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escordvi2025-06-08 02:05 pm
coldjustice) wrote in escordvi2025-06-08 02:05 pm
Entry tags:
june catch-all
Who: Neve Gallus & various
Status: Open + some closed starters
Where: various
What: MANTA board
Warnings: the thread with Lace Harding will have MANY BIG IMPORTANT Veilguard spoilers, be aware if you are trying to avoid those! Any other warnings or spoilers will be marked and updated as needed.
[ i will match whatever format the replies are in, don't feel compelled to prose if that's not your preferred format.
I'll probably add some other starters as time goes on. Special interest quests are: Ink It Til You Make It, Glory in the Hole, Closing Loose Ends, Sarht's Treasure. If you'd like anything specific, please feel free to hit me up at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
sixflights, by journal PM, or by pinging me in the game discord. ]
WHALE MEMORIAL
Status: Open + some closed starters
Where: various
What: MANTA board
Warnings: the thread with Lace Harding will have MANY BIG IMPORTANT Veilguard spoilers, be aware if you are trying to avoid those! Any other warnings or spoilers will be marked and updated as needed.
[ i will match whatever format the replies are in, don't feel compelled to prose if that's not your preferred format.
I'll probably add some other starters as time goes on. Special interest quests are: Ink It Til You Make It, Glory in the Hole, Closing Loose Ends, Sarht's Treasure. If you'd like anything specific, please feel free to hit me up at
WHALE MEMORIAL
In all honesty, Neve feels a bit like an outsider here. Checks out, given that she's not a native of this... location, area, culture?It's not her home and she wasn't around for the important events. She has done her best to learn as much as she can, but predictably she continues to have just as many questions as she finds answers. That hasn't prepared her for the similarities in what she's learned about recent events here. The crystallizations and what they mean for the people, and for the whales.
Then she'd heard about the memorial and it struck a chord within her. She might not be able to help everyone, but honoring the dead? Remembering the lost? Yeah. She could do that.
So, she'd asked Lace to accompany her for an initial memorial visit and at some point finds herself alone at the site. There's no real way for her to know how many were killed here, but she can offer a few of the paper lanterns. The night sky is dark, but the land and water around them are as bright as day. Pinpricks of light shining all around the water. Once hers is in the water, she glances sideways in an attempt to hide just how this memorial is affecting her, spying someone nearby who seems to be having a little trouble getting their lantern boat to move in the water.
"Here," she says softly, stepping over and kneeling down next to them. She doesn't reach for the lantern itself, but she lifts her hands enough to give a gentle rush of cold air, using her magic to push the boat forward until it joins the lights around them.
"This... is a nice memorial. Reminds me of what we do at home."
And hopefully, it'll help Elah feel more comfortable around them.
closed - lace harding }{ when your heart feels heavy with the weight of the past
[ neve has been... rough around the edges in many ways for the majority of her life. being dragged to a new place against her will and with little idea of cultural or societal expectations hasn't been great for her. sure, she's good to learning, good at figuring things out. but it's not home. this isn't what she's used to.
still, she's learned a lot more in a month than she'd initially thought and everything she'd heard about the crystallizations had her blood boiling with the same anger that the venatori give her. she doesn't know these people, or what they wanted, but she does know that none of their victims deserved it.
so when she hears about a memorial being planned, she thinks it's a good idea to go. might help her learn more or even just be a moment she can reflect on minrathous without anyone looking. everyone carries pain and regret in their hearts, after all. and she knows just who she would want to spend that time with.
she and lace have a lot to talk about.
they make it to the island and neve's eyes land on the large whale monument in the center, a symbol as large as could be made. it reminds her of the wall of light back home and her chest squeezes painfully at the thought of the people lost recently. this may be just what she needed. better to spend the time with someone who understands and likely feels the same regret that she does. ]
It's beautiful... Thanks for coming with me, Lace.
[ her voice is quiet, heartfelt emotion beginning to seep into her tone, despite her best efforts. ]
no subject
The monument itself is striking— beautiful. It reminds her of all the people she's known who ought to have been remembered this way, too, but war had denied them the opportunity. She looks up at her friend and gives her a small, bittersweet but genuine smile in response, shaking her head.]
Of course. Thanks for inviting me.
[She studies the mage's face a moment longer before going on to add:]
You've got a lot on your mind, huh.
[It isn't a question. You don't work recon for as long as she has without learning how to read people, and she'd like to think she knows Neve well enough to be able to do so confidently.]
no subject
with lace, their friendship is different but no less deep and the words begin to bubble up unbidden. she can't hide behind her veil this time, that hat hadn't come with her, and so she just continues to stare at the monument, her eyes unfocused, like she isn't really seeing anything. ]
Always. This job started with a ritual that went wrong. And Varric paid the price.
[ someone catches her attention off to the side and she snaps herself out of her reverie. the sun has begun to set and several attendees are beginning to work on something by the water's edge. paper boats, from the look of it. she nods her head towards them, one eyebrow cocked as if to ask lace if she wants to help. ]
Then Minrathous fell and the Shadows... We're not the same now. So many dead, so many lost. And for what? A power grab.
[ the viper got the worst of it. blighted, cursed to die or turn and then die. and then there's a part of her, decreasing over time, that still blames herself for not having been enough when her city needed her. ]
We've had setback after setback. At least getting the Dalish out of Arlathan was a win.
[ but there's more. as with neve gallus, she isn't saying everything. all that pain and fear and regret. the lighthouse crew by now knows that she can't use her healing magic any longer, or at least suspect, given that she stopped healing entirely and she isn't the type to be that petty. now, though... now she has the added weight of not knowing her own fate. if she helped find a way back to thedas, what would she find for herself?
it won't stop her from trying. she has a job to finish no matter what. but it's a question she has to acknowledge an unpleasant answer to. ]
no subject
[So many others have been lost— entire cities had fallen, but the price Varric paid has stuck with her all this time. They still haven't given him a proper memorial; nobody wants to talk about it, there simply hasn't been time, and only she, Rook and Neve had been fortunate enough to know him.
Ten years. Harding had been working alongside him for ten long years, and when they finally thought all that tireless work had paid off...
She swallows it down, glancing back up at her friend.]
Right now, it feels like we have to take every win we can get. Hold onto them for dear life to help us through the rest.
[Her brow furrows, and her gaze moves back to rest on the memorial.]
We'll lose more before this is over. That doesn't make it any easier, I know.
no subject
he deserves so much better and it eats at her. she can't hide behind a hat today, so she finds herself avoiding lace's gaze for a few moments, steeling herself as best she can against the painful memories.
take the small wins. the motto for her life. ]
Yeah. That's how I've always lived. Take the small wins. You don't always get them.
[ and if they don't take those wins, if they let all of the little failures and bad luck catch up to them, it's far too easy to fall to despair.
we'll lose more before this is over. lace has no idea how right she is, how much neve is holding close to her chest. ]
We'll do what we can to stem that flow. Learn as much as possible so we can stop others from dying or being used by the gods. Or Solace. But there's no guarantee any of our preparations will work. So, what does that leave us with?
[ she's not usually so doubtful, but she's feeling a bit raw at the moment. partly like when she and rook were skipping stones in dock town that day, talking about neve's work for minrathous and leading into aelia. a part of her feels that raw again today, but there's no easy to see path forming out of the water this time. ]
no subject
The answer that immediately comes to mind reminds her of her younger self, though there are parts of her that have remained constant no matter how much bloodshed and battle she's seen. The things that have kept her fighting, kept her moving forward— those have always been the same, even after all these years.]
That leaves us with each other.
[She gives Neve a sidelong glance, a bittersweet smile pulling at her lips.]
I could think of worse things. But those of us who are still standing, as long as we have each other, it's not over. We're all in this for the long haul. Whatever it takes.
we'll pretend i remember how to spell solas lol
as long as we have each other, it's not over.
what if they don't know who's alive? what then? nothing is guaranteed, the next day might not come. one might be left alone and the other could be —
neve can feel that smile like a beacon aimed at her and still — knowing that lace only wants to help, knowing she's trying to take neve's mind off of things and give her something to hold onto — neve can't meet her eyes. not yet. her hands lift, fingers loosely twining around each other in front of her. an easy sign that her heart is ill at ease. ]
Just like Brom. Like doing the right thing is easy. [ like trusting is easy. she's already lost so much, so many people. her cynicism, her difficulty with trust, her loss and abandonment issues... they're all reasons why she never let anyone close enough to fall for, close enough to love. she'd loved once, maybe twice, in dock town, but never past. and those didn't really last long. now it's worry about the gods and whether the world will even survive. on top of that, she, lace, and davrin have to get back to thedas.
but along the way, she'd started to trust these people. hard to imagine a day when they might not be there next to her. which is why she tries not to. but this memorial, being here with lace, remembering varric and the shadows and the fact that ghilan'nain or a blight tendril grabbing her is the last thing neve remembers from thedas... it's all bringing a lot of conflicting thoughts and emotions to her front.
she doesn't deal in what ifs. that's lace's thing. so, knowing that her words will bring questions, that lace is smart enough to read into what she isn't saying as much as what she is, neve lets her hands fall back to her hips and starts striding in the direction of water. not the docks, not anywhere people might be congregating for their own memorial preparations, but somewhere away.
she needs some stones to skip, if they can find any. ]
Yeah, [ she says after a few moments. ] You will. You'll keep going. Stop the gods. That's the job. We don't stop until it's over.
it's fine we are DEEP in the feelings
She frowns, dropping her hand to her hip, her gaze now fixed steadily on the mage beside her.]
What aren't you telling me, Neve?
[It's something, that much is certain.]
time to get some comfort food...
Help me find some rocks?
[ because if they're going to do this, she wants to have something comforting in hand, something she can be doing that'll really help keep her calm and her mind from turning circles around itself. ]
You remember what I told you when we first met here? About the last thing I remember being further on Tearstone Island than you or Davrin? Something happened there. Not to either of you, but...
[ something happened to me. ]
no subject
[Harding hadn't been present the last time Neve had needed to skip rocks about something, but she doesn't hesitate in taking on the request, a faint smile briefly tugging at one corner of her mouth as her gaze remains curious, bewildered.]
Sure. I know rocks.
[Better than most. She starts her search as Neve begins to explain, listening attentively, but the way her friend trails off has her stopping in her tracks and looking back to her, brow knit with worry.]
But to Rook? Or— to you?
[Neither answer is a good one.]
no subject
a few moments later, she's got one in hand, turning it over. the smooth feel in her hand calms her mind enough to focus, to take the story she's been avoiding and put words to it. ]
Further into the ruins on the island, we came across a blood magic barrier blocking our way forward. Bellara and I both volunteered to dismantle it. You know we both could. She's got the artifact knowledge and I've got the magic.
[ she leans over to pick up another rock, not quite perfect for skipping, but good enough, and gives it a couple of tosses into the air. ]
Rook chose me. And it wasn't the hardest seal I've ever had to break. I know blood magic, how it works, how to block it enough to get at the seal. But you know how it is. [ neve is still pointedly gazing anywhere but at her friend's face. talking about varric had been hard enough; trying to talk her way through this, knowing that it might break that smile right off of lace's face again to hear that something happened to neve... well, it makes this whole thing harder. ] The tables always turn.