[open] a change of scenery

[eolasemah]

WHO: everybody in Kirkwall
WHAT: garden's fixed
WHEN: late Solace
WHERE: Hightown, the site of the former Chantry
NOTES: this isn't really a log so much as a status update

Literally overnight, a dense and mature forest has sprung up in the struggilng crater-garden that used to be the Kirkwall Chantry. It's a beautiful sight to behold, and every herb and vegetable being cultivated there has abruptly flowered, born fruit, or ripened in abundance, whether or not it's actually in season. Better pick it now.

There's no explanation for this anywhere, no note, no witnesses nearby, though if one looks closely at the greenery in the very center, there are two faint patches of dried blood.

[Feel free to react ICly in the comments! Otherwise, just know it's there now.]

Comments

[ragweed]

Kit spends an appropriate amount of time staring up--way up--at the boughs of the forest, before noticing the low-hanging--very low-hanging--fruit of a nearby apple tree.

He looks hither and thither, just long enough to ensure that no one nearby will 1) notice, or 2) care if he nicks one.

Then he does, takes a bite out of it, and limps off.

[unbrokenoath]

"Oh, what the fuck."

Kaisa is, suffice to say, not amused that the project she'd been working on finding laborers for had inexplicably transformed into a Maker-damned forest. The Warden makes her way cautiously around the exterior of the former garden, sharp yellow eyes on the hunt for some clue about what was going on here. Any onlookers are advised to stay clear and assured not to worry, it's okay, she's a Warden. As if that helps with sudden forests.

Once she makes her way into the interior, the bloodstains are noted with a displeased curse. Great. Fantastic. Exactly what the city needed right now. A few quick glances around ascertains there's no witnesses, and Kaisa promptly scuffs the stains away with her boot. Now the dirt's a bit turned up, but. That's less likely to cause a panic.

Satisfied that she's done as much immediate damage control as possible, she steps out of the forest, grabbing her sending crystal with a sigh. This'll be fun.

[sans_harmony]

Diwaniya was just learning where everything was, too. He had a routine. He had notes, damn it.

He will couch his dismay in those terms, should anyone ask. A simple, surface answer that doesn't expose the raw grief closing up his throat when he looks up at the flowering trees, ripe and rich and blossoming with magically-nurtured life--life he had nothing to do with, life he didn't know was in the making, life he can't touch or guide or access anymore in a world as foreign as this.

There are Shapers here, after all. He just isn't one of them.

[meds4sale]

The Medicine Seller asn't prone to surprise, but a forest erupting overnight at the heart of the city would do the trick. Of course he had to nose around, strolling placidly under the brand new boughs as though he were taking a daily constitutional.

He paused occasionally to take cuttings of some of the vegetation to examine more closely later in his quarters. For now he wondered what would happen to the forest. Would it be cut down? Would it simply die off eventually if the roots couldn't access water? Or would it be left alone and thrive?

It would certainly be convenient to be able to pick herbs without making frequent trips to Sundermount or the Wounded Coast. Plucking a ripened peach, he gave it a perfunctory sniff before stowing it in his sleeve.

This forest garden could probably do a lot more to feed the city's hungry than the prior establishment that stood here ever managed.

[inagutterson]

A dwarf observes. A dwarf in a fragile state. Has his home not suffered enough? Didn't it have the doglord invasion? The Qunari invasion and subsequent burning? The Chantry explosion?

Now this?

Weird trees that set his teeth on edge like the one he punched on his way to the Inquisition after stopping in Halamshiral, the one he punched for his lady? He observes with disgust on the trip he makes out because the nugs need walking of course and then he makes a second trip after time spent working away. When he emerges it's with a sign he sets up outside because this is his city right, his home, he came from the gutters so he's got the most right to dictate what gets left not this attack of the nightmare forest shit.

sᴛᴏᴘ ꜰᴜᴄᴋɪɴɢ ʀᴜɪɴɪɴɢ ᴋɪʀᴋᴡᴀʟʟ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪs ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ.

You might find him in there though. Punching trees. He has to still do it in the name of his lady and Wren would probably approve of it, he thinks.

[circleprodigy]

"Maker's breath...."

Inessa stops and stares, for once genuinely caught off-guard by the sudden and vibrant forest where the crater had been. She had seen that area just the other day, a site with little to recommend it and mostly avoided by the natives. And yet now, it couldn't be more different. Almost a dream, if she weren't absolutely certain that she was awake.

The new sights and scents are too much for Garahel, who heads in to sniff at everything he can find. His mistress follows a moment later, after reassuring those worriedly murmuring at the edge that she'll take a look around. Not that Grey Wardens have anything to do with this sudden growth, but the uniform seems to reassure them.

Though the abundance all around is tempting, Inessa refrains from getting a basket and collecting some of it until she's given the place a decent inspection.

[wontforgetyou]

Rifters may not be all that welcome in Hightown, but that hasn't stopped him from winding up there from time to time. Usually he keeps to himself, keeps his shard covered and doesn't cause trouble, so it's not a problem.

But it's also not something that happens as often as it might have under different circumstances, so coming across a forest that's seemingly sprung up out of nowhere is more than a bit of a surprise, and he can't quite help but react in the way that he normally tends to react when he comes across a rather sizeable object - which is to let out an exclamation, although he really doesn't expect any response from anyone nearby. It's just something that needs to be done.

"Hey, would you look at the size of that!"

Afterwards, of course, there's a bit of exploring - and maybe a few less apples than there had been before he'd arrived. They'll go to a good home, though.