asgardchrysalis | INTRO LOG + SKADI CURSE.

INTRO LOG + SKADI CURSE.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Really. [Right, now he understands the amusement, and one corner of Rhus' lips quirk upward in return-- though perhaps the biggest show of his interest in the situation is the swaying of his tail behind him.

Here they are, a Miqo'te with a not-so-typical Miqo'te name, and a Hyur with a good, strong Eorzean Hyur name, and yet both are so damned similar.]

I'd say this is a fortuitous meet, then. It's not every day you come across someone with almost the exact same.

[ Somehow, Rhus manages to be one of the most strange-looking people Rhys has met too. Not because of the ears or the tail on their own, but simply because he has furry ears and a furry tail while the rest of him seems to have skin.

Emphasis on 'seems to'.

He finally stands again, with his own cup in hand. ]

No. Rhys isn't exactly very common either. We can form a club.

[ Or something. ]

Hrm. [His ears twitch. Given Rhys is still a stranger, he cant be sure if the Hyur is joking or not. But for the sake of the conversation, the Miqo'te will act as if he is.

And fire back with his own.]

Oh really? A club created from those four letters? That would be a feat of carpentry, though mayhap not entirely stable. [He gestures with the hand holding the cup-- though notice he hasn't taken a sip yet.]

Purely decorative, I'm sure. And not for actually clubbing others 'round the head.

[ You know, he has no idea if Rhus actually doesn't know that meaning of the word 'club', but whether he does or not, Rhys figures it's safe enough to laugh. So he won't bother trying to stop it. ]

Bit more decorative, yeah.

So. New arrival?

Whatever gave you that idea? [He waves the hand with the cup again.]

Am I that distinct of a man? Never seen me before?

Definitely haven't. I dunno about where you're from, but there aren't many men with furry ears around here.

[And one of those furry ears flick, like it's attempting to dislodge a fly.]

'S a good point. [After all, from what he's seen... even the gods seem like standard Hyur. Or Hume. Or whatever in the bloody hells they call it here.] Then aye-- I am new here.

Well-- Welcome to Asgard. I've been here for more than half a year now, so if you have any questions I can probably answer them.

More than half a year? [His brow rises, and if his fringe and eyepatch weren't in the way, its twin would have been visible as well. That's so concerning. More than, in fact, because he doesn't have that sort of time on his hands, with how things tend to escalate in Norvrandt and Eorzea...

He sighs heavily, placing one hand on his hip and finally raising his cup to his mouth. He wishes, just a little, that it were coffee-flavoured alcohol instead.]

How do you deal with the itch to move?

Uhhh.

[ He scratches idly at his head. ]

I think it helps that I've always been pretty happy spending most of my time behind a desk? But I did spend the first months bored a lot.

Edited 2020-03-13 18:54 (UTC)

[Rhus' brow furrows so much at that declaration, ears twitching this way and that, as if he's questioning what enjoyment is to be had sitting at a desk, doing what he assumes is bookkeeping and ledgers and what ever else... And for a brief moment, that indeed crosses his mind, until he reminds himself that Tataru and Hancock derive their fun from the same (among other things...), and concludes that this man may just be in the same business as them, or along those lines.

So perhaps he should tread carefully around Rhys in some aspects.]

No sense of adventure?

No. Not really. I've had my adventure, and I'd be more than happy to live the rest of my life somewhere nice and cushy and calm. Probably not actually going to happen, but ... I can dream.

[ When you're the CEO of a big corporation - which he intends Atlas to be - in the Borderlands, it's not likely to stay nice and cushy and calm for very long. ]

[Ah, now Rhus understands-- he's retired, or moved on to something else entirely. Definitely something Rhus would love to do, even if he cannot.

... Though he definitely would not find solace behind a desk with papers. Mayhap a loom, instead. Or surrounded by cute serpent pets.]

It does tend to do that, I've noticed. [He crosses his arms over his chest and raises the one visible eyebrow.] I don't envy you one bit about any messes that might be coming your way, I think.

No, I don't think you do.

So. Where are you from?

[Rhus' lips almost crook upward, showing just how much he doesn't envy Rhys, even if he would sympathize.]

Eorzea. From Eorzea, the westernmost continent of the world from which I come. [Technically true, but he doesn't call it home either. He was merely in Eorzea before coming here, and Rhus thinks that's enough to constitute a truth.]

Does the world have a name?

["The Source," he almost says, but that would create an entire slew of questions he would refuse to answer. Instead, Rhus has to steel himself to respond properly, in the way only people of the Source describe their home.]

Hydaelyn-- named thus after the goddess that made it. [And doesn't that leave a foul taste in his mouth? But his expression is carefully neutral, if with a slight tilt of his head, as if attempting to remember an old school lesson.]

[ A goddess. Man, gods just aren't really a thing back home anymore. ]

What's it like? Do you have magic?

[ Yes, he's going to keep asking question until Rhus interrupts him somehow. ]

Yes. [He raises his brow again-- Rhys did ask, though he did not question further, like taking into account specifics.

So the Miqo'te will simply stare at him, waiting for another question to come his way.]

Err--

[ Really? Obviously he wants more than that, Rhus. Don't be obtuse on purpose. ]

What kinds of magic?

[Ah, he asked. He really asked.

Rhus tilts his head, ears twitching.]

Dancer magicks. [Is this real? The look on his face is entirely innocent-- again. But with how he's been going with this, is there really any way to tell if he's taking taking the piss, or actually being truthful?]

[ UNSURE ]

Sooo, do you usually respond to questions with the bare minimum you can get away with?

Edited 2020-03-30 09:52 (UTC)

Aye, I do. [The hint of fang he shows when he grins should tell Rhys that Rhus is indeed playing with him. Perhaps not as much as he would with other people, but then again... There's always next time, isn't there?

It should be a sobering thought, that he may just be here long enough to have a "next time", but at the moment, it isn't.]

I can be loquacious as needed as well, but what would be the sense in that, if I can find as few words as possible to make my intentions crystalline? [Then his ears twitch forward.] Woulds't thou desire to decipher this speech for the foreseeable future?

[Urianger might have cringed, or perhaps nodded in delight, but Rhus did his best impressions.]

[ He pauses for a moment, considering it. ]

I don't know, if I had to choose between being loquacious and not, I'm going to choose loquacious.

But also I am genuinely interested in what magic is like in Hyd...i... Where you're from.

... Heh. [Well, perhaps Rhus brought that upon himself. Of course, he's not truly going to speak like an elf who spends all his days surrounded by tomes written by the forebears of other peoples' forebears, but he's just going to speak... a little more.

Just a little more.]

You'll have to be more specific than that, then. Because "magic" is such a broad term that you might as well be speaking of day-to-day life.

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