faderift | We come from the land of the ice and snow

We come from the land of the ice and snow

WHO: Open to all
WHAT: Thedas' strange new guests are delivered to Skyhold
WHEN: 25 Harvestmere (October)
WHERE: Skyhold main gate & courtyard
NOTES: This is Part I of a two-part intro event, Part II will be posted tomorrow.

A long uphill tromp through the snowy mountains ends at Skyhold, the distant fortress finally before them in all its tumble-down glory. There is time to admire the drop into the river gorge far below as they cross the only bridge into the castle; it is briefly backed up with traffic, several carts bearing supplies and visitors stalled as the portcullis is raised. Those coming to help catalog and unload the shipment and greet the guests, or otherwise present near the front courtyard, will find themselves witness to a far more interesting arrival.

Guards at the gate carry the word quickly, and more gather, though they make no move to imprison the strange people who fell out of a rift. They just line the perimeter and keep a close watch. Perhaps this adds a level of tension to this first encounter, but it also reassures the many who are unsettled by the uncertain turn of events and keeps in check those who might attack first and ask questions later. Others will no doubt soften the Inquisition's first impression, offering food, information, and other assistance.

Medical attention is available in the tented-encircled corner of the courtyard where the wounded from Haven are still treated. The quartermaster's assistant is called upon to provide spare odds and ends of clothing to those in need, and to issue blankets for all, though they are left to fend for themselves to find places to sleep.

Any mage willing to help is called in to do so and a cluster forms in one side of the courtyard to examine the rifters. They are objects of curiosity in general, but the marks on their hands are of particular interest, resembling smaller slivers of the Herald's famous mark. Despite their best efforts, no mage will be able to provide any real insight after this initial assessment. What the rifters and their marks are is a question they cannot answer today.

But one question is answered: in the midst of all the commotion, another Inquisition agent arrives from Haven, rushing in red-faced to announce that the Herald's body has finally been found.

OOC

It will be decided (partly for OOC reasons, admittedly) that the rifters will not be imprisoned at this point, but they will be watched carefully, and the guards are on alert for any strange behavior by people with glowing hands or strange attire. And of course, their freedom can be revoked at any time if they're deemed a danger. Though there are some OOC considerations at play here, you're welcome to ICly lobby for more or less freedom for the rifters, and things may change based on IC action/consensus.

Also: Part II, aka the log for the funeral/wake/etc. event, will go up tomorrow!

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Korrin just snorts and takes another sip, shrugging at Araceli's question about the clergy. For all she knows, the Grand Clerics have been utterly hammered since the Conclave's bloody end. That would certainly explain some things.

At any rate, she settles in to listen, quietly taking a longer sip to savor it along with the tale. The telling doesn't seem clumsy to her, but then she's more interested in the content than how it's dressed up. "It sounds like Orlais would have plenty in common with both places. As much as I find the idea of cultural exchange interesting, it's probably just as well that Orlesians don't take ideas from either. It's already headache enough dealing with their nobles, as it is. The regular folk aren't too bad, though they're incredibly snobby about wine."

"Oh the wine," with an exaggerated old man's voice she raises her drink as if to examine it before she splutters, snorts, and starts laughing. "I care about what wine goes with my dinner and that it's rude to get drunk on the good stuff. Getting drunk on the vinegar piss is fine, that's the only reason you have it. We're at least snobby about the correct blends to use in your rum and brandy or how to brew a good ale to fill your belly as well as getting you drunk."

Or if you put gunpowder in a drink; it adds flavour but too much and you have a nasty mouth in the morning.

"Do your people have any particular drinks? Or others beyond the Orlesians and wine and my own folk with the good ones? Are there any people who only drink those spirits that you'd use to strip the paint and varnish off a ship?"

"Well, Qunari have a drink called Maraas-Lok and it's...strong. In my opinion, Qunari drinks aren't things to be savored, but tests in endurance. Dares, basically. And Dwarven brews? Are just plain gross. Don't have any, if you value your taste buds. But there is a drink called Aqua Magus; fine spirits infused with a bit of refined lyrium. It's dangerous to have in any great quantity, but it's a very unique flavor and I'd definitely have it again."

Given her sigh at the bartender, they don't have any in stock for the time being. Oh, well. "You should befriend our resident magister if you want to try any Tevinter brews. She has a stock with her and they're very good, not the vinegar piss you mentioned."

"Oh I've known things like that, terrible awful things and it's like licking...I don't know, the worst thing you could lick a hundredfold and given I like my palate as it is, I'll take that advice." Although what little food here is so bland she might do better to lose her ability to tell just how very bland it is. What she wouldn't give for some hot peppers, for cloves and saffron, for salt farmed in just the right way that it turns the delicate pink of the inside of shells, perfect for rubbing in fish and roasting until it spits and crackles.

"Did she bring them with her?" Yes she's remembering that climb and how carefully bottles need to be packed even on ships so they'll last the voyage. "Oh it must have cost at least an arm and a leg to get fancy wines to a crag like this!"

"It must have, but I did't ask the cost. As a guest, it would have been rude. But yes, she seemed to have enough to last her for the time being. Who knows, with some time and influence, we might end up with some high-end drinks here. For now, though, it's mostly the cheap stuff."

Korrin shrugs, not minding as long as there's something to make her pleasantly mellow. She can afford to be more discerning when there's opportunity for it, which in her mind is at least possible. The comfortable Vashoth takes another sip, sighing contentedly.

“I used to know all the captains of the ships and they always knew just how much their cargo was worth, down to the tiniest thing because a captain has to know when it’s worth their while to defend what might be stolen from them. It was habit to just ask one of them and be told so I knew if I stood a chance of bartering for it or if I should just steal it instead. Wine merchants are some of the richest folk you’ll ever know, their clients just a bit richer still.”

Not that she knows if she’ll make a habit of theft in Skyhold outside of the usual reasons for keeping her skills sharp. She might get bored (or she probably will or she’ll say she’s bored when she’s thinking of home) and see if anyone can catch her at it but as blunt as she is about it, she’d rather at least ask first and sneak a taste later.

“Cheap brandy and cheap rum, it’s a crime.” But that doesn’t stop her from refilling the glasses and raising them in a toast, half a smirk on her face as she does.

Korrin raises her own glass in response, a small tired smile on her lips. "If I get the chance, I'll treat you to something better. Count on it. I bet you'd love some of the Antivan and Rivaini vintages, they're better in my opinion than anything even Orlais has to offer. Which isn't to say that their stuff isn't work trying, but don't let Orlesians fool you into thinking they have the only liquor work drinking in Thedas."

She pauses to take a sip, savoring this one. "I don't think anyone here is truly that rich, though I admit I could be mistaken. Most of us barely escaped with the clothes on our backs and that's it. So I'd be careful about mentioning anything in the way of theft around here. You're too pretty to languish in a cell, not that I'd give you away."

“It’ll be terrible if I don’t, I’m sure plenty of folk are going to mistake me for one of the two because you can’t tell the whole world and there’s not always a chance to say otherwise. But if they’re like my home then I’m sure I’ll enjoy them, some things must be alike.” Still, there seems to be an awful lot of odd feeling towards Orlesians and it makes her more and more curious about them, about what they’re really like and how they’ll behave when she’s actually confronted with one. The masks do sound intriguing, she’s never actually been to Ebeos before to see such a place in full swing and balls don’t count because those masks are just for show and nothing more.

“I agree, rich people are very bad at hiding it. They can’t help themselves, even their idea of ‘simple’ is so outlandish it makes me laugh. Simple is whatever bread you can get, not some artisan thing with little seeds shot through it and glazed in just the right way, all shaped like a shell or a sand dollar cast.” This all comes from her fellow guards too, whenever they’ve had to rough it with her for an assignment that makes her realise how far they are from one another, all girls who grew up wanting for nothing but their expectations so wildly different it’s as if they came from other worlds not merely countries. The last comment makes her smile in delight, leaning forward across the table. “Such keen eyes you have but then often we merely reflect another, don’t we? It’s why you can call me pretty but I can call you striking, statuesque, stunning.”

That provokes a deep chuckle from Korrin and a lingering grin. "Such flattery, but you won't have me complaining. The horns and height don't scare you off, then? It does with others, but then they're the assholes who don't bother to learn I'm anything but a 'qunari' anyway. At least you're willing to listen and learn...and I enjoy returning the favor."

“Why would it scare me?” No really, why? But then she’s never once been accused of being shallow, she cares far more about the person underneath - pretty things are pretty but you can’t survive on that alone. “Almost everyone I know is taller than me if they’re of age and your horns are quite beautiful. I feel sure that if ladies where I come from had them, they would be adorned with strands of pearls and delicate shells to draw even more attention to them. I like you, that’s what matters, the inside, that the outside shines just as bright is a welcome bonus.”

That grin softens as Korrin can't help but savor that kind of response. She harbors no self-hatred, not anymore, long having gone from awkwardness to pride and not apologizing for it. Still, hearing all that from Araceli warms her heart, as easy acceptance from others isn't something that happens so often that she'd ever tire of it.

"Horn decorations would get ruined whenever I fight, you know, but I could be open to a gorgeous woman adorning me thus while in Skyhold. As long as she remains close to admire her work."

Acceptance comes easily when anyone is kind and polite to her; the sea accepts all and daughter of a whore and a captain? How else is she meant to take people but as they come, with open arms if they present her with the same and her eyes flash, lips curling up into a pleased smile she only partially hides when she takes a drink.

"Ah but if you were a lady where I come from you could have someone to fight for you - private companies, a cadre of elite guards such as our queen has." That...that's close. Closer than she would like because it scrapes so close to the bone, knocking against her ribs and into her heart but she can push that hurt aside for a day when she has less to think about. "Oh madam, I think I could absolutely manage that - I lived around artists, whores, sailors and pirates, I'm well-versed in showing my appreciation to the utmost." Her voice is near enough a purr by the end, leaning close enough that no one can listen in though she won't be at all ashamed if they do.

"Having someone fight for me? Where's the fun in that? I need action, or I get bored. And no one wants me bored, trust me." Then again, there's a different sort of action that can prevent that fate, and her grin indicates as much. She certainly doesn't mind Araceli leaning in, doing so a little as well to see how she'll respond. "Well-versed, hm? Words are cheap, though. Actions are where it matters."

"Oh there's plenty of action - you know gambling might as well be the national sport, such high stakes although I don't like the fancy places as much, I like it when the people next to me have clothes so filthy they could stand and walk away on their own." Actually did you know that with enough salt water on clothes you can stand them all up and terrify your friends? It's a fun trick but there are much better things you can do and Korrin's mind is absolutely on the same track as Araceli. "As free-spirited as I am, I would have to charge in a tavern even though I don't follow my mother's profession. Alas, I am lacking anywhere more private but believe me, growing up in a brothel you learn every single trick and I've tumbled a lot of ladies, and a few men if they don't irritate me first, and I leave with five star reviews."

A shame she doesn't have any to show off right now.

"I only gamble with my life, never my money." Korrin flashes a grin, never really caring much for that sort of gambling though that isn't to say she won't participate in a game of Wicked Grace. She just finds other collateral to work with. Araceli's comments just make her laugh, not dampening her spirits in the slightest. "Show-off. Privacy is always a problem here, isn't it? I can't say I can do much better, since I share my space with others. That just means creativity has to be involved."

"Ah sometimes you need to spend money to make money or you need a little information you won't get otherwise. Life is risk." She likes risk, it makes her feel alive, bright and shiny as a newly-minted coin and the thought of it has her smiling just as brightly at Korrin. "Well I am more than happy to provide solo demonstrations of my talents if they're required. Well if I can sneak into the houses of nobility and sneak back out after a very long night of little sleep without arousing suspicion, I'm sure I could do the same here."

Thieves know how to be very very quiet after all.

'Quiet' is something Korrin's never even tried to master, though, the mage not knowing the slightest thing about stealth or discretion. That could make matters interesting, if not terribly convenient. "'Required' isn't the word I'd use, as though I'm demanding anything, but...welcome, definitely. And suspicion isn't anything I care about, it's guarding against interruption that's the issue. What can I say, I don't care for an audience."

"My people are big on being able to show your skill, it's why duels are so often carried out in public with lots of prancing and parading and strutting, plus I grew up in a brothel, a few of my definitions of how things go are a bit skewed by such an upbringing." Another reason why she doesn't mind an audience plus the fact that there's usually more than one person in her bed of late. "I'm better at unlocking but if that's what you care for then I can make sure to lock the doors very tight and make a racket so they know they should sleep on the doorstep or perhaps in that hayloft."

Mention of duels has Korrin's lips twitching for a moment. "So Antivan...." Sure, plenty of the details about Araceli's homeland aren't, but the things that stand out most remind her of that country she's traveled through on the way south to other lands. Araceli will always be an honorary Antivan in her mind, and she makes a mental note later to ask Zevran what he thinks.

"My own upbringing didn't have a lot of privacy, so I tend to treasure what I can get." Tal-Vashoth traveling bands, almost constantly on the road or working together? Yeah, not a lot of room to carry on without others knowing. Korrin's put up with it, but she doesn't prefer it. So she smiles at Araceli's suggestions. "I'm very partial to all of that. Especially making a racket...."

"Everyone keeps saying that. Everyone. I wish someone had said it and I could have played along and made a game of it." Still, honesty was really the only policy in such a different world with her sort of arrival but maybe if she doesn't want to draw attention to herself she can pass off that story, a girl on a big adventure.

"Pirates are often the same though you learn to pretend not to see things in your own hammock even when the one next to you is making you sway as well." It's ridiculous okay, such is life, you just tease someone out of earshot of their companion unless you know the companion or they start the joking, it's just good manners that way. "Just not loud enough for an avalanche, if I get buried in snow I won't take my clothes off ever again."

Korrin can't help but laugh, leaning back. For the first time in a while, she can respond to such without automatically thinking back to Haven. It's progress. "And that would be the true tragedy, wouldn't it? Never fear, I won't allow such a fate to happen.

And sorry, I should have told you about Antivans before. There was so much other ground to cover that I forgot. You could probably still make a game of it whenever we travel somewhere, though."

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We come from the land of the ice and snow

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