faderift | [ CLOSED ] Lathbora viran

Entry tags:

[ CLOSED ] Lathbora viran

WHO: Ellana Ashara, Sam Gareth, Korrin Ataash, Mal Reynolds, Katniss Everdeen
WHAT: Gathering herbs leads to an elven ruin
WHEN: mid-Justinian
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: ooc info post

The journey to Emprise du Lion is uneventful. The Inquisition has a secure supply line between the region and their base of operations at Skyhold, and that means no battles along the way. Once there, the group stops to rest at the camp near the Tower of Bone before they set out across Judicael's Crossing with satchels or bags in order to gather herbs.

[ ooc: ~~please hold for three top level threads to be posted.~~ all done! go wild. :3 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"They train pigs t' sniff out them fancy mushrooms, Orlesians. Now pigs can't smell near as good as a dog and Jayne can track mighty well when he has a mind- or when he's hungry. But why when it'd be of most use he decides t'play nose deaf?" Mal grumbles, again waving a bit of Arbor's blessing under Jayne's nose.

Much like a cat, Jayne turns his face away.

"Kor, you think you can sweet talk him int'a playing along or somth'n? He listens to you."

"That's because I bribe him. You could learn from that." Korrin's lips twitch as she crouches down by Jayne, scratching him behind the ears. "The sooner we find what we're looking for, the sooner you'll get your treats. You'd like that, wouldn't you, boy? Show Mal he's wrong about you, and you'll get all the jerky and belly rubs you can stand."

Ellana giggles at Jayne's reaction to the herb and shakes her head. Jayne is sweet, if a little stubborn.

"I think it's because he has no interest in eating the arbor's blessing himself, and therefore he's in no mood to look for it." She gives the mabari a smile before heading up the steps of the large ring of stone.

"Did one of you fight the dragon that was up here?"

"Oh he's eat'n it before. Makes him all perfumey for awhile, aint' half bad- he just don't feel like do'n work." And yet when Korrin hunkers down to give him love and the promise of treats? That little stub of a tail starts to wag and Jayne whuffs companionably, giving he herb a sniff and bounding off to seek it out.

"...He always listens to you." Mal sighs, shaking his head. "Nah. Me, Merrill, and The Bull took one in a cave- least till it chose t'start fly'n about."

A beat.

"Least I think we didn't fight here. Everything's a might fuzzy after I got knocked inta the wall."

Watching Jayne go, Korrin chuckles as she gets back to her feet. "It's not hard, Mal. I'm nice and give him incentive. You should try it, sometime." And it helps that she brought along plenty of treats, anticipating that Jayne might need the promise of spoiling. Good thing she was right.

As they head up the stairs, Korrin nods with a proud grin. "Hell yeah, I did. Cassandra, Merrick, Jamie and me. Good times, except when the fucking dragon froze our feet to the ground. But it's dead and we're not, so."

"Oh, yes!" Ellana says, perking up as it's confirmed that this is the location. "You said Merrick saved you." She continues up the stairs, eyes searching as soon as she's at the top, just to make sure no other wildlife have claimed this spot. Not only is it clear, but it seems the team has exhausted this place's stock of arbor's blessing, so Ellana just takes a moment to imagine the scene when there was a dragon up here.

"It must have been so frightening, but so thrilling too." Unlike the Nightmare demon, which was just frightening, because it pulled their fears from their heads and used it against them.

"Area's clear."

Katniss stated, as she appeared around the edge of the temple. She hooked her bow back around her shoulder, looking around at the others. One eyebrow lifted up as she gave them all a scrutinizing look.

"What was frightening and thrilling while I was gone?"

Besides helping with collecting the herbs, Sam was probably being the least productive member of the group at the time. Kind of. Being out in Emprise du Lion again gave him the opportunity to really test out this particular transformation. The cold bothered him less with the fur, but he was more interested in seeing how smelling things out with snow, the cold and wind worked. Even though from time to time he would venture away from the group a little, he always came back, tail wagging.

Following the group up the stairs, Sam tilts his head curiously at the tales being told - good thing they didn't have to fight a dragon today. Fighting a dragon would be- perhaps at some point he would want to fight one, to have a story and say he actually fought one, but he was in no rush to do so either.

At hearing and seeing Katniss return he gives a small woof.

Korrin has to constantly resist the urge to pet Sam, not wanting to mar his dignity even though that fluffy fur is nigh-irresistible. Though if he seemed to need any scratching, she'd be the first to volunteer. Stop being so cute, Sam.

Glancing over to Katniss when she rejoins them, Korrin grins. "Dragonslaying. You should join me for it sometime. Find anything interesting?"

"Yes, what she said," Ellana chimes in. "Korrin was one of the ones that fought the dragon that used to be up here. And don't you two go hunting a dragon without me! If there is a next time, I want to come too." She can't even put her finger on why she wants to fight a dragon so badly. One would think after seeing the size of the Nightmare demon that she would be scared off from big creatures for life, but no, the prospect is as appealing as ever.

Ellana has no qualms about petting Sam, since she's done it before, and she comes over to him to give him a playful rub behind the ear.

"Now isn't this climate better for your fur than the desert was?"

"Am I the only one that ever wonders where the clothes go when they do this? Cuz when he changes back he's not gonna be nekkid." This is only the second person Mal's seen pull this particular trick and it still does boggle the mind. Person or no, a dog's a dog and it's habit, really, to fish a strip of jerky out of his belt pouch and offer it.

"And he can still understand us just fine, yeah?" Creepy. Useful! But. Creepy. "Kor, you think you'll try learn'n how to do this once you're all caught up on your magic sword trick?"

At feeling fingers in his fur, Sam tilts his head back from where he looking to glance at Ellana, his tongue lolling out as she went straight for an ear. In response to her question he gives a bark before moving away towards a pile of snow and rolling into it - being mindful of the edge - to show that the cold was indeed a lot better than the hot sand.

Malcolm's line of questions grab his attention once he's gotten himself covered in snow, tilting it in curiosity when the man is handing him a strip of meat. Sam sniffs the food before sitting down and staring up at him, giving a soft rolling woof that he wasn't being spoken to directly - yes, he can understand you just fine, Malcolm.

"I would love to join in some dragon-hunting. Dragon leather is one of the most rare materials in the world, especially that of a high dragon." She looked wistful, "And think of all the people we could feed ..."

Malcolm's comment surprised a smirk out of her, before she turned back to Korrin and Ellana to answer Korrin's question. "Found a wall - tall one, much taller than these saunas. Sort of caught my eye because it had one of those murals on it? You know, the ones Merrill and I have been studying."

Korrin watches Mal interact with Sam, a smirk on her lips. "No, I've wondered the same damn thing. And nah, I have other magic to learn now. That 'punching people with a boulder thing' is only the beginning."

Turning her attention to Katniss, she nods. "I'm sure we'll want to check out all the murals this place has to offer before we go. It's history, after all." It's not hers, but that's no reason not to be respectful.

Ellana giggles at Mal's question, because she too is a shapeshifter. "Don't forget the staff. That disappears from the mage too." She could turn into one of her own forms right now as a demonstration, but she'd rather be able to talk to everyone. "Sam, stop being so cute, or everyone will try to adopt you." Not a bad prospect, but of course, everyone would want to adopt dog Sam, and not human Sam.

To Katniss, she adds, "That has to be the wall the scout back at base camp described. The elven ruin should be just beyond it. Should we head that way now? We can look out for more herbs on the way."

How mean Ellana, he wasn't cute enough as a human to adopt? Still at Ellana's comment he stands up and shakes himself off before transforming back, black smoke with bits of green poofing around the space he was in and quickly getting caught up in the wind and swept away. Back in his regular form he grins at the lot of them.

"I can understand you just fine like that. As for clothes and weapons though I'd say it's more like it gets melded into you. It's not exactly clear how or why it's like that though." Probably so you didn't lose your stuff.

"What's this about a mural?"

"So just Poof...Magic." Mal wiggles his fingers, squinting at Sam for a long moment before shrugging and taking a bite of the jerky his own self.

"I'm gonna say now that we- and I mean me, Sam fella, Katniss girl and Korrin- probably shouldn't be pok'n about those places." Cuz. Humans and Vashoth and very much not pointy eared elf types. "But if that's where you wanna go, Miss Ellana, I'll follow."

Mostly to keep an eye out for the inevitable trouble.

"Yes, magic." Korrin wiggles her fingers at Mal, mimicking him just because she can. "Sometimes it really is that simple, you know. I'm just waiting until one of you gains a mabari form. Fereldans everywhere would love you." She smirks at Sam and Ellana for a moment, then refocuses. "We probably shouldn't, true, but I'm going to anyway. I didn't come all this way to provide backup and not keep to that role."

Katniss paused for a moment, as she looked over at Mal, but her smile just came out crooked and a little saddened.

"I ... have been doing some studying on the murals. I'd like to look more at them." She doesn't look at Sam or even Korrin at that, but she does glance over at Ellana, "If that's all right with you?"

"Oh, yes!" Ellana says eagerly. "I've started focusing in on elven statues and wall paintings myself. From there, I can expand outward to study more things in depth, but to start, it's good to have a focus." At least that was what Morrigan had suggested Ellana do, and it's better than trying to absorb everything at once.

"Let's head that way. And I think I should say now: thank you all for coming. I think we all know that exploring elven ruins isn't something a person should do without knowing there could be danger." The fact that they're all here with her means a great deal to her. She won't forget their kindness.

"Becoming a mabari right now wouldn't be all that hard-" he mentions off-handedly at the Korrin's comment. He could already turn into a dog, changing the look wouldn't be all that difficult. But something to talk about later, as he nods at Malcolm's words.

"Guess lead on, Ellana." Since when did they do anything that didn't have some sort of danger to it? Hopefully it would just be drafty rooms and crumbling walls.

With a smile, Ellana leads the group back the way they came; back down the stairs and out of the building. The path leads further east, which is just where they want to go. Honestly, Ellana wishes they could skip the other buildings and head straight for the ruins, but she has a duty to the Inquisition and she'll see it done before turning towards her own desires.

Luckily there aren't many stone buildings on the way to where they're going, so there aren't that many more stops to make before they reach the large outer wall.

[ ooc: is everyone good to leave this thread here and just skip to the others? ]

[ooc: Wrong journal, but that's fine with me!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ CLOSED ] Lathbora viran

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject