faderift | [ OPEN ] Heart's on fire

Entry tags:

[ OPEN ] Heart's on fire

WHO: Character(s)
WHAT: Zevran Aranai's School for Rogues Who Can't Sneak Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too.
WHEN: Wintermarch, all month
WHERE: Skyhold: Courtyard, Stables, Rookery, Battlements, etc
NOTES: Sass, Stealth, and Violence

He had mulled over the notion for a few weeks now; watching the soldiers take themselves to task, the warriors practicing as best they could; the mages training in their spells and thought- aside from combat (and even then there were tricks soldiers did not always think to teach) how was a rascal, a scoundrel, a rogue to learn more tricks? A well trained operation of any sort had well trained members of all sorts; the bruisers, the wizards, the rogues. Perhaps it was high time someone did something for the sneakier sorts.

[ Courtyard ]

Every lesson starts the same- a quick lap around the courtyard as fast as possible, vaulting over people and structures, running along the wall, making use of all the same skills that kept him alive all those years in Antiva City. For those that did not know them? The tricks came as a brief primer after the lap was finished- even a brief demonstration is offered. Afterward he runs them through a few training locks set into empty chests, some of the them wound with ringing alarms for the sake of practice. Trip the wrong tumbler? Off goes the alarm. After that it's stealth and pickpocketing. Sneaking about through a field of tripwires connected to more ringing bells and powder packets, a veritable labyrinth. Any bells go off, any powder on your person? You go through again. One of the training dummies has been re-purposed with bells and pouches on it- each pouch has a bell attached. They're timed and told to get as many as possible without ringing any bells. Ring a bell? Run a lap.

[ Stables ]

Here there is room enough for him to demonstrate proper trap production and dismantling. Every wound spring, every steel mechanism. They start with the basic bladed traps- though none of the blades are sharpened and none of the powder explosions hold more than dye. Once they've made traps that are...decent or satisfactory, Zevran walks them through detection and dismantling. Some of the practice traps have trick springs and triggers- if set off they'll be dusted with powder instead of losing their fingers. Later he goes through a list of common poisons and venoms to create and how to build up a tolerance for them. He does not provide them with samples this early on.

[ Battlements ]

Rappelling and dueling and improvisational combat and you! Here Zevran shows them how to climb, how to fall, how to make their own ropes when they've none of their own, how to throw a rappel to make it stay, how to haul it down, and how to dual wield on uneven ground. Demonstrations with Isabela and sparring with whoever wishes to take their turn happens throughout the day as requested; Zevran also covers grappling, breaking holds, and how to fight dirty. An honorable rogue is a dead rogue after all.

[ Wildcard ]

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

UGH.

"I can't sell fear either." She eyed the dummy with some consternation. "Why would I be afraid of some fat merchant moving down the street? If he tried anything I'd stab him."

Sigh, and she rubs her face, "...which means subservience is right out as well. I can do anger. Anger's easy." She gave him a hopeless look, "Maybe I just can't pickpocket."

"If you cannot pickpocket, you cannot plant evidence against your foes either. Perhaps you would be better suited in a partner exercise- one does the bumping and the unseen party does the taking. The charismatic one does the bumping and the distracting." He cupped his chin in his hand, peering out among the remainder of the trainees. "...When we find you a suitable partner it will be simpler. For now? Forget the lying, attempt to take what is in the pouch without ringing the bells."

"Oh, ah, already did that party." She took out everything that Zevran had put in the pouch of the dummy, and handed them over one by one, giving him a sheepish look. "I wasn't sure if he had something hidden on his person, so I can go ahead if you want."

"...Alright. Let us attempt the reverse, then. Replace what you've taken without alerting him or ringing the bells." May as well get the practice in while they had the opportunity. Lying would come later.

Katniss nodded her head, before she exhaled and then started to move through the wires again. Her steps were light, practiced, as if she was avoiding branches in the forest. She slipped next to the dummy - and slipped the bundle back into his pocket. Then someone called out, and she jerked, slightly.

There was the faint shimmer of one bell, at the dummy's elbow.

"Damn."

"Again." Without missing a beat and without judgement. These things happen. "Be aware, but do not react. Focus on the task at hand."

Katniss nodded her head, her jaw tight, before she sucked in a breath and released it. Re-focused, and moved forward once more. She danced through the trip wires, and slipped up against the dummy, snagging the items with a quick and light hand, before she slipped away again.

"I think ... I think I got all of them this time." She stated, looking at the bundle of items coming out of her leather jacket.

"Let me see." He stepped around the wires and patted every pocket on the dummy, all of them pressing flat. "Well done you. Take a moment to rest and allow someone else to attempt to put them back in without ringing the bells or setting off the powder. Lying will come later."

"All right." Katniss breathed out, wiping sweat off her forehead and going to get water from the bucket. She tried doing some smiles, and sighed with quite aggravation. Maker, she might as well be telling them she wanted to rob people blind.

"Try thinking of Cullen." Zevran calls over while correcting another student- 'no, no, if you are going to use an accent make it a convincing one', honestly.

Katniss flushed bright red at that, but the smile that came over her face was bright and deep. She did now have to splash a little water on the back of her neck, as she tried to stop smiling but honestly ... she apparently was a sap.

Sigh.

"Just like that. That is the smile you need to use when you attempt to sell a lie." Why he couldn't manage that early on- well. Who knows?

"So you basically want me to think of Cullen Rutherford while I'm lying." She arches an eyebrow at him, even though she's still grinning, "The most honest person I know?"

"Well, yes. It makes your smile more believable if nothing else- and that is the largest hurdle for you." If it works? It works. Who is he to question such a thing?

She gives him a dry look, before carrying over a cup of water to him. "You're an awful person and you're lucky I like you so damned much. Here, drink."

"And now you have finally noticed that which everyone knows to be true." He takes the water as given, lifting it in a lazy salute before sipping. "How nice of you to join us."

She lifted an eyebrow at him, her mouth pressing into a thin line, before she balled up her fist and punched him in the arm. "How do you get people to sleep with you again?"

"By being charming and ridiculously sexy of course." He took the hit with a low crackle of laughter. "Some things I might teach you, but this? You will have to learn on your own."

"Ugh. Two things I am never going to be good at." She paused, then smirked faintly, "... Okay one thing I am not going to be good at."

"Two." Zevran corrects, reacing over to pull a twig from Katniss' hair. "Honestly. Do none of you know how to condition?"

"No, because I could never afford fancy things for my hair." Is Katniss's straight-forward reply. "Food is usually higher on my priority list on how to spend my money, Zevran."

"And this is why I work for myself. I always have coin enough for what I need, and for what I want." It's a marvelous change of pace from the bulk of his life leading up to the blight.

Katniss paused, before she gave Zevran an amused look. "Well I'm sorry, but the coin on assassinating bears is considerably lower than nobility."

She picked up her plait, and looked at it thoughtfully. "Christine said I should try oil. Does it cost much?"

"The basic oil for softening hair? No. Custom blends? Yes." He reached out to rub the tips of her hair between his fingers, frowning. "You won't need a custom blend to start."

She eyed the tips he was rubbing, before she gave him a wry smile. "It's always clean, Zev. Just not as soft and silky as yours. But if basic oil doesn't cost that much, I am sure I can afford it on my scout's pay. Now, what else should I look at ... tweaking?"

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