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[incaenstrix]

WHO: Character(s)
WHAT: Various open prompts for MAKING FRIENDS
WHEN: Eh, nowish
WHERE: Around the Gallows
NOTES: Potential references to slavery, anxiety, and injury.

i. The Courtyard, night
There have been times in the past when Tertia has had a bed to sleep in. But when she was servus publicus, she slept on a thin pad on the hard floor, and when she was fighting with the People she slept in a bedroll out in the field. She had a bed with the Magister, though. Soft and stuffed with goose-down. Gentle cotton sheets.

So sleeping in a bed has proven to be nearly an impossibility. And so at night, she's been taking a blanket and a thin pillow out to the courtyard, and she's been laying them down on the ground beneath the stars - or the clouds - to sleep.

The downside to this, though: she's likely a near-invisible figure in the dark. Someone taking a late-night stroll might well trip over a small sleeping girl, or might be startled to find that something out of the corner of their eye when they're having a smoke is stirring, elf-eyes glinting in the dark.


ii. The Library, daytime
There are signs when someone isn't a particularly adept reader. Tertia bears those signs: her lips move as she reads, forming the sounds unconsciously, and her finger traces along the lines as she goes along. But she also doesn't waver. She sits for actual hours, focused intensely on the work, determination in the set of her jaw and the furrow of her brow.


iii. The Training Grounds, daytime; action brackets preferred
Excuse me.

[ A young elf woman might approach you while you're training. Her staff makes it clear that she's a mage. Her manner is softspoken and mild, and she asks - ]

Would you tell me a bit more about your fighting style? Where did you learn it?


iv. Wildcard
[ do WHATEVER ]

Comments

iii. training grounds

[notathreat]

[It's a voice Ellie's heard before, twice, on the crystals. Once asking for help with learning magic, and the second time, trying with Gwen. Both times, she was earnest and kind and didn't seem to expect the same in return. Both times, Ellie didn't respond, because what she had to offer wasn't what was being asked for.

Currently, she's practicing in the courtyard at the ranged targets, trying to improve the speed of her draw. While aim is far from her problem (she almost unerringly hits the mark, and around half the time, Tertia might be able to feel the prickle of an unfamiliar magic, even if she's not close enough to see Ellie's eyes gain a soft golden glow) she's still working on using more of her arsenal of knives. She defaults to drawing from her hip or thigh or back pocket. Now, she's working on draws from her boot, flipping the knife tip into her fingertips before she flings it at the target.

Faster draw, tricky to maintain momentum with.

Aware of her audience, Ellie gives Tertia a nod as she comes closer, pauses to catch her breath, adjust her boot.]

Um...

[Ellie squints to herself, thinking back.]

I had a- mentor for a while, sort of. He was an old smuggler, so he could kill someone with his bare hands if he had to. I'm not built like he was, so he taught me how to shoot and where to put a knife, and how to stick to where nobody could see me.

The rest is just... muscle memory. And lots and lots of work on my aim.

So it's not exactly a style, it's just what works for me.

[incaenstrix]

[ Tertia listens, and as Ellie finishes talking, she nods. ]

Magic is taught in schools. I mean - [ A small gesture - ] It's organized into schools, which mages are taught. I guess that doesn't mean the same is true for other ways of fighting.

[ Tertia leans in to examine the knife. She comes barely up to Ellie's chin, and her manner is rather diffident. She doesn't crowd her space. ]

You're not a mage, right?

[notathreat]

[Ellie nods- she can't claim to be really knowledgeable about how Thedosian magecraft works, only that it does. Everyone seems to lean into a different aspect of it. It's something she should study, one of these days.

Ellie doesn't come into Tertia's space either. Instead she opens her hand, so Tertia can see the small knife she's using. It's almost more of a dagger, not actually built for being thrown. Dwarven-make, if she has an eye for those things.]

Not technically.

[She hesitates, in the way that someone who has to explain something impossibly weird might, when they don't expect to be believed.]

I'm a rifter. I have a couple of things I can do, and they're technically magic. A Templar can disrupt it. But I'm not a mage the same way people in Thedas think of mages? And I can't teach it.

[This last bit's said apologetically.]

[incaenstrix]

[ If there's one advantage to having rather little life experience, it's that you don't really know when something deserves skepticism. So she nods as she listens, and she doesn't question any of it. ]

Are you really from another world?

[notathreat]

[Ellie pauses, then nods, reaching down to unbind her right hand. It's usually covered by a fingerless archer's glove. But it's there in her palm; that slash of green, shining out of her skin like a tiny rip in the fabric of reality.]

Yeah.

Believe me, it was just as much of a shock for me.

[incaenstrix]

[ Shock is not, perhaps, an apt descriptor for what Tertia's expressing, though. It's more akin to simple curiosity. ]

How long have you been here for?

[notathreat]

A year and a half, maybe? I came in late spring, and it's fall again.

[Ellie gives a shrug; more for something to do with her shoulders than to express any particular feeling.]

Long enough to learn the ropes, but not long enough to stop being surprised when weird shit happens.

[incaenstrix]

And -

[ Oh. A little motion of embarrassment. ]

What's your name? I'm so sorry, I should have asked that first.

[notathreat]

Ellie.

[It ends with a small burst of laughter, more an exhalation of breath, a smile.]

And you're Tertia, right? I- heard you on the crystals, a couple of times.

[Also part of why she forgot to ask, or offer her own name.]

[incaenstrix]

Oh.

[ A little flustered - ]

Yes. I've been - a little chatty, haven't I? There are certainly a lot of people to meet. I hope it hasn't been annoying.

[notathreat]

You're not. You were nice. Especially with Gwenaëlle.

Don't feel... [Ellie wobbles a hand, to indicate some of way-] about that, by the way. I've been trying to figure her out ever since we met.

Did you get what you needed? With the magic tutoring?

[incaenstrix]

[ Tertia relaxes a little bit. ]

Well, I'm still not very good at it. And that's not fixed yet. But people have been helpful - it's just up to me to push myself, I think.

[ And, with Gwenaelle - ]

I do think she means well. She just doesn't seem to have a sense that - oh - people maybe don't necessarily know the things she knows, or the people.

courtyard

[sprent]

Night strolls are not in Gela's usual repertoire, but tonight she cannot sleep. Maybe her bed is too warm, or her mind too restless? She has her own theory. Because she cannot see the moon out of the little window in her tower room (despite craning her neck at many terrible angles), she takes the stairs down and emerges into the courtyard barefoot, blinking up at the sky.

In her slow course about the yard in order to get the best angle (is it full? Is the sleeplessness some kind of sign, or warning?), her toes touch the edge of something that is not grass.

A blanket? And a person lying on top of it, staring up at the sky, wholly unexpected.

"Maker." Gela nearly stepped on her. "Sorry– I wasn't lookin'."

[incaenstrix]

Tertia had seen her coming, to be fair. She'd debated making a little sound of warning - hey, don't be scared - but had spent far too long trying to decide what she'd actually say and had ended up staying silent till the girl had almost tripped over her.

"No, I'm - " She gives a little laugh of embarrassment, and draws her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. "Sorry. It's - I'd tried to find somewhere out of the way, but I guess I didn't pick the best place. Sorry." Then - "Do you want one of my blankets? It's a little chill out here."

[sprent]

"No," Gela defers, blinking, "I think it was a fine place. Everybody else is sleepin'." And she should be too, but isn't. Eventually she recognises the little voice and says, "Tertia? We spoke on the crystal. My name is Gela." And, "I'd love a blanket, if you don't mind."

She's already regretting the bare feet.

[incaenstrix]

"Oh!" Tertia smiles, barely visible in the darkness. "Gela. Yes. - You have an incredible ear. I don't think I'd have been able to recognize you by voice."

She fetches up one of the blankets - then notices those bare feet. And she urges her, "A blanket, or - You could sit beside me, if you'd like. Your feet must be freezing."

[sprent]

An incredible ear... that is true, but it gives Gela an unwelcome squirm in her stomach all the same. She casts a glance up at the sky again. The moon is hiding behind the clouds.

Is it safe to sit here, with somebody who doesn't know what she is? What she's capable of? She shifts in the cold, damp grass.

"It's not so bad," she says, smiling, and then pauses. Usually she would make an excuse and take her leave, but it feels bad to leave this wee person alone, and in the dark. "Are you– sleepin' out here? Did you not find a bed?"

[incaenstrix]

"Oh, no, it's just - You know. It's awfully soft, that bed." She sits up more fully, legs crossed. "And the stars are beautiful. Isn't that worth spending the night outside for? At least while the weather's still warm?"

She tilts her head back, looking upwards. "Is that why you're out here? I saw you looking at the sky."

[sprent]

Gela, relieved, says, "I know exactly what you mean." The bed being too soft, and the stars too bright to head inside. Slowly, she lowers herself to sit, but she'll keep her grassy feet off of Tertia's blanket. She tilts her head back.

"Before I came to the Gallows I did a lot of travellin'. Spent a lot of nights outside, on the ground, if I couldn't find a place to stay– it wasn't good, but sometimes I miss it."

Is that strange? Maybe.

[incaenstrix]

Tertia nods. "Yeah," she says. Then - "Does it get easier? Sleeping in a bed? I know it's supposed to be better, so I suppose I should learn."

[sprent]

Gela links her arms around her knees, hugging them. "It does, eventually. I actually like havin' the room more than I do the bed. I don't have to carry everythin' around with me any more."

[incaenstrix]

She gives a little noise of understanding. "So - do you think you're here for the long term?" She tilts her head. "With Riftwatch for the rest of the war?"

iii-ish.

[luaithre]

[ As Kostos had explained, there are distinct branches and schools of magic, and mastery in one is probably preferable to a scattered understanding of a little bit of everything. It's a philosophy that Marcus agrees with, in part, especially if given the opportunity for mages to work together, and combine their unique abilities to great effect.

However, it should also be said: any mage who hopes to enter battle will have a short career indeed if they do not, at minimum, learn how to cast their own Barrier.

He shows her by doing, drawing from the Fade through his held staff and using his free hand to cast. Glyphs briefly flash around his feet before fading, leaving behind dancing motes of pale light, a slight glimmer reflecting off his armor, skin, hair.

Stepping back, so there is some distance between them, Marcus nods to her. ]

Hit me with something.

[incaenstrix]

Yes, Enchanter.

[ The careful, hesitant deference with which she'd first used his title has given way swiftly to something more familiar and comfortable. It's genuinely respectful, now. And there a real eager admiration as she watches him casting those glyphs.

She draws back her staff. Her casting is slow, much slower than it would be on the battlefield, because she's endeavoring to master the form. Being careful so she can do it right. So, then, after a few long seconds, a tongue of lightning lances out to strike against him - nearly full power, as she trusts he can defend himself.

(No squeamishness about using magic against a person. She's done it before, plenty of times.) ]

[sprent]

"Yes."

Gela has been thinking about it a lot lately, but this is her conclusion: yes, she could stay here. Everybody here knows, to at least some degree, how to fight. There are healers. If the worst were to happen, she thinks they would be safe from her. "Will you stay?"