[ OPEN ] The sky is on fire, at least that is the word out in the world

[fleurdesel]

WHO: Adelaide LeBlanc and Various
WHAT: Adelaide returns to Skyhold
WHEN: mid Firstfall
WHERE: Courtyard, Library, Tavern, Garden, Battlements of Skyhold
NOTES: N/A, will update as needed

[ Courtyard A ]

The walk had been a long one. A long, boring, exhausting one- but one she'd made out to the mire and one she made back. Catching the odd ride from a cart on the way up the mountain had made stretches of it easier but her only concern now were a few requests and concerns as given to her by her students through the sending crystals. First thing was first: eat. Change. Rest. Then she could tend to the list of errands that brought her here.

Cloak dusted with snow and weight listing heavily against her staff with each step, she made a weary sight as she strode with unwavering focus to the Hold's doors. Students first, the rest would come later.


[ Gardens ]

Her concerns here were twofold- looking over the elfroot for improper trimming (recreational smoking, Andraste's ass, what were they thinking) and proper growth. Sleeves rolled up, hair bound back she knelt and checked every plant by hand to be absolutely certain, from root to shoot to leaf before moving on to the next. For elfroot, embrium, any plant with medicinal properties in the garden- and then a few that were not. The repetition and examination was soothing for her, a shred of familiarity that reminded her much of the time she'd done the same in the Spire's small garden.

Afterward- well. She began examining trees. For- meddling. Before seeking out a particular dalish mage. While it wasn't the only reason she returned, it had been a large part for her taking the walk back.


[ Library ]

Nothing on the plague as far as Bruce could tell while he was here- she hadn't passed him on the road but he'd indicated that he would be coming down to the mire to help when they last spoke. She did not doubt him his research- but the questioned and rather vexed swearing of the latest round of rifters had her seeking anything on the veil, the fade, and Tevinter magics. She could simply ask Dorian, she supposed, but his was more modern, less ancient. Mug of tea steaming at her elbow she picked through stack after stack of either horribly vague or horribly specific and useless information. Now and then she made a note or sat back, glaring at whatever she read, and muttered under her breath- "Bullshit."


[ Tavern ]

Evening found her at the tavern, eating with her students (glad for her return) and enjoying a solitary glass of wine. No books, no arguments over the state of the garden or the improper use of magic- just a meal. She might even be smiling ever so slightly while she listened to how they spent their days or the progress they've made in their studies in her absence. Now and then she wove her way to the bar proper to order another glass of wine for her other students or a mug of tea for herself, trying her best not to bump into anyone on the way there or back.


[ Battlements ]

Exhausted as the Mire had made her, long as her days have been, Adeliade did not find sleep easily. Between stress and frustration at not finding a cure or cause for the plague just yet or any manner of explanation for the rifters weighed on her more than it ought to. She never pretended to have the answers, never tried to know the whole of a problem. She was a healer and as much as it was in her nature to fix things- she wasn't certain if it was her own mind or Compassion that kept her from rest. Not wanting to bother her students (Roul minded the door in her absence) or anyone else for that matter, most nights found her on the battlements, bundled against the cold as she paced. Perhaps it would wear her out enough to sleep.


[ Courtyard B ]

Later in the day Adelaide can be seen coming up from a part of the hold, carting dust bins and cobweb covered brooms- more than a little dusty herself, and dumping the lot out, beating the broom against the stone side of the building, and taking a moment or two to enjoy the light and the fresh air before she wandered back down. Rinse and repeat, several times, until whatever room she was clearing out below was cleaned to her satisfaction. Needless to say it would take some time.

Comments

[fleurdesel]

"The thing with dreams- even mage's dreams- it is difficult to say what is truly in the Fade and what is of our minds. But our loved ones...what I have read and experienced gives some merit to parts of them lingering to offer comfort and guidance when we have need of them."

[the_effect_she_has]

She looks at Adelaine at that, her gaze sharpening with ... what was it? Hope? "So ... some fragment of my father might remain? To watch out for me?"

[fleurdesel]

"Many schools of thought say we go to the Fade when we die- that we become spirits or wisps of Fade Dreams afterward. What I have seen and felt is enough for me to consider that true." She offers a thin smile.

[the_effect_she_has]

"... You know, that's strangely more comforting then -- 'he walks with the Maker' now. The Maker's rather a cold god, all things considered." She sighed in turn, before looking at her, "Have you lost many, in these wars?"

[fleurdesel]

"More than I can count." Her eyes turn back out to the night, eyes going distant. "I once had over fifty students in the Spire. We had three other Spirit Healers. Now..."

There is her and the few she's managed to save.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss grimaced at that -- students, young people probably around the same age as Prim had been, or younger. She shook her head a little. "...I am sorry. I met some of the monsters, who took away your family from you. They took mine as well. But you and yours, you are safe here."

[fleurdesel]

It was kind for Katniss to say that much. It was optimistic and kind- more than enough for her to bite back that safety wasn't at all certain. "Thank you. I had hoped to find a new home when we left Andoral's reach. It seems to be a place many people, once lost, have come to call theirs."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss blinked for a moment, before she shook her head a little, "Oh ... I don't mean, well. This place is all right, and I have no fear that Commander Cullen will do what he can. I'm saying -- if you need back-up, if you need someone to make sure your kids are safe ... I'll be there."

She looked grave, "I don't want anyone else to feel unprotected. Especially young people who probably haven't seen the outside of the tower until they had to run for their lives."

[fleurdesel]

"Oh!" Well- that. Was an entirely different matter. "Then I appreciate your offer all the more. It is still terribly kind of you."

[the_effect_she_has]

"I don't like bullies, and the ones who lost control and just started murdering your people because 'magic bad, templars good'? Are the worst bullies of them all. Well, outside of blood mages." Maker did Katniss hate blood mages.

[fleurdesel]

"I don't think there is a worse sort of bully than a bloodmage." The whole enthralling portion of their power- that was something she hoped to never face.

[the_effect_she_has]

"You will find no argument here." She stated softly, before she sighed, "They, the red templars ... I came here to protect people from them. As I failed to do in the Hinterlands. I wonder though -- if I just hate them enough to make my sacrifice my revenge as well."

She looked over at the older woman, "Do you wish them vengeance, as well?"

[fleurdesel]

"...Violence begets violence. I do not want vengeance. I want justice- a way to hold such individuals accountable no matter what side of the line they fall on." Mages that lashed out, Templars that took advantage. There was no one answer, no one enemy for all that a single madman tore a hole in the sky. "I want this over, that is all."

[the_effect_she_has]

"Then you are stronger in your morals than I ... and I envy you that." Katniss blew hair out of her face again, before she snorted, "And another good reason I am happy not being a mage."

[fleurdesel]

"It is less a question of morals and more an exposure to the aftermath of violence. You see enough of that, no matter the cause it becomes...difficult to wish for anything like it to continue." Much as she would enjoy being a pacifist, the world was not shaped in such a way to make it possible. "It is not a terribly agreeable existence, no."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss looked at her for a long moment, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully, before she stated, "You were in the worst of it, weren't you? In the Mage and Templar War."

[fleurdesel]

"I would think those in Kirkwall had the worst of it, but I saw more than my share in the White Spire at the end. Even before the war I was sent out often to heal those that fought in skirmishes or cure plagues; accidents are one thing. Intentional violence is... the cuts are cleaner, the intent darker. Battlefields beg for demons." And she would have none of it.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss made a face at that, resting her chin on her knees. "I will never understand that sort of violence. Hurting people, just because you can hurt them. Those kind of templars call mages monsters but they should look in a damned mirror."

A little more heat, "You put in the blood mages and the Tevinter, and you have this whole section of the population that just ... Maker. How can people like this exist?"

[fleurdesel]

"Because, likewise, the noble and just exist. The kind, the compassionate, the few that attempt to stem the tide. To stand against the Venatori, the Red templars, the malevolent blood mages." For there were those that turned to blood magic out of desperation. "People are...people. Regardless or race or standing. Often annoying, generally horrible, and in large groups? Dangerous."

[the_effect_she_has]

"... So what are we? Dangerous and horrible, or noble and just?" She paused, before she shook her head. "No, you're right. We're everything. We just want to do good, instead of bad. That's the difference."

[fleurdesel]

"Intent is everything in the Fade. Here intent- means little. What one does with that intent, that is what matters." And perhaps more than meaning to do well, actually doing well will see the Inquisition through.

[the_effect_she_has]

She nodded her head slowly, before looking at the other woman intently. "Are you ready for that? Living through on your intentions?"

[fleurdesel]

"I have been attempting to do that since the Circles were dissolved. Time will tell if my will and actions match my intent, much as they will for the rest of the Inquisition."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss nodded her head slowly, before she stated it quietly, "I guess we're all going to see what we're made of, by the end."

[fleurdesel]

"Blood, bone, and brute force of will." The saying has the cadence of something memorized and often repeated. "A mentor of mine told me that is all that makes a man."