faderift | Yup, what's goodie

WHO: Erik Stevens & Y'ALL
WHAT: Checking things out, buying some stuff, reading books, &c
WHEN: ooc: December | ic: Cassus
WHERE: Exploring Kirkwall and the Gallows, &c
NOTES: Erik curses but that's probably gonna be it

→ I got all the sounds, got plenty; open

[ Here are a few places one can find Erik within the Gallows on a regular basis:

The Library: Reading a little bit of everything, actually but focusing on recent history reports, whatever passes for science fiction, books about the Fade, and books about religion. Oh and a book or two on elven culture. Shh.

He's here at all sorts of hours but mostly between 11pm and 5am, apparently not sleeping very well otherwise. Why else be in a library at prime sleeping time?

The Smithy: Erik is fascinated by this area and mostly writes notes about whatever process he's allowed to observe here. Leave his little engineering heart alone about it! (Or don't, actually. Bothering him is preferable to the narration.)

The Herb Garden: Because he's curious if he recognizes any plants from home. Spoilers: he doesn't, but he keeps coming back anyway, usually in the early afternoon.

Training Area: Sparring with swords and spears, because there's no excuse not to stay in shape. Also there's a war on? So. Come gawk at the man. It'll be fun.

Anywhere else: He explores the entire Gallows during his quarantine and then does it again afterward, so consider this an open invitation to wildcard me.
]

→ You should ask around, my city; open

[ Erik discovers the market district in Lowtown and spends an inordinate amount of time there, mostly browsing, but occasionally buying small items. A scarf at one point. Close to the middle of the month he is clearly looking for something specific - jewelry, it would seem. He picks up bracelets, necklaces, earrings, but doesn't seem to settle on anything for a while.

You can also find him in the occasional tavern. He hates drinking alone; join him? ]

→ You should get to work, get busy; closed to athessa & vanadi

[ Erik left a note at Athessa's. Now he just has to wait for them to show up. So he's chilling in the herb garden, again, this time at sunset. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The answering smile is equal parts amused and relieved. ]

You won't ever be, [ Derrica promises, the same as what she'd promised Vanadi not so long ago. ] My aim is good.

[ But then, more seriously— ]

I don't take risks with it. [ and then, a little quieter, ] But it's nice that you aren't afraid. It feels like I should thank you.

[ Erik chuckles a little. ]

Nah, I didn't mean from you. [ But if he's going to live in this world and fight in this war? There's no reason to believe he won't be on the business end of some mage's ire eventually. ]

You ain't gotta thank me for that. [ He shakes his head. ] I've had a lifetime of people bein' scared just 'cuz of how I look, ain't about to start perpetratin' that shit here.

[ There's some specific pain there. Derrica watches his face for a moment, weighing her own curiosity against the cost of pulling at some closely held wound. ]

I know it's a lot to take in.

[ Magic, sure, but all of Thedas and the tangled confusion of this war. ]

If you have questions, I can try to answer them as best I can. [ A little shrug, slight self-consciousness. She's aware of her own shortcomings; Archivist Dalat might be a better option overall. ]

Mhm. But I've been lucky, people like you are willing to talk me through it all.

[ He opens his hands and shrugs a little. ]

Everything I wanna know about this place is kinda big picture —— what would be helpful to know to end the war, what happens after, that kinda shit —— but I wouldn't mind knowin' more about you, if you're up for sharin'.

[ A small smile, a tip of her shoulder. ]

Help me rearrange the training dummies? [ She asks. ] We can trade some facts about ourselves while we set this up for the guard.

[ At which point she takes a few steps back, hitching her staff to her back as she turns to the training yard she'd more or less cleared to avoid any possibility of the lightening jumping. ]

You know I'm a mage. Were you a fighter, before here?

[ Arguably still a fighter, though it seems presumptuous to assume he'd want to lend his talent to their cause right off the bat. ]

Sounds like a plan.

[ Erik nods and then starts off in the direction of wherever she stored the rest of the dummies; he has a decent sense of how far apart they should be, based on grooves in the ground from where they've rested before. ]

I was. [ He nods. ] In the military, since I was nineteen, and then I did my own thing for about a year before I ended up here.

[ His own thing being mercenary work and also unseating his cousin's throne. ]

Here, they aren't heavy.

[ Or they likely wouldn't be heavy for Erik. Derrica's pulling one of the dummies upright while she considers his answer. A soldier. He must be older than her, but by how much she isn't sure. ]

I was doing my own thing for a little while, before I came to Kirkwall. [ Her voice brightens over the borrowed phrase. ] I wanted to join the Inquisition, but what I found here was Riftwatch. It felt right, so I stayed.

I've heard of the Inquisition, [ he admits, lifting one of the dummies and putting it in its proper place. ] They're connected to the Chantry, right? And Riftwatch isn't.

[ Which he's glad for, honestly. Church is not quite his thing. Not even churches around gods he knows nothing about (but the Maker is a familiar enough concept). ]

How long you been here?

[ A grin in answer, nodding as she levers another dummy up and nudges it into place. There's a particular formation she almost remembers. Hopefully having everything upright and near enough to it will suffice. ]

A little over a year, [ She answers after a moment. ] It feels like it's been longer. I hadn't stayed in one place more than a few weeks before I arrived in Kirkwall at the end of last summer.

Damn. [ And the war has been on for five years already? That's wild, to him, but he knows that wars can be fought for much longer. ] I feel ya on that tho', I've been traveling for so long it's gonna be weird to stay in one place if I do.

[ He's already decided, which might be obvious in the way he grins at her as he says it. ] Kirkwall's an interesting place.

[ A brief little laugh over the descriptor. Yes, interesting is a word for it. She straightens the little target pinned to the front of the dummy she's just tipped upright before she answers. ]

You'll get a chance to see more than just Kirkwall's harbor.

[ Theoretically a good thing. ]

We travel, to help in ways we can. Do you get seasick?

That'd be nice. I mean I've also seen Ferelden's woods, but that wasn't much to write home about.

[ A little one-shouldered shrug. ]

Not that I know of. Got any remedies if I do?

Peppermint, [ Derrica says, around a smile. ] Assuming you have to go somewhere by boat. It's by horse, or by Crossroads, lately.

[ No query about his horsemanship. Of course he can ride, why wouldn't he? How else would people get around? ]

Crossroads? [ Erik tilts his head. What is that? ] Sounds important.

[ Oh the stories he could tell her about planes, trains, and automobiles. ]

Yup, what's goodie

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