Simple Gifts [Closed] - Part 2

[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: Mild Gore

The Abbey on the White Cliff

Around noon on the fourth day, Brigette and the other sisters gather up the people of the Abbey. Everyone who can walk, who can stand, is urged to join them in the auditorium--the doors at the end of the main hall are thrown open and the people welcomed in. Today Reverend Mother Alvar will be enacting her final miracle and, in the grand tradition of this Abbey, the people are invited to behold and take joy in the sight of it. They are encouraged to be there for the end of the previous Reverend Mother's life, just as they are encouraged to welcome the new Reverend Mother, Luca, as she assumes her new position.

The auditorium is a wide, stepped chamber that drops downward into an open forum and stage. The roof is high and domed and was once constructed of the same grey stone as everything else on the island. It was caved in at some point, destroyed by a falling tree, but it has been patched over with wood and canvas. The extensive scaffolding speaks volumes of how much effort has gone into restoring this room, but all of it stands still and empty in preparation for the ceremony.

Above the center of the stage, in the very middle of the room, visible from all angles, there is a great green tear in the veil--a massive rift cleaves the room in two. It churns sluggishly, ebbing and twisting, muted under the weight of whatever pall hangs across this Abbey. Around the rift there is a golden arch--the wood is carved into flames and swords and papered over in hammered gold leaf. Behind the rift there is a triptych depicting scenes from the Chant and each is lovingly painted and framed in gold.

The room is filled with chaos, but not of the sort one would expect in the shadow of a rift. The people who meander in, the pilgrims who take up the seats near to the stage at the base of the steps, all of them are smiling, all of them are happy, some are weeping tears of joy or remorse, but all of them are entirely unsurprised by the rift's presence. They take no issue lingering near it. Praise is heaped upon the carpenters for their diligence in finishing the arch, songs are sung softly as everyone gathers, and eventually the room is prompted to recite from the Chant as Alvar comes to the center of the stage. She is frail and those who spoke with her earlier will see how she has aged--twenty years in a day, it seems--and she leans heavily on Luca until she moves apart to stand on her own.

Here lies the abyss, the well of all souls.
From these emerald waters doth life begin anew.
Come to me, child, and I shall embrace you.
In my arms lies Eternity.

When she speaks the Chant, for a moment, her voice sounds youthful again--no older than Luca's--but it is fleeting and before the end she is breathless and thin once more.

OOC:

Hey everyone, this is part 2! I will be posting an initial thread for this scene that will be a free for all, but feel free to start a thread beneath the Ceremony Header if you want. Below I will be reposting the updated areas and people links, same as the previous post.

New Top-levels are welcomed, as always, but if you have questions please hit me up.

This section will contain the rest of this plot, unless we skyrocket to too many tags for me to keep them straight.

Comments

The Denizens of the Abbey

[laurenande]

Scattered throughout the Abbey there are a great number of the faithful, come to praise Andraste and the Maker. Their numbers are far greater than anything this Abbey was meant to maintain, but still they come. There are many who have traveled quite a distance to be here, and many who live in the village by the shore; they are varied in shape and size but each and every one of them is elated to be here.

The Sisters and the pilgrims go about their business, surrounded by the damp and grey of the island, engulfed in the cold of the Abbey, and not one of them seems to care one whit about any of it. The dreary garden and dim archways might as well be lit with streaming golden light for all that the people of the Abbey beam and smile.

Sister Brigette - Found In The Main Hall

[laurenande]

Sister Brigette is a young woman with a round, rosy face and bright, happy eyes. She is saddened by the passing of Reverend Mother Alvar, and troubled by the state of the Abbey in the wake of her death, but the light of conviction still shines in her face. She doesn't pale as the wraiths wander the hall before her, but she is made worried by the sight of them.

She is not an intimidating person, nor exceptionally stern, but she can often be found in contemplation at the end of the hall, barring re-entry into the Auditorium.

Re: Sister Brigette - Found In The Main Hall

[whiskeyandbrimstone]

Jang walks the hallway, coming up to Brigette and gives her a nod. "Hey there Sister. You doin' ok? We had a bit of a run last night..." She eyes her carefully, this kind of event could have any number of effects, best to see how she is doing.

Brother Morely - Found In The Main Hall and Various Other Buildings

[laurenande]

Brother Morely has not yet abandoned his task, lighting the candles and reaffirming the prayers of the faithful, but the challenge of it has increased tenfold with Reverend Mother Alvar's passing. Even the light in his lantern flickers dangerously as he moves and the wraiths trail his steps solemnly as he attempts to conjure light and warmth in the alcoves of the main hall. The wraiths make no effort to extinguish the flames, not directly, but their presence mutes all things and snuffs out the warmth as it sparks to life.

[doneisdone]

Post-ceremony, with life back to normal ("""NORMAL"""), Teren has quickly found that she can't actually just form a portal with the power of her rage that will bring her safely back to Kirkwall and away from this hideous place. She's no mage, after all.
And perhaps it's not the best approach, but Morely is given a brief reprieve from his lamplighting duties when the lantern is smacked out of his hand, a tall and very unamused Warden suddenly in his path.
"What," Teren hisses, "the fuck. Is happening."

Never mind that he's new. She's had the sense since day one that everyone's been aware of something, so she might as well start with the one person with whom she has any real rapport. ("""RAPPORT""")

[laurenande]

The lantern clatters to the ground from Morely's hand and he watches it, like a man who has just dropped a frozen treat, with a sad sort of resignation. It goes out and he sighs before looking back up at Teren. Her anger is palpable and it is all he can do to shrug.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Morely agrees unhelpfully. "This is all bizarre as the backside of a blue bear."

He jerks a thumb at the candles and the shadow of the wraith beyond the window. His expression is more annoyed than anything else.

"These assholes, blessed be their sacrifice, used to let me do my work. Now they just...loiter."

[doneisdone]

Well that was unsatisfying.

Teren actually looks kind of disappointed when Morely just lets the lantern fall, but her attention is quickly diverted back to the task at hand when he agrees with her, and when he indicates the wraith. She shudders, scowling.

"These assholes-- the-- those assholes?" she clarifies, pointing at the same shadow.

The Carpenters, Merkle and Herkle of Alamar

[laurenande]

The carpenters are harder to track in the wake of the Reverend Mother's passing. They have given up residence in the hall and taken shelter in the cloister, where few wraiths travel, and where the wind keeps the worst of the cold from congregating. The rift is too dangerous to work alongside, at least for now, so they bide their time and stoke the campfire beneath their constructed awnings.

Reverend Mother Luca

[laurenande]

Reverend Mother Luca is not hard to find, not now, but she is more drawn and worried than she has been in previous days. She is pale and restless, her long braid is frayed and unkempt. She regards the wraiths with suspicion and worry and lingers in the offices and Alvar's darkened apartments.

She already seems older than she is and she fidgets with the band on her finger as she paces the halls and the tight spaces of her favored rooms.

[rowancrowned]

He knocks. He is not so ill-mannered to avoid that courtesy, and he has always found it best to make offerings open-handedly first. The weevils have yet to wind their way into all the grain just yet, and he has a bowl in his hands, oats left to soak, mixed with what few blackberries had not rotted entirely. They have dyed the porridge purple-black, and he holds the bowl unselfconsciously in all he is before her door.

"Revered Mother," he says, "May I beg some of your time?"

[laurenande]

Luca starts at the knock on the door, a reaction that is audible in the crash and clatter that resounds through her apartments. She has knocked a plate and cup to the floor and she scrambles a moment. She doesn't speak, not for some time, until she comes to the door to open it--she spares him only a bare crack of space and peers out through it.

"Some of--my time?" she repeats, her train of thought jumping as she does. She looks him over, then to the food he carries, and something in her expression twists with sadness.

"I suppose I have no reason to deny it, come in--"

The door is parted another bare inch and then released as she steps hurriedly from it.

[rowancrowned]

"Forgive me," he says, as he steps inside, his paltry offering in hand as he reaches behind him to close the door. "It is only a little thing."

The people of the Abbey had offered them such little things without asking for much. They have given freely, of their larder and their hands, and it is not so difficult to see why, given how their leader behaved.

"As the Provost, I thank the Revered Mother of the Abbey for what was done for Myrobalan." Earnestly. And given that he cannot thank the woman herself (not in any way she would understand) he will thank Luca. He owes her that much. "Done in the Maker's name, but with mortal effort."

[faithlikeaseed]

He appears on Luca's doorstep disheveled: Wet hair plastered to his head, fingers still scraped and bleeding. (He at least had the sense to change into dry robes and isn't dripping everywhere.) It somehow does not occur to him to knock; it's easier to simply stand staring at the door, hollow-eyed, no longer processing what's before him.

(They were still under there. Perhaps they were still alive. Some of his Circlemates had lived for days and they'd been as powerless to find them, to dig them out.)

If--when--she should appear, either entering the room or leaving it, he seems to recall himself. "Your Reverence?"

It's barely a question, more an exhausted exhalation. "I have questions. If you have a moment."

[laurenande]

Luca appears after some short time, her expression harried and pale, she is cradling her right arm, bandaged heavily, against her side. She starts when she sees Myr and immediately a look of guilt darts over her face. It takes her another moment to recall that she is the Reverend Mother and that he is talking to her now.

"Yes, of course," she answers, hurried and quiet, her voice just a touch hoarse.

These are Alvar's rooms, or they were, and they have not changed much since his last visit. He had not seen them, then, the reserved luxury of them. The rugs are faded and well worn, the desk in the corner is finely made, the chairs are old and hardwood, the bed is larger than most and plush. The wide hearth in the corner, however, is not lit though it is filled with wood and sawdust.

"What may I answer for you?" she asks and sits at the desk, she seems dwarfed by it. She curls over her hand, unconsciously, and gives him a tired look.

They are both so worn in so little time. It is almost impressive.

[faithlikeaseed]

Myr's glance skims over the contents of the room but he does not register much of it except the cold hearth. Not that one needed eyes to notice that, frigid as the place is in contrast to the summery warmth it held when first he arrived.

He notes her arm as well; that stirs somewhat more emotion. "What happened?"

Even as he asks he approaches the desk, reprising their position of days ago as he leans hipshot against it. For better or worse she's the person in the abbey he feels least inhibited around at the moment, even if her new station and his pre-existing loyalties should augur otherwise.

Re: Reverend Mother Luca

[whiskeyandbrimstone]

Jang gives a knock to Luca's office door and pushes her way in. She heads over to a chair and sits down heavily, wincing from her injuries. Without saying anything else she pulls a bottle out from her bag and places it on the table. Two tin mugs follow after and a healthy measure is poured in each, and Jang slides one across the desk.

Jang takes her mug and drinks, wincing again. "Smooth like ten miles of bad road." She looks out the window at the storm and sighs.

"Luca, is there anything you'd like to talk about? Or anything you need?"

[laurenande]

Luca is at the very edge of her nerves, she jumps when Jang enters, stares in horror when she sits, and freezes by the window as she slides a drink across the desk for her. It is so very out of place that she cannot help but fixate on it. It is a long moment before she can approach it, can bring herself to move, and when she does she looks liable to faint. She is pale, so very pale, and she drinks whatever Jang has brought her readily and without reservation.

She doesn't even sputter as she swallows it--she has not braced for it, she simply drank it quickly enough that she felt it hardly at all.

"I need a guardian, or a miracle I expect," she says and sighs.

[whiskeyandbrimstone]

"Mmm...Well, I may be able to assist with one of those things. I don't know much bout miracles, but guardian? I may be able to help with that. But I gotta know what's going on. Can't protect you if I don't know what I'm guarding against. So..."

Jang finishes off the drink and pours the two of them another full glass.

"What the hell is going on."

[esquive]

There's no knock on the door. Rather Mother Luca paces from one haunt to the other and in the darkened office with its guttering candle flame, Marcoulf is simply waiting for her. He's a slim man, all narrow and sallow and of no great height, but here in this room he's very still and the knife at his belt would be easy enough to get to hand.

"You and I should speak," he says the moment she crosses the threshold.

[laurenande]

It seems, of late, that her every moment is filled with some degree of dread and all of it is warranted. When she crosses into the office, a covered lantern in hand, she is moving with some haste--then she sees Marcoulf and stops. He is unremarkable, at least on sight, but he is waiting for her and she does not expect it.

"I--" She begins and halts, her previous task forgotten. She stares at him a moment more and moves toware the desk. "Yes, of course. What--"

What do you wish to speak of?

It sounds rather lacking and she trails off well before the whole sentiment is expressed.

"I will tell you whatever you wish to know."

[esquive]

He doesn't move as she does - rather Narcoulf lingers there at the side of the room where he might clearly see both her and the door. But he tips his head to her, watching as an attentive dog might.

"When I came to you and Alvar. Who was it that you let strike me?"

Sister Elonwy - Found Everywhere

[laurenande]

She is a young woman, sixteen with a round bright face and expressive brown eyes. She darts back and forth through the halls, towing blankets and sheets, her smile quick even as she pulls her shawl about her. She is filled with faith and unbothered by the presence of the wraiths.

She even greets them as she passes and pays them little mind as she moves far too closely.

Her brother, Gwydion, trails after her and marvels openly at the creatures until she scolds him for staring. He catches her up quickly after that.

[justice_is_blond]

"You're new here." It's mostly directed at the boy following the girl, though neither of them truly looking old enough to be around this chaos. Or maybe it's the look on her face that says she's wrapped up in blind belief that makes her look so young.

If they'd any brains at all they'd be running.

Then again, if they'd any brains at all they'd not be faithful to the Chantry.

[laurenande]

"Oh, not so very new," Elonwy replies almost offhandedly but she pauses as her brother pauses. The boy stares at Anders, gives him a good, hard, squinting look and then lets out a loud cheer of a laugh.

"I know you!" He announces, delighted by the fact. "You're the newer doctor, I only saw you for a day or so but you were there!"

Gwydion and Elonwy's cheer cannot be diminished it seems because Elonwy turns a bright smile on Anders--she even halts in her path.

"Oh! You were in the Infirmary Hall, then?"

[justice_is_blond]

Now they're beaming at him and if she'd taken a step forward, Anders would have taken a step back. The good cheer coming from them is nerve-wracking. It wouldn't be given to him if he was going by 'Anders,' for one thing.

"I'm a healer who was working--" and then he breaks off as he recognizes the boy. "You're not dead. Your bed was empty, she was so casual about it, but you're alive."

He doesn't regret his anger at Alvar. She'd died and unleashed quite the mess that there's no doubt she helped create and enlarge, but he is glad to have been wrong on that point.

"I'm with the Inquisition, not here for long, but yes. I've been in there. A lot."