CRYSTALS | Open

[aestivation]

FORM: crystal
SENDER: ya boy
RECIPIENT: all of you
WHAT: is your sending crystal running you better go catch it
WHEN: vaguely Post-Island
WHERE: kirkwall
NOTES: i'm cool with transitioning this into a mini-log if anyone actually wants to go look!

A sending crystal is missing from the storerooms.

[ the inflection's shallow, and oddly-placed — as though someone speaking across a great, flat distance. ]

The assignment records were last updated three days ago; they don't account for its absence. I've completed a search of the Gallows towers, excluding restricted and residential areas.

[ not for lack of trying. no one spoke of privacy before the rebellion. ]

I’d ask your escort through these, or barring this, that you keep an eye open within any shared living quarters and workspaces. If you've information to contribute, please inform Casimir Lyov, in Research.

I am, [ a pause. ] distinctive.

Comments

[rowancrowned]

And you, yourself?

[aestivation]

Hasmal, after Nevarra. Some might tell you those are the same.

[ they'd have been wrong for some time now ]

You aren't Orlesian, [ by the sound of it. and his willingness to call out their hats. ] Where, then?

[rowancrowned]

No, I am not. I am Sindarin, but that means nothing here, so I am a Rifter. I am Thranduil, the head of Research.

[aestivation]

It means something to you, [ no great insight, but: ] And to your actions. They carry it with them.

A pleasure, Thranduil. [ those are hollow words indeed. the shuffle of pages — ] I was told to report to a Valentine,

[ but that was a week back, and the man had never materialized. things change. (he knows better than to think he's mistaken the name) ]

Your subordinate?

[rowancrowned]

I am always pleased to be called my parent's son.

[ and, once, subject to elu thingol. he does appreciate casimir's manners, even if they are mechanical. ]

I believe so. If I am to understand correctly, he took a leave of absence and was presumed dead. I am glad to hear he is alive.

What do you do, beyond inventories of our stockrooms?

[aestivation]

Is that the usual assumption?

[ vanishing in the circle meant any number of things, and the war disappeared more faces than he can at leisure recall: a haze about them until necessity recalls their presence. he hadn't thought kostos dead, though it might have been likely. he hadn't thought of him much at all. ]

I craft runes and maintain enchantments, [ old magic has a way of going funny. ] And assist with the ravens, when necessary.

[ a pause. it doesn't fill the hours, but little use in relating that. everyone owns empty spaces in time. what one does with them — ]

My previous research regarded spirits. I've begun transcribing my notes, for review by the archivists. A personal project. If any prove applicable to the division's work, I will forward the relevant passages.

private ;

[rowancrowned]

We do not live safe and peaceful lives, [ he acknowledges. and he is well-outfitted and armed, but there have been moments in thedas wherein if he had been slower, or distracted, he would be nursing injuries. ]

I would give you your own room, a small stipend, and a measure of patronage, if you would care to think of it as that. I am in need of a secretary; someone to order my correspondence and keep a calendar, as well as keep the department in order should I need to leave Kirkwall.

Your refusal would not be taken poorly. I understand if you prefer your life ordered as it is now. Your personal project may well take precedence.

private 4evr

[aestivation]

[ safe, no. peaceful,

the silence lingers a time; he works through the angles, the cost (upon a routine so newly-settled). his own room would be — an improvement, perhaps. the workspace and its cot are sufficient, but not so quiet as they might be, even come nightfall.

and it's better to be productive. ]

I would be pleased to accept. [ might once have been, rather, but that doesn't bear statement. he'll be aware. ] What do you require of me to proceed?

[rowancrowned]

Your presence, [ he says. ] An accounting of the possessions you intent to bring from your current lodgings, so that someone might help you move them.

It would be a boon if you had recommendations from the mages or templars from your previous circle. If these are not available, it is no great concern.

[aestivation]

I’ve a small chest, and a raven. They're easily-transported.

[ he considers. ]

Knight-Commander Brycen arranged my position here before his departure. If there was documentation, I wasn't privy to it. [ never has been, but record-keeping grew strained with the rebellion. ] I worked with Myrobalan Shivana in Hasmal Circle; Kostos Averesch, and Nell Voss in Nevarra City. All are present within the Inquisition.

[rowancrowned]

I will send someone along.

[ casimir cannot take offense, and so: ]

Your Tranquility was not provoked by some scandal on your part?

[aestivation]

A scandal must be spoken of.

[ he pauses at how to explain, whether he’s able. the moratorium will have ended with Hasmal, but like any command, it lingers at the corner of his thoughts. ]

I conducted unsanctioned research, and chose Tranquility. [ it doesn't occur to name the other option. that's always been the other option. ] I was not to discuss details within the Circle.

[rowancrowned]

Was it blood magic, [ he asks, ] or any other scandal that could besmirch my reputation or the Inquisition's by association?

[ unsaid, but felt: otherwise, he doesn't care. ]

[aestivation]

My work regarded possession; I have never practiced blood magic.

[rowancrowned]

Then I see no potential conflicts. I look forward to working together.