event: portal four | the mountain

[mayfield_mods]

The fourth portal, as might be expected, can be found atop the hill known as Makeout Point. The other side of the portal isn't altogether that much different from the side you're entering from, save for the thicker trees and somewhat darker lighting.

The other side of the portal is significantly colder than the Mayfield side; frost covers the ground, and although it's not quite freezing, you'll want to bundle up. A glance at the sky reveals what you might have been dreading: glitch holes, in varying size, litter the skyline. The sun is hidden behind a set of thick clouds, creating a melancholy atmosphere.

The landscape around you is relatively flat, and you can't see too far beyond the forest ahead of you. It isn't until you turn around, facing the portal that you entered from, that you see the rising slope of the ground. The mountain rises high, higher than you can see from its base. There's a rough, primitive path heading up its slope, and for now simply hiking will be sufficient. As you get further, however, simply walking won't be enough: you're going to have to climb...

Somewhere, closer than you might prefer, a single wolf howls, and is shortly joined by more.

Better get moving.

Comments

[hawkeward]

[continued from here!]

Howe could you be so--

[Hawke's quip is cut short as the mountain shivers and rumbles - definitely not a good sound. She stops dead in her tracks, holding up one hand to let the others know to do the same, and stares up just in time to catch the eruption.

Well shit.]

Looks like we have a lot more to worry about than wolves and puns. [Despite the smart remark, her voice is slightly panicked.] In fact, I think it's about time we headed back to town. Run!

[3wayforjustice]

[And where Hawke looks, so too does her mage.]

[Shit, indeed.]

[He turns, right as she starts speaking again, reaching for her hand as he does so. Hawke likes danger. Therefore, it makes sense to haul her along with him. Not that he thinks she's crazy enough to stick around for an eruption, but still.]

Nathaniel, move!

[mayfield_mods]

[Thick rivers of lava start rushing down the mountainside, burning trees and rocks alike, heading quickly for them.]

[whowhatwhy]

[ Nathaniel doesn't need to be told twice- he probably didn't even need to be told once. He turns tail and runs as fast as he can. It's thankfully not his first time scrambling over rocky terrain with Maker-knows-what at his heels.

Still, he can't afford to risk a glance behind him while sprinting over unfamiliar ground. He'll just have to trust the others are following his mad dash towards the portal. ]

[hawkeward]

[Hawke isn't stupid enough to want to stick around and see what happens, of course. A quick glance over her shoulder is all the motivation she needs to quicken her pace and haul ass toward that portal. She tightens her hand around Anders's own, allowing him to drag her along - if it keeps him that much further away from the lava rushing toward them, so be it.

As usual, she doesn't give a damn about her own safety. It was she who dragged Nathaniel and Anders into this, and if she has to throw their asses into the portal ahead of her to get them out of here unharmed, she'll do just that.]

[3wayforjustice]

[That makes two of them. Or three of them. Given the misadventures of the Champion's party, it's probably easier to count the times he hadn't run from danger over rocky ground.]

[There's one good thing about running around with her. You get used to fleeing danger. He doesn't release her hand, doesn't even loosen his grip. There's going to be a fight to fling someone through the portal first, at this rate.]

What I wouldn't give for some frost magic right now!

[whowhatwhy]

[ Nate really doubts that a little frost- magic or no- is going to do a whole lot against a river of lava, but now's really not the time to say as much. If he takes his eyes off where he's running and trips, then they're all literal toast.

He leaps a rather large rock, forgoing the winding path in favor of the straighter route to the bottom of the mountain and the way out of here. ]

[hawkeward]

You were just complaining about the cold ten minutes ago! [Not even hot lava can stop Marian Hawke from being a smartass.] Make up your mind!

[Somehow, the path going back down seems a lot longer than the way up had been. Heat and lava will do that to you, I guess. Cupcake follows Nathaniel's lead and starts jumping over the larger rocks in their way in order to follow a more direct path down.

Meanwhile, Hawke still doesn't protest to the hand gripping hers, as much as she's tempted to push ahead and start dragging Anders along instead - but she doesn't dare risk it, not when it might slow them down. But she'll trust him and Nathaniel both to lead the way, this time.]

Are we there yet? That lava isn't slowing down any, in case anyone was wondering.