END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

[asgardmods]

[The grey dim light of false dawn has just settled on the city when the sirens sound. The piercing shriek of a modern warning system begins, and within seconds is joined by the low, haunting wail of wood and bone horns from the Elven camp outside the Gate of Fire. A minute later, there is Thor's post to the network.

And now, as the sun slowly rises, the light reveals clouds of dust in the distance, far off to the North and West. In that time, the city will be awakening with a start. Anyone with connections to a god-supported group or to the elves will be roused and rushed off to their jobs. Folkvang comfort house will open its doors, revealing an interior cleared of equipment and converted into a shelter for those who must flee the incoming violence.

The whispers on the streets are of disbelief and fear. Is it really the end of days? Surely the walls will hold against any mundane army. Surely it will all be over soon... right? Healthy natives are saying goodbye to their loved ones "just in case". Perhaps you should be too.

Later, the armies arrive. First the enemy, made up of humans, monsters, and five dragons. The lesser giants look almost human, except for the flame or frost in their eyes and the warm or cool tint to their colouring. But the king of the fire giants is something else. He is tall and broad and strong, riding on a huge, splendid black boar. The queen of the frost giants is equally intimidating, in armor that looks made of glacial ice itself, seemingly too ornate to be practical but clearly worn as if it is. Her mount is a great white serpentine creature that radiates dangerous cold. The other kinds of creatures are uncountable in their variations, but all well armed.

They dwarf the small forces of Asgard and the forward units of the elves, but just as battle is about to break the sound of a great number of clockwork machines heralds the arrival of the full forces of Alfheim. They are joined soon by the modern outfitted soldiers of Utgard, and then the masses of people collide like conflicting waves of water. Above them fly the dragons, and one great flying ship that seems to have come from nowhere but fights on the side of the gods.

What will your characters do? Will they join the front lines? Hide in the shelter? Man the Arena-turned-war-hospital? There are a million things to do in a battle, but not even those hiding will escape the smell of gunpowder and metal and the sounds of battle.]


[ooc note: your characters are welcome to come up with any frost/fire themed monsters you like! They may not directly combat the giant king or queen. They may not fight dragons without first checking in with the mods in this post (and two dragons are already claimed). Try to consider that there will be a second battle, so you can vary what you're doing. Also make sure to read the plot post thoroughly, especially with regards to character death.

Make sure to include the rough time of day in the subject of your top-level comments, as well as if your thread is open or closed. This whole log will only cover Day 168. If you need mod participation/NPCing, please ask us asap and give us some allowance to be slow, since there's a lot going on.

There is a log for the downtime on days 169-170 here, and a full-event log for those staying in the shelter at Folkvang here. There will be a second pair of battle/downtime logs for the second battle (Day 171-172 with downtime on Day 173) posted on Nov 8.

Important note! There will be a lightning speed commentspam thread for taking down the most familiar dragon in this post beginning today at 6pm CST. At that time there will be a mod plurk to let everyone know we're starting. We will also ask those who can to join the AIM chat (asgardchat) at that time so we're all on the same page. It's a thread we want to get done from start to finish as fast as possible/within two evenings, due to mod business. Please don't feel left out if you can't participate in that thread. It's partly an experiment in seeing if this kind of thing works for us, and there's lots else you can do!

Have fun, everyone! If you have questions, please ask on the event post so that everyone else can see them/the answers. Thank you!]

Comments

[occulthymns]

[Good boy. She pulls him over to that spot and pushes on his shoulders until he sits. Then she sits as well.]

Don't be stubborn.

[secondborn]

[He sits. But he's not terribly happy about it.

on the other hand this bench is surprisingly comfortable

No. Stop. He's not tired. He refuses to be tired. There are people dying, he refuses to be tired.]

...fine.

[occulthymns]

[She grins triumphantly, finishing up cleaning his wound and pulling out a mostly empty jar to green, floral-smelling poultice.]

Good! Don't worry, you'll be back on your feet in no time.

[secondborn]

[He looks with a certain amount of concern at the jar.]

What is that?

[occulthymns]

Medication. The herbs in it will help your cut heal faster. [She'll be spreading it on his arm now, it feels a little warm and tingly.]

[secondborn]

[He flinches at first because it's unfamiliar and the feeling of it surprises him, but he relaxes when it doesn't hurt.]

...sorry.

[That flinch was kind of embarrassing.]

[occulthymns]

[Since he's complying she isn't too concerned, so she'll just nod patiently.]

It's okay. If you notice any other injuries let me know.

[secondborn]

I... hadn't even thought about it.

[His mind was on other things. Right now, he's trying to concentrate on himself to be able to tell if there's anything else he really should have been aware of before... but he's having trouble. So with his free hand he starts looking around for rips in his clothes. That would be a good indication of something beneath, right?]

[occulthymns]

You should. You can't just ignore your own wellbeing, even if this is a war.

[She'll start bandaging the cut up as she says that.]

[secondborn]

[His brow furrows. He wants to argue, say how there isn't time, how he's not the most important person out there, people need help more than he does, and so on, but he just keeps his mouth shut, his jaw tense as he pokes around at himself.

There's a few cuts, there, on his chest. They're short and shallow, not nearly as bad as the one she's taking care of right now. They're not even bleeding anymore and haven't been for a while. He'll wait until she's done to point them out, though it's quite possible she'll notice him finding them anyway.]

[occulthymns]

[Euri finishes up bandaging that wound, having done a good enough job that as long as it isn't disturbed it should heal up fine. She's rather pleased with herself but she's noticing the cuts on his chest, too, and she frowns.]

Geez, you've really been going overboard.

[secondborn]

They're not that bad.

[Look they haven't even been bleeding for a while. Which actually makes them look a little gross because they're all scabby and stuff.

He's actually a little indignant about it. He has not been going overboard, he hasn't. At least, he doesn't think so.]

[occulthymns]

They add up. [She pokes his shoulder.]

You're going to need to do something about your shirt.

[secondborn]

[He blinks at her.]

What do you mean?

;o freudian slip

[occulthymns]

[Oh, if only there wasn't a war going on and they weren't in the middle of a battlefield....]

It's in the way. It'll just get stuck to the wounds if I try bandaging around it.

CLEARLY

[secondborn]

Ah.

[He could protest, but... he's not in the mood and she has a point so he just takes the damn thing off, doing his best to not think about the fact that he's now shirtless in front of a girl who is pretty much a stranger.

With the shirt out of the way the cuts are clear, and they're really not bad. They need cleaning, but they're not deep, grazes really. There's three of them, all parallel to each other, as if a monster with claws took a swipe at him and Alastair didn't dodge quite in time. Which is actually exactly what happened.

By the way, he's not half bad shirtless. It's not like he's got a six pack or shoulders to sigh over or anything, but he's thin and lean and athletic and it shows.

Also there are several bruises in various places. This boy has been fighting all day and he's no expert, he's gotten a bit knocked around.]

[occulthymns]

[Euri is really doing her best not to stare, because now isn't the time to be a teenage girl. She's got a job to do and it's best to get it done as quickly as possible.

Frowning a little, she starts cleaning off the new cuts. They might start bleeding again because of this, but since they're shallow it isn't a big deal. She's doing that quickly, and focusing a bit more on the poultice. It's what will help, after all - it's her own recipe, and it includes healing nectar from magical flowers native to Asgard as well as a few other magic herbs. They won't be as effective as an actual healer, but together they're still pretty potent.]

[secondborn]

[He's not even going to look at her this is awkward and mildly embarrassing so he's just going to look around the street and make sure nobody sees this no enemies are approaching.

Yup.]

[occulthymns]

[Euri is keeping her peeking completely professional as she applies more poultice and bandages. Once she's down she'll sit back and she is totally not blushing.]

All done!

[secondborn]

Good.

[He puts the shirt back on, sighs, and runs a hand through his hair.]

I'm sorry. I mean thank you.

[occulthymns]

Don't worry about it. [Aaand one last thing - once his shirt is back on she's touching one of his hands, sending some of the energy she has stored into him. Fuck yeah energy transfer!]

Just don't overexert yourself.

[secondborn]

[That is a weird, weird feeling. He inhales sharply, grabbing her hand in surprise. Once she's done he lets go immediately. He blinks at her.]

What was... what was that?

[occulthymns]

[She smiles and waggles her fingers at him.]

My power. I can steal energy from one person and give it to someone else.

[secondborn]

Oh.

[He swallows, getting used to the sudden energy boost.]

Thank you.

[occulthymns]

You're welcome.

[She'll nod.]

I'm Euri, by the way.