open

[bouchonne]

WHO: Byerly and Kitty and thou or even you
WHAT: Open post!! open post
WHEN: The month of KINGSWAY
WHERE: EVERYWHERE but mostly in Kirkwall and in the Gallows
NOTES: Warning: chatterboxes

[ Starters in comments!! Feel free to tag in or start your own thread it's groovy ]

Comments

[degenere]

[Again? And with such weariness! Val, who has no idea who is talking to, gives Kitty a polite ok mon petit sure kind of smile. He chooses instead to address the more interesting question.]

There is much that suggests that Shartan stands as a representative of many. That there was not one figure of his background and spirit, but several. Hundreds, dozens--theories, they vary here--and that he was written of in the singular for-- ah, well, theories vary here, too. Perhaps for the sake of ease.

[rathercommon]

[ She favors him with a chilly smile - though it's not him she's feeling cold towards. ]

Perhaps to utterly erase any history of widespread resistance so that the current elves don't get any ideas.

[degenere]

Perhaps! But then, why not erase entirely Shartan's name? This suppression was practiced in the widespread. It was the conservation effort of the University and her open-minded scholarly approach that allowed for the mural's existence. Really, you must make time to visit and behold it for yourself, if Shartan is truly to be a topic of your study.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty's eye-roll is quite visible. ]

Sure, yeah. Anyway. Why do you think they wouldn't erase his name completely?

[degenere]

[Excuse. Val's smile hitches toward a smirk.]

I will confess that I do not know. I expect they did not want him to be more of a distraction to the teachings of Andraste than he was already proving to be. What was--

[And he does an exaggerated imitation of her eyeroll, with an embellished little hair-toss.]

--This?

[rathercommon]

[ She arches her eyebrows at him incredulously. ]

Me rolling my eyes.

[degenere]

Oh, yes. Thank you. Deeply illuminating.

And its motivation?

[rathercommon]

Its motivation is that yes, I understand, the University is brilliant. Doesn't mean I can take time off from all this to play tourist.

[degenere]

[Val takes a moment to survey, pointedly, the scene of Kitty laying on a mabari pillow in the sunshine of a courtyard, idly reading a book.]

"All this"?

[rathercommon]

[ Another extravagant eyeroll. ]

I'm doing research.

[degenere]

Ah, yes. Research. On Shartan. Yes?

[rathercommon]

On slavery.

[degenere]

That requires research? Interesting.

[Cute, is the subtext there.]

Your choice, that is, not necessarily its focus.

[rathercommon]

[ She favors him with a thin-lipped smile. ]

In my experience, when people assume something isn't worth learning about, it's more because they're not curious enough than it is because the topic isn't worthy.

[ She's assuming that's going to be a sick burn on this guy, given what she's heard him talking about before. ]

[degenere]

[It is a decent burn, which is why Val's smirk gets a little sharper.]

Ah, I see what you are saying. This is why you refuse to visit the University: a lack of curiosity, that restricts you to a single questionable text.

[He sighs, hugely, and turns his eyes toward the sky. Sanctimonious:]

I will pray for you, mademoiselle, that you might overcome this weakness and affliction.

[rathercommon]

[ Ugh. ]

If I show up at your precious university, they're not gonna teach me. They're gonna turn me away.

[degenere]

With that attitude? Certainly yes. But even if that were to happen, the University still boasts the finest library in all of Thedas, where you might learn for yourself.

Such an effort, I know. Your poor malnourished curiosity might not be able to stand to it.

[rathercommon]

And they'll just let anyone who marches up to their door into their library, will they.

[degenere]

Parts of it, perhaps. But of course one must submit to a test, to prove their worth. Can you guess at its material, this test?

[rathercommon]

[ With a sneer: ]

"Who were your parents? How much money d'you make in a week? Who do you know? Because we simply couldn't bear to let gutter trash dirty up our pretty halls."

[degenere]

[Val wrinkles his nose.]

"Wrestle a troll", was the answer. But your guess says quite interesting things of you, and the way that you think. Who were your parents?

[rathercommon]

[ Firmly, because she's determined not to sound ashamed - ]

A laundress and a shop clerk. Don't need to ask who yours were.

[degenere]

[Smoothly, in contrast--]

A troll and a troll in a gown, both bearing titles. Of course, the University is available even to the children of the shop clerks and the laundresses. It is an institution of knowledge and learning. Its death knell would be to remain unchanged by time, and the world these days is full of clever laundresses and plucky shop clerks, so why turn them away?

Of course, sponsorship is required. But that is necessity. I imagine the library would accept sponsorship from me, if I awarded it. A letter would suffice. There is a librarian there who is quite fond of me. Even a whisper of my name could unlock doors.

[rathercommon]

[ She meets his eyes directly. Her face is hard and suspicious. ]

And what would it cost me?

[degenere]

[As cool and as careless and as handsome and as self-assured as ever, and completely unstung by hard looks, Val smiles.]

Wrestle a troll.