riverviewlogs | The Yule Log

The Yule Log

who: The Norse and everyone else in the city!
what: The Norse celebrate Yule. Gods help everyone.
when: December 22nd, Winter Solstice
where: Somewhere outside
warnings: Alcohol, drugs, animal sacrifice, blood play, rough foreplay, sex. Will update if necessary.

The Yule celebration has gotten underway on the Winter Solstice and it promises to be a most interesting night. The Norse have gone all out with this affair to make sure it's going to be a success. First thing to be spotted is a bonfire, so big that you might want to be careful not to trip around it, because you'll fall right in. There's plenty of room for dancing too, if you feel like grooving to a beat that's a little more unusual than most.

The Yule celebration shares a lot of similarities with Christmas, so it's a good time for gift giving. There's little shoes on a table, mimicking the tradition where Odin would leave presents for good children by putting them in their shoes. Claim one as your own and maybe a friend will leave a gift inside one for you. Watch it though. Any grinches will be fed to the Yule Cat.

There's a table set up to the right of the bonfire with food, mostly of the hearty kind that the Norse seem to prefer, and of course, lots of alcohol. Please remember not to get into any drinking contests with the gods. They will observe no responsibility for what happens afterward.

There are also mushrooms for consumption, provided by everyone's favorite psychotic Viking, Ivar The Boneless. These ones are directly from his home world, which means they come with a variety of side effects. They have the ability to make a person hallucinate quite a bit. But they can also make people much more horny than usual. Lastly, there's the effect that hits some people in making them extremely violent. Sometimes one effect hits, sometimes more than one. In any case, anyone who consumes some is assured to have an...interesting time.

On a lighter note, there's mistletoe scattered around, hung from the trees and tent beams. Fun fact: the Vikings were the first one to use it for the tradition of kissing. Of course, they also believed it was a plant that was powerful enough to kill a god, so the kissing was ostensibly for protection.

At the height of the night, there will be an animal sacrifice done. A goat is slaughtered and the blood from it is gathered into a couple of bowls. If you'd really like to go all out like a Viking, paint your face in the still-warm blood, or drink a little bit of it. Otherwise, enjoy freshly seared chunks of goat as it bastes over the bonfire.

Have fun, drink, fight, and remember to make your ancestors proud!

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[Ragnar had been determined to let his daughter have some space at the party, though he had insisted she sat by him as they ate. Naturally, he had to pester her. He'd pointed at things that weren't actually there in order to make her look and then stole bits of food off her plate, always making sure to get caught in the act with them half hanging out of his mouth and then denying he'd taken anything.

It wasn't until it was time to make the sacrifice that he found her in the party again, stepping up behind her and loosely hanging his arms around her neck, letting her lean back against his chest, as the ritual took place. He echoed the blessings in old Norse and then followed behind her to the bowls of blood, each of them painting their own faces.]

May the gods smile upon you during the year to come, my daughter. [He leaned down to press a loving kiss to the top of her head, likely getting some of the drying blood on his chin in her hair.]

[She couldn't believe her father was actually here. After all the worry she felt when he left, and the uncertainty of when she first arrived here, it was all she could do to not keep checking to see if he was really there.

She did once smack his hand with her spoon when she caught him nicking from her plate.

When the sacrifice came, she felt strangely grown up when he painted the stripes on her face. At her first sacrifice, she was only dotted with blood, to have one's face painted was almost a rite of passage.]

She smiled when he kissed her head, though she tried to clean some of the blood from her hair.] They already are. We're here together.

[While she missed mother, Bjorn and Athelstan, atleast she had some of her family here.]

[Her response was a double edged sword of deeply touching and completely unexpected. Ragnar had to take a moment to swallow down the sudden swell of emotions and did the only thing he could do, run his fingers through her hair and then kneel down so he could pull her in for a hug.] Sweet Gyda.

[He didn't move for a moment, unable to let her go just yet.

When he did, he put his hands on her shoulders and nodded in agreement, offering her a weak, forced smile. It was true, they had each other.]

We should also think of your mother. And Bjorn. [He nodded again, his heart aching for both of them while feeling deeply conflicted about Lagertha and the things the seer had said. There was no point in dwelling on it now. The simple fact was that he missed her and she was worlds away.] And our futures here. [He gently brushed a bit of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear dotingly.]

[Her throat tightened when he pulled her in for a hug, but she didn't fight it and this time she knew the feeling had nothing to do with the flu. She was hardly used to her father showing this much emotion, so seeing him now like this was enough alone to make her feel like crying.]

We should, Athelstan as well.[He was part of the family as far as she was concerned.]

Talk of family had her look up at him, her expression serious.] We should talk about this with Ivar as well. [He was her brother after all, even if they never met in life.]

[The affection was nothing new. Ragnar was a tactile person, especially when it came to his family. Negative emotions, however, were most definitely something he tried never to show, doubly so in front of his children. Lagertha could help carry any burden he had, she was someone he could share his anxieties with, another point of view and a source of support. He was definitely feeling her absence in this place, even more so at a celebration that reminded him of home.

He gave Gyda a warm smile, this one not forced at all, when she mentioned the priest.] Yes, Athelstan as well. [He was happy with how quickly she'd taken to him.]

Ivar? Why? [Ivar had attempted to reveal their relationship, but Ragnar had basically laughed at him and as soon as he told the young man he was mistaken Ivar had dropped the subject. All he knew was that Ivar was one of them, from the same time and world and possibly place.]

[She frowned, uncertain if Ivar wished to tell the news himself; certainly it wasn't hers to say if he wished to keep hidden.] Just..if his eyes were the usual whites like others..his eyes are like yours-not just in color.

[They did not have mirrors back home, not really, but she knew her fathers eyes-and could see them in anyone who shared blood.] I consider him kin either way.

[Regardless of how her father felt, what was or wasn't spoken of, she still considered him as her brother. If they were going to talk of a future in this place, they would include him]

[He smiled down at Gyda, a soft expression he only ever really gave to his children, and ran his hand through her hair again reassuringly. Obviously, Ivar believed they were related somehow and he'd told Gyda, who was young and impressionable and was likely feeling strange and out of place. Ragnar simply nodded, neither agreeing with her or disagreeing. If she wanted to believe he was family, if that would make her happy, then who was he to tell her no?]

He's from where we're from. In a place like this, that basically does make him family. [That much he did agree with.]

[She smiled, glad that at the very least, he's not going to question it either way. If Ivar wished to get into detail, that was on him; it wasn't hers to say so or try to explain.]

He helped me a great deal after I left the clinic, so I suppose it counts for something. [She left that part to take as he would.

She still wasn't sure how she could've handled this place without anyone from home. Nice as these people were for giving her money and looking out for her, they were still foreign in so many ways]

[He moved toward the bonfire and took a seat, patting the area beside him in hopes that she'd take a seat as well.]

The clinic... and you said you... um... [His voice caught in his throat as it tightened from even thinking about her dying. He decided to ask the question without actually asking it.] You were sick?

[She sat next to him, playing with the fabric of her skirt. In truth, this wasn't something she liked to talk about. It already happened of course, that wasn't the issue-it was just her father's reaction she wasn't looking forward to.] Yes. Back home, you, Bjorn and the others left to Gutaland. In kattegat, one by one, people began getting sick with the plague. Mother had to turn the drinking hall into an infirmary.

[Her voice is numb. Part of her would wonder if telling him would even help, but she felt she had to tell him] I caught the fever as well, and..I don't know how long, but..I saw figures in the shadows. They pointed me towards a door, and even if I was still weak, I followed them-and I appeared here.

[That was the main thing. She may've died back home, but she was here now.]

[He listened, hanging on every word with a practiced neutral expression. The King had just asked him, or rather, cornered him into traveling to Gutaland on his behalf. He was quiet for a long stretch after she finished speaking.]

Then you were saved by the people of this place. If anything, I owe them my deepest gratitude. [Put his hand on her head, stroking her hair, before leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head.]

How are you finding it here, strange as it is?

[She leaned her head against him, for a moment, finding herself back at Kattegat and listening to the skald.

They have these pills you take to lower fevers. I remember the healer being surprised that I was still able to walk.[Her father wasn't wrong, and she couldn't be surprised at her death anymore if that was the case.]

[His other question required her to think a little longer] Fascinating. To see glass everywhere and the food available, even when it's meant to be winter, and to actually be on a moon. [All of the sagas and poems back home seemed boring compared to this.] It's easier with some family around.

[He wasn't sure what pills were, but it was easy enough to assume they were some sort of medicine.

His brow furrowed slightly.] So, you were saved just before the fever took you? What does that mean for your mother, back home? Have you disappeared? Or...? [He shook his head, definitely confused. His questions weren't completely directed at Gyda though. He knew there was no way she could know.

He had to smile at her wonderment, mostly because it mirrored his own.] And the machines. You forgot about those.

It is. Speaking of, how is your house? Have you met anyone interesting?

[She swallowed hard, not wanting to talk about it on such a day, but not wanting to hide the truth.] I..no..It was after. I remember waking up, seeing figures in shadow in the great hall. They spoke without speaking, but I went to join them, they pointed me towards a door-one that I never saw before in the hall.

[That's how she ended up here.]Ivar knew of our family, he didn't know who I was until I told him my name.

[From her brother. The gods saved her from being stuck in Hell, and even back home, her family would keep her memory.]

[He immediately felt a pang of guilt at her reaction. These were questions he shouldn't have asked her. It wasn't fair to her in the least bit.]

But now you are happy and safe here and that's all that matters. Hm? [He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze.]

But you did not answer my most important question, Gyda. Have you met anyone new? Anyone interesting? Made any friends?

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