[OPEN] - Ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.

[laurenande]

WHO: Galadriel and Various
WHAT: Galadriel before her arrest, for those who would like CR before this Civil War plot is underway, her being arrested, and Galadriel in the cells for anyone who wants to come visit her or attempt to break her out. This post is super, duper open to anyone who wants to tag in. Please, have at.
WHEN: Late Guardian to early Drakonis.
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: No warnings yet, but have a link to the IC thread that happens amid all this: Cassandra interrogates Galadriel.

Pre-Interrogation/Arrest Prompts.

The Emprise du Lion was a dreadful place, and spending more than a fortnight within its borders had taken a toll on Galadriel. She arrived back in Skyhold only a few days before her conversation with Seeker Pentaghast, and she spent them taking what rest she could find. Sleep did not come easily to her, even at the best of times, so it was hardly a surprise that she spent long hours in the peace of the garden, watching the horizon on the battlements, or embroidering in the Rotunda.

(OOC: The above is the State of Galadriel, it's mostly for those who want to do something I haven't included, but it applies to the below as well. If you'd like to use a prompt for a specific scene, there are several options below to choose from. If the prompts don't appeal, please feel free (and encouraged) to write up any scenario you'd like, anywhere around Skyhold.)



Garden -

The winter chill that crept through the fortress was not as biting nor as pervasive as the wind outside the walls. There was something dull about the cold in Skyhold, something muted and gentle, but it was a feeling too fleeting for her to place. The sun chased the cold away just after dawn. Though the air was not warmed by the sun, the plants in the garden stretched toward it, green and vibrant as spring itself.

She adored spring and lingered for long hours in the gardens, relishing the sunlight that crested over the mountains. She spent each morning in the garden, watching the distant rise of the sun before tending to the plants. There were others who trickled in, as dawn passed and the fortress awoke, and she would leave the plants to them as they began their tasks, but she enjoyed the peace and stillness while she could.

The Emprise had been a grating, awful place but new growth and tender green leaves made her glad. More than once she found herself singing as she worked, and the plants grew quickly under her care. In only a few days, the grass would be renewed and the first small buds would open. She was thousands of years old and yet, despite that, she could hardly wait.



Courtyard -

Galadriel had not taken stock of the yard after the rift had closed. At the time, there had been more pressing matters to attend to, and she hadn't the patience to wait and search for subtle things. Now, without anything to pull her attention elsewhere, she devoted time to examining where the rift had split the veil.

Skyhold was a place with many curious sights to behold. The Orlesian nobility who visited the fortress were bedecked in feathers and quills atop gilded silk and stiff, polished leather. There were dwarves who quietly skirted the sunlight whenever they darted out of the fortress to their carts; their relief as they dove back to the keep was palpable. There were even a few humans clad in mud and fur who insisted on carrying goats. Truly, she was not so strange a sight that she merited recognition, standing in the courtyard with her staff in hand, simply peering at a space in the air. That she stood in place for hours on end, without moving a hair, was barely worthy of note.

The crowd moved and bustled around her readily enough, as though she were simply a fixture of the fortress, and she was glad for their disregard. A few mages slowed as they passed her, but they did not stop to speak. They would regard her oddly (a few of them frowned) and then they hurried away to see to their tasks. They were gifted mages, Galadriel noted silently; the majority of people who walked past her could not sense the slow current of power that rose against the veil. Those who could feel the pull of magic seemed disoriented by it, particularly when she shifted it or allowed it to ebb, but her study did them no harm.

If it had, she would have refrained from such tests in Skyhold.


Rotunda -

Galadriel's notes were artful and fluid things; they were not terribly numerous, but her time in Thedas had generated a few dozen pages of them. She hid none of them when she left the fortress, though she tidied them and tucked them out of the way when they were not in use. When she was using her notes, as she was now, she spread them out over the table as one would spread a map.

The unfamiliar letters of the tengwar curled over the sheets of cast-off vellum and pages of pressed pulp; when they were set side by side they were more drawing than words. She added to them as she read, writing between the older lines of text with habitual ease. Occasionally, amid the layers of tengwar, a word in the trade tongue appeared, but they rarely gave much clarity to the text around them.

It was early afternoon when she took over the space in the rotunda again. She had gathered a few clean pages and carefully written out the whole of the tengwar. She had promised to teach Sina these letters, and she intended to extend that invitation to all the elves of Thedas, but teaching required patience and materials. It had been centuries since she had last instructed anyone in their letters, but the memories were so fond, so filled with delight, that she couldn't repress her smile as she sat and carefully created a chart.

She could have stopped after writing them out, she supposed, but drawing the pictures that accompanied the letters was half of the entertainment of it. Sina was too old to need tales of lamps and ships and golden treasure to learn letters, and Galadriel did not need them to teach this lesson, but needing and wanting were very different things. In this instance, she wanted them and there was no reason to refrain.





Galadriel being escorted to the cells.


Courtyard - Under Arrest.

Galadriel rarely used her height to intimidate - it was cruel and largely ineffective - but she had drawn herself to her full height as she stared down Cassandra. The guards had not offended her so direly, but as they took her by her arms and lead her down the stairs and into the courtyard, she gave them no quarter. They were wary of her, as well they should have been, and she towered over them like a great looming shadow.

Her expression was rigid and thunderous, filled to the brim with deep, consuming fury masked only by the cold veneer of disdain. She walked with sweeping grace, despite the indignity of her situation, and the guards that led her avoided her gaze as they opened the door to the cells. They had made a spectacle of her and it was another slight she would not forget.





In the cells.


Day -

The cells were barred, with heavy iron gates and thick, artless locks. The stone of the chamber was crumbling, despite the efforts to reinforce the mortar and the floor. Half of the cells were unusable, collapsed or filled with rubble, and the other half were bare things, small and littered with chunks of rock and dried hay. The only objects that had been placed intentionally within the cells were a threadbare, unclean bedroll and a wooden bucket.

The chill that moved through the fortress was keenest here. Wind cut beneath the far door and the torchlight twisted wildly in the drafts. The single fire that burned in the middle of the room was barely sufficient to heat it; the brazier that held the fire was large, but it was unshielded and not well fitted to its current use. The two guards who had accompanied her devoted the majority of their attention to keeping the brazier lit. Between the bare nature of her cell and the build of the room, it became very clear how the people of Thedas dealt with captives.

Galadriel rarely lauded Mirkwood for its splendor, but her current trappings made even Thranduil's deepest, darkest cells seem kingly.


Night -

Twilight was an ordeal in these cells, one that dragged on for far longer than it had any right to. The cells that had collapsed and were open to the sky leaked grey light for hours; when they finally darkened, the far door lit the room in much the same way. Eventually, when the sun finally dropped away, a deep darkness settled over the room. The guards were attentive, but the night was cold and she unnerved them in the dark. They stood farther from her, behind the pillars that lined the walkway, and spoke only in hushed tones.

The fire required less attention at night, but without the wind threatening to extinguish it, the guards stoked it far less frequently. It burned low, dancing red and orange in the darkness, and Galadriel was left with the option to watch it or sleep. She chose to watch.

Comments

[laurenande]

Despite the fact that he was repeating himself, a moment passed before Galadriel truly comprehended what Jamie was asking. Once she had the idea of it, and could place the concerned knit of his brow, she smiled at him. It was an expression that she tried to make reassuring but, all said, it was a bit too distracted to serve the purpose.

"I am alright, have no worry. I was simply looking for..." Galadriel paused as she tried to find a way to explain. The languages of men lacked both the words and the concepts she required. "A break in the clouds."

Even if she were being generous, that statement was nonsense. It was a facet of a disjointed conversation long passed; the sky above them was clear and blue.

"So to speak," Galadriel added and turned so that she might face him directly. She had not, at any point during her time in Skyhold, anticipated that standing in place for an extended time would result in physical complication. When she shifted to face him and found her legs asleep, it was an abrupt and chilling shock. Her knees faltered and Galadriel tipped forward as they did; it was very fortunate that Jamie had a hold of her and that her staff was on hand.

[wontforgetyou]

It wasn't the first time that Jamie had been told something that seemed like nonsense. There'd been more times than he could count when the Doctor had said something that'd made no sense to him at first, but then either it'd been explained to him or he'd wound up figuring it out along the way. His reaction was the generally the same at first no matter what, though, and it was the same now, confusion over what had been said bringing a puzzled look to his face as he looked back and forth between Galadriel and the cloudless sky.

Whatever comment he might have had there was destined to remain unspoken, however. As she started to tip forward, his own reflexes kicked in, and he moved to support her and try and keep her from falling - although his mouth tugged ever so faintly off to one side at the same time.

"That's being alright?"

It sure didn't seem that way to him, but rather than comment on that he opted for the more practical reaction, shifting so she could put as much weight on him as she needed to for the moment.

"Right. Let's get you sitting down for a moment before you fall and wind up with a whole other sort of break."

[laurenande]

As startled as she was by the state of her legs, Galadriel couldn't help but take Jamie's ribbing with a hint of amusement. He moved to take her weight and she offered him a baffled, but grateful nod as they all but hobbled to a seat. They didn't have to move far before they found a bench, and she was thankful for his assistance as she dropped down onto it. After a pause, the sensation began returning to her limbs. It was a most unpleasant feeling, but it was one she had never felt before--for as uncomfortable as it was, it was also fascinating.

"I suppose it was more akin to being foolish," Galadriel allowed. "Now that I've suffered the consequences of my idle staring.

"It is strange, discovering what I cannot do in Thedas. I would not have thought such mundane things as standing had their limits."

[wontforgetyou]

"Aye, well, now you know, then."

It could've been worse, he imagined. For all that he'd been worried (and therefore inclined to fuss), it just seemed her legs had fallen asleep. The pins and needles feeling that was the likeliest result of that was annoying, sure, but not dire, and something in him relaxed. Still, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised by the idea that she hadn't ever experienced anything like that until coming here, and some of that showed in his expression as his eyebrows arched up and disappeared into his bangs briefly.

"You mean you'd not really had to worry about your legs falling asleep before?"

[laurenande]

"Not once!" Galadriel cried, amusement in her tone that mirrored his surprise. "Ere I came to Thedas, I had never thought it possible. My home is made of platforms high atop the trees. Such a thing would be a terrible surprise.

She shook her head slightly, still caught up in the thrill of a new (if uncomfortable) sensation. It seemed to amuse her greatly and she regarded her legs with a curious tilt of her head.

"Indeed, many things surprise me here. The bite of cold is stronger, as is the soreness after a long march. I cannot speak with the birds in this place, nor to the trees--they do not understand me," she added, light and bemused. "It is trying, at times, but I have always relished new things."

[wontforgetyou]

Given how easily she'd been able to move over all that snow on the trip here, he supposed she'd be able to move just as easily back home - even through the trees, if what she was saying was true. He'd climbed his share of trees in the past, including some very oddly shaped ones, and been on all sorts of platforms, so living up in the trees wasn't all that hard of a thing to imagine. Her finding so many things surprising here was interesting, though, and he found himself growing more interested the more she spoke.

"Can't say as I've noticed that myself, although I've never lived in trees or talked to birds." The way he pronounced 'birds' made it seem like there were three or four 'r's in the word, but it didn't seem he realized the word had come out in the way it had. "How do you do that sort of thing, anyway? Talk to birds, that is. Is it some sort of magic or just the way your world is?"

[laurenande]

"Magic?" Galadriel repeated and, at once, looked just slightly flummoxed.

She had grown accustomed to the way the term was used in Thedas, as she expected Jamie had, but this context was not in line with Thedas. In Arda it would have been nonsense to deem such skills magic, but it would have been a simple answer to give a mortal man. Jamie was not from Arda, nor Thedas, and Galadriel was at a loss for a moment.

"No, it is not magic...nor is it a facet of Arda," she decided after a brief pause. "You must simply speak...bird."

It was an unhelpful answer, even she recognized that, but she appended it promptly:

"Fortunately a great number of them speak Sindarin or, at the very least, comprehend it. It makes conversation considerably easier. It is a shame that the same cannot be said of trees, but they are very old things and our languages move far too fast for their tastes."

[wontforgetyou]

"The trees talk, too?"

He'd seen all sorts of trees during his own travels, but never met any that talked before. Still...if birds could talk, he supposed trees could too - although, privately, he still wasn't entirely sure there it wasn't due to being in the place where Galadriel came from. Her explanation did help, though, and he nodded briefly before bringing a hand up in order to tap a finger against his lip a bit thoughtfully.

"Well, suppose that if there's trees that look like letters out there and can spell words they can talk too. Just, ah, slowly. But the birds here don't understand Sin...Sind...er, that word that you'd said earlier? Think they understand something else native to here, then?"

[laurenande]

"I should hope so," Galadriel replied thoughtfully. "Perhaps they speak the language of these Elves, or something else altogether."

She arched a brow at Jamie and shifted to settle her staff against the bench and free her hands. It was still a bright and beautiful day and, while her studying was valuable, speaking with a friend was preferable by far.

"If I should discover it would you like me to tell you?" Galadriel asked, as though that were something one generally offered another person: knowledge of the secret language of the birds. "Birds are rarely great conversationalists, but speaking to them does often save time.

"Speaking to trees, however, is an exercise in both patience and longevity. I would not suggest you attempt it. I cannot imagine mortal men would survive through the introductions."

[wontforgetyou]

It was a simple question, said easily without any worry as to what the reaction might be, but for Jamie it was also a completely unexpected one. He'd learned quite a lot during his travels with the Doctor, true, but nothing like the language of creatures had ever come up - not even close. Privately Jamie thinks that if there's anyone who would know about that sort of thing back home, it would be the Doctor, but if he actually held a secret like that, he'd never let on. Being offered to be taught something like that was so far out of his experience that for a few seconds he couldn't really do anything but simply stare in astonishment. He recovered quickly enough, however, that he was able to give it some proper thought.

"Aye, well, I've been told I'm not always the most patient sort." Brawny and reckless, yes. Patient...not so much. "And I've not really considered talking to birds before. Don't know how well I'd do at it. Horses, maybe, but I don't know. Do you really think I could learn something like that?"

[laurenande]

"Yes, of course," Galadriel replied as easily as anything. It was the truth; many men learned to speak with birds and horses, it simply required learning. She couldn't conceive of a world where it would not be a simple matter to achieve this.

"Though you will probably enjoy speaking to horses more than birds. Horses, in my experience, are often more given to listening and rarely interrupt." As far as creatures went, horses were mostly content to be silent or express themselves through action. Birds, however, were some of the most vocal and...daresay chatty creatures in all the world.

She considered Jamie briefly and her smile quirked slightly.

"If the birds in these lands are not entirely unlike their kin, I expect you will have the best luck with birds of prey. They dislike dithering chatter, and speak strongly. Your accent would serve you well with them."

[wontforgetyou]

There was a small part of him that wanted to protest and say he dodn't have an accent, but the fact was she'd gotten his attention, so all that really happens there is that his mouth opened and closed again, one side of it tugging off briefly in a way that was more rueful than it was irritated.

"Aye, alright, I admit I like horses, and I've not really got anything against birds. Don't I'm understanding you rightly, though. Why would my accent serve me well in that case?"

He paused for a moment, brow furrowing slightly as he tried to sort through what the reasons for that could be, but after a second or two he shook his head a little, then held up a finger.

"When it comes to the birds, anyway. I'm thinking maybe you'd not meant the horses, in this case."