[Open] No boom today. Boom tomorrow.

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and anyone! Or, well, almost anyone. Sorry, Fenris and Cullen...
WHAT: Anders arrives at Skyhold, takes a new fake name, and tries to get a measure of the Inquisition while keeping a low profile. Starting in prose, but will switch to brackets to match if that's preferred!
WHEN: Mid-haring
WHERE: All over Skyhold, choose your location?
NOTES: Warning for Anders? I can't think of any real ones atm, I'll update if that changes.

He's tired, but that's nothing new. The road's been long. It shows in the way he leans a little on his staff, a fairly generic-looking thing that's far from his old appreciation of things flashy, just as it shows in the state of his rather ragged-looking robes and the scruff of a beard that he doesn't exactly like. At least he's not dead on his feet - the company of a few refugees more than willing to bear the brunt of conversation on the way up had made the last couple of days more bearable than usual.

Now he's here, and the strain is back on his shoulders. Skyhold holds more than the usual level of danger but there's no getting around the fact that he has to at least visit this place. The Inquisition is likely to be a player in the future of mages, and Anders will not see the little bit of progress made be undone out of fear, or laziness, or naivete, or any other number of things that could cut down freedom for his people.

But that doesn't mean he knows how to go about working toward that, just yet. And that means he's slowly going around the fortress, gathering information by listening and asking simple, short questions. They have to be short. The second-to-last thing he can afford is to slip up and let Justice get too accusatory, which could lead to the last thing he can afford - to be recognized by someone who would turn him over to the 'authorities,' such as they are.

"Have you been with the inquisition long?" is one of the most frequent questions, along with a follow up if the answer is yes: "Do you think they treat mages well here?" It's not like he's hiding the staff, after all. But there are more simple questions mixed in as well, questions about the need for herbalists or healers, about where one might find a warm enough corner to sleep in, or where one can lose what few coppers they have over a game of cards. They're general. Careful. They have to be. He's no longer ready to die.

Comments

[snarksman]

Clint notices the tension, but he doesn't make mention of it. He suspects mages could be tense just for the sake of the war; not everyone is welcoming of them still. He can't fault him for that.

"Aside from the big green thing in the sky?" Clint had the sense to actually laugh at it. "As if the Blight wasn't enough for us to deal with," he mutters under his breath.

"I've spent too much of my life trying to outrun what I should have been doing. Got caught up in some bad things. Thought it wasn't too late to turn my self around and do some good." At least he's being honest with him and himself.

[justice_is_blond]

There's a faint smile on Anders' lips at the question and laugh. The green thing is definitely motivation for seeking out the Inquisition, just like Blights motivated people to join the Wardens. The smile fades with the answer, though, because that's... it's not an exact match, but it's close enough.

"I can understand that." He looks past the man for a moment before shrugging and refocusing. "So. What seems to be the routine around here? Is there anything that a new arrival should keep in mind?"