[OPEN] Get out of bed, get a hammer and a nail

[nadasharillen]

WHO: Nari and you!
WHAT: Open for Drakonis
WHEN: Throughout the month
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Darktown Stuff, general CW for mention of character death and related grief, other CWs posted in their specific threads

Much like the month itself, Nahariel slips between foul and fair as the tight bud of her grief shows the very first small signs of opening. On the good days there are faint smiles, on very good the warm chuckle that so easily issued from her before Sina's death. On the bad days her feet drag to her work, she stares at the plans she'd begun to draft for too long before making new marks. On very bad days her time is spent curled in bed staring dully at the ceiling or down at the Gallows docks no matter the weather, monosyllabic at her most talkative.

Either way, the world turns onward.

[Not necessary, but feel free to specify if you'd like a good day or a garbage day in your header!]

I. Hightown

Being near the blackened ruins of the Chantry Forest is still difficult. Despite that, Nari can regularly be found walking to and from the area. Sometimes it's to harvest what uncharred heartwood can be salvaged from the charcoal spires that once were trees. Most often it's to the still-standing grove where the statue of Andraste reaches out her hand to care for the space; clearing away wilted offerings, spent candles and the spilled wax around them, replacing papers or notes that have been tugged by the wind out from under the rocks that held them. And, when the ground begins to thaw, turning over the soil in preparation for planting the first beds of flowers.

Sometimes she can be heard murmuring as if conversing quietly with someone, although there is no-one there.


II. Darktown

The elf's initial survey of the area, its strengths and weaknesses (mostly the latter), has begun. When she isn't pacing out spaces and taking scrawled but detailed notes with the aid of one or two volunteers (you, perhaps?), she's bent over a table covered in drafting tools and rolls of cheap parchment with a quill or charcoal stick in her hand, the appropriate smudges on her skin, and a look of intense concentration that wrinkles the Crafter God's vallaslin spread across her brow, the humble beginnings of her plans appearing.

Sometimes the wind howls through the space like a wounded beast, grabbing at the edges of her plans, and once in a great while it wins, sending her sprinting and wide-eyed after them, Dalish curses bursting from her like the first blast of water through a broken dam.


III. Wildcard

When she's not doing these things she's sitting around carving in various places; little figures, a complex bracelet, a set of odd and complicated dice, something that looks like it might be a handle, boxes that she sells for a little extra income. Fixing chairs and tables in the Hanged Man (a neverending task), trying to get back into fighting shape in the courtyard, walking everywhere, visiting you, something else entirely!

Comments

[nadasharillen]

Respectful of the Dalish--not a phrase often heard. It's nice to, even if not unexpected from Korrin. "If it's another animal you're after, a halla isn't wrong. It may be a common enough symbol for us, but Sina had a way with them. And like them, she was sweet but fierce when she needed to be. And she loved the People," Nari pauses briefly, feeling a twinge of guilt over her own inconstancy. "She would have guided us someday, like Ghilan'nain."

Her fingers curl a bit into the bark beneath her. "You could put some plants in its footsteps. For--well," Nari gestures with her chin at the still standing Grove with a small smile.

[gatheringstorm]

"A halla and a trail of plants...I like it." Korrin echoes the small smile as she rests a hand on Nari's shoulder, glad that her continuing theme of animals wouldn't become offensive if she wanted a halla to represent her lost Dalish friend. "Plants common to the forest she helped create? So it can still live somewhere, in a sense."

It's not enough to make up for the state of it now, she knows. But she'll make it clear that Sina's effort won't be forgotten.

[nadasharillen]

"There was so much here," Nari says wistfully, looking at the scorch of the earth. She digs in it a bit with the toe of her boot and raises a hand to briefly squeeze Korrin's on her shoulder. "It was so verdant. You could pick near anything for the art. Whatever it is reminds you of her most."

[gatheringstorm]

"It'll have to be a variety, then; just about anything that was here reminds me of her." Korrin's smile is at once melancholy and wistful, heart aching for all that was lost. If she was the kind of mage to bring any of it back, in Sina's name...but she's not, and she knows it. That's for any other Dalish mages to manage, if they so choose.

"I still have energy to spare, if you need it."

[nadasharillen]

"Nothing wrong with a great many plants--unless you're worried about them taking over the rest of you," replies Nari. She starts to grin at the idea but catches Korrin's expression and it fades to a wistful half-smile of her own. She draws a knee to her chest.

The offer of further aid stops the elf from wading into the deep pool of thought that sometimes takes her, here, and she drops her foot back down and stands. Nods at Korrin.

"We'll get the few big branches off, then. Section the trunk if we have the energy after, and lunch if we don't?"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin chuckles. "A few plants are fine, but I'm not about to let them take over my personal zoo. And that sounds perfect to me. Let's see how far we get, hm?" She smiles, gently encouraging a lighter mood for them both, but she'll stick around regardless.

[nadasharillen]

"Animals need things to eat," Nari replies with a beatific smile, although her eyes briefly sparkle with mischief. Think of the animals, Korrin. "If you find something you like as a staff base while we're at it, save it out," she says. Then she's up, and searching out a pair of hand saws for them to begin the work of harvesting the downed tree. It was easier with two.

In a number of ways.


[wanna call it there? :D]