World Log: Tundra Arrival

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters in the city
What: The log for the city's arrivel on the ice planet
Where: All around the city
When: November 21st-November 30th
Warnings: None

You all get some warning to prepare, which is great. A little time to stock up on supplies, make sure everything's where it supposed to be, call your friends in from their fishing boats. And then the city moves. It happens in the blink of an eye - one moment you're on islands, surrounded by ocean, and the next? The next you're surrounded by frozen ground, the temperature has dropped significantly, and even the sky looks different. The air has a bite to it, that familiar feeling telling you it's thinking about snowing soon. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday soon.

The city has rearranged itself back into that old, familiar shape, instead of spread out across islands like it was a moment ago. Maybe that'll make things easier for you, maybe it won't, but it also means the return of the lake and river that used to bisect the city - only now they're frozen over. This climate also means it'll be hard for any plants not otherwise protected to survive - and that you, too, will start feeling that cold if you're away from a warm place for too long.

And warm places might be in short supply, because when the city moved the gods did not. What does that mean for you? Well, whatever supplies are in the shops at the moment the city moves are the only ones left. No new food supplies, no new clothing, nothing. In addition, the power across the whole city is out, including water and heating. Anything else powered or supplied by gods (the hot springs, the mopeds, what's left of the orchard, the armory, the GPS) will not work.

You're on your own. Try not to die.

► This log covers November 21st-30th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you freeze to death, starve to death, are eaten by the local animals, fall through the ice, or find some other exciting way to die, please let us know here, and be aware resurrection will not be currently happening. You stay dead - for now.

Comments

[theladyofhighever]

Yes, though it's impossible for me to imagine.

[she's still struggling with her arrival. so much about this place is so unlike anything she knew that she's having a difficult time adapting. and she misses Alistair terribly]

How many other worlds have you been to? And what does it feel like, being up among the stars?

[casualryder]

[If he had his Omni-tool he could have grabbed one of the many pictures he has saved, but alas, Hadriel had to screw him there.]

Couldn't tell you off the top of my head. Traveling between worlds is kind of like...moving from town to town, where I'm from. But uh, it's quiet up there. I guess that's good or bad depending on who you are but, to me, it's a nice quiet.

[Explaining this thing he deals with literally all the time to someone who knows absolutely nothing about it is hard, who knew? He chooses to draw on one experience to hopefully capture the feeling.]

There's no sunrise or sunset up there in space, so I have to have...someone, tell me when it's time to wake up. [He's not going to try and get into explaining AI and alarms and all that stuff now.] I remember one morning, our ship was passing a sun in the distance. Far, far away. But the light shone into my windows with this red-orange glow that reminded me of home...and I looked out and just saw this giant ball of light surrounded by millions and millions of smaller ones dotting the darkness of space.

I watched it for like, twenty minutes, before someone from my team had to come get me and yell at me for being late to my own meeting.

[He laughs at the end there, but it's a fond one.]

But yeah, that's what it's like, most times.

[theladyofhighever]

[she's under the impression from those she's talked to who have been here a while that it tends to do such things]

I like quiet. Quiet can be comforting. [when everyone was trying to pull you six different directions.

she has to take a moment, to imagine what he's described. it sounds beautiful, but she fears her imagination can't do it justice]

It must be amazing. To see a sun so closely with the stars in the distance. It would be impossible to get used to. At least . . . I don't think that I'd be able to.

[and she smiles slightly] Duty calls and one must answer.

Thank you for telling me about it. Is there--is there anything you would know of my world? [she can't imagine that anything about Ferelden would compare, but she's willing to speak of it]

[casualryder]

[Scott is not a man to take quiet moments for granted, for as much as he goes on about loving the exploration and adventure. Turns out once shit gets real and a lot is resting on your shoulders it's not as fun. Who could have guessed?

Anyway, Scott would argue that every place is special. Comparisons needn't be made.]

Thank you for asking. [He loves talking about this shit anyway.] What's it like where you're from?

[You know, not the world, but where she lived. "Home", as it were.]

[theladyofhighever]

[Mariane had expected a very different life, marriage to some wealthy, powerful heir or another, perhaps at home in Ferelden or perhaps even in Orlais or Antiva. father had diplomatic ties to both, so it wasn't unthinkable.

instead, she found herself a Grey Warden, assembling and leading an army]

It's truly my pleasure. [good, because she plans to continue asking] ...where I'm from. Highever is where I'm from. That's in Ferelden. Most other nations consider us backwards at best, barely civilized at worst, but from Ferelden came the prophet Andraste and--that wasn't what you asked.

Highever is beautiful. My father was its Teyrn, it's leader. Castle Cousland is near Ferelden's northern coast. Mother knew a great deal about sailing and swimming, so she taught us everything. It was a lot like the islands we were on for a time: rocky, cool, with the scent of the sea everywhere. I [she struggles with this sentence] miss it terribly.

[casualryder]

[Hey, Scott may not have asked about that but it's lore and lore is interesting to him. It's all part of exploration, anyway. He makes a mental note of the name "Andraste" and decides to ask about that later.]

Man, I love places by the water. Your home sounds wonderful. [The surfer in him can't help but smile wide at that description. But he catches her struggle, looking out onto the rest of the planet to take comfort in its unique beauty for the moment.] Homesick...I know the feeling. This may sound stupid, but for me it usually helps to think that no matter where I am in the world...home is still there, you know?

[Of course, he has to think of it like that, seeing as how he knows he'll never see the Milky Way again. Not to mention, he has to move on, and start thinking of Andromeda as home. Still, it's a comforting thought that helps him sleep a little better at night and it's all he can offer.]

[theladyofhighever]

[Andraste is a long story, but it's one that Fereldans are proud of]

It--it is wonderful. [she takes a breath and tries to steady her expression and voice] I'll be living near the water in Denerim, too, but as I'll be the queen, I won't have anywhere near the freedoms I had as a girl. [because she feels far older than her sixteen years. older and more tired, but it could be the taint in her veins making her feel that way. she looks up at him with his words about being homesick] Yes. I suppose. Home is still there, even while I am here. That's a--a good way to look at it.

[it helps, a little. she knows that Thedas and Ferelden have to be out there somewhere and that when she returns, it will be as though she never left. still, this is already longer than the first time she was here and she wonders how much longer it will be]

[casualryder]

[He just kind of blurts out, not really thinking, with a snort of disbelieving laughter.]

That's responsibility for you, huh? [He casually drums his fingers along the windowsill subconsciously, as something pops into his mind seemingly randomly he just starts talking.] One of my crew sent for something after he left home with us. The thing is, it's so far away that he'll never see it. By the time it arrives he'll be long gone, you know? But he says just knowing it's on its way — something from home, it helps.

I guess my point is, it's all in here.

[He points to his chest briefly. His heart. And then he laughs again, this time softer.]

Soooo, cheesy, I know.

[theladyofhighever]

[she looks up at the laughter, but he doesn't seem to be laughing at her, which is good]

A great deal of responsibility. Though, my mother and father made sure to give me the education I'd need to excel in the role. [after all, Anora was thirty and rumor had it, barren. Cailan would have had to eventually set her aside] I can't imagine. . . something from home arriving long after the one who's sent for it is gone. I'm glad he receives comfort from it.

[she hears him and watches him point towards his heart]

Cheesy is. . . a bad thing? [because she doesn't think it sounds so bad]

[casualryder]

[There's a tinge of bitterness hearing that...he wants to fight it back and tell it to fuck off, but it's there. He wasn't trained or prepared for the role of Pathfinder and yet his father foisted it onto him for reasons he still doesn't know.

At any rate, he's going to ignore those thoughts for now. Not while he's watching a beautiful sky and having a pleasant conversation.]

Most people don't seem to like it. That's why they roll their eyes and say, "Ryder, that's so Cheesy". [He laughs, obviously kidding. Well, people do say that to him, but still.]

[theladyofhighever]

[she'd feel badly if she knew she had inspired those feelings, even by accident. but the Couslands were second only to the royal family. the rank of Teryn was shared by the Mac Tirs, but they'd only been elevated by King Maric after the end of the war to free themselves from the Orlesians.

she wonders now, how long were Loghain Mac Tir and Rendon Howe co-conspirators because both had to know that Bryce and Eleanor Cousland would never have allowed such a blatant grab for power]

Ah. [a pause] I didn't think it was bad. Not at all. I thought it sounded comforting.