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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!

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Across the Courtyard, every afternoon, James is going through his correspondence and writing letters to people across Thedas. He is writing reports for Cullen on the progress of the troops, and sketching up plans for blood mage hunts. Usually, he has his head over his parchment and writings, but for whatever reason, he looks up today and see the young elven woman across the way.

His first thought is that she looks tired, as she bends over another soldier, tipping his chin back so he can drink the potion. The second is that -- he's certain he might have seen her before, but not for some time. He frowns, briefly, and continues to watch her for a moment.

Then he puts up his quill, rises to his feet, and makes his way across the courtyard to her. He stops a few feet away, folding his hands back behind his back as he calls out, "My lady, would you like some assistance?"

Here is a face Ellana hasn't seen in far too long! Pleasantly surprised, she approaches once Eirlys is free from tending patients.

"It's been so long since I last saw you!" she exclaims, giving Eirlys a welcoming smile. "How have you been?" Right away, she notices that Eirlys doesn't look very healthy herself. But surely if she's sick, she would have done something about it by now? Perhaps she's just overworked.

Korrin notes Eirlys' familiar face, of course...and the accompanying pallor and lethargy. The longer she lingers to observe, the less she likes what she sees. The Vashoth woman restrains herself from heading over only while Eirlys is involved with patients, aware that there are those in more urgent need. Still, when there seems to be a quiet moment, she'll head over.

"Hello again...Eirlys, right?"

Eirlys' lips purse into a thin line at such a polite greeting, never sure if it's one that's sincere or intended to mock her, as her status as a lowborn elf is so obvious at first glance. Then she lets her guard drop a little, smiling gratefully at the offer.

"If it won't inconvenience you, Sir. There's plenty of work to be done and precious few hands to help." She shifts her position a little so there's room for him to reach in. "Hold this poultice in place, while I pack it to the poor fellow's leg."

She hadn't let herself get her hopes up that she'd see anyone she recognised on her return to Skyhold, both with the far-flung places the Inquisition's members were being sent to and the steady trickle of casualties, though out of everyone she's particularly glad to see Ellana safe and sound. She rises, brushing the dirt and dried elfroot from her hands, making her way over.

"It has been a long time, hasn't it?" She returns Ellana's smile, though it makes her face look even more pale and a little sunken. "I'm glad you've stayed safe."

"Hello, Korrin." Eirlys smiles brightly when she sees her - remembering her immediately, but then who would forget the first Qunari they'd encountered? - feeling glad that she's safe and sound. "You're not in need of treating, are you?"

The Vashoth woman shakes her head, smiling back though it's one tinged with concern. As usual, she says what's on her mind quickly and with little preamble. "No, I'm fine. Forgive me for saying this, but you seem more careworn than when last I saw you. Are you well?"

"So far, so good," she replies, hoping things stay that way for her. She's seen combat in Emprise du Lion, but thankfully came out of it unscathed.

"Were you on a mission, or did you return home?"

You know, it should say something about the company James has been keeping that a suspicious glance does not send him immediately in the other direction. Instead, he waits, and is rewarded with a grateful smile, which is a surprise in of itself.

"It absolutely does not." He stated, before he knelt beside her, and nodded as he looked over at the soldier, then down at the wound. He tutted softly, "Poor fellow - looks like a magical wound. Venatori?"

He holds the poultice as he should, clearly not someone who is disturbed at the sight of gore.

"It wouldn't surprise me." She reaches across James to get the straps of cloth she's torn in advance to hold the poultice in place. "But he hasn't been in a position to tell us, so far."

She sincerely hoped that would change, that her care would make him take a turn for the better, but she doesn't have too much experience with magical injuries.

"A little of both." She frowns as she thinks back to the weeks she'd spent in Redcliffe. "I was sent up to that town in the Hinterlands, Redcliffe, to assist with their wounded. It was all right at first, I was kept very busy, but after a while, when things had slowed down more, the locals told me in no uncertain terms they'd prefer to be cared for by their own people." Her tone makes her meaning clear: they didn't want an elf administering to them. "So I went back to Gwaren." She shrugs, knowing she should feel bad for not having come back to Skyhold but not being able to bring herself to, not with all that had happened in the alienage in her absence, disease and suffering she's sure she could have alleviated.

"As well as can be expected." She relaxes a little, feeling somewhat pleased that Korrin's come to see her rather than just needing her services. It's nice to be remembered, something she's never had to consider before. "I spent the winter back in the alienage, so I'm sure I look a little the worse for wear." It had been a harsh winter, with food scarce and disease prevalent, and Eirlys hadn't thought twice about looking after her people before herself.

Well, Korrin can't deny that. She nods, more in the mindset of encouraging Eirlys' recovery than sparing feelings. "A little, but it's nothing that can't be fixed. You've returned at a good time; we've no orders to head out anywhere, so there's time enough to take advantage of what's available. We could always brew some tea in the kitchen and put our feet up, see what they have stocked."

She might also have to make a mention of this to Araceli, and see if her rifter lady's cooking can put some color back in those cheeks.

"Oh." It's a sad truth that their people still aren't very welcome outside rich people's servant's quarters or their alienages. And the Dalish aren't welcome anywhere. But to allow her to work there while they were busy only to realize after the fact that she was someone they shouldn't be welcoming just frustrates her. There are good humans out in the world, but it seemed nearly all of them are in the Inquisition. Everywhere else is still dangerous for them.

"Well, I am glad to see you back. But are you well? It looks like you might be tired, or overworked."

"Then I shall put a few prayers in to the Maker, while you bind his wounds." He held the poultice firmly in place, and as good as his word, closed his eyes to pray over the man lying below him. Putting it out into the universe that this man needed to live to see a few more sunrises.

It takes Jamie a moment to recognize the slender figure kneeling in the courtyard. She's thinner than he remembers, and there's something about her that seems worn down, the sort of tired that won't go away with a wee bit of sleep. But seeing her working at the tents is the same, and that finally is what gets everything to snap into place.

She's with a patient at the moment, but he's spent enough time here in the past few months that he's able to help in some small ways. He's certainly willing to do the same now, and as there's no hesitation before he approaches, setting down the box he's carrying along the way.

"Here, let me give you a hand with that."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that." She still believed very strongly in the power of prayer, even if she felt herself beginning to question her own faith more and more with each harsh winter in the alienage that passed. "Balm for the spirit is just as important as that for the body, after all."

"I'm very glad to see you, too. I often wondered how you fared here." It was one reason she'd felt guilty about not coming back sooner, remembering that Ellana had been subject to prejudice here in Skyhold, though at least she had the rest of her clan to bolster her. Eirlys had needed to go back to what approximated her own clan, but there was little left for her in Gwaren now.

"I am a little worse for wear," she admits, never having liked dwelling on her own health too long, seeing it as a distraction from treating that of others. "But winters in the alienage are harsh. I'm lucky compared to most."

It's not until the offer of food that Eirlys realises just how hungry she really is. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." She rises, gathering up the last of her supplies.

"Thank you, an extra pair of hands is always welcome." Eirlys moves over to make room for him, then snaps out of her preoccupation with her work to recognise him, looking delighted. "Hello, Jamie. I'm glad you've stayed safe."

"Excellent. If I'm right, there should still be some hearth cakes left over." Kas would have snagged the freshest ones, sure, but she knew he would spare her some, and those she'd be happy to share.

Ellana did well enough for herself. There were still those in the Inquisition who balked at elves being welcome in their ranks. And mages too for that matter. But she'd joined the Mage Council to represent her fellow Dalish mages and she had plenty of friends and amusements to keep her busy. She even had a possible budding romance.

Winters were harsh for the Dalish too. They had to store as much food as they could and as the clan's hearthkeeper, she knew that even the most well built fires couldn't keep the chill from their bones. If anything, she thought the city elves would have fared better, with smaller homes to heat. But she supposed if they couldn't afford the fuel, or if food was scarce, that they suffered just as much.

"Then it's good that things are beginning to thaw out, and that you're here where you can be stuffed with food."

He looked up at her at that statement, a quiet smile flashing over his face before he nodded. "I agree completely." He said a quiet prayer, under his breath, before he looked at her curiously, "Do you believe in the Maker, or do you believe in the Creators? I don't want to presume anything."

"I was raised Andrastian, as all the alienage elves are." She makes sure the poultice won't shift, then reaches up to place a lozenge of different herbs under the man's tongue, something to help break his fever. "Nowadays, I confess I'm not certain. Some days I want to believe in both, and others neither. I'm not sure if that's my own will or a test of the Maker."

"Yes, it's very good indeed. I'd begun to forget what a full stomach felt like." Though there were many she'd left still cold and hungry, and too weak to return to work in the aftermath of the disease that had plagued the alienage for the better part of the winter, one which had claimed Eirlys' sister. "At least we had roofs over our heads. I dread to think how winters for you out in the forest must have been."

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