(no subject)

[apostafuckyou]

WHO: Raylan Givens and YOU!
WHAT: Raylan's getting used to Skyhold. Slowly.
WHEN: Mid-late Justinian, maybe into early Solace
WHERE: All around Skyhold
NOTES: Feel free to tag in whether we've discussed CR or not, and pp me on shockvaluecola if you want a closed starter or you have an idea that doesn't fit a starter here.

kitchens
Raylan narrowly avoided getting snapped with the towel the cook was brandishing at him, chasing him away from the door.

"I wasn't doing anything, I swear!" he protested. "I ain't hardly had a vegetable in months, I'm just trying not to die of scurvy. You trying to make me die of scurvy?"

The cook's response was uncomplimentary in the extreme, and Raylan almost got actually offended, until he remembered the cook might come at him with a frying pan next time. She shouted something to the effect of "and stay out!" then slammed the door. Raylan sighed, perching his hands on his skinny hips, and debated the merits of scratching at the door and whining like a puppy.

battlements
This man is definitely a little old to be climbing on battlements, but here he is. He might be found sitting on one of the high parts of the wall, feet dangling as he faces into the castle, or down in a crenellation, looking out. The lofts of towers with broken roofs aren't safe either, though for the faint of heart, he might just be walking along. Regardless, he'll call out to you as you pass.

"Hey! Yeah, come here a second, look at this."

library
Raylan was not impressed with this library at all.

Yes, it had plenty of books and very nice chairs and everything, but the organizational system, as far as he could tell, was completely insane. History and battle tactics shelved together? Chantry scholarship and spellbooks? Who on Thedas had thought of that, and why hadn't anyone else slapped them in the head? Raylan could be found muttering as he rifled through a shelf trying to find something, having some choice things to say about the brains of whoever had set up these shelves.

courtyard
Raylan had found a block of scrap wood and a sturdy knife somewhere, and set to work. He'd been on a stool in some tucked-away corner of the courtyard for a few hours now, and he was holding a little wooden dragon in his hands. She wasn't particularly detailed, but the broad strokes were there, like for a child's toy. Her wings were spread and her head forward, like she was flying. Raylan was focusing on trying to get her to actually take flight now. He frowned with intense concentration at his wooden creation, willing her to move. The problem was, Raylan had definitely made his creations move and come to life, but he wasn't completely sure how, so his ability to reproduce it on command was sporadic at best.

If someone was very lucky, they might be there when her wings began to flap, lifting her up and away from Raylan's hand.

Comments

Battlements

[gatheringstorm]

The Vashoth mage is taking a much-needed stroll to clear her head and stretch her legs, and do something that isn't miring herself further in politics or training until she drops. Fortunately, there's always something happening around Skyhold, new people to meet or events/missions to plan, and so on. Case in point....

Korrin comes to a halt and glances around, just to make sure that the man isn't referring to someone else. But then shrugs and heads over, having a little time to kill and undeniably curious. "Look at what, exactly?"

[apostafuckyou]

"I think someone carved something into this wall here," he said, then turned and looked up at her, visibly startled for a moment. He'd seen Qunari from afar, and seen them around the castle, but hadn't actually spoken to one yet. Shit. Somehow they were even bigger than he'd thought.

He shook himself out of it quickly. She wasn't a vague group, she was just a person he was talking to. "Looks old, but I can't read it. Right here," he said, underlining it with his finger.

[gatheringstorm]

Her gaze following where his finger underlines, Korrin tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "I can't read it either, but Solas might, given that he's the one who lead us to this place. If anyone's an expert on Skyhold, it's him. Then again, he also said a lot of groups claimed it between then and now, so...who the hell knows."

Still, it's worth a shot.

Courtyard

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne generally wasn't one for dozing in the middle of the day, but she'd crawled up into a branch and found a breeze. It was just so relaxing that she couldn't help but shut her eyes. She liked being in the place between asleep and awake. Both because of the way her mind wandered and because of the possibility that she might be able to fall through a rift and find herself back home.

Mostly the first one, though.

Time passed funny when she drifted off like that. And when she opened her eyes, she didn't know if it had been a few minutes or a few hours. All she knew was that there was an unfamiliar scent below her.

She peered through the branches, discovering a strange man. He seemed to be hard at work...staring at a piece of wood. Not just wood, she corrected herself. It looked like some kind of dragon. Ariadne shivered involuntarily. Nothing good was ever associated with dragons. Not in her life. But she had to admit, when it suddenly sprang to life, it took her breath away.

Literally. She let out an audible gasp from above.

[apostafuckyou]

That drew Raylan's attention, and the dragon settled back into being just wood. "Sorry to startle you, miss," he said, giving her a nod. "Didn't think there was anyone around."

Of course, dragons weren't the only thing he could carve and make to move, but he wanted to figure out how to make them breathe fire, also. It was the little things. Raylan was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to make any of his creations do something that their real counterparts couldn't -- no talking dragons or fire-breathing bunnies. He was sure there was some explanation for that about essence or something.

[demonicbeauty]

"Oh." She sank back, looking properly embarrassed. A healthy, pink flush rose in her cheeks. "Don't worry, I'm not anyone."

She was a Rifter, after all. And she never could quite gauge what that meant to any one person. It was always best to be self-effacing to begin with. Either someone would accept her, or they wouldn't.

Best not to assume anything.

Ariadne gathered her long, rope-like braid over her left shoulder, peering down at the dragon in his hand. "She stopped."

kitchens

[sistertohermen]

There usually wasn't too much commotion coming from the kitchen that she knew of, except around meal times when things got very busy. Or during other times of stress. So overhearing one of the touchier cooks shooing someone out was worth investigating.

Rachette peered down the hallway at him for a few moments before approaching. He wasn't what made her cautious--mess with a cook, maybe you don't eat as well as everyone else. "What's scurvy?"

[apostafuckyou]

"I don't know," Raylan said. "It happens when you don't eat vegetables. And it's bad."

He was walking down the hallway towards Rachette, more to get away from the kitchens than anything. As he was walking, though, the door opened and a brownish, mushy lemon was chucked at the back of Raylan's head. He yelped and rubbed the spot where it had hit as he looked down at the sad thing on the floor. Clearly past its prime, and probably why the cook had been willing to waste it to express her indignation.

[sistertohermen]

Thankfully, Rachette being so short, the rotted lemon had little chance of hitting her. She mostly just crossed her arms, cocked a hip, and smirked. "You really pissed off the kitchen staff. I'm sure they could've found some use for that whatever it's supposed to be and nobody would be able to tell the difference."

battlements

[fightorfright]

Amélie is walking along the battlements, minding her own business, when a man's voice calls our from somewhere nearby. She almost ignores it, but upon realisation that there is no-one else around, she responds, "Are you talking to me?"

[apostafuckyou]

"Of course I am, who else is around?" he called out. He'd climbed up into the loft of a broken, uninhabited tower, and discovered that he could climb up and call down from the walls there. He'd also discovered a nest full of eggs up here, which seemed like the sort of thing that someone ought to notice and do something about. Fuck if he knew what, though.

[fightorfright]

"Oh." She came to a stop, as though expecting him to really have been addressing someone else all along. "What is it I'm meant to be looking at, exactly?"

courtyard;

[hlif]

Whittling was a hobby Asher picked up years ago to keep his hands busy when on the road or taking his turn at watch when inns and taverns were few and far between if you went far enough. It kept him awake or it helped calm him if he hadn't managed to clear a fight from his system, something that wasn't always so easy when you were a Reaver.

On his way back from a delivery run, stopping to catch his breath when his lungs started to burn the way they always did now, he found himself watching the man working away. Never a hardship to admire someone with skill going about their business - he had his pelts that he worked, often with a few of the elven children from the valley camp at least hanging around to peer at him. But it was the flapping that he caught just as he was about to leave. That was what made him stay and clear his throat.

"Can't say I've seen that one before," he said with a grin and a nod. "D'you ever sell any of those?"

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan didn't look over, keeping his focus on the dragon as it lifted away and went soaring. Its movements weren't quite right, just as the anatomy wasn't quite right, a little overly simple. But apparently it was serviceable enough, and she opened her mouth as if to roar or breathe fire as she banked back toward Raylan.

"A few times," Raylan said. "I can't usually get the magic to hold long enough." He held out his arm, and she landed like a falcon, turning to crawl up toward his shoulder. "I can't always get the magic to take in the first place, but it ain't too hard in this castle." It didn't feel the same way as when the veil was thin in other places, but there was something here.

[hlif]

Watching the dragon fly certainly brought back memories of fighting the Hivernal in Emprise du Lion, he'd need to tell Korrin about this the next time he passed he by.

"I was thinking something a little more normal, or with moving parts little ones could move themselves. Don't fancy my brother or sister or their wife or husband tearing the arse off me if uncle Asher sends a toy that burns the house down next time I send letters from Skyhold," he muttered with a snort. Aedan might not be so bad but Shannon? Shannon would march up the mountain and kill him herself. "This place was some old elf place, you should ask Ellana Ashara or Merrill, they're Dalish, either one of them'd know the proper name of it. New around here then?"

Kitchens

[aintwejust]

"You know-" Mal says, lounging against the opposing wall like he's just waiting and not, well, someone that got kicked out 'bout five minutes ago for more or less the same damn thing. "It works better if you catch Marian. The one in there right now, Angie? She's got no soul."

Not like he's hurting for food but- this guy? This guy's hurt'n. Maybe if he does a good turn he can snag something for himself. "We give it ten, maybe fifteen? Angie'll slip out the other door to head down to wherever they're stor'n root vegetables and Marian will be in to start prov'n the dough for tomorrow morning. We act real sweet? We might get somth'n."

He says, having been chased out by Marian with a broom at least twice before, but hey. Hope springs eternal.

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan was already better fed than he'd been since last summer, but he could tell that he was still thinner than he wanted to be, and when he sat down to eat, it was the vegetables he dove for, not the meat. He could still feel the craving for fresh, sharp things over the well-cooked stews and pies that were easy to get. If he never saw ram meat again, it would be too soon.

But Mal seemed to be an expert at this sort of thing, and Raylan gave him a calculating look. "You reckon so?" he asked, glancing back at the kitchen door. "I ain't even tryin' to get much," he said. "Just a damn orange or somethin'."

He moved away from the door either way, fearing that if he stayed too close, Angie would come out brandishing her wooden spoon.

[aintwejust]

"No wonder she kicked you out. You know how much oranges cost this time a year, this far south? You know how much they gotta pay to get some poor sonsabitches to haul them up the mountain?" Mal shakes his head sadly. "It ain't cheap."

He lets that hang long and solemn in the air before nodding to himself, mind made up. "Means we gotta go at this sideways and sly. You were say'n somthing 'bout Scurvy? It's the right angle t'play up if you want an orange. I can back you up, they know I'm a sailor."

Least when he's on a boat. "Might be able to snag two while Marian's not look'n if we're quick and quiet like."

battlements

[unbrokenoath]

What is it with people and climbing around places? Is he going to start lecturing her about how stairs are stupid, too? She'd like to see these people clank around in her heavy ass Warden armor and then scale walls and shit. But even as she's mentally grumbling, in a good natured kind of way, because she doesn't really mind that much, she ambles on over to the man sitting on the high part of the wall, resting her arms on the lower part.

She's a curious kind of person, after all. She peeks up at him, raising an eyebrow with an easy smirk.

"Tryin' to get people to admire the scenery? Shameless, that's what that is, ser. Perhaps not unfounded, but shameless."

[apostafuckyou]

Raylan gave her a squinty-eyed grin. Any person who opened a conversation with him by sport-flirting was on his good side.

"Ah, but there is so much to admire," he said, as if he was just talking about the grand vistas around the castle. "I'm pretty sure I can see Redcliffe from here, though." That was the actual reason he'd called out.

[unbrokenoath]

"Redcliffe?" Kaisa repeated, squinting off into the distance. "Might even be able to see the Warden Camp, I figure it's just about as far." She snorted at her own joke, then straightened up, still looking off. "I've been to Redcliffe before. Nice place, even if it gets wrecked by shit every decade or so."

Then, she turned to look at Raylan, eyes slowly moving up and down him, an appreciative smirk coming to her lips, before she bobs her head to him. "Warden Kaisa Daesun, at your...service." She wiggles her eyebrows a little at the end, before laughing. "You ever been to Redcliffe?"

kitchens

[justice_is_blond]

"You know, if you're worried about catching something, we've the healer's tents down in the courtyard." Anders' voice is wry as he speaks, looking up from where he's crouched near the door. There's a kitten in front of him, batting at his bootlaces as he tries to retie them.

The guy at the door doesn't look like he's doing that well, though. He's definitely thin. After another failed attempt at tying his bootlaces, Anders sighs and stands. Clearly he'll just have to walk carefully because Purrelden doesn't feel like cooperating right now.

"There should be some food out by the tables, set aside for between meals. It won't be much, and it likely won't have anything that combats scurvy, but it can tide you over until then. I'm guessing you're new as you're trying to get food out of that cook, so shall I show you the way?"

[apostafuckyou]

To some degree, Raylan was always thin -- he had a lean, lanky build like his father before him. But it was true also that he was too thin at the moment, and that he didn't bother with the robes or quilted jackets that might make him look bigger.

He saw that the man was having trouble, and came to scoop up the kitten in one hand, around the middle so it would have trouble trying to scratch him, allowing Anders a minute to get his boots tied. "I suppose so," he agreed, though he looked a little sullen, still. "Long as there's something that's a vegetable. Ain't hardly eaten a plant in eight months."

Library

[youwonscience]

Between her hair, her jewelry and her glasses, Cosima is so obviously a rifter that she might as well be wearing a sign to that effect. It's also inevitable that she found her way to Skyhold's library. First because she's still quickly trying to get a grasp of the culture in which she's found herself (and the wider geopolitical situation, while she's at it). Second, because she feels more relaxed in libraries.

She's not having much better luck at untangling the system than Raylan is - arguably worse - and their paths cross more than once before she gives up and says, "Sorry, I'm just... whatever cataloging system this library uses makes no sense to me at all." She's apologetic, mostly; she's new enough that she thinks it impolitic to blame the library for her lack of understanding, but she also doesn't mean to be underfoot.

[apostafuckyou]

"Doesn't seem to be much of a system at all," Raylan said, cocking a skinny hip out and resting his hand on it. "Just things thrown together that a four year old might think connect. Do you know what you're looking for in particular?" he asked. She was obviously a rifter, yes, but until one actually did something weird around him, Raylan was going to reserve any negative judgment. "Maybe I've seen it."