The Area Around Þingvallavatn, Wednesday Afternoon & Evening

[fh-vikings.livejournal.com]

It might have been Eric, or the squirrels, or the moose, or a very intrepid Danish NPC who had talked the Vikings into this. That was something the Viking women who showed up at the causeway didn't share. To be fair, since they only spoke old Norse, it would've been kind of hard for them to.

But one of them did have a sign that read, somewhat jaggedly, 'Þour'. They had even attempted to squiggle the bottom line of the first character in such a way that it kind of looked like a 't'.

They had planned a tour of the general area and its bounties, as a way to say thank you for all the interesting meat they had managed to procur on the island Þus thusfar. Past the waterfalls, to the hot springs, to the valley of the AlÞing, Þhingvellir itself-- it was really quite lovely.

Of course, Fandomites could just go to the village and get hopping drunk and maybe start a barfight instead.

God knows that's what the Vikings themselves were planning to do.

[[ ocd up! have at! Viking Village | The Lake | Öxaráfoss Waterfall | AlÞing and Almannagjá Valley | Hot Springs | OOC ]]

Comments

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

If there was anything Dolf could use right now, it was a distraction. And clean air. And a long walk.

... and the sound of children around him, but he couldn't have everything. Still, he would take this distraction with both hands and follow, keeping his eyes trained on his surroundings and enjoying the freedom of it all.

Part of him wanted to break away from the tour and just get lost in it.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully was boggling. The Vikings at graduation and the picnic were one thing, complete changes of scenery were another. "Can you believe this?" she muttered, wandering by, and nodded to Dolf.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Dolf said, looking almost confused by the question. "It's just time travel."

These things were slightly less surprising to him than to most people.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"'Just.'" Scully gave him a rueful look, then admitted, "Compared to magic, it's at least a little more comprehensible... but I'm still not used to how easy it is." She shook her head, then squatted down to pick a little yellow flower, looking out to the horizon. "You've dealt with time travel before?" She couldn't remember talking to Dolf about this before, or if it came up at the Support meetings.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"Before I came here, my father was helping some other scientists with a time machine," Dolf explained. "One day I convinced them to let me try it. I got stuck in the Middle Ages for a while."

He was only a few centuries further back in time than he'd been back then, and it looked - and smelled - much the same in a lot of ways.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully's surprised look was tempered with curiosity. "That had to be difficult. And why did you ask them to let you try it? And why would they let you?" Good grief.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"They needed something more sophisticated than a guinea pig," Dolf said, with a shrug. "And me, I like history. Wouldn't you take the chance to see the knights at Agincourt or the Acropolis while it was being built? I talked them into it. It was still worth it. This is worth it too."

That conclusion surprised him privately, but he didn't look like it did.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"I would be too cautious to take that chance. Bubonic plague, famine, wandering hordes... Then again, I'm female." What might happen to any lone girl or woman was different from what might happen to a teenage guy, in any time or place. She looked around and admitted, "But this is a nice part of the past to be visiting."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"They kept saying 'Althing'," Dolf said, looking straight ahead as they walked. "It was where all the Icelandic tribes met, you know. To talk about the important political things. When they weren't at the Althing, they spent most of the time killing each other. No time in the past is nice."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully cocked an eyebrow at him, surprised he knew that, but then again, if he'd spent time in the past, he'd probably studied it personally too. "Pretty, then. When were you stuck? And for how long?"

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf was a history geek - he made it his business to know this stuff, and it looked like it might be coming in handy.

"1212," he said, sticking his hands in his pocket. "Speyers, though I made it down to Italy in the end. A few months."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

1212 was about the time of the Crusades; the rest of Europe had been having various local squabbles off an on. Not a plague year (Scully couldn't help remembering those) but still, not the safest place ever. Witch burnings, religious pogroms, random disasters. "That must have been difficult. Even if it was worth it, like you said."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf gave it a casual, very male shrug. "I got stuck in the Children's Crusade," he offered. "It was complicated."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"I would guess." Scully visibly shuddered, then leaned down to pick another flower. Grim thoughts. Which lead to other grim thoughts; but Scully hoped she kept them off her face.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

He watched her do that... shuddering thing, and shook his head. "Bad things," he clarified, "But good things, too. It was free."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Free?" Scully asked, slowing turning one wildflower in her fingers.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"Walking every day, out in the air like this. Taking care of your own food, your own water, where you set up camp. The first few weeks were rough because you had to get used to it all, but when you did..." Dolf shrugged again. "It was free. People in our time, you don't understand, I don't think."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully tried to imagine it, and was pretty sure she failed. "Without anyone owning most of what you saw, or... I don't know. Regulating it?" she asked, tentative.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"No," Dolf said. "Most of it was owned by the lords of the land, and most of the time they didn't like us being there." He glanced at Scully. "It's freedom. You can't really explain it, I guess."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Guess not," Scully admitted, trying to accept that. She kept walking, and stopped in front of one of the little waterfalls, trickling over moss-covered stones. Hesitantly, she said, "I got the phone call about Triela yesterday. I assume you did, too...?"

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

Dolf glanced down at his feet as he walked, and nodded.

He didn't say anything.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry," Scully said quietly, feeling how inadequate it was. But Dolf had been a closer friend to Triela than she had been. Half her grief was as a doctor who couldn't do enough save her. "I know you were good friends. I wish things had turned out differently."

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[swordsandsoccer.livejournal.com]

"So do I," Dolf said, staring out over the stretch of land in front of them. Rocky, but with all those long stretches of grass... "But at the end, there was nothing we could do."

It sounded like it pained him to say that.

Re: Walk Along The Lake

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"No," Scully whispered, her own pain mirroring his. "But... we were there during her life. That matters too."