But the Stars are not gods, they say

[foxsays]

WHO: Araceli, Yngvi, Morrigan, Brónach ; open
WHAT: Catch-all for Drakonis
WHEN: Handwaved points through Drakonis
WHERE: Kirkwall + Sundermount
NOTES: If you want a specific starter, grab me on deathwailart or bansheesquad#0389 and we can work something out. Starters in the comments

Comments

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin turns as directed, though not before flashing a smile. "It is a good thing, better than I thought it could be. Don't get me wrong, kadan, I love our life together. That apartment with a view of the water, walls thick enough that we don't hear other people and they don't hear us, the kitchen that's just ours and no one else's? All those things are awesome. I just have to keep enough of the mercenary with me so that when I'm on the road I'm not grumbling constantly for the lack of them."

Leaving behind the world's most comfortable bed for a bedroll in a tent...that's harder than it used to be.

"And Nevarrans have always been unique like that. They somehow kept a little of the respect for mages that everyone else outside Tevinter squashed down...at least for the Mortalitasi and those who might become them. Antiva's different...or it was, but if that can help us in any way, I'm not complaining." She knows better than to think non-humans will gain any titles to go with those rights, but whatever. It's the not being shoved back into a Circle that's the important part, for the rebel mages of the present.

[foxsays]

Groping behind her with one hand until she finds one of the combs she'd brought down with her, Araceli slowly works it through Korrin's hair until she's sure she'll be able to get her fingers through without snagging, sweeping some from Korrin's shoulder to press a kiss there. "Living at the Gallows at the start was-- I know I slept wherever I could at first at Skyhold, I can do that but we all had more space, it was a little too communal after time on the ships for people not used to it."

Or people used to it who'd started to become accustomed to something of a more comfortable life of not having to share just as much space constantly.

"I'll complain next time we have to camp. I hate it. I hate camping," Korrin won't be able to see Araceli's satisfied little smirk since she's busy working away on her hair but it feels good to say it. Yes, she can do any sort of ship life swinging away in hammocks or curled up even on piles of rigging to sleep but camping? No. "There's no part of it that's good, I go because I know I have to go but every time we don't need to do the sleeping on the ground in the middle of nowhere in all weathers I'm happier."

(She is a spoiled baby who grew up in a warm brothel all her life, who had a flat that was still small and cosy, who went on a ship where she always found a nice little nook to sleep in. Then had a palace bed. There was always a bed. Not glorified ground.)

"Whatever comes of the king and the Merchant Princes whenever it comes, it'll be an indicator. The Merchant Princes will want whatever's best for business. Mages could be good for that." Mages could be more easily argued to be good for business if casting a lot, but there's more to look at, depending how the wind blows, if people have sense in their heads and all that. "At least there aren't the Crows now, it must've made it easier to know you wouldn't have to look over your shoulders for any sort of involvement from them in any fashion."

[gatheringstorm]

Closing her eyes while savoring Araceli's attentive touch, Korrin lets out a content sigh. "I promise you that loving camping will never be a requirement of our relationship, kadan. It is what it is and I'm used to it, but I won't pretend I love too-thin tent walls, among other shit." Sometimes literal; someone has to dig the latrines.

"It's strange to think of the Crows as a non-factor. They were a ruthless bunch, but they kept invaders at bay because no one wanted to deal with them. I don't think the Merchant Princes scare outsiders nearly as much."

[foxsays]

"I should've gone to Nevarra. The one time we had an inn." A real inn. Beds. Of course they both know why but what are the chances of it being repeated in a hurry when they went to uncharted frozen wastes last time?

Nodding, she runs the hair oil through - she'll need to pick up more soon - Korrin's hair before following it through with the comb, rising up on her toes to rinse it out. "Remember what they did to Zevran. How many others have there been? If the princes get things sorted, they'd have a stronger base; don't doubt tariffs and treaties for control and keeping the peace."

[gatheringstorm]

"I'm not sure I'd expect a repeat trip to Nevarra anytime soon, or at least the capital." She wasn't there for the Grand Necropolis fight, but she sure had to hear about it afterward. What a mess. "That said, I'll look for more assignments that involve beds than tents. That shouldn't be too steep a standard, right?"

Her voice is increasingly more relaxed, as the hair oil and comb are putting her perfectly at ease. She has to remind herself that this is a public bath and they'll have to get out sooner or later. Though what a way to drift off, if it could happen. "It also helps that we've a common enemy to keep everyone distracted...two, if you count people worried about the Qunari from the north. They're always good boogeymen."

[foxsays]

"There are always ways things have to be smoothed over; Zimevur and Castileos are far from friends, they blame us for all that happened from a war they instigated throughout the rest of our world yet we still go there for diplomatic missions as needed, to do what might be done to maintain peace. That's without anything like this." All of it only brings to mind that first discussion with Lady Vivas, her mouth pulling into a frown she knows twists the same as her mother's might. "Yet Nevarra is connected to elsewhere, and close to Tevinter. How many noble families from one nation to another? Cast a stone into the water, you never know how far the ripples travel, what they touch."

Araceli's sure she's said that before, and here in the baths only illustrates the point better as she rises up on her knees to rinse Korrin's hair entirely, to check for any sign of injury that might be lingering that she hadn't spotted already but it bears repeating. Because it's true. Because they don't know. They never know. It's what makes the Inquisition so damned dangerous at times.

"The Qun...I can understand why people are afraid of the Qun." No matter how carefully she says it, it still sounds the way it sounds: I am afraid of the Qun, a thing I can't negotiate with that will take and reshape until there is nothing left. "If they could all be set at each other...but that's why there's a project to look into them and what they're doing. And we should get going, I don't know if you have your ring." Leaning forward, she tilts Korrin's face towards her so she can kiss her before she reluctantly climbs out, wrapping a towel round herself then holding out another.