NPC Skald

[EiriktheScald]

It will carry an enchantment of 1, for the purpose of hitting a creature.

[Miloch]

Here's what I ended up with for the sword icons (inventory large/small/in-game, standard ground icon):

Revised stats and description BAM:

 

Also, Branwen's brooch icons (inv L/S/in-game, ground):

Description and stats:

@Eirik - let me know what you decide for the final stats on these so I can package and send it to you.

[EiriktheScald]

@Eirik - let me know what you decide for the final stats on these so I can package and send it to you.

 

Very nice Miloch! I'm not sure if the STR or DEX restriction on the sword are desirable. What if he should loose a point in either attribute? Otherwise the stats you have are fine. The brooch is wonderful; BTW, the description may change depending on how I work it into the story -- I won't know until I actually write it in.

 

[Edit:] One other thought came to me about the brooch: do lions actually inhabit the Moonshaes? Might be hard to explain otherwise.

[berelinde]

Lions did not live in the British Isles, but that did not prevent them from appearing in Celtic art. Sometimes things were drawn from fantastic accounts, and are often wildly out of proportion and/or inacurate. I'm also thinking of a depiction of an elephant's head in a Carolingian manuscript. I am certain the scribe had never seen one.

[Miloch]

I'm not sure if the STR or DEX restriction on the sword are desirable. What if he should lose a point in either attribute?

Ok, how about just STR14 then (same as a two-handed sword)? I guess the requirements are a bit redundant since only a hacked character (CG skald) could use it.

One other thought came to me about the brooch: do lions actually inhabit the Moonshaes?

I dunno, but they don't inhabit Britain or Scandinavia either (at least, they haven't for ages) and they're used for heraldric symbols all the time (and it *is* a viking brooch). Same goes for unicorns and dragons and such for that matter...

 

You can always change the descriptions and the items later. I just want to make things consistent between the .tra and .itm files for now, so you don't get confused if you pick this up somewhere down the road.

 

Edit: berelinde thinking alike I see

[EiriktheScald]

I'm looking at this too logically I suppose. With respect to the actual brooch, I wonder what was in the mind of the craftsman; or the significance of the lion?

[berelinde]

Possibly too much mead?

[EiriktheScald]

I found an interesting discussion of a viking reliquary panel featuring a gothic lion; it has more canine features if anything. The image is here if you want to see it: Gothic Lion

[Miloch]

Unfortunately, the book I found it in doesn't have much to say about it:

A dress fastener dating from the Viking period. It is bronze and gilt.

And I can't find it online anywhere either. But the figureheads on it are so stylized, they could be anything really. I'd almost say they were Green Men if it was more Celtic than Norse.

[EiriktheScald]

Miloch, here's your answer!

 

 

1. The Spiral (single or multiple)

2. The Serpent and Dragon, perhaps two-headed

3. The Bird of Prey and/or Raven

4. Thor's Hammer and/or Thor

 

To read the full article, look here: Viking Symbols

[berelinde]

The eagle/raven reminds me of a Eutruscan piece in gold and garnet inlay. I guess the Vikings had to get their inspiration somewhere. It makes sense, though as the runic alphabet is supposed to be based on the Eutruscan one.

[Miloch]

Interesting. Seems to suggest the Vikings found a sea route to the Pacific? Not sure how they'd've done that, unless the Arctic was considerably more ice-free in the past. Nor am I sure if I buy the suggestion that Vinland was Vancouver island, if for no other reason than archaeologists have found concrete evidence of Vinland in Newfoundland. Might have to read the article more fully at some point.

 

I'd considered the possibility of it being a god, Thor being the likeliest choice, since a lot of representations of him are quite stylized, though none quite this distorted. Even that seems to be conjecture, since the fullest citation from that page admits:

One of four semi-naturalistic carved men's heads... Their significance, however, is lost to us today.

If it could be Thor, I guess from a FR perspective, it could be Tempus (their roles as gods are not entirely dissimilar).

[EiriktheScald]

If it could be Thor, I guess from a FR perspective, it could be Tempus (their roles as gods are not entirely dissimilar).

 

I was thinking the same thing. And it could be presented as an acknowledgment of Branwen's calling for Eirik to give this to her.

[Miloch]

Ok, I'll redo the desc to suggest more of a connection with Tempus. It could almost be a holy symbol... looks more like Tempus's sword (the point anyway) than Thor's hammer. Or perhaps a brooch specific to the Battleguard. Or neither, or both...

 

Do you have a preference for a prefix for your items? I think ES, ER, EI, E- are all open currently.

[berelinde]

Whatever you do, don't use an exclamation point in your prefix. Using one means that you will never be able to incorporate your prifix into your state names and it means that you will always have to include the tildes around your dialog files.

 

~B!GAVINJ~ works. B!GAVINJ does not.