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WHO: Kain and OPEN
WHAT: Catch-All for February! Letter-writing, Wintersend... and of course, the start of griffon bonding!
WHEN: The month of February/Guardian.
WHERE: Various locations in Skyhold
NOTES: Prose or brackets fine, I’ll match! No warnings, unless someone gets squashed by a griffon. Please don't get squashed by a griffon.

Warden Camp

Settled somewhere outside his tent for the moment, Kain is in the midst of writing something.

Dear Inessa, Kain starts, sure that he’ll figure out whatever else he wants to say. It seems a bit foolish. He’s still not even sure what he’s doing or what he really feels at all. He’d just thought that if he wrote it all down, he’d feel better about things.

While he’s in the midst of writing, he keeps furtively glancing up as anyone approaches. Just act casual, just… act casual. “...Nice day, isn’t it?”

Battlements

Maybe somewhere high up will be better to get his thoughts down on paper. So he’s up on the battlements, staring at the sky, and then down at the letter, which is only partially started.... Until a gust of wind comes along and starts blowing the paper away. He cries out in alarm, scrambling to grab it, running along the battlements as he chases after it…

Wintersend: Around Skyhold

Though Kain isn’t much for cheerful celebrations, he does realize what day it is when a large box arrives from his friends back home. Which means he has to go off and visit the merchants to buy a couple small gifts for people.

So, he’s got his arms full of stuff when he very nearly walks into whoever’s approaching, catching himself at just the last minute.

“Pardon me.”

Griffons

“You’ve all grown so much. Imagine... soon some among us might be riding you, if you'll allow it.” Kain walks from griffon to griffon, pausing to admire or pet them on occasion, if they’ll let him. Some do, and some don’t. Some really don’t. He values his fingers far too much to dare attempting much with Buttons, for example. He's also careful to watch his fingers with Buggie, he's brought an extra treat for Chawcey, and he's sure to… have an extra cloth on hand when he pets Slobbaface.

Potato of all of them seems especially excited to see him lately, and today is no exception. He can't resist giving her an extra treat. Make that two.

“What is it, girl? You- well, all right… if you insist…”

The griffon is very suddenly making happy noises as she attempts to rest her entire self against Kain… though she’s most definitely a bit big for that now.

Other?

If you want another prompt let me know... or just throw something on here, it's all good with me!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Doctor nodded once. "They're exciting on the planet Earth in my universe as well. But there are plenty other planets where they still exist in one form or another. Magnificent creatures."

He reached out to pet one...

"Do these speak at all? I can speak dinosaur and baby. I don't know if I know the language they do, but it's worth a shot. But they need to speak first."

"That sounds like a useful language skill... Are dinosaurs creatures you have back in your world, then?" He's never heard the word, but he's always interested to find out more about other world's creatures. Kain watches as the griffon flaps its wings a little, giving out a squawk of approval.

"It looks like he'll accept the petting. His name is Butterball... he seems especially fond of head rubs, if that helps." He returns his own attention to Potato near him, giving her some more fond petting. By now he's spent enough time around them all to know a few of their quirks. "They don't speak to us in human language, though they're highly intelligent, and I'm sure they understand everything we're saying. Maybe you'll have a chance."

"Yes they are. On some planets, Griffons were... kind of evolutionary transition between dinosaurs and birds. Which is why they have such a unique look. Though, every planet I've found them, they've looked very similar."

The language skill is useful. Not as much as telephathy, which if Butterball likes head-rubs, well he'll be able to do a test, learn the language a bit quicker.

"Butterball. Did you give them all food names? We're you hungry when you named them or something?"

The Doctor starts to rub the creatures head. He gently reaches out mentally to see if the creature is receptive to it or not. Interesting... a very different mental pathway than the Doctor has ever experienced.

"Oh, you're a good Griffon, aren't you? Will you speak a little more for me? I think I have more treats for you. Maybe we could be friends."

He'll have to go slow, which is unfortunate. But he's getting some clear indications. The Griffon is content and feels well-treated. Well, that's enough for the Doctor for now.

"Considering this girl here is named Potato..." Kain gives the griffon near him a fond scratch. "I'd say that your theory is pretty sound. Though it's not the case for all of them. Unfortunately, we didn't name them... the woman who did is just fond of these... sort of name." A little ridiculous in Kain's opinion, though he has to respect Maja for taking care of all of them despite the silly names.

Kain watches curiously, for some reason expecting to hear the man suddenly speak in griffon-sounds or along those lines. "They all love treats. I'd say you're off to a good start based on that alone. Well, and they're sure to make it known if they're not happy."

The Doctor smiled at the reply of the names. "Well, as long as they don't mind. Of course, it's not what they call each other...." He closed his eyes trying to translate... "But it would be impossible to speak it properly, even for me without a heck of a lot of practice."

And he was fairly sure the TARDIS translation circuit wouldn't reach this far, so others would actually hear what ever language he spoke, rather than... well they all seemed to be speaking a base-line Earth language. (When one knows over five billion, it gets hard to identify it more specifically.)

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another piece of meat, but he left one hand upon the Griffon, there were downsides to being a touch-telepath.

Kain looks at him curiously. He's very fascinated by this ability of his, he could only just imagine being able to talk directly to animals... What if he could talk to land-bound mounts, too? Or maybe even to dragons....

"It's not? It's a shame that you can't translate them, as I wouldn't mind knowing what to call this girl especially..." Kain looks at Potato and then back toward the Doctor. "Does she have much else to tell you? Potato and I have gotten pretty close lately, and it would be interesting to know what she truly thinks... if... she'd one day like to let me fly with her..."

The Doctor offers a small smile as he feeds and pets Butterball.

"They're Griffons. I assume that sort of decision would be pretty obvious. Just remember to respect them. They are not ones to be subdued. They're far too intelligent for that. You work together as a unit."

He knows a thing or two about symbiotic relationships. It's how he and the TARDIS work.

"That's how the Wardens always operated, in the old days, back when we rode griffons. They were partners in combat. Here's to those days returning." He continues petting Potato, the griffon making happy sounds as she sticks her head back toward him. She is totally asking for more food, he can tell.

"Just one more..." he offers her a bit of meat, then looks toward the Doctor. He's not said this yet, because he himself wanted to be sure, but... it just feels right, somehow. "I think that Potato and I are starting to form such a connection... I've never felt anything quite like this with another creature before." He's definitely bonded with dracolisks, but there's something even closer in how it feels with the griffon.

The Doctor chuckles softly at the observation of the bond. "It's possible, of course. I'm no expert, but typically food is a great way to try to create a bond. Having said that, the real test will be to see how that connection is when food isn't involved."

For not being an expert, he sure does sound like one....

Kain nods agreement, he does make a good point. He knows how other creatures can be, and griffons have that in common with them. Food tends to make friends of animals. "Well, then... I'll have to just spend even more time here among them to be sure of it. Not that I mind. This is one of my favorite places to be, in Skyhold. Their presence is very pleasant."

The Doctor offers a small smile.

"At least you understand you're in the presence of greatness. They are extraordinary creatures."

And it may be a gift of these particular creatures. The Doctor likes animals and babies this go. Though, animals, well, he just treats them not much different than humans, so may be better to say animals like him this go.

"They truly are great, I always feel honored that they allow us in their presence." Being around dracolisks ever since he can remember has given him a lot of good respect for various creatures. He reaches over to give Potato one more treat- she's been extra affectionate, so she may as well have a little something extra. He even smiles, very briefly at her, before the usual serious expression returns.

"Maybe we should have called this the Griffon Age instead, though Dragon Age has a certain ring to it as well. Still... the griffons mean so much to me and my order. I'm glad we can make this partnership with them."

The Doctor feels reassured that, at least with Kain, the Griffons are in good hands. And as long as the griffons are content, that's what the Doctor is most concerned about.

"Your order? What order is that?"

Yeah, he hasn't been good on learning the culture.

"The Grey Wardens, of course. They're our symbol, and in the old days, we fought upon them... So it means a lot to have them returned once again. The Wardens have faced a lot of difficulty lately, so we needed something good to happen." All of that mess with Clarel and the blood magic had messed with their reputation, some. They need to remind everyone what makes them a good order.

While Kain spoke, the Doctor started to properly pet Butterball. "I can see how having them would be so important to you."

He was quiet for a moment or two. He had so many questions. But didn't want to offend anyone.

"Forgive me. There are a lot of... titles that are used here. I get them all muddled up. What are the differences between: the Templars, the Seekers, and the Grey Wardens?"

Because in some ways, they all seem rather similar. He knows there are drastic differences to, but it made for conversation to simply ask people.

Potato settles herself beside Kain, clearly not inclined to go anywhere else at the moment, just happy to settle herself near him while he's here. It means a lot to him, and gives him hope for their continued relationship.

He glances over, knowing these are probably common questions from rifters, and understandably so. "We do seem to have a good share of various fighting-related orders, don't we? I understand the confusion. We Grey Wardens dedicate our lives to fighting darkspawn in particular... and we're the best defense that the world has when a Blight happens. That's when the darkspawn get especially strengthened by the appearance of an Archdemon. Templars serve the purpose of... keeping mages in check, ensuring that magic doesn't become a threat. They're tied to the Chantry. The Seekers are a step above the Templars, their purpose is to prevent corruption among the Templars, and also to deal with especially difficult magical threats."

That's the basics, anyway. Kain will be the first to admit that the Templars and Seekers can go overboard, that protecting against magical threats isn't as... straightforward as protecting against actual known evil like darkspawn.

The Doctor is trying to connect the ideas to what he already knows. It's not as easy as it sounds.

"So. Like a game of Chess. Templars are like the Bishops. Seekers are like the Knights. And Grey wardens are like the... Rooks."

He almost said Pawns, but he didn't want to offend the other man. The Doctor finds the pawns to be the best pieces himself...

"I rather prefer to be a Knight, myself, though the other comparisons probably aren't bad. It seems too, that we have different names for some of the pieces, though... that's interesting. It seems the game of chess is one of the things our worlds have in common."

He expects something like magic to be more or less universal, it's just a given to him that it exists. Though something as random as a game existing on other worlds... that's very peculiar for sure.

The Doctor smirks. He made the right choice in not saying 'pawn' then.

"Of course you would."

The Doctor is aware that some people get the piece confused with how the piece can move.

"Oh, you might call it a 'castle'?"

Since that's what it looks like. Doesn't matter to him.

That's one way in which Kain is all too obvious... he pretty much lives and breathes the whole notion of being a knight of sorts. He's that devoted to being a Warden, that's for sure.

"Yes, that sounds right... and the piece that has the dome on it is the mage... and so forth. The Qunari have their own words for many of the pieces too. I wonder how many worlds have this game in common, though." Or any other games or customs, for that matter. Dragons aren't the only thing many worlds apparently share with theirs.

"Every world I've been to has it's own reiteration of it."

Which is saying something in his case. He smiles at the animal before him.

"Sort of like Griffons."

"How many worlds have you been to, anyway?" He remembers he'd mentioned some things about traveling a great deal, but not he really has to wonder. He raises an eyebrow, also curious about the griffon remark. "And they really all have griffons?"

"Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. I don't really keep count."

Yup he did say numbers that big. And he's lying about keeping count. He always keeps count. He looks over at Kain.

"Griffons in one form or another, yes."

He'll just not mention that on some of those, griffons are imaginary.

"That's a lot of traveling... do you ever tire of it? Or ever want to return home? Though... I can see where it would be rather exciting... visiting strange, new worlds...." Kain himself hasn't really spent much time back home since he'd joined the Wardens, so in a way he can understand the appeal of being away. Though, he can't imagine being so far removed from home that it's near impossible to actually return.

"I'd heard of dragons on other worlds... but not yet about griffons. It's good to know that they, too, appear elsewhere. They're such remarkable creatures."

"I've been doing it for billions of years. So, if I haven't yet, I doubt I will."

His expression might have turned dark at the mention of returning home. Both his homes are pain-filled now: Gallifrey and Darillium. He looked to the sky. "Not that it matters, since I seem reasonably stuck here, but I'd rather travel."

Which is why being stuck here is very problematic for him. He nods and his expression softens again as the conversation returns to the Griffons.

"They are amazing creatures. Though, they are not called Griffons everywhere. So sometimes I've stumbled across them without expecting to."