OPEN: Cloudreach Event

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone at Skyhold
WHAT: Cloudreach showers bring weird shit.
WHEN: Cloudreach 15 onward
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: For information about the illness, its effects, and its cure, please make sure to also read the OOC Post.

This high in the mountains, snowstorms are to be expected. But this one is large and lingering, hanging over the valley and the fortress for days. In Skyhold, with its eternal spring, the snow becomes rain before it hits the ground, leaving inhabitants and visitors to wade through puddles and mud in the courtyards. In the valley, snow and ice accumulate under cloud cover—and worse, when the clouds finally thin, a whole winter's accumulation of snow begins to melt in the sunlight.

Within a day, the ground is sodden and mucky enough to give the survivors of the Fallow Mire (or Ferelden in general) unpleasant flashbacks, and those who live in tents are issued additional hastily-constructed wooden pallets to raise their floors above the mud. It is worse outside the fortress: streams and rivers have overflowed their banks, rapids run twice as fast as normal, and flash flooding has made even road travel treacherous.

On Cloudreach 17 a mudslide buries the pass into Skyhold from the west, and on the 19th a sheet of snow loosened from a mountainside collapses into the shadowed passage from the east. An Inquisition supply caravan is caught in the latter, scattering wagons and goods across the hillside and leaving a dozen people and horses in need of rescue and medical care.

Healers may find themselves stretched thin, as in addition to the usual rash of blisters and sniffles that come from days of rain and flooding, an illness begins to sweep through Skyhold's ranks from around the 16th onward. It's marked first by climbing fever, then by flashes at the edges of vision—green light and jagged formations that aren't there, beings of light and shadow gathering around people or clustering in corners—and distant voices, coherent for brief moments if you're quiet and still and not trying too hard to listen.

Comments

[samahl]

Cyril hums a bit at the cool touch, enjoying it despite himself. He reaches up a hand and presses into the cloth a bit.

"I know," he agrees. "I missed the chance to see you gush about your gentleman friend more in person."

[serannas]

Ellana exhales a soft laugh, looking down at her lap where she's laced her fingers together.

"That's probably for the best. I'm sure I've been looking foolish, and maybe I should care about that. The Dalish representative to the Mage Council shouldn't be so giddy she might burst."

[samahl]

"You deserve some giddiness though," he counters. "Even more so because you do so much work for the Council."

[serannas]

"You think?" she asks, genuinely curious if he thinks it's all right. "I've been asking for advice lately, about how to be a better Councilor. And reading a lot of books..." Her voice trails off as she looks away for a moment. It's been undeniably stressful, but then she recalls how happy she feels when she tells another friend about Felix and they're happy for her. Every one helps push past the unexpected reaction Sina had, which has left things awkward between them.

"As long as no one thinks I'm being obnoxious, or rubbing it in their faces. I would hate to come across like that."

[samahl]

Cyril shook his head. "You're way too modest to rub things in people's faces," he replies, smiling. "You're just happy. Happy looks good on you."

[serannas]

"Ma serannas," she replies gently, reaching out to touch his shoulder in thanks. "I am happy. But I'd be happier knowing this illness will pass soon. It's strange to see you even tired, much less ill."

[samahl]

"I know," he says. "I'm usually flawless." He offers her a half smile to show he's joking around.

[serannas]

"Now I remember why we don't spend much time together," she says with a quirk of her lips. But she too is joking, and she leans back on one hand to look him over. Beyond looking tired (and so strange without his eye makeup), he doesn't look so bad. But whether that's because the illness isn't affecting him much or it's just started, she can't say.

"Would you like to try and sleep?"

[samahl]

"I suppose I should try..." he says, he sounds very put upon by the idea though.

[serannas]

"You should," she says, tone a little serious as she leans towards him a bit. "Could I come back in an hour to check in on you? Just to make sure you aren't getting worse."

[samahl]

"All right," Cyril says. He shifts his body a bit so that he can rest a bit. "Thank you, lethallan," he mutters.

[serannas]

"Of course. I'm always here for you." Even though it's felt that the clan has really separated since coming to the Inquisition. Or at least she has from them, the way Gavin already has. It leaves her feeling a little guilty, as if her feet hit the ground running and she never looked back.

She reaches up and brushes fingertips through his hair. "I know I'm not the first person you'd call when you need help, or even the third. But I'm available, when you need it. See you in an hour."

[samahl]

Cyril hums a bit. He wants to tell her that she's a member of his Clan and someone who will always matter to him, but the words just sound like a soft, sleepy mumble. His body is much more interested in trying to get some rest.