But I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more!

[ombranera]

WHO: Zevran and any on the road!
WHAT: Walking, drinking, dancing, dirty songs and poetry while hiking to Skyhold. Perhaps a stop in a tavern or two along the way.
WHEN: The course of several days on the road.
WHERE: The Road to Skyhold, Skyhold itself
NOTES: Zev is a walking content warning coarse language, innuendo, drinking

Strange how after a solid year of hiking over hill and dale, through Imperial Highways and muddy side tracks he'd sworn to never do so again no matter the company or the cause. And yet here was Zevran yet again on foot (an elf with a horse attracted too much attention in the area) walking the long way to Skyhold with the odd thumb out for any passing caravan- provided they were not bandits. Company he did not mind. Burglary? Less so. From what little he'd heard of the events at Haven and his concern for a country that had been, for all to brief a time, a home of sorts, Zevran made his merry way along the road to this fortress rumored to be the best option for a strategic regroup. Perhaps he would meet someone familiar, perhaps he might offer his services.

The options were many. As were the songs that he would use to amuse himself, strumming a worn, well sanded lute while he walked. Now and then snatches of Antivan would curl through the air, lilting and easy and- to anyone that understood? Absolutely filthy.

"Le mie gambe sono avvolte intorno a voi collo,
Il tuo cazzo nella mia strada, spinte e agitare!
Ero a letto , ma ora sono in questo petto .
Cosa stai mi dà grande piacere!"

So on and so forth from one tavern to the next on the long trek, if coaxed and if it would see him fed or paid, he would play a few of the softer, more romantic tunes he knew. But for the most part? Smut. Quite a bit of smut. It wasn't as though anyone truly understood him all that often.

His actual arrival was a little less Merry, he had to give one thing to wandering bandits. When they coordinate well enough for a solid ambush and attack en masse? It wasn't the simplest fight to handle alone. Escaping unscathed wasn't entirely possible but he had managed to find a group of either merchants or refugees or a mix of both, he wasn't all that certain, to walk with for the last streatch. One even deigned to allow him to ride the last leg in- provided he rode on the back of the cart and entertained them. As such Zevran's arrival was marked with his voice crackling out past laughter.

"'But yes, she asks, what is the difference?' and I tell her-

'The difference is in where you put the cucumber.'"

Comments

[serannas]

Ellana was intrigued by the song the elf played at the tavern, having heard it from outside. The tune seemed to draw her in and she sat at a table across from where Zevran was set up, just watching with her chin in her hand. It was good to hear new music, even if she didn't understand the words. The Dalish had few songs written in elven, and most were about sorrow and loss, so not the cheeriest of tunes. She wondered what the words to this man's song were.

Once the song ended, she and others clapped for him, and she decided to get a drink. Since she would be passing him on the way to the bar, she said, "That was beautiful. What is it called?"

[ombranera]

"Per amore di un seno perfact- or in the common tongue," He gave another little strum of his lute before turning a wide grin to his new audience. "For the love of a perfect bosom. Much in life can be made easier if you possess one, or so I have been told. I have another that is an ode to a well formed hindquarters that is quite catchy if I do say so myself, and one for lips."

[serannas]

"Oh." She didn't know he was singing about that. But she supposed it was a love song, and had to be sweet, didn't it? In any case, no one would be singing that song to her and her rather small chest.

"What language is that?" she asked, wondering if it was a popular song where he was from.

[ombranera]

"Antivan, the language of love, lust, and true romance." Emphasized by another little strum. "You are not familiar with the tongue, lovely woman such as yourself?"

[serannas]

"I'm afraid not. I only know the common tongue and elven." Though elven was hardly a full language.

"And you are from Antiva?" She knew little of other countries. But she hoped she could be educated on them from others here. People must have gathered from all over. "I come from the Free Marches."

[ombranera]

"I...do not think I know any elvish love songs." A beat. "I do not think elves have love songs."

It was all terribly sad 'lost our people' this and 'land taken from us' that. Very sad. Not exactly what he would call conversational music.

"That I am! Zevran Arainai of Antiva, at your service. You are from one of the Dalish Clans of the Marches, yes?"

[serannas]

"We don't," she confirmed, sounding a little regretful at that. Love songs would be more to her taste than what they did have.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Ellana of Clan Ashara, yes."

[ombranera]

"Perhaps you ought to find a poet and have him write one. The nuances of the language are beyond me." Most of the language is beyond him, but he didn't need to say that. "Welcome to Skyhold. Have you come to assist with the Inquisition?"

Color him surprised that the Dalish were taking an interest.

[serannas]

Ellana doesn't know anyone who she thinks would be amiable to writing a Dalish love song, but that's something that's not impossible now, is it? There are other Dalish from outside her clan arriving everyday. She can meet new people and maybe one of them would be up to the task.

"I have, yes. Among others of my clan. This is all very new and different for me. I've never seen so many different people before. And I've certainly never met an Antivan before either."

[ombranera]

"Let me guess- you were never allowed near settlements for fear they would steal you away for your lovliness?" Or for much worse things, but he was trying to flirt, not to distress. "Then it is a whole new world opened up before you. There are many people from many countries wandering about, but I shall tell you a secret. The Antivans? Are the most fun."

[serannas]

"Not quite," she replied, her lips curving up into a smile. It had been awhile since anyone had referred to her as lovely, and the last one who did... well, she didn't like to think of him anymore. "More like steal me away for my mageiness." But she was hardly distressed mentioning that. It was simply fact.

"Oh, are you now? And why do you claim the title?"

[ombranera]

"And all the more fool they, one cannot steal a mage and hope to keep them." Woo a mage- well. That was something else entirely. "Well, we are the best adventurers, the kindest and most attentive of lovers, and we throw all the best parties. None of this Orlesian nonsense with the masks and the scheduled dancing and the dull music."

[serannas]

Her Keeper had warned that few Templars would bother dragging a Dalish mage to one of their Circles; they would just kill her out in the wild and be done with her. And so in a way, Zevran's views lined up with her Keeper's, because they wouldn't keep a mage.

"Yes, I don't really understand the masks myself. I can still see their eyes and their mouths, so they're hardly hiding their expressions." But whatever. Go be weird, Orlesians. You do you.

"Have you been on many adventures?"

[ombranera]

"Quite a few! I think one of the greatest would have to be the year I spent in Ferelden, or perhaps that brief stint I had as a pirate. Then again being an assistant to a forgetful Enchanter was quite amusing as well- or perhaps the dragon riding." That may or may not be a complete falsehood. Zevran would never tell.

[serannas]

"You've really done all of that?" There was a slight note of disbelief to her voice. She was naive, but not that naive. How exactly would one ride a dragon without being flung straight off? It wasn't like you could easily slip a saddle over its back, or tie a lead around its neck.

[ombranera]

"That I have." A strong bloodline and careful living- well. Careful aftercare to reckless living has left Zevran looking a bit younger than his thirty some odd years to the untrained eye. "Though I am not your standard Antivan- I dare say I've seen about twice as much as those in my country."

[serannas]

"You've actually ridden a dragon? And lived to tell? What kind of dragon was it?" Now this is a story she has to hear. Ellana's been stuck hearing the same stories for years, with the occasional new one about the hunters' encounters with humans and how they'd scared them off. And when Gavin would come back from his latest adventure, Ellana always sat enraptured at his tales.

[ombranera]

"Yes, a High Dragon, and it was quite stressful at the time- nor did I ride it for very long." Straddling it's neck while impaling the skull with a sword probably didn't count as 'riding' but- it was close enough for him. "But it was quite the adventure."

[serannas]

Amazed, she stared wide eyed at him. He was being serious? He had to be. If he wasn't, he would boast that he'd ridden it for longer than that.

"I should say so! Were you thrown off its back?"

[ombranera]

"It's neck, actually. And after a time indeed I was- fortunately I landed in a great snow drift and did not suffer anything worse than some bruising and laughter from my compatriots." Specifically Oghren and Alistair. But that is what one got for attempting to climb a dragon.

[serannas]

Ellana couldn't imagine laughing after seeing someone perform such a feat, but maybe she had to be there to find humor in it.

"I'm very impressed! There are few who can claim to do what you did."

[ombranera]

"Most would be eaten, yes. Luckily I was able to jump out of the way while the Dwarf distracted it." Oghren did have his uses, after all.

[serannas]

"You had a dwarf with you? Did he have a beard? My friend Gavin said all the male dwarves down in Orzammar had beards." She'd been thrilled when Gavin had returned to the clan with stories of the dwarves and the strange fashion in which they lived underground, never allowed to see the sun. Life in the clan could feel confining at times, but she was grateful she had the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.

[ombranera]

"Most do. I have met but one that did not have a beard and in it's stead he had a truly impressive thatch of chest hair. It was the envy of all he knew." A marvelous thatch, and a pity he did not wish to hop boarders- or hop at all as it were.

[serannas]

"Ohhh," she murmured, wondering what that looked like, since sadly, male elves lacked that impressive amount of body hair. Who knew? It could look completely ridiculous, or unappealing, but she at least wanted to have the experience of knowing for herself what it looked like. She was eager to experience so many new things.

"And you? Were you envious of it too?"