COMMENCE VOYAGE

[bathymetric]

Fun Fact: Did you know the Atlantic Ocean has a surface area of 41.1 million square miles? No reason.

...

There's something uneasy in the air as you come to.

Well, "come to" is an interesting word in this case. It implies waking up, which is not exactly what happens. None of you are in beds, nor are you really asleep in the traditional sense. One moment you're somewhere else, doing something else with your time, and the next? You're somewhere on board a massive cruise ship - maybe lounging on a deck chair by the pool, maybe getting some Gains in the exercise room, maybe enjoying the tasteful décor in the buffet - and you have no idea how you got here or how you might get back. This is not your beautiful house. If you have a beautiful wife, she isn't here.

What you do have, apart from 25 other unlucky souls, is a small smartphone-like device in your pocket with only a handful of things on it: a clock reading 11PM, a pdf of a ticket in your name on a special Atlantic Liners New Year's Eve Cruise, an app labeled Passenger Profiles with some basic information on your traveling companions, and a message:

Welcome aboard, passenger! Please feel free to partake of any of the facilities while you wait for the big event! Remember: when midnight comes, you better make your way to the theatre at the back of Level 1 for the main event! The Captain and the First Mate will be there to take care of you all personally, and to help you ring in the new year in style!

Well, that's a start. But what you do until then, it seems, is up to you!

Comments

[paucipan]

[see, you get it. you all suck.]

Well, I can certainly agree with that. This isn't Dökkálfheimr, for instance, and I certainly don't like the idea of a human having the ability to steal what they wish from it.

Where exactly do you come from, then?

[You know what. She still doesn't like you, but she's curious.]

[guffawsungraciously]

Entirely understandable, really, all things considered. I have not heard of Dökkálfheimr, so I presume it is the sort of thing of which man was never meant to know.

[He does pronounce it reasonably correctly, but that's because he spent his high school years in Fantasy Scandinavia...]

In any case, I am from Erdrea. Are you familiar, or...?

[His tone suggests he doesn't quite expect it, but like, maybe???]

[paucipan]

Well, look at you, you're smarter than I thought. Got it in one.

[plumeria for fuck's sake, can you please not--]

But no, I haven't heard of Erdrea at all. Guess it seems like we come from different worlds entirely.

[...]

Though, you don't look like you would be too out of place. At least in one of the human worlds that we hold dominion over.

[guffawsungraciously]

I suppose it rarely does hurt to have others underestimate you.

[HE SAYS, TRYING NOT TO FEEL VAGUELY HURT BY THE IMPLICATION THAT HE ISN’T OBVIOUSLY THE CLEVEREST PERSON HERE,]

Though, you have gotten me curious enough that I will admit to wanting to throw caution to the wind and ask you what you mean by having dominion over various human worlds.

[paucipan]

[oh jasper. honey. you're competing against lady freyja, you're fighting a losing battle here.]

It's simple, really; up until now, there were only so many worlds that we Álfar as a whole were able to see into, through the dreams of humans.

[So maybe she oversold it a bit, honestly. Not that she seems pulsed by it.]

There were only so many that we could see into...the likes of Askr, Embla, Nifl, Múspell, and the like. Your attire in particular would likely blend well into Askr, for example; they seem to favor the colors that you use in your armor.

[you're not even cool enough to be a villain, f]

[guffawsungraciously]

[Jasper nods attentively as she explains; like, it sounds pretty wild, but there is also a lot of wild stuff back home ssssso...

...and like, maybe if he was in his warlock gear he'd be cool enough to be in Embla!!!]

Ah, I see. So you are essentially tasked with overseeing the dreams of the denizens of those realms, then? That must be... interesting.

[paucipan]

[Oh, that gets a derisive sound out of Plumeria.]

Yes, you're correct. But interesting is about the nicest word anyone could use for that. I'd prefer the term disgusting. Humans and their fantasies are beyond filthy.

[guffawsungraciously]

[...]

Oh, so you were assigned those sorts of dreams, then? Hmm hmm hmm!

[...he's definitely laughing, but you can at least tell he's trying not to...]

Oh, dear. I really do have to offer you my sincerest condolences, though...

[paucipan]

[Oh dear gods, don't laugh at her, asshole!! Plumeria's face contorts into something sour as she looks at Jasper, completely unamused.]

Oh, don't act like you can understand, human! I doubt you could even comprehend a mere quarter of the things I've seen.

[hrmph!!]

Humans are nothing but rotten creatures. They're quite lucky that we need them at all.

[guffawsungraciously]

[That really isn’t discouraging him...]

Aha, that is entirely fair. I was admittedly thinking of the harmlessly bizarre fantasies some people indulge in and not the truly depraved depths of the most loathsome minds, such as...

[He looks around a bit and lowers his voice to avoid being overheard...]

...unprotected hand-holding.

[paucipan]

[Ohhhhh, dear gods, you can probably hear the tea kettle noises from here as Plumeria looks about fifteen seconds from just throwing something at him--]

Do you really want to get something thrown at your head? Because I don't have to tolerate this nonsense from the likes of you, and there's plenty of food in here that would make your day much worse.

[this is exactly what she deserves, get her ass, jasper]

[guffawsungraciously]

Well, I suppose I would not want that. Who knows what some of those horrible pastries would do to my complexion.

[He’s clearly not sorry.]

Really, though, is there any sort of mobility, or are you saddled with the world’s strangest for eternity?