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

[momsboy]

I know exactly what you mean. Around my galaxy, books are considered relics and not very useful to store large quantities of data so we also don't use them much. But I can see the appeal.

[ Awww, Jim. You're an adorable nerd. Don't worry, Peter is also one. ]

Then let's not waste more time here. The library is that way, up north. Let's see what books we can find to make your heart flutter.

[winscenario]

Same thing for us, yes! Most people tend to think it's silly that I even keep books around.

[ Honestly, it's a wonder some of them are even still in one piece. ]

Alright. [ Jim nods and follows after Peter, the scavenger hunt momentarily forgotten in favor of getting to see the library. ]

[momsboy]

Eh, the key is not caring about what others thing and enjoy yourself, I also carried a cassette player for 26 years and got all sort of weird looks for it.

[ But god forbid anyone who tried to take it from him. The Ravagers learned that lesson the hard way when Peter was only 8. Now he has the zune, which is a different sort of emotional crutch.

The scavenger hunt can wait for an hour or two, he isn't to worried. And maybe while they walk towards Odin's district they might find a coin or two, who knows]

What's your favorite book?

[winscenario]

Oh, yeah, I absolutely agree. Never cared what others think either. And not gonna lie, a cassette player sounds awesome. I had one once too, but it didn't work very well. Plus, it was almost impossible to find working cassettes.

[ He pauses. ] I do have a vinyl record player, though.

[ Surprisingly, vinyls are easier to come by, mostly because they're sturdier and some managed to last for hundreds of years. Plus, a few vintage enthusiasts still produce them for a select clientele. ]

Tough question... I have a few favorites. Moby Dick, for sure. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Pride and Prejudice. Nineteen Eighty Four... I could be here all day. What about you?

[momsboy]

[ Someone who appreciates cassettes and music as much as he does? That alone makes Jim marriage material in Peter's eyes, if his grin is anything to go by. ]

It was! I was lucky that we had the tech to repair or it wouldn't have lasted as long as it did. 3D printers are a wonderful thing, let me tell you. Now I have this. [ He fishes the Zune out of his pocket with a practiced movement. ] But it doesn't work here. A shame, it was fully charged when I left my home.

I haven't seen a vinyl in decades but I remember them, they ere really cool. Music sounded...I don't know, different with those. [ Did his grandfather had one of those? Peter thinks that might have been the case but he's not all sure, it was so long ago. ]

Share away, I don't mind. [ It's always nice to hear someone talk about their passions. ]I know a few of those but was kidnapped when I was 8 so there wasn't a lot of earth books for me to read in space. I was a bit more fond of comics back then but I liked Treasure Island. What's Nineteen Eighty Four about? I haven't heard of that one before.

[winscenario]

[ Jim reaches out to take the Zune, examining it for a moment. ]

Oh, wow. I haven't seen one of these in a while. I did find an iPod once, but it wasn't working anymore. Zunes are ancient, though.

[ He hums, nodding in understanding. ] Deeper, more intense. It's close to listening to a song being played live.

[ Jim lights up at the title, nodding. ] Oh, yes, Treasure Island is really good too. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a story about an imagined future set in a dystopian society where the government holds totalitarian control over the people, freedom of thought and action are illegal, historical revisionism and propaganda are abound, and the world is at a state of perpetual war. At the time, it was something of a cautionary tale, when many governments were dangerously close to becoming a regime much like the one described on the book.

[momsboy]

Everyone keeps telling me that and mentioning ipods. I never saw one.

[ He's both offended at people mocking the gift Yondu gave him post dead and curious about what makes those ipods so special. But Jim's nice about this than most and Peter just shrugs and keeps walking. ]

I don't think they have those here, alas. This city is seriously lacking in music. [ By the sound f it, Peter considers it one of the biggest tragedies of his forced existence in this city. ]

I guess I always had a thing for adventures and pirates. And I'm afraid that nowadays we already live enough Nineteen Eighty-Four situations. So much for a cautionary tale, uh? Had we not stopped Thanos, that would have been the future of the whole Galaxy.

[winscenario]

They're pretty much the same, I think. [ Somewhere in the past, a Mac aficionado is using the Force to try and blow up Jim's brain. But anyway. ] But Zunes just didn't take off the way iPods did, so most people will be familiar with the latter rather than the former. If you ask me, I find these even more amazing simply because they're that much rarer.

[ Speaking from a hoarder collector's point of view? This is much more valuable than an iPod would be. And Jim's evidently That Kind of Nerd. ]

Can't say the same for my world, thankfully so. I'm sorry to hear your galaxy nearly ended up that way.

[momsboy]

[ Peter takes Jim's word for it and that Mac fan is not someone any of them care about. Right now, the Guardian seems rather pleased with what Jim is telling him, if only because it's not more mockery. ]

That's great to know. I guess I'm a little biased because of who found the Zune for me, even if he never got the chance to give it to me in person.

[ Don't worry Jim, Peter loves your nerd collector heart. eh shrugs a little at that last part. true be told, he's still not over everything that had happened but Gamora is recovering from her own ordeal and Peter doesn't want to add his own issues to her plate. ]

Thanks. Sometimes things just go tits up despite our best efforts. But we need to keep trying.

[winscenario]

Then I'd say for that alone your Zune is far more valuable than any iPod could ever be.

[ When things don't have a price, they're precious and unique. Jim couldn't ever mock Peter for having his Zune around and cherishing it so much now, even if he had the background to do so. ]

You only really lose when you give up, that's true. [ He nods, smiling at Peter. ] You know, Peter, I really like you. I have a good feeling about this friendship.

[momsboy]

It feels like that to me.

[ Which is the honest truth. Yondu and he might not have always seen eye to eye but the man was the closest thing Peter had to a family after his mom passed away. ]

Well ah...[ That earns Jim an honest, touched smile. ] I like you too man, I'm glad we got to meet.

[winscenario]

[ Jim's smile widens in response to Peter's own. ] Don't mention it. If I'm gonna be stuck here, I'm glad to at least find a couple of like-minded people.

[ He nods down their path. ] Now, let's go check out that library. I can't wait to see what it looks like.

[momsboy]

It's a novelty that I'm going to treasure too, trust me.Peter agrees with a nod and gives Jim's shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

[ It's true that they haven't known each other for a long time but if his experience with the Guardian is anything to go by, that doesn't matter nearly as much as other people might think. Sometimes you just get a connection to others and affinity, and that's what makes it work.

And to the library they go, hopefully, Jim won't be disappointed. ]