faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Eirlys and YOU
WHAT: Eirlys arrives back in Skyhold
WHEN: End of Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold's courtyard and throne room
NOTES: No warnings. Prose and brackets both welcome. So yeah, Eirlys is back, I have a CR meme comment for her here!

a) Courtyard
At first glance, it's not obvious that Eirlys has been away. She gets back into the routine of life at Skyhold easily enough, if for no other reason that she excels under the sort of pressure that the healers there - and everyone else, for that matter - are under. She's brought a fresh supply of herbs and poultices, and she's kneeling in the midst of the sick and wounded, attending to them as best she can. On looking closely, however, she's very pale and tired, and she's far thinner than she was when she left Skyhold, after months of scarce food over the winter in the alienage. While she remains the pinnacle of compassion with her patients, she doesn't seem too pleased to be back overall.

b) Throne Room
It takes her a few days to pluck up the courage to make herself heard. She dislikes being the centre of attention, preferring to focus her efforts on the wellbeing of others instead, but she knows that in the long term nothing will change unless she speaks up.

She makes her way over to anyone who looks important - or at least, anyone who looks like they belong to the Inquisition more than she feels she does herself. Clearing her throat, she asks quietly, "Excuse me, but I need to speak to those in charge."

c) Wild card
Choose your own starter, or hit me up at

viridianwings if you'd like me to write another option for you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"They'd trade you?" The word feels sordid on her tongue. "Just like you were common goods or--" or a slave, she finishes mentally, unable to bring herself to say it. She really hopes she's wrong in her interpretation there, otherwise her image of the Dalish would be damaged irreparably.

She perks up a little as Ellana's hand wraps round her own. She needs such gestures of solidarity more than anything right now. "Elvhenan?" She says it slowly, clumsily. "Is that why we're called 'elves'?" She feels stupid asking, it's so obvious, but she hates not knowing such a basic thing about herself and her people.

"Oh, not like that, no," Ellana says, realizing now that she can't simple say these things without explanation. "Mages are treasured in Dalish clans. We're meant to become their leaders -- their Keepers. A Keeper should have an apprentice to train and teach all our collected elven lore to. Some clans are very small, and if they have no mages, one should be given to them so the clan will always have a leader. Keeper Deheune had Pel and Sorrel, and I was the third. Keeping me was selfish, when other clans might need a mage. I could have been a Keeper someday, but instead I was left not knowing where I belonged." If she sounds a little bitter... it's because she is. In discussing this with others, she's always been quick to add that keeping her was a kindness. She was a recent orphan allowed to stay with the familiar instead of given to strangers. And had she been given away, she probably wouldn't be here now: right where she wants to be. But the more time passes, the more she feels disappointed and angry in her Keeper.

"Yes. Elvhenan means 'place of our people' and elvhen means 'people.' Sometimes you'll hear Dalish say 'the People' instead of elves. I do it too." Squeezing her hand again, she asks, "Would you like to learn the elven language? I would be happy to teach you."

That's a far more reassuring explanation than the conclusion she'd jumped to, and she feels herself relax a little. "I hadn't realised it was like that. I'd thought a clan was sort of like a big extended family." She'd also assumed that Pel and Beleth and the rest of them were all Ellana's siblings or cousins. "Though it makes sense to trade mages, in that case - it's refreshing to find one place where they're seen as important."

"Would you really? I'd love to learn. To feel some connection to what we were."

"Well," she says, the corner of her lips lifting in amusement, "We cannot marry and have children with those who share too much of our blood. That would lead to sickly children. Sometimes non-mages switch clans too, to keep bloodlines diluted." She pauses, gaze shifting. "You'll hear some Dalish think of their clan that way, but I don't. When I lost my parents, I lost my entire family. I have no siblings." Sometimes she thinks of Gavin as an older brother, but then he pulls another stunt and the feeling fades for awhile.

"Of course! You have always been curious about our culture and I want to give you answers."

"We have a similar problem in the alienage, sometimes our Hahrens arrange for eligible bachelors to move from one city to another." She'd always hated the idea, even though she knew the health benefits, because she'd been so afraid that without parents to speak up for them, herself or her sister would be among those asked to move. "...I'm sorry, I didn't realise you didn't have any family at all." She'd thought herself a little jealous, actually, assuming her to be surrounded by family. Now she just feels guilty.

"I hope you don't mind if some of the questions I might have sound silly to you, in that case. So little has remained. I'm excited to have the opportunity to learn."

"It's all right. Really. I think... I'm probably an oddity among my fellow Dalish. I wouldn't want them to think I don't hold them close in my heart, but to me, a clan is different than a family." Maybe that's why she's always struggled to find her place in the clan. Instead of thinking of them as her family, she put up a barrier to keep them separate in her mind. But that's a deep thought and one she doesn't want to examine closer right now.

"I won't find them silly. I need to realize that what I know as easy as breathing hasn't been taught to you, and shouldn't assume anything. Please, let me know if I assume wrongly?"

"I shall. And I'll answer any questions you might have about the cities in return - although none of it's too pleasant - or about healing." Those are the only subjects she considers herself even a little of an expert on to be able to share.

"Well, I wouldn't want to make you talk of upsetting things," she says cautiously. Ellana is curious, but maybe she should wait for Eirlys to bring up the subject instead, to talk about what she wants to talk about.

"Oh, it's all right. Besides, I feel that all elves should know about conditions in the alienages. Even if they choose not to help us then, at least they can't claim ignorance." She colours a little as she realises the insinuation there. "Not that I'm saying you would," she adds quickly, "just that there are far more Dalish out there than I realised possible, yet we're so apart from all of them."

"I'll admit, it surprised me to hear that you knew so little of us. But I suppose most Dalish try very hard not to be found." An unfortunate thing for an elf whose heart has always wished for more.

"I wish I could say that will change, but the Dalish are stubborn. I just hope for some change someday. Settling down in permanent settlements would be wonderful, but hard to obtain without having land gifted to us again. And then not taken away. Again."

"If there were some way to purchase the land rather than wait for it to be gifted, they could never take it back." But Eirlys knows the price would be so high that it would be unattainable.

"If only," she muses, knowing the Dalish have little of value, except things they would never part with, like their halla or their ironbark weapons.

"But that's enough sadness for today. I should go."

"Of course, I shan't take up any more of your time." She smiles, waving as she wanders back to her work. "I hope we see a lot more of each other."