[CLOSED STARTERS + OPEN] Month long catch all

[aceso]

WHO: Christine + closed starters + OPEN
WHAT: Meeting new people and catching up with friends/acquaintances throughout Firstfall
WHEN: spanning the entirety of Firstfall whenever convenient for you character
WHERE: The Gallows, the docks

{ open to all: wildcard option }
Christine's schedule rarely deviates. She arrives at the Gallows in the morning, heads to the kitchens for tea, then her office where she spends a few hours. If it's a red lyrium research day, she can be found heading towards the basement where they have a warded laboratory for experiments, though no one except her team is actually allowed inside, so you'll have to catch her on the way. If it's not such a day, she heads to the infirmary and heals patients for several hours as well. Add in lunch and moving between rooms and buildings to see people, and she's pretty easy to find.


{ closed to adalia }
The day dawns foggy with a crispness to the air as people awake and attend to their duties at the Gallows. For Christine, it's an early morning trek from her house in Lowtown to her office in the central tower, but today she stops first at the infirmary to see to her patients from the day before. The fog closes in around the island and she steps out from the infirmary, producing a small wisp of light that she sends out ahead of her to light her way to the tower. Along the way, she nods politely to those she passes, well aware that some still don't like seeing a mage perform magic openly.

Though she has reports to read in her office, she's in no rush to start, and will be making herself a cup of tea before she dives in. That time can also be used for conversation, should anyone need her.


{ closed to skadi }
Though she's spent time with Skadi in the past, there is still much about the woman Christine has yet to discover. In particular, she's interested in learning about the hold gods that Skadi grew up with, and what being a Spirit Warrior is like. One afternoon, she sets aside her work a bit early to meet with Skadi over at the stables, where they can take out horses and have an open conversation without eavesdroppers.

She arrives promptly at the time they agreed upon and gives Skadi a smile. "Good afternoon. As you can imagine, I am looking forward to discussing the Fade and spirits with you."


{ closed to carlos }
Now that he's more settled in, Christine is happy to take Carlos under her wing and instruct him with working as a healer within an Inquisition base. After showing him around the place, she's set him loose to tend to patients, with herself hovering close by in case he needs help or a second opinion. She's also ready to swoop in should she feel he's making a mistake, but she hasn't seen reason to just yet.

Standing within earshot, she organizes a set of potion bottles so their labels all face outward again, and waits to see how he handles this latest case.


{ closed to elros }
Despite the Inquisition's remodeling, Christine really only stays in the Gallows for a few hours at a time because her office and the infirmary are there, not to mention their research laboratory for red lyrium, tucked away behind warded walls in the basement. She will never be comfortable in a place where her fellow mages as well as Tranquil were treated so horrendously by the Templars. Their pain and sorrow will forever be etched into the stonework. And so she can often be found down at the dock where the boats transport people from the island back to Kirkwall's docks, staring out across the water. It's better than sitting in the shadow of those imposing towers, much like the shadows of the Templars who used to breath down her neck at Montsimmard.


{ closed to myr }
It isn't often that Christine speaks out about her thoughts on the Circle system. She well knows that Montsimmard Circle was more lenient than other Circles, but that didn't mean it wasn't a prison in her eyes. Yet the fact she doesn't voice these thoughts out loud means assumptions might be made, such as today. Out walking in the Gallows, Myr's sensitive ears will likely pick up the end of a conversation between Christine and another woman.

"It's just... well, you seemed so level-headed, I only assumed you were a Loyalist."

"Libertarians are not without sense. Those who claim the title, then use blood magic or make deals with demons to destroy the innocent are not Libertarians; they are selfless and psychotic. My ideals are nothing like theirs."

"They are still far too lenient, in my opinion. And as this meeting is for Loyalists only, it seems I can't invite you after all."

"C'est la vie. I wish you a good day, Enchanter."

The other woman sniffs in distaste and her footsteps loudly clack across the stone as she leaves, but Christine stays in place a moment longer before she spots Myr and heads towards him.

"Hello," she begins, unsure if he needs help or if he's perfectly capable of navigating the Gallows unaided. It seems presumptious to ask, but a healer always wishes to help.


{ closed to thranduil }
Today the weather has broke from the near constant cold and drizzle, leaving the sky a brillant blue dotted with flocks of birds migrating north towards warmer temperatures. But Christine is unable to see it, as she's been inside all day, reading reports. And now she must put off going outside for a little longer, as Thranduil has requested to see her. Setting aside her paperwork, she rises and stretches, before making her way towards his office, walking at a leisurely pace because she's always early. Knocking on his door, she announces herself.

"It is Christine Delacroix, ser."


{ closed to the medicine seller }
Christine is incredibly work-oriented, and it's not unusual to see her going over reports, supplies, and the like even when she's supposed to be taking a break. There's only so long a person can work around red lyrium before they need a week long break, and she's in the midst of such a break right now. And even though she's out of work to do, still she heads to the infirmary, reorganizing what's already been organized by herself.

Eventually her hands are empty, there are no patients, and she has to admit defeat with a sigh. Time to walk around the Gallows to see where she can be of use.

Comments

[aceso]

"I too enjoy getting out of the city. It can become stifling." She gestures over to another area of the stables. "Let me get Ambrose saddled and I shall meet you outside."

It doesn't take long to get her horse ready. He's a gentle giant who stands still and silent as the gear is put on him and Christine pulls herself up. Soon enough, she comes out, stroking Ambrose's mane as she goes. He now sports tiny braids running throughout his mane; a habit Christine has taken to from her time with the Avvar. They do love their braids.

[iceblade]

Skadi's patting Kodlak when Christine arrives, but she straightens up and grins upon spotting the latter. The braiding doesn't go unnoticed and her grin widens. "Nice braid-work on the mane, it suits him."

Kodlak grunts, fairly itching for them to get going, so she obliges him, tugging on the reins. "Let's go, then. I've a camp in the foothills, we can always stop there to resupply if need be."

[aceso]

"Thank you," she states proudly. Christine has lucked out with Ambrose. He's been such a delight to ride and take care of, and such a handsome boy too!

Urging her horse onward, she nods at the information. "Convenient. Do you split your time between the city and your camp?"

[iceblade]

Kodlak's happy to get going, but Skadi urges him to slow down just a little, while they're still in a populated area. "I would, but the mounts need tending. Sometimes I can get away, but if there's no one to fill in for me, I remain put. I don't mind too much when I can focus on our four-legged companions. They understand me better than most lowlanders, no offense meant."

[aceso]

"I quite understand. There are a great many differences, but I find that is what I admire so much." Ambrose is calm as they head towards the outskirts of the city, seemingly content in any situation or place. The only time he gets even a little testy is if another horse seems to be a danger to Christine, like rearing back or snorting at her. For him, this is just another pleasant excursion.

Once they start getting towards the outskirts of Kirkwall and the crowds have thinned, Christine adds, "Will you tell me a little of your augur and your hold gods?"

[iceblade]

"Ah, yes, the augur. Wulfric. He's a good man, taught us how to listen to the gods and pay them respect. Freya's apprenticed to him and he's the closest we've got to a father figure, which is convenient since he's the lover of our mum."

She flashes a grin at that, then observes Kodlak for a moment but the hart has taken well to her excursions and doesn't seem too skittish. Still, she won't push him and it's better they're out of the city sooner than later.

"He's patient, humble...well, as humble as an Avvar can ever really be. Quiet, too, but he pays attention, sees things that others miss. When a child of our hold went missing, he was the one to find him, with the help of the gods and a little tracking."

[aceso]

"I wonder if that is a trait all augurs share. The ones I have met are both quiet and humble too. The spirits must see that and latch on." Her own spirit came to her because she sensed that Christine was lost, her faith waning, and of course a spirit of Faith would want to be of use to a soul such as that.

"Will your sister become the augur someday?"

[iceblade]

"Maybe? When she's ready for it. Or she might go to another hold and become their augur, instead. Right now, she still has a teacher, a spirit of Fortitude. When she's done learning from them, we'll see." Skadi shrugs, quietly hoping that wherever she goes it won't be that far from the hold. It can't be helped that Skadi herself has to be, for now, but their mother should at least have one of them.

"I think you're right, though. They know who is best-suited to speak for them, and it shows. It'd be a poor augur who did not pay attention to the signs around him, and use that for the good of the hold."

[aceso]

"Oh! Sam's spirit companion is Fortitude as well," she says. And an excellent spirit it must be, because not only has it helped Sam heal patients, but stay alive in battle as well.

"It was rather fascinating to witness the augur and spirits together, especially the first time. I was Circle-trained, so as you can imagine, I was taught not to trust spirits at all. It was only during my Spririt Healer training that I realized this relationship would never work if I was forever building up walls between myself and the spirit."

[iceblade]

Skadi smiles in approval at Sam's choice; that will make her all the more positively-inclined toward him whenever they meet. "Aye, a true partnership needs some trust or it will never work. That isn't to say that there aren't dangerous spirits out there, but the lowlander way of labeling or treating them all as demons does them and us a disservice. It's the same with placing walls between the physical world and the Land of Dreams. Both are a lot more intertwined than many lowlanders realize or want to believe. Ignoring one side only leaves you blind to the whole picture. That's why I started my training; I wanted to see the world a little more as Freya does. I don't have to be a mage to do that."

[aceso]

It took Christine some time to unlearn what she'd learned. Faith helped with that, of course, but it was really Asher and Gjurd who both left her reevaluating the relationship between spirit and mage. She can't say she's completely converted, as the thought of letting a spirit actually inside her body is one she just can't agree with; not with Anders as the example of how a mage can corrupt a spirit, but maybe in the future, after living among the Avvar for some time, it won't seem so dangerous a prospect. After all, she doesn't yet know the particulars of how the Avvar get a spirit out of a student.

"It is a specialization I have little knowledge of," Christine admits. "I know I watched you train, but would you tell me a little more about it? Does it involve help from the augur in any way to get started, or no?"

[iceblade]

Eager to share what she knows with someone genuinely interested, Skadi nods as she tugs on her reins to keep Kodlak on the right course. "It doesn't, not exactly, but I sought his advice anyway. He agreed with me that I could stand much to gain from that area of study, and was the one to tell my mother as much, when she'd wanted me to follow in her footsteps as a skald." She shrugs. "I would have made a decent skald, I suppose, but I wanted to create my own adventures, not just sing about those of others. She came to understand that, in time."

Anyway, yes. Spirit Warrior stuff. "It's a bit like your Spirit Healer path, in that we connect with those of the Land of Dreams, who agree to augment our abilities. But it's not a partnership with one, as with your Faith or Sam's Fortitude. I don't have a specific partner that I ask for by name. What I do know is that when I call on them, they'll aid me. All they want is a glimpse of this side of things, to satisfy their curiosity, and I can give them that."

[aceso]

"Yes, that sounds familiar," she replies with a chuckle. "Faith was forever questioning me about this world, much as a child would. But she is finally at a point where she understands enough to not always be asking. Those first few months were a little trying." But it's all been worth it. Of that, Christine is sure.

"Your exposure to spirits all your life must mean there are many who would aid you. Have you often called upon them in battle yet?"

[iceblade]

"Oh, aye. It's not subtle, what I do. Their favor gives me a protective cloak from the essence of the Land of Dreams, and a burst of the same should I need it. You won't hear me shouting for them, but...they know when they're needed, and get to see how and why we do battle."

She flashes a grin at mention of Faith. "I bet that was exhausting, but it sounds like you both gained from the experience. Freya's said something like to it with Fortitude, only they're pushing her to test her limits, show she has the stamina to live as an Avvar should."

[aceso]

"It sounds like a remarkable advantage in battle. You are blessed to have it."

Now that they've reached the land beyond the city, Christine urges Ambrose on a little faster, breathing deep to fill her lungs with the fresh air of the countryside as opposed to the stale air of the city.

"It was, but in a way, it was like training to be a mother someday, without all the feedings or diaper changes, of course. One must have patience in the face of endless questions." She hums thoughtfully at the mention of Fortitude's testing of Freya. "What sort of things does one need to do?"

[iceblade]

Kodlak is happy to move faster as well, and Skadi tilts her head up to both the sun and the unusually warm breeze passing over them. "Ah, now that's the fresh air I crave. More of that and I can almost forget how the city smells until we return."

The only good scents of the city in her opinion are the general store with those lunches, and the bakery. Everything else smells of metal and blood, to her.

"For Freya? It was a lot of physical labor; climbing, swimming, all-night meditations, anything to develop her stamina, push her so she knows how to persevere when the going gets tough. For myself, I did a lot of that automatically anyway, so my learning was more Fade-centric, a condensed introduction from what apprentices get. You can't be an effective spirit warrior if you don't know what you're dealing with, after all."

[aceso]

"It sounds like you two have met halfway," Christine says with a smile. "She has taken on training you are familiar with, and you with the Fade training." Though Christine considers Sam to be a brother, she thinks it'd be nice to have a sister; especially to have grown up with one.

"And how has she taken to it all? Is she enjoying the lessons?"

[iceblade]

"It was harder at first; she didn't have my stamina or training, but Val Royeaux wasn't built in a day either, eh? Some things take time, and a teacher's influence can be one of them. She's enjoying them more as time goes on; I think it's good for her to have a teacher that challenges her in that way, and she's come to think that, too. Learning can be challenging, uncomfortable. But that allows us to grow, doesn't it?"

[aceso]

"It does, yes. As long as you agree to the methods, which she does. I am thinking of my own Circle experience." The mind games, the verbal abuse, the threats. Harrowing or Tranquil: which will it be? Christine thinks that Avvar mages are far luckier.

"I hope I am not making you too homesick, asking you to speak of your sister so much?"

[iceblade]

"Ah, the Circle. I've never heard anything about it that makes me anything but grateful that Freya is with our people instead. Ripping folk away from family, from their culture, seems needlessly cruel."

Skadi shakes her head, frowning. There's a line between challenge and cruelty, and the Circle has crossed way over it.

"No, you're not. If anything, you have my thanks. Not many here care to ask about the ways of my people. Speaking of it reminds me that I have something to look forward to, when all this is done."

[aceso]

"To be honest, it is a culture I never gave much thought to before meeting one of you. He opened my eyes quite a bit, and when he passed, I journeyed to his hold -- Honey Badger Hold -- to witness his sky burial. Being there among a people so practical and used to mages among them made me want to learn more." And she hasn't stopped learning since that time. Though she isn't among them now in the mountains, she definitely left a piece of her heart behind her when she returned to Kirkwall.

[iceblade]

She nods, a suddenly solemn counterpart to her perky hart, trotting happily and sniffing at the fresh air. "He must have cared about you a great deal, and his people must have recognized that, to allow you to witness a sky burial. We don't often let lowlanders view it, since they can be prickly about anything that isn't a pyre. Who wants to give more reasons to view us as barbarians needing to be 'rescued' by the Chantry, eh?"

[aceso]

"In his way, I suppose. I counted him as a friend, and he did so enjoy teasing me." She chuckles softly to herself. It took many months for Asher's death to stop hurting, because she felt as though she'd failed him, being unable to fully heal his wounds. Now time has softened that ache, and she can laugh again. "But he was never one to speak of his emotions with me. Not until the very end." And even then, it was very Asher.

"One would hope that a guest of the hold would show some manners and keep any rude opinions to themselves, but I doubt that has often been the case."

[iceblade]

"Any guest foolish enough to insult us didn't keep guest-welcome for long, of course." Skadi's smile is sharp, a bloodthirsty glint in her eyes. "Ylva, our hold-beast, chased a few away. When faced with a large, snarling wolf, they ran and never came back. I can't say if that's because she caught up to them, but that's been enough to shut up others who might have disrespected us and the gods."

[aceso]

"Mm, that is quite a strong sign that you have outstayed your welcome," she says with a slight grin. She can't imagine insulting the Avvar so much that she'd be run out with an angry wild animal nipping at her heels. Christine is the first to admit to a hold that she has much to learn, and never wishes to give offense. Thankfully with Falcon-Reach Hold, the spirits saw her coming and were excited to see her. Any minor faux-pas can be forgiven if you have the favor of the gods.

As they journey further out, the lands around the coast spread before them, but they veer north towards the mountain instead. Here there will be grass for their mounts to graze on, and it's safer than straying near the Wounded Coast.

"I try to make it out here once a week to gather herbs or just take Ambrose for a walk. It is so peaceful out here, and Kirkwall is the very opposite. Have you been to other cities before?"