[ OPEN | PLAYER PLOT ] This is how it feels to take a fall

[illithidnapped]

WHO: Tiffany, Barrow, Astarion and...you??
WHAT: an assignment gone terribly wrong
WHEN: week 5, segueing into week 6 of the plot, just after dragon tracking concluded with a terrible, literal bang
WHERE: the most silent portion of the Silent Plains, nearer to Hasmal, and not far from Tevinter's very nicely constructed base
NOTES: cw for injury, darkness, being stranded, absolute idiocy | OOC POST: here

Previously: having successfully scouted Primus Taxarchis’ base in the Silent Plains, Tiffany, Barrow and Astarion make an unsuccessful escape under the fully alerted watch of the base’s active forces— provoking a near lethal counter attack that sees them crash landing not far away, and forcing the stranded trio to desperately petition for help.

That’s where you come in.




The ravine runs like a crooked gash throughout desert sands, deep and layered, sloping inward at an angle too steep to safely (or reliably) climb. Easy to spot from above, not as easy to get into without breaking an ankle or an arm, and impossible to freely clamber out of once inside: the stone is brittle and flaking to the touch, lean too much on it, and you’ll drop right to the earth along with it.

The caverns connected to it are far more accessible— the only downside is they’re labyrinthine in their knotted nature: it’s easy to reach an end too narrow to be traversed, or so broad that it loops back on where you’ve already been, descending downward in steeper layers, becoming a near honeycombed network at points.

Of course, you also might not be alone in the dark. This territory isn’t as unclaimed as appearances might otherwise suggest, factoring in proximity to the base the three had been previously scouting. Luckily no overwhelming force has been sent to give chase and comb the desert in pursuit, but that’s not to say there aren’t still eyes to be found in the depths of lightless pathways. Armor-clad agents working for the exact same reasons you are, their noses to the trail.

Well. Not the exact same reasons.

The temperature is freezing cold at night, and in the fuller depths of the caverns where light doesn’t reach, that’s a near consistent constant. Firelight might draw attention, for better or worse. Magic, too, and— despite earning the label of Silent— there is wildlife occasionally to be found. Proof of life’s perseverance even in the harshes of places, fleeting and skittish.

Or dangerous.

Whatever approach is taken, one thing is clear throughout: none of this is going to be easy.


[ooc notes:

-The trio rest at the very bottom of those lightless depths where they’d initially fallen, in varying states of wellness and action.

-they’re lacking in supplies, warmth, healing, mounts, protection, a way out— you name it they need it.

-time is a given: none of this will go quickly, so feel free to handwave or assume anything you need to to make your dream threads come true.

-this timeline wise takes place at the end of week five segueing into week 6, when Riftwatch forces are free to head home if they care to, but given that this is technically hostile territory between Primus Taxarchis’ base and Hasmal, it’s probably going to be a deliberate choice if your characters decide to come here.

-pls just don’t do anything to officially alert the nearby base in full, that would be Bad— and super difficult to do from a hole in the ground but mostly just Bad. Otherwise chase your bliss and make your wildest spelunking/survival/heroic fantasies a reality.

-ooc post is here, for all your delving needs and details.]

Comments

[kantikoy]

Adrasteia hears the call through the crystal but she also just hears Edgard's voice from some distance away, and so she breaks out in a run, making her way through twisting corridors of stone and darkness before she finds a shape she takes to be Edgard in the dark.

She pulls her pocket lighter out and opens it. It's Edgard, and Barrow, the latter on the ground. Blood, too much of it.

"Hold this," she says, putting the lighter into Edgard's hands and holding her breath. She likes the man but his smell is sharp in the dark. "Has he been able to speak?" She's going to try healing the head wound first, to see how that goes. The arrow, however, gives her a bit of pause. She's going to have to remove it before healing him.

[thereneverwas]

Whether or not any of this is actually happening will be left to later deliberation, because Barrow is too deeply submerged in fever and weakness to fully engage with either person shouting in his vicinity.

His head wound is shallow and already clotted, from where he banged his head on the rocks in their descent; more concerning is the blood from his nose and mouth, staining his stubbly face and still bubbling gently with each labored breath.

notifs are weird pls ping me if very delayed

[muckspout]

Edgard cups the lighter in his hands and gasps a little at the sight of Barrow. He breathes quickly and doesn't immediately hear Adrasteia.

"N-no." He responds. "No talking. Thought he was-- and then it was Barrow."

He stares blankly still holding the lighter, frozen. The sight blurs a little, but he blinks it away and tries to steady his breath.

no worries!

[kantikoy]

Well, the clotting tells her that perhaps the head wound isn't as bad, but the blood from his nose and mouth tells her that the arrow is bad, worse perhaps than she originally thought.

She reaches into her robes and pulls out a flask of healing potion, hoping she can simultaneously get it down Barrow's throat as she manages pushing the arrow through him. Pulling it, she thinks, would do more damage as the tip catches at his internal organs on the way out. She manages to get behind his head, propping it up in her lap, one hand at the arrow where it comes out through his chest. "Alright," she says to everyone assembled but mostly so that she has a plan of attack, "come here," to Edgard, "and hold that lighter closer so I can see. I'm going to push the arrow through, from the back, if you can hold him up a little bit, and then if you can get most of this," indicating the flask "into his mouth at the same time, I'll try healing the damage to his lungs." Hopefully, it's just one lung but either way, she's prepared to pour every ounce of her magic into this.

[thereneverwas]

Having the flask shoved into his mouth and its contents poured down his throat is enough to awaken Barrow, however temporarily, with a violent coughing and sputtering as his body reacts to the new stimulus.

Although conscious, he rather wishes he weren't.

[muckspout]

Edgard has one hand on Barrow's shoulders and one hand on the light. He takes a deep breath to stop them shaking.

"It's going to be alright." He says unconvincingly. Don't die! he only just stops himself from saying.

[kantikoy]

Adrasteia's hand is splayed across Barrow's back at the place where the arrow was just moments ago, having managed to shove it clean through his body and set it aside with a little care; she'll want to see if it's been poisoned later.

She takes a deep breath in and pushes with her magic, knitting together flesh section by section. She thinks of Sidony's books on the way the body is built, and she thinks about faith, and she thinks about Barrow's voice when she's heard it and she prays that this works. That he'll heal, that he'll be whole, that he'll laugh it off after.