WHO: Nell, Clarke & Gareth WHAT: A trip to block a key trade route between Antiva and Tevinter does not go well. WHEN: Pre-Ghislain, pre-Antivan wedding WHERE: The Hundred Pillars NOTES: CW: utter failure
[ Before they reach the dry, treacherously rocky rises of the Hundred Pillars, there is the road through the Vinmarks to Starkhaven, and then another road north, through the densely green lands around the Minanter. It's cool in the forest this time of year, fog lingering each morning almost until the midday sun makes it through a canopy of leaves that have just begun to change and fall. They make good time along the quiet cart road toward Seleny before turning west onto a narrower track toward the mountains, following one branch of the river as it gradually narrows. They make camp that night at dusk alongside the lake that feeds it, dry wood lit easily by magic as the evening grows cool. ]
So, Clarke.
[ Nell sits on one of the fallen logs dragged over for the purpose, a cup of wine--warmed and spiced over the fire to cover the harsh acidity of being young and cheap--cradled in her hands. ]
You've been quiet. Do much traveling before, or is this your first trip outside Kirkwall?
[ Clarke has been quiet. Observing, listening to the other two when they had anything to say, absorbing the landscape and trying to match landmarks to the maps she's studied, and now frowning into the fire from the ground beside it. She isn't used to magic yet. Not convinced there isn't some sort of explanation—maybe not one that she can ever figure out, but one Raven could, probably, or Murphy—besides channeling the power of a dreamworld.
She doesn't immediately stop staring at the flames when she's addressed. ]
Since they found us. [ And she wouldn't be here now, except she's spent the interim figuring out enough that she thinks she could make it on her own for a while if she had to, without getting lost or eaten or poisoned by unfamiliar plants, if only they happen to be lying about the complications that would arise from the anchor in her hand. ] And we might be traveling as far for this as I ever did at home.
[ There's a lot of land, filled with a lot of people. But the wildlife seems about on par with what she's gotten used to, at least. ]
It seems like a beautiful planet, [ she adds, and then—what? You should be proud? Sure would be a shame if something happened to it? Dammit— ] And there's so much that isn't even on your maps.
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pre-disaster
[ Before they reach the dry, treacherously rocky rises of the Hundred Pillars, there is the road through the Vinmarks to Starkhaven, and then another road north, through the densely green lands around the Minanter. It's cool in the forest this time of year, fog lingering each morning almost until the midday sun makes it through a canopy of leaves that have just begun to change and fall. They make good time along the quiet cart road toward Seleny before turning west onto a narrower track toward the mountains, following one branch of the river as it gradually narrows. They make camp that night at dusk alongside the lake that feeds it, dry wood lit easily by magic as the evening grows cool. ]
So, Clarke.
[ Nell sits on one of the fallen logs dragged over for the purpose, a cup of wine--warmed and spiced over the fire to cover the harsh acidity of being young and cheap--cradled in her hands. ]
You've been quiet. Do much traveling before, or is this your first trip outside Kirkwall?
no subject
She doesn't immediately stop staring at the flames when she's addressed. ]
Since they found us. [ And she wouldn't be here now, except she's spent the interim figuring out enough that she thinks she could make it on her own for a while if she had to, without getting lost or eaten or poisoned by unfamiliar plants, if only they happen to be lying about the complications that would arise from the anchor in her hand. ] And we might be traveling as far for this as I ever did at home.
[ There's a lot of land, filled with a lot of people. But the wildlife seems about on par with what she's gotten used to, at least. ]
It seems like a beautiful planet, [ she adds, and then—what? You should be proud? Sure would be a shame if something happened to it? Dammit— ] And there's so much that isn't even on your maps.