In Search Of...

[salvatore_underfoot]

WHO: All Welcome, ATTN: Taashath
WHAT: Seeking mages and a certain qunari
WHEN: First two weeks, following this conversation
WHERE: Around Skyhold, Herald’s Rest
NOTES: He’s screening mages and looking for a handful who will be willing to join him in meeting with the Templars to present their side of Things. Non-mages welcome.

Salvatore has a mission. A responsibility. He wasn’t an altogether responsible person. Not usually. But this was something that mattered. To him. Maybe to others as well. He hopes. He just has to find mages with opinions, and voices ready to be heard.

He can be found in every corner of Skyhold, finding various excuses to interact with whatever mage he bumps into. He starts in the library and steadily makes the rounds, offering assistance in trade for conversation. Need some boxes moved? Tents pitched? Training? He can spar and talk! Need help with gardening? He can dig holes! Healing? …He can dig holes! (By the way, how do you feel about feel circles?)

He does take up the Knight-Commander’s suggestion and heads down to the Herald’s Rest as soon as it is prudent to do so. Maneuvering around people and tables, he’s less concerned about getting a drink and more concerned with his objective. How hard can it be to find a “behemoth”, as Sauveterre put it?

Comments

[el_tybs]

It was a decent morning to just spend some time in the library. And by decent he meant that it was a bit overcast and the air felt a bit nippier. Not so much good weather to go take a walk, but it definitely set the mood to curl up in a corner and flip through a book.

It was extra nice since he had a cup of tea with him. Not his favorite, but it still hit the spot. Course he would have to be extra careful with it. He could feel eyes on him waiting to see if he was going to spill on the leather and parchments. Ugh.

[salvatore_underfoot]

Any other day, Sal might have been in the same position, or something similar. Maybe not the tea. He was more for plopping on the floor by the shelves. But not today.

He swiped a book from one of the shelves - never mind what it was or that it was upside-down when he flipped it open - and gradually made his way to where Sam was sitting.

Cue surprise at having this spot taken. "Oh, sorry. May I sit with you?"

[el_tybs]

He's used to people walking in and out of the space he's occupying, looking for a book, or just looking around in general. There is the occasional 'sorry' if they bump him, but he simply smiles, not offended in the least. No one has actually spoken to him besides that. So when someone comes up and asks to sit down, Sam is a little surprised.

Looking up from his book, Sam tilts his head slightly, studying the other person for a moment. He smiles and shifts a bit closer to the shelf to make more space. "Go right ahead."

[salvatore_underfoot]

Sal returns the smile, arranging himself in the offered space and dropping the book - still not seeing it's facing the wrong way - on his lap without so much as a glance. He looks at the other mage instead. "I've seen you around, haven't I? Ah, um..." He snaps his fingers a few times, but a name escapes him.

[el_tybs]

Sam's brows raise in amusement at the way the other mage snaps his fingers as if it will help him remember. "Samouel," he offers, "and yes, I believe we have seen each other around. We haven't formally met though. And you are?"

[salvatore_underfoot]

"A shame, that. We mages should stick together." His smile broadens. "Salvatore." He settles back, getting more comfortable. "So, what do you think of this place?"

[el_tybs]

"Salvatore. It is nice to meet you." He doesn't comment about the part about sticking together. It is important, but he doesn't want to feel like he's in the Circle again, mages just being with mages.

"Oh the library is pretty great. Has a lot more texts about subjects that I'm interested about." At that he leans over a bit to see what Salvatore is reading, and raises a brow. "Trying to challenge yourself there?"

[fleurdesel]

An extra tent for her apprentices to read, rest, or treat those that did not need her immediate attention seems to be taking extra time either due to frustrated hands or the cold. Something about the pegs not sticking or the rope being too short- or in the wrong place- she'd sent them off for a mug of something hot from the hold while she worked on it herself.

Or.

At least attempts to work on it. It seems as though she's missing a pole.

[salvatore_underfoot]

The healing tents is an obvious choice, and it's one of his first stops. He remembers Christine, and wonders if he might find her there.

Instead, he comes upon a different woman struggling with a tent, and though he knows nothing at all useful about tents, he hurries forward.

"Do you need help?"

[fleurdesel]

"I would be greatly appreciated, yes." Adelaide sighs and scrubs at her face, glaring down at the mess. Her accent's thick as Orlesian honey for how weary she is this morning but there were patients that needed to be seen.

threadhop!

[eolasemah]

[I realized we were in the same general location so I'm consolidating threads :D]

Convalescing in a tent after her ill-fated journey to Skyhold, Sina was both exhausted and anxious. She hadn't spent this much time within real walls since... well, Redcliffe, and that had been the first time. With a lingering but manageable cough, she had shifted from her bedroll to sit by the opening flap, her legs curled up against her for warmth and the shard in her chest glinting conspicuously out at any passersby. It was disconcerting, being both a mage and a healer yet being so fully unable to control what lay embedded in her own flesh and bone.

She watched the two humans interacting with a guarded interest, still too worn out to assist and too wary to even speak up.

[salvatore_underfoot]

"What seems to be the problem?" Please nothing too complicated, he prays. He seems to have begun a habit of making a fool of himself in front of healers, and he'd like to make a better impression of himself, at least today.

He gives the troublesome tent a once over, then looks around, as if he might find questions and answers she hasn't supplied yet. Spotting their watcher nearby, he gives a brief nod before turning his attention back to the task. "My name is Salvatore, by the way."

[fleurdesel]

"I believe I am either missing a length of cord or a rod for the tent. When I find those assembling it should be simple enough." She pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh and looks over to him, then past him at...a curious elf.

Was there a glint of something? No, Dalish do not wear armor as such. Her eyes flick back to Salvatore. "People here have taken to calling me Lady LeBlanc."

It fit as well as anything. "Enchanter Adelaide will also suffice- or simply Adelaide. Circle titles do not mean much any longer."

[quietblade]

In all honestly it wasn't that hard. There were two of them usually hanging in the tavern, after all. Taas had sat down on a somewhat protesting bar stool and was kicking back a drink or two while taking to the bartender about the goings-on of Skyhold.

Unfortunately it wasn't the best advice that the Knight-Commander had given Salvatore, as the big qunari wasn't fond of mages and found Templars to be a good thing.

[salvatore_underfoot]

In that case, he'll hold the Knight-Commander personally responsible for anything going wrong, and throw in accusations of being set up for good measure.

He locates his target easily enough - hard to miss - and strides over to the bar to get this business done with.

"Are you Taashath? Knight-Commander Sauveterre recommended you to me. Do you have a moment?"

[quietblade]

The Knight-Commander is a good man and just missed the part of qunari society that says 'magic = bad'. He'd probably help anyway, just not as... unbiased as he may seem.

The warrior was ordering another round when the new guy strode up next to him, but he doesn't actually pay Salvatore any attention. People went up to bars all the time, and he couldn't hear a word of what the young mage said.

[salvatore_underfoot]

That kind of information would have been helpful before sending the hopeful mage off in search of an unbiased moderator.

Damn all the noise. Sal moves in closer and leans in some, raising his voice. "Excuse me! Can I have a word?"

[quietblade]

Sauveterre was a good man. Just slightly mistaken, if anything.

The man leaning closer to him made the qunari turn to look at him, slightly irritated. Taas was not in the mood for a bar fight.

...then he reads those words on Salvatore's lips and his features relax a bit. "Alright. What can I do for you?"

[salvatore_underfoot]

That still remains to be seen. Perhaps the Knight-Commander's intentions are good, but Sal is already aware of some key points they disagree on.

Once he's got the qunari's attention, Sal backs off. He's not looking for a fight either! "You're Taashath? Sauveterre thought I should speak to you." His eyes flick around the tavern. It's not a subject he wants to shout over the din. "Is there somewhere we can go?"

[deflocked]

Daylen spends a lot of time in the library. It's not as impressive as Kinloch Hold's, but it's the best he's seen in a long time and it's quickly improving. Today he's sorting through some books that have been donated to them. He should be grateful, but honestly most of these aren't what he'd have hoped for. Most of them have been defaced in some way, and some there's no chance they'll ever be usable.

He picks up one such book unsuspectingly, only for his face to fall as the entire content drops out of the spine, pages scattering everywhere.

[salvatore_underfoot]

Salvatore is circling through the library, hands dragging on the spines of books he'll eventually get to, or not. He's not focused on reading, or research, or even pretending to do either, today. Is anyone dedicated to restoring the quality of the literature?

Speaking of.

He stops as pages suddenly flutter around his feet. "You've a peculiar way of reading."

[deflocked]

He's already on his knees, frantically gathering the fallen pages, trying to keep them as ordered as he can. It's not an easy task and not one he's having much success with. He looks up at him, grabbing the pages that were around him before backing off to give him back his space.

"I'm sorry," he tells him, though it's more automatic than genuine. He's still absorbed by trying to gather up the remaining pages before any can get lost. "I hadn't realised quite how damaged the spine was."

[salvatore_underfoot]

Sal stoops down to pluck a few pages from the floor and hand them over. "Don't apologize." He smiles in what he hopes is a disarming manner. "A good many of these books could use a rebinding. Though I suppose we should be grateful for what we've been given."

[deflocked]

"We should be," he agrees, but his tone doesn't manage to hide that's not entirely the case. He takes the pages he's offered, adding them to the pile to rearrange later. He makes quick work of gathering the rest, then sits himself at the table to begin the long task of getting them all back in order.

"It's a pity I couldn't rescue more from the Circle," he says, half to himself. "We had so many."

Not that he was in a position to have books in any quantity at the time. Books don't mix with travelling and he had to keep his supplies light.

[salvatore_underfoot]

Salvatore invites himself to the table, seated directly across from the other mage. "I was forced to pack light for my journey here. I only managed to stuff three books into my bag. Sacrificed two spare undershirts to fit them, but it was worth it."

He watches the work, but doesn't want to interfere for fear of needlessly making the job harder. "Which Circle do you hail from? Ah, and sorry, manners. I'm Salvatore."