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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In a rare shift from the usual, and perhaps from having exhausted herself yelling at the universe, Teren is asleep. She lies on her side, with one hand curled up to her sternum and the other under her pillow, legs slightly curled and her long dark braid uncoiled behind her. She looks peaceful. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Morely, because he doesn't know better, or know at all that the people in this room are prone to stabbing, moves inside and peers at the faces in the beds. He finds Teren quickly enough and, in an exceedingly unwise move, bends and sets his hand lightly on her shoulder.

He shakes her.

And also whispers: "PSSST."

Before he reaches the 'T', there's a dagger in Morely's shoulder and a second one flashing from beneath the bedsheets, though this one stops before it hits home.
Teren is wide awake, her blade buried to the hilt with her formerly pillow-hidden hand still gripping it, her thin chest heaving and her eyes blinking rapidly as her brain catches up.

"MORELY," she hisses, the word angry but equally surprised. Is he here to kill her? She's got a second knife just in case.

The fact that Morely doesn't suddenly shout or scream at having a dagger driven into his shoulder is something of an accomplishment. He sucks in a sharp breath, recoils a bit, and lets out a very quiet whispered curse. He drops his lantern, that was inevitable, and the little flame goes out as he does.

"Fucking shit--You stabbed me!?" It's spoken as a sharp whisper, but it is still something of a shout.

"What are you doing sneaking in here and grabbing people!!" Teren whispers sharply back, eyes glinting with rage.

She has not removed the dagger.

Edited (in case u were wondering) 2018-10-10 06:47 (UTC)

"You were the one who wanted to help! One person line!" Morely snaps back at her and gestures, with his now freed lantern hand to the dagger in his shoulder. His expression says: WELL???

"Is this helping for you? Andraste's ass!"

"AND?"

Her hand is still gripping the dagger but not pulling it out-- at least the other one is free now, gesturing impatiently. WHAT'S YOUR POINT BUDDY

"Luca was maimed, just like me you bloody lunatic!" Morely snaps at full volume.

"The thing that did it took something from her, the thing they use! I assumed you'd want to help since you're all high'n'mighty about being better than folk. BUT APPARENTLY YOU JUST WANT TO STAB ME."

Now that he's being useful, Teren tugs the blade out with a grunt of irritation. Rummaging around in her pack beside the bed, she removes a roll of gauze and pushes it into his hand, assuming he'll know what to do next. She doesn't have time for that.
He's lucky she's letting him stay so close to her bed.

"You'll wake the whole place, you idiot," she snaps, wiping her dagger on the top blanket, "what did it take?"

She pulls the knife out and he immediately moves away from her bed, pressing the gauze into his wound with all the finesse of a man who has never before been stabbed. He has never before been stabbed. He clearly has no preference for staying quiet, at this point, and gives her an incredulous and pissed off look. His ennui is seeping back in, but now that he can clearly feel the deep wound in his shoulder, it is slow in returning.

"Oh no, I'll wake the whole place. What a TRAGEDY," he bitches and levels a glower at Teren. "It took somethin, I don't know what, but Luca's arm was in shred and she was a titter about us all gettin' out.

"If ya plan on stabbin more people come askin' for help, maybe just go back to bloody sleep. Luca's lost enough blood already."

"Stop your grousing," Teren snaps, and gets up, looking like she may do some more stabbing if Morely isn't careful. "Tell me everything you know."

"You just got it all," Morely replies and steps back from her, eyeing her with the wariness of the recently stabbed.

"Unless you want a primer on cuttin wood and the Chant of Light," he adds, his hand pressing hard on his shoulder. He glances sidelong at it and grimaces before looking back at Teren. It is a testament to how desperate the situation is, the fact that he doesn't flee.

"You said the line was one long, well here you are, right front," he repeats and draws a sharp breath as he steels himself.

"That thing it took, Luca was in a fuss, ready to faint--I don't know where it headed after it cut her up, but the cold goes with it. I'd bet it's in the north--rubble of the auditorium, offices maybe, might even be the old dormitories. Go kill it. Or make it stop. Or just distract it, if you can't be arsed to do the other two."

Impervious to Morely's sniping, Teren watches him levelly, finally giving a small, thoughtful nod. Then, pulling a robe around herself for warmth, she stalks out past him. Time to do some SLEUTHING

Simple Gifts [Closed] - Part 2

The Abbey on the White Cliff

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