[Open] [I can move mountains, move mountains.. ]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

WHO: Bethany Hawke and You
WHAT: Exploring the Inquisition
WHEN: The next few days of Wintermarch
WHERE: The garden, the tavern, the courtyard, the library.
NOTES: Content warnings, OOC notes, links to other relevant posts, etc.

The first thing Bethany did after arriving at Skyhold?

A bath. A beautiful, long hot bath where she soaked with nice soap and some sort of fancy oil and just ... cleansed herself from about a week's worth of sand and dirt. After that though, well.

Bethany used to be the sort of person who would keep to the edges to not be noticed. Kept herself hidden, to keep herself from being taken to a Circle. Her family went through such risks to keep her free - keeping her head down seemed to be a small sacrifice to make.

Now, nine years - almost ten! - years a Warden and she still observed quietly from the background. Yet now, she would step forward. Move more boldly, with more confidence and a great deal more poise. She also, as she had been apt to do even in her days in Kirkwall, stopped to help people.

So there you will find her, all around Skyhold, quietly soaking up everything, or chatting happily with someone as she helps them carry firewood or food out to the hungry troops training in the yard. The first thing you will know is that smile - dimples and bright, and completely unfeigned. Who knows, maybe it's just pointing at you.

Comments

All is forgiven!

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"None of that, now. You did the best you could under horrible circumstances. You paved the way for getting people aware that there was something wrong, and that we needed to leave and reassess. Quickly. Beyond that you grabbed two fresh recruits. Not bad under the draw."

She smiled again, before gesturing for Sabriel to walk with her. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well. I understand you're our representative at the Mage's Council? Anything I need to know -- or avoid like the Blight?"

[paperwing]

"Thank you."

Bethany's assurances makes the smile return, if only for a moment, even as she blinks in surprise. That worry - about the safety of the rest of them - was soemthing that had gnawed on her since the minute they stepped out into the cold and headed for the Frostbacks. It was not that they had done nothing, but that they had done little. It was blame, almost, that she had placed upon herself; time passed and the weight of it only grew heavier. That it had been an indication for others to go, that she, as Bethany said, done the best she could do under the circumstances? Is reassuring. She'd been strong until now, and that strength had paid off, if only a little.

Sabriel easily falls into step alongside her, stepping around several crates of goods that are also recently arrived. "I am. I offered to liaise when it underwent its foundings, and I was made a Councillor shortly after. It wasn't intended, but..." if you have a stake in things and a want to make things better, you get titles, stations, and commitment. "There are worse things that I could spend my time doing."

She pauses, considering Bethany's question. "There isn't much to know of it, as of yet. We've responded to a few crises, brought the mages together under a banner that we hope to be trusted, but it's still early days. Public meetings often become heated. Private ones, too. Even if you do your best to keep the peace, to keep us pressing forward, is not so easy." Sabriel half smiles. "I would prefer darkspawn then. They're less likely to argue."

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Bethany nodded her head once, her smile lingering on her face even as they moved onto the topic of the Mage Council. Well, seemed like things were well in hand and she was happy for it. Especially considering she really had absolutely no interest in politics -- that had always been Marian's focus, not to mention Carver's.

"That's true. You could be learning how to do the remigold." She quirked her lips up, "But it's good to have a voice here - and even better that it's yours. Well done."

A slow nod, before she sighed, "Early days are always the hardest -- as I am coming to discover here." Her lips quirked up, flashing dimples, "Darkspawn are rather nice that way, aren't they? Less fuss, but more muss. The stains, I tell you, the stains ..."

[paperwing]

"Never say never," Sabriel smiled. Perhaps the remigold would find its way into a meeting... eventually. Politics and properness and being ladylike were all fair, but she would rather be doing something than fighting slow, intricate political dances, especially with the threat of Corypheus on the horizon.

"Even with just a few, yes. It was bad enough without a bath the whole time here." She handled it gracefully and without complaint, but there was nothing like being clean. Not that she's had much experience with darkspawn blood and staining beyond a scattered few. "I imagine it is worse where they've congregated, like the Deep Roads?"

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"Mmm, you would think after all the things I've seen, I'd stop doubting the impossible. So yes, even the remigold could happen." She had a feeling she was going to take this meetings as seriously as she could - until she could not take them seriously at all.

A face was made then. "Oh Maker, do I ever understand that." Weeks out in the Western Approach without a bath? She jumped in every river she had a chance to. "The darkspawn like congregating in larger groups -- I have often wondered if that is because they share a hive mind mentality. So yes, when you kill one you have usually killed about ten more before that, and they are coating all of your clothes and sometimes your hair."

[paperwing]

Darkspawn blood in her hair? Sabriel surpresses the smallest of shudders at the thought. She'd never let her hair hang free in a fight, but if she were swarmed, it wouldn't matter. That's without mentioning her face, her hands, under her fingernails...

"Something to look forward to, I suppose." When Wardens got back to slaying darkspawn instead of possession and blood magic. Perhaps before, if the Inquisition turned its watchful eye west. "My father often said to me that their intelligence could be uncanny, and never to underestimate them. Many may rely on the ability to overwhelm, and yet if one is smarter than the rest, the results can be surprising."