OPEN

[spaceswan]

WHO: Mac Journey and you there!
WHAT: Exploration of Skyhold, self-educating and existential dilemmas.
WHEN: The duration of Kingsway.
WHERE: Everywhere in Skyhold he can get access too, really.
NOTES: No warnings as of yet. Several prompts inside but feel free to bump into him anywhere! He's bound to stick his nose where it doesn't belong at some point.

Mac made it to Skyhold safely, accompanied by the lovely Miss Ellana. He learned most of the basics along the way, accepted his new palm and head accessories and decided sometime during the journey that he wanted to be part of the Inquisition, formally or otherwise. Anywhere people were in need, Mac was supposed to be there, and as far as Ellana said, the Inquisition was the choice to make. Fine by him.

Besides, they have a castle fortress and he's not about to pass up that opportunity.

Throughout the days following, Mac spends most of his time trying to learn about the world he's landed in and the people inhabiting it, both through literature and personal experience. As with all social efforts it's a bit touch and go; it's not made any easier for him being newly minted as a Qunari - or Rifter equivalent - and he certainly stands out with gold-plated ram horns, lime-colored eyes and long, undercut hair he painstakingly dyes a rich purple color.


Library

While terribly excited about the innumerable prospects available to him upon arriving at Skyhold, Mac is infinitely more intent upon the library, mentioned to him in brief. If is meant to be in the strange new world he has to do what any self-respecting Warlock would do: educate himself.

Back home the Guardian had scoured every library available to him and even gone on countless missions for the colleges to recover lost knowledge from the Ishtar Academy. He has a voracious appetite for knowledge (though a good many that knew him would say he wasted that motivation on his obsession with fiction and fantasy) and speed-reading is a talent he happily indulges. Thedas, as it turns out, is everything he had ever dreamed of and if he's going to inhabit the land for any length of time, being poorly educated is simply unacceptable.

Though certainly availing himself of other amenities available in the hold, Mac is most often found sitting on the floor surrounded by books, flipping through page after page, pale eyes scanning written words so quickly it's a wonder he can retain anything at all. His curiosity isn't limited to the written word, however, and anyone passing within range of him gets stared at without a hint of apology. He isn't trying to be rude, of course, but he's quite in love with everything and everyone he sees at present; that includes all those from the flashiest of Orlesian courtiers to the blandest of wool-wearing scullery maids.


Tavern and Kitchens

As it turns out, getting spit out of a green sky means you don't always come out the other side quite the same. Never actually having to eat or sleep back home was more of a dull fact than a boon and the novelty of needing to do both is unlikely to wear off anytime soon for Mac. As such he's always eagerly poking his head around corners and following the smells of local vittles.

There is nothing he's unwilling to try, however vile it might first appear, and his new appetite happens to be curiously large; he accounts it to his magic likely needing to be supported more by his metabolism and personal health now than the physics of his former home.

He's also never been able to enjoy the effects of alcohol and he's easily seen spending more time at the tavern during evening repast observing the effects on others while obviously longing to join in but being too unsure to try.


Healers

Injuries are a new thing for Mac, and they aren't at all welcome. While adapting to sleeping and eating regularly has been immensely enjoyable, having to actually heal from wounds is forcing him to question his usually more reckless approach to things.

Paper cuts, scrapes and bumps have been accepted as badges of newfound potential mortality, odd but harmless. The first time he endured a solid bruising left him bewildered but largely unmoved. The day he decided to hop down the battlement steps instead of walking the distance resulted in a tweaked ankle and limping. That was far more alarming. As a result Mac has endeavored to be more careful with his actions and person, but years of blindly barreling onward are difficult to change.

Due to his inevitable learning curve, Mac shows up at the healers regularly enough, pouting and holding new bruises and cuts as he seeks aid for ailments he's never had to deal with. It's about the most sullen he gets, having to put his fun on hold to treat a cut or burn. On the upside, he's certainly garnering a lot more respect for medicinal arts.


Main Bridge

When the library gets a bit crowded - as it sometimes does with all the mages, intellectuals and other curious Rifters - Mac likes to sneak a book off to the bridge and tuck himself against the stones jutting from the parapets, feet dangling over the side. Often, however, when he goes here he spends more time looking out across the frozen valley than actually reading, lost in thought or lost in the view.

Comments

[spaceswan]

"But I do wear armor," Mac whines, screwing his face up and looking away as she tends the wound. It isn't because he can't stand the sight of injuries (he's seen far worse in the course of his years in battle) so much as if he doesn't look at it, it stings less. mind over matter or something.

"I'm trying to be more careful. I really am. After the day I fell off the battlement and hit the scaffolding, I'm pretty much not interested in getting seriously wounded anymore, thank you very much. I don't know how I'm going to adapt to not being a melee Warlock, but apparently in this world I need to stay ranged or risk death and deathlike symptoms. Evidently, I'm squishy."

[eolasemah]

She gently cleans the cuts and begins to wrap them with clean linen, still smiling as Mac continues to grouse. "We're all squishy, unfortunately," she concedes, "...at least on this side of the veil." She carefully ties off one of the wrappings, then presses his hand between both of hers, a faint glow emanating from both her palms that will relieve the pain almost immediately.
"You're lucky," she says, withdrawing her hands and lifting her eyes to his, "not all wounds can heal." She wasn't of that mind before having an anchor shard embedded in her chest, but things have changed and so has she. "...just be careful," she concludes, straightening. "Is there anything else you need?"

[spaceswan]

"I don't know. Maybe. Not right now, but probably later. I'm always gettin' dinged up these days. I didnt realize how clumsy and reckless I was until it actually mattered. This isn't familiar territory, you know?" he sighs, holding his hand up and flexing it a few times before smiling with approval.

"You're super good at this though. Thanks, as usual. Without you and the others I'd probably be in several different boxes by now. What about you? You need anything? I'm always coming over here for help but I'm being totally useless. What can I do for you?"

[eolasemah]

Sina might not be a full healer, but a compliment is a compliment, and she smiles. The joke about boxes dwindles it some, but she doesn't let it sour the mood of their conversation. She shakes her head.

"...help us study the shards," she says, still smiling, but serious. "That's the best any of us can do right now."

[spaceswan]

"More than happy to," he answers without hesitation, wiggling the fingers of his left hand and tilting his head with a questioning expression.

"I don't know how other people feel about being the guinea pig, but I've run my fair share of missions no one was sure I'd come back from, and I've done my share of field testing equipment. Going at things blind happens to be a talent of mine. If you people need to understand these things better, then all I need is some direction. Who wants to know what and how they expect to get that info. Right now all I know is it probably closes rifts. Maybe. That might have been a coincidence."

[eolasemah]

As he talks, Sina watches him with a weary smile. "I may take you up on that," she says softly, "if you're truly willing. A few of us have... we've been talking about trying a few things. I can let you know when we move forward with them."

[spaceswan]

"You name the time and place, I'll be there. Consider it a date!" he remarks with his usual cheery perk, rocking on the spot briefly before rising and holding his hand out to her by way of helping her up and out as well. Done is done, after all, and he shouldn't waste any healer's time once they were through with him.

He might badger and harass everyone else (with the best intentions, of course) but he's swiftly learned just how important a healer's skills are. Not that he won't stick around when they're open to still talking; he just feels it necessary to make the token effort to give them an out before getting wrapped up with him again.

No one knows better than Mac how tedious his own company can be!