Howdy, howdy! Faith here with your excessive reading assignment for the month, as well as a couple reminders for you!

First up, we will be continuing the Holes events this month! For those of you that are newer to the game or might've forgotten, Holes events are an opportunity to bring in a canon feature from your character's world to settle permanently into the game setting. You can find more information on the Holes events here, and we will be accepting submissions for March in the comments below. We'll be rolling on March 5 this month, so get those submissions in early and be sure to track the !holes tag for all information relevant to these plots!

Remember to respond to Activity Check by tomorrow at 11:59PM CST and that applications open tonight at 12:01AM CST. This month's events pack a lot of punch, so let's get right into it! Your calendar is here and you can skip ahead to the plot Fast Facts here!

SPECIAL EVENT: Putting the "Fun" Back in "Funeral" ( Mar. 9-12 / Days 415-416 )

This is a player plot from Smurf ( morethanadream ); after having several festivals and events to honour the sacrifices the Travellers have made for the war, Sandy thought there should be one held for the natives that have given theirs lives and do not have the good fortune of being resurrected the way the Travellers do. He approached the gods and asked them to hold a memorial following their own customs and, in light of their own recent losses, the gods agreed to do just that.

Day 415 ( Mar. 9/10 )

The first thing the Travellers will see when they activate their bracelets in the morning is a mass text sent from the gods.

In commemoration of the new year and in remembrance of the last, we welcome all of Asgard to join us as we celebrate the lives lost throughout this war. We will gather today in Gefion Park at sunset. Feel free to bring any tokens or belongings you wish to send with your farewells.

A somber note, to be sure, but it is something to bring the city together after now two years of constant turmoil. All NPC shops will be closing down for the memorial service.

Just before sunset, all of the gods and several hundred natives will be gathered around the lake, with Thor at the forefront. The newly crowned Prince Regent will give a short speech before inviting people to lay their offerings into a longboat shored not far away. Natives will place clothes and food and other trinkets inside the boat, and after giving the Travellers time enough to lay their own if they have any, Hel will send the boat off to the center of the lake, where it will subsequently burst into flame. Smaller, match-sized flames will light all across the lake, one for every native soul that has left Asgard for Niflheim in the last two years, and they will not extinguish even in the light rainfall that begins into the evening.

After the flames are lit, however, the natives will be opening several dozen casks of different wines, meads, and ales. There will be bottles of harder liquors passed around and glasses given freely to anyone within arm's reach of a native. Time for a bonfire in the park! Anything is free game for this: there will be dancing, eating, body painting, the weaving of flowers into people's hair or into crowns, pretty much anything that is loose and vaguely intimate. The only thing that remains undisturbed is the lake, where the fires burn ceaselessly above the water. This is their farewell; they will drink, tell stories, and laugh their way all through the night.

Day 416 ( Mar. 11/12 )

The next morning, most of the natives will still be in the park, making sure none of that pesky alcohol remains in those barrels. They will take this second day to relax and clean up the park while they continue to drink, singing hymns and generally lending a hand to one another. Where yesterday was a big party, this is more like communal R&R. Everyone is on equal footing and gathered to respect their loved ones. For the time being, nothing else really matters.

They'll go back to their regularly scheduled monotony by sundown, the boat of offerings finally removed from the lake, though the candlelight flames will remain throughout the night and disappear by sunrise. In thanks for their support and continued sacrifice, the Travellers will find one gift from home in their rooms at midnight. There will be a top-level comment for gift approvals below!

PLOT EVENT: Burning Bridges ( Mar. 21-30 / Days 421-425 )

This month's plot event seeks to emphasise the ever-present threat of war and the crumbling balance of what little structure may once have existence. Involvement in the combat is purely optional and the amount of response will influence the state of things moving forward. A player poll to determine the outcome is over here.

Following their defeat in Alfheim, the desperate Fire Giants sought refuge with the closest thing they have to an ally in Yggdrasil and made way to Thrymheim in a sad bid for assistance. Fire creatures in a kingdom of ice, however, is precisely as disastrous as it sounds; this, paired with the broken alliance following A House Divided and Thiazi's most recent public humiliation, is more than enough reason for an embarrassed and indignant Frost Queen to blame the Flame King for everything wrong in her life. Not only is their bid for aid vehemently denied, but war is declared between the two Giant factions. Thiazi seeks to force the Fire Giants back from whence they came - but when the distance between Thrymheim and Muspellheim is the stretch of Asgard, this battle is one that may have dire consequences for the Holy City.

War is, quite literally, hanging over their heads, and with the gods spread thin to cover Odin's absence, it may be that the best the Travellers can do is simply hold on.

Day 421 ( Mar. 21/22 )

All throughout the day, the inhabitants of the Holy City will occasionally hear low rumbling sounds not unlike the beginnings of an earthquake, but nothing shakes or stirs beyond the quiet trickle of rain for most of the day. However, as the rain picks up and blots out the sunset, the rumbling grows louder just before a rift opens in the ground. Though it's not terribly deep, the split is two feet across at its widest and travels several hundred yards, starting from beneath the city wall at the corner of the Thor district and moving quickly into Loki's district. The ground nearby shifts somewhat with it and any buildings unfortunate to be affected will start to sink into the gap.

Any shouts of surprise or cries for help from this tear in the earth will be short lived, however, as large shards of ice begin to rip through the wall in various places throughout Sigyn and Hel's districts, piercing holes into anything - and anyone - in their path before shattering or melting. These are not directed or precise by any means; they fly in random places at random times. It may very well seem like the least coordinated attack ever and the Giants have really lost their game, but as the rumbling reaches its loudest peak, a burst of flame far outside the city wall may hint that it is not an attack at all. At least, not one intended for the Travellers.

To the east of the city, not nearly far enough from the thick wall that separates Asgard from the rest of Yggdrasil, a massive battle between the Frost Giants and the Fire Giants is being waged. What splinters off and reaches the city is purely by accident; collateral damage, as it were.

The shattering of rock and the splintering ice as well as bursts of flame and cracking of trees can be heard all throughout the night as more debris and stray projectiles find their way over the city wall. This can be anything from more needles of ice and much smaller cracks in the ground to flaming stones and sheets of hail. For now, these will remain small things that come over the wall rather than through it, but feel free to play around with what exactly comes your way.

Day 422 ( Mar. 23/24 )

The battle continues on into the next day, and by early morning, the city guard will ride through the city to alert everyone as to what's happening beyond the gates. From what they can see, Thiazi's army is pushing Surt's back and away as the Fire Giants attempt to encroach forward. They know of little else, but the battle is coming closer and closer to the city, which means the collateral damage will continue to worsen.

This is where the decision whether or not to fight will come in! The decision will be left to the Travellers in whether they ride out to force the Giants out of Asgard's land or simply bunker down and wait out the war. All action and inaction comes with a list of pros and cons, so consider it carefully before making your decision. The poll to decide what to do is over here and closes on March 15.

Days 423-425 ( Mar. 25-30 )

The rest of the plot will depend on the player poll, so another mod post with the next three days of the event will go up thereafter. Stay tuned!

FAST FACTS

SPECIAL EVENT: Putting the "Fun" Back in "Funeral" ( Mar. 9-12 / Day 415/416 )

• Day 415 ( Mar. 9/10 ): The Travellers receive a mass text on their bracelets:

  In commemoration of the new year and in remembrance of the last, we welcome all of Asgard to join us as we celebrate the lives lost throughout this war. We will gather today in Gefion Park at sunset. Feel free to bring any tokens or belongings you wish to send with your farewells.

  Later that day, the natives and the gods will be in Gefion Park with copious amounts of free drink and food as lights are lit across the lake for every fallen native. It's basically a giant bonfire party.
• Day 416 ( Mar. 11/12 ): The natives spend the next day cleaning, resting, and singing hymns across the park whilst still indulging in food and drink, though it's a lot more subdued. The gods leave gifts from home for the Travellers at midnight in thanks for paying their respects.

PLOT EVENT: Burning Bridges ( Mar. 21-30 / Days 421-425 )

• Day 421 ( Mar. 21/22 ): A large crack splits the street from Thor's district into Loki's. Shards of ice start piercing through buildings haphazardly. Random bombardments of shrapnel and debris keep raining down upon the city throughout the night.
• Day 422 ( Mar. 23/24 ): War is confirmed between the Frost Giants and the Fire Giants just outside Asgard's walls. The decision to move forward is left in the hands of the Travellers.
  • The player poll to determine which action to take is here and closes on March 15.
• Days 423-425 ( Mar. 25-30 ): The rest of the plot will depend on the player poll, so another mod post with the next three days of the event will go up thereafter. Stay tuned!

And that's March for you! Stay tuned for more on the plot event, remember to vote in the poll, and prepare your Sunday best for the funeral. As always, feel free to use this as a plotting post for your characters. Let us know if you have any questions / comments / concerns / dirty jokes!