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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[Which is to say: what are they not being told? Everyone has a right to his or her own secrets of course, but Bucky's had far too much of an organization and its secrets using him for their own purposes. Between that and the difference in power, well.]
Who was it who dealt with that danger, them? Or us? What was the risk involved to both sides?
[She probably did not ask for Mr. Grumpy Grump when she rolled out of bed this morning, but there you go.]
no subject
[ Which probably makes sense, since Chizuru doesn't exactly look like combat material over here. There's not a single part of her looks that screams battle-hardened.
(Mostly since her expertise, rather than with combat, lies exactly in dealing with Mr. Grumpy Grumps.. Maybe he came to the right place after all.) ]
But some of the gods went along with the people who did go. Of course it was maybe easier for them in terms of risk.. [ Since they're gods, after all. Could they even be killed? Chizuru has no idea. ] But it's not as if they make us do everything for them without helping out along the way.
no subject
[If he doesn't try her patience it'll be a miracle.]
The question still remains: what are they getting out of it? [He can't believe that such apparently powerful beings would put themselves at any great risk when they have others who can be thrust into that proverbial fire.]
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I don't know. [ She can't look into the heads of the gods, after all. Nobody can. ] Although.. would it really be that strange to believe they might just genuinely feel bad over the fact that involuntarily got pulled to this place? I was part of what seemed like the first group who showed up here, and the gods seemed really worried about it back then.
[ Granted, Chizuru's view is kind of rose-coloured when it comes to these sort of things. ]
no subject
[Not anymore, anyway. He did once, he thinks; even now, trying to think back on it, it seems impossible.]
First and foremost, people care about themselves. I want to know what they're getting out of it. However involuntary, isn't our presence here an invasion of their home?
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[ She pauses. Chizuru always defaults to trying to assume the best that it takes a lot to try and view things from his perspective. It makes her frown in thought as she attempts to do so. ]
Even if it is, it's not as if they can do anything about it, right? [ Although she'd rather just assume they don't mind them being here. ] They can't just send us home.
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[Not that he's looking to start an argument; if anything, there's something thoughtful in his tone: while he's not convinced as to the intentions of those in this place, he's not pigheadedly ignoring the possibilities. He's just picking them to pieces, first.]
Not arguing it, but not believing it either. Their lives have been disturbed by our arrival as well, haven't they? Maybe not as badly as ours, I'll give them that, but there is a disruption. I don't believe anyone is so good and generous as to not have threads of annoyance about that, at the very least.
[Blah blah inherent goodness of people, something something benefit of the doubt. In other breaking news, Bucky is a paranoid grumpy grump, and rain is still wet.]
no subject
She shakes her head. Not to disagree, but more just to put it behind them for a moment. ]
No matter what the truth is, you'll be able to see it for yourself. [ It's not like they're going anywhere any time soon, after all.. ] And.. who knows. It's probably good to keep your guard up either way, just in case the city might get into trouble again.