OPEN - Then the mountain rose before me

[pinprick]

WHO: Nathaniel Howe and YOU
WHAT: Nathaniel settles into Skyhold
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Will update with any warnings that come up.

Courtyard

A dark-haired man in his late thirties or early forties is sitting on a camp stool and shaving, hair damp from a recent wash. He has a couple of inches of black beard he's mostly getting rid of, leaving only a soul patch under his lip. He works the brush while flinching at the cold and peering into a small mirror. The cold is not his friend when the razor comes out, either, but it's too dark inside for shaving. He manages the shave without cutting himself from shivering, at least. Come bother him.

Great Hall

Later, he's inside on a chair by the fire in the great hall, warming up. His feet are propped up on another chair. He's enjoying a lazy session of people-watching, smoking from a pipe and listening to a nearby psaltery player. If you catch his eyes on you, he will give a courteous nod and politely direct his gaze elsewhere. His posture is fairly open, so if you want to approach, he'll speak with you.

Tavern

It's after dark that he goes into the tavern and enjoys the smells and sounds, and occasional polite conversation. But it isn't terribly long before, lulled by warmth and safety, he cocoons himself in his cloak, rests his head against the wall, and falls soundly asleep. Until something wakes him up.

WILDCARD

Comments

[pinprick]

Nathaniel gives an easy smile and straightens in his chair, setting his feet on the floor.

"It's Howe," he reminds him with a faint twitch. "Warden business. It's nice to be somewhere warm and dry. You're..." He points in the air with the end of his pipe, like he's trying to put his finger on the name. "...Reynolds. Found work with the Inquisition?"

[aintwejust]

"Nah, pretty sure it's a what." Referr'n to the whine and press of Jayne against his leg. "And what it is seems t'be a singularly vex'n hound."

One angling for food or whatever Nate has in his pipe. "More or less. Apparently if you got a bit'a shiny green stuck in you what shouldn't be- this is where you go. Now when you say 'Warden Business' d'ya mean the grim and wander'n kind or the 'oh shit we better get prepped for ogres' kind?"

[pinprick]

"I couldn't tell you." Nathaniel rifles in a bag and pulls out a bit of jerky for Jayne. Passes it over and scratches the back of his neck. "Shiny bit of green? You have me at a disadvantage."

[aintwejust]

"At least that much is the same." So much strangeness wander'n about the world and people react'n or not react'n? It's nice that Wardens are still secretive sons of bitches. Makes Mal feel a little more settled in the world. Jayne's made happy by the jerky, taking it out of Nate's hand with a lick and a butt of his face against his side.

"You see the sky light up like crazy awhile back- little float'n tears here and there? Apparently they spit out little shard things. Get stuck with one and you got a very fine read'n light." Mal shrugs and peels off his glove, holding up his hand and the glowing, green mark on his palm.

[pinprick]

"Does that make you the new Herald of Andraste? Maker." Nathaniel is not serious about that first, but he's hardly reveling in his own joke, sitting up to squint at the shard. "That's peculiar. When did this happen?"

[aintwejust]

"Shit, I hope not. Wouldn't do to have someone who thinks that's all a load a'bullshit to be runn'n this place." He snorts a soft laugh, flexing his hand. It stings sometimes, flares up something awful others but- he's gett'n it sorted. Keep away from the rifts and it don't bother him none. "Little ways back- pick'n a girl up for her family up near Haven. Sky goes crazy, horse spooks, I get knocked on the head fall'n off try'n to keep her from break'n her neck and I wake up with this thing in my hand."

[pinprick]

"That's...unfortunate." Though Nathaniel has seen weirder things. Sometimes he feels compelled to react more strongly to weird things than comes naturally, just so people know he acknowledges the weirdness. Like when his nephew gets some minor scrape and runs to Nathaniel for sympathetic noises. But Reynolds doesn't expect that kind of thing. "Does it hurt?"

[aintwejust]

"Had worse." He shrugs. He had. Pulls his glove back on so the glow'n wouldn't catch undue notice- folk not from 'round here get squinted at. Folk from 'round here that have 'em? Get squinted at a might harder. "You meet up with your friends just yet? Coupla weasly Wardens skulk'n about."

[pinprick]

"That's just Kaisa, and she doesn't get less...Kaisa-ish." He puffs at his pipe a bit. "We've spoken with the other Wardens. Though I'd be wary of calling any of them friends, besides Bethany."

[aintwejust]

"Even the one with the nose?" He mimes at his face, that long Theirin thing that ain't all that Theirin. "And the smirk. Always smirk'n."

[pinprick]

"The one with the nose? Hopefully this Warden with a nose also has a name."

A beat.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the Warden with the nose, at any rate."

[aintwejust]

"The other one with the nose. Name'a....Lister? Lester? Alice? Somth'n like that." He'd heard of him, hadn't met him. "And a very fine nose it is, Warden Who."

Howe. Whichever.

[pinprick]

"I think you must deliberately forget names, lest we think you've become attached. Are you talking about Alistair? I could see him as 'the one with the smirk.'"

Frigging frustrating for not taking the throne when he could have, but Nathaniel knows there was more at play than Alistair's vote in the matter.

[aintwejust]

"Nah, I would never." He would always. Too many people he meets, keep'n track of them takes too much time and thought. Those he works with or around he remembers, those he does business with. The remarkable folk that he figures he might run into again. Tends to not be wardens- ain't a lot of them he runs into. "That's the one. Alistair."

[pinprick]

"Ah. No, not friends exactly. I've met him, though. Decent man."

[aintwejust]

"Seems like most a'you are with a few exceptions." Cousland. Loghain. He ain't name'n names though. "Well if you feel a need to borrow a mabari or need some work done, I'm about."

[pinprick]

Nathaniel bobs his head to that. "Same to you, Reynolds, sans the mabari. It's good to see you again."

[aintwejust]

"Same to you, Warden Who." See, he's got him a poetical soul. With a smile and a wave Mal wanders back on out, glad t'have at least one more sensible soul present.