MOSTLY CLOSED: Weisshaupt Fortress

[visus]

WHO: Anders, Herc, Ingrid, Kaisa, Mal Reynolds, Merrick, Merrill, Nathaniel, Samwise, Sera, Teren, Varric
WHAT: A friendly visit to Weisshaupt Fortress that will go very smoothly and involve zero bloodshed.
WHEN: Bloomingtide 29-30 for the closed portion, with travel time on either side.
WHERE: Weisshaupt Fortress, the Anderfels.
NOTES: This plot is 90% closed to the above-named characters, but there are open comments for before and after the main quest that are open to any characters who might travel to the Anderfels to serve as back-up without going to Weisshaupt.

No one has ever claimed that 'the Anderfels' is a particularly pretty name for a place, but it is somehow still too nice for the land itself. Bone-dry and blasted by hot, dusty winds for most of the year, the steppeland of the Anderfels has been harsh and unforgiving country since long before the Blights began. It is barren in every sense of the word: all greys and browns and blood-rust reds, the monotony broken more often by black outcroppings of rock than by greenery, with settlements few and far between. Even where blight has not turned the ground dark and toxic, it feels like a place people are not meant to live. Not anymore.

↠ The Walk There (Open, Mingle)
↠ Arrival at Weisshaupt (Closed, GMed)
↠ R&R&Demons (Closed, Mingle)
↠ Everything Goes To Shit (Closed, GMed)
↠ The Sprint Back (Open)

Comments

[aintwejust]

"More I hear 'bout them Alienages the more I like 'em less." Keep'n people fed's hard when you got no coin, Mal knows that much. He's been through Alienages a time or two- been through Kirkwall's not all that long ago, even. He ain't seen a damn thing in there he much cared for neither. "Nah. Jayne gets bits a jerky or mushrooms or cheese or whatever he can beg from most folk and a li'l bit of Reynolds chow for the rest. S'kinda like a slow cooked chili made with whatever meat you got from hunt'n that day- so squirrel, quail, deer, what have you. Throw it in a pot with some spices and root vegetables and cook it down. Protein heavy. Feeds us both plenty."

If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for Jayne.

[chainlightning]

"Lots of people get mugged in them," Merrill says matter-of-factly, as if this is somehow going to alter Mal's perception. Well- it might, but not for the better. "But they do look after their own, and- their new own, I suppose? They didn't mind me, at any rate."

Elf or not, she's Dalish, or considered as much by the city elves. Granted, Merrill never called them a flat-ear and got lost quite a bit, which may have endeared her to them somewhat even before everything happened.

"Oh! Does he have a favorite? Do you have a favorite? It sounds like what we'd have in the clan, sometimes."

[aintwejust]

"Not exactly a sell'n point, Merrill." But it did make him wanna hold onto her a mite tighter, like some idjit's gonna run up to a fella on his horse with his mabari and hassle the lady he's giv'n a ride. Like that's somth'n he's gotta worry about all the way out here.

...actually know'n his luck, it was.

"Little folk all tend t'throw in when they can. And I don't mean little just cuz you're shorter, elves, but- not noble. Not all big and fanciful and monied and such." Big uns with big ideas and no scruples. "He likes pretty much whatever I give him, me? Wild turkey. Lean, cooks well, plentiful. Don't much have to worry that kill'n one as I ride through is gonna keep a Clan or hunter from gett'n their dinner."

[chainlightning]

"That's one thing I still don't understand about humans, human culture. Everyone who tells me that the Chantry is a good thing says it's because they take care of orphans and the poor, but everyone should do that. It's sad."

Instead, those with the means -- with more than the means -- ignore the problem or cause more of the problem. Those without sometimes feel they have no other choice but the Chantry, and the Chantry is far from perfect and not always so benevolent.

It's- nice, though, feeling that someone else understands. And, well, talking about food is always good.

"Do you do anything with the feathers? They have a lot of feathers."

[aintwejust]

"Yeah. I hear plenty 'bout that too. Thought more or less the same." War orphans, blight orphans, not all of them got to the Chantry, not ever Chantry had the funds or the means to care for them. And who picks up the slack? No one.

Maker spins a pretty tale but none of it sticks down here in the dirt.

Still. Fethers. Feathers are fun. "Clean 'em and sell 'em to a guy that makes pillows, mage robes, pens, and theater costumes. Not always rightly at the same time. Now and then I keep a few of the prettier ones, cut down the ends and stitch 'em together to make a fan when it's hot."

Which is often.

[chainlightning]

Somewhere, the Iron Bull is loudly talking about everything the Qun does for orphans.

"He must get a lot of feathers from you! I'd like to see one of your fans, though, at some point." Most of the feathers the Dalish ended up gathering were used for arrows, or added to clothing and in pillows -- from practical to practical-with-comfort. Fans weren't really high on the list. Even now, while Merrill understands their uses, she thinks there are other ways to stay cool.

But Mal makes them, and she wants to see.