Day 124: Whispering Grass

[earthandpine]

Who: Rosethorn and anyone
Open: Wide open!
When: Day 124
Where: The Skyway. Or (especially if someone's already found her) you can go ahead and run into her in the Bastion on the assumption she's arrived there eventually.
What: A disgruntled and confused plant mage arrives.
Format: I prefer prose, but I'll go with whatever!
Warnings: There's no well to hang you in, but I can't promise she won't find other threats to make. She won't follow through unless someone attacks her.

This was not the task First Dedicate Dokyi planned to assign her. Granted, Rosethorn does not yet know what that task is, but she knows he wouldn't have knocked her unconscious and dragged her off somewhere else to do it.

Where else is the question. She sits up, hands digging into the earth as she does, her magic stretching outward through the roots of plants. Gyongxe is a strange enough place, but this isn't Gyongxe. The plants aren't right, the land isn't right. Wide flat plains instead of mountains. Rosethorn can breathe without a struggle, her lungs filling easily. While that would normally be a reassuring thought, it means she's at an entirely different altitude now.

It's a relief not to be in the hands of the Emperor's torturers, which would have been her first worry given current events, but the complete unfamiliarity of her surroundings counters that relief with a whole new set of worries. As she gets to her feet, Rosethorn sends her magic further afield at the same time she looks around, using all of the plants within an easily accessible range to tell her more about her surroundings. They do tell her one thing. No Briar, at least not close by. If he were here, the grass would know. It would recognize him, and she could find him in an instant. That means he and Evvy are on their own now, without her in a country about to descend into war. She was the one who brought them there, in service to her faith, and now she's gone and left them. She would never have done it willingly. "Mila protect them," she mutters.

Something different is visible in the distance, farther away than she can reach with her power even by threading her way through the tangle of roots the grass makes underground. Rosethorn will have to get closer before she can knows anything about it. Without any other destination in mind, she sets out. Straightening her dark green robes, a quick check is enough of a reminder that none of her packs are with her. She isn't entirely unarmed, but a belt knife at her waist and a pouch with one or two thorn seed packets won't be enough to face a significant threat.

It's going to be a very a long walk considering she has no idea what awaits at the end. Rosethorn's only consolation is that at least her eyes and the grass beneath her feet will let her know of any danger. There isn't much place for an enemy to hide here.

Comments

[notduchess]

People are something Duke always pays attention to, out on the Skyway. Its not terribly often that they show up, although recent events seem to indicate that might change. Really, a large group all at once?

The knight is poking about some rubble - there's fragments of what looks like might have been some sort of market here and there, torn up chunks of land, and what the knight seems interested in - bits of wood that weren't too damaged, lengths of rope that weren't shorter than one arm. There's already a small bundle next to the sword that is withing easy grabbing range, should the knight need it.

"... Thinking about it, I could probably use shards for this.... but routine. Works well enough for practice...."