You Just Wiggle Your Fingers

[wontforgetyou]

WHO: Alayre Sauveterre, Galadriel, Jamie McCrimmon, Lace Harding, Lenneth Valkyrie
WHAT: A group is sent to investigate the rift east of Fisher's End
WHEN: During the Fallow Mire quests
WHERE: East of Fisher's End, Fallow Mire
NOTES: OOC plotting can be found here!

The mage known as Hugh wasn't really someone who was much of a talker, but he had been very clear about one thing - that he wanted some of the Rifters who had gone to the Fallow mire to accompany him to try and see if they could have any effect on a rift that was currently lingering just east of Fisher's End. So to that end, a small group had been put together, made up of three of the Rifters, with Scout Harding and Knight-Commander Sauveterre to back them up on the off chance something went wrong and they had to retreat.

It wasn't the most optimistic of plans, but without truly knowing if the Rifters would be able to affect the rift at all, it was a necessary one. Hugh didn't have a lot of answers, either, and what little he was actually willing to say was vague, at best. There were assurances that they could affect the rift, but not how they were supposed to be able to do that, something that left Jamie feeling vaguely out of sorts, especially the closer they got to where the rift was supposed to be. Without any real concrete answers, and with the rain continuing to fall on them, he wound up giving in to an urge to grumble - at least for the moment. If he got an actual answer out of that, well, so much the better.

"Is it much further, do you think?"

Comments

[laurenande]

"It is silent, for the moment."

The statement was obvious; beneath the bursts of driving rain and the distant roll of thunder, the silence in the mire was grimly oppressive. They took great care in their approach, save perhaps for the agent who assured them of their task, but even he fell silent and stepped swiftly as they drew closer through the fog.

The Fallow Mire was aptly named, for what little that was worth. It unsettled her in ways that were not easily counted, nor resolved, and the green and glimmering light did little to push back the darkness. Galadriel stepped lightly and strained to be unseen, though she was easily the most obvious among them, glowing as she did. The waters that surrounded the rift ran deep and dark, they stretched out into the the inky landscape and were possessed of an unnatural stillness. She was not afraid of what lurked beneath their surface, but she was wary.

It was never wise to disturb the water.

The rift itself was, she thought, not quite as she remembered them. Then again, when she had witnessed her first, she had not been entirely herself. To witness one quiet, without the haze of battle or the pain and disorientation that had plagued her, it was easy to see it for what it was. She had thought the veil a metaphor but, as she stared, she considered that it might not be so. Truly, it was where the world was parted from itself.

"So our task is upon us, what are we to do?" Galadriel asked and turned her attention to the Inquisition agent.

[lacere]

Harding could see it, through the mist - the grew glow that so often she and her fellow scouts had chartered and made note of, but never made to approach for themselves, if they could avoid it. It wasn't that they were unwilling, it just wasn't what they did - the rifts were for the Herald, and she could close them.

Save now, there was no Herald.

If Hugh heard the question Galadriel spoke, he did not care to answer, just ambling forward in the direction of the rift and muttering about how the undead were so inconveniant and that he couldn't walk in a straight line over there. Harding kept as much an eye on him as the rift, taking point as she was, but she looked over her shoulder to supply as much as an answer as she could.

"We never really understood how it worked - or, maybe some of us did, kind of - but whenever the Herald got close to a rift, it would react to the mark in her hand. Or vice versa. When that happened, she could close it, and stop demons coming from the Fade."

It's said as one would say any piece of knowledge, but if she seems uncertain, it's because to her, a lot of that is just empty words and beyond the capacity of her understanding. Magic is weird, the mire is wet.

"When we get closer, it'll open up. That's when the demons will show up. I'd recommend being prepared for anything."

[equanimiti]

Having been cast as their 'silent protector' during this harrowing expedition, Sauveterre came to a brief halt once the Valkyrie spoke. Quite knowledgeable of Lenneth's earnesty, Sauveterre did not doubt the woman when she claimed to see a faint light within the distance. The mist here is thick and oppressive but even he could vaguely spot the glimmer of green up ahead.

"Stay cautious." The Knight-Commander states once Harding speaks about the possibility of demons approaching. While Sauveterre possesses no fondness for demons, he's certainly more willing to battle such cretins over the undead. The dead should be buried and respected, not hacked to bits or shambling about. Thanks to this mission to Fallow Mire, Alayre will certainly have more terrible memories to haunt him.

"Don't be liberal about your safety here. The closer we approach the Rift, the more likely we face combat." With that said, Sauveterre unsheathes his swords. He's perhaps one of the few Templars alive to not require a shield in combat.

[wontforgetyou]

"Och, that's just great," Jamie muttered. "Just what we need, more demons."

Granted, he wasn't entirely surprised to hear that they were going to turn up at the rift - he'd already gathered that much from talking to other people - but he didn't have to like the notion very much. The warning from Harding and Alayre wasn't one he was going to ignore, though, and his hand falls to his own sword, pulling it free from its sheath even as his eyes flick over to the Templar's swords. While he's used enough to fighting with a single sword, fighting with two is a style he's not seen all that often. If they weren't about to find themselves in a situation where they would have to be facing demons, he'd maybe be inclined to ask about it and see if he couldn't find out a bit more. As it is, however, he keeps things to an interested look, saving the questions for another time when they'd be safer to ask.

Besides, chances were he'd get to see them in action sooner rather than later, as something like a faint hum suddenly grows a little louder, a flash of green more clearly visible for a second or two in the spot Lenneth had indicated.

"Look, over there, where that light just got brighter. Think that's where the rift is."

[lennethvalkyrie]

The Valkyrie nodded, an impressive frown on her youthful face as she eyed the brightening light. Despite the illumination thrown out from the shifting point, the rift did nothing to lighten the surroundings. Rather, it gave the fog a sickly and unhallowed look, throwing oddly shaped shadows across an already disquieting landscape.

"Agreed," she said, drawing her own blade after hearing the dual ring of Sauveterre's weapons being drawn, and the steel whisper of Jamie's following.

Without moving her eyes from the flicker, Lenneth called back over her shoulder. "Scout Harding, do you know how close we may get before the rift will open? It would be advantageous if we could scout out the ground on which we will be fighting."