faderift | THE FALLOW MIRE

THE FALLOW MIRE

WHO: Open to all
WHAT: The Inquisition sends forces to the Fallow Mire to deal with undead, plague, and missing scouts.
WHEN: Firstfall
WHERE: The Fallow Mire: Inquisition camps, Fisher's End, The Tavern, etc.
NOTES: For more information about the setting and RP opportunities in it, check out the OOC Post.

The trip down the mountains from Skyhold is no walk in the park, and south of the Hinterlands the land turns wet and miserable, subject to seemingly endless storms. Villagers have tried to carve out a meagre existence in the Fallow Mire, but their lives are under constant threat by a tidal wave of undead rising from the murky waters flooding much of the region.

The Inquisition has sent a sizeable force, and travel back and forth between the Mire and Skyhold happens as often and as quickly as conditions allow. The camp is a neat patch of tents on the largest bit of dry land to be found. "Dry" is relative; everything's still pretty muddy. There are several clusters of tents, tucked between rock outcroppings and abandoned buildings, the least leaky of which are being used to store what supplies the Inquisition has managed to haul in over the difficult terrain. Campfires are numerous and fill the area with a constant smouldering glow and low-hanging cloud of smoke that mingles with the morning and evening fogs. It's lovely, really.

Fisher's End barely even counts as a village-- just a haphazard handful of ramshackle buildings perched on the edge of the swamp-- but it does have a single tavern. It's a dreary-looking wooden shack like every other structure in the area, distinguishable only by the lamp still lit above the door and the sign that swings creakily in the breeze. Whatever was painted on it has long since worn away and been molded over. The place is just known as "the tavern" because it is literally the only tavern for miles and miles around.

Inside is dim and smoky from peat-burning fires in the two grates. There are a half-dozen tables with benches, none of which ever seem quite level on the uneven floor. The bar is tended by Thorolf, a grizzled bearded fellow with a local accent so thick he's almost unintelligible. No matter the time of day he serves a simple fisherman's meal of hard bread, salted fish, and a hunk of strong cheese. His cellar is stocked with exactly three varieties of alcohol: one ale, one wine, and one spirit, all of which are strong and dark. There aren't many locals left, but there are usually a few hunched over a mug or huddled around the fire.

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It takes a minute or two for her to respond, dancing back from the corpse and sidestepping away from another slash with a muttered curse and angry hiss. They shouldn't be this co-ordinated. They shouldn't even be doing this and the discussion of spirits doesn't help because the dead should get to remain dead, not moving with desires that aren't even theirs to attack people without any quarrel with them. Her attention is stolen momentarily when Korrin streaks past, never quite sure how someone can move faster than she can when usually that sort of speed is impossible and anything close is to do with how light on your feet you are.

"Cheers!" She has to switch rapiers into both hands and aim another kick at the knees of the corpse so she can catch it and pocket it, the dull pain of a glancing blow - boiled leather and a layer of light mail do their job - catching her before she gets out of the way. A blade through the face works and there's not blood on her but it still hurts. There are worse things than the usual irritating but rarely life-threatening infection out here after all. "I think I understand why there are so many big shielded warriors about normally."

Korrin can't help but chuckle at that, as she finishes off another corpse before glancing around quickly to ensure that they aren't going to be ambushed. Given that water is everywhere and corpses with it, that seems inevitable. But it's not going to happen on her watch, if she can help it.

"They definitely do their fair share, and take the attention away from us. Maybe I should've waited for one of them to join in, but after making it to this festering pit, I really just needed to blast things. Company was a secondary priority, not that I'm ungrateful for it."

At least it's thinning out now though she does have to wonder at how they don't stop until they're dead, forced onwards even when they have to move over and around the bodies of their fellow fallen. Still, anything Fade related after the rift isn't something to dwell on because it makes her realise just how lucky she was not to be more changed than she is.

"Even just that weird grunting thing?" Do you know how hard it is to fight when you're trying not to giggle? It's really hard, don't do it. Right now she's gritting her teeth to duck beneath the blade and behind another, slicing the throat again because it's neater and easier. "But I'm more surprised they haven't all sunk like stones in all that heavy gear, the noise they make too!" After all, she knows just how well sound travels through water and the squelching made her wince and dart ahead of the worst of them to at least see what might be stirring.

The last one by her falls and nothing seems to be surfacing as she makes her way back, stepping over the bodies as she flashes a smile. "Anything to help in these trying times, morale is important, the Inquisition must be as happy as it can be, however it finds them."

As that last one falls, Korrin is fairly certain that there's nothing else nearby ready to attack them...at least, at the moment. As soon as they so much as cause the water to ripple again, that has every chance of changing. She knows it, and will take what reprieve they can get, flashing a smile in turn.

"I think that's why they haven't sent out more of them, since we'd mostly just be feeding the mire with that heavy gear instead of it seeing proper use later. It's a pain, but nothing about this assignment was going to be easy, anyway. It just means you'll just have more people willing to learn from you on how move so lightly on your feet."

She certainly enjoys watching that, knowing her Fade Step is a cheat and not nearly as elegant. "Honestly, nothing short of leaving this mire long behind us will truly raise morale, but such help at least prevents it from becoming any worse. We can always head back soon and see if they've sent anything to help with that; decent drink, dry boots, something actually flammable...." What she couldn't do for a good fire right now, one not easily put out by the constant drizzle around them.

More than anything else, she wants to clean up. Even if the contact with the dead is minimal, she still feels unclean but because the water can't be disturbed and is full of corpses in various stages of rotting, she can't wash up. She'll need to wait until she's back at camp though she does produce a rag from a pocket at her hip to wipe down her hands before starting on the rapiers. Needless to say they'll be thrown in a fire back at camp.

"I'm not sure how much of that will be easy to teach though. Here it's dangerous because it's like the climbing and falling - you have to do it and get a feel for it to know what to correct. Skyhold has snow, not water. I can teach some of it but it takes years to master how to creep like a thief."

Not that she wouldn't try her best but it would be foolish to attempt to teach here when they have so much to fight as it is. Maybe if she can go to the coast at some point soon or if they manage to clear out the very worst of the dead here then she'll show people how to move as she does although Korrin's way of blurring past the danger impresses her plenty. "I should have snuck some spices from the kitchen, there's this thing we have on ships with whatever there is to be eaten, it's called salamagundi, you just toss it all in a big pot and cook it, the spices cover the sins. And I do have booze in my pack, more than what's in the flask I have on me. You're welcome to some of both if you'd like."

Korrin smile warmly at that, her mood greatly improved by the thought decent drink. "You're a life-saver, Araceli. I'll repay you for that generosity, count on that. Sooner or later I'll get a care package sent to Skyhold, and you'll have samples for more than just Ferelden fare. And I know the spice-trick well; it's saved my company more times than I can count. I didn't bring much with me for that, but assuming it's still in my travel bag, you're welcome to whatever you'd like."

She sighs, brushing off more rain that has the audacity to dribble on her forehead. "You have a point, I know. I'd be willing to learn anyway, but it's probably not a good idea to set a bad example for the impressionable people who can't blur out of the way of danger."

Waving away the words, she still manages a sunnier smile than most have seen since arriving in the Mire. "I know about a life surrounded by water you can't drink when you don't have what we do to purify it and at sea? It turns to slime. So we always take rum, brandy, whatever else. Plenty is watered down before we go so no one is blind drunk on their shift but dehydration is a bad way to go. I'm excited already to try something other than bland or stodgy." Seriously, do they not have tastebuds in some lands? Even up in Albas where it's frozen and they need special glass houses to grow plants they have spices and herbs to flavour a dish and warm someone up. "I don't think most of the people on cooking duty realise that you can actually make something not taste like boiled mulch. Maybe we should commandeer that duty at least once and show them something."

She would've taken some supplies from the Skyhold kitchen but she already had two big bottles of drink in her pack and there was a mountain to deal with and a long march. Next time she'll find the space because next time they'll be able to drink the damn water.

"I was studying maps in the library before we left, if there's a chance to go to this Storm Coast I can show you there, if there aren't undead lurking in every body of water that is."

"Oh, the Storm Coast is much more reasonable. The name is apt, so expect to be rained on, but there's no marsh to be had at all. It's more mountainous than anything else. The most you have to worry about are random bandits...and bears, of fucking course. At least that's the way it was when I passed through it on my way south."

Which wasn't too long ago, relatively, but definitely before the Breach. Her eyebrows raise at the thought of commandeering cooking duties, and she gestures to Araceli. "I'm not much of a cook, I know one filling recipe and stick to it, but for a capable volunteer? I'd do my best to clear a path for you. Those of us with tastebuds and appetites left would thank you, no doubt."

"Is there anywhere in this world where it isn't raining? Or snowing? Are there no places where two beautiful women such as ourselves might stretch out on white or gold sand to let the sun soak into our skin, where the seas are so blue you could weep. Fewer mountains and no bears, again, we don't have those, only pictures in books." This is such a wild place in all the ways she isn't sure she likes yet, something ominous and less full of wonder than home. Brunilda has her stories of snow-maidens who kiss bears and find their one true love when the bear slips out of their furry pelt but here the bear would probably eat the maiden and then be shot by a hunter and skinned alive. There's little romance, and feeling small happens in the worst way, not because you're in awe of something that cradles you when it could crush you.

Turning abruptly, she clasps Korrin's arm, almost bouncing on the spot because guess what she loves just as much as climbing and rushing into new adventures? "Oh I cooked for everyone in my building, I love cooking for people. There's just something about it that makes me feel warm right down in my bones, you know? I still don't really know how to just make enough for myself or one other person, you get used to making huge portions all at once."

"Oh, there are places like that, but you'd have to go north. Antiva, Rivain, there you'd get your blue seas and white sands. Maybe the Inquisition will send us there sometime, but as most of the chaos is in the south, I doubt it'll be anytime soon. That isn't to say we can't get in a well-earned vacation at some point, though." Korrin would be happy to travel with the charming human who seems as though she'd fit in well in either land. And there she could show off her physique to the fullest rather than be forced to keep warm underneath coats and armor.

She smiles down at Araceli for the arm-clasping, chuckling at the enthusiasm. "Huge portions, huh? Well, there are a lot of mouths to feed around here, so that ability of yours will make you everyone's favorite. I might start to get jealous, if they steal away all your attention."

"I couldn't in good conscience leave until things are better. I might not have planned to come here but I do want to help, in any way that I can. Besides, if I'm going to go somewhere, I want to be sure I deserve, that way I won't feel guilt for even a second when I get to go off into the sunshine." Except what happens if she doesn't get to go home when this is all over? If so much is still new even to the natives then it could be a long time but she wants to go back, she needs to.

A bridge to cross when she comes to it and she pulls her mind back to the present, smirking up at Korrin before she sadly has to go back to making sure nothing is about to murder them.

"So long as people like fish. Meat is meat but everything else was expensive to buy so seabirds, eggs but lots and lots of fish with spices and vegetables, good crusty breads and rolls," seriously Korrin she will cook for you because right now she could eat her own body weight and still be hungry, it's the cold that's doing it to her. "Don't be jealous, you must know that you always catch my gaze and hold it."

Meanwhile, Korrin has zero appetite thanks to being faced with poor tavern fare or rations yet again. She can't remember the last time she had a satisfying meal, which among other things just contributes to that grumpiness. There's only so far that mercenary stoicism can get her when the mire is unrelentingly awful at every turn. That last comment earns Araceli a grin, the Vashoth easily appeased with such worse.

"Good to know, because I'm selfish like that. When I want someone's attention, I don't like to share.

And I have absolutely no problem with fish or any of that. When you're on the road, you learn to have a stomach of iron, but it's a nice change to be able to savor food instead of enduring it. That's all I've done since we entered this mess. Pure suffering, I tell you."

"On my honour," which would mean so much more if she'd disclosed who she was because she knows from experience that there are some who think a thief has no honour at all, "I'll cook for you when we return to Skyhold, if I can manage to bribe a few folk in the kitchen or maybe the tavern." It's a fair trek anywhere else and all her clean things that actually belong to her are still there and the kitchens are like the palace kitchens, if far smaller.

Still, she has to raise an eyebrow, glancing back over her shoulder because it's interesting, taking her mind off the Mire. "Sometimes sharing can be fun, but then there is my upbringing to consider, you learn an awful lot about how fun that can be, given the right circumstances. But seeing as you've suffered so greatly, it would be no hardship to ease that, any way that I can."

Korrin's response to sharing is a shrug, not wanting to argue about it but firmly aware of her own monogamous nature by now. At least when it comes to anything beyond harmless flirting, or no-strings-attached sex. Flings are one thing, but throw emotions into it and suddenly it all changes, at least for her. "It's just not the same, for me, but you do you, Araceli. You're glorious just as you are, and don't let anyone tell you different."

She smiles, not wanting to curtail Araceli's fun in anyway. If that means that perhaps she should remind herself to keep things light and not get too attached, so be it. That hasn't been a problem before, why would it be now?

"I can't wait for this future feast of yours. Already it threatens to give me an appetite here, and that's a dangerous thing when what's available can barely be called 'food'. Give me something else to think about before my stomach starts rumbling."

"Stop, you'll make me turn so red everything in the Mire will see me and then I will have to somehow figure out how to come back and do the same to you!" It's been a while since she was last teased like this and away from every marker of the familiar, it's making her more flustered than usual. Before it was comments to Araceli-thief-in-the-night or admiring eyes as she moved along the rooftops, a call to her down at the docks and along the promenades, the queensguard and queen herself in the palace where the words were less bold but the deeds moreso when they all took risks behind pillars. "Who knows, I'm only young, perhaps there is still a chance for me to be an honest woman so far from all I know."

Not that she knows how the hell to feel about that but then maybe no one does. You seek a port in a storm or you drop anchor same as even the most fervent Son will cling to a rock or driftwood until the sea decides no, you are mine, I will have you this day.

"Something else that isn't me?" Or her swaying hindquarters. "How about your magic - what is your favourite sort to use? Is it a challenge to use it about here with all the water? I notice mages tend to 'plant' themselves, until you do that whooshing thing at least. That must be trickier here when you could sink more than on solid ground."

Korrin can't help but enjoy seeing Araceli flustered, even if this isn't the best place for it, so she flashes a grin. "And what if I like seeing you all red, hm? There are worse fates than a vicious teasing cycle. Though I suppose I'll behave enough not to distract us on the way back."

She tries to focus on Araceli's questions and wrinkles her nose at that last part, nodding in reluctant agreement for all that she enjoys abusing Fade Step. "I've already made the mistake of using it when I shouldn't, which is why I've already gone through more than one pair of boots. It actually could be worse, though. There are times when I've used it too close to a cliff or ledge and...misjudged distances. Barrier spells are lifesavers, though.

And my favorite to use is Storm magic. It's the first magic I manifested, to defend myself, and I can control it better than anything else. So I'm not as worried about using it here as you'd think, which isn't to say that you should stand too close to it." She hasn't unintentionally hit someone with her lightning in forever, but still. It's better to be safe than sorry.

If she has to cover her face with her hands (and when did she last do that? When she was fifteen? Sixteen?) then she'll be covered in whatever muck the corpses are coated in and that would put the true dampener on the mood. "You play a dangerous game, señora, I have plenty of time here to plot my revenge for somewhere fairer such as you deserve."

Not that she minds of course but she's been so used to being the daring one when she's had so many noble wives and daughters then a queen and ladies of high birth in her life, people who need to be shown that there's nothing wrong with voicing their scandalous thoughts. It's a very welcome change of pace but still, she has a reputation to keep or perhaps to cultivate here.

"Wait, do you mean to say you've fallen off mountains and ledges? Without...Small wonder you suggested barriers when I was performing climbing lessons then. I've never seen a thing like it, the closest are some fish and crustaceans who can do a little flick then shoot off but it's nothing like you doing it. You move like the very wind itself," she can't keep that almost reverent note from her voice but it's better than any of the tricks she's ever seen in her life and faster than any thief could ever claim.

"I met someone who was struck by lightning once and one learns a healthy respect for it when there are storms at sea and you just watch it rolling in. The control it must take to master something like that, to be the eye of it - it must take some sort of calm, yes? I mean any fight should have that so you don't make a mistake but lightning is wild and primal." Plus she's still learning how magic works here, unsure if it'll be like any sort of training or different because it comes from deeper within a person.

Araceli's reputation is safe with Korrin, and given her brief grin, she's very much looking forward to any revenge her tiny companion might have in mind. What can she say, she likes a little danger. But she's just as comfortable being the daring one, not shy at all about what -or who- she likes.

"I might move like the wind, but it's more flash than finesse. When you're going that fast, there isn't a lot of room to adjust your aim. Precise it isn't, and I...tend to forget that at the worst moments. But when that happens, I finally remember some caution, so it's not a total loss." Or at least she does for a time and then the cycle continues.

But any sheepishness caused by thoughts of misused Fade Step spells is replaced with pride when she speaks of her affinity with lightning. "You're right, about control and calm. Even being ahead of the learning curve, I still had to cultivate the calm necessary to master it. Which, for a wild preteen, was not easy. But I was never prouder than when I finally understood what my mentor was trying to tell me and it all fell into place. That made the struggle completely worthwhile."

"I've had a few falls from rooftops when I forget my height, usually when I've been in a rush. Usually with at least one person shooting at my arse. There's really no way to correct at all though? Not even with time and practice?" It's magic but even when she's falling she can twist to avoid something, slow herself down, do whatever she can to make sure the landing isn't going to hurt her too badly. Maybe having barriers allows you to shrug lessons off a little more quickly.

"Ahead of the learning curve - is that compared to the ones in the Circles? I imagine there are very different lessons for prisoners compared to someone who was always free." No she isn't still brimming with anger on behalf of the mages, not at all.

Her response is appreciated, and not just because Korrin thinks Araceli's even more attractive when cloaked in righteous anger. "I'd assume so. Non-Circle mages have to be far more practical by default, since we're not reliant on Templars to 'defend' us. And when you grow up among mercenaries and expect to be one someday, those lessons take the shape of defeating enemies as quickly as possible. Lightning spells are a great help with that, as you might expect."

And she reluctantly nods, knowing that she could correct her Fade Step issues somewhat. "Time and practice do prevent the worst of it, that's true. In the heat of battle, it can be easy to forget unless you practice enough that it's instinct. I really need to get on that again, especially if we're going to be in the mountains more often than not. Barrier only lasts so long, and I'd rather not be a cautionary tale."

If the mages need the voice of an outsider (if that won't shoot them in the foot) then they'll have it in her. "I don't see how they'd defend anyone, but there are always lies people tell themselves that others end up buying into wholesale. It does work well for crowd control, certainly more than a smoke bomb would do. I wonder how similar parts of our childhoods were - pirates and mercenaries differ but they make the world go round without being a part of it exactly." Even in Castileos they must be disavowed when doing the work of the queen but that's a given, their private joke laughed about politely in the audiences.

"You could set up some dummies in Skyhold - it'd hurt enough to clatter into them but it would teach course correction without having to risk falling off something although if you did want that sort of lesson, I could pad somewhere for you." No one, not even Gavin, died during her lessons and she's damn proud of that fact.

That gets Korrin to arch an eyebrow, honestly considering it. She's still not certain she'd be any good at parkour in general, but perhaps falling lessons would be a good idea after all.

"Both would be useful, and I'll take you up on that. Climbing everywhere isn't likely to be my forte, but I'll listen to what advice you can give about falling and landing. Just in case my barrier wears off or I can't get it active in time. I'm not fragile, but if we're going to do that, it might as well be where we have plenty of healers around, too."

"I'm not saying you need to climb up to the very top of Skyhold but it'll help with ledges and things, and for vantage points like here. You're probably more likely to get hurt because that's how it goes usually; I'm smaller, lighter, the ground doesn't hit me as hard as it'll hit you. And you have horns."

Her piles of hay and straw were good enough for Gorse who happens to be enormous so she's not too worried about that although she might need to pad out some of the dummies just to be safe because it'd be a crime to damage Korrin's lovely horns.

Korrin's probably thinking along the same lines, as she reaches up to touch one of her horns. She's never broken or chipped them, a point of pride for her given a life that could easily see them damaged. While she won't go to ridiculous lengths to protect them, keeping her horns as is would be ideal.

"All good points, I don't deny that. I'm still willing, though. You don't become a mercenary by fearing injury...or at least, not a good one."

Edited 2015-11-28 15:30 (UTC)

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THE FALLOW MIRE

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