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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Her concern for him made his already high opinion of her rise. The thought of being alone with her in the privacy of her room, made his anxiety at the same time his anticipation rise also.

"I will be well enough as long as I can see outside, Ellana, I assure you." He sighed a little as he felt warmth seep into him slowly, causing him to flex his hands a bit. "It is very much like our flets. It has been an uncomfortable few nights, and as I never experienced cold to this extreme, it seems I was woefully unprepared. But, no longer thanks to your intervention."

"Oh, I wish you had told someone earlier," she replies, brow furrowed in concern. "No one here wants to see you freeze to death." But at least they've remedied that with their trip to the quartermaster. Still, Ellana wonders if the new clothes will be enough.

"Maybe you could stay in the stables? That's not too closed off and there's plenty of straw for the mounts." It isn't easy to hear how cold he was and simply let it be, but now they've arrived at her room and she figures she shouldn't stick her nose in too much if he's fine sleeping on his shelves.

She waves a hand at the door, removing the ward she placed there, and then takes out her key to unlock the door the traditional way. Not that she has much of value, but you never know with such a varied group as the Inquisition. Opening the door she gestures inside. On the wall opposite the door is the window, and her bed runs along the wall under it with the headboard against the left wall and a cozy bear skin thrown across the mattress. There is precious little furniture: only a nightstand, trunk, armchair, and a few shelves, but it's obviously a homey space, made more so by the fireplace on the right wall.

"Oh, I'll make us a fire," she says, closing the door behind them and heading over to add some kindling from a basket on the floor. "And then we can get started. Feel free to look around." Waving a hand vaguely at the room, she then gets to work, using magic to light her fire.

The space has plenty of personal touches, like the lute leaning against the trunk, or the green tea set arranged on the wide sill of the window beside a tiny wooden halla figurine and a wooden flute. The shelves store toiletries, a opalescent comb, and several books. The end table has more toiletries, candles, another book, and another comb, this one with flowers carved into the handle. A discarded scarf similar to the one she is wearing lies across the armchair, and leaning against a corner is her staff, with its prominent dragon's head staring out unblinkingly across the room.

He watched as she moved about the room, gathering what she needed for the fire. Her hands were remarkably graceful, he couldn't help but thinking. Which, of course made him blush a little, and in an effort to keep himself from flustering he shifted his focus to the room. It seemed a cheery place. More cheery than the room he was given, but he suspected that had everything to do with Ellana, and nothing to do with original state of the room. As he looked around, he answered her questions.

"I found that once the temperature became unbearable, I walked around the town for a bit, and it seemed to help. I-" he stopped mid sentence, unsure of how to express the feeling of helplessness and over all isolation he felt in the last few months. "I did not wish to cause anyone any trouble." He didn't really have anyone to tell if he was completely honest, but he wouldn't have wanted to trouble anyone who would worry. He wouldn't want Galadriel to think he was inept or incapable of looking after himself either. "But, perhaps the stables would be a good refuge." If he knew where those were. He hopefully could figure that out.

His attention moved to flute on window sill. He walked over to it, letting his fingers run over the rough grain of wood until the tips of his fingers sank into the holes along it. I missed playing his own flute, which was now lost to him. It was his own little secret, something he did just for him and him alone. He sighed a little, and let his hand fall slowly down to settle back at his side. There was precious little music in Kirkwall, and the songs of the trees and animals here still eluded him.

The statue of a stag caught his eye, although the twisting antlers where like no stag he'd ever seen. It was beautiful, the most beautiful animal he'd ever seen he would guess. "What type of stag is this, Ellana?"

"You'll find the Inquisition wants to take care of its shardbearers," she replies, working on settling in a small log to her burning kindling. Of course, the Inquisition doesn't treat them like kings, as Galadriel could attest to, but seeing how at one time a shardbearer accidentally opened up a rift above Skyhold, the goal is to keep them from getting too disgruntled. "We certainly don't want you to run off and straight into the enemy's hands either." Who knows what the Venatori would do with a shardbearer of their very own?

If Ellana had known that Haldir enjoys playing the flute, she would give him this one immediately. It had been a gift from a clanmate, but she never plays it. She doesn't know how, and it's already hard enough trying to keep up with her lute practice when she has so much she likes to do. Adding a second instrument is too great a task.

"Hmm?" she asks, turning her body a little to see, though she really should have guessed, seeing how there are no other stag figurines sitting out. "Ah, that is a halla. It's the most important animal to the Dalish. It pulls our aravels -- our landships -- when we move camps. They're sacred to us." She pauses here, wondering if she should still be saying "our" and "us" if she's no longer counting herself among them. "I mean, I'm no longer a part of that life, but I still love the halla. I used to help the halla keeper feed them. Anyway, it's said that the Creator Andruil turned one of her favored into the mother of the halla, and she -- Ghilan'nain, that is -- was raised up to become one of the Creators herself. Because she came from us, the halla are our brothers and sisters, and we protect them in return for their help."

"They would be at home in Lorien. I see my home in them, which is very odd for a creature so wholly disconnected from it. I hope to see one in person some day." He turned, noticing how her face fell when talking about the Dalish. He moved to her, kneeling down so they were at eye level. He towered over her when they stood, so talking to her while she knelt seemed to put far too great a distance between them.

"You may have left your clan, Ellana, but that does not mean they are not still a part of you. I may not be in Lorien, but that doesn't make me less of an Eldar. You have been molded by their history, and by those in your clan, and it will continue to shape who you become. Do not feel shame in that. Do not run from it, embrace it. No one can take that from you, even should they wish to. You are Dalish, regardless of where you may be at the time. If anyone has anything contrary to say to that, you can point them my direction."

He reached out, tentatively, tucking the stray hairs that had worked it's way out of her braid behind her ear.

Keeping still as he kneels beside her, she gives him a smile tinged with sadness.

"I know some who would disagree with you. To be honest, I don't mind not being called Dalish anymore. 'Formerly Dalish' is what I tell people, because I feel elves here have been divided long enough. We should be celebrating our similarities instead of coming up with differences to divide us. We're all one people, and city elves don't have to become Dalish or Dalish become city elves to suddenly be accepted, you know? I'm an elf. I don't need to attach any more names than that, but I thank you for what you said." It's clear to her that already he seems to care for her a great deal. Tentatively, she reaches out to place her fingertips against his arm in thanks.

"Let me just get a few more logs on the fire and then we can sit down, all right?"

Her words sank into him, and made him think of how desperately he tried to push down his own "Silvan-ness". It gave him much to think on, but that would have to happen a bit later.

He let her touch linger a few more seconds, just a fraction longer, and then he moved up and away from her as she hinted him to do. His gaze is now pointed toward the near the trunk, and his curiosity is peaked even more.

"Do you play?" He asks gesturing to flute and lute. "I admit I quite missed making music since coming here."

"The lute, yes; the flute, no." The logs are promptly put on the fire and maneuvered around until she's satisfied with them before she moves to sit on the bed. "The flute was a gift, you see. For my birthday. But it's hard enough to try and master the lute, and I don't think I ever really will there. Adding the flute would be even harder. What instruments do you play?"

"The flute, indecently. Although, I am no master either. It was the only to pass the little time I had to myself. But i enjoyed it. It drove my brothers mad when I was learning too, so that was an added bonus."

Haldir moved a little closer to the fire, because he was fairly frozen and it's warmth lapped and called to him. He stood awkwadly, not completely sure where it would be appropriate to sit.

"Thank you for the fire. I will get more wood for you tomorrow."

"Really? I wonder who you could drive mad here," she muses jokingly, watching him stand before the fire, so tall and elegant in her simple little room. Yet he doesn't look imposing or like he's too big for the space, which she finds nice.

The offer of wood is kind, and though her first reaction is to brush it off as not necessary, she thinks she knows him well enough by now to know he would really prefer to repay her, so she ends up saying, "Ma serannas. It's good to stay stocked up on fuel. By the way, would you like to take the flute with you? I know I said it was a gift, but the person who gave it to me isn't in the Inquisition anymore to see me give it away, and I think he'd like to know it's getting some use."

His eyebrows flew up in shock at her gift, and he caught his tongue before he said he wouldn't take something meaningful from her. But, he didn't want to be rude, and if she couldn't be without the flute she would not have offered it to him.

"Ma Serannas, Ellanna." He said bowing his head a little, before moving to pick up the flute. He brought it to his lips, and then lowered it before looking at her a little cheekily. "I have improved since the time I irritated my brothers. Would it be alright for me to play for just a moment? I am curious to see what sound this flute wishes to make. I can wait as well, if you would prefer."

"Oh, no, please do go ahead!" Ellana says with excitement, drawing up her legs to sit cross-legged on her bed, face full of anticipation. In her mind, one of the Eldar surely must be able to create beautiful music. Everything they do carries a sort of beauty with it, wholly unique to them.

He smiles at her excitement, and then licks his lips before bringing the flute to them. With deft fingers, he warmed up with some of the less complex runs, but then shifted over to the harder ones. Then, with a deep breath, he played one of the more jaunty songs he knew. It was one his Ada had played for him when he was young, and it was the first thing that came into his mind. It was the shortest one he knew too, so it wouldn't take hours to complete like some of the others, which was for the best he felt.

The song came to an end after a few moments, and afterward he looked at her, hoping she couldn't see his ineptitude too badly. Compared to the masters in Lorien, he was a very poor artist indeed.

As he plays, Ellana's shoulders bounce along with the tune, quite naturally and without her really thinking about it. When he finishes, she claps her hands, giggling as well.

"That was really good! I can imagine dancing to that. Is it a song with words too?"

"There are words, but I have long since forgotten them. I will think on it, and see if I can conjure them back." Her reaction made him swell with pride as he put the flute back on the sill.

"Do you enjoy dancing? I am afraid I don't really know how myself. It was deemed unsafe due to our position in the trees." He settled, still in front of the fire, but nearer to her this time. He liked her sing-song laughter, and the way her eyes lit up. He found himself smiling fuller and feeling more at ease than he had decades, all because of her company and the homey feel of her room.

"I do! But actually, I only know one fancy dance: the waltz. Any other time I've danced, it's been around a fire or at a celebration and I wasn't doing steps, but just feeling the music. So I guess you could call it dancing, or maybe swaying?" She giggles again, raising a hand to her mouth and shaking her head. "I don't know! It feels like dancing to me. Anyway, wasn't I going to teach you to use the crystals? And here I am, wondering if what I do is dancing or not." Clearing her throat, she unwinds her scarf and sets it aside to better hold out her crystal in its locket.

"Go ahead and get out yours again?"

Her melodious giggling and the thought of her swaying and dancing tugs at his stomach. It's a sound he wants to always hear.

"I would very much like to see you dance, not matter the style. I'm sure it is breathtaking."

He beamed at her and then rummaged around in his pouch again. Once he has the crystal in hand, he knelt in front of her, and then presented it palm open to her, not knowing what she will do with it once she has it.

Breathtaking? A blush spreads across her face before Ellana can even think of trying to hide it. What a compliment! Of course now she's sure that the first time he sees her dance will be the time she slips and twists an ankle in front of him.

"Okay, well, you need to hold onto it, and this will work easiest if there's a little distance between us, so I'll go out into the hall." She clears her throat and stands, her face still burning a little. "How it works is you either think of the Inquisition as a whole in order to talk to everyone at once, think of a couple of people if it's a message for a few, or think of just one person so it's a personal conversation between the two of you. So I'm going to think of just you out in the hall and then I'll speak into the crystal. You should hear my voice coming from the crystal. Then think of just me in return and say something back."

Without further ado, she steps outside and closes the door behind her. She starts walking down the hall, because if his elf ears are anything like hers, he probably has keen hearing anyway and she doesn't want this to be spoiled from him hearing her through the door. But a moment later her voice appears in the room, coming from Haldir's crystal.

"Hello? Can you hear this?"

He waits, patiently as he hears her shuffle down the hall. He waited and her voice ran out from the crystal in his hand. He smiled, happy that it worked, but now it was up to him. He brought the crystal close to his lips. Now just to think of her.

He thought of her striking eyes, who's color reminded him of the forest. Of nature, of life. Sparkling, brimming with emotion. He thought of her lips, rosy and plump after their kiss. Her nose, small and refined, as it brushed against his cheek and then her cheeks, flushed and-

He had to stop himself before he was lost in memory and had to make a rather quick excuse to leave. He cleared his throat, and whispered a little huskily into it. "I hear you, Ellana."

Out in the hall, Ellana grins to herself, though a moment later she realizes how silly she must look should anyone come upon her. But Haldir's learned to use the crystal so easily, and she's glad for it. Now they can stay connected and she doesn't have to try and find him on one of the city's many rooftops.

"Oh, good! So you see, it's as simple as that. Whenever you want me, just call me on the crystal. If I don't answer right away, whatever you say is stored on the crystal and I can hear it later." Ellana glances up and down the hall before adding a bit sheepishly. "I guess I'll come back in now."

He paces in an attempt to calm down, but her voice ringing through the crystal just pushes images of her even more prominently into his mind. He takes a deep breath, and stuffs it into his pouch once she is done, hoping he can get himself together before she returns.

He turned toward the fire, hoping to give himself a few more precious seconds before he has to look at her beautiful face again.

Edited 2018-01-01 22:01 (UTC)

Ellana slips back inside, all smiles as she closes the door and takes her spot back on the bed.

"There; that was pretty easy, wouldn't you say?"

"Y-yes very easy." He says only turning partially as she entered. He fiddles with the clasp on his puch pocket, unable to close the damn thing. Once closed, he took another deep breath.

Finally mustering up the courage to turn towards her he adds, "Th-Thank you for the demonstration. I am in your debt. Again."

He appears to her to be agitated in some way, but she can't think of a reason for it, unless he really dislikes being in a room with walls. Smiling weakly, she replies, "Well, you're bringing me wood tomorrow, so throw an extra log on, and both debts will be repayed."

He turned to her, thinking it was perhaps better to go than to overstay his welcome. He would be back tomorrow, with the extra fuel. Hopefully he would have collected himself better tomorrow.

He turned, inclining his head. "I will talk my leave, then. My thanks again for your hospitality and your kindness. I will see you tomorrow." He smiled, hoping she wouldn't take his quick departure as being rude. He would look at procuring some food and wine for her tomorrow as well.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Sorry this took so long!!! Ah!