1.1 round 1 - vetrbrok (jarl's hall)

[tedsies]

1.1 round 1 - vetrbrok (jarl's hall)

reminder: household introductions

round 1 begins at the jarl’s hall. this is both where the vetrbrok household reside, and where jarl tordis’ seat and small hall are located.

as you can see, tordis is busy doing very important jarl-related things, such as staring soberly into a fire.







tordis’ husband, yoren, on the other hand… well, he enjoys his work as the town’s physician and surgeon a bit too much.

not in a creepy serial killer way though. i think.





in-between tending to his (sometimes alive) patients, yoren often finds himself performing the duties of a jarl's spouse, too.

this mostly consists of listening to the ramblings of some of the townsfolk (such as this random townie), whilst tordis is off doing more important things.

little noma often partakes in these trivialities too. mainly because she doesn't get much time to spend with either of her parents, considering how busy they both are.





that doesn't mean her parents don't devote time to her, though.

she just wishes they were around more. for cute moments like this!




erik is going through a bit of a phase right now which i’m sure has absolutely nothing to do with the fact i had to kill off his mother with simpe immediately before the round started

its been seven years since he lost his mother, but he was so young back then. now that he's growing into a young man, he's become acutely aware of how he has no parents of his own.

his aunt and uncle are great, sure. but its not the same.





noma silently watches on




noma: um. why did you do that?

erik: oh, you saw that? ehh... i'm sorry. i shouldn't have taken it out on your dolls. i... are you going to tell your parents?




noma: hmm. no, i guess not. you will be helping me with my chores for the rest of spring though. and you'll take me for a trip to the market the next time i ask you.

erik: oh. i see. that sounds like a fair deal.




noma wasn't joking!




tordis bumped into her cousin, alf, on the way home from work.

she'd been concerned about him ever since he moved to nordhavn. it didn't take a seer to realise that he didn't want to be here. still, she’d been tasked by her uncle to look after him, and she wasn’t one to give up.

tordis: hey, alf! fancy coming down to the training ground one of these evenings? it might be a good way to meet some people. maybe even make some friends.

alf: ehh. maybe.

i think that’s a no, tordis.





long days require long baths and/or long naps.




its going to take a while to pay off that dollhouse, it seems!




cuties.

they do find opportunities to spend time together. sometimes.




as the daughter of a jarl, noma is expected to learn her letters and become literate.

she doesn't care much for it.



yoren: just think of all my exciting physiology books you'll have to look forward to reading!





yoren: your aunt wants you to join her at the training ground tonight.

erik: ... do i have to?

yoren: yes 😃



scoffs away his feelings




tordis doesn't like not being good at things.



and yes. erik did, in fact, make it to the training ground.

but he didn't seem too interested in doing anything beyond eating.




tordis: alf! what on earth are you doing here? i mean... i'm so glad you decided to stop by... but, wow.

alf: don't get too excited, cousin. i was dragged here by my roommate. they'd been wanting to come here for a while, actually...



tordis: your roommate... the friend you brought from eldenberg? hmm. interesting. why do i never see them around, either?



by this point, erik had progressed from eating to taking a nap in one of the guards' tents.




tordis soon found alf's roommate and friend, kai, at the sword station.

tordis: it's good to see you here, kai.

kai: oh, thanks. i.. would have come sooner, but, well, i don't know why i didn't. but i should have.

tordis: are you looking to get trained up in anything?

kai: well, yes... that is to say, i was actually hoping to join the watch.





tordis: oh. i mean, thats a great aspiration to have. but it'll take some time for that. we'll need to find a weapon that you're proficient in, and then we'll have to see if-

kai: i can shoot a bow real good. i was a hunter back in eldenberg. you could use an archer, right? i mean, i've noticed you're lacking a good archer in your ranks. if you don't mind me saying, that is.

tordis: i think you just did. we can all use a bow well enough, should we need too.

kai: i saw you with that bow just now, and-

tordis: you don't need to finish that sentence.



erik finally left the tent, and found himself talking to tordis' deputy, ivarr.

ivarr: its good to see some new blood in these training grounds. its been a while.

erik: ...blood?

ivarr: its a figure of speech, kid. i see we have a lot of work to do with you.




erik: oh, i don't think you need to worry about that. i have no intention of...

ivarr: you really think your aunt dragged you down here this evening without reason, son? look, don't worry, before the war i was as green as you. well, almost.

erik: yeah... sure. like i'm gonna believe that.

ivarr: believe what you want, but killing three men with your bare hands, and having your eye nearly gouged out in the process... well, that'll put you right.

erik: ... cool!



alf: watches on in a mix of horror and awe






erik eventually took noma to the market, like he promised.

why yes, noma, that is what a market stall looks like.



erik got chatting to a pretty girl there, but she seemed to be in a rush.




and noma had somewhat of a conversation with that same girl's little brother. he seemed nice enough, she guessed.





kai unexpectedly stopped by the hall one evening.

tordis decided that she found them to be rather good company, actually. a bit of an acquired taste, perhaps, but they had in fact been right about their bow skills.




is that jealousy, alf?

you know you could join in, if you like.



no, he decided to take it out on the back of noma's head instead.

oh alf, i thought you were going to be such a chilled and laid-back sim!



tordis: so, erik, i know things didn't go so well on your first trip down to the training ground, but kai here is actually rather good with a bow, and i thought they could be your training partner, if you're both to be new recruits.

erik: oh, thanks. but i've already got a training partner.



tordis: you do... who?

erik: ivarr. i want to learn how to kill men with my bare hands, just like him.

tordis: oh. and does he know about this arrangement yet?

erik: ... no.



kai: right on!




a particular part of her job that tordis doesn't appreciate is her dealings with the watcher faithfuls.

a bunch of self-righteous maniacs if you asked her, not that anyone would dare.



tordis tries to take noma out and about the town as much as she can, just so she knows what it means to be a jarl.

its not like she expected her daughter to follow in her footsteps, but she wanted her to at least understand the concept of responsibility.



but as you can see, noma doesn't always find the concept all that interesting.




erik: do you ever think about what you want to do when you're older, noma? like, would you want to be a jarl like your mum?

noma: i'm literally 8... but no, i don't want to be a jarl. i want to be a queen.




in this grumpy phase of his, erik is really nurturing a one-sided rift with his aunt tordis... :(




and that brings an end to this first round with the vetrbroks! lets finish as we started, with yoren performing some very sanitary research on hopefully the same(!) corpse.

next: sumar household

Comments

[eulalia]

It's very important for leaders to stare soberly into fires every now and then. Makes for a very leaderly scene in case any painters happen to be passing by. :D The exchange between Erik and Ivarr made me cackle--at least Erik has some inspiration now???

Also Yoren and Tordis make a very cute couple! 😊

[tedsies]

now i suddenly have the urge to turn that screenshot into an in-game painting to hang in tordis' hall 👀

and yes, he's finally inspired! it only took the notion of brutal violence to get there 😂