{ OPEN } i'll do what it takes

[serannas]

WHO: Ellana Ashara + OPEN + closed starters for some
WHAT: Catching friends up on recent events/important meetings/random day in the life stuff
WHEN: The latter part of Drakonis, and spanning the entirety of Cloudreach; for the open section, please let me know what day or week so I can keep my time lines straight?
WHERE: around Skyhold

{ open throughout cloudreach; please specify date or week in the subject header }
The new month will hopefully be a reprieve from all the chaos of the last month. Every issue has been a learning experience for her, and that is really the only positive thing she can take from most of what's happened. She's never wished to walk around with eyes closed, and yet now she realizes she must have been, because some of what's happened has certainly opened her eyes. And that's starting to change her. In order to become more worldly, she needs to be less ignorant of the world. To be the type of person who abandons hope for cynicism has no appeal to her, but moving forward she definitely will keep a closer eye on things, and allow herself a cynical thought every now and again. To survive this world, she doesn't need to completely shed who she is, but she needs to be more aware.

On the surface, she appears to be the same. She can be found in varied locations sitting with her lute and an open songbook. Her brow is often furrowed in concentration as she places her fingers on the strings and strums a few chords. Other times she sets the book aside and plays the songs she now has memorized, only tripping up once or twice. If not out with her lute, she's usually spotted with a book, and the subject could be anything: what little is known about elven ruins, books on politics and debate, and even a volume of an encyclopedia on animals, as she reads through their traits to see what would suit her needs.

If she's simply out walking, there's an inexplicable smile gracing her lips that she doesn't realize is there. It makes her look like she's daydreaming, though she's in no danger of walking into a pole. It's just the smile of someone in the throes of a new romance, and very little can erase it when she's thinking of that special someone.

{ drakonis 16th: kallian }
The two had spoken at the soiree about meeting up to perform together the next day, and Ellana sends Kallian a crystal message once she's made sure the tower she's picked is abandoned. It's not that they can't perform in front of others, as Kallian showed last night, but it would be nice to have the privacy to perfect a song and just to talk as well. Ellana's still brimming with excitement over the confession of feelings she and Felix both gave the other, and as Ellana waits for her friend with her lute sat in her lap, there's a bright smile on her face, remembering that kiss.

{ drakonis 18th: sina, beleth }
Ellana doesn't want certain people to hear about her and Felix from third parties because of how they might react. The last thing she wants is for them to think she intentionally kept this from them. However, it takes her several days after the soiree to both work up the courage and find the time. So much seems to be happening at once in Skyhold, and she needs to get into the right head space for talking about a very sensitive topic. The first she goes to find is Sina, because Ellana knows she can be more easily found. She's usually in the gardens or her tent in the gardens, so she makes her way there to look.

Once things have been discussed with Sina, Ellana needs a little break, but then goes to find Beleth. She's the one person in Clan Ashara that Ellana feels might really be against this, but it's hard to know for sure since their interests have taken them in different directions since arriving at Skyhold and they don't speak much. And that makes her harder for Ellana to track down. Finally, she pulls out her crystal and contacts her.

"Beleth? Are you busy?"

{ late drakonis: benevenuta }
Ellana's goal at the soiree had been to not allow the nobles to get away with talking down to her, and in that area, she succeeded as much as she'd been able. Her refusal to either act demure or angry had confused the lot of them, because in their narrow-minded views, an elf could only be a timid servant or an angry savage, not someone who treated nobles as average: neither as someone superior or as a threat to be eliminated.

It had satisfied Ellana, but she knows moving forward that having confidence and being able to bat away derogatory remarks is only part of what she should be doing. At the last meeting of the Mage Council, she'd been lost, and had sat in silence for the latter part of the discussion. She needs to understand how to better navigate politics, and who better than a noble to whom politics comes as second nature? She asks to meet with Benevenuta in private, and like with their mage meetings, she arranges a tea set and some snacks. It's not as well done as one of the Circle mages would have prepared it, but she's done her best.

{ early cloudreach: sam }
They had discussed metalworking over the crystals while Sam was off in Emprise and Ellana was admiring the ring he'd crafted for her back at Skyhold. He'd said he'd teach her how to make designs in metal and she'd figured why not? There are so many things she has yet to try, and he'd said they would just use scrap metal, so she isn't too concerned about being wasteful. One day she goes to look for him at the forge, the air heavy with heat and the light dim inside the armory. But there he is, and thankfully there isn't a crowd of people around either. She doesn't want to get in anyone's way while they're crafting important things.

"Hello, Sam," she greets, already fanning her face in the heat. "What are you making?"

{ late cloudreach: morrigan }
A few days after the soiree, Ellana had sat down with Morrigan and discussed if the latter would teach the former shapeshifting. Ellana had explained her reasons for wanting to learn this specialization and Morrigan agreed to it. She'd been sent off to do plenty of research on the subject, and throughout the rest of Drakonis and into the next month, Ellana had slowly made her way through the readings to get herself into the right mindset.

Now the time has finally come for the practical part of the lesson. Ellana and Morrigan venture outside of Skyhold and down into the valley below, past the refugee camps and into the solitude of the mountains so Ellana can observe the wildlife and learn to copy an animal's soul. She is pretty set on a bird being her first form. To become a bird means she'll be able to see the world from above and can scout out areas on missions. It also means a quick escape if she finds herself in trouble. Here in the mountains, she expects to find brown or gray birds -- perfect for not attracting unwanted attention. As the pair enter under the eaves of the trees, Ellana can hear the songs of plenty of birds, so it shouldn't be hard to study one.

{ late cloudreach: korrin }
Once Ellana unlocks the way to shapeshift, it's an amazing thing. At first she sticks to the ground, learning how to hop along as a bird, but a stray cat coming towards her forces her to spread her wings and take flight. It's awkward at first, but she keeps at it, fluttering between several trees near the stables. Then she grows more brave and lands on the barn roof. Soon she's sailing around Skyhold to land on parapets and banner poles. When she spots Korrin, she figures she ought to let her know she's chosen shapeshifting as a specialization over rift magic, but she doesn't want to give her the shock of her life by shifting back in front of her. She flies into the barn, up to the hayloft, where she turns back into an elf, clothes and all. Then she climbs down and jogs after her friend.

"Korrin! I have some exciting news."

Comments

[serannas]

"Just appeal to her practical side," Ellana suggests. "She's very much about the notion of looking after the self, and not about to be charmed by pretty words." It's as much as she can offer to help him, since she doubts Morrigan will take her word that Sam is a good person who should be allowed to learn this.

"A bird," she answers without hesitation. "Something small and unnoticeable."

[el_tybs]

"I've figured as much. We have talked some before." Both times had been discussing about things that the Circle failed to teach, and they had seemed to get along decently. Morrigan certainly didn't seem like the kind of person to be swayed just by others' words, she had to see things for herself.

"A bird?" He smiles lightly at thinking about what kind of bird she would pick. "I take it because it can fly as well?" After all there were other animals that were small and went around unnoticed.

[serannas]

"Because of that too. I want to be able to escape a dangerous situation if I had to. But I can also throw someone off if I flap my wings in their face and scratch at their eyes with my little feet. I can soar up and look down at the world; scout things out for the Inquisition. There's so much I could do if I had that form. What about you? What were you thinking of for yourself?"

She leans forward now, hands braced down on the bench and shoulders lifted.

"I'm thinking... a butterfly. No, a toad." She smirks and bites her lower lip at her suggestions.

[el_tybs]

Sam blinks at the suggestions. "How did you know?" He tries to look as impressively surprised at Ellana's guesses as he can, as if she had actually guessed right, but the look falters as he starts to grin. His shoulders eventually start to shake as he laughs, shaking his head some at the animals she had picked.

"I was actually considering perhaps a dog at first. They're good at tracking, and pretty fast when they need to be. There's also a lot of them here so it might be easier for me grasp since I can watch them more easily. Flying sounds wonderful, but I think something that was on the ground would be simpler for me to attempt first."

[serannas]

"Oh, a dog! I'm finding that I like dogs, now that I've been around them more. And it is smart to pick one you don't have to travel far to observe." And truthfully, Sam is easy to imagine in dog form, bounding around Skyhold with his tongue sticking out.

"So, bird and dog, huh? We'll go on adventures together and bards will write stories of us."

[el_tybs]

"Oh good. That would've been an issue if you weren't liking them." He knows someone who made a point in saying she didn't like dogs; drool and being dirty and all that. Running around with a tongue lolling out certainly seems like it'll have to be something he'll have to do.

"Are you to ride on my back at times then? Or upon my head if you're tiny enough? Clearly our adventures will be amazing to have bards singing about us."

[serannas]

"No, I'm sure I could pass as an honorary Fereldan now. I love Merrill's little puppy most of all." Even if he does chew on her hair.

"Both, of course! When I'm not flying around your head."

[el_tybs]

"Only thing you need to do is get a dog of your own. Or I suppose turn into one in this case." He chuckles a bit at the silliness of it all. What had Ellana been saying about shapeshifting and 'fun'?

"Well I feel like I've taken a long enough break. Shall we continue this back inside?"

[serannas]

Ellana nods and stands up, ready to learn.

"Thank you for taking the time to do this. It's very good of you."

[el_tybs]

"It is very good of me," he agrees teasingly, giving a grunt as he gets himself to stand up. Stretching out a bit, Sam motions towards the armory door as he moves towards it. "We agreed on simple shapes to begin with right?" he asks, opening the door and waiting for Ellana to on ahead.

[serannas]

It's all she can do no to playfully shove him for that comment, but he looks sore to her, so she holds back on that and just enters the armory to get started.

"Right. That would be best. Like lines, or diamonds? Something that's easy to match up. My circles would probably come out lopsided."

[el_tybs]

Even if she had it wouldn't have bothered him much. He's used to healing up soreness and bruises just about everyday seeing as he doesn't know when to take a break.

Sam snaps his fingers and tsks lightly. "And here I was planning on making you do circles." The smile on his face makes it clear that he is teasing, because circles are hard, like damn. "Lines and diamonds, squares or rectangles to start would be good. Or just lines. Getting used to the tools will be half of it really."

[serannas]

"Are there many different tools in metalworking," she asks, curious. She never paid much attention to how the designs were put on their weapons in the clan, and since she had no weapon beyond her simple staff, she really knows little about what the designs looked like.

[el_tybs]

Were there many tools? "I wouldn't necessarily say there are many different tools, just a varying amount of the same kind." For instance having a hammer, but then having four different sizes of hammer depending on the work.

"Well we aren't using the forge so why don't you take a seat over by that table over there and I'll go grab a few scraps of metal and some of the tools, and we'll get started." Sam points to a work bench away from the forges where they did work that didn't require heat, or just talking to customers.

For a bit he wanders off, but never going out of sight, going through some boxes at the other end of the armory.

[serannas]

Ellana takes a seat and rolls up her sleeves, ready to work. She doesn't think anything she does will look any good, but at least it will be on scrap metal.

[el_tybs]

Well it's not like he was always able to do this, it took a lot of work - and he was still learning technically.

It's not long for Sam to find what he's looking for, walking to the table with a small wooden box and a few blocks of metal. "Before you ask, I took all the scraps and melted them together so that you'd have something to work on." The blocks are decently thick and relatively light in color to make it easier to start work on.

[serannas]

"Am I so predictable?" she asks, though she already knows the answer to that too. She'll need to start doing the unexpected.

"All right; how do I start?" Her eyes are drawn to the box, but she looks up at him for guidance instead of diving straight in.

[el_tybs]

"You already voiced having concerns on wasting our material for learning." He didn't want Ellana thinking that he had only been messing with her, and that these were indeed the scraps. "Easier to work with when it's a block anyways. You can just focus on learning the tools rather than trying to worry about how hard or deep to hit."

Once he's set the box down and opened it, it's clear to see that there are a number of metal rods with varying sized and shaped ends, as well as a few hammers. Pulling out the largest of each he hands them over. "Think the first step should be getting used to hitting the rod with the hammer. Each metal is going to require a different amount of force, but that comes with feeling confident with the tools."

[serannas]

"That's true. In the clan, we learn not to waste anything, so you can see my concern." Ellana hasn't suddenly become wasteful since joining the Inquisition either. Supplying such a group is a huge endeavor, and she isn't going to contribute to the cost by throwing out boots or not finishing her food.

Taking the rod, she sets it against the block and moves it back and forth until it looks straight. Then she taps the top with the hammer and makes a thoughtful sound before lifting up the rod to take a look.

"All right, a bit harder." She hits the rod with a bit more force and checks her work. "I'm sure I'll smack my hand soon."

[el_tybs]

While Ellana fusses with the tools, Sam goes and retrieves a chair for him to sit on as he supervises. He smiles as she takes a few whacks at the rod and then comments about hitting herself.

"I'd be surprised if there isn't a time or two it doesn't happen. That's part of getting used to the rod and hammer." It will certainly sting, but considering that this work doesn't require a heavy swing to have any affect she wasn't in danger of any serious injury.

"You're also hitting the rod straight down. A lot of work you do at an angle and go along... kind of like wood work."

[serannas]

Her gaze lifts and she nods at his instruction. "That makes sense." Looking back down, she sets the rod at an angle and smacks it with the hammer. Then she moves the rod along, smacking it as she goes. She misses once completely, just grazing her skin.

"Whoops!" Checking her work, she frowns. "Crooked," she comments, though she does keep going, trying to straighten out her line.

[el_tybs]

Seeing the hammer miss the rod and brush against her hand, Sam cannot help but wince a bit, all too familiar with the pain. Well good thing he knew how to heal if anything serious did happen.

"Don't worry about how straight it is at the moment. It gets easier once you know how to hit the rod. I couldn't do straight lines for a while myself."

[serannas]

"How long did it take you?" she asks, continuing on without looking up.

[el_tybs]

"I learned when I was younger, which took months. I had to relearn some of it when I got to Haven. I had a lot more time then so a couple weeks, give or take." How long ago that felt now.

[serannas]

"I'm not sure how much time I can devote to it with everything else going on..." Ellana trails off and focuses on doing a short, straight section before adding, "It will likely take me months too. But I'm not looking to start selling art pieces. These lessons can happen infrequently."