( four： text. )

[gameplaying]

I do hope you're prone to honesty, Asgard. I fear this could get a little messy if you're not.

Comments

[gameplaying]

Do you truly see no possible way for this to be used for ill when all we have are words?

[counterbalanced]

Ah. [Right. Now he gets it, and maybe feeling a little foolish for not considering the possibility before.]

You meant getting into mischief while pinning the blame on someone else.

[gameplaying]

And what proof would we have? None but faith and trust alone, and both extend only so far.

[counterbalanced]

With so many of us affected by the curse, it lends some credence to the people insisting it was someone else.

It would be a mess sorting everything out, though.

[gameplaying]

But what more is there to do than hope? For honesty and dedicated cleaners alike.

[counterbalanced]

[It's very aggravating, that thing you're doing. Stop speaking in twists and turns.]

Why shouldn't people hope that people would believe them? The gods haven't been selective with their curse victims - any of us could fall into the same situation, even if we aren't affected this time.

[gameplaying]

[ sorry edmund, that's not going to happen c: ]

Not quite my point, but should trust not be the first port of call? To hope for belief would speak of a need for doubt and distrust.

[counterbalanced]

Perhaps. Can you blame people for being wary? It'd be foolish to believe someone without proof, but also cruel to deny them a chance to explain.

[There was once a time he trusted sweet words from a stranger, and it'd nearly gotten everyone he cared about killed. Caution and logic are the best bets in these cases.]

[gameplaying]

Are you familiar with what they say of me and my name on your planet? The question, I think, ought not be can but should, and if not blame for care and doubt, ought I be impressed by both their foresight and knowledge?

Would you place blame?

[counterbalanced]

I had wondered. What is your connection to Asgard? I've observed the one who calls himself Loki here, and his look alike, but you do not sound like either of them.

[gameplaying]

Should I be flattered or insulted, I wonder?

I am of Asgard, but an Asgard as numerous in differences to this one as it would seem I have to the Lokis of this realm; there is but one in mine, and I am him.

[counterbalanced]

You mean there is another Asgard?

[It's true the events of this city aren't matching up to the stories of the Nordic Pantheon, but Edmund had assumed the discrepancies were due to people adding their own flourishes to the tales. Reality and legend usually don't tend to match up that well.]

It seems odd that they would bring yet another one of you here, when there are already so many. How different is your Asgard from this one?

[gameplaying]

[ sent first: ]

It lacks mortals.

[ second: ]

Beyond that, it's different enough that I question just how true this Asgard is. Names are easy enough to claim.

[counterbalanced]

Names certainly are, but the amount of power they wield is something that cannot be denied.

Who do you suspect they are, if not the Nordic Pantheon?

[gameplaying]

Children with toys.

There is power abound to be found amongst the stars and planets of the universe, out of the reach of the All-Father and out of the sight of Heimdall. They may truly believe themselves to be of Asgard but, Edmund, for a city of warriors, does not this seem pitiful to you?

[counterbalanced]

[Edmund narrows his eyes. Loki, or whoever this man might be, is very convincing.]

The state of the city's defenses certainly leaves something to be desired. If the Grey Sickness did not reach your Asgard, perhaps that is the difference.

[gameplaying]

The gods themselves seem unaffected by the sickness that plagues the land. Why then, if the citizens of Asgard that are affected are not of the Æsir, have they insisted on filling the city with yet more?

[counterbalanced]

According to them, those they bring from other worlds are not affected as long as they keep these trinkets with them. Curious that they have not attempted to cure their citizens with the same power that the use to protect us.

[And then it clicks.]

...you believe they're misleading us. About the Grey Sickness.

[gameplaying]

Not just the sickness, but yes.

[counterbalanced]

What else have you noticed?

[Even if he won't take this Loki's word for it immediately, it doesn't hurt to keep this in mind, either.]

[gameplaying]

Ragnarök itself.

For one who needs to die to herald its beginning, Balder certainly seems lively to me.

[counterbalanced]

More than lively, if he's kidnapping Travelers and spiriting them out of the city on his own whims.

[gameplaying]

[ one: ]

I believe I've spoken to your sister, Susan. It is as I've said to her: I don't doubt there is a war coming, but I doubt the magnitude and I doubt the side we've been brought here to fight for.

[ two, and as a (loose) means of explanation: ]

Millennia ago, when the Æsir were worshipped still on Midgard, humanity knew enough to not worship all who visited the realm. The Frost Giants of Jötunheim brought war and devastation to your planet in the name of conquest; Asgard stopped it. In penance, Jötunheim was left a desolate, empty and ruined land of ice and so it remains even now, its king slain by a prince of Asgard and his son thieved by Asgard's own king. despite the peace that has been known between the two realms in years since, none on Asgard care for the so-called monsters that inhabit Jötunheim, only that they deserve their fate even to this day. [ a bastardisation of the truth, but w h a t e v e r. ] This Asgard hides its history from its citizens, from us, and Thrymheim — Jötunheim by any other name — is left to sit and watch whilst Asgard amasses an army.

Asgard demands our services, but do you think it's Asgard that truly requires them, Edmund?

ilu

[counterbalanced]

[He's spoken to Susan? That alone puts Loki on his "watch" list.]

And what did you say to her?

I might not agree with many of the things the gods put us through, but the other cities have not been kind either. It's they who attacked Asgard first.

DESPITE MY TYPOS sobbing

[gameplaying]

LINK.
You may listen for yourself; these devices are quite useful in that respect, are they not?

[ he's only hoping that edmund has as much attachment to family as susan appears to have. ]

They who attacked first whilst you've been here, is that not correct?