[Open] But when we are apart I feel it too

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and open
WHAT: General stuff around Kirkwall
WHEN: Through Bloomingtide
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Nothing as of yet!.

1. Making the Band

The crowd is the new mix of normals, people Anders is starting to learn by face though he's avoiding names. Most here do, which he's thankful for. What's not normal is that Juke Bachs has dropped by, and has been singing a new song about two or three times an hour. On top of that, he's been getting some of the more drunk patrons involved in some... Anders can only call it a dance because they're trying to move in time to the music. It involved weird patterns and flailing limbs, and he's deliberately sticking around to keep watching this.

He leans over when someone sits next to him, not quite looking at the person. "A copper on the blond one falling over in the next minute." It seems a safe bet. That guy's more coordinated than the really beardy guy, but he's already tripped over his feet enough that his palms are scraped and nose is bleeding.

Juke starts in on another round of what's apparently called Tearin' Up My Heart, and Anders takes a sip of his drink, very well pleased.

2. CSI: Thedas

He's taken a larger, unclaimed room for this, coating it in ice, using runes to make sure the ice doesn't melt, and he's also gathered as many tables as he can, lining them up together and creating a rather large, cold surface. On that surface is most of a corpse of a high dragon, many parts already cut open so he can get at the heart of the matter. So to speak.

There's a sign on the door warning about what he's working on, doing more research into the taint and the Blight, but that's all - the last thing he's going to do is barricade a door. He doesn't need to invite suspicion or fear any more than his breathing already does.

Those who might be scientifically inclined and he trusts to not take too many risks of exposure have been invited to join him in trying to see what they can learn from how High Dragons deal with the Blight.

3. Call the Anders

Most days, his hours in the medical rooms in the Gallows are regular. There's always more work that needs doing, after all, herbs to be chopped, processed, and mixed into potions, bandages to prepare, healing to do, and even housecalls to make from time to time. Purrelden knows not to be on the table while he works, which is exactly why she's on the table the moment he's turning to greet whatever patient or person has walked in the door.

[ooc: if you take this option and your character is injured/ill, please drop me an ooc note about what he'll find when going to heal them.]

4. Dr. Anders, Medicine Man

There are whispers in Darktown, spreading slowly, that their healer is back. Follow the lit lanterns, they say. Not every day are they lit, and there's no particular order to the days that they are, which is as deliberate as the moving of the clinic down there every time. ...Until today. Today, he's found a small building that two of the Darktown gangs have been fighting over for months. For equal healing for both of them, they're letting him use it. It's win-win for both. Neither is losing territory, and both gain a healer. It's a double win for him too, because it means that he has protection.

Today a new whisper joins the others - there are some tables and chairs, and between healing, he's offering reading and writing lessons. For free, no questions asked. He's also looking for assistants, if there's anyone out there willing to instruct down here or help heal or do prep work around the Clinic. There's a lot to do when setting up something that's going to stand for a while.

5. Anders Howe, Pet Detective.

Dogs and leashes are natural combinations. They take to it well and quickly. Cats and leashes... not so much. Purrelden's legs have apparently stopped working in the middle of the market and she's limp, giving him the saddest expression.

"You're fine," he tells her. "You can walk. This is to keep you safer, and to protect Merrill's twine. Please get up."

Pleading with a cat doesn't seem to ever work, and more than a few are staring at him, but at least they're staring at him for this and not other reasons. He looks up, meeting gazes and giving a slightly sheepish smile and shrug to anyone familiar.

"Cats," Anders says as explanation.

6. Wildcard me!

[ooc: Got something you want with Anders but it's not here? Toss up a header. If you're not sure about it, go ahead and poke me on Plurk at Nadat or on Discord at Nadat#4647 and we can chat!]

Comments

[sans_harmony]

There are indeed many embarrassing reasons why someone might hover shamefacedly around a free clinic without wanting to admit why they've come, but none of them have occurred to Diwaniya. Probably for the best.

Well, there's nothing for it. He draws himself up to his full height and tries to imagine he isn't wearing rags. "I've heard that you're offering reading and writing lessons. For those of us who are new to this world, and have...lost the ability."

And for other people, sure, but Diwaniya's in a hurry to distance himself from them.

"I don't think I'll have to take up much of your time. Is it true that you're not charging for the lessons?"

[justice_is_blond]

Lost the ability. Interesting. Is it because of the new language, or something else? Also interesting that the man is implying he's a rifter while choosing to dress as a mage native to Thedas. He has to be a mage for that.

"That's correct, all of it." Not just those new to this world, either. Many down here have never had the chance to learn how to read or write, and he wants to give people options and ways to escape Darktown. It's especially useful for them to get options from a mage.

"I don't think I've your name yet, but yes, all are welcome to learn here and for free. I'd like it if some, especially the mages, stick around and pass on what they learn, but it's no requirement."

[sans_harmony]

"Diwaniya. Shaper Master Diwaniya, of Terrestia." His magic is all he's got left here, and only a fraction of it at that, but he still bristles ever so slightly at being called a mage. Mages, in his world, are nothing but the also-rans, the not-quites. To be a mage is the consolation prize for those who weren't smart enough to be Shapers--and damn it, whatever else anyone might have said about him, Diwaniya was a Shaper.

But that's impossible now, and in the absence of it, "mage" is the only word left to him. It's better than nothing. He'll take it.

The rest of it mystifies him. "I don't understand. Wouldn't everyone be better served if the mages simply went on to conduct their own research instead? There don't seem to be enough rifters here to necessitate a full teaching staff just for them." And surely nobody else would be worth bothering with. "Although, of course, you shouldn't have to do it all on your own. I'd be more than willing to help once I'm able."

[justice_is_blond]

There's a stiffness there that Anders can't quite place. Is it because he asked the man's name? Maybe it's that the title holds no meaning here and Diwaniya may be used to it. Anders would put stock in that theory given that there are poor people all around them and this mage is missing who else needs to learn.

Anders jerks a thumb in the direction of a table where a few just-scrubbed-clean Darktown children are practicing their letters. "We don't just teach Rifters here. This is about reaching out. Building a better future for us and them, because there's no greater ally than someone you've shown kindness to. And trust me, when Corypheus is dealt with, the rifters and mages will need every ally we can get."

There. Personal gain. That tends to help encourage people to help out. Anders isn't above it when he's just meeting someone. This isn't just about building allies, though. This is about building a Thedas that can grow past its issues and become somewhere great, somewhere there's hope and opportunity.

[sans_harmony]

For all Diwaniya's vocal disdain for the "swamp-grubbers" he governed back home, he does understand what Anders is getting at. Where he comes from, education and rank are one and the same, and nobody important enough to claim the title of mage would deign to run a school for the common rabble--but he knows, too, how crucial those commoners' support really is to the smooth operation of society. If someone who knows this world from the inside says teaching peasants to read is the best way to earn necessary goodwill, then he won't argue.

"If you say so," he says. "I'd rather not escape one rebellion simply to fall headlong into another."

[justice_is_blond]

"You're in the wrong world for that." Anders' voice is very dry. He needs to put together some sort of starter information pack for Rifters one of these days, he thinks. But for now at least he can explain a few things.

"It's rebellion that lead to mages being free and not caged as we had been. And continuing to rebel is how we'll keep that ground after people are no longer united against a great threat. If we've not found a way to help Rifters return to their homes by the time Corypheus is defeated, you will likely face the same fate as native mages. They'll want to round us up and control us again."

Rebellion is crucial.

[sans_harmony]

"I'm in the wrong world, full stop." It'll be a while before he's willing to stop sulking about that, because there's nobody quite like Diwaniya for wallowing in surliness. But he can work and sulk at the same time.

He doesn't like what he's learned of Thedosian politics so far, not one bit, and he's heard from multiple factions now. It's one thing to have to fear being executed here for carelessness with his own magic, when he'd spent seventeen years back home jumping through every hoop necessary to prove he could be trusted with it, but he doesn't know any of these native mages at all, or what their qualifications are.

"But surely control is necessary," he argues, sounding just a bit scandalized. "You can't just have people using magic without some kind of regulatory board. It's a recipe for disaster."

[justice_is_blond]

He won't argue the wrong world thing. From the sound of so many other worlds, Thedas is far from a good one, forget one of the best. It's a mess.

The second part is just as easy to address.

"Of course," he says, voice asking how the other man could make assumptions like that. "Of course there should be oversight. I don't suggest removing the Templars altogether, because there are those who are dangers in every group. What I suggest is stripping of their status as jailors of all, and tasking them more as guardians for those who need it, and a form of police for when magic is used harmfully. And the Templars, in turn, should be overseen by mages so that when a line is crossed, justice can be had. We need a system that is balanced, not one that treats mages as people who must be caged and sets them up again for the fampant abuse of the former system. I seek equality, not the means to create another Tevinter Imperium."