faderift | i never put up an open post

Happy for a change of subject, Kas takes a drink. "I got to the first roof of the keep, but there wasn't anything good to put your feet on for the rest of the way..."

A little shrug, and then he looks at Korrin, trying to think up a good one. "I've never fought someone on a horse."

That gets a soft snort out of her as she takes a drink before answering. "Not for long, I didn't. Ever tried to fire a bow from a horse? Well, it's even less fun whe you have to whirl a staff around. And it didn't help that the damn thing was spooked anyway. I ended up jumping off without casting Barrier first just to get a better angle."

She indicates her facial scars, since she's pretty sure some of them resulted from that incident. "That must've been one hell of a view, though. I'm envious, but not enough to try it for myself. I know my limits." Hm, what else.... "I've never been sea-sick."

"I've never ridden a horse and I just picked up archery, so it sounds crazy hard. Doing it with a staff seems even harder!" He's totally amazed, okay? He can imagine it, her on a horse with magic and the sharp end of the staff, killing people. It doesn't matter if she had to jump off and got scratched up, it's cool.

At her new question, he sips his drink. "I was super sick when I was on the ship from Rivain to Ferelden. That's how they found me, since I was a stowaway. I kept barfing on things." He almost looks sick just from mentioning it.

"Uh... I never had the same weapon for more than three months." Lame, but hey.

Hey, it's allowed. Korrin takes a sip after fondly glancing over her staff, dragon-shaped and obviously well-cared for given its sheen. "I've had that since I joined the Valo-Kas; the blade is new, but the rest has been with me forever, or it feels that way. The other Valo-Kas tend to have dragon-themed weapons, too, but then you know how our people are about dragons. It's a thing.

I never had a pet. Not one that was exclusively mine, anyway."

It's such a pretty staff, really... but that would be lame to say. "It's cool. I like the blade thing, it's pretty wicked." Kas makes a stabby motion, grinning. "This is the longest I've had the same weapons. Shivs break a lot, the daggers they give out here are a lot sturdier."

He's proud of the new daggers, but even prouder of the bow and his growing skill with it. Moving targets were still hard, but he was doing well at the archery range.

Sipping his drink, the teen looks a little bit guilty. "I had a pet rat for a while, but I had to eat him one winter," he says while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "...to be fair, he nibbled on me first. It was a shitty season."

"I never went on trial."

Aw, Kas. Korrin's expression softens, not meaning to have touched on a sore spot. "It definitely sounds that way. I'm sorry, Kas. At least here, if you want one I don't think it'll meet the same fate."

Would he be into mabari? Korrin remembers there's a deal with some family about those, though imprinting can't be controlled. It's something to ponder over later, though.

"No trial for me. Everything I did was legal and within the bounds of my contract with the Valo-Kas. As long as we kept to our world, humans were just as glad to see us go when it was all said and done. A trial would have just meant putting up with us for longer.

I never tried to ride a bogfisher."

The boy shakes his head at that. "I'm gonna be too busy with scout work to take care of pets. Besides... um... I'm not so loney here as I used to be." he had friends, here. People he started to trust, people he could speak to that wouldn't just look at him with beady black eyes and beg for food.

"You never know, people do shit to qunari just for being qunari. I never went on trial but I got caught cutting a guy that was messing with one of the elf girls. He was some hot shot merchant and I was the only qunari in the village so I ended up punished without a trial. No jail time, though." He seems proud of the ability to not getting incarcerated forever after that stunt.

"Ride a bogfisher? Ew, no. I've never even seen one, but Gorse told me about them. They seem pretty powerful," he says, brightening in a way that boys do when speaking of fantastically cool gross things. "Maybe I'll try it if I got to the Mire."

"I never knew my dad." Tell him about your fambly, Korrin.

"They're powerful and a pain in the ass if they decide they don't like you. But you do you, Kas. Maybe you'll have better luck with them; they had a habit of wandering into range of my chain lightning spells whenever I was fighting undead." At least Kas doesn't have that problem. She smiles warmly at him not being as lonely as before, though, glad to see that happening. Kas is a good kid and he deserves better than he's gotten.

Of course she takes a shot, because. "Mine's been around all my life; he's loud and boisterous and has a big booming laugh that could be heard all over the camp. When I was little, I used to ride his shoulders. I have his freckles and skin tone, though his horns curve a bit more than mine. When I came into my magic, he was stunned, just like my mother...but they never feared or hated me for it. They left the Qun when a friend of theirs manifested magic, you see, and they didn't want him becoming a saarebas. So, they smuggled him out. That friend later became my mentor and Dad said it was karma. He was young when he left the Qun, but hated all their restrictions, so he and my mother let me do more or less whatever I wanted. That didn't always work out for the best, but still. They're still mercenaries but less active ones, and spent time mentoring those new to the whole Tal-Vashoth thing."

Now she's so wrapped up in nostalgia that she forgets to continue the game, at least for the moment.

He sits back a bit to hear Korrin talk about her family. It sounded like a really nice family, and Kas wasn't... quite sure how his had been. It was a bit fuzzy to think back on it, but he loved his mom.

Strangely, the only memory he could ever clearly focus on was her face when she told him to run.

"I got my mom's skin, but not her hair. It was black... or at least very dark." Right? "At least half of the men in the kith has white hair, though, so it's really common." Shrugging, the teen decides to drop that subject in favor of Korrin's family.

"Where were you born? Was it a place like Gorse's family?

He has forgotten the game for now, aching to hear a bit about families.

Korrin shakes her head, still mystified at the thought of spending her life in one place. It just wasn't done, among the Vashoth and Tal-Vashoth she knew. "No, it wasn't anywhere settled. They were constantly on the road and when I was born, that was no different. I think they were in the Anderfels at the time, though if I can say I grew up anywhere, it'd be the Free Marches. Those cities are the ones I know the best, and prefer. I've been to the Anderfels a few times, but I don't identify with it at all. It's a good place find Wardens or darkspawn, but that's it." She shrugs, rather indifferent to the region. To her, it's just a place where she's worked, same as most others.

"My mother's very dark but face-structure-wise, I take after her a lot. She's like you, at least in that she prefers daggers and bows. My dad's the one who likes swinging those giant mauls around." She grins fondly, remembering seeing both of them in battle since she was very young. "We did go to Rivain plenty of times on our travels. One time, we just spent the whole day at the beach and Dad taught me to surf. Good times."

Seeing Korrin grin like that made the teen smile as well, and he finds that he really likes hearing that her family did things together. Like a family-family. Not just people in a group making some kids and trying to stay alive.

"Who's horns do you take after?" Important things, okay.

Then Kas' hears about the Rivain holidays, and he has to swallow down a little bit of strange home sickness. "A whole day? That sounds like fun... I bet other people seeing a qunari surf would have been really confused."

Reaching to take a drink, the tiny rogue remembers their game. "I've never... hmm. Never had the pox?"

"Oh, they defintely thought we were weird but whatever. It was still worth it, and if I ever decide to adopt, I'm doing the same thing with them." If. Korrin's still not sure she ever wants any, and doesn't care enough to figure that out for a long time to come. "And I take after my dad, horns-wise. His curve more than mine do, but my mom's just go straight up and back."

At mention of the pox, Korrin shakes her head. "Same here, though there were outbreaks in places I've passed through. I guess I was just lucky, or our kind are more resistant to that sort of thing. I never...smoked elfroot?"

Kas tries to imagine how Korrin's mom and dad's horns must have looked like, subconsciously reaching to touch his own little stubs. His mom had... she had long horns. Curved, he thinks. Right?

It makes his head hurt, for some reason. Pox is a better subject. "There was a lot of pox outbreaks where I stayed, too, but I never got hit by it. Maybe I have a great resistance!" Or he was just really lucky.

At the new round, he takes another drink with a sheepish look. "Well... sometimes it's all the fun you have. Easier to steal then booze." Plus it grew wild in several billion places as well.

"I never got my hair cut by a barber."

"Hey, no judgment from me. Sometimes you have to take whatever outlet you can get. I've just never bothered with it personally, but then you already know my preferred vice."

Speaking of which, yep, another drink. "Not that often, but a few times. Mostly I just had it cut by a fellow member of my company who was good at that sort of thing. Why pay for it if you don't have to, right? But sometimes you need to clean up without the usual people around, so. It's happened.

I never tried that game of grabbing whatever you could find to make the world's grossest drink. After living off dwarven ale for a week, I'm pretty damn sure I found it anyway."

"I don't kinda get what barbers do that I can't do with a sharp knife or shears," Kas says with a frown. "I mean, I guess it's easier to reach in the back..."

This is why his hair looks like a rat's nest, obviously. A very jagged and fluffy rat's nest. At least it was clean and he didn't have lice? (Anymore.)

Giving Korrin a little laugh, he keeps his drink on the table and shakes his head. "Ew, no! That would be such a huge waste of things you could eat or drink... sounds kind of fun, though." He kind of wants to try, now, just to gross someone out.

"I never owned any jewelry," the teen continues. "Like, not even necklaces with feathers on or anything."

"I could reach the back for you, if you want. All it'll cost you is a hearth cake. Preferably fresh." The rat's nest is cute, but she has a feeling Kas will want to look more professional as time goes on.

She takes a swig, since of course she's had her fair share of jewelry. "Most of mine are in the form of rings. Necklaces and the like are far too easy to lose or see destroyed when you're on the road as a mercenary. And if you get heavy rings, they can add something to a good punch."

Hm.... "I never slept through a battle or some other huge disruption."

There's a little and mostly joking pout at that. "I'll only pay you a hearth cake if you don't snip my ears!" He had sensitive ears and those hearth cakes were a hot commodity in Skyhold.

He leans forward a bit, curious to hear about the rings. "Can I see? Do you have any fancy ones... and does it really help when you punch? It sounds like it would be very cold to wear them in this weather, though."

At her question, Kas shakes his head. "No... I'm a really light sleeper. You gotta be to survive." Anyone could come stab you in your sleep and run off with all your goods after all.

"I've never thought about cutting my horns off." Some people did, to get the out of the way in fights. He would never, he was still waiting for his to be a little more than pathetic. Kas would have been fine with not having horns, even... not these sad excuses.

"No ear-snipping, promise." Korrin leans in to reveal her rings, evidently an eclectic collection from all over. One thing they have in common is that they're the heavier sort, no thin bands here. The vast majority don't have gemstones either, as she seems to prefer let the polished metal bands and their engravings have all the attention. "Skyhold is warmer than its surroundings, but you're not wrong about the rest of the Frostbacks. If I'm making a trek of any considerably length outside, I'll store them in a pouch for later."

She lips her cup for one last slip, draining it. "When I was young, once or twice. Mostly because Dad told me about how those who were born without horns are seen as special, you know? I wanted whatever destiny they got. But I grew to decide that I could make my own and not give up my horns in the process. They're part of me, unless battle breaks them. That's as it should be. Don't be ashamed of your horns, Kas.

And now I need a breather, before this stuff catches up with me."

"Deal... when we're sober."

The teen leans over the table and looks at the rings, interested in the engravings. They were pretty, but not in a dainty girly way. "Are any of them enchanted?" Kas asks, curious. She was a mage, after all, so it would make sense?

Her mention of his horns makes him reach up and touch the small nubs with a frown. "I'm not.... ashamed of them." Lies. "They're just... not normal. They should have been twice the size, and... um... mine look like a five-year-old's!" Kas sighs, and he looks down at the still half-full cup. It wasn't as if he had been doing any better than Korrin - he just took far smaller sips to pace himself.

After that maraas-lok, he knew better how to pace himself.

"They do not. There's still time for them to grow, anyway, so see what happens. Besides, you're a scout, trained in stealth. Having those is to your advantage. At least you can hide those under a hood. People will remember these." Korrin points to her own, knowing that standing out is her fate and not always a good thing.

"And yes, two are. The silverite one is to enhance my Chain Lightning spell, and summer stone one is to enhance my barriers. Though now that I'm on the Knight-Enchanter path, I almost don't need the help anymore. Thanks for that, by the way."

"I guess..." He pulls up his scout hood a bit and shows her. There's still a bit of bumpiness there, but they do fit under it. Kas looks a bit thoughtful, feeling his head before he pulls the hood back down. "They better get a little bigger, though. If I ever go back to my kith they'll all laugh at me."

Sigh.

Magic rings are cool, though, and he leans even closer to look at the rings she pointed out. There's a little smile as she mentions his help in the Mire, and he nods proudly. "You're welcome! I liked the challenge... not so much the dead people. They were kind of easier to kill than living people, though. Slower."

Korrin nods in full agreement to that assessment, wrinkling her nose as the Fallow Mire has nothing positive to recommend it. "It'd have been easier still if they didn't pop up every time the water rippled, but I think we made good time. It's much easier slogging through all that when you know you aren't stuck there indefinitely, right? And hey, if I can return the favor somehow, I will. I don't know what specialized training you'd need, but it'll come up sooner or later."

Glancing at his hooded head, she smiles. "They won't laugh at you if they don't know because my kithmates take you in, will they? Some are hornless or don't have much left in the way of horns themselves, so they've no room to judge. Not that they would; it's what you do that matters, not what you have growing out of your head."

"I don't get it, just how many dead bodies are there in that water? I mean, we killed a lot, and everyone who was there in the big excursion killed a lot, and there were still corpses coming." It was like if someone left a whole graveyard in there. How many people had lived in the Mire before it got fucked up?

Then the boy pauses a bit and he looks at Korrin in a bit of awe. "You'd... they'd take me in? You really think so?" As much as he talked about his kith, his mom was gone and it had been a long time since that life. Kas had never been sure if going back would be okay, even if he now knew some were still alive.

"I wrote them. My kith. When I first got here. There's mostly just a few warriors left, but there's a few new wives and kids. They give me a lot of shit, but that's what families do. Still... I don't know if I want to go back."

"No idea, but I think places like that, where the Veil is thin if not nonexistent in some places...they tend to attract more death. That's why it's always wise to burn bodies, not bury them or whatnot. The less demons have to possess, the better." As much as Araceli might protest what she sees as wasteful, Korrin knows it serves a purpose.

"You don't have to return if you don't want to, Kas. You have options now, if you want to take advantage of them. It's up to you to decide for yourself...and yes, I know they'd take you in. You'd be an excellent addition to the company, especially by the time this is all done with. How can they refuse when you have experience in fighting the Elder One's minions, huh?" Korrin nudges him gently for that, smiling. It's true, standing and fighting that will definitely earn their respect, all the more so given Kas' age and relative inexperience.

He makes a bit of a face at the undead thing, but it made sense, he supposed. they should just set every damned person they killed on fire, just to make sure. All the templar things people killed, especially. Just in case they ended up attacked by dead red templars one day.

Kas shudders at that thought.

Korrin's reassurance that he would have choices after... after this makes the boy smile, thankfully. It wasn't exactly easy to imagine a future when the world was crazy, if there would even be one with this mess with Corypheus.

Joining a new family, a mercenary band? That would be something to look forward to.

"...I think I'd really like that."

i never put up an open post

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject