[OPEN]

[theonly]

WHO: Stannis Baratheon and OPEN.
WHAT: A Knight-Commander wandering and glaring at various things.
WHEN: Two weeks after arriving to Skyhold.
WHERE: Skyhold, various.
NOTES: None.

A - STABLES

He stood in the stables. Stannis thought that he should leave, that he should abandon these fools to whatever horrors should come for them. But he gave his word; he offered his sword. A Templar does not abandon their post regardless of what sense says they should do. He lifted his hand to lightly pat the side of the stallion's neck. Beyond his sword and armor, the horse was one of the few possessions that he had left. If worse came to worse, he planned to let it run free from Skyhold. It was not bound to his duty and word, so why not let it live?

"I continue to be tested and wonder if deities do exist if only to torment." Stannis let his hand drop away as he started to move out of the stables. "And yet, it is I who find them wanting. Such is the way of Gods and me."

B - LIBRARY

A raven had been found to send message to the few that owed him favors. He sought to find where his daughter had disappeared. How could she had just vanish? Or was it that she just joined the list of the unnamed dead? A sobering thought, but he would continue to search for word, for rumor of what had become of her. Until it became too much to do so.

His steps fell heavy as he walked down to head toward the courtyard. He only stopped briefly in the library to see how the process of categorizing the ancient texts was going. Stannis skimmed over the books on the tables and wondered of what would be written about their present tribulations. Would the writers fill the pages with fluff and prose to hide the terror of what really occurred? Most likely. Who would want to hear the truth when a story was better?

A pause.

"Hard in Hardtown." He read the book title aloud as he picked it up where it laid. Turning it over, he knew not the reason but frowned at the smug illustrated look of the author. Still, the novel appeared to be new due to the lack of dust for one, and the name of the author for another. Someone brought this in? Apparently they believed we are missing some piece of literature. A beat in his thoughts. Should have brought the story of Hawke.

C - BATTLEMENTS

Stannis had grown accustomed to walking the battlements. He would watch the courtyard and it emptied and eventually turn his gaze towards the horizon. Like he expected the enemy's army's torches to suddenly appear, cutting through the black. Yet nothing came. Perhaps, Corypheus believes us to not be a thread now that the Herald is dead. But if I were him, I would tear this fortress down before my enemies had the chance to rebuild, before they grew enough nerve to strike. It may be a good thing that he did not become a Red Templar, did not listen to the siren call of the tainted.

He rested against the waist-high stone wall, crossing his arms. There were enough guards to do what he was doing -- or so he had been told once or twice. Turning to rest his arms on the stone, he lifted his hands to interlace his fingers. "Oh Maker, hear my cry: guide me through the blackest night. Steel my heart against the temptations of the wicked. Make me rest in the warmest of places." These words were spoken, not sung. Stannis let his hands drop.

"As I thought." A pause. "Everyone believed in you, and you continue to let them down. They continue to pray like you care." A God that allowed what has happen to happen was no God. "Perhaps, we should take a page from Tevinter, after all. We should cease believing in Gods that do nothing for us. Perhaps, we would be able to do more if we were not always on our knees."

D

Wildcard.

Comments

[theonly]

His head jerks up at the sound of the brush hitting the ground. He does not immediately brandish a sword as he does look to see who had dropped it. Stannis allows himself to sigh first before walking forward to pick the brush off of the ground.

"Leave me be? You're aware that you are in no alienage, are you not?" He holds the dropped item out to her, but his expression hardly seems friendly nor one to ease what anxiety that she has about him. "You should keep your head held high. Your people are doing as much as any human here. Do not apologize to me unless you fail me."

Of course, even then, he would not feel the desire to hear an apology.

[ancarrow]

She hesitates before reaching over and taking the brush from him, her cheeks flushing and her eyes not quite meeting his. Something in her seems to steel at his words though, knowing that she should have pride in herself and to think of herself as equal to anyone here, even if it was difficult to do that in practice.

"...Thank you. It's taking some getting used to remembering that."

[theonly]

"Every time you doubt it, look about where you are and recall the reason as to why."

He straightens his posture as he makes a gesture toward the courtyard, toward those milling about. "And know that it is just as good a reason as for theirs. We are supposed to be united which means we are all supposed to be as equals." Stannis does not quite agree with that as he always will consider himself different from those that are around him for numerous reasons.

"Any other troubles that you face that cannot be handled by merely knowing that no one is your better ... you can ask for my assistance." A beat. "But understand that it shall be as a hammer coming down so decide on your own if that is what you wish."

[ancarrow]

"Would that we had men like you in Gwaren, ser." Eirlys preferred softer methods whenever possible, but sometimes people needed a hammer coming down to get the message.

She's unused to a human offering to defend her, especially without expecting something sordid in return, and feels an odd mix of gratitude and morbid curiosity.

"But you didn't come out here to remind me to keep my head held high. Might I ask what's troubling you?"

[theonly]

"I did come to remind you of such, and to not be foolish to think that is all you must do to ensure your stay. Suffering quietly serves no one but the miscreant dog." He rubs his face at the question of what it is that is troubling him. His eyes drop down before return to looking at the elf's. "Too much, but nothing that I would not endure for the sake of Thedas."

That much is true. That much he knows and reminds himself.

"Gwaren." His tone hardens on the name of the town, eyebrows coming together. He looks at her then and frowns all the more. "I know not what you know or experienced, but I have heard that Loghain is now a Warden. His crimes being redeemed in fighting that which he would abandon Gwaren to and one day he will be sent to the Deep Roads to die. An honor for some, but for him, a fitting end."