I'm headed straight for the castle

[make_my_mark]

WHO: Lara Croft and Open
WHAT: Lara has made the journey from the Emprise to Skyhold and is looking to get more acquainted with all this Thedas Inquisition Rift Fade stuff.
WHEN: Late Guardian, after the dragon mission
WHERE: Skyhold, Various
NOTES: None, though spoilers for Rise of the Tomb Raider are possible if that's a thing you're trying to avoid

So this was definitely real then.

Lara had allowed herself a small measure of denial, but it had been weeks, with the cold sinking in her bones; with the strange mark on her palm glowing and tingling unpleasantly. She'd met elves, and dwarves, and qunari. She'd fought a dragon and had a piece of it's skin, a shimmering shade of blue she could barely describe let dream up herself, hanging from her belt.

She'd really traveled across unknown time and space through something called the Fade to this world called Thedas.

It was terrifying, and as she'd come realize the truth of it there had been a few moments of panic. Of a fear stronger than any she'd felt even on Yamatai. A fear for herself, for Jonah, for her world, left with Trinity still operating. Still capable of great evil, and with her gone....

But this was real. And falling apart would get her nowhere.

With Leliana's map and her offer echoing in the back of her mind, Lara set out for mysterious Skyhold.

She wasn't quite sure what she expected - another village, perhaps - but the great, towering castle was certainly more than that and despite everything, her heart skipped, excitement and wonder swelling in her chest as she moved down the bridge.

It was terrifying; but it was also amazing.

Walking through the entrance, her head tipped back, mouth parting on a little gasp of wonder. She couldn't stop herself from drifting toward the nearest wall, fingers running over the stone curiously.

~.~

The castle was even bigger on the inside, she discovered, with so many people.... It was dizzying, but in a good way. It was hard to get swept up in darker thoughts and worries when there was so much to see and learn.

She lingered at the bulletin board, smiling at the familiarity of it even if so much of what was actually posted went over her head. Though she did note the message about rifters, rubbing at her gloved hand absently as she read the details of looked like a support group of sorts.

Turning, she called to someone passing, "Excuse me. Sorry, but can you tell me where the-" She glanced at the note again, "Herald's Rest is?"

~.~

She wanted to see Leliana again. She was one of the people she'd met first after coming through the rift, and she'd certainly seemed to know a great deal about what was going on. And while she'd been - difficult, to read, she had also been kind. And Lara didn't know anyone else at Skyhold.

Talking to Leliana would be as comforting as it was practical.

Though it took some questioning and some searching to finally find the right tower. And then there was the library, stacks upon stacks... She stopped at the top of the stairs, mouth agape, eyes widening.

It a sight as thrilling for her as that of the dragon.

Comments

[fightingale]

"Careful," comes a quiet voice from a nearby doorway. Another doorway and another set of stairs, both of which the designers of Skyhold apparently had some enthusiasm for. "History is a wondrous thing, but these books are steeped in the words of victors."

Her voice is not bitter, but her temper is. People ask for stories of the old days, of the Blight, and she could spin any tale she wished. They ask for stories of the Dalish and of Orlais and Tevinter and countless wars and dragons and any number of topics, and Leliana knows only one thing with certainty - any story she has heard is naught but an incomplete truth. She doubts Lara needs to hear it, she seemed sharp and perceptive during their brief meeting, and anyone with an ounce of sense could tell you that simply being inked to a page makes something no more truthful.

Crossing the distance between them (somewhat, she remains a couple of paces from Lara), Leliana nods respectfully. "I'm glad you made it."

And that she asked around. Leliana's scouts let her know when there is someone seeking the Nightingale.

[make_my_mark]

She turned quickly at the voice, caught a bit by surprise, not catching the sound of footsteps over all the other noise. (Paper and people and the cries of still unseen ravens.) It might have disturbed her, that lack of attention, but she was more glad to see Leliana.

"As that's who remains to write it," she replied, with the slightly sing-song tone of someone who had heard, and said it, repeatedly. But she then she smiled, lightly. "But I have to start somewhere."

She moved as well, a few paces to meet Leliana halfway.

"So I am. You weren't lying about the weather."

[fightingale]

"That you do." It would hardly be fair to leave her high and dry now, would it? Leliana glances to the bookshelf she has stopped by, frown tugging at the corners of her mouth as she trails along the spines and deftly pulls out a particular volume. "This might be a good place to start. It speaks of the history of elves, but... I would advise a very critical reading."

It sounds a little like she thinks the author would be better suited as practice target at an archery range, if her tone is anything to go off, and yet she seems so friendly. She even manages a smile, though it is reserved at best. She is not quite so at ease as she had been in the Emprise. Things have become rather more complex.

"Oh, don't worry. I only lie to people when it suits me." Very reassuring. She won't ask about the shard, not yet when there are so many potential ears, but she does tilt her head to the doorway leading up to the Rookery. "Would you like to meet the ravens?"

[make_my_mark]

"At least your honest about your dishonesty," Lara replied wryly.

But she still took the book eagerly, but managed to resist the urge to start flipping through it immediately. Rude, Lara. Plus, it was something she should give her full attention. Something she would need to give herself time to digest properly.

She trailed her fingers over the cover for a moment, admiring the work there, and then tucked it under her arm, her axes and armor clinking with the movement.

"I was on my way," she admitted at Leliana's offer. "I just got - distracted."

[fightingale]

"When I am so inclined," Leliana agrees, just the shadow of a smile lurking at the corners of her mouth. Contrary might just be the word of the day. "You might find Dorian around here. I imagine he could make several recommendations, but he has a flair for the dramatic." And when she says flair for the dramatic, the tone somehow seems more long the lines of he is absurd and don't trust a thing he says. Everyone should be warned about Dorian Pavus, if only because he's so relentlessly charismatic. Leliana has considered his potential as a bard, more than once.

With that, she turns and leads the way up the narrow stone staircase, torches and candles flickering when they reach the next floor.

"This is where I can be found, most hours," she comments, wandering to one of the cages and reaching through so that she can scratch the neck of one of the ravens. "This is Marian Squawke," Leliana continues, introducing the raven to Lara, as the bird hopes closer to the edge of the cage to peer at the new arrival. "She's something of a troublemaker, I'm afraid."

[arcaneadvisor]

Finding a moment of true peace in Skyhold was easier said than done, or at least that was how Morrigan had found it since she'd arrived a few months ago. No one could accuse them of being idle though knowing if their efforts were all being directed to the right place at the right time? Much more difficult to say.

Appearing from seemingly nowhere with an old volume bound in leather, spine crumbling, Morrigan stopped to watch the young woman. Not that she knew every face here but there was something all newcomers shared when they first took a real look at the place.

"Tarasyl'an Te'las," she said quietly, stopping a short distance from her. "The true name of this place."

[make_my_mark]

"Dorian," Lara echoed, committing the name to memory though she had no idea what he looked like. She wasn't afraid to ask around. "I'll take any help offered at this point."

She followed Leliana up the winding staircase, reaching out with one hand to idly touch the wall as they climbed. There were grooves and lines worn into the stone, and she enjoyed the feel of them.

This was an old place. A place with history.

"'Marian Squawke?'" she repeated that as well, but with a wider smile than she'd given up to that point, a small light touching her eyes. Humor. Puns might have been the last thing she'd have expected from the woman she'd pegged Leliana to be. And she loved it. "I'll be sure to keep an eye for her too, then."

[make_my_mark]

There was a scar in the stone - from construction, she wondered, or something after? A battle, perhaps?

She glanced over at the newcomer, echoing the words softly, "Tarasyl'an Te'las...." She lowered her hand from the wall and shook her head gently. "I'm sorry, I don't know what it means."

[arcaneadvisor]

“Tis the name of this place, the elven name: the place where the sky is held back. Fitting, is it not? Until the Inquisition came upon twas abandoned yet there is magic that lingers in the very stone.” Though few would be able to feel it, only the mages and the elves too if they reached out enough though perhaps rifters might too, at least with part of themselves. “To everyone though the name Skyhold is enough, there are very few who would even know the meaning.”

A pity really that so much of the history has been lost.

“You may call me Morrigan, you have the look of a new arrival about you.”

[fightingale]

"He is..." How to describe Dorian? "He has a certain flair that is hard to miss. Not entirely dissimilar to a feline, I think, if your world has those melodramatically disdainful creatures?" It still sounds more amused than condemning. What can she say, really, other than that she likes Dorian. He deserved a good deal more credit than he'd received thus far. More seriously, she continues, "Dorian hails from a land much reviled by a good many people, and for good reasons. I cannot think of more than three of his countrymen, himself included, who have joined our cause. Not without bias, but... if you wish to learn of Tevinter, then you should hear a side of it beyond condemnation, no matter how righteous that condemnation is." She certainly has nothing good to say about Tevinter. Setting Andraste on fire and slavery and blood magic and everything else? Terrible.

A little shrug. Lara's tracing of stones was not missed, but Leliana sighs at herself a little, shaking her head. "I apologise. I have a tendency to assume everyone shares my fascination with stories, even when I have no time to tell them, myself. If there is something particular you are interested in, though, I will do my utmost to advise you. Coming here certainly seems to suggest some curiosity." To Skyhold, to the Library and the Rookery, even.

And a faint hint of a smile. "She likes to sit on windowsills and yell, loudly. Very useful when you are sleeping and an urgent message arrives, less helpful the rest of the time." With that said, the raven squawks exactly a painfully loudly as you'd expect, before hopping long her perch. "So. How can I help you, Lara?"

[make_my_mark]

It was tempting, but she knew better than to offer any of her fingers to a strange bird, doubting sincerely that she'd get the little scratch that the raven's owner had. She kept her hands down at her sides, but smiled at the bird as it jigged along its perch, sleek feathers shining handsomely.

"That's why I'm here," she said after a moment, turning her gaze on Leliana. "To learn. To try and - understand. In my world, even if I didn't recognize something, I had a place to start - a familiarity. Everything here is new and... so different. I don't know the first thing about how to get myself back where I belong."

Her mouth thinned, lips pressing together and pulling down at one side as she thought about her home. Her world. Jonah and Sam. Trinity.

"You said the Inquisition might be able to help me... 'might' is better than what I have on my own."

[make_my_mark]

There was a story in that, Lara thought. She knew too well from her own experience that you didn't usually just stumble upon an ancient castle - magical or otherwise.

But she resisted the urge to ask immediately. There were other things she needed to know first.

"Lara," she introduced herself. "And you're right, I am. ...I've come from the Emprise." She was still took the warning to heart, to be careful with how and when she revealed where she'd been before that. "A woman named Leliana suggested I come."

[fightingale]

"There is a great deal we do not know about the rifts," Leliana starts, mentally sorting through the information, trying to decide what is and is not most relevant. "And people arriving through them, as you did, is a relatively new phenomenon, but I believe we are the best source of any information. I hope that we can allocate more energy to researching them, as we progress."

Still, she carries on, withdrawing her hand from the raven's cage, where Squawke had held her gloved finger its in beak, demandingly mouthing at it as a prompt for more attention. Now was, sadly, not the time, although she pops a treat between the bars before walking further into the Rookery.

"Here, there are better resources and faster access to whatever we learn. We can see you armed, fed, and... admittedly our present accommodations leave much to be desired, but they are a work in progress. If you are willing to work with us, it would go some way towards enabling us to allow more manpower to be dedicated to it. And there are a number of researchers. I imagine you could join their number or simply converse with them, if such was your inclination."

But, the armour. Armour does not tend to suggest researcher, in her experience, though everyone has to be multiskilled to have some chance at survival, these days. "I can promise you information on this world, and whatever we come to learn about rifts, though I do not know what the outcome of that will be."

[make_my_mark]

Lara listened, quiet and intent, following a few steps behind as Leliana moved on. But as much as she appreciated the honesty, the warning, she couldn't help a small twist of her mouth, a soft snort of dark humor.

If her life ever decided to start getting easier, she might just die of shock.

"I won't pretend that this isn't easily the strangest and one of the most difficult challenges I've ever faced," she said. "But it's not the only one I've ever encountered, and I'm not in the habit of giving up just because things are hard."

[arcaneadvisor]

“But you are not native to the Emprise.” The accent gives it away and well, the natives there would surely be half-starved and still terrified after all the talk of the conditions there, a good part of the reason she remained in Skyhold rather than get herself involved. “So she finally leaves the rookery, the whispers were true. I have known Leliana for many years now.”

Or she had. Only Leliana could point out the lie and she isn’t here to do so.

“Are you to become one of her scouts then?”

[fightingale]

"Good. Then you should do well here."

She wonders, briefly, if she should recommend her particular company, but she has done quite enough of that with Dorian - Leliana very much doubts she needs her hand help, especially after travelling to Skyhold alone. Particular histories might be of more use, but that as well Lara may prefer to dive into in her own time. It would be interesting to see what drew her focus and where she wanted to explore. Telling, perhaps, and Leliana considers the thought a little further before nodding.

"Are you skilled with any weapons?"

[make_my_mark]

"I lost my firearms--" she started, then stopped with a pause, realizing that it was unlikely Leliana or anyone else would know what she meant. "Some of my weapons somewhere along the way. I had them last I remember, but when I woke up here they were gone."

And she had gone back to look, searching the area of the rift, on the odd chance that they'd been dislodged by whatever the process was.

"But I have a bow." She reached over her head and lifted it free - similar in principal, but a world different from the simple ones she'd seen in Thedas. "And I'm skilled enough that I was allowed to help in a dragon hunt."

[fightingale]

A little flicker of her brow. "It is possible to get runes here, if you want a weapon customised in such a way. Fire runes are rather popular." Though there is a quiet caution in her tone, just in case she hasn't properly understood. The wonders of other worlds, and such.

And the bow has her attention, Leliana stepping just slightly closer, eyes lighting up as she admires a weapon so different from those she has seen before. "Amazing," she breathes, leaning forward just a little and keeping her arms crossed to resist the desire to reach out. "I might have to ask if I can trial it, sometime." It would be interesting to see how such a thing compared to Varric's beloved Bianca.
The dragon comment makes her look up, just the hint of a grin hiding away at the corners of her mouth. "I do enjoy a good dragon hunt. Do you have many in your world, or... are they another element known only in tales, as with the elves and dwarves?"

[make_my_mark]

"No," Lara said, seeing no harm in admitting it - not that she could have if she'd wanted to. "I'm not."

But she didn't immediately offer anything more either.

"I don't know, I've only just arrived and haven't spoken to her yet. Is that why she was in the Emprise - to recruit?"

[make_my_mark]

Lara was still piecing together just what 'magic' entitled in Thedas, but she'd already picked up enough to parse what Leliana was getting at. Enough to be intensely curious.

Did that mean she could--

She had to tear her thoughts back when Leliana asked about the dragon.

"...I'll admit, that was the biggest reason I decided to go," she replied, a similar twitch pulling at her lips. "To see it for myself, to see that it was real. Tales of dragons appear in many cultures across my world, going back for centuries. It's one of the few commonalities all of our histories have."

Her lips moved again, but in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry it had to be killed."

[fightingale]

"They are magnificent," she agrees, easily enough, "Though troublesome obstacles in the field." Ever the pragmatist, these days, where in the past she might have allowed herself the luxury of waxing poetic over their strength and that otherworldly, terrifying beauty.

A little smile, though. "Perhaps dragons are one of the threads that tie our worlds together. There has to be something, no? Something more than simple... coincidence or happenstance."

She frowns at at thought, thoughtful more than anything, noting the idea down for consideration even if she suspects it might be stupid. Something to raise with Morrigan, perhaps. "Better dead than eating your friends," Leliana advises, shrugging stiffly. "Their scales and teeth make for find crafting tools. I doubt they are in any mass danger from us."

Still - she is intrigued, and leans against the wall. "Do you have a favourite dragon tale?"

[make_my_mark]

"It's something I've been thinking about - this fade, the rifts... what if this isn't the first time we've connected? What if, all the stories are because at one point we knew these things existed? Maybe--" She paused, mid-thought, mid-breath, and shook it off. "I think about it, and then I think about how crazy it sounds and the old me says it's just coincidence."

Baba Yaga had just been a story. A clever woman and some hallucinogenic flowers. But then, the Divine Source, the Prophet's miracles... those had been real. Thedas was real.

She shook her head and looked back at Leliana.

"But stories, those I can share. My favorite individual dragon... the Colchian. It was said to guard the Golden Fleece, never sleeping, and it's teeth, when buried in the earth, would turn into human soldiers. ...Overall, however, I'm partial to the Japanese lore. Their dragons tend to be benevolent, and sometimes grant wishes."

There was a quick smile, a flash of the young woman Lara might have been - had once been.

[fightingale]

"Not the first time" Now, there was a thought she'd not considered, and Leliana pauses a moment. The ramifications would not be insignificant. "We have no evidence to indicate an earlier joining," she admits, though equally she'd be forced to say they had not specifically looked for such clues.

Colchian. Golden Fleece. Japanese. New ideas, new stories, new nations of worlds that were an utter mystery to her, and she almost despairs over the part of herself that is so delighted at the thought. There are so many things to work at, and yet here she is, smiling brightly over the thought of a dragon.

"I've never heard of a Golden Fleece before," she admits, and she doubts it's any great surprise, "I have heard tales of woman who can turn into dragons. Rather the opposite of benevolent, depending on the story you listen to." Her tone is markedly conspiratorial - this is a story she cannot share in more detail, she cannot insult Morrigan so even if the woman is an utter aggravation... and yet. She is still a comrade, of sorts.

Her thought turns a little more serious. "Teeth into human soldiers, though... have you learned anything of darkspawn, yet? Archdemons?"

So much for leaving Lara to learn on her own, apparently. "There are monstrous creatures in our world, who lead armies of monstrous, twisted creatures. They are not born of their teeth, but..."

Leliana trails off. Soldiers and dragons and archedemons and darkspawn touched upon painful, familiar threads. Months in the Deep Roads, the wretched, foul stench of the Brood Mother, and her knuckles are white within her gloves.

[make_my_mark]

It had been a while - too long - since Lara had been able to talk legend and literature. To share the old stories for no other than reason than because she wanted to. Ever since she'd escaped Yamatii, her research had been pointed, precise, all driving for the same end.

The warmth she felt at Leliana's smile, her curiosity, was familiar, but also wistful. More than a little sad.

"There are many versions of the story of the Golden Fleece, but typically, it was the skin of a ram sired in the union of a god and nymph. The why changes, but it was sacrificed and its skin was hung in the sacred grove of Ares, the god of war. It's story is actually part of the greater legend of Jason and the Argonauts..." And she could go on. Might have, if Leliana's expression hadn't shifted.

If Darkspawn didn't sound more pressing.

"Darkspawn isn't a term I'm immediately familiar with..." she said slowly, "...but Archdemons, in the Christian faith there are often said to be seven. Often linked to the seven cardinal sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. But our faiths, in my world, like dragons and elves, they aren't--"

She hesitated to they weren't real. Both because it was a can of worms, even if she were the only person from her Earth to have made it Thedas, she didn't want to touch much less open; and because of what had happened in Siberia.

Jacob had said the Divine Source was misnomer, that it was an artifact, but not actually divine, but still....

"Tangible."

[arcaneadvisor]

“Tis hardly the place one would make an effort to go to, even to join the Inquisition when they have been in Skyhold some months now.” Fortunately Morrigan prefers to play games than to be blunt, and fortunately here in Skyhold she’s someone of middling importance; her research is valued, her place is secure, but she doesn’t make the important decisions.

“No, there are far better ways to recruit - to send an offer with an existing agent, to extend an invitation, I would hazard that perhaps it was wishing to get out of Skyhold.” All this time up here and organising rather than being out in the world getting the job done? But then she knows Leliana, not the Nightingale. “Or to truly see it with her own eyes, the tales of the Red Templars and their activities out there have been disturbing since the first reports came in.”