#halennia hearthfire

[saberwitch]

logged in to find a birthday gift in my mail and I genuinely can't believe I've had this boss lady for a year already.

voorwaarts

[saberwitch]

Halennia Hearthfire

was worried that I was going to find the complexity of Elementalist too daunting/frustrating (I am not fast or smart) but I've been having fun with her! She's been rocking the double D's.

(Dagger/Dagger, you heathens)

[saberwitch]

"There's something about being Norn that no one ever talks about: becoming a legend leaves people behind. Sometimes they're left to forge their own legend. Sometimes they're just left to grieve."

--Halennia Hearthfire

[saberwitch]

Halennia Hearthfire

Halennia's life goal (aside from being a den mother to a bunch of wayward Norphans) is a scholarly pursuit: she is trying to help rebuild the all-but-lost Norn language from a folkways perspective. Her research takes her all over the world, chasing down diasporic tales and recipes, delving into historic texts, and seeking out ancient ruins and old steadings.

[saberwitch]

Halennia Hearthfire

loosely based on the goddess Nehalennia from the mythology of the Low Countries, Halennia was originally conceived (by me) as a sort of spring goddess/earth mother type character.

she is the focal point of the Hearthfire Steading stories.

as she is something of a protector of travelers, I made her an Elementalist, figuring that the main thing most travelers want protection from would be the elements, so her ability to control them made sense to me.

(also I wanted to kind of force myself to learn how to play the profession properly, starting with a core build. wish me luck)

[saberwitch]

Halennia: Eir calls me "mommy" too

Braham: *strangled noises*

[saberwitch]

I feel dumb, because if any of my Norn ladies should be a Bunny Acolyte, it should be Stara. That would make sense too with her being out in the wilds but still wanting the sense of community that her mother has built.

I want Stara to be more like her mother, but where Halennia is "hearth and home", Stara is more "friendly campfire in the woods". Which is a little backwards; the goddess Halennia is based on is a traveler's deity, but whatever.

I also want Stara to be less "Thief" and more "wandering vagabond", with maybe a little trickster spirit thrown in for good measure.

(Meade is my current Bunny Acolyte. She could still be, I suppose, there's no rule that says I can't have two. But I might find another role for her instead, we shall see.)

[saberwitch]

Veerle Deathsong

one thing I'm only just realizing is that there's a lot of potential for a relationship between Veerle and Halennia. They're both mothers with estranged daughters, and I think Veerle might want a little of Halennia's nature to rub off on her (while also being a bit bitter and envious about it). Halennia would probably be at odds with her on some level but she also has to see the parallels.

can see a drunken Veerle opening up one night when the steading hall is empty. Halennia telling her she needs to say all that to her daughters, but eventually realizing that Veerle needs to hear it herself first.

Veerle is stubborn, and while she's grown and changed, some of her old personality remains. She does not lightly suffer fools or incompetents. She has very little patience. She can be abrupt or dismissive. Those who didn't know her before she went into the Mists will likely just think she's an asshole...but her daughters will see the change.

Ruenar doesn't exactly welcome her with open arms, but she is at least willing to hear Veerle out. Saskia, on the other hand, still holds a lot of anger and resentment, and distrusts that Veerle is even who she says she is.

(they'll probably get into a few shouting matches, and probably both turn to Ruenar later with the same complaint of "why won't she listen/understand??" Ruenar is the only one who has any patience in the family, but this is going to test her.)

Veerle's "found family" won't be much help in this regard, at least not until she gets Glint. The only person she can really see to turn to is Halennia, and she will do that only grudgingly at first. Halennia has the patience of a glacier, though, and she's got a knack for seeing the good in people and coaxing it out. She would likely be the first person to show any kind of positive attention to Veerle, and it will take Veerle a while to get used to a relationship that isn't transactional.

[saberwitch]

Halennia seemed like the perfect person to get the sparkly Pride cape.

[saberwitch]

pov she just used your full name including the middle one and you are in trOuBLE

[saberwitch]

Halennia Hearthfire

mother to the orphaned, a guide for lost travellers, patron saint of freshly baked bread, a warm fire in the darkness and a comforting hand

[saberwitch]

Halennia Hearthfire

obviously, Bear

[saberwitch]

Welcome to Hearthfire Steading!

there is always a warm fire blazing in the hearth, along with a bonfire out front for chilled travelers passing by.

Halennia will bring out mugs of hot mulled cider for anyone warming themselves, and will offer travel bread and dried meat and fruit as provisions.

out back are beehives for honey and mead, a smoker tent, and a small garden plot.

there is always a pot of dolyak stew and a pot of root vegetable soup over the fire, and fresh baked bread, and apples and just-picked greens. If someone has an allergy or a food aversion, she will accommodate, no questions asked.

within the steading can be found her daughters. Only one, Stara, is by blood. The rest are orphans, lost children, or sometimes simply someone who stopped by and just never quite got around to leaving. Herring, Saskia, and even the runaway Human child Flora are often here.

(they don't call it Hearthfire Steading. To them it is "the Den" or, simply, home.)

[saberwitch]

whenever Stara or her mother go out to chop firewood, anyone hanging out in the steading finds an excuse to have something to do outside so they can watch

Halennia is built a little like a power lifter, lots of upper body strength, kind of a barrel-shaped torso with a bit of belly, legs like tree trunks

Stara doesn't have her mother's bulk but she does have the muscle, and what she lacks in Halennia's sheer power she makes up for with ferocious speed

on the rare occasions when they're both out swinging axes, it naturally becomes something of a competition, and at that point nobody bothers to pretend they're not watching

[saberwitch]

I am planning to charge headlong into the relationship between Halennia and Veerle. Something about their unlikely dynamic feels right. I also really like the idea of Saskia and Ruenar suddenly having a new sister who is not anywhere near as cynical and jaded as them and feeling extremely protective of her (not that Stara can't handle herself). But yeah.

Hot Adventure Moms In Love(TM)

[saberwitch]

after some anxiety I pushed myself to go and pose with the Tumblr folks during a break from the march

everyone was SUPER nice and friendly and I was able to relax!

I had a little trouble focusing on everyone's names but I managed to write a few down:

TwilightOctavia

Secretforger (I got it right!)

Trotoph Loosepike

Oh Hot Dame

Wren Sagewind

Thalyssera Duskwoke

I'm not sure if I actually got all of you in the pic (again, sorry!) but you were all fun to talk to!

(that's me in the middle, on Halennia Hearthfire!)

*update: Sapphic Zojja in the lower left!