Skyhold

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone & everyone
WHAT: Open post for business as usual around Skyhold
WHEN: The first couple weeks of Harvestmere, 9:41 (aka October)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Please mark any necessary content warnings in thread subject lines. Also, make sure to check out the other log posts already made!

Far from the glamorous adventurous world-saving people signed up for, most of the hustle and bustle in Skyhold at present is cleaning. The Great Hall is a disaster, and crews are assigned to haul out the cracked and rotting planks fallen from the wide-open roof, and tear down the vines covering the walls. Ivy encrusts the main staircase outside and many of the fortress walls and is cleared in section while other groups assess or begin shoring up the stonework as it's revealed. There are scaffolding to build, materials to sort, crates to unload, tents to stitch together or set-up, and on and on and on, endless mundane chores vital to the survival of the organization.

When not hard at work, people cluster around fires across the courtyards. Many mingle freely, going about their business, running errands and messages, planning scouting missions, tallying up supplies, distributing or playing with the sending crystals that were found in a basement vault and which a group of mages have just today finished preparing for use. Once a good number have been passed around and the first Inquisition-wide transmission made messages start being broadcast; maybe you can help someone out.

The rebel mages and renegade templars mainly keep to themselves at opposite sides of the complex given the choice. Mages assist with healing and research and bicker amongst themselves about their options and their fate. Templars help train recruits in swordforms and basic combat techniques or spar with the more advanced and bicker amongst themselves about their options and their fate. Despite having all pledged themselves to the Inquisition, they still feel like separate factions and tension between them is palpable wherever they cross paths.

Like at meals, or the communal message board in the courtyard, or at the Herald's Rest. The mess hall/tavern is so new it still smells of sawdust, and its stock has been limited to one type of strong ale until today, when a shipment of West Hill brandy has finally arrived. The mood in the place is convivial in celebration of that, but there's still plenty of muttering, especially as the night drags on and the discontented get further into their cups.

Comments

[amygdalae]

[There's a small, hopefully reassuring smile here.]

It's alright. [Bruce gestures to a space besides him.] Do you want to sit down here with me? I find that being away from the hustle and bustle helps sometimes.

[issala]

I dunno...

[He crosses his arms over his chest, thoughtful. He was a bit tired from running around and this guy was nice, he guessed?

He didn't seem like he'd try anything.]

...alright. No 'funny' shit, though.

[amygdalae]

I've been told I'm not a typically 'funny' sort of person- [mostly from a certain elf from Antiva] -so you don't have to worry about that.

[Bruce shifts a little to give the Qunari some space, even though there's a lot of space in general around them both. But its the thought that counts. Hopefully.]

[issala]

[That earns Bruce a slightly amused snort as the teen moves the tiniest bit closer and sits down in one of the indents on the rampart walls.]

...what's the book about? Cutting people up?

[amygdalae]

[Bruce manages not to react to that question beyond a blink, although he is a little bit amused. Its not exactly a common question, even if its not the first time he's heard that.]

It's a book about medical procedures. [He tilts the book so that the Qunari can see it - words and texts about illness and how to treat them.] So that I can help people get better after they get cut up.

[issala]

I thought that was what surgeons do. Cut people up and take out stuff and sew them up again. And balance humors.

[Most his interactions with healers over the years have been 'so I broke my arm again' and 'my friend has the white cough'. Nothing fancy, just the local wise woman

He seems a bit excited to be allowed to take a look, reading the words on the offered page.]

...ew.

[amygdalae]

I try not to do that as much as possible.

[Mostly because the conditions Bruce works in sometimes isn't very good for surgery like that. More often than not it'd probably worsen the patient's condition instead of making it better if he did so.

Which is part of the reason why he's research as much as he can when he's able - surely, there had to be a way that was better than just cutting into them.

He quirks a smile at the Qunari's response, amused, but not that he can blame him. Bruce pulls the book back and glances through it himself.]

It's not the most pleasant reading material, I admit. But at times its necessary.

[issala]

Does... everyone have that in them? The name even sounds gross!

[He shudders a bit, but then has to get his man card back by telling about weird medical things he 'knew'.]

One of the people I ran with told me about a guy who got an arrow through his eye and he survived. Talked really funny, though.

He swore it was true and everything.

[amygdalae]

Most humans, at least. I'm not very familiar with the physiology of the other species myself.

[But he is trying his best to know. The Inquisition, with all kinds of people around, will help Bruce with that pursuit.

At the story, though, Bruce can't help but raise an eyebrow.] Is that so? Well, the human body can be surprisingly durable at times.

[He's not doubting the story or Kas, but it would be interesting if he could meet that person himself.]

[issala]

I think dwarves an' elves are kinda similar to humans. I got horns and stuff that might be real weird.

[Sage nods.]

There was a guy in my kith that ripped his own arm off once. That was really gross but I guess he had to. Got stuck under a rock when the Ben-Hassrath came.

[Kas honey that was way too many weird words.]

[amygdalae]

[It's okay, Bruce has hung around places enough to have picked up some very rudimentary Qunlat.]

Desperate times always call for desperate measures. [A pause.] I hope he got of of that fine, at least?

[issala]

I think so, he was running with the rest when I left. Didn't even scream or nothing.

[His kith were marauding assholes, but they were cool marauding assholes.]

[amygdalae]

[Well, at least that sounds promising, if anything.]

I hope he managed to escape then, if you didn't get to see him after.

[issala]

Yeah. Me too.

[He kicks his feet a bit on the wall he's sitting on, a gesture so childlike it doesn't quite fit with the rest of him.]

Have you fixed a lotta people here?

[amygdalae]

As much as I am able to.

[He replies with a smile, although said smile doesn't really seem that all happy.]

Of course, there's only so much I can do as a surgeon.

[issala]

...aren't there magic healers and stuff, too?

[He shrugs a bit.]

Why aren't they doing all the fixing up?

[amygdalae]

Not everyone is fine with mages getting to close to them.

[Totally self-deprecating here, because the irony is that Bruce is a mage - its just that nobody knows about it.]

[issala]

Well that's stupid. If I'm sick or hurt I don't care who fixes it.

[He makes a small face.]

Stupid.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce just lets out a small, tiny chuckle here, almost inaudible if the Qunari wasn't sitting close enough to him.]

It'd be nice if more people shared your opinion. It would make my job much easier.

[issala]

[he looks at Bruce, relaxing a little. He wasn't made fun of.]

Well. I wanna live and I wanna have all my body parts. It's that easy.

[amygdalae]

Some people would rather risk losing something than letting themselves be subject to something they don't understand.

[And Bruce can't blame them. He knows how terrible magic can be when used wrongly.]

[issala]

[He makes a disgusted sound.]

That's just dumb. There's lots of people who would want a mage to fix their stuff but they don't get it 'cuz all the mages were locked away. Now they can but it's too scary?

[Kas sticks out his tongue.]

[amygdalae]

When you put it that way, it is quite irrational.

[He says with another wry smile.]

When it comes to magic and mages, people just sadly tend to be rather unpredictable about that. [He gives a light shrug.] Just like magic itself.

[issala]

I guess it's good that you're around for the whiny people.

[He shrugs, not thinking it might sound like an insult.]

...you know anything about putting on weight? I'm eating loads but I'm still small.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce can easily guess some people who would take offence to that, but at least none of them are anywhere near here now, so.

At the question, there's a curious expression on his face, though it quickly shifts to contemplative as Bruce ponders over it.]

Well, as much as I try not to sound like the everyday man... meat tends to helps a lot in getting weight. Sugary things, too.