faderift | OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

WHO: All
WHAT: WINTER IS HERE
WHEN: Haring 15-Wintermarch 1
WHERE: The Gallows, Kirkwall
NOTES: You can use this post as an event-style mingle log, or just use it as background information for your RP elsewhere!

It's been a chilly month already, but in mid-Haring the temperature suddenly plummets. One day it's merely cold, and the next morning the Inquisition wakes to frost on the inside of the window panes and an icy draft whistling through every crack in the tower's masonry. Downstairs, the pipes that feed the bathing chambers and the kitchens creak in the walls, loud enough to be heard even out in the courtyard, where they run beneath the stones, and around midday, when the sun has failed to raise the temperature above freezing, a blocked pipe finally gives, cracking open to spill water across the central court and send it running down side passages. The whole area floods several inches deep and almost immediately begins to freeze, presenting at first a gigantic, treacherous slush puddle and, after a few hours, a sheet of sheer ice.

Melting a safe path from door to door and laying down sand or wood to keep it from becoming slick again is a simple enough undertaking, but before the entire courtyard can be thawed, someone appears with ice skates—and that’s a better idea, surely, for at least a few days. Anyone who complains about the frivolity can be assured it’s good exercise, not to mention good training for a force that may have to travel or fight on ice in the future.

Temperatures remain cold enough that even some parts of the harbor begin to freeze, first just at the calmest edges of the shoreline, and then the more protected nooks and crannies of the bay, inlets and the spaces between piers and beneath docks. It snows most days--not real storms, just a couple inches here and there--little enough for the window to blow most of it off the icy plain of the courtyard and other wide open, paved spaces, accumulating on branches and in alleyways, and creating growing drifts in corners and against walls.

After a week or so actual chunks of floating ice begin to fill the narrow channels of the harbor, threatening smaller and less-sturdy vessels, and the situation in the poorer parts of the city begins to grow dire. With the Viscount's blessing, Inquisition teams (particularly mages) are called in to help. Some are assigned to the docks, to clear ice that makes landing and unloading treacherous, others to help escort ships into harbor by melting a path ahead. Others are sent into Lowtown to clear ice and snow and to provide warmth and medical attention where needed. At least one mage is sent with each team, and while many neighborhoods are pleasantly surprised and grateful for the quick work fire glyphs make of cold hearths and frozen streets, a few are unable to overcome their distrust, and refuse the teams entry, determined to take care of their own without the help of dangerous outsiders.

In the last week of the year, a true blizzard strikes, snow falling steadily for more than a day, blanketing the city at least three feet deep. Digging out the Gallows will be a group effort, and most non-essential trips outside the base will be cancelled for a few days until travel is less difficult, while those who reside in the city or elsewhere may be encouraged to stay a night or two in the fortress so they might continue to work without traveling through the storm. But on the first day of Wintermarch the First Day feast goes on as planned, with modest but plentiful food and ale served in the Gallows' dining hall for anyone who wishes to celebrate the new year.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Since Sina's death, Korrin has been withdrawn and downright anti-social except with those likewise in mourning. The sudden need to clear ice changes things, to a degree. The Vashoth mage can be found using blasts of fire to help clear the ice chunks or energize them away, whatever it takes so that their ships can load and unload safely. Whether it's alone or teaming up with someone else, she'll work tirelessly to see this through; in fact, she could probably use some gentle reminders to take a break every now and then.

And she's definitely due for a break, seeing as they've been at it for almost two hours now. Prompto silently wandered off to find them something hot to drink and or eat. He comes back shortly, mugs of hot cider in tow. Someone took pity on him. He nudges Korrin with his elbow, then offers a mug to her.

Stretching a little and pretending her body doesn't ache as much as it actually does, Korrin glances down at Prompto. The mug is accepted with a small, flickering smile.

"Thanks. That ought to help put some warmth back in these bones. Maker, sometimes I hate the south." She blows at the cider gently, then takes a long sip.

"Yeah, I'm not used to this kind of cold, either. Grew up in a drier, warmer area." Insomnia was usually warm, though there was the occasional snowfall in the winter. But living in the city, there was always someplace warm to go if that happened. Here, it's a fair bit harder.

He takes a sip of his cider, glad to have something warm going into him. "You'd been at it awhile. Can't believe you haven't fallen over yet."

The cider brings out a soft sigh of relief as she finally has something hot to hold onto and drink. This might keep her going for a while longer, once it's all drained. She shrugs at the observation, looking a little smug. "What can I say, my kind have stamina. The cold may not do me any favors but I can stick it out long enough to see our ships ice-free. We don't have that much daylight left now, anyway."

Besides, it's a good outlet right now. The more she's working, the less she's thinking about the loss of Sina, though it's never too far from her surface thoughts. "You're not doing that badly, I've noticed. I bet I'm not the only one, either."

It seems to perk her up, if only a little. There's definitely... something hanging over her, but Prompto's not comfortable enough to ask about it, at least not outright. A lot's been going on lately. "About an hour or so, I'd guess. At least it looks like most of the ships are getting free."

He chuckles a bit at her observation. "I guess I look better than I feel. Could probably curl up somewhere and sleep for hours. I'm bushed. And cold. Think I stopped feeling my toes awhile ago." He hasn't been complaining as loudly as he normally would. The last thing he wanted was for someone to come down on him for it, especially given the circumstances.

"Ugh, I know how that goes. If it helps, I think if we clear of that bit of ice over there after we're done, our job will be finished for now. Then you can plop down by a fireplace and just not move for a while." Another sip of cider and she's glancing at the progress they've made. It's not a bad day's work, however sore it's left her. "Here's hoping they have a reason to send us north sooner than later, eh? Somewhere that doesn't have snow."

Prompto nods, sizing up that ice. It doesn't look too terrible, all things considered. "Sounds like a plan. Can't wait to peel off these clothes and get into something warm." At the mention of going north, though, Prompto makes a face. "After what happened in Nevarra, I'm kinda okay being stuck in Kirkwall right now. At least there's no giant crypt city of dead people around to come to life and attack us."

"Nah, I don't mean Nevarra." Nevarra's alright, Grand Necropolis aside, but Korrin doesn't particularly feel like defending it at the moment. "Rivain has better weather, better beaches and my grandmother, who can cook enough to feed an army. Free Marches aside, it's where my preference lies."

Better weather? Beaches? Good cooking? Oh man, sign Prompto up. "...you think we can come up with some reason to have to go to Rivain? I mean, surely something's going on up there, right?"

She smiles a little more at that. "I like the way you think, Prompto. And sure, I'll mention it to Araceli and see if the naval project could use some extra people to send up there. It's not like we're running out of reasons to watch the north as well as the south."

"I'd be very happy to do, uh, scouting things up there. Yeah. Especially if it involves scouting a nice beach." You never know what'll happen on those beaches okay. It's a totally legit concern and he absolutely has no ulterior motive.

"...fucking seriously?"

Korrin crosses her arms and narrows her eyes as though she can glare the dark clouds above into submission. She has kept to her habit of visiting the Gallows for work and the heated baths and that's more or less it. The steadily-falling snow and decreasing visibility threatens to change that, as she tries in vain to depart the fortress. But it's obvious their headquarters is going to need some digging out when all this is done, and combined with the fact that practically no one is going to row out in that mess means that she might just have to spend a night or two in the one area she'd give anything to leave.

OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

Korrin Ataash

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Blizzard (Gallows)