THE FALLOW MIRE

[faderifting]

WHO: Open to all
WHAT: The Inquisition sends forces to the Fallow Mire to deal with undead, plague, and missing scouts.
WHEN: Firstfall
WHERE: The Fallow Mire: Inquisition camps, Fisher's End, The Tavern, etc.
NOTES: For more information about the setting and RP opportunities in it, check out the OOC Post.

The trip down the mountains from Skyhold is no walk in the park, and south of the Hinterlands the land turns wet and miserable, subject to seemingly endless storms. Villagers have tried to carve out a meagre existence in the Fallow Mire, but their lives are under constant threat by a tidal wave of undead rising from the murky waters flooding much of the region.

The Inquisition has sent a sizeable force, and travel back and forth between the Mire and Skyhold happens as often and as quickly as conditions allow. The camp is a neat patch of tents on the largest bit of dry land to be found. "Dry" is relative; everything's still pretty muddy. There are several clusters of tents, tucked between rock outcroppings and abandoned buildings, the least leaky of which are being used to store what supplies the Inquisition has managed to haul in over the difficult terrain. Campfires are numerous and fill the area with a constant smouldering glow and low-hanging cloud of smoke that mingles with the morning and evening fogs. It's lovely, really.

Fisher's End barely even counts as a village-- just a haphazard handful of ramshackle buildings perched on the edge of the swamp-- but it does have a single tavern. It's a dreary-looking wooden shack like every other structure in the area, distinguishable only by the lamp still lit above the door and the sign that swings creakily in the breeze. Whatever was painted on it has long since worn away and been molded over. The place is just known as "the tavern" because it is literally the only tavern for miles and miles around.

Inside is dim and smoky from peat-burning fires in the two grates. There are a half-dozen tables with benches, none of which ever seem quite level on the uneven floor. The bar is tended by Thorolf, a grizzled bearded fellow with a local accent so thick he's almost unintelligible. No matter the time of day he serves a simple fisherman's meal of hard bread, salted fish, and a hunk of strong cheese. His cellar is stocked with exactly three varieties of alcohol: one ale, one wine, and one spirit, all of which are strong and dark. There aren't many locals left, but there are usually a few hunched over a mug or huddled around the fire.

Comments

Ellana Ashara | prose or brackets

[serannas]

{ a } At base camp, in her tent, etc.
It certainly isn't the most cheerful spot in Thedas, but Ellana is determined to do some good here, wherever she's needed. Sitting by the fire, she puts her long hair into a side braid to keep it out of the way and keeps a cowl handy in case she's called to head out into the mire. She eats some rations, commiserates over the situation with others, and retires to her tent with Krem and Korrin at night. In the mornings, she waits for an assignment before heading out, sometimes alone, sometimes joining with another. If it's the latter, she tries to make conversation to keep their minds off the miserable conditions.

{ b } Gathering resources + fighting undead
The task is simple enough and Ellana is happy to do it. The Inquisition needs herbs for potions and metals for weapons and armor. The former she can gather in a satchel easily enough, while the latter can be energized and carried behind her, much like the firewood she used to carry back at the clan's camp. It's while out gathering these items that she comes across the undead. Their appearance is horrifying, but she reminds herself that they're not the people they once were. They aren't those who once dwelled here in the Fallow Mire, earning a living by fishing and raising their families. They don't have memories of those lives, or names, or anything. They are corpses looking to kill her, so she takes her staff off her back and begins to fight them off, keeping her eyes moving around to make sure none are creeping behind her.

{ c } Wildcard
I'm open to other scenarios, just let me know what you want to do!

b (gathering resources to start)

[wontforgetyou]

In some ways, Jamie thinks that he's never going to get used to the idea of magic. Not completely, anyway. It's more than just a weapon, although he can at least understand that application well enough. There's so much that it seems that can be done with it that he's finding it hard to wrap his mind around the whole thing, which means that it doesn't occur to him that it's going to be practical in a place like this.

So when he meets up with Ellana to help with gathering, he's expecting he'll have to carry the chunks of metal back with them in bags, or by hand. Seeing her actually levitating the metal, he can't help but twist around so he can look behind him in a bit of surprise - and maybe wonder as well.

"That's- it's not a strain for you to do that, is it?"

[serannas]

"Hmm? Oh, no. It barely uses any mana at all." Ellana answers, sounding like a person on a leisurely stroll and not one who is struggling to magically move precious metals. She does drop the load often enough that even if it did drain more mana, it wouldn't be a problem.

In fact, she does so now, in order to take her mallet and chisel to a piece of blue vitrol sticking out from a boulder.

"Have you ever gathered metals like this before?"

[wontforgetyou]

"Mana?"

The word was unfamiliar, but Ellana seemed comfortable with it - and with carrying the metals that way as well. In fact, he couldn't see anything about her that looked even the least little bit tired, and he pushed the slight confusion away with a small shake of his head as he moved to join her at the boulder.

"With a hammer and chisel, you mean?" he asked, placing his own chisel on the other side and carefully starting to tap at the stone there. "Ah, not exactly. Usually metals aren't all up on the surface like this, they're underground in mines. Unless you count bits of scrap metal, but that's not the same sort of thing. Do they even have mines here, though?"

[serannas]

"The energy I use to cast spells," she explains. "Mages have bodies that allow energy from the Fade to flow into them, and they must learn to properly control it so they don't accidentally set off spells. But when you use that energy, there's a brief bit of time before it replenishes. So when I say it hardly uses any mana, I mean that my magical energy isn't being depleted, which is good if we run into trouble."

Ellana is happy to explain how magic works to someone who hasn't been raised under the Chantry's teachings. She feels such people would be more understanding.

"Oh, there are mines, yes. Mostly dwarves mine precious metals if they're underground, but we're lucky in that there appears to be plenty on the surface too."

[wontforgetyou]

That explanation almost makes sense. Well, as much as anything magical makes sense, anyway. But needing to learn control he can understand, and energy needing to be replenished he can understand, which gets him to nod along - right up the point where she mentions trouble. That gets him to snort.

"Och, we'll not get into any trouble out here anyway. Especially since, as you said, we've got these on the surface. Mines are much more dangerous, trust me."

He's heard those stories about the undead being around here, but so far he hasn't run into any personally. Until such point as they turn up, he's inclined to believe that they're just that, stories. He lifts his chin, nodding in the direction of another boulder not too far away. It's much like the the one they're working on, only the stone in it appears to be slightly different in color. There was some name for the other one, he knows, summer something. But he can't quite remember it right now, which doesn't really bother him - any more than the fact that there's water between it and them bothers him. He's already wet, after all. What's a bit more water going to do?

"Here, isn't that the other sort of metal we're supposed to get? If you can handle getting this one out of the rock I can see about going to get that one for us."

[serannas]

Her gaze lifts from her work, surprised he's not thinking a bit more cautiously. But maybe he just looks on the bright side of things and doesn't assume the worst will happen.

"Yes, that's it. Be careful, all right?" She takes a quick look around, but everything is misty and quiet. "I'll join you in a moment."

[wontforgetyou]

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

In this case, it's overconfidence - mostly. There's a small part of his attitude that stems from a habit of his of not showing a lot of worry when it comes to himself, but mostly it's due to the fact that it's so quiet. There's no noises that would indicate there's any danger nearby, just the normal swamp sounds and the two of them talking. As far as he's concerned, Ellana's in a safe spot, and he'll be alright if he leaves her so he can pop over and chisel out the other bit of metal. It shouldn't take too long, and with both of them working on separate pieces, they'll have that much more to take back. He gives her a nod - and then, a second or so later, flashes her a brief smile.

"See you in a moment, then."

For a few moments, everything is perfectly fine. There's a path that leads over where he wants to go, and since that's out of the water, he takes that to start. It's not until he gets closer that he decides to speed things up a little by cutting kiddie-corner across the water to get over to the other boulder. The water's not too deep there, maybe calf-height at best - but it is deeper a little further out, and for that he is careful, making sure to feel his way across so he doesn't accidentally wander over into one of those deeper areas. It takes most of his focus, enough so that he fails to see the disturbance in the water as the first of the corpses starts to rise from that deeper spot.

[serannas]

The work is simple enough, and the chipping sound masks anything else, like the sound of corpses stumbling through the water. Ellana isn't so paranoid that she's constantly looking up, and that gives the undead the opportunity to head for Jamie.

But soon enough, she's finished, and glances over to see how close her mining buddy is to being done. A flash of movement catches her eye and she turns to see corpses moving for him.

"Jamie!" she shouts, pulling her staff from her back and running for him. She's a little out of range to get a protective barrier over him, so she'll have to close the distance.

Talking at the fireside perhaps?

[kremdelacreme]

When Krem finds her at the fireside, he's looking decidedly soggy, uncomfortable, irritable, any number of things that mean he's done with the Mire already. He sits and strips off his gauntlets, holding his hands out to the fire to warm his numbed fingertips.

"They tell you all about the wet and dark here, but not the cold or the smells," he grumps at nobody in particular, rubbing his hands together to get some feeling back in them.

[serannas]

"Perhaps they want to prepare us, but not so much that we'd refuse to come in the first place," Ellana reasons, her nose definitely pink from the cold. It hasn't started dripping yet, but it's getting there.

"What tasks have you accomplished today?"

[kremdelacreme]

"Bit of a nasty lie of omission," he huffed, pulling his hands back and letting them hang between his legs, elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward. "Been working with one of the qunari guys, had to dismantle a bridge further out into the bog to start putting in a newer bridge so our people aren't forced to wade into the water to get places. You?"

[serannas]

"That sounds unpleasant. You must have stirred up quite a few corpses that way." But at least the unenviable task would allow others to walk in safety.

"Oh, resource gathering," she said with a shrug. "Metals for weapons and armor, and herbs for potions. I did have to fight some corpses too. They're everywhere. I even saw a wraith too."

[kremdelacreme]

"Sounds incredibly dull. But it's good to collect as much as we can here so that we never have to come back again."

When Krem had a little more feeling in his fingers, he pulled back from the fire and reached into the tent that he was sharing with the others, dragging over a bottle that rattled faintly, and it was soon revealed why; he pulled a pair of bottles from it, holding one out to her. "Let them warm in front of the fire a moment."

[serannas]

"I can agree with that."

Pleasantly surprised at the offer, she set the bottle down after reading the label.

"Thank you. Where did you get these?"

[kremdelacreme]

"Brought 'em with me," he replies with an easy little smile. "Figured I'd need one before we could go home."

[serannas]

Ellana laughs and nods in agreement. "That was wise of you, Krem." Now she wishes she had thought to bring something like that along, but then she wouldn't have the opportunity to share with him, would she?

"Despite the current assignment, are you happy working in the Inquisition?"

A (Though it's effectively C)

[laurenande]

The toll this place had taken on her was unexpected and, once the rifts had been closed, Galadriel found herself in a dangerous and state. Though the roads had been secured and there was little else to trouble her thoughts, neither could she seek out clarity or rest. The stars were hidden and there was no sight in these lands that would grant her reprieve. But the weight of her eyelids was strange and worrisome, if she closed them, she feared her ability to open them again.

To her knowledge she had never slept, though she had occasionally lost bouts of time as she rested in Skyhold. She had no solution to this problem and, as she came upon the fires that burned in the camps, she was glad of their warmth, even if the light was bold enough to sting her eyes.

Her head was heavy, likely because of the braids that wound her long hair away from the dangers and soil of the mire, but she could not allow it to tip. Unfortunately, holding her posture was all the more taxing for her weariness. When she saw a familiar face seating by the fireside, her relief stole her composure and, unfortunately, she was not able to entirely regain it.

"Aneth ara," Galadriel greeted, her tone tinged with more exhaustion than she would have preferred. "How are you, mellon nin?"

[serannas]

Despite the damp, the lack of starlight, and the walking corpses that were once people, Ellana had a smile for Galadriel as she sat down. It was hard to keep her spirits up, but being around others helped. They were all facing this together: elf, human, dwarf, qunari, and rifter, so Ellana couldn't help but commiserate with them while trying to remain positive.

"I'm all right," she answered with a little shrug. "There's certainly much to complain about here, but I'm trying not to let it get to me." Her head tilted a little and her expression turned to one of concern. "And you, lethallan?" Perhaps hahren would have been a more accurate name, as she knew Galadriel was certainly an elder, but with that name came a bit of distance, and she didn't want that.

[laurenande]

"An admirable endeavor," Galadriel replied in a tone that was so even as to seem nearly dismissive. She disliked it and her soft smile held an apology as she glanced from Ellana to the fire. With a heavy sigh, Galadriel abandoned her posture and leaned forward. Her hands braced her knees and, in hunching, inelegant as it was, she found some relaxation.

"I am uncertain," Galadriel admitted. "This place has worn on me in unexpected ways; I cannot seem to catch my breath nor find any ease. It is...tiresome."

Unfortunately, staring into the fire was difficult and watching the dancing flames only made her eyelids all the heavier. She closed her eyes briefly, then, and drew partly from her slouch. When she opened them, the motion was slow.

"But there are those who suffer far more urgently than I," she added gradually. "I should not indulge in complaining as I do."

[serannas]

Ellana's brow furrowed, worried for Galadriel. She always had the regal bearing of a queen, or at least what Ellana assumed a queen to look like, and to see her looking so worn was concerning. It seemed the Mire was seeping into Galadriel's bones and dragging her down, and that was something Ellana wanted to stop, if she could.

"Perhaps you shouldn't measure yourself against others. There are all kinds of ways a person suffers. Right now, I think you need rest. Maybe that will ease your body and mind?"

[laurenande]

Galadriel considered her advise and, to her dismay, it took long moments to parse it out, even as simple as it was.

"Perhaps you are right," she ceded, "but I know not where to find peace in this place."

She would have, if she could, but she was accustomed to resting and staring idly at the sky or at some lovely sight until her soul had calmed and her body was renewed. Here, there was only darkness and decay, not even the stars were available.

"I think I begin to understand the appeal of sleep, if dreams can banish such places," Galadriel added wistfully. "If only for a time."

She glanced back at Ellana and her brows rose just slightly.

"Tell me, is there a trick to it?"

[serannas]

"A trick?" Ellana shook her head no. It was hard to describe how to do it to someone who never had done so before. "When I'm exhausted, my eyes want to close on their own, so I lie down and sleep comes not long after. If my mind is still racing when I lie down to sleep, it takes much longer."

She paused to glance behind herself at her tent. Maybe she could sit up and watch Galadriel give it a try.

"Would you like to use my bed roll?"

[laurenande]

Galadriel followed her gaze and then, after a moment, looked back at Ellana. Her expression was open but unreadable; the thought of utilizing a tent had clearly never occurred to her before, let alone finding something useful inside of one.

"Would it help?" she asked, earnestly, and forced herself to sit upright. A chill ran through her then, odd as that was, and she frowned slightly. She was not delicate and the mire was not so cold that it would conquer her, but to feel a chill was a dire sign. She needed rest desperately.

"I, yes," Galadriel agreed and inclined her head. "I think I would, please."

[serannas]

"I think it would," Ellana answered, standing and gesturing to her tent. Her tent mates were elsewhere and she was sure they had a few hours at least before they returned. Leading Galadriel inside, Ellana knelt down to fluff her pillow a little and checked inside her bedroll to make sure nothing had claimed it as a new home. But everything was fine and she patted it.

"Here we are. Just lie down and cover up. See what position you feel comfortable in."