[Open]

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and You*! (*unless you are someone who will turn him in. ONE DAY THERE WILL BE CR. /reaches sadly)
WHAT: Detlef going about his days, helping out, being argumentative, everything
WHEN: Mid-Wintermarch
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Probably nothing? I'll edit if that changes

Healing tents

Anders is found in these most often during the day. Everything's easier when he works, really, when he and Justice can both be on the same page. They're doing good. They're furthering the cause of mage freedom. And more importantly, no one is being hurt. Are you a patient? He's probably checking you over before getting to work. Co-worker? Hand him the elfroot salve, please? Or just drop by and find him where he's most willing to be chatty as he works.

Garden

There's nothing like seeing a mage seemingly talking to a tree. Considering previous events, it's probably a little worrying. But upon closer approach one can see that there's a terrified cat clinging to a very small branch that's just barely supporting its weight, and they can hear the mage trying to talk the cat down as if the cat can understand anything that's being said.

"You can do it. Just step... Come on. A little lower. Please?"

Just outside Skyhold

There's a garden inside the walls. It has plenty of things growing in it, including basically everything Anders is looking for. It's hard for him to stay inside the walls for too long, though. He needs to be outside, to wander some, to remind himself that the walls aren't keeping him in. While it isn't the healthiest method of coping, there are certainly worse ways to go about it.

Anyone running into him out here gets a look that's a mix of surprised and bashful - the latter due to him not really having any way to explain why he's out here with a handful of easy-to-get herbs in hand.

Library

He's seated in the Library, head buried in a book the way it never was when he was at the Circle, with a pair of large tomes next to him. They're probably not that surprising for a spirit healer, treatises on spirits and their nature, but he doesn't look pleased. And he isn't. He's not finding anything that will help with his situation, and Anders is aware that he might not have a lot of time left for the looking.

Approaches from strangers get a glance up and a nod, before he'll ask if they need to get to something past him. Known people get asked a little absently how their day is going before he turns another page.

[Or] Alternately, he's curled up off to the side, on the ground, paging through a book on obscure magic that talks about various rumored spells that the author doubts really exist. His attention is primarily on the shapeshifting portion, and he looks a little wistful. Anyone approaching who glances at the book get a half-smile and asked if it wouldn't be fun, being able to transform into animals.

Wildcard

[Hit him up wherever? He grabs food in the kitchens on the go, sometimes is at the tavern in a corner near the back, sits on the walls and looks out sometimes, surreptitiously feeds the stray cats around skyhold (and scolds any dogs that try to take the food,) and may, every now and then, see if he can zap armor in just the right way so straw and fabric and all sorts of things stick to it.]

Comments

For Adelaide

[justice_is_blond]

How is he supposed to explain?

That's the question that's held him back from bringing up the Spire with Adelaide despite seeing her daily, but eventually it gets to the point where he needs to ask. It really isn't like he and Justice can continue as they are, after all.

When he finally gets to it during tea, he's a little tense. He's been a little tense the whole time, which means she might know something's up. "Did you..." Anders trails off and sighs before shaking his head. "I've a couple of questions about people in the Spire, but I know that might be a sensitive topic. If you don't want to talk about any of it, I'll understand."

Justice won't, but he's never truly understood grief and suffering.

[fleurdesel]

They've been dancing around something all morning- he'd been distracted during lessons enough that his usual lines had felt more obligatory than teasingly sincere. That had been odd enough- that he's so tense in her tent afterward when he's long since stopped sitting while wound to the point of fretting? Something is wrong.

When he finally asks it's something of a relief. "That...depends entirely upon what it is you wish to ask, Detlef."

The Spire held many mages, many templars, and now? Many dead. It isn't something she cares to think on often but if it is important? She can remove herself from the pain and the fear of that night well enough to answer.

Healing Tents

[girlinthebox]

She lurks here often, near her brother's side or off to the corner, listening to those who pass through. The Veil reflects their thoughts, an echo she can hear overlapping, layering one on top of another. Often a cacaphony.

Anders is polyphonic, sometimes in harmony. Sometimes just slightly out of tune. But the resonance draws attention. So she watches him while he works, since she rarely has anywhere else to be. Simon wants her close at hand, especially with the new potions he wants to test. To see if they cure her.

The noise is softer, but she still stares at its source, from her little nook inside the tent. If she's out of the way, they don't tend to complain about her being underfoot.

[justice_is_blond]

He knows when he's being watched, practice from years of trying to stay away from people who always kept catching him again. Slightly wary, he looks around to spot a girl who is frequently at the tents. Normally she's with Simon when he's seen her, but a glance around doesn't spot him. No matter.

Anders finishes crushing the herb he'd been working with before looking directly at her. "Did you need something? I'd offer to do a jig but there's no music." The noise from being a Warden doesn't count. It's not the Calling, he doesn't need to dance to it.

Library, because the idea amuses me.

[easternseaqueen]

At first, she was browsing her usual section, rotating in her most recently read books, looking to see if anyone had brought in anything new.

Then she bumps into someone.
"Oh, were you wanting some of these too?"

It takes her just a few seconds before she really registers the face, and all but bursts into laughter.
"You have got to be joking."

[justice_is_blond]

He's about to say he's fine, that he's read better porn in the diaries of Chantry sisters, when he recognizes her right back. And then the moment for the joke is lost because she's laughing and all he can do is stare. That's... Well, maybe it's exactly what he should expect as a reaction from her.

Despite himself, there's a faint smile on his lips as he tries to shush her, glancing around nervously.

"The last thing I need is a lot of people coming to see why you're falling over laughing, Bela."

Library

[wickedchase]

In his part, Twisted Fate had been spending his time in the library scouring for any potential novels he hasn't discovered yet. Harrison Porter & the Blessed Urn wasn't really up to his preferences, but he's finding himself lacking in anything else that interests him.

Some people use the library for research, but he likes his tales.

The elf comes across the other mage, and raises a brow at him. "And what are you desperately researching today, hm?"

[justice_is_blond]

"I wouldn't exactly call it desperate." ...Okay, maybe it is a little desperate. If things go wrong, it would be nice to have a new method of escaping.

Anders shifts forward so Twisted Fate can see the book a little better.

"I've been curious about shapeshifting for some time. I know it's possible. But I've no idea where to start with actually learning it, so I thought I'd start with a book." There's a beat. "It hasn't exactly been useful so far."

Healer tents

[aceso]

Christine sends a patient on their way, watching them go with a bit of a smile. The longer the mage healers work here in Skyhold, the more people are coming around to the idea of being healed with magic. It's a good feeling, knowing trust is growing with people. Of course, that trust can shatter at any time, but that makes her savor it now all the more.

Turning back, she walks over towards a table and shelf, putting away jars and potions bottles. Looking around, she spots that spirit healer Adelaide's mentioned to her.

"Pardon, but do you have the elfroot salve near you?"

[justice_is_blond]

"The elfroot salve..." he echoes her request, looking through the shelves right next to him until he spots it. A moment later the jar's held out with a faint smile.

"Here it is. I knew I'd just seen it. Are you working on anything in particular, or just tidying it up?" He can't help the curiosity. It's nice to work with other mages on things, hear about projects they're working on, collaborate, all of it. This is what they should have, and everyone's lives would be for the better.

Garden

[motherfucking_ghost]

Church is just poking around because that's a thing he generally does, pretending to look busy and poking around and probably getting into trouble. So when some guy in some wacky looking getup is talking to plants, well, jesus, he doesn't know, maybe this guy's a plant wizard. Mage. A plantomancer.

"What are you even doing, man? It just looks weird." That is probably a louder voice than one should use around a nervous cat. A nervous cat that Church does not at first notice. "I really don't think the tree understands you."

[justice_is_blond]

The cat jumps at the loud voice, and clings all the harder to the branch. Anders turns slowly to look at the guy with an 'are you kidding me' face.

"Really. And here I thought all trees were fluent in the common tongue. That's why they move out of the way when farmers need room to make new fields." His voice practically drips with sarcasm, but it gets more amused as he continues. "Are you better at talking with trees? Would you like to try? Or perhaps you could try to speak with the cat that's stuck."

doop doop healing tents

[amygdalae]

[There's something of a routine between them now that Detlef is more settled within the Inquisition. It doesn't happen all the time, of course, but it happens often enough that Bruce feels familiar enough with him by now.

Having finished up their current round of patients, Bruce glances over to Detlef as they step away from the general area of the patients they had been attending to.] Are you managing alright? [The hostilities against mages haven't been as bad now these days since the whole thing with the abomination had died down somewhat, but its definitely left a mark on the people here.]

[justice_is_blond]

There's been no mob yet.

[It's mostly a joke. One day there will be a mob, though he can hope it doesn't take anyone else down with him. He cleans his hands in the washbasin before bringing the water over to Bruce in case the other man needs it too. There's still something magic about the man that Anders can't place. It bothers Justice, though, in the way Hawke's mabari got bothered the one time Anders walked into the Hawke estate after petting a stray cat in the market.]

You've been a great help. I've not said yet, but thank you.

Garden

[eolasemah]

There was a cat, and a man talking to the cat, and Sina paused from her trimming to look at them in wonder. Noting their apparent distress, she wiped the dirt from her hands off on her gardening tunic and wandered to stand behind the man, peering up over his shoulder at the cat. She was fond of animals, but wasn't used to domestic ones, least of all cats. For all she knew, the way he was talking to it would work.

"Can I help?" came a voice directly behind and a little below Anders' line of vision.

[justice_is_blond]

He looked behind himself... and then he looked down. Dalish. Right. Anders considered the question for a moment before looking back at the tree.

"I don't know. Are you any good at climbing a tree, or, alternately, would you want to sit on my shoulder and try to reach her? As a warning, she's not exactly happy up there." Which might mean claws. "But in better news, I'm a healer."

Garden

[disgracedchampion]

Detlef...that was his name, yes? Normally easy enough to avoid in a hold as big as this one, and yet one could not confine the whole of the world within these walls so no matter how wide the berth he would occasionally find himself in the mans presence. It did not mean they had to speak to one another, but Michel could almost swear to it that the man glared at him with the burning rage of a thousand suns. Typically while training in the courtyard, it must have something to do with the Templar techniques that he uses as Michel was well aware of his distaste for them...there was no subtlety in that.

Easy to avoid him, however, though not altogether easy to ignore him when he's talking to a...tree? That, at least, deserved a double-take. It would be fine enough to simply dismiss the man as mad, in fact it would make a great deal of sense, but even Michel had to concede that he appeared rather sane. That alone was enough to give him pause and, for a moment, the Chevalier took a break from his training and simply watched...a few moments of observation even at a distance told him everything he needed to know. He'd found himself a mouser.

One that refused to remove itself from the tree it had conveniently gotten itself stuck in, it wanted to come down, seemed to be in a state about it, and yet it did not have the courage...or perhaps the trust in the mage to take such a leap of faith. It was sad and adorable in its own way, despite Michel being more for horses than cats, especially when the little monsters found their way into his tent and ensconced themselves within his bedroll. Still standing here and simply watching the struggle held no honor...and it wasn't as though they had to communicate in order to get the cat out of the tree.

Without further ado Michel approached the...situation...careful that he made his presence known rather than simply startling Detlef. No need for talk, he simply made a grab for the lowest hanging branch and pulled himself up effortlessly, with the grace of a man who has done this task a thousand times...which wasn't too far off. Usually more armor was involved, but this was significantly easier.

[justice_is_blond]

...Didn't this man have a demon to fight? Anders doesn't know why Michel's still around. Things had sounded urgent. But on the other hand, he wasn't going to complain about someone possibly helping the poor cat. Anders had never been good at climbing trees, and he wasn't about to make a poor attempt while wearing robes. There was far too much risk he'd wind up mooning the whole garden area, and while he had a nice ass if he did say so himself, he had no desire to share the sight with everyone.

"Do you often climb into trees after cats?" There's always a need to talk, in Anders' books. Words are far better than silence. His voice is neutral enough as he watches; he hadn't thought Michel to be the type to help cats. Then again, if you're head is in the clouds enough to think that you have to right things for all people all at once in order to help anyone, maybe you think that saving cats is part of it.

The cat mews plaintively as it watches the man coming closer, tail drooping.

"She's scared. She batted one of the mabari on the nose and fled. Please be kind to her." It isn't like he can really take a cat in, but he can look after them when they dart across his path. Especially the ones that are bold enough to go after something bigger. He knows how she feels.

Outside Skyhold

[lettersfromhome]

Skyhold is as safe a fortress as they come, but stone walls and remote mountain vistas can actually leave one feeling a little closed in. Lost. They're nothing like the hills of Redcliffe, full of goats and fennecs and mountain vegetation, just austere grey and their little settlement here in the middle of it all, in a place that felt very much like somewhere humans were never meant to go.

And as much as she enjoys being helpful, being of use, and tending to others, she does on occasion need a moment to herself. Outside the walls the landscape is vast, open, and a reminder that the Maker really does work on a grander scale than any of them can fathom in truth.

She's bundled up, fur around her shoulders, expecting not to find anyone else save those traveling the road up to the castle. They'll think nothing of a plainly dressed woman on her own if they happen to pass, surely.

Imagine her surprise to see a familiar face lingering out here.

[justice_is_blond]

He can hear someone approaching, but there's no sounds that say the person is armored so Anders is relaxed as he continues what he's doing, only looking up when they get close. His fairly neutral expression turns warm when he recognizes her.

"Mia. What brings you out here?" He shifts the bundle of herbs into the corner of an elbow, making sure he's got a hand free in case she stumbles in the snow. Then again, she doesn't seem the sort of woman who would be wearing fancy, high-heeled shoes in the snow, so maybe she doesn't need it. No matter. At least he's prepared.

"Did the tavern songs finally get scandalous? Or did you need a little air?"

Outside Skyhold

[lacere]

In Skyhold, word gets around. Word gets around even faster if you're part of the scouts, where their pay can be surmised into getting around places quickly, words optional, more often required if one of Leliana's agents, too.

Anyway, Harding's not out here because she wants to be. She's out here because her scouts said they saw a healer stumbling through the snow, picking away at herbs - and sure, there's no hard and fast rules against solo mountain excursions, but it's winter, it's cold, and there's safety in numbers. Even if she's breaking that last one by abandoning the patrol further down in the valley to catch up with errant mages.

At the moment she's giving him an inquisitive look with her arms folded. "Pretty sure we had a shipment of those in yesterday," Harding says, nodding to the herbs. "You okay out here?"

[justice_is_blond]

"We did," he admits. "Enough to use fresh and to dry some. This isn't exactly needed. But I..." Anders shrugs. It's not the easiest thing to explain, especially to someone who isn't a mage. It probably sounds stupid, even. At least this will be far from the first time he sounds stupid.

"I like time outside the walls. A reminder that I can leave them when I want. The herbs are more so I'm being productive rather than simply wandering. ...I'm not somewhere I'm not supposed to be, am I?" If he is, likely someone more than a scout would be here. Then again, she might have just been the fastest person in the snow.

library;

[arcaneadvisor]

With a student waiting in the wings as it were, perusing the library is likely to yield little she doesn’t already know but she has to return a bunch of books as it is. A younger mage trails after her, not her son, too old and too tall for that but he’s struggling under his small mountain of books, tottering off to the correct shelf she directs him to as she slips a few older volumes back on the shelf with care. Really the student should do the reading but it won’t hurt to know whatever he’s managed to find out, and to see what others might write about what Flemeth taught her as she scans for anything else of interest before coming to a halt when she spots the figure on the floor, and then the book.

A question deserves an answer, and she knows better than any others here.

“A different way of seeing the world, what more could one wish for?” Coy, not out of the ordinary for her but she does like letting people put all the pieces together when it comes to who and what she is. “An almost forgotten art but for a few practitioners I believe.”

[justice_is_blond]

"That, and a chance to feel wind beneath wings. I think I'd like that most of all." He really needs another capelet, now that Zevran's convinced him to try dressing up and not looking so haggard, but that's not quite on the priority list yet.

He watches the... apprentice? servant? whatever he is, put away the books under this woman's direction for a moment before Anders gets to his feet and holds out a hand.

"Detlef. I've heard there are still some practitioners, at least, so maybe one day my luck will turn and I'll find one willing to teach me. Until then, books and day dreams and meeting lovely women in the library it is."

It's a good day. They spent the morning healing, and shapeshifting could be used for justice, so Justice isn't pressing in and Anders can breathe.

Library

[equanimiti]

A quiet hum escapes Alayre as he peers into the library with book in hand. He's been wandering into the library more often than usual these days since the arrival of the new year. While this isn't apart of any trivial resolution on his part, Alayre seems quite eager to read on his spar time than train. For whatever the reason for this change in habit, it's oddly strange to see a Templar in full regalia, swords and all, searching tirelessly along the tall bookshelves. Alayre looks woefully out of place here and he's clearly having a time finding the book he's searching for.

"Où est-il?" Alayre whispers quietly as he continues with his search. He idly touches the weathered spine of a random leather bound book upon the shelf with a sigh. "Why would an atlas be placed here..." A huff escapes Alayre as he gently rubs his hand over his face.

"I'll never find it at this rate."

He has yet to notice the familiar face nearby. It's not often for Alayre too be so wrapped up in his thoughts. The Templar is usually more attentive of his surroundings than this. Something must be bugging the poor man other than his muttering about some book.

[justice_is_blond]

He looks up from his reading at the approach. Granted, he'll look up for anyone approaching, there are still people he needs to avoid, but this one has him keep his head up and watch.

"If you're looking for something sharp, I believe you've plenty of things already attached. If you're looking for something dull, the writings on how Andraste was perfect and how her followers have always been perfect are two shelves that way." He jerks his head to indicate a direction. "Spicy, though, you're nearly there. About a meter to the left."

There isn't a chance Alayre is here for romance novels, but Anders isn't about to miss the opportunity to imply he is.

healing tents.

[apostasia]

It isn't that Martel intends to - do anything. Adelaide wouldn't thank him for it; moreover, she's a grown woman, not a child to be minded. She can make her own decisions about who she may or may not be taking to her bed. Mind, he's certain she's not, but he doubts she'd confide in him either way. Fair. They're hardly that sort of friends.

No, he has no such agenda, but...

They are friends. Of a sort. And while he is proprietary of the people he considers his own, for the most part, what brings him to Anders ("Detlef", the only name he yet knows him by) is simple curiosity. What sort of a man is he? There are a few ways of finding that out, but under the circumstances (and in his current circumstances), the best way is the most direct.

A rap of his knuckles against the tentpole, by way of announcing himself--

"Detlef, isn't it? I wonder if you've anything for a bit of pain."

[justice_is_blond]

There's numerous tasks to do even when there aren't patients, and Anders enjoys them. The routine of cleaning instruments, of taking notes, checking on drying herbs, they're all part and parcel of being a healer and, truth be told, he misses the Darktown Clinic. Yes, he'd been exhausted and hungry, but there was joy to always have ways to help the less fortunate in front of him. This isn't bad, though. There's work. There are patients. Speaking of which...

He looks up at the knock, already trying to assess the man for what might be amiss. Nothing greets his eye, but that doesn't tell him anything other than the guy isn't dying right this moment. Anders sets down the notebook with marks showing how many days various things have been drying and turns his full attention on the new arrival.

"A variety of things, depending on the pain. External, internal, illness, injury. Come in, let me take a look. And maybe share a name, as you seem to already have me at a disadvantage."

Garden

[colecomfort]

"High and hidden, but I can see everything. It's safe up here." Cole steps a little closer, until he's just over the man's shoulder, looking upward toward the tree branches. "She doesn't want to come down."

That doesn't mean, of course, that staying up there is the best thing for her.

"I could go to the kitchens while you watch her. She might come down for some meat."

[justice_is_blond]

"She feels safe?" He'd been thinking her perch unsteady, but Cole would know. Anders considers the offer before shaking his head no.

"If she wants to stay, we can let her. She'd know what she wants more than I would." High and hidden. There have been times he would have liked to hide and still see all that was going on, so he can't blame her. ...And really, trying to look after her might have been a little selfish. He'd wanted to hold a cat again for a little while.

Anders shrugs that off and looks back at Cole. "You're doing well?" The boy might be whole, but Anders can't imagine that a whole lot of people are all right with someone who can hear and feel parts of what they're thinking.

Healing tents

[wontforgetyou]

While Jamie is no healer - by any stretch of the imagination - it still seems that he spends a fair amount of time around the healing tents. Mostly it's because he happens to know the people around there, whether they're friends who are healers, like Adelaide, or friends who happen to have to stick close to the tents for other reasons, like Sina. Lately he's been coming down to visit Kallian, spending some time helping her out by carrying things or cleaning herbs or doing small useful tasks that need doing. It gets things done that need to be done, and if it also means he can spend some time talking with her...well, he can't say as he minds that so much.

It's more or less that general idea that brings him down to the tents today, but when it turns out that she's not available, he decides to take a quick turn through on the off chance that he'll run into someone else familiar. While Detlef is someone he doesn't know terribly well yet, he's someone that Jamie likes well enough - and someone who he's more than willing to greet, which he does by lifting his hand in a wave and adding in a friendly smile.

"Detlef! Hullo! I'd not realized you worked around here too."

[justice_is_blond]

Anders flashes Jamie a smile as he finishes up with the latest patient and sending them on their way.

"I'm a Spirit Healer. For some reason they feel the tents are far more useful of a place to have me than the kitchens. Though I can roast an excellent potato if I do say so myself."

He washes his hands quickly before turning to the man fully. "I've seen you around the tents some, though I've always been busy. ...And you've often been around Kallian. But she's not here at the moment, so what brings you over?"

Very close to Kallian, actually. She's not Anders' responsibility, but he cares. More than he'd expected.

Garden

[samahl]

The mage in the tree isn't too unusual for him because he's Dalish and their mages tend to need to be more proactive. It's really the human part that gets Cyril curious.

When he notices the cat that makes him frown and come a little closer. "Could you use a bit of food to coax him out?" he asks, looking up at the mage.

[justice_is_blond]

"I very likely could," Anders admits. It might be a little late for that realization, now that he's up here along with the cat, but late is better than never, sometimes. Like now. It's not like Anders is stuck.

"I don't suppose you've anything on you?" It's a little more rare to find people carrying food in a fortress than in the wilderness or in a city, but it's happened.

Wildcard - courtyard

[stabsbooks]

She's on her way to the great hall when she sees him - although it's the cover of the book he's currently engrossed in that catches her eye first, making her stop in her tracks.

Swords and Shields. He's reading Swords and Shields, her favorite chapter, right out in the open and - almost too conveniently - right in her path. For a moment she wonders if it's a trick, some awful joke of Varric's, but...no. No, it couldn't be. He has no idea that she reads that series, and never will. Besides, despite his claims otherwise, Varric doesn't know everyone in Thedas. He's likely never met this man.

Cassandra looks around nervously. There's no sign of the dwarf, no sign of anyone (she hopes) who might...recognize the book, and she makes her way over, trying and failing to act casual. In reality, she ends up looming over the man sitting quietly on a bench, her intense stare one easily mistaken for anger rather than nervousness. She'd been at the training dummies all morning, and still wears her armor, the white sun-and-eye symbol of the Seekers of Truth bright and white against the black metal.

"How is your book?" It's not...the friendliest greeting, but then, it could have been worse. Although she might have been better off if her questions didn't sound quite so much like an interrogation. Or an accusation. "Are you enjoying it?"

[justice_is_blond]

The moment someone stops in their tracks to look at him his mind is running a million miles a second, verifying that he can make a break for it to the right, that he can't see any Templars, going over his heading all over again... but there's no yell. No shout. No weapons drawn, and the person is now nervously approaching? So he's been recognized again, but by a friend. Anders breathes out and lets them approach, only looking up once addressed.

It's the Seeker. Sweet Maker have mercy, it's the Seeker. Varric is going to kill him.

And she's asking about the book?

For a moment, all Anders can do is stare. He's face to face with a woman who has to be Cassandra Pentergast, and she wants to know if he likes Varric's book. This is impossible, and that feeling is written all over his face.

"...If Varric sent you to ask that, I'd like to preemptively report a murder. His." Anders clears his dry throat and shakes his head. Skyhold is ridiculous, he's deciding. Everyone is apparently arriving here, people actually still care, and a woman who must be Cassandra Pentergast is asking about a book rather than simply arresting him.

Anders looks down at the book, actually considering it. This can't be a ploy. Why would a Seeker need a ploy to arrest a well-known and basically universally wanted criminal? But at the same time, he's still a little tense.

"It's not bad." If the main character wasn't so clearly Aveline, he'd enjoy it more, but taken away from that... "I've got a theory on how it all went down, but I'm no guardsman."

Just outside Skyhold.

[laurenande]

Galadriel was as fond of Skyhold as any other place; it had a certain safety, a certain comfort to it, but she found that being within the walls she felt tired too easily. Whether it was the proximity of beds, the promise of distraction or rest, she did not know, but she felt more herself when she was outside of the fortress. She needed her focus for the task at hand and the guard hadn't been bothered when she left to the snowy wilderness beyond.

Her new staff was still bare, it lacked a proper grip and the blade had yet to be attached, but the armorer had assured her that it was sufficient to test. Unfortunately, with what she understood of magic in Thedas, she was uncertain how to test it. Given the overt nature of the native spells and how much power she could unintentionally wield if the staff truly did assist her, it had seemed best to be alone.

And yet...she was wary of traveling too far from the keep. There was danger in what she intended to do, for herself as well as others, and she had no desire to test the breadth of her immortality in the wilds of Thedas.

With care and a gentle, meandering gait, Galadriel searched the nearby wood for a glade that would serve her purpose. It should be secluded but not distant, calm, peaceful, and empty--it didn't take long to locate such a place but, sadly, it was not as empty. The man occupying the clearing was familiar, in a passing way. She had seen him among the healing tents, moving about the throng as Adelaide did, but he had not caught her eye.

At the moment he appeared to be picking elfroot.

"A long walk for simple herbs," Galadriel remarked and broke the silence. Her approach had been soundless, as walking atop snow generally was, and she felt the need to announce herself. It was only polite. "Though, I admit, it is a pleasant day and the mountains are quite lovely."

She stopped in the center of the clearing and held her staff at her side. Without its blade it came just shy of her shoulder. It was very close to the same height as the human she'd stumbled upon.

"Do you require assistance gathering more?"

[justice_is_blond]

He jumped, completely startled, and whirled around at the voice, dropping the plant he'd just picked and reaching for his staff before catching himself. It was just a mage. Just a mage he didn't recognize, and not one that was attacking. He could breathe. He did so, reaching up to rest that hand over his chest for just a moment as he calmed down and hoped there hadn't been anything blue that would have given him away.

"It's... yes. It's a pleasant day." It took a few moments for him to collect himself. Anyone waiting to ambush him this far out would have something intimately personal against him, and that was a very tiny group. Fenris and Sebastian. She was neither.

"It's more the walk than the herbs themselves, if I'm to be honest." He took another breath and picked up the plant he'd dropped before giving the woman a small smile. "I don't need assistance, but I wouldn't object to company. Most of my time spent exploring has been spent alone, and I enjoy talking. ...Which is both invitation and warning."

She was tall, he realized as he straightened back up. Very tall. Easily the tallest elf he'd ever seen by far. A part of him wanted to jokingly ask what she'd been fed, but at the same time there was a presence about her that made him not quite certain he wanted to tease just yet.