— kindness is what you showed to me

[sulena]

WHO: Saoirse Ceallach + OPEN
WHAT: Saoirse decides the best way to get information on some missing elves is to go undercover as a servant, it goes as well as you expect + some daily activities
WHEN: Throughout mid-to-late August
WHERE: Kirkwall, various
NOTES: Mentions of physical and verbal abuse.

— ＧＡＬＬＯＷＳ.

Her trips to the Gallows have grown in these past weeks. She comes to work with the other in the Chantry relations group and make sure that the small chapel and libraries are kept tidy. Other times, she helps in the kitchens and carries messages while re-learning the passageways that were once all that she knew. It was darker days then... many days that forced her to keep the smaller ones closer to her in vain attempts to protect and shield them from the violence that was becoming their every day.

Today, Saoirse has traveled far up into the Gallows to the large room where their Harrowings once took place. Her Harrowing took place here too. A dimly lit room, surrounded by Templars with hidden faces and her heart threatening to burst. She had passed, of course and became a mage while this place became a distant memory that only reappeared as more mages were made Tranquil and with some never returning at all. Carefully, she traces the outline of something in the gathered dust with the blade of her staff and breathes out a tried sigh.

She will not cry, not now. There was still far too much to do.

— ＡＬＩＥＮＡＧＥ.

Kirkwall's alienage has become a second home for Saoirse these days. She comes to see the elves there almost every morning and leaves their company well after the sun has set in the evening. More often than not she is helping wherever she can lead a hand whether she is cleaning, minding children, gardening or teaching one of the various skills that she has acquired. Other times, she sits with the hahren and listens to her stories that she knows (stories that the hahren of Starkhaven did not know, or knew differently) and sips tea that smells of apples.

Today, she sits at the vhenadahl with a small handful of elven children. In her lap is a well-worn leather book, faded and barely holding together. She does not need it as she knows the Chant by heart and that includes the more... well, controversial verses:

"When the tale was finished, Andraste said to Shartan: Truly, the Maker has called you, just as He called me, to be a Light for your People..."

— ＴＨＥ ＨＡＮＧＥＤ ＭＡＮ.

In truth, Saoirse is the sort of person that stands out inside of a tavern like the Hanged Man. A small, yet bright elf woman, barefoot and constantly surrounded by music. Although she has a variety of weathered instruments with her but the lute and pan whistle are seemingly her favorite. Her songs vary between the the joyous sort of tavern melody that one might except to the more somber ones for those darker, more quiet nights. Most songs are sung in the common tongue but every so often she sings in the language of her home, one that only those that called Starkhaven's alienage home would know.

Tonight has been a quieter night though she has led a drinking song earlier, mostly she has sat near the center of the tavern and played whatever melody came to her mind. Sometimes folk would come up, requesting both familiar and unfamiliar songs, otherwise she would wander until finding a patron and offering them a raised brow.

"I hope your evening has been well," she says with a brilliant smile. "Might you have a request?"

— ＨＩＧＨＴＯＷＮ.

The Egremont family is minor nobility among those in Kirkwall, but nevertheless a good place to start. She has heard the whispers among the women of the alienage to the eldest son's behavior and Lady Egremont's vicious words and even more vicious hand. There is always a need for servants, elven ones to hide in the shadows of the lower levels while their human counterparts took care of things upstairs. It is easy enough to earn a place among the elven servants, the older woman that conducts the interview certainly does her job to sell such terrible things as a blessing for someone so unfortunate as herself.

Her day starts before the sun raises and ends far after the sun sets. She washes, cleans and runs errands under harsh pressure. The head lady in waiting uses any excuse to punish them. A hair is out of place, their is a stain on their apron or their fingers have cracked from being worked raw. She strikes them with a heavy cane on their knuckles, shins and across the face. Once she does not get the laundry in before it rains and goes to sleep nursing two broken fingers that she urges to heal with what little creation magic she knows.

Later in the week, once her bruises have faded, she is set out to retrieve a delivery from a nearby seamstress. In her hurry out of the alley from the back entrance (there was nothing good about a elf entering a hightown store through the door, let alone one clearly dressed as a servant) she fails to look carefully, almost running into someone and very quickly bowing her head.

"I am terribly sorry." She says, hoping whomever it was would not send word back to the household. She could not do her job if she was bedridden. "You were not hurt... were you?"

— ＤＯＣＫＳ.

She knows that the Egremont family is a dead end. As terrible as they are to their elven servants, they are not reasonable for the missing elves and she finds herself back at square one. A part of her wishes to end this ploy, find another way but there was much to learn within the walls of the Hightown estates. Information between servants could be worth their weight in gold and perhaps, just maybe, she could still find the lead she needed.

Yet as Saoirse nurses her bruised cheek and busted lip, she wonders if she can stand it. When she is allowed to sleep, the nights are filled with nightmares of the Gallows and the aftermath of its fall. Every strike brings back another bloody memory and prays that she could last long enough to find a thread to lead her to preventing more elves from vanishing.

— ＷＩＬＤＣＡＲＤ.

For anything not listed above! Feel free to hit me up through a PM or on plurk at kaldwin if you'd like to set something up.

Comments

The Hanged Man

[gatheringstorm]

A regular at the Hanged Man even when she isn't working as a bouncer, Korrin has kept an eye on Saoirse since her arrival. The tavern can get rowdy at times, and she knows an elven woman can be an easy target, even one with magic. So whenever it seems that tension is in the air, Saoirse will conveniently find herself with tall, horned company lingering nearby. She doesn't even need to say anything for other patrons to get the message.

When approached, Korrin smiles and raises a glass in greeting before giving it some thought. "Hm...how about Once We Were? More mellow than my usual taste, but I'm in the mood for something mellow."

[sulena]

Although they have not spoken to one another, Saoirse has not overlooked her company whenever their is tension in the air or whenever a patron happens to have a little too much to drink. Thankfully, she has not ever experienced much in the way of racism but perhaps they know better to speak their thoughts aloud with Korrin lingering nearby.

With a returned smile, Saoirse bows gratefully at the waist. "Sometimes we need a little more mellow sounds in our life." She says, adjusting her lute and leaning carefully into a nearby table as she begins to sing.

[gatheringstorm]

As the song begins, the Vashoth woman pushes back her chair and props her feet up on the table. Since it doesn't look as though she'll be sharing it any time soon, Korrin allows herself that much until there's a pressing need to stand. She takes a sip of her ale, her free hand holding a dragon scrimshaw. It's rough, the work of an obvious newbie, but she stares at with a melancholy fondness all the same.

[sulena]

It was always nice to sing the more mellow tunes when the tavern tended to be so much more... rowdy. Thankfully, the song seems well received since perhaps it is needed when things have been so tense in these last few weeks. Certainly everything will not be solved immediately but Saoirse hopes, and she prays that their presence her can make a difference.

With a smile to Korrin, she bows her head and settles into the melody of the song.

[gatheringstorm]

Between the drink and the music, Korrin can feel her rougher edges smoothed away, though the melancholy remains even when it's not bubbling to the surface. Hurt like that doesn't just vanish, but until she finds an effective coping method, a distraction is always welcome. When the song ends, she raises her cup with a small smile.

"Thanks for that. Have you taken a break yet? I've space if you need to get off those feet."

[sulena]

With a smile, Saoirse curtsies slightly once she finishes and raises again with a nod. "It wouldn't be such a bad idea, I think I haven't sat down once since I got here..."

And that was hours ago now, on top of the hours she had spent at the alienage and working on their new garden. A break would be just wonderful.

"Are you working here tonight? Or just enjoying a free evening for yourself?"

[gatheringstorm]

"The latter. If trouble starts and I finish it, I'll get some free ale but that's about all I can expect when I'm not on the job officially." Granted, it's still enough incentive for her to help keep the place intact. She doesn't want any violent idiots to ruin her watering hole. "Do you have a favorite? Mulled wine or something?"