video;

[subecho]

[ Oh look, it's the not-'Asgardian'!Asgardian! And he holds his hand up, palm outward in silent greetings. ]

Friends, newcomers - [ ...and Malekith... ] - well met. I shall keep brief: we have faced war. And we have had our dead and our wounded to show for the victory.

[ And now, he turns slightly more somber. ]

I do not ask whether you fight for this land or its people, for your pleasure or your lives alone. Whatever your reasons, we do not die here. In this, I think, we all agree. Yet...

[ He has the grace to look sheepish. ]

...apologies, but many of you walk as if targets. You know nothing of battle, and the gifts given to you in this land do not serve. The meager war crafts would be of help to you: shield bearing, the handling of sword and hammer. I do not speak of great ability, but enough that you can bide yourselves the time to run.

[ Firmer, now. ]

So: those who wish to learn, give say of what weapon might suit you. Those who know of battle and wish to teach it, name your skill and offer service. And those who once held sorcery alike to the one gained here, volunteer counsel of how to improve it.

For my part, I wield the hammer. I lack in patience, but do not scold unfairly. What knowledge I have is yours to take.

[ Is the part where he riles half of Asgard done with? OH THANK EVERYTHING, time to offend the other half. ]

Past every man's care, we can seek to defend the city. Who here runs inventory? Have we cannons? Rams? Horses? If anyone wishes to learn, or organize legions - you have my aid in this. There lies opportunity. Another is with our fellows, the grey ones. A frail-bearded man wrote that we do not give them thought or time. Perhaps he is wise, and there is more to be done in alliance.

[ And then he stares at the camera for a long moment of rather stupid blinking, before dissolving into laughter, because - ]

That... was not brief.


[ ooc: woah, tl;dr. iiif you'd like to get involved, just have your character volunteer to teach their faito skills, and I'll have Thor send some/all of the characters who want to pick up said skills their way o/ . ]

Comments

[subecho]

Apology. I did not think to ask of crippling. How old is the wound?

[ka_sera_sera]

[When Roland begins filming his reply, his jaw is a little bit tight. The word shouldn't surprise him as much as it had; that is, after all, what it is. He thinks a moment, counting back, then adding in the time he's been here.]

A little over two months. I've relearned much, but... [He shakes his head with a small, dry smile.] There are some things that can't be learned.

[subecho]

I hear you. You carried a sword before?

[ka_sera_sera]

A gun. During training, my skill with the sword was nearly the same in both hands, but... that was a long time ago. [He'd gone to the arena at one point to try his hand at it again. It hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped.] I could stand to improve.

[subecho]

What earned the wound?

[ka_sera_sera]

[There's no noble way to put this, is there? Roland takes a breath.] I fell asleep in the wrong place. [He knows, okay? Yes. Look at this face. He knows.]

I'd just had a palaver with a powerful enchanter, one that might have lasted... a decade, maybe, or maybe a hundred years. I think that might have had something to do with it. [He shakes his head. That's no excuse.] It's a long tale, and now may not be the time. Suffice it to say that when I woke, the creatures who lived in the waves were there to meet me.

[subecho]

And they came with appetite. I am sorry.

[ka_sera_sera]

[He studies his hand for a moment, then looks up with a small shrug.] The world moves on. And so have I. [Mostly.]

Regardless, I can help defend the people of this city, as long as I know what's needed.

[subecho]

Wish, will and weapon. See? I have made it sound kindly. The singers will thank me.

[ka_sera_sera]

[That gets a faint breath that might almost be mistaken for a laugh.]

There are such men here, then? Who tell stories of battles past? [It's not that the multitudes of books available aren't useful. Hearing those stories, though, could be useful in ways the written histories aren't.]

[subecho]

I have not yet known trade-bards here, but I've heard our fellows share the songs and tales of their homelands. Perhaps, given time...

[ka_sera_sera]

Aye. Perhaps. [This is getting dangerously close to small talk, though, a conversation full of 'ifs', and so, with great subtlety, Roland changes the subject.]

You mentioned a girl who was in need of training. Do you have her name?