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

[asgardmods]

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.

Week One: Day 441 / May 1-3

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.

Week Two: Days 443-445 / May 4-9

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.

[ OOC NOTES: This is the mingle log for WEEKS ONE AND TWO of the Something Significant plot event! Remember that your only characters who signed up for this opt-out event by the deadline will be able to participate. Please put your character's location in the title, as well as either OPEN or CLOSED and the DATE. For more details, please head on over to the full rundown HERE. If you have any questions, please let us know, and have fun! The event log for the SOMETHING OMINOUS opt-out plot log can be found HERE.

SPECIAL NOTE: As of the power expansion plot, bracelets will work outside of the city along with god powers. Characters WILL be able to communicate with those inside of the city of Asgard, as long as the party has his or her bracelet on him. ]

Comments

[tonsofpun]

"You really should make better life choices," Ellie admonishes, but she's grinning at her despite it.

[hisstrength]

"I think I'm a lost cause. Besides, like yours are any better!" She can bring examples. Does she have to bring examples?

[tonsofpun]

"Oh shit." Ellie puts up both her hands playfully. "Them's fighting words."

[hisstrength]

"Oh you wanna go?" Tris grins, "Just remember you started it."

[tonsofpun]

"You think you can handle this?"

Ellie makes an overlarge gesture towards her whole body. Sooo threatening. "You don't want this. You don't want me bringing the thunder."

[hisstrength]

"Oh you're acting tough now." Tris cocks up her chin, sizing up the other girl.

She isn't that sure she could take Ellie in a fight. Possibly, but not easily. Luckily they're just kidding around, if there's one thing she doesn't think she could stomach, it's them being enemies.

"I could so handle that."

[tonsofpun]

"I would mess. You. Up."

Ellie laughs, nudging her with her elbow gently. "No seriously, though- when we get back, maybe we could show each other some stuff."

Ellie talks a great game, but truth is, she heavily relies on stealth, ambush, long-range combat, and people underestimating her.

[hisstrength]

"That's a great idea." And she lights up like she means it, too. Any exchange between them is only going to make both of them better, the way she figures.

"Did you ever learn fighting unarmed?"

[tonsofpun]

"Other than fistsfights back home, nah. Usually my best bet is to get my hands on a weapon."

It's something to look forward to when they get back, and the times Ellie and Tris have fooled around, she knows her friend has some impressive reflexes.

Ellie starts to tell her that Riley is the one who is fantastic at fighting hand to hand, but cuts herself off. She can't talk about Riley right now.

"What about you?"

[hisstrength]

Tris nods. "It's the first thing they taught us after how to shoot a gun."

There's a brief moment where her smile falters, where she struggles to keep positive at all. Four taught her that. Every step of the way. Immediately, she shifts her focus away from memories from home.

"I try to practice at the arena every day." Raising one hand, she shows the callouses on her knuckles. "Kinda starting to show."

[tonsofpun]

"Sounds like a class I gotta make time for," Ellie admits.

She spots the falter, and her own smile fades. She's not going to pretend there's nothing there, but for her friend's sake, she won't go picking at the wounds.

"Nice. Pretty soon you're gonna be a road map, like me." Ellie traces the scar through her eyebrow, beaming at her. "Don't worry, it only makes you look like a badass."

[hisstrength]

Tris smiles back at her. "I guess the marks just keep on happening." At that, she tugs at the collar of her shirt, exposing the edge of a tattoo along her collarbone. Birds in flight.

Indicating that particular scar though, it does raise a question. "How'd you get that one?"

[tonsofpun]

"Whoa, shit. Those are awesome." Ellie leans in to get a better look, amazed. She's never seen someone her age with tattoos. Plenty of soldiers, and none of them with anything other than military-type tattoos.

"Uh, dumb story. These guys at the military boarding school jumped me after class. They were always giving me shit."

Ellie gives a shrug, runs a hand back through her hair. "I dealt with it."

[hisstrength]

Tris' smile breaks into a sheepish grin as Ellie admires her tattoo. To her, they're pretty normal, but she's realized by now they're not as common in Asgard. But when she hears about people picking on her friend, she frowns. About ready to punch some people where it hurts.

Dealing with it's all well and good, she supposes. She tris to focus on that part. "Well, you managed. That counts."

[tonsofpun]

Ellie gives her a crooked smile, shrugs one shoulder.

"I stabbed him with a compass. They expelled me. That was the last school before I went to Riley's."

Her rap sheet's a mile long, Tris.

[hisstrength]

There's a million things here she could be asking about.

Instead: "I always thought compasses were round. How'd that work?"

[tonsofpun]

"Math compass," Ellie explains with a grin. "You use it to draw circles. It's got one pointy end, a gear, and another part that holds a pencil. The pointy end makes a pretty damn good knife, if you've gotten everything else confiscated."

[hisstrength]

"Oh those!" She grins. "So basically, you're deadly with anything you can get your hands on."

[tonsofpun]

"Shh, it's classified."

Putting a finger to her lips, she nudges Tris with an arm playfully. "But yeah, sort of."

[hisstrength]

"I think I've got a lot to learn." Half laughing, half serious. She nudges back. "Not that they're about to confiscate our weapons anytime soon around here."

[tonsofpun]

"They better fucking not," Ellie agrees. "Or I'll confiscate some shit of theirs, and they won't like that."

Shaking her head, she looks down at her hands, the laughter slowly sliding away. She looks up again at the others, back at Tris, lowers her voice.

"Tess is gone."

[hisstrength]

She keeps her voice down only because Ellie does. Even if she doesn't know for sure that there's eyes on her back, or whose they are, enough has happened to make her understand caution.

"Damn. I'm sorry. Are... you guys gonna be okay?"

Immediately she glances around, even though she already knows it's just Joel, and that Riley didn't come with them. She wants to ask about that, too, but she expects that Ellie wouldn't be joking around like that if she was gone, too.

[tonsofpun]

Immediately, Ellie glances back at Joel, checking on him before she looks back to Tris, sighing slowly.

"... I dunno, Tris. She's... she's not coming back. Not to our world, anyway. She's been dead a long time. Same as Riley."

Ellie wraps her fingers together. It's there in her eyes, the fear, the loss. She knows what's coming.

[hisstrength]

That place they're from just keeps sounding worse and worse. She can't think of any kind of reassurance. Vague hopes of Tess maybe showing up in Asgard again sound ridiculous even without saying anything out loud. Looking at Ellie she thinks of the people she's known that are dead now, and wonders if she'll ever be able to find words in the face of lives having ended.

"Riley's still here, right? I was wondering why she wasn't with you."

For a long selfish moment, she's glad her mother never did appear in Asgard like she'd wanted. Facing every day wondering if she'd have to face that kind of loss again isn't a blessing.

[tonsofpun]

"She's somewhere in the city. She doesn't have her bracelet, so I dunno where she is. And even if I found her, she'd have no fucking clue who I was."

For a second she sounds perilously close to showing just how fucked she is emotionally, but she sucks it back, flashes a smile that isn't really fooling either of them.

"... probably the safest place for her, though."