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]

"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."

[trashlife]

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."

[iceblade]

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."

[trashlife]

"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?"

[iceblade]

"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.

[trashlife]

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."