[The Tony that greets the network with a sly smirk, one that doesn't quite reach his eyes, isn't the same man that left Asgard a few days ago. Noticeably, he has a hair cut and a few new bruises.. He's also dressed in a way that is not suspicious at all.]

So did anyone actually explain to the gods that it's very rude to send someone home just so they could watch their mansion get blown up? Oh, and don't forget the terrorist who kidnapped my girlfriend. It's just not kosher. You could at least warn a guy. I've got a heart condition, you know.

I'm assuming that these trips back to our worlds are a common occurrence then?

[At least he knows for certain that he didn't actually die in that wormhole. But it isn't as comforting of an idea as Tony originally thought it would be.]

I'm also assuming I haven't missed much. At least it looks like you guys didn't trash the place again--you can't honestly expect me to believe it was an earthquake last time.

OOC: Thanks for the patience while I took care of family things! I'll be replying to these ASAP.

[ All of you need to stop giving Honir reasons to look sad on his only network appearances. This time, he looks downright bereft. But he smiles anyway; Mimir is steady at his side and it's enough support to get through this. ]

Can I tell you a story, Travellers? It's one some of you may have been wanting to hear - but it's a love story, for those of you that don't like them and want to avoid having feelings.

( not IC cut for plot information! )

[ OOC NOTES: This is the IC post welcoming the Travellers to join them for a trip to Ginnungagap. OOC information can be found here and the mingle log is here. It isn't necessary to respond in order to go on the trip. All of the gods will be wandering through this post, so let us know if you'd like to speak to someone in specific! ]

[Funny thing about Elektra: when she's not being unnecessarily paranoid, she's reckless. After throwing caution to the wind and sampling this, she's happy for the first time in years. There's a soft smile on her lips as she addresses the camera. She's holding what people might recognize as the note accompanying the chocolate sent out.]

"Where love might bring about sorrow, it also welcomes joy." [She flips the card over in her hand and sets it down offscreen.] It's a nice sentiment. True too.

[A beat.] What do people around here do to make themselves happy anyways? [They can't all be emotionless robots like her.]

[ Oh look, it's the not-'Asgardian'!Asgardian! And he holds his hand up, palm outward in silent greetings. ]

Friends, newcomers - [ ...and Malekith... ] - well met. I shall keep brief: we have faced war. And we have had our dead and our wounded to show for the victory.

[ And now, he turns slightly more somber. ]

I do not ask whether you fight for this land or its people, for your pleasure or your lives alone. Whatever your reasons, we do not die here. In this, I think, we all agree. Yet...

[ He has the grace to look sheepish. ]

...apologies, but many of you walk as if targets. You know nothing of battle, and the gifts given to you in this land do not serve. The meager war crafts would be of help to you: shield bearing, the handling of sword and hammer. I do not speak of great ability, but enough that you can bide yourselves the time to run.

[ Firmer, now. ]

So: those who wish to learn, give say of what weapon might suit you. Those who know of battle and wish to teach it, name your skill and offer service. And those who once held sorcery alike to the one gained here, volunteer counsel of how to improve it.

For my part, I wield the hammer. I lack in patience, but do not scold unfairly. What knowledge I have is yours to take.

[ Is the part where he riles half of Asgard done with? OH THANK EVERYTHING, time to offend the other half. ]

Past every man's care, we can seek to defend the city. Who here runs inventory? Have we cannons? Rams? Horses? If anyone wishes to learn, or organize legions - you have my aid in this. There lies opportunity. Another is with our fellows, the grey ones. A frail-bearded man wrote that we do not give them thought or time. Perhaps he is wise, and there is more to be done in alliance.

[ And then he stares at the camera for a long moment of rather stupid blinking, before dissolving into laughter, because - ]

That... was not brief.


[ ooc: woah, tl;dr. iiif you'd like to get involved, just have your character volunteer to teach their faito skills, and I'll have Thor send some/all of the characters who want to pick up said skills their way o/ . ]

[ Strange, how the peculiar hush unique to libraries is preserved even across the far-flung branches of Yggdrasil.

Loki is smiling in his singular way, with neither joy nor amusement to be found. He lounges in the simple chair as if enthroned, a sprawl of artless limb and glinting eye. To his left, a stack of books can be seen in the fringe of the screen, settled neatly one atop another. Arranged as carefully as Loki himself is.

And he shifts forward, filling the frame. Despite his best efforts, he last few days have proved fruitless for him: he has read and read and read again the paltry knowledge that the false-Allfather's house of books had held. He has gone through the network's history with a fine-toothed comb. He knows that he has neither anonymity or obscurity as his allies, though blessed be those in their naivete who would believe him thus crippled.

His smile quiets. ]

A curiosity to discuss, my fellow denizens of — [ his gaze flicks askance, his shoulders rising in a show of nonchalance ] — Asgard. All things must end, so that all things may begin again. Life. Death, also. It is the prescribed way, if one were to believe the philosophy of the Gods.

[ The Gods, he says, with no small amount of irony. ] Why, then, have we been harnessed and put to plow, as lowing cattle must be? You and he and she and Loki Silvertongue, too? Ragnarok will fall. The end of the world will come to pass, whether or not the false deities of this painted playhouse take yours and my freedom and make a mockery of all that we are.

Does it not fill you with rage?

[ In one swift movement, he draws his hands up, pressing them flat against the tabletop. His voice curls into a murmur. ]

Our rage heats in the same crucible. Let us not let it fall to waste.

Long time, no see, Asgard. The snow is very nice, isn't it?

[And here's a face which hasn't appeared in a while. Jacob stares at the camera with those bright blue eyes of his, voice ever so calm.]

You know, I know that we're still going over what to do about the Freya situation, and whether Freryr can or cannot be saved. It is a difficult decision, and I'll let that topic rest for now, as I know all of you have differing opinions on what should be done.

No, the topic I want to talk about is sacrifice.

[And he sits a little straighter in his seat- it's been a while since he's made such a post.]

Sacrifice that is instigated by yourself is generally considered a noble thing, for it means giving up something that is dear to you in order to do something or allow something to happen that never would occur before. Of course, sacrifice is not an easy thing to do, in practice. You may say you can sacrifice that precious something when the time occurs, but when it gets down to the wire, not many people have the courage to give it up.

So, when somebody goes and does something like sacrifice their life, well...it's rather tragic, it is. For one wonders if there might have been any possible way to avoid it, or if things had been different in circumstance, the person would still be alive...it's not an easy decision for he person to make, but at the same time it's hard for the people around them to witness such a thing.

But really, what I've always wondered is this- how do they know for sure that their own death will bring an end to the problems plaguing them and their beloved ones? Letting yourself die is effectively putting an end to what you can do, and even if you somehow come back as a ghost or spirit, you can only watch to see if what you did was the correct decision. That is why sacrifice is a very touchy thing, because while noble in nature, it could go very easily wrong if you decide its time to let it happen.

[A pause.]

So, is sacrifice worth it? Would you go and sacrifice your own life for your friends or beloved ones, knowing the risks that come with it? Or is it better left as a method of last resort?

What do you think?

[ Natasha has to say something. She can’t just stay silent. But what to say? That this all has a really unpleasant ring of nostalgia to it? That she’s read the SHIELD file on Asgard before and either their intel was completely off base, or this entire place was not what it was claiming to be? No. She couldn’t alienate an entire group of people right off, not when it seemed like they earnestly believed what they were being told. She’d been watching them for a few hours now, silently observing – learning. She’s even taught herself how to use her bracelet, reading back on the last few days and fiddling around with her settings.

Now it was time to join in.]

I’m not sure .. if I’m doing this correctly. My name is Natalie Rushman. I was on Earth and then now.. I’m here and that strange woman is telling me that I’m in some sort of house and I was given a bracelet…

[ She’s the very picture of a confused, out of place woman, if a little bit more collected than most. There isn’t any crying, hysterics or babbling going on over here. ‘Natalie’ is a little pale, but that could be chalked up to the lighting. In fact, it almost looks like she’s standing in front of a window, with the sun behind her, obscuring parts of her face – it makes it hard to make out who exactly is speaking into the video. ]

Is there anyone .. who can try and explain to me what is really going on? Someone who has an actual face and has been here for a while?


( ooc: bringing you one spy! her post is going to be tagged with her real name "natasha romanova" so technically, if your character is the type to figure these things out, feel free to have her catch her in her 'lie' - just don't expect her to go down without a fight. (; )

[ He's settled quite comfortably in the corner of one of the city's cozy taverns, broadcasting a little smugly. Melting snow is still crusted on his hat and collar, but his clear glass tankard is already half empty. ]

I've heard more whining about the lights than anything else. 'The travelers will like them,' I heard. 'They're festive,' they said. Tchh. You'd think that most of you were blood sworn against having a little fun downtime between battles in a war.

[ And Thor signs off with a salute of his mug. ]

[ It has been a while, a long while since she had shown her face on the network. Mainly because she had nothing to speak about. Today she is in the library, a stack of books near her elbow while she is quite lost in the writings of Machiavelli. ]

Better to be feared than love, if one cannot be both.

[ A crooked little grin as moves to sit up. ]

If there is one book in this library the Nine must have read. I am not inclined to name them Gods. Such had been a mistake to begin with.

[ Gods create and destroy. These Gods have not created anything as much as she's concerned and even destruction comes from the outside and not from them. ]

Eight, now. Unless Freya shall succeed in her mission, wherever she might be. Perhaps that shall be the first creation truly seen here.

[ to create life from nothing. Lord knows where Freyr is. ]

And yet while their kin is searching for he whom she lost, the others celebrate, if to judge by the pretty lights.

[ a smile. ]

I hope this finds you well, Asgard. A last question if I may - I have read Lord Machiavelli's words yet I will have your own.

Do you believe lies bear a color? Black, grey. Some would say, white.

[ she inclines her head, a farewell greeting. ]

Perhaps a walk in the city would do. The lights are pretty.

[ She will be found in the library, for those who wish to find her. For now. It is time for some filters. ]

(  Princess Mithian  )

(  Mordred  )

[First there is a face. There is a trimmed mustache, and squinting brown eyes. Then the face tilts back and turns into Tony Stark, cracked out of his armor and in the clothes he had been wearing underneath. He looks off-screen.] Not bad. [Referring to the bracelet.] Almost as good as mine.

Wish I could say this is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. [This isn't even the first time he's been kidnapped.] I've been shuffling things around and trying to calculate the numeric value for bullshit. But then we have this little ditty: "The laughter and tears of all travelers will become strength both for you and the greater good." So basically group therapy-slash-bongo drum circles every Tuesdays and Thursdays, pot brownies optional?

Okay. Granted it's been a while since I leafed through Prose Edda. I don't remember it being this--[A quick, circular motion with his wrist.]--well-adjusted. It's more like human sacrifices, eye-gouging, and 'in the beginning, the gods made the earth and heaven out of history's first murder victim.' [He stops for a beat. One might even speculate that he's pausing for breath, because spoiler tag: Tony still needs to breathe through his chatting.] So basically a 'we're walking on corpses, whoa-oh' kind of thing.

This is Viking mythology as told by guidance counselors. And I met Thor like three days ago. You think you know someone, and then you find out they came out of a Care Bears movie. And then you judge them.

But it looks like everyone else is buckling in for the long haul, so here's a few things I'm going to need.


[TEXT]

Soldering station
Approx. 500 liters of coffee
Welding gear
Computer

Asgard. I thought this place only existed in religion. And if religion is an idea, wouldn't that make Asgard an idea too?

[ Sure, it's an overly simplistic explanation of a complex topic but since it's a topic he knows so little about, it's best to keep it simple ]

Unless there's something I missed. [ A brief pause, as though he's genuinely perplexed by the whole idea.

Spoiler: He is ] Your gods. I've heard a lot about them. Do they exist any more than the other divine beings? Or are they just something that we need to put our faith in? Like the Easter Bunny.

...I'm just wondering.

[ He's passing it off as no big deal. Just questions. No reason behind asking them. It's not like it's because of this supposed divine being that he found himself in the shit heap he was in just before showing up here. The very one that has him a little on edge currently.

As for the actual being in Asgard? Well ]

I don't suppose my money is any good here...

[ He's distraught on the inside. I swear ]

[As Arya starts up the video feed, there's a horrid yowling sound in the background. She looks down, annoyed.]

I've fed you twice already today, you can't possibly want more!

[She angles the bracelet down, to show a scrawny, mangy ginger cat, rubbing at her legs. Arya's certain that he's already given her fleas, something she'd hoped never to experience again.]

I caught him, but now he won't go away. [The cat begins yowling pitifully once again.] I wouldn't mind keeping a cat, but he just makes so much noise.

[The irritation on her face is replaced with delight when she remembers the reason she was broadcasting in the first place. And from her belt she unsheathes a small, slender sword. The sunlight catches on the blade and reflects up on the ceiling, sending the cat chasing after the specks of light.]

When I woke up this morning, Needle was at the foot of my bed! [And now her voice is thick with emotion.] I ... I never thought I'd see it again. It was stolen from me.

[She turns the blade over in her hands, memories of better days flooding back to her, of Jon and Syrio.]

[She smiles sadly.] It almost makes up for some of the other things that have happened here recently.

[The cat meows, stretching up at Arya and clawing at her leg.]

All right, all right! I'll feed you! But you'll need a name. [A man needs a name, a voice whispers up from a darker place in her mind.]

...You're just going to be cat for now, until I can think of something.

So the elves of Álfheim have proclaimed their allegiance to the gods of Asgard. [ a deliberate pause; he doubts the same thought (doubt) has occurred to many, but if there's a chance that he can help plant it—. ] I admit, that leaves me wondering as to the allegiances of the other realms; this world is far more than Asgard and Utgard and Thrymheim. [ a touch of wry amusement. he pauses, gaze flickering downwards momentarily — one might assume it's out of thought, but he knows what he wants to say and how, and as such, the pause, the appearance is exactly that: for appearances. ] Svartálfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Muspelheim—. [ a beat and a shrug. ] If the gods of Asgard are so truly bent on circumventing this war, in defeating the giants before they've a chance to be defeated themselves, I suspect we'll find that they'll be scrambling about between themselves in search of trust and allies. We've already been told that the horrors recently visited upon the city were part of an attack. If emotions are the foundation of Asgard, where we will be placed when the gods seek to right perceived wrongs? When defence and prevention becomes not the preserve of Asgard alone, and offence is considered the only answer left.

[ despite his words, loki looks relatively unconcerned, and it's a prelude to his next point: ]

Aladdin's recent announcement as to the discovery of our ability to use the innate power of Asgard, of Yggdrasil has given me thought, along with [ a slight twitch of his lips. ] the Doctor's query as to how one might travel between the realms and universes. Whilst Odin [ a touch of bitterness ] might seek to portray otherwise, the Æsir aren't the only beings with the power to travel between the two. The magic of Svartálfheim, the access to the doorway between realms may be beyond our reach, but if rune magic is not—. [ a smile and an audible exhale (satisfied). ]

It's perhaps for the best that the Norn are without alliances. Should we not too take inspiration from independence?

[ loki moves as if to end the feed but stops suddenly, a look of thought briefly passing across his features. ] —Arya, Caterina, the Pevensie siblings: I intend on travelling as soon as circumstances allow. If you wish to be kept abreast, do let me know.

( ooc: anyone else wanting to get involved with loki's schemes (one + two) can ofc still do so! it's never too late x( )

[This has certainly been a fun and eventful week for the bitty. Now that things have calmed down for the moment, he can tell everyone the good news.]

Hello everyone! I had such a great time with Miss Freya the other day. There was so much yummy food and it was so much fun!
[Thankfully he didn't turn into a little piggy during dinner. Wouldn't want to offend the nice goddess lady.]

Hopefully we can go out to dinner again but  with everything going on, she might be busy. Next time, I see her I'll ask her out again!

Thanks to her, now I don't have to worry too much about the protection for that part of the guild.

Oh yes, speaking of the guild I have a small announcement to make. For all guild members there will be no meeting this month. I have found a way to use a new type of magic in this world but it's slow going and takes quite a bit of research.
I'd love to get some help with this from any members and travelers want to learn about this magic, with the research.

For that I'm opening up the second and third floor of the guild up. The second floor, you can't really do too much since the workshop will not be usable. But the alchemy lab and the power practice room are open. The third floor is just the library all the book are texts about magic so everyone free to look around.

[Now that the important things are out of the way. He still needed one more thing he might as well ask.]

There also something else that I need to ask everyone. The nice beautiful ladies at the bathhouse invited me to a party at Sky’s Prize. Would anyone like to come with me?

((OOC: Doctor is black, Rory is blue and Amy is red, and I am so sorry for this ridiculous tl;dr. But at the same time I'm not. Shhh.

One day there will be a non-tl;dr'y post.))

[ Once again, the Doctor appears to be fiddling with the bracelet when it starts to record. While at first very much focused on his face, the angle and distance to it soon enough changes and he leans in closer as if peering at the stone more than the screen, making a sound like “aha”. ]

So that’s how that works. Very useful, these things, all efficient and high-tech so why couldn’t they just let me keep my sonic screwdriver, at least? Would make my life so much easier.

( Cut because of said tl;dr )