MOD EVENT: WINTERMARCH WINTER MARCH

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone & Everyone
WHAT: Winter adventures as Riftwatch heads up into the Vinmark Mountains to do some work for (Provisional) Viscount Bran of Kirkwall
WHEN: Throughout Wintermarch and early Guardian
WHERE: Vinmark Mountains
NOTES: OOC post

Still-Provisional Viscount Bran has received a number of requests for aid from communities in the Vinmark mountains outside Kirkwall. He wants to keep them happy so that they continue to pay taxes to Kirkwall and don't become problematically independent or allied with some other state. But he also doesn't want to deal with this shit, and the City Guard isn't really equipped to go tromp around the mountains in the winter. So he has asked Riftwatch to deal with this, casting it as a shared danger (if any communities were to break away, they'd be more vulnerable to enemy collaboration, or hampering travel through the passes, and things like that) but if necessary will imply that Riftwatch's refusal would weigh unfavorably against the decision to allow them to remain in the Gallows for free.

This work isn't done at the exclusion of all else--other normal (and especially high-priority) work continues. Any work that isn't especially time-sensitive may be postponed, and otherwise agents will simply have to forfeit their free time and fit this work in on top of their other responsibilities. Something for people to complain about while they're tromping through the snow.

It's not a long trip back and forth to the Gallows, so people can come and go if they want, but Bran has also agreed to allow Riftwatch the use of the Viscount's hunting lodge, a rustic mountain retreat traditionally used for hunting parties, which happens to be in a roughly central location. As Viscount Bran is both Provisional and profoundly not the sort of man who holds hunting parties, the lodge has gone unused for some years now, and Riftwatch is bringing in its own supplies and a skeleton support staff to man the place for the duration. Those traveling up in the first group will have to help escort supply wagons through snowy, muddy mountain roads, unloading casks and crates into the cellar, and pitch in cleaning, making minor repairs, and generally getting the building set up after a decade of neglect.

The lodge is organized around a central hall with a massive fireplace, and a small library and study that will be used as offices shared between those visiting. Up the grand wood stair is a mezzanine level that looks down on the hall and leads to three corridors, each with a couple rooms. Rooms will be shared by groups of 2-4 people, the exception being the two suites generally reserved for the viscount and his wife, which will now be assigned to whichever of the Division Heads are in residence (and if there are more than two at a time, then to whichever Division Heads win a coin toss or something). Each room has basic furnishings, heavy and rustic, and its own fireplace. Bathing facilities are communal, provided by natural hot springs pools. While these are outdoors, there is a roof, and there is also a small springhouse alongside for changing, as well as a separate sauna.

The stables contain a number of sleighs in varying states of repair, which can be signed out for use. They're often the best way to get around this area in winter, and can be pulled by a team of Vinmark Goats, a big-horned shaggy breed of unusually massive mountain goats that are often used in place of ponies in this part of the world. The Viscount had a herd of them, which has since run more or less wild on his land and will need to be rounded back up for use.

There are a few communities with different problems, spread out some ways apart through the mountains:

• ICE RIFT: The village of Erith has been plagued by shades and despair demons, which can be traced to a rift that has opened under the thick mid-winter ice of the frozen lake just outside town. Trying to get at it from above would mean cutting into the ice and fighting off demons while underwater and very likely freezing to death in minutes. So instead they'll need to traverse the ice caves beneath the lake to reach it, which will be complicated by the nature of shades, which leech off the energy of the livings' psyche, causing confusion, fatigue, and fear.
  
  
• SNOWMONSTERS: Cragfield has been cut off by an infestation of what's only been described as "snowmonsters," that have been harrying travelers around the village or anyone who strays too far from the edge of town. They will prove to be some unknown variation of giant, even more aggressive, though a bit smaller and nearly covered in white hair. They have some resistance to magic, especially ice magic, and one seems capable of using ice magic, if crudely. They can be tracked through the forest and picked off a few at a time, or traced back to one of their lairs, usually in a cave or tucked into a rock formation.
  
  
• THE GRIPPE: Galssop has sent an urgent request for healers to help combat a particularly virulent strain of the illness many in Kirkwall are suffering. Most of the town has fallen victim to it, including their only healer, leaving the rest without care. Complicating matters, reaching the town in winter (especially while transporting supplies) requires traveling up the frozen Wye river, using skates and iceboats. The villagers there will be wary of magical healing, and Bran as urged trying to use non-magical means of healing first if possible, though he and the sick will ultimately come round to the necessity of using some magic rather than see dozens die.
  
  
• THE GRINCH: Lerwick's trouble is a young man who recently inherited Touraigle, the fortress above the village, and who firmly believes that Lerwick is also his inheritance. When the Mayor of Lerwick refused to enforce Lord Bertrand's taxes, the lord's guards ransacked the town, helping themselves to most of its winter stores, among other things. Riftwatch diplomats have been asked to help entreat the lord to be reasonable and return what he took. But the road up to the castle has been blocked by a combination of overzealous defenses and weather, forcing all visitors to climb a treacherous hill of downed trees covered in ice and the occasional, possibly-frozen (if they're lucky), booby trap.

In addition to these specific issues, Rift Watchers can expect to encounter the usual Vinmark winter hazards: unpredictable weather, hungry animals, bad roads, scarcities, and so forth. Once news of their presence in the mountains gets around, they may be asked to take on similar small problems for others, like dealing with wildlife issues, helping search for a missing child, rescuing a hunting party trapped by a minor avalanche, etc. There are also basic chores to keep the lodge running that will always need extra hands, like chopping firewood, hunting down dinner, safeguarding supplies on their way to and from Kirkwall, and so on.

Comments

[rathercommon]

[ She doesn't get it. Her eyes lift, and narrow; in her confusion and distraction, she actually holds her gaze this time. ]

What?

[hassaran]

[ A little shake of her head, a suppressed smile. ]

Nothing.

[ She flaps the edge of the papers up to draw attention to them instead. ] I also need copies of the previous month, next.

[rathercommon]

[ Her eyes narrow further, but - the request, at least, she can respond to. And efficiently, too: she turns back to her makeshift desk, grasps a sheaf of papers, and holds them out, Yseult's request evidently having been anticipated. ]

I've also pulled the records from this time last year, since that'll be what you ask for next.

[hassaran]

Good. Thank you.

[ She takes the papers offered, giving them a quick glance before setting them down on the blotter in front of her, lining up a clean sheet of paper beside them, and taking up her pen to return to work. ]

[rathercommon]

[ But she doesn't go. Instead she stands there. And then - ]

Why didn't you yell at me?

[hassaran]

[ Yseult only partially looks up, but she arches a brow. ]

Would that have been effective?

[rathercommon]

Depends. Effective at doing what?

[hassaran]

Changing your behavior or your mind.

[rathercommon]

Of course not. [ She shakes her hair from her face. ] But that's not really the point of yelling, is it?

[hassaran]

I don't have time to waste on pointless theatrics.

[rathercommon]

[ Her brows draw down, confused. ]

Theatrics isn't the point of yelling, either.

[hassaran]

[ With a tip of her head and a slight narrowing of her gaze that suggests exasperation, though her tone remains even. ]

Kitty, would you say that you and I have much in common?

[rathercommon]

[ A pause, and then she looks away again with a shrug. ]

I guess not. I guess you're right. You stay calm, and I'm - [ Angry, screamingly angry, every moment she's awake and plenty of them when she's asleep, too. ] Not.

[hassaran]

Yes.

[ It doesn't show except in some minute softening of the edge in her gaze, but she is slightly, but pleasantly, surprised to discover Kitty is capable of conceding anything, even so minor. ]

You might wish to consider whether that approach is serving you well.

[rathercommon]

[ That makes Kitty look at Yseult again, her heavy brows knotted together in bewilderment. ]

That approach? It's not - something I chose. This is just - me.

[hassaran]

Do you do and say everything that comes into your head?

[rathercommon]

[ She twitches her chin up. ]

Do you do or say nothing that comes into yours?

[ She shakes her head. ]

Don't say it like everyone's like you and I'm the weird one.

[hassaran]

I didn't suggest that, I just asked. Do you?

[rathercommon]

[ A sharper shake of her head. ]

Of course I don't, and well, Kathleen, if you're able to choose some of your actions, then surely you can choose to sit down and make less noise and less trouble - [ That's done in an imitation of a different accent - not Yseult's - one just a little primmer than Kitty's own. ] I've heard it before, so you really don't have to.

[ And she could stop there, with that rebuke, and storm off; but now she's stirred up, and so instead, she bursts out with - ]

But the world, it's rotten - this one no less than mine - and full of wicked, rotten people doing wicked, rotten things. And anyone who can take a look at that and not be filled to bursting with absolute fury is - I don't get them. And I don't want that, either. I want to be angry.

[hassaran]

[ Yseult sits impassive through both phases of this rant, though her gaze flattens a few degrees further as Kitty starts doing voices that aren't even hers. Still, she remains deliberately, maddeningly calm: ]

Yes, we've all noticed. And what has this approach accomplished since you've been here? Is venting your anger all the time like this getting you closer to making the world less wicked and rotten?

[rathercommon]

[ Clipped and tense: ] Please don't talk to me like I'm stupid.

[hassaran]

[ Sharper, but still measured and controlled: ] Then stop behaving stupidly. If you care as much about improving the world as you claim then you'll grow up and learn to set your feelings aside, calmly assess what will be most effective at achieving your goals, and then do that. Focusing on your own anger and letting that drive everything is not helping anyone.

[rathercommon]

So I've heard a hundred times. From everyone who wanted me to be obedient and tractable. Everyone who wanted to hear a little less from me.

[ Her chin jerks up further. ]

I've got a question. How do you know what helps anyone? You sit there, and look me in the eye, and say ever-so-calmly that this is what will help people. So here's my question - how many people are freer 'cause of you? How much of the world is better 'cause of you and your sweet temper? Your calm assessment isn't stopping us from losing this war. It's not stopping Rifters from disappearing and mages from losing their rights and Tevinters kissing the toes of Corypheus. Grow up, you say, like it's not all of you adults who are responsible for fucking the world up from beginning to end. [ Her tongue trips slightly on the word fucking; she was, after all, raised a good girl. ] You know who's got an even temper and a methodical approach? Corypheus. Empress Celene. Benedict's rotten mum, she knew what she was about, and she controlled herself. I bet that if you were in the right circumstances, you could logic yourself into evil just as wicked as theirs. So where's your heart? Where's your passion? Where's the goodness in you? Or is it just that you were assigned here, and so you do what you're told?

[hassaran]

[ She waits (and waits, and waits) until it's clear that Kitty is good and finished before replying, firmly and evenly. ]

Since I was younger than you are now my entire life has been devoted to catching murderers and warmongers and slavers and rapists and would-be tyrants and making sure they couldn't hurt anyone else. I didn't keep count of how many people that affected, and not one of them will ever know my name, so I won't be providing references. I can assure you that it is far more people than I could have helped if I hadn't learned to keep my head and my temper and remain focused on accomplishing my goals instead of on my own feelings.

Being calm and logical isn't evil unless it's done in the service of an evil goal. Heart and passion are not the same as being loudest and angriest and they are rarely enough if not coupled with an effective strategy. There's no goodness in refusing to do what is necessary just because it doesn't suit your temperament or your pride, that's just selfish. We are losing this war because our enemy has a single goal and will stop at nothing to achieve it while we can barely get started because too many people here selfishly insist on believing that anyone who doesn't completely agree with their personal views is actually the real enemy.

But I'm well aware that, like yelling at you, this conversation will not change your mind or your behavior and so is a waste of my time. And I'm here because I chose to be, because I believe this is important, so I'd prefer to be productive. You've given me the reports I need. I'm sure you have other work to do.

[rathercommon]

[ She doesn't move, in spite of the dismissal. ]

And so, because your way works for you, it's the only way? Christ, no wonder you always want to do all the work of Scouting yourself. You wouldn't trust an assistant even if one put in an application, would you?