asgardchrysalis | AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Who: EVERYONE
What: the August intro log and first god house competition, More Than Meets the Eye
When: August 8
Where: Gladsheim Palace for breakfast, around Asgard for the game/curse
Rating: PG-13; please take anything higher than this to a private log!

morning: a warm invitation

Everyone wakes up to a friendly invitation to breakfast at the castle with the gods. For most of you, this comes as a message on your bracelet, reading:

Join us at the castle today to welcome some new Wanderers into our midst. Breakfast will be served and a lively game will be available to all of our guests, both new and old.

New Wanderers are curious on their own, and this is the first there's ever been mention of a game. Perhaps it's enough for you to make the trek to the castle, to see what all the fuss is about, or maybe even to see if there's someone you know. Perhaps you want to learn more about the game, or maybe you just want the food.

For our new guests, this comes as a bit more of a surprise. Wherever you were before in your world, without even realizing it, you wake up in a strange new place. No time or space inbetween, just an awareness of There and then Here. A matronly figure tries to explain your circumstances with a sympathetic smile, but ultimately invites you meet them all for yourselves: the Gods of Asgard, and the Wanderers that arrived before you.

The sight that greets you on the castle grounds is a rather festive one, regardless of where you're coming from. Colorful streamers and flags are draped above large tables with room for several guests. Natives bustle about, cheerfully offering food and drinks to anyone that wants some. Everyone is welcomed to mingle and greet the new Wanderers on this bright summer morning.

the game: a friendly competition

Among the brightly decorated tables are ones highlighted in a specific color for a specific god house, and most of the gods themselves can be found sitting behind it with a few of their district's natives. They are here to welcome the new Wanderers into Asgard - but they're also here to explain the rules of today's game. There are coins hidden throughout the city and disguised as mundane items, and the god house that returns the most of their coins will win an upgrade to their god housing! No hints will be given, but the natives are excited to help facilitate the activity and happily invite you to wander through their districts to find what you can.

But you don't have to know about the rules to be playing the game! The coins are already hidden throughout the city, and no one knows what they are until they've been picked up. Whether you're banding together with friends to find as many coins as you can or blindly stumbling over an unpleasant surprise, the game and the curse are in full swing!

evening: a fair prize

At sundown, all of the coins in the city disappear at once, whether they're in your pocket or still disguised as a bowl. Points will be tallied and a winner will be announced (OOCly, on August 17) - but Asgardians are keen to celebrate regardless of who wins a rather inconsequential game. The same colorful display of tables and chairs is still spread across the castle grounds, although now they twinkle with fairy lights haphazardly blinking throughout the air. Snacks and drinks are made available, as well as more dinner-shaped meals for those that request it. Mostly the natives simply want to bask in the strangeness of these Wanderers from other worlds for a moment longer - but they're also eagerly listening to any stories from the day's mischievous game. Relax, enjoy yourself, or again, just stock up on some freely served food. Whatever suits your needs today. Welcome to Asgard, dear Wanderers.

[ OOC NOTE: This is the intro log for August, as well as our first god house competition/curse: More Than Meets the Eye. You are free to play with the curse prompts and searching the city in any way you want! If you would like to submit a map to earn points for your god house, please check out the rules to learn what to do. We will accept maps until August 17, at which point a winner will be announced and members of that god house will be allowed to vote for an upgrade to their god housing. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or need any help on the mod contact page. Enjoy, friends! ]

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[ She's contemplating how she's going to convince him when he makes it clear he's kidding and she relaxes her shoulders. ]

Well, I think that's the point? We get compelled to tell the truth about something, or we do something unexpected.

[ Offering praise really isn't something anyone has to explain themselves over when it comes to Jim. He loves compliments, and being a little vain, anything about his looks is particularly welcome. Even about things he knows all too well by now, like his bright blue eyes. ]

I don't know, you could've been dared to tell a lie. [ He teases, then offers a hand. ] I'm Jim. Just arrived-- also playing that scavenger hunt game, though I've been luckier than you so far.

[ The offered hand is given a shake. ]

Tessa. And it figures I'd run into people not getting trolled by this game. I haven't found any real coins so far.

[ There's a quick glance back towards where the object was, now completely gone. ]

But, hey. If we both touch an object at the same time... what god house are you in?

[ A plan is formulating. ]

Well, I've only gotten started, so I wouldn't talk just yet. It could still screw me over.

[ It probably will, even. He's not expecting every cursed object he finds to turn into a coin from his house. Speaking of... ]

Ah. Honir. [ He lifts his arm to show his bracelet. ] You?

It's not the worst thing in the world. Just sort of embarrassing.

[ And Tessa already feels awkward enough sometimes. ]

Mimir. That's good. I was thinking we grab an object at the same time. That way, if it's like, Honir's house, it won't straight up disappear when I touch it, because it's yours, y'know? We could help each other out.

I promise you, that wasn't at all embarrassing. It was very nice to hear.

[ And Jim does mean that. She doesn't need to feel awkward around him over it, really. ]

That's... an interesting way to go around the rules, [ He comments, a pleased smile on his face. Yeah, he thinks he likes her. ] Okay, sounds like a plan to me. Let's keep going together and see how that works.

[ She shrugs, thinking it makes sense. The thing is, she chose Mimir's house on a whim, not thinking she had any skill at making plans or coming up with tactics. She'd left that all to the person she'd been traveling with because she's indecisive as all get out. But she gravitated to the house for a reason, and it's because she did pick up a few things while trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. ]

Cool. Well, they said the coins aren't in our personal stuff, so let's just keep hitting the public areas.

[ Maybe it's exactly her lack of skill when it comes to decision making that has drawn her to the house, and it will help her develop that part about her. Jim had too briefly pondered Mimir's house. He's good at making plans, but he also does tend to act on impulse when in dangerous situations, so he's really a bit of both. ]

Okay, then. I was headed this way, [ He gestures down the street. ] Picking up anything I could find along the way. Only found one object so far, and it turned into a Honir coin.

[ His lips twitch into a playful smile. ] Who knows, maybe I'll be the one complimenting your eyes next.

Ha, as if.

[ She starts moving in the direction he indicates, looking for anything that looks like it can be picked up. ]

What do you think of Honir? I've talked to him a bit.

Hey, why not? They're pretty eyes. [ He pauses, and further adds, since he doesn't really care for the concept of embarrassment. ] Although to be fair, you have plenty of other nice features I could focus on. You know, if I find one of those cursed objects.

[ Long shot, he knows. Paying compliments is just one of the curses after all, he could get literally any of the others, except Honir's. ]

He's a little... odd. But I would expect no differently from a Norse God. He seems pretty fun, though. I'll have to talk a little better with him sometime.

[ She turns back, about to explain why, but she stops short and actually blushes a little before shrugging. It's hard to explain because even she isn't sure why. Maybe because the guy she wanted to find her pretty and tell her so never did? ]

Well, I won't be able to stop you, will I?

[ So maybe she will hear something after all. ]

He kind of seems like Baby's First Day as a God. He's super clueless about stuff. [ Are people gonna feel insulted if she speaks about their gods this way? ] But he's nice.

[ Well, clearly that guy needed to get his eyes checked, that's Jim's expert opinion. ]

No, I suppose not. Just the way of the curse. [ He sighs like it's totally a bummer. (It's not, really.) ]

That's... how I'd describe him, yeah. But I think most of us feel pretty clueless right now. I know I do, at least. [ He shrugs. ] Maybe that makes his house even more fitting for me.

[ Tessa smirks a little, because he's got a point. She's trying her best, but magic? She's totally clueless about it all. ]

Nah, we'd all be crowding into his house if it was for the clueless, right? You must like... traveling, and exploring stuff, huh?

[ She'd thought about Honir's house for a second. After all, she did a ton of traveling on foot and learned to scout out safe areas. But that wasn't by choice; it was a necessity. ]

[ He lets out a soft chuckle, nodding. ]

Fair enough. And yes, I like traveling. It's a huge part of my daily life, being captain of a starship and all.

[ He'd probably be pretty miserable if he didn't like traveling around. Luckily he's never been much the sort to consider settling... save for that fluke before he ran into Krall and his crew, but he's hardly counting that. ]

For real?

[ She stops in her tracks, giving him a look. ]

Is that the same as a spaceship? Because you've the second dude I've met who travels through space. Have you met aliens? Because that guy knows aliens.

Starship's just a more recent word for spaceship, so yes, it's like that.

[ He looks over with a knowing smile. ] I take it you mean Peter? I've met him, too. And yes, I have... met aliens. More than just met, even, a good third of my crew is comprised of non-humans, so I work and live alongside them.

[ He has also done plenty more than that with aliens, but anyway. ]

[ She just shakes her head in disbelief. ]

We didn't even have contact with aliens yet. I mean, except the people who swore they were abducted.

Doesn't it get freaky, traveling out in space?

Oh, yeah. Those rumors were pretty popular in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. [ Jim chuckles, shaking his head. People, so silly sometimes. ]

Well... sometimes we do run into some pretty weird stuff. But the unusual is almost part of our routine, we learn to adapt to every situation, or at least try our best.

[ He shrugs. ] It's fun, though. You get to meet a lot of different people, and see a lot of different things. It's an exciting job-- and an exciting life.

[ Tessa really doesn't relate to an exciting life because she doesn't consider running from zombies to be the "right" kind of exciting. ]

Does that mean you've adapted well to being here?

[ Yikes. Yep, definitely not the right kind of exciting, he'd be inclined to agree. ]

Sure. I mean, I've only just gotten here, but so far it's going well. People are friendly too, that helps.

Yeah, like really friendly, right? It's like some weird kind of social experiment to see what we do when we're all stuck in the same situation. Personally, I expected a hell of a lot more anarchy.

[ But maybe her view is skewed from personal experience. ]

Oh, dude, look. [ Immediately switching gears, she points at a book left out on a stone bench. ] That could be a coin.

Maybe enough of us are used to stressful and unexpected situations. I can only speak for myself, but stuff like this is often part of my job, so for me trust and cooperation is just the norm, when I know from experience that's the best way to deal with a situation like this.

[ He looks over, eyebrow lifting. ] Odd place for a book. [ Not all the objects have been that obvious, but who knows? He shrugs, making his way over. ] Come on. Let's give it a try.

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AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

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