asgardmeridiem | END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

[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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[In the rare moment where she is not in the field with her husband, Daphne is in the arena -- and when she sees the young girl resting and looking rather petulant about it, the woman kneels in front of her to offer a bottle of water with a kind smile.]

You heal?

[Naminé's fairly preoccupied with her thoughts - even on a break, she is distracted by her work and her other concerns, especially regarding the status of those most important to her - so she doesn't realize she's being approached until suddenly there's a woman in front of her and then Naminé is blinking up at her. The water bottle catches her attention next, though it takes the blonde a moment to process that it's being offered to her; her exhaustion is quite the impediment all on its own. It'd be rude not to accept, right? And now that she thinks of it, Naminé finds she is quite parched. She takes the bottle in the careful sort of way of someone who appreciates what they're given very much.]

Thank you...! [Bottle secured, she automatically glances the woman over, checking for injuries.] Yes, I do. Are you hurt--?

You're very welcome.

[With a soft smile as she crosses her arms over her knees, pleased.]

I'm not injured, but thank you for asking. I'm a healer, too.

[Naminé seems relieved by the answer, a smile on her face in return. The tiny bit of tension that appeared during her search eases out of her shoulders.]

You're welcome. [Even if she always feels a little awkward accepting thanks for that, when she feels it her duty.] -- Oh! I see. I'm sorry-- I didn't realize.

It's fine -- I never lived in the Sigyn house, so it's understandable that we wouldn't know one another.

[She sort of got scooped up by her husband and was moved in with him right away.]

Have you been in the battle since the start? You should rest for a few hours.

-- Never? [Blink. Give her a second to check and make sure this woman has a bracelet and isn't just an unexpectedly recovered native--] How did that happen? [Did the gods have different arrangements Naminé wasn't aware of?]

Not exactly - I've been here at the Arena. [But she's definitely been working the whole time, that's for certain. It didn't exactly take long for people to start getting hurt.] I actually am trying to get a little rest. [Not a few hours, she's much too anxious for that, but a break's a break, right?]

My husband brought me to where he was staying. I live with him.

[With a tiny smile -- and he makes a soft approving noise, at Namine's answer.]

Good.

...! [She looks a little surprised; she doesn't know very many Travellers who are married - to the best of her knowledge, that is, now that she thinks of it - but soon enough she's smiling.] Oh, so you can be together...! I'm glad you won't have to miss each other. -- Not that I'm glad you're both trapped here, just... that you don't have to be apart. [That is definitely a wonderful thing, as far as she's concerned.]

[There's a small, but completely genuine smile that brightens her features as Namine talks -- and the woman crosses her legs underneath her, fingers gently twisting her wedding ring, eyes bright.]

We're never apart for very long.

[Even in their world, when the time comes when they'll be separated -- they'll find one another again.

The only thing she can do is have faith.]

[That look encourages Naminé's own smile. There's something a tiny bit shy about it; this kind of topic is one that warms something in her not!heart, but at the same time makes her feel guilty. What business has someone like her with discussing such things, when surely she cannot hope to truly comprehend them? Except she can't quite help herself, all the same.]

Really? Never?

[This appears to be to her both wonderful and strange. Although now she has much more opportunity to be, before coming to the city being able to be with the people for whom she cared was largely an impossibility.]

END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

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