faderift | A bottle of white, a bottle of red

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A bottle of white, a bottle of red

WHO: Open to anyone that wants wine and warmth and a little company.
WHAT: Wine and no whining.
WHEN: After the mage meeting wraps up.
WHERE: Close to the healing tents, specifically the Orlesian section.
NOTES: There will be wine, drinking, unwinding, and nibbles.

The meeting had been stressful for just about everyone involved. Tempers had flared, opinions made known, a few rounds of confetti and arguing before some manner of accord. Whether it would last or however long it might? No one could truly say. In the interest of being quite done with the stress and headaches such debate brought on the Orlesian healing tents clearing out the potions, bandages, and poultices in favor of what cushions and braziers they had on hand for light and for heat. The space was open, warm, and inviting with an odd assortment of tin mugs or clay glasses set around flat side tables propped up with stones to keep them from wobbling and tipping the whole mass onto the ground. There are some dried fruits and hard cheeses, dried meat and hard crusted bread- whatever scraps they could scavenge or spare and a few bottles of wine or brandy. Across the entrance to the tents there was a sign:

Bring a bottle or food to share for entry.

Tacked below was a list of rules:

Everyone is welcome, don't make a fuss
Don't hog the wine
Don't hog the food
Don't fight or argue
If you finish a bottle open a new one, don't recork it for someone else to find
Clean up after yourselves

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You should speak to Roul. I am willing to bet he could learn much from you- and perhaps even you from him as that is his specialty as well." She motions to the far end of the tent where the young mage pours out mugs of tea for those taking a break from all the wine. "My eldest student, though there is less and less I am able to teach him."

Now that is an interesting question. "Mm. Primal spells are usually how a mage's power manifests and the first school any puts their study to as they are simpler. It is very easy to know when those spells are working- and to what degree. My magic manifested by freezing a fountain in my mother's garden. She was quite cross. And while I am a spirit mage much of what I do that isn't healing does come from spells of cold- though I had been hearing spirits my entire life. It depends on the mage, I think. Much like you, however, Roul did manifest with lightening."

Glancing over where Adelaide indicates, she nods thoughtfully, fairly certain she'll be sober enough to remember him later. She hasn't had that much yet. "I'd be happy to meet up with Roul and see what we can learn from each other. Well, when we're both sober."

She can't help but chuckle a little at Adelaide's story of her first brush with magic. "My own mother let me get away with nearly everything, but then she didn't have a garden with a fountain in it. They were burned out with rules after the Qun, so after that they didn't want to bother with them. They were just glad when I came back in one piece." She stretches out a little more, though mindful not to do so when people might trip over her.

"Was it hard on you, hearing spirits? You must have a lot of willpower, to deal with that."

"Mm. Nobles have no such lenience- or at the very least my family did not." Does not, in fact, if the letters are anything to go by. "I didn't understand them all that well- they were much like hearing whispers from down the hall. You know something is being said by someone but not what is being said or why. The intent was never unkind and that kept me from being afraid. Little bits would become apparent. Urges to be kind, to be generous. Compassionate. Difficult concepts for a child that is being brought up to put themselves and their family above all others. When I was in the Spire and able to understand them better? It was a relief."

All Korrin can think is that she's just glad it wasn't herself being drawn to spirits. Being a mage alone didn't strain her relationship with her parents, but the Qunari fear of demons might have done it. "So they didn't want anything from you other than that? And how does that work now? I never met Spirit Healers before arriving here, so what I know is mostly from those who assume they're all possessed anyway." Which she doesn't believe, but it still doesn't give her anything to go on in the way of positive information.

"Spirits cannot easily do things on this side of the veil. Having a pair of hands makes it easier for them. I do not know why Compassion chose me, only that they did." Explaining how it works- well. That's something she'd had demanded of her by templars more than once. "We have a contract. I follow their rules and in turn I may use their power to heal. Every mage does this differently, this is the system that works for us. I am not possessed- that would remove what makes me, me, and what makes Compassion who they are. I'm borrowing their power."

"A contract...well, I understand that to an extent." She's a mercenary, after all, contracts are a part of her life. Though a contract with a spirit is undoubtedly different from those her kith holds with companies or nobles or whoever else. "What rules would Compassion want, anyway? Are you required to heal everyone you find or something? Or is it more complicated? Are you even allowed to speak of it?" Now she wonders if she's overstepped herself, if the latter is true. Oh well, one can't learn boundaries unless they're tested.

"Rule one: I am not to harm any person with my magic. Demons, Darkspawn, the undead- beasts- these I can cast against. But a templar or Qunari warrior or dwarven berzerker? I may not. Rule two: So long as it is no detriment to my health, if there is healing to be done no matter the person or my feelings on them? I am to see them well. Rule Three I must explain a bit. Compassion senses the distress or discomfort of those around us- the keener the pain? The more intent they are that I see whoever is in pain well. Should they nudge me to do some good for someone in need of comfort? I am to listen rather than argue or question and do something to ease their distress. Sometimes it is a mug of tea, sometimes it is offering to listen. Small things." She sips her wine and settles back, nodding to the group around them. "At first I wasn't sure what I should do, they nudged me after the meeting and I was enjoying a mug of wine to relax while trying to think of something for those at the meeting. The rest fell into place, Compassion is appeased."

That brings a soft smile to Korrin's lips. "It's strange to think of having that kind of relationship with a spirit, but I can see why Compassion would see a lot of use around here. This was definitely a good call, I won't deny that. I think it's the first time in a while that I got to drink to something good." As opposed to Haven, the funeral, etc. "Are you allowed to defend yourself without magic, if a dwarven berserker comes after you? What would happen if you used magic anyway? Compassion would just...stop talking to you?"

"I don't often find myself in a situation where I must fight- and if that does happen I have non-harmful spells at my disposal. Shields, walls, glyphs of paralysis. Something to root them to the spot while I leave. I may hit them with my staff and use non-magical means of defending myself but- I am not someone to wander off on my own in a dangerous area." She's been trained to bolster others skills, to support them, not to act on her own. "...I do not know. I have never been put in a situation where it was worth the risk of finding out."

"I hope you never have to find out, then." As much as Korrin believes in using any means of self-defense, it's Adelaide's decision to make. She can respect that, even as she wonders what might happen while they're mired in a very turbulent present. "Thanks for telling me. Now that I know, if you need to be out on the field for whatever reason, I'll do my best to help you keep that contract."

There's nothing in it saying she can't blast away, after all.

"Thank you, Korrin. Truly." She extends a hand, a light tentative gesture, to squeeze her wrist. It's there and gone before it can become anything more than the barest brush of contact- but the appreciation is there all the same. "If you need aid in the field I will happily render it. Most of my skills lie in bolstering my fellow mages."

That gesture surprises her, but Korrin doesn't flinch, nor will she embarrass Adelaide by drawing attention to it. She nods to the offer, expression slightly sheepish. "I can't say it won't be needed. As focused as I am on offense, anything else isn't really my forte. I can throw up a barrier, but that's about it. And if there are too many targets at the moment, sometimes I'll forget to renew that."

"Shields are something of a specialty of mine- as is haste. If you saw a blur in a kilt at the rift in haven it might have been Jamie. He does quite well when given a sword and a little extra help." That had been a most effective pairing, her magic and his skills.

"Oh! Jamie--yeah, I met him. Sounds like he's from Starkhaven, even though that's not possible." Korrin smiles, liking the man already given that he was polite with her and wanted to help. "I'll never say no to being sped up a bit, that would come in handy out there so very many times."

"Now that you say so, he does sound quite like them." Were it not for the fact he'd fallen through a rift and had a glowing green shard on his hand? She'd have thought him from there. "Speed, focus, I can bolster your mana with Compassion for a time though that takes a fair bit of focus and isn't something I care to do unless we must."

"I feel a bit sorry for him, he's going to be refuting that forever." Or maybe Jamie will just go with it and say he is from there just to stop the inevitable comment. She nods at that list, taking note and interested in such uses of magic, though that last part gets her attention. "I understand, and I wouldn't want to ask that of you without it being critical to our survival. But I'd be all for working with you on the rest sometime. I really should get around to adapting my style with the other mages here."

"We all can learn a great deal from one another- when were are not arguing how things are to be run. There's a certain fluidity I've noticed in the mages that weren't circle taught, an organic twist to their spells. It's beautiful- and likely far more effective." Probably something that cannot be taught so much as unlearning all the rigid drills of the Circle.

Korrin can't help but smile at that compliment, even as she has yet to display her exact technique to Adelaide. "Necessity often demands that that level of effectiveness, since we don't have widespread support to fall back on. I'd be happy to demonstrate when sober, and to compare with the Dalish. They might do it a little differently, but I bet we're more alike in that than not."

"Mmm. I'll make a note of that. A meeting and demonstration of various techniques might be in order after we get everyone organized." And in agreement. That is the most important part.

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A bottle of white, a bottle of red

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