open ♔ socialization log

[wynn]

 

WHO || Everyone! [ota]
WHAT || Shenanigans.  THIS IS MOSTLY AN OVERFLOW POST for the last social log whoops
WHERE || Anywhere in the castle, surrounding environs, London, Andres, etc!
WHEN || Any time in May/June
HOW || Actionspam

[ The castle can be a happening place, even on more mundane days. This log is for random interactions over the course of these few months. Because not everyone is into parties, ok. Characters who are not currently squired in may also post, as their characters are living in the castle awaiting their ceremonies.  This takes place after the Knights have returned from Dimitris' wedding. 

You are encouraged to start your own threads and tag around, and feel free to threadjack into any on-going threads that aren't specified as 'closed' in the subject lines since people can enter into rooms even in the middle of what's going on. WE ARE BIG ON THREAD-JACKING HERE. You can also specify 'single thread', meaning you want only one response for all participants, rather than multi-thread, where a number of different scenes/threads can be done as replies to the top prompt.]

On this log:

Comments

[twistingveil]

I think I'll pass on another demon invasion, thanks all the same. I'm not exactly equipped to combat them as I was before.

[She offers a wry smile that manages to be wistful, as well; things have changed, but she appreciates Hawke's efforts to put a more humorous spin on things.]

My experience has been similar-- people have been kind, which I hadn't expected. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how elves are generally greeted back home, particularly my sort.

[She has nothing to mark her as Dalish anymore, not at first glance, but her roots won't change, even if she has.]

[hawkeing]

Well, you know I'll always lend you a hand.

[ seriously and in a totally inappropriate joke. hawke is nothing if not predictable. ]

They don't seem to care much where you're from as long as you don't blow anything up or kill anyone. It's nice being a nameless face instead of the savior of the world, isn't it?

[twistingveil]

I'll keep that in mind.

[Coming from Hawke, at least, she can take it, much like she'd be able to handle any teasing Varric might throw her way.]

I'll admit, I do prefer it. It's a great relief, not being the one everyone looks to have solve their problems. I know the Inquisition did a great deal of good, but... that was never the sort of leadership I was prepared for. Being Keeper would have been different.

[hawkeing]

I can never tell if you or I got the worst deal, [ she muses. ] At least you had an entire organization behind you. But at the same time, that's just as much notoriety as being the so-called Champion of a city I didn't even mean to save. In both cases, people just keep begging and giving us no real choice. Makes me wonder what the Hero of Ferelden might say on the subject.

[ would they have agreement across all three of them or not? food for thought.

though the mention of being keeper reminds hawke of merrill. ] Was that what you were destined for otherwise? Being Keeper?

[twistingveil]

I think in some ways we just might break even.

[It's difficult to say who'd drawn the shorter straw, but there were certainly a number of similarities between their respective burdens.]

I would have liked to ask her myself, had we the opportunity to meet. I assume you've never had the chance, either?

[As far as she knows, the Hero of Ferelden has been missing for some time.]

But yes-- I was my clan's First, bound to become Keeper before much longer.

[hawkeing]

I think you may be right.

[ they've both had a rough time of it, though they're doing the best they can and at least they have each other as friends. ]

No, not even when I met my Grey Warden friend. [ what was his name...? ]

What happens when a clan's First leaves? Is there someone else to fill in? [ she wonders because of merrill firstly, but now also because of ashe. what will happen once their keepers are gone?

not that she remembers merrill's entire storyline... ]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe can't think of his name, either, and she opens her mouth to answer only to stop herself before any sound passes her lips. Strange. She can't even summon up his face-- or was it a her?

The question concerning the Dalish, however, is more easily addressed, and so she chooses to focus on that for now.]

Usually, a clan's Second will take the First's place. Dalish clans only allow a very small number of mages within their ranks; if several mages are born to a single generation, some are sent to lend their power to other clans, as our mages are meant to aid the clans themselves as well as preserve their history. It was a little different when I left. I was succeeded by--

[Another blank, and this time she frowns openly.]

-- our Second, but there were other circumstances. I can't remember now.

[hawkeing]

[ hawke may be sassy and may have a problem coping with trauma at times, but she isn't dense or unobservant. a frown creases her brow at ashe's response and she tilts her head a little bit. ashe seems to remember so much more than hawke; having her stumped by this does not a happy hawke make. ]

Well, if I didn't have an ominous feeling about our lives already, I sure would now. Did it have to do with your Anchor or were there circumstances beyond that?

[ maybe prodding that memory will help. ]

[twistingveil]

[It's unsettling to her as well; so many other things have come to mind unbidden, and yet this detail escapes her. It makes her wonder what else might be missing.]

Beyond that-- I remember that much. I intended to leave before the incident at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. My attending the conclave was to be my last task as First, before I went to another clan, but the Anchor did change things. I never did get to go home.

[hawkeing]

[ hawke's face clouds at that. she knows this feeling well. lothering first, then kirkwall. she doesn't really think of either as home anymore, even with the estate being a part of things. everyone's gone. or dead. or dead and gone. this is why she hasn't settled down since bodahn left with sandal. and then everything blew up in ferelden and she had to find out about it, too. and after that? well, she got dumped here in the middle, so who knows... ]

Home never does stay the same. Either you lose it or someone else does. Either way, it's never as good as it once was.

[ she can be good at the comforting thing, but it's hard. everything's hard. ]

You know what I wish? I wish for a lovely estate with all my closest friends. No demons, no abominations, no misunderstandings, no lyrium-crazed anything. Just. People. [ pause. ] I'd invite Carver, but somehow he would stand in the perfect place outside and complain that even my house casts a shadow on him. He'll never be free.

[twistingveil]

I'm not sure I would have been able to go back at all, given the opportunity. I'd-- changed too much. Seen too many things.

[There was so much that challenged the Dalish and their way of life, their beliefs. Learning that everything she'd been raised to believe in was a lie, that they had twisted their own history so much over the years that there was almost nothing left of it? It was hard to imagine going back, breaking that news to her clanmates, shattering their worlds the way her own had been shattered.

Once she would have said that truth was the right choice, no matter the cost, but now she thought there might be something to be said for the bliss of ignorance.

She smiles a little at the picture Hawke paints for her, imagining one of the estates in the Emerald Graves being taken over by Hawke's band.]

I think Varric would support that endeavor. He seems like he's looking to retire.

[hawkeing]

[ hawke can't imagine how difficult it must be to lose one's entire life like that. despite everything that has happened to her, at least she can say that meredith and corypheus were the worst of it. with the two of them, she'd had enough to deal with. ashe has corypheus and now this. ]

Really? I don't know that he ever could. Trouble seems to follow him. Might have something to do with his books. Or does he just write trouble into his life because he's bored?

[ she's not seriously giving that any thought, but she has to put on something of a show. retirement would suit varric well, she thinks, and he deserves it after all this time. ]

You can bring your friends, provided they don't set about destroying anything. The property taxes are so high these days. Must be the demons.

[twistingveil]

I think he might try, but he may not succeed. You're right, trouble does seem to find him.

[Largely because he seems to make troublesome friends, like Hawke and herself. Even Bianca had a nose for it, when she gave it some thought.]

Most of my friends in the Inquisition are well-behaved. You might have to take care with Iron Bull if he gets a few too many drinks in him, but he's a gentle giant. Sera might cause trouble, but she wouldn't be likely to follow me anywhere. Too 'elfy' for her liking.

[hawkeing]

[ hawke snorts. ]

You forget. I had to deal with Isabela talking pirate things and Fenris grumbling about mages and slavers every five seconds. I think I can handle yours. Although I have to ask why Sera says you're too 'elfy.' Got a problem with the elves?

[twistingveil]

She is one herself, but-- never cared much for her Dalish cousins.

[Many flat-ears didn't, Ashe knew, and the sentiment often went both ways, but it had been difficult to get Sera to give her so much as the time of day.]

She never did tell me much about her background. We never managed to get close, unfortunately. I did try.

[hawkeing]

Some people just won't be your friend no matter what you do. Took me ages to get anything out of Fenris other than "mages are bad, you can't trust them, death to slavers."

[ it took a while but it was worth it in the end. a lot of her friendships could be described as such. ]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe frowns in reply; those sentiments are ones she's heard all too often.]

Not an uncommon point of view in Thedas, unfortunately. People seem to be willing to give or take slavery, but mages? Looked down on almost as widely as my own people.

[She's a Dalish mage. Her oppression levels are over 9000, but at least she has a decent attitude about it.]

[hawkeing]

[ hawke is quiet for a few moments, considering. when she finally responds, her voice is much softer, tone less bitingly sarcastic than usual. ]

It almost makes me glad sometimes that Bethany didn't live to see what happened in Kirkwall. It would have broken her heart. [ it lasts all of about two seconds, but it counts! ] But if anyone could have found a way to make sense of it and convince people that not all mages are raving lunatics, she would have. Don't quite know what she would have done about Anders, but I suppose we'll never know.

[twistingveil]

[The elf's face falls further, thoughtful. The shift in Hawke's tone is an unusual one, which sparks her to attend to the Champion's words more closely.]

I am sorry for your loss. Things had begun to change before we left. Some for the better. I'm sure she sees that and is glad.

[hawkeing]

[ there are many ways she could say 'i hope you're right,' but few seem quite right at the moment. eventually she chooses something a little more personal. ]

Coming from you, I might be able to believe that.

[ the edges of her lips quirk upwards again, a sure sign that she's getting back to normal. she might not speak often of her sister's death, but if a shared nightmare in the fade doesn't promote a friendship of that magnitude, she has no idea what will. ]

[twistingveil]

[Ashe smiles in reply, if only barely. She recalls that there are few things Hawke takes seriously. Simple as the words themselves are, they mean something.]

If there's anything I can do to make it more convincing, then by all means.

[hawkeing]

Ride a dragon into the sunset, [ hawke offers without missing a beat. ] Alternately, keep killing demons and darkspawn with me. You might convince me with a few more rounds of how many blasts of Winter's Grasp does it take to get the center of a demon.

[twistingveil]

That last one actually sounds like fun.

[She's seen enough of dragons for awhile, thanks all the same.]

Though I'm afraid fire is more my specialty-- though I'm sure the rules of that particular game could be adapted to suit.

[hawkeing]

[ yet another thing they can agree on. too many damn dragons. ]

Fire works just as well, though the smell is worse that way. [ admittedly they've been through worse than the smell of charred demon-flesh, that's for sure. ] Get a couple of firestorms or fireballs going and I'm sure you'll have me convinced in no time.

[twistingveil]

I'll have to re-master them first.

[Her smile turns a little wry, though she's glad for the bit of levity their conversation seems to have gained.]

My magic doesn't work quite as it ought here.