faderift | I always unfold

WHO: Wylan and you!
WHAT: Wylan arrives in Kirkwall
WHEN: Just before All Mortals Shall Know - I
WHERE: Gallows and the Mess
NOTES: Possible mentions of verbal abuse

I. Arrival

It's been a long road to Kirkwall. He feels as if every inch of him must be caked in mud as he crosses the final distance to the down to the Gallows. Exhaustion weighs him down, but he knows he won't be safe until he's behind the walls of the Riftwatch. The agent that took the two firebombs off his hands told him he'd have a lodging and food, so long as he worked.

It sounds like a miracle. And he can figure out some work that doesn't involve needing to read.

Or, at least, something he can fake until he can make his way.

He's so tired he doesn't notice the person in front of him until he collides with them.

"O-oh, I'm sorry," he tries to duck away. "Sorry. I was looking for the Gallows."

II. Food

Wylan quickly learns there's a place to eat, a free place and after setting his pack in his new room, he makes his way to mess for a meal. He still looks quite covered in mud, his hair wild and distressed, but he needs food more than a shower in this instance. Of course, he collects a few odd looks, so he finds a corner to sit in to chow down. He looks like he needs it, too; he's far too skinny for his height, but that could be from the journey he took to arrive at the Riftwatch.

Either way, he looks up when someone joins his table, a mouth full of food before he can properly greet them.

III. Gallows - Parapets

After eating his fill of food, Wylan heads back to the Gallows to do some more walking about. He eventually finds himself up on the parapets, overlooking what others have told him is the Waking Sea. The waves crash upon the rocks below him as the sun disappears beneath the horizon, painting everything in a warm tangerine light. Wylan can hardly believe he made it to the Riftwatch, or that they accepted him.

Still he has the lurking worry that his father is only a few leagues away, eager to find him and try again to eliminate his useless heir.

Wylan remains so focused on worrying about his father that when he hears foosteps, he nearly jumps out of his skin.

Only once he registers that this guest is not his father nor the two men who tried to kill him, Wylan offers a sheepish smile.

“Apologies, I was focused on looking out at the ocean,” he replies. “I’ve never seen an ocean like this before.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wylan gives the smallest sighs of relief that he's close. However, the thought of crossing on a rowboat sends a slight shudder through his body. The tight buttoned-up collar presses against the bruising against his throat, but thankfully hides the mottled skin for now. The question has him raising an eyebrow before he answers.

"I met a man who said he was a Riftwatch agent after I told him I make explosives and poisons," he replies, swallowing. "He said to seek out Kirkwall and the Gallows."

He pauses to set down his bag and pulls out a piece of paper, signed by (NPC Riftwatch Agent). Not that Wylan can read it, but he hopes it says what he thinks it does.

Redvers scans it and responds with a long exhale through his nose.

It's probably not personal. Maybe he just doesn't like (NPC Riftwatch Agent) very much.

"Fair enough. You'll want to speak to the person at the gate, then probably the head of Research? Unless you also plant the explosives and administer the poisons."

Wylan continues to look up at Redvers and breathes a sigh of relief that the notice does indeed say what it’s meant to say. All he can ever see on the page are a series of reticulating insect legs twitching and leaping around.

“No, I’ve no experience administering them outside of an experimental sense,” Wylan explains.

I always unfold

no subject

no subject

tw: insects