OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

[faderifting]

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.

Comments

[iceblade]

"Don't worry, I won't pass that on to the Revered Mothers. Why test their belief that I'd likely burst into flame if I crossed the threshold of their Chantry, eh?" She peers at the dragon some more, appreciative. "You weren't part of that cult in Haven, were you? I'd heard they worshipped Andraste as a dragon or somesuch."

[in_death_sacrifice]

“Good. You surely don’t want to push your luck with their kind.” Which is why he just keeps his head, down does his thing, goes through the motions and all of it. Sure, he’s undoubtedly a believer to the extent that he’s certain the Maker exists. He’s just never been sure someone so indifferent deserves as much praise as he gets, sometimes. “Ah, no, I’m afraid not. I’ve heard of such cults, of course, and they’re certainly a point of interest. Maybe they were even on to something, who knows?”

But no, the cult he’s interested in is much older and more pure in many ways, given they didn’t have to call the dragons by some other figure’s name.

[iceblade]

"Maybe, but I don't envy them now. The Hero of Ferelden killed their dragon and they lost Haven to the Chantry." Skadi shakes her head, frowning at the thought. She doesn't have a stake in the cult personally, but the Chantry making any kind of incursion into the mountains has her on edge for her own people. "Don't pass it on, but I can't help but wonder if losing Haven was some sort of payback in a way. The Chantry overstepped, tried to claim what wasn't theirs to begin with...and it's now lost to everyone."

[in_death_sacrifice]

"Fair point. I hadn't considered it like that.. but I assume you mean that it was a more... indirect intervention, right? Perhaps the working of a god, if anything, and not the fault of someone claiming revenge." It's an interesting thought, though, that the Chantry got some sort of payback for being so overambitious. Kain ponders this for a bit. "It would make sense as some sort of balance that had to be struck in the world. So it always goes, doesn't it?"

[iceblade]

"The gods work in mysterious ways, and they're not kind to those who cross them." Skadi shrugs, pacing around the dragon to get a better view from all angles. "'Balance' is a strange thing to consider, when the Chantry dominates Thedas. That's not very balanced, is it? But they don't hold sway everywhere, and it's in those cracks where my people thrive. The Dalish, too, and that cult, for a time."

[in_death_sacrifice]

Kain nods in agreement, as he also looks over the dragon, moving in to fix a section here and there when it seems to be not entirely to his liking. It's getting better, he's noticing. "Indeed, not everywhere. Nor in every one. Some of us have far older views which we still adhere to... Although times have long since changed, regrettably." At least he feels somewhat comfortable talking about this sort of thing with someone non-Andrastian. Aside from his closest friends, he's a bit more careful when discussing the whole dragon worship thing.

[iceblade]

"Oh? And what do you believe, exactly?" Skadi tilts her head, genuinely interested. As long as it's not just blather about the Chant of Light, she can take the time to listen.

[in_death_sacrifice]

"I believe that the past has never truly left us... that the ancient people may have once been on to something in their way of life... that perhaps there may be more than one way to reach the divine." He pauses, to concentrate on the dragon, adding a couple more spikes where they'd look properly menacing. He shrugs. "But don't mistake me for some sort of heretic. I'll believe what I believe, but I'll not attack the chantry in any way."

[iceblade]

"You remember you you're speaking to, aye? I'd not shame you for heresy, if you did." Skadi smirks, perhaps a little disappointed but not at all surprised that Andrastianism dominates so heavily over the Inquisition. She looks over the dragon, nodding. "A fine beast. It deserves a companion, sometime, but take care not to freeze out here."

Lowlanders are more fragile, after all.

[in_death_sacrifice]

Kain nods in understanding. He's not too thrilled with cold weather, although he's been in it plenty, whenever a Warden mission took him to such an environment. Then there was the time spent at Skyhold. So he knows what to expect.

"Perhaps I'll do that tomorrow, if I find the time for it... What do your people think about dragons?" The question is said curiously, because that'll shape what he's able to say about his beliefs. He's not really had any dealings with the Avvar much at all, so he's interested. He's read some things on the matter in his dragon books, of course, but hearing it from the actual source may prove to be more true.

[iceblade]

"They're the ultimate predator and the ultimate challenge. If they settle in our area, we've no choice but to fight them sooner or later. That can me a task that takes more than one hold, and there tends to be plenty of glory even for a large raiding party." Skadi smiles a little wistfully. "There was a high dragon that lingered long enough to produce a clutch, but she left before we could gather to fight her. I took down her children, though."

[in_death_sacrifice]

“It’s exhilarating, isn’t it? Truly, my greatest moment was the dragon battle I took part in… I have the armor to show for it as well.” He’d had his Warden armor modified with the dragonscale, something he’s always eager to show off. “But there’s… something more to it than that. Meeting such creatures in combat and defeating them is perhaps the greatest honor I can imagine. When I face a dragon, it’s nothing like meeting a demon or some other enemy in combat… it’s as an equal, as someone I respect. They deserve that. Our respect. And perhaps more than that, as well…”