asgardmeridiem | EVENT LOG: DOWN THIS ROAD

EVENT LOG: DOWN THIS ROAD

Who: EVERYONE going to Ginnungagap
What: the Down This Road mingle log!
When: Days 401-404 ( Feb. 9-16 )
Where: Asgard, Ginnungagap, and the road inbetween.
Rating: PG-13. Anything higher than that should be taken to a private log, please!

Day 401 ( Feb. 9/10 ): Waiting by the Gate of Fire will be several carriages all prepared to take the Travellers to their destination. Natives will help them load into the carriages and provide a personal pack of food and blankets to those that need it, all with a grim face and averted eyes. This journey is one few outside the immortals have ever made, and only several thousand years ago. It's a sacred place, and one they are not entirely comfortable with seeing entered. But their King gave them orders, and so the caravan will depart by midday with Mimir and Honir at the head to lead the way onward.

They will continue riding through sunset and stop to make camp by nightfall. The gods will tell the Travellers to rest up, as the rest of the journey will be a strenuous one.
Day 402 ( Feb. 11/12 ): The caravan will pick up again for a few hours, but it will come to a sudden halt with a cry of pain from the leading carriage. The accompanying gods will be feeling the same inexplicable wrenching as the gods in Asgard, but this far from the city, its effects will not reach the Travellers in their party. A moment will be spared for their recovery before Honir announces that it's best they continue on foot; from there on forward, it's a hike, and not a particularly friendly one.

Ginnungagap sparsely littered with old trees and short, soft grass on the outskirts of the canyon, streams flowing from varying mountain peaks into the vast space below; deeper within, it is sheer rock and sharp edges that are harsh and unyielding. If one were to look at it from above, they might think someone stabbed a knife into solid stone and carved out a jagged wound, and so it is moving through the canyon itself, where one false step can lead to certain and painful death.

The vast majority of the day will be spent moving slowly and carefully, with few breaks to stop for water and rest while Honir and Mimir negotiate the safest paths. By the time it goes dark, they will be too deep into the canyon and its steep cliff faces to stop without risking losing someone to the jagged rocks hidden in the darkness, and so the gods will conjure small orbs of light to follow each Traveller as they direct every footfall very precisely until they reach their destination.

They will stop just outside the path that leads to the cavern of the Earth Giants' final resting place. There is ample space to make camp and rest for the night; Honir and Mimir will have to vanquish their lights in order to regain their strength, so they will urge the Travellers not to go off wandering on their own. The sound of slowly streaming water and the echo of emptiness will linger just outside their reach in the darkness as they try to sleep.
Day 403: By early morning, very little sunlight will be able to reach the company from their position on the small plateau, but the gods will wake their companions and relight their guides to lead them further in. It takes less than an hour to reach the entrance to the kingdom of the Earth Giants, and sunlight will flood the ruins in abundance. It may be easy to tell that the sprawling city was once something of magnificence, the architecture careful and precise to maximise their position in the sun carried down into the canyon.

However, nearly all buildings lay in varying states of destruction, as though a large bomb went off at the centre and blew outwards. Every surface is overgrown by moss, weeds, and chaotic tangles of vines. Waterfalls that were contained and utilised in artful structures and fountains have worn down the walls of the cavern and flow freely throughout the ruins, leaving the earth a sodden constant. The kingdom has fallen into complete disrepair in the eighteen-thousand years it's been deserted.

Most notable, however, is the distinct lack of life anywhere throughout the cavern. Ginnungagap on the whole is not terribly occupied by wildlife, but there are animals and insects that can be found roaming the cliffs; here, there is absolutely none to be found. Nothing stirs but the sound of water echoing off of empty walls, and there is, it seems, a very unnatural hollow sensation from simply standing in this space so devoid of life.

It has long been believed that the tragedy of the Earth Giants' obliteration starved this land of its will to thrive, but this is an extreme the gods did not foresee. The Travellers will be free to explore for a few hours, but will be ushered out at the insistence of the unnerved gods before midday. They have a long journey ahead of them, and they will not stop for anything until night has fallen and they are far from this barren wasteland.
Day 404 ( Feb. 13/14 ): Travel back to Asgard is otherwise uneventful in the wake of their discovery in Ginnungagap. They will arrive to the city pulling itself together after its latest blight, and the gods that accompanied the caravan will give hurried farewells before quickly making their way to the castle to bring news of their experience. The natives will once again help the Travellers unload, this time even more grim than before. Strange things are stirring, and the confusion on both sides will leave many questions unanswered.

[ OOC NOTES: This is the mingle log for the Down This Road event! Remember that you must leave Asgard on Day 401 ( Feb. 9/10 ) if you want to opt out of this month's body horror event! Please put [OPEN/CLOSED] in the subject of your comment, as well as the time and location. Both Honir and Mimir will be around in this log, so feel free to contact us if you'd like them in a particular thread somewhere. Let us know if you have any questions! ]

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He's been sleeping soundly lately, despite everything--a little too soundly. He doesn't notice Ril's gone missing until the middle of the night, but once he has it takes him next to no time to fully wake up. Damn. Every time she wanders off like this, he gets a little more worried...

Well, nothing for it but to look for her. He'll start with the camp, searching it as quietly as he can, before venturing farther out. He just hopes she hasn't gone too far... dawn is just starting to peek over the horizon, but it's still dark enough that she could have done herself an injury in the broken landscape.

Nothing looks familiar. Nothing. It's dead, all around her as she turns, it's quiet and dead and sharp. Her fingers go to her arm and they come away smeared with traces of drying blood. Scratches from branches or brambles or something. This wasn't where she'd fallen asleep, nor were the tiny slices on her bare feet or the soreness in her limbs.

Ril strains to find something familiar, her breath coming faster when she realizes all she really does remember is curling up with Six. Nothing, not a thing afterward.

Blank.

The sound she makes breaks the silence.

He's been trying to be quiet. Just because he's probably on the verge of panic is no reason to wake up the entire camp... so the little noise is more than enough to get his attention. As luck or chance would have it, he thinks it sounds relatively close to where he is; yes, over this way...

The pale half-light is enough to let him pick his way over obstacles and around small shrubs. Pitching his voice low, he calls her name softly as he moves forward, trying to keep his eyes on where he's putting his feet and search for her at the same time.

His voice is close and she whirls unsteadily toward him, nearly tripping over herself to get there. She couldn't remember anything. Not a thing. But that's Six, that's him, and she knows him, knows the shape of him in the dark enough that her fingers find his chin, his cheek, and then she's wrapped around him.

Home.

Her fingers in his hair, buried into him as she buries her own panic. There's just apology, wordless, soft, against his neck as she leans up into him.

He breathes a silent, shaky sigh of pure relief when she's back in his arms, holding her to him with a careful sort of strength, as if she's a small, wild animal he doesn't want to hurt. He murmurs her name softly as he tries to ascertain if she's been injured. This would be easier in the light, but... he can at least find out if she has any broken bones or obvious pain, and it's nice to run his hands over as much of her as he can reach for whatever reason.

"Are you alright? You... you're not hurt, are you?" He makes an effort to keep his voice down, but she can probably hear the worry loud and clear in his tone. He doesn't even try to hide that he was worried, not that he'd probably be able to do that anyway.

Ril pushes herself up further even as she half tugs him down. His answer is just kisses, soft ones, hard ones, I was lost and her you are ones. For awhile. Until she has her brain back. But her cheek is scraped and her arm has a decent slice on it, but she's okay and nothing's broken. When she pulls away to breathe, they're frightened gasps as she shakes her head.

"It's fine now. It's fine. I don't," her fingers find his lips, touch his cheeks, and she kisses him again, her words falling away. "I don't remember."

The kisses are enjoyable of course, though he's distracted from them by his worry. It's hard to see in the half light, but he thinks one of her cheeks looks like something is wrong with it, and there might be more injuries hidden by the dark or by her clothing.

"It's alright." He mouths the platitude without thinking. "It's... you're safe now, Ril. I've got you. Let's... find a place to sit, come on, and you can tell me what you do remember, mmm?"

Sitting, yes. Gods, sitting sounds so good. She's thinking, too, about what she does remember and it's nothing. Noises, maybe. He moves, she does, and they find a place to sit. And it's better, safer.

He's right, he's there and she's just fine.

"I remember going to sleep. Maybe noises. But I can't. I can't remember much after that. Walking, maybe."

As the sun starts to peek above the horizon properly, he can see her injuries more clearly. The cheek gets a grimace as he gently tilts her head to the side, his fingers sliding delicately over her chin. He hasn't seen the arm injury yet, too concerned with the reason she wandered off to give her a proper physical examination just yet.

"Hmm... rather nasty scrape you've got there. I don't suppose... do you know if your family has any history of sleep walking? It must be something new, or I'd have certainly noticed it by now." His lips twitch into a faint smile; he just hopes his attempt at levity helped to lighten the situation, if only a little.

Edited 2014-03-07 11:25 (UTC)

The attempt at humor flies by, mostly because she's sorting through fragmented memories to actually check and see. She half shakes her head and stills. A scape then? Ril shifts a little, her expression pensive as her fingers brush his lips gently. She winces just a little as the fabric of her shirt pulls at the scratch, letting blood spots soak through.

"Knew classmates who did," she murmurs, frowning a little. Her voice is a little flat as she continues to sort. It takes entirely too long and she gives up after a few more seconds. "But usually that was right before they got yanked and re-placed into another discipline."

He would be disappointed she either didn't catch his joke or didn't think it was funny, if the situation was any less serious. But as it is... he strokes her unblemished cheek simply because he can, and smiles a smile he doesn't feel in the slightest.

"Well! On the bright side, your injuries look superficial to me. You should be fine until we find someone who can heal you, unless you want me to bandage that arm? It may make you feel a bit better."

This is all he can do, try to help her physical ailments, or at least do his best to ease her distress. He doesn't even know where to start with whatever else may or may not be wrong with her. Sleepwalking does tend to be the symptom for deeper issues... but that can be tackled later, perhaps.

"My satchel," she says quietly. "I've enough to bandage with. No need to bother someone for theirs." It's embarrassing, finding herself out here without even knowing why, without remembering. She swallows hard.

"It probably will feel better. Lessen any chance of infection, too. Just scratches, anyway."

She glances up at him and bites her lip for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm so sorry." It's soft and she half reaches out to touch his cheek.

He half-smiles, reaching up to clasp her hand. "Ril... you needn't apologize. We'll fix whatever happens to be wrong, if we can... and if we can't, we'll deal with that when we get to it." He reaches for her satchel, finding the appropriate items to patch her arm up, and sets about doing that as gently as possible. His first step is to sacrifice her sleeve; he just so happens to have a scissors in his pocket, and it will get in the way of bandaging her injury properly. "And scratches or no, I will feel better once you are no longer leaking bodily fluids, my dear."

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EVENT LOG: DOWN THIS ROAD

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