faderift | OPEN: Cloudreach Event

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Fiona watched only for a little while as other mages tried to handle Korrin in their own way and she was very sympathetic. She understood just how she was feeling as Fiona was never one to lie around when she could be doing something. From what she knew of this...illness, it was...abnormal at best, insidious at worst, what with the involvement of spirits. This was not at all typical of any illness.

After a time Fiona waved away the other healers, deciding to take care of Korrin herself. It might be better this way, and just as Fiona was crouching at her side, smoothing a palm over Korrin's forehead soothingly as she was just beginning to rest, she suddenly barked at some unseen force for silence. It startled Fiona who still kept her hand in place, but took no offense at all, "no need...I know just how you feel, I'll take care of you now...and while I recommend rest...you can move about if you wish, as long as you do not mind that I am with you."

There was no tying Korrin down to a bed for long, even Fiona knew this, but if a compromise could be made, then she would gladly follow through.

To Korrin's feverish skin, that palm of Fiona's is pleasantly cool, and she sinks back down without protest. There's a spark of gratitude in those glazed eyes, managing a slight nod. She doesn't actually mean to make things difficult for the healers, but it's hard to think straight and see beyond her own symptoms at the moment. "Thanks. I don't think I've the strength to move again, yet, but it'll happen. Are you a medium or Spirit Healer? Can you get them to knock it off?"

For Korrin the first thing Fiona does is cast one of her more potent healing spells on her fellow mage, it had different effects for everyone, though none of them were harmful. For some it was soothing, for others it helped to appease some of the symptoms, and at the moment it was the least she could do, "I am a Spirit Healer...we've had varying degrees of success with the spirits."

And it was true with Fiona as well, despite being the Grand Enchanter, formerly, even she struggled with these spirits. Sometimes, she felt, there was something else at work here, far more complex. Still it did not stop her from making the attempt, from tapping into the fade to hush some of the whisperings. If she was lucky they would stop, if she was mildly fortunate they might tone it down. Results remained to be seen.

As the chatter around her dies down somewhat, the tension in Korrin begins to subside. She isn't anywhere near 'okay', but that healing energy restores some energy and peace of mind. Maybe she'll be able to rest, after all. Still, she doesn't give in right away. The thought of her dreams being visible to others is not making her especially eager to drift off.

"Thank you, Fiona. I've never had that knack with spirits. Much as I'm sure Spirit Healer stuff isn't for me, it's useful." She sags back and frowns in thought. "Do you know anything that would make for a dreamless sleep? A break from Fade-stuff would be ideal."

Satisfied that her efforts seemed to have some effect, Fiona settles back in at Korrin's side, stroking her forehead once more with her hand. With so few people she trusted and cared for, this young woman was quite endearing to her and she had no desire to see her suffering.

"You're very welcome. I find that I like the more explosive spells myself, but being a Spirit Healer has served me well," Fiona chuckled softly, she did indeed have a love for any sort of magic that could bring buildings down, "I know a few sleep spells and herbal aids, but I do not know of anything that would guarantee a dreamless sleep."

Korrin smiles weakly at that preference, approving. "A woman after my own heart. Explosions are fun." That and zapping things. Korrin's magic isn't subtle, by any stretch. The noise and dramatics of elemental spells are hard to resist, at least for her.

She sighs at the latter news, not especially hopeful to begin with but still eager for some release. "Vashedan. I'll just power through it, then. But thanks for trying, and whatever you can do." She's not ungrateful, just weary of all this.

"There is an art to a good explosion, I do not think many people realize this," Fiona said with some humor in her voice, she was discreet in her tone. After all who could really talk about magic this way without alarming people. Mages were not supposed to talk about it as though it were a good thing, which was aways something that had her internally rolling her eyes.

"If you do not have your own private quarters where you can sleep, isolated from everyone else, I can help you with this," and of course she could still give her some tea or potions that would help her sleep if she needed. Fiona would not be using her room for quite some time and Korrin was welcome to it.

"I share space with Araceli and no doubt she'll come looking for me, but between lightheadedness and disorientation, I don't trust myself to make it there. Or not to squash anyone significantly smaller than me, no offense." One thing Korrin always tries to be careful about is interacting with those who aren't of a comparable size, but in her current state that's not something she can guarantee.

"And some people realize it, like my company. If you ever worked with us, they wouldn't hold back the praise. Or the liquor that'd knock you flat on your ass."

OPEN: Cloudreach Event

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