[ OPEN ] Now I need to grease a palm

[fleurdesel]

WHO: Adelaide LeBlanc & You
WHAT: Letters & a Loot Crate
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Political Pandering

[ Courtyard ]

The letters she'd expected more or less. Those from her family she certainly expected. The note from Baron Jean Bonnot less so- but she might as well see if there was anything particularly terrible that was worth mocking in the latest note. When she was asked to sign for something Adelaide grew concerned, but did so. And found herself in the possession of an unwieldy crate stamped with her family crest- at least the courier was kind enough to leave her a crow bar before shuffling off for a hot meal and a quick rest. Stacks of letters in her hands she hasn't even gotten around to reading but this? Needs investigation. She can be found attempting to pry the lid off the crate and failing due to a lack of proper leverage. Assistance would be lovely.

Once open the contents of the Crate are as follows:

• A small case of horn balm
• Assorted carvings of Halla
• Assorted carvings of griffons
• An hourglass with heavy templar/chantry iconography
• A set of ornate pens
• A bagged pipe in Plaidwave
• An assortment of small bottles of Orlesian Wine
• Contracts for litters of Mabari from the Lowell family
• Assorted small fine cheeses
• A box of assorted chocolates
X2 - 1 remaining
• Assorted stationary & inks
• Assorted oils for leathers & Polish for armor
• A tome on Magical Theory
• A few small bags of coffee beans
• Maps for the Inquisition & Trade Agreements with the branches of the LeBlanc family
• Rifter Care Packages containing:
  
  
  • Tins of biscuits
  • Packets of bagged tea
  • A written pamphlet 'Welcome to Thedas- a primer' a basic rundown of races, countries, the chantry, some loose and very simplified notations on mages & templars; all biased heavily by Orlesian sentiment.
  • Salve for the aching hand
  • Woolen knit socks
• A smaller package wrapped separately for Adelaide alone.

Adelaide will spend the remainder of the afternoon distributing the tokens of support from the branches of her family to their intended recipients, Dalish, Vashoth, Qunari, Templar, Mage, Scholar, Rifter, etc. Afterward she will take the case for herself and get a much needed drink to read her letters.


[ Tavern. ]

Once everything is distributed to her satisfaction or at least to the best of her ability, Adelaide spends a well earned evening in the tavern, glass of wine at her elbow, looking over a series of letters from her family and from the Baron, catching up on news of the world beyond Skyhold, why she received a crate of what was effectively sanctioned bribery, and trying to decide if opening that last little case is worth the trouble.


[ ooc: Loot for the loot god- swing by and grab swag. ]

Comments

[fleurdesel]

"Coffee is for when you need a few hours more in the library and must have your work done swiftly. Tea is for putting the weight of the day from your mind." Which she needs far, far more than the coffee; for all that the lack of informative texts in the library frustrate her.

[aceso]

"Then coffee would only help me with my spirit healer studies. Some nights I nearly fall asleep in the library." Christine can't help but cram as much studying into her day as possible. If there's an award for being over-prepared, she would win it year after year.

"There is another spirit healer here in Skyhold, no? I should probably meet him."

[fleurdesel]

"Detlef? Yes." Adelaide's lips curl into something small and fond for a moment before she resumes her work with unpacking the crate. "He wants to sit in on our lessons at dawn, perhaps offer his own perspective. I see no reason why he should not."

[aceso]

Oh, what's this? Adelaide sparing a smile for the man? How interesting. Christine really wants to meet him now.

"I think that could only benefit us. And I look forward to meeting him."

[fleurdesel]

She isn't even thinking of it; outside of instances wherein she must be Councilor LeBlanc or Lady LeBlanc it is easy to read her feelings on her face; most often it is irritation or frustrated boredom with a particularly troublesome individual. A small, pleased grin when thinking of a peer? Nothing to cause a fuss over.

Not at all.

"He is partnered with a Justice Spirit- which I mean to ask after. None of the other healers I worked with could hold the attention of one long enough to heal. They did not seem to have the patience or temperament for it."

[aceso]

"Justice?" Christine asks, utterly surprised. "That seems a strange one to come forward to assist with healing. One would think it would push for the healer to rush out and avenge the patient by cutting down whoever had caused the injury, be it man or tree root."

[fleurdesel]

"Asking a healer to do violence rather than mend the wound is not justice, Titine, that would be vengeance. Justice is...too stark, too large for the smaller world of healing- which is why it does not happen often. But perhaps...it is an unjust world we live in, struck by plague and war and disquiet. Perhaps he was caught somewhere that it became too much to bear and mending as many as he could as best he could was the only just thing left to him." She does not care for such speculation- but it is a rare thing. "It is not something one simply asks another Spirit-Healer, however. Relationships with partnered spirits can be intensely personal affairs."

[aceso]

"Is it?" Christine gives Adelaide a skeptical look. "Funny then, that Templars are called the champions of the just; that is to say: justice. There is a fine line between avenging and vengeance, I should think." And she still thinks it an odd choice for a spirit of Justice to seek out a healer. It seems far more likely they'd notice a battlemage than one healing wounds.

But as Adelaide says, it is a personal thing, so she can hardly ask him to explain the relationship.

"I know I shouldn't be contemplating which kind of spirit might be drawn to me, but I find myself doing so at times anyway." She looks down into the crate, but everything is now sorted through and organized. "I can't come so far and turn my whole life to this only to be duped by a demon. I want to understand spirits inside and out so I survive."

[fleurdesel]

"What men say and think of as just- what the law says is just- and what a Spirit of Justice knows with every shred of their being to be just are very different things. As much as spirits are tempered and altered by perception the core of them remains true." At least that has been her experience in practice and in research.

But it might be interesting to ask after. Especially if he had gone from compassion to justice.

"Compassion is the most common. Hope, Faith, Fortitude, and Duty are other spirits I have known Spirit-Healers to call to them. For you? Hope or Faith. They are not songs I know well as I do not hear them often but they are in harmony with your magic." Adelaide reaches out to rest a hand on Christine's shoulder. "Which is why the Fade Meditations will be a great help in learning more of them, safely. You've come far Christine. I'm very proud."

[aceso]

Christine smiles proudly, pleased to have this praise from her mentor. It's like a child wanting to impress their parent and even Christine can recognize that it's so. Adelaide has rapidly become the most important person in her life, even more so than any whom Christine lived with at the Montsimmard Circle.

"Merci, Adelaide. I'm looking forward to those sessions. And for all that's to come."