This is the road to ruin and we started at the end [OPEN]

[leadseasy]

WHO: Yael Flaar and open to all
WHAT: Yael settles into Skyhold and everything is SCARY!!
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: PM me if you want a closed starter and feel free to give me a starter with whatever!

my heart is like a stallion; shard
This may or may not be where one goes to deal with a shard in their hand. This tall Qunari looks nervous and maybe like she's lost, but she's fidgeting by rubbing her left palm against her stomach.

"Excuse me?" She stopped the nearest person (that's you!), looking nervous and sort of apologetic about it. "I...I'm looking for help with..." She decided to just show them, turning her palm outward so they could see the green particle effect that's been stuck to it light glimmering out of it. "Someone said there was someone I ought to show it to, but I didn't understand the directions they gave me."

She could have been ten feet away, she could have on the wrong side of the castle. She had no way of knowing; have fun with it.

it's not my fault i'm a maniac; training
On the training ground, at least, she looked a little more confident. Anyone who wandered into the further, less-populated corners might find a Qunari in her full armor, short hair knotted back behind her head, shooting arrows into a target placed impressively far away. In fact, eventually, she climbed up onto the wall surrounding the training yard to get even further away, and have to shoot at an angle. Her bow was beautiful, not fancy or ornate in any way, but high-quality and well-made.

we can go back and play pretend; meal or tavern
It never seemed like there was an empty table anywhere in Skyhold. There was always at least one person she'd have to be sitting near enough that it counted as 'sharing space'. Perhaps she was just being late to everything.

That was how, holding her food or drink, a person with an empty seat near them might find themselves addressed by an unexpectedly soft voice. "Is that seat taken?" At least she managed it without stammering.

Comments

shard;

[anacardiaceae]

If Pamelia is startled by being approached by a random Qunari with a shard asking her questions, she doesn't show it; one, because she's seen Qunari before, living in Rivain most of her life and two, this girl (she might tower over Pam by several heads but) seems incredibly sweet and a little afraid.

So.

"There are two people: Solas, a very bald and stuffy sort of elf mage, and the Lady Adelaide." Pamelia frowns. "Unfortunately I don't know where either of them stay. Come, we'll find out together. What's your name?"

Tavern

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin usually gets early enough to claim a table, propping her feet up on the one next to her until the tavern starts to get a little more crowded. At the moment, she's not up to anything in particular, just listening to Maryden sing and play her lute while trying to decide if she wants to pull anyone into a card game later. While making up her mind, that voice attracts her attention and Korrin glances up, eyebrows raising upon seeing a certain familiar face.

"Yael! Maker, it's been a while. Yeah, have a seat. I insist." She scoots up so that she's not hogging space simply by stretching out. "Joined at last, huh?"

shard

[aceso]

Christine looks up from the notation she's making on healers' supplies in her little notebook... and then looks up higher in order to look this person in the eye. Then her own eyes drop down to the shard and she clicks her tongue, setting her notes aside.

"Has anyone offered to lessen the pain yet?" she asks, because to her, that's the more pressing matter. Others can debate what it means, but she's a healer and she wants to help.

training

[tactical_alert]

He might not have noticed her off on her own had she not climbed onto the wall, tall qunari (as all qunari are tall compared to, well, everyone) with a magnificent form. The arrow lets loose at an angle any novice would have surely missed, hitting the target with a satisfyingly solid thunk.

"Fair shot!" Malcolm greets, shielding his eyes against the sun's glare. "You are quite the sniper!"

training;

[fightorfright]

It had taken Amélie some time to get more comfortable with training in public, as opposed to some quiet corner of the woods just outside Skyhold. The reasons for her anxiety were twofold: she didn't want to embarrass herself, but she also didn't want to answer any questions. While she didn't announce her status as a mage, not the way some others did, wearing their robes and carrying their staves everywhere they went, she didn't exactly hide it. She didn't want to tell people that although her magic still frustrates her, that her hands are reliable. She doesn't want people to tell her that she is better than this.

This... This is exactly who she should be.

So it's with a bow in hand and not her staff that Amélie finds herself watching the impressive Qunari woman, with her sleek bow and enviable form. Qunari still intimidate her, it is true, but Korrin had been nice enough, and bolstered with that knowledge, she makes her approach in a quiet moment. "You handle that thing like..." She gestures vaguely, finding herself at a loss of words. Perhaps she should have thought this out more. "Like, wow. I understand if you're busy, but... if you've the time, would I be able to ask you for some pointers?"

[leadseasy]

"Oh," she said softly, then nodded a little. "All right."

Having someone who seemed to know their way around better than she did was at least a better position than she'd been in before, so that was good. And elves usually weren't scary. Sometimes they were mean, but she'd rarely felt really threatened by one, so she wasn't hesitant about Pam.

"My name is Yael," she said, still with that soft-spoken tone. "What's yours?"

[leadseasy]

Yael's eyes widened and her eyebrows went up. She'd thought she recognized the shape of those horns, but it hadn't quite clicked. "Korrin!" she said, equally surprised.

She smiled, a little tentatively, and took the seat recently vacated by Korrin's feet. She'd always been slightly nervous of Korrin -- a double-whammy of fellow giant and mage, both categories she generally regarded with great fear. However, a person she knew and who had never done anything menacing was considerably less scary than a stranger.

"I...well, I didn't have a lot of choice." Shyly, she turned her left hand around to show the mark.

[leadseasy]

"No," Yael said, looking grateful. "That's all I really want. I haven't had it long, maybe I'm just not used to it, but the ache gets bad sometimes. Especially when I'm trying to go to sleep." She rubbed at it with her opposite thumb, trying to massage it out like a muscle cramp. "Sorry to bother you."

[leadseasy]

Yael smiled shyly from her perch, and waved with her non-marked hand. "Thank you!" she called down, and nocked another arrow. Perhaps showing off a little, she reared back and fired it nearly straight into the air. Up it soared, up, up...and down it came, hitting the upper edge of the target. It wasn't quite as satisfying and didn't sink quite as deep, but it was still a solid hit. More than enough to hurt like hell if that had been a person.

[aceso]

"You are not bothering me," Christine insists, holding out her hand for Yael's. "This is my job. Now, the question is, are you comfortable with magical healing? If not, I can provide alternate healing."

[leadseasy]

"Oh," Yael said softly, looking down shyly. Her charcoal-gray cheeks had a sort of plum-colored tinge to them when she made herself look up. She'd been talked to by her friends, encouraged not to be so obviously shy, so she was always trying, even though she wasn't with them anymore.

"That's very flattering," she said, a little bit overly formal. "But I'm not sure how much help I'd be. I've never tried to teach anyone." Even as she said it, though, her brain was working. Maybe she could help. "Why don't you shoot a few?" she asked, stepping back to give some room. "I'll watch and see if...well, I'll just see." Perhaps there would be some obvious bad habits she knew how to correct, that would be a start.

[leadseasy]

"Oh. I..." Yael glanced up at Christine's face and hoped she wasn't looking. She'd given her hand over, but now she was suddenly fearful. It wasn't that she thought mages were bad or couldn't control themselves, she just...they were frightening. Magic as a whole was frightening.

"Yes," she said finally, although her voice had gotten softer. "Yes, that's fine." If it would help the pain, that was good. She was being silly.

[aceso]

Christine knows the woman is uneasy, so she tells the spirit of Faith that her assistance isn't needed for this. When the spirit lends Christine her energy to heal, Christine's eyes glow blue, and the healer doesn't want to frighten this newcomer.

Taking the hand with the shard gently in her own, she passes her free hand over it, focusing her healing magic inward.

"I am afraid I cannot permanently end the pain. It will keep returning, but for at least the next few hours, the pain should be gone."

[leadseasy]

There was a little warm tendril that spread up her arm, following the trail of the radiating pain, and Yael exhaled. She felt tears prick her eyes and oh, she really shouldn't cry, that would be really silly.

"Thank you," she said, obviously meaning it deeply. "This is the first time in...in weeks that it hasn't hurt." Even if it was only temporary, it would be good not to have that alarm going off in her head for a few hours. "Is there anything I can do to make it hurt less? I'm...It's just, i've tried holding snow and I tried rubbing it and I held a warm rock for awhile but none of it helped and I think I just burned myself a little." She blushed, charcoal-gray cheeks gaining a faint plum tinge, because she was probably babbling again.

[fightorfright]

While she knew it would be the best way to receive relevant feedback, Amélie couldn't help but feel nervous as she nodded her head. "All right," she said, moving towards one of the other targets at a more reasonable distance. I can do this.

Without any further ado, she nocked the bow and takes position, drawing the bow back and letting it loose just the way her father had taught her all those years ago.

Thunk. The arrow hit the target just ever so slightly to the right of its centre, and Amélie bit her lip as she readied her next arrow. This one aimed truer, and she felt her spirits lift.

It is when she pulled back on her third round that she fumbled with the draw and accidentally smacked her forearm with the bowstring. Luckily, she'd been prepared this time, and was wearing a rough bracer, but all the same, it took her enough by surprise that she dropped the arrow, which now lay uselessly at her feet.

"Maker," she started with a shaky laugh, "that keeps happening to me."

[gatheringstorm]

Fear of her magic isn't an uncommon thing, among her fellow 'giants', so Korrin takes it in stride. Unless they get hostile or throw slurs around, she'll settle for hoping that exposure takes some of that edge off. Little by little, they can see that the Qun was wrong.

Leaning in a little, Korrin takes a look at that shard and frowns. "...well, shit. How recent did you get it? If it still hurts, that ought to fade soon." Ought to, but if not she can find Solas.

[aceso]

Christine became a healer in order to help others, and there is no greater feeling than to succeed in that and see people well again. She releases Yael's hand and nods, gesturing for her to follow into a healer's tent.

"We make a salve that cannot stop the pain, but soothes it a little. I will make you a batch, if you have the time? It will take only a few minutes."

[leadseasy]

Yael stayed nearby and watched closely, going around to see the other side of her form after the first shot.

"Oh, that's easy!" Yael exclaimed, excited at the possibility that she actually could help. "I think you're just...hmm." She replayed it again in her head to be sure. "Yes, you're trying to hold onto the string. That's bad," she said, with a firm nod. "Your fingers should only touch the arrow. Trust the nock to hold onto the string and don't think about it. Try nocking and drawing with your fingers a little further forward, like..." She picked up the arrow and handed it to Amelie, then carefully corrected her finger placement. "Right there!" She stepped back and gave another firm nod, looking satisfied.

[leadseasy]

It wasn't so much about the Qun -- Yael had never known the Qun, born outside of it and grown up on a human farm. It was just that she was afraid of almost everything.

"A few weeks maybe?" she said, hiding it against her mug again. "I..." She rubbed her hand against the mug and looked down at its contents. "I had to leave Striker and Blue Flag," she said, naming her mercenary company and the person who'd brought her to join it, the one who'd looked out for her most. "I got this at the same time as...well, Ingrid and Yarny died." She glanced up at Korrin again, then back down, obviously struggling to keep a handle on herself. "Sorry. It's good to see you."

[leadseasy]

"Yes, I have time," she said softly, relieved and grateful. She trailed along behind Christine, curiously taking in their surroundings.

"You must have a lot of people to take care of," she observed, taking in the number of tents before ducking into the one Christine was in.

[fightorfright]

Trust, trust, have faith. Why was it that no matter what she tried to do lately, people kept telling her to just believe? She tried to relax but not too much; otherwise she might accidentally end up touching the Fade and she really didn't want to set her arrow on fire. Instead, she did her best to narrow her focus, really appreciating just where and how her fingers were sitting. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she released her next arrow, which settled itself into the centre of the target.

She made a startled noise of surprise, but decides that it was probably a fluke. Probably.

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin's gaze softens and she shakes her head, not judging. She's still struggling with her own losses, some more recent than others. Reaching out, she rests a hand on Yael's free one.

"It's good to see you, too. The rest of the Valo-Kas is up north, so for now it's just me. Being separated from the company is no fun, but there are a lot of good people here. You'll see that for yourself soon enough. And if anyone's dumb enough to give you shit, come and tell me."

[aceso]

"Yes, the Inquisition has grown quite a bit over the past year," she says, moving to take ingredients out from a trunk and set them on a worktable.

"Did you travel far to reach Skyhold, or were you nearby when this occurred?" She pauses to nod at her hand.

[leadseasy]

"Good!" Yael said brightly. "Relax your hand a little more. Try to only hold the arrow with the minimum strength you can and still be holding it." She was watching Amelie closely. "Also keep your elbow down." Her drawing elbow was sticking up a little, a common mistake if one didn't pay attention to it.

[leadseasy]

Yael listened, still looking a little sullen, but taking what Korrin said on board and believing in it. Korrin was known enough and trusted enough for Yael to look to her to understand how to deal with the world, at least in the absence of anyone better. If Korrin said there were good people here, it must be true.

She smiled a little at the offer to stick up for her. "I will," Yael said shyly, looking back down at her drink.

"What about you?" she asked, looking up and visibly trying to shake off her sadness. "How did you get here?"