faderift | She Blinded Me With Science [Closed]

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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.

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?"

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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.

"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.

She Blinded Me With Science [Closed]

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SORRY FRIENDS i neglected my tags for some days

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i am slow and late and full of great shame

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