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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"Ah well... I believe they are trying their best. That they do not know what to do with us is, I think, very obvious once you have been here for any length of time. Do they mean well? Well enough, I think, for the moment. Sending us home... that, I think... is harder to tell. Some of them certainly wish us gone!"
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Wrathion continues to pace slowly, turning it over as he thinks.
"I wonder..." he says, "Which of them do you believe desire us gone the most?"
It might, after all, be relevant. Wrathion's mind always looks for intrigue, for double-thinking. Perhaps those who wish them gone, then, are those who had no hand in bringing them there. The others -- perhaps although they deny having a hand in it, perhaps they know something more. Although, know what? For what purpose?
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Wrathion pauses to consider this, lifting a hand to rub his beard thoughtfully.
"A cynical person might suggest they could be acting, however... if we assume otherwise... then we must also assume they speak the truth. If they do not value our presence, then they did not have a hand in bringing us here. Interesting."
He turns to the board again, narrowing his eyes at the least.
"Something did, however. Or someone. Tell me, do you find they reward assistance? Or is it a one-sided affair, working with them?"
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"It depends on the individual in question, I find. Some do. Some do not. I have found the Lady Frigga most kind. Even Lord Odin is, while somewhat distant, enjoyable to work with."
Admittedly, Turgon is the sort to throw his whole self into his work, so Odin just has to make approving noises and provide him building materials to keep him happy.
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"I admit, I do prefer when they are less... chatty."
Wrathion prefers to just get the work done and move on. Long, idle conversations are not at all his style. In that sense, distant sounds rather appealing.
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Turgon smiles at that.
"In that regard we are very alike." He agrees. "Lord Odin prefers not to talk unnecessarily, I find, which is quite refreshing."
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He turns back toward the job board, turning the thought over.
"He desires inventors, and I do have some experience in the field..."
In crafting enchanted items, mostly, but also in generally learning the magical properties of items and how they can be use or combined.
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"Perhaps a little more curious about what one is doing."
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Spoken with the tone of someone who is judging worthiness, rather than assessing a good fit in truth. Wrathion considers himself a powerful ally, and whoever he chooses to work with must also be useful to him. Someone who maintains a catalogue of information, who calls themselves a strategist, may well be a very useful tool indeed.
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He tips his head at Wrathion curiously. "You have had some experience with such things?"
with the right account this time
Each attempt a little better than the last. Each infusion to stronger result.
Re: with the right account this time
"I don't know if you might achieve similar here." Turgon says thoughtfully. "Much of what we had in our home worlds simply does not work, in this one."
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Making a deal with a god, of course, but beyond that. There must be a way.
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Randomness is unpleasant to Wrathion. It causes things to be unpredictable.
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Wrathion paces once more, turning over the thought
"Then I believe some research is in order. The sooner a pattern is discerned, the sooner we can work to understand the truth behind this place and why we are here."
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