The Queen eventually finds Theo, who has the cup on his belt, and asks him to show it to her.
She asks if he has drunk from it.
"Not yet, your highness", Theo smiled frankly.
The Olympian listens intently to The Queen's tale, gleaming knowledge of it's use and dangers."In my father's culture, oracles and their visions are well-known", Theo begins. "From what you described, the cup gave you a true vision, maybe a small glimpse of a Greater Truth." Theo takes a quick moment to choose his next words. "When I am next among my father's people, I shall ask for their help in divining the cup's true purpose. If it makes you feel better, I will not attempt to use the cup while in your husband's hall."
"And that's fair; you have every right to defend yourself." Verve breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll go and do whatever I can to get the Danes to leave you alone. I can't promise they will, but I will do my best."
"Valerie the Uncanny, my people say you are a norn; if this is true, then you know how I will die. The norns know of these things, do they not? But, I know that as well, I will die old, and tired, and soon. I will die coughing in my bed beside my beautiful Queen. I don't need a goddess to tell me that, but tell me, Norn--if that is what you are--what of my people? What of this thing we have done, and which you have completed? Do my people live? What is the fate of the Danes?"
Valerie listens carefully, and chooses her words hopefully as well as she can. "I am not sure what I am to you, but I can answer these questions. The dark days of this time will both be told by Danish skald to other skalds but also, writ down," she pauses, because she knows writing is considered rare, sacred, and important. "And the tale shared across the seas. The story will not just be an inspiration for heroes these northern lands, but valued for what it tells future generations about how you and your people lived--in strong, stalwart communities, stewards of one another's lives, and that the Danes of Hrothgar's day were survivors against great odds. The tale of this time will one day be known as one of the oldest recorded tales from this part of the world. Humanity will tell this tale, in many tongues, all around the world, even thousands of years from now. Though much will be forgot, this land, and indeed the name of Heorot and Hrothgar will not be forgotten--and while they were imperfect as all people are, they were in the end, honorable. The people will live these next few centuries in struggle, plague, and war--but also will come victories and important unions. Two thousand years from now, you might not recognize the land, for time changes all, but the Danish folk shall still live and be recognized for being among the most prosperous in the world. Triumphs and tragedy will abound, but they will not falter, and live on."
“That lady’s Grendel’s mother. She was like, you got kids of your own? but I wasn’t about to be guilted. I told her Grendel’s own action put a lot of mothers in mourning, and even then, we attempted to talk to him. He attacked us, we fought for our lives and won. Then I tried to get her to work with me so she could come out if this with dignity—and even a proper burial for her son.”
Making sure Hrothgar is included in the conversation, Nissa goes on, “All we want is for people to stop dying young—for children to grow up, and have something other than war to look forward to.
“She said she would eat my horse, and took off, putting a guy under her spell on her way out the door.”
He sees Nissa and smiles. "Did you hear that, Valkryie, the Norn says they will speak of what you thousands of years hence."
"Let's at least try to make the story end differently this time."
“But you know the long game, so spend your years working on the immediate future. Show Grendel’s head, as proof the threat’s taken out. And then, let us get the head outta here. You don’t need an ugly trophy to usher in an era of peace—you need the men to recognize that war is just another Grendel.”
King Hrothgar understands that when Nissa says war is a Grendel, the metaphor means that children are not spared from the atrocities and agony of war.
Verve arrives back in the party, looking around for the rest of the group, or failing that, the king and queen.
Verve arrives back at the party to see Haward eyeing her suspiciously, the King eyeing the Queen suspiciously, Unferth eyeing Theo suspiciously, and the Queen being charmed by the diplomatic Theo. Otherwise, everyone is having a good time.
The Olympian excuses himself from the Queen, and makes his way over to the entering kineticist.
"Hey. Crazy day, huh?" Theo says, standing shoulder to shoulder with Verve. "So. Go any idea how we're getting home? The only thing I can think of checking out those norse standing stones we saw."
"We have a ship that we can use, but I don't know if it is going to be able to work or not. It came here accidentally."
Charles watches warily as Grendel's mother leaves, not quite trusting her to stay gone. He waits a little while after she's out of sight to turn back into his bipedal form and return to the group.
Thanks to the cloak's magic, he mostly looks like he did as a human--a tall, athletic man, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and skin the kind of lighter brown that suggested ancestry from multiple ethnicities.
He quietly comes up to join the others, catching just enough of the conversation to guess at what's being discussed. "Didn't Nissa see something back where we showed up?"
Theo smiles at the human Charles as he approaches. "Love the new look, by the way. ..Or is it the old look?"
She says quietly to the halfling, who is on a roll with her speech. "Nissa, you might spare your wise words for one who is not dying already."
She gives Hrothgar a sage nod, glad her words gave him some comfort. She has only a rough sense of how best to interact, guessing Hrothgar is proud, she does not think coddling him with platitudes about the way he describes his condition would help.
She says louder, in response to Nissa's speech. "Grendel had barely enough brain to be considered self-aware. Like a human toddler who tears off the wings of butterflies simply because it can, not out of intentional cruelty but because it barely grasps the value of life. This is just a guess, but if she is a user of magic as skilled as you say, Nissa, Grendel's mother put him up to this. He would not have decided to attack Heorot and Hrothgar's people if he had not been convinced of his right to do so, and certainly was not taught to value life by his mother. I doubt he understood the true consequences of his actions. But I expect that she does. With that, I think we should go check on our compatriots and see how they are faring."
She says parting words to the king and goes to find the rest of the party to ask them what has happened with the witch.
"I'll explain to everyone Valerie." says Verve quietly; she then raises her voice to the assembled Danes and says "I have spoken with Grendel's mother, and have convinced her to foreswear any hostilities with your people, contingent on your people not starting any. Leave her be, and live and let live. No one else has to die in this matter, and peace can reign; or you can continue this pointless hostility until no one remains." says Verve. "I have done all I can, and the rest is up to you king Heriot."
The King looks stunned, "With all due respect for your skill as a warrior, but your wise companion has just moments ago argued that Grendel's mother is the true threat--a powerful magic user who does not value human life--and that she must be stopped."
That may not be exactly what Uncanny Valerie said, but it is what the King heard.
"Oh dear," says Valerie. "I did not mean to work at cross purposes with Verve. I do fear deep malice from that woman. Grendel could not have had the capacity for what he did, with such determination, had she not nurtured it in him. He was the weapon she used against this place. But, perhaps with his defeat, she recognizes continued action is futile. Verve, do you have good reason the witch will keep her word?"
"I have no reason to believe that she will not, given that she has lost her son AND it would seem that the previous king made promises that were not kept. We spoke for a bit about the cycle of violence, and I believe I managed to convince her to break that cycle; she was adamant, however, that should she be attacked for 'being a monster' or 'in retaliation', she would not hesitate to kill whoever threatened her."
Lowering her voice, Verve adds "Grendel's mother has memories of multiple cycles of this tragedy playing out, including when PhDestruction came and took samples from her son and killed him. I just convinced her to try something different."
Nissa takes in all that the others say, particularly that last bit—
—which explains how we’re in a place we all read about. It’s not like we went back in time, which is good ’cause I’m pretty sure that ain’t possible, but this island’s in a time-loop ’cause… like…
“Mind: blown…” Which is saying something when the person saying it can actually explode.
She becomes her armored self again, standing on a table as she addresses the crowd.
“We gotta keep our end of that deal, Danes! I was just telling the king, there’s an endless cycle of violence here. I thought killing Grendel would end it, as long as you don’t all go back to warring because like—
“Grendel? War? Either way, it’s children who suffer. Women mourn as both wife and mother, and of course women become victims of war’s worst atrocity. Ain’t gonna go there, but…
“It really is, literally, a cycle!” She moves closer to Valerie. “I’m not wise like her! The phrase Cycle of Violence is straight outta my World Peace speech when I won Miss Teen Massachusetts, Featherweight Division. But HERE—it’s a cycle! For real!
“You already won against Grendel. Yeah. Dumb puppet, we all know he’s a doof. But we also knew he wouldn’t stop. Mom, yeah, pulled the puppet strings but if you kill her, history will literally repeat itself. And today’s victory will be snatched away.”
Nissa’s answer to that is…
“My proposed solution: let us get the head out of here. Not right away. We keep it here as proof of Grendel’s demise. All you Danes unite, and then let us get rid of the head. We’ll bring it to Grendel’s mother and call it a peace offering. Bury your son and do no harm. And other than her mourning as a mother whose son died from her foolishness, it ends there.
“Whoever strikes the next blow, be it retribution to the mother or war for Hrothgar’s throne, the cycle restarts.”
"My sword arm made me King, but my has ear kept me King. Is this your advice too, Norn? To let the sea hag live after what she has done?" Hrothgar asks. Although he isn't sure what to believe regarding the rumours about Uncanny Valerie, his voice doesn't convey any disrespect when he says, "Norn;" quite the opposite.
"What faith I lack in the witch, I have in Verve. We have not known one another long, but she is level-headed and the most experienced warrior among our group. It sounds like she has taken care to be certain of her take on the situation." She considers. "Your people must stay true to their word--leave her be. But build your hall's defenses well, just in case." She looks at the party. "Perhaps we can assist."
She looks at Nissa. "As for Grendel's head, I would follow Verve's lead on that. Charles too, for he witnessed the exchange as well. Peace has already been offered and accepted. If Verve feels seeing the head again would upset the witch, it may be better that it be buried."
"What faith I lack in the witch, I have in Verve. We have not known one another long, but she is level-headed and the most experienced warrior among our group. It sounds like she has taken care to be certain of her take on the situation."
The Olympian folds his arms, looking away and sulks. The most experienced warrior among our group? Please!, thinks Theo. Whatever. As long as The King and Queen buy Val's words, I can go back to partying, then get off this $#|+hole!
Theo begins to flag down another servant with a tray of mead.
The King considers the advice and nods, "Very well, no one here will seek the witch. I doubt any of them have the courage." His voice is low enough that only a few people are close enough to hear him and they don't take offense.
He looks now at Grendel's rapidly decomposing head. "You are right, too, about the head. Surely this would upset it's mother."
Nissa assures the king, “Your men will regain their courage, King Hrothgar! It’s just a matter of what they do with that courage! For what takes more courage than using strength to protect the weak? I believe uniting the Danes is the path to World Peace, for you can’t spell American without the CAN…”
Ah, nuts. Gotta stop regurgitating my Miss Mass speech.
She tries to recover, but… she’s having trouble finding a positive word in the spelling of Danish. There a DAN here? A dapper Dan? What about Thane? Who can do better THAN…?
Nissa’s got nothin’. She cuts her losses and says in agreement, “Yeahhhh, burying the head’s best. In fact, it seems to be rotting unusually fast. We might wanna get some muscley guys to start digging, like, sooner than later.”
King Hrothgar looks puzzled at the mention of World Peace and Americans but simply nods and agrees that they should bury the head of Grendel. Before Unferth and another carry it out to do his bidding, he gets the attention of the assembled group, "The monster whose head you see before you on this table has haunted my hall, has assaulted my home, and had torn from me all hope. I lost hope. I came close to giving up on all of this."
He stares out at a group that is increasing in size as more fair-weather friends return to Hrothgar's side. A moment before he had called them cowards.
"Thanks to these five Fardwellers, I have hope again. They have slain Grendel, the reaper of men! Come close and see the proof of this and let word go out the Heorot is safe again!"
People are crowding around the table already and don't need encouragement, but none get too close to the rotting head.
"And, as soon as my heart fills again with hope, my hall fills again with allies. Why did I ever doubt us? I have called and you have returned so that we might continue what we have begun. But, first! Let us cheer our heroes!"
Cheering begins and things become organized chaos after that. Unferth parades the head through the hall and out to bury. A bard begins playing the Song of Sigemund and inserts parts of your story into it in places. Mead is poured.
Nissa knows exactly what to do with her mead...
But fearing the big loud yelly guys would topple her chalice, if not the entire table, she instead approached Haward.
“How you holding up, there, Haward? I’d like to say a prayer to my goddess—y’know, like when I can hear myself think? But I’m serious. I want to pray to the Dawnflower on behalf of your sons. For all the children that were lost, really, but yours by name.
“It was you who first approached us and welcomed us and gave us the chance to prove ourselves. The least I can do is know your sons’ names when I say my prayers.”
The Olympian cheers along with the rest of the hall, and takes a moment to grab two cups of mead from a passing servant, and make quick work of one.
Verve passes on alcohol, and ponders what to do about the future.
Clearly, if people from our world or one similar have been here before, then there is a way to leave this place. Verve drummed her fingers on one of the pouches on her utility belt and considered what to do.
Perhaps we can head to England, and then to America? Maybe if we are closer to Boston we'll be better able to come back?
Nissa knows exactly what to do with her mead...
But fearing the big loud yelly guys would topple her chalice, if not the entire table, she instead approached Haward.
“How you holding up, there, Haward? I’d like to say a prayer to my goddess—y’know, like when I can hear myself think? But I’m serious. I want to pray to the Dawnflower on behalf of your sons. For all the children that were lost, really, but yours by name.
“It was you who first approached us and welcomed us and gave us the chance to prove ourselves. The least I can do is know your sons’ names when I say my prayers.”
Haward seems genuinely touched and tells you the names of his sons are Hrothulf and Aeschere. Hrothulf was named in honor of King Hrothgar and often played with the King's own sons, who have been kept safe for some time, but will soon return to the hall.
The Olympian cheers along with the rest of the hall, and takes a moment to grab two cups of mead from a passing servant, and make quick work of one.
Theo finds he soon has a crowd of fans joining him in drinking and cheering and generally being attractive.
The godling smiles and laughs with his fans. "Danes! Can you please teach me some songs of your land? This hall has not known song in a long time. It's time for that to change!"
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Charles stays at the edges of the hall, too lost in his own thoughts to party. He's deeply bdisturbed by what Grendel's mother had said. If this really was some kind of... repeating story loop, had anything they'd done mattered? Would it all just revert when they left? Assuming they could just leave...
And that wasn't even getting into what PhDestruction was doing. What if he went and got some of Smaug's DNA or something? What if he went into some Sci Fi story and brought back a real doomsday weapon? How far did this story world thing go!?
The godling smiles and laughs with his fans. "Danes! Can you please teach me some songs of your land? This hall has not known song in a long time. It's time for that to change!"
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 9
The crowd of fans insist that Theo goes first and that it would be rude to refuse. They pour him drinks to cheer him on.
Theo contemplates an appropriate song, then proceeds to belt out this song!
“Hrothulf and Aeschere,” Nissa repeats. “I like to pray by the beach, under the noon sun. That’s the last thing I remember doing before I woke up with a luminous, winged body.
“Dawn may be a more appropriate time for a prayer so solemn. If you wanna, like, join me…” Nissa watches Theo drinking and singing. The Champions… is that a 22nd-century superhero justice league or something? The song sounds old, but not like Mozart old.
She says to Haward, “I should get out there with the people. That last thing I want to do is act like I’m somehow above it all.”
Nissa then joins in, “nooo tiiime for soooomethngzers beeecaaaause weeee’re the champions… of the giiiirrrrls…!”
Thanks to her training, she somehow makes botching lyrics look glamorous and even a little endearing.
Speaking of girls, Nissa wonders if those two shieldmaidens she talked to are present.
Speaking of girls, Nissa wonders if those two shieldmaidens she talked to are present.
Everybody is present. This is the biggest party happening anywhere around. It's not even dark yet and the hall is getting crowded. People keep arriving.
Theo contemplates an appropriate song, then proceeds to belt out this song!
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 9
Theo's fans clap and even join in a bit by the end. They cheer and one of them slips a cup off of his belt and pours him a drink.
Nissa becomes a stellar note so she can fly to get around. She hovers close to the shield maidens.
“I’m glad to see you two again!” If the girls want more stories about Massachusetts, Nissa’s happy to tell. She is also enthusiastic about learning more about shieldmaidens and what they know about Valkyries.
Not terribly adept at socialization, Uncanny Valerie sticks to the edges, and notices Charles being pensive. "Is something bothering you?"
Verve stalked the party, but parties, booze, and large crowds were not really her thing.
Eventually, sick of being surrounded by people, she slipped outside and regained her perch from the night before, continuing to think about how best to get home.
After thinking for a while, she decided to skip rocks, by using her telekinesis to summon them and then toss them off into the darkness.
Verve stalked the party, but parties, booze, and large crowds were not really her thing.
Eventually, sick of being surrounded by people, she slipped outside and regained her perch from the night before, continuing to think about how best to get home.
After thinking for a while, she decided to skip rocks, by using her telekinesis to summon them and then toss them off into the darkness.
Unferth comes out and stands about 15 feet away. If asked he tells Verve that King Hrothgar asked him to stay here and make sure nothing and no one bothers her. Otherwise, he keeps his distance.
He can't hide his amazement at her powers but he still says nothing and looks away if caught staring in fascination.
Charles waves one of his lower hands, realizes that may not be visible just now, and shrugs instead. "I don't know, just... The witch said she sort-of remembered other iterations of the story. Like it keeps... resetting. So... what kind of place is this really? Does it just... replay Beowulf over and over? Does it acuaaly matter what happens on any given loop if it just resets again? How does this even exist?"
Theo's fans clap and even join in a bit by the end. They cheer and one of them slips a cup off of his belt and pours him a drink.
"No!" Theo says vehemently. "I made a promise to the Queen I would not drink of this cup in her hall! And we must not upset the queen on this day of celebration! I must dispose of this. I shall return." The Olympian excuses himself from his entourage to leave the hall, holding the full magic chalice.
Once outside, the godling walks about 50 paces away from the hall entrance, and is about to toss the ale within the chalice, but stops. Technically, I'm not in the hall right now, thinks Theo, and shrugs.The Olympian raises his magic chalice to the sky and makes a toast. "This drink I dedicate to my Exalted Brother, Dionysus. Steer me through the rocky rapids of inebriation!" Theo then downs the mead in the magic chalice, and waits for the effects to kick in.
"That was really stupid." called Verve from her perch, where Unferth stood watching her. "Or are you just assuming that you're immune to poison or disease?"
Theo turns around to locate the voice and sees Verve on a perch. "Oh hey, Verve-ronica! Practicing your brooding, I see. Very Important. I hear they don't allow you to have a boy sidekick unless you get the brooding down." The godling then nods over to the dane warrior. "Unferth."
"Nope, just thinking; which, given the diarhea of the mouth you have, that's it's not something you do very often, is it?"
Nissa wants to introduce the two shieldmaidens to the team, but only Charles and Valerie seem to be around. She catches Charles’ concern and says,
“I have, like, a wicked brainstorm about that!”
Nissa reverts to her armored halfling form, in part to but time to put her thoughts into words.
“So… I was initially confused that we heard this story before, and though maybe it’s real history and maybe just seem far-fetched. But then we saw the evidence of how many have come here… and so I feared we traveled time—which we all know is impossible, or hope so since traveling back in time for real could prevent us from being born. I think would create a paradox, ’cause like how do you go back in time and erase your birth if you don’t exist?
“Anyway, a time loop I kinda get. It’s like history repeats itself, but literally. So if we make the same mistake as past heroes, this island’s doomed to repeat its history.” Nissa isn’t 100% sure if her words. Not about her theory being correct—it’s gotta be a little off. She’s more worried her theory doesn’t make a lick of sense to someone smart like Uncanny Valerie. But she says to the shieldmaidens, “I pray I understand all this weird 4th-or-so-dimensional stuff, ’cause I want you two to enjoy an era of peace. It’s nice of King Hrothgar to give us gold and horses, but more than anything, I want the regular people like you to live long and prosper and stuff.”
If she doesn’t already know the shieldmaidens’ names, Nissa asks, and makes sure to give her full name Nissa van Donk, the Subatomic Bombshell!
Nissa becomes a stellar note so she can fly to get around. She hovers close to the shield maidens.
“I’m glad to see you two again!” If the girls want more stories about Massachusetts, Nissa’s happy to tell. She is also enthusiastic about learning more about shieldmaidens and what they know about Valkyries.
The shieldmaidens describe many different individual valkyries that they have heard of, each having their own abilities, appearance, and area of influence. They sound less like the valkyries that you know and more like nature spirits. But, then they describe Odin's valkyries and those sound more familiar. It seems valkyries is more than one thing to them, kind of like 'ghosts' or 'demons' could be more than one thing to someone from the 23rd Century.
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Charles waves one of his lower hands, realizes that may not be visible just now, and shrugs instead. "I don't know, just... The witch said she sort-of remembered other iterations of the story. Like it keeps... resetting. So... what kind of place is this really? Does it just... replay Beowulf over and over? Does it acuaaly matter what happens on any given loop if it just resets again? How does this even exist?"
Uncanny Valerie pauses, opens her mouth, and begins to say, "Well, in addition to stable time loops, it's quite easy for certain entities to create a subplanar--" she stops herself. "You were asking rhetorically, weren't you?"
She frowns. "Suffice to say, being in a place where events repeat is not impossible. The fact that we have seen evidence of those who have been here from other times before us--yet not evidence of our own selves--suggests that whatever temporally recursive state this place is in has experiences changes with each repetition of the timeline. This suggests it may not be a stable timeloop, but rather something along the Brigedian Sought-Ideal-Rebirth Phenomenon, or as it is known in several versions of late 20th century Terra, the 'Groundhog's Day' curse. Meaning, if an ideal solution to a problem is sought, the loop will cease occurring--which according to Verve, is her and the witch's theory. We will soon learn whether that is true. As to why it is happening, I would posit the intervention of your nemesis has something to do with it -- you did say he was here, yes?"
"And I think the next step to resolving any unfinished business would be finding PhDestruction. Do you have any idea how to track him?"