You drink the wise blood [Open]

[unbrokenoath]

WHO: Kaisa and whoever wants to hang out
WHAT: Kaisa's back from her mission and getting used to Kirkwall and also being Senior Warden
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: Around Kirkwall
NOTES: n/a for now

Hanged Man

It's always been in Kaisa's experience that the first place you go in a new town is the tavern. That is where you're going to get a feel for the pulse of the town, what the people are like, what the gossip is. And how Wardens are going to be generally accepted, because that's been up in the air lately. So, after being gone for what felt like ages, it's only natural the first place she shows up is the Hanged Man. She's in her casual clothes, just in case, but there's no denying that it's a warrior that strolls into the bar like it's her own house, an easy grin on her face.

She doesn't look particularly worse for wear, at least. A little leaner, a little more tired, a brand new scar crossing her collarbone. But her grin is just as energized as it always is, her presence just as loud and apparent, even when she doesn't say anything.

And she doesn't say anything, just yet. Instead, she spends a few moments glancing from bench to beer-soaked bench, and then swaggers on over to the bar, plopping down. It's only after she places her order that she turns back to the tavern.

"Sooo. Who wants to hear a story that is at least 50% true, and 100% awesome?"

Chapel

The chapel in the biggest tower is nice, certainly. Bigger and prettier. But there's a quiet stillness to the smaller chapels that Kaisa likes. She may be loud the vast majority of the time, but when it comes to her religion, she appreciates a chance for quiet peace. It's rarely the same time of day, each trip she makes, but always at odd hours. Too late, too early, right smack in the middle of the day.

And once in a while, she shows up with some kind of decor for the chapel. Nothing fancy or particularly expensive, just things like a string of dried rose heads, or replacing candles nearly burnt up with new ones. It's the little things, really.

After she's finished adding whatever trinket she'd managed to get a hold of, she kneels in front of the altar for a minute or two, before stepping back to the benches. There, she sits silently for some time, staring contemplatively into the distance.

Teren

There's one thing weighing on her chest, after her conversation with Nathaniel. A worry nagging at the back of her mind. Eventually, it's decided that there's only one thing to do, which is exactly what Kaisa usually does in uncertain situations--stand tall and face it head on, with all the poise and delicacy as a druffalo in a pottery store.

So, a few days after her arrival in Kirkwall, she tracks down wherever Teren might be, and throws her arms in the air.

"Teren! I'm baaack! Did you miss me? Did you cry?"

Wildcard!

Throw something totally different at me! Or talk to me and we can come up with something.

Comments

Hanged Man

[theexile]

She'd been here to look after someone injured in one of the back rooms but had been offered a drink on her way out. It had helped that she had been willing to heal without questions beyond wanting to know if there was poison or things like that involved. Kattrin simply didn't care about all that, far preferring to get business done since that was why she was here.

However, an amusing lowlander was declaring she had a story to tell. Honestly this wasn't a favorite place for the Avvar woman but she had to confess that she was mildly curious.

"I will listen to this story you will weave." She smiled a little and rested her chin on her hand, curious to see if she could figure out which parts were true.

[unbrokenoath]

"You're skeptical, and I haven't even had the chance t' lie to you, yet." Kaisa makes a face, holding a hand to her heart. "I'm wounded. To my very core." There's a pause, where Kaisa's drink arrives, and she takes a long sip of it. Then, she turns back to the other woman. "That's better. Anyways, as I was saying." She adjusts into a more comfortable position, holding her hands up.

"Okay, so, I was asked to asked to rescue a ravishingly beautiful Antivan princess, who had been kidnapped by a horde of nefarious bandits. These bandits were clever enough to actually use a base situated in the Deep Roads. So I head on down there, right? Now, I don't know if you've ever seen the Deep Roads, but they got every manner of unpleasant creature cursed by the Maker himself. The bandits managed to use a secret tunnel, or somethin', and if you didn't know how to get in, well. You had every one of those unpleasant creatures you'd have to get through to get to them. Perfect guards, huh?"

Kaisa takes a moment for a dramatic pause, and tilts her head, grinning. "Unless, of course, you happened to be me. Or at least, that's what I thought." She takes another drink, and stares off into the distance thoughtfully. "That is, until I lost my sword."

[theexile]

She wasn't so fond of the taste of ale from the tavern but she still sipped at hers since it had been given to her. It was certainly something to do while she waited for the woman to get into her tale. It was rather compelling too. She felt it was a little unreal but at least it was enjoyable. Kattrin smiled some as she watched her weave more of it.

"You lost your sword? Against so many creatures?"

She lifted her brow then leaned in some more. She was finding that whether it was true or not at least the woman was able to be entertaining. It was something she liked in a storyteller.

"What did you?"

[unbrokenoath]

"Nah, nah. It was the bandits." And the story gets going, Kaisa adds wild gesturing to her words, speaking as much with her hands as her mouth--though her mouth was doing plenty of speaking on its own. "Ya see, they heard I was coming, and they came at me in the middle of--well. I can't well say it was night, 'cause you never really know what time of day it is, down there. But I was sleeping, and a bunch of 'em attacked me. But like I said, these bandits were the clever sort, which is the worst kind, if you ask me. They'd managed to take my sword before attacking me proper. Had t' fight em all with nothing but my fists and my dashing good looks. I managed to take down a few, but once they figured out that I was still a threat with or without my sword, they hightailed it outta there--with my sword, of course."

She takes another drink of her beer before continuing, still all sly grins and smugness. "They probably thought that'd at least make me turn back, but they didn't know me. I was just even more pissed, because now they had the princess AND my sword. Luckily, I wasn't completely unarmed, but all I had was a dinky knife. But a dinky knife is better than nothin', so I kept on trucking. It didn't go over too bad, really. Until I got to the ogre, of course. Have you ever had to wrestle an ogre? Honestly, the worst part of it was its breath."

[theexile]

"One does not usually find ogre where the Avvar live. That is where I spend most of my life until I came here." So no, she hadn't fought an ogre before. But she did know they were vast in size and difficult to beat. Kattrin knew one day she might face one now but there was no guarantee of that. Then again, she wasn't so sure she'd be useful when her skills were not exactly that of a battle mage.

"You were alone to fight an ogre with but a knife? You are an impressive woman to have survived such a battle."

She wasn't quite sure how embellished this portion of the tale was but it was fascinating to listen to at least.

[unbrokenoath]

"You're an Avvar? I knew an Avvar guy, once. Most stubborn, reckless bastard I ever met." Despite her words, it's with an undeniable fond smile that she regards her drink. "But he was a great guy, anyway. Genuinely kind an' everything, not that you heard it from me." There's a flash of--something on her face, forlorn and gloomy, before its brushed aside with a frown, a shake of the head, and a healthy chug of beer.

"Anyway. Where was I? The ogre, right. I'm afraid the rest isn't all that exciting. I managed to clear the way anyway, sword or no, and then when I reach the bandit base, I see the asshole who nabbed my sword swinging it around like it's a toy. Well, I figured, maybe I should just let the Maker do what he will in this case. Just gave a loud shout, and sure enough, the man all but lobbed his own head off with the sword. Either way, he wasn't moving much after that. I grabbed my sword, and took care of the rest in short order. Rescued the Antivan princess, and then had to convince her that it wasn't worth trying to run off with me, however beautiful and dashing I am. But that's nothing I haven't had t' do a thousand times before, I should just start handin' out cards to all the people whose heart I have to break like that." She laughs quietly, waving a hand around.

"Anyway. I get the poor besotted girl home, her dad isn't too happy that she's making googoo eyes at me, so he hustles me compensation and gets me out of there right quick. Which works just fine for me, honestly. Hate it when you have to drag the payment outta someone." And she takes another sip, before finally setting her mug down. "Anyway, at least it wasn't boring. I'll take wrestling an ogre over boring any day of the week."

[theexile]

Was this the same Avvar man that others had mentioned to her before? She couldn't be sure but it wasn't like them knowing him would actually have her be aware of him anyway. If she hadn't known him before then she wasn't going to now. His hold had likely just been further away from her own so she'd never had the chance to know him. Not that it mattered now...

"I was Avvar, yes." But no more. She didn't elaborate though, wanting to hear the rest of this story. Though if the story of the princess was true then she could see why she would be attracted to her. Such confidence and appearance were very attractive. Not to mention those rather brilliant eyes. Kattrin just smiled a little, letting the story finish playing out. "I suppose it would be more exciting to wrestle an ogre over a princess giggling your way."

She gave a soft laugh. "I like your story whether it be truth or not. It has been some months since I was last able to hear a tale so compelling."

Months since she'd last really been in contact with people so it only made sense. Such was the life of an exile.

[unbrokenoath]

Was Avvar. Kaisa catches that, but she doesn't comment on it. That right there is clearly private business, and not the kind of shit you dredge up in the middle of a friendly tavern conversation. Besides, what does it matter? It wasn't like Kaisa cared what the Avvar got themselves up to.

Instead, she just grins widely, looking quite pleased with herself as she holds up her mug to Kattrin, then finishes the beer off. "Glad t' hear that the story went over well. Makes the giant pain in the ass the whole thing was worth it. After all, a boring life only leads to boring stories, you know? And who wants boring stories." A thoughtful pause. "Boring people, maybe. But, clearly, that doesn't apply to either of us, yeah?"

There's another pause as Kaisa hands the mug off to the barkeep, and fishes in a pocket for the coin for it. "Just wait until next time I come in here. Maybe I'll have an even greater story, then." As she hands the coins over to the barkeep, she gives Kattrin a wicked grin. "Or I'll come up with something, at least."

[theexile]

"I could share stories I know next time as well. I am no fine warrior but I have tales I could share with you. Though mine would be entirely the truth."

She actually laughed a little bit, obviously not bothered by the fact that Kaisa's relationship with the truth for her tale was passing at best. It made for a wonderful story, entertaining to say the least.

"It has been awhile since I have shared stories with others so I would enjoy the exchange."