faderift | [Open] You can take the Captain out of the Gaurd....

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[Open] You can take the Captain out of the Gaurd....

WHO: Character(s) Aveline + You!
WHAT: Aveline has been "promoted" to Emissary of Kirkwall.
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: It's a PR nightmare for Kirkwall's newest ambassador. Food shortages, cold weather, and people are turning blue.

It had been all of 48 hours since she had been told she would now be an Emissary of Kirkwall instead of Captain of the Guard. To say the news hadn’t been taken well was a understatement. She was well aware that she was probably the worst choice for this sort of thing, but the point was made that she was the only choice. It didn’t do well to inspire confidence, but, there was little left to argue about after that.

They required her to attend etiquette lessons with a pompous ass who delighted in teasing her about her un-femininity so much she ended up socking him in the jaw halfway through. But, she now knew the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork, so she counted it as a success. She was given a frilly new uniform, which immediately refused to wear and a “compromise” was eventually reached after some heated words were exchanged. She would still wear her own armor, but she would also be swathed in a half cloak with the Kirkwall crest on it, to make her easily distinguishable.

This, of course, was before everything had gone to pot. Things were a mess before, but now things had become dire. The people of Kirkwall were desperate for food, for warmth, and especially for a glimmer of hope that things would turn around somehow. The guard were on round the clock posts to try and keep the populus calm, but they could only do so much. She would never ask her guard to do anything she would not do herself, so she had parked herself in the main entrance to lowtown, hoping to calm as many as she could. She had “requisitioned” (strong armed) two carts full of blankets, and several dozen loaves of bread to pass out to the citizens until she could approach the Inquistion for aid.

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One of those entering Lowtown is a tattooed woman in furs and leathers, standing at least a head taller than most folk. The greatsword seemingly made of ice helps her stand out, as well. She doesn't seem to need any help but approaches anyway, looking over the contents of the carts and nodding in approval. When she speaks, her Avvar accent is notable.

"This will go far, I bet. You're doing good work, serah."

"Well, now I am having a sense that we might actually be connected of spiritual level." Bethany stated from behind Aveline, her smile curving up on the corners. She was wearing her own Warden cloak, and a small handcart with bread and knitted clothing.

She came up to Aveline, put a hand on her arm gently, before she offered out a hat to each person to go with the blankets. "Here you go, stay warm. Let us know if you need wood or more food. The Wardens, and the Inquisition is here to help as well."

If it were anyone else, it would not sound as sincere.

Aveline has never been one to judge others based on where they were from. She faced a great deal of prejudice when she first joined the guard, and that stomped out any inkling of those notions right out of her. She was a firm believer that actions were far more important than heritage. The woman who spoke seems strong and capable, even confident.

"It'll do." Aveline replied simply as she continued to eye the newcomer. "If you've spare time and spare hands you're more than welcome to help. I may need to go find some more blankets soon."

Once Aveline could turn to see who it was behind her, she wasted no time wrapping Bethany in a tight bear hug. It had been a long while since she had seen her, and she felt her eyes get a little misty with emotion. She clamped it down as best she could. It wouldn't do to be seen weeping in front of everyone. She was getting too soft in her old age. After a few moments, she let the smaller woman go, and put both hands on her shoulders.

"Been too long, Bethany. You look well. Are you well?"

Bethany beamed brightly, hugging back as tightly as she could. Even if it felt like she was being crushed by an actual bear. Family was, after all, family. Aveline had been so very busy lately and to have her back again? It was like coming back to a warm fire in the hearth.

"I am well, thank you. Married life continues to be a joy." She looks around, her expression softening, "And I do like the perk of being able to help with Kirkwall."

She looks over at Aveline, her gaze brightening. "How about you?"

Skadi glances over in the direction of the docks for a moment, then nods. "Aye, why not? I've a bit of time to spare before I ought return to the Inquisition's stables. The name's Skadi Iceblade, of White Wolf Hold. Well met."

He's heading back to the Gallows from Darktown in full Warden robes as they're the warmest he has. His head is down as he pages through his notes so he almost walks into the cart and guards, all of whom he apologizes to before going to step around to the side... and then his gaze falls on the woman clearly in charge. She has to know. Someone had to have told her, Bethany, or Carver, or possibly even Fenris, they've been here so long, but the chance she has no idea he's here puts his heart in his stomach.

Before he can try ducking around the cart and hiding, the tuxedo cat on his shoulder hops down and strolls right up to Aveline, rubbing her face against the woman's boot. Maker take him, she and Lirene are the two people he's most hoped to not run into and his luck is awful as always because someone would of course look to where the cat came from.

"There's... a similar outreach in Darktown," he says, voice very hoarse.

She gave her a wry half smile as she rubbed the back of her neck. How was she? Exhausted was the word she most thought of to describe herself. Grouchy was the what everyone else would probably use. She worked from dawn to dusk to keep Kirkwall functioning, often only sleeping for a few hours before getting back to the grind. She tried her best, but the same nagging thought pulled at the back of her mind. She was not Hawke, and she never would be. She couldn't capture the hearts of the people the way Hawke did. She was too ridged, too hard headed. But, there was a short list of people she could trust with Kirkwall's safety, and it continued to get shorter.

"I am well enough. Things have been...challenging here to say the least." She said paused, wondering if she should confide in Bethany, tell her how lonely she's felt, or how scared she is for her sister. But, she thought better of it. Everyone had their challenges in life, and griping about them never made any of them go away.

"The Viscount has come to the decision that I'm to act as Kirwall's Emissary for the time being. I didn't have much say in the matter, and I'm well aware I'm a piss poor choice for it, but it's how it is and I'm determined to make the best of it."

Once the blanket in her hand was successfully passed on, she extended it out to Skadi while shifting her weight to her right leg.

"Well met, Skadi. I'm Aveline Vallen, Captai-Um-I mean, Emmisary of Kirkwall. You're with the Inquisition? What is it you do, if you don't mind my asking? Although you all have been in Kirkwall for quite some time I admit I have been somewhat...occupied until recently, and I haven't been able to meet many from your organization."

Small talk. She could do this. So far so good.

Aveline looked down suddenly once she felt something brush up against her leg. She let out a soft chuckle when she discovered it was just a cat.

"Well, hello there," she whispered, and then looked up to see who-

The world came crashing to a halt, and she was certain she must be hallucinating. Because there was no way, no way, Anders had the balls to come back to Kirkwall. He was clothed in Warden robes. She knew Ander's thoughts on the Wardens, and they were anything but fond. He wouldn't just be parading around in them for kicks. Or would he? She had almost convinced herself it wasn't him but then he spoke, and it was his voice. His fucking voice ringing in her ears clear as a bell. She didn't even really hear what he said.

She felt herself flush with anger, and her feet stomped over to him without her even thinking about it. She tried to remain calm, remembering all the lectures she'd been given about keeping her temper in check and how she couldn't beat up whoever she thought deserved it now that she was an ambassador. But he was here, after all this time he'd come back. She scowled at him, grinding her teeth together to keep herself from screaming at him in front her men. If anyone knew who he was....

"You. Me. Alley. NOW" She thumbed over to alleyway behind and a little to the left of where the carts were set up.

He really doesn't want to go into an alley with Aveline. But the other guards are looking at the two of them and he wants to wind up in a fight against them even less. Anders slips around her to pick up Purrelden before nodding and stepping into the alleyway, mind already whirling.

As soon as they're in there, he's talking, voice pitched low enough that he's not sure how she can hear it over the pounding in his chest.

"I'm not here to cause trouble, I'm no longer possessed, I've been staying out of your way and now you're suddenly not on any of the usual patrol routes. You're here instead." Which he hadn't expected, and he wonders if it's due to the illness the rifters and Templars seem to be going through. He's been so busy working that he hadn't even thought to find out if patrol routes or guard duties had changed.

Taking the blanket, Skadi flashes a warm grim. "Aye, that I am. I'm the Stablemaster, but I'm also apart of the Forces division. If they need a large woman with a greatsword to cleave something, I'm there.

Aveline...you're famous in Kirkwall, aye? Fought against the Qunari horde and all that?"

She could see Aveline judging her answer, as she did with all things, carefully and with great consideration of her audience. One corner of her mouth lifted as she gave Aveline a wry look - she knew that wasn't everything . Sobriety followed in her brown eyes.

"... to the very least. When it rains, it pours, it seems." She sighed again, before she gave her a thoughtful look. "Well, I suppose that is excellent for Kirkwall - but I have a feeling our poor diplomatic core is going to have no idea what to do with you, Aveline. You're too straight forward for flowery politics."

She let out a huff and then waived her hand a little.

"I just did my job. I'd be a piss poor Guard Captain if I didn't fight against them. Hawke had a greater part in all that. We just tried to lessen the casualties, and protect as many as we could."

She smiled, and then added, "I also get called whenever they need a large woman to kill something. I'm better with a sword and sheild instead of a greatsword though."

She scowled again. How dare he anticipate her well enough before she had a chance to yell at him. How long had he been in Kirkwall? If he'd had time to figure out her patrols, it must have been for quite a while. And it must have been a lot of work to figure them out.

A lot of work to avoid her in particular. Only her it seemed.

Her heart clenched a little at that thought. Their last conversation had been...rough to say the least. To be fair, he had just blown up the Chantry and plunged them into a civil war, but their relationship had always been rocky. She had extended a branch out to him over and over, and always he found some way twist her intent. She did what she could to help him. Lessened patrols around his clinic, and took his words to heart about treating Mages as equally as she could. And for all his bitterness, she knew he was a good person. Narrow sighted, but the same had been said about her time and time again.

Was he truly no longer possessed by Justice? He looked the same, but on closer inspection she saw the bags under his eyes, and how his shoulders hunched. He looked like shit, truth be told, and she knew he was vain enough to take care of himself unless something serious had happened. That took some of the wind out of her sails, but not much.

"I'm no longer Captain of the Guard." She hissed as she balled her hands into fists, trying to keep herself under control. "What are you doing here? Why in Maker's name did you come back? I know you are no idiot. You know what will happen if you are caught."

She let out a sign, feeling more than a little dejected. "I fear the same, to be honest. I don't know how to do any of this, and you know I've never been one for compromise, especially in things I care passionately for. But, who else would put the needs of the citizens first? We are near breaking, and I can't allow that to happen. So I have to try."

She gazes out at the line of people, desperation and sorrow etched on all of their faces. It infuriates her as much as it moves her. She would fix this. She would make Kirkwall thrive again even if it took everything she had to do it.

"I have to succeed. Or they are all lost."

He'd had a lot of stressful walks fantasizing about everything he would say if he ran into her again. None of that practice seemed particularly applicable today, though, because all of it had involved him traveling with other people too. He'd avoided thinking about running into her alone, especially since she'd voted for his death.

No longer Captain of the Guard is a surprise that has him blinking. Why? She'd always been diligent, and this had to be a recent development. ...Or it's possible the guard he's paying off just hadn't seen that as important.

Anders contemplates the questions, visibly looking past her as if considering still making a break for it. That would be idiocy, though, so he sighs and leans against the alley wall, petting his cat as stress relief.

"The sane wardens, the ones not under influence of Corypheus," because she saw how things went down in the guy's prison, "are with the Inquisition, working alongside it to bring him down. I'm... I'm back with them. It's complicated. I joined the Inquisition to help a little and then die, and then the Wardens decided they wanted me alive. It's official and everything, so I'm, they can't kill me, but it could be a mess, which is why I'm keeping my head down while I help. Why aren't you Captain of the Guard anymore?"

"Come by the training area in the Gallows sometime, then! I'd love another sparring partner. Or if you're the riding sort, I don't mind company when I'm bandit-hunting on the coast." The best way to get to know someone; fight with them or alongside them. Would anything less be expected from an Avvar?

She quirks an eyebrow, curious. "So why the change in jobs? What else do you do as emissary?"

She smiled, delighted by the invitation. Sparring and bandit hunting? She was liking this woman more and more each passing minute. But, when she questioned after her switching roles, her face fell a little.

She struggled to find the right words to explain the situation. "I was very happy being Captain of the Guard. It was something I felt I was suited for in every way. But, things in Kirkwall being what they are, it was felt that I could better serve it's people by becoming an Emissary." She gestured subtlety to the carts, and to the hollow people they were helping. "We are on the brink. This cold snap has only added to a long list of issues that burden Kirkwall's people. It has not been an easy time since-"

Since Hawke left she almost said, but she swallowed that down. "Since the mage and templar uprising. But, even before that things were never easy for them. I want to help change that. Even though I have no real skills for diplomacy, I can do more for them this way than I ever could as Captain of the Guard. So, here I am."

Edited 2018-01-28 21:39 (UTC)

All the thoughts she had racing through her head stopped. She stood mouth agape, thinking she misheard him.

"You went to the Inquisition to die?"

That did not sound like the Anders she knew. He was a fighter. He was passionate, and once he dug his heals into something, he didn't back down. It was something she always admired about him, even though it drove her insane and often drove a wedge between them. But the man before her seemed to lack the bravado he once had, and lacked the spark, that flicker he had inside him. Had that been Justice? Had loosing him meant loosing that part of himself? Was that why he actively sought out his own death?

All of her ire dissipated. She could not scream him. Not now. She reached out to him tentatively, then pulled back. He had never sought comfort from her, and to try to do so now would likely be unwelcome. She cared for him, in her own little angry way, but she was awful at expressing that concern with words. And then the explosion happened, and she had never been so angry. Angry beyond measure. But years alone had given her time to think, to stew, to reflect. Her anger dulled, and she was left with sadness and loss. Perhaps she was not the only one.

"What has happened to you?"

Skadi smiles back, though she grows more serious upon listening to Aveline's explanation. She nods, having seen enough of Kirkwall to know that it could certainly use the extra help.

"So you've chosen to do what's right over what's easy. That's something my people would appreciate, I think. And I bet the people here that notice your efforts already do.

It has me thinking, though. I've some furs to spare, and likely more from home will find their way to me. The lowlanders seem to need them more than I do, so they -and you- are welcome to have them. You won't find better than a bear slanket to keep out the chill."

Well that did it. She thought herself a fairly good judge of character, and Skadi was seemed like good people.

"Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated. In return, if there's anything I can do for you, I will see that it done."

She extended her hand out to her, smiling warmly. "I happen to love riding. And sparing. And bandit-hunting."

Bethany gave her a sympathetic look, giving her friend's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Well, at least you're not going at it alone. You have friends on the inside, people who care about Kirkwall within the Inquisition."

She lets her own gaze look to those in need, and breaths in softly. "... after all, if we are all not here for the people, then what are we honestly fighting for?"

Aveline was overcome with emotion again, and did her best to hide it. She felt very much alone these past few months, but Bethany lifted her spirits more than she could ever know.

She threw her arm around her shoulders, squeezing her close. "Yes, I do as luck would have it. Enough brooding, or Fenris will likely pop around the corner for fear of being left out. You're married? What are they like? Are they good enough for you?"

He sees the change, the fade of anger, the move of her hand and he finds himself looking at her hand. It's been a long road for both of them; maybe she's not talking to him just to appease her conscience before calling the guards.

Anders takes a breath and meets her eyes. He'll try honesty. If it backfires, at least he'd given it a fair shot. "I killed something like a hundred people, and some of them innocent." For a long time his belief in it being justified and needed had sustained him, but that barrier had eroded bit by bit. Now it's Nathaniel's faith in him driving him, the faith of a growing number of friends who didn't have to shout to be heard over Justice.

"I spent so long fighting and running and hearing Justice's desire for more only increase, and I decided to try to do a little good to add to the unbalanced scales before the end because I was tired." He'd lost everyone, time and time again. His friends in the Wardens, Karl, his network, Hawke and her party, and then even the rebels had pushed him out. Anders was not made to be lonely.

"I'm..." He trails off, giving her a weighing look before continuing. "I'm better now. In a better place mentally and emotionally, if not physically." He is always going to feel negatively about Kirkwall. It took Karl from him. "I wish the Inquisition had stayed in Skyhold, but at least I can help in Darktown again."

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[Open] You can take the Captain out of the Gaurd....

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