Scallop the breastbone

[arcaneadvisor]

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.

Comments

[arcaneadvisor]

"All his life I have done what I can so that what is said about me does not touch him." They tell legends of Flemeth that she has to hear, tales to give a girl nightmares and it's not that Alistair is needlessly cruel - she knows that if there was one in their party who could ever be called that then it would be her, or would have been - but there are things that slip out. Things you say and forget about and Alistair has never raised a child from a tiny screaming thing to something fast approaching manhood, sooner than she might want.

Zevran should understand that, given his own upbringing.

But that can wait as her eyes widen right before her brows draw together, painted lips a moue of distaste. "If you have some beast that will drop maggot infested animals in my underthings then so help me there is no place you will be safe Zevran."

[ombranera]

"He is not so thoughtless a man as that any longer Morrigan. Believe it or not our little Warden has grown up. He even answered a few questions the other day without cracking a single joke or attempting to evade it." A few being three before habit and temptation caught up with him, but Zevran understood well enough. There are things not meant for children; even strange little children such as Kieran.

They've nothing in common save Morrigan and he still felt some shade of responsibility for him. There are too few in Thedas that do not know of it's horrors. Letting Keiran keep his wonder was no burden. "I will remind him of what he says- and amend my tales in the tavern accordingly. While they have not been unkind they have been...thorough in your skills in battle. I do not think the boy needs to know that of you, yes?"

Ah, and there it is. There is the face. "My dear Morrigan, I would never."

[arcaneadvisor]

"It only takes one careless remark, and we can agree that he is prone to them, as prone as he is to blundering into traps even when warned of them. Tis likely to be an uncomfortable situation and Kieran is...a special boy." Better to talk to Alistair first if she can hunt him down and trap him somewhere, if only so he'll actually be forced to talk through it until it's done. As amusing as tales of his own childhood might be to him, it's different to say it and she's sure he's imagined some sort of monstrous creature, either because of her, because of the soul of the Old God, or both.

It's the talk of Wardens too, when there's a griffin emblem stitched on the front of many of his clothes, when they're heroes to the very young.

"Oh no, Kieran knows well what I am capable of; magic is magic, there is nothing to fear with it and he has had to learn far more, far quicker than any Circle mage, any apostate. He must be ready, he must understand what dangers there are with it. He studies the theory, the history. Twas never magic that gave me pause as a girl." It was what Flemeth did with magic, with her Chasind men. Morrigan has absolutely no plans to get up to any of that and even crude folk are better about keeping such talk from children.

Zevran she will actually set you on fire, or the suspicious look implies that she's really considering the possibility. "See to it that you do not, I would not want for things to become strained between us." Like spiders. So many spiders. And swarms of flies so thick nothing can be seen through them.