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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It's been years since Simon last got to skate along the frozen Minanter, racing the other Starkhaven children and getting snow shoved down the back of his shirt as punishment when he won too often. His memories of it are blurry-edged now, but still fond--and muscle memory knows no lyrium fog; the moment he straps the skates back on, he knows he won't want to take them off again until the snow all melts.

He whisks along the outside edge of the courtyard, wishing fervently that this could be a viable method of transportation throughout the whole city. Maybe if he were a mage.

Edited 2017-12-14 06:33 (UTC)

The first time Vandelin tries to set foot onto the snowy ground outside, the seeping cold through his boots sends blindsiding pain through the once-frostbitten soles of his feet, and his mind is filled unbidden once again with images of gangrene that no spirit healer could slow.

He doesn't leave the building again.

It does not save him from the odd little plants that come bouncing out of an unattended storage closet, crawling their way up his robes with tiny little spines and inexplicable teeth, one biting onto his earlobe to hang there like a particularly festive earring and the rest burrowing into his hair. Yanking at them does no good, and even Vandelin has just enough self-preservation not to set his own hair on fire. He's going to need help.

Edited 2017-12-14 07:41 (UTC)

I. "Skating"

Teren isn't that bothered by the snow-- she's seen worse, coming from Skyhold, of course-- but the frozen courtyard takes her by surprise. It's early morning when she first takes a step onto it and the step continues much longer than usual, her long arms windmilling in an effort to keep her lanky frame upright. Fortunately, for someone her age Teren has impeccable balance, and after about fifteen seconds of frantic recovery she manages to stabilize with both boots on the ground and the rest of her above them. She's about three feet from where she began, and everything she was carrying is on the paving stones.
Any witnesses might think about finding a life insurance policy, at least if she sees them.

II. General Humbuggery (wildcard)

The cold is miserable for someone with no natural padding, and throughout the season Teren can be found wearing far more clothing than any normal person needs. She also, impossibly, has managed to become more sour than ever, which is only enhanced by

III. The Mistletoe,

a sprig of which found its way onto her belt when she was looking for a mop, and now it has spread up her side and over her shoulder like some kind of horrid over-the-clothes rash.
The first thing she does is look for Anders, but it's entirely possible others are encountered before the ordeal ends.

Ice? Snow? Skadi is finally in her element, pun intended. The falling temperature and ice sheet doesn't bother her in the slightest, and why would it? She is a daughter of the Frostbacks, someone who grew up with the harsh climate all her life. If anything, this puts her in a better mood, reminded of home and eager for some good-natured showing off. Letting the complaining lowlanders see how much better a 'heathen' Avvar woman fares sounds like a good time to her.

She'll snag those skates and promptly don them, laughing as she glides around the courtyard with masterful control. A couple of times she pretends to lack said control while heading towards someone, only to grin and change course before disaster could strike. When not amusing herself in such a fashion, she'll head towards those who seem interested in skating but lack experience and offer a steadying hand.

"Go ahead, steady yourself. I'm not letting go. Stick with me and I'll make sure you never fall again, what do you say?"

As awesome as the outdoors have sudden become, at least to her, at some point she'll have to head inside to change her sodden clothing and check on her wee little nuglet. And that's when it strikes. Skadi doesn't get very far, maybe a few steps, before the bite catches her by surprise. She yelps and glances over abruptly to stare at the sprig on her shoulder, only to get bitten again. Now it's time for a battle of wills as it spreads and makes her life far more annoying. She won't go to the infirmary yet, certain she can deal with it on her own...but that has potential to change, the longer this goes on.

Since Sina's death, Korrin has been withdrawn and downright anti-social except with those likewise in mourning. The sudden need to clear ice changes things, to a degree. The Vashoth mage can be found using blasts of fire to help clear the ice chunks or energize them away, whatever it takes so that their ships can load and unload safely. Whether it's alone or teaming up with someone else, she'll work tirelessly to see this through; in fact, she could probably use some gentle reminders to take a break every now and then.

"...fucking seriously?"

Korrin crosses her arms and narrows her eyes as though she can glare the dark clouds above into submission. She has kept to her habit of visiting the Gallows for work and the heated baths and that's more or less it. The steadily-falling snow and decreasing visibility threatens to change that, as she tries in vain to depart the fortress. But it's obvious their headquarters is going to need some digging out when all this is done, and combined with the fact that practically no one is going to row out in that mess means that she might just have to spend a night or two in the one area she'd give anything to leave.

{ ice skating }
Christine hadn't wanted to make a fool of herself trying to ice skate around the courtyard, but after the fifth or sixth near fall while trying to just walk across it, she gave in and accepted a pair of skates. And now she's doing surprisingly okay for someone inexperienced at this. She has a good method going where she tilts her feet inwards and that keeps her from losing her balance. She can be found skating around the infirmary, but at some point she's in the middle of the courtyard, cheeks rosy and arms held out for balance.

{ mistletoe }
Word spreads fast in the Gallows, and Christine soon learns about the demon plant (or so some are calling it) that's taken to attacking people. Is she coming upon your character in peril? Or is she the one in need of rescue?

{ ice skating }
Ellana definitely isn't going to throw away the opportunity to skate around the Gallows without a care in the world. She has a confidence about her that makes it seem like she knows what she's doing, but the truth is that she really doesn't care if she falls. Every so often she overbalances and down she goes on a knee or her rear, letting out a brief sound of pain before laughing it off and pushing back up to her feet. She's perfected the technique of skating fast and running into her destination to stop herself. Unfortunately, someone may unexpectedly skate into her path, and then she's running into them instead.

{ mistletoe }
Ellana will help out anyone she finds being attacked, though she will need to be told what to do to finally get the mistletoe off a person. Or your character can come upon her under attack and desperately trying to pull the biting, smacking springs off of her.

{ ice skating }
Minka hates this. She really hates this. She would rather be under her covers waiting out the cold, but she has messages to deliver amongst the Inquisition, so she's tied on a pair of skates and is yelling in alarm, arms windmilling as she tries to regain some sort of control. It really isn't working. When she's not falling straight on her ass, she's cursing up a storm or running into other people. There might be a muttered apology if she thinks to do it, but for the most part she is a very unhappy dwarf.

{ mistletoe }
Fun fact: Minka has never kissed anyone, so this? Is a nightmare. Have fun convincing her this isn't all a ploy to lay one on her.

No way Ellana is passing up the opportunity to skate everywhere, even if she's new at this. She has determination and that's the right path to success right there, isn't it? Well, whether or not it is, she has little fear of falling and is using the "skate fast until you run into something to stop" method of movement. Unfortunately, Simon has just skated into her path and she hasn't figured out how to turn just yet.

"Incoming!" she calls, as if she's a projectile about to be launched from a trebuchet at castle walls. Because she's coming in fast, arms held up to brace herself for the hit, should it come to pass.

She has a witness, unfortunately. (For her or for Loghain, who really knows?)

"Stay there," he says (what a stupid thing to say, where else is she going to go except on her ass), already approaching the belongings that she left behind on the paved stones. He crouches to gather them up so that they are, at least, not strewn about in a mess, sets them neatly off to the side, then straightens up to assess the rest of the situation in a frank glance.

"All right," he decides, scrutinizes the ice, and steps out carefully onto a rough patch. "Once I'm close enough, grab my hand."

While Minka's busy hating the ice and skating in it, there's someone who loves it just as much. Skadi is laughing and having a grand old time as she shows off her ability to not only be unaffected by the cold, but thrive in it. Being in her element doesn't mean she's going to fail to provide help, though, so when she spots her roommate flailing, the Avvar woman surges forward to catch her before she topples over.

"Hold onto me! I won't let you fall!"

Skadi's born to skate and has made no effort to hide that fact, gliding around the Gallows with easy confidence. She hasn't fallen once or so much as wobbled, and can't help flash a smug grin as the tables are turned and the lowlanders are in her element for a change. That's ripe ground for some good-natured baiting, and she has a habit of skating out of nowhere, causing people to think she's going to slam into them when instead she's able to stop short just fine. Or at least that's what happened until now. But someone skating just as fast as her might throw her off her guard enough for a different outcome.

Meanwhile, Inessa cheats. Her exposure to ice skating and other outdoor winter activities is fairly limited, thanks to the Circle and then traveling north. She manages to stay upright for the most part, but if she wants to get anywhere other than at a snail's pace or with repeated toppling over, a little magic is required. In the courtyard, she can be found using Fade Step to push her forward, waves of magic combining with her skates to create the brief impression that she might know what she's doing. Of course if she doesn't time it right, Inessa will be flailing for something to hold onto and that's when Garahel rushes forward to assist. He barks happily at Christine, wagging his tail.

"Oh, watch out, Skadi!" Ellana says, hands coming up to brace for impact. She hasn't exactly gotten the hand of turning just yet.

It's a common thing for Minka to hate people for whom things come easily, but seeing how Skadi is her giant roommate, Minka doesn't want to piss her off, so she won't point out how unfair this all is.

"Thanks," she mutters, clearly annoyed that she needs to be rescued from her own freaking self and lack of ability to do anything in life. A hand grabs onto some fabric somewhere, and she holds tight, feeling like a baby.

"This sucks bronto dick. Why haven't the mages melted all this shit yet?"

On hearing the friendly bark, a little terror comes sliding in from behind Christine. Little Ponce is wearing a vest and hand-knitted booties to keep his paws from freezing. This does, however, mean he loses some traction without the use of his toenails on the slick surface. Still, he tries his best to be intimidating as he wipes out and flails back onto booted feet. Of course, then he catches the scents of both Inessa and Garahel, so he starts wagging his tail.

"Oh, poor thing," Christine says, wanting to pick him up but thinking she might fall in the process. She reaches out her hands to Inessa to help support her while Ponce inspects Garahel's rear, as dogs do.

"The dog, not you," she adds a moment later. "I think you have a champion to ensure you will be all right, yes?"

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."

Having seen Ellana's skill on the ice, Skadi assumes the elven woman knows what she's doing more or less. That certainly seems to be true from the times she's glanced over, but it also means that she overestimates Ellana's ability to turn away. Even with the warning, she's coming in a little too fast to suddenly divert and adjust.

"Shite--!" And that's how the large bundle of furs that is Skadi slams into the elf, clutching her in an attempt to steady them before balance is completely lost.

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Page 1 of 33

OPEN ↠ HARING EVENT

Simon Ashlock

Ice Skating -- Open

Vandelin Elris

The Gallows -- Open

Teren von Skraedder

Galadriel

Skadi Iceblade

Korrin Ataash

Ice Skating - Open

Mistletoe - Open

Docks

Blizzard (Gallows)

Christine Delacroix

Ellana Ashara

Minka

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I

Ice Skating

Collision time?

Ice Skating

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now with added ponce for cute times!

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