[video]

[hollowchild]

[sophie is sitting on her bed in her room, which means that behind her the walls are painted with a mural that looks like the silhouettes of trees in the last bits of twilight. she's a little thing, more hair than girl, and her voice is low and even and calm.]

It occurred to me, in the midst of a conversation I was having with a friend, that most of the Travellers here now likely weren't here when all of this started. Or, rather, when it came to a head the first time, as none of us were here when it started. We've plenty of reason not to trust the gods entirely, but that doesn't mean that the war isn't real or that the threat isn't true.

[she gives a little shrug. gods. what can you do?]

It was over a year ago now, the first Ragnarok, at least as the seasons pass in Asgard. It may have been a prophesied battle, but we weren't prepared, not really. By the end, we were hungry, exhausted, injured. Many died and our enemies were still strong. Asgard should have fallen.

It didn't. Not because of anything we did, but because of Freyr, who sacrificed himself and wiped out a great many of the invading forces, and drove the rest to retreat. You can still see the mark of it out beyond the wall.

Before that, I wasn't sure this was real. I wasn't sure I believed, because it's a rather unbelievable story, isn't it? That those people in the castle are gods and we've been spirited away to the mother of all worlds, that this place, this rather unextraordinary place, as places go, is the root of all things. But then I watched a god die, and that changes things. When someone who believes that they will live more or less forever, who would never grow old or wither away, when someone like that decides to die to try to save something, we should all pause for a moment. We should pause and wonder if there's any greater show of fear in the world than that, and wonder what makes gods afraid.

[she sets her chin on her hand.]

In any case, I've seen a great deal of doubt, and it's understandable. I thought it might help if those of us who have been here the longest might speak about what we've seen. This is a war, it has been here, and it's coming back. And if what we've been through recently is any indication, it will only be worse the second time.

If anyone has questions, I'll answer them as best I can, and welcome others to do so as well.

Comments

Video

[samantha_grey]

Thank you. I think, sometimes, we forget that a lot of them haven't seen how serious the fight is, and how much in need these people are. It seems so long ago nowadays.

Video

[hollowchild]

Mm. I realized it when someone I feel as though I've known almost the whole time wasn't here for it. If that person didn't know, how many other people must there be? It was quiet for so long afterwards.

video;

[ex_galvanist88]

Wait, Freyr did what? [that wasn't in the Asgard 101 talk.] When was that?

[hollowchild]

Freyr died. He sacrificed himself and killed a great many of those who would see Asgard fall in the process. And it was more than a year ago now, as Asgard reckons time. His soul was trapped by Thiazi, and we retrieved it, which allowed the gods to revive him. We don't know the particulars of the revival, but I was one of the people who went into Thiazi's castle and stole his soul back.

[video]

[quantumtangled]

Thank you for the summary.

[A long, thoughtful pause, to the point where she might wonder if he's going to say anything else.]

I do not believe it was fear.

Re: [video]

[hollowchild]

What do you believe it might have been?

[if she thinks his manner is odd, there's no real sign of it.]

video;

[2013]

Is there anything that you know we can do? To... be better prepared, when the time comes again.

[ Yeah, he's new; and while he knows his way around a sword and has obviously decided to throw his strength behind the war effort, it's clear he's still a bit green. He's known the anger of gods, but not real death, real hardship like that to which she seems to refer. Still, he's trying. ]

[hollowchild]

We are fighting a war, we ought to be an army.

[she gives a wry smile.]

We are certainly not an army, and never have been. There are fighters amongst us, and soldiers, healers and strategists, but we are no army.

video;

[necrowmantic]

What did it look like? Y'know, when the god exploded? I've never seen one do that, it must've been awesome.

Do you think he'll do it again, if we end up overrun another time? I don't think he wants to talk to me about it.

[These are the questions that needed asked.]

[hollowchild]

[she shrugs. henry is kind of disturbing, but sophie's family is not entirely dissimilar.]

It was a very bright light. And no, I don't think he would do it again. There would be no point, this time.

voice.

[likethetragedy]

Thank you. [She's not exactly new anymore, but appreciates the share of information all the same.]

[hollowchild]

You're welcome. If there's anything you wish to know, ask it. If I cannot answer, perhaps someone else can.

text |

[hyakugo]

Thanks for this. It helps explain a lot.

[hollowchild]

You are welcome. It is easy for us who have been here a long time to forget that most have not seen what we have seen.

[intelligently]

What happened to everyone in that house?

[hollowchild]

Freyr and Freya's Houses were overseen by two other gods for a time. As far as I know, their abilities remained unchanged.

video

[bythewaves]

My thanks for the tale. Tis a sad day when any immortal dies [ though no one has actually convinced him that they are actually gods yet - powerful yes, diety... no ] but I am grateful for the proof that our patrons, at the least, have a care for our livelihoods as well.

[hollowchild]

[in truth, sophie uses the word 'gods' loosely--these gods are nothing like the ones with whom she is familiar in her own world. in fact, some of her very mortal family members appear more powerful than asgard's gods have shown. but it's the word people know them as, so it's useful.]

Certainly, they have their own agenda, but I do not think they are quite so callous as the popular narrative would indicate. But I am also not sure why the popular narrative believes gods to be benevolent by necessity at all.

[Video]

[ofthursday]

The war is real; that is not a question. Whether the war is exactly what they say seems still debatable.

I have been here since the first day that travelers arrived in this world, but there are still many things to be uncertain of. Those of us who have been here longest may in fact have more reason to doubt, not less. Much has changed in time.

[Video]

[hollowchild]

Much has changed, yes.

Did you go into the sea to the heart of the world?

[that is less a non sequitur than it seems.]

[in person]

[daddyissues]

[ Connor hears Sophie's voice coming from her room, though his Asgard-human hearing can't tell what she's saying through the walls and down the hall. The soft even cadence is pleasant despite being muffled, reminding him of when she reads aloud, and it goes on long enough that he knows she must be making a video for the network rather than messaging a friend.

He's curious but carries on with the chores he was doing, and when he comes back from taking out the litter the apartment is quiet again and the teapot is just about to boil. When Sophie doesn't emerge from her room by the time a mug of earl grey is steeped, Connor appears in her doorway with it. ]

[hollowchild]

[sophie smiles and extends a hand, gesturing for him to come in and sit with her, leaning in to nuzzle his cheek with her nose once he does.]

Hello, you.

text;

[feathery]

how long have you been here anyway

[hollowchild]

It was a year at the end of the summer. Some have been here longer, but not too many.

video.

[livedtwice]

There are many stories like that about them. About what the gods can and will do because this is a very real war. But I think it's very easy to forget.

[Harry is still unsettled by how many people can argue angrily against the gods for things being out of their control, or them being childish. It is one thing to dealt with people being pests and another to say they are not allowed their grief, or they are not allowed their desperation in a time of war. Or anything in-between. He wishes it was different, he always will, and yet—he feels as if his viewpoint has been grounded, at least.]

[hollowchild]

It is difficult to remember when they are merely stories, and more difficult still if those of us who lived it do not keep telling them.

[sophie has always been a bit confused and horrified by the way that the travellers seem to think of gods, requiring benevolence, demanding equality and assistance in subsequent breaths, thinking that they should be infallible and perfect. if these gods were all of those things, they would hardly need the travellers at all, would they? but she's thought of them as more people than deities for a long time, and the events after freyr's death only made that more obvious. powerful, immortal people, but people all the same, sometimes small and petty and certainly scared.]

[Video]

[dragonspeak]

Freyr was always one of the kindest gods here. He spoke to us often, even before the first great battle came around.

[Merlin gives Sophie a small smile.]

Kind of hard to believe we've been here for this long, isn't it?

[hollowchild]

It's a strange thought, certainly. You've been here from nearly the very beginning, haven't you?

Were you and Conan keeping a history? It seems like such a thing might help the newcomers.