abraxaslogs | [OPEN] Welcome to Solvunn!

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[OPEN] Welcome to Solvunn!

WHO: Anyone in Solvunn!
WHAT: Mingle Meet & Greet for new and old Solvunn Summoned!
WHEN: Early April
WHERE: Primary Settlement: The Drunken Lamb

[ ooc; This is an open log so feel free to jump in and make your own top-levels! The Official Unofficial Welcoming Committee will be trying to invite as many Summoned as possible so you don't need CR with any character to show up. You can also just assume you heard it through word of mouth! The Summoned gather semi-regularly at the tavern so it's likely expected by the locals as well. ]

i. The Drunken Lamb

If walls could talk, these certainly would. The Drunken Lamb, an old staple in the Primary Settlement is where many go to relax and chat after a long day's work. A cup of locally brewed ale and good conversation are a great way to pass the evening and some nights get livelier with heated arguments over local produce and game, and friendly contests over mead and cards. A few nights a week there may also be a musical performance by a bad or just an impromptu sing-along when someone gets the urge. Luckily if you're drunk enough knowing the words may not be necessary.

Don't forget to say hello to the there is an old ewe who hangs out by the front door inside tonight due to the inclement weather. Her name is Myrtle and if she spits on you it's considered good luck.

The atmosphere inside the tavern is warm despite the howling wind outside, stone walls lit by torches and candles. Everyone is welcomed by the local tavern owner standing behind the counter. You're free to grab a drink right away should you like. The tavern boasts some of the best mead Primary Settlement. It's a great time to chat and get to know your new neighbors, but your hosts for the evening also have a few things planned.

Normally you would be encouraged to try the tavern's meat pies, but this evening is a potluck! Your fellow Summoned have put on their chef's hats and whipped together their favorite (or passable) dishes to share as a welcoming gift to the newest members of the flock. Be sure to fill up and go back for seconds because there is plenty to go around. If you're lucky, you may even know what you're about to eat!

If you want to try your hand at the tavern's beloved mead drinking contest, you are highly encouraged. Some of your fellow Summoned have even been crowned as champions before! They will be facing off one another as well as taking on other Summoned who are also capable of making poor decisions. But worry not! If alcohol isn't your thing (or even if it is), there are a few card and dice games available for any patrons to take up and play with one another. There is also a knife throwing board on the far wall. Because you know knives and mead work well together. For the musically inclined, Wanda has created some simple instruments for anyone to give us an impromptu performance, or an instrument of choice upon request. Sing us a song, piano-man!

The Official Unofficial Welcoming Committee is down one member this time around. They normally take more time to get the festivities off to an upbeat start, but you may notice that Himeka, Wanda, and Rocket are a little down. There are no brochures to hand out this time, but Himeka will hand over a whole dried fish (thank you Zagreus for helping her catch so many), including a little bow. If you look like you want more, you can ask for raw as well.

ii. The Storm Bleats

At the height of the evening's festivities, things take a sudden turn. Or rather, the windows take a sudden hit by a flying livestock as a goat is sent crashing through and comically onto a table. It seems that one of the tornadoes has touched down too close to town and a few unlucky animals have been taken for a ride. To those who have been in Solvunn at least for the past month, you know that goatnados have been happening on and off for weeks. The damage the winds do to property is a strain on the community, but airborne goats feel more dangerous.

And it doesn't stop with just one--the walls of tavern shake violently as the storm rages. The thud and "baa"s of goats (and the occasional "moo" of a cow) add to the symphony of chaos. The doors fly open, another window breaks, and the barkeep shouts for help. It's time for action!

Help corral the wayward livestock and find them safe places to huddle together inside the tavern, protect the locals as some may fight the storm terrifying especially in a drunken stupor, or maybe they think they can actually go out and take the tornadoes on themselves. Liquid courage is a hell of a drug. Refortifying the tavern by making quick work of the resources around you against the onslaught is extremely important as well. A few tables may be lost to the cause, but it it may need to be done. Hopefully with everyone working together, you can weather the weather.

iii. Who doesn't love a sleepover?

The storm still rages outside, but at least it seems like the goats have been collected and what fortifications needed to be done to the building are holding. It's clear that leaving is a no-go, though, for the safety of yourself and those around you. Looks like you'll be spending the night here after all. And not due to the "party all night" atmosphere that you may have hoped.

Well, that's unfortunate, isn't it? Or maybe it is fortunate if you haven't managed to find a more permanent place to stay in Solvunn just yet. The only bed in the tavern is in the back where the barkeep sleeps and he's offering it to an elderly man whose leg bothers him if he stands on it too long. So you'll have to figure out your own sleeping arrangements if you're planning on getting some shut eye. If you can.

But then again, who needs sleep? Maybe you still want to stay up all night and just wait it out. There are still card games and booze to be had if you need something to keep yourself busy. Or maybe you knows some games from your world to teach the people around you. And let's be honest, the goats have a mind of their own and will probably try to interfere no matter what you action you choose. At least you can say your welcome to Solvunn was anything but boring.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You'll find a great many natural materials above ground are flammable when dry. Grass, fur, hair. Not that I expect you to be standing on anyone's head. I never did think to ask why, but my Father never did welcome questioning his design philosophy."

His own Father, of course, is the one Michael attributes all of creation to and the one he'd be asking if he were in the mood to test his luck (and if his Father were ever around to be asked). He'd start with bigger questions than why so much of the world is primed to burn, though.

"Hades," Michael says, as if the word has a bad taste on his tongue. If anyone in Solvunn were willing to blame the god of the underworld for his son burning down a forest, it'd be him. "Which part of the Greek pantheon does that make you, then? My family never did get along very well with you pagan gods."

Zagreus laughs, "No, I'm certainly not planning on standing on any heads! They're safe from my feet, I assure you."

Though everything else, perhaps not so much. Maybe Zagreus should start worrying about this particular issue a little more...

"Well...the Chthonic gods, of course." Or in other words, the gods of the Underworld. The dark gods, the ones that dealt with death and darkness. Gods that weren't quite as popular as those up high on Olympus. "I'm sorry, I don't know if I'm familiar with your family...?"

But evidently some of their respective families had met, if they didn't get along. Perhaps they were another pantheon, particularly after that reference to the man's father?

There's always the option of barring him from the outdoors except when it's raining, or for him to move to the Tertiary Settlement where there's plenty of rocky coast and ocean nearby. Though if Zagreus ever does start kick off a conflagration, he might find himself shipped off to the misfit settlement anyway.

(Really, though—if none of the locals can master fire-retardant footwear, Wanda surely could. Much more practical than simply hoping the inevitable won't happen or wearing water buckets on his feet.)

"I meant you, specifically. I've only ever heard of one son of Hades, but these details aren't always consistent between realities. My name is Michael, by the way. My family would be God and the angels."

"Ah, of course - I'm Zagreus. Pleasure to meet you, mate," Zagreus says. "At home I am Father's only child, but since arriving here I've learned of several half-siblings I have in other worlds. I seem to keep acquiring them, actually. It's a little strange, I must admit."

Not that he was against having siblings. It just...wasn't something he wasn't really used to.

"And I'm sorry, but...which god is your father? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with angels."

Michael notes the name and mentally files it away. That aligns with what he knows of the Greek pantheon on his Earth, but of course he's never been close to any of the pagan gods. There could be other children of Hades, as there apparently are here.

"Have you? Interesting. I had thousands of siblings back home, but I've yet to acquire any new ones here."

Maybe the Singularity thinks the two true siblings he already has here in Abraxas are enough. Michael would certainly agree.

"The God, as He prefers to be called. Last time He was on Earth, He was going by Chuck. Perhaps you've heard of Yahweh? God of the Christian and Jewish faiths, among others? He rarely makes Himself known, so it wouldn't surprise me if you'd never met."

"That is a lot of siblings! I don't even think I have anywhere near that many cousins. And Lord Uncle Zeus is very prolific." Prolific enough that he'd also gained a new cousin while here. Really, Zagreus seemed to have extra relatives popping up all the time.

But then Zagreus blinks, and thinks about the numerous names he'd just heard. "No, I don't believe I'm familiar with any of those names, I'm afraid. But...wait. Did you say the god? As in, just the one? I heard about something like this from Claire, but...you're saying there is actually a real pantheon out there with just one god?"

He looks like he can't quite believe it. Certainly he still finds the very concept of having just one god incredibly strange. You might as well tell him that there's only one star, or just one mountain.

Edited 2024-04-16 07:47 (UTC)

"I can't say I have any of those."

For all his many, many brothers and sisters, Michael has not a single cousin. That might have something to do with his Father having no siblings of his own aside the sister he'd locked away at the beginning of time, and whom Michael wouldn't call a god, exactly. The Darkness is something else all her own.

He gives a nod, both to Zeus's reputation—the rumors there had reached even Heaven's ears—and to his Father's singular status.

"Not exactly a pantheon when there's just the one, is it? Yes, my Father ruled alone. It made the lines of authority very clear. Is that really so hard to believe?"

"It's a bit much, isn't it?" Zagreus points out. "For just one god to rule...well, absolutely everything. I know how hard everyone works just to manage their own domains! But to do so for the entire world and cosmos, alone...I can only imagine that such a job would be so difficult it might as well be impossible."

Then he pauses, and looks at Michael. A monotheistic pantheon might be incredibly unrealistic and strange to him - but he does know divine families. "And...I would hazard a guess that someone with such responsibilities wouldn't have much time for anything else, either."

"That's what He made the angels for."

To arrange the cosmos, to run His errands, to do all of the boring behind the scenes work that God Himself wasn't interested in. As Zagreus has no concept of angels this may not be a particularly informative comment on its own, but it's there between everything he's said, at least to Michael's mind. Zagreus seems clever enough to figure it out. He's certainly astute enough to put his finger on the tense relationship between father and son faster than anyone else Michael has met.

It's to be expected of another being with a god for a father, perhaps. Michael narrows his eyes at him all the same. It's a touchy subject.

"It wasn't time He lacked." What He lacked was parental instincts of any kind. That, too, is to be expected. His Father existed before parents and children—He came up with the idea Himself. "But you should know better than most that gods are creators and lords of their domain first, and everything else a distant second."

"So...aren't you gods?"

By the standards of Zagreus's home, they would be. There wouldn't be any question of it. From how Michael described them, they certainly had the same attributes and responsibilities of gods. It seemed odd not to call them that.

Zagreus laughs, dark and hollow. Zagreus might have picked up on Michael's relationship rather quickly - but the angel has done the exact same thing to Zagreus in turn. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you must have already met my father."

"To some of the locals, perhaps."

The local reverence for the Summoned may not go quite that far—yet—but some of them are certainly inching their way closer to it. Some members of the commune are particularly taken with Nanaue, for example. If Zagreus is asking about back home, however—

"In power, yes, but no angel would ever call themselves that. 'God' implies a level of authority that only our Father had. We acted only on His orders."

Some of the harshness in his glare recedes. Good to know the pagans aren't doing any better than his family. Misery loves company.

"What's the nature of your conflict with your father? Or is that too complicated for a first conversation?"

Where there's gods, and there's a family...there is no doubt one big dysfunctional familial divine mess.

"That's...a bit much for a first conversation, yes. At least in any detail." And perhaps more importantly, it wasn't just complicated - it wasn't something he was emotionally keen to get into with someone who was essentially a complete stranger. Even if they did share some similar backgrounds.

"Suffice to say...we haven't always gotten along well. It's better now than it used to be, in that we can actually tolerate each other. But he certainly wasn't an easy man to be the son of. Something it seems you can understand."

He hadn't expected a detailed answer, but the fact that Zagreus doesn't want to get into it says a lot on its own. The man's apparently better off with his father than Michael is with his own, however. His Father had made it abundantly clear He had no further use for him the last time they were face to face.

Michael gives a nod and a short, affirmative hum. His relationship to his Father is complicated and it's not a topic he likes to talk about either. He gets it.

"Distance can improve relationships in a way few things can."

It's worked to keep him and his brothers from trying to kill each other. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the saying goes. Maybe it's the same for Zagreus and his father. Michael is certainly relieved not to have his around.

Zagreus hums softly, a slightly discordant note that suggests his experience is a little different. "Actually I'd say Mother's influence was rather more significant in that regard. Distance is...not really something that's possible in the Underworld. Not for any significant stretch of time, anyway. But I can certainly see how it would help."

Because even if it wasn't possibly to acquire, Zagreus has certainly wished for more distance in the past. There was a reason he started trying to escape the Underworld, after all.

"I take it distance has been rather beneficial in your family, however. You don't need to work too closely together?"

A pagan god created in the traditional fashion, Michael notes silently. Perhaps the fact that he has mentioned only his Father is clue enough that that is all he himself has in the way of parent. Even calling Him Father over Mother is an arbitrary choice; He's more aptly termed his Creator.

"Absent parent?" He speaks in the voice of someone who can relate—to both points. His task in Heaven had been managing his siblings, and both had been inescapable when he'd resided there. Meanwhile, his Father's absence had spoken almost as loudly as He had when He'd been present.

"Not exactly. There is no Heaven in this world. We're far removed from our original functions, here, so it matters little what would make it easiest to fulfill them. Seeing as we're now at odds anyway, being on opposite ends of the continent helps keep the peace."

Though he has no particular desire to fight either of his brothers, Michael isn't famed for his even temper, either.

"Yes, though it was a bit of a complicated situation. Suffice to say that I understand her reasons for leaving. And...she's back in the Underworld now! Most of the time, anyway. I think if she wasn't visiting Grandmother at least some of the time, the Surface back home would still have an eternal winter going on."

Perhaps Michael should feel fortunate, that his family at least doesn't seem to feature any furious grandmothers.

"Ah. So you don't get along at all, then. Regardless of distance."

Given that age and power tend to go hand in hand where Michael's from, an angry grandmother to the angels is a fearsome idea indeed—though he does already have an aunt whose capacity for destruction had threatened existence itself. Or so his Father had said. She'd been freed from her prison years ago and the world had kept right on spinning, so perhaps that's just one more story his Father hadn't been entirely honest in his telling of.

"Congratulations on the reunion, I suppose." 'Suppose' only because Zagreus is here, instead of back home sorting things out with his no longer quite so absent mother. It sounds as though he has a positive future to look forward to, there.

"Not anymore, no, but I expect it would be significantly worse if we had to share space. It tends to lead to violence."

Bearing in mind the pantheon he's from, Michael doesn't expect that'll be particularly shocking or scandalous to Zagreus. The pagan gods in his world are bloodthirsty to begin with, and only worse when they're crossed.

"Definitely don't get along then," Zagreus says, not sounding shocked at all. Though there's still something in his expression, something in his voice that sounds a lot like sympathy.

Because that's the thing, when you're immortal. You might not get along with your own family, but you still have eternity together.

It's a long time to be at odds with the ones you're closest to.

Then - partly because it might be time to move on from the rather depressive topic of divinely dysfunctional families, and partly because Zagreus has been wondering about it this whole conversation, he asks: "...What is that game you're playing, by the way?"

Michael gives a hum of acknowledgement. Zagreus may not know the details of his family's dynamics, but he's still got the sum total of it.

He glances down at the deck and abandoned one-player game of cards he'd been in the midst of a few moments ago, then at the nearby blocks he'd had his hands on earlier. There are more games on the other end of the table, wooden boards and stone tokens stacked out of the way of the sleeping guests, but Michael hasn't engaged with any of those tonight. He can only tolerate so much so-called fun in a night.

"The cards or the blocks? The cards were for Solitaire, or the nearest equivalent I can manage with the local deck. The blocks are for a game they call Drunken Tower here, though it would more likely have been called Jenga where I'm from." Michael looks back to Zagreus. "I'm guessing you had few games in the Underworld."

That's just based on his time in Heaven, though, and angels are notoriously focused on work.

"Technically I did have a game table in my bedchambers! It was on the House Contractor's list, so I purchased it," Zagreus says, as he leans over to look at the cards. "But all the games were pretty much unplayable, honestly. Doesn't help that everyone's usually too busy for that sort of thing."

Put that down for one more similarity between their two divine families: there was always a lot of work to be done.

"You had a house contractor?"

A genuine business operating in the Underworld, or something else? It's all Greek to him. If Michael had wanted Heaven rearranged, all he'd have had to do would have been to issue the order and point out the angels responsible for the task. There were perks to being an archangel, despite all the other burdens he shouldered.

Michael picks up the cards, cleaning up his half-finished game and adding them to the stack.

"Do you want a demonstration?" Now that Zagreus is here, where the games are playable and the locals aren't too busy working to join him. When they're awake, of course. "You can grab that brick they use to prop the door open in summer to keep your feet off the floor if you care to sit."

"Yes, one of the Shades that Father assigned to maintaining the House," Zagreus says, as if this were a completely normal thing to have in a divine household. And to him it was normal.

Hades was Lord of the Dead - so of course, he had the dead do his bidding and work in various roles in the Underworld. The Contractor wasn't unusual that way.

"I don't like to sit, but...sure, I wouldn't mind a demonstration," Zagreus says. And he does dash over to the brick and bring it back to the table. But rather than use it as a footstool while sitting, he just decides to stand on top of it.

Zagreus is definitely an odd one. Solvunn is home to the unusual, though, so he's not going to question it. There are times when siting is the norm yet he prefers to stand, too.

Michael shuffles the cards, then starts laying out the piles for a new game: tableau, foundation, stock, waste.

"Shades?" He's never heard of them. The realms beyond the mortal Earth that he's familiar with are a little different. "The Underworld as I knew it was called Hell, and it was mainly home to demons, human souls, and hellhounds."

Zagreus watches the cards with interest, even if he doesn't understand the first thing about this game or how it's meant to be played.

"Yes, moral souls become Shades when they die," Zagreus explains. "And I suppose we have some demons lurking around in the lower depths. And hellhounds too, actually. You could probably call Cerberus one."

After all, he was a hound, and he was from Hell. The most notable hound of all, in fact.

"So...perhaps our Underworlds aren't that different. Although it is a bit difficult to really know with all these alternate worlds..."

"There were no gods in the one I knew, but perhaps it's a matter of terminology."

If they call souls Shades and angels gods, who's to say the world Zagreus is familiar with isn't just the same Earth, Heaven and Hell Michael came from under other names? There's likely no way to be certain without a visit or comparing every little detail. They might be here long enough that they'll eventually get to the latter.

For now, Michael sets down the cards and points at the stock pile.

"The goal is to arrange the cards from here in a particular order..."

Zagreus is treated to a riveting* explanation of how to play several variations of Solitaire, and then a few two-or-more player card games, too. Not that Michael expects someone as restless as Zagreus to sit down for cards very often, but since they're stuck here, it helps pass the time.

* riveting explanation of solitaire not guaranteed to be riveting, offer void where prohibited

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[OPEN] Welcome to Solvunn!

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I think we can wrap here!