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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"You know the Halloway family? The rich jerkbags?"

Well, who didn't on Eden-5.

"I was the same year as their daughter, Marcie Halloway. After she stole my idea, and my designs for DT, to sell them to freaking police. You know like those corrupt jerk bags need help. Then entered into the science competition, with MY idea. But go figure, her idea was shit compared to mine, I should have won and everyone knew it. They knew it so much, that Marcie's dad paid off the judge's panel."

She's gesturing with it wildly, getting angrier as she goes with the story. "And I got third place. Third place!"

A snort.

"Yeah. Of course they did."

Duh. Sounds Eden-5, all right. They were few enough for Rhys to count them on his hands, but plenty of people would get good grades who definitely didn't deserve them but, really, what does it matter? Let teachers take their bribes and the idiots who don't have the know-how to do their work gets the short end of the stick in the end anyway.

...

Well, sometimes. Unless their dad or mom is up for coddling their kid forever even when said kid is messing up their company.

"What would you get for first place anyway? Why did you want it so bad?"

Edited 2019-09-06 06:11 (UTC)

"Uh, buddy you forget money rules the world? My parents are Tediore retirees. We aren't exactly loaded. This was my chance to land a scholarship with any university I wanted or get a job offer right after school was finished. Plus, she stole my idea. Yeah I freaking care."

Duh.

"Anyway, didn't happen. Obviously. She won, and but Marcie couldn't help but come over and gloat at me. That she had won and I hadn't, and she... shoved me. And - I kind of made a mistake in my calculations? It was tiny. Just forgot to adjust one little zero in DT digistructing claws, that I had made initially to stop bullies, that was all. DT was supposed to help with that, and he just - did what he was supposed to. It should have been fine."

And she still sounds, that little bit nervous, panicked, despite the years since then. But it doesn't get better, the distinctive night that the whole world went to hell. That she lost the chance to ever go home again. Made her a Vault Hunter. Made her run and never stop. She hadn't wanted to kill Marcie. Highschool's bullies were just a fact of life. They happened, it didn't mean she wanted her dead, just to show her up. Show off how good she was in comparison.

But then she was -

"Marcie - just - exploded. Like, bits, everywhere, blood, just - over the walls. Just. Boom. Gone. I had to pick her teeth out of my hair. Everything went to hell."

"Oh. Shit."

Gaige had been ... perfectly normal. As normal as anyone can be outside of Pandora, anyway, which is honestly pretty normal. She just wanted to go to university, find a job, not have to worry too much about money.

That's why she's on Pandora now. Much easier to stay off people's radar.

"Wow. That sucks." For everyone involved. What does he even say? "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. It did." He doesn't, but she does at least. Used to it now. Not just that this is her life, but that life sucked. For everyone. Things just freaking happened some times, and compared to all the days that would follow? It seemed small now. "I was facing life in prison when I'd never been in trouble once before in my life. I'd never even gotten detention. I was a whole lot of talk and no teeth, never actually stepped a toe out of line, I had no idea what to do. But my Dad - he helped me out. Staged this big diversion, and I ran the chance I got. Ticket to the first place I could think of where no one from Eden would follow me. So, off I went, straight to Pandora."

Not an easy choice, and yet, at the time - the only choice. Live or die, run and don't stop, not if you don't want to get caught. If you don't want the thing that was chasing you to catch you. Law enforcement, skags or loader bots. It's what kept her alive. All mean spaces between the ribs. The hollow under her tongue when it clicks against her teeth. That fidget in her body that is never still, because stillness no longer served it.

"Halloway's still have a bounty out on me. It's for like, a bajillion dollars. But yeah, after Jack, no one has bothered to claim it. Officially not worth it when I got DT and hang out with people like Maya and Zer0 and Salvador. And Axton. And Krieg. Especially Krieg. Hooo, boy, no one is ever ready for Krieg."

Yeah, it checks out. He's pretty sure the bounties on all the Vault Hunters are gathering dust by now. It just isn't worth it, no matter how many zeroes you'd get. It's possible Hyperion would still pay it, considering the Vault Hunters killed Handsome Jack, but the question doesn't need answering anyway.

Everything considering, he supposes Pandora is better than prison.

A lot more exciting, anyway.

"Do I want to know about Krieg?"

Probably not, but here he is, asking.

Edited 2019-09-11 10:34 (UTC)

There's a little hum. "You ever seen a Badass Psycho? The really big ones. Not just a bandit, but the guys that got mutated to be 8 feet tall, and covered in muscles. Krieg is one of them."

You can't miss 'em. If not the actual thing the planet was really known for. "Just not quite. See, he wasn't the slow product of years of exposure. He was a normal guy, we think, but he was... experimented on by Hyperion. The scientists tortured him, twisted him. Until he turned up the other side like that. But... we don't know. It's not like he's capable of talking to us but ... he understands. Somewhere in there. He's devoted to Maya the Siren, he goes anywhere she goes. I mean, still crazy. But, good. Good kind of crazy."

Which is - well, it's honest. It's Pandora. That's what you get. At least Krieg knew what he was. Followed it like a line. They may not know what was going on in that crazy landscape that was his head but, as long as they knew that about them, then? Well, the rest didn't matter.

Luckily, he's never seen that. Just ... normal sized psychos, and that was enough. There's a full-body shiver at the very idea of it. Sounded terrifying. This Krieg guy? Also sounded really terrifying, 'good' kind of crazy or not. Not someone Rhys wanted to run into in an alleyway.

The fact that Hyperion caused it for him ... No, that's not surprising. Why wouldn't they do shit like that? The place is rotten to the core.

But, really, what isn't?`

"Are we sure Pandoran brand psychos can't understand too?"

Is there actually such a thing as a good kind of crazy.

Wow. He really hadn't been on Pandora that long, had he? She blinks at him, mild in surprise that he didn't know the difference.

"No. They don't. I mean they do, but the big difference is they don't care. Krieg cares. He won't raise a hand against someone who doesn't try to hurt him first. That's big for a psycho. Most psychos see you and want to eat you. You can talk to them, but they usually just hear what they want to hear and what they want to hear is 'eat me while I am still alive.'" Paaaaaaaause. "Unless it's Hyperion. Krieg really enjoys smashing Hyperion personal in the face with his buzz axe. But I don't think anyone can blame him for that one."

"Nnn...o, definitely not. I just mean-- Psychos don't ... eat their clan ... mates? Brothers? Other bandits from the same clan? Do they? Look, I've met-- seen-- whatever. I've seen psychos. They were competing in this death race thing. They seemed aware enough to keep their hands off each other long enough to do that anyway."

If they see a Vault Hunter and immediately decide to attack, well ... That's a whole other thing, isn't it? Zer0 alone was something else. Imagine a whole group of them. Scary.

Gaige blinks, surprised a minute that he had such a generous views of bandits. Sure wasn't her experience, that was to say the least.

But far too naive of one too. "Uh, yeah. They do. They don't call them baby eating for nothing. They sure do eat their own kids, their siblings, their parents. You ever heard of Motor Momma? She ate her own girlfriend. Alive." Gaige shakes her head, and leans over and up on her toes to pat him on the shoulder. "Can they work together? Sure. But don't think they won't eat you too just because you had a skin pizza party with 'em."

...

Not even going to ask about skin pizza parties.

And, look, he's been working for Hyperion for years. He's heard all the propaganda about how awful they are, how bad Pandora is, and so far it's both confirmed and denied several of those. But, well, propaganda is one thing, experience is another, and it's not like he can claim to have a lot of the latter. At all.

So he raises his hands. From the grimace of his face, it's very obvious he's trying real hard not to imagine someone eating someone else alive, and getting sick from that image.

"Yeah, okay, I stand corrected. Krieg's totally different from a regular psycho."

One day, Rhys, you're going to know and not have to rely on second-hand stories. Won't that be a great day?

But Gaige grins, nodding her head. She loves her friends, "yeah. He really is. He's nice that way. He tries his best. His, smashy, screamy, best. Gets really worried that he's too big for small doorways."

It really, really won't be.

"Right. Cute. Anyway. Nice meeting you, I'm gonna go ..." he gestures vaguely in some random direction. "Mingle. Meet more people that hopefully don't know anything about people being eaten. See you around."

That's enough Pandora for the day. In fact, it's been enough ever since he arrived there up until now, despite having been away from it for a couple of months.

He gives her the finger guns too, before turning to walk away.

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AUGUST INTRO LOG: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

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