first recompense ♆ ( video )

[olderthanyourjesus]

[There's a shirtless young man, hunched over his bracelet, eying it peculiarly. He hasn't been here long, but already the city's affects have taken it's toll. In his mind he has not been in a city like this since he was exiled, fleeing and living off of Europe's countryside. He raids villages, killing as he wishes.]

They call this place Ásgarðr, and yet I do not believe them. [He speaks in Old Norse, purposeful and with a slight lisp. He is used to his fangs that are no longer there. He doesn't look confused though, content and powerful. He wipes at his chin, though nothing seems to be there.]

I apologize, [He switches back to the native tongue here without thinking. He looks more like a deer in the headlights, unsure how to act in front of people.] I have heard tales of this place, strong men with braids speak of it before I spill their blood. They call to Odin, they call to Thor.

But these are not my gods, child of Gaul, of Rome, of Death.

[He licks his lips again, expecting the taste of blood that is not there.] I do not belong among the dead even if I am death itself.

Comments

voice;

[magician_king]

My world has some of your legends. It certainly has some of your language, if I'm hearing you right.

[His Norse is all for spellcasting purposes, none of it conversational. But this person sounds like they know a little bit about magic, or at least the undead, so he's interested enough to respond.]

Have you heard the dominant theory as to why?

voice;

[olderthanyourjesus]

Magic. [The one word is uttered out. No, he hasn't heard anything, but he looks across the screen at the holograph in front of him. He cannot touch the boy in front of him, but he can speak. This he understands.]

voice;

[magician_king]

Echoes. Platonic forms, if you're familiar with those. This world comes first, everything else out there is impacted by the aftershocks. Branches of the original tree. They're just stories, in some worlds, half true or even incredibly close to the original. Others even have shadow-Asgards, populated with versions of Loki, Thor, Odin, the like. But this world is the original one, and those are the shadows it casts.

Video

[samantha_grey]

[No. She didn't know that tongue. When he lost himself to certain words, she tried to follow it, but she knew ancient Irish, not Norse, and the two had nothing in common. So many ancient tongues, but it sounded familiar...]

yeah. Lot of people have stories about the Norse. Odin isn't missing an eye here either, so don't expect those to be the same.

And you sure don't look dead.

Video

[olderthanyourjesus]

And what is death to look like? Inviting? [He raises an eyebrow to challenge her.]

Re: Video

[samantha_grey]

Didn't say you don't look like death. I said you don't look dead. Dead people don't get up and walk around usually.

...

Usually.

Audio

[thralls]

[There's a long pause when the audio turns on, as if it had been turned on by accident. Still, when the voice finally speaks, he returns the language in kind, speaking in a fluent Old Norse, though with an English lilt.]

You killed Northmen, and yet you speak their language? Where are you from?

Audio

[olderthanyourjesus]

Before. [It is not a direct answer, but Athelstan is asking more than he knows. Before is over. He is this now. He ran from his home, though it was never his home. And before that? The time too simple and carefree. The darkness does not like the light, so he curls a bit.]

I killed more than Northmen. Before them, the south.

Audio

[thralls]

You mentioned Rome.

[He ignores the pang of anger he feels at that- after all, the Northmen as a whole are not his responsibility.

Still. People don't often come here from Athelstan's time, much less with any sort of knowledge as to the culture of men who worshiped these gods.]

What year? [And that seems to be the main question people have when talking to Athelstan- might as well get that part out of the way first.]

video;

[ex_galvanist88]

Death itself...[there's a small chuckle, as he looks over the camera.] I'd love to see the justification for that claim.

video;

[olderthanyourjesus]

I was born in death, made to kill, and death has been my companion for some time. What would you call it? [Aside from the fact he looks like a sixteen year old boy.]

video;

[ex_galvanist88]

Someone with an unfortunate life. I'd think you need to choose death and choose those aspects in order to be death itself.

video; private

[douched]

[ Oh. My.

Eric isn't really... sure how to face this. He's well aware of who this is. It's his maker, of course. But it's also his maker as he met him over a thousand years ago. He's partly in awe and partly... disturbed? Confused? Angry. Not at Godric, of course but more so at this place for doing this to him.

He's not really sure what to say. So instead, he settles for one simple question. ]

Do you know who I am?

video; private

[olderthanyourjesus]

[He hunches over the device some more, squinting at the man on the screen. His confusion is replaced with shock. He does not remember their thousand years together, but he does still remember him.]

The battlefield.

video; private

[douched]

[ Eric's stalls. It's difficult to hide the wave of emotions he's actually feeling right now. He can't even really pinpoint any exact emotion other than some level of profound shock. Seeing Godric like this brings back more memories than when Godric first arrived.

He takes a deep breath, trying to steady his slightly faltering composure at this point. ]

And then...?

video;

[notsogrimreaper]

...Death itself? What do you mean by that?

[Ryoji finds that painfully familiar, and he's hoping that this stranger isn't really what he says he is.]

video;

[olderthanyourjesus]

I take as death takes. [Which isn't entirely true, but with the body count he has, it's enough.]

[digophelia]

There are many among here that would be considered dead, but none so far would proclaim themselves to be death itself. It only comes to show that these gods don't care what you are. I suppose you can consider yourself among equal ground being on the same level as the rest of us.

[She does have a strong feeling that he's far from human.]

[olderthanyourjesus]

I care not what others think of me. [He isn't on some sort of power kick, to be known, to be feared. He doesn't need the gratification that his damage has ruined thousands. He doesn't need people to bend to him. He is powerful in the way a storm is, the way an ocean t'die can desolate the coast. He doesn't care if those that remain quake at his name. He destroys because it is his nature.]

[Video]

[stilledsurgeon]

[Oh look, it's Hawkeye's arch enemy, Death. Or someone calling himself "death itself". Close enough for his currently extremely alcohol-addled brain.

It's been a long week.]

Ssso, you're death. Kinda expected you t'be taller. Or older. Or...somethin'.

Well, Mr. Death, I think you and I need t'have a few words. You have some people I'd like returned. Hell, bringin' 'em all back would be nice.

[Congratulations, you've attracted the attention of a very drunk and grieving surgeon who hates death on the best of days. He'll be sorry about this when he sobers up.]

[Video]

[olderthanyourjesus]

[He can feel the pain intimately and while he doesn't know the man, he can relate enough.]

Death does not give back what it has taken.

video.

[17thcenturyboy]

They don't actually seem to solicit worship, if you were concerned in that vein.

video.

[olderthanyourjesus]

It was not. [They were never his gods to begin with.]

[video]

[theredviper]

You think yourself so highly that you are exempt?

[Death, dying, the dead themselves... by now, Oberyn has learned to not be surprised by any of it. Being dead came with a curious sense of sobriety regarding life and death.]

[video]

[olderthanyourjesus]

I think no such thing of myself. [He isn't boasting or saying how powerful he is, drawing attention to himself. He merely is confused how it is to be when these gods seem nothing to their counterparts.]

I know myself. I do not know this place.