( open ) one of these days letters are gonna fall from the sky

[dressmaking]

WHO: Lacey Harwood and you!
WHAT: Learning her way around.
WHEN: Through the end of Drakonis.
WHERE: Various locations around Skyhold.
NOTES: None! Come say hi.

Library

One of the first places Lacey goes is the library, once she hears that there is one and finds out where it is. It's occurred to her quickly that she needs to orient herself in this strange place — that she's not yet totally convinced isn't some illusion created by the Capitol, but she should probably play along just to be safe — and since she doesn't yet know whom she can trust enough to talk to, if anyone, she may as well consult a book or two.

Which is where one might find her, starting in on a thick volume that appears to be about the history of the Chantry and looking more and more confused with each passing second. There are a handful of others on various other topics sitting on the table next to her, a couple of which she's already tried to read and found she couldn't; looking at the books' spines, they're in Orlesian and Nevarran. Language barriers aren't really a thing she's ever had occasion to encounter before. Even people in the Capitol with their bizarre accents speak the same language as people in the districts.

This one she can read, but the topic is... not so easily understood. Another thing that doesn't really exist in Panem: organized religion.

Garden

Later, Lacey takes another walk around the fortress and stumbles upon the garden. Even after having been in the Capitol, which isn't short on public parks, seeing dedicated green space is still a bit of a novelty to her, the woman from District 8 who only ever sees green growing things at home when she's looking at the neat lawns in front of the houses in the Victors' Village. This isn't like any of the parks in the Capitol, either; it seems more... wild, somehow. Clearly a space intended for people to be in and tend to, but not so neat and clean and perfectly ordered. If anything, that makes it more interesting, not less.

Careful not to disturb anyone who might be tending to the plants, she steps into the garden quietly to take a look around, pausing near a flowering bush briefly and leaning down to sniff the blossoms.

Battlements

At some point, Lacey climbs up to the battlements, where the air is crisper and colder — though that hardly bothers her; winters in Eight aren't exactly what one would call warm. Aside from a couple of passing guards on patrol, there's no one else up here for now, and she leans her hands on the parapet and just breathes. To say the mountain view is striking is a vast understatement. She can almost, almost believe this is real, that she's not in Panem but instead in some other world entirely.

But she's still waiting. Waiting for Snow or the Gamemakers to shatter the illusion. They've always been told there is nothing else outside of Panem, not anymore. The idea that this is another world entirely is so unbelievable as to be totally absurd.

(The hope, though — that doesn't go away so easily.)

Comments

[dressmaking]

The words are unfamiliar to Lacey: Venatori, Red Templars, red lyrium, Emprise du Lion. Nevertheless, she commits them to memory; they seem like something she'll need to know later. Rifts and demons she at least knows from... well, from having arrived here, even though she doesn't exactly understand what they are. And the Inquisition is... all this.

"Restore order." There's a pause. "What does that mean, exactly?"

In Panem, restoring order would involve Peacekeepers cracking down on restiveness in the districts, usually with intimidation or violence. Something about the way this woman talks gives Lacey the feeling that's not what she's talking about, though. Or... that that's not what she intends.

[gatheringstorm]

There's no immediate defensiveness in Korrin's demeanor at the question. It's certainly a valid one, all the more so for someone new to this world. "It means a variety of things, from protecting and feeding refugees, to clearing areas of demons and rift-addled wildlife, to wiping out high dragon breeding grounds, to rescuing those that the Red Templars and Venatori captured to work for them, and so on. We try to help the civilians caught in the middle as best we can, while working toward that ultimate goal of stopping Corypheus. Because if he succeeds, then all our other efforts will have been for nothing."

[dressmaking]

Considering Lacey’s not trying to put her on the defensive, that’s a good thing. She listens, quietly, to what the other woman says. Feeding refugees, rescuing people, helping civilians.

No one does that in Panem. Half the districts are in poverty and all of them are oppressed by the Capitol — but no one knows how to stand up for themselves, for each other. Fear is a great motivator for getting people to sit down, shut up and do as they’re told. Take tesserae to feed your families, or starve to death. Send your children to the reaping, or be executed for treason. Don’t stand up for your neighbor unless you want to end up tied to the whipping post too.

She doesn’t know who Corypheus is, but the way Korrin talks about him, she can tell he’s someone terrible. “I see,” she says, calmly. Takes a breath, and adds, “It doesn’t sound like an easy task.”

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin shakes her head, a half-smile forming. "That's a vast understatment. He wiped out our last base of operations with his army and that damn dragon. Don't panic, though, that place was a lot less defensible than the fortress we have now. Which isn't to say we're completely safe, but if he comes here, we'll be able to make a stand that isn't hopeless."