open: something grabs ahold of me tightly

[faderifting]

WHO: Inquisition Forces
WHAT: Inquisition forces cross the mountains into Orlais to deal with Emprise du Lion
WHEN: Wintermarch 25 onward
WHERE: EMPRISE DU LION
NOTES: This is a mingle-style log for the Inquisition camps, local tavern, and general/open Inquisition work, etc.

This time they hike down to the west, but the trip through the mountains is no easier. The snow is heaped up about the road where wagons have pushed it aside, stomped into slippery pack beneath the feet and hooves that have gone before. Of the main track it is ankle deep at best and in places it drifts, waist-deep on a tall man and enough to bury a dwarf who hasn't come prepared with snowshoes. Everywhere the wind howls, biting cold, and the sky hangs low, a pale flat grey that makes it difficult to judge distances. Those who know winter weather call it a snow sky, and near-daily squalls prove them right.

They set up camp in Sahrnia, across the broad expanse of frozen river that has trapped the villagers here upstream. Tents pop up in rows and in the shells of tumbled-down buildings, fires blazing and thawing the ground to mud. When the supply wagons roll in they re-open the local tavern, brightly lit with flaking paint on the walls that might once have been colorful and patterned tiles on the floor that seems to swim like an optical illusion after too many glasses of the cheap red wine that fills the cellars.

Even deadlier reds hold the hills: Red Templar sightings have been frequent and it is said they are operating in several locations in the region in significant force. Some of these men and women have become hulking, crystalline beasts. Many others are in the earlier stages of corruption: red-veined and -eyed, aggressive and superhumanly strong, but still visibly human and coherent if spoken to. Red lyrium is even easier to find, jutting out of the ground or cliffsides, filling caves-- the Tower of Bone, a fortress that has stood for centuries, now threatens to split from the inside out. The area's wildlife was none too friendly before, but now the wolves and bears have begun to be corrupted by the lyrium and many will attack on sight, without provocation. (The snofleurs that bumble harmlessly around the river seem unaffected.)

Everywhere there are ruins: broken bridges, crumbling colosseums, and the great hulking mass of Suledin's Keep tucked between the distant hills. Scouts reported that Red Templars hold it as well.

RIFTER ARRIVAL - SAHRNIA - THE HILLS - TOWER CAMP - A HANDY MAP

Comments

[aceso]

Christine makes a humming sound of acknowledgment. "I ask because, well, I could assist you. I could energize it and lift it up onto the roof, if you would like." One can never tell if people will accept magical help.

The question has her letting out a sigh. "It wasn't until arriving here. All my research in the library came to nothing, but here there are many factors to look at concerning this stuff. Most will be destroyed, but I hope to obtain a few samples."

[nofury]

Maria gives the woman a longer look now, silent as she evaluates. Oddly, teaching mages to do battle was an easier thing to swallow than this. In war every advantage must be used, but the casual use for magic still rang wrong in her mind. Then again, it was hard to think of a more basic service to man than helping put a roof over head in desperate times. She gave a slow nod.

"We will see. But are you planing to go out in a party to observe the red templars directly?"

[aceso]

It isn't like she made the offer to show off. It makes sense to save time and effort that could be used for other tasks by cutting down on the workload with this one. But she leaves the decision in Maria's hands.

"I am, once their numbers are thinned. I am not very skilled in combat myself, and would be of little use. More of a liability, I should imagine. I do want to observe what they have gained from the use of red lyrium, but from a safe distance."