SEPTEMBER EVENT CONCLUSIONS

[asgardmods]

Howdy howdy, guys! Here is the conclusion to the plot event as per the results of the poll and the opt-out plot for those that choose not to go! Let's jump right into it!

PLOT EVENT: Dude, Where's My Soul? ( Sept. 23-28 / Days 514-516 )

Now that the gods know their traitor was deliberately misleading them, the quest for answers has become a lot more clear. This war has been tinged with anomalies and impossibilities all the way throughout, but of one thing, the gods are certain: Thiazi has a secret weapon, and Asgard is going to steal it from her. Or rather, they're going to steal it back. An NPC will explain how.

This plot involves a trip back to Mimisbrunnr in Deep City, but we haven't been back there in over a year and things have changed in that time. There'll be some exploration, some diplomacy, and a little bit of action. There is one special thing of note: those that travel to Mimisbrunnr will get to speak directly to the Mother. More information on this in the plot description!

Day 514 ( Sept. 23/24 )

An NPC post will go up explaining the new information the gods have collected and the purpose of this mission. Any willing Travellers will be invited to go on this excursion to Deep City; as it's an allied territory, they will be able to take the train and reach the oceanside kingdom by early evening.

However, upon arrival to the native village of Salt Side, it will be immediately apparent that things on the coast are not as peaceful and calm as they once were. With the collapse of Yggdrasil, the entire worldscape has been changing, and the ocean has not been immune. From the looks of it, Salt Side was recently hit with a tsunami and the native humans and elves are only halfway through rebuilding their once boisterous community. The nearby water is still restless and overactive, lapping aggressively at the coast though it isn't threatening to overflow at the moment.

When the Lady of the Sea comes to receive the Travellers, she will be generally standoffish and cold. The mermaids believed their kingdom to be free of Ragnarok's graces, deep below the ocean surface as they are, but time has proven otherwise and they aren't pleased about it. She will warn them that the ocean is not pleased and that they must wait until morning to make their venture into Mimisbrunnr, unless they'd like to try their luck with the ocean's newfound darkness.

They'll be given food and shelter in one of the native buildings for the night, where the natives will be weary and some may even be frightened; when asked, they'll say that it isn't safe and it's best the Travellers be on with their business quickly. Curiouser and curiouser ...

Day 515 ( Sept. 25/26 )

With the sun high in the sky and bidding safer tidings, Ran will give each of the Travellers a hemp necklace that will allow them to breathe, speak, and move freely in the water. She will remind them again to tread carefully, lest they provoke the depths of the water; what exactly this means isn't clear yet, but the mermaids will not be pleasant or friendly as they guide the Travellers to the bottom of Mimisbrunnr and the entrance to the sacred cave. The impression is clear: the sooner they leave, the better.

Detailed information of what they'll see can be found here, only the serenity of the ocean floor will be lost to eerie silence and a near tangible tension. The Sea Serpent is nowhere to be seen - for now. Once inside the caves, the Travellers will feel a gradually building pressure and a distant ringing in their ears, not strong enough to be painful but distinct enough to make itself known. The air will be cold and still, and though they will be able to breathe freely, it may leave some with a vague aching - sadness, maybe, or pain.

When they reach their destination, the voice that graces them within their chests and their minds is lyrical, but no longer warm and gentle. It is cold and tired, and speaks without words:

Ask.

The Travellers will be able to ask a single question, either individually or as a group, and they will receive a single answer before the pressure will increase to near-painful and they will feel an urgent ushering to leave.

Past the cavern's entrance, the Travellers will immediately see that the ocean has violently burst into life. It has grown darker significantly, and the water stirs in small pockets of whirlpools and currents threatening to pull any that come too close into the whirlpool of Mimisbrunnr. The mermaids will be frantic, some abandoning their mission to assist the Travellers while the rest desperately work to drag them back to the surface. Those that lose their grip on the mermaids or get caught in a current will drown within seconds, so hold tight and pray for deliverance.

Closer to the surface, it will be easier to see what's causing the ocean's disturbance: the massive Sea Serpent is agitated and crashing through the waters almost haphazardly, whipping things about with its enormous tail and charging forward blindly. Anyone too close to it may be clipped and dragged back to the ocean floor with no hopes of reaching the surface. On the coast, the Travellers will find the natives and the mermaids in a panic as the waves begin to climb over Salt Side once more.

As per the player poll, the Travellers will overall pool their efforts into attempting to save the Sea Serpent from its bid for destruction. For this part of the battle, it will mostly entail trying to get everyone out of the water safely, staying on the defensive against the raging water and the haphazard lashing out of the Serpent's body, and getting all of the Travellers and natives alike to bunker down for the night. As the option was offered and quite a few were onboard for it, it might also be prudent for a few of the Travellers to attempt contacting their gods for backup! For now, though, it's best to shield yourself against the tides before attempting to wade in unprepared.

Day 516 ( Sept. 27/28 )

The Serpent's raging continues through the night, leaving the shore a mess by the time the sun rises - but reinforcements will arrive in the form of a band of human and elven natives lead by the god Jormungand. The Travellers will have to work together with each other and their allies to accomplish a single goal: chase the Sea Serpent onto the land.

They'll each be given new hemp necklaces to allow them to work underwater again, and they will have to band tightly together to keep from being swept away by the currents and the Serpent's thrashing. Those remaining on land can grab the Serpent's attention by attacking directly and pulling back to designated vantage points, where the natives will have as much rope and netting laid out to attempt a sort of capture. Jormungand will join in the fighting, donning the form of his own slightly smaller serpent, but he will need the Travellers to work with him to see this task into completion! Plotting with him can be done in the comments section below.

It'll take the better half of the day, but eventually, they will succeed in dragging the Serpent onto shore and securing it down. It will continue to thrash and struggle, but it will come accompanied with a miserable keening that couldn't be heard over the thundering of the waves during the battle. Closer inspection will show a cascade of open wounds along the Serpent's sides, burns and gashes and rocks embedded in its flesh; the changing of the ocean's surface affected all its inhabitants, not just the mermaids, and the Sea Serpent's agitation comes as a direct result of distress and pain both.

The Travellers will have to work together with the elves to heal the creature of its wounds, and throughout the process, its struggling will die down into grateful compliance. The mermaids will remind them all that the Serpent is not meant to live on land and that they must work quickly to return it to its home, so anyone not assisting in the healing process can still help out by dousing the Serpent's body in seawater to keep it cool and wet. It'll be a huge project, so work together and work fast!

By the time the sun has set, the Serpent will be nearly entirely healed, and it will take one great sweep out from under the nets ( almost as though it could have done so the entire time … ) before crashing back into the ocean and disappearing into its depths. The ocean surface will be still and tranquil for the first time in many days, and the natives will be profoundly grateful. Even the mermaids will be inspired, taking the scant few minutes they can don their human forms to thank the Travellers with elaborate jewelry made of decorative shells and precious gems, all strung together with the same hemp that allowed them free movement beneath the water. These gifts won't work in the same manner, but they will protect them from being soaked in rain or flooding, making them a useful piece of armour to have on hand during times of need.

Ran will give the Travellers her final thanks and tell Jormungand to inform the King of the Mermaids' full alliance with Asgard; as they have shown mercy and respect for the ocean and her children, when the time comes, they will gladly fight beside the gods and their Travellers.

OPT-OUT EVENT: Dream a Little Dream ( Sept. 25-26 / Day 515 )

For those that choose to remain in Asgard rather than joining in on the seaside quest, the city will still be hard at work attempting to coordinate for the upcoming battle. Along with the assistance of Baldr and Loki, the Travellers have begun work on demolishing the ice blockade between Asgard and Utgard. This is important work that will help reopen a major trade route and the biggest cause of the recent supply shortage. Any free hands should consider joining in, either by assisting in the demolition itself or in collecting any stray fragments of the ice for disposal.

This ice is dangerous, though, as Asgard well knows by now, and something strange will happen halfway through the clearing.

Day 515 ( Sept. 25/26 )

Progress through the ice blockade will be slow and narrow, as they can't possibly hope to clear the entirety of the forest that has been buried under Thiazi's black ice. Now that they know the source of her magic's corruption, it might not come as a great surprise when cracking open the ice unleashes a strange burst of magic.

At the halfway point between Utgard and Asgard, a pulse of energy will move through the entire city, immediately putting every mortal it touches to sleep. This part of the curse is mandatory and your character must fall asleep; the dream effects of it are not mandatory, and can be played with at your discretion. During this first wave, Travellers will be granted a brief dream - that does not belong to them. They will see, from the dreamer's point of view, every hope and goal and aspiration that the dreamer wishes to complete before the end of days. Whether it's simply confessing their love to an old friend or saving their home planet or perfecting an Asgardian pie, your character will see someone else's ideal resolution before Ragnarok. More on plotting this below!

Upon waking, the Travellers will be plagued with the indistinct whispering of several voices overlapping one another and a slight headache. Both symptoms will gradually increase over time until it reaches incapacitating pain and nausea. The only way to assuage the symptoms is to find the owner of the dream and either maintain physical contact for an hour or discuss the subject of the dream until a full confession has been made. After that, the symptoms will fade and the Travellers will be free to carry on with their day.

There will be other pulses of magic at random throughout the day; these are not mandatory and you can feel free to have your character experience as many or as few dreams as you wish. All dream-sharing will cease by the end of the day, as the blockade progresses past that centre-point of magic.

PLOT NOTES

• The unconsciousness that comes with the first wave is mandatory for all characters within Asgard.
• After that, you can have your character dream as many or as few times as you wish.
• These dreams are meant to be ideal resolutions, meaning anything the character wishes to fulfil before the apocalypse. This means they should be mostly positive, unless your characters ultimate dream is to drown a basket of kittens, in which case, get thee to a nunnery. :(b
• If your character will be sharing their dreams with multiple people, they don't all have to see the same dream! If your character has several different things they want to accomplish before the end, the affected Travellers could see one or all of those things at your discretion.
• Dream-sharing doesn't have to be unilateral! This means that Character A can see Character B's dream at the same time Character B is seeing Character A's dream or Character A can see Character B's dream, and Character B could see Character C's dream, etc etc. This is entirely up to you. As your characters seek each other out, they might end up with some group therapy!
• You can plot with each other for who will see whose dreams, but we will also be hosting random dream-share partner sign-ups. Comment below if you'd like to participate; sign-ups will be closed on Sept. 24 at 11:59PM CST, at which point we will send out partner assignments before the event begins.

And as one last reminder, please vote in this poll to let us know how you want us to set up event logs!

That'll wrap up our month! Please use this post to plot with each other and let us know if you have any questions!

Comments

[selfmadman]

Thank you! ONE MORE QUESTION: Don's part of the team working on the ice--I assume he could be doing that when the first pulse hits? If so, how far outside the city would he be? (OUT OF SHARPIE MUSTACHE RANGE ONE HOPES.)

[asgardmods]

He can, yes, and they'll be a few miles out. We never gave specific distances, but it takes a half-day to travel between them via carriage, so you could say it's a good few miles between the two kingdoms and the first wave hits at the dead middle of that.

Loki is helping with the ice, though, so they're the prime victims for sharpie mustachios. :^)

[selfmadman]

...hahahaha can I for real give him a mustache.

[asgardmods]

Absolutely. :D

[selfmadman]

:{D