this is fine.

[ipseite]

FORM: Crystals.
SENDER: Petrana de Cedoux.
RECIPIENT: All y'all.
WHAT: A request, and an offer.
WHEN: Current.
WHERE: Kirkwall; wherever people are that have crystals.
NOTES: Warnings TBA if necessary.

( the sound of a woman clearing her throat; two soft, dull thuds. she may have tapped the crystal. then, a voice unlikely to be familiar to many yet, quiet and steady and bearing some resemblance to the finer orlesians in the inquisition's company; )

Excuse me. I would like to know if it would be possible for me to have or - also or to borrow any books which are not important to you. I am not concerned very greatly with their content - I would like a recipe book, if this is possible, but mostly I would like words written in the common language of the Inquisition.

I would further be very grateful if it is possible for someone to make time to assist me in learning to read these books. ( it's a little wry, rueful in a quiet way. ) I am happy to trade work for your time - I can clean and mend as well as any, and I know also simple remedies and means to make the hearth more pleasant.

( she does not have the voice of a woman who sounds as if she does a lot of cleaning and mending. )

My name is Madame de Cedoux, and I reside now within the Gallows. I am very grateful to the Inquisition and only wish to make myself useful.

Comments

[toujoursdroit]

I take it you are one of the new arrivals, Madame de Cedoux? I have a few volumes that may serve, though I fear none of them are on the subject of cooking.

[pinprick]

I have books, and I can teach you. [Is she a Rifter? No doubt. Rifters have made him suspicious for a long time, but they've been around so long and not done anything demon-like. If they are demons, they are very restrained demons, and demons are anything but restrained. Moreover, they were not part of Corypheus' victory in the dark future, as far as he knows, so. Humble pitiable Rifter girl stirs his sympathy.]

[circleprodigy]

Would Thedosian history or magic interest you? Those are the only subjects I currently possess.

[foxsays]

I would be happy to volunteer the time, Madame Cedoux. I haven't any recipe books though I have several others in my possession as part of my studies that I can lend you if you wish to look them over. I do have notes too, written in the common tongue.

[Recipes are all in what looks like Antivan, which is what Araceli's accent so often sounds like to a stranger who doesn't know her better.]

And I am certain that good company would be payment enough, no? [Gently said but. She knows a certain sort of voice, if not who it belongs to.]

[aforethought]

Know plenty of recipes if that's all you want.

[ put something in a pot and warm it up, it's not like it's hard, who needs a book for that? ]

[ipseite]

I am, yes. I would be very grateful to you all the same, sir, thank you. May I come and collect them?

[ipseite]

That's extremely kind of you, sir, I appreciate your time. I am, as I say, more than happy to offer in return what I might.

[ipseite]

They would very much. Books of magic are long since gone or hidden, where I am come from - I am fascinated to see what is written here.

[ipseite]

You have a rare outlook, ( more gently said than dry, but still: nothing in the world is free. )

I would be glad of anything you might lend.

[ipseite]

It is my wish to become literate in the local way. And I have never been an especially gifted cook. Two birds, as my husband might say.

[justice_is_blond]

I'd be glad to teach you. What books I have are on herbs and diseases and the body, of course, as well as a few treatises on the nature of people and freedom.

...And a couple of spell books.

[Because he expects magic to be interesting to her.]

[byblow]

There's a pretty big library. Just make sure you cover your mouth and your nose when you take a book down, for the dust. And take a sword, for the demons.

[ There are no demons anymore. ]

[pinprick]

Don't worry about it. [Nathaniel is made uncomfortable by excessive Manners. Manners (different from courtesy or politeness) are used like masks in Orlais, intended to hide something. Maybe humble-pitiable is also a mask. But he can't live with himself if he risks dismissing someone who actually needs help.]

[ipseite]

You've done so much already - ( a half-hearted protest too pleased to be convincing. )

I'd very much like to be able to read of magic.

[circleprodigy]

In the local library, we have a wealth of such information. Admittedly, much of it comes with a Chantry-centric slant, but speaking to mages not affiliated with the Circle can round out such perspectives.

Why is there a dearth of information regarding magic in your world?

[ipseite]

( alarmed; ) Demons?

[ipseite]

I would prefer to offer something in exchange.

( it's polite, still, that same pleasantness; a little firmer. in time, she will learn who she can and can't trust - til then she doesn't wish to risk debts she can't see. )

A small thing only. For my comfort.

[ipseite]

The practise and promotion of witchcraft is a crime punishable by death.

( how terribly frankly she says it. )

Those who possess such knowledge must take great care.

[pinprick]

[Oh. That makes sense, to him. Honor, or unwillingness to be indebted.]

As you please, my lady. I do have some shirts that need to be patched, and I haven't had time for them.

[ipseite]

Perhaps you would read to me while I mend them?

( more at ease. )

I hope to have a small collection to familiarise myself with. There is much generosity here.

[circleprodigy]

...well. That is not true of Thedas, fortunately. In fact, this is an unprecedented time of freedom, though it has come at the cost of much. We are not certain how long it will last, but the fact remains that being born a mage is not an automatic death sentence. However, blood magic is hated and feared. It is often the exception to that 'new normal', if mages are seen wielding it.

[ipseite]

Yes - Anders has explained much to me.

( a pause, and then - )

In Lamorre, no one is born a witch any more than you are born a...dancer, or a librarian. It is a different ... context. A different set of expectations, to what magic is and means. I am very glad to have the opportunity to explore what it is here.

( you know shit's bad when thedas looks good. )

[byblow]

Mmm. Those angry ugly bastards from the Fade—?

[ipseite]

There are not demons in your library.

( are there. that's a very tight voice. )

[pinprick]

Well, if your eyes are on your mending, how will you learn how to read our language?