cape_kore | video/action ❆ day 129

Entry tags:

video/action ❆ day 129

[Poking around with Anita, and on her own, has yielded the discovery of a lab with decent skylights. As a result, it's less foreboding than the other labs. But only just. What helps further is a series of neat little raised beds — Meja found them in poor condition, much like the rest of the facility, but she's dedicated her morning to rejuvenating the soil and cleaning things off. There are now little carved runes on the side of the beds that should negate them needing to be watered — most of the time, at least.

And now that they look a little less like brown death, she's investigating in the cupboards. No matter how much that little voice says that maybe she shouldn't. And it isn't without a point: she finds a spider in one of the cupboards that's bigger than her own hand. For now, she'll leave it alone, but if it's poisonous she's not sure what to do with it. Someone else could get hurt.

What she's finding is definitely interesting. Unmarked containers of seeds, for another. The equipment she finds is completely foreign to her, for the most part. There are basic things she can guess about, but the technology is... well, it's beyond her. After gathering a small amount on an empty table that she cleaned earlier, she switches on her phone's video function.

Roland the white rat can be seen grooming himself on top of a raised bed. It seems that he's going to stick with Meja, at least for now, since she's feeding him regularly. He's steering clear of the spider; it looks like they know one another.]

I don't suppose anyone's feeling adventurous? Or knows what these devices are for? It seems some of our scientists were into plants... in their own way.

[For anyone wandering in the area, the door's open. When she isn't pondering the technology or rooting around in a cupboard, she's contemplating her notebook for ways to improve potential plant growth — sitting on the floor with her long legs splayed to the side. (Yet again. Maybe this garden will last longer.) ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If we have the same problem we had with the food supply back in town, that probably wouldn't be a bad idea -- but what you've already done is really pretty impressive.

What other kinds of things can you do with runes?

[Really, she's fascinated.]

Oh, all sorts of things, once you learn their many meanings and how to use them. I'm not a beginner, exactly, but I can't begin to do what the gods can do with them. Most of what I used them for back home was protection and containment rings.

[Which are much more draining than the runes for the plants.]

As uses go, I'd say those are pretty good ones. I'm guessing they held up pretty well in combat, right?

[Please tell her everything about what it means to be a valkyrie.]

What could the gods do with them?

Drawing runes in combat is risky. But they have their uses. The gods, on the other hand, can do all sorts of magic, without the aid of runes. Aesir can tap into their ancient source directly, if they're powerful enough.

[Meja unsheathes one of the short swords on her back and shows the blade to the camera. Light gleams off of the fairly reflective Asgardian steel, displaying several runes down the blade itself.]

All Valkyrie carry rune blades as our primary weapons.

Do the runes enhance the strength of the blade?

[Common sense says yes, but this kind of magic obviously isn't within her realm of expertise.]

Do you ever draw runes before combat? For protection spells or charms, or is that too risky, too?

These particular runes do, yes, as well as giving the blade sharper potential than most metal. [Cutting through rock like butter is just one of the many things rune blades can do.] The older the blade, the more magic collects within it, and the more potential it picks up. Some blades pick up... personalities, of sorts, and can communicate to their wielders. By this time, they've usually gathered a name and a reputation.

[Meja's haven't yet, but on the grand scale she's still fairly young for a Valkyrie.]

If we know where we're going to be fighting, sometimes we draw protections there. But unfortunately, those are... rare cases.

Personalities. By communicate, do you mean they actually speak? Even if they could, I'm guessing only the wielder can hear it. Do you hear words, or... just know what it wants?

[She's just full of questions today. She smiles wryly as Meja answers her concerning the runes.]

Usually how battle works, isn't it. Sometimes you can plan ahead, but only so far.

I've not heard it myself. But from what I've gathered, it's more of the latter. You know the intent of the blade, and what it wants.

[Which is, generally, more carnage. Blades seldom see other uses.]

When Valkyrie are involved, the situation is usually more dire than your average battle. [Meja shakes her head slightly.] I try to keep my ears open as much as I can, but there's only so much of the Realm we can cover at one time.

So yours hasn't reached that point yet.

[Still, interesting all the same.]

Doesn't sound all that different from hunting. We only ever know when we're needed after something bad happens. Doesn't give us a lot of opportunities for prep.

No, not yet. I'm hopeful that a more... varied experience means my blades will be less bloodthirsty than some, but one can never tell.

[Meja's swords have been used for plant tending, carving, and a whole host of other things. Unsurprisingly.]

Sometimes we have more forewarning. It depends on the creature involved. Generally, it's easy to know when a jotunn is where they shouldn't be. Same with kokko, or young dragons that occasionally fly down where they shouldn't be and hurt themselves.

So what the blade is used for helps to shape what it's going to become.

[Noted.]

Sounds like there's more to the job then just fighting. That's all any myth I've ever read seemed to focus on.

[Granted, she's not exactly a scholar when it comes to Norse mythology, but she's read a fair amount.]

[She shrugs.]

It's scouting, for the most part. Observation. [And here she gives a small sigh.] Politics — for myself and eight others, at least. Our task is simply to keep the Realms safe from each other. How to do that depends on the general mood of the Realms themselves. It's fairly peaceful most of the time, I would say, but the Jotunn like to wage war every so often, and the Dwarves are always warring amongst themselves.

Plenty to keep you busy, huh.

[Busier than most hunters, in fact.]

Sounds like politics aren't really your thing.

[Meja smiles, shaking her head a little.]

Things were much simpler when I was human. Now, when I make a decision, I have to weigh the reactions of my peers, Lady Eir, Asgard, and so on. It can tiring at times, I won't lie. But I wouldn't have been created for my position if Yggdrasil didn't think I couldn't handle it.

[As far as she knows, at least, but it makes logical sense.]

More vacations would be nice, though.

One of those things where it's an honor to be chosen for the job, and they wouldn't have given it to you if they didn't think you were cut out for it, but it's still plenty stressful.

[She smiles a little.]

I would support you getting more vacations, although I'm sure this place isn't what you had in mind when you were hoping for them.

Yes, precisely.

[Meja trusts Yggdrasil. She has little choice in the matter, no Valkyrie has ever walked away from their duties, but it just makes sense.]

It's not as bad as it could be. The company is good, if nothing else. [She chuckles.] We just have to figure things out and... try not to go stir-crazy in this building. [The gardening is going to help Meja.]

I should thank you for all the history lessons I keep getting out of you.

[It's not intentional, but she can't help asking questions. Lore has always been her strong point, but when it gets far enough back that it's not relevant to the job, it ceased to be a priority and became a passing interest. One she hadn't had a lot of time to pursue.]

Yeah. The company's okay.

[That smile of hers turns wry, grim. She hasn't had an easy time making friends here, that's for sure. Whenever she gets close to someone, they seem to vanish. Charlie, Lydia, even Sam.]

I'd probably do well to find a way to keep myself busy. Don't have the bar or the diner anymore, and most of my time went to helping rebuilt those. Time to find something new.

[Meja laughs quietly.]

It's my pleasure. For the most part, those I interact with in the Nine Realms either know all of it already or simply don't care. Though it's rather different than the mythology I grew up with as a child.

[Most Valkyrie don't concern themselves with the politics of the Nine Realms, if they can help it. It's bound to give anyone a headache.]

It would be hard to have both of those places here, I suppose.

[When you're seven hundred years old, you get used to your friends changing fairly often. Though this is a new speed.]

They wouldn't really fit in with the current atmosphere, but--

[She purses her lips and gives her surroundings a quick glance, as though something there might provide her with inspiration.]

I feel like we could probably do something to make it feel less like a prison.

[She nods.]

I'm certain.

[No ideas are really coming to mind, but she's sure one will arrive eventually.]

Though you could take apart a lab and sort of get something close to a bar, I would imagine, if you stole seating from other labs as well.

I probably could. Think there's a need for it?

[She grins. She's pretty sure they both know this place drives people to drink.]

It might not be like any bar anyone's ever seen, but I could probably make one that's serviceable enough.

[Meja chuckles.]

A science-themed bar would probably be very successful, somewhere else. Here, it's just par for the course.

Of course, that begs the question: where is all the booze going to come from?

[The still is long gone, but at least there are supply drops now.]

Maybe I'll be able to salvage something from the kitchens. We'll see. I'll have to think about it.

[She smiles again.]

But I shouldn't keep you. Good luck with your plants. If you need a hand in there anytime, let me know.

[She's sure Jo will come up with something. Jo's nearly as resourceful as her mother seems to be.]

I will. Take care.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

video/action ❆ day 129

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]

[Video]