[ open ] tell me everything that happened, tell me everything you saw.

[rowancrowned]

WHO: Galadriel, Merrill, Thranduil, Velanna & open.
WHAT: A tree grows in Orlais..
WHEN: Forward-dated: Matrinalis / August 19th, early, early moring.
WHERE: Low Quarter of Halamshiral.
NOTES: Guerilla gardening.

i. They wait until it is dark, the little hours between dusk and dawn when even the pickpocketing gangs are sleeping. They do not count on that alone to conceal their progress: magics foreign to Thedas keep them unnoticeable, unremarkable, unheard and unseen. Four figures slip through the streets of the Low Quarter to the burned portion of the city, and from there to what use to be a trunk of some magnificent tree. One cloaked figure kneels, reaches out a hand, touches it—

“Gwanur, peld nesto—“ but the figure tucks hands neatly back into the cloak with a realization. No, nothing can be done for this tree, no living parts remain. He turns to look at the tallest standing member of the group, switch languages now that he remembers they are among mixed company, speaking low.

“The soil is healthy.” And heavily watered by blood, but that’s something for another member of the group to take into account. For her, he steps back and offers examination of the ground, moving to the sidelines so the three elleth can move forward.

Galadriel is first to move, kneeling in the dirt and ashes where Thranduil was before, removing something from her pocket and holding it in a clasped hand. There has always been a weight to her actions, a graceful consideration in how she moves that seems effortless. Ceremonial, even.

What she does here is even more ritualistic.

Merrill falls onto bended knee beside her, seriousness cutting through her usual joy. She is the one to lean forward and dig through the dirt and ash with her bare hands until a hollow has been scooped away. Velanna, standing a few steps away, watches intently, thrumming with more excitement than nerves as Merrill takes something small but bright from Galadriel’s hand and drops it in the hollow.

It is Galadriel who passes her—something that Merrill presses against her palm. The rest of what happens is obscured by cloaks as the elleth close ranks about the seed. Thranduil holds a hand up to signal.

“Someone is coming,” Velanna says. She does not take her eyes off the seed and the hole until Merrill pushes the soil over the hollow, and stands, Galadriel after her, all four of them facing the noise from the cramped alley.


ii. Nothing happens for the first hour. All four sets of eyes occasionally glance at the turned soil. Anticipation hangs over them.

Thranduil has found a mostly structurally sound crate and perches upon it, while Galadriel guards the seed. Merrill’s head rests against Thranduil’s knee while she sits in the dirt, Velanna sitting neatly on a crate behind them.

She is the first to notice when there is the smallest of shifts—something is breaking through the soil, unfurling—

It grows faster than it has any right to, behaving more like an animal as it moves, reaching. It is an inch high, and then it is two, three inches, two leaves unfurling, golden and bright. At the height of Velanna’s waist, it begins to slow, until at a meter tall—clearly a proper sapling, it stops. The tree is silver-brown with a riotous burst of golden leaves, as alienly beautiful as the Lady of Light herself.

“A mallorn in Thedas,” Thranduil murmurs, duly impressed. He offers a hand to Merrill, helps her back to her feet and looks to Galadriel for direction. They have several hours before sunrise, but they still need to move before the residents of this part of the Quarter begin their day.

Galadriel steps around the tree, fingers tracing their way around the trunk, wistful, before nodding her assent, the four of them exiting the way they came.

Comments

i, ages late, I'm sorry

[justice_is_blond]

He's restless, and while he knows it's not entirely safe to be walking around the city in the dark, he also wants to see what the city is like when it's late. Of course, rounding a corner to see four silhouettes facing him down an alleyway makes him suddenly reconsider this course of action. Two of them are tall, two short... and maybe familiar? Possibly familiar. Possibly dangerous.

Which means he should wave, clearly, which he does. Anders at least has a mask on, though his peacock-feathered coat and time-worn staff might give him away.

"I hope I'm not interrupting?"

boops you

[chainlightning]

It's especially not safe for Anders to be walking around in the dark, not if anyone knew it was him. The mask helps, she supposes, but Merrill knows him immediately. There's a little shake of her head, but she can't hide her slight smile.

"You're not very good at being discrete, you know. I don't know how you did it for a few years."

Potentially by not running into Merrill in random places and having her reveal his identity.

/boops back

[justice_is_blond]

"Subtle and sneaky are not my strong points," he has to agree. There's a little relief in his voice, though, as he places her voice and therefore identifies the other short silhouette. Merrill and Velanna, and two taller people.

"I'm not really sure how I managed for a time myself." Anders takes a couple more steps forward, which help him identify Galadriel. The fourth he's seen around, but he's not sure of the elf's name. "Can I help? Provided it's not..." He looks at Merrill, knowing she can mentally finish what the exception is.

:3

[chainlightning]

There's a soft snort, but Merrill shakes her head. "Not much to help with now!" Including blood magic, thank you Anders. She turns slightly, gestures toward the plot of dirt behind them.

"Now we're just waiting. Though I suppose four elves in the middle of the night would potentially look less suspicious accompanied by a human, assuming you could assure everyone that you're not in any trouble."

Maybe. Possibly.

Maybe they'd all better just be quiet and stay out of sight.

[justice_is_blond]

Waiting is interesting. He's curious, very curious about what they'd be waiting for, but he trusts Velanna so Anders winds up shrugging.

"If we make up a name for me and no one slips up, no authorities have to know who I am. But someone else picks this time. Everyone laughed at Detlef." Granted, he shouldn't have expected people to know Ander names. And he should have just pretended to be Fereldan. But again, subtle and sneaky. It's truly a wonder how he managed to escape so many times; it's not at all a wonder how he got caught every single one of them.

"...Can I ask what you were doing?" Curiosity gets the better of him more times than not.

[chainlightning]

"Well, we're all likely to think of elven names."

Which is not really a way to blend in. Still, someone can pick of something if it comes up. Maybe they'll just call him Bob and hope he understands they're referring to him.

"Oh- waiting!" Which is not what Anders meant, at all, and she does know that. It's just- she isn't sure if the others want a human to know.

[justice_is_blond]

He shrugs at her offering. Being called an elven name wouldn't be too bad; people would assume he's elf-blooded. As he has no problems with them, he wouldn't be bothered. But the other is what really catches his attention, and Anders glances behind himself at her answer. There's nothing and no one there.

"For... who? Or what?" Should he be getting out of here after all?

[chainlightning]

"A tree!"

Excitement takes over where caution existed, and Merrill practically beams at him. It's likely somewhat unnerving, considering the fact that her eyes are glowing in the dark and that- well, she just said they're waiting for an inanimate object.

[justice_is_blond]

He looks over at Velanna, a little startled, before looking back at Merrill.

"What, to walk up? You're walking a sylvan through Halamshiral? They'll, the nobles, they'll panic. I've no desire to coddle nobility, but they've already attacked the alienage. If a sylvan walks through..."

[chainlightning]

"What?"

Okay, right, not all trees were inanimate. Merrill waves her hands, shaking her head.

"No, no- we're waiting for one to grow."

Because that makes more sense.

[justice_is_blond]

"...For one to grow." She can't be serious. Even she has to know that trees take a very long time to grow. She's naive, but she's Dalish.

Again Anders looks at the silent group gathered behind her, trying to figure out if he's being pranked. "I don't... I don't follow."

[chainlightning]

"It's a magic tree."

This is said as if that should be obvious. Duh, Anders.

"Besides, Velanna and I -- especially Velanna -- are good at nature magic, and it's a tree from the world Galadriel and Thranduil are from. So it shouldn't be too long."

[justice_is_blond]

There's no point in really trying to understand. Merrill is... Merrill.

"Right." If any of the others had been speaking as well rather than standing there creepily, he'd be feeling a lot more comfortable here. As it is, though, he's really not sure what's going on beyond her confusing words. Though he does suddenly have another question. "Why are they planting a magic tree from their world in ours? Couldn't that bear risks? Odd interaction with the Fade in the area, or other magic?"

Had they done any research?

[chainlightning]

Can't be anything else, sorry Anders.

"The vhenadahl was burned down. It's important. This will replace it, and- hopefully be a sign to the elves of Thedas."

But this is one thing she definitely doesn't feel comfortable explaining -- in part because she doesn't know if Anders will understand, in part because the tree isn't from her world (and they are, in fact, using some blood), and in part because-

Well, honestly? She's tired. She had ridden from Asher's funeral to get here, and it's only conversation that's keeping her awake, but that doesn't mean she's particularly good at it at the moment.

[justice_is_blond]

Hermione's magic acts strangely here. He knows that much, which makes a magic-enhanced, foreign tree a worry. But by the sound of it, it's a done matter. If demons congregate around it later, there's nothing to be done right now.

"I don't follow. I don't understand how a tree that doesn't belong to the elves of Thedas would be a good sign in an alienage. It seems like something else taking place of something important to them... but you and Velanna would have a better idea of that than I would."

Galadriel and the other, no. But while Merrill probably would go along all too easily with anything that was excitingly new and magical, Velanna didn't have a habit of getting swept up in excitement.

[chainlightning]

"Because it's a sign of all of us, all elves."

She tilts her head, looking at Anders for a moment, thinking.

"You once said something about 'my kind', referring to mages. I told you that you weren't my kind because I'm Dalish. And in a way, that's true -- but in others, it isn't. If we had something that could symbolize all magic users, something you could put in a prominent place, would you do it?"

[justice_is_blond]

He's quiet for several moments before slowly nodding.

"For the sake of morale and unity, yes." A beat. "I'd avoid using foreign magics, though. The last thing I'd want is a symbol for my people possibly backfiring because of things we don't yet understand fully. I..."

Anders exhales. "I get why you did it. I don't get why you're doing it this way, that's all, and the... other ways you might have done it." Blood magic, more than likely. This plus that could be seriously dangerous.

"If you'd like company back to the estate now, I'm going to head back that way, I think." If this thing explodes, he needs to be very far away from it. "But if you're staying and wind up needing a human presence because of harassment or something, call me. I'll return with whom I can."