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

[thunderproof]

"You did sort of ask for one!" Adalia says, voice raised to carry across the courtyard. She's rather in the open, with no large drifts of snow on her side of the courtyard to hide behind, but she doesn't run for another spot. Instead, she brings her free hand to her mouth and whistles, a sharp, bright sound, in the direction of the building Charis flew behind.

"Charis! Vi dos, petranas!"

There's an answering shriek, and then a dark blur in the sky as Charis swoops out from behind the Gallows, flying in front of Adalia like a missile and breathing ice as he goes. When he's gone again there's a wall of ice in front of her, tall and wide enough for Adalia to duck behind.

It's an impressive show, but it did leave both of them rather open to snowballs for as long as it took.

[in_death_sacrifice]

Kain is hastily making snowballs, working to stock up his supplies, but he's also kept an eye on his targets at the same time. Well, one of them, at least. While the dragon is out of sight, he hurries to toss a couple of snowballs in Adalia's direction, taking careful aim as he lets them loose toward her. He darts behind his shelter as the dragon swoops back in, launching snow upward in an attempt to hit the flying target. But then the dragon lets loose a bunch of ice...

"Impressive," he mutters under his breath, in genuine awe of the dragon's power. So it's an ice-elemental dragon of some sort? He has so many questions, so much fascination, but it's all going to have to wait for the moment. For now, there's a war on.

He peers from behind the snowdrift, watching carefully for movement from her side.