(002.) hello fade rift my old friend

[dashing]

FORM: crystal
SENDER: Herian Amsel
RECIPIENT: all the Inquisiton
WHAT: sup
WHEN: whatever today might wind up being in fair Thedas.
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Hello! So Herian's background has some dark themes,
and she has some pretty harsh attitudes about mages, the Dalish, and pretty much anything that takes her fancy. I've got an opt out post if there's anything you want me to avoid touching on.

I fear it had been overlong since last we spoke, Inquisition.

( Crisply spoken words, the touch of Starkhaven shaping each sound. )

For those not yet known to me: I am Herian Amsel, Knight Enchanter of the White Spire. For those better acquainted with me, I apologise for my abrupt absence. My orders bid me elsewhere.

( ... and that's all she has to say about that, smoothly moving on. )

I hope the seasons and the Free Marches have not treated you poorly. However, I am bound to lament our residence in any portion of them that is not Starkhaven.

( There is just the faintest touch of humour, maybe. Possibly. You probably imagined it. )

Maker willing, Kirkwall will treat you all with kindness.

Comments

private;

[limier]

[ she deliberates some time before speaking. more than two years have made amsel an unknown; to call the conversation's potential precarious is to understate. better, she decides at last, that this not come as a surprise: some chance meeting around a corner like darton and his fucking cowardice —

better to think it through. to give them both room to approach this as they might.

(to clear some of the gravel from her throat,) ]

Knight-Enchanter. [ the words come evenly, when they finally do. ] This is Coupe.

[ can’t bring herself to append the title just now. ]

I had not known you with the Inquisition.

[ Unspoken, unsaid: I had not known you lived. Had known enough of Vipond to rather assume not. ]

private;

[dashing]

( There are not words that immediately supply themselves, words that are formed with adequate care and consideration, words that will not betray some element of her. The bonus is that she was prepared for the Inquisition to have changed a little. She does not know who else might have been called to missions, who might have fallen through another rift back into their own realms. There is a great deal she does not know, and though it displeases her, she accepts it grudgingly.

Hearing the voice of a survivor of the White Spire, of someone known to her for many years, is a relief. Hearing the voice of a templar comes with a certain amount of fear, for all that she compartmentalises. Not all followed orders without hesitation; not all were Élodie. And yet. )

Knight-Lieutenant Coupe. It is a relief to know you yet live.

( For all she knew, Coupe could well have returned to the Spire for the Annulment. She could have been sent on errands to help its orchestration. )

Only a few months was I here before my departure was necessary. I doubt there would be much reason for my name to be discussed.

private eternally; no boys allowed etc

[limier]

Ah. That is to say, likewise. There have been — too few.

[ If it's no great show of feeling, that's the least she can do. If there's a time and a place for deep emotion, it's still not here, where there's so much chance to overspill. Wren's hand is in this as much as any of them, one way or another; however she mourns their failure, that grief must pale.

Meet information with information, not trust given, but the bare exchange that might pass for it. Old guides of easement, drawn out of context here. It still seems prudent to offer. ]

I am certain you do yourself too little credit; I arrived but some six months prior, and my scope here has been limited.

[ She remembers well Amsel's reputation, however peculiarly absent thus far (expects anger from this one, if any of them; finds herself bracing not for the heat of temper but its lack).

Humility? Or caution? Taste the words and find them much the same. The tallest wheat meets the scythe.]

[circleprodigy]

Welcome back, Knight-Enchanter. I hope your efforts elsewhere met with success.

[There's a warmth in her voice, and a happy bark in the background.]

I admit Kirkwall does take some...adjustment, but our situations has much improved since first arrival.

[dashing]

Warden.

( A warden that isn't shady as hell, too. What a blessing, what a gift. )

Time will tell, I suspect. I am cautious of over-confidence, in such times as these.

( Ugh, the dog though. She doesn't make an audible ugh, though - babysteps. ) Oh? Dare I ask?

[circleprodigy]

[There's the creak of a chair as she settles in.]

Red lyrium, tears in the Veil...the Gallows was a mess when we first arrived. At least we managed their removal, as well as the statues that gave unwanted memories. The Veil is still thin, of course, but now at least we won't have literal hauntings to contend with.

[thecookery]

Should that be us all? Or are you not planning to stick round long this time?

[dashing]

I cannot say. Where I go depends on the orders I am given.

( A pause, and, ) I hope you have been well, Avery.

[thecookery]

[She lets out a breath that is... somewhere between a sigh and a laugh?]

Overworked and underpaid, but well enough. Hopefully you can say the same. And that you've earned at least a bit of rest after so long. I wager some here'd be glad of hearing so.

[Avery may not really know People, but by this point, she certainly knows Cosima well enough to figure they're... something??? To each other? Whatever that something might be.]

Why would this be private?

[youwonscience]

I'd say we should go on a field trip to Starkhaven, but given my history with field missions, maybe we shouldn't tempt fate.

Also, do you have a favorite baked good? No particular reason.

no reason ever!!!

[dashing]

There is no great rush; our hands are doubtless full here.

( ha ha ha she's not avoiding going home at ALL no no way nothing to do with trauma ever nope not usin duty as a (legitimate-ish) reason to not go to Starkhaven and see her relatives haha what are you saying )

I have not tried an abudenance. Any claim to a favourite might be ill-informed. What would you recommend?

[youwonscience]

[Cool cool cool that's a great subject to keep avoiding.]

Okay, well, anything Avery makes is pretty great, but I was thinking of trying to see if we could develop an Earth delicacy called churros and I need help taste-testing it.

It's really, really important, so it's a good thing you're back.

[elegiaque]

You again, Amsel.

( She is not displeased. )

[dashing]

Well observed, Lady Vauquelin.

( She is not as dickish as she can be. A friendship for the ages. )

You are well, I trust?

[elegiaque]

I am in Kirkwall.

( Under protest. )

You won't be turned away at the gate, if you happen to have cause to be in Hightown.

[foxsays]

Welcome back, señora Amsel, if you wish to catch up on what you've missed, I have an office in the Gallows or rooms of my own down by the docks.

I even have my very own kitchen.

[Say hello to the person attempting to build you guys a navy ayyy]

[dashing]

I should be glad to hear your accounts of things. ( If nothing else, she is sure different people will value different events for their significance - she suspects that the more she hears of things, the better. )

Have you been well, Lady Bonaventura? ( a navaaayyyy, if you will )

[foxsays]

Let me know when you'd like to come for dinner then, we have a good view of the docks and I never know how to cook enough for just two people. [So if you've got people you want to take plenty of food to Herian, you can take all the food you like to those people.]

Busy. Good busy. Being by the sea somewhere more like home makes me miss it more and less in the same breath. What of you - one day you were here and then you were gone, and no amount of asking the scouts or the soldiers would get a word out of them. [Not bad, not bad, you can come to the parties.]

[mythalenaste]

It's good to have you back. [There's a smile in Pel's voice.]

[dashing]

Pel. I am glad to have returned. ( Her tone is... warm, by Herian general standards. One of only two Dalish she doesn't prefer far far away. What an achievement, what an honour. ) I trust you are well?

Are you amongst the Inquisition ranks in Kirkwall?

[mythalenaste]

Yes. We're living in the Gallows. You ought to come meet the baby. You did save our lives, once.

[sulena]

It is quite a shame we did make headquarters in Starkhaven instead, but I suppose the city does not have a fortress to spare like Kirkwall does.

( a sigh, but then: she laughs happily. )

Herian, caraid dhomh. It is always good to hear your voice.

[dashing]

( She reasons that there is a limited collection of people likely to run into her that would remember her fondly who would also be familiar with the tongue of the alienage. Someone from her first or second homes (both, really) and it takes her a few seconds to process - a mage, one that accidentally attacked guards and could have stirred their ire against the elves, and if that were not enough, a halfbreed, were each separate reasons for others to have a less than fond regard for her.

She was walking, and the surprise causes her to almost falter, for a moment, and perhaps it is best for her dignity that the crystal allows only voice communications, so far as she knows. There's a long pause before she replies, and then it hits her rather suddenly. )

Saoirse? ( None of the formality that tends to edge her words, be it sincere or playful. ) I— It has been so long! Dè mar a tha sibh?

( Except that she's rusty, and it comes out a bit formal. Oops. )

[universal_charm]

What is a 'Knight Enchanter'?

_{[ Been here a year and still so much to learn. You are a very dense, tangled skein aren't you, Thedas? ]}

[dashing]

( listen, to be fair, Thedas is what the locals call a "hot mess" so really Kirk's blame-free )

It is a specialty of magic, taught in Circles. Knight Enchanters are servants of the Chantry; we are trained to focus our magicks to take take, called a Spirit Blade. We serve as warriors, to fight alongside Templars.