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

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."

Waver nodded along to show that he was listening, but as Korrin spoke, his face soured more and more. Performance enhancing material with what he saw as a little pay off. But then, not his world. He didn't get to dismiss something automatically, that simply made him come off as a jackass with a superiority complex.

"Interesting," he said at the conclusion of it all. "The connection between more red lyrium, the Breach, and demons. Sounds like some time of a feedback loop, just from hearing about the matter on the surface." He knew, however, that a surface look was only that. The surface, nothing substantial. Besides, there were probably twenty million hypotheses that attempted to explain the web of connections.

"But I'll keep away, promise. There's no proven way to destroy the stuff, is there?"

Korrin mimes punching it, then shrugs. "Realistically, no. People have shattered those red spikes, but I doubt that does anything other than scatter the red lyrium, not to mention it does nothing below the surface, where it's infecting the ground. Red lyrium existed before the Breach but it being this widespread is a very new problem, and there isn't much research towards it yet. That said, we do have people working on it. One of those is Christine Delacroix, a spirit healer and former Circle mage. She's the one you'll want to speak with if you want the most updated information."

"I'll make a note to." The prospect of having a research project was a welcome one, even if the substance involved was perhaps more dangerous than he'd normally accept working with. It'd also be something to do, and Waver's hands were itching for that.

"Goodness knows it haven't had a good research project in a while, to the point where it is a hair embarrassing."

That gets a soft chuckle from her. "I won't tell anyone, promise. And hey, that can always change here. As long as it as a practical bent, something that can help us out against what we're fighting, you'll likely have as much support as can possibly be spared. Not that we have endless resources at our fingertips, but still."

"If nothing, I'm good at practical," Waver said. From anyone else, it would have been a boast. From Waver's lips, it sounded more like something he begrudged, a thing born out of always having to be sneaky to make up for not having raw magical abilities.

"And I assume that while your resources aren't endless, you probably have far better access than most. Unless there are competing institutions?"

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