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

[lethechained]

[ The irony of it is that Naminé never has quite managed to learn to take a rosy view of her own circumstances. The truth, ugly as it might be, is an old friend, and in her life a somewhat pessimistic sense of realism has become natural to her. But the way she deals with herself and the way she deals with others are two entirely different things; she knows, for instance, that other people benefit from encouragement, and in her desire to help those around her, to comfort Chizuru, it seems like the right course of action to take. Besides, most people have better luck than Naminé does. To her, there's no reason she's yet aware of that anything she's said to encourage the other girl is wrong.

But it feels like it is, somehow, and Naminé can't quite put her finger on why. Something in Chizuru's smile, maybe, or in the details between the words that Naminé can sense more than pull facts from. The blonde swallows the questions that rise in her mind, however; a feeling is just a feeling, after all, not something to base careless assumptions on.

And besides, the rest of what Chizuru said is perplexing enough. Just imagining it makes Naminé chest feel heavy with a mix of sympathy and secondhand nerves. ]

Really? [ It's hard to imagine being so bold herself. But to be interrupted - oh, that sounds terrible. Wilting, ] And he's not here with you...?

[ That, at least, seems like a safe assumption. ]

What was it that made you decide to tell him? Why - right then?

[tealeafs]

[ Chizuru shakes her head, truly unable to keep the sad edge out of her smile as she does so at the question. No, he isn't here.. She searched the whole city on her first day here - heck, even on her first few days, just in case she might have missed him somehow. But surely she would've known it by now if he was here. ]

I realised.. since he's fighting in a war, things could be over at any time. [ That's a safe statement to make without giving away that things were getting pretty dire for his side of said war, right? Even when you're on the winning side, an individual soldier could still be struck down at any time. ]

I wanted to make sure he'd know before that would happen. Of course I want him to live, more than anything, but.. just in case.. I really wanted to make sure he'd be able to pass on without regrets or thoughts of "what if" if something did happen.

[ She releases a breath, trying to smile more airily. ]

Sorry. This kind of talk must be kind of heavy, right?

[ Since Naminé.. probably.. wasn't involved in a war? Chizuru hopes so, anyway. No child should have to endure that sort of thing. Not even this depressing talk of it. ]

[lethechained]

[ It's clear from Naminé's face that she suspects just how deliberate that smile of Chizuru's is. The blonde knows a thing or two about faking smiles, to be sure, but right now - she does not do the same herself. Her concern is evident, though Naminé doesn't speak of it directly. The soft breath that leaves her throat like a sigh is a sympathetic sound all on its own, as well as an agreement; all those who fight so regularly stand a risk of losing, and for the consequences to be irreversible.

The girl looks as though she'd like to say something - more than a few somethings, maybe - that could help, but what is there to say to that? The reasoning is sound, as sad as it is. Those in Chizuru's position have so much to lose by not speaking up. The shift in her smile does nothing to convince Naminé, who recognizes some part of the truth already, but the younger girl makes the effort all the same to lessen the sadness of her own expression. That's the one thing she can do, isn't it? ]

… Yes, it is. [ She admits it after a moment, although this time she manages a wan sliver of a smile. ] But that's alright. I would rather think that you had the chance to talk about those sorts of things than that you kept them all inside. Even if I can't help -- I can still listen.

[tealeafs]

...

[ For a moment Chizuru just stares at the girl, and then she slowly starts to smile in a way that's more genuine, even though it's still kind of soft. She tries to push her own worries aside for now - nothing will come out of worrying in this place, anyway, where she's completely unable to do anything about the situation back home.

It's more important to focus on the things she can do right now. For the people here. ]

You're a very sweet girl, Naminé. Thank you.

[ So young, and clearly already burdened by so many things.. And yet she still wants to listen to others and help them out. Chizuru has real admiration for that.

Just then, the native returns with a towel. Chizuru smiles and thanks them with a slight bow before holding the towel out to Naminé. ]

Here. Now you can finally dry yourself, that should make you a bit more comfortable.

[lethechained]

[ Naminé stares back, almost as if she doesn't realize she's doing it. The silence, momentary though it might be, tugs at the blonde's natural concern, and her lips part slightly with an uncertainty that has the potential to become worry, eyes switching carefully between sides of Chizuru's face as the Nobody tries to ascertain the source of the other girl's quiet.

She has a hard time settling in her mind that the compliment has anything to do with that pause, but it matters little; Naminé is caught enough off-guard by the words that bashfulness makes her falter, one hand curling against the lower part of her own ribs. ]

I-- [ The air catches in her throat, the clear sign that she's stopped herself. 'I don't deserve that,' while her instinctive response, would do neither of them any good, would it? So she wills it back down, swallowing the words with the flutter of a blink as she readjusts. ]

… You're welcome. [ The words feel odd on her lips, a question mark hovering unbidden near the end of them, but there's a gentleness that makes clear she says it for Chizuru's sake. Easier is the softened, ] And... thank you. For saying so.

[ The native's arrival distracts Naminé sufficiently for her hand to fall again without her thinking about it, and despite her care around strangers she offers a quiet word of genuine thanks to the native as well before reaching to take the towel from Chizuru. With... the hand that had been holding onto the other girl before, which Naminé only seems to realize a moment late. ]

-- Oh!

[ They're free...! Naminé straightens, looking almost excited - though on a girl like her that's on the subtle side of it. ]

When did that happen--?

[ Whatever the case, she really ought to dry herself off; she realizes this not long thereafter and begins to do so in spite of her curiosity. She can listen and get cleaned up at the same time, after all. ]