Open: Party Preparations

[madame_de_fer]

WHO: Josephine, Vivienne, OPEN
WHAT: Preparing the Inquisition for the Soiree
WHEN: 15 Guardian to 14 Drakonis (about a month's span before the event)
WHERE: Skyhold, varies
NOTES: * Josephine is the hostess of the shindig. Matters regarding invitations, guest lists, admittance, entertainment, food, or general complaints/suggestions should be directed to her.
* Vivienne has personally invited three tailors from Val Royeaux to assist with clothes making for the attendees. She is available to assist with design selections and/or advice on how to behave.
* YOU are open and invited to grab your nearest and dearest CR to complain about the party, ask for a date to he event, complain you have nothing to wear.
* Belinda Darrow has donated from her own private purse to the cost of clothing which people could otherwise not afford.

The Orlesian tailors arrived in great state, bringing with them a cadre of servants, workers, and snotty attitudes. They hate everything. It is cold in Skyhold. It is damp. Everything smells of wet dog. The working conditions are abysmal. The food is criminal. There's not a damned thing they don't complain about, except for the piles of coin they stand to make from this soiree. Yes, they are more than content to build a fortune with exclusive work that will be seen by some of the aristocracy's finest.

Harritt apparently doesn't much like them either. They've taken over his Undercroft with their fabrics and threads, designs and opinions. Oh they have opinions. He stays to one corner, attending his work, and grumbling under his breath about the poncy cheesesniffers.

Comments

[aceso]

Christine hadn't noticed the woman hidden away until she spoke, and it caused her heart to skip a beat in surprise.

"Oh! Oh, thank you." She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress. "My friend made it for me."

One of the tailors made a scoffing sound. "And I can see the stitches where they took it in too!"

Christine pursed her lips and exhaled slowly through her nose.

"And he made it as a surprise for me, without fitting me for it along the way. To only need to take it in a little in the middle shows how talented he is." She whipped her head towards the tailor, giving him a challenging look as if to suggest he wouldn't have done as fine a job. The tailor opened his mouth, then paused, let out a huff, and went back to measuring. Surely he wanted to say something insulting under his breath in Orlesian, but as Christine was Orlesian herself, he couldn't get away with it.

With that bit of frostiness clinging in the air between tailor and client, she turned her attention back to the woman "Will you be attending?"

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne certainly hadn't meant to cause any kind of commotion, but she had to admit there was something artful in the way that the woman knocked her tailor down a peg or two without actually saying a single damning thing. She pressed her knuckles to her lips, hiding a bit of a smile.

Oh, she could imagine this girl getting on very well with Lady Adriana.

When the attention fell back on her, Ariadne dipped her head shyly. "Oh, I doubt it, my lady," she said. "I don't have the resources for a gown. And even if I did, I can't sew at all."

And not for lack of trying. She'd tried, all right. But she had no talent for it.

[aceso]

To Christine, it was simple fact and nothing more. Her friend had gifted her with something beautiful and nothing about it looked wrong or off to her eyes. She highly doubted that low candlelight would reveal stitching of all things, and this tailor was nitpicking for lack of anything else to say.

"Oh, you should speak with Madame de Fer of that," she replied. "I heard of someone making a donation of funds for outfits. Either she or Ambassador Montilyet would know of it." Soirees weren't for everyone, but for those who wished to go, there were ways.

[demonicbeauty]

"I'm afraid I don't know either of them, my lady," Ariadne said, with a slight dip of her head. "But if the purpose--as I understand it--of this gala is to highlight the citizens of Skyhold, I doubt I would be the best choice of a guest."

She held out her left hand, palm out, to show the shard embedded in her skin.

It was a sight she still couldn't get used to. Once upon a time, every single inch of her skin had been green. Now, it was only around that constant glow, at once both familiar and completely alien.

[aceso]

Since she didn't know either, Christine wouldn't push this woman towards Vivienne. She had a bit of a bias against her, perhaps unfairly, but as Christine was one of the mages who wholehearted supported Fiona's efforts towards mage freedom, Vivienne was their most vocal opponent. But Josephine was a safe option.

"The choice is yours, but I know the Ambassador is amiable to discussions." In fact, Christine would direct her to Josephine's office, but then she saw the shard and made an "Ah," sound.

"I know those from the rifts are not barred from attending, but you would be a curiosity to most. The Inquisition is a unique gathering of peoples, and we are perhaps more open than others in Thedas might be." Especially nobles. "And my name is Christine. No need for 'my lady.' I am a mage." One of the tailors gasped, as if this was a great affront, but Christine hardly flinched.

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne didn't like being a curiosity. That was the problem. She'd managed to avoid it somewhat, blending in with the other Humans back home. But her novelty was worn right on her skin here, where everyone could see it.

Still. A part of her did want to go. If only because she thought it would be fun. Like playing pretend. Or dress-up. Or something else. Being in a play, maybe. It would have been fun to be an actress, once upon a time.

She gave Christine a polite curtsy, despite her apparent dislike of formalities. It was more of a bounce, really. But everything Ariadne did was pretty bouncy. "My name is Ariadne Everdeen," she said, taking extreme pleasure out of her new, adopted surname. "But you can call me 'Airy.' Everyone does."

[aceso]

"Very well," she replied, a brief smile appearing on her lips before the tailor blocked her sight to get her bust measurement. Ugh. He could have warned her, or offered to let her hold the tape. Instead she settled for a glare to show him he wasn't fooling her. One would think that after the revelation that she was a mage, he would wish to touch her as little as possible.

But he did soon move out of the way, and conversation could continue once more.

"Have you joined the Inquisition, Airy? Traveled outside of Skyhold, perhaps?"

[demonicbeauty]

"No," Ariadne admitted. "Neither really. Although I've been hoping to get an audience with a member of the Inquisition, on the recommendation of Cole. I just haven't had the chance..."

She shrugged. "And there's plenty to do around here. So many people need help." It reminded her of Valeria. Of what Valeria had become as the Red Dragon continued to crush it, encroaching from all sides.

So many refugees.

So much loss.

[aceso]

Christine didn't know Cole, but it wasn't a bad idea to make herself known if she wished to join.

"I came in with the mages of Redcliffe." Rebel mages, they were called, though most were people who simply wished to live in peace without the Templars enforcing more and more harsh restrictions on them. To be called a rebel for wanting her freedom when she was in no way dangerous showed the way the wind was always blowing in Thedas.

"It is good of you to help when you are not of this world." Airy was under no obligation to, but it was a sign of the type of person she was.

[demonicbeauty]

"As long as I'm here," she said, "I am part of the world. So if I can make it a better place, it seems to me that that would be the best use of my time. I'd hope that someone visiting my world would feel the same way."

Not that she would blame them if they fell into the same pit of hopelessness as so many others.

She pulled her long, rope-like braid over her shoulder, running her fingers along the crevices. "I only wish that people wouldn't stare at me so much," she added.

[aceso]

"I am afraid we are quite a world filled with starers," she answered, almost apologetic in tone. It was because the world was filled will such wonders and horrors that most simply couldn't look away. And they were probably still trying to determine if the rifters were dangerous or not.

"As long as your hand remains uncovered and glowing, people will stare until they find something else to occupy their time."

[demonicbeauty]

Human nature was a funny thing. Sometimes it made perfect sense. Other times...Ariadne was just confounded by them.

And, of course, she was now Human too. Hard enough when she'd barely understood herself before.

She glanced down at her hand, the pad of her thumb brushing against the shard. "Sometimes I think about wearing gloves," she said. "But then I think that would be dishonest somehow."

[aceso]

"Do you?" Christine considered that point of view. There were very few clothes she owned, but most were mage robes. The outfits she had that didn't immediately show she was a mage somehow felt more freeing. She could walk around and know she wasn't making strangers uncomfortable just by her mere presence. She had never looked on it as dishonesty before, but perhaps it was. Yet to constantly carry her staff or wear some token to show she was a mage hardly seemed right either. They had been separated from society and locked away. They had been cut off from family and told they would never marry, inherit, or have children that wouldn't be taken away from them. Why should she still have to announce what she was after the treatment mages endured?

"It is not dishonest unless someone outright asks if you are a rifter and you say no. If they make the assumption you are not a rifter only to later discover you are, that is their fault, not yours. You should not be required to announce it."

[demonicbeauty]

Those were the exact rules she lived by when pretending to be a Human. That a lie of omission wasn't really a lie.

But it was probably easier to pass for Human than a native of this place. The landscape was so terribly confusing. And since no one would tell her half of the things she needed to know, she was always guessing. Except for those rare occasions when she could pool information with Marcel.

And Marcel knew less than she did.

"Some people think we should be even more blatantly marked," she said. "Or kept pent up."

[aceso]

"Those same people are probably the ones who were comfortable with mages being locked away out of sight too. How sad for them to have to face that which they do not like."

It was a streak of bitterness that she tried not to allow out in the open too often, but she felt she could empathize with Airy because of the similarities between how mages and rifters were treated.

[demonicbeauty]

It was amazing.

For a split second--less than that--Christine disappeared. And standing in her face, Ariadne saw her mother. She blinked and it was gone, but she couldn't quite stifle a surprised noise.

Christine had the determination of Rotspine. The same fire in her voice. The same certainty.

It was remarkable.

"You...you speak well," she said.

[aceso]

"Well," she began, a little bit pleased at the compliment, "I see no point in not speaking my mind. Otherwise nothing would ever change." It's why she'd been a Libertarian in the Circle, and had supported Fiona's efforts for greater freedom for mages; for the freedom to govern themselves. Who better understood their needs than themselves?

"I thank you for saying so."

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne ducked her head and curtsied in response. She hadn't meant to flatter. It was just a feeling that struck her. Struck her to the very core of her being.

Such a thing could hardly be ignored. It was a gift, after all.

"You're much kinder than many of the other natives of this land that I've met," she said. "I hope many more are like you."

[aceso]

The compliment this time was a little more surprising, but not unwelcome. Christine knew she cared, and sometimes cared too much about people. It was in her nature. She had always wanted to heal and protect from the moment she accidentally cast her first spell: a barrier placed over a stray cat to protect it from mean children. She worried, she mothered people, she was stubborn and put her foot down if they didn't listen. But she cared, and that led her to being kind (to the patients who weren't idiots, anyway).

"I am sure there are. It's just a matter of finding them. There are some here that I never expected to see kindness from, but they can surprise you."

[demonicbeauty]

"Oh, I'm sure of it," she said, turning to examine a bolt of fabric. "People's basic nature is good. They're just taught to be afraid." She ran her thumb along the pattern, a gold thread running through the red silk. "Which is why it's the job of us Rifters--that's what we call ourselves--to make it absolutely clear that we mean you no harm."

She paused, turning to look back at Christine.

"At least...I don't..."

[aceso]

"It is the same way with mages," she replied. "We can say we mean no harm until we are blue in the face, but there will always be some who ruin things for the rest of us by lashing out." By attacking refugees, by practicing blood magic, by blowing up a Chantry and sending debris all across the city. It's frustrating that she is viewed as being like them. She is nothing of the sort.

"I think, in this way, you will find most mages to be sympathetic to you, Airy."

[demonicbeauty]

She frowned curiously, in a almost childlike sort of way. "Does that really happen?" she asked. "Do people's faces really turn blue?"

Whatever else Ariadne was, it was earnest. Whereas someone else might have sounded like they were making a joke...she was serious.

Incredibly, unapologetically, without-question...serious.

[aceso]

Christine wasn't expecting such a response, and she let out a short laugh of surprise, startling the tailor.

"It is a turn of phrase. To be blue in the face means you speak so much that you have used all your breath. People deprived of air do get a tinge of blue, mostly in their lips."

[demonicbeauty]

"Oh."

Ariadne had never been very good with figures of speech. After some practice, she'd managed to pick up some of the phrases that the Elves back home used. But she was still constantly thrown off guard.

It was the most drastic flaw in her otherwise seamless, Human disguise.

And it was bad enough that she slipped up. But Ariadne also had a tendency to question some of the stranger turns of phrase. "I can't imagine anyone using up all their breath. All they'd have to do is take another. Unless...they died in the middle of a sentence, I suppose..."

[aceso]

"It is not meant to be taken literally. Such a thing is merely suggesting how some people carry on, so intent on saying everything they wish that it seems as though they would forget to take a breath."

In all honesty, Christine didn't expect a woman from another world to understand the oddities of phrases, and so it was nothing to her to explain it.