FEBRUARY INTRO LOG( FEB 16TH & 17TH )
february 16 ↴ INTRO: NEW WANDERERS' ARRIVAL! Our batch of new Wanderers wake this morning, as all new Wanderers have before, on a plush bed with a mild but lingering sense of recent disorientation. Frigg greets them as per normal, though rather than outright escorting Wanderers to the front doors this time, she and Sigyn allow the Wanderers time and space to leave their bed, meet the pantheon, and even depart the palace at their own pace - but not without a warning. All Wanderers must choose a deity to tether to before dawn the next day, or else one of the gods will choose them. This is of grave importance, as that's precisely how long the magic giving them form is able to last untethered before the Mother's own magic overwhelms it.
(Though the gods are more than willing to allow Wanderers to leave, it's worth noting that many a castle servant - natives, born in this land - might see fit to intercede and insist on the choosing of a god before Wanderers step off the Gladsheim Palace grounds.)
Stepping outside, you're greeted by an almost bright and sunny day... Undermined thoroughly by a sharp, biting wind that permeates any small gap in your clothing. I bet the gods might give you a sweater, if you ask. It probably won't even look that absurd, depending on which one you ask. A trail of what seems like stringless balloons float at eye level from just outside the palace door, guiding Wanderers down the path to a notice board just outside the palace grounds. On this notice board, Wanderers find a brief handwritten guide to accessing the city map on their cuffs, specifically denoting the little colored house icons ( ⌂ ) to help Wanderers make their way to each god's housing.
Also on this board appear to be a variety of job listings, for those who want to get more involved in Asgard as a whole. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? There's more than enough time for that once you've chosen a god to tether to in the first place. february 17 ↴ GOD CURSE: CHARACTER-BUILDING WITH SKADI. The storm brewing within Skadi is hardly a secret. She was impatient during the gods' supposedly unanimous address, and in the days to follow, Sigyn (with all her desperately good intentions) tried to balm the irritation but only abraded the goddess further still. She attended the Wanderers' arrival purely by the letter of her duty and swept back out the doors as soon as that duty released her, and since then she's been holed up in her temple, her pointy-faced statues positioned just outside as sentinels meant to intimidate mortals away.
They dared to tell her that she does nothing. Nothing for the Wanderers, that is. Nothing to help them grow and self-actualize, as if these 'Wanderers' are so much more important than Asgard itself, which weakens by the day as her fellow gods fling their magic about to overprotect the Wanderers, or even to satisfy their whims. The consensus to draw back some of that wasteful protection would have pleased her, if she weren't so thoroughly fixated on the slight that preceded it.
They want her to help the Wanderers self-actualize? So be it. There's no better way, truly, than to confront and overcome the ways in which you're flawed.
So the morning after arrival day, many Wanderers wake up with a stinging, itching spot somewhere on their body. Maybe their arm, maybe their back, maybe their throat. In that spot, as it turns out, is a set of words in a deep ruddy brown (almost like old blood) under their skin as if tattooed in place. But these aren't just any words - they prey directly into the Wanderer's fears, their regrets, their insecurities, and their mistakes. They're facing down some of the worst things they've ever thought or feared about themselves.
The other gods, of course, are eager and willing to try to relieve the poor Wanderers of these cursed marks... but they find that it's not quite so easy. Wanderers who seek a god's removal of the words find that not only do the words remain, but a new set appears: Flees the truth.
But that's fine = For most Wanderers, these words disappear on their own in a day or two. A handful of unlucky souls find that their marks linger indefinitely, or seem to disappear but return at truly inopportune occasions down the line.
MOD NOTES This is the February intro log and Skadi's curse, our mini-event for this month! Skadi's curse is is entirely opt-in - not all Wanderers are affected - and is detailed more fully in the 'This Month's Events' section of the February Bulletin, and you're welcome to direct any follow-up questions to the Bulletin's mod questions top-level. You've also likely noticed that god jobs are now live! The listings themselves can be found here (same link as within the 'arrival' prompt), with a brief FAQ featured over here. |
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asgardchrysalis2020-02-16 10:08 pm
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It's winter, then? Early in the year, second or third month?
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I can't be sure about the exact time, since time might be different across all of the different places we come from and even this one.. but we've had that blizzard before, and that was a while ago now. So if the seasons are at least the same, spring should follow after, right?
[ Chizuru hums, as if she's thinking about it, but then gives him a small smile. ]
I hope so, anyway. Spring is the most beautiful time of the year.
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He crosses his arms over his chest, fingers drumming against his arm.]
Were you there at the time?
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Apparently she hadn't considered how strange that is herself yet, since a slight confused frown appears on her face the longer she thinks. ]
.. that's strange, I don't think we've celebrated any new year here. The gods haven't said anything about it, at least.
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Then we wouldn't know at all until the weather changes. [His tail swings in irritation as he amends:] If it changes.
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Surely it will. Even if there are a lot of strange things in this place, the seasons changing in some way must be something all places have in common, right? [ Maybe it's slightly too optimistic of a thought, but she seems to want to believe in it all the same as she smiles at him. ] .. and maybe if you're cold right now, I can help you find something warmer to wear in the meantime? [ There's a slight pause, but then she seems to realise something and quickly adds out of politeness: ] I mean-- not that you couldn't do it by yourself, I just thought it might be handy to have someone to show you the way while you're still new!
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Especially if it's conversation. He prefers to save his energy for physical things.]
One thing at a time-- I want to address one thing at a time. I insist.
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.. Sorry.
[ For what it's worth, she looks genuinely apologetic. Probably moreso than anyone ought to over something so simple. ]
What is most important to you right now then..?
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Hells, she's so young, isn't she? To have all that energy put into so many things at once and then feel like a kicked puppy when called out. But Rhus has never interacted with younger children while growing up, so how would he know how to deal with the younglings as an adult?]
Finding my bloody way 'round here. [See, he really cant interact with the younger folk, otherwise he would have been reminded to perhaps watch his language.]
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Instead she just nods slowly at the answer, sucking in a breath and trying to look a little less pitiful. ]
Okay. Did you already have to pick a god..? I can show you where you'll be staying depending on that.
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Not that he'd ever admit to that out loud, because he can tell that choosing is the norm, and he knows he'll be questioned as to why he refused to do the same thing everybody else did. No, no thank you.]
I'm under the impression that you must have been taken under one's wing to even be allowed out.
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[ 'I think they're just trying to help us', she almost says before realising that he probably wouldn't agree with that, judging by his reaction to what she just said. So instead there's an awkward pause where Chizuru quickly tries to think up something else to say. ]
It's just how they do things here.. I suppose. I'm sorry if you feel pressured by it though. I can imagine it's a strange choice to suddenly have to make.
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You needn't try your hand at comfort-- I've already a god. I'm not pleased about it, but what is done is done.
[He's... actually starting to tire of this, even if she's only trying to help.]