[OPEN] Dance of the Herbal Tea Fairy

[eolasemah]

WHO: Sina and you!
WHAT: Deliveries of herbal concoctions, helpfully plucked and dried from our very own Skyhold gardens. Need a tea blend, a potion, a poultice, a pinch of a rare herb for your nefarious research? Surely you've sent word down to the gardens, and the delivery is on its way.
WHEN: Throughout Haring
WHERE: All over Skyhold
NOTES: Just assume you've made the request and say where you are in your reply! Also please feel free to run into her somewhere even if you're not waiting on herbs.

Sina, dressed warmly in her cloak and scarves, with boots too large and gloves with holes for the fingers, traverses Skyhold with a basket of small herbal packets for wherever in the Keep they're needed.

She's too shy to meet eyes with most passersby, and could likely be mistaken as a servant by some if not for her vallaslin and the green glow emanating from her sternum, even beneath the scarves. But now is the time to be brave and make herself useful, with a hopeful side-effect of meeting more of Skyhold's populace.

Comments

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin doesn't normally need much in the way of herbal supplies, but after offering people strong liquor and getting Chaya's recipe for a hangover cure, she's making an exception. There might not be enough to go around, and she doesn't want to overtax Chaya's generosity. It's as much for herself as it is for anyone who doesn't take her advice, of which she's sure will be plenty. So she'll send word to the garden and be waiting on the second floor of the tavern while writing letters. Might as well get those out of the way before her scouting mission in Emprise du Lion.

[eolasemah]

Although the tavern frightened her, Sina had made a commitment to her duty and she would take it seriously. She picked her way through the crowded first floor, and was met with only mild relief when the second floor was less rowdy. She straightened some when she noticed Korrin, a small smile twitching up the corners of her mouth as she made her way over.
"Hello again," she greeted sweetly, "you called for some ingredients?"

[gatheringstorm]

Glancing up from regaling her company with the latest news of the Fallow Mire, Korrin smiles at Sina. She remembers the Dalish woman from their last conversation, about her chest-shard. Her curiosity and concern satisfied, she doesn't linger on it now, nor does she go out of her way to avoid looking. Her focus easily turns to the herbs, nodding.

"Hello, Sina. And yes, I did. I figure that since I have liquor to share, I might as well have some hangover remedies prepared. It's only fair, right?"

[eolasemah]

"I suppose it is," Sina said, offering out the basket for Korrin's perusal and nodding shyly at her company. "It seems... insensible that people would drink so much, when there is so much that requires our alertness. But..." She blushed and smiled, realizing nobody had asked for her opinion. "...never mind. Forgive me."

[gatheringstorm]

Leaning over, Korrin peers at the items and nods, satisfied. That blush and smile are adorable, unasked opinion or not, so she just smiles warmly in response, no rebuke. "Don't worry about it. And you're not wrong, at least when we're out in the field. I'd never have condoned this in the Fallow Mire or elsewhere. But when surrounded by fortress walls, it can help to take an evening off and unwind a bit."

And she wouldn't subject Sina to qunari liquor unless the latter is really insistent for some reason, but.... "Speaking of unwinding, you're welcome to join. You don't have to drink that stuff; I can always get something set aside for those who don't want to destroy their stomachs, anyway."

[foxsays]

Since the Mire, she hadn’t slept and even a return to Skyhold where she could bathe, eat regular hot meals and stay warm and dry, sleeping in a real bed and not a tent on wet ground hadn’t helped the way she’d hoped it would. Oh there was drinking until she was warm and something like content but she had no desire to drink the Inquisition dry on her own. Even trying to tire herself out with more trips scaling the walls of Skyhold proper or sparring in the training yard hadn’t helped so it was time to look somewhere else although.

Lux ran ahead of her as usual, sniffing anyone of interest or batting them with a paw so of course upon spotting someone with a basket, he stopped to investigate, up on his hind legs to investigate, Araceli finally catching.

“Lux get down, sorry Sina, I think he’s just excited to see people who weren’t in the bog with us.” Hopefully she’d managed to grab him out of the way before he decided to try stealing any of the herbs.

[eolasemah]

Though this was a surprise, Lux was granted a cheerful smile as Sina gently lifted the basket out of his range. "Not for you," she gently informed him, and looked up to meet Araceli's gaze.
"That's all right," she said, beaming, "I'm excited to see him too." She took a few more steps to approach Araceli, looking her over. "How did it go? Did you find anything interesting?"

[foxsays]

"You would think I starved him, the way he behaves when no, he always gets his own meal and some of mine too." With a grin, she hoisted the fox up in her arms, arranging him with his feet in the ear, tail wagging madly all the while until she set him back down again. “I think it depends on what you call interesting. We don’t have the undead where I come from so that was...an experience I suppose we must call it. I didn’t know how tightly clothes could stick to me until then. I found out what blood lotus is because of course, this whole world is strange to me. Oh and that I dislike camping in the rain,” the cheer in her voice was false, the smile just as fake before she sighed and shook her head. “I am very glad to be back, did I miss anything interesting in Skyhold?”

[eolasemah]

Sina laughed at the spectacle of a fox behaving so puppyish, but her mirth quickly died at the mention of what Araceli had seen.
"...undead," she repeated, the color draining from her face, "...I don't understand." It sounded hideous, somehow, but what could undead mean if not simply alive?

[foxsays]

Perhaps she should have been less blunt but it was hard now that she was away from the place, somehow having become accustomed to knowing the slightest disturbance of the water would have corpses rising from it, firing arrows or bearing cold iron in their hands.

"The corpses of the dead, they just came back, walked out of the water whenever someone happened to disturb it - and people here clearly do not go to the sea often, I know it was mud not sand but the struggle to traverse such conditions." Unable to help herself, she shivered, rubbing at her arms. "Then there were tales of demons too, more of those wisps. Oh and more demons from rifts when new arrivals joined us. A place I hope never to return to."

[amygdalae]

Bruce was working in the garden once more, since he's always liked being hands on and doing this, at least, made him feel like he was able to contribute a little more to the Inquisition since he had to restrict himself on several other things.

Presently he was where the elfroot plots were, making sure that everything was well prepared for the cold that was settling in. Firstfall had already brought in some of the chill, but now that Haring had arrived the cold would only get worse, and he wanted to ensure that they'd last through the month.

[eolasemah]

Returning to the elfroots as she often did at least once a day, Sina noticed Bruce there. She'd seen him around before, worked side by side with him periodically, but never actually introduced herself or learned his name.
"How are they?" she asked quietly, folding her hands in front of her as she approached.

[amygdalae]

Bruce glanced up from what he was doing, regarding the elf with a patient smile as she approached him.

"They're doing quite well, despite the cold," he replied, looking rather pleased himself. "I think they should be able to withstand the rest of the month, at least." Still, it wouldn't hurt to be careful - staying in a place this high up, who knows what could happen.

[eolasemah]

"I worry about the ones from warmer places," Sina said with a small, uncertain laugh. "We need them just as much, but they're so much more delicate." Creators forbid they botch something like the royal elfroot-- what were the odds of finding that again?

"I like to think... the springtime will have a good yield," she continued thoughtfully. "Even if we have to help things along." A crooked little smile followed. She would be Keeper someday, and she knew ways to commune with nature that would surprise most gardeners.

[amygdalae]

"Every herb is equally important," Bruce agreed with a nod, turning back to the plants once more. "Perhaps we can ask some of the mages to see if its possible to enchant an area to allow the plants from warmer areas to grow normally here."

It might be hard, perhaps impossible, but if it could be accomplished it'd certainly make things a lot better for all of them - especially the people who depended on these herbs.

He looked at the elf once more than she spoke, a little intrigued at her words. "Would you be able to do something?" He was pretty certain that she was a mage, although he never tried to pry - it was partly to respect her privacy, and also because Bruce didn't want to give anything away about himself being a mage.

Library

[fleurdesel]

"Sina-" She'd heard of someone ducking about Skyhold making deliveries of tea and herbs, potions and other such sundries up from the garden- and while that is wonderful work and terribly kind it was also a strain on what Adelaide thought to be on a delicate individual. As soon as she caught sight of the petite Dalish she calls out (gently, she must speak gently), to catch her attention.

Re: Library

[eolasemah]

Sina had just finished handing off a delivery, and, hearing her name, she approached Adelaide with a smile. She looked no worse for wear, a little pink in the cheeks perhaps, but there were a lot of stairs and heavy doors between here and the garden.
"Adelaide," she greeted warmly, "how are you?"

Library

[fleurdesel]

"I am well, Sina- and you?" She seemed quite well at least, which eased Adelaide's mind somewhat. All that running about perhaps was mitigated by resting between each delivery? Sina knew her limitations better than Adelaide.

[eolasemah]

That, and she wasn't likely to complain even when something was wrong. "I'm fine," she said, her voice upbeat, "just making myself useful." She was genuinely cheered by the notion; there was nothing worse than sitting around, even if she was ill.

[fleurdesel]

"Do you think you could spare a moment to share tea with me?" It was about time for her to take a break from her research- and Sina always made Adelaide feel chilled with how pale the shard left her. "Roul was able to find some blackcurrant jam in the kitchens."

[dalishious]

[ Merrick has been very stealthy about this fever. He knows he scared the life out of people when he almost drowned, and since then he's trodden very lightly around them to the point of outright avoiding them as soon as the fever hit. That's about as conspicuous as just letting them see that he's sick, probably, but whatever.

He'd ordered some herbs on the down-low from a fellow Dalish, and is now making his way to the garden to retrieve them, a small cloaked figure moving skillfully through the castle. He's made it his business not to be noticed, and it's paying off now.

When he sees Sina he hails her over, intending to just take the herbs and leave. So what if he has no idea how to use them? He'll figure it out. ]

[eolasemah]

Sina jumped slightly when she saw the cloaked figure-- that was an alarming sight at the best of times-- but hesitantly made her way over to him, brushing some of the dirt off her gloves.

"...hello," she said tentatively, lowering her head as though to peer under the hood. "...do you need something?"

[dalishious]

[ Ugh, talking. Merrick's voice is very hoarse when he speaks. Creators his throat hurts. ]

I want the herbs I asked for.

[eolasemah]

Sina paused, then straightened. "...oh." She left him to go back to her work table, where she had set aside a packet for this particular order. When she brought it back, she offered him a small smile. "What are your symptoms?" she asked softly, "in case I missed anything."

[dalishious]

[ Now the other elf wants him to talk even more, and frankly, Merrick has half a mind to just snatch the basket out of her hands and disappear again. He doesn't. Instead he just lets out a low groan, rubbing his aching forehead. ]

Sore throat. Headache. Body hurts.