[ open + closed ] In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man

[warfares]

Who: kylo ren + you
When: the entirety of august
Where: around various places, including the coven, smugha cave and the wilde
What: monthly catch-all.
Warnings: TO BE UPDATED. his quest with rey does involve giant spiders and the possibility of violence. otherwise, violence is a given. magical shenanigans, potentially. kylo being kylo.

Notes: starters will be in the comments. if you'd like anything specific, either pm this journal or message me at resurrectionist.

Comments

[mislike]

[She takes soft steps despite the boots she's wearing. Her own hand is held up, providing the light she needs to see with. This is technically her first time venturing outside of the city proper, but she shows no signs of nervous. Once as a girl it might have unnerved her. But now she steps carefully only for the reasons he's mentioned.]

How far do you think they go back?

[She's come to find herself trusting at least his summation of things. Sansa doesn't think highly of her own abilities, but she is good at making judgments of situations and people. Trying to navigate this place is no different, and all of this seems to come much easier to him than it does to her.]

[warfares]

Far enough.

( while the lower-levels were considerably less pockmarked, they had their own dangers.

a quick glance reveals they’re in a chamber with several enchanted pools — he recognizes their runes, still intact and twinkling like winter stars. soft and blue.

the witch light follows him as he moves deeper into the room; it orbits his head like a small moon, casting light outward and exposing a nasty looking sinkhole in the middle of the floor. )

Mind the pools — they’re likely infected. 

[mislike]

[Sansa has a natural disposition to be wary of this place as it is. She is becoming more accustomed to magic, but that doesn’t mean she trusts what she doesn’t know. Raising the light higher, she watches as the light dances across the top of the water. It is enchanting here, making her pause for just a moment as she continues on behind him.

He seems to have more of a goal with this than she does, offering what help she can. This isn’t her forte, but she’s not useless either.]

I would say there’s little here I do trust. [Though she does wonder about this place. About the other places in this world.]

Is this one of the places people have dreamed of? I remember a forest, though this is my first time venturing out of the city itself.

[And she had received a number of requests from mirrorbound at Parliament about it.]

[warfares]

Then you're more astute than most.

( though given that the lure of the caves had been sufficient to snare even some of the more senior witches on their initial expedition, he wouldn't be surprised to find that this was all talk. a boast to seem better prepared for the uncertainty of what lies ahead. )

I don't know what they say.

( he moves toward the tunnel to the right of the sinkhole, stepping cautiously.

given the lack of specifics offered when he'd signed on for this quest, he can only assume that they don't care where precisely he settles in for the night, only that he does — preferably avoiding death by misadventure in the process. )

Only that the Coven has an interest in this place.

[mislike]

[She will take that as a compliment from him, not thinking he gives them away easily. Sansa doesn't trust easily though, and the last place she would is some foreign place they've sent them off to to explore. Arya would like something like this, but even as a girl, Sansa would have complained if she'd gotten mud on her dress. Now her cloak drags just lightly against the cave floor, but she is careful enough of where she's stepping.]

A few have come to Parliament, remembering places they have never been. I was wondering if this place was one of them.

[Now that Lady Denholm felt comfortable enough seeing to her own tasks.]

The Coven seems interested in a great deal. [Not all of it transparent or at least with much reason given.]

[warfares]

A vague description.

( to be blunt. the impression given is of someone fishing for information, though whether it’s for herself or someone else’s benefit remains to be seen. she’d mentioned being apprenticed to one of the members of parliament – perhaps the government had taken an interest in the caves?

and hadn’t petra said something of the sort? that it would be interesting to see how the city chose to respond to them over time. eventually, space would become tight, resources taxed.

perhaps he’d been wrong. perhaps they really were looking into ways to send them back – doubtful, but still possible. )

Is that not its purpose? ( beyond the education and training of those with an ounce of magical ability. his head cants, considering her as if she's said something particularly unexpected. )

[mislike]

I do not have much more-- only that people seem to collectively remember these places, as if in a dream. I have one, too. But it is... brief, and I know not enough about it to say.

[She remembers a feast at a table. There were others there, even someone she has since met here, but she doesn't remember much more, and she rarely talks about it for fear of coming off as mad or a fool.

Her footfalls are careful as she bends over a pool to look into its waters. She's careful of it, but it's hard not to wonder. Turning to look at Kylo, she isn't sure how to address that statement.]

I think it has many purposes. It seems more useful than Parliament itself, but it's boundaries are the witches. It seems to host more of the history of this place than anywhere else, save for Parliament but even that is... [She purses her lips to try and be as diplomatic as possible.] Convoluted. I believe they mean to help here, above all.

[And she isn't being optimistic here. Sansa did not trust them at first, and part of her still doesn't. After all their arrival still benefits this world. But she does find some in the Coven genuine, and that is a rare thing.]

[warfares]

( ah, he understands.

or at least he believes that he does. he'd experienced something similar, himself, when he'd first arrived. had found himself walking the length of a dark forest, one infested with the cwyld.

rey had been there and had lead him back to the light. something that had become a habit, of late.

he deliberately avoided dwelling on it — though it remained tucked away in the corner of his mind.

sansa's displeasure is evident, however. lips pursing as she searches for words that will convey her meaning without having to outright name them. he recognizes that expression all too well. )

Do monsters not serve in Parliament?

[mislike]

They do. I do not know much of them though. Lady Denholm has me working with the mirrorbound specifically.

[Though one would think they would want to go to their own, but many do not trust anyone who isn't mirrorbound. Probably for good reason.]

It is a large-- council of sorts. The bureaucracy makes it hard to do anything. It is frustrating at best.

[warfares]

I'm aware of the concept.

( it reminds him of the senate — and with that connection comes the acidic bite of disdain. mistrust. it's difficult to look at prior experience and to expect that somehow this time it will be different. )

[mislike]

We do not have them back home-- at least not in Westeros. I am sure it might work for some, but it seems almost useless here. [No, she's far more used to an oligarchy, and it's hard to shake that off.]

I am fortunate to work in my position though. I just want to do something.

[Which is why she finds herself nearly crawling through the caves with him.]

[warfares]

Then do something. ( something other than this. much as he understands the desire, she doesn't exactly strike him as suited to this particular task. there are risks, here. dangers enough to give even him pause.

and who is she? what does she bring with her beyond dead weight and conversation? a conversation that seems to be less directed toward him than at him. as if she's trying to talk her way to some kind of resolution.

whatever.

he pushes deeper into the cavern, mindful of his steps, and heads toward the leftmost tunnel. it's the same tunnel he'd taken, before. the mission brief had been left just broad enough that he's reasonably confident in the choice. )

Do you know what is required of you?

[mislike]

[She isn't surprised by his bluntness. Mayhaps as a younger girl she may have, but now she find it more refreshing.]

In some ways. [She walked along, throwing her light a little farther to try and see, mostly to watch where she was walking.]

I am an apprentice, I suppose. I learn mostly, help where I can. I am used to the politics, but there is often little action taken by them. A lot of it is paper work. I am-- unused to it.

[She sighs, not wanting to sound ungrateful for what they have given to her. Sansa is used to giving orders herself. Now that Winterfell is Jon's, she has ruled in his stead. Things worked a lot faster when she had loyal bannermen. It isn't so easy to just do something, but she was playing their game in hopes of eventually being in a place where she could do something.]