faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Alejandro Borges AND YOU, YES YOU.
WHAT: Alejandro shows up at Skyhold. It's incredibly exciting!! He's probably getting drunk or getting to work so take your pick.
WHEN: End of Guardian
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Alejandro's mouth might deserve a warning. Also, feel free to use prose or brackets; I have no real preference.

COURTYARD
"Well, isn't this a fuckin' thing."

There weren't many survivors from the O'Bannon, but the few that did live needed a refuge. For a time, Alejandro ensured that they made it someplace; Redcliffe seemed the best, least crazy place to be, and that's including the damned rumors about Tevinter mages that hung around. Alejandro wasn't thrilled with that one, but they needed a place, and that was as good as it was going to get.

Him? Well, he always got through his issues with a hammer, anger, and intent while at a forge.

Alejandro adjusts his pack on his shoulder, taking a moment to look over Skyhold. It was impressive from a distance, but damn if this isn't some kind of fortress.

"Shit, and a place to get trashed," Alejandro says with a snort. "Well, they've got the right idea."

UNDERCROFT
This isn't a bad location for a forge. Hell, downright fancy in comparison to the places he's been.

Alejandro's dropped his pack and taken a moment to review the area. It's wide and open, excellent space for anyone to work in. Frankly, he's pretty damned impressed with it; it's not fancy, but spacious as hell.

As he's exploring the space, Alejandro stops when he sees the crawl of something out of the corner of his eye. It's a bit hard to not have a good sense for this kind of shit after everything he's seen and witnessed, and he knows what it must be.

"Fuck," he whispers, eyes widening.

It's a small spider, not any larger than a sovereign, crawling innocently along, minding its own business.

Alejandro slams a bucket over the critter, frowning in thought as he tries to determine how to handle this. He commends himself silently for not screaming, but now he needs to keep it there. After glancing around a moment, Alejandro yanks a shield over and lays it on top of the bucket, keeping it still.

After pausing for a moment, he scribbles out a note and sticks on the shield:
DO NOT FUCKING MOVE
- A.B.

"That ought'a do it."

TAVERN
The day is long. It's always long. It's going to be that way for everyone, and he knows everyone's got a sob story. No one here's gotten by without a scratch, and everyone has their way of dealing with it.

Sometimes it's work for Alejandro. Sometimes it isn't.

He sits down at a table and orders himself some ale -- cheapest they have, which is gonna taste awful, but beggars aren't choosers and he's not loaded with money. Alejandro unstraps his prosthetic and lets out a sigh as the weight comes off his shoulder before he's placing the thing on the table so he can make some adjustments to it.

Sometimes it's work. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's a bit both.

WILDCARD
(Got something different? Go for it!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Civil war, Demons, a blighted dragon, evil mages in a blood cult, Templars growing lyrium out of their skin- I would put it at an eight out of ten on the 'we are all going to die horribly within the year' scale." Which was pretty bad. Not quite Blight incoming bad, but- bad.

A different kind of bad.

"Oh, good. You know. That's only a little worse than I figured." After what happened on the O'Bannon vessel? He completely believes it. "I wouldn't have guessed the blighted dragon, honestly. I heard that there are people fallin' out of rifts now, too. I'm thinking that getting back to a normal state is gonna be a long time coming."

Not that he'd seriously expect it anytime soon.

"How are things looking for the Inquisition?" No matter the answer, Alejandro doesn't really think that there's anyone else trying to do something about the state of things in Thedas. Everyone else is hiding, or plugging their ears and ignoring everything else.

"Only a little." He crackles a laugh. "The dragon is something of a surprise, but it is good that we have Wardens with us. When it comes time to handle it? They will see it slain."

And possibly take one or more of the Wardens with it. He shakes his head to clear it of the thought and motions for Alejandro to walk. He owes the man at least one drink, he is certain. Perhaps two. Maybe as many as five but keeping track over the years has been difficult. "Ah, yes. The rifters. They are a fascinating bunch from other worlds- some of which are similar to our own. Why, one of them can almost understand Antivan for how similar it is to her native tongue."

Which is terribly convenient up until they run into the portions where their languages don't quite meet up.

"Honestly? Not as poorly as I thought with the death of the Herald. It is still working to put the world back together before it falls apart, is handling the mage and templar issue with as much grace as can be expected, and is actually managing to pull in some support from the Orlesian nobility."

"I heard there was a handful of 'em here. That and a slew of elves and Qunari. Inquisition's got a bit of everything, doesn't it?" Not that it can be too choosey in gaining help, he suspects. Everything counts when they're trying to fix the whole damned world.

Alejandro follows Zevran easily. For all of the shit he's dealt with, it's actually pretty damned nice to have a familiar face here.

"That's fuckin' weird," he says bluntly in regard to the rifters. "But, hell, I guess it doesn't matter, so long as they're stickin' around to help out." They don't have a whole lot of choice about it, anyway.

"Well, mages and Templars are gonna keep on their shit even after we're dead, Zev. I don't know that's ever gonna get a happy ending for anyone." And frankly, he doesn't care much about it right now. "Not as grim as I was expecting, though."

"It could be better. It could also be much, much worse. And- ah..." He finds them a table in the far corner- private, easy to mind- he checks the rafters above for spiders. None. Excellent. "You should have no trouble finding customers for your skills. In fact? I have several projects I did not know who to take to- but as you have come to us? That makes it simpler."

Armor, weapons, something to mark he and those with him as something new. "I...may have liberated a small cell of Crows. I am raining them to be something more. We need arms, armor- something that is as good as they'd find in Antiva while being nothing of the Crows."

Zevran, ever so considerate. Alejandro sits down across from the elf and snorts a little. "Someone's a flatterer," he says wryly. "But thanks for the vote of confidence, Zev." Not that he has any doubts of his own skills. Quite the opposite, really.

It sounds like Zevran has a job for him, though, and that makes him curious. Good to know that there's going to be work immediately, not that he had any doubts about that. But this is specialized.

"So you want me to design something for a group of liberated assassins that's unique for them especially." Alejandro lets out a sharp laugh. "Hell, I can give it some thought. Did you have any initial ideas?"

"Is it flattery if it is entirely true?" A good smith never wants for work. Alejandro, despite the arm, is an excellent smith. Strong, inventive, skilled. Exactly what he needs for outfitting his...

...his Kestrels.

"More or less." He waves over a serving girl for whatever Alejandro wants, for himself? Brandy. "I am hoping to do things a bit differently than the Crows. Less 'bed them and murder' and more stealth, more quick knives in the dark, there and gone. Weapons that hide, if you will. Armor that is quiet and looks less like armor. Stylish, yes, a little dangerous, but nothing that screams 'I am an assassin."

"Well, I was being humble," Alejandro says, grinning. He doesn't always think very highly of himself, but he knows he's creative and inventive. It's a strength of his, and it has to be for the rest of his damned faults.

That does give Alejandro a thoughtful look, and he considers as he drinks from his mug. "So you're looking for something subtle. Concealed intent, something both recognizable but easily overlooked." He laughs a little, shaking his head.

"I think I have a few ideas. Gonna be awhile until I have something functional, but sure. I'll work on it for you. Any of your assassins prefer ranged over a good ol' fashioned dagger?"

"Precisely that. I knew you would take my meaning." Alejandro is, if nothing else, good at finding what someone wants and going the step further to give them what they need. "I have some ideas to start for the armor, but the weaponry? Something new. Something no other house of assassins has."

Something to make them doubly effective and all the more admirable for it.

"Half and half. All are comfortable with daggers but three prefer distance."

"All right. I can work with that. That'd make your group pretty invaluable if they had something no one else did." And that he can brainstorm on.

"I can keep that in mind. I'll work on some ideas and I'll let you know what I come up with. Gonna be a bit, but I think I can work it out. Whenever you wanna share your armor ideas with me, I can work on that too."

That's not going to be difficult. He's worked on enough requests for Zevran in the past to have an idea of what he's looking for, and this will be a fun enough challenge. If nothing else, work is going to be pleasantly consistent in the Inquisition.