faderift | 01 | Open | General introduction and foundation building

Entry tags:

01 | Open | General introduction and foundation building

WHO: Waver
WHAT: Waver getting to grips with surroundings
WHEN: Post inital arrival on 8 Firstfall-End of th month
WHERE: Location
NOTES: Content warnings, OOC notes, links to other relevant posts, etc.

I. Stables
Staying near the stables so much isn't exactly a good choice, Waver knew. It meant he smelled like horse constantly, and the smell lingered in his hair most of all. Lingering also made him look just as much as a fish out of water as he felt, but such things weren't quite as important as why he insisted on frequenting the area so much: horses meant fast transport. Fast transport meant greater paths to learning outside of the immediate area. And being thrown into another world entirely, Waver wanted to learn everything he could as quickly as he could. He was at a disadvantage now, and he disliked it intensely.

So he stayed, watching tack go on and off the horses, memorizing the order of events. Observing horses and their personalities, so that he knew which ones might eventually accommodate someone who had never rode a horse before. Trying to figure out who to approach for lessons with minimizing awkwardness or needing to take up more of Iskandar's time. It was a delicate balance of observation, and one that got involving after some time. Enough involvement to ignore the rest of his surroundings, and for him to become more obvious than he'd like.

Then again, it was fairly hard to miss a strange tall man in a red coat, looking at horses like he was going to write a book on them.

II. Outside
One thing that Waver had insisted on doing, was adamant about doing, was trying to keep himself doing was walking the grounds and trying to learn them as quickly as possible. Certainty staying with and near Iskandar would be safe enough for his untrained self whose primary form of self defense was starting to dwindle, but on the off chance of something going wrong or else getting separated, Waver wanted to have some routes available to him.

But he was informed by his desire for safety as he was by Iskandar's preference for staying outside of the primary buildings, sleeping in a stable or a tent like the man was on one of his legendary campaigns. Waver had to admit, perhaps there was something there, but not something he wanted to dwell on.

So he simply walked time and again, retracing paths, a cigar sticking out of his mouth and the smoke billowing ahead of him, the acrid smell announcing his approach. From time to time, he took the thing out and examined it, before muttering, "Where can I get a steady supply of these anyway? I'm nearly out."

III. Additional
For additional prompts in and around the location!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Korrin's glances is sympathetic as she pats Asher one last time before stepping away from his stable, gesturing for Waver to walk with her. "Let's compare and find out. I always like to know what people can do before we're on the battlefield, since it can save a lot of time and prevent stupid mistakes. Like the time when a fellow mage and I cast opposing elements at an enemy and effectively canceled each other out. I'd like to avoid that shit, if I can."

So, yeah. Her magic. "I lean towards Storm magic, so lots of lightning, but I know basic Winter and Inferno spells to round things out. I've also received extra training as a Knight-Enchanter, so unlike a lot of mages, I can last on the front line, and my barriers hold pretty much as long as I keep attacking. I've learned a little rift magic, too, but to be honest that's a lower priority since I wanted to master Knight-Enchanter stuff first."

And she pauses, as something comes to mind. "If you know any blood magic...that's really not something you can get away with here. For several reasons. It can be used to control people, so that always has people freaked out. Not to mention that it tears the Veil to shit and we already have problems with that. We don't need more. And also, Tevinter was heavily into sacrificing people for blood magic spells, so that's wrapped up in the anti-Tevinter backlash."

"Well, first off, your magic is combat based from the sounds of it," Waver began, his eyes flicking around for a towel. There was still balm on his hand, and it definitely needed to be wiped off. "For magi back home, there's more of an academic element to our craft, as all magi supposedly share the same goal of reaching the root of the universe. Or root of all magic. Depending on how you want to define it. It sounds all too lofty, truth be told."

Lofty and ridiculous, as far as Waver was concerned. "Families will pick something to specialize in, be it an element or a more specific magic type, and that specialization is passed down family lines. Spellcasting ability generally gets stronger in successive generations, so older families are more powerful, and then they have the luxury of developing more combat based applications of their family specialization. All the better to protect family secrets, especially since older families can end up having feuds with each other."

All of this was rather beating around the bush though of his own abilities. Or general lack thereof, which Waver disliked admitting to anyone. Back home, a title and his teaching position helped. Here, well, none of that existed. "Mostly I can use hypnosis and bounded fields. Protective barriers, by any other name. I've done plenty of development for others, up to and including adding artificial intelligence to familiars, but my spellcasting ability isn't stellar." Weak. "But from time to time I can pull off an evocation. Equivalent to the demon summonings you described, but it doesn't always have to be demons. Spirits of heroes past can be called up, for example."

The mention of blood magic does cause Waver to pause though, and frown. "It isn't odd for blood to be used for us. It's just part and parcel of what a spell might use, either human or from an animal. But it doesn't resonate with tearing Veils or anything, it is just relying on nature. I won't comment on using humans either, as I'm not foolish enough to say no mage has ever not done it."

Noting his glancing around, Korrin picks up a random towel hanging off a hook and tosses it to him.

"I've found that when it comes to fucked-up magic practices, it's always safe to bet on someone having done it before." Cynical, sure, but given Korrin's world history, she has good reason to think such. "Be careful about the summonings, too. I don't know what you can actually pull over here, but not a lot of people make the distinction between demons and spirits, anyway. And sure, you can try to tell them, but if a mob forms, they're not necessarily going to listen. Spirit Healers and Necromancers are often under a lot of suspicion no matter what they do, just because of their contact with spirits."

The rest is good to know, and she nods; good, so he can take care of himself in a pinch. He doesn't need to have a vast amount of talent or experience under his belt, as long as he can make the best of what he has. "Protective barriers will definitely see use, and hypnosis could be damn useful depending. And yeah, my magic is combat-based, because I was raised to become a mercenary. Not every mage in Thedas has that skillset; believe it or not, a lot of the Circle mages had to be taught how to fight when the Circles fell, because they never had to learn before. A lot of them have an affinity for one type of magic or other, often the kind that first manifests itself. A lot of times that can be elemental, but not always."

She shrugs, sure that her mentor could explain it a lot better. But he's not here, so. "Family secrets and feuds, huh? That sounds a lot like Tevinter, or so I'm told. Qunari and the Imperium have been at odds for forever, so my kind -whether part of the Qun or not- aren't exactly welcome there."

"Thanks," he said, catching the towel and immediately wiping his hand off. Unsure of where to return it to, Waver simply draped it over his shoulder.

"Believe me, I wouldn't think to try anything like a summons," he continued, deadly serious even if his tone sounded upbeat. "I'd bet anything that someone would see it, scream demons, and then I'm absolutely done for thanks to a glorious combination of being a mage and being a stranger from another world." If there was one thing magi were good at, after all, it was self preservation.

"Hypnosis is pretty easily trumped by a strong will though, it might not take on a person or it could take for only a short amount of time. Reapplication is possible, but--" he trailed off, knowing that the rest filled itself in. It was a risk, and one that would have to be calculated depending on the situation. "Elemental is a common thread then, although we tend to have elemental plus specialization in something. Evocation, alchemy, minerology, so on and so forth. A lens for the element to manifest itself through."

Waver paused at the mention of international tensions, tilting his head very slightly. "By forever are you talking centuries or millennia?"

"Centuries. The Qunari arrived in Thedas the Steel Age, from somewhere in the east. They promptly took over Par Vollen in the north, then Seheron and then tried to bring the entire continent under the Qun. It could have worked, too. Fortunately, several Exalted Marches beat them back and though they're still in those two areas, relative peace has been made with every other nation except Tevinter. Everyone thinks that the peace won't last, though; at some point, the Qunari are going to try and invade again, because they didn't get the fucking hint the first several times that we like our freedom."

Korrin just shakes her head in disgust. "We may look the same, but they are not my people. My parents left that shit behind for good reason. There are actually a couple of Qunari in the Inquisition, because the advisors allowed for it, but most of us have nothing to do with the Qun so assuming otherwise is a great way to get a bunch of horned giants annoyed at you. Yeah, Thedas has a lot of cultural pitfalls. Sorry."

Edited 2016-12-03 20:41 (UTC)

As Korrin spoke, Waver tried to visualize the map of Thedas in his head. He was getting better at remembering places, but only in the grand scope of things. But fortunately, knowing "north" was enough, because everything else was a territory dispute. And for now, temporary settlement.

"Such pitfalls would exist if our roles were reversed," he said with an easy sort of shrug. "It's just which pitfalls exist, and from everything you've just said, it seems like my best bet is to assume nothing and use ignorance to one's advantage to avoid cultural issues if at all possible."

"Good idea." Korrin nods approvingly. "The more you go with that, the easier it will be to adapt. I think those who cling to whatever notions they have of the world they come from are those who have the hardest time here, whether they admit it or not. Not that I can judge; if it were reversed, I'm not sure how well I'd do in their place. But regardless, you will have people here who will try to smooth the process as much as possible. Not everyone is dumb enough to still question if rifters are demons. I'm a fucking mage, I know the difference."

"The thing is that we have a large frame work that allows for there to be other worlds," Waver admitted. "Five overarching types of Magic. So being in another place and time is within the realm of possibility, no matter how far fetched it might seem. The rest of it though," he paused, feeling embarrassed about the next part. "Beyond adjusting to the laws your magi live by, the shift in technology is going to be the hardest."

Which really meant no electronic communication and no video games to relax with, so Waver would have to find a substitute. Sooner, rather than later, ideally.

"And if you don't mind my saying, I think the horns would be the biggest obstacle to adjustment in my world."

"None of my kind if your world, I take it? I'm not surprised. Humans and elves are everywhere and even dwarves can be rifters, but qunari -Tal-Vashoth, Vashoth or the real deal- seem to only originate from this world. If there are any elsewhere, I've never heard of them." It's a little disconcerting but since she's on her native turf, Korrin's not going to dwell on it much.

"As for technology, it depends on what you're looking to do with it. Considering what we get from the dwarves, we're not that badly off, and enchantments tend to cover what those don't. You've been told how the sending crystals work, right?"

"Nothing but humans where I'm from, you'll find. We're low on intelligent life form diversity." For better or for worse, he noted internally.

"I've been told, yes, and that's close to our mobile phones. Haven't used one though, mostly because I've had little reason to. The only other person I know here is Iskandar, and if I want to talk to him I just have to look around for a massive red head who is probably shouting anyway."

"I wonder if that makes for a less divided world...who am I kidding, of course it doesn't. People never run out of things to fight about." Korrin's seen that in Orlais often enough, thanks to its Game, not to mention the Mage-Templar War is mostly humans.

Mention of Iskandar brings a grin to her face. "He's a good guy. I'm glad to have fought alongside him here; he made a pretty good Fool for the Satinalia festival, too. I'm sorry you've been yanked from your world, but I'm glad he has someone who knew him from before, all the same."

Waver tried not to laugh at the thought, but a flash of teeth still showed. "Oh, not at all. It's just along different lines, and that's never going away. Some parts of nature are universal, I think."

The mention of Iskandar as a very literal fool however did prompt a smile to cross his face, something genuine. "I'd like to know much more about this festival and what exactly being a Fool entailed. Although I'm not surprised that he's proven a good fighting companion. He always was."

Remembering that wild night moderately well, Korrin grins as she answers. "Satinalia is for our second moon, Satina. It's a wild time and the celebrations are marked with masks and naming the town fool as ruler of the day. In Skyhold, the fools got to give orders about anything non-military, I believe. Some places have Satinalia lasting for a week or more -like Antiva- but the Inquisition doesn't have that much time to spare, so it was one day for us. We made the most of it."

"And what did that tyrant order?"

From anyone else's lips, tyrant would be a cruel thing to call a friend. From Waver, it is clearly a term of endearment, said with no small amount of fondness and the slightest wisp of nostalgia. "And you know, he might not be a bad person to follow for military as well."

Waver genuinely had no idea how much Iskandar had revealed about himself or his past. Knowing was important, lest he give away information that his king didn't want shared.

"We have a commander for the overall Inquisition, but I could see him doing very well in some authority role or other. Someone that approachable could bridge that rifter/native divide. It says something that he's hasn't been here that long and yet so many voted for him in the first place, me included. Not that Satinalia is a battlefield, but still." Korrin's seen enough of Iskandar in combat that she doesn't at all question him as a good fit for the Inquisition's military.

"Oh, right, orders. Let's see, there were plenty of kisses and dances, from what he told me. I didn't spend the entire night observing him when I had my own lady to enjoy the festival with. The 'command' I got was to teach him a new dance, and he was pretty damn good at following. Then we stopped at a pie-eating contest and he put everyone else to shame. Good times."

Waver smiled wryly at that particular description of Iskandar. It was good to know that things were constant across all worlds, especially his king's approach to well, everything. "He has a very strong background in it, it's the only reason I ask. Anything further though isn't for me to elaborate on."

If Iskandar's not talking about conquering a third of the known world in his life time, then Waver isn't going to. "I'm amazed you got him to listen to you at all, actually. That used to be nothing short of a battle between us. The pie thing is--" Waver had to stop, and tilt his head slightly. "Good Lord I'd think that he'd actually lose with people close to his size about. I'm slightly disappointed he didn't come in second."

"Well, I didn't participate or see any others of my kind in the running. So against humans and one bottomless pit of a dwarf, he held up pretty well. I might have joined in, but my lady has a still-mending leg and I wanted to make sure I'd remain upright to carry her back up, if need be." Korrin smirks a little, wondering how well she would have measured up against him. In a drinking contest, she's still pretty sure she would win, but the Vashoth woman has never tested her limit with pies.

"Well, maybe things will change at the next holiday, whatever that is." Waver was still working on learning the calendar, and hell if he had managed to even get all the months down.

"But if I might pry for a second. The leg's still on the mend? How bad was the injury?"

Staring off, Korrin's eyes darken. "It was...pretty bad, and not the only injury. Araceli was among several rifters kidnapped by the Venatori for experimentation with lyrium. The Venatori are a cult of Tevinter supremacists and lackeys of Corypheus, who they think will restore the glory of old Tevinter. We rescued them, but some wounds don't heal by magic and others...well, they could have been healed but she refused for reasons that only she should share."

Korrin lifts her right forearm, which bears a jagged scar that's clearly a bite from a large animal. "One of they rifters is a werewolf and the lyrium...it did something to her mind. She didn't recognize any of us, and did this. Those are the wounds that don't heal with magic, though I was lucky. She could have bitten the entire fucking thing off."

There was a moment where Waver's mouth purses in a perfect little o shape, and the need to apologize bubbled up to the surface. But the apology was shoved aside for the sake of Korrin's explanation. Not that it is anything good, and Waver felt himself chilled just a little bit more by potential risks of being in Thedas.

"Jeez," he breathed out. "Sorry to have brought up any bad memories. That's--" he stopped, looking for the right words. "That's rough."

Korrin nods, her frown lingering but her tone pretty calm, all things considered. She's had time to process what happened, and while the memories aren't easy to live with, she remains strong for the sake of those more shaken than her. "It is, but I'm telling you this because I'm not sure we squashed the Venatori's plans entirely. We killed off one cell, sure, but more out there could get the same idea, if it wasn't a widespread plan already. We don't know. So whatever you do out there, stay on your guard. Lyrium poisoning is fucking painful and no one needs to go through it."

"Sounds like if you're using cells in the plural, you already know that another group will try something," he murmured darkly. "But that's also probably stating the painfully obvious."

"The Venatori are always up to something; but yeah, I don't expect one bout of charging to the rescue is going to make them stop. They'll do anything to raise Tevinter and damn whatever happens to anyone else. The Red Templars aren't any better; red lyrium is far worse than the normal stuff, and it's corrupted them beyond repair. Whatever's left of them, it isn't human."

"Seems to me that they have to give up on this restoring the empire thing on their own," he said, gently tapping one finger to his chin. "Because if you destroy one group, another sparks up. A mass execution would make those involved martyrs to the cause and--hold up. Red lyrium, and regular lyrium being--?"

Waver was certain Korrin must have mentioned it in passing, but not gotten in the particulars. Or else his memory really was going.

"Lyrium is a mineral that in its raw form is dangerous -and deadly to mages- but when refined is used to boost the power of both mages and Templars, and is used in enchanting. So, it's vital to all of Thedas in one way or another. That said, even when it's processed, long-term exposure will wear a person down. Any Templar who's been one for a while is addicted to the substance. The older Templars grow disoriented, lose their memories, have a bunch of physical symptoms that aren't pretty. Even mages can suffer if they take too much at a time, and get side-effects like dizziness or hallucinations, but unlike Templars we can actually recuperate from them."

Korrin crosses her arms and sighs. "...and then there's red lyrium, which is what happens when normal lyrium is tainted. It's more powerful...and far more addicting and dangerous. Following the Breach, it began appearing all over southern Thedas, in crystalline spikes that exude heat and thin the Veil. Which, as you might have guessed, means more demons in the area. It's grown over the land like an infection and seems extremely difficult -and dangerous- to remove.

Normal lyrium is like red lyrium like a lizard is to a high dragon. Unlike the normal stuff, red lyrium doesn't need a dwarf to mine it or require anything other than people being near it to affect them. Stay near it and soon it messes with you. It's been known to drive people crazy, and the Red Templars I was talking about? They actually ingest the shit, which turns them one and all into crystalline behemoths, eventually. But it also boosts their power, gives them new ones and makes them nearly unstoppable. I've fought my fair share of the bastards, and they have strength and stamina to match even my kind.

What I basically mean is: when you see those red spikes out in the countryside? Stay the fuck away from them. It's not worth it."

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