Jacob's Journal, Entry 42
I'm horribly behind and I still haven't responded to comments - I'm sorry! I swear I'll do that tonight. I'm currently working up a rant over Time Warner Cable so I'm good and agitated too.
The Rada session this week was a lot of fun. Lots of laughs and some great character interaction. I'm afraid this journal entry's got some spelling errors in the names, but I'll correct those tonight as well.
And here's what Jacob did this week...
Helena called yesterday and said her mother’s requested our presence in Helheim. I can’t possibly express how much I do not want to go back to the Underworld - any underworld. But we’ve been called therefore we’re going to go so rather than whine about it I ask where we should meet up. After talking it over it makes sense for everyone to come here. For the Aesir, one of the easiest ways to move between Midgard and the Over or Under worlds is to use an Ash tree. Climbing to the Overworld or crawling through the root system to get to the Underworld. Logical in a fantasy sort of way. Anyway, knowing this I chose the location for the house because there was an ancient Ash tree just on the edge of the clearing. We built the kids’ tree house in the lower branches. So like I said, easiest way to get there is right in my back yard.
Once everyone arrived we settled down and shared just what we’d been up to since we left each other in China. Cesar went to Europe and in Brussels beat the crap out of some guy offering him a Vegemite sandwich. Because it’s nearly impossible to tell I’m really not sure if he was pulling our leg or not. Storm spent his time studying and making diamonds and getting other gifts for various people. Helena didn’t say much about what she did, so I’m assuming she was working. Sam said what he did was classified. Again, can’t really say if he was pulling my leg or not, but considering he does work for the government I can only imagine he was telling the truth. Carina had big news - she finished her thesis and when we get back from this trip she’ll have her PhD. She’s invited us to the ceremony and I can’t imagine anything would keep us from being there. I’m pretty proud of her.
Cesar and Storm are both fairly proud of Caleb for his actions in Chicago. Cesar’s determined he’s old enough for a gun. Delilah’s been teaching him, but I’m not quite ready to hand over a firearm. He’s still just a kid. Cesar took him off and gave him a lesson in gun safety - I know Caleb’s heard it before but he was happy to get the lesson again since it was Cesar giving it to him. Storm and Carina kept Maggie occupied most of the afternoon.
Honestly having them there, just relaxing and hanging out feels good. Despite all the teasing I received when Carina figured out Delilah was pregnant again, and all the ragging I took for being an overprotective father to Caleb, it was a great afternoon. I really don’t mind the teasing and the picking - I grumble about it, but honestly, what group of friends (or family) doesn’t rag on you for one thing or another?
After dinner we said good bye to the kids and Delilah and headed down the rabbit hole. I had my backpack and my cargo jacket as usual. You never know what supplies you’re going to need. Heliheim is one of the most depressing, horrific places I’ve ever seen. Di Yu had wildly imaginative and unappealing punishments for its residents but there was always the understanding that you served your time and you got to leave. There’s no such guarantee for the residents of Helheim. In fact once you’re there you’re stuck.
After meeting a giantess acting as the gatekeeper to Hel’s hall we made our way into the hall. The hallway was filled with blood coming up to my thighs. Rather than wade through that I jumped up and carefully balanced on top of the blood keeping my eyes forward rather than looking at the souls hanging from the walls. It was pretty awful. Carina started messing with my jacket about halfway through the hallway which I thought was weird. Since when does she care about my appearance? Usually she rolls her eyes or gets irritated when I come within ten yards of a woman, so what was the deal here? I shrugged it off and once we were out of the hallway tried to ignore the sudden rise in blood behind us. Hel wanted privacy for this audience obviously.
The audience was actually pretty brief. She’s got a problem with the giants from Jottunheim encroaching on her boarders and she wants us to deal with it. I really don’t know why she didn’t just handle it herself. She’s twelve feet tall - imposing as…well…hell, and far more powerful than us. My guess is this is a test of some kind and when we talked about it later the others seemed to agree, but who exactly was testing who here? Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing. Anyway, she said a feast was being prepared for us and she’d give us more information then. We were ushered out of her…um, throne room by some ghostly servants and taken upstairs to rooms that were sparsely furnished. A comfortable bed was about all that was in each of the rooms but it gave us the opportunity to clean up from our bloody walk through the hall as well as talk about what Hel wanted us to do.
The thing is, the Aesir are captives of Fate. We live it and breathe it - we know what’s coming and the gods are doing everything they can to change our fate and stave off Ragnorok. Hel’s considered one of the fence sitters. According to the myths, Hel’s forces come in on the Titans side during Ragnorok, but there’s little mention of Hel herself. There are others like her, but no one really knows where she stands. Maybe by helping her here and strengthening bonds with her we can get her off the proverbial fence and fully engaged on the side of the gods. If we can do that then who knows how that might change Fate? Yeah, that aside might explain some of my actions…I know I’m jumping ahead, getting back on track now.
While we were waiting Carina revealed a new gift for prophecy. She saw a stage with three marionettes - one of ice, one cloaked in illusions, and one matronly figure, all moving as the puppeteer pulled their strings. It’s not hard to figure out that someone is being played here. While discussing the prophecy we figured the marionettes represented Hel (obviously), Utgard-Loki or Loki (there’s no better illusionists than those two), and the matron could be either Mother or Angerboda (or another of the Troll Wives). Given we’re here to help Hel, I’m leaning more towards the Matron being Angerboda. Plus I don’t like the idea that someone’s manipulating my mother. I’m going to assume that’s not the case until we get more information. Though I have to wonder, the marionette made out of ice could just as easily be Helena. She’s got a greater affinity with frost and water than she does death, unlike her mother. But the other puppets don’t make sense at that point.
No matter what, we needed more information before we could decide to do. Hel put forth a lot of effort to show us the best hospitality. As we were seated one of the ghost servants said Hel wanted me to stay behind to speak with her after dinner. I didn’t really understand why, though I had to admit, I suspected. I’m nothing special - not really, but as my physical looks improve more people are drawn to me. Part of that is Mother’s doing, but considering how she feels about Hel - I doubt she had anything to do with this.
Despite the house of horrors type air Hel’s hall has, the feast was enjoyable. The meal was excellent and when Hel asked us to share tales of our missions we had a lot of fun. Cesar immediately launched into the story of our battle with Diatokuji. He left out the fact Helena was hurt, but otherwise he did very little embellishing. Honestly, there’s no need to exaggerate our victories; our actions speak for themselves most of the time. Storm jumped in with the tale of the Cat’s Eye. He played up all our strengths and none of our weaknesses so that worked out nicely. Given it was during that mission we gained Sam as an ally and good friend it’s particularly memorable. I told two stories - Hun Came’s defeat and then seeing we were reaching an awkward lull chose to share the story of Ireland and the defeat of Abbergast and Fogethest. True I left a few things out and played down Mac Lir’s contribution in favor of Helena’s superior intellect but sometimes a bit of embellishment is warranted.
Once the storytelling died down a bit, Hel got down to business. Giants are raiding along the boarders of Neffelheim and Jottunheim. Hel figures it’s only a matter of time until they start encroaching on Helheim and she wants it stopped before they get to that point. The raiders are frost giants and they’re traveling with “troll like” creatures. She’s really interested, and maybe even unnerved by the traveling companions. I really don’t think she intended for any of us to figure that out. She asked that we investigate and see what we can find out then report back to her before we leave Helheim. In return she would reward us. I’m pretty sure any of us would’ve done what she asked without the promise of reward, but it was nice that she offered it I guess. When we agreed to help she suggested we stay at the Hall for the rest of the night since it would be warmer during the day. Again we agreed and the others went back to their rooms. I didn’t make a big deal about it, just didn’t follow them out.
Hel is not one to beat around the bush. I probably should have known that but when she said I intrigued her and she wanted me to stay with her that night it still threw me for a loop. She didn’t really ask, simply told me what she wanted. I probably could have refused, but if I wasn’t careful I would offend her and potentially make an enemy. If I accepted then I would be crossing lines I’d never wanted to cross - getting involved with one of my friend’s divine parents was the last thing I wanted. But at the same time I thought - and this may be way too arrogant of me, but if I could please her and gain her favor then maybe I could help influence her loyalties when the time came to choose sides. So I thanked her for the honor of her attention and set out to fulfill her desires.
From a purely superficial point of view that wasn’t easy - she’s amazingly beautiful…on one half of her body. The other half…she’s a corpse. Still, I agreed and the potential benefits outweighed the uncomfortable situation. Though, if my Mother ever finds out about this I think I’m going to be up the creek. Maybe I shouldn’t try to think politically.
Before the night was over Hel altered her appearance to show nothing but beauty. I can only assume that was done to show I pleased her? She’s not exactly talkative so I took signals where I could. I left her chambers and returned to the rooms over the hall we were given. Cesar and Storm were playing cards but I didn’t stop, nor did I say anything - I just wanted to try and rest before we left. Yes. I was finally tired.
I only managed to get about a half hour of sleep but it helped. I was ready to go when we gathered that morning. Cesar wanted to know where I’d been the night before but I had no intention of telling. I’m not ashamed of who I’d been with (though I’ll admit, I’m a bit uncomfortable with her) but I was not about to brag or even share that knowledge with Helena. I’m trying not to think about it too much, if I do I know I’ll be ashamed at my motivation - though I have to wonder if anyone has ever approached Hel with any type of warm feeling. The thought makes me wonder, especially given how cordial she was towards us last night. Still, I’m not going to think about it too hard, right now we’ve got to go find out about these giants.
The Rada session this week was a lot of fun. Lots of laughs and some great character interaction. I'm afraid this journal entry's got some spelling errors in the names, but I'll correct those tonight as well.
And here's what Jacob did this week...
Helena called yesterday and said her mother’s requested our presence in Helheim. I can’t possibly express how much I do not want to go back to the Underworld - any underworld. But we’ve been called therefore we’re going to go so rather than whine about it I ask where we should meet up. After talking it over it makes sense for everyone to come here. For the Aesir, one of the easiest ways to move between Midgard and the Over or Under worlds is to use an Ash tree. Climbing to the Overworld or crawling through the root system to get to the Underworld. Logical in a fantasy sort of way. Anyway, knowing this I chose the location for the house because there was an ancient Ash tree just on the edge of the clearing. We built the kids’ tree house in the lower branches. So like I said, easiest way to get there is right in my back yard.
Once everyone arrived we settled down and shared just what we’d been up to since we left each other in China. Cesar went to Europe and in Brussels beat the crap out of some guy offering him a Vegemite sandwich. Because it’s nearly impossible to tell I’m really not sure if he was pulling our leg or not. Storm spent his time studying and making diamonds and getting other gifts for various people. Helena didn’t say much about what she did, so I’m assuming she was working. Sam said what he did was classified. Again, can’t really say if he was pulling my leg or not, but considering he does work for the government I can only imagine he was telling the truth. Carina had big news - she finished her thesis and when we get back from this trip she’ll have her PhD. She’s invited us to the ceremony and I can’t imagine anything would keep us from being there. I’m pretty proud of her.
Cesar and Storm are both fairly proud of Caleb for his actions in Chicago. Cesar’s determined he’s old enough for a gun. Delilah’s been teaching him, but I’m not quite ready to hand over a firearm. He’s still just a kid. Cesar took him off and gave him a lesson in gun safety - I know Caleb’s heard it before but he was happy to get the lesson again since it was Cesar giving it to him. Storm and Carina kept Maggie occupied most of the afternoon.
Honestly having them there, just relaxing and hanging out feels good. Despite all the teasing I received when Carina figured out Delilah was pregnant again, and all the ragging I took for being an overprotective father to Caleb, it was a great afternoon. I really don’t mind the teasing and the picking - I grumble about it, but honestly, what group of friends (or family) doesn’t rag on you for one thing or another?
After dinner we said good bye to the kids and Delilah and headed down the rabbit hole. I had my backpack and my cargo jacket as usual. You never know what supplies you’re going to need. Heliheim is one of the most depressing, horrific places I’ve ever seen. Di Yu had wildly imaginative and unappealing punishments for its residents but there was always the understanding that you served your time and you got to leave. There’s no such guarantee for the residents of Helheim. In fact once you’re there you’re stuck.
After meeting a giantess acting as the gatekeeper to Hel’s hall we made our way into the hall. The hallway was filled with blood coming up to my thighs. Rather than wade through that I jumped up and carefully balanced on top of the blood keeping my eyes forward rather than looking at the souls hanging from the walls. It was pretty awful. Carina started messing with my jacket about halfway through the hallway which I thought was weird. Since when does she care about my appearance? Usually she rolls her eyes or gets irritated when I come within ten yards of a woman, so what was the deal here? I shrugged it off and once we were out of the hallway tried to ignore the sudden rise in blood behind us. Hel wanted privacy for this audience obviously.
The audience was actually pretty brief. She’s got a problem with the giants from Jottunheim encroaching on her boarders and she wants us to deal with it. I really don’t know why she didn’t just handle it herself. She’s twelve feet tall - imposing as…well…hell, and far more powerful than us. My guess is this is a test of some kind and when we talked about it later the others seemed to agree, but who exactly was testing who here? Honestly, it’s all a bit confusing. Anyway, she said a feast was being prepared for us and she’d give us more information then. We were ushered out of her…um, throne room by some ghostly servants and taken upstairs to rooms that were sparsely furnished. A comfortable bed was about all that was in each of the rooms but it gave us the opportunity to clean up from our bloody walk through the hall as well as talk about what Hel wanted us to do.
The thing is, the Aesir are captives of Fate. We live it and breathe it - we know what’s coming and the gods are doing everything they can to change our fate and stave off Ragnorok. Hel’s considered one of the fence sitters. According to the myths, Hel’s forces come in on the Titans side during Ragnorok, but there’s little mention of Hel herself. There are others like her, but no one really knows where she stands. Maybe by helping her here and strengthening bonds with her we can get her off the proverbial fence and fully engaged on the side of the gods. If we can do that then who knows how that might change Fate? Yeah, that aside might explain some of my actions…I know I’m jumping ahead, getting back on track now.
While we were waiting Carina revealed a new gift for prophecy. She saw a stage with three marionettes - one of ice, one cloaked in illusions, and one matronly figure, all moving as the puppeteer pulled their strings. It’s not hard to figure out that someone is being played here. While discussing the prophecy we figured the marionettes represented Hel (obviously), Utgard-Loki or Loki (there’s no better illusionists than those two), and the matron could be either Mother or Angerboda (or another of the Troll Wives). Given we’re here to help Hel, I’m leaning more towards the Matron being Angerboda. Plus I don’t like the idea that someone’s manipulating my mother. I’m going to assume that’s not the case until we get more information. Though I have to wonder, the marionette made out of ice could just as easily be Helena. She’s got a greater affinity with frost and water than she does death, unlike her mother. But the other puppets don’t make sense at that point.
No matter what, we needed more information before we could decide to do. Hel put forth a lot of effort to show us the best hospitality. As we were seated one of the ghost servants said Hel wanted me to stay behind to speak with her after dinner. I didn’t really understand why, though I had to admit, I suspected. I’m nothing special - not really, but as my physical looks improve more people are drawn to me. Part of that is Mother’s doing, but considering how she feels about Hel - I doubt she had anything to do with this.
Despite the house of horrors type air Hel’s hall has, the feast was enjoyable. The meal was excellent and when Hel asked us to share tales of our missions we had a lot of fun. Cesar immediately launched into the story of our battle with Diatokuji. He left out the fact Helena was hurt, but otherwise he did very little embellishing. Honestly, there’s no need to exaggerate our victories; our actions speak for themselves most of the time. Storm jumped in with the tale of the Cat’s Eye. He played up all our strengths and none of our weaknesses so that worked out nicely. Given it was during that mission we gained Sam as an ally and good friend it’s particularly memorable. I told two stories - Hun Came’s defeat and then seeing we were reaching an awkward lull chose to share the story of Ireland and the defeat of Abbergast and Fogethest. True I left a few things out and played down Mac Lir’s contribution in favor of Helena’s superior intellect but sometimes a bit of embellishment is warranted.
Once the storytelling died down a bit, Hel got down to business. Giants are raiding along the boarders of Neffelheim and Jottunheim. Hel figures it’s only a matter of time until they start encroaching on Helheim and she wants it stopped before they get to that point. The raiders are frost giants and they’re traveling with “troll like” creatures. She’s really interested, and maybe even unnerved by the traveling companions. I really don’t think she intended for any of us to figure that out. She asked that we investigate and see what we can find out then report back to her before we leave Helheim. In return she would reward us. I’m pretty sure any of us would’ve done what she asked without the promise of reward, but it was nice that she offered it I guess. When we agreed to help she suggested we stay at the Hall for the rest of the night since it would be warmer during the day. Again we agreed and the others went back to their rooms. I didn’t make a big deal about it, just didn’t follow them out.
Hel is not one to beat around the bush. I probably should have known that but when she said I intrigued her and she wanted me to stay with her that night it still threw me for a loop. She didn’t really ask, simply told me what she wanted. I probably could have refused, but if I wasn’t careful I would offend her and potentially make an enemy. If I accepted then I would be crossing lines I’d never wanted to cross - getting involved with one of my friend’s divine parents was the last thing I wanted. But at the same time I thought - and this may be way too arrogant of me, but if I could please her and gain her favor then maybe I could help influence her loyalties when the time came to choose sides. So I thanked her for the honor of her attention and set out to fulfill her desires.
From a purely superficial point of view that wasn’t easy - she’s amazingly beautiful…on one half of her body. The other half…she’s a corpse. Still, I agreed and the potential benefits outweighed the uncomfortable situation. Though, if my Mother ever finds out about this I think I’m going to be up the creek. Maybe I shouldn’t try to think politically.
Before the night was over Hel altered her appearance to show nothing but beauty. I can only assume that was done to show I pleased her? She’s not exactly talkative so I took signals where I could. I left her chambers and returned to the rooms over the hall we were given. Cesar and Storm were playing cards but I didn’t stop, nor did I say anything - I just wanted to try and rest before we left. Yes. I was finally tired.
I only managed to get about a half hour of sleep but it helped. I was ready to go when we gathered that morning. Cesar wanted to know where I’d been the night before but I had no intention of telling. I’m not ashamed of who I’d been with (though I’ll admit, I’m a bit uncomfortable with her) but I was not about to brag or even share that knowledge with Helena. I’m trying not to think about it too much, if I do I know I’ll be ashamed at my motivation - though I have to wonder if anyone has ever approached Hel with any type of warm feeling. The thought makes me wonder, especially given how cordial she was towards us last night. Still, I’m not going to think about it too hard, right now we’ve got to go find out about these giants.