faderift | OPEN LOG: Establishing a Base in Kirkwall

OPEN LOG: Establishing a Base in Kirkwall

WHO: Many People
WHAT: Cleaning up Kirkwall
WHEN: Cloudreach 1-21
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: This log post is for characters who go early to Kirkwall to assist in preparing it for the rest of those assigned there. We strongly encourage IC discussion of things left to character discretion—someone should definitely do a crystal post to discuss what to do with the personal belongings left behind in the Gallows or what new form the statues should take!

Kirkwall once lived on the edge of the Tevinter Imperium and was home to nearly a million slaves. Stolen from elven lands or shipped from across the sea, all slaves fed the Imperium's unquenchable thirst for expansion. They worked in massive quarries and sweltering foundries that produced stone and steel for the Empire.

The city's complicated past is not easy to forget, history having earmarked many corners of the stone city. A ship approaching the harbor spots the city's namesake: an imposing black wall. It is visible for miles, and carved into the cliff side are a pantheon of vile guardians representing the Old Gods. Over the years, the Chantry has effaced many of these profane sentinels, but it will take many more years to erase them all.

Also carved into the cliff is a channel that permits ships into the city's interior. Flanking the channel are two massive bronze statues—the Twins of Kirkwall. The statues have a practical use. Kirkwall sits next to the narrowest point of the Waking Sea, and a massive chain net can be erected between the statues and the lighthouse, closing off the only narrow navigable lane. This stranglehold on sea traffic is jealously guarded by the ever-changing rulers of the city as the net trolls taxes, tolls, and extortions in from the sea.

—From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi

Establishing a presence in Kirkwall is a delicate matter. First, there's Provisional Viscount Bran Cavin—a man so used to batting back friendly offers of entirely harmless occupation of the battered city-state that his first three responses to the Inquisition's leadership appeared to be slightly personalized form letters. Proving that the Inquisition is here to work and not to conquer will be a process. The first step in that process is the second reason the move is delicate: the only building the Provisional Viscount is willing to part with is the Gallows, left quarantined and unoccupied since Knight-Commander Meredith Stannard's famous crystallization into red lyrium in the courtyard. The Gallows have since overgrown with red lyrium. If anyone is going to live and work there, there's a lot of work to do.

↠ Cloudreach 1-3: The Journey There
↠ Cloudreach 3-4: Arrival
↠ Cloudreach 4-14: Haunted
↠ Cloudreach 14-21: Spring Cleaning

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Provisions are stretched thin; Skyhold was better provided and Skyhold was up a mountain. You can talk sweetly, drive bargains as best you can but at the end of the day they're viewed with suspicion from all corners and they have to put resources elsewhere. Meals need to be filling, they need to last. Araceli could try to argue morale but given where they are and what they're doing, she might as well go howl into the wind for the good it'd do. They'll have better, eventually.

"If they're giving the mages a break," Araceli replies from stirring a pot of stew cobbled together from whatever she could grab that would fill hungry bellies and still taste good (because that matters and yes, she might have thrown a ladle at someone's head but they'd all laughed about it). "I think that means you're on a break too sirena, no?"

It's tempting though, she hardly sees Korrin unless she's falling into bed exhausted and as clean as she can manage.

Pausing to sniff appreciatively at the stew, Korrin grins as she leans in to brush her lips against Araceli's forehead. "It's my version of a break, alright? As long as I'm not energizing or lifting anything, it still counts. Making meals with you is always time well-spent."

Besides, Tama always taught her that food tastes better when one has a hand in preparing it. Though not a culinary genius, she can still follow directions well enough, and that has to count. "I know there's a lot to do around here and will be for weeks, but tell me you're at least getting in some downtime too. Even if it's just a little here and there, breathers are important."

Sighing from deep in her bones, Araceli doesn't really have it in her to argue with Korrin when she has to save all of that for arguing with the people the Inquisition need her to argue with. "If you collapse when you do work then please direct anyone with concerns to me so I can tell them I was right." But don't do that because she can handle things as they are with so many things to occupy her but she couldn't handle a possible crisis on top of that right now and still keep going like she would in Skyhold.

There are vegetables to chop for the next meal though and she directs Korrin to them with a flick of her hand. They'll at least get it done faster if they split it between them.

"Most of my work is a great deal of sitting and talking, or walking and talking, or trying to deal with papers and ledgers and shipping manifests if I'm not here doing the cooking. Things need to simmer and boil, pots need to soak before I can scrub them. Being by the sea and ships again - I know Kirkwall would not have been your choice but," she pauses to try to find the most gentle way of putting it when Korrin is sure to be raw from where they are, with all the history of this place with the Qunari invasion and the Mage-Templar war. "I can't explain truly what it's like to be somewhere more familiar to me. As if I have returned to port after a very long journey. Not to a safe harbour or home but to somewhere I know I can catch my breath."

"Fine, I suppose you're entitled to never let me forget it." Chopping vegetables? That she can do without a fuss. If anything, previous cooking time has made her more efficient in that area. Besides, her feet don't ache for now; in a few hours, it will be a different story and she'll be in dire need of something to soak them in. It's too bad they couldn't take the hot springs with them.

She nods a little while chopping, her smile fading as it's a fact that Kirkwall is definitely not among her favorite places. The fact that she can't even tell herself it's a short-term thing doesn't help, either. "I'm glad for your sake, kadan. You don't need to tell me how you needed ships and sea air, I could see it in your eyes every time we had to leave Val Royeaux or Jader or some other coastal place. A frigid fortress in the south wasn't the place for you, or me."

But....

"...I'd be lying if I said it's easy to be here. At least I haven't seen the formation of a mob -yet- but we're walking on eggshells here and I know it. I've gotten looks, but I don't give a shit if they just look, and I've heard slurs all my life." It's what else they might do, and who might get caught in the backlash, that has Korrin doing her best to behave herself and not invite trouble. "What worries me more is the Veil and how fucking thin it is here, all over the place but especially where the Circle mages lived. One more reason to never, ever live at the Gallows." It's Circle mage hell, why would she want anything to do with it? Enough said.

"There are so few things I can hold over you." Normally Araceli wouldn't stoop to such levels for a joke but right now the smirk is tugging at her lips because why wear the mask around Korrin unless it's for Korrin's own good? The cooking space here is larger than Skyhold's though not exactly designed for it so Araceli has done what a sensible person would do: she requisitioned seating for things you don't have to stand to do. Because she knows how to argue. And apparently people don't really want to argue with the rifter/Antivan/Rivaini/whatever they think she might be when she goes to argue about getting something. So Korrin can sit and Araceli can sit. Seriously, her job is a lot of sitting when she isn't walking to where she'll be going to sit next.

Watching Korrin out the corner of her eye as she works away because the weariness she's felt since they stepped off the ship and the magnitude of the work ahead of them really set in means she might take a finger off if she doesn't keep at least half an eye on her work, she nods and hums at the right intervals. "Part of me still thinks Antiva would be the more sensible option if we had to pick another place given that Rivain has too strong a Qunari foothold with Kont-aar and that the Chantry faithful wouldn't like it but I can see the logic here. Kirkwall is strategic in a very different way to Skyhold." But Korrin didn't come here to talk about the chain that cuts off the single passage, or the taxes and tolls the Inquisition might get itself involved in. Araceli's just starting to see those in her dreams now.

"An awful lot of us are catching looks," she murmurs softly, turning most of her face from the room with a smile should anyone be listening or watching; they're two people in love barely seeing one another, trading something that isn't for other eyes. "There are Tal-Vashoth here from the occupation though, no? I am sure I have seen some and I have heard talk though much of that I will take with a grain of salt. How bad is it at the Gallows? I...I can only go on what others know, I don't have magic."

It may not be strictly necessary yet, but that doesn't mean Korrin won't appreciate the chance to get off her feet for a little while. She's easily situated, more relaxed than is otherwise possible now that she has Araceli for company. Their surroundings may grate on her nerves, but that smile and those curls go a long way towards soothing her rougher edges. That their attention is by necessity divided doesn't change that.

She nods wistfully at mention of Antiva, and why couldn't that be a serious option? "Isn't the ambassador Antivan, and from a noble family? I'm surprised she didn't swing that. Or maybe she tries and the merchant princes wouldn't listen. Fuckheads, it's their loss. We could have been a buffer for Tevinter and the Qunari, and enjoyed Antivan food without all the insane shipping costs." Sigh.

At mention of the gallows, she frowns and shakes her head. "It's pretty damn bad. Red lyrium in too many places, and the veil is so thin and full of holes there that I'm surprised it didn't just fall into the Fade. I'm not going to make morale worse but anything we do there feels like we'd just be slapping a fresh coat of paint on a crumbling building...that's also on fire." No wonder the Seneschal let them have it; everyone else was smart enough to stay away, except them.

Her expression grows sympathetic as she glances over in between chopping. "Yeah, I know it's not just me. At least mages and qunari are known quality, however bad our reputation. People with shards...not so much, not here. I know I don't have to tell you to be careful, kadan, but if it's not enough, please tell me. I'll be there." She cares about not making things worse for her fellow mages/qunari, it's true, but if Araceli needs her, she'll risk all that without hesitation.

"Allegations of favouritism would always be rife given Ambassadors Montilyet's previous occupation prior to all of this and it could even have been that the merchant princes were too eager to be involved. Kirkwall is a known quantity for a lot of people though and more easily controlled. Lacking in Crows." Araceli remembers that first trip to Antiva to rescue Zevran, the involvement of the Crows and those they were fortunately able to bring back for a shot at a life that was theirs and not a thing dictated by others for a price. "Being caught between Tevinter and the Qunari is one hell of a rock and a hard place given what makes up the Inquisition in the end. Shipping won't be so bad as Skyhold. It isn't coming via Orlais or Ferelden then up the mountain. There's only one shipping lane for everyone to come up that Kirkwall can control."

That being said, the Inquisition need to keep on the good side of the person who controls that chain or things are going to get difficult very quickly. There are immediate neighbours now. Each with their own agendas and rulers who might unify at a threat. Kirkwall's had more of those in the past decade or so than Araceli's whole world has had in the lifetime of her, her parents, or her grandparents.

Cutting through a carrot more savagely than is strictly necessary, it stops her from making a face at 'fall into the Fade'. Some things are still sore even months after, even if she doesn't talk about them. What good does it do to talk about a thing that neither of them had control over other than to worry someone enough that it might cause a mistake at a crucial moment? "Then we must hope that Christine's research does all that it can for us." By now they've spoken enough that Araceli uses her first name, not just her surname and a title in front of it. "I need to work there for obvious reasons once there's a space where I will be less in the way outside of going to make and deliver my reports to those who need them but try to think of what it can be. If there are rifts, they can be sealed. Who can say what that will do for the Veil here. And if the people see us able to clear that place into a habitable working space such as Skyhold was...sirena, it will be a good thing." Araceli says firmly because belief matters when it comes to this sort of thing but Korrin knows her, knows that she's queensguard too and that the people need to see the Inquisition be the Inquisition.

As for the other part, she gives her hand a look as she's so often been doing. "Mages and those connected in some way to the Qun whether they wish to be or not are my concern, rifters only so much in however what they do reflects upon me since so many people seem unable to grasp such a basic concept." Is it selfish? Only so much as them being selfish enough not to think of the bigger picture and what's at stake. "I'm Inquisition. I have been for longer than I have been a rifter." The distinction might not matter to anyone else but it matters to Araceli that this is the side she chose and that she's saying it again in Kirkwall when she'd made it plain too in Skyhold.

Whatever could be said about Araceli's views as selfish, Korrin isn't the one to say it. She knows better than many here what Araceli has gone through and endured in her time with the Inquisition, and how Galadriel and others like her soured any chance of rifter solidarity. That's on them, not on her kadan. Pausing in her chopping for a moment, she reaches over to give that particular hand a squeeze. "I know, kadan. You deserve to define yourself as you will. Hell, all of us do. It still pisses me off, that you tried to do right by them only to have it thrown back in your face. So, anyone who gives you shit for your allegiances now can fuck right off...or have me tossing them off a pier. I'll make sure you have a good view."

That pleasant image calms Korrin enough to return to chopping, not wanting Araceli's work to stall because of her. "...you have a point, that rift-sealing could have a positive effect on the Veil at large. I sure as hell hope so; it can't really get any worse." Maker, please don't take that as a challenge. "Strengthening it might take away some of the creepiness...but I still can't stand the place for what it represented. Circles were largely shit anyway, but that was the worst of the worst. That's not something that just goes away; maybe we'll get it to a better state, but I'll always be happier leaving that place than going in.

...hey, speaking of Antiva and easier access, we should take advantage of that. How about a friendly gathering when we have the time, for the people who would appreciate Antivan cuisine? It'd be a nice distraction from -or reward for- all the hard work we're putting into this place. If we're going to make this place ours, it'll need some better memories to go with it."

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to live their own life; Kirkwall is more public than Skyhold, I wonder how many people know that and how many understand it." There's a difference between them and she's had time to think about it on the voyage over, short as it was or when she's been doing some of the more mindless and mundane tasks. Without having their own room to retreat to, a few subjects have to be stepped around carefully but Korrin knows what she did before so she should know what Araceli's hinting at. "I don't know, maybe it was what I did before coming here that has me looking at all this differently? But only throw our enemies off piers, you know exactly what they'd say about you and who knows how many of them might come after you. Or Kas and Taashath into the bargain."

There she goes again really but some things are sewn so deep into a person that they can't be helped and this one has been in Castileans so long that it isn't something that's taught. It's just done. When times are hard, you unite, you think of the whole even as you live for yourself. Rising to toss some of her finished vegetables in the nearest pot - a huge thing of soup that they can stretch for a good couple of days if they add some rice or pulses to it - she considers carefully. "We don't have to live there, if we can, I'd like to live down here by the docks. Back home I lived so close I could hear the rigging in the wind, the sailors calling to one another and honestly? I never stopped missing that for a moment when I was in Skyhold. Still, with the Gallows cleared, can you imagine what it would be like if free mages and so many others were using it for something better? Something more?"

Look, there's a lot to be said for salvage, Araceli isn't one for wasting things.

"Maybe when the last of the Inquisition arrive? Things might be more settled then with where all of us are living and the supply situation, some of the locals might be more accepting too. It'd take more planning than Kirkwall now."

Nodding in agreement to Araceli's suggestion, Korrin leans over as she adds to the pot with her own finished vegetables before starting in on others. Soup is sounding pretty good to her, and she's just grateful it's in the hands of someone who knows that taste is important. Only Fereldans can work all day and be content with bland mush. "I think the time-table is set for the latter end of this month, when everyone should be moved over here. Give a couple of weeks after that, and we could be looking at Bloomingtide. Summerday festivities ought to help the mood, too."

Everywhere in Thedas that's a celebrated day, one for joy and sometimes marriage. Kirkwall will still be damn depressing to Korrin's mind, but she's not against trying to pretend it isn't for a little while. If they didn't have those moments, it would be difficult to endure all this.

Not expecting Araceli to press the issue about living at the Gallows anyway, Korrin relaxes and smiles in agreement. "The docks sound perfect to me. It'd be the perfect excuse for being picked for missions outside it, anyway. We're right next to the ships, we can leave whenever." Or something like that. "If free mages manage to make something out of that place that isn't depressing and horrific and creepy, more power to them. But there are some who probably think like I do, that it'd be better to just tear every last bit down and rebuild from scratch. Too bad we don't have the time or resources to make that happen. Our miracles will just have to be of the flashier, save-the-world sort."

She flashes a smile that soon fades as her mind turns elsewhere. "...I should seek out Kas, shouldn't I? He has a good heart, but he's still young and his fuse is more easily lit than mine. It wouldn't take much here to set it off, and with the way things are now, that could end badly." Sigh, being the adult is such a pain sometimes, especially when she wants to hold that pier fantasy close to her grudge-savoring heart.

"Was there anything done in Skyhold for Summerday? I cannot remember for the life of me." Stirring the pot after Korrin's additions, she grabs a couple of spoons to sip it herself, trying to decide if it needs more seasoning or not as she holds out another one in Korrin's direction. "Taste this."

"It might send the wrong message to the people of Kirkwall though. What right do we have as outsiders - most of us aren't native to the Free Marches in the first place, let alone Kirkwall - to come to their home and make such a huge change. They lost their Viscount to the Arishok and parts of the city were burned, the Chantry was blown up. We have no right, sirena." Saying it as gently as she can since she can't know what it's like to be a mage and live with the threat of a Circle, with that history hanging over her, she still feels the need to say it. "Better that everyone sees it as a fresh start. Look at all the people that make up the Inquisition, that speaks to more than destruction ever could. We can stay at the docks if we are able to, or somewhere as far from the Gallows as we can if not and I will finish painting the door this time."

No she's not still upset about the door Korrin please don't bring up her door again, you didn't hear her saying goodbye to the door you absolutely imagined that. (You didn't.)

As for the subject of Kas, Araceli sighs. She's doing that a lot, enough that she's probably in danger of turning into her mother at this rate. "Let him know he's always welcome with us, there's always going to be plenty of food at the table once that situation is more secure. I never know how to cook for just two and Lux anyway."

"That's what I love about you, kadan. The cooking and the generosity. He loves it, too, I'm sure." Korrin smiles, suspecting Kas will at the very least take them up on the offer of food. He's still very much a bottomless pit that won't stop growing. Now if only they can keep that temper down and him out of trouble....

Right, the spoon. She takes a sip, mulling it over before nodding. "A little more seasoning and it'll be perfect." That's a pretty typical response, as it's rare that she doesn't want more seasoning and even rarer when she says it's too much. The more meals resemble the rich flavoring of the north, the happier she is.

She reluctantly nods, acknowledging that whatever happens, the people of Kirkwall should be the ones to decide the fate of the Gallows. Though she personally can't see a single redeeming feature of it, and wonders at anyone who can do so. "It's hard to have a fresh start when that place is as tainted and haunted as it is. I don't know that we'll ever be able to fully repair it, whatever we do. But I guess it's moot, anyway. It is what it is...and I'll help with the door-painting, any time you want."

There was a silly, foolish thought of smuggling that door with them when they left for Kirkwall, but space was needed for more practical concerns, and where they were going would have plenty of doors anyway. Which isn't to say that Korrin doesn't miss the care and artistry that Araceli put into their own. Hopefully, decorating another one will ease the transition and give them something to smile about.

"We've come a very long way from where we started." In some ways it's proof, or in her eyes at least, of overcoming differences and people pulling together when he'd once called her a demon to her face back when they'd met for the first time. How different things are now.

Nodding since she more or less agrees, Araceli looks around for some of what was brought from Skyhold either legitimately or not, bolstered a little with things they've picked up in Kirkwall. Sprinkling them in, she wipes her hand on a towel, gives it another stir and decides she can leave everything to simmer until the vegetables are cooked through. All her practice at cooking for a building full of people at last comes becomes useful.

"Good thing I never ordered the door handles in Skyhold then. You need to tell me what a cetus looks like or find me a good picture for part of it though, it's only fair if I'm painting that I do the whole thing right from the start." Once she gets all the proper supplies in place but that shouldn't be so much of an issue here. A thoughtful look crosses her face too at the idea of something else she'd been putting off for too long now and that she might be able to get moving with now that they're here.

This idea is going to last longer than a door, and she can take it with her wherever she goes. "You need more things for wherever we stay," she prods when she pulls herself out of her thoughts before she disappears off or maybe falls asleep sitting up like she has a few times recently. "Sometimes I feel like I'm taking over. The ships, the maps, my books, the lute, all of my clothes..."

"I'll do that when we can snag a place with more room. As soon as we get a chance to live anywhere outside the barracks, I say we snag a place where the walls aren't so damned thin and only go part of the way up. I don't like having to keep the volume down, you know." Either in bed or out of it, Korrin's never quiet. Constantly remembering that she has to go against her nature for the sake of being considerate is wearing a little thin.

"And I think I can get you a good picture, sure. The Gallows is still a horror palace, but one good thing about it is that there's a library. I might just be able to find something there. You don't want my impression as a solo reference, because I wasn't that close or I wouldn't be alive now to talk about it. It was fucking huge and there was lightning." Korrin shrugs, sure that doesn't help much but that's why she'll do some hunting at the library later, and hope that restless spirits won't throw too many books at her.

She'll finish her chopping before awaiting further instruction, glancing around. "Where's my favorite stole? I'd have thought he'd hang around here, waiting for us to drop something so he could snatch it." That Korrin would slip him a little something when she could goes without saying.

"It's fun when it's a challenge, don't take the fun out of it." Korrin you're only going to make it worse for yourself because Araceli clearly has confirmation that she has to redouble her efforts here. "Hanging out some of the pelts might dampen the sound a little for the moment, I don't think we need those on the bed now, do we?"

The two of them and Lux? It should be plenty warm when this is the sort of temperature she's more used to. A year and a half and finally she won't be swaddled like an infant in bed every night.

"We can go together? I need to do some reading that isn't just Inquisition business and the mountains of paperwork, after all of this I'll have to catch up with my studies again so who knows when I'll have a chance again." Knowing Araceli's luck she'll end up falling asleep if she's somewhere quiet with the smell of books around her because she misses time in Skyhold's library and the thought of paperwork in any sense makes her eyes burn but she'd make an attempt. For Korrin.

Instead of replying, Araceli leans forward and whistles through her teeth. A few heads jerk her way and from under one of the tables pops a familiar head, ears pricked up before he scampers over. "Ah, there he is. Everyone makes a fuss of him here and feeds him. We're going to need a bigger bed at this rate."

"A challenge, huh? I'll remember you said that when they kick us both out." Because she wouldn't be contributing to that at all, nope, she's the innocent party. "Remind me about the pelts when we get back, and we can get that set up before we forget and someone complains again."

Lux's appearance provokes a warm grin from Korrin, always glad to see Araceli's fluffy child. When he's close enough, she'll bend down to stroke his head and behind his ears. "I can't fault him for going with what works. If I could get away with it, Maker knows I would. Though I suppose that means making those big eyes at everyone and whining like a starvation victim means that you don't have any appetite left in your, does it? No room in your stomach for more? I suppose we'll just have to find someone else to taste-test for us."

Lies, all lies. She just finds too much amusement in Lux's attempts at sounding and looking pathetic so others will take pity on him. Of course she'll attend to his bottomless pit of a stomach, but it doesn't hurt for Lux to put on a show to earn it.

"If you want a library date, you got it. You know I'm always happy to offer myself as a pillow or pair of shoulders for those high bookshelves." And if she falls asleep on Korrin, well, that's one Vashoth that will not be moving. With the amount of work both of them have been putting in, there's a part of Korrin that would be mildly surprised if they didn't both check out after a while. But she'll try to make their visit count for something before that happens.

"I'll write it down, I have to meet with some people later tonight so I'm only back long enough to change clothes. We need to decide what to do with the pelts once we have somewhere that's our, and once everything else arrives. There are things I have waiting for me in Val Royeaux that I didn't see the need to send for until we were settled." Clothes; new dresses can wait until she has the space to store them, Martel's line of credit being good to her, and what she's got with her will do until then or whenever Kirkwall's better markets are open to them, whichever comes first. Also that's an apology for another night where she'll stagger home in the small hours probably just before Korrin herself has to get up.

Geckering (and those not used to the amount of noise a fox can make turn sharply before realising no, it's not a demon, it really is the fluffy thing that steals anything within reach), Lux scampers over, stopping to rub himself against Araceli first. Then he paws at Korrin. "Sirena you can't tell? He's fading away to a shadow. Eating dead gulls and rotting fish washed up on the steps." Rare delicacies Skyhold denied him, he has to indulge whenever Araceli turns his back. It's why he pushes his face against Korrin so he doesn't need to see the accusing look his mistress shoots him.

"No one's repaired the ladders yet?" Not that she minds, and she knows Korrin doesn't but it helps her to keep track of what people have actually repaired or bothered to. And what she should maybe see if she should send over to the Gallows. Lumber is usually plentiful here and they don't lack for workmen really but if it's needed… (And this is why she actually needs to sleep sometimes instead of bargaining and getting in good with as many sailors and merchants as she can.)

"I don't think so, not when they're distracted with trying to make sure the red lyrium's gone and statues don't kill people. Maker, I'm glad I missed that last one." Fighting them could have been a decent way to let off steam, but at the same time, Korrin's paranoid enough about the Gallows without those memories ingrained into her mind.

Used to Lux's noises by now, Korrin only snickers at the reaction he provokes in those nearby. It's almost as good as making people jump when they realize her 'stole' is alive and hungry. (Sorry, Araceli, that nonsense will never not be amusing.) If she had any resistance to his pleas to begin with, that pawing and pressing against her instantly overcomes it. She grabs a small handful of their stew ingredients as an offering for the poor, starving soul. "He's still a very handsome shadow, though. Don't worry, once we get settled in, you'll have even more treats to snag. We can do better than rotting fish, promise."

Straightening after giving Lux a chance to devour his offerings, she raises an eyebrow. "We're going to need a much bigger space for all your things, aren't we? Not that I'm complaining, especially if there are new corsets among them." Araceli didn't spark Korrin's love of corsets (on others, less so herself), but she certainly fanned the flames with those gorgeous designs and even more gorgeous figure. More such eye-candy is always fitting compensation for time away, as far as she's concerned.

"Part of me cannot believe those statues survived the battle that took place when the Champion was there, from the story I read and what I've heard." Araceli dodged it, rapiers not much good against something like those and instead required to seal rifts that had sprung up instead but she'd come to Kirkwall armed with knowledge too.

Rolling her eyes, she mutters the same complains as she ever does about Lux but does it in her own tongue. Korrin's heard them enough that Araceli feels confident she knows them all at least by tone anyway. "It's a fox thing. He'd roll in them too. He's done it before and if I take my eyes off him in the wrong place he'll do it again." She counts herself lucky that fear of corpses kept him from rolling in the muck of the Fallow Mire.

"Martel," one day Araceli's voice will stop hitching when she has to say his name but his loss is fresh enough that it hurts, that it's unfair, that she doesn't manage it today, "threatened to take a cane to the back of my knees if I made a beggar or him, or words to that effect. It isn't that bad but what I do requires me to be appropriately dressed." That also requires her to have enough that she can make sure she doesn't wear the same dresses too often in the same company or wear something that might signal allegiance. Colours and cuts and decoration all send a message, it's just done differently in Thedas.

That might have just been an idle threat from Martel, but Korrin still bristles a little as she hears it. But he's dead and not around to glare at, so she'll focus on Araceli, placing a comforting arm around her shoulders for a moment. "I understand, kadan, and I'm glad you have that to draw upon for when you need it. Fashions change so quickly, especially the Orlesian kind. One fabric could be all the rage one day, only to be gauche the next." It's too dizzying for Korrin herself to keep track of, but she's learned from Araceli about how vital it can be in her line of work. Mistakes can be costly.

And then she cocks an eyebrow at Lux as she stares down at him. "If you think to roll in fish heads and then join us in bed, you're not doing it without the world's most thorough bath first. Understand? No complaining if that happens, it's your own damn fault." She's not allowing their sheets to be tainted with that stench, not matter how much a fox might love it. Gross, man.

"And that's all the more reason to melt them down, isn't it? Who wants to have them come to life again? No matter what shape they take, you can be sure everyone's paranoid about them now." It's too bad, if that hadn't happened just recently, Korrin would have been louder about making one of the Herald. Now it just seems wiser not to have anything, let the open area be change enough.

It came from a teasing and loving place, after all she was monster and terrible darling to him, and if it weren't for him would she have ever come to peace with being able to seal rifts the way she had? "I'll tell you about the throne room one day, the uniforms we wear to match Leandra's gowns, or how we all dress at parties, when I'm less tired." Maybe those rules aren't so complicated because it's just a Castilean thing compared to Orlais but explaining the ins and outs of why they have to do what they do back home wouldn't work when she's cracking her jaw from yawning every other word.

"We don't have a bath." Araceli's complaint is bordering on petulant and she knows it but there are certain things a girl is accustomed to and for her it's a certain standard of bathing. "I'll get you a hammock Lux, you enjoyed being in one on the voyage, I know I did."

(Comfortable and practical, okay.)

Korrin. Korrin no, why would you say that. "Not so loud." People aren't looking but there are plenty of things people were't aware of Araceli ever hearing that she would take back to the rookery in Skyhold every third day after a night of drinking and gambling. But because she has to know these things in order to do her job, or so she tells herself because curiosity is a terrible thing and you'll justify it however you have to sometimes, "Could they?"

Because Korrin has little brain-to-mouth filter, that's why. She's positive everyone is thinking it anyway, it's just herself who hasn't bothered to pretend otherwise. However, despite her extremely blunt ways, she doesn't actually want to damage morale. That's fragile enough as it is, Maker knows. "Fine, fine. I'll lower my voice. And as far as I know, yes, they could. So please stay alert when there, kadan. I don't think that place is going to be safe for the unwary for a long, long time."

And yes, she would readily take on animated statues if need be, but that's a memory she prefers not to have. The Gallows have her on edge enough as it is, she doesn't need more reason for her skin to craw while there. To distract herself, she sends additional morsels Lux's way to soften the blow of him not getting his way in everything when he's a walking stink cloud.

"We have the communal baths, don't we? It's the single good reason to visit that shithole, we can always take advantage of it until we get a tub of our own. And we will, promise. It's on the to-do list, as soon as we have the room for it." Skyhold may have been a magnet for her complaints about what was wrong with the South (namely, the cold) but one thing the fortress had going for it was a spot for a nice soak whenever they wanted it. They may not be able to match that exactly, but damned if she won't try to get as close as she can, for comfort's sake.

Araceli does not pinch her brow because she's in public. Because she's had too much practice before coming to Thedas and more since the Nightingale took her on as a student but she's being severely tested by everything at the moment. The day her temper finally snaps isn't going to be pretty and she can only hope it's a day she gets away from everyone and everything. She doesn't want anyone to see her losing that neat little facade she has, whatever ones they've seen her wear or however long and how well they know her. "Understood, though is there not something. About emotions and the Fade and the Veil and spirits?"

Or is she mixing it up because she doesn't understand it all at the best of times and she's too tired to really grasp it? But some of it just feels like they're setting themselves up for something because they're clinging to the past. Again. Trapped in old skins to be shed.

"Your buildings aren't tall like ours, but I had pretty much one big room just with things sectioned off. Everything came with it, not the dishes or the bedding but the bed, the bath, those things, they were there. I need to find out who won't charge either of us the world for those things." Also lanterns because she'd like to be able to read without dealing with the constant candle situation but that can wait a little longer.

"I would help, but you're cute and charming all on your own. Besides, they'd take one look at me and charge extra because they think my huge-ass self will break everything just by breathing." So insulting, that. Korrin's tread isn't quiet nor is her voice, but she takes care keep her surroundings intact and in good shape, and living among smaller races without horns has already taught her to be careful. "I could totally go for one big room partitioned off in various ways, though. Something nice and open and not cramped as hell."

...and I'm not a Fade expert by any stretch, but there's some truth in things happening on this side of the Veil thinning it out and attracting spirits drawn to that type of emotion. Battlegrounds can attract rage demons, or slums can draw in despair demons, things like that. In a place where so many people were abused for so long, it could easily draw in plenty of both. I could tell you stories about places I've seen where that shit happened, like the forest in Ferelden where so many elves and vints fought over time that the Veil had more holes in it than a lace doily. But no matter how awful those areas were, I always knew we'd be leaving as soon as we could. It's not like we were setting up to live there."

She shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Don't worry, kadan. It's my issue; I'm not used staying in one place and dealing with its accumulated crap, but Tama didn't help raise any delicate snowflakes. I have to deal with it, so I will, end of story."

Araceli wants to argue. Wants to say that no, they wouldn't. That they aren't like that. But she knows the truth and doesn't lie to Korrin about things like that so she only sighs. So she broadens the subject. "If you know anyone else who wants to live by there, let me know, it would make sense to go in and have a plan, either to get a deal on multiple places or so that whoever sells or rents them out knows that people are serious." Multiple options, multiple angles. (Always looking to gain.)

"So." Clearing her throat she lets that sink in, tries to make better sense of it and what might have to be asked. "Demons and spirits reach out...the longer people feel the way that they do, the worse it gets, and then there are more of those things or they reach out. So the serpent devours itself and we are all caught in the same loop." Terrible things happen but this has to work and sooner rather than later everyone is going to have to make their peace with it before it becomes worse and not just for them. She doesn't let her homesickness swallow her the way it could or her frustrations at being here instead of where she could be. No. She does as she's asked when someone asks it. She pitches in. She gets on with it. Fills in the time and makes a damn life.

It's what you do.

Eventually she'll run out of patience, and the end result won't be pretty for the people involved.

OPEN LOG: Establishing a Base in Kirkwall

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