to make the me the best available gear. Red iron and dark iron being discovered has encouraged wars of mortals, but not any theological agent.

What is the primary method of transportation in your world? Boats!!!!! Longships with leather ropes and woven square sails. Horses overland.
The elves use all sorts of mounts.
The gods use the Bifrost and horses.
Teleportation is also relatively common among the most powerful magic users.

Who is the greatest super-star in popular culture in your world? Ragnar Lothbrok, his sons. Thor, Odin, Sigurd.

Is there something in your world that helps a species navigate an environment that is normally uninhabitable for that species? Magic vessels like enclosed boats, rune-engraved and sometimes given legs, to crawl from one realm to another along Yggdrasil. Magically enchanted clothing for warmth and cold, and tattoos that can give environmental protection. The ice-born dark elves sometimes give themselves fire enchantments to make their day to day life warmer.

What fried food, pastries, sweets, or other unhealthy food exists in your world?
Straight honey. Honeyed anything. The dwarves are fans of this lichen that grown in Svartalfheim that is so sugary they had to invent dentistry. Sugar-Slime

What are the standard issued weapons/equipment used by your setting's military and/or law enforcement? If you have more than one of both, how do these standard issued weapons/equipment differ from one another for better or worse?
Hallstead: Ax, sword, cudgel for law enforcement, seax, shield for military, chainmail, tunics, trousers, legwarps, leather shoes.
Waterskin, pouch, belts, ax loop, scabbard. Twine.

What major events in your world are commemorated in childhood song or nursery rhymes and are known by a great deal of the population? Has the original meaning been mostly lost now?
odin, vili and ve's carving of the first man and woman from yggdrasil, and the giving of them life. All of the poems and songs have their meanings misinterpreted and words lost after some millennia have passed since these events happened.
Commonly, christian views subtly change viking poems, especially as time advances and the world becomes increasingly christian. As such the poem of the creation of man has been quickly changing into the creation of adam and eve in the biblical sense.

I wander through a forest on your world and see an unusual leaf on the floor. What can I do with it?
Roll a few Will saves to see if you perform divination and determine the future with its placement.

I want to go on a camping trip in your world. Where are the best places to go, where should I avoid, and why?
Vanaheim is really tropical and nice usually, but the best of the best spots would probably be the wilds of asgard/valhalla specfically. the view from up there is really nice. Folkvangr is nice, but theres too much threat.

Those of you that have immortal characters, what makes them so? especially if they are human what stops them from aging? is there magic in your world that prevents aging/death or some sort of vampirism where you can absorb life from other living things?
They already died, and theyre in the realm of the Aesir gods and were chosen to live this afterlife, so no aging. Yes death by blade or starving though.

Misc

On Gods: Gods are too busy to really care what the players do. So far the players actions have felt important.
On Gnomes: Usually they choose their own name, or their creator recommends a few based on their values and what the gnome is good at/something special that happens in their lives. They are born with full intelligence into adult bodies
On magic systems: My magic is really open and free and creative too and it means that my players never try to use magic because idk why. Not enough set rules for it? not creative enough/interested enough? just keep in mind some simple methods/rules for magic may go a really long way for casting.
On Vanar mounts/chariots: IM ADDING CASSSOWARRIES AS CHARIOT-PULLERS FOR THE VANAR AND OSTRICHES. no, not really. maybe myths of ostriches from africa. a lot of african mythes made it up north, although lost all meaning and reality but Vanaheim is a jungle realm and Savannah and whatnot. extoic biomes. in my world thor has a chariot pulled by goats, freya a chariot pulled by cats so it makes sense to me some vanar might choose these birds
On sex and half-species:
Because the gods didn't give them the ability to (reproduce via sex). The first wave was made from maggots in ymirs flesh. Also elves having sex just doesn't fit in my game. Faeda is so much cooler. Gnomes also only come from Faeda, and these days the dwarves. No half elves in Norse mythology Half giants yes Half gods Half serpents even
Could a half-dwarf happen? Probably not. Honestly I'd rather not have humans diffuse into every unique species as half whatever. That's all meta dnd stuff.
The uniquities of the elves is something to charish.
on the appearance and mannerisms of Elves: (in reference to if folkvangr elves look like lotr elves and dnd elves) Yes and no. They look like em, although all natural skin tones apply, brown and tan and stuff. Pretty, usually androgynous. They're usually snobby and they have a very organized society up in the branches of Yggdrasil in their realm called Alfheim.
They can only be a true light elf if they are created up in those branches, near the height of the sun.
Dark elves are any elf born outside of Alfheim.
Also no elves are reproduced in the natural genital sense but through the life giving magic called Faeda.
On dwarven slavery: CW: Slavery, injustice.
Human slaves are very rarely a thing in the actual realm of Folkvangr, a far cry from Midgard where slavery is just part of life.
Dwarven slaves are a different story. Svartalfheim is founded on the backs of the dwarven society that existed millennia before the dark elves invaded and enlaved most dwarves.
A dwarven slave can escape by waiting for his freedom fighter cousins to start a distraction with guerrilla combat or flat out sieges.
Or they could slit the necks of their masters while sleeping or riot and grab a god-vessel and book it up Yggdrasil. Lots of ways.
On pocket-realms and places that are not designed for human size:
my dark elves have an invisible door in the realm of ice that once opened exposes a pocket city of comfortable weather and ever healing waterfalls, trees and shrubs of autumn colors and architecture carved by magic. Youre right thats why i have giants
Utgard-loki tricks thor with size magic so many times thor almost kills him but utgard-loki moves three mountains in his path, and thors slams mjolnr 3 times creating canyons. They are all magical, and most were born there. Maybe they have an unheard song which is sung inside the city. The door was guarded by a frost giant until he was killed recently.
On Brekeyland mead: 8'x8' barrel of the stuff, rune-engraved to never run dry.
On dwarven taming of Squirrels for war and travel: "alight Dwarves, Get ready to confront a subject we don't have much history with; taming. It's okay if youre a litle clunky at it at first, but we gotta get these squirrels/critters moving ASAP if we have any hope of gaining out brothers' freedom and surviving the humans' and elves' greed!!"
On Ragnaroc and Folkvangr and inspiration: Awesome. Ragnarok isn't going to happen in my world, or any world ending events really, but Yggdrasil is threatened occasionally by Nidhoggs greed and plotting with Hel and Fenrir etc.
Trying to make it in line with what a viking may know or believe about the mythology in 872 AD, with RPG twists like killing surtr to make room in muspellheim for inhabitants etc
this is why relying on accounts older than snorri sturlson and the prose edda and poetic edda is important. to create a real and unique feeling, rather than what snorri could recount some 500 years later. plus he was a Christian, and that immediately skews what he will record. my copy of the prose edda literally starts with snori telling the creation of adam and eve, not ask and embla
On Jesus: Stealing this channel for a sec. Should i have Jesus go to Asgard after he dies his mortal death (second time)?
Would you think its cool or funny or whatever to see Jesus in a viking and Norse mythology game?
He's mentioned tons in the prose Edda, as is the story of Adam and eve.
There is no christian god in my game yet, but Yahweh could still be chilling somewhere, maybe in Jotunheim with the giants.
Minor characters and ideas overall, but for most Christians in my game who die in battle and happen to go to Asgard (folkvangr/valhalla), seeing Jesus or being able to interact with him in their afterlife may be all they need.
On killing important figures: although, i can only imagine what would happen if Freya or Odin died. Probably total anarchy in Asgard and all the nine realms, just like what happened with the power vacuum in Muspellheim when the Trio of Brothers killed Surtr to try to prevent Ragnarok. Everyone just kinda moved in and it got a lot colder.