Scion AMA: Aurora Dahl

If you're a fan of all things Norse and the most Norsey prophetess ever to meddle around with them, it's your AMA day! These questions are being answered by Aurora, later Vala, daughter of Odin and goddess of hope and foreknowledge.

Anne's Fiction Corner

Fiction party time! Or not, really, because this was the Skeins of Fate group, and they don't have parties. They have wakes. In this particular case, they are being affected by the events of the recent The Fall of Tenochtitlan; Geoff's group saw what happened in Mexico, and Aurora's group will see what is now happening after.

Today's story is Wages of Sin, starring Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson, Kettila Blomgren, Vivian Landry and Will Nordstrom. It is a tale of the wreckages left behind by the actions of the divine, the price of subjugation, and the very real and cosmic damage of a pantheon meddling where they should not be. Unfortunately, even the Norse Scions don't come out too great when Odin goes on a rampage.

Eastern Promises won the poll, so they will get the next story, followed by Strawberry Fields, who were the last place finisher in this particular race (but don't worry, Tuatha Scions, we still love you). That means it's time to reset the entire poll for new votes - go nuts, guys!

• If you vote for Better Next Time, you're voting for stories from the misfit bands of demigods hurtling toward their destiny in a mismatched group of cultural clash - Geoff Matheson of the Aesir, Sangria Tecuhtli of the Teotl, Sophia Archimedes and Mitchell Gozer of the Theoi and Marcus James of the Orisha. They're currently trying to bring together disparate pantheons who don't get along, support the people they're loyal to and still find a way to make their mark on a great wide world that is waiting for them.
• If you vote for Eastern Promises, you're voting for stories from the nineteenth-century band in a world of colonialism and industry - Leona Middleton, Samuel Vanderbilt and Paniwi Bayteru of the Netjer, Faruza Alinejad and Yadi of the Yazata, Mohini Misra and Padma Billingsworth of the Deva, James Howard and Alvin de Lafayette of the Anunna, and many more. They're currently fighting corruption among local authorities, learning what other cultures have to offer them and finding ways to survive no matter what the cost.
• If you vote for Gangs of New York, you're voting for stories from the modern-day miscreants of New York terrorist fame - Michael Chambers, Corey Holbrook and Winona Nelson of the Anunna, Russel Pride and Valentina Radic of the Pesedjet, Skylar Copperwithe and Zoe Vrontopoulos of the Theoi, and many more. They're currently struggling in an entropic world, breaking and making law where it suits them and attempting to find their way around a strange new supernatural landscape.
• If you vote for Skeins of Fate, you're voting for stories from our frozen northern band - Aurora Dahl, Woody Anderson and Will Nordstrom of the Aesir, Kettila Blomgren of the Teotl and Vivian Landry of the Orisha. They're currently handling the looming shadow of Ragnarok, the fallout of their parents' political decisions and their own personal desire to deviate from the paths Fate has set them.

Chess with a Pirate

It's art time again! Today we have a painting of two of the biggest Fate-twisting headaches any Scion ever had to deal with: Aurora as the goddess Vala, and Colin as the Nameless God.

In this particular scene, Colin had created a giant chess game (with not enough pieces, and obviously not normal rules) and invited Aurora's band to play it in order to gain secret knowledge from him. Since they had no idea how it was played, one by one they made wrong moves and fell over having Chaos-motivated seizures until only Aurora was left, at which point she sat down on the fallen chess pieces and played Twenty Questions with Colin instead. Much occult was learned, although both of them weren't entirely sure they knew what the other was talking about.

By talented artist Samantha Braithwaite!

As always, many props to the awesome artists who do these things. You guys are great!

Son of Wolves, Daughter of Ravens

Question: Are we ever gonna see the sad Aurora/Wolf mix tape you mentioned in the "Scion Symphony" blog?

Sure.

We made this a while ago, and it's a continuum that covers all of the relationship between Aurora and Wolf, from their roots at Legend 5 through the final events of Ragnarok. It's not too much of a spoiler to say that they will be seeing each other again, even though they're currently separated in the fiction.

As you guys know, we commit when we do ridiculous things for Scion games, so there are album covers and relevant excerpts involved. I'm hiding them behind a cut so we don't spam the whole blog with song lyrics.

Norse-World Problems

New art time! Hooray!

Just one today, this time for the Skeins of Fate band. I'm sure some of you remember that time Aurora threw herself into the Well of Mimir and then Woody leapt in to save her, and nobody came out with all their body parts intact. That moment of frenzied magical awfulness has now been immortalized in painting.

By talented artist Samantha Braithwaite!

That's something nice and cheerfully calming for everyone's Friday morning, isn't it?

Anne's Fiction Corner

It's that time!

Today's story is What Dreams May Come, starring Woody Anderson with appearances by Aurora Dahl, Vivian Landry, Kettila Blomgren and Will Nordstrom. It is a tale of dreams versus reality, familial loyalty and the enduring nature of consequences. And since I know this story took a long time to come out, here's a little bonus: Weregild, a secret look into some things Aurora's doing behind the scenes. Because any time Woody is in there busting his ass, it's a good bet Aurora's in the back sabotaging his efforts somehow.

As of the writing of this post, Seamus has eked out a mighty lead of 2 votes and will get the next story. I hope you're all ready for some Irish cross-country travel shenanigans, because that's what's about to happen. A new poll will go up to the right momentarily, and you can weigh in on whose story you'd like to see next.

At the write-in request of a few of you, I'm going to start providing teasers summaries of the stories you're voting on, so you'll know exactly what you might be signing up for. Ready? Here goes!

• If you vote for Alison Margaritas, you'll be getting a story about her response to Kane's betrayal and the theft of Colin by Geoff and company, and see exactly what lengths a truly vengeance-driven Scion can go to.
• If you vote for Darcy Jolie-Pitt, you'll be getting a story about two sisters trapped in a foreign underworld, trying to find their way back to the light.
• If you vote for Faruza Alinejad, you'll be getting a story about unlikely friendships and the sacrifices bandmates sometimes make for one another, physical or spiritual.
• If you vote for Mohini Misra, you'll be getting a story about her band undermining a corrupt raja and making difficult decisions about whether or not love can overcome evil.
• If you vote for Sangria Tecuhtli, you'll be getting a story about the consequences of recent Norse actions on the struggling Mexicans and what exactly it looks like when something pushes her over the edge.
• If you vote for Sophia Archimedes, you'll be getting a story about her stormy non-relationship with a certain notorious Scion.
• If you vote for Will Nordstrom, you'll be getting a story about his childhood and growth into one of the last Vanir Scions in the world.
• If you vote for Yadi, you'll be getting a story about her origins as a street rat in the back alleys of Tehran and her hopes for a better life as a child of the righteous gods.

Happy voting - I'm off to start wrangling Irishmen!

Playing Barry White in the Overworld

Question: Which god-level Scion currently has the most active libido? I know Sowiljr and Jioni played the field a lot as mortal heroes but have pruded up as gods, hence the question.

I cleaned up your question a bit, anonymous, because it was worded in a way that came off as less than respectful. No hard feelings, though.

I suspect this question is more for the players than for us; I mean, I know who tends to have the most active sex life (Jioni - sexytimes with Erebus are always on deck), but I wouldn't know if Folkwardr secretly struggles with unbridled passion or anything like that. There are only the four gods running currently, and all of them are faithfully married; Jioni and Erebus see each other fairly regularly, but Folkwardr hardly ever sees Ahouva, and Sowiljr tends to hold Eztli at arm's length (whether it's because he's afraid of having another giant basket of babies or hesitant because she's a bat-monster is unclear). Of the god-level PCs who only recently departed, Yoloxochitl had firmly regressed to childhood and entirely sworn off icky adult things like sex and romance, Terminus was married to Circe and reasonably afraid of suggesting much boudoir time considering their history (but even more afraid of even thinking about cheating on her), Aiona only remembered that sex existed when someone else having it was inconveniencing her, and Vala had never had a romantic relationship as far as anyone knows. The only other person you could really call libidinous was Zwazo, who definitely did try to woo the ladies when the opportunity presented itself and has a lot of little mini-Zwazos wandering around the world in various places, but was often too distracted by things like monsters and confusing African politics.

Just like most mythic figures, they run the spectrum from virginal and uninterested to passionate and excitable. It all depends on their personality and image as deities.

Incidentally, while Jioni quite enjoyed choosing her lovers as she went as a Hero and Demigod, Sowiljr's tomcatting days came to an abrupt end as soon as he married Eztli at around Legend 5 or so, so he really can't compete in that arena. (Not that that is having any effect on the seemingly endless parade of divinely attractive ladies bent on making him give it another try.)

Hrithkraka

Question: Did Aurora die???

Something certainly recently happened to Aurora, but the other characters aren't even all sure exactly what it was, and we're not about to tell ahead of schedule.

Suffice it to say that she went away and they will have to do without her, and many a tear was shed as a result.

Anne's Fiction Corner

Oh, snap, guys - it's fiction time again!

Today's story is Things Already Seen, starring Aurora Dahl with appearances by Woody Anderson, Vivian Landry and Kettila Blomgren. It is a tale of bad decisions made worse, the inevitable progress of Fate and the ill-advisedness of making magical bargains.

When Aurora decides she's going to go for something, she freaking goes for it.