Player Plot: I will call you home

[arlathvhen]

WHO: Beleth, Cyril, Merrick, and Ellana Ashara, Thranduil, Sina Dahlasanor, Metaari, Sam Gareth, Kallian Endris, Alistair and Ruby i think??? whoever wants to go
WHAT: Keeping Up With The Asharas, the reality tv show
WHEN: Backdatedish, around mid-kingsway
WHERE: The Heartlands of Orlais
NOTES: OOC post

Tel'enfenim, da'len Irassal ma ghilas Ma garas mir renan Ara ma'athlan vhenas Ara ma'athlan vhenas	Never fear, little one, Wherever you shall go. Follow my voice-- I will call you home. I will call you home.

Clan Ashara currently resides in a small valley nestled into the mountains, that seems idyllic for a Dalish clan. A stream runs through the valley, descending into a waterfall with the steep cliffs on one side, and sheer mountain walls going straight up on two other sides. The only way in and out is through a gap big enough to lead several aravels through. It's a defensible position, safe from any threats. Except the fade rift that has opened up just a little ways from the gap. The hunters can handle the demons spewing from it well enough, and there are always a couple stationed there to pick off whatever appears. But it's too dangerous to lead the aravels and noncombatants through, and thus, they are forced to wait. To compound the issue, there's a village close to where they're currently staying, and while both sides have kept to themselves, neither are pleased with the current situation. They've helped get a message to the Inquisition in hopes that someone will come take care of the problem, and now both are tensely waiting for something to happen to change the situation, for better or worse. And so the members of Clan Ashara, with their friends in tow, return back to their clan.

Comments

Atisha and Sulahni

[serannas]

Atisha is in her late twenties, with shrewd golden eyes and a near permanent frown on her face. She can often be seen standing in the background, arms crossed and a bow at her back. Eventually she moves closer to examine the newcomers, her expression very judgy. But if anyone comes to talk to her and tells her their name, chances are she says, "Right. Ellana's mentioned you." This is Ellana's best friend, though the two women seem as different as night and day.

Sulahni is a woman nearing fifty with white blond hair and fine lines around her mouth and across her forehead. She stays close to the halla enclosure, which is fitting because she is the clan's halla keeper. She can be seen tending to them, but at times she wanders away towards where the Inquisition is keeping their mounts. She might make a comment about "good breeding" or "healthy flanks" and it takes her awhile to get talking about any topic besides animals. If a non-elf comes too close to the halla enclosure, she quickly steps forward.

"Andaran atish'an. Ir abelas, but you may come no closer."

[eolasemah]

Sina has to visit the halla. Them's the rules. She doesn't have Ghilan'nain on her face for nothing.
"They're beautiful," she remarks as she approaches, "your care for them is clear."

[serannas]

Of course Sulahni sports the same vallaslin. Her father was the halla keeper before her and she's proud to follow in his footsteps. Ellana has always said that people like Sulahni and her father are born with the ability to read a halla's mind, and though she always laughed it off, she knows she does have a special connection to them. She senses things in the halla that others in the clan can't.

"Ma serannas, da'len." Sulahni can't help but notice the bit of green glow coming from Sina. That's a bit unsettling, but mostly she just feels sorry for the young thing. She looks so fragile, and Sulahni has always gravitated towards the ones who feel that way to her. It's why she often asked Ellana to help her feed the halla: to watch over her.

"May I ask what drew you towards Ghilan'nain and honoring her with your vallaslin?"

[eolasemah]

Sina feels more fragile than usual, but she's reluctant to show it. Having the rift so close by has made her shard more aggressive, not popping and spitting like it does when she's too close, but just... thrumming more loudly, something that only she can perceive. She has to tread carefully to not aggravate it.
"She was one of us," she thoughtfully replies, "...and only by the grace of the Creators was she made eternal." She smiles to Sulahni. "I relate to that. We can be no more than mortal without the Creators to guide us." Approaching the fence, she holds out her hand for a halla to sniff. "...and as First, my task is to lead the clan, as best I can. I would not embark on such a journey without a worthy navigator."

[serannas]

That answer more than satisfies Sulahni, but she's really not hard to please. Sina could have said Because it's pretty and she would have accepted that as a valid answer. In Sulahni's humble opinion, their vallaslin is the prettiest of all.

"A wise response, and just the sort of thing a Keeper should believe. You will do well when it's your turn to lead."

She stoops to gather some grasses and flowers in her hand. "Would you like to feed them?"

[eolasemah]

It's true. It is the prettiest.
"Serannas," she says quietly, with a flattered smile. "...yes, of course." She extends her hand for some of the feed, and goes about holding it flat to their mouths so they can nibble away.
"We only have a few," she remarks, "no sense in keeping a whole herd, there are barely enough of us to pull."

[serannas]

"That is a shame, Of course I see the sense in it." She reaches out and strokes the back of the nearest halla. "It's good to have our brothers and sisters so close to us. They're more than just animals. We protect them, care for them, and they give us a sense of peace in return. Whenever someone in the clan is troubled, I ask them to help me feed the halla."

Maybe Sina recalls Ellana telling her she often helped Sulahni feed the halla; maybe not. But Sulahni believes it soothes the soul and sets a person's mind at ease.

[eolasemah]

"It's good of them to stay by our side," Sina agrees, feeding the last one and stroking its fuzzy nose. "And nice to know not all has been lost."

[serannas]

"The halla will never be lost as long as we remember who they are and what they mean to us. They are here because they came from Ghilan'nain: one of us. The way we care for each other as elves is the way we should care for the halla." Sulahni would obviously give her life to protect even one halla. She grieves when they die of old age or illness, but that's the cycle of life, same as with the People. Anyone who wants to hurt a halla, however, will have to get through her first.

"Tell me, da'len. Do you do work for the Inquisition, or are you a guest there?" Because she can guess she's there to have her shard studied, but she knows nothing else about Sina really.

[eolasemah]

Still petting the halla, Sina shakes her head. "A guest," she replies, "I cannot swear myself to an organization that I don't fully understand, and that might ask me to put it above my clan." She bites her lower lip. "I need their expertise, so I lend mine in return. But I am not beholden to them."

[serannas]

"That is a wise course of action, but unsurprising for a First who will one day lead her clan." As for those in Clan Ashara who have joined the Inquisition, Sulahni knows their hearts aren't completely here with the clan, to varying degrees. Gavin is the furthest removed, followed by Ellana. Merrick probably as well. Beleth and Cyril probably hold enough fondness for the clan that they are split in their loyalty. Sulahni is good at observation. It comes from watching others all the time without making her own opinions known. Without her own bias, others tend to reveal themselves more.

"And what have you taught this Inquisition?"

[eolasemah]

"I work the garden." Sina's answer is quick, and a little proud. "I have much knowledge of herbalism, as well as the magic passed to me by Keeper Thalia. I like to think the garden was suffering for lack of a Dalish." A little egotistical, perhaps, but she doesn't mind.

[serannas]

"Oh?" Sulahni lets out a throaty laugh, her eyes practically sparkling with amusement. "Good. Those shemlen probably couldn't tell arbor's blessing from rashvine." Poking fun at humans and their lack of wilderness knowledge is usually as far as she goes when speaking of humans. She knows full well they pressure the clan off of land, but there's no sense moaning about it. It's the way things have always been.

[nadasharillen]

When Sulahni returns from one such inspection of the Inquisition's mounts, she'll find Nahariel leaning against the enclosure fence, content to watch them graze, the hunter chewing the end of a reedy stem herself.

She turns her head at the sound of the halla keeper's return, and smiles.

"Savhalla, halla'amelan."

[serannas]

"Aneth ara," she replies, having no problem greeting a fellow Dalish with the less formal phrase. She's not out to impress anyone, and maybe that comes across from the mud stains on her leathers or the hair sticking up from a halla licking it earlier.

"And what is your name, da'len?"

[nadasharillen]

"Nahariel, crafter and hunter of Clan Dahlasanor," she replies, the corner of her smile quirking upwards in acknowledgement of what that sharing of roles says about the size of Dahlasanor. Her posture relaxes a bit to hear the more common greeting, green eyes flickering to the side as she combs through her memory for the halla keepers name.

"And you are... Sulahni?" she asks--already looking apologetic in case she'd made the wrong connection.

[serannas]

"That's right." She steps up onto the wooden fence and swings her leg over into the pen. "It's good to meet you, Nahariel." And over goes her other leg. She climbs down in and pats a halla's back. "Your representatives are all very unique people. Very different in temperament. It is surprising to see in a clan so small." Meanwhile in Clan Ashara they're filled to the brim with different viewpoints. It's no wonder six of their young adults took off for the Inquisition. Well, five. Gavin was always leaving and returning, though she notes he didn't return this time. A shame. That boy is always good for a laugh and a story.

[nadasharillen]

Nari's eyes darken briefly--but her smile remains the same.

"We weren't always so small." She replies, her casual tone belying the old wound in it. Sulahni was right about the different temperaments, the clashes they sometimes caused; but the fierceness with which the remnants of Dahlasanor clung together to spit in fate's face held stronger than any disputes or tension that arose. Perhaps when the next generations were born, and the raid, the fires, their search for a safe home were all merely stories to frighten the children there would be more difficulty borne of it, but...

Nahariel shakes her head slightly to clear the thoughts, instead nodding at the halla Sulahni was patting. "Your charges look well. Happy. Peaceful. A fine herd." She grinned with a sly humor. "I wager Sina's come to visit already?"

[serannas]

Sulahni nods in understanding. No doubt Nahariel has been told the story of the plague by at least several clan members here. It is their shared grief; the single most important event in Clan Ashara's remembered history. But their numbers went down to what is still an impressive number, unlike Clan Dahlasanor. The only impressive thing about their numbers is that they still survive and haven't been absorbed into another clan.

But she has enough tact not to mention this all aloud. She's a woman with many opinions who shares very few of them. She just quietly tends the halla. This is her place and she prefers it this way.

"Ma serannas. They are my family as much as the clan is." She smiles back at the question. "Oh, it sounds like you already know the answer. She has."

[nadasharillen]

Despite being unsurprising, the news still gives Nari cause to smile around the grass stem. "If she weren't the Keeper's First, I think she would be halla'amelan. I'm not a bit surprised she came to see them first," she says, looking again at the herd, the farther off flashes of white and silver as the halla move gracefully through the grasses and brush.

After a moment, she returns her gaze to Sulahni. "You haven't had too much trouble coming to them with the Rift demons, have you?"

[serannas]

"No, thank the Creators. They've been doing well, probably because I rarely leave their side since the rift appeared." The thought of coming into the halla pen and seeing them turn green glowing eyes on her before they attack pulls at her heart. She's heard of wolves being affected in this way and if she has to put down the halla, the clan may as well put her down too.

"But I can't say I'm not glad you brought someone who can close it." She jerks her chin off in Thranduil's direction. "He's an odd one, isn't he? All tall and tiny eared, yet he calls himself an elf."