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

[stabsbooks]

"Bruce." She frowns, not liking having only his first name, without a family name or a title to address him by. It seems too familiar, for a stranger. But it is what he has offered, and she accepts it. "Thank you. For your assistance. And your - discretion." In the way he had not insisted on helping her walk when she had eased away, the way he had allowed her to keep her dignity when addressing the girl's mother.

And for his comforting manner, the way he had set her mind at ease and made it easy for her to accept his help in the first place - but that is more difficult to express gratitude for.

[amygdalae]

It's easy to see Cassandra's discomfort, although there's not much Bruce can do to relieve it - he doesn't want to risk any chance of his true identity being discovered and his family name could easily be a key to unraveling it. He could fake one, perhaps, but that was a lot harder than most would think of it to be.

Either way, it was too late for that now.

He bows his head slightly at the gratitude, even though honestly he doesn't need it at all. "You don't need to thank me, Seeker Pentaghast. I'm merely glad to have been of help." She had some share of her own thanks too, for being mostly cooperative and not trying to do anything too rash. That was almost rare to see now, these days.

[stabsbooks]

"All the same. You were of help. And I thank you for it."

She sighs, pressing a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes briefly. The dizziness had receded, but not entirely dissipated. A few minutes' rest, perhaps, and then she should be able to make it back to Skyhold.

She hopes.

"I should not take up any more of your time."

[amygdalae]

Well, when she put it like that, it was more or less impossible to turn down the display of gratitude.

"I do whatever I can," is what he does say after a pause, carefully watching her as she presses a hand against her forehead. He's pretty sure she would be alright with a bit more rest, but he could never be too sure...

Although its not like she'd appreciate anybody hovering around like this, he's sure. Bruce nods at the words and inclines his head once more.

"If you are feeling better, I will take my leave then."

[stabsbooks]

She nods, doing her best to look as well as possible. No doubt he - any healer - would eagerly encourage her to rest longer, an hour at least. They are overly cautious, the lot of them. She does not have time, not when there is so much to do.

And the healer - Bruce - has as much to occupy his time as anyone. There is simply no reason for him to waste any more time on her.

"I will be fine." She gives him what she hopes is a reassuring look. "Return to your duties."

[amygdalae]

Seeker Pentaghast would most certainly benefit from a bit more rest, but he knows well enough that she's probably too stubborn to stick with that advice. The best he can hope from her is that she won't push herself to the brink of collapse. That's the last thing they need right now.

"As you command." He inclines his head again, out of respect and understanding more than anything else. "But please don't hesitate to find any of the other healers should you need assistance."

[stabsbooks]

"Of course."

Not that she plans on needing assistance anytime soon. This had been bad enough, and she's just grateful that it hadn't been more public; the last thing she needs is for rumors to start circulating about how Seeker Pentaghast is weak and frail. She gets to her feet, cautiously, but pleased at how steadily she manages it, and how clear her head remains as she stands.

"And should you need any supplies, you and your healers have priority. You need only mention my name." She carefully nods in response. "Thank you again." And with that, she leaves him, making her way to the castle - slowly, but with her head held high.