therookery | crystal;

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crystal;

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Araceli Bonaventura
RECIPIENT: Everyone
WHAT: Offering advanced parkour lessons and trying to organise a shindig
WHEN: Now
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: Threadjacking encouraged. A few notices have been left around the Gallows to sign-up for lessons.

Inquisition, now that we're settled in Kirkwall I come to you with two very exciting propositions. As some of you know, I taught how to climb and run the walls and battlements of Skyhold, how to fall from such heights safely but alas this was not as it was at home when Skyhold was so contained. But here we are in Kirkwall! I can truly teach you how to leap from building to building if your desire and to dive into the waters from buildings and from the rigging of a ship. Of course, we start small so as not to injure your good self but if that prospect sounds intriguing, please come find me. I am Araceli Bonaventura, at your service. I'm either working at the Gallows or by the docks or you might happen to look up.

The second is a thing to celebrate and I could say that I do it as leader of the naval projects but truly? I do it as someone who loves cooking and seafood, to finally be back by the water after so long removed from it. Tell me, Inquisition, what are your favourite seafood dishes? Your favourite meals from Antiva or Rivain or places such as that? Because I thought it might be an idea to have a cookout by the waves towards the end of the month, say, the twenty-second? Everyone is welcome if they are a fan of good food and good times among friends.

[Also it's her birthday but since they don't really do birthdays that way back home, what better thing to do than have a fun time with people that have all certainly earned it?]

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Skyhold was good for a few things that here isn't. It was all enclosed where I had to practice with soldiers on watch and on patrol, patterns to memorise, patients in others. Which might not be a bad idea. [If Araceli can see the guard pattern and confirm it, then have Ellana watch and report it back? It's all practice. If she wants to learn how to sneak, it's the sort of thing she'll need to get a real handle on.]

Your body will get used to it, swimming will help to tone some of the muscles, stretches if you feel anything getting stiff but obviously not every time is a time you get to stretch. [Life being what it is.]

Let me know when you can breathe comfortably and we can keep going. I don't want you getting a stitch or dizzy up here.

Just a minute, then. I'll tell you when I'm ready.

[ She looks down over the edge, breathing hard but keeping focused as to the goings-on down below. Soldiers are moving towards the training area, several people with baskets are heading towards the garden, and two scouts are leaning against a wall having a smoke. ]

Everything is so... less organized here. Which is funny because we have this nice, centralized place for it all, but people are either sitting inside all day or milling around out here. [ Her head nods towards the scouts. ] They could do that every day at this time, or just found a free moment. Same with those guys heading to the sparring ring. And that's with people who are here everyday. Spying on others when you don't know what they're supposed to be doing must be a lot of work.

That's what city life is. People are always coming and going but it still has a rhythm and pattern to it, it just takes longer to find it. You have to be willing to put the time in to do it. [Araceli stretches, her back popping.] You know I was a thief before I was in Thedas, but to be a good thief that didn't get caught by the guards or who didn't get captured by anyone and put in a cell, I could spend days, weeks, even months learning different routes and routines. That was home, you know home. In time, people will settle, you'll know Kirkwall. Not everything is predictable but you'll learn to have as many plans as you can.

I had mouths to feed with what I was stealing but it was the thrill too. I was better than them. All those rich people with all their money and their guards and sometimes they chased me, sometimes they fought me, a few times they shot me but no one ever caught me. [That's a lie. Leandra caught her but Leandra's plan was very clever after all.] You want to be the best, it becomes your life. I ran with a gang of thieves when I was twelve. I moved to my own rooms at fifteen to provide for myself and then the rest in that building. [Araceli might have had a safety net waiting for her if she needed it but it's where everyone's different life starts to tell them apart; Ellana can survive in the wilds better than Araceli ever could, she'll always know far more about magic and what it is to live in Thedas but this is what Araceli knows. If she's better at passing that on than teaching how to spot tells remains to be seen.]

[ Months? Ain't nobody got time for that, girl.

Of course, Ellana is rather impatient, but she needs to go down this road. The front lines of battle just aren't for her anymore. So she'll have to learn patience. ]

I didn't know all that about you. [ Which surprises her. Yes, she knew a little, from when she and Araceli would sit at cards or Liar's Dice, but not the being on her own at fifteen part. ] When you watch people, well, you said guards. Is it only guards, or do you watch everyone to make sure they aren't watching you in return? And where do you watch from? Up high like here, or do you walk among them?

[Oh yes you do if the job requires that you do.]

People see what they want to see. [Lightly said but that's the point, that's almost always been the point. People know Araceli's young but now how young. People know Araceli's lived a life but not all the ins and outs. People know that Araceli can offer help and lessons but very rarely seems to ask for anything back. That's been a lesson too but it remains for her to see if people are picking up on that one.] Everyone. You watch everyone without letting them notice that you're watching them or making it obvious when you're doing something that lets you have a look around. Wherever I go? I watch. Ellana, that's why I know a person takes a tell from the table to the party to the street. To watch my own just as well. [Araceli your parents started teaching you this when you were four that you can actually remember.] Sometimes it's when I'm up here running at different times of the day but whenever I go anywhere I pay attention to where I am, what I hear, the people I see. I was a common girl and a thief. When I wasn't somewhere that I was meant to be in my home? It could have been bad.

[Not entirely unlike it would be for elves in human parts of cities or the Dalish or mages in most anywhere, maybe Ellana realises that when Araceli gives her a significant but not harsh look, indicating how she's dressed right now with one hand and then the Gallows with the other. How much does life change, all things considered.]

Everyone. [ It's repeated with a nod, to show she understands. This means no getting distracted by pretty trinkets or interesting people, Ellana. ] A person needs to have a good memory to keep all this in their head, huh? I'm worried I won't remember a person from one day to the next.

[ But she probably just needs time to adjust to this way of life. Araceli has lived and breathed it far longer than Ellana has. ]

I am sorry to say that it isn't as dangerous for me anymore. I have fail safes to fall back on, but the reason I'm doing this is to go about it the right way, and not the easier way just because I'm a mage. Besides, you never know when an enemy has accounted for a mage in their presence.

[ Namely: magebane. ]

[Oh you notice those too, the details are important.] You can train yourself. There are patterns and tricks but that bit? You learn that bit yourself, it doesn't help to try to force a thing that doesn't come naturally. [Araceli has her own odd little systems for laying it out but the older you get, the harder it is to pick up a new skill after all.] It's practice. You do it because you have to and in Kirkwall, being in the Inquisition? You're going to have to.

[Offend the wrong people here and watch something important dry up in a flash.]

Honestly? The more people that have failsafes and back-ups the better; hope for the best but prepare for the worst, that way you're armed no matter the situation. [This is the problem with so many heroic save the world types so sure that force of will or personality or belief alone will get them through.] Speaking of, time to put you through the paces, an enemy will account for you being too tired to keep going after you've climbed, trust me. I know that one personally.

It will all come with time, I guess.

[ It's said a little unconvincingly, as confidence is something Ellana still needs to work on.

But Araceli has confidence flowing off of her in waves, and that's something Ellana not only admires, but wants to emulate. It isn't easy, because her background has always been magic, not stealth, but anything worth doing is worth doing right. It does no good to sit and admire someone like Araceli while lamenting how she could never do that. She needs to be the change she wants to be. ]

Uh oh. [ But there's a hint of a smile to her face. ] What next?

The cards and dice I showed you a long time ago? I don't remember how little I was when my father and his crew sat me on their knees to play. My mother taught me how to paint my face watching hers in a mirror on the edge of her bed when I was just as small.

[Other lessons between the lines same as what Araceli's doing now, implying the other half of it. Confidence is one thing but bravado is another, do the latter well enough and no one needs to know what you're arming yourself with so long as you're willing to roll the dice.]

Running, come on, plenty of rooftop here to get used to it before you go for the fall and we can jump between parts if you're feeling bold. [Brave and bold are different things, similar but different, brave isn't what she wants to imply here and now.]

[ Ellana jumps to her feet and nods. ]

Don't worry if I do manage to fall. Bird form.

[ She points to herself. Back at Skyhold, she did her best to practice shifting in surprising moments. Usually she'd go down into the valley, looking for animals or a certain thing, and that would be her cue to shift without thinking about it. If she froze like a ice block, she'd end up vulnerable. So here's hoping she shifts without thinking if she gracelessly falls between buildings. ]

You do have to learn falling properly without the bird form too. That part is non-negotiable as part of all my lessons, not only for those learning but for my peace of mind.

[Because Araceli wouldn't forgive herself if she let someone get hurt when she could have prevented it. When all her energy is going into a thing not hers to make a better world with less chance of pain and hurt and fear for so many.

But she nods her head, takes off at a semi-brisk run to warm her body back up again close to the edge of the building. A circuit to start. To appreciate the view, the new angle to see the world by.]

[ She gives Araceli a surprised look as she gets to her feet. ]

I never said I wouldn't learn, just that I'll be all right if I happen to fall between buildings right now before you teach me. I did say I wanted to learn this the proper way, didn't I? That includes falling when you come to that part of the lesson.

[ But they aren't there yet, and Ellana has a fail safe in case she doesn't make the jumps between buildings in the meantime. When Araceli turns the lessons over towards the proper way to fall, Ellana will be as dedicated to that as to anything else so far. ]

Siento, has to be second nature. Just in case you get shot. Even if an arrow is less painful than a bullet. [Arrows are always less painful than bullets, also they generally keep the blood in you unless some sort of beast is firing them.] It's into hay first since we're up here, later, water. Because a fall into water stings more so I must teach as a dive and this is easier.

[Not everyone grows up learning how she had to so she's having to just basically reverse it all.]

If you look over the edge [Araceli points ahead as she moves, past one of the decorative pieces of the roof that's been recently repaired] you'll see where the hay is.

Where do demon claws fall on the list?

[ There's a joking quality to the question, as it's been long enough since the battle that she can say things like this. ]

Or a maul to the ribs?

[ Ah, memories. ]

I see the hay. What now?

Being shot hurts worse. Claws rake and burn but shot goes right through ad takes the flesh with it or it stays in you and you have to go dig it out. Sometimes it breaks up into little pieces and it breaks bones on the inside.

[As much as she misses having pistols herself or access to gunpowder to have an advantage, an arrow is something she can avoid and something that isn't going to do the same damage, even a crossbow bolt wouldn't do that to her.]

Remember where the hay is, we'll come back to it, now? Now we go to where this bit is and we take a running jump, push with your thighs, catch yourself with your hands and pull up.

[It's not a wide gap between what would be a narrow passageway below, mostly deserted at this hour as Araceli points ahead as she moves because this is the advanced course, if Ellana is confident enough that she can turn to a bird if something goes wrong she'll know better than Araceli.

So she runs, jumps, could make the jump but the point is to teach so she makes the catch and pulls herself up in much the same way the end of a climb is done. Jumping and rolling can be for the return since Ellana has to do the fall.]

[ Ellana has to slow down since Araceli is going first and she doesn't want to jump off the roof after her while she's still climbing up. Plus it gives her the opportunity to watch how her friend is doing this. Seems like a good exercise for the arms.

Once Araceli is out of the way where Ellana plans on jumping, she leaps, catches herself, lets out a yelp as pain shoots through her wrists, and pulls up, needing to swing a leg over like before. She hasn't built up the strength yet to leap vertically and clear the rooftop. But at least she makes it. ]

I know I didn't do it like you, but was it okay for my first attempt?

[If Araceli knew the chicken and the egg (her version is different, more convoluted to have to explain and wonder what she's losing in the translation) then it would be the situation of does she eat as much as she does because she runs it off parkouring or does the parkouring let her eat as much as she wants? Because despite her small frame and doing any of the traditional disciplines, there's a lot more muscle hidden away under her clothes than might be expected.

But Ellana's shout makes her jump, the mask of two friends out having fun sliding right off her face as she grabs her even when Ellana's safe and secure because she's done it before. Clipped herself and went falling, falling, falling, right on the wrist and she isn't so rude (remembers being poked and prodded enough for a lifetime even at medical necessity and is thankful her memories of what necessitated that in the first place are so hazy) as to grab at either wrist but she looks alarmed. More alarmed than her friend is usually used to seeing her.]

It was very good but you shouted. Are you hurt?

More surprised than anything, but I put too much weight on my wrists.

[ She rubs at them a little, wincing. ]

I need to do the climb better. Or build up my strength, I don't know. I'll get there.

I started when I was twelve, it's almost ten years. [A long time to get as good as she is with plenty of fits and starts when her body was small and young enough that so much of this is simply muscle memory.] Gaps like this and you should be able to jump them and roll, we can try that on the way back.

Thanks for not giving up on me yet.

[ The accompanying smirk suggests she's kidding and not really putting herself down. ]

I'm ready when you are.

[ She won't get breaks like this in the future, after all. ]

Anyone can learn this if they're willing to put in the time.

[You get out of it what you put in, but that would make her sound too much like a dad so Araceli shrugs, starts running by the edges because that's when some people start to lose their sense of self when they're up as high as they are (not that it's so very high, Thedas doesn't do dizzying nosebleed buildings like home) until she leads the way back, making the same jump as before but she tucks into a roll instead of showing how to leap and perform a ledge catch.]

Try to jump and land in a roll when you're jumping between things, it carries the shock of it through you and you can get up and keep moving faster. Less easy to hurt yourself.

All right.

[ This time she makes a wider jump and turns it into an awkward roll at the end. Not graceful, but she feels the shock spread out through her body instead of staying in her ankles. ]

That felt better.

[ ooc: would you be okay handwaving the rest of the lesson? ]

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