Let start by saying Alviss is a good teacher and I swear I'm not a genius. I did technically learn all the basic history and the current political standings of the Lost Woods in a matter of a month and moved onto folklore after faster than I thought. But that doesn't mean I deserve all these accolades. My father had to stop Alviss from parading me to his scholar friends like I was a freak of nature.
[You are correct, you aren't a genius. Your just an old man stuck in a child's body. Not only that but your child brain is still in a spongy state of retaining all new knowledge your provided. But to anyone else your a genius]
So much for hiding it. The entire tribe is already buzzing with the news of my so called genius. Though Alviss will say Im likely the most gifted and curious child he has ever seen while simultaneously being the strangest. My constant loss of attention to talk to the Goddess and thoughts on how magic work zone me out. Plus I keep sketching in my book a bunch of designs for inventions to help everyone. I haven't decided when to propose them yet but when the opportunity presents itself I will.
Not to mention the fact that my use of words is strange and funny to them. Especially my curse words and jokes no one gets.
[Are they really jokes if no one gets them]
Comedy an art form and laughter is a reaction. One does not need the other. It's a comedy if I say it's comedy.
[Sounds like a convoluted way to say you have shit jokes]
One day I'll show you true comedy you'll see!
[yea yea just keep filling out the log please the readers will lose track of the plot]
Anyway my readings have told me about the three different tribes in the Lost Wood.
The Aesir who live in hallowed out mountains made by their ancestors dotted all over the Forest. Especially the Eastern coast where a mountain range goes through from the Capital city of Asgard in the north to the south where the desert lies. And unsurprisingly there are several cities along the range. The palace I live in is called Valaskialf and this whole mountain is called Himinbjorg. Very Nordic names of a Ossy so myself.
The Forest Jotunn Tribe tribe are said to live in the deep tundra and have a city where the snow is the thickest and the trees are the largest. Which I'm assuming is in the center of the forest. I guess it's somewhere not too cold but warm enough for large pines to grow.
It's said a great tree is at the center of the city providing warmth to the rest of the city. They apparently live in closeness to nature and prefer fruits over meat but will eat meat If necessary. They are masters of the Druid arts and are the foremost master alchemists of the tribes.
Now here's where my head really started to hurt over the shear amount of coincidences. Their capital has two sides, a cooler side "where the snow is the thickest" and a warmer more fertile side "where the trees grow the biggest", each subsequently called Nifleheim and Vanaheim.
The third tribe is very mysterious but they are said to have abilities mired in death and decay. They have two main Cities located in the desert called Hel and Muspelheim. One is where most of these necromancers live and the other is where most of the desert warriors live.
It's said all the three of the tribes are descendent from a particular group of giants who bestowed their progeny gifts of their blood. The Asgardians passed on their prowess in armed combat, runic knowledge, and Valor.
What I can only assume to be a mixing of Vanir and Jotun, Gods and Giants passed on their prowess over nature and icy abilities which has culminated in their mastery of nature. It seems high level druids have great control of temperature while simultaneously being about to concoct medicine from plants. They also have a certain ability to see into the future. It's rare but some of their members have it.
The last Tribe of Desert Devils calls themselves the Descendants of the Damned. They believe their ancestors, the guardians of Hel, who were both Gods and Giants alike, and the Fire Giants of Muspelheim; to have been persecuted by the other Giants. Therefore they always kept a distance from the others and fiercely guarded their territory. Their ancestors passed down their talent for command of the dead, fiery xenophobia, and great physical strength rivaling the Asgard.
The first two tribes have always been forced to ally together to stave of the other tribe. And this has kept on for over four thousand years, from the time of the Giants.
Now this is what I've gathered from my reading and tutor. I'm not sure how much of this is true, but there has been a writing system in place for a majority of that time and some of the documents of that time show proof of these giants existing. Whether it's true or not is not really the answer I'm looking for though it would explain a lot. What I'm concerned for is how do Earth Gods and Giants have the same names and domain of influence as the giants here?
I have of course probed my oh so gracious Goddess but she has not deigned to give me a hint. I shouldn't be rushing anything though. I'm only a little over a year old. It's not like I was gonna find answers to the mystery of the world from random books in my study. Time and some good old fashion exploring will probably reveal these mysteries.
What I find interesting is there are ruins scattered all over the forest. Each usually depicting one Giant and should you find any of them and pass their trial, you will be granted abilities that match that giant. From what my dad said, the gifts given will match the current abilities of the person passing the trial. An example would be a warrior not being able to get the ability to summon lightning from Thor's trial but the ability to shock opponents with his weapon.
What's even more interesting is that these ruins are only located in the desert and the forest. Anything south of the desert devils do not have any ruins.
Because of this, it's become habit for the people of these tribes to name their children in the name of these Giants when their particular ruin hasn't been found. This is in the hope those children will one day find those ruins. It's not as far fetched as it seems apparently since someone I know has done so.
My mother, Named after the Aesir Goddes Frigg, found the ruin of said Giant at a very young age and was gifted with gifts of Clairvoyance, Love, and Marriage. It's said all who look at my mother will see great Beauty and will be loved by all while she will love everyone in return. Not only that, she occasionally sees visions of the future. Talk about a perfect woman. She's descendent from Frost giants so the precognition isn't out if this world.
If my mother couldn't get more overpowered, my father is another beast entirely. He completed the ruin of Odín the All father and gained gifts in War Strategy and an all seeing eye that discerns everything he sees.
It's likely my parents two monstrous gifts combined that found suspicion in my intellect. Thankfully my Goddess promised me that certain thing about me were impossible to notice due to her magic. An example being the age of my soul doesn't match my body.
The mini cycle made my soul completely compatible to this body but since my memories were never reset my soul is still considered older. It's not gonna make a difference since souls have an extremely long shelf life of At least a hundred years. That's if I don't train in anything to increase my lifespan. Oh yea that's something new as well. No matter what profession you choose, you can extend your life through training. So the years I spent on earth are likely to become negligible at some point.
Anyway this explains the blessings tab on my stat sheet.