faderift | The Source Of Red Lyrium - Island Plot

WHO: James Norrington, Inessa Serra, Kain Ventfort, Christine Delacroix, Genevieve de la Fontaine, and Beleth Ashara
WHAT: Per the OOC post, James has tracked down the source of the red lyrium. Time to do something about it.
WHEN: During the Island plot
WHERE: Wrecked Antivan ship along the coast
NOTES:

Some light 'Great Makers' and other curses considering the crew that James is traveling with.

James had never really considered himself much of a scout, all things considered. Oh, he was an excellent tracker, but usually he was tracking people and not magical sources gone corrupt. He also wasn't exactly a shadow in the silence, considering how much armor he usually wore.

Today, however, he was dressed simply in chainmail, sword strapped at his hip, shield on his back, Interceptor sniffing the ground ahead of him as he carefully followed the tell-tale signs of red lyrium along the shore, then up the side of a hill, as a cliff took up a great deal of this side of the island. Red spikes of red lyrium were becoming more and more frequent, and when he walked out to the edge of the cliff, he could see it. A lone fjord, jutting out to the sea, and there was the shipwreck. Antivan, by the look of it, red lyrium spikes jutting out of the ship itself in every direction.

He frowned down at the fjord, then at the cliffs, before looking over at Interceptor.

"...Well unless you have a rope and some climbing skills you have been holding out on me?"

Interceptor chuffed at him, giving him a 'Come On Buddy' sort of look.

"Right." He sighed. "Back to camp we go."

(Starters coming up!)

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They are making their way down the slope well enough, until Genevieve's foot hit a wet patch of stone. She would have been able to pull herself back easily enough - if she had gone forward and not sideways, dragging both Beleth and Christine off their feet, and with that, Inessa went sideways, jerking Kain.

Leaving James on the other end, to steady them all on the rock, green eyes going wide as he watched almost everyone tumble.

Luckily, Beleth was quick on her feet, and managed to regain her balance, just as Kain hooked in one hand and yanked Inessa back up again.

From that point, James reached out to grab Christine and steady her, allowing Evie to find her own balance.

".... all right, now I really wish there had been vines. Is everyone all right?"

Whose bright idea was it to tie all of them together? And here she thought people knew what they were doing. Or maybe they do and she's just feeling testy because she was nearly dragged off a cliff. For her part, Christine does what she does best, casting Barrier with her free hand on as many of their number as the glyph can reach while her other hand clutches James under his arm and around his back, trying to find purchase on his armor. And then suddenly her eyes glow blue as she uses her spirit friend's help to cast Rejuvenate on James, in order to bring his stamina back up from having to rescue her, followed by Cleansing Aura to heal any of the party that may have taken injuries when they started slipping.

"Fine. I am healing us. Let me know if I am missing any of you. It is not a huge radius." She says us, but she means 'you.' Cleansing Aura doesn't heal her too. But that's the way healers tend to roll. Heal other people first, then look to yourself.

She was doing everything she had cautioned the others to do, however the patch of wet stone couldn't be accounted for. When her feet lost purchase she tried to correct her balance but she was over the edge so quickly all she managed to catch was air. A beat later she was banged against the cliffside, her momentum thankfully stopped by those still on the path. She grimaced as her head hit the rock before she was able to catch herself with her hands, but she'd take a headache over being a stain on the rocks below.

That doesn't mean she isn't swearing in Orlesian as she's pulled back up, and she stays seated for a moment, taking stock of the scrapes she gained in the fall.

The magical healing helps, although it also annoys her a little, given this whole thing is being constructed by the mages.

"Healing can wait until we're at the bottom can it not?" She frowns, looking around her for a hand hold to pull herself back to her feet with.

All color abruptly drains from Inessa's face when things go pear-shaped, and she automatically casts Barrier as well. Even when Kain yanks her back up again little of said color returns; her knuckles are white from how tight she's holding on. She needs a moment and some deep breaths before she manages a reply, somewhat less steady than normal.

"...I'm intact. Please, let us not repeat that. Ever."

Although there had been some blushing on Kain's part at Beleth's earlier suggestion, he manages to keep his wits about him and maintain his stern demeanor as he prepares for the descent. He's done this sort of thing countless times, even scaling risky mountainsides in the midst of heavy rain and wind, and in the dark... but it was always alone. He usually only had himself to blame and himself to lose if things went wrong. So... it's quite a bit different, accounting for others on the way. Not to mention, slower going.

When everything starts to go wrong, Kain keeps a cool head. He's faced some unsettling predicaments while climbing before, after all. He feels himself slipping, but he's quick to react, thinking of Inessa first and foremost. Footwork is critical now, and he fights to keep footholds above all else, letting his legs bear most of his weight as he also reaches his hands to steady himself against the cliffside after securing Inessa.

"I'm fine! No need for healing here..." Well, maybe some need, but being a reaver he kind of thrives on injury anyway. A few scrapes and bruises shouldn't bother him much, and may even help. "Deep breaths, everyone... we're not done yet."

At least tying them together kept those who slipped from meeting an untimely demise. But it also ends up with Beleth nearly being jerked off the slope. There's a brief feeling of weightlessness, and Beleth has time to think What an embarrassing way to die. before she manages to regain her balance. Above and below her, other people manage to steady themselves as well, and soon enough, it looks like the crisis has been averted.

And Beleth's idea to stick Inessa between her and Kain turned out to be a practical decision, after all. Woo.

A quick checkover shows nothing but a few scrapes and bruises, things which quickly disappear in the cleansing aura. "I'm fine," She calls up, adjusting her hold. "Good work, everyone. Once we've gathered ourselves, we should keep moving."

"Right. Well. I shall take the healing - that you Christine ever so much." James sighed as he made sure that Evie was steady, as was Beleth. Then he exhaled again. "And I agree - we should keep going as quickly as possible."

Now back on her feet, Christine's eyes return to normal and she ignores the aches in her body from the fall, determined to keep moving forward. In any case, it's nothing even close to something that could hinder her progress.

"I am ready," she replies, though since her rope is near the back, she won't start moving just yet. They need to straighten themselves out to go in order again.

Once on her feet Geneviève was calmer, nodding as the others sounded off that they were stable again.

"Let's just get down there," she says after letting out a heavy breath.

"I don't need to get down there that quickly...." Such is muttered under Inessa's breath, and she says nothing more after that, preferring to concentrate completely on her task. Perhaps if she does so enough, her fear won't get the better of her. That's the last thing they need, at this point.

As quickly as possible. Well. More or less. With so many of them and varying skill levels, they shouldn't hasten their pace too much, or they may end up with more trouble ahead.

"Nice and steady... Too fast and you'll lose control, too slow and you'll overthink it. Just... keep moving at an even pace." Kain takes care with every foot and hand hold that he finds, not wanting a repeat of that last incident. It's easy to save himself, to know what to do, but the added concern about the others has brought a whole new dimension to this situation. He's trying to remain aware of their positions as he keeps on gradually descending.

And now Christine is overthinking it because Kain has said not to overthink it. She takes a steadying breath, wishing her heart could return to a normal beat any time now. One foot in front of the other as she goes, hoping to not cause an avalanche of people. Should it happen again, they may not be so lucky.

At least they've made progress on their descent?

They are, and thank goodness. The rest of the climb is thankfully, and completely, uneventful.

That only leaves, alas, the ship itself. Oh dear.

The Source Of Red Lyrium - Island Plot - Closed

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