i was left to my own devices

[chainlightning]

WHO: Merrill, open
WHAT: Keeping oneself busy with an aravel.
WHEN: During all this Tevinter nonsense.
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Decorating.

How Merrill had convinced the ferrymen to allow her aravel onto the boat and across to the Gallows was uncertain; if asked, Merrill would insist that she had just asked, while the ferryman would turn a bit red and mumble something about eyelashes. Either way, it was certainly there - drawn by a horse instead of halla and with a mutt of a dog inside of it instead of other elves, but an aravel nonetheless. Merrill had directed both her horse - a massive thing, clearly some sort of war horse that a tiny Dalish mage had no business riding but did anyway - and the aravel itself to the stables, parking it outside.

Travel had taken its toll on the aravel. Obvious repairs had been made, but they were travel repairs; patched sails and different pieces of wood. Now that she had a relatively safe place to settle and access to all sorts of supplies, Merrill could repair it a bit more properly. The elf could be seen at all hours of the day working on new knots, fetching bits of wood, or looking over cloth for new sails. She had things to trade, too; herbs and stone found in her travels, skins of deer and rabbits, and trinkets that had most likely been taken out of the pockets of bandits unlucky enough to target her. The back and forth was near constant, but Merrill treated each trip and trade with a smile. She even hummed as she did her work.

No aravel, in Merrill's mind, was complete without decoration. Pieces of wood were delicately cradled as she carved images of the wilds, of bears and halla and flowers. She was not as skilled with the sails, but that didn't stop her from trying to thread bits of color into them, green chief among them. Perhaps the most striking, however, were the feathers. Feathers of songbirds, bright red and yellow and blue; feathers of eagles, patterned and large; and feathers of the griffon, white and striking and Merrill's favorite. They were braided into the ropes, tied to the wood. Merrill would trade the feathers she didn't want or need, would go and groom the griffon that allowed her to ride him and bring back what fell.

She was busy, and it was good, and it didn't at all make her worry any less about those in Tevinter.

Comments

[laurenande]

Galadriel was not given to leaving her work, not before she had completed it, so it was not entirely uncommon for her to go unseen for days at a time. The world tended to change little in these spans and she rarely expected to see anything of marked difference when she stepped out of her door, but occasionally she was surprised. Today, in fact, she was almost stunned by the sight before her.

She had only just returned from visiting the Arlathven, to see another aravel was unexpected...but, more than that, this aravel was familiar. She wandered closer, looking for the owner of it, and combing her memory, but it was no use. The sight of the aravel alone conjured no memories, it could tell her nothing.

Fortunately there was Barkley. Barkley who, so very excitedly, decided to sneak up and pounce on her shining hair. He was much larger, now, but no less adorable.

[chainlightning]

The excited barking of her dog had interrupted Merrill on more than one occasion. Sometimes it was nothing more than a dracolisk that had gotten too close, other times someone coming up with supplies that Merrill had been unable to carry herself. This barking wasn't like either of those, though; this barking was excited, not one of alert.

Really, she shouldn't have been that surprised when she came around the aravel to find Barkley attempting to tangle himself in Galadriel's hair, just as he had as a puppy.

"Galadriel! Aneth ara!" Just as exuberant as her dog, Merrill all but launched herself toward the elven woman to grab her in an embrace. Bold by the standards of the elves of Arda, maybe, but not as much by Merrill standards - not when she had known her, missed her, loved her. "How are you?! I've only just gotten back recently - and Kirkwall is very large - I'd have come to seen you as soon as I could, if I'd known you were here!"

[laurenande]

Galadriel was stunned--both in that there was a dog suddenly biting at her hair and then that her arms were abruptly filled with another elf. There is a pause, then, however brief, before she recovers and remembers herself--when she does, Galadriel's expression blooms into something truly joyous and she wraps her arms tightly around Merrill, folding her into an embrace nearly as enthusiastic as Merrill's own.

"Merrill! Mae govannen'!" Galadriel all but shouts, her surprise spelled out in every facet of her voice. "I have not dreamed to see you here! Have you been here long? Did you travel far?"

Galadriel shifts and draws back just far enough to stare at Merrill's face. Her hand, without pause, sweeps the younger elf's hair back and rests on her cheek.

"Tell me you have not been caught up in the human conflicts that litter these lands."

[chainlightning]

It is so good to see her again. Not just to see her, but to touch her, be touched; Galadriel is her friend and the closest thing to a mother that Merrill has had since Marethari. It's easy to tilt her tattooed cheek into Galadriel's hand, to rest it there and assure them both with the touch that they are both here, alive and completely real. For her part, Merrill links her wrists behind the much taller elf's neck, letting her fingers idly stroke at her hair - while Barkley 'helps' from below.

"Not long at all- a few days, maybe? I left Kirkwall a little after the Inquisition arrived, after I made sure that everything was in order with my house in the alienage, and then- well, I couldn't just pretend all the other alienages weren't out there."

Most of the Dalish may want nothing to do with her, but a tatooed elven mage who knows Hawke can be a boon to some of the city elves, when problems arise. Merrill is not naive enough to ignore that being one of Hawke's Companions gives her a certain amount of status, and as the official inquiry into her blood magic had turned up nothing- well. Many humans are still terrible about her ears, but less so than they are to others, and that gives her an edge.

"I've avoided all of the- um, wars and things. At least when I could, when there was no way for me to help any of the elves getting caught up in things. And I got terrifically lost for a bit, which helped."

Especially considering where she had been lost.

"What about you? How have you been? How long has it been?"

[coiledscales]

Alacruun is more than a little stressed these days. He's been hearing disturbing rumors from Tevinter and while he normally wouldn't be that worried, one of the few people he actually likes has not been heard from in some time and he doesn't like that. Especially not after she left him a strange and cryptic and altogether alarming message via sending crystal before going silent. So he's taken to trying to walk off his stress, in between penning missives and doing his best to keep himself occupied.

Idle hands will do him no good now. He needs to be moving. To find something to give himself purpose. Inactivity and helplessness just makes him remember his prison. So he walks when he has nothing better to do.

The brightly adorned... vehicle caught his eye, along with the elf working on it. He pauses in his measured tread and then detours to take a look, brow furrowed as he gives her handiwork a once-over.

"...does any of that have any particular meaning? Or is it merely meant to look flashy?"

[chainlightning]

Keeping busy didn't make her worry less about those in Tevinter, but it at least didn't give her room to worry any more. She couldn't, not when she needed to focus on the precise strokes of her knife as she gently scratched at a piece of wood, carving in shallow lines to put details in the owl she was now working on. The approaching footsteps were enough of a warning that Merrill didn't jump, instead pausing to blow a few chips of wood away from her handiwork.

"A bit of both, really! Well, I wouldn't say that this is all necessarily flashy, but- meaning and decoration both, yes."

She straightened then, turning to look at her questioner. It may have been some time since she'd seen a qunari, but that didn't bother Merrill, and she offered him a slight smile.

"Animals favored by the Creators," and she gestures with her knife toward the unfinished owl, the bear, the ravens, the halla, "and all sorts of things that I like, too!"

[coiledscales]

Working with one's hands was not something that Alacruun had ever paid too much attention too. When he took humanoid shape, he was usually working as a scholar; as such, the ability of others to craft was oddly fascinating to watch - or at least a little distracting. Humans and other related creatures were always busy with them - while he had more important things to worry about.

He does have an eye for skill, though. He appreciates it. He leans down, looking past her for a moment to examine her carving. She's not bad - well, at least not as as he judges it. Of course, he's more used to hoarding metalwork or intricately bound books than wood-working.

"It's well-done," he comments off-hand and then straightens. His smile is a bit terse and short, but it's there. Sort of. He doesn't seem like the sort of man who smiles that often and when he does, it's probably not a nice smile. However, today he's just tense.

"I've been focused on the human countries mostly, so I'm afraid I don't know all of the elven meanings yet. May I ask what the owl represents? Or the ravens? I'm trying to learn everything I can about this place..."

The shard in his hand probably explains why.

[chainlightning]

She is no master craftsmen, but Merrill has learned - and it helps that she likes to do it. There won't be any new, striking ways of carving an owl into wood here, but that's okay; sometimes, traditional is just fine, even if those traditions have become lost and muddled along the way.

"Thank you!" The terseness of his smile doesn't seem to bother her. "And yes, of course- would you like a seat?"

Merrill doesn't wait for an answer. Springing up as lightly as a halla, she grabs a blanket from inside the aravel. It's opened and spread out quickly, folded to give a bit more cushion against the ground.

"To start with: these are Dalish symbols more than general elf symbols. Has anyone gone over the difference with you yet?"

[coiledscales]

"Oh, yes - please."

Alacruun is taken a touch off-guard by the offer, but he does appreciate politeness and hospitality, so he can't really decline. Instead, he settles his large frame onto the blanket that she spreads out for him. He might be trying to catch up a little. Questions help focus the mind, however.

"I know there's a difference between elves that live in alienages and among humans and those that live on their own terms and that they are called 'dalish'. That's about all, though."

Alacruun is, for once, happy enough to admit his ignorance.

[untiltheyarent]

It's not often that Fifi makes her way to the Gallows these days, unless it's to check in with Beleth over something or another, but she's here today with her basket when she sees something she doesn't expect.
She's heard of aravels, the things that Dalish use to travel, but never seen one up close: there were some in the distance in Orlais' war-ravaged countryside, but none that she'd dared approach.

So she finds herself staring, not only at the industrious elf who looks so very Dalish (as opposed to Beleth in her scoutmaster gear, and the others who at least often have the sense to wear boots), but at the strange contraption subject to so much attention. It's quite rude, and if Fifi caught herself, she'd be mortified. But it's fascinating.

[chainlightning]

Ever-vigilant, save for all the times he isn't, it's Barkley that notices Fifi first. The short-legged dog comes snuffling over, ridiculously fluffy tail wagging as he sniffs at Fifi's feet and up her legs. Hello, new friend! He barks once, as if saying as much, and that's when Merrill glances over.

"Oh, Barkley- I'm sorry, he's really very nice! Barkley, don't bother her!"

Elves and dogs, she knows, have not always historically gotten along. At least Barkley isn't a mabari.

[untiltheyarent]

Some elves, perhaps, but this one is familiar enough with dogs to recognize when one is being friendly and curious. She stoops to offer her hand for Barkley to sniff, and is briefly captivated by the budding friendship before the other elf calls to her.

"Oh-- I'm not bothered," Fifi says sheepishly, straightening and brushing out her skirts, though her hands still wander toward Barkley's head to pet his face and scratch his ears if in range.

[chainlightning]

Friends! Barkley wiggles happily - both his tail and his entire body - and happily butts his head up into Fifi's hand. Whether he's actually in range or not doesn't matter; he will make himself be in range.

Merrill can't help but giggle. "Well that's good, because he likes you!" Not that Barkley doesn't like most people, but he hasn't gotten to see many people for a while. It's good to watch him make new friends.

[the_cleric]

"Oh, my goooooosh--"

Jester, on her way to posting a new poster she just finished, stops dead when she sees the weird-looking but still so so so so pretty cart that is sitting outside of the stables. It is so pretty. Like, rustic pretty. It is almost exactly how she would decorate a cart, if she was out on the road and did not have access to pretty paper and craft shops and glitter and fancy paints and stuff. She loves it, immediately, and she runs over so she can get a better look at it.

To the casual observer, this is a little more intimidating than she means for it to be. Seven feet tall, horned, light-grey, muscled like crazy--with green ribbons looped around her horns (to match her green dress and cute green-and-white pinafore), and little white and yellow flowers tucked in her hair--and a pink haversack slung over her back, looking just a little too small for her large size--Jester cuts quite the figure, and she basically forgets that, every time. She can't help it, this time and all other times. She is excited.

"Oh my gosh," she exclaims, loudly, as she leans around to look into the driver's seat, so she can talk to the owner and decorator, "this cart is bea-u-tiful!"

[chainlightning]

Well. That's the most excited qunari that Merrill has ever seen.

It's not, perhaps, as startling as it should be - she had been in Kirkwall while the Qunari were there, after all, and she had met the Iron Bull and talked with him about pretty pink rocks. Still, Merrill definitely has a moment where she just stares. Barkley barks, but it's not any sort of warning; it's a delighted, "is this a new friend hi hi hi" sort of barking. That snaps her out of it, and she laughs, ducking her head as a flush rises up her cheeks.

"Thank you! It's the first aravel of my own that I've ever had- I built it back when we were all in Skyhold."

[the_cleric]

She gasps, again, as she registers the creature that is making that barking noise. It is, naturally, a cu-te little dog.

"And a dog? Oh wow oh wow oh wow, this cart has everything--"

Jester already has her hand out for the cute barky dog to smell, but she corrects herself, quickly, when she realizes there's a better term for what she is admiring: "This aravel. Which is also a cool word. What does it mean? Ahh, man--" She sighs, wistfully. "I want to see Skyhold. People have told me about it, and it sounds so pretty and high up. Like, I have never been on top of a mountain before! I have never seen something from so high up! I have seen a little bit of snow, but not a lot! I am jealous that you were there."

[chainlightning]

Jester's hand is smelled and licked and nuzzled almost all at once. Barkley is wiggling in excitement, clambering over Merrill, bushy tail whacking against everything in reach.

"I don't- Barkley, you can get down- actually know-" There's a moment where Merrill sounds a bit muffled, a bit of dog fur getting in front of her face, and she proceeds to grab the small dog and twist. He's plopped down on the ground and Merrill slides off after him, shaking her head fondly.

"Sorry, we've been away from people for a while; he's excited." She brushes some of the fur off with a little laugh. "Anyway - if 'aravel' ever specifically meant something, we've lost it the meaning with most of our language. They're landships, though; maybe it means that? And Skyhold wasn't that snowy - at least, not in the fortress itself."

[arlathvhen]

It's a bit of a time-honored tradition at this point that if anything was happening within the Gallows that involved Dalish, Beleth would find out about it soon enough. That it was a Dalish that people actually knew only sped up the news.

However fast Beleth got the news, it takes a few days for her to actually make it to Merrill. There is a great deal of things all happening at once, and nearly all of them require input from the Scoutmaster--of course, in all likelihood, even if she wasn't strictly needed, she'd be there and trying to help, anyway. It added up to a lot of late nights, and not as much sleep as she'd like.

But Merrill was Merrill, so Beleth does manage to put everything aside at some point, and make the trip to her aravel. The sight of it, and the decorations Merrill has taken pains to spruce it up with, puts a smile on the other woman's face before she even gets to Merrill.

"Aneth ara, lethallan. Look at you! You're looking wonderful."

[chainlightning]

Things are perhaps slightly more normal when Beleth comes; Honeysuckle has been carefully put away back in the stables in the Qunari compound, to start with. The aravel is still in the Gallows, though - and Barkley is there, racing up to Beleth with an excited bark that is only matched by Merrill's own excitement.

"Beleth! Lethallan- oh, so do you!" Tired, yes, but Beleth is there. So many others have left, but Beleth stands - and is the Scoutmaster, a title that Merrill finds utterly fitting for her friend. The title does not stop her from deciding to wrap Beleth in a hug, especially now that most of the dust and dirt from the road has been washed off.

"I've missed you!"

[arlathvhen]

It's ironic, really. Beleth had come to Skyhold for the others, to stick with the members of her clan that decided to go. They're scattered to the winds now, but Beleth is still here, with new goals and a new title to match.

She is incredibly glad that the title doesn't make Merrill treat Beleth any different, and she's quick to return the hug, with a pleased laugh to go along with it. It's a relief to know that whatever Merrill had been doing in her time away, she had returned very much the same Merrill that left.

"And I, you. So much has happened since you left--but I am sure that you've been having all kinds of adventures. You must have some truly impressive tales to tell." She doesn't ignore the dog, of course, and makes sure to give him some scratches while she speaks, and even fishes out a strip of jerky to give him. It was intended to be a dragon treat, not a dog treat, but it works well enough--and the mabari will probably appreciate it more than Kolgrim, anyway.

[chainlightning]

"Oh, well." Merrill flushes, slightly embarrassed. "I got rather lost for a good portion of it- but I spent a lot of time in the alienages that we'd been through, and a few we missed, too!"

Adventure wasn't necessarily the right word for those times, but it had been good work. If a few bad shem'len were less likely to harass those elves now, well... it was better work.

Barkley, all mutt that he is, wiggles his entire body as he gets the treat. It's quickly scarfed down and then he prettily flops himself down by their feet, looking up at Beleth as if to point out that he is a Good Boy and should get more.

"How are things here? How have you been?"

[aenseidhe]

While Iorveth keeps a home in the Alienage now, he's still in the Gallows more often than anywhere else, given it's where he works, and where his lovers favorite people live, sometimes spending the night in the Provost's chambers rather than making the trek home (or, you know, the Provost's roof). He notices the aravel the first time it arrives, though it's sometime when Merrill is out running errands for repair. The second time as well.

The third time, he's stopped near it to examine it closer, looking over the designs and decorations, the structure of it, incredibly curious about the elves of this world and their culture. Much of the Aen Seidhe and the Dalish of Thedas is similar, but things like this they have nothing to compare. As much as he's heard others claim the Dalish are stuck in their lost past, the advent of something like this - a mobile caravan - proves otherwise. Amazing, the things a people comes up with when the survival of their kind depends on that adaptation. Seeing the small, Dalish woman approaching with fabric and wood, Iorveth can only guess she's the owner, as the aravel seems to have more and more repaired on it each time he passes. Lifting a hand, it's both a greeting and an apology. It's probably a little creepy for some random dude to be checking out what is basically your house.

"Ceádmil. Forgive me, I couldn't endure the curiosity." Iorveth says somewhat sheepishly, in what's probably the most polite tone he's spoken to absolutely anyone outside a LotR elf. "This is the first I've seen one of these within a human city's gates."

sorry about the delay!!

[chainlightning]

There's no massive horse, this time, though her little dog is still with her. Merrill has been settling in, but there's not quite as much room in the stables for repairing her aravel and she doesn't dare bring it to the alienage. Right now, the Gallows is the best place to work, and Merrill does it happily.

That it means she's meeting people is only a bonus, as far as she's concerned. For all Iorveth is slightly sheepish, she only smiles, not stopping her mutt from coming forward to sniff at his feet.

"Under normal circumstances, no Dalish would bring them even close to a human city," Merrill says, even as she puts her supplies down. The fabric is separated from anything that might damage it, dog included. "But my life hasn't been normal since- oh, the fifth Blight or so."

She laughs a little, though it's definitely there to mask the pain of great loss.

"In any case- andaran atish'an. If you'd like to look, feel free - and don't mind Barkley, he's very friendly."

ahhh mine too mine too ;;;;

[aenseidhe]

Merrill greets him with kindness and sunshine, and Iorveth reflects her smile back. She's one of the few Dalish to be so openly accepting of him, being a Rifter, regardless of how Elven a Rifter he is. It's refreshing.

"Barkley." He chuckles, crouching down to hold out his palms for the pup to sniff at. "How very appropriate a name."

It's pretty adorable. If the dog decides Iorveth checks out, he'll give him some ear scratches and petting. Good puppy.

But he's interested in how Merrill mentions she's an unusual case, and Iorveth had met plenty Dalish at Arlathvhen that he doubts would let something so key to their culture into a human city. There must be more to that story.

"How is it you find yourself in a changed position now? Even the Dalish within the Inquisition don't keep aravels here."

<3!

[chainlightning]

"I thought so!"

Barkley is happy to sniff the offered palms and then more or less headbutt into them. He is quite happy to get ear scratches and pets, tongue lolling out as he pants.

"I left my clan." It's said simply, as though it wasn't truly difficult - but it was, and she pauses after she says it to take a deep breath, to steady herself. "It's... we had a disagreement. I was either going to have to stop trying to recover something from our past or I was going to have to leave- so I left. Most of the Dalish outside the Inquisition don't consider me Dalish anymore, especially after my clan ended up trying to kill me."

You know, family stuff.

"So it's not like I've got a clan that can watch the aravel for me. When we were at Skyhold, I lived in it outside the castle; I liked it better than being around everyone. When I left Kirkwall, it seemed more prudent to bring it with - and now that I'm back, it'd be safer here than in the alienage."

Humans like to burn elf property, after all.