She Blinded Me With Science [Closed]

[youwonscience]

WHO: Cosima Niehaus, Gareth, Alex Karahalios
WHAT: Survey Rifter Arrival Sites assignment
WHEN: a couple of weeks in Harvestmere
WHERE: various points on Ferelden's northern coast, including the wilderness west of Highever and Amaranthine, as well as skirting over the Orlesian border toward Jader
NOTES: If you have a taste for a specific type of starter/thread, DM/plurk/Discord me freely!

Even when it's called "field work," Cosima has never been especially fond of camping. Back home, she chose a specialization that meant lots of hours in a climate-controlled lab, like a civilized person. But she has to admit, there is a lot of Thedas that really is beautiful, even if she could appreciate it better if it would go long enough without raining for her knitted pieces to dry out properly.

She's not complaining at an opportunity to spend a bit more time with Alex, though; a woman concerned about sterile surgical procedures is a woman after Cosima's own heart, and she's not averse to having someone come along with a firmer foundation in the basics of first aid. Even if Alex's approach is a little more "run toward the possibly dangerous fauna" than Cosima's is, she is bound to be a useful set of eyes for observation as well as a useful second anchor in case any of the sites are a little less "former" than intended.

While she knows Gareth very little yet, she is glad to have at least one native along. A mage and two riters are still hardly a welcome party in every corner of rural Ferelden, but it still makes her feel somewhat less exposed.

The measurements at Jader had turned up nothing especially unusual, though Cosima had been precise in her observations even so. She isn't entirely sure whether she hopes the rocky coast outside Highever is more interesting or not. "Interesting" is such a vague adjective.

Comments

[foundmyselfagain]

At least Gareth is one of the mages who can handle himself outdoors. A lot of them are, now, in varying degrees, but Gareth’s done it longer and more remote than most. He’s also good at avoiding towns and the people who might want to kill a mage and two rifters, all of whom bare an anchor shard.

And, still recovering from the Venatori’s hospitality, he finds he rather likes spending time outside. This mission interested him both in what it might accomplish, and because hiking around measuring things sounded like a much needed break from the Gallows. He’s been paid for worse.

So, he’s in pretty good spirits when they reach the coast. "Ah, the ocean. Again. So majestic. So wet. So salty. I wonder how it got so salty. I bet there’s a Chantry tale about the Maker weeping into it, or something stupid like that. Or maybe he thought it’d be nice for our seafood to come pre-salted?"

Only the real questions are getting asked on this trip.

[periastron]

"Minerals washing off rocks over billions of years," Alex replies absent-mindedly, before she blinks, and returns to the present. She has the presence of mind not to mention her concerns about consuming any kind of seafood in Thedas. Or meat, honestly. Or water. Or milk.

Anything, she's basically stressed about consuming anything.

A roll of her shoulders, and she offers him a grin, instead. "The tears of all the broken hearts I've left behind. That's absolutely the truth."

[youwonscience]

"Sorry, Gareth, I grew up on a houseboat, so the ocean's OK with me. You just gotta respect it, that's all." Metaphorically; she doesn't think it's going to get mad about his Maker's tears joke. Or Alex's joke, for that matter.

"Man, though, I gotta admit Thedas involves way more camping than I expected my life to involve at this point. And a tragic lack of s'mores. I think you guys have marshmallows, maybe, or something close. But we still have to invent a full two-thirds of the s'more." Tragic.

[foundmyselfagain]

"But rocks aren't salty," Gareth points out reasonably, because it seems reasonable to him, and he doesn't want to touch the idea of the whole 'billions of years' thing, because that just seems...too outlandish to even imagine, so he doesn't. "Have you ever licked a rock? It just tastes like dirt." Don't ask him how he knows that.

"You rifters sure like food. Prompto was always telling me about the food he missed. I think he actually mentioned s'mores before. And pizza. He really missed pizza." Gareth isn't sure he'd be missing any Thedas food if he went through a rift, but maybe that's the point. Maybe Thedas just doesn't have the kinds of food that makes one miss it. Unlike other worlds, apparently.

"Anyway! Food aside, where is this closed rift thing? We've got, like, a map, right?"

[periastron]

"No, I mean, it's to do with the accumulated minerals, and—"

She gestures, vaguely, and then realises she might just be on the verge of a losing battle. "I mean, do you actually wanna know or would I just be borin' you to tears?"

A little grin, though, as she looks to Cosima for the map. She's just glad to be outside, when it feels like she's caught up doing research and trying to re-invent the wheel (not entirely metaphorically, given that they're trying to re-master other things that she knows about from history but not from personal experience) most of the time. A quick check that her pack is firmly strapped to her back and she tips forward and kicks her feet up, so she's walking forwards on her hands for a stretch. Just because she can, and just because the ground is mostly flat enough for it. Don't mind her.

[youwonscience]

"We've got a map," Cosima confirms, withdrawing the canister from her pack for emphasis. "Unlike Jader, this one seems like it was kind of in the middle of nowhere, which is good for like... not having civilians getting attacked by demons, but less good as far as accommodations or places to get supplies."

The area is mountainous, rocky and uneven; it's not hard to see why no built a town here. Some people aren't inclined to random acrobatics.

Almost absently, as she studies the map, "It looks like we should be getting close, though. There's a shallow ravine near the actual rift site, which we should be able to use to make sure we're in the right place. It'd be convenient if the Inquisition set up cairns or something, but I guess they didn't know they'd be coming back."

[foundmyselfagain]

"Boring me wouldn’t be what I would call it. Talking over my head, maybe." If she wants to talk about minerals accumulating over billions of years, at least. Gareth gives the ground, and the rocks within sight, a good, hard stare, pondering the idea of them being worn away. "That's sand, though, isn't it? What a bunch of worn away rocks would look like. And sand isn't salty, either—I mean, I haven't tasted it. Though I guess the opportunity is right in front of me."

Gareth does not, however, go off to lick the sand. Instead, he peers over Cosima's shoulder at the map.

"Yeah, it kinda sucks, doesn't it? Wandering around in the middle of nowhere. Even when I was wandering the Free Marches, there was usually a couple mud huts within a few days walk." Gareth isn't in spectacular shape, either. But it is what it is, and hiking around out here is still better than being cooped up in the Gallows. "So we're looking for a ravine? I can make some stairs to get us down there, if we need it." It's one of his specialties, after all: Primal magic aka superior magic.

SORRY FRIENDS i neglected my tags for some days

[periastron]

Flatness is relative. Right? That's definitely how that works.

Alex's grin is sympathetic, from upside down "I getcha. But, I mean, if you ever want to suss it out so we ain't talkin' over your head, so to speak, let me know. It's hard to explain some stuff, and geology isn't really my best subject."

She looks at the sand, but also resists doing a taste test. That decision doesn't do much to help her, mind, because she moves her hand to a less supportive bit of ground, and promptly eats dirt anyway. So, it's with dusty hair and dirt smeared across her face that she looks up from the ground.

"I could run ahead, if yous like. See if I can find anything?"

[youwonscience]

"I don't know if splitting up is a good idea." Never split the party, Alex. "But yeah, it's near the ravine. I'd like to do like we did in Jader, take a pretty close look at least a few yards in each direction once we identify as best we can where the rift actually was. Usually there's, like, blast marks and stuff, especially when it's not near anything."

The Inquisition itself has too little manpower to go re-sodding the wilderness, presumably, and if the land's owner doesn't make it a priority, traces of battle are likely to remain.

"Do either of you have any great sense of what this area's supposed to look like, generally? I mean, we can all play 'one of these things is not like the others' with the landscape, but I wish I knew more about Thedosian botany, honestly."

[foundmyselfagain]

"I'm not Ferelden," Gareth informs her helpfully, though he stops to think on it, since it's likely that he's still got a better idea of it than these two. After a few moments, he cheerfully suggests: "Muddy?"

It seems like a safe bet.

"I know a bit about plants, but I wouldn't call myself an expert. Read a book a while back about this mage who studied the affect that high concentrations of magic had on flora growing in the area—but I don't know if it'd help." And it'd probably bore everyone else. "But we can probably puzzle it out by looking around the area. I doubt it'll be too different from it’s surroundings."

i am slow and late and full of great shame

[periastron]

"But it works out so good in horror movies."

Wow, Cosima. Way to oppress her. Still on a roll of obnoxiousness, "I reckon if it's got some neon green glowy bullshit going on, it might maybe have some Fade mojo goin' on."

More seriously, she nods at them both, and slings her pack off her shoulder, rummaging in it to look for rope. "Do you think near the ravine might mean in the ravine? We wanna make sure we've got a way out of it planned before we head down there."

[youwonscience]

"Mud, check," Cosima says, dry. "But I agree, I think our best bet is just a rousing game of 'some of these plants are not like the others.'" She doesn't sing; Alex, she hopes you appreciate her restraint.

As for the section of going into the ravine, Cosima looks mildly worried, but says, "I suppose it's possible. Man, that'd be a shitty way to arrive in Thedas; attacked by demons and trapped at the bottom of a ravine. But maybe there's a path down that doesn't involve, uh, free climbing."

Those parkour lessons only get a person so far.

[foundmyselfagain]

"It's a good way to make sure your expectations are adjusted accordingly for your new adventure." Gareth points out cheerfully. The joke is that Thedas sucks, and being stuck in a ravine is just the start of the shitshow. At least for someone who's a native, he can appreciate that it might be a bit of a step down from the worlds other people live in.

Especially ones with pizza.

"I did tell you guys that I can make stairs. Primal magic is one of my fortes, and earth is my second-best element. Though I can't guarantee they'll be the safest set of stairs--and it'll probably sap most of my magic. I did bring some lyrium, though, so it there's an emergency, I won't be entirely useless." Though it's easy to tell from his casual tone of voice and the way that he's squinting down at the ravine that he's not exactly expecting any trouble out of this place.

Still, paranoia has gotten him this far in life. And, of course, if necessary, he doesn't really need lyrium--but he's not about to go sharing that when some rando rifters he barely knows. Not unless it's that or a horribly gruesome death.