OPEN - Yes, we should like to see a burning-bush-type sign

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Pel Ashara and YOU.
WHAT: Blowing off steam after the emergency Council session.
WHEN: Backdated about two weeks to the IC Council vote.
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Will update. There are a few starters in here.

Naturally, it's been a rough day. Naturally, half the Council thought the resolution went too far and the other half thought it didn't go far enough. Naturally, Pel is exhausted and frustrated, though overall glad that the Council passed something. She's going to avoid thinking about the next resolution she'll eventually have to write, whatever that will be, for the rest of the night. She's going to try to forget the Council exists and she is a part of it.

1

The first place Pel goes is the tavern. She needs a strong, strong drink. In fact, anyone who knows her (or can see how small she is) might be alarmed when she orders a glass of whiskey and downs it in one forced, gagging swallow.

2

After such a long time spent shut inside, Pel is out under the stars, wrapped up in blankets and sipping a mug of mulled wine. Her feet are tucked under her, her back resting against a tree in the courtyard, her head occasionally nodding.

3

A tiny elf is curled up in a shadowed nook of the courtyard, sleeping soundly, wrapped in a cloak and blankets. She looks pale and cold, tense even as she sleeps.

Comments

ELLANA

[mythalenaste]

"You did really well." Pel has caught up with Ellana at last, just outside the tavern. The respect is sincere, and so is the smile. "You're gaining confidence."

[serannas]

It's a fine line to walk on the council between being respectful and cowing to the whims of others. Every time Ellana agrees with one of the council who used to dwell in a Circle and sees nothing wrong with its ways, she has a brief moment of internal panic. She knows she is keeping the best interests of the non-Circle mages in mind, but there is still a stab of fear in her chest regardless.

All she's agreed to are things she believes will help the mages, and though the arguing was stressful at times, looking back, she thinks many good points were brought up.

"I think the resolution we release will be all the stronger for us having discussed it so thoroughly, don't you?"

[mythalenaste]

Pel knows the exact feeling, but she thinks Ellana held her ground where it needed to be held and gave where she could afford it. That was what she tried to do, as well.

"It might. Or it could just make it that much weaker. No way to know till it's tried, either way. Certainly three people couldn't give a perfect solution, though, we know that for fact without trying."

[serannas]

"More opinions can make things murkier, I know, but it also helps, because more people's wants are being represented. Falling somewhere in the middle between Circle ways and apostate ways is really the best thing for all of us, and something that can draw all mages together, I think."

She turns and looks out across Skyhold. It's frustrating that some mages want so very much to be trapped beneath the Templars' thumbs, but to them it means safety. And to them, it's probably just as frustrating that the Dalish mages mind themselves. Finding middle ground is vital.

"Are you going to be the one to keep writing out what we want to publicly release?"

[mythalenaste]

"Doubtful. I just wrote my ideas when I had them. Other people will write theirs as they happen."

[serannas]

"Good point. At least we've responded to the immediate problems. This can help prevent more tragedies."

[mythalenaste]

"We still need to have lessons. I...think you'd better take that one. Dalish demon resistance techniques. I came into my magic so early it's all second-nature for me, I can't teach it to anyone."

[serannas]

"Oh." Her voice holds some surprise, but resisting demons is something she knows well. Some are lucky and aren't sought out by them, but she has been. Perhaps her emotions are like a beacon while others are more calm in their dreams.

"Yes, I can do that."

[mythalenaste]

"I know." She moves to pull Ellana into a quick hug. "Thank you. For having my back."

[serannas]

She's a little startled at the hug, but pats Pel's back automatically.

"We hold similar views and values. Of course we would agree."

[mythalenaste]

"I don't mean agreeing, I mean speaking up when you do agree."

[serannas]

"I would be a pretty poor Councilor if I never let my opinions be known," she says in an amused tone. But she does understand what Pel is saying, and she grows serious a moment later.

"I'm glad you don't look at me and think I would put the wants of the humans above our own. I will always speak for our people, and what I feel is best for them." If it happens to line up with what the humans want, well then Ellana will agree. But if it's something she can't reconcile, she will stand firm.

[mythalenaste]

"We have a very vulnerable position. We're protecting our kin, and most of the other mages don't see why that's relevant to a Council mostly made up of Circle mages. It's why I'm glad we're both there, to support each other even if nobody else will. I'm really glad to have you at my side."

[serannas]

It means a lot to Ellana to hear such a thing. Years of struggling to find a place and a purpose have finally seemed to draw her to this cause and she's happy to continue standing up for the Dalish.

"Ma serannas, Pel. I'm glad to be there."