I'm one of few who's left [OPEN]

[failedfirst]

WHO: Velanna and you!
WHAT: Day in the life of a Warden elf-mage
WHEN: End of Drakonis through Cloudreach
WHERE: Skyhold, Warden camp, forests beyond
NOTES: You can check her info post for stuff or hit me up via PM or plurk if you want to hash out anything, OR if you'd like your own personal starter let me know and I'd be happy to do one for you!

⓵ Warden Camp
Velanna isn't a "group mentality" kind of person, so while most of the Warden camp is open season, her tent is pitched deliberately a little further away from the others, and she has her own fire and fortifications that she's built up herself with magic. The tent itself is fairly unremarkable from other Warden tents, but there is an impressive wall of earth and short tree growth keeping the elements at bay.

If someone were to wander close enough they'd find Velanna sitting outside the tent cross-legged with a book in her lap and a few more nearby. Stop at your own risk.

⓶ Warden Camp (outskirts)
The only way to keep your skills sharp is by practicing them, and while Velanna is perfectly aware there's a training ring in Skyhold, there is something unsettling to her about using her magic in a courtyard surrounded by templars and other shemlen. Mostly the templars though.

So instead she finds an unpopulated and semi-secluded spot on the edge of the Warden Camp. She goes through general motions followed by cycling through her spells and even physically beating on a broken tree with her staff to make sure that her abilities don't dull while sitting on her hands waiting for something interesting to happen. It's also a good way to channel some of her frustrations, which are nearly constantly bubbling just under her surface.

⓷ Forests surrounding camp
Walking in the forest is a time of peace for Velanna. She's long felt more comfortable among the trees, and she finds her mind wanders less when she's alone and focused on a task. Normally, she's hunting. Her technique is a little different than most hunters, she doesn't waste her time with a bow and arrow, instead she lets the forest do her work for her. Sometimes a rabbit will get thickly ensnared in roots that it didn't see as it darts away from the sound of a predator, or a bird is crushed under a surprise falling branch.

These may not be the forests she grew up in, but all forests connected to the earth and that is a connection Velanna spent her formative years learning how to adapt and use. Every once in a while she'll take a more direct approach and set up real traps or use offensive magic to quickly take something down, but the smaller game she can carry is easy enough to trick into tiny manipulations.

⓸ Library
The only place in Skyhold Velanna regularly visits is the library. She has always loved books, and her studious nature as a child had only grown as an adult and she gained more access to larger libraries. The selection of books on subjects Velanna is only passingly familiar with in the Skyhold libraries means she spends a surprising amount of time there, tucked in a corner or browsing the shelves, her eyes wide from the possibilities. Even the human stories are interesting to her, because it's new information.

She'll likely avoid talking to anyone, but if approached just right she might be amiable to talking about what she's reading (or sometimes writing, in a well-worn book.)

Comments

[failedfirst]

She does appreciate his civilized way of treating her, even if she may never say it aloud. He makes her think that maybe not all human nobles are horrible creatures.

"I'm fine here," she replies to his comment, picking at the food in the bowl like she's disinterested although she's just organizing a plan of attack. Warden constitution, food is food. "I have a decent view, and I'm far enough away that I don't hear any noises at night." Not that anyone in the Warden camp is resting particularly easily with the false Calling, but she'd block out whatever excessive noises she could.

[pinprick]

A fair point, which he acknowledges with a bob of his head in her direction. "Gives you a little space to yourself, I suppose. Everyone needs a little of that." He manipulates a bit of meat into his spoon. "So long as you know you can come to us when you've had enough of it."

[failedfirst]

Frowning as she's tearing into the bread she glances over at Nathaniel, chewing before she speaks again.

"I've never been good at the... camaraderie. You know that." Sooner or later she says something weird and then it's like growing up the odd one out with the Dalish all over again.

[pinprick]

"We're not asking anything of you, Velanna. I'm just telling you we're there for you."

[failedfirst]

She doesn't reply to that for a moment, focusing instead on the food, a somewhat dour expression on her face (what else is new.)

"I'm sorry I left," she finally says, after a length of time, although she's pointedly not looking at Nathaniel. "I know it was foolish, but I truly did see Seranni."

[pinprick]

"Never said you leaving was foolish," Nathaniel says mildly. "If it was my sister, I would have left if I had a lead."

He doesn't look at her, granting her a freedom from the scrutiny that she asks for by not looking at him.

"Where did you find her?"

[failedfirst]

Her shoulders slump a little and she shakes her head.

"I didn't. I searched as long as I could after I broke off from the Wardens... But I did see her." Or at least she was pretty sure she had. Now with the false Calling, maybe she was wrong.

"Some of the Legion of the Dead found me. They helped me, and..." She scowls at the fire, her hands balling into fists. "I was too ashamed to come back."

[pinprick]

Nathaniel allows that statement to sink into the air, then evaporate into the background of sound before responding.

"I'm sorry."

[failedfirst]

She glances at him, irritation flaring up.

"Why? It is not your fault I'm a failure no matter what I attempt to accomplish." She isn't looking for pity, she's just tired of balling everything up, and like it or not Nathaniel is one of the few people in Skyhold she feels most comfortable talking to.

[pinprick]

"Because someone ought to say it to you. Since the right people haven't, I'm doing it for them."

[failedfirst]

She sighs, leaning back against the canvas wall of her tent, suddenly tired. She doesn't understand him, not really. Years serving together and apart and he's still frustrating.

"There are not right people. That is unnecessary."