God Jól - Nexus Winter Party Post 2018

[pirateangelbaby]

The winter solstice has arrived, and with it, the Nexus has made good on the promise of frost and snow. Soft white banks blanket the streets and buildings, a darkened evening sky curling overhead with brilliant green and yellow auroras, and just off the Plaza proper, a roaring bonfire offers shelter from the chill. An entire oak tree trunk, carved with nordic runes and anointed with spices, blazes with merry heat in the center of a series of open-sided pavilions, their supporting posts wreathed with holly and pine. The entire gathering is ringed by evergreen trees whose boughs are decorated with ribbons of brightly colored cloth, carved wooden runes, cranberries, and small squares of toasted bread. At the back of the grounds, an enormous straw goat overlooks the proceedings, bound into shape with strips of red cloth.

Beneath the shelter of the pavilions sit long communal tables and benches, decked with greenery and candles that smell of warm cinnamon and cedar and bayberry, and tableware laid out to host a grand feast for all. One table is loaded down with food of all sorts, dishes donated by visitors spread out equally amidst those provided by the host, roasted meats and cheeses and breads, bowls of apples and oranges, and an entire boar's head with an apple in its mouth. At the end of the table sits an enormous silver punch bowl of steaming hot wassail, surrounded by bottles of colder brews, some labeled as non-alcoholic while some others warn against excessive consumption by anyone without a godlike constitution. Staff wearing white goathide cloaks and horned helms tend the tables, replenishing food and drink as needed, and handing out honey cakes and small paper-wrapped parcels to all in attendance.

The jólfather himself can be seen wearing a finer goatskin cloak of dark red, his head wreathed with a crown of woven holly and ivy, a gold patch covering his missing eye, and carrying an oaken staff carved in the likeness of Gungnir, with springs of mistletoe entwined around its head. As guests arrive, and fill their plates and cups with the bounty of the feast, Thor raises a horn of mead to the gathering and speaks the traditional Asgardian Yule blessing. "Come those that will, leave those that will, stay those that will, I declare this place a sanctuary. To all that sit at my hearth, today we are family, and I drink to your health. To a good new year, and peace!"

Welcome to Yule, Nexus-goers. Eat, drink, and be merry!



[OOC: As this is a party post, please feel free to threadhop and mingle to your hearts' content! There is a post in the OOC community about Yule gifts here.]

Comments

[bitterguardian]

“That’s very noble.” He takes his cane in hand again, and shifts on his feet, so he can lean on it again. He’s been back in the Nexus all of five minutes, but a Merlinian is a Merlinian no matter where he goes, and his master taught that power should be used always to help those in need of aid.

“If you would be in need of additional assistance, I have a fair amount of experience battling monsters and men, both.”

[outpostcook]

"I mostly don't want the same thing to happen to my friend's team that happened to mine. We didn't trust each other anymore."

Kinner swallows hard. "Thank you for the offer, sir. We'd be very grateful for your help. We're a small team and the Thing is extremely dangerous." He feels a strength from this gentleman that reminds him of McReady. The big meteorologist was probably the expedition's best Thing-fighter and a natural leader, so that boded well.

[bitterguardian]

“I see. Some way of ensuring that you know your own apart from its lies would be in order, then?” He’s not quite sure how to make that happen, and he’ll be wanting to do as much research on the monster as he can, but he might bring something new to the table. If nothing else, he can at least provide shielding.

If Horvath knew the mental comparison Kinner is making, he’d be flattered, but it’s not inaccurate either. “You’re welcome, but combating that kind of trouble is more or less my job. Any information you can give me on what we’re battling ahead of time would be useful, mind you, But- perhaps not this instant. I fear I’ve interrupted your merry-making!”

[outpostcook]

Kinner nods. "I think I might be able to help, too. Something happened a while back, something very small, but it made me able to, uh, see weird things. Not bad things, necessarily, but weird things. I'm not sure if it's any use with the Thing, but two heads are better than one. I have a treatise on the creature if you'd like to borrow it."

"Oh, you've been no trouble at all. Quite the opposite." He's happy to turn the subject back to the holidays. He's there to have fun, after all, and forget about the Thing for a little while. "I brought some salted cod and oysters, sir. I run a fish shop in the Plaza. Kinner's Kippers. That's where you can usually find me."

[bitterguardian]

“A treatise would help immensely, and I will still look into things on my own world, but I expect either the creature never came, or disaster was averted. I’ll seek you out at your shop.” He can come by tomorrow, or whatever the Nexus approximate of tomorrow is, because time is a tricky thing here. Thank goodness he’s already used to it.

He studies Kinner briefly with a thoughtful expression, “Seeing things can be both a blessing and a curse, but you may find it comes in handy.” He’s not picking up on magical abilities, per se, but Kinner must have some sensitivity to things that not everyone is aware of. “But I’ll let you get on with your holiday!”