#brimir

[gebo4482]

The Siege of Brimir

Pre-release Trailer

[themodernwitchsguide]

the norse gods

WYRD: destiny, the past that led up to the present

ORLOG: the relationship between actions and outcomes, the things in the present that affect the future

our primeval chaos this round,

GINNUNGAP: an area of abyss in between Niflheim (ice) and Muspelheim (fire). when these two regions grew in power and clashed, water was created

for once we only have one creation myth,

YMIR/AURGELMIR/BRIMIR/BLAINN: ancestor of the jotnar, he was born from venom that dripped from the rivers in Ginnungagap. fed on the milk of Auðumbla, Ymir bore a male and female out of his armpits and a six-headed being from between his legs. Odin, Vili, and Ve created earth from his flesh, oceans/rivers/lakes from his blood, mountains from his bones and teeth, trees from his hair, clouds from his brain, heavens from his skull, and Midgard from his eyebrow

AUÐUMBLA: primordial cow that was created from the fluid of melting ice in Ginnungap, she fed Ymir and licked the god Buri out of a salt rock over the course of three days

BURI: ancestor of the Aesir gods, fathered Bor

BOR: married the daughter of a frost giant, Bestla, and bore three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve. these three grew tired with the unruly jotnar and killed Ymir, causing an avalanche of blood that killed all the giants except for Bergelmir and his wife

BERGELMIR: the ancestor of all "new" giants, resettled his race in Jotunheim

clan Aesir

ODIN: god of poetry, wisdom, war, and magic. Odin crowned himself king of the gods as he was the first one to decide to kill Ymir. he allowed himself to be hung from Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights in order to understand the secrets of the runes and sacrificed one of his eyes in order to see the cosmos more clearly. some stories claim he could shape and understand Wyrd and Orlog. he had wolves named Gerki and Freki, ravens named Huminn and Muninn, and an eight legged horse named Sleipnir

FRIGG: once may have been the same goddess as Freyja, she is queen of the Aesir and goddess of beauty, love, and fertility, she was gifted with the power of foresight

BALDUR: son of Odin and Frigg, he was the pinnacle of beauty and likeability. his only weakness was mistletoe

HODR: son of Odin and Frigg, the blind god, he is tricked by Loki into shooting a mistletoe arrow, which kills Baldur

VALI: in some stories he's the son of Odin and the jotun Rindr, in others he's the son of Loki, but it makes more sense for him to be a son of Loki so let's just go with this. conceived to avenge his brother Baldur, which he did by killing Hodr and binding Loki with the entrails of Narfi

VIDAR: son of Odin and the jotun Gríðr, he is the god of vengeance, and is fortold to avenge his father by killing the wolf Fenrir at Ragnarok

HEIMDALL: son of Odin and "The Nine Mothers" (nine sea giants), god of keen eyesight and hearing, sometimes foresight. guardian of the Bifrost

TYR: son of Odin, god of war, justice, and order, he lost one of his arms to the wolf Fenrir

BRAGI: son of Odin, god of poetry

IDUNN: wife of Bragi, goddess of youth and fertility, her apples rejuvenated the Aesir gods and reversed the effects of aging

JORÐ: personification of the earth, consort of Odin, sometimes considered to be a jotun

THOR: son of Odin and the goddess Jörð, he is the god of lightning, storms, strength, fertility, and the protector of humankind. he wields the hammer Mjolnir

SIF: Thor's wife, goddess of faith, family and fertility

THRUD: daughter of Thor and Sif, goddess of strength

MAGNI: son of Thor and the jotun Járnsaxa, god of wrath

MODI: son of Thor, god of might

MIMIR: god of knowledge and wisdom, in some stories he is the advisor of Odin. he is sent either as a peace maker or hostage to the Vanir, where he is decapitated. Odin preserved his head and keeps it to guard a well on one of the roots of Yggdrasil

LOKI: god of mischief, wealth, and chaos. his children often caused trouble for other gods, Fenrir being the great wolf of Ragnarok, Jormungandr being the arch enemy of Thor, and Hel, who ruled Helheim

HEL: daughter of Loki and the jotun Angrboda, goddess of the underworld, she was tasked with taking care of the souls that ended up in her realm (since some ended up in Odin's Valhalla and some ended up in Freyja's Folkvangr)

NARFI: son of Loki and the goddess Sigyn, killed by Vali

clan Vanir

NJORD: patriarch of clan Vanir, god of wind, water, and fortune, he was the patron of fishermen and sailors

NERTHUS/NJORUN: although possibly just a female aspect of Njord, some theorize this is actually the sister-wife of Njord, mother of Freyja and Freyr. goddess of peace and prosperity

FREYR: son of Njord, god of peace, prosperity, male virility, and fair weather, ruler of Alfheim. after the conclusion of the Aesir-Vanir war, he was brought to Asgard as a hostage where he climbed his way up the ranks with charm and a good personality

FREYJA: daughter of Njord, goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and blessings. she is said to have introduced the gods to a form of magic called seidr, which was a form of seeing or changing the future

ODR: husband of Freyja, god of madness, wit and poetry. could also be an aspect of Odin, as they bear good similarities

HNOSS: daughter of Freyja and her husband Odr, her name means "gem"

GERSEMI: daughter of Freyja and Odr, her name means "treasure"

the goddesses of destiny, the Norns,

URD: "fate"

SKULD: "being"

VERANDI: "necessity"

[themildestofwriters]

Doing some work on my ZnT fic, and one core issue is the fact that I've given myself the task of inventing a fantasy religion's rites, rituals, and liturgy. Book 1, Chapter 5 follows Lodewijka (Louise) and her year level participating in the Day of Calling prelude service, which involves the morning prayers, followed by a reading from the relevant Saga and a sermon, topped with the Summoning Ritual preperations — an invocation of the Norse Fates, a sacrifice, and the blessing of the students.

So far, I've wrangled myself into needing to create several different liturgical prayers and blessings, up to and including:

The Ritual Purification Blessing

The Morning Prayers and Blessings

The Opening Prayers for Reading the Sagas

The Closing Prayers for Reading the Sagas

The Invocation of the Nornir (Skuld, Verðandi, and Urðr)

The Summoner's Blessing

Might even have to include an Invocation of the Ancestors and an Invocation of the Gods of Magic (primarily Brimir, but Freyja and Oðinn, too), because it is a coming of age ritual, one which every mage does, and because the ritual itself was invented by Brimir.

So far, I've not done much. I want to base it off of Roman Catholic rites, because the Church in ZnT is basically fantasy Roman Catholicism with a Nordic twist, but it's difficult figuring out what parallels I can pull between the two.

The most I got is, like, a rough draft for the Invocation of the Nornir, which goes something like this:

Blessed are the Nornir,

Blessed are the Yggdrasill-Nourishers,

Blessed are the Sisters-Three,

Hear us and bless us,

Skuld, who speaks,

Verðandi, who carves,

Urðr, who preserves,

Hear us and bless us,

We beseech you,

Bless these children,

Guide them (in this holiest day),

Hear us and bless us,

For generations and generations,

We have called on you,

Perpetuate this age old covenant,

Hear us and bless us,

By your right judgement,

Bless them with their fated companion,

Make these children whole,

Hear us and bless us,

As you bless our blood,

We gift you blood,

Accept our sacrifice,

Hear us and bless us,

So we say:

So it is.

It's a call and response. The priest (goði) leads the invocation with the students chanting the italics. I'm just not exactly pleased with the word choice for this piece of liturgy. The word choice feels iffy, though I'm not sure how to fix that. The last few stanzas are especially annoying.

The basic structure is fine, though. It's got the standard structure of a prayer — who are you invoking, why are you invoking, and what you will give in return. Plus the repetition of three is a nice touch.

[mask131]

Cold winter: Ymir

YMIR

Category: Norse mythology

If you study Norse mythology, you should know Ymir’s name. Not that it is his only name, mind you: he is also called Brimir, Blainn, Aurgelmir… And he is also the key character of the Norse creation myth – not only was he one of the very first living beings of the universe, but he is also considered to be the ancestor of the mythological race known as the “jötnar”. You know, the jötnar… a rival race of the gods, renowned for their great size and immense powers. You might be more familiar with the popular English translations of “giants” – but know that the “giants” of Norse mythology are actually the “jötnar”, which is… not really the same thing, the same way you can’t translate “Titan” by “giant”. But I get carried away… Who is Ymir? As usual we need to look at the two main sources of Norse mythology: the Eddas.

Let’s begin with the older record, the Poetic Edda:

The Poetic Edda was the first to use the “triple name” of Ymir. The jötnar are described as “Ymir’s kin” and explicitly said to be all descendants of Ymir. Ymir is said to have lived in a time before waves, sand or sea existed, in a place without grass, earth or sky: the “chaotic chasm”, the “yawning gap”, aka the Ginnungagap. He is described at one point as an “ice-cold” or “frost-cold” giant, and we know that the gods created the world out of Ymir’s body: his flesh became the earth, his bones the mountains and hills ; his skull became the sky/heavens, his blood the ocean ; his hair became the trees, and his brain became the clouds, and Midgard, the realm of the human beings, was created out of Ymir’s eyebrows.

Ymir’s second name, Aurgelmir, comes from a description of the genealogy of the jötnar. The oldest of the jötnar is described as being Bergelmir, born before the earth was formed: he was the son of Thrudgelmir, and the grandsom of “Aurgelmir”. We don’t know much about Thrudgelmir, but we know that Aurgelmir was the first jötunn , created out of the poison dripping out of Elivagar (the primordial rivers and half-frozen water currents at the beginning of the world), and who became the ancestor of all jötnar: he did not reproduce with a female being, since there was none in this time, but rather he created life out of himself. A girl and boy were said to have been born from Aurgelmir’s armpits, while his two feet produced together a six-headed jötunn (unnamed, but who might be the same as Thrudgelmir).

As for his last names, Brimir and Blain, they come from one specific passage of the Poetic Edda where the race of the dwarfs is said to have been created by the gods out of “Brimir’s blood and Blain’s legs”.

This is all we know of Ymir from the Poetic Edda. For more info we will have to look at the Prose Edda, who as usual takes back the elements of the Poetic and weaves on them, expands them into a more cohesive narration.

In the Prose Edda we actually have a full and very detailed cosmogony story for how the world and Ymir came to be. In the beginning of all things, there was only one of the “nine realms”: Muspell, a bright and glowing realm of heat and fire. Then, after some time a second realm appeared: Niflheimr, a realm of coldness, fog and darkness. From Niflheimr sprang forth eleven cold and poisonous rivers known as the Elivagar (remember, just above). And between the two realms was the Ginnungagap, the void between the worlds. Now, the eleven rivers flowed out of Niflheimr into the “northern” section of the Ginnungagap – there the liquid of the river turned into big chunks of ice, where the toxic vapors of the poison became rime ice. The rivers thus, layer by layer, covered the northern area of the Ginnungagap in ice – while in the southern region of the void, Muspel kept sending bright sparks and molten flecks, keeping the area hot and lighted. In the middle of the Ginnungagap was thus a “mild” place not too hot and not too cold, not too dark and not too bright: there, the ice met the hot air and melted, and from this melting was born an entity… an entity in the “shape of a man”, that is known to us as “Ymir” but that the jötnar (his descendants) called “Aurgelmir”. Ymir was not a god, but the first of all the jötnar – even though he only particularly “birthed” one specific subrace of the jötnar, the “hrimthursar” (usually translated as “frost-giants” or “ice-giants”): he birthed them during his sleep. During his sleep he sweated heavily, and from the sweat of his left arm was born a son, from the sweat of his right arm was born a daughter, and his two legs somehow “mated” with each other so to speak to produce a second son.

Now we get into a part of the story the Poetic Edda did not cover: right after the melting created Ymir, it created a second being, Audumbla the primordial cow. From her teats constantly flower four rivers of milk: they were what Ymir fed on. As for the cow herself she licked the salty ice of northern Ginnungagap: she kept licking the ice, again and again, for three whole days to feed herself, and in the process she somehow either set free or sculpted out of this ice a man – that was not a jötunn, but rather the first god (or the ancestor of gods). He was named Buri – “large, powerful, and beautiful”. Buri somehow had a son named Borr (how? Mystery), and this son married a jötunn girl named Bestla, and from this divine/jötnar union were born three sons. Odin, Vili and Vé. And these three sons, for unknown reasons, gathered together and killed Ymir. Oh yes, maybe not so much for unknown reasons… because you see, Ymir is said to have been an “evil” being, and similarly all of the jötnar are also described as being just as evil as him – while the narration mentions that Odin and his brothers (but especially Odin) were named after greatness and glory, and that somehow they were predestined or fitted to become the rulers of the world. Anyway, the three gods killed Ymir, and from this was a bloody murder. A VERY bloody murder: Ymir’s body produced so much blood it actually created an entire flood, in which all of the jötnar race died, drowned by the blood of their progenitor. All… except one, named Bergelmir, who escaped with his wife on a sort of chest or coffin that floated over the blood.

Once the primordial murder was committed, the trio of gods carried Ymir’s body to the middle of the Ginnungagap and created the world out of the corpse. From his flesh they created the earth, from his blood the sea and the lakes, his bones became big rocks and his teeth smaller stones ; from his skull they made the sky (and to hold the sky high above the earth they posted four dwarves at the four corners of the world to hold it). From the sparks and flames of Muspel the gods created the different lights of the sky ; and from Ymir’s brain they made the sky. The world was created as one large circular continent surrounded by a vast sea : the gods divided the world into two. The shores and outside of the “circle-continent” were given to the surviving jötnar, where the humans (and gods) lived in the inner part of the continent in Midgard – a “fortification” build out of Ymir’s eyelashes, to keep away the angry and hostile jötnar. Finally, Ymir’s death accidentally created the dwarf race: after the gods built Asgard for them to live in and held their council, they quickly wondered what to do with the dwarfs (or “dvergr” as they were known in Old Norse) – indeed these beings had actually sprang out of the earth of their own, “like maggots out of the flesh”. In fact, the comparison is pushed forward when it is revealed that the dwarfs started their life AS maggots: the dvergar gained “life and shape” in Ymir’s flesh/the earth, and were no more than a specific kind of maggot feeding of the dead jötunn flesh. The gods however decided to offer these beings intelligence, and to give them a new shape, the shape of “men”, though they kept their ability and habit to “live in the earth and in rocks”.

- - - - - -

When it comes to the "giants" of Norse mythology, things are very complicated... The English translation of Norse myths like to just call everything "giants". Ice giants, fire giants, stone giants... But things are more complicated. As I said the race of the jötnar (jötunn in singular) is the "official" name of the race as a whole. It means "devourer" and is considered to be akin to the Greek "Titan". However in the legends, the jötnar are also called by alternative names. Such as "thurs" (thursar in plural), which is a name often invoked when it comes to describing specific sub-types of evil species: the "frost giants" descendants of Ymir are in truth "hrimthursar" ; and similar other sub-types of giants usually use the term "thurs". It also doesn't help that the term "troll" is sometimes used to designate these entities, but you should not get too confused. The image of the "Norse troll" we have of this sort of big-eating not-so-bright giant with big noses comes from the various types of "modern" trolls as they shaped themselves through folklore and folktales - but originally? "Troll" was just a name for anything magic or supernatural. Thus you often find the term "troll wife" or "troll woman" in old Norse texts - and while it can mean a "female troll", it can also just mean a witch or enchantress or even the equivalent of a "fairy", as "troll woman" just means "magic woman", "supernatural woman". And similarly, when an object was said to be a "troll" object, it meant it had magic properties or some sort of charm related to it. There is a whole study to make here of the various names of the jötnar, but given my limited grasp on the various Nordic languages I'll just let you find out on your own

[elainapendragon]

Pronunciation Guide:

Drakabloð Sögur: DRAK-ah-BLODTH SOH-gur

Valhöll: VAL-holl

Alfheimr: ALV-hey-MUR

Ljósalfar: LYOS-al-VAR

Dökkalfar: DOCK-al-VAR

Svartalfheimr: SVART-alv-hey-MUR

Svartalfar: SVART-al-VAR

Íssalfar: EES-al-VAR

Jötúnheimr: YOET-oon-hey-MUR

Hýrralfar: HYEER-al-VAR

Múspellheimr: MOOS-pell-hey-MUR

Skögralfar: SKO-gur-al-VAR

Grœnnfell: GROEN-vell

Vanír: VAN-eer

Vanaheimr: VAN-a-hey-MUR

Þokalfar: THOK-al-VAR

Nídavellír: NEE-da-VELL-eer

Nærnin: NAYR-nin

Seiðberendr: SAYDTH-ba-REN-dur

Seiðragaldr: SAYDTH-ra-GAL-dur

Fafnir: FOV-neer

Vaeryn Téhlladen: VAY-rin TAY-la-DEN

Zephysus: ZEH-fi-SUS

Höddgardr: HOD-gar-DUR

Kuningaz Xekaara: KOO-ning-GAHZ za-KAR-ah

Raameshaz: rah-MEH-shaz

Hemaara: HEY-mar-AH

Zou’maal: zoo-MAHL

Ne’daag: NAY-dahg

Tal’mar: tal-MAR

Friðrs: fridth-THURS

Iilr: EEL-urs

Bilfjord Beast: bil-FYORD beest

Skjelkii: SKYEL-key

Fjorlagforað: fyor-LAG-vor-ADTHS

Nornadäg: NORN-uh-DAHG

Súnadäg: SOON-uh-DAHG

Múnadäg: MOON-uh-DAHG

Týrsadäg: TEERS-uh-DAHG

Wodensdäg: WO-dens-DAHG

Thorsadäg: THORS-uh-DAHG

Friggsadäg: FREEGS-uh-DAHG

Niflheimr: NIFL-hey-MUR

Hvergelmír: HVER-gel-MEER

Elivagar: EL-iv-AH-gar

Svöll: SVOL

Gúnnthra: GOON-thra

Fjörm: FYORM

Fimbulthúl: fim-BUL-thool

Slíd: SLEED

Hríd: HREED

Sylg: SILG

Ylg: ILG

Vid: VEED

Leipt: LAYPT

Gjöll: GYOLL

Ginnúngagap: GI-noon-GA-gahp

Ymir: EE-meer

Aurgelmír: ARE-gel-MEER

Audhumla: ODD-hum-LAH

Buri: BUR-ee

Börr: BOR

Bergelmir: BER-gel-MEER

Ask: OSK

Embla: em-BLAH

Sol: SOL

Mani: MAHN-ee

Bil: BEEL

Hjuki: HYOO-kee

Hati: HAH-tee

Sköll: SKOLL

Yggdrasíl: IGG-dra-SEEL

Hraesvelg: HRAYS-velg

Nídhöggr: NEED-hog-UR

Ratatösk: RAT-at-OSK

Modsognir: MOD-sog-NIR

Durin: DUR-in

Æsír: AY-seer

Frey: FRAY

Valfreyja: VAL-frey-YAH

Heimdallr: HEYM-dall-UR

Bïfröst: BIE-frost

Baldr: BAL-dur

Nänna: NAHN-nah

Ragnarök: RAG-nah-ROHK

Fimbulvetr: FIM-bul-VEYTR

Fenrisúlfr: FEN-ris-OOL-fur

Jörmúngandr: YORE-moon-GAHN-dar

Naglfar: NAHGL-var

Vígrid: VEE-grid

Gjállarhorn: GYAE-lar-HORN

Einherjar/Einherjerii: AIN-her-YAR/AIN-her-YAER-ee

Valhalla: VAL-hall-AH

Surtr: SUR-tur

Líf: LEEF

Lífthrasir: LEEF-thray-SEER

Gimlé: gim-LAY

Brimir: BREE-meer

Okolnír: oh-KOL-neer

Sindri: SIN-dree

Nidafjöll: NEED-ah-FYOL

Nastrond: nas-TROND

Drekivörðr: DREK-ee-VOR-dthur

Vandr: VAHN-dur

Rígurd: REE-gurd

Dögúl: DOH-gool

Bïfröstblaða: BIE-frost-BLADTH-ah

Sígarsholm: SEE-gars-HOLM

Galdyrbrynja: GAL-dur-BRIN-ya

Gleipnír: GLEYP-neer

Ellída: el-LEE-da

Vaettrhaerr: VAY-tur-HAYR

Izana: AYE-zan-AH

Fjörr: FYOR

Byardölf: BYARD-olv

Jarnir: YAR-neer

Alfhildr: ALV-hil-DUR

Rúnhildr: ROON-hil-DUR

Hildegardr: HIL-de-GAR-dur

Jarl: YARL

Skídbladnír: SKEED-blahd-NEER

Hneflagi: HNE-flah-GEE

Myennr: MYEH-nur

Keifdel Drekínalen: CAVE-dell drek-EE-nah-LEN

Vedthrelta: VED-thur-EL-tah

Lydia: lid-AYE-ah

Feldûrröst: fel-DOO-rost

Fjoðrbrandr: FYO-dthur-BRAN-dur

Asbjorn: AZ-bjorn

Zazyr: ZAZ-ur

Hráfnfär: HRAE-vin-VAR

Valdyrbjalla: VAL-dyur-BYAL-ah

Dàlr: DAH-lur

Múfnir: MOOV-neer

Ylette: YIL-ett

Reiyr: RAI-ur

Denris: DEN-ris

Laefden: LAYF-den

Alyr: AH-lyur

W’ei: wuh-AY

Aallviinaax: ALL-vee-NAX

Norðrljós: NOR-dthur-LYOS

Bleiðarak: BLIE-tha-RAK

Ornúsüm: OR-noo-ZOOM

Iirvaedín: ur-VAY-deen

Araelys: uh-RAY-lis

Ómakligr: OO-mok-LEE-gur

Eljúðnir: ael-YOODTH-neer

[flameof]

So, I just got this review on one of my older fics, and I’m just,

My brother in Brimir, I started this crossover fic of Familiar of Zero and Fate/Stay Night in 2015, and finished in 2017. Of course it’s messy, it’s nearly a decade old.

Just found it funny, is all.

[yeterinceiyilesmistim]

"Bunu duydunuz mu, çocuklar? Ay, yıldızlar ve bulutların tamamı diğer çocukların tarafında, bizim ise sadece güneşimiz var. Peki kalkmış şimdi ne istiyorlar? Güneşin, günün yarısı boyunca onların olmasını! Bu ne cüret?"

Brimir ve Hulda buna karşı çıktı.

"Ama diğer taraftaki çocuklar sonsuz bir karanlığın içinde yaşıyorlar!"

"Peki, siz onlara ne anlattınız?"

Hulda konuşmaya başlamadan önce derin bir sessizlik oldu.

"Çocuklara bizim tarafımızda da sonsuz karanlığın hüküm sürdüğünü söyledik." "Toprak yediğimiz için tenimizin kahverengi olduğunu söyledik," dedi Brimir.

"Duydunuz mu, çocuklar? Karanlıktaki çocuklara bizim de karanlıkta yaşadığımızı söylemişler. Neye inanacağız? Belki en başından beri yalan söylüyorlardı? Önce bir uzay canavarından bahsettiler, şimdi de karanlıkta yaşayan çocuklardan. Onlara mucizevi TEFLON'u ve kelebek tozunu vermemiş olsam vahşi hayvanlar tarafından yeneceklerini de anlatmışlardı. Tabii bu da bir yalan değilse. Minnettarlıklarını böyle gösteriyorlar!"

Neşeli İyigünler iyice sinirlenmişti.

"Görünüşe göre bu sorunu çözmenin tek bir yolu var. Oylama yapacağız."

"Oylama mı?"

"Çoğunluğun ne istediğini anlayacağız. Çoğunluk her zaman haklıdır ve insanların eğlenceye devam edip etmemesine çoğunluk karar verir. Böylesi gayet adil, değil mi? Yoksa siz ikiniz çocukları kendi dilediğiniz gibi mi yönetmek isterdiniz?"

Brimir ve Hulda, "Hayır, çoğunluk haklıdır," dedi.

[hellishhin]

And They Fell

Length: ~1,500

Content warnings: Violence, blood, injury, magical attacks, electrocution, unconsciousness

Post themes: combat

Summary: This post is a little different because it's just the subsequent combat scene following up from the last post. This is my first real combat scene ever and I got a lot of great advice for it. If you want to, I would really love some solid critique on how this went. A few questions I'm wondering about most: is this confusing? Does it pace correctly for a fight scene? Did I jump around too much? You can reblog/reply with as much or as little critique as you want. You also can just read for fun and you don't have to critique anything if you don't want to! I also may repost this as a rewrite depending on advice I get, we will see :)

Intro with links to all previous posts

[next post]—-[previous post]

Taglist: (adds/removes always open!) @betwixtofficial @taerandcalentavar @talesfromaurea @faelanvance @definitelyquestionit @drippingmoon @dontcrywrite @a-wild-bloog

One time fight scene tag: @author-a-holmes thanks for being willing to look it over!

Kireen’s blade sang from its sheath and her warrior’s mind kicked into action. This was enough evidence to start an investigation so it was clear they wouldn’t be allowed to escape. Two strides, sword in motion, but it came to a jarring halt against two elvish scimitars belonging to the crossbow man’s comrade. Kireen was able to stave off the biting steel but she couldn’t match the speed of two swords forever.

-

Another bolt was being loaded but Kireen was too preoccupied to notice so K’lai’a’la, throwing knives at the ready, sent them hurtling in his direction. One caught the wood of the crossbow which did no more than mar its polished surface. The second struck his upper arm. She saw the crossbow shudder in his hands and his lips tighten but he slammed the bolt fully into place. K’lai’a’la knew it was coming. With her reflexes, it was nothing to sidestep the bolt and hear it clatter against the stone. Before he could load another, her attention was drawn to a battle cry from Brimir who had drawn his own sword and plunged into contest with the two remaining elves. Sadie seemed to be safely keeping behind the lines so K’lai’a’la drew her own scimitar and stepped to Brimir’s side.

-

It was vital to keep to one’s strengths so as her friends stepped up to engage the elves, Sadie stayed back. As another bolt was prepared, she knew she must target him to keep his attention off her friends.

“Hey!” she called and he turned his attention to her “if arrogance and stupidity had a baby, you would be the afterbirth.” Each word was wrapped tightly into the weave and entered his mind like a dozen shards of glass. She watched him recoil but regain his composure quickly and loose a bolt just for her. It breezed through her hair as she flinched away, unharmed. He was quickly placing another bolt and she shouted at him once more. “If you don’t start using your head for more than a hat rack, I’ll start using it to store my swords!” His shot went wide and lacking the patience to reload, he tossed the crossbow away and yelled something in elvish. Sadie grinned, knowing in her soul that she was just insulted, but his carried no magic.

A man twice her height barreled down on her but she drew her rapier and held her ground. One misdirection and his blade went wide. She went in for the groin but he backhanded her blade away. She could hear his blade whistling toward her again but she didn’t move in time, giving her a stinging bite across the jaw; her vision blurred. She thrust blindly and felt it give into something soft. She heard a grunt, steel flashed, her rapier lifted in defense to take a moment and make sense of the blur in front of her.

-

The elf who had intercepted Kireen was not prepared for her draconic strength. He was parrying her blows but losing ground and Kireen saw it. She pushed harder, increasing the force of each swing but she faltered when the man with the crossbow discarded his weapon and charged past her to where she knew Sadie was standing. Her opponent took his opportunity to step into her guard and thrust his sword into her underarm. Sensing his move she twisted so the armor took most of the blow only leaving her with a sharp ache. With him inside her guard, a quick pommel strike to his head crumpled him. Kireen spun and saw Sadie with blood dripping off her chin, barely holding her own against the onslaught. With a roar, Kireen charged.

-

Sweat beaded, muscles burned, breath rasped sharply but K’lai’a’la and Brimir kept pace with their two opponents. They all bled from several minor cuts but the pain heightened their instincts. One slip was all it took and when K’lai’a’la over-rotated her wrist, the enemy sword broke her guard and cut deeply into her arm. With a feral snarl she lashed out with pure instinct and landed a similar blow across his shoulder. Brimir’s peripheral caught the break in motion. He flipped his sword out, sinking the point into the other elf’s thigh but the one he had engaged swung for the opening. Brimir brought his arm up, catching the sword on his bracer and he winced at the force.

Seeing her opponent stumble to Brimir’s sword, like a predator to the weakest prey, K’lai’a’la redoubled her efforts. As her sword whistled through the air, she watched the elf’s lips move. The air around him rippled and he sidestepped, disappearing entirely. Her sword continued through the air with such force that the tip struck the ground. Brimir’s opponent balked, realizing it was now two on one. He retreated toward the open door just as an older elf with vicious blue eyes stepped through it. Lightning arced through his fingers and K’lai’a’la could hear the arcane language on his lips.

-

The draconic roar behind him made the elf turn his attention away from Sadie to see a blur of red scales and teeth grab him by the front of his armor. Kireen made to bite his face but he pulled away in terror and she only grabbed the side of his neck. Her mind was set on protecting Sadie so the elf’s dagger plunging into her side surprised her and she pulled away. This left her open for two more dagger thrusts to her gut almost bringing her to her knees. A third was incoming but was pulled up at the last second when Sadie’s rapier plunged into the back of the man’s thigh. Kireen was about to rally when a second set of swords appeared seemingly out of nowhere and began pressing her back.

-

There was a carnal satisfaction that flashed through Sadie when she saw the elf’s features contort with pain while her rapier embedded itself further into his thigh. All Kireen needed to do was take advantage of his distraction. Then the second elf from across the room stepped out of a ripple in the air.

The enemies were aware that the dragonborn was the bigger threat. With Kireen already weakened, Sadie knew it was now or never. With a deathgrip on the weave she twisted the strands around the mind of the elf who just appeared before them. His strangled mind succumbed to her power. He began to laugh, a horrible cackling laughter that rang above the clash of swords and scuff of boots. Sadie’s laughter rose with his but the elf laughed so hard he dropped to his knees. Presented with the opportunity, Kireen took it, her sword sprouting from his back in a wash of blood. He died with a twisted smile on his face.

-

Kireen’s entire body burned but whether from wounds or exertion she didn’t know. There was now a second elf or she was seeing double. Either way she was swinging frantically at both until one of them began to laugh. Once on his knees she thrust and found that it was no illusion. She wrenched her sword free of his corpse but her strength flagged, she was backed against the wall, her breath came in ragged gasps. Then she couldn’t see. Everything was white, her muscles contracted all at once and fire seared through her. She couldn’t even scream. It stopped as fast as it started and she welcomed the coolness of the floor on her cheek.

-

The arc of lightning ripped through his body and he staggered but managed to stay on his feet. Beside him, K’lai’a’la was not so lucky. She succumbed without a cry of pain, collapsing into a heap. He looked over his shoulder and saw Kireen fall as well but to his relief, Sadie remained standing. He had one chance to save his friends. One well-placed sword thrust and this mage would be done. Brimir made it one step before there was a silent concussive force around him and the man spoke a word. “Kneel”. The word echoed around in his thoughts erasing all others. He dropped to his knees.

-

When she could finally breathe again, Sadie let out a sob. She looked to Kireen for reassurance but saw her friend lifeless on the ground. Her thoughts were sluggish, looking to call K’lai’a’la for help but she too was on the ground and Brimir was kneeling before the man in the doorway. She was the only one left. It was up to her to get them out of this. Emotions hit her like rolling thunder and a scream of rage pealed out of her. She released her grip on the magic she handled with such care and brought her hands together. A shattering crack echoed around the room loud enough she thought the roof might collapse.

When the dust settled, all the elves were still standing. She had failed. Her last hope was to heal them, she had the magic, she could help her friends. Sadie took one step but a hand in her hair halted her. Pain blossomed across her cheek from a sadistic backhand and that was all it took for the world to go dark. Silence fell along with Sadie. Pure chaos, over in seconds that stretched out into a lifetime but not even the chaos stirred the unconscious people still laying in the corner.

[unit-54ryn]

Day 3 of Inktober

Prompt: “Vessel”

Here you have the mothership/ mobile base of Saryn and her sisters.

The Brimir class carrier named, BSG AresAthena

[darkness9000a]

[jeffreystewart]

Norsery Rhymes from A to Z Happy Thorsday - Brimir, of the Sea of Blood (Ymir)

Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic, sometimes Celtic) mythological character.  This week it’s Brimir, the “Sea of Blood” or “the bloody moisture“, (Ymir, Bainn, Blainn “blue black skull”, Aurgelmir “Roar of the Wet Sand”, Brimir) the original Giant (Jotnar/Jotun). The primeval being and ancestor of all Jotun and so also many Aesir and Vanier Like Loki and Thor.  Also selfish and lazy and destined to get killed by Odin and his brothers Vili and Ve, so they could use his body to make the worlds. As apart from cold and heat and the place that they meet where he was formed, he was all of the matter in the world.  Not counting the giants and monsters he was sweating out, the Aesir that were revealed in the ice, and of course the Primeval cow Audhumla and her rivers of milk, that was the second creature formed of the heat and ice as Ymir was. Brimir seems more of a title that a name, as it describes the oceans created from his blood.

For an image of Ymir as Blainn of the Blue Black Skull with Audhumla you can go here: https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/183303101164/norsery-rhymes-from-a-to-z-happy-thorsday

For a more detailed and longer story about this you can check out my earlier telling for Aurgelmir, another name for Blainn / Ymir at the link here. https://jeffreystewart.tumblr.com/post/172625799574/happy-thorsday-aurgelmir-ymir-well-here-we

[battlestarsgunstars]

Brimir Carrier | Battlestar Galactica Online Wikia

[helga-grinduil]

In Norse mythology, Ymir (/ˈiːmɪər/, Old Norse: [ˈymez̠]), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar.

[woundedheartwithin]

On the mountain he stood with Brimir's sword, On his head the helm he bore; Then first the head of Mim spoke forth, And words of truth it told.

Poetic Edda, Sigrdrífumál stanza 14 translated by Henry Adams Bellows (1936)

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[tales-of-asgardia]

Many millions of years ago, or mayhaps many dozens of thousands of years ago ask ye Loki of Asgard whose omniscience encompasses all but gaps and wanes in trivialities such as length of years or arc reactors.

And, lo, was a great war waged against the Primordial Giant, from before the begining of time, not a god but colossus of cosmic truth and hunger, Aurgelmir, Brimir, Galactus...Ymir. A great and terrible battle that which united all the old God tribes of Yggdrasil, the fair and potent Vanir, the ancient and closest to Ymir in bloodline, the Jotnar, and fiercest of the gods, the Aesir.

All was lost, offense a lost dream, all gates sundered, the giant of hunger from that pouring wound from the past that made all that now is towered alongside Yggdrasil, readying to savor what he prayed was his last fiendish meal.

From that holy ash, above the fresh grave of Bestla, hung an aes-jotun God. Pierced with a spear; cold and dead these nine days and nine nights. Ymir reached to feed on that celestial core of life and reality itself.

"No." Uttered the hanged god, Odin his name, son of Bestla and Bor, his single eye opening to the might of the realms and all the secrets of magic. Gripping his tool of his own murder, the spear, Odin roared, "My brothers to me!" And from the dark magic, they were called, Vili and Vé.

Swirling with magics the brothers understood not, and slayer of their mother above them, the brothers of Third drew their aesir swords and roared with their brother.

"For Asgard! For the Realms!" Odin screamed, "For Bestla!"

"For Bestla!!" The three sons of Bor screamed, determined to rend the Cosmic Giant, sunder his helm and decorate Asgard with his bones.

[hellishhin]

Simply Recon

Length: ~2,300

Content warnings: Coma-like state, brief injury mention

Post themes: the plot thickens, investigation, discovery, friendship

Summary: Sadie is barely holding it together working for Taerand but she gets a reprieve when allowed to join her friends to uncover a political plot within Stawold. Taerand has suspicions about who's behind it but he needs proof before the guards will believe him. Giving the group a name and a place they are sent off to collect the appropriate evidence with little idea of what they are up against. From the beginning, nothing is what it seems and they are left wondering how deep this plot goes or if they will even make it out to report what they have found.

Intro with links to all previous posts

[next post]—-[previous post]

Nothing got better. His demeanor toward her was indifferent at best and icy cold at worst. He never yelled nor acted out and it somehow made him less predictable. Sadie was on edge around him and wasn’t hiding it well. Calling him master was starting to sound like an insult rather than an honorific and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

It was only her second day in the Calentavar household and she was ready to quit but not only was she loyal to K’lai’a’la, she couldn’t let Kireen be right so she tried to grin and bear it. The following day Kireen, K’lai’a’la, and surprisingly, Brimir were in Taerand’s study so he could finally call in his favor. Sadie made it clear that she was going to help her friends so she was given the day off. Clearly he didn’t mind having one more set of hands to do his dirty work. A servant left the four of them in the study to wait until Taerand decided to arrive.

“Well? How is it going?” Kireen asked after hugs were shared between them all.

“Just fine! The job is easy. He just has me run messages around the manor to the other servants. They are really nice. Oh and I perform for him while he has dinner sometimes. Or even while he’s doing stuff here in the study,” she manages to sound enthusiastic enough that Kireen shouldn’t catch on.

“And you enjoy performing for him?” she cocks an eyebrow.

“Of course! I love performing and he really seems to enjoy it,” in fact, Taerand never seemed to react to any of her performances to the point where she silently wondered if he could hear at all. Kireen just nodded but K’lai’a’la still looked concerned.

“There is no yelling? No hurting?”

“Of course not, he had to teach me a few things but there hasn’t been any yelling I promise,” it wasn’t a lie, Taerand didn’t yell. K’lai’a’la seemed to accept her answer.

“I’m glad everything is working out for you here, Sadie. Because I’d feel a hell of a lot worse if it wasn’t,” Brimir gave her such a genuine smile that she felt guilty for faking it. But maybe if she pretended to like it, she actually would in the end. She was pondering it and kicking her feet as they dangled off the edge of the chair when Taerand entered and took his spot behind the desk.

“I have uncovered a plot against the margrave that is being orchestrated by certain members of the elvish elite. I do not have enough proof to bring to the guards and that is where you come in. Saerophon Dahast is one of the elves involved and I see him frequenting the abandoned house on Miller Street. Find me the proof I need to take this to the guards.”

“But why can’t you just take it to the guards yourself and have them do what we are doing?” Sadie asked.

“They wouldn’t listen to him, the guards don’t dig into noble affairs without just cause. It’s a perk of being nobility,” Kireen answered with a disgusted sneer on her face but this time it was directed toward no one in particular. Sadie was surprised Kireen spoke on Taerand’s behalf. “Any other questions?”

“No,” Kireen said before the rest of them could answer. Taerand nodded once.

“Then all of you are dismissed. Sadie, you do not need to return to your duties until after the task is completed.”

***

When the four of them returned to the Stag, Dwinain was pleased to see Sadie and waved away her apologies for not explaining what happened the morning she left. Her explanation was brief as she had other business to attend to. She expected some sort of reaction from him but he just told her to be safe and that was it. Surely he was hiding his opinions but that investigation could come later because they had a more important one on their hands.

***

It wasn’t a difficult plan. When dusk fell they took a few back-alley shortcuts and found a place to wait and watch. The house was a single story, clearly unlived in for quite some time. Sadie had to admit that it didn’t seem like the place for the stirrings of a political plot but that was probably the point. They were waiting in the shadows for about ten minutes before Sadie spoke up.

“So we are really going to just sit in this one spot all night?”

“It’s been ten minutes Sadie…” Kireen said flatly.

“I know, I’m not bored now but I will be. Maybe we can move.” “Count the stones,” K’lai’a’la gestured at the ground in front of Sadie.

“What? Why?”

“It is what we tell the children to stay busy.”

Sadie wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue but was surprised when Brimir sat next to her and said “I’ll help you,” and began moving rocks around.

***

A few rounds of town guards had passed them making them move deeper into the shadows but the moon wasn’t even fully overhead when Kireen and K’lai’a’la spotted a lone figure walking down the street without anything to light their way. “There is someone coming,” K’lai’a’la breathed and Sadie straightened. Both Kireen and K’lai’a’la’s vision could penetrate the darkness but without light, Sadie could only see the outline of the nearby buildings from the light of the moon. Brimir was in the same situation so the two of them sat and listened.

The others watched as the figure, hood drawn, walked straight up the path and to the front door. The surety of their steps was proof that their eyes were adjusted to seeing in the dark as well. The door opened silently and the figure disappeared inside. They waited for several breaths but there was no other change to the building.

“What’s happening?” Sadie whispered, breaking the tense silence.

“They went into the house,” Kireen responded.

“Then let’s go so we can catch him,” Sadie stood and stared blankly into the darkness in the direction she knew the house to be.

“Not yet, if he’s not staying long he’ll walk right out into us.”

They waited for a while and nothing else happened. K’lai’a’la took Sadie’s hand and Brimir put his hand on Kireen’s shoulder rather than risk making any light. The two who couldn’t see well made more noise than they would have liked but it wasn’t much more than a few scuffs of feet on dirt.

They approached the house and crouched below one of the shuttered windows. The house was dilapidated enough that the shutters didn’t fit snug and they could tell that it was dark and silent within. Kireen was sure the figure did not exit the house at least where they could be seen but they might have left out the back.

“There’s guards coming,” Sadie could see their lantern light approaching a nearby street corner. The house was close enough to the street that when they rounded the corner they would be bathed in light and surely spotted. Four armed adventurers crouching in front of a house would get them arrested for sure.

Kireen ushered them to the back of the house, relieved to find nobody waiting back there for them. There was just a back door, an overrun garden, and a cellar door which K’lai’a’la silently pointed at. Kireen nodded, “but I want to check the house first.”

The back door was silent on its hinges and led into a bare room with a broken chair in a corner and a few cracked pieces of dishware scattered over the floor.

Sadie scooped up a pebble before stepping inside and enclosed it in her fist. She opened up her mind to the endless harmony of the weave and embraced its warm current as it flowed through her. A few plucks of her fingers and she coaxed a strand of magic to coil up within the heart of the stone. With a gentle hum of encouragement she strengthened that little coil of power until a lovely warm light shone between the cracks of her fist. She didn’t risk opening her hand any farther, but now she could at least see something with her fist held out in front of her.

There was one main room with a fireplace covered with a layer of cold ashes. Beyond a tattered hide was a single bedroom with a moldy pile of straw and evidence of rats. It wasn’t long before K’lai’a’la pointed at the floor near the wall.

“Dust. No feet,” then she pointed at the floor in a trail from the front door to the back door, “feet.”

She was right, the floor was freshly worn between the two doors and that seemed to be all that was disturbed.

Kireen nodded and approached the back door to inspect the hinges. “Freshly oiled.”

Hearing that, Sadie held her glowing fist to the front door’s hinges. “Here too. Do you think they go out to the cellar?”

“I would bet on it.”

The group exited the house once again and Sadie checked around the corner, glad to see the guards had moved on. When she came back, everyone was standing around the cellar door.

“We’re going in right?” she asked.

“Yes but we aren’t pushing it too far. If we get any sign of being caught we run. This is recon tonight,” Kireen seemed firm in her stance and the rest nodded.

“I will go first into the cellar,” Brimir said, puffing out his chest. He looked a lot more capable in his leather armor with a sword at his hip than some foppish party dress so nobody argued. He opened the cellar door and the stairs led into darkness. “I cannot see in the dark though,” he grimaced and Kireen rolled her eyes, taking the lead instead.

“Sadie if we get in trouble you can brighten that light of yours,” and she headed down into the dark. Brimir followed after with a hand on Kireen’s shoulder, Sadie was next with her dimly glowing fist lighting just enough of the stairs for her to safely get down them. K’lai’a’la took up the rear with a throwing knife in each hand.

Kireen was the first to alight upon the damp dirt floor and found herself greeted with a very mundane cellar in similar disrepair to the house above. A few rotting barrels stood in a corner, a couple moldy sacks of something stacked next to them and a broom leaning up against a bare stretch of wall. She scanned the floor in front of her and the walls for any sign of tripwires or magical glyphs. Finding none, she stepped into the middle of the cellar to allow the rest to join her.

“Where the hell did he go if this is a dead end? Did he just go out the back of the house and keep going?” Sadie frowns as she looks around the bare room.

“No tracks,” K’lai’a’la said.

“Let some light out so we can look closer,” Kireen said to Sadie who did so and the room was awash with warm glow. They spread across the room to look for any hidden signs, Sadie even looking for magic but she couldn’t find anything and she was getting frustrated. Until K’lai’a’la pointed to the broom.

“Not old.”

She was right, the broom wasn’t moldy or rotting like the rest of the things left down here. It was also propped neatly up against a random spot in the wall they only now realized was a little strange. Sadie looked at the floor and saw the pattern.

“Look, there’s brush marks from the stairs to the wall next to the broom but not anywhere else. Like they were brushing away any evidence of footprints,” She stood next to the broom with her back to the wall in order to see the path better and as she did, she leaned against the wall which swung backward and she fell on her back with an ‘oof’.

At seeing part of the wall swing inward and Sadie partially fall through it, K’lai’a’la leapt over Sadie, raising her daggers defensively as she looked through the doorway but what she saw beyond made her pause. Sadie got up and was joined by the rest of the group as they looked upon a pile of raggedly dressed people who appeared to be asleep. There was a normal door across the room but it was shut and nobody was present besides those sleeping. It was a strange enough sight that they didn’t move for a moment but then Sadie started into the room.

“We have to ask them what is going on,” she whispered. These people were not elves so they might not be involved if Taerand’s suspicions were correct but the combination of the hooded figure and the secret door in the cellar was proof that something was going on. The group didn’t protest as she approached them but watched the second door warily.

When Sadie got to the sleeping people and her light shined on them, they were worse than she expected. Their eyes were dark and sunken and they were all in various states of starvation but they seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

“Excuse me,” Sadie whispered and gently shook one woman’s shoulder. Her head rolled loosely and she didn’t respond. They were definitely breathing as far as Sadie could tell so she shook her a little harder but nothing changed. Then Kireen came over and placed her hand on the woman’s head and muttered a few words. Sadie could feel the magic on them but couldn’t understand the words. They were beautiful and comforting all the same. A ripple in the air spread from Kireen’s shoulder down over the woman but nothing changed outwardly. Kireen gently slapped the woman’s face a few times, enough that should have awoken anyone in a normal type of sleep but she remained limp and unconscious.

There was something wrong with them, even Brimir and K’lai’a’la started trying to wake any of the people. There was a snap behind them and Kireen straightened with a gasp of pain. Behind them were four elves and Kireen bared her teeth at them as she ripped the crossbow bolt out of her shoulder.

Taglist: (adds/removes always open!) @betwixtofficial @taerandcalentavar @talesfromaurea @faelanvance @definitelyquestionit @drippingmoon @dontcrywrite @a-wild-bloog