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WHO: Araceli, Morrigan, Asher and you
WHAT: Catch-all for Bloomingtide
WHEN: Bloomingtide (post-5th Bloomingtide for Araceli)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: A proper catch-up for all three characters below with specific starters and some open headers, if you'd like something specific feel free to hit me up! If you'd like a backdated thing for Araceli or Morrigan, let me know and I'll sort that too, I know I've been gone for a fair bit sorry!
Araceli's threads will all be post 5th Bloomingtide when she gets back from her mission in Antiva!
For some ooc details on Morrigan things, please see here, a rookery post will go up shortly for research helpers!
Warnings for talk of violence, blood and language in Asher's threads.

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At least this particular student is one of the most serious-minded that Asher is likely to deal with. Kain wouldn’t have even approached him about such a matter if he didn’t intend to see it through, and to deal with any difficulty that may come of it. He’s spent the past month in intensive training, minus a week where he’d been stuck recovering from that annoying illness. Still, even despite that he’s been able to put a considerable effort into his preparations. Jumping is so second nature to him that it hardly requires the same level of practice, anyway, so he’s made it a point to spend more time on the ground, honing the type of fighting that will be required of him. There’s only one more step left to complete it…

When Asher shakes him, Kain looks over at him with an immediate nod. "I’m ready, let's go." He’s already come this far, and he knows it’ll be a point of no return soon enough. He’s set his mind to this. No backing out now. “Tell me what I must do, and I’ll do it.”

"We're going to the valley camp," Asher explains as he leads the way because Skyhold isn't really a place where you get any sort of peace, and while the refugee camp is just as busy and noisy, it's a different sort of busy and noisy. It's full of normal people compared to Skyhold. People that just want to get on with their lives as best they can, not really poking into your business they way he knows they do up in the main hold so he leads the way, his stride not just as long, his furs pulled tighter about him.

He's still coughing. Not that he's surprised, more just irritated by it, the way it's something he hasn't managed to shake off like he used to. You're getting old, Asher.

Kain has likely never been to Asher's tent, and since he returned the Boneflayers have all moved in to make a small shambling pavillion of tents, dark greens, browns, blues, all painted with their own designs of kaddis with a proper fire in the middle to cook on, the hens penned in neatly, the wagons to the side, tools for working pelts; it looks like home.

"Grab a seat, they're all off-" And that's the last two just leaving now, two dwarves laughing with their dark heads together so off to collect a debt or get into mischief. "So we can talk. The blood of the dragon bit. Bit more than just chugging the blood. Prep work. Herbs, some infusion shit. We're going to have to get on that."

"Right, of course." Kain has been prepared for that- Asher once mentioned something about needing to get their distance, to be well removed from prying eyes. The last thing they need is interference. That and he's pretty sure most people don't take well to a blood ritual, essentially. Drinking blood is... undoubtedly off-putting to a lot of people.

He follows along, glancing curiously at everything there is to see. There are still places and people he has yet to encounter in this world, and the Avvar are definitely among them. He rather likes what he sees. Even now, sometimes he thinks about taking off to spend some time in the wilderness, to go on yet another extended camping mission of sorts. The thought of making your home wherever your tent is happens to be a familiar one in general, after all of that travel he's done.

He watches the other two leave, then looks back toward Asher. "I understand. You did make it sound like the blood had to be specially prepared... I'll aid in any way I can." So it wasn't as if just anyone could wander up and grab a dragon and start drinking. Well. The fact of it being dragon's blood makes it a tough thing to accomplish already. But he understands why it's not something to take lightly, why they wouldn't want someone noticing and doing this in the wrong way. "What is the purpose of the herbs?"

A shame almost that this part of the mountains happened to be so empty but against so many people not even a hold could last, and Asher's people have been pushed back enough that he can only hope that once the Inquisition is no longer needed that they clear off, leaving nothing behind them. Lowlanders have no need of the high passes these days, not in truth, and the amount of supplies he brought with him this time just from his own hold is a quiet reminder. The Avvar still live in these parts, and that this land is theirs, that the lowlanders do not have a true claim despite what they might think.

"What, you think you can just drink blood and that's that? Even drinking human blood would make you sick, we're not meant to go around drinking blood," Asher says once he's sitting comfortably again, a hand around his ribs so he can lean forward and stoke the fire into life. That's more a habit than feeling cold in truth, but the rest of them will complain if he lets it burn down in their absence, and Amalia can't always be relied upon to revive it with her magic if she wants to be a problem. Never run merc crews, everything is a problem. "There's preparation. So you'll need a few infusion primers. You can pick them up wherever, placing an order is probably the quickest way to go about that, mages use them for other things. The blood itself - we fought dragons recently so I kept some back myself but you can go hunt dragonlings, or wait for another dragon, go track wyverns, that'll do in a pinch or get some off someone else. Last bit is rashvine. You'll need a decent bit of rashvine. It's a red plant that grows in a few places, they might grow it in the gardens but it's not the most pleasant of things. People have left the sores it causes and have had to cut the limbs off."

Sitting back, he scratches at his own healing wounds that are still so red and fresh beneath the healing efforts that have been applied to him since Gwaren, bending forward to cough until the world swims out of focus, shaking his head and reaching for the watered wine to clear it.

"Like I said, not for the faint of heart. I didn't know what I was drinking, after a very heavy session, after a very long job. Lay there for three days then got up. But it all reacts with the dragon blood to change you, then it makes you a Reaver, then you can start putting all the pieces together properly."

Kain nods. Well, yes… it is dragon’s blood he’s about to drink. So he can see why Asher would want to remind him of that. “Of course, I never expected it to be easy.” Though what he does expect… he’s still not quite sure. It’s one thing to be told about it, but he’s sure that experiencing it will be something else entirely. Something that will change him irrevocably. “The infusions should be no trouble to handle, either… and I know the vine you’re talking about, actually. I’ve come across it before, I believe. I’ll take care in handling it. If we’re set on blood, that’s fine, but of course if we need more… I can handle that. I don’t want to waste any time.”

Of course, the thought that he’ll be swallowing that rash-causing plant is more disconcerting than the dragon’s blood, but he understands that when you create potions and such, they become something more than their individual parts. He raises an eyebrow, watching Asher closely; it’s clear he’s been through a lot himself while he’s been away, but it’s not Kain’s part to ask, he figures.

“If I were faint of heart, I wouldn’t be doing this. It’s hard to explain, but my path has never felt so clear as right now… this is the kind of strength I’ve needed all along.” The blood of the dragon, inside him. He can hardly wait to feel it coursing through him… sure, some small part of him is apprehensive, in some way, but he has no patience or room for that. He won’t hesitate. He will do all he must. He will face this daunting task, and he will see it through to be a Reaver. Even if it kills him. It sounds like his body will have to be strong to accept the dragon’s blood. “At least I’m getting more preparation about this than it sounds like you were ever afforded… I thank you for that.”

The other reason the Boneflayers aren't around? Asher hasn't told them about this. It's not really their business, not exactly, but they'd stick their noses in because there's not much semblance of privacy in their lives to be honest, not when they've all lived practically on top of one another for so many years, and when they were all there when Asher became one. It's a funny story now but at the time? Amalia nearly set him on fire. Melisende didn't talk to him and she'd known him the longest of the rest. But Kain is set and Asher's not his mother so he gives him another assessing look before he grunts, getting to his feet. It's slow, getting to the tent, he has to limp to do it since he can't really move too much without shortness of breath, without everything pulling tight or the world spinning, but he makes it and goes rummaging in a box to pull out a decent vial of blood.

There are plenty more. They killed the same dragon but Asher was the only Reaver among them so he was the only one with a real interest in making sure he got a good amount of the stuff bottled to bring back with him.

"Here," he holds it out when he makes it back, easing himself down. Normally he'd throw it but he really doesn't know if he'd do it without embarrassing himself, and that's not to be wasted. Not the sort of thing he could laugh off like ale. "Should be enough, figured you've probably been waiting long enough. And yeah, better than after a night of drinking after a long job in Nevarra."

Kain is definitely glad for the privacy, he doesn't need everyone poking into his business. He's of course mentioned things here and there about his intentions to become a Reaver, mostly to those he knows well enough like Korrin. But he doesn't need all of Skyhold watching and witnessing what's to come. Because of course, he has to wonder, what if something goes wrong, what if he reacts poorly to the blood? It's a risk he's willing to take, but he really doesn't need an audience to that.

It must have been a hell of a fight, or series of fights, whatever Asher had been up to. Kain reaches over to take the vial in hand, looking at it curiously, even a bit reverently. The blood of a dragon. He'd saved bones, of course, teeth and scales, because that was the kind of battle you need to take something from... but blood certainly hadn't been on his list. He's glad Asher thought ahead.

"It seems fitting that this should come from the dragon we slew." It wouldn't matter, in the end, but to Kain that gives it more meaning. He glances at the vial a little longer. "So I'll drink and then likely spend a few days passed out... There are no other side effects to be aware of?" Other than, of course, the expected things they'd talked about already, the ways it'll change him irreversibly. Things which Kain is pretty sure he's ready for, he's been walking a road leading in this direction for a while.

"Well you might get offers about wanting to test your stamina." Now that he manages to say with the typical Asher grin and waggling eyebrows, even in his ashen face where old scars manage to stand out once again, thin white lines that usually get hidden in his weatherbeaten ruddy skin. "I always had a temper. One of the nicknames I'm known as is the Bloody Butcher, or the Smiling Butcher, depends where I've been or what happened. Fights get messy, tavern brawls get messy. I don't stop until I stop. You're changed, I don't know how to explain it better than that - you're drinking the blood of a dragon, I mean you might not pass out, I was drunk. And I'm a big man. I'm part-Avvar. Ask anyone and they'll tell you that it means I can drink with the rest of them and I had no idea what I was going into but you know and you've probably prepared mentally."

Translation: you better have prepared or you'd better start now you just need the infusion primers.

"There's a book, I wrote the name down for you too - it's on that shield, red knife in the centre I'm not getting up again, it'll tell you how to prepare it but I can come give a hand if you want, or you can get a mage if you think they'd do it better, it's your business, I'm not going to hold your hand." Because nobody held mine, he thinks but then that's sort of been Asher's life, always being thrown from one thing to the other, tossed out the door, stumbling into mercenary life in the first tavern he stopped at, someone making him a Reaver over drinks to see what would happen.

"At the end of the day though, you're still you, this just makes more of what's already in there. I own it. Better to do that than let it own you, you get me?"

Heh sure, stamina, is it? Kain gives a little smirk to that. He can imagine though, considering what that one Countess had said after he’d told her all about his dragoon skills and the way he could use his legs. Yeaaah, he can only imagine how that might go, someday. “I’ve never been one to stop until I literally can’t.” Which usually translates to him being passed out or nearly… or if he literally can’t stand. He’d been so frustrated out in the Western Approach, when he’d gotten a leg injury that prevented him from going on. At least now, if he gets hurt, he’ll be able to channel it into something productive… for as long as he’s able.

Mentally, he definitely feels ready. He has the mindset for this, the attitude that’s needed. He’s always walked a fine line when it comes to how far he pushes himself in battle… this is just taking it to the next level. “That book sounds like it should be useful. I’ll start with that, but of course I’d appreciate any aid you can lend.” Though of course, at the same time, Kain would never expect or want hand-holding either. That was why he’d approached Asher in the first place about this matter, knowing that he’d be the sort who’s able to help without getting all nagging about it. He could imagine certain friends of his being nags about it all, but they’re far removed from this world.

“I get it. Yes. The same way that I own any of my skills in battle, that I can harness the wind, control myself in the air…” A dragoon doesn’t fall and a dragoon is at his most confident even balanced precariously at the highest of heights. He’s planning to use that same confidence here. It’s different at the same time, of course, because he’s taking that blood into him, he’s going to change in some ways. But not mentally. That’s the important thing, he’ll still be himself. He’d never go into it otherwise. “I will own it. I can promise that.”

"Let that get out to the ladies, the gents, or both - I've always been partial to both myself - and you'll be fending them off with a stick. Might do wonders for rifter reputation, certainly never hurt ours unless it was a husband or a father, or sometimes a wife catching me in bed with the wrong person." Only wives tended to be a little more partial to joining in if Asher managed to be convincing enough, and that usually just involved rolling over enough to give them a show. Then again, Asher was like that anyway, it was part of why his mother had thrown him out the house as a teenager.

"Once you've done it, send me a message and I'll come find you, might just take a bit since-" There's another expansive shrug, Bronson making a low rumbling sound of assent as if agreeing with this ridiculous human he's attached to. "There's not that much written about Reavers unfortunately but it's getting into some dodgy territory that the Chantry frowns on, given how they treat blood magic and the whole Tevinter, dragons, and blood thing too. If it'd happened near Tevinter and not Nevarra I think the crew might've killed me and I wouldn't've blame them."

Asher stares then, long and cold and hard, the way he would before a battle starts when it's two companies facing off, or a small militia he's been paid to deal with, getting the measure of another man, or even out in the wild with some of the larger beasts; bears, wolves, wyverns, gurguts, they'll look you right in the eye if you let them and a moment always passes if you've fought enough. A time where you can weigh and measure. See if there's anything to be found wanting, He's not seeing that now. Maybe at first when Kain had seemed overeager but Asher's been home, been to both homes and got right with the gods though maybe not enough perhaps - maybe this is how to appease one after landing up like this so he leans forward, clapping Kain on the arm with surprising strength despite his condition. "You're ready then. You know what you have to do, I'll be here no matter the outcome. Like I said, let me know if you want my help for the rest or if you want to go now and get on with it."

“Right, and the rifters can use all the good reputation that they can get. And I…” He sighs. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind…” Siiiigh. He has no one and he’s still hung up on Rosa back home. It’s Complicated, to say the least. Aside from one one-time fling, nothing of that sort has developed here. He wants to move on, but it’s not easy. But maybe the right lady will come along. Who knows?

Kain looks once more at the blood and nods. He’s accepted that it might not have the best of reputations, but at the same time… it’s dragons. He wouldn’t even consider such a thing were it not involving his favorite creatures. “To think, it’s the final step…” He’s definitely been waiting for this moment, all of his training and preparing have led to it.

He doesn’t flinch under that staredown, keeping his own gaze just as firm and intense. He may come on strong when he’s set his mind to achieving something, but once he knows he’s going for something, he does it with all he has. Back home, he’d done the very same thing to become a dragoon. He’d had to fight for that, when the king wanted him to be a dark knight instead. He chooses to walk paths that aren’t easy. It’s the Kain way. “Thank you for this, and for starting me on this path… I’ll definitely be in contact.” At which step, who knows exactly, though he definitely is thinking he’ll seek him out when the time comes to drink. After all, who knows what may happen. It’s one of those cases where it’s better to have someone around just in case.

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