serjeant: (→ says it's all for your fun)
the blacksmith ([personal profile] serjeant) wrote in [community profile] therookery2017-09-18 04:33 pm

mail delivery.

FORM: Crystal.
SENDER: Seoraj Allaway.
RECIPIENT: You lot.
WHAT: Couple things.
WHEN: Current.
WHERE: Kirkwall.
NOTES: If your character has anyone who'd write them from Val Royeaux, feel free to put their hand up as one of the names he reads out.


This a funny little thing, isn't it. Ho, the Inquisition;

( and this is a very distinctly starkhaven accent, too, and the warm, somewhat gravelly voice it belongs to might be recognisable to some of those listening to it, )

your new blacksmith. Got a few letters come out of Val Royeax for - ( he goes through the names, mostly not mangling the pronunciation though there are a few that give him trouble and he sounds them out with care ) - if you want to come down to the forge for 'em. Don't mind coming to you, if needs be, and I'd mind less if you were inclined to be grateful.

( give him a beer it was a long trip. )

Other'n that, if you see a little fellow looks like he last bathed before he were born and answers to name of Yngvi, tell him Seoraj is looking for him and how high I toss him in the air depends how long it takes me to find him.

( Disclaimer probably won't toss him in the air. He sounds affectionate, not like he's owed money. )
dashing: (♛ iarr.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
( The accent and the name separately might not be significant, but the two together give her pause. Her voice is a little hesitant. His phrasing seems quite clear, but triple checking:)

Seoraj. Is that your name, or some other party?
Edited 2017-09-18 04:48 (UTC)
dashing: (♛ nèamh.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
Not so far as I recall.

( She wishes she could summon up a playful tone. Instead: more hesitation. It's--

Alarming and comforting and terrifying and a relief, all at once, to encounter those from her home, the home she has not returned to, that she loves, that she has neglected. "Duty" seems like dust in her mouth. )


Herian Amsel, ser.
dashing: (♛ fàillidh.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
( Maker's mercy. She exhales, amused disgust, and resists the kickback that isn't quite instinctive, but feels familiar with Seoraj. She's not seen him since she was very young. She can't remember if he used the tongue of the alienage, or only common - it varied so, and she does not trust such nuances to old memories. )

That girl is a Knight Enchanter of the Spire, Seoraj, and probably as tall as you.

( dream big Herian dream big )
dashing: (♛ coimhead.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
( how dare he but also bless him )

The market. ( which she will probably regret... saying... eAe ) I can make my way to you, unless you've need of rest.
dashing: (♛ meòraich.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
You've not seen me since I was small.

( should she be concerned
how will he recognise her?
how will she recognise him??? )
dashing: (♛ fan.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
( literally not even reunited yet and already gently and lovingly trolling her life )

I hardly carry a banner advertising the fact. So far as I know, no minstrels are following me to declare my presence in song.
dashing: (♛ am fealla-dhà.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
I'm gracious enough that I'll not throw an apple at your head, if you find me now.

( At least there's that small comfort.

And though she doesn't quite know how to respond to the present situation, she looks for a landmark. And there it is: a stall with books, unusual and expensive enough to stand out amongst all the rest. )


Valentino's Vade Mecum. A clue for you.
dashing: (♛ fìor.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
( Her reunion with Saoirse was, simply put, rather more dignified. Herian doesn't have time for so much as a "ah, you found the place with the pretentious name" (not that she'd say it, but she'd think it) before she's being hoisted up into the air.

It'd be a lie to say she remains totally silent. Hello childhood friend, goodbye dignity. )


Breò-chual de nathair-sgiathach! ( Slightly colourful Starkhaven outbursts; something along the lines of dragon’s pyre )

Put me down, Seoraj!
dashing: (♛ bruidhinn.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 09:43 am (UTC)(link)
( Her mood, summarised: the very severest "no".

It's derailed a bit when she looks down at him. )


You have a beard.

( Despite herself, she sounds really quite impressed. He's very tall and definitely burly (for an elf, if not quite so burly by human standards) and he has a beard. She vaguely remembers slingshotting mud at his face, once, when she was very young. Oh, nostalgia. )

Yes. ( wait. ) Will you set me down? We're making a spectacle of ourselves.
dashing: (♛ feallsanachd.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 10:04 am (UTC)(link)
( Shem, a word she had not quite forgotten before the Spire fell, but that was more a distant, strange memory, almost faded away and brought hurtling back into familiarity. She wasn't fond of it; it sits uncomfortably on her skin, a dirt she can't scrub off, but she says nothing. The elves are the wronged, she is human, she must live with the title the humans have won themselves, with all their victories. )

Humans enjoy far too much in excess. Perhaps as much can be said for their beards.

( And belonging, familiarity, twisted together with a strange, desperate need to be accepted by people she is not sure she is worthy of; their language, their myths. She cannot quite make herself say shem, not reliably, but she can mock humans in the general sense, at certain times, their excesses an innocent target. All the same, it sticks guiltily in her throat, though, like indulging this childish side might go against some of the morals, ideals, the rules she holds so dear, even as she knows that in the general sense, humans are not victims when set against the elves.

Maker, sometimes she despises the shape of her bones and the way her skin stretches over them more than she can rightly say, when absurd feelings tug at her. It was easier to say nothing, to speak only on the most crucial points, and that was not easy when engaging socially rather than simply as a knight ever on the move and never long in one place.

Discomfort feels all the more stark when behind held up on someone's shoulder, instead of being free to move. Helpfully, she turns Seoraj's head the way they should go. )
There's a tavern, this way.
dashing: (♛ plìon.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-18 10:21 am (UTC)(link)
( She's surprised; Herian is not a great drinker, and truthfully her default means of socialising is tavern more because that is where other people tend to be, than out of great personal interest. A slight amendment: some of them have decent enough food that she deems them good enough to attend with Cosima. )

Tea?

( Herian exhales a breath of almost-not-quite-barely laughter, which is really more like a slightly amused huff than actual laughter. )

Better suited to both of us, then. ( Yes, a tearoom sounds good. But: ) I can walk there myself, though.
dashing: (♛ beachdaich.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-21 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
( Herian observes, listens, watches. It is strange and uncomfortable and wonderful to see someone she has not known in so long. Childhood memories that were fogged a little by trauma, the passage of time, and no one to relive them with once she and Saoirse were separated with Starkhaven's alienage burning. It reminds her of things, seeing Seoraj already greeted like family. Her own mother was very fond of him, as she remembered, and a little smile tugs the corner of her mouth. She can ask for news of her family, perhaps, depending on whether Seoraj's being in Orlais was a reflection of permanent change, or just a trip.

She thanks the shopkeeper, and moves towards a table, running her fingers over the worn surface. So much of this feels nostalgic, somehow, reminds her of salves and hanging herbs and experimental teas made to see if they could prevent ailments and fortify, or if they were better suited for soothing and healing once they had set it. It all feels very fragile, somehow, and Herian's certain it wouldn't feel so strange if Seoraj were not here. )


Hard pressed to make friends as ever you were, I see.
dashing: (♛ coimhead.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-22 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
Not so very long. A little over a year; I first arrived with them when their forces were stationed near Halamshiral, towards the end of Solace, I think. ( She smiles very slightly. ) I was helping some refugees make it to the Inquisition, and the shelter of Skyhold. There were friends of mine here that thought I might deem it a worthy cause, but I was away on a mission for some... six months. I'd wager you are better familiar with half the Inquisition than I am in some... twelve days, Seoraj, if that.

( There is a slight smile, though her voice is soft and even and careful. She had been quieter when last he saw her as well, had been disinclined to say or do much after her father died - perhaps that's better than if he had known that she'd been brighter again, louder and more mischievous, before the Spire fell. )

Before that I moved through Orlais, helping where I could. Were you based there? You mentioned Val Royeaux I— it would be a strange thing, if we had managed to cross paths before without realising.
dashing: (♛ ré-sholas.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-22 11:58 am (UTC)(link)
( Part of her has a mind to catalogue the differences they have accumulated. She has tattoos as well, though they end at her wrists, covered up in the dark cloth of her robes, but stretching along the back of her arms, shoulders, down either side of her spine in abstract floral patterns. One corner of her mouth has a little scar, and one of her ears has been disfigured, though that for now is covered by her hair falling over it. All the better not to dwell on that, now. )

For me, it would depend to where I was rushing.

( She pauses for a long moment, sipping the tea, trying to think what to say; how much context she'll need to add, what he'll know, if she can skip all this at all and just beg for knowledge of Starkhaven, but that seems selfish, somehow. It seems wrong. Talking about herself and offering up information might be self-indulgent in another way. )

I lived near Val Royeaux for some years. After the Circle at Starkhaven was lost to fire, I was sent to the White Spire. That's where I reached the rank of Enchanter.

( Again, will that mean anything? Will it be an achievement? She truly has no idea, anymore.

Ask about Starkhaven, she thinks again — she does not ask about Starkhaven, though. )
I'm sure those you helped were grateful, in their own fashion.

( Admittedly doubtful. )
dashing: (♛ deò.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-22 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Your doubt might be justified.

( A little wry, before she sips the tea. She could not say the same of his... motivations in offering aid. Monetary reward to do something that was right and necessary? That was not an easy concept, but she did not know the circumstances, could not imagine that Seoraj might have saved human nobility for their gold over poor elves unable to pay for the same rescue.

It has been a long time since they were well acquainted; perhaps she is too naive in her nostalgia and her fondness, but the thought does not occur to her now. )


I spoke more with elves than humans, after the Spire. There were a good many refugees I travelled with, but— in times such as these, it is not always easy to deduce what destination will make them safer than the places they would flee from. I would be tempted to damn Orlais to its nobility and its Dalish, but there are so many of its elves that love it fiercely.

( Worth saving for them, perhaps, if no one else. )

Have you been home recently, then? ( Her effort to be casual—

— she doesn't really make an effort to be casual, honestly. )
dashing: (♛ coimhead.)

[personal profile] dashing 2017-09-23 08:07 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sorry.

( She would say that she knows how hard it is not to be able to go home, but that seems stupidly obvious. She'd also say she knows how hard the very act of going home can be. It's not as though she has ventured back to Starkhaven since the Spire fell, and it's hard to pinpoint why, at times. Fear, perhaps. Duty could not be dismissed either, she had been determined over and over to help elves find safety away from the humans and Dalish that tormented them. She has dedicated hours, days, month upon month to helping people, and though all of that had been done with sincerity and the best of intentions there had still been a duty neglected in the midst of it. Fear had claimed a piece of her as it should never be able to a knight, invading her heart and making itself all too comfortable.

But, for the first time, there is the potential of news. )


I would be very glad of whatever news you might have to tell me. Though—

( Her smile is very slight, and more self-conscious than she generally allows herself to be. ) If I might selfishly ask for any news of my mother first, I'd be most grateful for your indulgence.