it takes me back to where i first started; | ota

[lacere]

WHO: Scout Harding and you!
WHAT: A catch-all for all your Lace needs, including mothering scouts going on adventures, gossip from her underlings about her supposed relationship with Bruce, tavern time with friends, and runs back and forth to the Hinterlands -- but if there's something you want to do with her, now's the time!
WHEN: From the beginning of Haring prior to the Scout departure, and until the middle weeks.
WHERE: Skyhold and the Hinterlands, potentially.
NOTES: None at the moment.

1. SCOUT TEAM PREPARATIONS ;

She is not going with them.

It is strange to not be, to be surrounded by those who were recruited with her and after her and those that are her fellow scouts, her Inquisition family, and to not be joining them in this venture. She will, with time - wherever the Inquisition goes to next, these are only forward scouts, and she trusts them to do the job assigned, to chart the way for when she and the others do get there, for when they start to make a holding in these places.

Harding's front is perfect, and practiced. Outwardly, it does not bother her, and she makes busy. She reiterates orders from the top, goes over the plans and the information the Inquisition has scrounged up on both destinations multiple times, checks and rechecks supplies, goes to the quartermaster, goes to the armory, prepares. But it is not for her -- and despite it all, it is still strange not to be going with them. She trusts in what she and each of them have to do, and yet - do they spread themselves too thinly? Should they concentrate their efforts and not have her go elsewhere, when she could help here?

She has her own things to do, after this. And despite the inner questions, Harding is firm.

In the day leading up towards the scouting party's departure, Harding makes her final checks, but most of all, she lends an ear to any nerves that might need soothing, and mothers over her effective flock. If you don't see her beforehand, you'll find a drink heading your way in the tavern that night from her but also a quiet reminder to not sit here all night and go to bed.



2. SCANDALOUS GOSSIP!!, OR, ON MARIGOLDS AND HIGHTOWNS ;

It does not take long for the rumours to find their way back to Harding.

For one thing, the scouts in the mire had already talked about her secret paramour in earshot after she'd written several letters to Bruce, so she was aware - she had laughed once, and then firmly told them to cut it out. That had done little to dissuade them once they had a face (and a name) to attach to this 'B' that their boss had been writing to, apparently, as the rumours circulated around the mire and Skyhold and made their way back to her, in paper form as well as eavesdropping. Really, they should have expected no less from their boss who worked for their spymaster, who knew everything.

Plus this piece of paper with to the minute breakdowns of time she and Bruce spent together. If only they put this level of detail into their reports.

Still, at first it was only the scouts, but now it seems that everyone and their mabari knows, from the dignitaries arriving to the scullery maid to the horsemaster, and each retelling gets wilder and wilder. A passionate kiss had been in the latest retelling, and, frankly, this was getting out of hand.

Harding's first port of call is to seek out Bruce.

Of course, you can approach her before or after that about the rumours. Who wants to know about Harding n' Hightown? Everyone, apparently.



3. TAKING A BREAK ;

Whilst not making preparations or seeing to scout duties, Harding is a frequent visitor to the Herald's rest. She comes and goes without a word, sometimes bringing her work, sometimes making the the tavern itself her work and occasionally dropping coin into more than just an ale for herself.

She invites friends on occasion, and sometimes seeks them out. Sometimes she writes, sometimes she reads, sometimes she spends too long watching a particularly handsome individual for no reason than maker, they're so aesthetically pleasing and please stay for the rest of the night, thanks.



4. ON ASSIGNMENT (THE HINTERLANDS, THE FROSTBACKS);

The presence may be known, but there is still much to be done and connections to be upheld. It's all about presence as well as making the Inquisition stronger, making them seem more reliable and a constant. Harding knows this well; whilst the Herald ploughed ahead, those below were the ones to be her reach where she could not be, and now with her passing, that was even more important. They had gone to the mire and done what was needed well enough, but the Hinterlands remained.

Harding makes frequent runs to The Crossroads and further to Redcliffe, bringing people for deal-making, scouts with supplies, sometimes on covert missions selling stuffed nugs with another dwarf (don't ask). Sometimes she goes further afield across the Frostbacks, sticking to the mountain paths that may or may not have been forged by the Inquistion, to keep watch, to wait for those from Orlais and Ferelden and further afield who have announced their intention on visiting the Inquisition. Sometimes she takes people back, rather than to, but there are many hours to spend in the cold, waiting, watching.

Do you go with her on one of these excursions?



5. OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE YOU HAD IN MIND?

Comments

[arlathvhen]

Beleth nods, like a good, obedient scout, and hustles off. She returns in a timely manner, sitting down across from Scout Harding with the mug of ale, but doesn't offer it quite yet. It's a little more daring than she usually gets, but because it's Harding, she feels pretty sure that a little lip won't get her kicked out of the Inquisition--especially when the lip is for Harding's own good.

"I have one condition for this ale--you can't work while you drink it." She's pretty sure Harding wouldn't just chug it--that'd pretty much ruin any paperwork at all getting done for the evening, until the buzz wore off. "If it makes you feel better, consider what will happen to me if you overwork yourself and pass away in the night. I will be out of a boss, and possibly a job. What about the other scouts? Some have families."

She held out the ale, her other hand over her heart as she said, with only a slight bit of exaggeration, "Please, Lead Scout, think of the children. And the alcohol."

[lacere]

In the time Beleth is gone, Harding wastes no time in getting back to work. She's still mid-sentence when she returns and the lack of the ale appearing on her side of the table is what gets her to look up and then a smirk slowly begins to creep across her face which she doesn't seek to halt.

"You know that's insubordination," she says calmly, and it might have been a chide once upon a time, but her eyes give away her amusement. Plus the smirk, that helps. "Not to mention emotional blackmail." Because she's fairly sure she's the parent in this equation and the Scouts are her children. "But you raise a compelling argument. The Inquisition scouts would be in a sorry state without me, so I guess I'll overlook that oversight. Just this once."

Does she get the ale now? She's shuffling her reports into a pile and holding them together with twine, she's not going to touch them for... oh, maybe half an hour.

[arlathvhen]

She does, in fact, get the ale, once everything is tidied up and set aside. Beleth slides it over, with a small, amused smile. She can respect someone who is willing to put so much of their personal time into their work, and she's seen others doing it. And seen the emotional impact it made on them. She's just glad that Harding was amenable to being blackmailed into taking a break.

However, she did realize a problem after a few moments. Beleth felt like she couldn't just leave, but she really wasn't sure what to say to Harding that didn't involve the Scouts--and if Harding was going to take a break, it really ought to be a break where she didn't have to think about work at all.

Well, when all else failed, idle gossip would work. "So, have you met the Grey Wardens? They're an awfully...colorful bunch. I'd always thought they'd be grim-faced. Dour." Pretty much the exact opposite of Alistair. The other ones were just as amusing.