A Maker's Renaissance [open]

[nadasharillen]

WHO: Nari and all you glorious crafty types out there
WHAT: Construction work at Skyhold! (slash catch-all for Nari)
WHEN: Justinian/Solace and heading into August
WHERE: The main keep/undercroft
NOTES: Hey y'all I missed you, let's build some things!

It had been an odd few months. Even though Sina had gotten better, Nahariel's spirit had settled tired into the walls, keeping inside them as if something terrible might happen if she left. So she haunted the keep, became as much of a fixture in the undercroft as the workbenches she toiled away on. There was always work to be done. Bows to carve both long and short, splintered shields to be repaired or crafted anew, hafts and hilts to shape, the wood worked lovingly until it was like silk to the touch. Night would find her the same way, quietly whittling the scraps from the day into feathers, leaves, halla, a candle flickering beside her until even the light of the mountains dimmed.

And then she would rest and begin again.

It was on one of the walks to and from the tent she shared with her clansister that the bareness of the Skyhold banisters finally struck her--followed quickly by an idea. For the first time in months, she exited the hall with purpose beyond rest.

--

Nari wants to really spruce up the hall!

Any characters with known crafting skills will be approached by a small-framed brown elf looking for collaborators to help carve the balustrades with techniques and imagery from their culture...and to get some new banners up (for those who can sew), some ornamental cultural weapons from smiths, and pretty much any other ideas that anyone might have.

Any secret crafters are welcome to notice the flurry of activity and out themselves spectacularly... and anyone who wants to learn a skill or craft is welcome to express interest.

Some women just want to watch the world build. :)

Comments

[nadasharillen]

Nahariel grinned, and reached over to the pile of excess wood that had been forming over the day for a thumb sized chunk, holding it up to her pointer finger for a moment--at a glance she'd judged the other elf to have a comparable hand size--and began whittling away.

The space within came first, aided by a small curved chisel. "Ever since I was young, I loved wood. Before I could do aught with it, I was fascinated by Ilriane, our carver's, work. Used to spend hours watching her." Nari laughed, the breath coming from her nose in a brief huff. "Used to bring her whatever sticks I could carry, too. I don't think any of them were much use to her, but she never minded. She'd give me something small the next day, let me think it'd been my gathering that had aided her."

After checking that the space was right, she began on the outside, paring it off with a small sharp blade until it formed a rough dome. "She taught me a few things, once my mother allowed it. The day she gave me my first carving knife... well. I remember it as well as the day I got my vallaslin. Perhaps a bit more, but I don't think June would mind that, considering." The hunter tapped the apex of her tattoo with a crooked grin, and swapped the blade for a sand-cloth. "Let's make sure you're not trading metal pricks for wooden ones, aye?"

She took her time with the smoothing, a fine dust settling across her lap, her hands, her expression turning more somber. "It stopped being mere good will and kindness after the raid. She was hurt, and... I think it became more important to her that the knowledge was passed down. Felt like she had a time limit, now." The little thimble began to pick up a very soft shine. "And... she did, it turns out. Left me all of it. A fine set of tools, her space, her blessing. So much more than she gave me that first-knife day, but I was less happy to receive it."

Nari blew a forceful puff of air into the hole, then a second, then held it out to Vasran with a small quirk of her lips. "Try that. And let me know if it snags the cloth you're working with--I've a finer sand-cloth," she said, then ran her fingers through her hair with a rueful chuckle. "I'm sorry it came with history attached. I talk when I work."

[unharrowed]

Vasran watched and listened with wary curiosity. Little by little, she had been getting to know the Dalish, but something about really talking to them made her feel strange. She would sometimes feel that they had things in common... but then they would mention carvers, or vallaslin, and suddenly sound entirely alien.

She accepted the carved thimble, turning it over in her fingers to admire the fineness of the work.

"I learned to embroider in the Circle." She felt she was repeating herself, but then again... where else would she have learned anything? "It was expected that we would know how to mend our own robes, at least, to prolong their usefulness. But I could never settle for being simply adequate. I wanted to know how to make something beautiful."

[nadasharillen]

Nahariel nodded her agreement, smiling broadly at the other woman's desire for creation... but not just that, for beautiful creation. After all, it was the same drive that kept her up burning candles into the night, hunched over some piece or another.

"That's worthy of you," she said warmly, brushing the shavings from her knees--careful not to get any on the evolving banner--and leaning in to take a look at the stitching again. "Did you figure most of this yourself, then? I know very little of the Circle, but it never seemed the place for embroidery lessons."