MOD POST: NOVEMBER RUNDOWN

[asgardmods]

Let's hop straight to business! Autumn here with some quick November game and plot information.

First up, thanks for putting up with my delay with getting this post up (though I feel like I say that every month, eek!) This month's event marks what truly is the beginning of the end for Asgard Eventide's plot, and the game itself is awesomely in a much different place than we expected it to be at November of this year! There are a lot of factors in play in game as a direct result of player plotting and organic IC investigation (which is possibly the coolest thing I have ever gotten to say in a mod post), so planning out - and changing - the rest of the arc for endgame took (and is still taking) some care and discussion. Not an excuse, just an explanation!

With that in mind, the only real announcement we have this month is the official endgame timeline, which will be as follows:

• The latter half of November through mid-February will be dedicated to events that will bring the game's metaplot to a close, and will address Ragnarok and the status of the decaying World Tree. By the end of February, Asgard Eventide's main plot will wrap up for good.
  
• Starting at the end of February and continuing into either March or April - depending on player interest and involvement - the game will remain open to allow loose ends to be wrapped up both ICly and OOCly. There will be events, but of a much different nature than the previous ones, and players will be invited to deal with the results of the plot's conclusion… whatever that may be!

Thanks again for putting up with our chaos. The event calendars for December and January will be going up soon with event dates (though not names or descriptions) filled in, just so you guys have a little of an idea of what to expect during the holiday season, since we definitely don't want anyone to be overwhelmed during one of the busiest times of the year.

With all of that in mind, the rest of November will begin with Thor's planned march on Thiazi and her kingdom, and will end with an addition to Asgard's resources and a small request from one of the gods.

PLOT EVENT: WITH A WHIMPER (Nov 14-21/Days 540-543)

DAY 540 (Nov 14-15)

Day 540 starts with a bracelet alert right before sunrise. It is message from Thor telling all that who plan to travel to Thrymheim to take down Thiazi to meet him outside the Gate of Frost. As caravans are packed for travel, Thor will tell the Travelers what they've learned from Tyr: as a result of holding his magic inside of her for so long, Thiazi is rotting from the inside out; she is going to be weak now that she is unable to rely on the strength of that same magic to mitigate the damages it caused.

While he speaks, some of the city guard will raise a cry of alarm: it seems as if troops are marching toward the city, but it quickly becomes apparent that for once this isn't an attack. Forces from Alfheim - elves and Tree-people both - have arrived and are prepared to march with Asgard in this push back against Thiazi, claiming they haven't forgotten the fact that the Travelers' intervention when they were being driven out their homes by Surt's forces.

They warn that they encountered a Frost Giant scouting toward the area of Asgard, and while they disposed of him with all due diligence, to be on the lookout: there may be antagonistic forces on the way here, too. When the caravan takes off, several of Alfheim's soldiers and the Bronze dragon remain behind and on guard, just in case.

Otherwise, the trip will be rocky as the terrain grows less forgiving and the weather turns steadily colder. They will break for camp late at night, and Thor will be found pacing around the fires, alternating between strategy talk and lamenting about having forgotten to bring an adequate nightcap. Weapons will be handed out then to those lacking them then (including the medics and support teams, just in case). Following this, Thor will draw the Strike Team and the rest of the Travelers interested in bringing Thiazi down to his fire in order give their special orders directly. Meanwhile, the Red and Blue Dragons keep to the skies overnight, watching out for an ambush that never comes.

Note: Those interested in having their characters participate in Thiazi's takedown, please read and sign up here. There is no character cap, but if you plan to thread or handwave involvement, please make sure to sign up! Anyone is welcome to sign up no matter what group they are "officially" part of, being affiliated with the Strike Team in any capacity is NOT required. Your character will still need to help fight the battle against the frost giants at large, but they'll simply have an additional task given to them directly related toward helping bring the Ice Queen down.

DAY 541 (Nov 16-17)

After a meager few hours' rest, the caravan sets out again to finish the journey to Thrymheim. They arrive just before sundown and halt at the foot of a jagged mountain near the city to split into groups and to prepare themselves for the impending fight. Thiazi is mad and much weaker than before, but that doesn't mean she and her army will be pushovers.

The city is filled with jagged fixtures of black ice, manifestations of the corrupted magic that is all the Ice Queen has left. Just as when it blocked the Gate of Fog in Asgard, touching it causes horrible, damaging frostbite that can't be healed by magical means. Thiazi's Palace of Ice seems to be the epicenter of these festering magical wounds, as the once beautiful structure is now blighted and scarred over with them.

The fighting against Thiazi's frost giant army will start the moment that the Travelers set foot over the threshold into the city, and Thiazi will do her best to remain surrounded by as many of her forces as she possibly can. Their weapons are forged of the corrupted black magic (as that's all Thiazi has left to her) so any injuries will fester and rot immediately -- and like the burns, they are incapable of being cured by magic. The Ice Giants themselves are half-mad with confusion, fear, and shaken faith in their once untouchable Queen, but they still have the home field advantage.

It will be late into the night when the teams who have volunteered to take Thiazi down directly finally manage to begin execution of their plan: as the Frost Giant forces dwindle, they must poison her, trap her, and finally make use of the godkilling weapon Samantha and others have spent so long researching and creating.

DAY 542 (Nov 18-19)

IN THRYMHEIM:
A shockwave like the result of a distant supernova will hit the city when Thiazi dies shortly after midnight. The ice - and much of the city itself - will crumble and start to collapse, raining dangerous daggers of ice down onto anyone nearby. Breathing may become a little difficult, too, as the black ice begins to melt and then evaporate in great clouds of gas that may just irritate or outright burn the lungs of whoever breathes it in, depending on how big of a breath they take.

Thor bellows an order to evacuate the city immediately and to regroup in safety away from the destruction. With nothing left to lose, some of the remaining Frost Giants rally and use the chaos in a last, desperate bid to do harm to the Travelers. The majority of the rest, however, will simply turn tail and attempt to flee back into the city.

The night will be noticeably colder when Thor announces that they'll be setting up camp two or three miles outside of Thrymheim to rest and tend to the wounded. The dragons will again be on patrol in the skies, but the god will also ask that people take turns keeping watch throughout the night, just in case any escaped Frost Giants try to seek a sneaky revenge in the night.

IN ASGARD:
Not long after midnight, the city itself will feel the echoes of the same shockwave moments after Thiazi is killed. It will register as a minor earthquake - not enough to cause any damage, but certainly enough to be noticed. A frigid gust of wind will pass through the city like a precursor to a bad winter storm, before a cold energy sweeps over the city and freezes solid every nonliving thing it touches as it passes. Thunder will boom twice in the clear night sky, and the entire city will find itself covered in a thick, unbroken layer of ice in less than a minute.

The ice will be non-magical, but pervasive, and range anywhere from half an inch to two inches thick.

The temperature in the city will remain well below freezing even after sunrise. The ice can be melted by normal means, but keep in mind there is a lot of it, so watch your step out on the streets if you manage to get your door open!

Day 543 (Nov 20-21)

RETURNING FROM THRYMHEIM:
It's a long, bumpy journey that will take all of the day and most of the night, and the weather starts cold only to remain cold. A few miles before the caravan arrives back at the Gate of Frost, the sky will grow overcast. Half a mile from it, the bare ground will give way to a patchy layer of black snow that only grows thicker as they head into the city. When they make it through the Gate of Fog Thor will congratulate them all again on a battle well won and suggest they all drink something strong and go to bed, before he heads back to the castle to confer with the rest of the gods: the remainder of the war still has to be won, after all, but there's no denying that this step is a huge one.

IN ASGARD:
The sky will remains overcast but the weather will stay otherwise clear until about noon, when black snow will begin to fall like ash from the clouds. It will snow steadily for the rest of the day, piling a crisp few inches atop the ice already there.

SPECIAL EVENT: FRIENDS INDEED (Nov 26-29/Days 546-547)

DAY 546 (Nov 26-27)

A message will arrive at the gates that more reinforcements from other cities are on the way. The death of the Frost Giants' queen has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the world -- not in small because it also means that the prophecy following Ragnarok can no longer happen as foretold. Unable to sit back and rely on fate now, groups of varying sizes from all over begin to arrive. First come scholars and medics from Vanaheim, followed by a ragtag but enthusiastic militia from Salt Side and other nearby villages, followed still by a military force of gruff and grumpy dwarves from Svartalfheim bringing with them a vast and diverse array of weapons to share.

They set up their semi-permanent camps outside the gates of the city - though many of them can be frequently found inside of the city too, and for the most part these new allies seem ready to learn about and contribute to whatever resources Asgard and its Travelers have already. Everyone in the camp seems to be prepared to stay there until the war for Yggdrasil is over, and especially so now: it's anyone's guess how Surt will react with Thiazi now permanently out of play.

DAY 547 (Nov 28-29)

On the morning of Day 547, every character with a bracelet will receive an invite from Freyr to come the courtyard of the castle at nightfall. The ice will be completely cleared from it, and a few magically tended bonfires will provide a gentle, radiating heat that keeps most of the area comfortably warm. He will give a short speech to and then makes a small request of those who arrive.

PLOT FAST FACTS

PLOT EVENT: WITH A WHIMPER (Nov 14-21/Days 540-543)

• Day 540 (Nov 14-15): Reinforcements from Alfheim arrive and those who want to take Thiazi down strike out for her kingdom, Thrymheim. At night they camp and plan.
• Day 541 (Nov 16-17): The Travelers arrive in Thrymheim and begin their attack.
• Day 542 (Nov 18-19): Thiazi is killed not long after midnight. Her palace and much of her kingdom begin to shatter and collapse. Meanwhile, back in Asgard, the city is covered with a thick layer of ice.
• Day 542 (Nov 20-21): Black snow begins to fall from the sky, blanketing the city in a few inches' worth. The attack force travels back home to Asgard and arrives late in the night.

SPECIAL EVENT: FRIENDS INDEED (Nov 26-29/Days 546-547)

• Day 546 (Nov 26-27): Backup forces and supplies from all over begin to arrive and set up a semi-permanent camp outside the city alongside the elves and Ents supplied by Alfheim. They work with the various groups in the cities to map out and integrate resources.
• Day 547 (Nov 28-29): Freyr invites the Travelers at large to the courtyard of the castle for hot chocolate, a short speech, and a fond request.

There are two event logs for this, and they are both currently up: one for those venturing out to Thrymheim, and another for those remaining behind in Asgard. Remember that the bracelets DO work out of the city now, so characters will be able to communicate with them if they're gone!

As always, the calendar can be found HERE. If you feel the need to brush up on what Thrymheim is like or what your character might be facing when interacting with the Frost Giants, please feel free to refer to the Meet the Frost Giants page, or to use the comments here for your questions and/or plotting!

Comments

MOD QUESTIONS: WITH A WHIMPER

[asgardmods]

Re: MOD QUESTIONS: WITH A WHIMPER

[realmenknitplushies]

Alright: what are the non-Strike Team people doing over in Thrymheim? Is there fighting going on that isn't involved in the direct take down? I'm a bit confused overall...

Re: Thiazi's actual death throws

[samantha_grey]

When Freyr died, his death created a shock-wave explosion that obliterated everyone in his immediate viscinity. Is there any risk to those who are directly near to Thiazi?

[bonnypiperlad]

If someone does die nearer to the end of the battle, will they still wake up in the castle as usual? Or is there anything funky going on there that would change that?

Re: MOD QUESTIONS: WITH A WHIMPER

[fire_punk]

Given that the ice of the frost giants' weapons is the corrupted ice rather than normal ice, will they have any of the same problems as the Travelers if they're injured with their own weapons?

Thiazi

[ka_sera_sera]

Will we be waiting for the npc to reply when we attack her, or can we assume in our narration stuff that she's responding a certain way?

[needsnoheadsman]

OKAY HEY so Bucky has a metal arm. is it plausible to assume that when someone manages to scratch it with one of those enchanted weapons the frost left behind ends up damaging it beyond simple field repair?

MOD QUESTIONS: FRIENDS INDEED

[asgardmods]

[samantha_grey]

Dumb question: The dwarves still love stories for trade?

MOD QUESTIONS: MISC

[asgardmods]

THIAZI TASK-FORCE SIGNUPS

[asgardmods]

Even with a god-killing weapon forged, taking down the Queen of the Frost Giants is going to take a group effort. When the characters make camp at night on Day 540, Thor will request that parties interested in helping to take Thiazi down directly come have an audience with him and the Strike Team.

Volunteers will be split up into several groups based on RNG: one for weakening her physically, one for poisoning her, one for binding her magically, and one for making sure the killing blow is successfully delivered. Everyone who signs up will be assigned to one of these groups. There will be threads for them, since it will be easier to have four concurrent threads with four smaller groups than one enormous one, but you are not obligated to actually participate in the thread to say that your character was involved. Thor will be happy to let as many people help take Thiazi down as volunteer, so there is no character limit.

Please fill out the following, and I will respond here with your character's assigned task:

<b>Character name:</b> <b>Character's power/level:</b> <b>Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?</b>:

[boogerman]

Character name: Pitch Black
Character's power/level: Shadow Control, Level Three
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Very good with a bow, which he'll be bringing. Same with a sword. (And his horse. It's always about the horse.)

[everysecond]

Character name: Riley Abel
Character's power/level: Telekinesis, Level 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Skilled in hand to hand, various weapons, training to be an Assassin, going places unnoticed, traps, combat trained

[needsnoheadsman]

Character name: Bucky Barnes
Character's power/level: Shadow Control, level 1
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: He's an assassin who's been at it for seventy-plus years, and thus is good at a number of things, among them being hand-to-hand combat and sharpshooting. Also he has a bitching metal arm.

[abhero]

Character name: Hamel
Character's power/level: Flight, level 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Hand to hand, good at bashing things/hacking them with an axe, knows some useful runes, has a lot of experience with fighting larger enemies.

[wasbrave]

Character name: Tris Prior
Character's power/level: Healing lv 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Good with guns, knives and swords. And unarmed combat. Also free-running and stealth. Some knowledge of runes. Combat experience.

[needsnoheadsman]

Character name: Robb Stark
Character's power/level: Damage Drain, level 1
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: He's a very good swordsman (not the best by far, he knows that, but good enough) with a good head for tactics! You're looking at the guy who ambushed and caught Jaime Lannister, he's very good at military tactics and strategy planning, but he's no slouch in actual fighting either.

[windbreak]

Character name: Yosuke Hanamura
Character's power/level: Telekinesis, level 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Bad luck magnet, surprisingly athletic, owns more throwing knives and other knives than any teenager should be trusted with. :|b

[bythewaves]

Character name: Maglor
Character's power/level: Bardic Influence, Level Two
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Mags is a swordsman who has been fighting things like giants and dragons and wights and balrogs for the last six thousand years or so. Essentially if the weapon is sharp and pointy the dude knows how to use it, but he favours swords & spears. He's also an excellent rider who used to command a calvary. Finally Bardic Influence is actually very close to what he's capable of normally in his own canon, so its safe to say he's gotten very creative with it here although he can't tear down a tower with it alas.

[samantha_grey]

Character name: Samantha Grey
Character's power/level: Energy Transfer 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Stealth, Hand-to-hand combat focusing on quick kills, Familiarity with the tools being used.

Re: THIAZI TASK-FORCE SIGNUPS

[devilishlycharming]

Character name: Evelyn O'Connell
Character's power/level: Energy transfer, level three
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Shooting, swordplay, hand-to-hand fighting

[pushesgently]

Character name: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Character's power/level: Currently Fire, Level Two, but I have enough unused threads from a month after he leveled up that I kept meaning to submit and didn't—if I gather them, would could I say he's at Three?
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Stabby as fuck, sneaky as fuck.

[secondborn]

Character name: Alastair Stara
Character's power/level: Healing, level two
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: He's an Assassin! He's got all kinds of sneaky skills and melee battle skills.

[realmenknitplushies]

Character name: Kanji Tatsumi
Character's power/level: Drawing Life 3
Any other useful abilities or skills they might have?: Melee combat, unarmed or with blunt weapons, including 'anything big enough he can lay his hands on'. Basic rune skills.

Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do.

[samantha_grey]

Samantha and Equius will both be available on this march. Neither is willing to stay out of this fight, and Samantha feels responsible to see this through to the end, since she actually started this gods damned idea of killing a god back over a year ago.

However, with Thor taking volunteers, it may come out that Samantha is the one who put together the pieces of this, which may lead to the inevitable question from those who know her of "Wait, what the F'ing hell?"

She's going to be specifically available in the march for pointed questions or less pointed. Characters who wish to know more can find out about the god-slaying conspiracy. She has no reason to conceal it at this point, and is a touch tired of doing so.

http://asgardmeridiem.dreamwidth.org/473947.html?thread=83332955#cmt83332955 - Speak of the devil: An open log for anyone who wishes.