Simple Gifts [Closed]

[laurenande]

WHO: Galadriel, Thranduil, Solas, Myrobalan, Merrill, Kitty, Lakshmi, Teren, Marcoulf, Jang, Obi-Wan, and Anders
WHAT: A trip to a perfectly normal Chantry in the middle of nowhere.
WHEN: Current.
WHERE: The Island of Alamar, Ferelden.
NOTES: Current warnings, to be updated: Graphic Descriptions of Gore

The Abbey on the White Cliff

Travel to the Abbey on the White Cliff is no easy matter. While it stands not far from Amaranthine, the waters between the mainland and the island shores are a wicked confluence of eddies and razor sharp rock. The rain is ever-present here and the wind moves unpredictably at the best of times. Ships of size cannot travel easily to the island of Alamar and small boats are rarely steady through the choppy water. Fortunately, as the Inquisition approaches, the world takes some pity on them and the waters seem to still and calm. The clouds linger but, at the very least, they don't open above them until they have reached the land.

The island is a grey affair, all rocks and scrub and damp. The village, an austere looking outcropping of buildings, is entirely made from the local stone and, were it not for the red clay roofing, would blend into the landscape seamlessly. Very few people have strayed into the rain to greet the Inquisition and, without the voices to echo off the stone, most sound is drowned in the lapping of waves and the heavy fall of rain. As a result of the weather and the lack of citizens, the town has the general quality of a graveyard.

The merchants who work the docks are affable enough and, after unloading their haul and securing it somewhere a bit drier, offer to take the Inquisition up to the Abbey proper. The rain slows before long and the merchants lead the Inquisition to the main roads and, let them on their way. Fortunately, the Island is not terribly large and, even walking, it will take only a few hours to arrive at the far side of it.

As the party leaves the village and the shore, the island landscape opens before them. Sloping moors give way to periodic outcroppings of rock and, against the horizon and the far end of the island, there rests a dark forest of pines. The Abbey on the White Cliff stands at the far side, at the top of the hill and overlooking the waves. The road they travel is an easy one, well worn, and the buildings come into view long before they reach them--they stand several stories tall, made of the same stone as the village. They are moss-covered and have the look of an old building that has been questionably kept--at least, from a distance.

The closer one gets to the buildings, the more obvious the additions and repairs become. Windows that have no business holding glass have had colorful windows inset to them. The doors are heavy, wooden, and new. The ironwork on the walls is polished and unworn by the rain. There are no torches lit but, once the Inquisition members have reached the doors, they open promptly.

They are greeted by a Chantry Sister with a bright smile and rosy cheeks and, without hesitation, the lot of them are welcomed into the Abbey.


OOC:

Hey guys! So I plan on aggressively GMing this one. Basically I want to run this like D&D, or as near as I can manage.

The location threads below are available for single player/two player exploration, I will be tagging you with information based on where you go or what you do, but if you want to do a bigger thread please just use the team threads at the bottom. That way if you all decide you want to check out the [INSERT LOCATION HERE] and it leads you to [DIFFERENT LOCATION] I can move you along without changing threads.

Because of your proficiencies, different characters will have advantages in different areas/while talking to different people, so groups are best. I will also be PMing your character journal periodically with any information that your character may have picked up on that nobody else would.

The NPCs are available for talking to or questioning by any number of people. Their general locations are in their thread headers so you can travel there as a crew or ask me to send them at you, if you so desire.

Feel free to do new top-levels if you guys really want, I am just here to try and make this fun.

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Most days he knows roughly where he stands with Galadriel. Roughly, because there's still the whole risk of 'burning the corruption' out of him that he's trying really hard to avoid. But right now? With the whispering and the very slow movement in the rain? Anders has no idea if she's going to be aware of him beyond the whole Blight business so his approach is wary.

"Are you..." He trails off and then resumes. "Are you all right?" It's not the most polite question, but most people who are all right don't stand in the rain whispering to themselves. "Galadriel?"

[laurenande]

Her name draws her from her whispering, trancelike state like a shot; her head whips to the side and, for one terrible instant she levels a terrible, furious expression at Anders. It fades, withdrawn to a thin sort of calm, the same feeling that rests on this Island, and she regards him carefully.

"I am unchanged," is the answer she opts for and it is impossible to say if she is being intentionally or coincidentally cryptic. The rain falls against her cloak in a symphony of tiny pattering sounds but she ignores it. After a time, she looks away from him and her gaze falls on the road ahead again.

"This place is strange and unsettling; I dislike it."

[justice_is_blond]

For a terrifying moment he thinks that this is the moment she does it and he wishes he could tell Nate he loved him one more time. Then the moment passes and he pulls his coat tighter around him while stepping closer to hear her better.

"I dislike it too. And not just because it's cold and wet." He looks up toward the building again, frowning. "Are you sensing anything from it the way you sense Blighted things?" His guess would be no, as the place looks far too tidy for any Darkspawn dealings, but he won't rule out anything when approaching somewhere for the first time.

Or often the second, third, or fifteenth.

[laurenande]

She exhales in a sound that is not quite a laugh and looks sidelong at him again. She is amused but it is a dark sort of amusement and the twitch of her lip, despite leading upward, is not encouraging.

"No," she answers, "I cannot hear anything as I hear you."

She shifts, pushing back her cloak to hold her hand out in the rain. It starts to pool in her palm before long.

"I can certainly feel something, but what it is...that I cannot say." Her expression softens just slightly then and she shifts to look back at him and away from her hand. The water that has pooled there is very still.

"Take care, Anders, and be wary. We are not safe."

[justice_is_blond]

"It's a good thing I've not been safe for a majority of my life. I'm prepared," he says lightly, making it sound like a joke despite being completely serious. Safety is never for mages.

There's a pause as he looks up at the building, before glancing back at Galadriel. "On top of this place not being comforting, though, you don't look well. No offense meant. It's simply a healer's opinion."

She's always a little on the mysterious side, the 'mind a thousand miles away' side, but this seems more than that usual.

[laurenande]

At first she doesn't respond to his question. She stares at her hand, at the unnatural stillness of the water there, and then turns her palm to empty it into the street. She watches it fall with careful attention and then, as she drops her hand back to her side, she looks to the horizon again.

"I will be fine," she assures him, even if her behavior forces that statement to ring hollow. "Concern yourself with this place, with what resides here, before all else. When that is no longer a danger, if you like, you may worry after me."

[justice_is_blond]

That is likely the best he'll get. Unlike Teren, he can't exactly bully her into getting checked on when needed. All he can do is move forward and keep an eye on her.

"I'm going to hold you to that." There's a short pause before he shakes his head. "But if anything gets worse, Galadriel, please seek me out. I'm along to help."