( open ) one shitlord arrives

[disproportionate]

WHO: Antonio Stark and you
WHAT: Arrival in Skyhold
WHEN: 16 Harvestmere
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: n/a

Gates
Most people of a certain level of wealth and/or nobility would have sent word ahead of their arrival to make sure the Inquisition would have been suitably prepared for someone of their standing. Antonio did no such thing, he found it much more amusing to watch people scramble. Instead he and his retinue rode up to the gates with no fanfare other than the spectacle he naturally was. Dressed in the finest and latest of Antivan styles he instantly stands out from his well-equipped, but far more modestly dressed guards.

"I thought this place would be bigger."

He climbs off his horse and walks away leaving the care of the horse to his retinue. He's got bigger things to do like waving over the first person he sees.

"Hey you. Come here!"

Tavern
While he had someone off securing accommodations and other little details he didn't care to know of, Antonio decided to pass the time with a bit of alcohol. His guards watch unobtrusively from the sides while he stands to his full-not-so-impressive height with a small crowd around him. Approaching makes it clear why he's attracted a crowd.

"Five gold coins to the person with the best story! Come on, who thinks they'll get lucky today."

Although it was even odds that everyone walked away with heavier pockets or he changed his mind and decides he's not interested any more.

Comments

i pick option c

[amygdalae]

The news about some newly arrived Antivan noble had been causing quite a stir in Skyhold today, but such news really didn't have much effect on Bruce - nobles were always a group of people that never made sense to him for the most part. Thedas was still in danger and most of them tended to just continue with their gossip and play their Games or whatever. It's as if they didn't care at all what would happen.

No point wasting energy being annoyed about it though. It wasn't his business anyway.

What was his business right now, instead, were the elfroots in the garden. The batch he had helped to plant with Cyril not too long ago needed some looking over for some reason or another, and Bruce had just attended to that. With that done he steps back into the hall, the door swinging shut behind him as he takes a moment to wipe off the sweat from his brow. Despite the relative coolness of the place, working under the sun for a few hours always did cause him to work up a bit of a sweat.

delete it

[disproportionate]

There were a surprising number of familiar faces in Skyhold. He'd done business with a decent number of the people hanging around and that meant having to stop for small talk every now and then, although he easily ditched them if he felt himself lose interest.

He just finishes extricating himself from another tedious (and clingy) conversation when the side door opens and Bruce walks in. Antonio doesn't even notice him at first, more concerned with smoothing out his clothes and wiping his hands than one dirty mage among far too many.

too late its here forever

[amygdalae]

Bruce doesn't notice the other either, mostly since there are always nobles loitering around this area for some reason he can never truly fathom. Maybe nobles had a preference for large halls for some reason - Bruce certainly didn't at any rate.

What he did prefer right now was some quiet time back in his tent before hie round of patients later. He starts to make his way, mind so focused on his tasks for later that he doesn't quite notice where he's going until he bumps into a person by complete accident.

"Sorry--" he quickly begins to apologize, but then pauses when he looks at the person he just bumped into and pauses because--because there was something about him that was incredibly familiar. There was just something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Gates

[ancarrow]

Eirlys is heading across the courtyard, having just finished her shift in the healing tents and planning on getting something to eat, when she hears Antonio call her over. She cocks her head to one side curiously as she approaches, wondering what he could want.

"Who, me?"

[disproportionate]

"Am I looking at anyone else?" Antonio crosses his arms and taps his feet impatiently as she walks up to him.

He's only marginally taller than her, but he acts as if he's at least a feet taller and certainly like she has little to offer.

"Where do all the people like you stay?" Oddly enough, he means in terms of social standing rather than racial. He doesn't care enough to be abrasive in the right way.

Gates

[circleprodigy]

Obviously Garahel thinks Antonio should be talking to him, since the mabari darts ahead of Inessa, wagging his tail happily and circling around him, letting out a friendly woof. Pet him? He's a good boy, right?

The slight, pale woman in Grey Warden armor steps forward, eyebrow arched. Her expression is more curious than warm, not exactly accustomed to random people ordering her about, but nor is it hostile. He's obviously new, so she can spare a little time, at least for directions.

"Yes? What do you need?"

[disproportionate]

It's a dog, jumping around and trying to slobber all over him. He leans away from it and nudges it with his foot to get it to stop and go away.

"A place for my guys, but I'll settle for getting your dog far away from me."

He's clearly uncomfortable with anything this far into his personal space.

Tavern

[gatheringstorm]

Considerably taller, Korrin stands to her full height upon going to the bar for a refill. She's been here for a while, but the alcohol has yet to make any visible effect on her, aside from perhaps a touch of mellowness. Flashing a smirk, she snags her tankard back and heads over.

"I'll give it a shot. If there's one thing my company's good for it's gaining more stories than you know what to do with. Any rules for this 'best story' or just whatever?"

[disproportionate]

If he's disconcerted by the Qunari towering over him, Antonio doesn't let it show as he looks up at her.

Technically her boobs since he doesn't even reach there.

"Bonus points if it'd scandalise a Revered Mother. Although a Qunari already has that one down easily."

Tavern

[ombranera]

"What kind of story are you looking for, Ser?" Lucci balanced upon his hip, Zevran sauntered over, smile rakish, head held high, and tone thoroughly dramatic. Just behind one of his Kestrels strummed a mandolin in appropriate accompaniment. Drama. Antivans did so adore it. "Something true? Something sad? Something with swashbuckling action or a tragic romance? Perhaps something sultry and fantastic? Or perhaps something that is all these things and more might satisfy you."

[disproportionate]

Oh a fellow countryman.

Antonio makes a show of inspecting his nails as if disinterested. In truth, he already had high hopes from the level of drama this elf was already displaying.

"So you think you're the one to satisfy me? Make me swoon."

Tavern

[justice_is_blond]

A rich man with guards? Offering gold for stories? Anders doesn't think he can give what the man will think of as the best one... but he's being given a chance to tell a story to someone who clearly has a lot of means and likely a comfortable life. There's no reason to not give it a shot.

Anders wanders over, purple robes swishing around him, and takes a seat.

"And what sort of a story would you like to hear? I've no idea what your taste runs to."

[disproportionate]

Only one type of person wears stupid robes and they were the people who could kill him with their mind if he pointed out how stupid their robes were. Why would anyone constantly wear dresses all the time?

"No magic stories, funny or raunchy is better, but I'll take anything that'll entertain me. And please take that off, purple is not your colour."

Okay so the possibility of being set on fire was not actually enough to stop him from speaking his mind.

Gates

[el_tybs]

He's just about done with cleaning up and putting everything away after his sword practice when he hears someone calls out. It's honestly curiosity that has him looking over shoulder at 'hey you', though he pauses when it actually does appear to be someone motioning to him.

Raising a brow he waits for a moment to see if he was indeed being the one motioned at. It certainly looks like it is. Sam hums thoughtfully to himself at that, grabbing his shirt from off the fence and working it over his head as he walks over.

"Can I help you?" he offers, figuring this was someone new seeing as he doesn't recognize the face.

[disproportionate]

With the casual drawl of someone used to giving orders and being listened to, Antonio waves off-handedly at the people behind him. "Yeah, I need a place for these guys."

There's no question, merely the quiet expectation that this man will sort everything out or find someone who can immediately. Antonio holds his head high as he waits for the man to get moving.

Tavern

[motherfucking_ghost]

No preamble, no asking what kind of stories, Church just rolls up his sleeves and sits on the edge of a table. Not in a seat like a normal fucking person, no, because this requires a little more than just sitting around.

"So me and my guys are shooting the shit where we're parked, a snowy, icy hell hole. Jimmy's talking about his girl back home, y'know, we're milling around, cuz there's fucking nothing there but snow, and snow, and more snow. Not super unlike here," he says with a thumb over his shoulder, because these mountains are nothing but god damn snow. "Nothing weird, but Jimmy stops in the middle and looks a little spooked. I ask him what's up, he says he thought he saw something. Just something, real descriptive, right? But there is, I say it again, nnnnothing out there, so we keep talking."

Nice pause, now drop the beat. "And all of a sudden, across the way, one of the guys just starts freaking out." Here's where his vigorous hand gestures are gonna start coming into play. "He's shooting off and yelling, and then he just-" smack "-drops, right dead in the snow." He's treating it like a ghost story. "And then the next guy closer to us starts freaking out, and then drops. And the next. Everyone's getting spooked because they're seeing something we're not, and whatever it is is killing them. By the time you heard or saw anything, it was already too late--so when we hear the faint crunch of snow, and see a blurry not quite there pocket of air, we know we're done for. Jimmy just starts screaming as this black armored figure appears where that off pocket of air was, kicking his ass like nothing, until it rips out his skull and beats him to death with it. When he drops, they just fade back into invisibility, and left me, the only one of my squad still alive."

He lets that hang in the air for a few moments. "So that was the first time I saw my ex-girlfriend after we'd broken up."

[disproportionate]

When Church had first started telling his story, he'd raised an eyebrow and wondered where he was going with this. This was hardly the place for ghost stories and anything he said would have lacked the impact of a dark night around the campfire.

But then he gets to the end and Antonio throws his head back and laughs. "Give me another round for my new friend here." Antonio drops a handful of coins onto the table carelessly beside Church, not bothering to check the amount. However it's clearly more than what he promised and there are more than a few people eyeing them now. Even with the guards, a skilled thief might be tempted to try their luck.

tavern

[leadseasy]

"I have one!" Yael was naturally soft-spoken, and were she anyone else the crowd would probably barrel right over her and keep talking. However, people tended to shut up when a large Qunari wanted to speak, so they quieted enough for her to get her story in.

"We were up north a bit, in Nevarra," she began.

[disproportionate]

When he hears someone take him up on his challenge, he seats himself and leans back on the chair. She's clearly the kind of person who would never be given the time of day if she weren't a Qunari so Antonio personally has low expectations on this one.

Still he's heard some amazing tales from Vashoth and appearances can be deceiving.

"Oohh, is this going to be about dragons?"

[ungovernable]

Benevenuta doesn't need five gold coins. Nor does she look as if she needs five gold coins; severe in shades of silver and grey, she is nevertheless too finely dressed to mistake for anything but the gently-bred thing that she is. (And, to those familiar with the Mortalitasi and the freedoms they enjoy in Nevarra, she is very obviously of their ilk - but without a staff in her hand and dressed in a gown that plunges down her sternum beneath a fur-trimmed coat that is her concession to 'being on a mountain', that she's a mage is less obvious to the layman.)

However.

She is in the mood to share a story. One that she might have shared at the wake, if she'd been ready - it's a good story.

"A little more than a year ago, now," she says, thoughtful, "I traveled here from Nevarra. It is a difficult journey. Indeed; I set out from Nevarra City with an entourage, and I arrive here only myself. Somewhere in between these two places - near to Skyhold - I am a lady alone on the road, further from my home than ever I have been before, and I meet a Warden."

A brief pause. Does she have his attention?

[disproportionate]

Her mere presence here piques his interest. While Antonio was far more willing to go 'slumming' in taverns, others of his social standing were far less likely to do so. No, she's likely doing this for her own entertainment and possibly a form of personal rebellion.

"I hope this means your story is more interesting than how you lost your entourage."

While Antonio has had dealings with Nevarrans, he's never paid that much close attention to their mages and the Mortalitasi. For all he knows she's merely some Nevarran noble possibly related to their king like most people there.

Gates, or shortly after

[eolasemah]

Sina and her basket of herbs are out and about, and not unusually, she looks pleasant as she transports them from point A to point B. However, then a very finely dressed Antivan walks by and catches her attention, causing her to watch him pass with wide, deerlike eyes and a matching vaguely dumb expression.
She's probably never going to get used to seeing Important People, whoever they are.

[disproportionate]

Like most people Antonio doesn't like being gawked at so he snaps his fingers in her face.

"Hey, quit it."

While he certainly enjoyed attention, there was a difference between being stared at and getting noticed.

tavern;

[inagutterson]

Where else do you find a surface dwarf other than the tavern? (Well actually, if you're this one you've maybe been guarding the door of your chosen lady of late but even he gets thirsty, and she does have a guard dog in training so he can slip off. The tavern is closer than the Undercroft, he can combat roll his way back to her faster from here.) One nug happens to be poking out from Yngvi's pocket, and that's just par for the course these days; it's all the rage up in the Avvar holds, don't you know.

"What're you in the mood for? Kirkwall legends, Carta tales or mercenary stories? I've got them all." And you'd best take them with a mountain of salt, because Yngvi likes his past to be a multiple choice affair.

[disproportionate]

Nugs are creepy little naked things, but as long as it stays on him it'll be fine. Although Antonio won't stand any closer, not that he particularly gets close to people in the first place.

"Let's go with a Carta tale." He still gets a vindictive pleasure in hearing about the crime syndicate that gives his father and his kind trouble.