crystal; ota

[aberratic]

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Ness Tavane (tadfool)
RECIPIENT: Errbody

[ the sending crystal comes on, and a feminine voice clears their throat; she is clearly entirely new to this, and perhaps to public speaking in general, but she wants to make a good impression!! ]

Hello, Riftwatch. My name is Ennaris Tavane, I'm a recent arrival to your organization. If Ennaris is a mouthful, Ness will also do! I wanted to introduce myself, and I also have a request, should anyone be willing to assist me.

I've joined the Diplomacy division [ cuz damn do y'all seem to be the most in need of bodies ] and am eager to get my feet beneath me as far as work there goes. I can read and write with proficiency, and am an excellent note taker, should those skills be of use to anyone. I... can scribe, [ said with all the enthusiasm of someone admitting to being physically capable of mucking out the stables, yes, but— ] though my real skill lies in research and compilation of disparate sources of information. I'm happy to offer my assistance to anyone who needs it while I suss out what jobs need doing and where my skills would best be applied.

As for my request, I was hoping there might be someone—or even multiple someones—who would be willing to tutor me in history. I have several gaps in my knowledge, and would prefer to fill them in as quickly as possible. Please feel free to reply back to me here, on the crystal, or to get with me privately if you're interested. We can discuss compensation, though I admit I've not got a terribly deep purse at the moment.

Erm. Thank you for your attention. Have a good day? Binder's knots, feels like I'm talking to air...

Comments

[bouchonne]

What are your primary gaps in knowledge?

[ He suspects: all of them, unless binder's knots is some cool youth slang rather than something Rifter-ish. ]

[aberratic]

[ oh cool, someone who wants to help!

...oh no, someone who wants to help. talking around the rifter thing, maybe... ]

I've spent most of my time here already reading some of the historical texts available in the library, but I find that one can miss a little something when learning only rote facts without further context. For instance, I can say "the Orlesian occupation of Fereldan began in 8:24 Blessed and lasted until King Maric Theirin killed the Orlesian-installed Meghren in single combat in 9:00 Dragon" but without broader context, I'm just just reciting facts, I'm not really learning anything.

[bouchonne]

Ahh. So you want to know about things like - oh - the box of dried ears taken from Orlesian collaborators that I found in the attic of my uncle's home.

[aberratic]

[ fereldans: likely still salty about the occupation. noted. ]

I'm sorry if my tone was glib, sir, I merely meant to point out the difference between knowing a fact and understanding the meaning behind it.

[wythersake]

[elegiaque]

( hm, proactive— )

I'm not a historian, but I have a lot of notes on recent Riftwatch history and context for the past ten or so years that I can share.

[aberratic]

I would very much appreciate access to any such notes, recent history is the subject I'm least versed on. History books can't quite keep up with the pace of a war, it seems.

[elegiaque]

When I was — a civilian guest of the Inquisition, which is sort of the mother organisation of this one, I wrote propaganda for them for a short time and I was given a great deal of access in order to do it. So I've been in the habit of taking meticulous notes.

( she also sort of plans to write a history book, at some point, after all this; she is sometimes more and sometimes less still committed to that plan, but by now it feels as if not to do it would be a waste. )

You're new, I take it. Gwenaëlle Baudin — ( and an afterthought, like she isn't used to it yet: ) Captain of our Watch. I have a few questions for new arrivals that are probably going to sound more alarming than they actually are.

[aberratic]

[ meticulous notes, her siren song— ]

[ with all the breathy yearning of a schoolboy asking to see up someone's skirts, ] I would very much appreciate access to those notes, [ aaand now the realization she's being weird and has had to shake herself out of it, ] as well as their author, if you'd permit me some of your time. I can't imagine a better person to ask questions than someone who was there taking notes on all of it.

Ah—is this like the Personnel Officer and the Griffon Keeper? I've got nothing going at present, I can answer questions when and wherever you'd like.

crystals;

[wythersake]

I should be happy to act reference for any gaps in Circle history.

[aberratic]

That would be very much appreciated, I'm not terribly clear on their history—I'm only 20, so.

[ conceivably, she could have come into her magic in a world after the circles fell and never had need to learn too much about them. she didn't! but she could have. ]

[wythersake]

Of course. It's been a tumultuous decade, I imagine that scholarship will ask several more to settle.

[ the survivors tell the story. there will be fewer of those. if he's yet to take her for a mage at all —

well. he's spent the past several years about the idle rich, they don't universally flock for university. riftwatch has never owned a shortage of would-be academics. ]

What particularly draws you study?

[aberratic]

[ ah, see—speaking to someone who's not trying to catch her out (unlike some others who shall not be named), ness is less invested in carrying on the obfuscation. ]

Well, as a Rifter, everything. I've laid a good base for myself, but I don't think just reading about the history is going to be as edifying as hearing about it from people who lived it, or who have been immersed in its effects.

[sprent]

Hello, Ennaris! We're very happy that you're joining us in the Diplomacy division. If you need any help with settling in here, please let me know.

[aberratic]

And I am very happy to join you, goodlady!

[ a moment of hesitation while she debates with herself about trying to appear helpful vs asking the question she actually wants to ask, then— ]

As far as getting settled, I've been sleeping most nights in the library, which I'd prefer to avoid going forward, but I don't have any idea how to set up a tent or what would be a good place to do so. Is that something you might be able to help with...?

[sprent]

(Gela sounds slightly horrified,) Yes! Of course, I can have that sorted for you — we can put a tent up today. I'm sorry you felt like you had to sleep elsewhere. Were you at least warm?

[aberratic]

Oh—yes, quite warm! The nights are warm enough themselves it's hardly a struggle to sleep without a tent, it's simply—well, it might sound silly, I find it somewhat disrespectful to the library to sleep there, honestly. That's not what it's for.

I don't want it to sound as though anyone neglected me, [ bene did a fine job! really!!! ] I was given the tent and a bedroll and all, I was just too shy to mention I haven't the faintest clue how to set one up, or where I'd be most out of the way. It's my fault, really.

[sumptus]

Why history?

[aberratic]

How is one meant to fit in someplace when one is ignorant of its history? History, whence comes culture and tradition, shapes a place and a people. If I don't know the history, I'll always be on the back foot. It'd be like entering every conversation blind and deaf.

[sumptus]

[ hm. ]

The books in the library not good enough for you?

[aberratic]

Books are a good starting point, I've learned quite a lot from them already. In my opinion, though, rote memorization by itself is a job half-done. "Following the Llomerryn Accords in 7:84 Storm, the northern Rivaini people—Qunari, by definition, and thus compelled to follow the rest of the conquering horde to their new archipelago home—refused to leave their homeland. Unable to turn their people back to the light of the Maker, the Rivaini Chantry slaughtered them in an attempt to purge them from the nation."

I can recite for you many such facts, but none of them will tell you a single thing about how this battle or that treaty affected the people who experienced it, and how those effects rippled out to touch us, now. Were there survivors of this attempted purge? How did they respond to the slaughter of their neighbours, their families, their friends? Does the rest of Rivain know what was done to their countrymen, and do they agree with it? If they do not know, how was this information suppressed within the country, but made it into Sister Petrine's scholarship without?

Without understanding that, the facts I recited—they're just words.

[biggame]

Your books—

[ she knows a nerd when she hears one ]

—do they say anything about the Scaled Ones?

[aberratic]

[ you'd be a nerd too if you grew up in the greatest library in your whole world. ]

Scaled Ones? [ a long pause while she racks her brain. ] I think... there was some mention of them? Somewhere? I can't recall, they weren't what I was focused on and there wasn't a lot on them. I think my notes might just say "also Scaled Ones may or may not exist, whatever those are."

[biggame]

Oh, they definitely exist. I’ve seen the records and found some weird shit down deep. Rusted old gauntlets with spots for their talons to stick out, like.

They’re hiding, that’s all. Might have left Thedas altogether. My guess is they’re the Executors now. Your books mention them?

[aberratic]

[ the sound of furious scribbling. ]

If they did, I didn't note them down as important. Are these relevant to the war we're fighting, or personal curiosities? Either way I'm intrigued.