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

[serannas]

Oh, right. Gavin seems to have... preferred it this way. Well, better the Keeper expect it than having it surprise her, right?

"I've learned much since I've joined the Inquisition," she begins. "And I feel I can help the People in more ways than I could here in the clan. But I'm grateful for your teachings and all you provided me with over the years." She can say that much and mean it. Ellana is a good mage, and it's because she was taught to be.

[arlathvhen]

Deheune doesn't say anything for a bit, letting the silence sink in between breaths. Her gaze turns back towards the clan, and she watches the hustle and bustle of life while she lets the silence stretch. Is she thinking, or just making everything really awkward? Who knows.

She does speak, finally, though she doesn't look at Ellana. "Perhaps this is for the best," But even then, it sounds like she's talking more to herself than the other Dalish. "I'd felt for some time that you were not...satisfied, with the life that you led within the clan. It came as little surprise that you volunteered to go to Skyhold." And little surprise that she didn't want to come back.

"Perhaps you will find life among the humans more fulfilling. I suppose we will see."

[serannas]

Ellana would like to give Deheune the benefit of the doubt that she really is using the time to think, but she knows it's just as likely she's not. She may already know exactly what she wants to say and is simply letting silence reign. As a child, or even a teenager, this would have unsettled Ellana. She would have assumed she'd done something wrong or spoken out of turn, but in knowing she's walking forward into the life she wants, whatever Deheune does now can't unsettle her. She waits, watching the clan go about their daily activities and remembering how she moved from person to person, desperate to be useful to them instead of that extra mage taking up space.

"I already do," she answers, well aware that Deheune's mild words are meant to place doubt that she'll succeed. "I've learned new skills and have used them to be helpful to the Inquisition's cause. And they're also life skills that I can use beyond the Inquisition." She's a shapeshifter now, Leliana set her up with stealth lessons, Araceli has been teaching her how to read people. And she has to admit, from reading the Keeper's face and body? The woman is a professional. Her calm and quiet manner coupled with the simple way she presents her words makes it appear as if nothing can ruffle her feathers. Her true feelings are hidden so well that the only way of guessing at them is to read the silences or the words that can be taken more than one way. Araceli would be impressed. And probably hate her, but be impressed nonetheless.

Now she turns to face the Keeper, her gaze steady. "Ma serannas, for the start you've given me in life. May the clan stay healthy and happy under your guidance."

[arlathvhen]

"It will." Deheune replies, voice mild, but with a set firmness that left no room for anything else, as if everything would conform to her expectations just by virtue of her sheer willpower.

Of course, most things (and people) tended to do just that.

"If the world outside of the clan proves too harsh for you, know that you can always cast it aside to return to the people," Deheune continues, a smile on her face. "I'll speak to whatever clan you find favorable, and see that they will accept you, if they hesitate at your association with the shemlen." She gives Ellana a few moments to digest this kind offer, before turning to face her.

"You hardly need to thank me for doing something any proper Keeper would do for one of her own. But I am glad, nevertheless, that I could help you. May all I have taught you serve you well."

[serannas]

The offer is honestly something Ellana hadn't expected, and she gives Deheune a genuine smile of thanks. She's seen the harshness of life for elves already, but her Keeper doesn't know that Ellana is a shapeshifter who can now escape if the humans close in on her. She doesn't know Ellana's goals to stay out in the world to explore ruins and write about what she finds to give to the People. And she doesn't know that Ellana has already been welcomed among the Rivaini Dalish, and if a day comes when Ellana wishes to return to clan life, that's the clan she'll go to.

But the Keeper doesn't need to know any of this. She has a clan to keep and what Ellana does from now on will probably be of little interest to her.

"Ma serannas again. I have to say my goodbyes now, and I'll start with you. Dareth shiral."