Invisible Parties — 27 of 31

Book - Mead Hall

meadhall is a challenging party in tangle. meadhall is north of ballroom and east of maying. The printed name of meadhall is "The Raftered Hall". Understand "mead" or "hall" or "raftered" or "norse" or "viking" as meadhall.

the vikings are a crowd in meadhall. The description of vikings is "Mostly men, almost exclusively white. Mostly big burly guys, or guys whose burliness has sagged into fat. The sort of wolf-pack conviviality common to groups brought together by gang violence. The ones scurrying about serving are probably slaves. Not a scene in which to let anyone sense you're an outsider." Understand "crew" or "gruff" or "gnarly" as the vikings.

the slaves are an alt-crowd in meadhall. The description of slaves is "They're shorter, skinnier, less well-fed than the feasting warriors, and drawn from a broad range of ethnicities. They don't catch your eye." Understand "slave" or "servants" or "servant" as slaves.

Does the player mean doing something with the slaves: it is unlikely.

The description of meadhall is "A long wooden building with a complex structure of knotwork-carved beams supporting a high roof. The only light are fires and greasy candles; the air is smoke-filled, laced with the smells of sweat and roasted meat, fuggy and far too warm. A line of tables and benches runs down the length of the hall, and on the benches sit a gnarly and gruff crew."

the carved beams are an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "beam" or "knotwork" or "roof" or "high" as carved beams. The description of carved beams is "Almost every piece of the building's structure is intricately, deeply carved with knotwork. The quality varies somewhat - some of the smaller beams in higher places were clearly left to lesser talents - but it's all very much in the same style. Animal heads, paws and hooves and tails, emerge from the woven wood in ways you can't follow."

the fires are an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "fire" or "fireplace" as fires. The description of fires is "There are hearths but no chimneys; the fires are being maintained at the stage of intense coals, to minimise smoke and roast meat more effectively, but the smoke is still choking. You don't envy the servants tasked with tending those furnaces."

the candles are an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "candle" or "light" as candles. The description of candles is "They're greasy and smell of scorched pork."

the smoky air is an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "smoke" as smoky air. The description of smoky air is "You've spent a great deal of time around campfires, and a certain amount more in fire-warmed buildings. The former beats the shit out of the latter, and when there's no chimney it's just a bad, bad time."

the meadhall tables are an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "table" as meadhall tables. The description of meadhall tables is "Rough workmanship, and you're pretty sure that the timbers are re-used from old ships. You can make out the scars of barnacles here and there."

the meadhall benches are an unimplement in meadhall. understand "bench" as meadhall benches. The description of meadhall benches is "Rough workmanship, and you're pretty sure that the timbers are re-used from old ships. You can make out the scars of barnacles here and there."

The tsadesc of meadhall is "You're bigger, gnarlier: bare arms knotted with muscle, hands blunt-fingered, all calluses and scars. Your hair's long, thick, treated with some sort of ill-smelling grease, closer to the colour of clotting blood than your usual crimson. The clothing's coarse-woven, with a big fur-lined cloak. Gold rings."

gold rings are an unimplement in meadhall. Understand "ring" as gold rings. The description of gold rings is "There are a [i]lot[/i] of rings being worn here, almost all of them gold. Some are simple bands, but many are shaped into complex designs. There are far too many to be practical on the hands of a fighter: this is a night for special displays[if Jave is in the location]. Jave wears several that are considerably too large for her fingers - taken from larger hands, to be bestowed upon larger hands[end if]."

The listendesc of meadhall is "One big frame drum, occasionally supplemented with a cracked voice raised in a kind of stylised, wordless wail."

The closeclue of meadhall is "The throne is empty, and draped across it is a cloak."

the cloak is a clue. the javeclue of meadhall is cloak. The description of cloak is "It's lined with... you don't know what kind of animal fur, but it's a short-haired, orange-yellow shading to black, not anything that lived in this kind of climate. It has to be hers."

The threshold of meadhall is 1.

The rivdesc of meadhall is "Rivka Strossi is up in the rafters, paring her fingernails with a wicked little knife, one leg swinging in time with the drummer."

The rivweapon of meadhall is "the wicked little knife".

The rivcostume of meadhall is "She's got a grin so wicked that it's in danger of bisecting her head, and the flames of the hearth are reflected in her shades. The dangling leg is barefoot, and has a coil of rope tied around the ankle, the loose end neatly cut."

The boozedesc of meadhall is "Everyone's drinking a spiced and - to your palate - somewhat watery mead, in great quantities. A steady trail of carousers wend their way out of the hall to relieve themselves; the smell suggests that, by the end of the evening, many of them will start finding this trek too arduous."

The shortbooze of meadhall is "A servant hurries up to refill your drinking-horn with mead."

The desolation of meadhall is "The great doors at the hall's end tear open, and through it comes the night and the dark, made flesh in a monster so vast that it fills the whole breadth of the room. It is hard to get a clear impression: long, sinewy, dark-haired limbs, a red maw, the cold eyes of a frog. It snatches up a man, tears him, reaches for another. There's a scramble, with everyone rushing either to defend the hall or get away from the great hands, but you can hear nothing except the winter wind.[p]One by one, the torches are going out."

The demise of meadhall is "You wait in defensive stance, as you always have, waiting to counter the blow. But it's too fast, too huge; an arm broad as a roof-beam lashes around the room and seizes you, cracking ribs and arms. You're lifted aloft, head and shoulders sticking out of the monster's fist, towards that blood-gaping mouth. Your head's engulfed, the teeth close about your neck, and the hand shifts grip slightly for one final, ugly twist."

Instead of using warrior in meadhall when meadhall is doomed:

say "You read opponents at a glance. This one doesn't follow any of the rules: no fear, no hesitation, the rhythms and coordination all wrong. It may not have a nervous system; you doubt it's physical in anything like the same way that you are. Conclusion: the only idea you have about how to fight this thing is 'from a distance, with high explosives.' Absent that, your best idea is to get the fuck away from it.";

The javeinit of meadhall is "On a throne at the table's head, Jave, every inch a queen."

The javedesc of meadhall is "Jave is enthroned a little way back from the head of the table, on a dais. She looks like a Nordic goddess as imagined by a late-19th century neoclassical: elegantly heavy-limbed, expression impassive, dressed in a perfectly white bedsheet held together by gold pins. Lots of gold in general: armlets, anklets, rings, a tiara. She's running one finger around the rim of a gold-chased goblet perched on a throne-arm, and it takes you a second to realise that it's a cranium."

The javecostume of meadhall is "Jave has ditched all of the jewelry except for a single golden armlet, and has rearranged bedsheet into something that makes her look more like a medieval Japanese labourer. Or a huge baby. She somehow looks radiant regardless."

Orvar is a man. The initial appearance of Orvar is "A burly viking stands across the table from you, red-faced and angry." The description of Orvar is "An exemplar of his fellows: well over six feet tall and heavily-built, with a face like a butcher's block. Everyone here dresses much the same, but his features a good deal more gold." Understand "viking" or "burly" as Orvar.

Carry out using warrior in meadhall: say "You glance across at Jave: [i]should I deck this asshole?[/i] She makes a cut with her hand: [i]no[/i]."

Instead of attacking Orvar: try using warrior.

[Orvarr is straightforwardly lifted from Örvar-Oddr, Arrow-Odd, hero of a 13th-century Icelandic saga that includes a flyting sequence. Like most sagas, it's written by Christians looking back on a heroic pagan past, and possibly slightly exaggerating how awesome their forebears were. Odd converts to Christianity mid-saga, but this has no visible effects on his behaviour except to protect him against the battle magic of volvas.]

Carry out using laughing one in meadhall:

say "Orvar chugs, and starts in on another round of poetic invective. You ignore the substance of it to glance over to Jave, who is... smirking.[p]Not her usual smirk, the understated, momentary one that seems as if she's been briefly amused by a passing thought too subtle to explain: this is a public smirk, smeared all across one side of her face, threatening to peel back and become a snarl. Someone else's expression. Wolf queen.[p]The sneer deepens, gets settled in. Down into the long grass, waiting for the deer. Orvarr plunges on heedless.[p]He missteps - you can't tell how, maybe a liberty was taken with geography or time, maybe he claimed a connection that others have reason to doubt. The laugh rushes onto him like a great wave, scattering his words overboard. It fills the room, both theatrical and spontaneous, deeper than her natural range. It commands other laughs, brings the whole room along with it, and Orvarr stumbles back to his chair as though physically struck.";

ruin everything;

Carry out using forager in meadhall:

say "Whatever else is wrong with this place, there's no need to scrape up food. It's hearty stuff, oats and barley, lots of stockfish, and - evidently prestige food, this - roast pork and game. And there's no shortage of drink.";

Carry out using abider in meadhall:

say "Doubtless she [i]could[/i] abide sitting there while you get rhetorically shredded, but you'd much rather [i]win[/i].";

Carry out using commander in meadhall:

say "She's definitely in charge here, but this is a morale exercise. And it wouldn't be sound leadership to call the contest off; this lot are ravenous for honour, and well-accustomed to bloodshed."

Carry out using antinominalist in meadhall:

say "The gift only works where it lines up with [i]Jave's[/i] sense of ethics, and its major constraint is her very firm sense of the duties of leadership. Particularly the military variety. And she's queen here, and this bunch are very clearly her warriors. Even if they wouldn't care, she would.";

Carry out using troublemaker in meadhall:

say "Trouble has, quite definitively, already begun. And escalating conflict in a room full of drunk, bloodthirsty hulks is probably ill-advised.";

meadcount is a number that varies. meadcount is 0.

Instead of talking to Orvar: say "This is not a casual conversation."

Every turn when the location of player is meadhall and the location of Jave is meadhall:

if meadhall is not doomed begin;

now meadcount is meadcount + 1;

if meadcount is 3, say "The burliest and most forbidding of the men stands to face you across the table; holding up a hand for silence, he knocks back his beer and then begins snarling stanzas in your face.[p]'You weren't there, Tsawac[br]when we cut down the Wend-king,[br]on that day shields burst[br]helms crushed in the fray.[br]Ten times was I wounded[br]in that hot hour.[p]'Meanwhile you warmed benches,[br]your chin all beer-dribble[br]we roved out from Rostock[br]ship heavy with spoils.'[p]He sits down, looking very pleased with himself. Someone shoves a ridiculously large mug of mead at you. Jave catches your eye, and makes a bottoms-up motion with one hand. Fine. You drink. The mead is stronger, drier and spicier than the rest of the stuff going around here, and has less of a yeasty kick; this is the good stuff.";

if meadcount is 6, say "Orvar stands, chugs his drink, and recites.[p]'Tsawac, you weren't there[br]at the worm's feast in Anglia.[br]Swords ploughed a folk-furrow,[br]the shield-wall we shattered;[br]great the red slaughter.[p]'More to your taste the mead-hall[br]rolling drunk in hearth-ashes,[br]with the kitchen-scut snuggled;[br]as we broke proud Eadwulf,[br]cowed battle-hard Redwald.'[p]Meaty hands thrust a filled goblet in front of you; you drink, to whoops and jeers.";

if meadcount is 9, say "Orvar stands, drinks. 'Where will you be, Tsa[br]when the swan-maidens seek us?[br]when I go to my sword-sleep[br]such a feeding of eagles,[br]they'll push out my pyre-ship[br]on a river of foe-blood.[p]And you? Lost in the mountains[br]twisted ankle, a rock-fall,[br]with some luck, a skrael's arrow![br]No pyre; mice, worms, beetles[br]are all who will mourn you,[br]and I'll feast, drink and laugh long[br]as roots chew your carcass.'[p]You chug dutifully. Way to be subtle about your mouthpiece, girls.";

if meadcount > 9 and the remainder after dividing meadcount by 3 is 0 begin;

say "Orvar unleashes another verse, retreading similar territory with different wording. He still seems to get credit for this; you both drink.";

end if;

end if;

Carry out using textual critic in meadhall:

say "Without it being written down it's hard to pick apart the specifics of his insult-poetry, but you can get a tolerable grasp of the form in general. It's extemporaneous, an easy structure, but with bonus points for certain simple elaborations - mostly alliteration and circumlocution. A boast is twinned with an insult; exaggeration of various kinds is permissible, but while the insults can be fabrications the boasts must bear some degree of relationship to real deeds.[p]That, and there's a lot of drinking involved. Which you can absolutely handle. You rise to your feet, and Orvar is obliged to sit.[p]'Orvar, we didn't see you[br]

in the witches['] ambush:[br]

In that hour metal[br]

was trickery's answer.[br]

As the worlds blew down[br]

we paid back our feud-gold;[br]

three skulls I bore back[br]

to high-honoured Sheaf-home.[p]

'No, you spodded out[br]

on the couch like a grampus,[br]

neckbearding your way[br]

through a life of Ayn Rand.'[p]You toss back your mead, upend the cup on the table, and lean back in your chair. The assembled host erupt in roars; Jave's smile is triumphant. Orvar chugs, looking a touch wobbly, and gets to his feet.";

ruin everything;