faderift | OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

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.

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For her part, Skadi doesn't try to make it worse for Minka and her bruised pride. She'll reserve her amusement and trolling for those with more self-esteem or arrogance, since they can afford the hit. She'll provide a steadying hand, shrugging at the question.

"It's a lot of snow and ice to melt, so that'll take time. Maybe we don't have as many fire-based mages as I thought, and if that's true it might take even longer. But I can show you how to stay upright, if you'd like. Once you get the hang of it, it's all muscle memory."

Letting out a huff, Minka shakes her head. "I thought all mages could light shit on fire. What's the point of being one if you can't do that?" Sounds like things would be pretty boring if you couldn't threaten to light people on fire.

"You could try, but I doubt I'll get the hang of it." Which actually isn't her looking for sympathy, but her honest opinion on her ability to learn. "Still gotta deliver these letters, though, so you might as well show me."

She shrugs, unfazed. "Well, tell you what. I don't have a lot to do today, since the mounts aren't going anywhere. They can't, with all the ice. So, let me be your escort. It's better than finding out my roommate's gone and cracked her skull."

"Yeah?" Minka's eyes are narrowed with suspicion at this kind offer. "What do I gotta do in return?" Because doing something for nothing is so rare in her experience, and yet people here have been doing it. Giving her free advice, buying her drinks, offering to do shit for her. It's weird and she's starting to wonder if there's something they're not telling her. Something to do with the shard. Like maybe if she gets pissed off she'll accidentally open a rift so people have to be nice to her.

But then Skadi has a shard too. If people are hiding side effects of the shard from her, wouldn't they hide them from Skadi too? Hmm, these questions make her head hurt.

Skadi's still puzzled by that suspicion, but she doesn't call Minka out on it aloud. Perhaps she just needs time and in some things, the Avvar woman can be patient. Her brow furrows as she gives it some thought. "If you've the coin, spot me something warm to drink on the way back? Don't tell anyone, but just because I'm Avvar doesn't mean I'm immune to the cold. A little pick-me-up will have me grateful."

"Guess I could do that." Now that she has money, she wants to hoard it all like a dragon. Or maybe buy stuff. Just a shit ton of stuff, because other than the clothes on her back and a bed roll plus some camping supplies, she has no stuff. Back with the Carta, they sometimes took her bow and arrows away and gave them to someone else, and only resupplied her once there were extra again. Not that it really mattered. She has no deep attachment to her weapon because she sucks at using it. Weapons are usually very personal to people, but not to her.

"So have Avvar ever froze to death?"

"Aye, they have. Usually it's fools who forget that a bottle of hooch is not the way to keep a body warm. Sometimes, it's just luck. The climate of the Frostbacks can be merciless even to the experienced. If the chill comes and strengthens before you can reach shelter or the hold, you'll freeze. All the furs only help delay, they don't make you immune.

But that's not going to happen here. Kirkwall's too far north for the winds to have any real bite that will last for long. You'll see, this'll be damn mild by comparison." Skadi glances around, then smiles. "Tell me what direction to take, and I'll get us there."

"Don't really know the Frostbacks," she admits. "I go through Jader when I need to go between countries. Sounds rough, though."

She's used to the weather in the Marches, but even this is a bit extreme. It's not like she's even had to skate around anywhere either, but that's because she's never lived places with fancy plumbing that could have pipe bursts like this.

"That way," she says, pointing with her free hand towards the infirmary while her other hand holds on to Skadi's clothes. Now that Minka's settled in, she already knows the layout of the place like the back of her hand. It's not like she's using her brain for much else.

Skadi starts them off, at a slower pace than she's accustomed too solo, just so that Minka doesn't get disoriented. This won't be very efficient if that happens, after all. As they glide toward the infirmary, she smiles a bit. "Aye, it is...but that harshness has a way of carving a person down to their true self. Without its challenges, I know I'd be the lesser for it. Besides, you can't beat the view."

"True self?" she asks, not really getting it. Aren't people a self already? Of course, her social interactions have hardly been healthy or long-lasting. It's either been with other ill-adjusted members of the Carta, or a random person she was delivering something to and Minka doesn't stay to chat.

"Aye, exactly. You never really know what you're made of until you're challenged, and the Frostbacks has plenty of those to spare. It can break you, but if it doesn't, odds are it'll make you stronger. A lot of lowlanders don't get that, which is a shame. They'd rather be soft and safe than really live."

Minka makes a face because she has never been exhilarated in her life. She just sort of exists and that's enough for her. You can't miss what you don't know, right?

"Sounds like a lot of work. Not really my style." Meaning if she was raised in the Frostbacks, she probably would have died long ago. The Avvar would have given up on her for being useless and lazy. "Carta life ain't easy, but I've never really been challenged either. At least, I don't think I have."

Skadi just shakes her head, not comprehending how anyone can live like that let alone want to. It might just be a cultural gap that cannot be overcome. "Aye, it's work, but also high-reward. If you ever get that rush, you'll know there's nothing like it. Maybe you will while you're here with the Inquisition. Lady knows they don't keep us idle for too long."

"People keep saying that," Minka answers grumpily. "But I don't want to be risking life and limb here. I'm here to get this stupid thing out of my hand and not have it grow back someplace else." Because she's heard that's a thing. Not that she was planning on chopping off her hand, but it's worth knowing the shard will come back on the other hand, or maybe someplace worse.

Now at their destination, Minka inhales deeply and lets go of Skadi's clothes. Standing still so she doesn't slip, she says, "Gerard?" and when the man nods, she carefully takes a letter out of her bag, handing it to him without double checking the address. Since she can't read, she's come to identify which letters go to who by the size of the letter, weight of it, symbol on the wax seal, etc. He thanks her and she gives a curt nod, neither friendly nor unfriendly. Then she grips Skadi again.

"Can you take me to the smithy next?"

"The smithy, it is!" Skadi will make sure Minka has a sturdy enough grip before starting them off. When she speaks up again, her tone is a little subdued. "...I'm sorry. I hate it when people try to tell me how to live my life; it's not right for me to be a hypocrite there. You didn't ask for any of this, any more than I did. If you don't want any more than this, that's your right."

It's weird to hear apologies, or people justifying her choices. Minka has landed in a wholly different world to the one she knows, and she's not even a rifter. She's not entirely comfortable with this. Part of her believes that she's being lulled into a false sense of security since it doesn't make sense for people to say her opinions are valid. Her opinions are crap. She's pretty damn sure of that. They're always the wrong thing or the stupid thing or something not worth listening to.

In response, she lets out a grunt of acknowledgment. When in doubt, it's best to not question things and just let the person know you heard them. Less chance of trouble that way. Instead, she changes the topic.

"Bet you could make some coin ferrying people around like this."

That gets her chuckling softly. "I could, couldn't I? If I get into that, I'll put some of the coin towards heating stones for us and the nuglet. At least we've got the thick fur rugs, but extra warmth between the sheets never hurts."

"Huh. Good idea." It's not something she would have thought first; that's for sure. Minka would have probably just invested in more clothes, layering herself until she was wearing so much she couldn't sit down or lower her arms.

"You use them in the mountains? The heating stones?"

"Oh, aye. We trade with the dwarves for what we can't make ourselves, and some stones are easy to enchant. It's probably even easier here, since no one has to go trudging up a mountain for it." The dwarves will probably appreciate that part, for all that she doesn't think them slouches physically.

She nods vaguely, knowing nothing about the enchanting business. Those are for dwarves with brains who have studied the art for years.

"Then I'm looking forward to getting some."

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OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

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