[OPEN] A new world hangs outside the window

[ragweed]

WHO: Kit + OPEN; starters for Cade and Benedict
WHAT: Just a catchall kind of post for early September.
WHEN: Throughout early September; sometime after Benedict is removed from solitary.
WHERE: Halfway between Lowtown and Darktown; around the Gallows, generally;
NOTES: None yet, will update as needed.

It's not quite mending broken fences with the people he's most recently pushed away, but Kit has taken some concrete steps towards getting his shit carefully pieced back together after the end of a particularly turbulent previous month.



I. A HOVEL SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LOWTOWN AND DARKTOWN

This is his home turf now:



It's a ramshackle sort of hole in the wall just off one of the too-beaten footpaths leading from Lowtown down, down into the dark; but in the morning, there's still a sliver of light that comes through the window, and that's enough for Kit.

Sharing lodgings with some other Inquisition personnel, while ostensibly the safer option, just doesn't suit him right now. And besides, one can hardly call his existence here lonely. Just about every evening when he comes home, he's got to escort the same blear-eyed drunk out of his dining area; "c'mon, Chuck, we did this yesterday--your place is just down the street a way's, need me to walk you there?" Etc. (Who even knows how the guy keeps getting in.)

Whoever used to make use of this hovel left some of their belongings behind; at present, Kit is setting out old crates of random junk near the street. Already, some of the stuff is being picked through by street kids and other urchins.



II. THE GALLOWS DUNGEON (BENEDICT)


Word reaches him via some avenue that the Tevinter kid has (finally) been removed from solitary confinement and placed in a new prison cell--this one far removed from the magister's. Kit isn't sure how much interaction those two are allowed anymore, and decides that it isn't his mess to sort out or clean up.

The guards don't give him any trouble when he arrives at the dungeons and states the purpose of his visit, but give him straightforward directions on how to reach Benedict's cell. Down the stairs he goes, a freshly lit cigarette tucked into one corner of his mouth, and he wanders down the corridor of cells--some empty, some sporting the odd occupant--until he finds Benedict.

Kit stops just outside the bars and looks in at him appraisingly. "Hey," he says--it's a pretty straight-forward greeting, all things considered.



III. AROUND THE GALLOWS


Whether or not the Scouting Division has staked its claim on specific hours for the purposes of training exercises, Kit has set aside time in the very early morning for taking certain members of the division (i.e., anyone Beleth Ashara has sent his way) through some remedial work. To him, the exercises are fairly basic: fighting stances; weapons and armour maintenance; how best to engage an opponent in close-range combat when one doesn't have the training in close-quarters combat. He'll save reconnaissance and other skills for a time after he's sure his current gaggle of students know enough to keep themselves alive in combat.

Once the training session is over and his students have dispersed, Kit takes a smoke break by the dingy ferry that shuttles Inquisition personnel back and forth between the Gallows and Kirkwall, then heads up to wherever the Other Powers research offices are situated.

[OOC: Please feel free to interact with Kit at any point during this series of events! Want to be part of the remedial training session? Go for it. Want to ambush him for conversation in the mess hall? Ambush away! This would also be an excellent opportunity for him to interact with anyone else who is part of the Other Powers special project.]



IV. LOWTOWN (CADE)


Whomever previously squatted in the hovel Kit has recently begun renting left behind a few belongings that seem too valuable to just toss out like garbage. He gave first dibs to the homeless and the urchins that haunt the roads and alleys near his new place; however, after a handful of days, there are some plates and other bits of crockery left behind that he's got no use for, and evidently no one else in Darktown does, either. Kit won't get much money selling them, but he knows of a place somewhere in Lowtown that will take donations for the poor--or at least, they did so when he was last in Kirkwall, after the Blight.

So that's where he is now, milling around in Lowtown after dropping off his donations (along with what little money he's got left that he can spare). He's ambling away from the front door of the shop when he spots the back of a familiar blonde head, accompanied by some drooping, hunched shoulders that belong to someone who looks so generally defeated by life that Kit finds he recognizes the fellow instantaneously.

He cuts his way neatly through the middling crowd to catch up to him. "Cade, right?" he starts, coming into his line of sight, and offers him an easy-going grin. "How's it going with you, salroka?"

Comments

[overharrowed]

Julius is somewhat prepared; he wouldn't have raised the question if he didn't expect it in turn.

"It seems to me a giant rip in the Veil is worth everyone's attention. Took me a while to get back to this part of the world, as there's not exactly a lot of people offering to help out solitary mages these days, but I thought I'd do whatever good I could, assuming it wasn't solved before I arrived to volunteer."

Back isn't much of a stretch; even if he hadn't announced his circle over the sending crystal, his accent is squarely Ferelden. Kirkwall's closer than he's been in some time.

[ragweed]

Kit's done enough traveling about the region during his years as a mercenary to recognize the Fereldan accent when he hears it. His understanding of the situation in Kirkwall is that Fereldans generally don't receive the most warm welcome here, after the Blight; still, seems like a crass thing to bring up, so he doesn't.

He kicks back into the tattered old seat left behind the desk; he's got a strange manner for someone taking over a project, but gives the impression he won't be someone unpleasant to do a bit of work for, from time to time. "So, this project," he says, endeavouring to get them back on track. "I think I've got the work for Orzammar squarely covered now--" almost, anyway. He makes a mental note to harangue Oghren later. He gives Julius a look. "I'm not going to throw work at you that doesn't interest you, but if you're keen to volunteer your time, I can definitely find something for you to do." There's a stack of information on the Qun and Par Vollen with Julius's name on it... figuratively, of course.

[overharrowed]

"My understanding is that you're attempting to court support for the Inquisition, broadly, but what are you specifically working on at the moment? I'm interested, but I'd think someone who spent the vast majority of his life in a literal ivory tower wouldn't be the first person you'd think to recruit."

He's more curious than anything; Julius is a man who likes to know things, and there's a great deal about the world outside the mages and the Chantry he still knows very little about, even after a bit more exposure to the world at large.

[ragweed]

It's a good question to ask. Kit cracks a little grin and takes a quick drag from his cigarette. "I don't know how much you know about Orzammar," he starts, gesturing idly to the tattoos that run rampant over his face, "but I'm not the first person I'd put in my current position either." It's not meant as an insult; sometimes unlikely people end up in the right position to make needed changes. "Doesn't mean I don't think I can do the work, though."

As for what the project is working on at the moment? "If you're a researcher, what I need right now is someone willing to help flesh out the gaps in our knowledge about the Qun. Not an easy task, I know, since even folks with more familiarity with the Qun..." He makes a vague, 'who even knows,' kind of hand gesture. "We've got a few people in the project I can put you in touch with."

[overharrowed]

Julius looks well and truly intrigued. "I admit, I've had very little opportunity to learn anything about the Qun at all, but I suppose in that I'm not necessarily far behind most other non-Qunari, regardless of origin. If you're mainly looking for someone to do a lot of reading, maybe have a few conversations..."

He spreads his hands, as if to say, that I can do.

"If you don't mind my starting from more or less total ignorance, I'd be interested in finding out what I can."

[ragweed]

In response, Kit quirks a slightly broader grin and raises his eyebrows. "This mean I've successfully recruited you?"

[overharrowed]

Julius laughs, frank and warm. "I suppose it does. I don't know yet how much time my other commitments will take, but I came to Kirkwall to help. It would be a bit contrary of me to get this far and refused. I'm just accustomed to people expecting mages to have no interests outside magic, it's a refreshing change."

[ragweed]

"Well look at us," Kit replies, chuckling, "bucking trends and expectations left and right." He takes up his cigarette to take one more drag from it, then extends his free hand across the table in an offer to shake Julius'. "I'm glad to have you on the team, salroka."

I did the ooc sign up, now it's Real

[overharrowed]

Julius shakes, firm but not overbearing. (It's not his way, and even if it were, he's not stupid enough to think he'd come out on top of that particular contest.)

"Glad to do what I can. Would you suggest I start with the reading or the people you have in mind for me to meet? I'm open to either."

+1 mage to the Other Powers project, wooooo

[ragweed]

(Kit doesn't make a habit out of bench pressing his team mates, not to worry.)

"I'll call a project meeting at the start of next month," he says, "we'll get everyone properly acquainted with each other then. I've got some ideas I'd like to cover too."

The meeting is, for all intents and purposes, over at this point, and Kit starts to organize his papers in preparation for heading out for the day, too.