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

[arlathvhen]

She blinked curiously, tilting her head. She'd known, of course, that Justice was in there. He was, indeed, one of the reasons she'd sought Anders out. She just hadn't realized that he was available for consultation as well.

"Can he help?" Pause. "Will you get in trouble?" Anders might be at the top of a lot of shitlists right now, but she has a sneaking suspicion that Justice has managed to outshine him in that regard. "But I'll accept whatever help either of you can give me. I'm not expecting trouble, it's not like they can possess me. But. I suppose it's better to be safe."

[justice_is_blond]

He's tired enough that he almost, almost slips up and says that as long as Justice doesn't go on a rampage there shouldn't be trouble. It's the ultimate in poor taste, though, so thankfully he refrains.

"You can hear other spirits but not him?" That's a more important thing. Not that Justice is helping, watching her with curiosity rather than speaking. "And while they're not a direct threat of possession like this, they're still on the other side of the Veil and spirits will not take a host against their will, anyone can be possessed. I've seen possessed Templars. Do not be overconfident, Beleth, and we will both help you."

He looks around before focusing more inward, letting his eyes unfocus. "There's... quite the variety to choose from. Mercy's been hanging around, there are a few Hope spirits near the patient in the corner... name it, we can probably find it."

[arlathvhen]

If there were anyone for Anders to slip in poor taste around, Beleth wouldn't be the worst person, at least. As far as jokes about rampaging spirits are concerned, in any matter.

She shrugs when he asks about her hearing Justice. "I can kind of hear him. And...see him, a little. But it's weird. It's different than how other people have spirits with them. Like Sam and Fortitude. But--Well. I know he can hear me, he can do it through you. I need to figure out how to speak to spirits who...don't have a person to lend a hand." Which was a polite way to say possess. Speaking of which:

"I thought it took blood magic to possess people who aren't mages...? But--Well. Either way, I'll be careful. And you'll be watching." She seemed confident enough in Anders, at least. "I acknowledge that I don't have a lot of experience in this area, so just let me know if anything...odd starts to happen." She paused, considering. "I'll speak to Hope."

Without further ado, she plunks down next to the cot in the corner Anders had indicated, closing her eyes. It wasn't hard to unfocus enough to be able to hear--It'd been tricky at first, but spend enough time practicing, and you learned how to let your mind drift, so you could hear--but not too much. Now talking, and hearing like that--That might be tricky.

"You're Hope," Might as well start with getting the spirit's attention. "Why are you so drawn to this woman? What makes her special to you?" And that carries on for a little bit, and it becomes apparent easily enough that the elf is having an actual conversation--if somewhat muddled. Still, she seems pleased by her ability to hold a discussion with the spirit.

[justice_is_blond]

It's definitely different than Sam and Fortitude. Sam's not possessed, and he wonders if she doesn't know the difference between Spirit Healer and abomination, and that a great majority aren't like him. He doesn't have time to really straighten things out, though, because she's decided she's talking to Hope and starts chattering away.

For a while she keeps his full attention. Hope isn't a threat, he doesn't think she can become possessed, but there's certainly something different happening here. Not a risk, exactly. He can't pin down why he's feeling so wary.

After that time, though, he turns to half-watching while working with herbs nearby. Whether or not Beleth feels she's learning something new isn't for him to say, but it's certainly interesting to watch her try this.

[arlathvhen]

After some time had passed, Beleth stands back up and heads to Anders, rubbing her temple. "I can safely say that was the strangest conversation I've ever had in my life," She offers to Anders, though she seems quite pleased with herself. "It's a little odd, talking to someone--something?--with so little...sense of self?" She sat at the edge of the bed nearest to Anders, fingers still pressed to her forehead. "I guess it makes sense. Hope is a concept. It's not...a person."

She finally pulls her hand down, to fidget with her other hand. "I don't know if that's right. I guess that's just the impression of someone who doesn't really know much about them. For what it's worth...Hope seemed as confused by our newfound abilities as we are. I don't know if that just means that one spirit isn't involved, or no spirits are involved."

She paused, tilting her head, and frowned. "So, basically...I succeeded, but I didn't really learn much. Go team."

[justice_is_blond]

He's quiet for a few moments.

"The older ones have more of a sense of self, of purpose. That Hope may have been young. Or perhaps it hadn't watched a great deal. But I doubt spirits were involved with this. They don't want to be here. Demons, though. Demons may have the desire. And they'd be a thousand times more difficult to talk with, because they'll seek to take you over."

Anders scrapes the cutting board off, dumping the neatly chopped herbs into the solution he's making.

"I'd suggest not talking with a demon. Mages have training in dealing with them, are taught how to avoid falling prey to demonic schemes. You've none of that, and I doubt Templars were doing blood magic to get possessed. It was Templars working with other Templars, which means that if you invite a demon in, you could be at risk of it following up on that."

[arlathvhen]

"You know," Beleth starts out, and her tone is hushed, and the way that she glances around as she leans in closer to Anders means that whatever she assumes Anders knows, she probably doesn't want the rest of the healing tents to know. "If there wasn't a Veil, if spirits walked freely in the material world--Well. Isn't that what demons want? Why they possess people, things, animals? They want to be in this world?" What about this world is so great to them, she isn't sure, but that's what she's been told.

"If there wasn't a Veil, would they even possess people? Why bother, when they're already where they want to be?"

[justice_is_blond]

He blinks at her, startled by the question. That's not something he's ever considered before, forget heard.

"If... I mean, they wouldn't. They wouldn't have to. But then there'd be nonstop fighting, wouldn't there? They'd be attacking. Like when they come through the rifts. Unless..." Anders' own voice is low as he works to process this. "Are there only rifts happening near where the Inquisition operates, or is it around the world? Are there demons slipping out who aren't attacking? If they lived among us, I'd think there'd still be danger, but I don't know."

[arlathvhen]

"Not all demons attack." Beleth points out. "Some try to bargain with people. I don't really know, though. Solas might, he's the guy that's smart about all this Fade stuff. I suppose that it doesn't matter, really. The Veil is there, and it's probably for the best, all in all." She flippantly waves away whatever weird conspiracy theories she'd been thinking of. There's certainly nothing she can do about the way things are, and they're probably that way for a perfectly good reason.

"Thank you, by the way. For helping me. For telling me about the dangers but letting me do it. Instead of just writing me off as...I don't know. Crazy, I guess. Or dangerous."

[justice_is_blond]

He might have to ask Solas about that later, but for now he's only just met the elf during all this mess and he can't really justify harassing him already.

"You're welcome. And the Chantry's done enough of that for anyone, I think. Our understanding of the Fade has been held back by fear and by the Chantry, just the same as so much has been held back by that combination. I didn't see a risk to talking, and I was here to help. ...Thank you for trusting me for that, also."

Because not a lot would.