asgardmeridiem | OPT-OUT EVENT LOG: SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT, WEEKS ONE AND TWO

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OPT-OUT EVENT LOG: SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT, WEEKS ONE AND TWO

The volunteers from the LOCUSTS! event last month found in Odin's office endless research into Ginnungagap and a handwritten note from the King prior to his collapse. All arrows are pointing in the direction of the sacred canyon, and so it is that the Travellers will be initiating their own investigation into whatever Odin believes may be down there. It will be done without the eyes of the gods, however, so the trip will be a dangerous one without a map to lead the way and there may be many unforeseen obstacles along the way.

Day 441 ( April 30/May 1 ): As per the whispers on the street, the Travellers that've decided to go on this trip will meet up in the earliest hours of Day 441 at the Gate of Fire. Pack and prepare for a long haul, as this one will be a difficult journey. Any of those that went on the Down This Road opt-out event may want to offer up their memories as a vague guide into the canyon, but either way - without the guidance of the gods, making it to Ginnungagap safely will be nigh impossible.

After the Travellers sneak their way out of Asgard, they will make way towards the canyon to the east. Travel will be slow and difficult, particularly in moving through the forests that have been ravaged by the recent flooding. When they make camp for the evening, they will suffer the same strange sensations as those in Asgard just before 11PM: they will simultaneously feel a flicker in their bodies, like a missed heartbeat or a cut-off breath. Those in Freyr house that were present for the god's death and those that were present for the Friendly Fire event will recognise the sensation; it will happen twice more before one final blip. In that moment, everyone will essentially have a minor blackout: their vision will fade, their bodies will freeze, and there will be an internal sensation of dropping.

After this, the Travellers outside of the city will feel something of a drag towards Ginnungagap. It will feel like an outside force beckoning them inward, to someplace they belong. The compulsion will be relatively easy to overcome, but it will linger all throughout their journey through the depths of Yggdrasil.
Day 443 ( May 4/5 ): Approaching the border between Asgard and Ginnungagap will bring the Travellers closer to the Fire Giants' kingdom of Muspellheim. From this distance, they will just barely be able to make out the great volcano, still lit at its peak, and a heavy black cloud that lingers over most of the kingdom. In this area, it may behoove them to keep an eye out for Giant patrols and pockets of defects from Surt's ranks, all seeking safe ground somewhere in the relatively neutral territory of Ginnungagap. They will be volatile and attack upon sight, but no groups will be any larger than five, maybe six at most.

As they sneak and fight their way across the plains, they will find that Ginnungagap is 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.

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[It probably does. But as long as someone knows where they're going it should all work out. Or at least, work out well enough to keep them from getting quite entirely lost on the way, and that's usually good enough for his standards. The rest will work itself, as things have a tendency to do.]

I do know. It's one thing to plan to do something, but quite another to actually be doing it.

[Honestly, even that it has been planned is something that he doesn't usually do, but that's a comparatively minor point under the circumstances.]

[ lost is relative anyway, right? and back home, living as a hunter was a lot like this. general directions, general ideas, and the confidence in the fact your own skills and intelligence will get you through to tomorrow. that's why they set this all up, and why they're all here. ]

Especially without any magical help. Or- godly help, I guess.

[ because that's half the reason jo was so fast to jump on this. with everything that's been going on, the battles outside the city and the odin sleep and everything else, they can't rely on them anymore. they have to figure things out themselves. ]

[Very definitely relative, yes. And as long as they have at least a rough idea of where they're going the rest is somewhat less important. They can deal with the finer details when they become relevant, even if it means deferring to someone else's memory on where exactly they'll be going.]

It's maybe a little better this way. But yes, I quite agree. It does make it harder, even if we perhaps shouldn't always rely on them.

[The help is certainly appreciated, but who's to say that they'll always be able to count on the gods.]

Besides, we'll get there sooner or later, I expect.

[ and maybe that ends up putting a lot of faith in people that jo doesn't know. maybe that's extending her trust a little further than she needs to, or wants to. but she can swallow back that uneasy feeling for the greater good, and this is most definitely the greater good. for sure. ]

It'll be better, in the long-run. They're losing this war so far and if they can't fight we'll need to figure out our own ways to get around. To protect ourselves.

[ jo's never been one to trust them anyway. and after everything they've done to her, everything they've given only to take them away, she's angry. done.

but then she snorts a little, giving him a look with one raised eyebrow. ]

Let's say sooner and maybe it'll actually happen.

[Very definitely the greater good, yes. That it also helps to answer curiosity is a convenient bonus, and more than enough to get him to see this through the end.]

'To take up slings and arrows,' eh? It might not be a sea of troubles, or at least, not yet, but the better we know what we're up against the better we'll know how to manage defenses. It can't just be the giants, if they're still bringing so many of us in.

[And given that would have been enough a war it's almost worrisome to think about what else they might be going up against.]

Sooner it is, then.

[ two birds one stone, right? but maybe that's why they've been able to work together so well. similar interests, similar understandings. they're both in this till the end, for sure. ]

Things have been going to shit for some time, but recently it's got a lot worse. If you ask me, we're on the road to some kind of serious end. Even if Ragnarok was supposed to have started a while ago. [ she purses her lips together, turning back to the fire. ] Surt and what's her face - the ice lady - they can't be the only players, can they? Or... they can't only be using giants as their pawns.

[ wars are much easier to talk about when they're off in the distance, after all. ]

[Till the very end. And maybe even beyond, but the only way to see is to take things one step at a time. One little bit closer to where they're supposed to be and then they'll go from there.

And if things get hard along the way, at least he's used to that, and there's probably not going to be any sort of jail cells involved this time.]

I only really know about Ragnarok from the legends of Earth. But you're right. They can't possibly be the only ones involved in this.

[Otherwise they'd surely have made more progress than they already have, and even that isn't terribly clear. They might well be simply stalling out and that will do no one any good.]

We just have to figure out what else is going on here, first.

[ don't say that? they're not sure how the gods will react to their little trip yet. ]

The one that apparently started was here. Something about the tree of life dying. I have no freaking clue- but if I see. Wolf eating the sun, I'm high tailing it out of that city for sure.

[ it's starting to feel way too much like a pen! and less like a safe haven't lately? she stays for her family, but if things are just going to get worse? would it be worth it? ]

Yeah, first things first, might as well make sure this trip isn't a total bust. [ a pause! and then she's turning back to him. ] Can I ask you something?

Edited 2014-05-23 07:32 (UTC)

[They aren't, but he's gotten fairly good at making the most of whatever happens to happen. And there's no real reason to assume that's changed even under these circumstances.]

I think everyone might be, if a wolf started eating the sun. Of course, that assumes we actually see the wolf eating it, instead of just seeing the afteraffects of the sun having been eaten.

[But the feeling of the city being just as much a prison as anything else hasn't escaped his notice. Not after so long spent staying more or less in one place prior to having been this version of himself.]

Of course you can! I can't promise I'll have the answers, though.

[ that's one way of looking at the situation. jo's not so sure. but what she does know is that she doesn't really want to waste any more time worrying about it. ]

Yeah, but with all the hub-bub of the Norse Apocalypse, I'd like to at least see it. I'd feel kinda jipped if I didn't.

[ but then it's even more complicated, because jo doesn't really have anywhere else to go. if she was sent back home, that is. ]

Why're you doing this? The whole breaking and entering and going off on this trip. It's not something you just decide to do.

I think I'd just as rather not see it. It'll mean that we have less to worry about.

[And given that they really do have enough to worry about as it is, one less thing to need to worry about is just as well. Even if they do end up taking things one at a time.]

Ah, well. You could say it's almost like what I usually do. Helping to figure things out, that is. We can't fix any of this if we don't having the answers, and the answers aren't doing any good if they're locked up somewhere.

[Plus he's always been curious besides, but that's a lesser point and so he doesn't mention it.]

It'd be coming anyway, though. You'll have to worry about the Apocalypse anyway.

[ though she guesses she can see where he's coming from. but having not lived through one apocalypse, one that was stopped in the end, she would have least liked to be there till the end. to see it.

jo considers what he says, though. nodding like she's actually considering how that will affect him. ]

Even if the gods don't agree? There's got to be a reason Odin was hiding this all away.

Maybe I will. Or maybe I already have. It gets terribly hard to keep track of sometimes.

[And the time travel doesn't really help either. Not when it seems like there's the threats of one world or another ending far too often. But either way, he'll deal with it whenever it happens to come up.]

Especially if they don't agree! Like you said, there has to be a reason it was all hidden away, and it wouldn't really be the first time either. That it's a god is new, but I can't imagine it would be any different in the long run.

[Having someone less than pleased with him, he means, but he'll probably understand if she finds the explanation a little less than clear.]

[ she just kind of snorts out a laugh at that, giving him a look with a raised brow. ]

Sounds like a pretty easy-going way to live, if you ask me.

[ but then she's laughing, actually laughing. and when she's done it just kind of ends up as a nod. ]

No, I get that. I guess I was just curious.

Maybe it is. But it suits me well enough.

[He might not ever know entirely where he's going, but that's just as interesting as anything else, and that's all he's asked for. Even if people will keep pulling him aside to go looking for one thing or another.]

Besides, there's nothing wrong with curiosity. How else is someone supposed to learn if they don't ask questions? And I certainly don't mind answering either.

Edited 2014-05-29 06:37 (UTC)

That's all that matters, though, right? That you're happy enough?

[ though that starts to get complicated when you're not really sure what it is you want anymore, but that's not what they're talking about, so jo doesn't bring it up. ]

Even if they don't have any reason to be curious in the first place?

Of course it is. Besides, there's nothing better than enjoying what you do, most of the time.

[Just not all the time, since he's very aware of the fact that there are some things that people shouldn't like to do. Especially since it usually ends up catching his attention sooner or later. Which isn't really the part that bothers him, in the end, but either way that's a matter for another time.]

Besides, who says anyone needs a reason to be curious?

Most of the time is enough for me.

[ jo's not really sure she ever considered the things she did as making her happy, but it makes sense. she ends up laughing a little at his question, despite herself, before finally shrugging. ]

I guess that's true. But there's got to be some kind of limit.

There usually is. But that doesn't mean that anyone needs a reason, most of the time. It just means that you aren't always going to get the answers just by asking. Sometimes you have to go looking for them as well.

[As is the case here, for example. There wasn't anyone to ask, and so they've headed out to look for themselves.]>

I feel like the few times I go out looking for answers I end up in a more dangerous situation than necessary.

[ also the case here, even if they don't really know it. ]

Is there ever a time you're just...okay with not knowing?

That does tend to happen, a little. But if the answers are there, wouldn't you say it's worth it in the end? Especially if there's something you can use to help, there.

[True, he's not usually in charge of so many, and there's much more of a risk of death here as well. But he can't help wanting to know either.]

Not usually, no. Although I won't say there haven't sometimes been regrets.

If I get the answers I'm looking for, maybe.

[ jo doesn't like absolutes, has lived her life training herself to respond to the unexpected. plus, it would be her luck to say yes and then have something happen directly after, just to prove her wrong.

not that she's superstitious or anything. ]

You can't live life without a few regrets. But you're still hung-ho about it all?

Ah, but even if they aren't the answers you're looking for sometimes the answers you find can be a place to start. Especially when someone's keeping things out of sight. It just takes a little more work to figure things out if the answers aren't right there.

[But sooner or later they're usually there. Regardless of the work it takes to get to where the answers might happen to be. Or figure out who has the answers.]

And of course I am! I wouldn't still be doing this sort of thing otherwise.

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OPT-OUT EVENT LOG: SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT, WEEKS ONE AND TWO

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