AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

[asgardmods]

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! ]

Comments

[skaldish]

[ It took a lot more to acknowledge she was scared than she cares to admit. In a way it's a relief to get it out there, to articulate what it was she was feeling. On the other hand, saying it out loud and telling it to her brother has given it a tangibility that she's not sure she's comfortable with right now.

She thought for sure if she'd come to the party she'd be able to push all the hurt and pain away, but instead it had become the opposite and for once in her life, she feels more alone in a crowded place. She wonders in passing if that's how her brother and her cousin feel, being the more aloof personalities they are.

She swallows hard again, vision swimming from the tears spilling down her face, and nods in agreement. Especially now that both of them are crying. If she actually cared at all at the moment, she might be a little embarrassed at the two of them, grown adults, sobbing quietly in a corner. But that's the furthest thought from her mind.

Outside would be best. ]

We.. [ She sniffs hard. ] We can take a walk.

[ She tries to compose herself slightly as she stands from her chair, if not for her sake, at least for Onni's sake, wiping her face a little with the back of a hand. Now it was a matter of getting out of the castle grounds unmolested and, assuming Onni is following behind, Tuuri makes a beeline out of the grounds, stepping carefully and quietly in a way that would make Lalli proud. ]

[scowlish]

[Onni has some idea of how much it took Tuuri to acknowledge her feelings. He and Lalli have always been the type to mask their feelings with stoicism, to ignore them and push them down until they can be alone to work out their feelings. But Tuuri had always been different than both of them about this kind of thing. She's the sort of person who puts on a smile until the smile becomes real, who distracts her mind with pleasant things. It's no surprise she'd come here to try not to think about what she'd learned.

But in just the same way Onni always eventually finds his heartache breaking through his attempts to keep it down, it seems she's doing the same. It breaks his heart to see it, to know how much pain she must be in right now; it breaks his heart even more to know that there's nothing he can do to stop it. There's no way to protect her from this.

So instead, he presses the heel of his hand against his eyes, reaches forward to catch her hand in his, and lifts his chin as they leave the party together. They make their way outside, into the cool evening where they can have some privacy, and Onni moves forward, stepping in front of her, an instinctive thing he's done since they were children, putting himself between her and whatever might be lurking in the shadows under the nearby trees.]

Where...where do you want to go walk?

[It comes out hitched, because he's crying again, vision blurry, and he's still holding her hand, squeezing a little just to reassure himself that she's here and solid and warm and alive.]

[skaldish]

[ She feels Onni's hand grasps her and there's a nostalgic feeling to it - Even more so when he takes the lead and gives her hand a squeeze. It's almost like they're kids again. When things were simpler and life was kinder. More feelings bubble up and she sniffs hard. ]

... Just anywhere right now.

[ They make it to one of the larger trees before she pauses mid-walk, hand still holding on to her brother's, and bursts into fresh tears. She tries to stop it, tries to imitate the stoicism of her male relatives but for her troubles all she gets is a hiccup. She tries to calm her breath, squeeze her eyes shut, anything to keep the pain from creeping up in earnest but she can't seem to stop it. So instead, she lets it out. The one thought that's been dominating her mind after the revelation. She'd skirted around it when she mentioned she was scared earlier, but she lets it out crystal clear and very much tangible. ]

I don't want to die! I don't want to leave you and Lalli behind, I don't want to not see you again in the spring. I.. I.. [ She trails off, unsure what else to say after her outburst. ]

[scowlish]

[When she says that they can go anywhere, Onni lifts his head and scans the area looking for some trees, for anything close to a forest. It's in their Finnish blood to seek solace in the forest, and he knows that's just as true for Tuuri as it is for him. So he leads her toward the trees, and as soon as she's under the first big one, she stops, still holds his hand.

And she starts to cry. He can see her struggling with it, trying to hold it in, and it hurts to watch, his throat feels so tight it aches, his head is already pounding, his eyes are wet as he watches the tears spill down her cheeks. The moment she lets go and stops fighting it, he feels the tears fall down his own cheeks, and as he's about to reach for her, she suddenly blurts out what she's crying about.

That she doesn't want to die. That she doesn't want to leave him and Lalli behind. That she wants to see him again in spring. Onni takes a shuddering breath, and more tears fall down his cheeks. It hurts, there's so much grief wound up in him, he hasn't had the time or strength to cry about it yet, not even when he was by himself, and it's become so big and wound itself up so tight into the core of him that it feels like pulling out his own guts to release any of it.

He certainly can't speak, he can barely see her through the haze of tears, his throat feels closed off, his chest hitches hard as he tries to breathe, and he just shakes his head, pulls her in by the hand and wraps his arms around her, pulls her against himself. Buries his face into her hair, and she smells like home, she reminds him of his mother, her face and her hair and her smell, and his chest hitches again, he makes a low choking noise against her hair, hiding his face.

For a while, they stand there together, grieving her together. It should feel like a release, but it doesn't, it feels like a confirmation that she's gone, even if she's here and in his arms and crying against his chest, breathing and warm with her heart beating. His hand comes back to cup against the back of her head, he brushes fingers through her hair, he presses the other flat against her back, and he cries until he can't anymore.

When he finally catches his breath for the most part, he speaks, his voice quiet and rough and for her ears only.]

You're...you're here now. We can talk. We can be around each other. I won't...let them send you back.

[It's said with utmost conviction, because he has defied gods to keep his family alive before, and he has no intention of not trying again.]

[skaldish]

[ Tuuri lets herself get pulled against her brother as she sobs and she just bawls against his shoulder, letting all the pent up sorrow she feels go from a constant trickle to a flood. Part of her knows she's probably a mess, hiccuping and sobbing audibly, although it's muffled thanks to Onni's bulk. But she doesn't care. After all that's happened today, she deserves to allow herself this raw display of emotion.

She grieves for her brother and Lalli losing more family, she grieves for never seeing another spring in their world - when everything bursts into life and green, and most importantly, she grieves for a future she'll never get to see.

Tuuri remains like that for a few moments before finally pulling back when Onni speaks, rubbing her red-rimmed eyes with the back of her hand, a few errant sniffles still remaining.]

I know. We.. We should make the best of the time we do have... [ She looks at him with some cautious hope in her eyes when he mentions not letting them send her back. ] I.. Do you think so?

[scowlish]

[She is a mess - a teary, sobbing, hiccuping mess, and Onni loves her. He couldn't love her more, he feels full to the brim with it, closes his eyes and holds her and rubs her back and lets her hide some of that vulnerability against him, where it's safe and she's loved.

And finally, when they're both able to speak, she pulls back and looks up at him, rubbing at her eyes and sniffling a little. He reaches down into his pocket and pulls out a bit of cloth, hands it to her wordlessly, and listens to what she's saying. That they should make the best of the time they do have. Something about that makes him feel abruptly and intensely angry, because he remembers when she had been out in the Silent World and no one had told him, that he hadn't had a chance to make the most of the time they had then - but he'd been asleep, then. He couldn't have talked to her, even if they had told him, and reminding himself of that soothes some of that momentary flash of anger.

Lifting his own hand, he rubs his knuckles against his red-rimmed eyes, maybe a little too roughly, and nods when she asks if he thinks he could keep them from sending her home. He nods.]

You're here, and you're alive right now. This isn't the afterlife, and it's nice enough. I'll think on it, maybe talk to the gods, find some way to keep you here or bargain to let you go home as you are now and not as you were.

[The one hand that isn't still pressed against her back and shoulder curls up into a tight fist, his own nails digging into his palm.]

I won't lose you again.

[skaldish]

[ Tuuri accepts the handkerchief of sorts and wipes her tears and ungracefully blows her nose, her breathing finally starting to slow down and resume a regular rhythm instead of the hitched gasps and hiccups of earlier. While she's still hurting and raw, she's starting to get a better handle on things, albeit slowly. ]

I.. I can help too! I think the god I'm under might be receptive to these things.. Maybe. Either way, we can do it together. Maybe between the two of us we can make a good case for me. [ It's her life on the line and she thinks it would be unfair to have Onni shoulder the burden completely no matter what his opinion on it was. ]

Onni... [ She's not sure what to say to that statement. She's acutely aware of the grief they both share at the moment and knows that words would mean nothing. So instead she grasps her brother's free hand, freeing it from its fist state, and gives it a reassuring squeeze. She isn't planning on going anywhere. ]