Hero7: Norse Village/Colony

[Lord_Bierhoff]

I'm re-opening this discussion from the old forums.  The intent of this thread is tobrain strom ideas of people, things, and buildings we could have in the norse village.

Some background information:
-The village a recently built colony (aka probably less than a year old) which means it would not have many builds or expensive buildings (such as castles).  
-The colony would have a small and rather homogenious population (or in other words, the people are pretty much all norse and there aren't alot of them).  
-These colonists are refugees, so they aren't particularly rich.
-The norse colonies used alot of long houses (houses that slept up to 50 people. http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/start.html has a 3d model of one and some video inside one).

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some questions and answers from the old thread
q,These people probably wouldn't have a standing militia?
a, no, probably not

q, How are they governed? Has a semi-council been set up? If so, are the councillors made up of upper classmen, as would most likely be the case?
a, sure, please continue to discuss.  In terms of class, our colonists aren't very rich, leaving their homeland wasn't their first choose of things to do

q, Have they set up some sort of working order/routine?
a, probably, but please feel free to discuss it's form

q, Is there any defense to their area? Have they constructed a palisade, or dug a moat, or anything like that?
a, they may have a palisade, on the other hand they may be in the process of building one.  Any built defences they would have won't be too strong.

q, How have they influenced the land around them in the last year? Have they scarred the environment by cutting trees, and have they started to form farms? Or are they more worried with the eradication of those pesky natives?
a, They have begun land clearing for agriculture, but the forest is still strong.  At the beginning of the game they have not yet begun fighting with the natives, but they aren't exactly friends yet either.


q, Have they made themselves established roles?
a, they are not yet firmly established, but they aren't planning on leaving anytime soon either.

q, Are they viewing the natives as a threat, and likewise, do they harbor some kind of grudge towards them?
a, they have been having "diplomatic" troubles with the natives.  they aren't at war, but relations are "strained"

q, Have they set up a sort of dock, if this is sea-side?
a, they probably would have a dock and maybe one or two small fishing boats

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other ideas that have come up
-Scandinavian music and arts
-longhouses serve as homes.  People eat, sleep, and generally live their domestic lives in them

[daemious]

One year doesn't seem like enough time to establish much interesting in a settlement. What kind of adventure could the hero have in a outpost of a dozen dirt farmers? I'd suggest considering the colony old enough to allow for some history that we can play off of (like 25-50 years).

[Brassfire]

Well, if there is a Native village as well as a colony, that automatically becomes more interesting. The history is across the river. The struggle for survival is on the Norse side.

[Interested visitor]

As far as how they are ruled. One would think the man with the highest kill count, in either war or hunting, would be the one in charge.. Supposing your going with a sort of Beowulf feel to the people. You might have one guy who feels he's better than the head man planning to back stab him?

One wouldn't think they'd have much of an army, but more than less of the men know enough to swing a blade and will step up to defend their friends and family.

It's a touchy subject, but religious differences between the Nordic people and the natives could cause serious issues.

Just a few ideas from an interested visitor. Good luck with the game, I plan to own it once it comes out

[Radiant]

Suggested reading material: Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crighton. Apart from being a good tension-filled novel, it has a lot of background information on ancient Nordic people, and culture clash. Plus a long list of references in the back.

[nDcEnT]

Where did the Norse Village idea come from in the first place? It's not a bad idea as a whole, but the hero, who has saved Spielburg, Shapier, Tarna, Mordovia, and Silmaria, should be out saving a kingdom, rather than a small colony. Even in QG5, the fishing villages are only important enough to be one of the quests. And even then, ONE PERSON can defeat an entire platoon of mercinaries.

Why can't the plot revolve around saving a larger kingdom or empire? I'm afraid I missed the original discussion on this topic.

[Pwincess]

Like saving the Roman Empire?  

[nDcEnT]

Pwincess seems to understand what I'm getting at. In QG1, the hero saved Spielburg, a little po-dink down that no one cared about. So small that it only had one road leading into and out of it. Next, the hero saved Shapier and Rasier, the homeland of the Katta. Following, the kingdom of Tarna was saved. The land of Mordavia seems to be the only one out of place, but Mordavia was about more than just saving the Town (and the Elephant business there of). By saving Mordavia, Erana was also saved, which in itself is a great deed. Lastly, in the utter failure of a game that is QG5, the Roman Empire is saved.

Each instalment of the series performs a greater good deed, hence aquiring more Glory for the hero. To go back to saving a small, undeveloped town seems as though it would be insulting to the Prince of Shapier.

[Swift]

But you're starting with another hero who's just started this hero job, not the prince of Shapier. Surely it's a bit much to expect him to save something incredibly huge in his first (or second) adventure?

[nDcEnT]

I was unaware we had a "new" lacky for a hero.

One suggestion is that we need to bring Baba Yaga and her skull-head guard back. I don't think she should be killed off, but someone needs to torture our hero, and she seems to have a black enough heart to do so.

We also should have an appearence by the guy who robbed the bank in Silmaria. He seems to be a deeper character than was let onto.

And let's not forget the Moose head, Black bird, and other Easter Eggs...

[Pwincess]

So nDcEnT, if you could host hero7 anywhere, where would it be?

[nDcEnT]

The Norse Village sounds ok. It may be worth while to consider England as well. Castles are aways a plus. A Far East setting would also be interesting.

[Pwincess]

Something similar to the landscape experienced in the 'Robin Hood'/crusades era?

[lazygamer]

The medieval Europe inspired fantasy setting is too overdone.

[Pwincess]

I know, however I still can't get enough of it