there ain't language for the things i've seen

[alankazam]

WHO: Alan + Kain, Medicine Seller, Thingol, Bruce, Jaime + OTA
WHAT: Gotta catch 'em all
WHEN: Post-Winter Palace
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: N/A

Starters in comments. If we agreed to do something and I missed you, just let me know on Plurk or Discord (oeste #8807). :)

If you'd like a specific starter, or if anything needs altering, please feel free to hit me up. If we have a Winter Palace Pt. II thread going, I'd like to finish those off first!

Comments

JAIME

[alankazam]

The battlements are a peaceful place to walk, most afternoons. There's the steely pace of guards back and forth, snatches of conversation caught beneath the rushing wind, no singular noise so loud or unique that it cannot blend.

And then something — A particularly reedy hart? A warbler with impressive range and volume? — starts up on the far wall. He's running before he knows it because for all he knows that's the sound rifts make when they open, when,

Alan stops short, skidding against the stones. It's. Just that guy, that one from the Ball. The one whose name and, well, everything are a little fuzzy now. He's breathing into some kind of strange organ. A device? Alan hadn't pegged him for a mage.

But that wailing.

"Are you alright?" He calls, breathless.

[wontforgetyou]

The guards tend to leave him alone. Most people tend to leave him alone, as a matter of fact, which he'd like to think is out of kindness but he suspects is more out of a desire to stay as far away from the bagpipes as possible.

Having someone running towards him is almost unheard of - and enough of a surprise, as a matter of fact, that he stops mid note, the pipes making an almost unholy sound that he ignores in favor of giving Alan a fairly startled look. He remembers Alan from the Ball well enough, but still, he hadn't quite expected that reaction. It's enough to get his eyebrows to arch up, high enough that they wind up disappearing under his bangs in short order.

"Aye, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

[alankazam]

"I heard screaming." A bewildered glance to the bagpipes. Could there be a spirit or similar, trapped inside? He lifts a bandaged hand in tentative question. "I thought, perhaps — a Rift —"

But clearly not.

"— What are you doing?" He finally bursts out.

[wontforgetyou]

Clearly not, but that comment gets his eyebrows to arch up even higher than before - not that it's possibly all that easy to tell, since they're well and truly hidden under his hair by this point.

"Och, rifts don't sound a thing like the pipes. Besides-"

He shifts one hand off the pipes so Alan can see the mark. It's quiet, for the moment, only its usual faint glow coming off of it.

"I'd know if there was one nearby. It'll react to that. All I was doing was getting a wee bit of playing in while I had some time to do so."

[alankazam]

His eyes flicker between the bagpipes, Jamie's hand, and back again. His mouth opens, then shuts. It's clear he doesn't know which to ask about first.

Alan eases forward slowly now, in the mincing manner of a bird; head tipped with wary curiousity.

"It's an instrument?" Or a game, but that seems less likely, with the sound. "Is it meant to sound like that?"

No offense, and all that.

[wontforgetyou]

At least Alan's in the right ballpark now, so even though Jamie's mouth winds up tugging off to one side, it isn't as sharp a gesture as it might have otherwise been. The reaction seems more curious than appalled - at least for right now - so he can deal with that.

"Take it you've not heard me playing this before, then. The answer's yes, though...to both. The folk in Starkhaven call these bagged pipes. Back in my home, we'd call them bagpipes. They're no so different, really."

[alankazam]

"Ah," Alan nods sagely. "Because of the bags."

And one presumes: The pipes. He reaches out a cautious hand towards them, pulls back as he remembers himself.

"Can I?" May I, he means, but he's at least bothering to ask — the small benefits to being stuck human-shaped and sober. "It's strange, that they should be so similar. Even the elves that come here are different. But not the music."

Or the way that Jamie speaks. Bits and pieces of Halamshiral are beginning to resurface.

[wontforgetyou]

"And the pipes," Jamie adds dryly. Still, he doesn't seem at all offended by Alan's curiosity - or the use of 'can' instead of 'may', for that matter. He's not so formal as all that, and only a matter of seconds pass before he holds out the pipes for Alan to examine.

"So long as you don't throw them over the battlements, sure. They were a gift, and I'd not fancy having to try and get ahold of another set anytime soon."

He pauses for a moment, then gives the pipes a tiny little shake, a brief discordant note sounding as a result.

"Go on, then. Let me know if you've questions or anything, eh?"

[alankazam]

Another moment's wariness, and then he reaches out, the sudden flicker of a smile overtaking his face. It's a small, unguarded thing, lacks the manic tilt of its presence at the Ball.

"Thank you,"

Because he means it. They're a strange thing, but clearly significant enough to Jamie. Alan doesn't keep much of his own, but he puts a certain value to objects. He grips them gingerly, gives a slight start as he jostles noise from one, before cradling it in an imitation of Jamie's earlier pose.

"Can you just blow into it anywhere? Like a flute?"

That is definitely not how flutes work.

[wontforgetyou]

While he's sorely tempted to point out that, no, that's not how flutes work at all, Jamie bites his tongue. At best, it'll only confuse the issue, and the pipes are confusing enough by themselves as it is without bringing other instruments into the picture.

Instead, he simply shakes his head, and points to part that's sticking up from the top of the pipes. It's slightly shorter than the other pipes, which will hopefully help it to stand apart from the rest of the instrument.

"Ah, no. You want to use this here. This is the blowpipe, and there's a wee mouthpiece on top of it, which is what you'll actually be putting in your mouth. That's to help you direct the air. Then this part that's hanging down here is called the chanter, which is where you play the melody. See how there's holes there, and there's not on the blowpipe?"

[alankazam]

"I see," And he's squinting where Jamie points, so he must, at least a little. "Like the Chant. It sings."

Of course other worlds would have the Chant. They've doubtless the same Maker.

"And then you just squeeze it, the air. Between the bags?"

[wontforgetyou]

"Aye, well..."

He's still not completely sure if all the worlds do have the same Maker, but when it comes to Thedas and Earth there's enough similarities between a couple of the religions that he can believe it's a possibility. Whether or not the pipes are the same as the Chant...well, that's different, but he doesn't particularly care to argue the point right at the moment.

"Suppose singing's one way of looking at it," he says instead, adding in a small shrug. "It's a wee bit trickier than that, though. You've got to make sure you've got the right amount of air in there while you're playing, so you'll always be adding air through the blowpipe while squeezing and playing the melody at the same time. Once you've gotten that down, then you're good. I could show you, if you'd like."

[alankazam]

Alan hands them back without protest, edging a short distance back to peer.

"How'd you even learn all this?"

It seems a dreadfully arcane art.

[wontforgetyou]

"My father taught me, just like his father taught him."

There's a faint, but unmistakable note of pride in his voice as he says it, and he shows no hesitation as he takes the pipes back and settles the bag under his arm. A quick glance to make sure the various pipes are where he wants them to be, and he gives Alan a brief, but broad grin.

"We're a piping family, you could say. Now, I will warn you it's a wee bit loud if you're close, but if that'll not bother you, I'm ready to go."