EVENT LOG: HÆIÐRS-MINNI

[asgardmods]

Who: EVERYONE
What: the Hæiðrs-Minni event log
When: November 16
Where: EVERYWHERE
Rating: PG-13; please take anything higher than this to a private log!

morning: the funeral

The morning sun is lost behind clouds that pour in an endless rain, casting the city into a dark and gloomy shadow. The streets of Asgard are almost entirely empty, although hardly a soul can be found indoors either. Everyone is gathered instead at the riverbank on the castle grounds, where a series of boats are tethered along the short and gently tugging with the current. The native Asgardians place gifts, food, and personal belongings into the boats in memory of their lost loved ones.

Whether you've lost someone, were lost yourself, or carry some other loss within you, the natives invite you to place your own offerings in the boats to send off your sorrows together.

Several hours into the morning, once everyone has had their chance to fill the boats, Heimdall gives a short speech honoring those that fell in the recent battle as the boats are let loose down the river. Honir fires an arrow towards the last one to float away, and Odin lights it on fire as it soars overhead, the single arrow splitting into a wave of shooting stars that strike each boat dead center. The boats alight all at once, and even with the rain pouring overhead, they continue to burn as they float gently out of sight, carrying everyone's grief away with them.

all day: the dedication

Throughout the rest of the day, many of Asgard's residents seem to buzz around Firar Samka, the cultural museum in Mimir's district. A new wing has been added to document Asgard's recent triumphs, but most especially to honor the unexpected stalwart allies of the kingdom: you, the Wanderers from other worlds. This display was added to memorialize the lengths you've gone to in the name of protecting and preserving life within the realm, the core purpose of Asgard in its entirety. You are heroes among gods and this exhibit seeks to portray that for all to see.

As you wander through the display, you might see childish drawings of familiar people fighting a massive dragon, or a large painted mural of solemn faces standing off against an army of ghoulish figures. Skadi can be found beside these, sometimes twisting them into eerie motion or placing a new piece somewhere along the halls.

Elsewhere, you can find Njord alone or accompanied by some human skalds as they sing or read poetry or even sometimes reenact part of the battles against the Red Death and the Army of the Dead. Your characters can watch or join, and they might even hear their own names mentioned among the reverence and song. This is the story of Asgard and the Wanderers conquering death, and you're right at the center of it.

evening: the feast

To end the day on a high note, everyone is invited to Nādhirhöll in Tyr's district, where the entire banquet hall has been decked out in so many colors and leaves and lights that it might feel like walking into an overgrown forest tightly held in the grips of a sparkling autumn. With the growing success of the distilleries in Njord's district, vodka and ales are passed around freely alongside the mountains of food available on tables in every room. People dance and sing and lounge around the leaves with laughter and a joyful appreciation of life in the air.

If your character joins the party, they might notice themselves feeling more warm and relaxed over the course of the evening. They might have the unusual inclination to be more physically affectionate with people and vocally declare their appreciation to them. Deep in this glittering "forest," it is easy to feel lost in the warmth and comfort of good company and relative safety.

This party continues into the morning of the next day, something that many may not realize as deeply wrapped in an artificial forest as they may be. The effects of the curse fade as everyone stumbles their way out of Nādhirhöll, leaving a heavy blanket of strangely warm exhaustion behind. It's been a long and potentially emotional day, but the city seems to be brought together under a shared relief and a new tomorrow.

[ OOC NOTES: This is the event log for Hæiðrs-Minni! There are various goings-on throughout the day to acknowledge past strife and be grateful for a projected future. If you have any questions or need any help, please let us know on the mod contact page! ]

Comments

[yiling_laozu]

"I'll get rain on your floor," says Wei Wuxian, more observation than protest as he grips the railing, not so worn down by fresh grief that he can't manage some stairs. (Did there really need to be so many, though?)

He turns a half smile on Lan Wangji as they ascend. "Lan Zhan will let me eat in bed?"

[lan_wangji]

"Lan Wangji would also get rain on the floor. This is what cleaning cloths are for," he points out, actually only recently learning how to use such cleaning supplies.

He takes more of Wei Ying's weight, helping essentially lift him up each step as much as he can for as long as Wei Ying will allow him.

"Mm, will let Wei Ying eat and drink wine in bed. Not always, but today will allow."

He nods at the door one flight above them, leading to the bedrooms.

[yiling_laozu]

"Wei Wuxian will be spoiled," he chuckles, "Will want this indulgence always." Even spoken with a smile, the words are likely true. Wei Wuxian will ask for an inch and take a mile when a few feet are granted.

He lifts his chin, watching the door come closer for every laborious step. "Lan Zhan," he says, "Did you release a boat?"

[lan_wangji]

"No," he says, finally making the landing as he can feel Wei Ying starting to sag a little against his side. He opens the door and takes a few steps towards his own bedroom, unlocking it swiftly.

He swings the door open, revealing his small but clean bedroom. He stops just inside the doorway and holds up a hand to Wei Ying. He makes quick work of his own boots and outer robe, the inner robe still dry. Wei Ying, however, is a different story. "Dry inner robe for Wei Ying," he murmurs, pulling his softest inner robe from inside his dresser and holding it out. "Will step out, give privacy to change. Wei Ying can get in bed if he desires."

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian is still toeing off his second boot when he finds his arms suddenly full of soft inner robes. He nods, staring at them, and when the door closes he gives in to the strange desire to bring them to his nose and sniff deeply. They smell of sandalwood, of frost and Lan Zhan, and Wei Wuxian smiles as he sheds his own wet clothing, trading it for Lan Wangji's.

He tugs his wet hair into a high bun to keep it from his shoulders and climbs into the bed, whose sheets he also presses his nose to. Here the scent of Lan Wangji is even more pronounced, and Wei Wuxian relaxes considerably.

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan returns not long after Wei Ying crawls into his bed, a sight he is not sure he was quite prepared for. He pauses for a moment, composing himself before shutting the door and presenting Wei Ying with a plate full of fruit pastries he'd found downstairs in the kitchen.

"Eat," he commands before leaning down to pull a jar of wine from underneath the bed. He sets it carefully down next to Wei Ying's hip before stepping back. With a pleased nod he starts to undo his hair ribbons and silver hair pieces, setting them all neatly on his desk in a precise and practiced arrangement. "Warm enough?"

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian had been expecting vegetables, not sweets, and he sits up in happy surprise to accept the plate. He's trying very hard not to get crumbs everywhere despite the flaky dough, but then Lan Wangji produces wine from beneath his bed, and the bite falls right out of Wei Wuxian's mouth.

"Lan Zhan keeps a supply?" he asks as Lan Wangji takes his hair down, calm as you please. "Wei Wuxian is warm enough. What are you doing?"

[lan_wangji]

"For Wei Ying. Would have brought to you," he explains, pausing his hair ministrations long enough for it to tumble free, confused at Wei Ying's confusion.

"Wet," he explains, now uncertain if he has done something untoward. He is certain he'd taken his hair down in front of Wei Ying at the river, before, but perhaps it seems too intimate in this setting. "Wanted to put up until dry and dry ribbon out. Did I...did Lan Wangji do something wrong?"

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian quickly shakes his head, staring at Lan Wangji with his hair loose. "I'm not used to seeing Lan Zhan undone, that's all," he says, likewise hoping he's not made Lan Wangji uncomfortable in his own room. "Another indulgence for Wei Wuxian," he adds with a smile. Lan Qiren would eat his beard if he could see his nephew now.

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan nods, still feeling a little unsettled, a little like he has been caught doing something wrong but finishes tying his hair up in a simple knot, something he has never let anyone but Wei Ying see. The forehead ribbon is wet and even that comes off, being laid carefully out to dry without any creases.

Once finished he settles at the foot of the bed, sitting cross legged and tucking his cold feet under himself. "Wei Ying asked about the boats. Thought about it. Thought about one for mother. Too public," he says, starting down at the plate of treats and the tiny bits of them that did not quite stay on the plate.

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian watches him in fascination, but his gaze drops when Lan Wangji mentions his mother. Wei Wuxian knows of her, more than Lan Wangji himself has told him. He takes a careful bite of pastry.

"Will you tell me of her?" he asks. "I can't remember mine."

[lan_wangji]

He takes a careful breath, thinking through his patchy memories of his mother and trying to separate them from what he'd been told after her death. That she was a mistake, that she ruined his father, that she was a cautionary tale.

"Warm. Affectionate," he says, trying to focus of the warmth of her sitting alongside him as he read to her from his school books rather than the cold of kneeling in front of her dark home time and time again. "Not permitted to see her often, but looked forward to it. Think she was a little like Wei Ying. Would try and hug me but I wouldn't allow it. Not dignified," he says, voice pained at the memory. It is one of his biggest regrets, though he suspects his mother understood.

[yiling_laozu]

"I never saw women in Gusu," Wei Wuxian recalls, yet they must exist, for not even the Lan clan can spring from the earth itself. "She must have railed against such confinement." He would have. He might have burned the Cloud Recessess himself had any tried in earnest.

"That she endured it for you speaks of great love, Lan Zhan."

[lan_wangji]

Female cultivators are not expressly forbidden, but not encouraged. It is one way Lan Zhan wishes Gusu Lan were more progressive.

"Wei Ying does not seem surprised at her confinement," he says, finally raising his eyes to meet Wei Ying's. "Is this one of the things Wei Ying knows? Like the scars?"

He does not comment on his mother's love. He's not certain she had a choice but he does know she loved him and Brother. Whether she had simply grown ill or taken her own life was a question Lan Zhan had never dared to ask, once he was old enough to wonder. Either way, he'd never blamed her.

[yiling_laozu]

Caught, Wei Wuxian drops his gaze, uncorking the wine to take a deep pull. If they ever return home, he wonders if Lan Zhan won't immediately smack Lan Xichen with Bichen upon his arrival.

"I know a little," he admits. "I believe...I believe Zewu-Jun sought to compare my personality with her own. That neither of us quite belonged in the Cloud Recesses, but found ourselves there again and again for the sake of a person."

[lan_wangji]

Lan Zhan frowns, unable to understand why Brother would tell Wei Ying about all of the things he'd never imagined him knowing. He can't fathom why he would tell him about the whips unless Wei Ying had seen them but to tell him about their mother seems impossible.

It pains him to hear Wei Ying speak of not belonging in Cloud Recesses, although Lan Zhan knows it to be true. Wei Ying belongs somewhere far more free.

"Would never do what he did. Would never confine Wei Ying. Never force Wei Ying to stay with me," he blurts out, desperate for that to be known. He knows he is not fun, that he is not a good companion for the types of adventures Wei Ying enjoys and is fearful of ever holding him back.

[yiling_laozu]

"I know," says Wei Wuxian, wishing his hands were not so greasy with pastry when such a look crosses Lan Wangji's face. "Lan Zhan always allowed me what others would not," he says with a small, nearly bewildered smile. It's not that he doubts Lan Wangji's goodness - it's Wei Wuxian's own luck that's too incredible to be believed.

"You let me be what I am. Since shijie, no one has ever been kinder."

[lan_wangji]

"What Wei Ying is never needed to change," he murmurs, giving into impulse and unfolding his legs to crawl up to the head of the bed, resting against the other pillow. It feels dangerously intimate to be so close in only inner robes but they have spent time in closer quarters and he thinks Wei Ying will not hold such an indulgence against him.

When he had woken at 5am to rain and darkness, he'd longed for more sleep. This is better.

"Lady Jiang knew this. Was a good person but Wei Ying deserved the kindness. Your sadness honors her."

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian's feet are still freezing, and he pulls the blankets up and over Lan Wangji, tucking them in against his sides to trap the heat. "Jin Ling honors her," he says, setting aside the last of the pastries.

"I wish I'd seen him grow," he admits. "He is angry, but who could blame him? No father, no mother, and only Jiang Cheng to show him kindness. He loves him, I know, but he can never let himself be warm. A child needs kindness as well as strength."

[lan_wangji]

Being tucked into bed is an odd but not unpleasant sensation and Lan Zhan settles close, trying to offer what body heat he can without taking advantage of their proximity.

"Wei Ying would have been a good Uncle," he says, easily imagining him surrounded by children. He would make a good father. "Would have been kind, taught him many naughty things. Was good to A-Yuan," he hedges, unsure if the mention of A-Yuan will make it worse. But Wei Ying deserves the credit for the care and love he'd shown the child. "Am sorry Wei Ying has lost so much."

[yiling_laozu]

"I taught them, a little," says Wei Wuxian, fiddling with the cork on the wine. "In Yi City I was alone with them for some time. And again at the Burial Mounds, when those plotting against me showed their hand. I liked teaching them. I think they liked me, too."

He huffs. "Even Jin Ling, after he got around to stabbing me."

[lan_wangji]

"Jin Ling stabbed you!" Lan Zhan huffs, sitting up and pawing at the blankets covering Wei Ying as if the wound could still need attending.

"How long ago? Healed?" he demands, trying to jerk the blankets down to confirm that Wei Ying is indeed hale and safe with his own eyes.

[yiling_laozu]

"All healed, Lan Zhan," says Wei Wuxian, wriggling when Lan Wangji yanks at the blankets, but there's nowhere to go. "It was the same place Jiang Cheng and the frozen fierce corpses stabbed me. At this rate the scar tissue should be impenetrable," he mutters.

He watches Lan Wangji huff in outrage, but how could he blame Jin Ling? Wei Wuxian is the reason he has no mother or father. "It's resolved now, Lan Zhan."

[lan_wangji]

"Does not make it okay," he snaps, revealing Wei Ying's torso wrapped in soft, if slightly oversized robes. Lan Zhan does not tear them open but it is a close thing and his hand hovers over the spot for a moment before pressing on his side.

"No one hurts you, anymore. No one. Tell me if they try."

[yiling_laozu]

Wei Wuxian's heartrate spikes - Lan Wangji's hand is so close to scars he's not ready to be seen, but he merely clasps Wei Wuxian side as if he, himself, could become the protective tissue.

"Will Lan Zhan protect me?" he asks with a small, affectionate smile. "I think we're alright now," he assures him. "Until the next war the gods find for us."