THE SQUAD GETS INFO [mod event] [video] [open]

[konman]

Uuuuh, hey guys?

So I was wandering around in the woods collecting pears and I met some talking birds that we might want to talk to?

Being birds that talk doesn't really make them credible sources of information per se but they seem to know some stuff about what's going on?

[Kon turns his mirror around to face the two birds. They're large ravens, currently perched on a tree branch. He expands his mirror and leaves it to float. They start to speak to them, chirpily, rather excited to have someone to talk to.]

Huginn: Hi! Hello! Welcome to the Wilderlands, Chosen Ones, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Huginn and this here is my compatriot Muninn, and as you can see, we are birds.

Muninn: Talking birds. We're very good at it. [A brief pause.] Talking, that is. Not at being birds, we're actually rather terrible at being birds.

Huginn: We are indeed very good at talking, which means we can say a great many things about things we know.

Muninn: And we know many things! Lots of things.

Huginn: Yes, lots of things. Anyway, we know many things and have heard tell of your coming to this world. You know how people talk about a secret and say 'a little birdie told me'? Well I'm proud to say those birds would be us! In specific.

Muninn: We're maybe a bit too inclined towards the gossip, but y'know, it's quite boring being birds, especially if you can talk. A lot of the other birds can't. Just a twitter this, tweet tweet that.

Huginn: Anyway, we have heard gossip about you, whispers from the Green and other places, and we thought we should perhaps say hello and see if you've heard enough to carry on wherever you're meant to go!

Muninn: We don't know everything but we can at least tell you what we've overheard. You sound terribly important, at least according to the gossip.

[ooc: Everyone is free to chime in and ask all the questions they want. Not everything will get answers, but they'll get at least some information on their situation and where to go next.]

Comments

[wherenoonegoes]

To be fair, I said it was a creepy mockery of Alfheim, not that it actually was Alfheim.

[the_hit_list]

Two ravens with the same names as Odin's pets arrived. I don't think you were far off track.

[ Tim's eyebrows push in together and a deep furrow appears between them. ]

It doesn't have to be one or the other. It could be Alfheim made into a mockery of itself.

[wherenoonegoes]

According to them they're not actually Huginn and Muninn. Just named after them. Which isn't surprising, really. Lots of things are named after the gods or things associated with the gods.

[the_hit_list]

I stand corrected.

[ He's not really bothered by having to admit he's wrong, at least not about this. ]

I think we should treat anything that seems like a specific known quantity as both being that specific thing and not. Lots of things might be named after the gods, but there's not a lot of free-standing, life-size copies of the Emerald City.

It still bothers me that you mention the North mythos and two very coincidentally named talking ravens turn up. Humor me. Say it was Alfheim. Aren't the... I forget the word for the not-Dark Elves. Aren't they supposed to be good and beautiful?

[wherenoonegoes]

I'm a Viking, of course I'd mention something from our religion. I get being suspicious about it, but sometimes things are actually just coincidences.

Light elves. And i'm not sure where you're going with this, but yes.

[the_hit_list]

[ Tim still looks dubious, mainly because he wants to argue that there's almost no such thing as true coincidence. ]

I'm sorry. I don't know when you're from - or how well our worlds compare. I think history would've remembered the dragons, so I didn't want to assume it was your religion.

Light elves. [ Okay, he's irritated he forgot a name that obvious. Vikings don't usually feature in his life. ] So it's possible that those things in the mirror are trying to pass as Light Elves, or something similar?

I'm not sure where I'll end up with this, but I'm trying to make sense of this random assortment of associations. There's the Wizard of Oz, this temple, and a touch of Viking gods. None of it goes together, and I don't see why it should. But I'm used to things having a theme. I think I'd feel better if I could see this one.

[wherenoonegoes]

Possibly? I'm not exactly an expert on Alfheim. I've never been there. All I know about it is the stories I've heard. And considering the source of most of those stories, they're suspect at best.

[Hiccup loved Gobber like an uncle, but the man was just a little bit insane.]

Anyways, What if that is the theme?

No really, hear me out here. Random worlds, a very random group of people? What if whoever or whatever is drawing them and us together is basically just throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks? Metaphorically, anyways.

[the_hit_list]

Yeah, I understand. It's the sort of thing you get told by someone who's been told by someone whose cousin once... you'd still be the closest thing to an expert we have.

[ Note to self: study up on non-Greek mythology for once. It's not like Greek mythology will do you any favors with Themyscira in the end. ]

If that's the theme, I quit. [ Tim laughs and nods. ] You're right. It could be someone grabbing whatever and whoever is handy. I don't know if that would make them practical or completely insane. Neither is preferable.

[wherenoonegoes]

Assuming it actually is Alfheim, which it may not be. Even if it is, if we're relying on my expertise, we're all doomed. I mean, I've read the Eddas, but everything else I've ever heard comes from a man who claims to be friends with a talking hammerhead whale-riding hammerhead yak.

Don't get me wrong. Gobber's brilliant. Probably the best blacksmith in the archipelago. I wouldn't be who I am without him. But he has this habit of completely making things up and claiming every last word is the truth when telling a story. Even when the actual true story was already unbelievable to begin with.

[the_hit_list]

[ Tim is trying not to laugh, but he does lose it and snicker somewhere around the whale-riding hammerhead yak. ]

I promise I would never recklessly act on the word of one person. [ Two, maybe. It would depend on the two and the story. ]

I just want to force this to make sense.

[ It's driving him crazy that his plan is just wait and see right now. That's not proactive. ]

Your friend sounds like he's a lot of fun.

[wherenoonegoes]

Yeah. He's my blacksmithing mentor, and was pretty much the only person who came close to actually getting me when I was little. I have this habit of questioning nearly everything, and he always put in the effort into helping me find an answer. Even when he knew it was probably going to end with something being set on fire at the end of the day.

Not without a certain amount of eyerolling and praying to the gods, but what're you gonna do?