faderift | OPEN - Rooks, Pawns, Bishops and Knights

WHO: Vivienne and OPEN
WHAT: Catchall post for Madame de Fer to get to know the players great and small in the Inquisition.
WHEN: Wintermarch, all month
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: There's a specific bit for the Council members, but the remainder is open to everyone. Anyone who's been wanting CR with Viv, feel free to assume your character got one of the vaunted invites and tag in!

For the Council
Early in Wintermarch, all members of the Council receive a gilded paper invitation. No impersonal sending crystal for this message. The contents invite all the Councilors to join Madame de Fer at the hot spring for a day of relaxation and massage. To her mind, this is no frivolous social gathering meant to impress or irritate the others. (Though if either of those become true, that is useful as well.) There needs to be a dialogue enough amongst them that they do not dither away precious time and resources having to renegotiate their relationships upon meeting. That and none of them are any use to the Inquisition if they are tired, weary, and not well taken care of.

Some of her most comfortable chairs and lounging couches have been brought to the hot spring, and tables set with with a full tea service, both sweet and savory, and a few bottles of champagne. There's even imported Antivan cheese wheels, for the eyes, not for snacking. She is determined not to be caught out letting any of the others languish behind in attending to the important business of self-care. Anyone who brings up anything of a political or divisive nature, however, will find that they are most unwelcome. Relaxation and learning more is the point, not to posture and jockey. Not today.

For the Advisors and Companions
All the advisors and previous companions of the Herald likewise receive Spa Day invitations, albeit the day after the Council. Thank the Maker Sera is not around to make a mockery of such generosity. Knowing that Cullen is most likely to be the most stubborn about leaving that musty office of his, Vivienne plans to drag him along by the ear like an errant child if he dawdles too long in arriving.

Open to All, All Month
Before everyone can scatter to the four winds on business following the start of the new year, Vivienne sets out to some business of her own. She needs to know as much as she can about anyone within the Inquisition who might be a considerable piece in the Game, whether they are aware of such or not. Invitations to join her at her balcony begin to go out to anyone of interest: mages, templars, second sons of minor nobles, people from out of the rifts. For those whose invitation falls in the mid-afternoon, it is to join her for tea. Others receive invites for drinks, well after the dinner hour, but clearly with the intent of having uninterrupted time for getting to know the other better. As much as anyone is allowed to learn more about the Iron Lady.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ellana doesn't speak for a moment, not sure what to think. She's just accepted that she has no family here, unless she counts Gavin as her foolish older brother who always ends up disappointing her. Her gaze lowers, eyes darting back and forth as she thinks. When she looks up, her forehead is wrinkled, confused.

"Are you really not First anymore? Aren't you planning on returning to lead someday?" She has mixed feelings about this; feelings she wouldn't have if she'd not had the upbringing she did. There had been no extra training for her and no straight path set before her. Nothing she could cling to that would keep her focused on her future. And that was because she had come into her magic after Pel and Sorrel: the First and the backup. And now the First wasn't First anymore. It stung. It made her feel... disappointed in Keeper Deheune.

She shakes her head, eyes blank.

"I'm not going back, no. Except to visit, of course. I'm going to be a researcher for good. Even when the Inquisition is done. It's the best thing for the People."

A pause.

"And...I want it. More than anything."

"So Sorrel is First now." Again, a certain feeling twists itself in Ellana's chest. At first, she thinks it's disappointment, but it feels too strong and too raw. It's anger. She's angry at the Keeper for holding her back and making her feel like she wasn't good enough to be like the other mages Deheune was grooming to take her place. All this time, she could have learned too. She could be Second now.

But no. That life isn't for her now either. Joining the Inquisition has shown her that the world is open before her, and she can explore it. She can find a place where she feels she can belong for good, and that's not in the clan.

"I know what you mean," she says softly, pushing her hurt feelings aside. Everything has worked out, hasn't it? The Keeper's mistake has led to something better now. "I'm not going back either."

Pel sticks her feet back in the water and takes another glass of champagne. One of them was given no expectations, the other far too many.

"I know. Or I guessed, anyway. Your heart was always elsewhere."

"It was. And it is hard to live with your body always in one place, but your heart pushing beyond." There are things about the clan she loves. Sulahni has always been kind and let Ellana help feed the halla. Making baskets is relaxing, simple work that results in something useful. But for a long time, Ellana has felt unfulfilled and unhappy.

"I like being here. I enjoy the work we're doing. And I want to be able to help the Elvhen too. Maybe doing something through the Inquisition can help our people, or once my duty here is done, I'll help them in other ways."

Pel isn't entirely sure what to say to that. Ellana has never shown that much interest in her own people before. Maybe being in the outside world has quelled some of the longing for the unknown, and she's starting to balance out.

"You could help Morrigan and me. We've got a lot of volunteers. There's no reason you couldn't be one, so long as someone's here to take care of Council business if there are emergencies. It's mostly reading and writing at this point, though. I've only had one actual outing approved; the rest has been letter-writing and translation."

With being out in the wider world, Ellana is finding that she can visit places other Dalish clans will never find their way to, and there could be remnants of the elven world that they'll never get a chance to see. But Ellana will see it for them and take notes. She'll spread the word. And maybe they can have a formerly unknown bit of knowledge from the past to hold onto. She wishes they could look towards the future instead, but change hardly ever comes to the Dalish. She wants a better life for her people, but it might be that giving them information is all she can do.

"I'd be happy to do that. But the Council will understand if I have to go out on a mission too. We're lucky to have these sending crystals, like when we had the emergency meeting. Korrin was able to contribute that way, and it was no different from seeing her face."

"...That's true." Pel considers this. Then she smiles.

"I'd like that. I'm in the middle of translating a few ancient runes at the moment. I think it'll lead to something bigger. Right now we're only headed to the Hinterlands--I've heard there's a rune there, and I'd like to get a good look at one that was made by ancient elves. The ones in the Mire were human-made. A bad copy of an art we don't understand."

"Oh, good! And you'll sketch it to bring back to translate? Or will it be like those others, that make you feel something?" Every rune Pel finds could mean they come a step closer to unlocking their past.

"Both, I'm hoping. If you want to get your feet wet, Sina could probably use a little help. She'll be staying and looking up things in the library as we need them. You could come on the next mission, which will probably be a little more exciting, if my current work pays off."

Ellana nods. If she's going to help, she needs a primer in what they're looking for, and Sina can help her with that. She's also been reading all the books she can find in the library on visits to elven ruins, but there aren't a lot, naturally. She hopes to one day change that.

"I'll come assist her."

OPEN - Rooks, Pawns, Bishops and Knights

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject