faderift | open: something grabs ahold of me tightly

open: something grabs ahold of me tightly

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

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[Kallian enters the tent, her arms full of plants.]

Merrill, I was lucky enough to find some things that weren't entirely frozen--oh.

[Her gaze alights on Jamie, and pink immediately floods her cheeks.]

Jamie! I... I wasn't expecting you here. [Not that she looks unhappy to see him. Actually, a shy smile is tugging at her lips.]

Really? You don't normally-

[Normally wear shoes, that is. It's an unusual enough thing that he's curious about it, but when the tent flap opens, he winds off breaking off to look over. Seeing Kallian is a surprise, but a happy one. He had no idea she was sharing the tent with Merrill, but he doesn't mind at all - and while he may not blush, he does give her a brief but rather pleased smile before quickly pushing himself back to his feet.]

Here, let me get those for you, Kallian.

[It may not be his tent, but that doesn't matter. If it helps out here, he's willing to take the plants and put them wherever she and Merrill would like.]

Oh, good!

[ Merrill is also getting up to help take some plants, wanting to look at them herself -- not that she doesn't trust Kallian, but she wants to see what she got. ]

He went in the wrong tent, I think, but he's a friend. And no, I don't usually wear shoes. A lot of Dalish don't.

[ Is there UST? Merrill hasn't noticed. ]

Oh, Jamie, you don't-- [But by that time, her arms have been emptied of the herbs and flowers and feathers she's picked up.]

...have to do that... [She shifts awkwardly as she finishes her thought.]

I didn't realize you two were friends. Jamie often helps out around the healing tents. That's where he and I usually see each other.

Oh, aye, we'd met in the stables a while back when...it wasn't too long after you'd come to Skyhold, wasn't it, Merrill? Although come to think of it, you'd wandered in on me that time and I wandered in on you this time. Suppose that makes us even.

[Still he's glad for that first meeting, because he likes her, and he never minds the chance to make new friends. Much like he's hoping he and Kallian are becoming, and he can't quite help sneaking a glance over at her as he goes to set down the various plants and feathers so Merrill can take a look at them.]

Take it you two wound up getting assigned together, then? Can't say as I'd wound up with such good luck on my end. Mind you, if I keep wandering up in the wrong tent it might not be a problem after all. I may never find my way back to mine.

[Given his tentmate, he's not entirely convinced that would be the worst thing in the world, and he picks up a striking feather that looks a bit like it'd come off of a snow bunting back home, even though he's fairly certain snow buntings don't exist here.]

Hey, what are you planning on doing with all of this, anyway?

Yes, it was! And don't worry, Jamie; you're welcome to wander in on me any time.

[ She's used to clan living, after all, to everyone in everyone else's business. She doesn't like to admit it, but while she would never give up Hawke or her experiences in Kirkwall, she does miss that sort of thing. ]

Not a fan of your tentmate? That's unfortunate. Kallian is quite nice!

[ Not to put you on the spot, Kal. ]

Oh- hair!

[Kallian nods, and blushes a little more.]

You are welcome here, Jamie. And... thank you, Merrill.

She's right. Well. Partly. Some of those are to make poultices out of, but the flowers and the feathers... Well, we thought we'd have some fun braiding each other's hair...

Aye, she is.

[Those few words are quiet enough that it's likely that he'd meant to keep that part as a thought to himself, rather than out loud - and he doesn't seem to notice that he's said anything at all.

Granted, that could be because what Merrill says after that winds up throwing him for a bit of a loop, and he blinks, looking between Merrill and Kallian in surprise before piping up again, at a much more normal volume this time.]

Wait. Lasses actually do that? I thought Polly was having me on when she'd mentioned that that one time.

Of course we do that. How else would we get the hard to reach spots?

[ Merrill picks up a feather, twirling it between the tips of her fingers. ]

Besides, it feels nice, having someone else do your hair.

It does. [She nods.] My mother used to do mine when I was little. Plus, your arms don't get as tired, and it's much less messy because the other person can actually see what they're doing...

...do you want to start on mine, Merrill?

Oh. I suppose that makes sense.

[And does all the extra feathers and flowers, now. He goes to eye those again, but winds up flicking a glance back over at Kallian when she speaks.]

Er, are you sure you want me to stick around for this? I'd, ah, not want to be in your way.

[Which is true enough - but at the same time there's something reluctant in his words. For all that he doesn't want to get in the way of lasses doing lassie things, he doesn't particularly want to leave if he doesn't have to.]

Oh, absolutely!

[ She starts first by gathering a few more feathers, then settling back down. ]

You wouldn't be in the way at all, don't worry.

[ It doesn't just yet occur to her to include him in the braiding, but mostly only because she's running her hands through Kallian's hair. ]

[Kallian tips her head back so Merrill can easily access her hair. She actually has nice hair, flowing in soft waves down to her waist. She hums contentedly as Merrill's fingers card through it.]

You can stay if you want, Jamie. I just hope we won't be boring you.

Aye, well...maybe I could stay for a bit, then.

[While he can't entirely say as if he'll get bored or not, he figures if he does he can see about catching a bit of sleep. He's managed it in stranger places, after all. The company here is rather bonnier, though, and he decides that for the moment that it makes for something worth staying awake for. The corners of his mouth curve into a bit of a smile as he watches Merrill's fingers carding through Kallian's hair. She has an awful lot of it, but it suits her somehow. And it seems that she's enjoying the attention to it, something he hasn't considered before. Even though he winds up wandering over towards the pile of herbs and flowers to poke idly through them, most of his attention seems to be fixed on that - and maybe the curious question's a bit of an inevitability, really.]

You seem to be enjoying that. Both of you, actually. Why's that?

It feels nice.

[ Simple enough, as far as she's concerned, but Jamie seems to respond to this like it's something completely foreign. One hand is carefully pulled away from Kallian's long locks to beckon him forward, in front of the other elf. ]

Even just having hands run through your hair can feel soothing, and it's nice to have that connection when you're the one doing it. It's nice to take care of each other.

It does. And I haven't had my hair done by someone else in a long time.

It's... sort of a bonding thing. And it's nice to have someone making you feel pretty and cared about. And to make someone feel pretty and cared about.

There was a place I went once where they did some things like that. Sort of pampered you, as it were, but it was more...impersonal, I'd say. For the good of the Colony.

[And he hadn't been all that keen on that at the time, for a few reasons. On the other hand, having a friend do it seems rather nicer, all things considered, and he idly starts sorting through the various feathers and plants, picking out some things with long stems before lifting his head again.]

Come to think of it, you could have had your hair done there, so they might've been willing to braid things into it. I don't know, I didn't have that done. Haven't since, either. Just get it cut sometimes. Anything you lasses want out of this pile while I'm over here?

I think there are places that human nobles go to for things like that. "Spas", or something?

[ Merrill has no real idea, but it sounds like Something She Heard Once. ]

Maybe a few more feathers? Any color you'd like.

Definitely not something we do much in the alienage.

Red, or blue, maybe, for the feathers...

Red or blue? Alright, then.

[There were some small, but colorful feathers mixed in the lot, and a bit of sorting he was able to come up with a selection of red and blue ones, along with what he'd already gathered. He wanders back, setting the feathers down by Merrill before sitting down next to Kallian with the long-stemmed plants and starting to idly braid them together.]

But aye, I think spa is the word for it. Although I'm pretty sure that it's not always restricted to nobles back in my world. There's a lot of things that regular folk can do without having to worry about their status. At least in most of the places I've been.

I imagine they would still have to pay for it though, right?

[ Merrill's income has primarily been adventuring, aka killing people who try to attack her, so spa days are likely out either way. ]

Although... what else do they do, at these spas?

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