( NPC POST, VIDEO ) a collective address

[asgardmods]

( though the network has consistently broadcast in the same rectangular box, those who tune in to this address will find that the display is not only wider, but curves around you from your 10-o'-clock to your 2-o'-clock - not that the gods are familiar enough with clocks to measure it as such.

it's a dramatic change, but a necessary one, as now the entirety of the pantheon stands or sits before you. unified, at least in this moment.

that's when ODIN begins to speak. )

▒█ Wanderers, lend us a few minutes of your time. █▒

( many of the other gods straighten a little, noting that the address is starting. honir flashes a reassuring little grin, though it fades quickly to at least a facsimile of gravity. sigyn breaks what otherwise was a concerned sidelong glance at skadi (who stands near the back, impatient, attention off to the side) to turn dutifully back to the screen.

ODIN continues, seeming at times almost contemplative, though no less certain. )

▒█ Two-hundred and forty days. That's how long it has been since the first of you arrived, chaotically but beautifully, on our doorstep. A number we wouldn't have known, had you not taught us to measure a day to begin with. In thinking back, that should have been a sign of our fallibility right there at the start. █▒

( he pauses, perhaps with intent to continue, but instead FRIGG sets a quiet hand on his arm for silence and stands from the chair she has thus far occupied. )

▒█ What he means to say is, we're sorry. We've - mistreated you, in your time here. We've nurtured you, left you to want for nothing... But we haven't truly, have we? █▒

( her expression has taken on a deep remorse, the look of a mother who has come to realize she's failed her child, because that is what the wanderers have become.

expression steeling a bit, HEIMDALL speaks up from the edge of the group. )

▒█ Purpose. It's crucial to every living thing, and we've spent eight-? Nine months robbing you of it. Making you aimless. Complacent. Giving you just enough room to pretend you had agency, but sheltering you from everything you might use that agency to accomplish. █▒

( TYR, from the chair where he sits with one leg crossed leisurely over the other, exhales in a sort of amusement. like 'oh, heimdall's being dramatic again', as if tyr himself isn't about to diffuse the so-called dramatics by be equally dramatic. )

▒█ So we've decided to trust you, what a novel concept. █▒ ( he cuts in, as if this were an idea he's had from the start. maybe he has, but it hasn't been worth the effort to push for it. ) ▒█ A bit ironic, isn't it, that it took giving you housepets to see that we've treated you like them? █▒

( heimdall scowls and opens his mouth to cut back in, but tyr holds up a a lazy silencing hand. ) ▒█ Understand that we only wanted to protect you, of course. We simply failed to realize you may not be so in need of protection as we might otherwise have assumed.

You are truly impressive, do you know that? Each of you, even to us. I can only wonder at how impressive you might be, had the Mother played a bit nicer with your true magic. █▒

( though he's kept his lips carefully (almost comically) shut through tyr's bit, HONIR can no longer hold off interjecting. )

▒█ We have jobs! For you. Odin, tell them about the jobs? █▒

▒█ We cannot progress independent of one another. █▒ ( ODIN says, while heimdall settles back out of the forefront and frigg sits back down in her chair. ) ▒█ As you grow stronger, we grow stronger, and thus does Asgard - and if Asgard grows stronger, so too does each of you.

We want you to become a part of that, if you're willing. █▒

( a pause for emphasis, but then he continues. )

▒█ While each of us already embodies a conceptual domain, we've elected to each choose a domain of progress - of something critical to Asgard's wellbeing, to the strengthening of it - to direct our magic and efforts toward as well. Our Frigg, for example, has extended her reach over such things as health care, for both the body and the mind. Those who wish to heal others, to help them, and perhaps even to provide relief in the wake of any number of battles to come are welcome to speak with her on the matter. █▒

▒█ And I get scouts! █▒ ( HONIR is practically brimming with excitement, despite his relatively successful attempt at gravity earlier. ) ▒█ That is, I already have a couple of scouts - but now I'll have more. We'll discover mysteries, maybe even build little settlements outside of the city. It'll be such fun. █▒

( despite himself, ODIN's lips curl into the faintest smile. )

▒█ We will, of course, provide more concrete information regarding the roles you might fill as soon as we're able.

Thank you, Wanderers, for listening to us now and so many times in the past. █▒

( the other gods (for the most part) all nod or murmur a form of agreement, then the message cuts off. )


( mod notes: you're welcome to reply to this post to talk amongst yourselves, but the gods themselves won't actually be responding to it. they have Too Much Planning To Do, some of which isn't entirely a unanimous accord amongst the gods quite yet. )

Comments

voice;

[tealeafs]

[ Terezi, please!! Chizuru didn't even think about the potential janitorial services until seeing her reply to the post. ]

Well, they said "if you're willing", right? It didn't sound like they're going to force anything on us, so don't worry, Terezi.

[mindseer]

[She was a trend setter when it came to jobs nobody wanted!]

Yeah, yeah, but you know someone's gonna end up drawing the short straw on this and end up with jobs they don't want, right?

[tealeafs]

Do you think so..?

[ Chizuru's world is much too rose-coloured for her to even have thought of that yet. She pauses, seems to think with a hum.. and then she's clearly got the solution to this problem. ]

Well, if you're worried about getting stuck with something you don't like.. then I'll trade with you if it comes to that, okay? [ Chizuru never complains about any job, after all. She's done so many different things back home and was okay with all of it. ] I don't really mind either way.

[mindseer]

Hmmm...
...

I think maybe the best way to avoid getting a job I don't want means I need to poke one of them and find the jobs on purpose that I actually want. That sounds like a plan, right?

[tealeafs]

[ That does sound like a plan, although Chizuru can't help but be curious as to-- ]

What kind of job would you want, then?

[mindseer]

Legislacerator!

[That mouthful was out of her lips before she thought better of it. Right. Troll word. Probably wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.]

Uhhhh, magistrate basically. Or just city watch, but you get the idea hopefully.

[tealeafs]

[ Thank you for the instant translation, Terezi, or it would have left her majorly confused. But thankfully city watch is something she is very, very familiar with. ]

Oh..! I can see you doing that. [ Terezi isn't the type to let someone walk all over her, after all. ] And that could be a really helpful thing too in case something would happen here again! It'd be nice to have people going around and looking out for others' safety.

[mindseer]

[She also had quite the obsession with law and courts, which was an added bonus.]

Plus, my nose knows, hehehe. It's amazing at sniffing out all kinds of things. Like lies. Magistrates need to be able to sniff out lies right? I'll sniff my way like a bloody barkbeast to the heart of the matter.

[...bloodhounds were not bloody barkbeasts, you doofus.]

[tealeafs]

You can smell lies?

[ At least the surprise of that is enough to distract her completely from trying to figure out what barkbeasts are. (Thankfully that one isn't too complicated either way..) ]

That's an amazing talent..! I can't even imagine in how many situations that has to be super useful! [ Does that sound too ridiculous to be true? Probably. But Chizuru instantly believes it anyway. This is how much she trusts you, Terezi. ]

[mindseer]

Yup! And I've been starting to pick up hints of other stuff. I'm still figuring it out. It's like telling the difference between the smells of farts... which sounds disgusting, but never said lies smelled good did I? Eheh.

[She shook her head and laughed, yeah. It smelled awful, but as her nose refined into the third tier? It was getting useful.]

It's great for investigations definitely. In fact it's great for a lot of things, but definitely interrogating folks that are holding out.

[tealeafs]

[ Oh god, Terezi, why did you have to bring up smelling farts! Chizuru's facial expression immediately goes from amazed to.. well, slightly less amazed. Mostly since she's now thinking about the amplified scent of farts. Ew. ]

Maybe you should try staying away from things that smell that unpleasant, you know.. I don't think being able to smell a difference in farts could really help with anything.

[mindseer]

Ehhhhh... it's not the most impressive of things to smell like, but I mean we didn't expect lies to smell good, did we? Hehehe, I certainly didn't. They smell redolent with the air of people's failures, after all, or their deceptions.

Blech, makes the truth smell so much sweeter if you ask me.

[tealeafs]

.. What does truth smell like then?

[ She can't help but be curious. Sure, Chizuru can imagine what lies would smell like. Kind of. Terezi's description matches what she thought. But the truth? What would that be like, just.. clean, maybe? ]

[mindseer]

Hmmm... have you ever smelled how clean air smells? You know, that really pure, clean air that has nothing wrong with it, like you might smell on a snowy day or up in the mountains?

It's like that.

[The kind of 'nothing' that you could actually smell.]

[tealeafs]

Ah, that's nice..

[ From Chizuru's tone, it's very obvious that she can easily imagine it. ]

In that case I'll try to make sure not to lie around you! I would much rather have you being able to smell that all the time than lies.

[mindseer]

Chizuru.... that's adorable, but you don't seem the lying type to begin with. I don't even turn on the schnoze senses around you as a general rule for obvious reasons.

[tealeafs]

.. Huh?! Wait..!

[ This should not be surprising to Chizuru. And yet.. ]

But what if I was lying to you?! [ As if that isn't obvious without Terezi having to smell anything.. ]

[mindseer]

Chizuru, maaaaan, I'd know you were lying the moment you thought of trying to lie. It'd be written all over your think pan, hehehe.

[tealeafs]

Really..? [ Apparently she just hadn't realised yet. Chizuru even sounds kind of thoughtful, like she's thinking about whether it's true or not even as she asks that.. ]

W.. Well, I guess it doesn't matter much anyway, since I don't think I'd have any reason to lie to you. But you're keeping your guard up around less trustworthy people, right?

[mindseer]

Nope, doesn't matter, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't, so I don't need to use it around you. I definitely have it around for the less trustworthy types. Can't do it all the time, since it gets tiring after while to concentrate like that, but it should come in handy.

[tealeafs]

Of course it'll come in handy! You will know it right away if something suspicious is going on.

[ Not that Chizuru doesn't trust by far the majority of people here anyway, since that's just how she is.. but she'd still not want to see Terezi hurt. The girl is too sweet in her own quirky way to get hurt. ]

The city is lucky to have you here.

[mindseer]

They're also lucky I don't abuse my powers for my own purposes, hahaha. If I used 'em right, I betcha I could cause all kindsa trouble.

...

Actually, not really. This place is sort of boring for now that way.

[tealeafs]

[ Look, Chizuru is a very supportive person, but up to a certain point! And what Terezi said there for a moment skirts dangerously close to that. ]

.. by 'trouble', you just mean pulling pranks, right? [ JUST MAKING SURE. It's not as if Chizuru thinks Terezi isn't a good person when it comes down to it, anyway. ]

[mindseer]

What? Oh, hehehe, yeah. The best pranks. The absolutely bestest of pranks. You know it!

[Which sounded great and all, but it was worth considering that her pranks had been borderline lethal back home at times.]