faderift | Scallop the breastbone

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Scallop the breastbone

WHO: Morrigan, open;
WHAT: Morrigan (and Kieran) join the Inquisition earlier than planned; she looks for tutors, tale of the Warden's companions present and assistance with her research
WHEN: mid-Haring
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Kieran is an npc and as such shall be shuffled off elsewhere quickly. Feel free to spot her anywhere around Skyhold looking suitably disgusted.

With one small boy practically dead on his feet, it had been easier than it might have been elsewise to arrange for suitable quarters for a woman and her son, perhaps easier than it might have been had she come in a rather more official capacity. True, the eluvian might have been with her then but things were rather less organised than she would have hoped and the rumours filtering into Orlais hadn't been wrong about the utter chaos. Even when Orlesian theatrics were taken into account. No matter, they were here, the last of her things that were too much for the two of them to transport safely would arrive shortly and doubtlessly she would be able to find a safe place for them.

For now, her priorities are getting the lay of the land as it were and it's not long before yet another mage is prowling through Skyhold though this one will look any Templar in the eye until they look away first if challenged, a woman clearly on a mission.

Tutors for her son for a start, she won't have him neglecting his studies. Seeking old companions or word of them next when she heard talk on the road that she'd have the truth of. And lastly, help with her own research and the not inconsiderable stash of very old, and very rare magical books she's lugged all the way here from Orlais, with two volumes kept always on her person lest they be lost again.

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A good part of Skyhold was still trying to recover from the whole abomination incident that had happened, Bruce himself included - although for him what he had to recover was more than just the physical; he had more to heal besides the bandages around his head and chest.

Still, life went on, and even with his injuries it certainly wasn't going to stop Bruce from continuing what he needed to do. With his usual bag of supplies Bruce is on his daily rounds like always, treating the patients under his care and taking extra care for the ones who had been caught up in the entire incident with the abomination.

Secrets would soon escape Skyhold faster than rats from a sinking ship though perhaps managing to find every spot of trouble during the Blight gave one a rather different view of abominations. Certainly they got old and few had ever glimpsed what truly lurked in the darkest parts of the Deep Roads where only the Legion and Grey Wardens dared to tread. News to keep away from Kieran, if she could; she knew all too well the fears and the uglier things the fearful might say.

Not that she had imagined to see so many in need of healing, not when all at Haven had gone quiet and she strolled over confidently. As if she'd ever walked any other way in her life. Odd though, to see someone giving healing with bandages himself when not on a battlefield.

"Tell me, are there no others to dress wounds and dispense potions and poultices? Surely they will learn for themselves which ones they drink and which ones they don't."

Bruce paused in what he had been doing - attending to a patient - and looked at the strange woman standing before him. Well, at least he was pretty certain she was no Rifter, but still--

"Not at the moment," he replies, voice wry, but with an apologetic look on his face all the same. "We're rather shorthanded as it is, and a fair number of people are still recovering from recent events." Not to mention that Bruce didn't feel entirely comfortable just giving people potions and such without instructions - there were already enough problems and he didn't want to cause more, as indirect as it could be.

"Recent events is hardly the way most would refer to an abomination prowling even in the wild, let alone a place like Skyhold. The last time I heard tale of many abominations in one place, there were calls for the Rite to be sent for." A typical Templar overreaction though the demon had been something else then, but still ultimately contained, a product of the Circles but more the Blight for allowing opportunity to beckon.

Here? Perhaps rather more like firing an arrow straight up and being surprised at the outcome.

"How many lost or wounded to this particular 'recent event', including yourself?"

Oh, well. Bruce was purposefully being vague since he guessed it was best to not disclose what happened to people not in the know, but since she was already apparently in the know then the need for secrecy was invalid.

"Not too many that we're crippled, but enough to feel the damage done." Mages and templars and the common folk - everyone had been affected by this, one way or another. "Everyone is doing their best to recover, though." As it was the best they could do right now - recover, and move on, and try to not let this incident stop them in their tracks.

If there was one thing the Inquisition could stand to gain from any Orlesian influence, it would be how to hold their tongues better even as they guarded their speech.

"I had the misfortune to be by the gardens, I see for the time being I shall have to procure my own supplies as and when they're needed. You're a healer from the look of you, how is the mood of the people since the attack? Last I saw templars and abominations in the same spot, oh the histrionics they indulged in, truly embarrassing for grown men and women." And that had been a moderate Circle all things considered, before there had been brazen talk and deeds leading to freedom that made so many come down all the harder.

Bruce gave an apologetic smile to the first part, since he could only guess the trouble that has to come with only depending on your own supplies. Hopefully in due time things could change and the damage would be repaired.

The mood of the people, though, was another thing entirely.

"Not very good, unfortunately. Everyone was rattled with the appearance of the abomination, and its affected the rate of work. Along with the fact that some of the healers and surgeons are injured, many others are refusing the aid of a mage to heal them." Bruce, having his cover as a surgeon and hiding his identity as a mage, managed to escape that, but it didn't exactly make things easier overall. If anything it was worse since some of the injuries were best treated by magic and people refusing it was... well, it was hard to manage.

"Tis always easiest to blame a mage when anything goes ill in this life rather than admitting the Circles teach them to fear themselves and the Templars restrict them until they can scarcely breathe. I suppose one could leave them to their fate should it come to it and teach them a lesson about the perils of pride at the same time..." Only she knew that wouldn’t happen, even if it should but still, a smile threatened at the thought. But it would still be something to shield Kieran from but the word would get back and well children had a way of picking up on the things you didn't want them to.

"And so they turn to you; do you counsel them to accept all aid that comes their way when there are still those dying for want of the most basic of provisions?" One brow arched as she spoke, an expectant look upon her face because the last true healer she had ever known had been Wynne, and despite the news, she would have enjoyed seeing the old woman lecturing those who refused her.

There was truth to her words, but at the same time it wasn't as if the Templars were entirely in the fault - sure they could be hardhanded in their methods, but it wasn't as if Bruce didn't understand why. Sometimes mages were just as much to blame as well, though in this case it was just... it was probably better not to think about it.

"I do my best to persuade them when I feel its necessary, but if they're adamant there's not much I can do myself." Bruce certainly wasn't going to force them, and in the end they made their choice. Sure, some of them Bruce did not like, but they were the ones who had to live with the consequences. He didn't like to think about it, but there was a limit to what he could do.

“You could leave them. Few things in this world have meaning but survival does and if they lack the wits to realise that then they should be left to their fate.” If they were grown enough to know better then leave them and stop the drain on resources that might soon be stretched to breaking. The lessons of her childhood had stuck with her, had kept both her and her son alive, and when you faced violence and war, it was only pragmatism that would keep you alive. “They should count themselves lucky, there are many elsewhere who would die, and likely will, for even a fraction of the aid the mages here could offer them.”

She took a breath, making a noise of irritation and disgust in the back of her throat before she looked up again. “But where are my manners? You may call me Morrigan.” At least she'd gotten mildly better at introductions by now.

It wasn't that he didn't understand where she was coming from there, but the fact was that Bruce couldn't find it in himself to just abandon people even though they were in a way asking for it. No, he had seen far too many people die for far less reasons - while he was here and he could do something, Bruce wasn't going to let more people die if he could help it. Perhaps it was a foolish line of thought, but for Bruce it was important. There was nothing glorious or great about death, and he would prevent it for people, as much as he could manage.

He doesn't say any of that, though, knowing it probably won't do anything, and so simply introduced himself back in turn. "Bruce," he returned politely, complete with an inclination of his head. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Have you been with the Inquisition long? I understand that numbers have swelled since the attack on Haven and the relocation to Skyhold, the name is certainly spoken more favourably than it was." Though without the Herald then of course some things had changed because had she truly been a false prophet? Had Andraste's chosen been lost to them? So much fear and doubt in the hearts and minds of what might have been the nation with the strongest chance of survival had Celene and Gaspard's wars and an elven uprising not shaken the balance of power.

Honestly the Blight had been easier to deal with. One small band and righting wrongs on the road, gaining alliances because the only real way was through. Yes there was strength in numbers but favours for treaties and fewer personal agendas? Far easier than even trying to feed and house a fraction of the Inquisition at present.

"I do have some skill with plants from growing up, I can see what I have in my own stock of seeds to allow for resupplying if needed if you know who I should hand such a list over to."

"I've been with the Inquisition for several months now - I joined it while they were still located in Haven." And as tiring as it had been, it was also much easier at that point. Back then it was easier to focus, to simply do his job because there was the comfort of having the Herald around. But then Corypheus attacked and Haven was razed to the ground and the Herald was no longer with them. A lot had happened and even more had changed, but even then the Inquisition still had to continue.

At the next part of her words Bruce gave her a grateful bow of his head. "You can pass it on to the quarermaster, I believe - and your help is very much appreciated. The attack from the abomination had destroyed the majority of the garden and its crops, so anything that can help replenish it would be great." At this point, with how much they have lost, just about anything that they could get would be greatly useful.

"And before?" It seemed a fair question after all, to find out what would prompt one to join such a ragtag thing when the majority of the world it seemed had collectively buried their heads in the sand or decided to keep their heads down, staying small and quiet if they hadn't taken up arms as so many had. Lyrium smugglers had never been quite so brazen before, nor had there been so many bandits and mercenaries upon the roads to prey and scavenge on what had been left behind in the Hinterlands now that they mages and templars were reduced to the worst of their rogue elements.

"This place has such history, such magic even in the very stones of the foundations, meant to protect it from evil. One would hope that all this is but a temporary blip and not a portent of what is to come, the first drops of rain to herald the storm."

Before... well. Before was a complicated thing, and one Bruce would rather not touch upon if possible. But she had asked, and Bruce knew better than to not answer and possibly draw unwarranted attention. Still--

"I had been mostly going around from place to place, offering my services as a surgeon where required." That much at least was the truth, even if his reasoning for it wasn't. "When the news about the Breach and the Inquisition started to go across I felt it would be for the best if I could come and put my services to help the ones who were doing their best to save this world."

So far though, that seemed like the best decision still--that is until the attack on Haven, then the Herald passing away and now this. Things hadn't been going too well in the last few weeks, and Bruce certainly hoped that would change soon. He nodded to Morrigan's words in agreement there.

"At least after this people will be much more vigilant. Hopefully, no more of this incidents will occur."

Living a life where you were known for the Blight in some circles and for your rather public position in others gave you a different sort of perspective on befores. Especially when people viewed Flemeth as but mere legend, superstitions of the Chasind.

"If you tire of the Inquisition, might I suggest to you the Exalted Plains. The long and bloody history of that place only continues though this time there are far fewer elves to be caught in the fighting. They would be grateful for the skills of a surgeon though in too many cases twould be like the Blight; one last moment before they finally succumb. The wounds of a common soldier are easier to treat, one would imagine, than the aftermath of demons." What she saw during the Blight stayed with her, likely stayed with them all; soldiers dead in the field from the civil war, weakened from blood loss and their wounds, sickened by the taint or whatever found them on the road.

She had no desire to see such sights herself but the world had forgotten so quickly the horrors of a Blight, of the chaos only war could bring.

"Yet vigilance may cause much of it - to be gawked at, to know what would happen to you should a Templar come. I have been called many things and maleficar among them, we both know that if I were the one to fall to fear what would come sniffing around. The Circle mages have risen to new heights and the fall...the fall is rather spectacular."

The Exalted Plains... Bruce has passed by it a few times, yes, although he's never actively stayed in the area, given the fighting that Morrigan had just brought up. Still, she did have her point - just as she also had her point about the Circles. Inherently the Circles weren't bad, but as with so many things, they had changed into something that weren't truly quite were what they were once meant to be.

"All I truly hope is that something like this doesn't occur within Skyhold again." Outside it was hard to say, but within these walls, at least, people should be safe. If even their safety in here was threatened, then it would be hard to maintain the slowly growing reputation that the Inquisition was getting. Not to mention that Bruce personally wouldn't like it himself - putting innocent people in danger was never something he liked a lot.

He tried his best to put his mind away from that thought and inclined his head towards her. "But anyway, thank you for your suggestion. I'll keep in mind, should I find a time for me to leave the Inquisition."

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Scallop the breastbone

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