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

[laurenande]

"It's becoming more and more usual," Luca corrects as she works. Periodically she glances up at Obi-Wan but his work is, if nothing else, satisfactory.

It is slow going, the binding of pages and, despite her carrying the stack carefully, there doesn't seem to be a particular order to them. They are missives, just normal notes and letters, encouragements to other Chantry facilities, asking for aid from Ferelden, Orlais, the Free Marches. Letters from people who need their help. Some are copies of letters sent, some are letters received, and all of them are addressed to the Reverend Mother.

All except one.

One letter, as they near the end of the first book's capacity, is addressed very specifically to someone named Odetta. It is from the Grand Cleric of Denerim and has a gold embossing on the bottom of it.

Luca doesn't seem to notice it, not as something especially different from the rest of the gathered pages, and assembles it accordingly. As they near the end of the book, however, there comes a knock on the library door. A Sister leans her head in--she is one that Obi-Wan has not met yet and she is a slip of a thing, not possibly older than sixteen--and gives Luca a rather panicked look.

"Sister Luca--" she starts but, before she can even utter the question in her wavering voice, Luca is up and toward the door. This cannot be an uncommon occurrence because her speed is without question.

"Show me before something else goes awry," Luca demands in the way that most parents might demand things from small children. She pauses just before she leave and looks back at Obi-Wan. Her hesitance shows, then, but she is needed elsewhere.

"I will return, do more as you like. Close the door when you leave."

[hello_there]

Obi-Wan bows her out, with the same respectful slowness he would afford a head of state, or a Grandmaster Jedi. And then, the moment she's gone, he turns to the half-finished book, and frowns. Impulse is to simply gather them up and run, but that would be suspicious in the extreme— and besides, Sister Luca will need time to pass farther down the hall and away. So instead, he holds both hands over the table, breathes a deep lungful of book-dust and petrichor, and focuses.

It'd been some time since he used the Force for so delicate a task, but one never really forgets the trick: in less than a minute, the book has assembled itself under his hands. Obi-Wan puts it into his robes, thinks a moment, then turns to leave. In a moment's time he'll be at their private little four-person dormitory, and in relative privacy with which to read.