[Open] The World It Learns

[wontforgetyou]

WHO: Jamie McCrimmon and you!
WHAT: Rifter reflections and various other things
WHEN: Mid-to-late Haring unless otherwise specified
WHERE: Various places in Skyhold
NOTES: Either brackets or prose is fine with me, so feel free to use either and I will match your style. I'm also happy to set threads prior to the Abomination appearing, so if you would prefer one of those, just say so in the header. Will update warnings as needed.

Battlements
[Monsters. It seems no matter where he goes, there's monsters. It's something that's been a part of his life for so long now that he normally he doesn't even think twice about the fact they're here, too, just falls into the habits he's developed over the past few years when they turn up.

The night the Abomination shows up is one of those nights, although he doesn't wind up facing it directly. Instead, he helps others get out of its path and tries to keep the fires from spreading, and when all is said and done the night becomes a bit of a blur. It's not until a few days later that he finds himself up on the battlements, staring down at the Courtyard below.

It's entirely not because of what's happened, although it is part of it. Losing people is never easy, and there's a part of him that regrets they couldn't do more to save them, especially that poor mage lass who'd never stood a chance. However, what happened also reminds him all too much of the way life used to be, before he'd fallen through the rift. Only a few months ago he'd still been with the Doctor and Zoe, fighting beasties and helping the people wherever they'd wound up. Sometimes they'd died, too, but they'd done their best to stop things from getting worse. Maybe he's doing the same here now, in a way, but now he's doing it alone. As much as he likes to think that he can handle what this world is throwing at him, deep down he misses his friends - and he winds up caught up in those thoughts, making it all too easy to sneak up on him at the moment and catch him unawares.]

Library
[Jamie's not normally the sort to be found in the library. He's neither a mage or a scholar, and much prefers trying to see about getting something to eat rather than nosing around old books. But the longer he's here, the more he's starting to realize that the books here can be useful, too. The main problem with that - or with reading anything that's being written down around here - is that he has no idea how to make heads or tales out of the runes people seem to be using for writing. Having to learn to read all over again in the space of only a few years isn't something he's particularly keen on doing, but given that it could be something that would be handy to know, he's determined to figure it out.

The problem, in his case, is getting started. There were books the Doctor used to when he first taught him to read. Simple children's books, ones where it was easy enough to take the letters he'd been taught and string them into words, and from there, start to puzzle out sentences. He hasn't seen all that many children about, but the library here has a lot of different books. Surely there's something her that'd work. On the days he's trying to find these books anyone who happens to come by the library can find him pulling tomes off the shelves, leafing through them (often while the book is upside down), and putting them back again, although not necessarily the right way around. Sometimes he finds a couple that look almost promising, and settles in a nearby chair, slowly tracing the symbols with a finger as if trying to make some sort of sense out of them. More often than not, though, he simply winds up looking frustrated with the whole exercise and winds up grumbling to himself. He tries to keep that part of things quiet...but he's also not particularly good at always being quiet. If it means he gets glared at, well, that's only to be expected.]

Out and about
[Being at Skyhold for the moment means that he can be found just about anywhere: having a drink at the tavern, trying to sneak a bit of food from the kitchens, or hanging out with the horses in the stables. Occasionally he can be found carving a piece of wood. It's a longer piece, about the length of someone's forearm, and to those who can recognize such it's slowly starting to resemble something rather akin to a recorder, although still very roughly formed. He seems to be taking his time with it, although it's hard to say if it's because he wants it to be perfect or if he just needs the practice. Either way, if you need him for something, you should be able to track him down one way or another.]

Comments

battlements

[motherfucking_ghost]

[One thing Church is finding himself doing while he's here--having had enough time now to more or less explore to his hearts content--is...patrolling? Yeah, let's call it patrolling. Taking walks around and just...watching. Participating sometimes. He isn't exactly the most eager to put on a suit of armor and go fighting demons in a place he doesn't know with people he doesn't care about, but, what, he's not going to just stay in his room and do nothing. There's no internet here. There's no porn! (Well, he's heard there's some erotic novels floating about, but c'mon, that's not the same.)

There's just a base, with people, and potential enemies outside it, and if one thing could feel at least slightly normal, it's walking around a base making sure things are running semi-smoothly and that they're not all dying from someone attacking.

So this guy up on the battlements looks kiiiind of lost in thought. Maybe he shouldn't say anything. But he sidles up nearby, looking over the courtyard. There are gonna be scorch marks in the ground for a while, although the melted snow has been more or less recovered.]

Some of the elves were really upset at the garden being messed up. Guess we'll see what everything ends up looking like come spring, huh?

[wontforgetyou]

[To Jamie's credit, he doesn't actually startle when someone turns up next to him. Still, his thoughts are far enough away that it takes him a few seconds for what the other man is saying to register - and for the look of faint bafflement to fade away off of his face.]

Hey? Oh, aye, the gardens. Not sure that it's just that that's bothering them, to tell you the truth.

[There'd been the whole 'monster appearing out of nowhere and killing people' part of things as well. But it's true the gardens are a mess, and will be for awhile, and his eyes wander to one of the scorch marks, lingering there for a moment as he reaches up and itches at a spot just behind his ear.]

Can't say as I blame them, though. There's a few of them who I know've been trying to get them into shape for a few months now. Even before we started turning up here. ['We' being the rifters, which may or not be obvious, but if it's not he'll worry about that part of things in a moment.] Don't think we've had a chance to meet yet, have we? I'm Jamie.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Holy fuck, this guy is the most Scottish guy ever. Church is actually kind of fascinated by the accent, cuz...really, nobody around him had that much of an accent before.]

Well, yeah, I mean, the whole flame monster thing was kind of a downer. I'm just saying, with the garden, y'know? I kind of only know the basics about magic-wielders being susceptible tooooo demon possession? I guess? Basically is what happened?

[He shrugs. He's pretty sure he understands the very basics, even if, with this proof, he still doesn't really buy into it.] You'd think the couple of us that got pulled out of other dimensions would have all met before now. Sup. I'm Church. Did I interrupt some alone time?

[wontforgetyou]

[At one point, the accent used to be broader, if such a thing was possible. His travels over the past few years have mellowed it somewhat - but any gains there may very well still be offset by the fact he still insists on wearing a kilt, even if it's a hunting kilt. That and the sporran worn over it are quite visible even now, making stand out like a sore thumb. He's a friendly seeming sore thumb, though, if nothing else.]

Don't ask me, I don't know any more about magic than you do. You'd be better off asking one of the rifters who knows about that sort of thing. Or one of the mages here, although I don't know how much they want to go into right now, given everything.

[He shrugs as well, although it's more because of the last part of what's said rather than anything else.]

Think that's more a matter of all those demons turning up when you fall through. I don't know about you, but if that's going to happen every time one of us turns up we're going to have to figure out some way to say hello that's not 'Look out!' Don't worry, though, you've not interrupted anything. I was just...thinking, that's all.

[motherfucking_ghost]

Good. [He means about the not interrupting, so he'll just mosey on up and lean on the wall right by his fellow rifter.] Cuz all this old-timey medieval bullshit gets pretty old after a while. I'll have to start practicing with some of these weapons so I'm not, y'know, bored all the time when I'm not fearing for my life or falling asleep in stables.

I've kiiiind of been learning about some of the magical demon stuff here. I mean...I dunno, I can't say I buy it. A lot of things were magic in Earth's history before we learned better and figured stuff out. Okay, yeah, granted that nobody was shooting lightning out of sticks, but still...

Out and about, very late Haring.

[gatheringstorm]

[Recently -and hopefully temporarily- returned from Emprise du Lion, Korrin hasn't surfaced until after two things have happened; a good rest, and a good meal. Only after having both is she up to wandering Skyhold, eager to catch up with familiar faces and pass news of what she's seen. Perhaps the more that hear about the atrocities at the quarry, the more the Inquisition will be swayed to head their en masse.

Spotting Jamie near the stables, Korrin waves as she approaches. His carving gets her interest and she arches an eyebrow, curious. She can't recall ever having seen him do such before, but then free time hasn't exactly been in abundance.]

An instrument? I didn't know you played. How long have you been at it?

[The carving or the instrument.]

[wontforgetyou]

[As it happens, Korrin's timing is quite good. Jamie's inconsistent use of the sending crystal (something that's entirely his own fault) means that he missed her earlier message, but he's heard some murmurs of something going on there - enough of them, in fact, that he's been meaning to track someone down from the scouting party and see if he can't get a better idea of what's happening there besides what he'd gotten from Katniss shortly after they'd arrived. The only problem is he's not exactly sure when anyone is due back, so he hasn't gotten around to looking for them in earnest just yet. While that's bad in terms of finding out more information, it does mean he has just that extra little bit of free time and can turn it towards working on his recorder. Or what he hopes will turn out to be a recorder, anyway, as he hasn't tried to do anything like this in a long time.

He's just in the process of starting to shape what he plans on being the mouthpiece when he hears Korrin's voice, and after taking a second to finish shaving off the curl of wood he'd created, he glances up, lips quirking up into a slightly teasing smile.]

Now, I'm pretty sure that carving this recorder isn't the same thing as playing one, but since you're not wrong about my playing, I suppose it's a fair enough question. And to answer it, I've been playing since I was a wee lad. My father taught me, like his father'd taught him. The recorder's not my normal instrument, though.

[gatheringstorm]

[Korrin smiles back, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She's slept, but the emotional toll that the Emprise has taken on her is still there. Maybe after a few more days it won't feel so fresh, but she has reasons to hope that her stay in Skyhold will be a short one.]

Oh? What is, then? And this is what, just something to do in the meantime?

[wontforgetyou]

[His own smile fades ever so slightly when she doesn't really respond to the teasing, his brow furrowing a fraction instead. Something seems a little off, but he can't quite put his finger on what it is. Maybe it's that she's tired, or maybe his attempt at teasing wasn't as obvious as he thought it'd been. Or maybe it's something else altogether. He's just not sure. It's enough, though, to get him to answer her a little more seriously, giving up that attempt as a bad job for now.]

Ah, that'd be bagpipes. They're a series of pipes that are attached to a bag that you fill with air while you play. More complicated than a recorder, but... [He glances down at the recorder, and shrugs.] They're also more complicated to make. This'll give me something to practice with until I can see about putting together a decent set of pipes. Or see if those bagged pipes I've heard about in Starkhaven are the same thing.

[That's not the only reason he's doing it, but it's the main one. The other reason...well, he's not sure he can put that into words, not exactly, and he lets that part of things remain unsaid for the moment, fixing Korrin with a considering look instead.]

You don't play yourself, do you?

[gatheringstorm]

[Korrin shakes her head almost instantly.]

Where would I find the time? Even before all this, I was constantly on the go, and I will be afterward. I've been told I have a decent singing voice, but that's about it.

[She shrugs, not mourning it but able to appreciate the gifts of others.]

Pipes, huh? I've been to Starkhaven before, you know. From what you've said, they sound very much alike to what you're familiar with, if not exactly the same. It shouldn't be impossible to find and bring here, instead of making it from scratch.

[Expensive, sure, but some things are worth saving up for. And Korrin would be a willing contributor to anything that alleviates homesickness.]

out and about; kitchen

[foxsays]

[If Araceli likes the tavern and the noise, Lux is a big fan of the kitchens where he can be relied upon to do some sort of trick or pathetic performance to gain himself a treat as Araceli looks on and wonders if foxes ever feel shame or if she’s acquired the one absent the day that trait was being passed around.

Lux aside, she likes hanging out in the kitchens, mainly because it’s the warmest place she’s found that doesn’t involve almost putting a leg in the fire.

The main cook is generally less happy to see her but she usually offers to lend a hand until she spots Jamie and neatly sidesteps an elf running past with an almost overflowing tray.]

Ah hello again at last, I feel we had no true chance to speak last time, not with Merrick looking at us like he was sucking lemons. You are Jamie, yes? [Only it comes out much more like Jaime.]

[wontforgetyou]

[For once, the one cook who's not overly fond of Jamie is nowhere to be seen, which he's glad enough for. Still, it doesn't mean he doesn't have to watch his step, because in this case the kitchens are busy enough that he quite literally has to watch where he's going so he doesn't crash into the staff as they hurry about.

As the elf with the overflowing tray bustles past him, he dodges to the side to avoid a collision, and is just in time to catch some sort of small hand-sized pie as it tumbles off, saving it from a ignominious death on the floor. He reflexively starts to hold it out to give it back, but the elf doesn't notice, and a moment later is gone altogether. He shrugs, then turns towards Araceli, nodding in agreement even as he shifts the pie over to his other hand.]

Aye. Don't know about you, but I got the strong feeling he would've been a lot happier if we'd not been there at all. And you're Araceli, I think. Wasn't sure I'd gotten that right before, but I'd not particularly wanted to wind up full of arrows for checking. Who's your wee friend?

[foxsays]

[For the amount of people it has to feed, they could honestly do with extending the kitchen into that big empty room because it's a criminal waste of space right by some sort of cellar. Full of cobwebs but the Inquisition has many concerns, wine is probably rather low on the list of priorities.]

A good save amico.

[Skill is skill and wasted food is terrible. Plus Lux absolutely does not need to eat a pie, not at all.]

The first time I met him, he grabbed someone that almost got trampled by a horse by the nose, I would say that meeting someone sneaking past those giant Avvar is far better than that. And yes, Araceli Bonaventura, introductions always matter less when lives are at stake. Ah, and this is Lux, he preferred to remain by the camp fire in the Mire and who could blame him? There are plenty of unpleasant places at home but I have never been to a bog before, or anywhere so wet that was so cold.

[Maybe out at sea but out at sea with no land for miles then it makes sense that you're cold, the Mire was something else entirely.]

[wontforgetyou]

Jamie McCrimmon. It's good to meet you properly, Araceli.

[He glances down at the pie for a moment, then breaks it in half and offers over a piece. If she wants that for herself - or the fox, since it is a meat pie - she's welcome to it.]

Can't say as I blame Lux for wanting to stick by the fire, to tell you the truth. The foxes back home used to stick to the drier sorts of places, from the signs I'd used to see. Although I think that probably made him the smartest one out of all of us when it came to the Mire.

[If he could've gotten away with staying by the fire back then, he might have very well done so. At least for some of the time.]

There's not bogs where you come from, though? That must've been interesting when you first wound up in the Mire, then.

[foxsays]

[As much of a growing girl (shut up, she might have a super late growth spurt) as she is, she gives Lux a nudge so he can wolf it down because the food here is stodgy. She has to be able to keep climbing walls when there are pies and potatoes a-plenty about these parts.]

Honestly, I didn't want to have to wrestle him into quite so many baths upon returning. The big native dogs already smell like a bog before they even get near one, trust me on that.

[Ah the joys of sharing a tent with a Fereldan with such a hound that probably weighs at least twice as much as she does.]

There's quicksand in certain places in the right conditions but plenty of sea and sand instead, I had no idea people would ever live somewhere so damp, how could anybody stand it? Have you ever been to such a place before?

Out and about

[the_effect_she_has]

"Jamie!"

Katniss called out to the Scotsman, as she spotted him in the tavern. She was going to head out soon to head back to the Emprise du Lion, but she wanted to catch up with all of her friends before she left.

She dropped down at his table, flashing him a small and bright smile. "You know, I never thought I would be so happy to hear that ridiculous Free Marcher accent of yours. And, by the by, thanks for telling me you're alive, you pisher."

[wontforgetyou]

It was entirely possible that the first part of that statement was a tease, and deep down, a part of Jamie already knew that. Still, that didn't do anything to stop his mouth from tugging off to one side in protest, as it so often did when he was being needled about that sort of thing. For all that he secretly didn't mind being teased, he couldn't quite help it.

"Hey, my accent's not ridiculous! Or a Free Marcher's, as you're well aware."

He was about to say more when she went on, though. And that part of it changed things, the slightly disgruntled expression shifting into something more like an actual grimace - only with a hint of guilt mixed in, because he knew full well he hadn't done so. And given what she'd said, she knew it full well, too.

"I should've contacted you over that crystal thingy, though. I'd not even thought to do that. I'm sorry."

[the_effect_she_has]

She folds her arms on the table, leveling him with a grey-eyed look that is completely serious, even if her lips are still curving up at the corners.

"I am. But because you didn't tell me you were alive you get a moment of Free Marcher's accent." She gave him a measured look for a minute longer, before she sighed softly, "It must have been very bad, for you to have forgotten."

There you go, Jamie. You have an out as long as you tell her what happened.

/kicks her html under the rug

[wontforgetyou]

His own expression grows quite solemn at that, a seriousness that replaces that faintly guilty expression. It was bad, although he hadn't had the worst of it, unlike the people who'd been in the garden at the time.

"I'd been sleeping when it happened so I'm not sure how it started, but aye, it was. From what I've heard, one of the mages that was sleeping the garden sort of...changed into some sort of monster. It attacked the mages there, and then it started attacking other places."

He doesn't say exactly what happened to those mages, but the look on his face says it for him, a sadness in his eyes mixed with the knowledge there was nothing he could do for them.

"It had some some sort of fire magic, and it was all we could do to keep it from spreading. Between that and getting the people who couldn't fight somewhere safe...everything was a bit of a blur, to tell you the truth."

Re: /kicks her html under the rug

[the_effect_she_has]

She listened quietly to Jamie, folding her hands together on the table tightly while he told her what happened. He doesn't have to tell her what happened to those mages - she's seen what happens when abominations rise. Her gaze shifts down to the table, and she inhales, sharply.

She looks back up to him, her voice rough, "...I am so sorry I wasn't here to help. With any of it." A pause, and a quiet, "How did everyone stop it?"

The Healing Tents

[eolasemah]

The abomination itself hadn't harmed Sina, but something about it had made her mark spit and crackle, so she was laid out for a day or two with little energy to do much other than sit idly and watch the other healers go about their business while periodically touching her glowing hand to her own chest. When it flared like this, her breathing became shallow and her pulse weak, but she was at least conscious, which she decided wasn't always a blessing, because it was hideously boring.

From across the courtyard she could see Jamie doing something-- carving?-- and although she couldn't very well get up and go see what it was, she sat leaning against her tent's main support and tried to guess. If he caught her eye, she smiled at him.

[wontforgetyou]

While he remained busy with his carving for awhile, eventually he did wind up looking up, registering the presence of the small, slender form a few seconds before she wound up smiling at him. It'd been long enough since he'd last seen Sina that his own smile was a fairly broad one, and it didn't take him long at all to decide to tuck both the knife and the carving away and head over to where she was sitting. Why she was sitting outside the tent like that, he had no idea, but he was still glad enough to see her that the smile stuck around, even through the rest of him was a bit puzzled by the rest of it.

"Hullo, Sina. What are you doing over here?"

[eolasemah]

Her own smile broadened to mirror Jamie's, and she watched him fondly as he crossed the courtyard to approach her. When he stopped, Sina did not stand up to greet him, though she looked like she wanted to.

"I'm..." she began, and trailed off. She didn't like to invite a fuss by saying too much about the shard, even if it was fairly clear that it had a negative effect on her. "...resting." Her smile became more tired, genuine weariness mingling with exasperation at her circumstances. "Sometimes the mark gives me difficulty."

[wontforgetyou]

It reminded him of their first meeting, when he'd asked if the shard had bothered her. She hadn't really said much about it then, and even though he'd gotten the idea that where it'd wound up wasn't good, he suspected that it was something she didn't want to talk about. With this...the fact she she actually admitted the mark was bothering her meant it must've been fairly bad, something her exhaustion also seemed to indicate.

But even now, he was thinking it wasn't something she really wanted to talk about, and he couldn't say that he blamed her for that. He wouldn't be much good at helping her sort through that sort of thing anyway. Giving her a distraction, on the other hand, he thought he could manage. So accordingly, he promptly sat himself down next to her, seemingly without a care for the fact there really wasn't anything there to sit on. The only concession he made was in adjusting his kilt on the way down so as to not to offend anyone with anything untoward.

"Well then, I'll just have to rest with you. Maybe work on this at the same time." He held up the half-finished recorder for Sina to see, then shrugged. "So long as you don't mind me doing a bit of carving while we talk, anyway."

[eolasemah]

Sina smirked appreciatively at Jamie's decision, her eyes wandering to the thing he was working on. "What's that?" she asked, resting her head against the tentpole as she looked it over, "are you making a bag pipe?"