faderift | She robbed them of wealth

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She robbed them of wealth

WHO: Araceli Bonaventura and you!
WHAT: Catch-all for post-Mire; gambling in the tavern, Skyhold parkour 2: electric boogaloo, chilling in the gardens and wildcard available. Also dinner with Korrin Ataash
WHEN: Between returning from the Fallow Mire and folks departing to the darkspawn desert and red templar winter adventureland
WHERE: Skyhold; the Herald’s Rest, battlements, gardens or wherever if you wildcard it
NOTES: Feel free to have seen a wild Araceli roaming past (and possibly up and over) your windows or to have had a run-in with her fox. I’ll match your style/tense.

tavern; teaching cards and dice
If she’s going to have to learn new games of cards, the least she can do is make sure people can play a few hands of the games she grew up with or introduce them to liar’s dice. Liar’s dice is always so much more than just making coin or whatever you’re wagering after all; liar’s dice teaches you how to figure out a tell and how to cover your own with enough practice and how to tell the most bold-faced lies without a single person noticing if you’re good.

She’s more than happy to buy a drink for anyone who wants to play a hand or two. If you’re new she’ll go easy on you if you offer to explain how Wicked Grace works.

parkour;
The best thing about being back in Skyhold is actually having something to climb that won’t have her landing stagnant water that’s full of corpses ready to attack her. There’s always a little note tacked on a corner of the board in her elegant hand offering lessons and her name but it’s easier in small groups or one on one. Often you’ll need to track her down as she does her regular circuits of Skyhold, climbing up and down the walls either side of the fortress

gardens;
The gardens of Skyhold are larger than most gardens in Castileos, lacking the sea air but they’re more sheltered than most other places in Skyhold so she can some of the weak watery sun. After the Mire she needs it so she’s relocated from the library that was beginning to feel overcrowded with actual researchers, something she is absolutely not. Instead she’s working on something of a report, scowling at it most of the time and there are doodles in the margins, annoyed scribbles and half a paw print along the edge of one of the pages but it’s fine, it’s a draft, it’s perfectly fine.

Besides, it’s not even a report exactly, more of a guide, advice about how to actually get around and fight safely in conditions like the Mire.

Feel free to interrupt before she starts getting distracted with her little reference sketches.

wildcard;
Where else have you bumped into her? Or have you met a rather striking fox with streaks of red beneath his black fur and wondered who the hell keeps shouting ‘Lux’ as you stare down at said fox.

dinner with Korrin Ataash;
It took a lot of convincing to get the kitchen staff to allow her to cook. It helps that she had the coin to pay for it thanks to several profitable games of dice because it’s easy to spot a liar and far too many of the soldiers have honest faces here, the kind of men and women that’d be eaten alive in Castileos. She promised Korrin a meal she’d cooked herself and they absolutely deserve it after that hell.

She can’t make her favourite exactly. They don’t have quite as many fish but that’s obviously the problem with being stuck up a bloody mountain although there’s at least plenty of snow and ice to help keep it fresh. One of the helpers stays to explain the herbs she doesn’t recognise but all in all there’s plenty of fish stew served in bread bowls with rich tomato sauce with a healthy glug of good red wine through it.

When Korrin arrives according to the note Araceli left with her, there’s even a candle or two lit. Look, you gotta have ambience for this after she spent a whole day engaged in high stakes kitchen negotiations.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Certainly señora," a bright grin accompanies her sweeping the cards up into her hand, shuffling the deck as she nods to the seat across from her. "I'm afraid if you're looking for Wicked Grace then I'm still learning the rules but there are plenty of games from my home country." The hand might give away that she's not Antivan or Rivaini but that's probably about it really, she's been willing enough to let others think what they will when she's gambling with them.

"Ah! Strip Jack Naked, absolutely, a two person game and it teaches you the difference between the rankings of cards. Pay cards and ordinary cards. One of the nicknames for this game is taxes, it's why it's taught to children where I come from."

"It hardly sounds like a children's game, with a name like that."

Mia chuckles, settling herself gracefully into the seat opposite the young woman. She can't quite place the accent, almost Antivan but not quite, but it sounds lovely regardless. As lovely as the young woman herself, in fact.

One hand gestures faintly to the cards before settling onto the table. "Well then. How is it played?"

"That's the name we use for it on the docks, it was beggar my neighbour when I was a girl but sailors always talk to you like you're an adult." Or they did with her, always under the watchful gaze of her father.

"First, I split the deck, like so, here's your half. Now, we have two types of card - twos through tens are ordinary cards but the kings, queens, jacks and aces are pay cards. You put your cards face down and we turn over our cards one after the other until someone puts down a pay card. The person who didn't place the pay card has to play cards until they've paid for it - aces are worth four ordinary cards, kings three, queens two and jacks one. Once the card has been paid for then the first player takes all the cards laid down at the time and puts them to the bottom of their own pile. There's another rule about pay cards versus pay cards but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"So it's a game of chance, then."

Mia gave a considering hum before nodding, carefully straightening her pile of cards. Once she seemed satisfied her gaze lifted, brown eyes settling on the young woman once more. "Would you be starting, then?" An eyebrow lifted. "Or shall I?"

“Pretty much, there are variants that turn it into something more like a war but this is a good one to play, it lets you chat instead of seeing if someone’s about to try to bluff or call you on yours.”

And after she’d just spent so long with far too many supposedly training soldiers mostly failing to actually call her on hers at the right time, she could use just getting to sit and relax as she played.

“I’ll go first.” It only seemed right, and hopefully it’d make it easier to explain the mult-pay card rule if it came up for her first as she laid down a seven, little anchors at the corners of the card. “I don’t think i’ve seen you around Skyhold yet - may I ask what it is you do here?”

"You may."

And she took a card from the top of her deck, turning it over onto the first. A three. Harmless enough.

"I've been working to organize distribution of resources to the people flocking to the keep day after day. There's been a lot of thought given to maintaining the Inquisition's efforts, but I see no reason to ignore those who are simply seeking shelter after having been uprooted so violently." A thin smile creased her lips. "I may have some personal stake in the matter. I remember what it was like when the Blight struck Ferelden."

An eight for Araceli, little fish all dotted in the corners. She really needed to disappear off and pick up a deck for this world at some point.

“So like a ship’s quartermaster then? Well not quite but most people holding such positions in our country have been involved in sailing so the name sticks to them still. We’ve not had this sort of upheaval for a long long time but there is one country where even now people flee from the hardships, many decades after the war ended, I hope for the sake of all that the world recovers quicker.” Of course in general, Zimevur was a harsh place to live with harsh punishments and high standards, why not move away to a country where people had more cheer and often a damn sight more rain too.

“The Blight, that’s the Grey Warden thing, yes?” Bless you Zevran for explaining a few things to her on that long walk from Skyhold. Not that she fully grasped the gravity of it most likely but there was enough to make her realise how fortunate her own home happened to be. “Was that your home?”

Port country perk: you got really good at picking up accents quickly.

"The Grey Wardens fight the Blight, yes."

An odd way to look at it, but she wasn't wrong.

The next card pulled out of the deck was a Jack, and Mia hummed in approval. "So. This means that you pay out and the cards here are mine? Not as large a pot as one might hope," she observed. "But there are certainly more face cards hiding in there somewhere."

There was a pause before she nodded. "And yes, it was. It still is, by all accounts. I don't intend to spend the rest of my life in Skyhold, after all."

Conversations as you picked your way down a mountain into the unknown didn't always stick so well but she was pleased enough she hadn't muddled the important details.

"It must have been terrible, I'm sorry you had to live through such a thing," she confessed quietly because it seemed to her, from what she'd learned thus far that most people in this world had been dealt bad hand after bad hand. Wars and crisis that walked in the footsteps the other had left with this the biggest conflict she'd ever managed to find herself in.

"That's how taxes work - the tax collector always wants more but it means I lose cards and thus the advantage begins to stack up." No really, this is actually how she learned about taxes and tariffs and fees as a little girl, and she set down her next card, an eight, to serve as payment.

"And who could blame you, a woman such as you should be in a place more fitting than somewhere crumbling and covered in snow, a fine house where it's warm without almost stepping into the fire I should think."

"A woman such as I."

That appeared to amused her as the cards were carefully gathered up and tucked back into her pile, turning a fresh card out onto the table to begin again. Two, this time. "And what sort of woman is that, I wonder?"

If it was time to play a game of observation, as well as cards, they both might find themselves surprised by what their opponent had in store. Not doubt the girl had her own share of tales to tell.

"A woman with a spine and will of steel if not something stronger to hold such a position, if you are anything like quartermasters. A sense of fairness and humour to go along with the charm and the looks. Compassionate, I would guess if only for taking on what I'm sure is a trying job when the numbers grow and grow here." She places a ten, glancing up from the cards to lift her glass and take a drink, considering carefully. Not quite like the palace staff in such a position because they were very noble and liked to make it known, scowling whenever Araceli had ever gone with a list of things she personally needed.

"A good head for numbers, perhaps knowing that sometimes there are times we all must be practical and tighten our belts, but one would hope that those who can tighten more are asked to do such and others still allowed some slack, often those who can ill afford it tighten until they are nearly cut in two."

"Impressive. And a bit flattering, I'll admit."

Curiosity piqued, Mia leaned closer to the table, flipping over another card, threes, and lying it onto the pile. The girl had a keen mind. But then, so many extraordinary people had made their way to Skyhold, of which she'd only still met a handful.

"Though it's not a surprise that a person who plays cards for one learns to be observant. I could see the Inquisition putting a skill like that to good use," she continued with a considering look.

"It's rude not to flatter a lady, though it's rare when the truth and flattery get to be the same thing."

That is terrible Araceli and maybe she should feel ashamed but that's also a pretty foreign concept for her and isn't this whole world more than enough foreign for one girl to handle? She lowers her eyes almost demurely as she places a ten, but her smile is pleased before she meets Mia's gaze again.

"I have...experience in knowing how to read people. Almost from birth. My mother taught me what she knew from her profession, my father from his. Time as a thief, well that teaches you many lessons very quickly else you get clapped in irons or have a hand cut off." When she wants to help so badly, it's very much on the tip of her tongue to include the last year but she stands out so much already, and even though thief is quite the title, it's more normal and easier to be around than royal guard, especially if you're a stranger.

"A thief? Bold of you to admit."

Though not surprising. She has a way about her that lends it well to the skills necessary for such a trade, which of course means that flattery will be taken for exactly what it is. And it is worth little but pretty speech.

Still, it's pleasant enough, and she won't sour the occasion for that alone. Another card turns over, an eight this time. "It seems the face cards are suddenly shy. Perhaps you should work your silver tongue on them." Mia's eyebrows lifted, a faint curl of amusement at her lips.

"An honest thief is better than a lot of things, and besides, plenty of nobility are thieves as well, it's just that they get excused."

What nobles of Thedas are like remains to be seen but if the people, well majority of humans, are as described, she doubts they'd be much different to the ones she knew back home. Maybe more inclined to send a stronger force after her if she was caught sneaking out a bedroom window with a daughter or a wife waving her goodbye.

"Oh these cards are all very old," she teases even as she touches them lovingly, "I am sure that they've seen all of my tricks but let us try: what I seek is a beauty from beneath the waves, her own loveliness surpassing the crown she wears."

And as if by magic (or cheating), she lays down a queen with a wicked grin.

Quite the lucky draw. Mia gives her an incredulous look at that before clucking her tongue.

"Honest thief, is it?" she murmurs, paying out her due of cards and waving a hand dismissively. Fine. Take the pile. There were plenty more face cards in the deck, and ample opportunity to gain them back. "I'm afraid I have no such skill for poetic words or flattery. I'll have to rely on other methods, it seems."

She reclines slightly in her seat, one eyebrow rising higher. "And I never claimed the nobility were any more honest. You have the right of it, and I have about as much patience for them as I would anyone else. That patience extends as far as their conduct allows for. No more, no less."

Now is the perfect time to take a sip of her drink because there's no way she could keep a straight face.

"Well I'm honest about what I am, the guards at home had names for me, thief-in-the-night and sea fox. Azarola, it means like a fox where I come from, plenty of people would call me that." Only here it'd be more of a mouthful and she could likely comfortably count on one hand how many would be able to say it all without tripping over the words. But she takes the pile, slipping them neatly into place with her own.

"But is it the same here as home I wonder; coin or better yet, influence, can sway so many things. One must put up with rude and terrible people, so it goes, because they hold sway over certain markets for instance whereas a common man with a similar grievance can be ignored much more easily. Not to cast aspersions but those I've met so far are more my own level, none holding so lofty a position as you." After all, she's taken some care not to draw the eye of senior Inquisition figures if she can help it, not until she's fully sussed them out.

"Lofty."

A new card was turned over, a two, laid flat and sharp as you pleased. Something in the woman's words had raised her hackles ever so slightly, though it was difficult to tell save from the clipped tone of her words.

"Do you imagine I took up the job because of the coin or influence, dear? I make my way the same as anyone else."

After a moment to pause, she turns her own card over, raising up the empty hand once she's done.

"Calma, calma. Boatswain is loftier than crew, the mates are loftier than the boatswain and the captain is higher again. It is what it is, I apologise I offend." A different way of speaking is needed here when you bring up such matters clearly because she can be as brazen as she likes because it's almost rude to be coy about finances unless you're haggling. "I mean it in a good way; you are the closest to whatever leadership there is - everyone else? Soldiers. Rifters like myself. Volunteers in the form of scouts, surgeons, people simply seeking refuge. I was merely stating that I'm glad you aren't like most nobles, a sniff of power and coin and it goes to their heads and they forget that the rest of us exist. I've heard too many complain of not having a delicacy when some of us can barely afford a meal or a roof over our heads, that it is not the same in Skyhold at the very least is comforting."

"Nor will it ever be, if I have any say in the matter."

Mia shakes her head adamantly. "Too much separates us all, and too long have we allowed it to do so. Noble, commoner, mage, templar, human, elf, dwarf...is it not enough that we are all in the same danger?" She snorts softly, turning over her own card before taking a deep breath.

"I apologize. With so much at stake, I...should perhaps be more focused on enjoying the game."

"You remind me of a very dear friend when you say that, someone I miss a great deal the longer I am here."

Honestly, if Leandra were around, Araceli would be playing cards against herself as they talked, probably staring in awe if and when she got bored of a solo round. "Oh but we aren't in the same danger, are we?" Clearing her throat, she sets down a card and gives herself a shake, putting on what she'd call her noble voice. "Some of us have ancestors we can trace back for generations, we are the very fabric of a place, we shall be mourned. Send some poor boy or girl to do the dying, how many will even know that they are gone within a month?"

And she does know people like that, it makes her thankful that the war is in a world that isn't hers.

"You only focus if you want to win - you enjoy what you enjoy, your days are probably full of stress enough."

A chuckle escapes the woman as she leans back, smiling wistfully. "Perhaps. But I honestly don't know what to do with myself when I'm not working," she admits with a helpless shrug. "I do enjoy games like this, but the time for them is few and far between. Perhaps I should set aside more time for myself..."

It's a consideration to take. She might not do so unprompted, and it might take some nudging to think of herself rather than those around her, but she might just need it.

A King makes an appearance in her next turn, and her expression brightens. "Ah. Luck's found me again, it seems."

This could be Leandra, if they exchanged the tavern for a private drawing room, if they were more familiar and she laughs quietly. "Ah how well I know such folk; the woman I speak of, Leandra, I have had to drag her almost completely asleep from her study with big splotches of ink on her face from where she fell asleep writing letters. It's why she has a person such as I, to help her take time just for her even if it's lounging in bed with hot tea and a book, not letters or great ponderous tomes on philosophies."

Granted, Araceli can be just as guilty of working to the bone but it feels less like work when you're out and about doing things, running here there and everywhere. Sitting still for too long unless she's memorising a guard rotation drives her mad all too quickly.

"Oh what a traitorous card, all because I flattered the queen, but here, collect your taxes," and oh those are so many cards to give away, but then that thing with the queen was pretty blatant even for her.

"You should know the ego of men in power," Mia countered dryly, sweeping the cards together and patting them into a neat little pile. "Of which I still feel there are far too many. The Chantry's a right mess at the moment, but they didn't get everything wrong."

Listening to Araceli describe her friend earns a faint pang of homesickness. It's every bit what she might have been doing at home, with Rosalie or Branson at her elbow, urging her up to some activity or another. A faintly wistful smile creeps across her lips.

"She's very lucky to have a friend like you," she observes after a moment.

"Lucky for me, Castileos has had queens during my life so we have only had to contend with prince consorts and not kings. I thought the Chantry was all women though? I've only seen them around in the odd hats."

There's a nagging about Tevinter but everything about that place sounded so bizarre that she'd rather just keep her thoughts to herself.

"Sometimes it's the other way round; she showed me things I wouldn't have seen on my own, at least not from her side of it. She might have taught me to be a little less reckless, I know, I know, how could anyone think such a thing of someone like me. But I hate to worry her so I agree to at least try to think a plan through a little longer than I used to."

She robbed them of wealth

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