june catch-all

[coldjustice]

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 sixflights, by journal PM, or by pinging me in the game discord. ]



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.

Comments

time to get some comfort food...

[coldjustice]

[ and there it is, the question neve has been, in part, waiting for. the one question she has an answer to but one she isn't sure she wants to give. ]

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. ]

[eternalhymn]

Rocks?

[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.]

[coldjustice]

[ neve avoids the question initially, spending a little more time describing the shape and size of rock she's looking for. lace can easily figure out that they're the kind that's good for skipping along water. whether this water will ever be quite calm enough for proper skipping remains to be seen, but the point is in the effort. sometimes just the motion helps neve think.

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.