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wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි

Cloacamazing! posted:

Chloe
"Hello, Chloe Martins. I'm an artist, I was hoping to find some inspiration for my next paintings in your beautiful village. That old burial mound we saw on the way here had the most beautiful view."

Chloe chats a bit about art as they wait for Kayla and Gabriel to come down.

Again with the burial mound? "Nice to meet you, Chloe Martins. You know, I'm something of an artist myself." Samuel takes out his embroidered handkerchief. "See these lines? Most try to avoid puckering when stitching, but I think it lends to- "

Kayla posted:

"Sorry for the wait, Samuel. Where are we heading for dinner?"

"Oh, yes. Your friend also mentioned dinner..." Samuel thought back to his place, where leftovers of his favorite casserole awaited him. "Well, there aren't many places to go at this time of day. Most people get food in the morning and cook it at home. You could do that tomorrow. I'm sure Gertrud wouldn't mind you using her kitchen, isn't that right, Gertrud?"

Hold a moment. This change of attitude has been very sudden. Uncharacteristic of you, Samuel. You came rushing here to send the travellers away and now you're giving them tips for tomorrow's dinner? What has made you wind down so fast? He glances at the visitors: a painter looking for inspiration, a fidgety boy with an odd step and sweet Kayla, at last. Somewhere outside, that willful girl with strange equipment. Looking at them, there's nothing that justifies being at ease. Even so, he feels his muscles beginning to relax. There's something here I can't put into words. Something in them. Could it be..? A frown. "How long are you planning to stay?"

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Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


Kayla

"I'm booked in for two weeks. After that, I'll need to check in on my channel, and my orders-"

Kayla glances at the embroidered handkerchief Samuel was showing off, and comes over for a closer look.

"Oh that's beautiful! You know... I bet these would go perfectly in my shop. I'm already selling nice handmade things. I'm sure a lot of my customers would really appreciate something like this!"

Wow, since when am I making business deals?! I shouldn't be too pushy about it, he might not want to just churn these out... it literally is his profession though? It can't be that weird of an idea, can it?

"Ah, sorry...I don't want to put you on the spot about it. And I'm trying to not even think about work for a while. But remind me to tell you some more about it later, okay?"

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Samuel and the others still in the B&B:

With an equally forced smile, Gertrud can only nod at Samuel's quip about her breakfast menu. She's restrained enough to bite back a retort.

But at the mention of the visitors borrowing her kitchen, she beams genuinely. "Of course, of course," she insists, "the kitchen is all yours! 'Away is a pleasure, but home is best', as they say here, and I'd like for you all to feel at home."

To the discerning eye, it appears Gertrud is leering at Samuel. "Even you, Samuel, should feel at home here." Her tone suggests the opposite.

To Cass:

"Here you are, Miss!" The bartender slides a dark beer your way, along with a cute little coaster with some sort of Nordic design on it. "Food will be ready soon, I'll bring it."

He pauses in thought before resuming his duties. "...You must be one of the newcomers," he remarks, cleaning a glass.

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

WindwardAway posted:

To Cass:

"Here you are, Miss!" The bartender slides a dark beer your way, along with a cute little coaster with some sort of Nordic design on it. "Food will be ready soon, I'll bring it."

He pauses in thought before resuming his duties. "...You must be one of the newcomers," he remarks, cleaning a glass.

Cass

Yup, we just rolled in today.

Cass takes a deep swig of her beer and slides a 500 Krona note across the bar.

This is for the beer, then the next beer, the food, and of course, the conversation.
This is really good by the way, is it local? Anything we should be aware of in town, things we have to see? Anything that is overrated?

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

After being told of the kitchen, he checks his pocket watch. Which time is sunset again? Probably close. He has an inkling of an idea as to why the locals are so used to staying home for dinner, but he doesn't share it. Or maybe it's just the freezing night temps.

"Oh. But that's for tomorrow, right? So, what do we do today? I have some salted peanuts left and a bag of chips and a granola bar or two anduhthreechocolatebars... so if there is nothing else..."

Cloacamazing!
Apr 18, 2018

Too cute to be evil
Chloe
Her stomach starts growling. Right. Food. Hasn't had any since breakfast and didn't bring any eiter. It's not exactly unusual for Chloe to go without food for a while when she's in one of her art phases, but now that food has been mentioned, yes, she is in fact starving. "I thought I saw a pub or something when we arrived. They've got to sell at least something edible, right?"

wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි
Samuel

Samuel suddenly feels faint. Two weeks. There's no way they make it two whole weeks. I need a drink. Hm. "Yes, let's visit the pub. Follow me, Alfrid always has something to eat." Plus I need some allies. The sooner I have a talk with him, the better.

Cloacamazing!
Apr 18, 2018

Too cute to be evil
Chloe
"Oh, embroidery! Wow, that looks really good. My grandma taught me some when i was a child, but I haven't done any in a while. I tried incorporating some into my art a while ago, but couldn't get it to look the way I wanted it to."

It turns out that getting metal to look like embroidery is pretty drat near impossible.

"Anyway, lead the way to the pub!"

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Cass:

Surprised at the advance payment, the bartender chuckles. "We don't have any breweries in Skogen," he says. "This beer is imported from Denmark, but it's a local favorite."

He pours you a glass of ice water and sets it on the side. "We don't have too many local food specialities, but some of our villagers are pretty good chefs. I like to think, if we had a higher demand for it, maybe we would have more restaurants. That dish you ordered is one of my personal favorites."

Before he can answer your second question, you hear a phone ringing, and the bartender looks caught off-guard. He pulls out a phone from his pocket, and holds up a finger to signal you to pause the chatter.

"Excuse me for a moment," he apologizes as he takes the call. "Hallå?"

He wanders off toward the kitchen door, out of earshot, not that you would've understood the conversation anyway.

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To the group in the B&B:

Gertrud waves you off cheerfully. "Enjoy the food, and the beer," she wishes you all. "And, if I can make a recommendation — try the meatballs, they're absolutely delicious!"

Her eye catches Samuel's, and the shadow of a smirk tugs at her lips again.

wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි
Samuel [letter from some time ago]

pre:
Dear Kayla:

Thank you for sharing that story with me. Rest assured that I don't and won't judge you for it.
On the contrary, I quite understand, as I also was into some dark stuff in my youth. You see,
before I basked in the Lord's light, I was part of a group of rascals. We called ourselves the
Worn Norns. We collectively decided that the magic rites from our ancestors were "uncool" and
tried out every exotic ritual we could get our hands on. Our crowning achievement was getting
into something called "hermetic qabalah".

I won't bore you with the details of this heretical practice. However, I admit that it was
thanks to these forays into the occult that I was able to accept the True Faith.

This came to be when Guðr, the youngest of the gang, told us that she had learnt the Enochian
language by herself and convinced us all to try out a ritual in the woods. She said we would
be able to summon one of the Powers, for Enochian magic used the language of angels. I don't
know if what we summoned that day was truly an angel, but I could not deny its heavenly origin.
I consulted the local priest and was awestruck! So much of what he said were the same words
that Guðr's celestial apparition had imprinted into my mind. I visited the priest more and
more frequently and from him I learned both biblical tradition and practical wisdom to soothe
the soul and survive in the forest.

As you can plainly see, God works in mysterious ways. I hope you take these words to heart and
wish that they help you reflect on your current troubles.

Angels keep you,
               Samuel.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

He follows the group outside. Even though it's not that late, not even 2 pm, the sun bathes the street in a late afternoon light, the kind that precedes sunset. It's a strange feeling, unfamiliar to all those who haven't seen a near polar winter. We're far up in the north, but still... it feels weird.

As they leave the row of neatly aligned houses behind, a chill breeze from the road makes him shudder - he reaches for the zipper and closes up his jacket, cooping himself up inside it. At least it's a good warm one, resistant and waterproof. Perfect for running around forests. A strange, but not unwelcome, warm sensation seems to extend over around his chest, and he idly wonders if it's truly all in his head. Must be.

He's uncharactically silent now, a bit lost in his thoughts, and stopped paying attention to the chatter ahead of him for a bit. This guy looks trustable enough, or at least unlikely to want you dead. Or at least that Kayla girl seems to trust him, and she doesn't seem to have a bad bone in her body. It should be fine to be honest, up to a point. There seems to be a lull in the conversation at one point, and he decides to pipe up.

"So, uh... Samuel? I think I've not actually told you what I'm doing here. I, uh, I am a journalist did he wince a bit?, and I am doing a small piece on Northern beliefs and traditions. I've heard about Skogen, of course, but a lot of it is hearsay."

Pause. They continue walking. The main road opens up, revealing a row of more modern business buildings. Most of them look like they are about to close for the day, too.

"I know I need to be discreet here. That Skoganites don't take kindly to strangers. And I am a prying stranger at that, so it's even worse. So if you are OK with it, would you be able to answer me some questions a bit later? No pressure, of course, just whatever you feel comfortable sharing. I will not pry, I am not that kind of journalist"

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Samuel, Gabriel, Chloe and Kayla:

(edit: you can finish your conversation first if you want; didn't see the last post when I sent this!)

The pub isn't particularly crowded, and as you enter, you spot Cassandra sitting at the bar. There are four seats to her left, and a local sitting to her right. The bartender is nowhere to be seen.

A small group of villagers gets up from their table, and they shoot you a dirty look as they pass by to leave the pub; looks like some people don't take kindly to tourists (or Samuel).

WindwardAway fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Nov 28, 2022

Cloacamazing!
Apr 18, 2018

Too cute to be evil
Chloe
She plops down next to Cass. "Heeeey, Roomie! Found you! What happened to giving me five minutes before you run off?"

Seriously, what's up with that? Chloe might not be the most socially astute person, as has been pointed out to her repeatedly, but that was really rude and in her opinion undeserved.

"How's the beer?"

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

He shuts up as they get into the pub - experience has taught him they are terrible places for confidentiality. He notices Cass sitting down at the end of the row, but before he needs to solve the conflict between self-preservation and social norms, Chloe takes the initiative and sits next to her. That's one problem sorted then, thanks goodness. Gab hears her confront Cass about something or other. Roomsharing not going well? Who'd have known!. He decides it's not his trouble to listen to, and takes a seat in the far end, leaving Kayla and Sam to sit in the middle seats.

A good smell comes out from the kitchen, and he realizes he's slightly hungrier than he thought. He makes a mental note to ask Sam about what's good to eat here. Right now, hovewer, he seems a bit distracted - better to leave him to his business.

Gab is no heavy drinker, and he knows it, but right now, right now he's in the exact high mood for a beer. Or three. He probably can hold them today, he can do anything today. He flags down the bartender and asks for one.

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
Emerging again from the kitchen, the bartender brings a piping hot plate of something wrapped in cabbage leaves — boiled rolls filled with mince meat, topped with a savoury sauce. It's accompanied by a side of potatoes with a red berry jam. "Sorry about the interruption," he says to Cass, setting the dish in front of her. "I hope you like the food — this is one of our chef's specialities!"

He turns to the newcomers to take their orders, starting a tab and filling a beer immediately for the thirsty-sounding guy sitting at the far end.

WindwardAway fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Nov 28, 2022

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

Cass

Cass hears the door swing open and sees the group walk in, and it looks like the creep, you should stop calling him "The Creep", even in your internal monologue Cass, tagged along with them.

Roomie, Bestie, Fallen Angel! Glad you could make it!

Cloacamazing! posted:

Chloe
She plops down next to Cass. "Heeeey, Roomie! Found you! What happened to giving me five minutes before you run off?"

Seriously, what's up with that? Chloe might not be the most socially astute person, as has been pointed out to her repeatedly, but that was really rude and in her opinion undeserved.

"How's the beer?"

Cass leans over conspiratorly to Chloe's ear.

Sorry, that dude Kayla knows here gave me the heebie-jeebies, I had to bounce. Probably just a combination of low blood sugar and needing to stretch my legs after the flight and the taxi ride though. I did send Kayla a DM.

Oh yeah, we should all exchange numbers and start a text thread while we are here. This place isn't that big that we should get lost, but that'll let us keep in touch while also being able to go our separate ways.


WindwardAway posted:

Emerging again from the kitchen, the bartender brings a piping hot plate of something wrapped in cabbage leaves — boiled rolls filled with mince meat, topped with a savoury sauce. It's accompanied by a side of potatoes with a red berry jam. "Sorry about the interruption," he says to Cass, setting the dish in front of her. "I hope you like the food — this is one of our chef's specialties!"

He turns to the newcomers to take their orders, starting a tab and filling a beer immediately for the thirsty-sounding guy sitting at the far end.

Oh yay, cabbage rolls, I love these. What's the red stuff?

Cass doesn't wait for an answer as she starts digging in.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

He digs into his beer right up. Tastes good! Been a while since he had one, actually. Well, time to change that.

"Hey, those rolls look amazing. Could I have the same, please?"

Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


Kayla

Kayla waves at Cass, but tries to pull Samuel away from the others for a minute while she grabs something light to drink.

"Hey, sorry to keep going on about it, but is everything really all right? It looked like something terrible had happened to you. I didn't exactly give a lot of notice before I got here... if I came at a bad time, please don't try to just play the happy smiling host."

wologar posted:

Samuel [letter from some time ago]

~Time reversal!~ Briefly moving forward instead of backwards

Kayla's letter right after that was posted:

Dear Samuel,

What an incredible story! Even though I’ve written to many different kinds of people, I never really know how to react to stories like that of religious experiences. I’m sure for many people it really is a matter of seeking patterns too much, or some carbon monoxide, or what have you. And I suspect for some, (like that old roommate of mine), they get carried away in their imaginations and eagerness to show off for others. But other times, the story is told so sincerely I can’t bear to dismiss it.

It’s always easy of course, to think of a platitude like, “well if it felt real to you, even if the way you interpret it isn’t strictly true, the effect it had on you was real.” But that feels so patronizing. Things might have never felt completely right for me in the church, but they didn’t feel any more right with the atheists either, to declare that none of these experiences anyone described could be real at all. But then when I try and come up with some wishy-washy way to describe things in a broad “spiritual” sense, like “everyone has a bit of the truth”, that also doesn’t feel quite right.

But I suppose that is the closest to what I actually believe. And if I’m being brutally honest with myself, my shying away from it probably isn’t from truly skeptical intellectual rigour. More from embarrassment that I’ll sound flighty and insincere, like someone trying to get you to buy their crystals or pay more for their yoga class.

While I was writing that though, another idea came to me. No matter how much I wanted to hear out my roommate and her Neo-Pagan friends, no matter how much I tried to respect their attempts to create their own new personal tradition, in the end I couldn’t take it seriously. It never felt like it had the same kind of power as a tradition that has been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years. I’ve always felt saddened by that, since here in the United States especially, clinging dogmatically to a specific religious belief can be so terribly harmful. So that makes me value people who can cast aside a harmful tradition, instead of feeling bound to it just because it’s an old tradition. But on the other side of that coin, any religion or tradition that’s survived that long through generations of history has to have hit upon something genuine.

The ultimate truths of the universe and why anything exists at all do have to be greater than anything we could possibly understand. So I get so caught up in fretting over how our ideas of it can’t possibly be quite right. But even if I tell myself I can’t consider myself a Christian (since I don’t technically believe any of it happened precisely the way they say), I still find myself reflexively using Christian thoughts. Like why I thought I had the right to judge that completely imaginary yoga instructor.

Maybe my lack of any truly notable spiritual experiences is something I’ve done to myself, just from a fear of being wrong.

Thank you for inspiring me to write through these things, Samuel. I would love to hear more about that angel of yours sometime, or whatever it might have really been.

- Kayla

Cloacamazing!
Apr 18, 2018

Too cute to be evil
Chloe
Chloe orders one of those cabbage roll things and a beer, then once the pub owner is busy with the rest of the orders, she says quietly "Oh, he's not as bad as he looks, he's probably just a bit overwhelmed with that many strangers. Gabriel's already trying to interview him. He showed me some great embroidery he does, and he knows our landlady. Did you talk to any of the locals here?"

She pulls out her phone to exchange numbers. At the very least, if her impulsive roommate decides to lock herself in her room while she's out painting, she can spam her phone.

wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි
Samuel

"Alfrid, just a beer for me." Samuel sits down between Kayla and Gabriel. Funny, both of them had asked him for stuff earlier.

Kayla offered me a job. Ha! Funny girl. Still, I must find a way to talk to her in private. Samuel looks around the table and to the entrance. Later.

"You said you were a journalist, Gabriel? Curious. How did you find out about Skogen?" Samuel has already guessed that the answer will involve the newlywed couple incident, but he must know for sure where Gabriel's interests lie.

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

Cloacamazing! posted:

Chloe
Chloe orders one of those cabbage roll things and a beer, then once the pub owner is busy with the rest of the orders, she says quietly "Oh, he's not as bad as he looks, he's probably just a bit overwhelmed with that many strangers. Gabriel's already trying to interview him. He showed me some great embroidery he does, and he knows our landlady. Did you talk to any of the locals here?"

She pulls out her phone to exchange numbers. At the very least, if her impulsive roommate decides to lock herself in her room while she's out painting, she can spam her phone.

Cass

Through a mouthful of food Just the bartender, but after a bit he took a call and headed to the back, he didn't seem much for small talk though... but after my stroll around the village to get the lay of the land, I've only been here for 20ish minutes. Plenty of time to soak in the local culture.
With that, Cass throws back the last third of her beer and motions for another one.

I said I'd send you these, so here you go.

Cass composes a text to the new contact, Chloe (Roomie), the opens with "Hey Roomie", and then just is a dozen or so pictures of the burial mound and the large runestone.

So you don't have to paint it from memory later, you know? You can borrow my laptop if you want to see it on a larger screen for reference if we're gonna be in most of the night. I only really use it to edit my videos anyway.

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Cass's question about the "red stuff" on the plate, the bartender answers, "It's just a local jam we make. It's great for flavor!"

He then puts in the food orders before proceeding to serve the beers to the guests. As usual, Samuel does not appear to be ordering any of the food.

"The young lady over here was asking about sightseeing in the village," says the bartender, motioning at Cass as he speaks to Samuel. "Perhaps you'd like to show her the architectural wonder of our local church."

There's more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he takes a jab at Samuel, but he pours him a beer all the same. "I don't know if you're hoping to save their souls, or if you have some other plans for them," he whispers in Swedish, so the others won't overhear, "but good luck — I guess you have your work cut out for you."

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

WindwardAway posted:

To Cass's question about the "red stuff" on the plate, the bartender answers, "It's just a local jam we make. It's great for flavor!"

Cass

Cass just nods enthusiastically, her mouth is too full to try to respond in words.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

"You said you were a journalist, Gabriel? Curious. How did you find out about Skogen?"

He freezes in place for a split second, and quickly eyeballs the bartender. If he has heard, he doesn't seem to have reacted.

Well there, that's the one question you didn't want to answer, did you?

He finishes his beer, using those precious few seconds to think of a suitable response. His tongue comes in hand yet again.

"Through work, mostly. I do specialize in cultural stuff, and I have always been interested in myths and oral traditions myself, so I volunteered. I was given a few places I could pick from, I actually have no idea where the editorial office got their info from. Skogen sounded fascinating, so here I am"

He sees Cass' gesture and imitates it. Those beers sure are strong or maybe you are just missing a few red cells but a day is a day, right? He absentmindedly scratches his left foot against the stool.

"Those rolls taste amazing. You sure you don't want something? My treat. It's the least I can do, after your hospitality!"

wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි
Samuel

"Ah yes. Skogen is very cultural." Samuel waves his hand dismissively. I knew it. He's interested in the old gods stuff. They all are, what with the questions about burial mounds.

Alfrid posted:

"Perhaps you'd like to show her the architectural wonder of our local church."

Hmph! That could fix several problems quite neatly. "I hear you, Alfrid. That's the best idea you've had in weeks." Samuel addresses the table: "Say, everyone. How about we go see a really old building, clad in majestic vigor and a supernatural aura, after we finish this meal? I can guide you there. It will make your trip worth it." He scans the visitors for reactions.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

He notices Samuel skipping the meal invitation. What's up with that? Vegetarian maybe?

He answers between bites of the meat rolls.

"Sure! Sounds cool! I assume you're talking about the Skogen church?? I heard it's really old and also well preserved, it's fascinating. Will you guide us?"

Shellception fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Nov 28, 2022

Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


Kayla

Kayla half-heartedly has a bit to eat, and tries just a couple sips of the beer. Maybe this just wasn't the best place to try and talk. She nods to Samuel when he mentions going to the church, but then the chatter of the others fades into the background.

She pulls out her phone, which still has a tab about runes open. In her journal, she flips to her drawings of the runestone and glances back and forth between them.

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

Bifauxnen posted:

Kayla

Kayla half-heartedly has a bit to eat, and tries just a couple sips of the beer. Maybe this just wasn't the best place to try and talk. She nods to Samuel when he mentions going to the church, but then the chatter of the others fades into the background.

She pulls out her phone, which still has a tab about runes open. In her journal, she flips to her drawings of the runestone and glances back and forth between them.

Cass

Cass leans back and tries to see what Kayla is looking at on her phone. She attempts to be surreptitious about it but likely fails. Expecting to see her cultivating her brand, maybe interacting with her followers, or at least checking her metrics. But instead she is looking at a drawing of the runestone and trying to translate?

Hey Kayla, I got a clear pic of that stone if you want a better reference than your sketch, lemme know and I can send it to you.

Cass beams at Kayla, but the image is marred by some red berry jam she doesn't realize is dripping down the side of her mouth. She flashes the shot she got of the stone to Kayla.

God some decent shots of the mound too if you are interested, but I guess the runes are pretty adjacent to your content, the mound less so. Oh, I have a camera drone we could do a flyover with and get some killer shots, it's even got night vision. I was thinking of using it for the intro to whatever video I end up making out of this. Maybe get it with the backdrop of a sunrise or a sunset, a slow pan over the mound with the sun disappearing behind it could be ominous. Maybe play with some effects, set up a mic in the woods overnight to get some atmospheric sounds to overlay. What do you think?

Cass is fully talking across Chloe who is between them, occasionally leaning in front of her to show Kayla her phone at times.

Also, if you can get a translation, maybe I can make that a voiceover, as long as it isn't boring. If it's boring I'll make something up instead.

Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


Kayla

"Oh, thank you! I would appreciate that photo for a reference, yes."

Kayla exchanges her proper contact details with Cass, while thinking through that barrage of ideas she had for the video.

"Wow, that all sounds so dramatic. I don't really know how to make that kind of content, so that will be really something to see the finished product!"

Despite thinking the XTREME approach doesn't sound very fitting, Kayla manages to say this with some sincerity. She's never got to directly compare a highly dramatized video like this against reality before.

wologar
Feb 11, 2014

නෝනාවරුනි
Samuel

Again with the bleeping mound! "What's your obsession with that mound, anyway!? You know it's just an old grave, right? And that the runestone has the same purpose as a headstone, don't you? Do you hold the same obsession when you're around your local graveyards??"

Grandicap
Feb 8, 2006

wologar posted:

Samuel

Again with the bleeping mound! "What's your obsession with that mound, anyway!? You know it's just an old grave, right? And that the runestone has the same purpose as a headstone, don't you? Do you hold the same obsession when you're around your local graveyards??"

Cass

What's your obsession with being a dick! And yeah, if it was as old as that mound is, I would be just as interested. You live here so it is all just the norm for you, we are tourists, here to tour things. We are talking about a thing just outside of your town we are interested in, if you don't want us taking interest, why did you even invite Kayla!

Cass crosses her arms in a huff, and blows a stray strand of hair that has fallen across her eyes in her micro-tirade. Before very pointedly going back to the pics and footage she took sharing them with the group. Way more interested in it now than she was before. Maybe even attempting to help with the translation.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

He's been following the conversation with interest. They have a drone??? Woah!. The food is long gone and he's now nursing his third beer of the night, while pointedly looming over Sam's shoulder to try and see Kayla's rune drawings. He doesn't manage to get a good view, but he does manage to add to the man's growing exhasperation.

Even through the happy beer daze, he does feel conflicted about the whole thing. On the one hand freaking drone view footage of the mound?? So cool, dammit! but on the other, this feels... inappropiate. He's not sure exactly where Sam's objections are coming from, but he does agree on something - it is, or it used to be, a sacred place, and those places have power. A ball of foreign tourists stomping around and you know about stomping, don't you? and trying to fly a drone around do not feel like a respectful thing. Plus, there are rituals being held in there, aren't there? those twigs didn't place themselves which means the mound does hold significance for someone out here. Definitely not a masterful move to go angering everyone around here just as you arrived. Nevermind discussing it in loud voices in a pub bar, of course.

He tries, and fails, to put this into words, objections being drowned at first by everyone else's noisy enthusiasm. Dammit. He clears his throat and tries again.

"... hey. Hey? Guys. GUYS. Like, Cass, you know, drone footage sounds freaking awesome, and I don't want to rain in your idea, but... this doesn't seem all that... appropiate?" He shudders a bit, he doesn't like confronting Cass. He takes a deep breath and speeds up. "It's someone's rest place after all... and yeah yeah I know, I know, that someone has been long long dead buttt hear me here, yeah just a second I know, but hear me, Kayla and I were there, close to it, that place has been kept clean and tidy, runestone restored, even the mound looks like it has no weeds growing over it, that doesn't happen naturally, which means someone did it, I mean someone is doing it NOW, and that someone is probably not going to be any happy if we all wander in to..." he trails off. Is that all? This sounds like it's all.

He's now fully pressing against Sam's shoulder without realizing it. Now he can see the runes.

"Hey, Kayla... do you mind? Can I have a closer look at the runes again?"

Shell's note: can I have a roll or a pull or something to see if he sees anything interesting in the rune drawings?

Shellception fucked around with this message at 08:31 on Nov 29, 2022

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Gab:

Pick a card!



To Samuel:

Sighing, the bartender pours more beer and slides it over. "Have fun at the church, I guess," is all he has to say, glancing at you with a shrug. "Better get going soon, eh? It's almost sunset."

To everyone:

At Alfrid's mention of the time, your attention snaps to the window. Outside, you can see faint ribbons of pink and purple coloring the clouds like streaks of paint.

The local sitting next to Cass stands up from his seat and signals the bartender for the bill. He hasn't said a word this entire time. As he slips on his coat and hat, he addresses the group:

"Make yourselves comfortable in Skogen; we'll take good care of you."

His words hold a foreboding weight to them, although you're not quite sure why. Before you can comment, he exits, leaving unanswered questions in his wake.

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Down left!

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
To Gab:



Kayla's sketch of the runestone is fascinating to you. It was done quickly, but the resemblance is unmistakable, and she even drew in the twisted creature in the middle.

As Kayla's screen displays the photo Cass sent, however, an unsettling detail catches your eye: a strange blurred smudge in the background, peeking out from behind the burial mound. What's this? The lighting isn't at the right angle for it to be a shadow from the runestone. It's tall, definitely human height, but the girls make no indication of noticing it.

WindwardAway fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Nov 29, 2022

Shellception
Oct 12, 2016

"I'm made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think"
Gab

LOOK AT THAT

"Can... can you please send that photo over to me? That one" he asks Kayla, with a slighly trembling voice. Somehow, he feels like all the alcohol suddenly left his body - a strange not-quite soberness sensation washing over him for he thirty or so seconds before his phone's slight *blip*.

He opens the pic she sent and stares at it, zooming in to the area. It's completely blurry, but there is no mistaking it. There is some kind of spirit standing near the runestone.

"HAVE YOU ALL SEEN THIS???"

wops. A bit too eager there, were you?

Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


Kayla

How much did he have to drink already?

Kayla looks at Gab with some concern, but leans in to look at the photo more closely and see whatever he was looking at.

WindwardAway
Aug 22, 2022

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
GM note, a bit late:

Runecast required from anyone who wants to look at the photo! Pick your set.

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Bifauxnen
Aug 12, 2010

Curses! Foiled again!


WindwardAway posted:

GM note, a bit late:

Runecast required from anyone who wants to look at the photo! Pick your set.

ooh, let's go with the onyx ones

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