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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[ Consider her fucking shook, her eyes are as wide as saucers, mouth slack and open with her wonder. That is Deathtrap alright. Her robot, down to every little detail as she leans in. Hovering away - after all, he doesn't have legs, he usually hovers. Bracing her hands on her legs, she bends to inspect him, because for better or worst, she is so wholly herself, all at once. ]

Yeah, he's helped me fight from one end of Pandora to the other, we even found the vault together, I built him to -

[ There's just one... little problem. ]

... Why is he... so small?

Well, it's not really him.

[ Duh, Honir. He smiles a bit sheepishly, then lifts it towards her a little more. ]

I can't get the real one back to you, but I thought it might be nice if you had something to say hi to anyway!

[ And rather than look excited, her face just - falls. Her big wide eyes beginning to well up, not in anger or frustration.

No, it's just a look of pure devastation. If there is a faster way to gut her open, she doesn't know one. Not even a buzzsaw to the knee could crumple her faster as she catches up to what Honir says. ]

W-what? What do you mean he's gone? He can't be gone!

[ Oh no! Sad water! No one ever told him what to do about sad water! Honir lifts both hands in a vaguely reassuring/surrendering sort of way. (The Deathtrap mini stays floating right where he left it in midair.) ]

I mean, he's not gone so much as he's just… not here? He still exists right where you left him! Just… not here.

[ And he's not sure how helpful that is so he just kind of frowns and waits to see if she's okay. ]

[ It doesn't help. But there is very little that could. Her face falling further and further. The tears starting to genuinely well in her eyes now as it begins to take stock.

She hasn't been without him. And here she is. No other Vault Hunters. Not even CL4P-TP, and now - ]

Why isn't he here?! People could do anything to him if I'm not there with him. People do awful things to robots and we're both wanted by the law and - [ Her voice is only getting higher with the fear of it. She had just heard what happened to Felicity, that poor robot, the awful things Jack had done not only to her, but to CL4P-TP whole line, and now he was alone? Without her? ] - and I made him! By myself! We've done everything together, I haven't been off-world without him - He's my best friend!

[ Oh no! ]

Um! Um!

[ What should he do? She's just getting sadder! But he's her boss, right? So what is a boss thing to do right now? ]

Okay, uhh. Okay!

[ There's a little bit (read as: a lot) of frantic energy to him, but he looks genuinely concerned and determinedly sincere as he holds his empty hand out to her. ]

Can I hold your hand to can show you something?

[ The look she gives him is one of deep, deep suspicion. As far as her hurt goes right now, he's as much to blame as the trees are in this place - in the sense that she will burn them both if it made her robot come back.

But he hadn't hurt her. So she doesn't go reaching for the proverbial flamethrower just yet. ]

Why?

I'm not very good at words, but I think I can at least show you where you left him. Or rather, why he'll be okay, and how you'll go right back home to him!

[ Without anything passing in between, the same way she arrived here. There's a look of uncertainty on his face, because he's not really sure how to convince her of anything, but keeps his hand offered steadily anyway. ]

[ The frown doesn't shift off her face - still not happy about this. Any of this. Her robot was and always would be everything to her. But to that same end, this matters more, knowing he's okay. This guy seemed nice, as much as nice meant anything, but he was what she had at this point.

So wordless, she shoves her hand into his. Frowning up at him - okay. Do it, whatever it is. ]

[ Honir gives her a light smile - and then all she can see is darkness.

It is a dark, empty space with no boundaries or distance to be fathomed. There is simply the faint sound of water bubbling up and spilling over for a few seconds, before a pool of it begins glowing a faint gold out of the darkness. It pours down the sides of what seem like steps of some sort, invisible in the blanket of darkness but outlined by the glowing water as it trails from one step to the next.

The water continues to spread out until there is eventually only one water droplet trickling down its own golden path. It suddenly drops, and the moment it might've hit the surface of a hidden pool in the darkness -

a vision of a much younger Gaige appears. It's the first time she sketched the idea of a prototype D374-TP. After a few seconds, the visions shifts to her working with the metal and wiring. Next, it's the first time it powered on. Then it's the science fair. Sitting with Deathtrap as they booked it a million miles to nowhere.

It continues in this way, showing brief glimpses of Gaige's life with Deathtrap, until the vision eventually reaches the scene of her canon point. After a few seconds of moving at a normal speed, the vision slows and freezes in place - her last moments with Deathtrap suspended in time for just a few seconds longer -

and then the vision flashes back to that golden droplet of water reversing direction from where it had splashed into the darkness. Instead of trailing back up the steps, it rapidly rises through that dark space and splashes into another unseen pool of water on the "ceiling."

Gaige's eyes will open at that precise moment with a sudden, deep inhale that eases off into a slow exhale. Honir is still there in front of her with a faint smile, although both of his hands are now at his sides.

(The small Deathtrap is still floating peacefully in the air nearby). ]

He'll still be there, and no one can hurt him, because you didn't really leave him. Technically.

[ what she thinks of - first and foremost - was the distant memory of the control core. Of Angel, not - everything that had passed afterwards. A day so jarringly disjointed in her mind - that taught her, really taught her, where the line was, between good and bad. But the time before it, in that unreal space that the Siren that was Handsome Jack's daughter, had drawn them into a space that was real and not real. Where they saw things and those things weren't real but they felt like they should be.

She sees her life. Every good and bad day. Everything happening so terribly much, and her and her robot going through it all. That there is blood there, blood enough to drown this place. The screaming insanity that is Pandora, that is the life that Gaige knew, that could soak every single person standing in this room through.

It's a lot. Her life wasn't what anyone called easy, and she has a habit, no, a skill, as important as walking and breathing, to not look back. Not remember. Not think about it. She can't think about it -

Because she's lost. Without fear or rage, she's just lost. That if he wants the tears to go away, to ease that sense of vulnerability, he gives as much as takes in it. At least she knows, her best friend is safe. At least she knows the other guys are safe. They had each other, they always had each other's back and she could count on them, there -

but here? Here she is alone.

When it ends, the instinct presses forwards in her to move because that's the only one she possesses. Snatching for that little replication of her robot and drawing it into her chest tightly. Holding it so close with both arms wrapped around. Her teeth gritting. Reaching for her childish, furious indignance over everything else because right now, that's all she has left. ]

If you're lying [ Shaking, breathing. She didn't get this far by not expecting lies and betrayal. That no one is ever actually as good as their word so it must be said - ] And anything happens to my friends, I am going to come back here and rip out all of your teeth one by one. I don't care if you're some freaking God.

[ It's better and worse than before. Now it's not shouted, hissed. It's exhausted, and it's afraid, and it's an animal doing the things it knows how to do. But trying to hide it desperately under what is left when everything else was gone.

And she hugs DT only tighter. ]

[ Honir stays where he is, patient with a somber smile, and just lets her feel whatever she's going to feel. ]

I can always make more teeth.

[ He says it earnestly, not disputing that a) she'd find a way to do it, 2) he might deserve it, or c) he wouldn't stop her. They're in a very strange situation, and mortal emotion is a powerful thing. Honir's not the sort to question what might come out of that. ]

And I hope we can get you back to them very soon. I don't really know much about what a boss is supposed to do, but I'm not good at lying and I don't want you to be sad. I'll try my hardest to have some big ideas!

[ Like the tiny Deathtrap! Which is more like a small idea, actually - but at least it turned out to be a good one for now. ]

Good! I want a necklace!

[ It's stubborn as much as petulant. Teeth sunk in and shaking against the bite as she holds on.

But the heat, with her robot cradled in close, she holds tight and it starts to ease in her chest. His well-meaning confusing, more than anything, settled her. Reminded her of home. Of Krieg, and Tannis and Brick. They didn't always get it, but they were always trying, in their confused, sort of messed up way.

She looks down at her little robot and leans in to rub her cheek on his little face fondly, listening for that growly mechanical purr of his engines in affirmation. If Honir was trying, then she was trying. ]

There is only one bit that matters: you don't fuck us over. You don't betray us. You don't hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it. You have our backs, no matter what else, on the stuff that matters. And you do all that? It means, if anyone fucks with you, we have yours. I'm your Vault Hunter, now. Means you give the word and say 'hit this, stomp that, punch that guy in the face, collect this thing from this place', and I do it, without question until you tell me to stop.

[ Had as good as the only payment she cares about, tucked in little and the desperate need to attach herself to someone - and a confused well-meaning God? Well, she's picked worse. ] I have your back and you have mine. There's this old fashioned word they called it? Uh, Champion. Yeah. Whenever you want it. I've probably done it before, anyway. You call me, and I'm there. Right by your side, no matter what.

Sound good, Boss?

[ If a picture is worth a thousand words, have this GIF for a million words to describe Honir's immediate awe and enthusiasm. He didn't understand some of what she said, but you've got him all revved up and ready to go anyway, Gaige. ]

Yes! It's good! I'll fight the whole multiverse for you!

[ At least, this is the main point he's taking away from that. ]

I learned so much from you today, Gaige. I'm a boss with a Vault Hunter champion! How exciting is that?

[ By the look of him, it's the most exciting thing that's ever happened in his several thousand years of existence. ]

[ Grinning, even as she holds her robot tight, she just can't help it. He's just as infectiously happy as she was. Reminded her a bit of Tina, in a way, as something cuts through that unspoken fear she'd been feeling about it all. How lost and off-kilter she had been. ]

Pretty fucking cool, I'm a Vault Hunter with a God or whatever for a Boss. Never been one of those before.

[ New, she could work with that, and meant it gave her something to latch onto. ]

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AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

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