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

[kallian_endris]

"You don't think it sounds too Orlesian?" she asks, biting nervously at her thumb. "My mother taught me my first Dalish words, the things she had learned from my father, and I worry I use too much of her accent..."

[samahl]

"There is an accent but it doesn't take too much away from it." He thinks for a moment. "If our goal is to bring the language back to every elf, that means we have to get used to hearing the words spoken with accents."

[kallian_endris]

"Thank you. I'm probably overthinking all of this. I just... I don't want to be that elf, you know? I'm the only cityborn along, and... I don't want to be an embarrassment to anyone..."

[samahl]

"You aren't," he promises. "You have a lot to be proud of."

[kallian_endris]

"You think so?" She looks up, Hope shining faintly in her eyes. "Thank you, Cyril. You always know how to make me feel better."

There's a pause.
"...what about you? Are you doing all right?"

[samahl]

Cyril smiles at the thought that she feels better but then his jaw tightens a bit when she asks him of how he feels.

After a moment of quiet, he does something unusual - and actually shares a bit about how he feels.

"I'm worried about my family," he says. "The Rifts have been causing harm all throughout the regions we visit and yet somehow I thought the Clan would be untouched. Maybe it's because I assumed that the Keeper would frighten the demons away just by sheer force of personality. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Whatever it was, the realization that they have just as much to lose as everyone else is a troubling one."

Sure he had said the reason he joined was to protect his Clan, but in reality it had been his own thirst for something different. Now the thought that that threat was real and close was troubling.

[kallian_endris]

"I know."

She takes his hands in hers.

"Cyril, whatever I can do to protect them, I will. I've been trying to learn about the rifts, and the shards, and all the strangeness surrounding them. And whatever it takes... Whatever magic I have to use... I'll do it. I promise."

[samahl]

Cyril closes his hand around hers and takes comfort in her presence. "I know, but don't risk yourself more than needed, okay? I care about you too."

[kallian_endris]

"You're my brother, whatever happens, OK?" She lightly kisses his cheek. "The best brother I could ask for."

[samahl]

He smiles at the kiss, enjoying it. He always likes affection from people he cares about.

"The same to you, lethallan."

[kallian_endris]

"Thank you."

She takes a deep breath, easing her nerves.

"So... is there anything you think I need to know before we arrive?"

[samahl]

Cyril nods a bit. "The Keeper is... rather intense. Please don't take anything she says or does personally, Beleth will do that enough for everyone. Her son, Sorrel, he's - Well, he's lovely. Just lovely." He grins a bit because he knows he doesn't have to go on about that, she probably gets that he finds the First attractive.

"Please avoid telling them much about what Pel is doing, of course. She... she wouldn't mind it as much, I don't think, but given how things are between her and the Clan I'd rather not give them much leverage against her." He rubs the back of his neck a bit at the thought.

"Don't get me wrong. They're all good people, wonderful people even, but being in the wilderness can make you a little rough around the edges." He offers her a small encouraging smile despite that. "Oh! And if you get the chance, you should me Merrick and my's little sister. Her name is actually similar to yours. Her name is Kali."

[kallian_endris]

"Ah, I see. The sort of lovely that means he's not going to find me the least bit interesting, is he?" She shoots Cyril a wry grin.

"I promise, I won't say too much about Pel, but... they'd be glad to know about her giving me Dalish lessons, wouldn't they?"

"Kali, is it?" She cants her head with a little smile. "Well, I'll see if she's up for meeting me. What's she like?"

[samahl]

"He... his interests lie in the same direction that mine do, if that's what you mean, but he hasn't had the luxury of being able to explore them as much as I have. He is the Keeper's son and now the First. His has a responsibility to the blood of our people..." He frowns a bit at the thought, but moves past it - not really in the mood to dwell.

"I think they will be pleased that Pel's carrying on the ways and teaching them to you, of course. Just... leave out anything personal." He means the pregnancy specifically, but he doesn't say it because he isn't sure who all Pel has told. It's not that she's ashamed or anything, of course, but just that it was personal and he intended to keep it that way.

"As far as Kali, she's sweet. She tries too hard to play the part of the rough and tumble hunter but in her heart she's just a kind girl trying to protect her Clan. She's good with blades, though, Merrick saw to that. She was an infant when the plague hit. It took both of her parents. That makes her the youngest of us orphans."

[kallian_endris]

"Mmm." She doesn't say anything about the exploring. "Honestly, that's a relief to me. One less thing to get potentially awkward."

Gently, she lays a hand on his arm.
"I'm not in the business of telling secrets. Healers have to be good at confidentiality. Don't worry."

Her grip on his arm tightens.
"I'm really sorry. I know it's rough growing up without your parents. It's just... not the same without them."

[samahl]

He uses his free hand to gently pat her hand, a soft, comforting gesture. "I've gotten used to it," he reassures her. "And anyway, I wasn't alone. The Clan raised me."

[kallian_endris]

"I had Nienna after my mother was taken, though she made it clear that we were in no way family. And, I suppose, in a way, an alienage is sort of like a clan... Even so, the elves living in Denerim's do have... opinions... on Dalish... and Orlesians... Lucky me, I'm both."

She shrugs.

[samahl]

"It's so strange how fractured we are. Half of the time when I'm talking to a city elf they expect me to judge them or chastise them."

[kallian_endris]

"Oh, well, come to Denerim sometime. You'll shock the shoes off the people there. Most of the people in the alienage consider the
Dalish nothing more than a children's story." She chuckles wryly.

[samahl]

"Like a story you tell your children to frighten them?" he asks. "I've heard we sharpen our teeth and kidnap children to cook them into stew."

[kallian_endris]

"More like a fairytale. Every year, there's usually a handful of young elves who decide they're going to leave the city and escape to find the Dalish. They nearly always come back after a few days, hungry and embarrassed. I suppose being here, that makes me among the few who've succeeded," she explains.

[samahl]

He seems a little surprised by that, and then amused. "I suppose it does," he admits after a moment. "And you have your own collection of Dalish brothers and sisters. That's a good thing, isn't it?"

[kallian_endris]

"It is. This is the first time in my life my family has consisted of more than two people. And for twelve years, I didn't have any at all. It was pretty lonely, especially at first. I was without any parents, I didn't have many friends, my mentor tried to hide me away from the world as best as she could in order to protect me, and I had brand-new powers I didn't understand. There were many times I was tempted to run away in search of my father."

[samahl]

"A mage running, though, can be more than a little dangerous," Cyril points out carefully. "It's probably best you stayed. We could try to find out who your father is though, if we get in touch with some Clans who were in the area at the time." That is much easier said that done, though. They'd have to wait for an arlathvhen for one.

[kallian_endris]

"I know. Believe me, I appreciate the risks of being a mage on the run. And so far, I've only run once, to escape from the city. And... there's no going back to that now. Living in an alienage just... isn't an option anymore, and shems get awfully testy about elves trying to live independently outside of them."

She sighs, running fingers through her hair.
"...do you really think there's a chance of finding him?"