faderift | Open log for Wintermarch

Well. Nevarra sucked. He's not entirely surprised with how things turned out, but it's still frustrating. At least they're back in Kirkwall now.

A. Not exactly a scholar

Oh yes, this is a rare sight. Carver Hawke, in the library. Reading. Well, attempting to anyway. The rather tall man is almost dwarfed by the stack of books around him; clearly he's been here for awhile, judging by the stacks and the empty plate next to him. His brow's creased in a perpetual frown as he pages through the book in front of him. Occasionally, he'll jot down something in a little piece of parchment next to him. But often he'll just cross it out later. Whatever he's trying to discern, it's not going well.

After awhile, he shoves the book away from him, blowing out a frustrated breath. Calloused hands run over his face, scrubbing at it. "I'm not cut out for this," he mutters.

B. Gotta keep in shape

Now this is much more his style. Despite the cold weather, Carver's still outside, practicing his sword form. He whet his blade plenty on the undead that swarmed them in the Grand Necropolis, but that doesn't mean he gets to slack off. And really, it's more something to just keep his mind occupied and feel somewhat productive. For now, he's practicing on one of the dummies set up... somewhere. Someone probably propped up a few somewhere, right? Right.

Of course, a real partner that can react and swing back would be ideal. But Carver's never been much of one to ask for a sparring partner; too used to doing it on his own and all. Still, he won't say no if someone offers. If he knows you, he'll wave in greeting. If not, he'll either likely ignore you or just nod. Or if you're REALLY lucky and he likes you, you might just get a smile.

Or just don't let him know you're there and ogle him from a distance. He's getting warm from the movements, so he's ditched the coat. Now he's just rocking a threadbare shirt and pants, so.

C. Griffons are better than people

Because fuck people, honestly. Griffons don't care about politics or image or whatever. They just want food and head scratches. And after the Grand Necropolis debacle, Carver's happy to spend time up there with the beasts, giving them bits of food and learning about them. They're used to him enough now that they're not quite as rambunctious and screechy when he comes up, though that might have more to do with the fact that he always comes with food.

Carver's also wisened up; most of the shiny things on him are hidden or just entirely absent. Still, it doesn't stop one from trying to pick at a button on his shirt. Carver gently whaps its beak. "Don't you try it. Beth will give me that look and chide me, and I can't sew for shit." A protesting squawk. "Look, I'll bring you something big and shiny to play with next time. Knowing our luck, you'd swallow this thing and choke on it."

He gets perturbed look.

"I'm right and you know it."

D. Wildcard

You know the drill

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And just as he thought, she's gunning for it immediately. Carver takes a step back and brings his sword up to deflect the blow. He grunts under the weight of the blow, though it doesn't surprise him. Skadi's strong, and he could tell from the get-go. He shoves back, then goes to swing in a wide arc to hit her in the side.

Skadi steps back from the shove, rather solid so she doesn't stumble. When Carver's weapon swings toward her, she tries to use her own blade to block, though her defensive skills aren't as strong as her offense. The practice sword smacks her in the side and she grits her teeth, knowing there'll be a bruise later but not wanting to stop. To counter that, she does a lower sweep with her sword, trying to knock him off his feet or at least off-balance.

Carver's tall, which can provide an advantage in some ways. But it makes blocking his legs trickier, and if he does fall, he falls hard. Carver notices her move a second too late; he goes to get out of the way, but most of the swing nails him. He manages not to fall entirely, but he does stumble quite a bit, and he scrambles to try and get his balance back.

Of course, it's her duty not to make that easy for him. Skadi pushes her offensive, closing in with a pommel strike to try and stun him before that happens. The glint in her eyes is an almost feral one, intent as she usually is playful. In terms of enthusiasm, though, it amounts to the same thing.

He's not steady enough to get out of the way, but Carver at least has presence of mind to grab it to stop it from striking him. His palm stings from the force of the blow, but better that than his face. "Feisty." And with that he goes to yank her forward, looking to trip her up and try and land a blow to her backside.

That yank provokes a yelp, as she stumbles forward and feels the blow land. That's going to smart later -it does now- but she's not quite willing to throw in the towel. A crooked smile forms as she backs up, flexing. "What can I say, I'm in that sort of mood." After that, she wastes no time charging, intending to see if she can strike hard enough to disarm him.

"So I noticed." It was hard not to; he can practically feel it vibrating off of her. Since he's still close to her, her strike lands, sending a sharp jab of pain down his arm. His sword remains in hand, though he definitely doesn't have as firm of a grip at the moment. Despite that, he still goes and swings at her.

This time, a quick sidestep manages to keep her from gaining another bruise. "No good deed goes unpunished, eh? Fight a horde of undead that weren't supposed to attack us in the first place and everyone's enraged...at us. What were we supposed to do, lay down and die?" Her lips form a thin line as she darts in to swipe at him anew.

Ahhhh, and there it is. That noble woman he'd spoken with mentioned Skadi, and clearly the Avvar is as unhappy about the situation and how it all turned out as he is. "Just like the bastards behind the attack wanted, most likely." The blow lands; he might have been able to get out of the way in time, but he'd likely stumble doing so. And anyway, he doesn't mind being a bit of a punching bag. He shifts back, going into a defensive stance.

"Exactly! Does no one else think we were played? Why would we be stupid enough to trash all that goodwill?" That defensive stance is noted and appreciated, so Skadi can get in some good swings without worrying about even a practice sword potentially hurting her sparring partner.

Carver blocks and parries most of her blows, staying on the defensive and letting her have at it. A couple manage to land on him, sure to leave bruises, but he hardly pays mind. "A list of stupid reasons, mostly. But that doesn't mean we have to let things stand as is."

"Aye, and I don't plan on it!" After a few more blows, she stands back and relaxes her stance, wiping her brow. "...thanks, I needed that. All this shite has gotten to me more than I thought it would."

Luckily Carver's built tough, so he's a great candidate to physically take frustrations out on. "Was wondering what was eating at you." Can't say he's surprised, though. "Nevarra was a mess, but it doesn't have to stay like one. Might not stay like one, by the time some of us are done."

That gets her attention, and she raises her eyebrows. "Oh? Are their plans to return? Because I could get in on that. I know I was there, so they won't look kindly on me, but I don't give a shite. They think we wrecked their sacred space for the hell of it, and I want to prove them wrong."

"Not officially, but there's been talk of doing an investigation to clear our name." It'll take time, though. "There's a noble woman who's interested in talking to her relatives and contacts up there and maybe trying to start getting this sorted out. The same one you talked with."

"Aye, her." Skadi frowns; the woman wasn't wrong about some things, but the Avvar woman still thought her as condescending as any other noble. "I'll bet you she won't want us on the trip, though. We were involved, and that's a diplomatic mess already. Not that it'd stop me, but her...."

"Oh, I'll be going. I made that clear. We'll need to be careful if we bring others along, yes, but Maker take her if she thinks she's stopping me." Noble or not. He'll go up there on his own if he has to. And she'd probably rather stab her eye out then let a Warden, of all people, run around unchecked in Nevarra. "But that's a ways off, I think,"

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