Travelling through worlds with developer tools.

Date: Mörsugur 3rd, 999. (Alt: 16th Dec, 999 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)

He came back from his absorption break. More eager than ever to complete the work. He finds the runes he wishes to etch into the armour, beginning the process meticulously.

Below the layer of Iridium, many runes start to form, with the ᛉ (Protection / Shield / Elk Rune,) ᛊ (Sun / Thunderbolt / Honour Rune,) ᛟ (Heritage / Estate Rune,) ᚾ (Need / Hardship Rune,) ᛗ (Man / Human / Self Rune) and ᚷ (Generosity / Gift / Spear Rune.)

Each represents a greater whole for the enchantment. Later on, Heath will further expand it with other, magical materials or could use another mythological basis to develop his armour. He wills it to be bound only to him, and to always protect him when his time is needed. For it to be equippable as necessary (to disappear and reappear off of him) and to aid his work and enhance his skill. That way, in case he faces an enemy that cancels his powers, it would allow him to put up a much greater fight. It is successful, all in about 8 hours of work.

These runes are so large they instead look like physical patterning on the surface of it. Providing an artistic flare upon the futuristic-looking full plate. Its patterns are so complicated you cannot tell where the runes begin or end. 

Then, a number was added at the front of the armour. (001.) Signifying the first of its kind. A design that matched similar to a design he saw back on Earth for an RPG Flashpoint. He didn't know what type of weapon he wants, so he leaves that. He begins another round of absorbing material again, as he is already down to 03 / 10ths of his power.

He has finished now, and in addition, he also took 5 bear hides and using one of the larger ones, he dried and tanned it, then fashioned a long cape that reached down to his knees.

Quite snazzy if he says so himself. Now, he begins mining as many rare materials as possible. It took him another 3 days of mining, making 10 Sets of average-height 4130-steel armour (Shaped, 14th-century plate armour, runed,) 3 silver tons, 2 gold tons and 1 platinum ton.

All are placed into a huge (2 x 6-m (6.5616 x 19.6848-feet)) sleigh that is also made of steel with tracks underneath that will be pulled. And are fastened with leather straps from the leftover bear sinnew and muscle. It is nice, taught and ready for travel. He transports it to the location by the south of the Völsung Clan's wall where one of the entrances are, behind some trees that Heath will use to create a dramatic entrance. 'I will probably punch it down, I am more than strong enough for that.' He gets into character, and moves in 3. . . 2. . . 1. . .

POV: Völsung Clan guards by the walls.

Date: Mörsugur 6th, 999 AD. (Alt: 19th Dec, 999 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)

It is another cold day at the territory, a scouting party nearby came back with news of a good area to forage berries and edible mushrooms that would be good to find and cultivate.

There is a roving herd of boar to the north by the river. By the afternoon, if they are still reported, a hunting party consisting of Bjarni, Dagfinnr, and Danr with higher-quality bows than last year will be there. It is a quiet, calm day for Egill and his guard mates.

Near midday, a scheduled shift was set, brought by Asdos and Eirikr for Egill's new shift. Asdos is quite a jumpy man, probably too unsuitable for the duty. But all are required to partake in any way, shape or form. Eirikr does his usual stoic expression and is hyper-diligent to the task, yet has a slight scowl on his countenance. "I hear afoul upon the distance to our left, near the entrance towards the cliffs." Eirikr responds, hearing the heavy, rhythmic steps that sound closer to a bull than a man.

"Shall we check? I hope it is not the start to a stampede. . ." Asdos responds, slightly glum. "That only happens in the summer during the predator rush, no need to worry Asdos." Egill comments factly, as he had helped with mapping out some of their travel patterns, after all.

The trio moved away from the south gate, soon hearing the rhythmic noise much more clearly. "It sounds like a singular beast, yet such a creature that can make such a heavy noise must be a large one, probably oxen." Egill declares in a partly educational tone.

Then, the rhythmic beating suddenly stops. When suddenly. . .

*KRA-KOOOWWW* A sound like lightning punches through the trees, making them fly off in directions towards the west and east.

'Hopefully this display wouldn't anger Víðarr enough to entrap me, I made sure the damage was set to a minimum of 3 trees.' Heath internally comments, expression unreadable due to the distance from the 3 people closest to him, Heath's vision sees that they are frightened.

A large, hulking man. Pulling a sleigh of dark gleaming metal, with proportions unseen to anyone walks towards them slowly. The face was soon visible, rugged and masculine with a tan complexion. With a bald head, black bushy eyebrows and a beard that goes down to his collarbone. With an expression that showed satisfaction and expectation. wearing armour unseen by anyone they would expect of this realm, shimmering as if it was an artefact beyond legend. They could not tell if it is Aesir, Vanir, Álfar, Dvergar, Jötunn or other.

The being, possibly an Aesir or Vanir walks closer towards them. Egill, the curious one is dumbfounded, Asdos, the scared is frozen and trembling and Eirikr, the stoic has a crack in his expression, showing how out of his league this experience feels.

The being in front of them suddenly spoke. With a voice, boomingly loud yet quenchingly low in tone. With. . . An unexpectedly friendly inflexion? "Hello, I am Heath Dollen. It is a pleasure to meet all of you!" Heath yelled while walking towards them, with a tone that is used to an equal, yet they felt they were not at his level. They were all dumbfounded. Suddenly, Heath spoke again. "I have come to share gifts to your clan. As I am your new neighbour!" Heath said in an act with his built, hearty tone. One that magically made them more complacent.

". . . Lord Dollen, why do you come to us? And why do you bring gifts just because you say you are our new neighbour?" Eirikr broke out of his stupor and asked, very flummoxed on how a giant being like him could talk so casually. All felt minuscule in front of this behemoth.

"Because I know you have many questions! And to not waste any of your peoples' time. I prepared gifts in advance. You can check the quality of the goods yourself, and tell me if it is necessary. In total, it should be about 600 fjórðungr (3 tons) of pure silver, 400 fjórðungr (2 tons) of pure gold and 200 fjórðungr (1 ton) of pure platinum. With 10 complementary armour sets!" He remarks, then nods emphatically. Knowing how hard it is to take in. Just their expressions alone show how their brains have suddenly shut down from the response.

"Well I can tell that much from how much is on your sleigh, how do you carry so much?" Eirikr somehow asks calmly, too calmly. As if he has no choice but to accept the situation. "Because I am strong, you saw me destroy the trees that way." Heath mentions fully.

"And about that, sorry. I had no choice due to it blocking my way. I will replant new trees for you." Heath comments, which increases his credibility a notch. Asdos suddenly collapses on himself. But Heath is fast enough to catch him before he hits his head, he puts him down gently but Eirikr puts a spear in front of him. "Do not worry, I was just catching him due to his fall." Heath utters calmly. "But you moved a full body length in under the blink of an eye. Of course, I would react that way!" Eirikr responds with frustration in his voice, then freezes.

Heath patted him on the shoulder. Eirikr moved him off. "Do not worry, you will get used to it soon enough." Heath comments lightly. "Are you going to check if what I said was authentic yet? It would be best to, I do not want to seem unreliable after all." Heath notes with a wink.

Egill finally moves, being the best at checking counts, he passes by Heath meekly. Seeing each bar being about the same size, he takes one of each of the three materials, measuring them by weighted feel on the hand and calculating by volume to weight ratio-ing.

"What Lord Dollen speaks is true, it is authentic. And the make of the armour is master crafted to be something only the Dwarven Smith Brokkr and Eitri could achieve. How did you come of this?" Egill asks, fully curious. "I made it personally." Heath responded truthfully.

"But how, you appear to be a warrior, not a smith?!" Egill snapped at that point, too much craziness occurred in a single day. "Because I am not any of this world. I am one of the Mennskrðrútan. We cover all bases of knowledge, especially healing." Heath explained.

"Are you much like the Aesir and Vanir, then? Are you immortal as well?" Eirikr suddenly asks, curious. "We are, you could posit we are like a 'cousin' to them. Not from any realm though, homed from the void, a nothingness between realms. Or hidden in realms from our 'cousins.'"

"And why are your people 'healers' if you are immortal?" Eirikr pushed his questioning further. "Because us Mennskrðrútan learns of the body of mortals to help them. We teach them how to train, to eat properly, to fight and possibly live longer." Heath responds through more acting. ". . . Why do you want us to live longer? Valhalla is a great afterlife, is it not?" This time it was Egill asked. "It is because fighting is not the only thing that matters. There is so much more to life, and now that I have come from the void. I wish to teach others." Pausing.

"It is much more fun to teach those alive than the dead." Heath finalised with an assertion. This causes the questioning to stop and now the three guards mutter between each other. There came the suggestion of a Grand Council Meeting, with Gorm in the centre.

"One last question, how old are you?" Egill asks, wondering if it was rude to ask the towering man, but it wasn't. "I am 42 Winters Old, my birthday is Ýlir 2 (15th November.)" Heath hypothesises, not knowing if the time in the void counts towards it. This causes Egill to snort and drop his guard a bit lower again. "Wait here, Lord Dollen. We are going to tell the people this knowledge as not to scare them, they must also wonder what that explosion was from a few minutes ago. I hear up to 150 waiting soldiers behind this wall." Egill comments.

"That is fine, I will sit on my sleigh then." He sits in a cross-legged position. Waving them off while smiling. They smile back, still with a hint of confusion and go inside. 27 minutes soon passed without a response from them, Heath continued thinking of new ideas for his cavern.

The gates suddenly open, leaving a large enough gap for the cart to go through. While he gets up, 20 soldiers line up as 10 in 2 lines on each side beside him. He nods towards them, they are confused but nod back. He pushes the cart smoothly through the gate, surprising the civilian onlookers with the massive riches on the sleigh. Heath views the inside of the compound. From how the pattern repeats, it looks like a template of 4 two-story long houses, rotated to make a square shape where they meet. Like (Fyrkat fortress, Denmark.)

Each of those homes looks to hold 30 people on average, 4 x 16 x 30 = 1,920 People. A small town! Each square has either a farming area or a play area, depending on the soil quality. In total, there are 4 mixed farms inside the walls. Partially self-sufficient.

"Your Clan is very well developed, quite hygienic too, it is nice to see. How many people?" Heath asks, curious. "We are currently housing 1,294 people if I remember correctly." Egill comments as accurately as he can. "It is good to see it is thriving. I will see if I can develop a good relationship with your clan." Heath stayed his hand, fully mindful that he is in a potential ally's territory. "Your gift alone would do more than enough for that!" One of the warriors in the background comments, and a round of chuckles occurs. "Heh, that's nice." Heath smiles.

The smile stuns or even causes others to be smitten nearby, not expecting an intimidating-looking man to be so kind. Both men and women are openly in awe of him. As soon as the crowd starts to get a bit rowdier, Heath leaves the sleigh and goes into a building.

It was one of the larger buildings from the northwest corner with a stone watchtower. More than likely the council building and home for the Clan Head and his main family. "It is good to see your Clan Head having such a home, I am happy for them." Heath utters truthfully. "Thank you, we appreciate that." Egill and the others smile openly. Heath smiles along with them, suddenly, they all go still and march into a lined position beside the path to the large wooden throne at the back of the room, sitting a grey-haired man with experienced eyes.

There is a flicker of surprise in Gorm's tired eyes, but he quickly masks it. Heath walks formally towards Gorm. Once he is ten paces away from the throne, he kneels on one knee, surprising some of the guards for seeing such a powerful man showing total deference. 

"I greet the Völsung Clan's Lord, you may already know me. But let me introduce myself, I am Heath Dollen, a Mennskrðrútan from beyond the realms and one of a kind in this world. And I have come bearing gifts and a request for an alliance." Heath addresses Gorm respectfully with acquiescence. Knowing he is the closest thing to a king in these lands. It goes quiet for a few moments, "Rise, Lord Dollen. Thank you for your respect for our clan, but there is no need to go to such lengths when you are an equal to me." Gorm calls out mirthfully.

Heath rises. "I may be an equal to you, but where I come from. The visiting people must provide full respect to the Dryhten (Ruler-like) of this land. Even if they are a Lord themselves." Heath responds with a soon-to-be characteristic smile, causing Gorm to laugh.

"Your people have strange customs, now tell me. Why did you bring such gifts to us?" Gorm states with a flicker of pure happiness in his eyes. "Because I wish to talk on even ground, I may have crafted my own armour and forged these materials. But I have no people upon my lands. Only the materials I mine and the dirt I dig." Heath responds verily, shocking much of the crowd. "You are fully alone?" Gorm asks, now suddenly serious. "All are sadly dead or gone through another part of the void, thus I seek a chance to gain people." Heath states.

"Then you are brave, being on your own." Gorm supposes, with faux-challenge in his voice. He rises and walks down to stand in front of him. Then staring up at him fully, "You are quite tall too. Yet still younger than me!" Gorm became unwittingly enraptured by Heath.

"Come, let us go to the Main Hall. There is much we need to talk about. Whether it be man or slave, we have what you want. And you can take it for free with how big of a gift you provided. You are a friend for eternity to the Völsung Clan!" Gorm cheered, and all started raising their voices and hollering praises to Gorm and Heath. They walk through to the feast hall, with all the guards in tow. They find themselves to two seats by the front of the table. One large one for Gorm and one not as large one for Heath that luckily fit him, though tightly.

"So, tell me. Where is this land you own? I have never scouted or mapped it." Gorm asked, "You can speak comfortably with me, Lord Völsung. I made a cave and expanded it using spatial runes to expand the livable area without affecting its surroundings." Heath comments.

"Then you can speak comfortably too. Call me Gorm, Heath. And Spatial runes, how do they work?" Heath takes out the leather-bound tome he made on the journey, and opens it to the first pages, showing a list of all the different runes and their functions and how many combinations mean different functions to the whole work. Through providing full information, he finishes by showing that it only works if you first provide it with magic. Then it becomes self-reliant and absorbs the air's magic. Gorm is speechless and rapidly fires questions.

"You may write down all this information upon your work if you wish, I have not discovered all possible combinations after all. But the gods themselves use unique runes for singular use against my combination of known runes. Once found, it will be insightful." Heath remarks.

Gorm is frustrated at how kind this stranger is, even if influenced, he is dubious. "Why are you so friendly to us, yet so enigmatically powerful? You can destroy multiple trees with a single punch without a sweat and you have this knowledge. And my guess is you have much more. What do you have to gain from it?" Gorm asks directly. ". . . Because I have been alone for far too long, I wish to have friendships in my new undying life. Loyal to each other and to help one another equally." Heath looked somberly, and Gorm felt the mood around drop.

". . . You have been alone for far too long, you say? Well, now you are not. So go on, be merry and drink! It is Jól (Yule) tomorrow after all." Gorm's noticeable smile showed through. A Stein-like mug is pushed into Heath's open hand. Everyone joined in with the festivities.

Heath viewed the mug in his hand, and with a slow, flourishing smile, he started chugging it down. Their party would go on for a whole night. And recorded for the ages.