WHO: Adrasteia, Erik, others WHAT: a catch-all with starters in the comments; will match format WHEN: early Bloomingtide WHERE: The Gallows, Kirkwall NOTES: Erik comes with a built-in language warning
Adrasteia raises her eyebrows at Glimmer's brief show of power. Is anyone researching the different kinds of magic that Rifters bring with them? Something to follow up on. "Staves and magic are great tools to have at your disposal," Adrasteia tells her with a smile, "but again, I'm biased towards what I already know. Do you think you'll study more magic here?"
"I might, if only because if I can learn some of the local spells it might be useful. I only know a few from back home, too, but they're useful. I can divine a person or place's location, I can create shields and barriers. Make someone tell the truth, though that one is really tricky sometimes..." Glimmer muses thoughtfully, completely unaware that she might have said something utterly horrifying by the standards of people from Thedas.
"And then I have my natural powers. Or at least, the ones I had through the Moon Stone's connection to the monarchy of Bright Moon--I can teleport, create light. And of course the blasting. Pewpew." She grins and makes a punching motion.
Adrasteia's eyebrows do an impressive climb into her hairline from where they'd already been raised. She sets aside the bottled potion, for now, in favor of moving around the table so she can stand in front of the girl and look Glimmer in the eye.
"If I were you..." She starts carefully, takes a breath, and then shakes her head, folding her hands in front of her. "Hm. Let me restart. Compulsory truth-telling is a feature of blood magic, here and blood magic is... an anathema, at least here in the south. I would be careful of whom you told that you have that ability, and even more careful of those you demonstrated it around. Divining a person's place or location is also a part of blood magic, but more easily understood in the context of where you are.
Just... be careful, hm?" Adrasteia smiles. "You seem very sweet, and I am certain you only mean well." Because Adrasteia is certain that most people only mean well, whether or not that's accurate.
"Blood magic?" Oh. No. Glimmer doesn't like the sound of that in the least. She listens to Adrasteia intently, her brow furrowing.
"I'll keep it to myself, then," she murmurs softly, her expression thoughtful. "I'm not--well, I'm not the sort of person who wants to hurt others for no reason. I want to help, you know? Not... be anathema?"
"There are different types of magic," Adrasteia explains. "Different schools for different types, even. Blood magic is considered the most dangerous because it can change others against their will from the inside out."
She nods and then reaches out to squeeze Glimmer's shoulder. "I'm certain that you want to help; talking to you even for just a few moments makes that much clear, and I hate to scare you or make you worry about something that comes naturally to you. But there are old fears wrapped up in things here, and I'd hate for someone to come to the wrong idea about you based on that."
"I can see why. It... well, the truth spell wasn't exactly popular back home either--but it didn't involve any blood!" Glimmer says by way of explanation. Her smile is a touch weak.
"I do. And I'm trying to step carefully and get used to Thedas. It's really different form home. Besides all that, I already feel like I made a complete fool of myself on the crystal the other day. And I'm still just anxious to do something--just wandering around the Gallows day in and day out is going to drive me mad, I'm sure."
"Well, once your quarantine is over, there are a number of tasks within the city of Kirkwall that can be completed for Riftwatch, plus the operations put forth by the leaders of the divisions. You can definitely keep yourself busy. I think that'll help."
Her hand drops back to her side, but her smile doesn't waver.
"You've got the right intentions, Glimmer." That is important, whether or not many would agree with her. "It'll take time and patience to learn how things are done here, in Thedas, but I have the utmost respect for what you're trying to do."
"I... I appreciate you saying that." Glimmer raises a hand to squeeze at her own shoulder, half hugging herself.
"I just--I know what it wasn't the most diplomatic way to start things off. I've just... I've seen my own people displaced by wars and invasions. It's awful and I can't imagine how much harder it is for people who are being attacked by the people they had to turn to for help," she takes a breath.
"...I didn't expect so many people to be so cynical. Or so hostile. Even if I was overstepping myself."
"It's... difficult, when someone from the outside becomes demanding, telling us that we're doing things wrong or with little to no consideration when we're really hamstrung by the situation itself. When the war has gone on so long that the losses are nearly incalculable, and many of us have difficulty imagining what the world will look like after it is all said and done."
Adrasteia gives a little shrug. "It's terrible, no matter how it's viewed, but it's also just very hard for everyone. Especially the displaced, those fleeing from the war. I think that there are those who know that your heart was in the right place, and those that cared more for the specifics of what you said as opposed to your meaning; the latter were louder, is all."
She takes a beat, and then opens her arms to enfold Glimmer in a hug. "I'm sorry if it felt unkind. I, for one, look forward to seeing what you're capable of in this war effort."
Glimmer winces, just a little, as Adrasteia lists out what she'd done incorrectly. She knows she'd made mistakes--but there's something surprising about the fact that the other simply gives her a hug as she ends. Glimmer is taut as a bowstring for a moment, then she wraps her arms around Adrasteia in return and hold son tight, burying her face in the other woman's shoulder. For a moment, she can pretend like things will be alright.
"I'll do my best," she says quietly. Her voice feels wavery, like she might cry--but she holds it in check because blubbing all over a relative stranger is just kind of awkward. Keep it together, Glim.
"I hold no doubts about that," Adrasteia promises, holding the hug for a little while longer, at least until she feels that Glimmer has received enough support for the moment. She knows what it is to feel overwhelmed in the presence of strangers, and she doesn't want to press the girl if she's not ready for that type of catharsis.
"Have you had anything to eat today?" As she pulls away, but keeps her hands on Glimmer's shoulders. "Come on. Let's see what's available for lunch, shall we? I think I'm too hungry to focus on alchemy for any longer."
"I had a little breakfast, but nothing since then," Glimmer admits. It's a little embarrassing to feel like Adrasteia is fussing over her--but it also feels like something of a relief, after she's been essentially tossed into what feels like the deep end all over again.
"I could bake something and maybe bribe the kitchen staff into making food, if you need it, but otherwise, yeah." Meats, cheeses, and bread are always on deck in her experience. Might as well get some sustenance in them. "Are you more of a coffee person or a tea person?"
"Okay then, coffee as well. There should be some available to us." She smiles and begins putting away the various containers and reagents she'd strewn across the table. No reason to leave a mess for someone else to find. "You'll have to tell me more about New Amsterdam. Did they have fake coffee and tea?"
Glimmer reaches out to pick up a few things. She wants to help and so she follows Adrasteia's lead.
"It was a strange place..." Glimmer starts. She doesn't know how else to describe the glittering metallic city full of towers stretching into the sky and bridges arcing between buildings. Narrow streets and crowded trains.
"They were really concerned about the planet--there had been some kind of disaster in the past that almost wiped it out, and so agricultural products that were seen as a luxury, like coffee and actual tea, were grown only in small quantities. And expensive. If you weren't wealthy, herbal tea was what you drank mostly. Not that I mind herbal and floral teas but gods. Sometimes all I wanted was to not pay a ransom for a cup of coffee."
'Concerned about the planet' is such an odd and specific turn of phrase that Adrasteia isn't certain she knows what it actually means exactly, but she hates being the person who asks too many questions when being told a story. Agricultural products as a luxury, by and large, is also a very different concept from any she's used to; certainly there are luxury products but something as simple as tea?
It boggles the mind.
Still, they manage to clean the room pretty quickly between the two of them, and so Adrasteia nods as if she understands. "There is definitely non-herbal tea to be had, and there should be coffee. What sort of things do you like to eat?"
"Oh, um. This is going to sound so weird, but you have meat here, right? Like... real meat? Meat was also super expensive in New Amsterdam," Glimmer tries to explain haplessly as they head towards the kitchens.
"So... Yeah. Coffee and meat. That's what's been on my mind."
Adrasteia laughs a little, kindly. "Plenty of meat, not to worry. What did they eat, if not meat?" Surely there was some drawback to that, though Adrasteia herself cannot imagine not eating meat of any kind, completely.
"Well... they farmed insects and used them for protein. And fish. And stuff like tofu and seitan. But lots of insects. Cricket flavored noodles," she says with a grin.
"It... wasn't as bad as it sounds? You got used to it, eventually."
Blink. Blink, blink. Whatever answer Adrasteia had presumed she would get, it was definitely not insect farming based on her reaction. "Well." A smile. "Maybe we'll get you some bacon or something a little fatty to start, but not too much, or your stomach might rebel if it's been too long." Automatic mom-mode activate!
"You're welcome." Adrasteia smiles at Glimmer and squeezes the girl's shoulder before they continue across the courtyard to the kitchens.
Coffee takes a moment to find, at this hour, but bacon and cheese and some greens are easily located. Adrasteia tasks herself with cooking for Glimmer, presuming (possibly inaccurately) that the younger woman would have had fewer opportunities to cook for herself; especially over what is the technological equivalent of an open fire, a grate, and a pan.
"How long were you in the other world, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Um..." Glimmer has settled herself nearby, leaning against a table while she watches Adrasteia cook. While she has some experience with cooking, she's really only done it a lot in New Amsterdam, which had the benefit of electric ranges.
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"And then I have my natural powers. Or at least, the ones I had through the Moon Stone's connection to the monarchy of Bright Moon--I can teleport, create light. And of course the blasting. Pewpew." She grins and makes a punching motion.
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"If I were you..." She starts carefully, takes a breath, and then shakes her head, folding her hands in front of her. "Hm. Let me restart. Compulsory truth-telling is a feature of blood magic, here and blood magic is... an anathema, at least here in the south. I would be careful of whom you told that you have that ability, and even more careful of those you demonstrated it around. Divining a person's place or location is also a part of blood magic, but more easily understood in the context of where you are.
Just... be careful, hm?" Adrasteia smiles. "You seem very sweet, and I am certain you only mean well." Because Adrasteia is certain that most people only mean well, whether or not that's accurate.
In this case, though, she's betting she is.
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"I'll keep it to myself, then," she murmurs softly, her expression thoughtful. "I'm not--well, I'm not the sort of person who wants to hurt others for no reason. I want to help, you know? Not... be anathema?"
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She nods and then reaches out to squeeze Glimmer's shoulder. "I'm certain that you want to help; talking to you even for just a few moments makes that much clear, and I hate to scare you or make you worry about something that comes naturally to you. But there are old fears wrapped up in things here, and I'd hate for someone to come to the wrong idea about you based on that."
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"I do. And I'm trying to step carefully and get used to Thedas. It's really different form home. Besides all that, I already feel like I made a complete fool of myself on the crystal the other day. And I'm still just anxious to do something--just wandering around the Gallows day in and day out is going to drive me mad, I'm sure."
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Her hand drops back to her side, but her smile doesn't waver.
"You've got the right intentions, Glimmer." That is important, whether or not many would agree with her. "It'll take time and patience to learn how things are done here, in Thedas, but I have the utmost respect for what you're trying to do."
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"I just--I know what it wasn't the most diplomatic way to start things off. I've just... I've seen my own people displaced by wars and invasions. It's awful and I can't imagine how much harder it is for people who are being attacked by the people they had to turn to for help," she takes a breath.
"...I didn't expect so many people to be so cynical. Or so hostile. Even if I was overstepping myself."
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Adrasteia gives a little shrug. "It's terrible, no matter how it's viewed, but it's also just very hard for everyone. Especially the displaced, those fleeing from the war. I think that there are those who know that your heart was in the right place, and those that cared more for the specifics of what you said as opposed to your meaning; the latter were louder, is all."
She takes a beat, and then opens her arms to enfold Glimmer in a hug. "I'm sorry if it felt unkind. I, for one, look forward to seeing what you're capable of in this war effort."
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"I'll do my best," she says quietly. Her voice feels wavery, like she might cry--but she holds it in check because blubbing all over a relative stranger is just kind of awkward. Keep it together, Glim.
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"Have you had anything to eat today?" As she pulls away, but keeps her hands on Glimmer's shoulders. "Come on. Let's see what's available for lunch, shall we? I think I'm too hungry to focus on alchemy for any longer."
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"Are we just going to raid the kitchen or what?"
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"Coffee! Oh, gods! In New Amsterdam real coffee and real tea was so expensive--I want coffee!"
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"It was a strange place..." Glimmer starts. She doesn't know how else to describe the glittering metallic city full of towers stretching into the sky and bridges arcing between buildings. Narrow streets and crowded trains.
"They were really concerned about the planet--there had been some kind of disaster in the past that almost wiped it out, and so agricultural products that were seen as a luxury, like coffee and actual tea, were grown only in small quantities. And expensive. If you weren't wealthy, herbal tea was what you drank mostly. Not that I mind herbal and floral teas but gods. Sometimes all I wanted was to not pay a ransom for a cup of coffee."
I'm sorry this took me forever to reply to
It boggles the mind.
Still, they manage to clean the room pretty quickly between the two of them, and so Adrasteia nods as if she understands. "There is definitely non-herbal tea to be had, and there should be coffee. What sort of things do you like to eat?"
Re: I'm sorry this took me forever to reply to
"So... Yeah. Coffee and meat. That's what's been on my mind."
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"It... wasn't as bad as it sounds? You got used to it, eventually."
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Coffee takes a moment to find, at this hour, but bacon and cheese and some greens are easily located. Adrasteia tasks herself with cooking for Glimmer, presuming (possibly inaccurately) that the younger woman would have had fewer opportunities to cook for herself; especially over what is the technological equivalent of an open fire, a grate, and a pan.
"How long were you in the other world, if you don't mind my asking?"
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"...Six months, I think?"