Who: ANYONE leaving Asgard to face the Army of the Dead
What: the
Winter is Coming event log
When: October 18 - 21 (& 23)
Where: beyond Asgard's territory
Rating: PG-13 for violence and gore; please take anything above this to a private log, and remember to use content warnings as needed!
❧ october 18: departure.
october 18Those willing to join Asgard in their quest to stop the Army of the Dead will be leaving at the crack of dawn alongside a huge caravan of wagons lead by every available eight-legged horse in the city. Characters are welcome to ride in one of the wagons on the way out, although they are intended to carry refugees and the injured on the way back. There will also be horses made available for single or double riders to travel alongside the caravan, generally to serve as watch guards and survey the surrounding area for danger as they travel. Everyone else will be asked to travel by foot, and the caravan will travel slowly beside them.
When everyone is prepared to leave, Honir and Sigyn will open a straight path through the forest, granting the caravan easy access to the outside world. Those that look down the path without joining the caravan in travelling down it will only see a distantly bright light at the other side of the clearing, with no other discernible details from within the kingdom. Those travelling with the caravan will have a vague, creeping feeling of being watched by something within the trees as they pass, despite the mostly common knowledge that there are no living creatures in the forest.
As soon as the caravan breaks free from the treeline, that distant light becomes a glaring brightness that stings at unprotected eyes. It was dawn when they left Asgard, the sun barely rising and the air comfortably cool - but out here, the sun is blazing in the sky and an intense heat crawls across exposed skin. It's almost immediately unbearable until Honir's voice advises everyone to "take a deep breath;" the inhale burns and almost tastes acidic, but the exhale is slow and steady and calming.
After that, while still bright and hot, it becomes much more tolerable to pass through this starkly different environment from the familiar calm of Asgard. The ground is hard packed with random splashes of greenery attempting to push through cracks in the surface. Colors are inordinately vibrant, like the entire world has been overexposed and deeply saturated beyond what anyone might consider "normal." There are still trees around, oddly placed and scarce, whose leaves are changing colors and falling to be picked up in winds that howl and shriek as they pass through.
This isn't quite the picturesque autumn reaching Asgard right now, if it can even really be called an autumn at all - and this is all that can be seen for almost an entire day of wearisome travel, until they finally come upon a small grouping of roughshod houses in what could barely be considered a township by nightfall. A few dozen humans seem to live here and many come out to greet these new arrivals with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. While no danger seems immediately present here, they've been on edge in recent days with passing news of trouble not far away. The caravan stops here for the night, both to rest before continuing their journey and to discuss the possibility of these villagers returning to Asgard with the offer of protection.❧ october 19: preparation.
october 19Travel picks up at dawn again with not a moment to waste, especially given confirmation that something must be nearby. Grass becomes patchy in odd sections along the harsh earth, growing defiantly wherever it can at varying lengths and some with blooming weeds or bushes. It's almost like the ground is… confused, growing inconsistently and failing as often as not. The weather stays the same: bright, hot, and stinging slightly despite whatever clouds or shrieking winds might pass over them.
They reach the next settlement by midday, not much more developed than the last one but overcrowded by far. As they stop to speak to them, the Wanderers will learn that many of them have fled here from neighboring areas without actually having seen anything for themselves, but they are afraid and unsure of where to turn next. The ones that have seen something for themselves are frantic and fearful as one might expect after barely escaping what they are certain is an all-devouring doom.
Tyr stops here to provide some emotional relief and a sense of safety with any Asgardians and Wanderers willing to stay and reassure these terrified humans of what it means to be under Asgard's protection. Secondary precautions are set up to protect this area (henceforth referred to as Settlement One) while the rest of the caravan continues onward.
When they come upon the next grouping of buildings - what might've been the start of a township given enough time, and what we'll call Settlement Two - the sun is already setting, and the only humans that remain are those too injured to travel and those too stubborn to leave them behind. The gods decide that this is where they'll make their stand against the coming Army of the Undead. The natives begin unloading the dragonglass from the wagons, and the Wanderers can help them build barricades or start digging hasty trenches in a perimeter around the area.
Honir insists on continuing on despite vocal protests and takes a small number of riders out into the night with him. Mimir and Heimdall walk the grounds to make sure everyone is as prepared as they possibly can be, and everyone buckles down for the evening with thoughts of war not far ahead.❧ october 20: bloodshed.
october 20Morning never comes for those expecting it as the sky remains darkened and a storm approaches quickly. (cw: violence, gore) Within minutes, a sudden winter (cw: violence, gore; stop at 1:30 to avoid a jumpscare) overtakes the surrounding area with sheets of snow and blistering cold. As visibility drops to nil and everyone struggles to prepare themselves for what they know is coming for better or for worse, Heimdall's voice calls out clear and firm despite the raging of the winds around you. "Hold the line," he roars, "For Asgard!"
From this point on, the battle is on! Scaled to player response and requests, there are 1000 undead wights attacking from the shrieking darkness of the storm. Many of them seem well into rotting, while others seem disturbingly fresh. On Asgard's side, there roughly 40 Wanderers, 130 human natives, Mimir, and Heimdall. Odds may look bleak, but you are geared for this fight with everything you possibly could be. The rest is up to you!
As Wanderers die in this battle, they fall to the ground lifeless and their bracelets dim a little bit. Several humans fall alongside them and the wights show no sign of slowing. 12 White Walkers watch from the far side of the battle, seemingly searching for something. And as Asgard's forces are beginning to be overwhelmed through sheer number alone, the Night King appears and decisively turns the battle in their favor by raising the dead (cw: gore, child (un)death) once more. All Wanderers and human natives that have died up to this point return as a wight and begin attacking on the side of the dead.
The White Walkers use the following chaos to pursue their true targets: the Game of Thrones cast. Realizing this and their dwindling numbers, Mimir sends every living mortal back to Settlement One with instructions to prepare whatever they can to stop the Night King while he and Heimdall hold the Army of the Dead at bay. You have roughly 8 hours to prepare, whether that's coordinating traps and defences, tending to injuries, or calming yourself enough to survive another round of combat.
Mimir and Heimdall return ahead of the coming army with just enough time to warn them and prepare before the horde floods into them once more. Their numbers seem to have greatly dwindled, however, and only 8 White Walkers remain. It gives Asgard's forces leverage but it is still a battle hard fought (cw: gore, violence). Wanderers that die in this battle, whether alive or undead, disappear by fading away as they fall; the human natives simply fall. Honir and Helga return from their scouting mission with the grim news that the Army of the Dead has scorched through Yggdrasil for miles and possibly months.
Through the combined efforts of the Wanderers against the remaining White Walkers and a long string of distractions, sacrifices, and one lucky strike with a fallen comrade's blade, the Night King is finally slain by Daenerys Targaryen and all remaining undead fall to the ground. Some disperse into golden motes of light in a fashion some might recognize while other bodies simply remain there, lifeless at long last. The battle is finally won, but not without great losses. The gods afford a few hours of rest and recovery as the unnatural winter fades away before putting the caravan back on the path to Asgard - to safety.❧ october 21-23: return.
october 21The ride back to Asgard is perhaps jarring for some. Where the night had been long and dark (and certainly full of terrors), the sky is near-painfully bright and colorful. The sun blisters in sharp contrast to stinging cold and only the living remain, injured and weary though they may be. It's startlingly ordinary in comparison to the nightmare you've all lived through, and it leaves a heavy tension hanging in the air for the entire trip.
As they reach the first grouping of houses and continue on towards the kingdom, a total of roughly 230 surviving humans journey with them. They are profoundly grateful for their lives but quiet in their appreciation and their awe. What happened here and those that stood nobly against it will be remembered in the histories of Asgard, draped against a dark background.
The city is prepared for the caravan's return, a solemn celebration spreading throughout the populace even as they leap right into the task of caring for those that need it. There are tearful reunions for those relieved to see a loved one survive and desperate cries for those that did not. The injured are carted away while others still are treated right there in the streets, so dire are their wounds. And the rest passes in a blur as people find their districts and hopefully a new sense of normalcy.
It isn't until October 23 that the Wanderers that died in the battle reawaken in the castle to a concerned but relieved Frigg. From that point onward, something is just a little off for them, but they are otherwise healed and whole again. It breathes an ounce of hope and joy into a grieving kingdom, as the natives regard them with awe and reverence, celebrating again the might of Asgard and the wonder of the Wanderers. ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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