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

[arlathvhen]

"I'm sure the Keeper could find something to complain about, if she tried," Beleth replied wryly, lips twisting. While she's full of compliments for Deheune when others are around, with Sorrel? She doesn't have to bother. "I mean, every other member of the clan who went with me are right about to start sanding off their vallaslin, I wouldn't blame her for being suspicious."

She laughs, though, despite her harsh words. "Thank the Creators for that. I hope it doesn't come down to that, though. I've got plans. A lot of plans. I don't know how many of them I'll actually get to, but the last thing I want is to get to a certain point and sit around going 'Now what?'" She shrugs, waving her hand around again. "It's all a long shot, but, I mean, that's what I'm good at, yeah?" Haha, archer jokes!! Hilarious.

[writteninblood]

"Some of them sound almost ready to sand the points off their ears too, but I mean-- At least they came," Not to name any names. Not that he needs to, "If it were me, I'd just be grateful for that I've got. Me, I've got plenty."

More than enough, if the proud loop his arm makes around her shoulders is any indication. He grins, to complete the picture; his sister the bard! It's like something outrageous, out of a bedtime story.

"I like closer shots better. I hate... You know," He gestures vaguely to indicate the distance, the time apart, everything, "But it's not like I can leave. Not with every other mage walking off, and the Keeper."

Keepers gotta keep, after all: memories, bloodlines, traditions, and most of all people.

[arlathvhen]

"For some people, gratitude is an illusive concept." Beleth replies, her lips twisting slightly. She doesn't need to name names either, though she's got plenty to say on the subject. "Some people think that kindness shown to them is a burden that tethers them, though they have never bothered to mention it. Some people, I suspect, just like feeling persecuted."

She smiles as she talks, though, leaning against Sorrel. Creators, she missed getting to shit talk with him, and share all of the salt, bitterness, and other unpleasant flavors she's accumulated at Skyhold.

"Maybe once you're Keeper, you can move the clan closer." Beleth suggests mildly, a fond smile on her face. Whether it's from the idea of Sorrel as Keeper or Deheune being mysteriously Not the Keeper, who can say. "But I mean, none of what I'm doing is permanent, you know. I can't stay out there." She sounds...dubious, like maybe she wants to, but the idea is as absurd as saying that she wants to be Empress of Orlais. "Or...maybe the Keeper will let you come to Skyhold, some day. Get some life experience, or whatever you want to call it. You can always resume your duties as First later."

Small pause. "Unless you have to become Keeper, but. Who knows when that will be." She's torn between the freedom Sorrel would get as the Keeper, and the entirely different kind of freedom he gets not having to lead the entire clan currently. She's also fairly convinced that Deheune lives on spiting her, and may in fact outlive them both.

[writteninblood]

"Sure, I could..."

No, he couldn't. He'll never leave this clan, not while Deheune lives. And once she's dead, thanks to Pel and Ellana's absence, he'll be Keeper-- by then can't will have turned to won't. Sorrel is many things, most of them unkind, but he is anything but disloyal. He would never abandon those who need him, who truly need him, not for something as nebulous as loneliness, no matter how much he strangled and choked at the duty. Never.

"...Sure," he finishes, lamely. It's not a very convincing lie, "But hey, anything can happen, right?"

Right. And the one idea has merit, of course. As keeper, he could broker a stronger alliance with the Inquisition, if he liked, move the clan closer, set them up within reach. As Keeper, he had that power-- providing it didn't put the clan in undue danger. Provided he took care of them, first, before his own heart.

"You know, I kinda wanna kick Ellana off a cliff today, but at least she showed up to insult us to our faces," He can respect the decision to leave, respect her, even if the choice itself is beyond understanding, "Shit, even Merrick is here, and he brought a fucking qunari. Skyhold's changing everyone, pulling them away."

What he means is, he's frighted. What he means is, don't leave me alone.

[arlathvhen]

Beleth knows when Sorrel is lying, when he tries very hard to conceal it, just as she can't lie to him. They're too familiar with each other. And he is not doing a very good job of it right now. But she doesn't call her twin out, because she already knows what must be going through his mind, and she decides--some day. Some day, she'll figure out how to make it so that she and Sorrel will stay together.

The clan, her mother, they're strangling her, she can feel the grip around her neck. But she can't cast them off without Sorrel.

"Well, you know Gavin. As for Pel--Creators, Sorrel. She's totally lost it. Dove right off the deep end. Did you know? She got herself knocked up with some flat ear's baby. And she's keeping it! I told her, I said, you can just take care of this, you know? Deheune wouldn't approve, but--" She glances around, lowering her voice further. "--I mean, no need to ruin her life, having a baby without a clan or a father. But she wants to start a family." She waved her fingers around a little, to emphasis her point.

"And don't even get me started on Merrick. I am so--I'm so frustrated with him, Sorrel. Him and that qunari. They can both--ugh. They can go jump in a lake." Strong words there, watch out. But the inability to give any real bite to it shows that despite her words, she's still fond of Merrick.

[writteninblood]

"Holy shit."

Pel had lost her damned mind. Even so, she might have salvaged the situation, if she'd been wise enough to come back to the clan, if she'd sought a blessing, sought a foster if she wouldn't mother the thing at home. After all, with magic in the blood, and a flat-ear father? At least she wasn't carrying a half-breed human, for all the shame that would follow her regardless.

"Creators, Bel, what in the void is she thinking?" He's dropped his voice down to a whisper. No wonder Cyril and Ellana had been so vague, "When this comes out, that'll be all the family she has left, that'll have her, doing it like this."

And Merrick, then-- but Merrick was Merrick, trouble followed him like an odor, as inevitable as it was inescapable. Pel had been the good child, but Merrick was hardly a surprise.

"What'd he do this time?"

[arlathvhen]

"I don't know what she's thinking. Maybe the baby hormones are stopping her from thinking clearly? Is that a thing?" Because Sorrel would clearly know more about pregnant women than her. "But it just sounds like a mess. A permanent mess. I mean, babies are permanent, barring tragedy." Which certainly happens, especially when you're a Dalish, but--you don't assume it'll happen.

"I guess the good thing is that you're going to end up looking like an even better First." She smiles, giving Sorrel's arm a squeeze. "The Keeper may give you grief, but at least you're never going to show up with a baby that's half flat-ear."

She clicks her tongue when the conversation goes back to Merrick, and shakes her head. Ugh. "He--Well. You saw that qunari he came here with. They're dating, or--bonded, or going to be bonded? Can you believe that? I just--I mean. I guess it's better than being a single parent, but." She scowls, crossing her arms. "It's stupid. They barely know each other. And Metaari isn't that great. He's okay, but. It's still stupid."

Not that Beleth is biased or anything. No, she'd never be biased.

[writteninblood]

"I'll break his legs for you," He's teasing, but Sorrel's also completely serious. In the challenge of loyalty between Merrick and Beleth, there is no challenge at all, "You know, I really will."

[arlathvhen]

And Beleth bursts into helpless giggles. She really can't help it, okay. She knows that Sorrel is completely serious, that if she asked, he'd immediately jump to it. And that knowledge only spurs on the giggles, affection rising in her chest as she leans against Sorrel, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. It's just--it's just so him. She missed that.

"I know you would try." She says, voice gentle. "But Sorrel, he'd beat you like a child trying to break open an acorn."

[writteninblood]

"I'd break a few more legs, if it'll help."

It's hard to be mad, even at Merrick, when even Beleth can smile for him. Life is too good for feuding, at least for today.

"C'mon, I could take him," Sorrel protests, with no real offense in his voice, and drops a secret kiss into her hair, "I've been working hard on Keeper's magic, I'm a tough guy now. You'll see."