open ||

[degenere]

FORM: sending crystal
SENDER: Val de Foncé (and with him, as always, is Jehan Mercier)
RECIPIENT: e v e r y o n e
WHAT: the scholars of Orlais have something to say.
WHEN: now, right now
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: aren't they charming.


Inquisition, we are confused.

[Melodious, Orlesian, flirtatious (somehow even in this most simple of sentences): these are three words one might use to describe the sound of Val's voice. It makes confused sound kind of fun, if a bit puzzling.]

My friend and I have come all this way to be an asset to you. And now we have arrived here, to your Skyhold, and we find so much to be in want. How have you all managed so far, with these conditions? I am a man used to the roughness of a camp, a life of travel. I love this life. You'll find no one loves it more than me. But a camp, that is one thing, and this? It is meant to be a city, of a sort. Yet there is no apartment for us. There is barely a work space, in your library--we have been, my friend and I. We have seen the conditions. There is barely a book there.

I am sorry for you, Inquisition.

[So sincere. A pause, in which he has pressed a hand to his chest, in a deep show of pity. And then, briskly, cheerfully:]

But we will not leave you there, in sorrow. The good news. You now have, among your numbers, me. An introduction: Valentine de Foncé, a master architect, among many other masteries, too numerous to name. If you ask sweetly, I'll tell you them all. If you ask very sweetly, I'll give demonstration. And for the Inquisition, I will offer my services, and my knowledge--and so, too, does my friend. If only so we can get a decent space in which we can do our work. And believe me: you want this. We have arrived to be your greatest blessing.

Now, tell me. With business sorted: what does anyone do for fun around here?

Comments

[degenere]

Please. We are not so unreasonable.

Obviously we would share.

[degenere]

Is that so? What luck. Then I am owed four lockable doors, at the very least. With large locks and hinges, and a spyglass to see who is approaching. A bell to ring, one that plays a melody.

Jehan is owed three. See to it, please.

[the_effect_she_has]

The poor and the outcase sleep where-ever there's a roof with no hole and a warm fire. The library provides both.

[degenere]

Well, my friend, that will altogether depend. I have seen this desperate hole you speak of. It, too, moved me to pity. I may have wept a little. As a student of architecture, I hate to see such conditions. I descended to the lower levels and asked Jehan to say a prayer for the poor tower.

But the commander, that is another matter. First we must ask: is this commander deserving of a roof for his tower?

[degenere]

An entertainer! I was pleased to see such colors, I will tell you. Here it is so... grey. And white. And brown, to lighten the mood. Then you have no use for the barracks, you have your own accommodations. Very smart for you.

What is it that you do, to entertain?

[degenere]

A High--

[And here is where Val drops his sending crystal in his excitement.]

[degenere]

[Wait, what.]

Your pardon. People actually are sleeping in the library. Not scholars. Actual people.

[fourscores]

The only names I've ever earned have been due to killing, so I think I can manage that.

[rowancrowned]

The tower, but not the Man?

I fear not for the commander, but for those who have made a sport of the hole, or what can be seen through it.

[universal_charm]

Or suffering from a severe case of some sort of Stockholm Syndrome.

[fledglingenchanter]

I beg to differ ser, bridges and aqueducts, and walls are all quite responsible buildings. If they do not support where it is needed, then everything and everyone depending on them would quickly be lacking.

[justice_is_blond]

...Yes. It's the masks.

[Delivered deadpan.]

Masks make Orlesians delusional. All of the glitter and bits and bobs make them feel more important than other people based on birth alone.

[dreadinquisitor]

I... can point you in the right direction.

[Sorry, Josie but messing with Skyhold - thank the maker - seemed a bit above his pay grade.]

You'll need to work out the logistics with the quartermaster; you'll find him in his office off the forge. A proposal will need to go through the advisors for approval.

[He'd be sure to pass on a warning.]

[the_effect_she_has]

Yes, actual people. So are you going to help them or are you just here to make fun of us?

[issala]

If you're not here to fix shit, then what use are you? We got plenty of stuck-up nobles already.

[el_tybs]

[He's expecting to hear 'dragon' so when there is a thud instead Sambstares at his stone.]

Aaa-ummm

[Did he fall down some stairs?]

[degenere]

Fascinating. And tell me, what names are those?

[degenere]

Of course the tower. The roof isn't the fault of the tower, nor is what can be seen. If this commander didn't want men spying on what he gets up to in his quarters, perhaps he should move.

[degenere]

Monsieur. What implications. Jehan is a clean and holy man.

[degenere]

Ah, again: responsible. A structure as these has a responsibility, that is true. But it cannot be responsible. It is a building. Its responsibility is to be sound, to stand firm and serve the purpose asked of it.

But to be responsible? Only a man can be responsible.

Or, not.

[degenere]

You are not saying that you are among those who sleep in the library.

[degenere]

They do lend the face an inflated sensibility. You think so little of high births, then?

[degenere]

Another who would send me to this quartermaster. I suppose if he is the one with the supplies, I would begin with him, yes--but why should I need approval to improve this place in which we all must live? Surely they would be happy to see such a thing.

[degenere]

Not like me you haven't.

Besides, I prefer to build far more than I do to repair.

[justice_is_blond]

I think birth is birth. There are good people who are born to nobility, and worthless ones, just as there are good people born to those weighed down by poverty and worthless ones. The worth of a person should be determined by what's under their control, not what is not.