[Open] A Proper Party

[thorndergod]

WHO: The brothers Asgard and everyone else.
WHAT: Loki and Thor throw a party for everyone.
WHEN: Right after the quarantine is lifted.
WHERE: The Asgard Estate in Hightown.
NOTES: Loki gonna Loki, probably other things. Directly corresponds to this rookery post.

The new manor has come a far sight from where it had been, cleaned and updated significantly, but the aesthetics are still in keeping with Kirkwall standard...mostly. The exterior features a large iron scrollwork fence with matching gates, currently flung wide open, and a cheerful array of fresh floral decorations. Beyond the gates there are a number of hedges, bare but thick enough that once spring has properly taken over, they will likely be shaped into large living sculptures. There are a few torches scattered among the flora, but they lead toward the front of the manor.

The building's superstructure has not been overtly altered, but there are several exceedingly Tevene touches. The front doors, once made of hardwood, have been wholly replaced by a pair extremely detailed, solid, white marble doors. The fittings are all custom made, snake themed, and plated in gold.

The interior of the building is far more obviously Tevinter styled. The floors are the original wooden, polished to a mirror shine by the staff and bedecked in places by rugs with complex woven designs and thick piles. The foyer is well lit by a series of gold, wall-mounted sconces, and a large chandelier made of serault glass with a distinctly magical light-source in the center.

The staff, all elven in matching black uniforms, are waiting just inside the threshold and are ready to assist anyone who requires it. First and foremost they will offer to take any coats and curtsy with proper depth to anyone who passes by.

There is still some construction going on, deeper in the house, but it is up the grand staircase and beyond the realm of the party. Occasional hammer-falls resound from upstairs but they can only be heard if one is being very quiet.

Comments

[laurenande]

Galadriel has done all she can to escape the Gallows and this bit of revelry is, if nothing else, an escape. To where, she is uncertain, as the house is a jumble of mortal fashions all piled atop one another. It is not quite Orlesian, the excess here, but it is not wholly removed from it, either.

She strolls the house and the adjoining rooms in the downstairs for a time. Eventually she discovers what is either an armory or a training room near the kitchens. It is a strange combination, of heavy equipment and marked excess, but it has an impressive collection of staves in easy reach. She had not yet seen any mage who simply...kept them in such a fashion.

The sight is, admittedly, fascinating.

[thorndergod]

He loves crowds and celebrations, but sometimes even he has to step away from socializing for a short moment to recharge. Finding someone else here is initially disappointing, and then he recognizes her - the large elf who kept up with him when working out.

"You are recovered, then? It is good to see." The large elves are odd, but he finds her interesting and it shows in his smile.

[laurenande]

She glances back as the large blonde enters and offers him a polite smile. Truthfully, she has no idea this is his house, she merely took up the invitation with the hopes of fleeing the Gallows a time. She turns from the case before her and idly her fingers trail along the lower lip of the doors.

"I am, thank you," she replies easily. "I am glad to be myself once more, though I admit I do miss the energy."

[thorndergod]

Less energy. He tilts his head, coming into the room the rest of the way and giving her an inquisitive look.

"That was not typical of your workout regimen, then?" He doesn't know why he's a little disappointed. It's not like many in Tevinter could keep up with him.

"These are some of what I train with," he says, gesturing at the weighted staves.

[laurenande]

His disappointment, for some reason, is both suprising and amusing. Galadriel's polite smile becomes a real one all too quickly. She looks back at the staves as she answers him.

"That was very typical," she assures, "But I do not often do it for days on end without pause."

The staves are beautiful, for training weapons, and she turns back.

"I have met no mages who train this way for combat, is that usual?

[thorndergod]

Her words and smile are encouraging. Maybe he's found a training partner in the south after all. One of his larger regrets is not asking the warriors three or Sif to come along on this trip .

"For Tevinter? It is not uncommon. The greater houses see combat and assassination attempts. As the heir," presumably, "it is my responsibility to not be caught unaware. I also spend time on the frontlines of my country's defense."

He smiles and opens up the case, pulling out a mid-weight staff and offering it out to her.

[laurenande]

Galadriel takes it from him and hefts it a bit. The weapon is somewhat at odds with the gown she wears, but she is very well at ease when it comes to pole arms. She steps back just a bit and shifts her grip on the staff, lifting it with both hands.

"It is very well balanced," she compliments.

"I was given to these sorts of weapons in my training as a girl. It was sport, mostly, and served well to make my sword weilding cousins abandon the ring for me.

"I have used some paltry weapons, staves the Inquisition hands out at will, but this reminds me of the ones I once had. Well...mine oft had blades on the end, but those were not for training."

She holds it out to pass it back.

[thorndergod]

He accepts it back, slipping it into its place in the case as he lingers over her words. She's not an elfy elf. There's none of the usual ovely large eyes or weaker features that mark elves as inferior, and she can hold both conversation and hid interest.

She's an elf, but not an elf.

Thor looks back at her after the staff is in place. "You could come over and train with me and them sometimes, if you would like." It might be confusing to the servants, especially the ones brought from Tevinter, so he'll have to find them duties elsewhere. There's no point in making things more difficult to understand for the feeble-minded.

"I had not thought to find someone to work out with until our meeting the other day, and it was pleasant."

[laurenande]

He is silent a time as he replaces the staff, perhaps considering her idle story, and then he offers to train with her. She already has Herian but, as she thinks upon it, it could do no harm to have two partners to train with. Without her ring she is weak and it is a state she cannot long abide.

"It was, was it not?" Galadriel asks and looks around the room again. "I think I shall join you, at least to see if we might still have the energy to match one another. If nothing else, it will be nice to use a staff against someone who favors them as well."

[thorndergod]

He's used to people being agreeable toward him, if simply because of his position. All the same, it's nice that she agrees and she's interested in joining him. Thor smiles at her. Thankfully his brother seems to be spending time with another one of the large elves, so he doesn't have to worry about it being used against him.

"Would you like to return tomorrow? I train in the hour before the sun rises, and then bathe with the sun. It is the best way to begin the day, and it means it is harder for any attackers to take me unaware in the hours when guards are at their sleepiest and least watchful."

[laurenande]

Her smile remains.

Now this was a novelty she did not expect--to meet someone else who rose early and watched the sun as it climbed into the sky? That was a rare treat.

"I have always been fondest of the dawn and rise always before it," Galadriel tells him. "I will return here in the grey hour, ere the sun rises, and we can train."

"Tell me, for I fear the fever has made me forgetful, what was your name?"

[thorndergod]

Thor holds out his hand, smile broadening.

"I am Thor of House Asgard of Marnas Pell." There is the shortest pause before he adds: "Of Tevinter." She's a Rifter, he can't expect her to know that detail. "We are one of the greater houses."

He's not going to outright say that he'll be a magister, that isn't the safest word in the south, and it might not even hold meaning to her, but he can at least state that they're not unimportant. Thor wants to impress her.

"The dawn has always been the most still around our estate. I enjoy the time before the world is fully ablaze with activity."

[laurenande]

She has met a few from Tevinter before now, though not many, and there seems to be some convention to their names. It is easily matched, she has all the titles that would fit it, and so she gives him her name as she extends a hand in kind.

"Galadriel of the House of Finarfin, Steward of Caras Galadhon and Lady of the lands of Lorien," she replies and bows her head. "I will take your word regarding the greatness of your house; I fear I know precious little of Thedas and even less of Tevinter that was not...related to me."

[thorndergod]

"I would be glad to tell you anything you would like to know, Lady Galadriel." He bows over her hand before placing a brief, dry kiss to the back of it and then releasing it. Even if he doesn't know of her house or where the named places are, there's authority to the titles she claims and her bearing does not make him inclined to doubt her.

"And perhaps you can tell me some of Lorien." He's never heard of a Rifter's world before, and he hasn't heard of a new-to-him land in a very long time. There are a lot of possibilities for conversation and he's pleased by that knowledge.

[laurenande]

"Lorien?" Galadriel repeats, a note of honest surprise in her voice. Even among those who had asked her much, asking about Lorien was uncommon.

"What would you wish to know of my lands?" she wonders and settles her hands before her. Thor has been courteous and this party is a kindness. She does not expect duplicity from him and is loathe to check.

"I would happily share but I expect you shall never see them."

[thorndergod]

"That is why I am curious, because I will never see them myself."

He's honestly surprised by her surprise. There are so many possibilities represented by these Rifters; does no one ask them of their homes?

"Tell me something that you like about it. As for me, near my own home, there is a marvelous beach. The sand is blisteringly hot, but the breeze that comes off the water is perfect and the water itself is clear enough you can see the creatures within. When the sun sets, the waves look touched by flame. It is the most beautiful sight I have seen."

[laurenande]

Galadriel listens to his description and, for once, it is something she can only picture. It does not bear similarities to any beaches she has seen, though admittedly that is few. She considers his description and then, gradually, answers him.

"Lothlorien, they are called, the woods that surround the city. Beech trees rise above the naith until you cross the Silverlode, a glistening, swift and silver river that marks the edge of the city lands," Galadriel explains and ponders how to proceed. She only spares a moment before she continues. "The woods beyond the Silverlode are mellyrn, trees taken from my homeland, and they are unlike anything in Thedas.

"Their trunks are white and silver, they grow to staggering height, and their leaves and flowers are gilded in bright and shining gold. In the dawn light, during the spring, the sun rises and casts all the woods in a rosy golden halo. In the shade of the trees, even the mists above the grass are cast in shifting shades of dappled brilliance. It is...magical, I suppose, and my favorite sight in all the world."

[thorndergod]

"It is like nothing I have ever heard of." He's not that well-read or well-traveled, but he's heard stories of all sorts of places, real and literary.

He is a little amused, though. She's not like other elves - tall, actively fit, able to hold a good conversation - but she chose to speak of trees. All the same, they sound like trees worthy of being described.

"I do not think Thedas has anything to compare to trees like that." There's a pause as he ponders if what he wants to ask is rude or acceptable. It seems like it should be safe, so: "How are you finding Thedas? It must be strange to be here."

She's a Lady in a world where elves decidedly are not.

[laurenande]

"It is not so different than what I expect, though it seems..." She looks just aside from him as she considers how to explain it. It is troubling, the lack of words, but Quenya provides nothing more accurate. She frowns and moves again to the cases of staves that line the walls of this room. They are channels, that she knows, but it is so odd to see them and not feel power coming from them. How then will she explain? Her hand reaches out and nearly grazes the glass before she pauses.

"It seems less," she says at last and her hand hovers. He would not know it was the one that bore a ring just mere months before. "It is narrower here than my home; in this place where magic is a feat. I struggle still with that word, magic, for it is not something distinct to me. To weave power, your will, into the world is to breathe, to walk, to live.

"It is odd here, yes, but not so strange as you might think," she decides as she withdraws her hand back. "If you wish to see one of the mallorn, there are two that grow in these lands now. One is in Halamshiral, the other was just planted above a grave near this city."