faderift | [ open ] potions + poisons

WHO: Pamelia + you
WHAT: Making potions, making poisons, meeting people
WHEN: mid-Kingsway
WHERE: library ~ tavern ~ gardens ~ around
NOTES: Pamelia left notes around Skyhold, advertising her work. Time to meet the customers.

[ library ]

Truth be told, she often sleeps here late into the night, pouring over books and making notes. Tucked into one of the overstuffed chairs in a dark corner, she wraps herself up in a blanket-sized scarf over her fairly simple dress (similar to the lady on the left), hiding her hair from sight until the sound of feet ascending and descending the stairs rouses her. It's usually predawn that has her making the path from the library to attend to her own needs, but by the time the sun is up properly Pamelia has returned to the stacks of books, her notes, and a small table.

She doesn't look up when steps pass, but if they hesitate, her dark eyes are interested.

[ tavern ]

Pamelia nurses one ale all afternoon, red and shining, alternating it with bits of cheese and staring off into the middle distance. This is where she feels the least comfortable, though not entirely uncomfortable. There's just boisterous talk, and music, and drunk men who occasionally take the empty seat across from her as invitation to sit and talk.

Hopefully that's not happening right this instance, but if it is, Pamelia's got her eyes on her drink and her hand on her forehead, trying honestly to ignore the person across from her.

Perhaps choosing the tavern as a place people could find her wasn't the best idea.

[ gardens ]

There are several, but Pamelia travels from one to another throughout the days; tending to a plant here, sketching another in black ink there. In this environment she is the most relaxed, but also the most likely to forget that others may be looking for her; an unannounced visitor may cause her to start.

She'll recover quickly, however, and offer a smile.

[ choose your own adventure ]

Want to find Pam elsewhere, away from prying eyes? Go for it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Inessa is often in the library when visiting Skyhold from the Grey Warden camp in the valley, so it's not a stretch to find the woman in the ad. She does so with a mabari at her side, large and healthy and behaving himself in the place of quiet and research. Before she gives in to the usual temptation of creating her own stacks of books on a desk and reading until Garahel wakes up from naptime, she'll look around for her fellow elf. Her tread is relatively quiet, but her armor still makes noise nonetheless. She's not going for stealth, though.

Upon spotting an unfamiliar elven woman with a matching description, the slight elven Warden mage (and that's obvious since she's never without her staff) comes to a stop a couple of paces away. She's rather respectful of personal space. "Pardon me, but would you be Pamelia?" The mabari pauses a pace behind Inessa, tail wagging a little at their company but holding back from sniffing and pawing as he'd like unless Inessa gives him the okay.

Pamelia has had very limited (read: none at all) interactions with the Grey Wardens; she respects what they do, and the little historical tidbits she's heard here and there, but she's never had a chance to meet one in person. Thus, when one comes to seek her out in the library, she's a little hasty in standing, but that may also be due to the fact that she was nearly nodding off.

"I am, yes. Pamelia Islain. How may I help you?"

As her mabari sits back on his hind legs, Inessa manages a polite smile. "Inessa Serra." Simple, no titles. Giving hers would be redundant, given the armor. "I have interest in a potion to induce dreamless sleep, if there is such a thing."

As to why, the dark circles under her eyes probably make that obvious enough. Her pallor is such that she can't possibly hide them, even at the best of times. And this certainly doesn't count as among them.

"There are options...alas, it is not likely a permanent solution." She takes in the dark circles and swallows, nodding. The Fade has their claws in everyone, after all.

She rummages through the papers in front of her until she finds with notes on the Fade and the body in sleep. "Is it...if you don't mind my asking, is it because you're waking feeling un-rested as the dreams keep you from sleeping for very long, or is it that the dreams bother you in the waking hours?"

"It's more the former, though I take no pleasure in remembering them while awake. If it makes any difference, it stems from past experience, experience I thought to have overcome...but a mission opened up old wounds. I want to seal them again, somehow." Her tone is reluctant, not wanting to divulge details to someone just met, but if it's that or live with her nightmares, she'll take the former.

"What do you think of a tea? It would work over time, creating some distance between the high energy experiences in the Fade and the waking world, to give you some room to actually sleep. It would probably be more effective than just a potion."

She writes some more notes and then hefts a bag out from under the table. "I can make it now, if you'd like, and if you think you need something stronger we can work with that."

Mention of tea seems to perk her up and she nods, usually relying on teas of some kind or other. A recommended blend can only help, in her opinion. "Oh, yes, please. That would be wonderful, thank you. Some distance is exactly what I need, and tea...tea is calming, as it is. I can work with that."

There's several jars in her bag, and she opens one, taking a sniff before removing some of the leaves from within it and putting them in an empty jar. She does this with several things, some leaves, some ground root or seeds, until there's a full jar of green and grey tea that she sets out in front of Inessa.

"Let me know when the jar is two-thirds empty and I will make more. Also let me know if there's anything about it you don't like; we can tweak the taste and the scent a bit.""

"When it comes to tea, I am rather accepting. As long as there isn't a great deal of spice, I'm usually fine." She's Fereldan okay, spice is not something she's used to handling in any great quantity. "Oh--what compensation do you require? I forgot to check the notice for that information."

"No worries, then. There's no spice in this at all."

She's learned, with Fereldans and Orlesians, that spice is best done minimally if at all. "It didn't include it. I'm more interested in meeting people where they are, I suppose. To that end...whatever you think is fair, that will work for me."

"Others may not have much to spare, but I have no such qualms. I don't mind compensating for them." Inessa reaches into a belt pouch at her side, happily generous with her coin if it means reprieve from nightmares and a restful sleep. That's worth its weight in gold, especially for a Grey Warden.

"Thank you. You're quite generous." Pamelia smiles. "I hope this provides the reprieve you need." The woman does look exhausted as is, but Pamelia has faith and experience with her teas.

It should help.

"As do I, believe me." Inessa smiles wearily. "Welcome to Skyhold. I hope to see you again, though hopefully not because my mind rejects such attempts to allow me rest. At any rate, I suppose it's time to head back to the Warden camp in the valley and find out."

"Thank you very much, Warden Serra. I hope to see you again as well, and I hope you are able to get some rest." It was almost time for Pamelia to decide if she was spending the night in the library again or returning to her tent, but she wanted to wander the gardens once more before all the light was gone.

[ open ] potions + poisons

Library

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