faderift | OPEN ↠ HEART LIKE ICE

WHO: New Rifters & Inquisition Members
WHAT: A journey south to make new friends and kick some ass
WHEN: Drakonis 15-25
WHERE: Sunless Lands
NOTES: Violence and language assumed. Warn for anyting else. OOC post.

The Sunless Lands are not, in fact, sunless. This time of year there can be as many as eight hours of daylight, some of it blinding where it reflects off of snow and ice that stretches from the southern edge of the Kocari Wilds as far as anyone can see, broken only occasionally by rocky masses of land jutting out of the snow cover or barren tundra peeking out in patches where constant, unforgiving wind has pushed it aside. You'll be traversing this span primarily on foot—there are sleighs, too, pulled by hardy dogs, but they're carrying essential supplies rather than spare people. The only way to get a ride is to successfully feign passing out.

Beyond the dogs, the area isn't devoid of native wildlife: white fennecs hunt rodents underground, and a herd of excessively fluffy wild druffalo is seeking out whatever vegetation it can find. But hunting down a meal or two early and preserving rations for further south would not be a bad idea, because the further south the team travels, the more inhospitable the terrain grows, and the less life can be seen. And sometimes not much of anything can be seen, when clouds roll by and burst with snow thick enough to halt progress entirely for hours.

The nights are cloudy as often as clear, but when they are clear the sky is split by green and purple ribbons of light.

I. THE RESCUE

Two days' journey south, the monotonously icy horizon is broken by something new: smoke rising in interrupted puffs, an intentional signal. Someone is out there. Chances are, it's the rifters, with or without their first group of intended rescuers. But there's no way to be sure. And approaching with caution is wise either way. Rifters have strange powers (and strange personalities), and they've been out here for days now, dealing with demons and Maker knows what else on their own. For all anyone knows, they could be the reason for the rescue team's disappearance. Orders are to approach carefully.

Then, once contact has been made and initial concerns have been allayed, make sure those poor people have something to eat, and try to figure out where their original rescuers disappeared to.

II. THE STORM

After the rifters are recovered, there's still the matter of the red lyrium mine to address. Another two days' journey south will put the group within good range of the mine: not so close as to be seen, but close enough to be able to get there in a couple of hours as needed.

Halfway there, however, in the middle of the day, progress comes to an abrupt half when the darkest clouds yet gather suddenly on the horizon and barrel down on the group, bringing with them a glut of snow that reduces visibility to only a few feet and wind that roars so loudly you have to shout to be heard. Magic can help some with heat, but the storm shows little sign of quickly abating and with hours of deadly cold conditions to deal with, digging in and getting cozy for a few hours might be the most feasible solution for everyone.

III. THE VILLAGE

Shortly before the point everyone is aiming for—one marked by an enormous stone carving of an owl, several times taller than a man, that's inexplicably been left by the ancients in the center of the tundra—something else appears not far to the west. On closer inspection, it turns out to be a circle of low-sitting animal-skin tents pressed down into the snow to protect them from wind, rocky fire pits, and abandoned sleighs. Overall, it's a cross between camp and village indicative of a nomadic group that's staying a while but not forever.

It's empty now, with a coating of snow on most of the structures that indicates it's been at least a few days since anyone was here. Closer inspection reveals personal belongings inside the tents, including toys and clothing belonging to children—and, in many tents, chunks of red lyrium in the center or beneath the skins that form the beds, each piece emanating heat. They probably thought it was safer than fire.

Wherever they went, they don't come back while the Inquisition is there. But the activity does get noticed. A few hours after arrival, enormous white bears apparently moving in a pack come within a hundred yards of the camp and pace at a distance, watching the interlopers with wary interest. Some of them are wearing collars or harnesses decorated in the same style as the tents. For enough food, they may come closer, and they'll turn out to be abnormally tame.

IV. THE BATTLE

The red lyrium mine that Corypheus' followers built when their operations were crippled in Emprise du Lion is nestled in an icy canyon, with massive scaffolding built up the sides of the cliff and too many cages to count, though few of them hold living prisoners anymore. It's a massive operation, but one that's been crippled by its distance from civilization. It's sparsely guarded compared to its size, and other than the cliffs, it has minimal natural protection. The enemy has magic-silencing Templars, enormous behemoths, and a chained white-furred giant, but they are clearly not prepared to be attacked.

Ahead of the onslaught, traps are set and any surviving prisoners are evacuated under cover of darkness. Everyone else sent to fight either creeps down shortly before dawn, rappelling quietly to avoid notice in the dark, or waits at the top for the first surprise strike to provide enough distraction for them to descend more openly. If anyone has been particularly nice to the bears (see above) then it is entirely possible they'll allow themselves to be ridden into battle.

Once their presence is known, their orders are pretty simple. Destroy it all. Leave no one behind and nothing worth returning for.

Fire is a good strategy. Red lyrium doesn't do well in heat.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ D'Artagnan sits up a little straighter. Anyone who's willing to help his horse has to make it into his good books. 'Vet' is not a term he's heard before, but the rest of what she says sounds good to him. He pushes back his hair and leans forward, elbows on his knees, to look at her. ]

It's possible, if we can get enough air flowing. Otherwise we could smoke ourselves out, and that won't help anyone.

We'd need fuel. That could be an issue in weather like this.

Some of these tents have furniture... if we gotta hack something up for it, so be it. Of all the times for us not to have one of them magic sorts about, eh?

( She's not sure if "boiling water with their hands" is something they could do, but it seems like something they could do. )

Fire itself... it'd help, but I mostly want it so I can warm up some water so soak this bran in. Get something warm in his belly.

[ D'Artagnan nods. It's a good idea, and honestly, he wouldn't object to having a small fire for a while in general. They all need to keep their temperature up. He pats his horse's flank and stands, brushing off his clothes. ]

I'll go to look for something worth burning. Why don't you save the water, and we'll melt snow instead? It's not as though we're short of that.

[ Furniture is what he'll search for first and foremost. Something wooden that they could butcher. He leaves his horse with her, trusting that she'll watch him while he's gone. ]

Yeah, fair enough. If you see anything that can serve for a bit of a trough, pull that in too? We need to make sure your buddy here has plenty of water to drink, too. Won't hurt for us, either.

( She's not too snobby to share water with a horse, honestly. Not in situations like this, certainly.

She managed to collect things she can use for Beauregard, but she didn't think to haul about things for the other animals with them. There'd been so much going on, maybe she shouldn't grill herself too much.

While he's gone, Alex gently checks the horse's ears, his mane, brushing out any snow and feeling over him for anything that might be cause for concern, speaking to the animal as she goes and keeping one hand resting on its withers or flank at any moment, to steady it. )

I'll see what I can find.

[ It's the first time he's really been willing to leave the horse since they got here. Even now, he's as quick as he can be. Fuel for the fire is the easiest find; by now, there's enough broken wood scattered around the various sites they've come across that it's not very long before he has a little pile of it. The scraps aren't wonderful; some are very small, and many of them are damp. He doesn't know how easily they'll take a flame, but it's the best he can do for now.

The trough proves more difficult. That means a container of some sort, and those are in short supply. Eventually he gathers rocks from around the cave, choosing ones that have been smoothed or made slightly concave by erosion. When he returns with them, he sets the wood down, and makes a rough circle out of the rocks, overlapping their edges to create a small well in the middle. ]

I think this is the best I can do. We fill it with snow, drop hot stones into it and wait for it to melt.

[ Not ideal, admittedly. ]

You build the fire, I'll work on the snow.

OPEN ↠ HEART LIKE ICE

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oof sorry for my slowness

don't worry at all! <3