Cadash Thaig and the Lights of Arlathan

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Sina, Velanna, Morrigan, Shale, Katniss, and Pel
WHAT: Finding an ancient elven magic and the history of a dwarven thaig.
WHEN: Forward-dated to the 17th
WHERE: Cadash Thaig
NOTES: Some violence, but only against darkspawn. Well. Darkspawn are a warning too.

The journey to the thaig provides few encounters with darkspawn, which are handily dealt with. That's the best thing to be said about it. Pel has never been in the Deep Roads before. It's actually sort of nice, she thinks. In the Deep Roads, there are usually only two directions from which you can be attacked. There's something reassuring and secure about that. It's also missing sounds of life, aside from life that wants to kill you. Fewer guessing games to be played about what caused that sound. Other than that, it's a bleak, dead place with occasional breathtaking architecture. Modern elves don't really have architecture. It's fascinating to see it, when she can.

They arrive at the thaig and it's...surprisingly green. How in the world a place that has never seen the sun can have this much green, she has no idea. There's no mistaking it for the surface, of course, but it's a comforting color to see.

Comments

Clearing the Thaig of Darkspawn

[mythalenaste]

The first job is to secure the area. With four mages, an archer, and a golem, it should be a straightforward task. And since it's the Deep Roads, the company has their work cut out for them.

[OOC: Please allow Velanna to start this thread and see the above map of Cadash Thaig.]

See the Lanterns

[mythalenaste]

Pel never sees them when she tries to look directly at them, but from the corner of her eye there are lights that swim through the air toward...something.

"Did you see that?" she asks, eyes darting about for the lights, then toward her companions as if asking if she is crazy.

Re: See the Lanterns

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss is busy sketching out more of the murals for herself and Merrill to discuss when she gets back to Skyhold -- so she doesn't automatically catch onto what Pel is saying. Her tone is slightly - all right very - distracted as she looks up from her sketch.

"See what?"

[mythalenaste]

"Lights." She nods in the direction they're floating toward. "It's strange. Magic, but nothing I've ever seen. I'm going to follow."

She starts off in that direction.

[the_effect_she_has]

"... Lights." She arched an eyebrow, before her expression shifted slightly. "Guess you have to be an elf to see them."

Which, well, yeah. She wasn't one. But, hey, if Pel saw them. "All right, where are we going?"

She loaded up her bow and arrows.

[eolasemah]

Sina has been looking at everything through a sheen of tears ever since they entered the thaig, which is both far greater than and completely unlike anything she has ever seen in her life. But she knows that it is beautiful, and is struck over and over again by the fact that, had she remained behind in Skyhold, she wouldn't have witnessed any of it. It has been a taxing journey to be sure, and she has had to go slow, at times feel like she's weighing down the rest of the party, but being here makes it all worth it.

She has been assuming the lights to be just another part of the vast cavern that she doesn't understand, but when Pel points them out, Sina follows them with her eyes. "What are they?" she asks, just in case.

[mythalenaste]

"Some manner of...magical sign, I suppose. Like how you might leave an arrow on the ground drawn in sticks or stones? Same principal."

And Pel can see Sina watching them. She glances between her and Katniss, and gives a small nod.

"So you're right. Elves can see them. Must have been something here the elves wanted to protect, but I've still not worked out why they came, or where they went, and why they didn't take the Lights with them." It's like geek heaven.

She motions for Sina and Katniss to follow. Sina is free to take her hand if she's tired, but Pel gives her her pride where she can, and tries not to fuss overmuch over her in public.

[eolasemah]

Sina was tired before this, but now she is being propelled by the momentum of DISCOVERY(!!). She actually walks ahead of Pel, having whipped out her board and writing utensils to begin writing all of her observations, documenting the patterns of the lights, the directions they move, and so forth. Whatever it is, it's ancient, and she's certain that knowledge of it will be of use to the People.

"This way," she breathes, putting her left hand out with a glowing palm to give them a bit more light to see by.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss watched as Sina and Pel lifted their hands and reached for a light she couldn't even see -- and felt her throat tighten slightly. She ignored that, however, because as entranced as the two of them were, they weren't exactly up for pointing out other kinds of danger.

An arrow in hand, she trailed after the scholars, grey eyes trained to the shadows.

Letters from the Past

[mythalenaste]

Those who are not specifically following the lanterns can explore the thaig. Doing so will yield something just as important as the lanterns.

[arcaneadvisor]

Unable to see the Lights, Morrigan turns to something she is able to aid with when she is not able to offer assistance when it is needed; searching one set of ruins is much like searching another, and she has spent a long time doing this now.

With a quiet sigh, she kneels to sift through a pile of old papers, grimacing at the grime she can feel coating her fingers, staff tucked close to her side as she tries to find something not utterly destroyed by time, darkspawn, or water damage.

"If you might ensure no darkspawn, deepstalker, or spiders creep upon me," she says quietly, turning just enough to be heard, "t'would be appreciated."

[dwarfing]

Shale turns their head a bit to check the rest of the nearby ruin as Morrigan goes mucking around in the mess. They didn't exactly see the mage as a 'friend', but they had been mostly civil... and they fought together.

So watching her back? That the golem could do. Not without commenting, whoever.

"One would think the Swamp Witch would approve of the spiders."

[arcaneadvisor]

Morrigan has resisted the temptation to teach the ravens of the rookery to alight upon Shale's shoulders, even the fearless and bold Baron Plucky.

"The Swamp Witch as you so put it does not approve of a spider sinking their fangs into her spine, Shale." One page perhaps might be salvaged this time, more letters than muck, and it feels more like paper than mulch so she sets it to one side. "Though to have eight legs and eight eyes...I might sort through this mess sooner. I had forgotten how disgusting darkspawn were."

On purpose. No one chooses to remember much of the Deep Roads if they can do otherwise when it's the miserable place that it is.

[dwarfing]

That would make a lot of dead ravens, Morrigan. Don't make Leliana sad.

Shale makes a disgruntled sound in reply, but they're definitely keeping watch despite that. Nothing seemed to move in the shadows for now, which was both good and a little bit disappointing. Punching things was a really good way to deal with their boredom, after all.

Standing around in the courtyard all the time was really grating, so any missions that would involve crushing something was looking quite attractive these days. Even in the Deep Roads.

"Will rotten papers make any difference, or is it simply fond of dirty things?"

Katniss - Camp

[the_effect_she_has]

Of all the places Katniss thought she would travel in her life, the Deep Roads were never one of them. She is clearly on edge, in the days that they spend deep underground camping, her grey eyes sharp on the shadows as they look for darkspawn. It was like traveling to the home of her nightmares - oh wait, already did that.

Well, living nightmares, at any rate. So while she was in camp, she was sharpening her arrows and daggers, and making sure the fires were kept just high enough to see by but not enough to bounce all around the caverns to attract more darkspawn while they slept.

[mythalenaste]

Pel sits beside Katniss and touches shoulders with her. "Everything all right?"

[the_effect_she_has]

She looked over at her, sharply, before she eased herself down. "Yeah ... just. Haven't felt this wary since the Blight."

One corner of her mouth twisted. "Except you know, underground."

[mythalenaste]

"That's why we have a Warden." A fleeting smile. "We'll be fine."

[the_effect_she_has]

She exhaled slowly, before she offered a tight smile at Pel. "Right ... of course we will. We've got a Warden here, after all."

mingling; + the bonus find of a lifetime

[arcaneadvisor]

general mingling;
History has a habit of repeating itself, and though she wasn't in a hurry to return to the Deep Roads, not after seeing an Archdemon fly overhead, not after facing down the horror of a broodmother made worse by Hespith, this is something she cannot resist.

Temptation lies in the forbidden.

At camp though she's able to relax a little more having been through this once before, quietly attending to her notes or harvesting some of the rarer plants to take back with them. And perhaps, in later moments, she might be caught with a true smile with her sending crystal telling tales into it as a boy's soft voice filters through - she will not say no if someone wishes to interject if it gets a boy off to sleep a little sooner back at Skyhold.

a fitting gift for a theirin;
It's a habit picked up from those days with Jonas that often sees Morrigan more willing to pick through whatever piles of dubious treasures the darkspawn leave behind than others might be. (Twas necessity in the Wilds too but fortunately until the Blight knocked upon their doors there were no darkspawn intrusions that some other places are always victim to.) A singular prize catches her eye though, one she brings back to wherever they've made camp.

Furry art. Ghastly. And yet, perhaps something vaguely familiar about it, if she can clean the worst of the muck off it as she gives it a smile that is absolutely alarming.

Perhaps more alarming though is the very distinct possibility that some genlock or hurlock once kissed the velvet lips of the potrait that will be returning to the surface with them.

Re: mingling; + the bonus find of a lifetime

[mythalenaste]

"What's that?"

Pel peers, and her eyes widen.

"That's not...is that Alistair with long hair?"

[arcaneadvisor]

Looking up from her find, Morrigan can hardly keep the smirk from her face as she beckons Pel closer, using her staff to illuminate it better.

"No, that is not Alistair but Cailan Theirin though I can see the similarity. Tis always the nose." She should know after all, Kieran has that nose. "To find a Velvet Cailan here of all places...there is a collector in Orlais who offers a reward for any returned to her, she despises what she calls 'ghastly influence'." There's a certain amount of relish and glee in Morrigan's voice but it's oddly fitting that an it's in the Deep Roads, isn't it?

[mythalenaste]

"...Why?"

[arcaneadvisor]

It's an effort to hold in her laughter, but even with so many mages and the solid reassuring presence of Shale (not that she would say, one cannot imagine how scathing Shale's response to flattery might) she remembers her time in the Deep Roads with the Hero. The misery of it, the Darkspawn appearing from everywhere like insects. They have a Warden with them but again that is a double-edged sword. She smiles, moving to hand the piece to Pel to allow her to inspect it better.

To handle that rather sumptuous velour.

"The rumour was that Cailan himself commissioned a large number of them shortly after his coronation, to stores around Denerim. The king had a growing kennel of mabari war hounds - he was the first one born in a palace after the Orlesian occupation after all, and so he received a portion of the profit from each of them to fund this venture. Such is the tale of them at any rate."

The Journey Down and Across

[eolasemah]

It took some coaxing for Sina to be all right with leaving Skyhold, and she's still rightfully wary of her health and all the other things that could potentially go wrong. On the bright side, they're never fully in the dark, because her shard illuminates every space she's in far better than any torch could. On the... not bright side, the same shard is also a beacon alerting everything nearby to her (their) presence.

As loathe as she is to accept it, there are times when Sina is too tired and in too much pain to walk without slowing everyone down. At these times, it's likely she is carried by a member of the party. Luckily, being that she's very small of stature and can't seem to keep any meat on her bones, piggyback rides likely don't prove too taxing for the piggy.

At camp, she mostly sits by the fire for what little warmth she can absorb, doing her best to make herself useful by recording their journey and taking stock of their medical supplies. She has a packet of tea for every minor ailment, from aches and pains to stomach trouble to restless sleep. Naturally, she's more than happy to share, feeling it's the least she can do to pull her weight among the others.