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

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"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.

"Yeah, something like that. But just because it's likely doesn't mean it's inevitable. There are a shit-ton of factors that go into that sort of thing, and sometimes they don't all align. That can be described better by those studying the rifts, though. I just know that if we have to stay here, then I'll fight for the chance to make it even a little less of a clusterfuck. It's better than sitting around and doing nothing."

Korrin smiles wryly, always choosing to fight if there's the slightest of chances. It's one of those traits that has the potential to go either way, in terms of helpfulness. "When we're both off at the same time and not dying to catch up on some rest, let's find a good view at the docks and unwind, eh? I'll even manage some parkour if that's what it takes."

Araceli nods even if she knows that this is Thedas where it likes to repeat itself time and time again, the same wars, the same conflicts, the same struggles, all of them played out every age or so to see if the world has decided upon a victor or if someone will move up or down in the pecking order. "Let us hope the Inquistion can do better," she decides, even if there are perhaps a few too many of the old guard lurking around than she would like.

Sometimes you need to cut away at it, sweep the legs out from under them and keep walking when they scream at you about it. Leave the relics behind to be forgotten about and either fall in line behind you or remain where they are as a lesson.

"If you're going to do that you have to come to the lessons, same as everyone else." No you don't get a free pass just because you've been dating the instructor for over a year with the sort of gifts traded that some people might consider it a marriage perhaps or a statement of intent if either of them were that way inclined. "When I have the lessons up and running again since I can do them properly here for the first time."

That gets a laugh out of Korrin, who knows better than to refuse such a request. "Fine, I'll step up my game. It's not like I'd want you to give me slack, anyway." Maybe she'll never be Araceli levels of awesome when it comes to climbing and parkour, but that doesn't mean there's no hope for her, and she's just as willing to earn it. "Pick a spot up high and when I can reach it, we'll have that date."

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OPEN LOG: Establishing a Base in Kirkwall

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