faderift | MOD EVENT: WINTERMARCH WINTER MARCH

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MOD EVENT: WINTERMARCH WINTER MARCH

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He might have caught her hand, but Marcus caught the other one first, even if he didn't keep it; it feels, somehow, redundant. But if not for her comfort, he wants to touch her for his, to remind himself she is there and solid and hasn't vanished in the Fade without a trace. So he reaches to touch her back, under the water, support when she seems so outwardly steady already.

After a moment, he says,]

About a year and a half ago.

[He's clearly thinking of a particular night. (Melys, that griffin ride, Petrana distraught and disoriented.) It's not posed as a question so much as an invitation to elaborate if she wishes to.]

( accepting comfort is easier when presented in such a form, where she needn't think of it as accepting comfort; in silence, in between spaces. the weight of hands which does not weigh her down. it's easier than dragging her mind back to the night that julius recalls aloud— )

Yes, ( over her cup of wine, probably coincidentally. )

Madame d'Asgard witnessed a spirit's recreation of my death, some months after. And other such ghosts.

( unsaid: that she had witnessed it, herself, in order to know this. )

So you see, I do not consider myself married any longer, ( mustering a smile, brittle, ) for it was til death did we part.

[ He thinks, generously, that that this is news to Julius says more about Petra than it does about the Enchanter, but.

It's curious.

He doesn't intrude this time, with comment or question or touch, watching them both. ]

[He considers pressing. Such an opportunity it rare, and he has a great many questions, for all he has carefully tried not to hint that he does up until now. But he also feels that pressing in front of a third party, and while he's not sure how much wine she's already had, is unfair. She's given a great deal already.

So instead, he offers her a hand up to a different conversational ledge, if she cares to take it.]

May I ask what got you two onto the subject of the past in the first place?

( she breathes out through her nose, relaxing somewhat into the water, where it begins to lap up at the tendrils of hair escaping to the nape of her neck. the face she pulls, mostly a bit of a nose-wrinkle, is more play than anything else— )

We were discussing the intelligence of cruel men. ( just some light bathtime conversation, ) Marcus escorted me to Lord Bertrand's home. I expect we will be obliged to return again.

[ That is how they got there, isn't it. Marcus's smile is thin and fleeting, eyes hooded. ]

Lord Bertrand appears to believe that causing others to suffer is the same as having their obedience. My suggestion is to disabuse him of that notion or frighten him off the prospect, depending on the sort of man he is.

[ He gestures vaguely with his mostly empty cup. ]

I defer to the lady's considerable diplomatic experience.

Did you get much of a sense of which sort he is, in your first visit? Some men are easier to read than others.

[It's an honest question and not a reflection (mostly) on the present company.]

( mostly. )

He did not strike me as a particularly canny individual, but if he were then it would be to his benefit not to overplay his hand now that we are here, and providing armed assistance to the village, and better acquainting ourselves with the execution of his inheritance.

( if he isn't stupid, he'll want to be thought it. on the other hand, sometimes the thing that quacks is just a fucking duck. )

[ :)? ]

Failing traction, perhaps a neighbouring house might supply the village for the rest of winter. He'd think twice before moving against them, unless he really is a fool.

[ And he finishes off his wine, placing the cup down. ]

A decent way to test the theory, if you have an ambitious neighbor who's willing to spend a bit to make that sort of move. Granted, if Bertrand is that stupid, you'll have to move with care or risk having to mop up an even larger mess when he decides to prove just how big a man he is.

[A pause. Dry:]

I don't suppose we can hope he's so stupid that the tantrum he throws will be entirely ineffective.

We should be so lucky!

( a little ironic. she shakes her head, considering what's left of her own cup. ) No. His first tantrum was not ineffective. Would have been moreso, indeed, in our absence. It is most easy to call his actions foolish now, but why should he have anticipated interference?

Well, he may act wiser beneath scrutiny. We shall see. We have access to Hightown, and to ambitious gossips. I accompanied Commander Flint recently to a soiree...it may prove a more fruitful evening than first thought.

Such is the nature of seeded things.

[ Marcus reaches to set his now empty cup aside. If he drinks more, he's pretty sure he might drown here. An ignoble end to his brief Riftwatch career. ]

Does the leader of the Forces division often consult with the chief cryptographer?

[Julius is increasingly certain he has not had enough wine for this conversation.]

I don't get the impression that Commander Flint confines his interests strictly to his division's business, though I confess, that's mainly hearsay.

( petra, holding her own cup in front of her a little like a comfort as she slips a little lower in the water, says, )

I considered it wise to acquaint myself with the Commander when he took his current post, and I have found him to be a most practical man. I would say of him that we share interests, among those an eye to the future. I find him—

( she presses her mouth to the edge of her cup, not drinking. considering. )

Familiar.

( considering the broad picture she's just painted of her history, that's a hell of a thing to say. )

We work well together.

[ He looks to Julius and listens to what he says and is not convinced that that's the answer he's after, flicking his attention back to Petrana for affirmation.

And it's deeply possible that the fact she has already spoken at such length to them, about things Marcus can recognise as difficult to speak about, is all that's stopping him not to press further. What kind of interests. What kind of practical.

What kind of future.

He refrains, nodding a silent acknowledgment instead. Later. Watching her sink further into the water, he smiles a little -- the kind that actually shows teeth, another rarity from him -- and says; ]

I feel as though I ought leave you both to your leisure. You'll know where to find me, the next time you wish to brave the trip up the hill.

It was a pleasure to finally meet you.

[Julius isn't stopping him, if he's decided to go, but his tone isn't hurrying him on his way either.]

And I trust you know where to find us both in turn.

( on the sort of impulse that had made it petra, she presses his hand before it's out of her reach in rising- )

I'll speak with Ambassador Rutyer should our successes not measure the effort of getting there, ( lightly, in farewell. )

[ Marcus nods to Julius to mirror back the sentiment, and accepts the warm (and wet) touch to his hand in a similar fashion, fingers flexing out to acknowledge both spoken message and otherwise.

And then leaves, the graceless prospect of getting out of a hot spring made a little easier with the installation of wooden steps. He takes his clothes, and leaves the wine. ]

[Once Marcus is well out of earshot, he says:]

He's not entirely what I expected.

[Thoughtful. She knows him well enough; he's never been in a hurry to make up his mind.]

No?

( left to their leisure, she offers him the cup and wine again, perhaps in invitation to catch up to her, small and warm and pleasantly a little fuzzy around the edges. not so much she's forgotten their privacy is a temporary illusion, but enough to unwind some of the tension that lives in her back. )

Tell me what you expected, then.

[He takes the cup with a small smile, pleased to see her a bit more relaxed if nothing else.]

It's not that he violated my expectations, precisely, just... hm.

[He takes a drink while he thinks it through.]

Let's say that the topic of conversation when I arrived suggests a talent for earning a person's trust well above the average.

( well, that is not an unfounded point. )

I might argue a counterpoint, ( that a certain amount of distance from the topic was of benefit, ) but I don't think you mistaken.

( considering the novelty of their first meeting. hers and marcus's, though julius's might outstrip it. so to speak. ) He is...direct in so courteous a fashion he defies one to remark upon it.

[Julius laughs quietly.]

Yes, I did notice that. Bold but not rude; it's a fine line to walk. Did you seek him out, when you first met, or did he make the first move?

[He supposes it could have been chance, but that seems unlikely.]

Happenstance, ( she says, after a moment, ) he was—acquainting himself with the towers, and opened our door. We made conversation, and he joined me for a drink.

( which could have been considered extremely rude, in less deft hands, and which manages to somehow be a little of all three of julius's theories. a little chance, and a decisiveness on both their parts. she'd mentioned meeting him, and how interesting she'd found him, but it's probably a habit more to do with her former husband than with julius that some of the details fell by the wayside. )

We spoke a little of you.

Did you? Shall I ask in what capacity?

[A bit teasing, yes, but also curious.]

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