faderift | OPEN: And you can shake the mountains with a whisper

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OPEN: And you can shake the mountains with a whisper

WHO: Hermione Granger and YOU!
WHAT: Hermione ventures out of the library. Sometimes. But she's also in the library most of the time, because she's Hermione.
WHEN: Late Justinian, creeping into early Solace if need be.
WHERE: Throughout Skyhold, just outside of Skyhold, pick a place far away from Skyhold and find a reason to drag her there.
NOTES: If you'd like a particular starter and/or would like to hash out some minor assumed CR that can lead into this, feel free to let me know either via PM or plurk (

StarryOblivion). Otherwise, feel free to have them randomly bump into one another!

The Herald's Rest.

Hermione doesn't often come in here, not since receiving an odd look when she'd first asked for just some water (really, given how young everyone here seems to think she is, she'd been surprised that the surly bartender had thought she'd wanted something harder). But sometimes it's a nice change of pace, sitting among the mostly quiet chattering of the other patrons and enjoying the fire as she reads or looks over her notes. Presuming, of course, that no one is foolish enough to have too much to drink and try to bother her. Talking is a distraction she'll accept with no fuss, but Merlin help anyone who's had enough alcohol to think she's open to anything friendlier than that.

Stables.

When she'd first arrived at Skyhold, the stables had seemed relatively empty and were a fine place for practicing her magic without risking hurting anyone. She'd thought she could do the same now, only to find that there are considerably more horses - and, er, other creatures - residing there. Magic might only frighten them, she decides, but they're so pretty that she can't help visiting with them for a bit, getting as close to them as she dares. It's been years since she's ridden a horse, but she's entirely certain that these mounts aren't exactly the type that would trot gently along a given course for an inexperienced rider, so she isn't even going to ask after something so silly, even if the interest is clearly there in her eyes.

Courtyard, not too far from the healing tents.

When the stables prove not to be the best place to practice with her magic, Hermione decides that it might be best to find a little corner close to the healing tents instead. At least then there would be other mages around, and so it was less likely that anyone who stumbled across her would look at her disdainfully. And if anyone gets hurt, a healer wouldn't be too far away. Of course, she highly doubts that anyone would get hurt just because she was unsuccessfully attempting to transfigure leaves and pebbles and whatever else happens to be in the vicinity. Transfiguration doesn't seem to be an aspect of her magic that's carried over into Thedas, or at least Hermione can't manage it without more practice, given that she's growing more and more frustrated as she continuously taps rocks and other objects with what looks like a stick, muttering to herself in exasperation.

Library. Because of course.

If you've been to the library, you've seen her. Whether you know her and enjoy talking to her about rifter politics or think it's entertaining to scandalize her or have never bothered to approach her, Hermione can more often than not be found in the same little niche in the library, nose in a book or a quill hastily scribbling down notes. Or even, occasionally, dozing off, since she hasn't exactly claimed any sort of sleeping space for her own and more often than not loses track of the time when she doesn't explicitly have somewhere to be.

Wildcard!

Hermione wanders, and while she tries to be careful, sometimes it takes her places she just shouldn't go. If it doesn't look like a private room or setting, it's safe to assume that the young witch has made her way there, likely looking for a quiet place to read or do magic or just to get a few moments of silence. And while she doesn't often journey outside of Skyhold, she can definitely be tempted beyond its walls if she has the right incentive, or the right company.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I've practiced with a staff a bit," she admits as she looks down. She's always a little wary about mentioning Anders' name considering what a strong reaction so many people have to him, so she doesn't explain whose staff it was that she'd managed to practice with. "But this is my first go at transfiguration. I knew it would be harder, but I'm still only trying spells I'd learned in my first year of school and they're still not working."

Huffing a little, Hermione looks up at Korrin and asks, "Do you mean to say you don't have any sort of transfiguration spells here?"

Korrin pauses to consider that, but shakes her head slowly, fairly confident by now that she's seen what Thedas has to offer in terms of magic. "Not unless that includes shapeshifting as a specialization, but that's only to transform yourself, not other people or things. What exactly where you trying to do, then?"

"You have shapeshifters here?" Hermione asks, a bit aghast. Animagi are another kettle of fish altogether; even crafting a temporary polyjuice potion can get quite complicated.

Plucking up the feather, she frowns at it for a bit and remarks, "I was trying to turn it into a ribbon, since that seems easy enough. Back home I would be able to turn it into a snake and keep it as a pet - at least until the spell wore off - but I don't dare try anything that has to do with living things, not until I can get all this sorted."

"Yes...? Several, in fact." Korrin answers the question about shapeshifting with a puzzled tone, not sure what merited that initial response. Maybe it means something different to her?

Her eyes turn to that feather, eyebrow still raised at what Hermione describes. "Wait, you could turn objects into animals and vice versa? Seriously? Now I wish you could pull it off, just so I could see this for myself. No one here would believe magic like that, except the most ignorant to think magic can do anything we want."

"But it's... regulated, I trust?" She'd mentioned something about a specialization, giving Hermione the impression that shapeshifting is, at the very least, something that certain mages would need training and likely even some sort of proper licensing for, which would only make sense for her.

"Oh yes," she replies when Korrin asks if she'd been serious about her claims. "Mostly it's simple things. A pincushion into a hedgehog, for instance, or an ice cube into a fish. They're not really animals, of course, except that they temporarily look and move like whatever it is they've been transfigured into. You can't, say, turn a bottle into a chicken and then try and use it for food."

"Damn, there goes a plan to end world hunger. How long does it last? Does it depend on the object or animal in question?" For something she might never see, the specifics probably aren't that important, but it's magic and Korrin's curious about any that isn't related to what she already knows. As for Shapeshifting....

"Regulated...not like you're thinking. It's not Circle magic, mostly belonging to Chasind and other tribal peoples. But it does take a lot of discipline and training to take on different forms, it's not like I could just up and decide to do it without putting in a lot of work. Ellana or Sam could tell you more about how that magic works but really, it's another form of magic, no more or less dangerous than the the other types." Except for blood magic, but she's already ranted about that.

"You can't create food from magic. You can multiply it or make it bigger, or Summon it from somewhere else, but you can't just create it out of nothing. It's the first of the Five Principle Exceptions-...." Realizing that no one around here cares much about Gamp's Laws (and that very few people back home do), she decides to drop it with a shake of her head and carry on. "It depends on a lot of things. How complicated the transfiguration is, how good a witch or wizard might be at transfiguration, whether or not a stasis charm was used as well to prolong the effects.... An hour or two is about normal for someone of average talent, assuming they stuck with a simple animal or something close enough to the original object's basic appearance."

Hermione listens carefully as Korrin talks about shapeshifting, pursing her lips a little in thought. "It isn't necessarily dangerous in my world. It's just, if a person can change into an animal whenever they want, it makes it easy for them to evade justice or sneak into places they shouldn't be, so our government makes an effort to register all Animagi - that is, a wizard or witch who can turn into an animal. I'm surprised they don't keep closer tabs on that sort of thing here."

Korrin might not need to know the specifics of those laws, but she finds what Hermione shares interesting nonetheless. She nods slowly, mulling that over. "Even altering food in that fashion could save a lot of lives in times of war or famine, if it could work here. Between all the crap throw at them, I doubt the people of the South have had much time for planting and harvesting."

And Hermione made some good points about shapeshifting, though she nonetheless frowns at the thought of a registry. "What, when they can just hunt down all apostates instead? Nah, they wouldn't bother. Between the Chantry and the Templars, I wouldn't trust them not to abuse the hell out of any registry. Maybe in a fair, less corrupt, place it actually does some good but here...it'd be one more excuse to go after mages."

"If I could be sure that it would work, I'd gladly do what I can," Hermione admits with a small, helpless shrug of her shoulders. "It's just... how would I test that the spell has been done correctly and the food would be safe to eat? I don't agree with animal testing, so for now I'm just trying to build on my core group of spells and perfect them before I move on to more complicated things. At least, more complicated things that might hurt people if I get them wrong."

Hermione frowns a little at Korrin's remark; it isn't the first time someone here has implied that her world was much fairer and safer than this one, and if not for the fact that she's seen how treacherous Thedas can be, she would have been hard-pressed to believe it. "Perhaps, years down the line when there's been enough of a reform that we can consider this world fairer and less corrupt, that can be something to think about. But for now, there are bigger problems to worry about, so I can understand if that sort of thing isn't a priority."

"Ask for non-animal volunteers? I'd give it a shot with food-testing, if it helps. I've an iron stomach, so there's not a lot that sickens me anyway." As long as it isn't toxic -or dwarven ale, same thing- Korrin is reasonably sure she can handle it. And if she can't learn to do that kind of magic herself, at least she can watch Hermione.

"If mages could finally govern themselves, like your own world, I could see it being a lot more possible. As it is, it's a rare enough talent right now that outside Skyhold the only people who have it are on the fringes of civilization. I'm not even sure what the limit is for how many animal forms they can assume or if there is one. I just know it can't be larger than a bear, so no one's going to become a dragon."

The thought of asking people to test any of her magic that had to do with food makes Hermione pale a little. "Oh no, I couldn't ask you to do that! I'd rather test it myself, if it comes to that. It's just easier that way, and besides, if anyone does get sick, I'd rather it be the person who fouled up the spell in the first place than any of her friends."

Thinking back on some of the things she'd seen people do with their magic back home, Hermione murmurs, "Dragons always do seem to be something of an unpredictable threat or limitation, don't they? Still, part of me wishes that a few of you could come back and see what magic in general is like in my world. We're not perfect, not by any means, and I know there are reasons why certain things aren't plausible, but I wish you can see what my magic is supposed to look like when it's cast properly. That would make it so much easier to compare and contrast the two."

"The offer still stands, if you change your mind. And don't take too many risks on your own. At least have someone there if you need a quick trip to the healing tents or something." Korrin also can't help but wonder what strange side-effects might come of tampering with food like that. Even if it's just ordinary food-poisoning, the result won't be pleasant.

She pauses to consider Hermione's idea, nodding thoughtfully. It probably won't happen, but if it could, she'd be all for comparing notes. "You've been on my turf, it's only fair. I'm still curious about a world where magic is hidden, it sounds so odd to me...but it must work out somehow. Though they don't know about non-humans either, right? That would be be a problem." Not that she even wants to hide what she is, but still.

"I haven't done much venturing on my own, at least nothing worse than trying out new spells away from where anyone could get hurt. Even now, at least I'm close enough to the healing tents, just in case." Just in case what, she can't say, but magic does occasionally come with unpredictable consequences.

"Well, most of our non-humans don't want to interact with people more than they absolutely have to," Hermione explains. "Goblins only interact with us out of necessity, and house-elves tend to stay very close to their wizarding families." She sniffs a little, doing her best not to show what she thinks about that, as though these wizards act like actual families to the elves. "Giants mostly stay hidden away in the mountains, trolls stay in caves, and even dragons have gotten rarer and rarer. There are always sightings, of course, which is why Muggles have heard of a lot of the magical world, but they're just written off as stories."

Korrin shakes her head as she tries to picture how all this works and fails. "If your giants are anything like the ones we have here, it's weird that they'd be able to stay hidden at all. Let alone fucking dragons, unless they don't leave anyone non-magic alive in their passing." And even then, it'd be obvious enough that something huge had been responsible. "I can't say I'd share that want. Humans may be some of the most frustrating people I've met, at times, but they're also of the best I know. Isolation didn't do the elves any favors here, or the dwarves. So, I'm not keen on following their example."

She shrugs, knowing it's a moot point here but it's still interesting to compare nonetheless. The 'just in case' remark has Korrin raising an eyebrow, but she'll let it go as there's not much to be done other than look in and see if help is needed from time to time. "Wise precautions. Alright, I won't lecture. You're an adult and you know your magic better than any of us do. But if you need someone to vent at, or a break, come find me."

"I've never met any of your dragons here, but someone described them to me - a woman named Lena, I think it was - and it sounds like they're different enough. Our giants are more like very large people, and they can even-... well, you know. With humans. One of my dearest friends had a giantess for a mother and a human for a father. Giants are just a bit more... wild than most other people." Shrugging a bit, she adds, "Dragons are vicious, but usually only if you encroach on their territory, which tends to be hard for most humans to get to unless they're actively seeking them out."

Hermione falls silent, then, before looking up at Korrin with a small, earnest smile on her face. "Thank you. For calling me an adult. Most people here either forget it or don't believe it. It can be a bit frustrating."

A wry smile forms as Korrin nods. "Believe me, I understand. When I first joined the Valo-Kas, I had a lot of work to do before they began taking me seriously, because of my age. I was an adult, but just barely, and not an experienced one compared to a lot of the company. It was a bumpy road, getting them to take me seriously." But it was obviously worth it, or she wouldn't have stuck with them. Still, that might be why she encourages Kas as much as she does, too.

She smiles at mention of Lena, almost surprised at her best friend's usual amount of sociability. But if anything will get her to talk, it's great beasts like dragons. "Lena was one of those who stood up for me. She's not nearly as much of a jerk as she pretends to be, though don't tell her I said that."

"Experience means something else here, I think," Hermione muses after a moment. "I've experienced war back home, and it was horrible, but our wars are fought primarily on strategy and on tearing down the opponent's defenses. There's much more hand-to-hand combat here, even discounting wartime, it seems. And with my magic not being all it can be...." She still thinks she should learn to actually fight, but she hates fighting, almost as much as she hates simply hiding behind someone bigger and stronger until she can be useful.

Cracking a small smile at the description of Lena, Hermione adds, "She doesn't seem like a jerk. Just... guarded. Given some of the things she'd told me, I can understand why easily enough."

Korrin nods slowly, crossing her arms. "She hasn't had the easiest time of it, not that Vashoth ever do. We get exposed to a lot at an early age, and learn to grow up fast. There's not really any choice about that. Not to mention the Fade opened up some wounds."

Her mouth forms a thin line at remembering that, wishing she'd have had the time to beat down each and every demon in the place just for the pain it caused her dearest friend. But Lena wasn't the only one traumatized by that place, and her attention slides back to Hermione. "I've been meaning to ask how you've been doing since then. It wasn't kind to you either, after all."

"I met her before the Fade," Hermione murmurs, frowning a little. "I can only imagine what she must have gone through after it."

As though surprised by the show of concern from Korrin, Hermione blinks and looks up at her, unsure how to respond for a moment. After a while, she finally opts for the truth, since it's always much simpler. "I try not to think much about it, honestly. Demons are one thing - I can just equate them to magical creatures. The Fade, though... it's an entirely different sort of matter."

"Yeah, it really is. I can't pretend to understand it, even as a mage. Even the most distinguished scholars' writings on the subject are mostly guesswork. All I know is that we're not meant to be there, not physically. No wonder it screwed us over." Korrin shakes her head, hoping fervently that history won't repeat itself. They don't need a return trip to that horror show, and any plan involving shard use to widen rifts is going to put up with stiff resistance from her.

"It makes sleeping even more difficult, I know. Who wants to risk seeing all that again, even in dreams? The healers have some decent avenues for dreamless sleep, if that's needed."

"I wish I knew more about it," Hermione murmurs after a moment. "It might be disturbing, but it would be less so if there was just more information on it." Of course, if even people who'd grown up in Thedas don't know more about it, how can Hermione expect to learn nearly enough about it to sate her need for knowledge?

"I know a recipe for a dreamless sleep potion, though I don't know that the ingredients even exist here. I just have to wonder how connected I can really be to the Fade, considering that it's not something that's every been so much as hinted at in anything I've read back home."

"Either it exists and people have yet to discover it -seems unlikely- or it doesn't...strange that that sounds to me." A world without the Fade and the demons and spirits in it? What an odd notion. Then again, she could definitely do without the former in her life, even if it means never seeing a spirit again. "As for ingredients, I could help search if you think a concoction from your own world would serve you better. Perhaps we'll find acceptable substitutes."

Korrin trusts Hermione to know if it's possible, let alone advisable. If it helps her friend sleep, she's willing to do what she can. She crosses her arms and frowns in thought. "I doubt you'll find anything useful in the library -either of them- but maybe talking with Solas will get you somewhere. Apparently, he's spent a lot of time exploring the Fade for whatever reason. Given that he's not a Circle mage, he probably has a lot less hang-ups about it, too."

"I'm more inclined to believe that it doesn't exist," Hermione admits. "After all, ghosts and spirits and whatnot are very different where I'm from than they are from what I've seen here. And we've always been taught that magic is just energy that's either inside of us or isn't, not that it's derived from a sort of dreamscape or afterlife or anything like that."

She falls quiet as she thinks over the ingredients of the dreamless sleep potion, vaguely remembering a conversation she had (or might have had) with a strange young man about the aforementioned ingredients. It's a disconcerting, only half-remembered sort of conversation, so she decides to push it aside for now, focusing on the talk with Korrin instead.

"I think I've spoken to Solas once before. Over the networks, briefly. I wouldn't want to take up too much of his time, especially since I'm sure he's already heard anything I might ask a dozen times over."

"Maybe, but he seems to like being asked questions and giving the chance to explain things from his perspective. I can't say I have the patience to sit through it all, because he's thorough If he can go into great detail about something, he will." Excessive detail about minute things that don't interest Korrin, but Hermione's a knowledge-sponge, so maybe she'll feel differently. And even then, it doesn't sound like the Vashoth woman is putting him down; she just doesn't see eye-to-eye and isn't going to pretend she does.

"Care for a break? All that running around outside has left me with a craving for hearth cakes and tea. I wouldn't mind the company...and another pair of hands to help me smuggle treats to Adelaide's mabari pups."

Hermione always appreciates having more information versus not nearly enough, and so she seems to consider that for a time. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to strike up a conversation with him, should I encounter him. Not that I know much more about him than what his voice sounds like, but introductions are usually made easily enough when talking to someone new around here."

Mildly surprised, Hermione looks up at Korrin and asks, "Adelaide has mabari puppies? Since when?" Granted, she only ever sees the woman when it's work related, and a library is hardly the place for rambunctious puppies. Either way, the thought seems to intrigue her, and she climbs to her feet without question. "Can they eat that sort of thing, though? Meats are much better for dogs than sweets are, aren't they? Or are mabari different from most of the dogs I know in that respect?"

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