Twenty-somethings gotta twenty-something

[mikangirl]

Who: Everyone invited, everyone gatecrashing (technically you're all invited, so...)
Broadcast: Who knows, maybe some drunken texting later on
Action: Iskaulit Pool!
When: 3 July

[It's a party for a narcissistic redhead who likes to be reminded she's alive.  Come celebrate!  Alternately, come sneak in and steal the food!  There's a bar set up for drinks drastically lowered to cost-price or to-be-paid-later-tab, a non-alcoholic punch in case of wandering minors (spike it and Nami will end you) and random snacks.

Oh, and a pool.  Which is heated.  Kind of important, that part.

Step right up, I'm reliably informed we'll have Thor with his shirt off, take pictures while you can.]

Comments

[rebuildyourruins]

Well, I'm not sure what you would usually get for the occasion and no one on Veynar seemed to sell star charts. So I got the closest thing they suggested.

[He digs around in his pocket and hands Nami a folded up piece of paper. Unfolded it's clear it's some kind of map of one of the many islands on the planet, with constellations above it. There's also various symbols all over it, reminiscent of a 'Here Be Dragons' message.]

I can't make any sense of it, but the storekeeper said something about treasure under the stars.

[Of course, Drade is full of legends like this, dozens of them. It wasn't even the only map being sold like that. They're a dime a dozen.]

[mikangirl]

[Thor

...Thor did you get her a treasuRE MAP

She all but snatches it out of his hand as she slams her drink back on the counter, unfolding it and already poring over it, expression gleeful. If he got it from a store, it might be bogus, but what if it isn't??? It's not like it costs her anything to go find out, right?

(Right?)]

This is amazing! We can correlate the position of the island easy enough! I wonder what kind of treasure it is? [She's all but bouncing on the edge of the bar, and she folds the edge down to peer at him dubiously.]

Have you heard anything about monsters?

[rebuildyourruins]

[Well, okay then. At least she likes it. Thor rests his elbow on the bar, considering what the storekeeper said.]

He said nothing about the kind of treasure, but he did say that-- [He points to one symbol, a pair of squiggly crossed lines] --was danger of some sort.

It may not be monsters. I fell into a cavern on one of these islands so it could be more about the landscape.

[mikangirl]

[...she chooses to believe Thor is absolutely right and it's just the landscape.] Well, these are all places below the mist, right? Could be a lot of areas that are on longer stable. Being intelligent about travelling will do the trick.

[Of course she likes it. He managed to mix two of her favourite things in the world: maps and money.]

...though I guess going down there to begin with is difficult because of the mist. I wonder if I can clear it at all.

[rebuildyourruins]

[He mutters:] Doesn't help if the ground just breaks under you for no reason. [Not that he's bitter.]

I haven't heard of any successful journeys below the level of the islands. What do you mean by 'clear it'?

[mikangirl]

[Such a sympathetic look, she feels you there. It happens all the time at home, though it's less no reason and more my captain is a moron.]

I can clear an area of poisonous gas, this is much the same thing. I mean, in this case there's so much of it and we don't know what produces it, so it'd be pretty temporary. But it might help moving a group through the mist without too many complications.

[rebuildyourruins]

Oh, hm. That could be useful. Especially when the masks fail to protect against the stuff the deeper you go.

[mikangirl]

[Disheartening. But she can clear pockets, so not exactly a deal breaker.] Makes sense. The mist would become a lot denser the further down you go. But the locals have to man a few rare expeditions downwards, surely.

[rebuildyourruins]

They must. The question is how many return and how mad they are.

[He grimaces, taking a mouthful of his drink.]

I have been in those mists. They aren't to be taken lightly.

[mikangirl]

I'd take it as lightly as I took any ocean. [In a sense, that's what it is.] But maybe there's someone in town who can offer up a stronger alternative. If mist itself is the most serious issue, that I can deal with.

[Actual dragons, maybe not so much.]

[rebuildyourruins]

Well, there is certainly some truth to stories about treasure. I found something out there that I wasn't expecting.

[mikangirl]

I'm guessing nothing so simple as a treasure chest full of gold and jewels?

[Why does she sound so hopeful.]

[rebuildyourruins]

Oh no, better than that. I found a new hammer. Seemingly forged in the same place as my old one.

[And he does sound very pleased about it, provenance of the mystery hammer notwithstanding. He has his doubts about where it came from but there's no denying how please he is to have a weapon again.]

[mikangirl]

[.....

Well, that's interesting. And more than a little familiar. She gives him a curious look/] You'd never seen this hammer before?

[rebuildyourruins]

I haven't, no. But the design and the runes on the head show that it must have been forged in Nidavellir. [He pauses, tapping his glass with a finger.] Though the handle is a weird one. It's the roughest thing I've ever seen, not at all the quality of dwarven blacksmiths. You'd almost think someone attached a tree branch to the hammer head.

[mikangirl]

...huh. Maybe it gets broken at some point in its history. Does the hammer seem old?

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor just waves a hand, dismissive.]

It looks as new, but that does not mean anything. My old hammer was thousands of years old and still looked the same as the day it was made.

[A beat, before he adds with some regret:] Well, until it was shattered into pieces.

[mikangirl]

[This is definitely sounding very familiar.]

Do you think, given you lost your old hammer, you might maybe have a new one built in the future?

[rebuildyourruins]

[Thor has to pause at that, an idea he hadn't considered.]

I... suppose I could? I haven't thought about doing so at all. I have too many other priorities and I don't actually need a hammer anymore.

[mikangirl]

Hmm. We've had a few places where we go exploring and we find something that actually comes from home, is all. Maybe it doesn't have to be directly associated with you.

...it makes me wonder what kind of treasure is at the end of this map.

[rebuildyourruins]

It's of a make associated with my people; maybe that is connection enough.

[Nidavellir had crafted weaponry for Asgard for centuries. Whether this hammer was meant for him originally or not, it seemed likely it was meant for an Asgardian. Thor doubts many others in the universe would have the ability to even wield such a thing.]

Though Loki also found something in the same place, which was definitely from home.

[mikangirl]

It sounds connection enough.

I wonder what the logistics are of random items from home turning up supposedly locked away in old temples or ruins or at the end of treasure maps.

[Of course, now she has to go see what's at the end of this map.]

[rebuildyourruins]

[It's a good question. Finding the hammer together with Frigga's ring was surely more than a coincidence. Maybe the hammer truly was meant to be his, in a later time.]

I would doubt that it's random. Certainly not what Loki and I found. But as to how, I cannot say.

[mikangirl]

I guess it's not a question we're going to get answered any time soon.

But still. [She taps the map gently with a finger.] Thanks! This'll give me something interesting to do anyway.