INTRO LOG + SKADI CURSE.

[asgardmods]

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.

Comments

[theprezident]

They don't even have the concept of money yet. Everything is free. I know, it's crazy.

[ Since Jet hasn't said no yet, he's going to go ahead and squat down to get two cups out of his backpack and fill them with coffee. ]

[trafficreport]

Trade?

[Jet...doesn't have anything to trade either, aside from what he showed up here with. But this sunshine's going ahead and going through with it, so what's he got to lose?]

[theprezident]

No, not really. From my understanding, society's kind of ... just starting? So I guess they haven't gotten there yet, if they will.

[ He holds out a cup for Jet. ]

[trafficreport]

[...hm.]

[Well, if he's offering free coffee, who's Jet to turn that down? He takes it and knocks half of it back in one go like a shot and - god. God, it's real coffee.]

[It's also pretty hot. That...doesn't seem to bother him as much as it maybe should. Mostly he just stands there blinking at the rush and unfamiliarity and he can't remember the last time he had honest to god coffee.]

Thanks. [He means it, too!]

You grow it?

[theprezident]

[ When Jet downs half of it just like that, Rhys can't help but grimace at it. That must have burnt something?? Uhhhhh.

Except the guy seems fine, so after a few moments of staring in silence, Rhys gets a grip enough to answer the question. ]

Yeah. Me and a friend of mine.

[trafficreport]

[It's been a long time since he's had coffee, all right? Doesn't mind if it burns a little on the way down. Pain just means you're alive, all.]

How hard is it to grow? [He just got here and he's already trying to plan ahead long-term, and long-term, Jet would like some fucking coffee. This stuff is amazing.]

[theprezident]

[ Suuuure. ]

Uh ... Pretty easy? We didn't really have to try too hard. We just made sure they got water and they grew.

[trafficreport]

Where'd you get 'em?

[Not that Jet's a farmer or anything, but the ability to grow your own coffee sounds like the useful kind of thing that he'd like to be able to do in the long run.]

[theprezident]

From Odin.

They're not just my plants, though. They're for everyone. Plenty of coffee to go around.

[trafficreport]

[Sure, sure. But consider that Jet's a vigilant (read: paranoid) son of a bitch who likes to have his own eye on things.]

Trade with him? Or he just give 'em to you?

[theprezident]

[ Yeah, fair enough. ]

Just gave it to us. They're usually happy enough to do that.

[ A pause. ]

Or they do it just to get us out of their hair, but either way it's a win-win.

[trafficreport]

Hm.

[Interesting. So you can get free shit from the gods. Doesn't sound like a straight transaction. At least, it shouldn't be. What's to stop people from asking for whatever the hell they want?]

People ask for anything?

[theprezident]

I mean, I don't know everything that people have asked for, but ... It doesn't hurt? Pretty sure Honir would give you anything, if only to see for himself what it does. Or because he wants you to be happy.

[trafficreport]

[That sounds pretty dubious, and this doubt may or may not show on Jet's features. Or rather, what shows on his features is a faint frown. His expressions tend to be about as closed off as the man himself.]

Talk to them often?

[theprezident]

[ Maybe the doubt isn't super obvious, but Rhys knows it's there. At least, he always assumes it's there. What kind of person wouldn't be doubtful about this whole situation? Weirdos, that's who. ]

Sure. Not exactly a challenge. They're around.

[trafficreport]

"Around."

[Send them a letter? Call them up on his brand new bracelet? Can't say he likes the idea of the thing. He'd prefer a transmitter, a WKIL radio, literally anything besides this.]

Trust them?

[theprezident]

[ He shrugs. ]

I trust them to provide us with what we need and protect us from danger, because that's what they've been doing since we first arrived.

[ Does he trust that they're always truthful? Well ... More and more as time passes, truthfully, but if it were to become clear that they're the ones to blame for them being here or that they've known how to get them home all this time and haven't said? He wouldn't be shocked. ]

[trafficreport]

[That's a diplomatic answer. Not sure he trusts that, but it's a diplomatic answer.]

Been here long?

[theprezident]

Half a year. So far, still alive. [ He spreads his arms. ] Despite dragon attacks, and weird undead monster attacks, and bullshit like that.

[ What he's trying to say is that despite being stuck and all, it's not too bad. ]

[trafficreport]

I heard.

[He's gotten a vague crash course about some of it. About the dragon, the undead, and...]

Heard that people explode.

[theprezident]

Uhhhh. I don't remember that happening for ages.

[ Still kind of refuse to believe it ever happened to. If he doesn't believe it, he never exploded. ]

[trafficreport]

Doesn't mean it won't again.

[See, where Jet's from, zero people tend to explode spontaneously. The fact that this was ever a statistic in a state of flux is worth some concern, in his humble opinion.]

[theprezident]

He pauses for a moment, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

Okay, look. I'll be honest, I don't remember doing any exploding. I just heard others saying that's totally what happened. To me it just seemed like I passed out or something. But from my understanding, they've kind of ... fine-tuned the process now.

[trafficreport]

[Somehow, the idea of people being capable of exploding and someone not noticing it is more worrisome than the idea of people spontaneously combusting all on its own.]

Passed out?

[theprezident]

Something like that. Everything just ... went dark.

[ He shrugs. Not sure what else to call it, really. ]