get ready everybody 'cause here we go

[dashing]

WHO: Saoirse, Herian & open.
WHAT: a combined birthday hangout.
WHEN: 30th Haring.
WHERE: The Hanged Man.
NOTES: Drink up now and turn up hungover to the Firstday feast. Open invitation over here, no need to reply to the network post or even have prior cr in order to attend. Please add any warnings to subject lines if they come up.

"Party" would be an extreme word for it; the more accurate word would be "casual gathering of people with liquor readily available." It is The Hanged Man, though, so who knows what shenanigans could unfold.

They've taken over a corner of the inn, and though there isn't much in the way of decorations - making sure the place could be easily accessed after all that snow was work enough - there are a couple of strings of bunting.

Don't get too wild; it'd be unfortunate if Herian had to interrupt her own (shared) birthday celebration in the sake of preserving the Inquisition's reputation. (Or do get wild, and simply shrug it off as The Hanged Man's influence. Whatever.)

Be sure of one thing, though - at least one round is one Herian. Maybe. If you're a close friend, or look particularly glum.

Comments

[foxsays]

It's been several years and instances of nudity, it's time for names. Proper names. Araceli drinks, making an interested but not horrified noise at the ale because honestly Thedas has given her far worse in her life or her poker face is just that good. That and it was a very little sip. Enough to wet the lips really. After getting more than a little carried away lately she's reeled herself back in, watered the rum back down again.

The question might be surprising coming from someone else without having touched their drink. A few drinks in, when it's getting late, then this line of questioning might start to come in but this is Herian who holds herself to such high standards after all that Araceli gives it her full consideration.

"Necessity. I'd prefer to avoid the suffering but there are things that have to be done that hurt or cause some sort of upset to allow for something that has to come. Stitching a wound isn't pleasant but neither is trying to let it heal without if it's severe enough for the stitch," her tone is mild given the subject but it weighs on her, that these are always the choices they're faced with, that no action stands alone, that everything is stone dropped in the water, and no one knows how far the ripples reach. "Appeasement is appeasement, it doesn't change things. They'll be fed for how long? Warm for how long? They'll be hungry again. Cold again. Angry that it's come to that again. Hurt that it's come to that again. And they'll be right to feel that way when that day comes."

[dashing]

"The Knight's Code dictates acting with kindness, not causing wanton offense. It demands that we act with honour, and to be what is right honour demands a... a meeting of justice and compassion. Honour cannot exist if either are absent, nor if duty is neglected." She sips the ale, and though her cheeks pinch inward slightly, it's taste isn't the worst it could be. Maybe it's just that she doesn't drink that much ale, and this wasn't the finest choice.

"To ensure the safety of Thedas we must ensure the Inquisition's success. Doing what is necessary... does not feel that it can aways be honourable. It will not always allow us to be just and compassionate, and yet it would surely be dishonourable to act in a way that will jeopardise long term survival and success and instead condemn all those around us."

[foxsays]

"Is it a kindness to patch cracks in a wall when the foundation is rotted through? To repair holes in the ceiling when the whole thing will cave in on someone's head? Do you know the half of why I stole before the Inquisition? Half of it was excitement but there would have been other ways but the people in my building had a choice: pay the rent or buy food. My thefts paid for food enough so they didn't need to make the choice." Araceli taps out a popular enough tune on her tankard without thinking about it, considering it carefully.

Some choices are painful. Araceli is no knight with a code to live by but the codo duello, the rules of pirates, of the guards have governed her for varying degrees.

Nothing is easy here, not anymore. She blows out a sigh. "Sometimes you have to decide what you can live with and know that you're part of a bigger thing than just your body doing your part. That's…not easy. Here. Justice isn't the same thing to all people, compassion takes many forms. Do they have to meet at the same time? I don't know the rules of knights here, if they must then they must but you can be angry about a thing. Work to stop it repeating. To minimise the hurt that has to come."