sixthiterationlogs | the champion's rogue heart

Entry tags:

the champion's rogue heart

WHO: Astrid Hawke
WHERE: Fountain, Inn
WHEN: April 26th and 27th
OPEN TO: ALL
WARNINGS: TBD
STATUS: OPEN

April 26th - Fountain, Midday

Hawke is fairly certain that the Nightmare Demon she was fighting didn't have the ability to make her drown. Then again, she was in the Fade last she checked and the Fade is malleable enough to manage that. Still, the demon knows she hates spiders most of all. Why it would try to drown her is beyond her comprehension at the moment.

Not that she minds not staring at giant arachnids at the moment, but it is confusing.

Those thoughts flit across her mind as she struggles to push herself to the surface of the water. She can see it glinting above her like Isabela's ship, like a priceless personal goal that's just out of reach. Just a little further. She reaches, her hand breaks through, and then she's sucking in deep lungfuls of air as she pushes herself up and out, nearly falling over the edge and onto the ground below. For a few seconds, she just lies there, catching her breath and looking around for any sign of the Nightmare Demon.

Nothing. Groaning to herself about the way her life has gone, she finally rolls over and pushes herself to her feet. "That's two apologies the Chantry owes me," she complains with her usual dry humor. "This doesn't look like the Maker's bosom, either."

April 27th - Inn

Hawke takes up a room at the Inn at the first opportunity and her first day is spent just trying to cope. Of course, Hawke's version of coping is hardly the same as everyone else's, so mostly she stays away and tries to figure out what she can. She gets the main idea of the place and that's enough. No one has heard of Thedas. It's enough to make a girl crazy.

So the next day, she hangs out in the Inn proper and not in her room. It almost reminds her of the Hanged Man and that realization brings with it a squeeze of pain. She misses her companions, even if it was her choice to leave Kirkwall. She wonders vaguely how Bethany is doing, if Isabela has managed to find herself a new ship, if Fenris ever cleaned his estate, what Merrill is doing now, and if Aveline and Donnic have decided to try for children. They would make good parents, she thinks. Her mind wanders to Varric and she finds herself smiling into her cup of tea as she sits by the fire. She misses him most of all and she knows he probably misses her, too. He and Aveline were her best friends and she really misses their counsel. And Varric's very broad sense of humor and storytelling.

She keeps her mind pointedly away from Anders. That is a subject she would rather avoid.

Once she has drained her cup, with or without company, she sets about asking for work, trying to see if anyone needs any kind of help. Anyone nearby may find her walking up to start a conversation with a quick, "Mind if I ask you something?" If they say no, she'll start asking and hopefully not badgering, but if they say no, she'll politely leave them alone. Or as politely as possible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A light smile touched Moana's lips while understanding reflected in the deep brown hue of her irises. "I understand. I started by making fishing nets. Through the winter there wasn't much in the woods but there were fish. I think someone is going to organizing planting soon and there are materials that you can borrow in the back of the in." She was pretty sure there as a bow among other things there to be borrowed. Moana assumed it was fine as long as people didn't walk off with them.

"I understand wanting something to do. That's why I spend the evenings making things." Mostly when it was too dark to go out and someone else was already cooking.

"What do you like to do? We can think of something." It wasn't that she was comfortable in the world, far from it, but Moana already had a failed escape attempt as well as the shock of suddenly arriving back here. She was trying to think, instead of acting foolishly to escape.

"I don't think I'm much of a farmer," Hawke admits, thinking back to Lothering and the whole poisoned trap issue. No thanks. "Tell me they don't use traps here. I've had enough of getting my leg stuck." She hasn't seen any yet, but admittedly this is her second day here and she's not entirely familiar with anything other than the Inn and the fountain she so gracefully climbed out of. Or gracelessly, depending on who gets asked about it.

She's a rogue, though. She should be able to pick out traps. Just apparently not the farm variety.

It takes remembering the last time she made the terrible joke not to say, "Helping people and killing people are what I do best," but it's a close thing. That would probably go about as well as it had the last time and she would really rather not deal with accidentally insulting one of the first people to talk to her this soon. Instead, she actually gives that question thought.

"I can disarm traps like a professional, shoot a bow. Explore." Maker's breath, what else did she do? "Gather herbs for the herbalists. Fight dragons. Kill demons. Get my heart broken."

Okay so that last one might not be something she likes doing, but dammit, Anders.

Moana lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know. I don't think so. Maybe they will when the weather warms." She wondered if this girl really had that much trouble with traps. Moana thought of fish traps and wondered how Hawke would get stuck in one of those.

"Killing?" She didn't mean to sound worried but Moana grew up on a peaceful island. She hadn't been able to conceptualize someone killing a person on purpose.

"Um... there are a lot of people who need help." Moana really had no idea what to make of this woman. She felt bad for her but also a little wary of her.

Moana would probably not like Thedas. Then again a lot of Thedosians don't like Thedas. It isn't exactly a friendly place. And that doesn't even get into Tevinter's slavery or Orlais and the Game or the Blight. Demons, though... how does she explain that?

"Demons are difficult to explain," she begins carefully. "They're not like actual people. They're... spirits that were twisted to become something bad. Rage, greed, pride, vengeance. That sort of thing. If given the chance, they'll use you and then kill you."

Feeling bad and wary of Hawke is about right on first meeting these days. Hawke wouldn't blame her at all. Once upon a time she was a much nicer person. Diplomatic more than anything. But then Kirkwall had happened, Anders had happened, and she had changed. A part of that person still exists, but she's buried it underneath layers of not coping.

"I know what demons and monsters are." She'd been to the realm of monsters and it had been horribly unpleasant. She'd made it out alive but that was also partially due to luck.

This wasn't something she wanted to talk about. It felt like they were speaking two different languages. This woman wasn't very clear in what she said.

"You should ask Kate or Mark. Kate oversees the inn." At least as far as Moana knew. "Mark is organizing the planting and farming. They'll know what the inn needs. There are rooms upstairs. If it's empty then it's free I think." Even if she was unsure of this woman's character Moana was helpful and as pleasant as she could be. This was all too confusing.

Edited 2017-04-28 18:13 (UTC)

Hawke's eyebrows rise, but she nods. It's not good exactly that Moana has experience with them, but it means maybe things aren't as different here. Maybe.

"Thanks," she says instead, glancing towards the entrance. Trying to tone down her humor isn't exactly easy, but in the effort of not making things more awkward than they already are, she does. "I don't know that I'm much of a farmer, but I guess I have time to learn now. There's probably a lot to learn in a place like this."

Moana nodded her head. "I fish mostly. Everyone is very nice and willing to teach people." It wasn't here that Moana learned of monsters and demons. It was sailing the ocean with a demi-god as your companion that introduced the most oddity into her life.

Thinking of that Moana adds what she knew about the forest. "The village is usually safe but there are animals in the forest." She didn't know what animals because it'd been winter through most of her stay.

"Fishing," she says thoughtfully. "Maybe I could learn that sometime." It sounds more her thing than farming and planting. And easier to learn.

"I'll keep that in mind." She can deal with things that aren't safe. Her life has never been safe and people do like trying to kill her. Hopefully this won't be a continuation here. "I promise I'll be careful. Animals don't scare me."

She misses her family dog, though. The mabari warhound that always kept her safe. The dog that now guards Bethany.

Edited 2017-04-28 19:09 (UTC)

Moana nodded, having given the general warning she felt a lot better. Her fingers began to play with the bit of fabric she'd been working with, feeling the comforting touch of it's softness.

"I can teach you. I also know how to make nets and traps and things for the fish. It really isn't so hard." It's mostly time consuming.

"All very useful," Hawke comments, turning back to stare at the fire again. Watching its flames flicker, she can almost convince herself that she's watching the fireplace in the main room of her estate. Almost. Bodahn would have left a lot more soot in and around it. He always did say it felt more like Orzammar that way.

"That would be nice of you." Moana is nice in a way that Hawke isn't used to from a lot of Thedosians. She's usually the one offering help. It's a refreshing change. "Won't be the first time I've had to learn something new."

Moana nodded her head. "Just let me know when you want to. I usually go fishing early in the morning." She's up with the sun and since fishing requires sunlight, it's usually the first thing she does in a day. That or go searching in the forest for materials and other unfamiliar plants.

"I've learned a lot here. I think it just comes with being in a place like this." Are far as she can guess anyway.

"Do you like the water?"

Hawke nods thoughtfully. "How about in a couple of days, once I've figured out more about how things work here?" She just needs a day or two to settle in. She hadn't gotten that in Kirkwall. It was sink or swim, getting thrown to the wolves, and luckily she and Bethany had managed all right. They were good and faithful sisters. Not much could keep them down.

"My only real experience with it was the Waking Sea and I think that got its name because it'll wake you up in five seconds if you fall asleep while sailing it," Hawke comments. "I think I'd like a Calm Sea if there is one."

Moana nodded her head. "That's fine. I'm usually around the inn in the evenings." It's still a little too cold to go out at night and Moana didn't like the chance of running into something unpleasant in the darkness.

"I don't think the ocean is supposed to be calm." She pointed out with a bit of a smile. "Why is it waking exactly?" She has fallen asleep on some pretty turbulent waters in the past but then, Moana might just be able to sleep through anything. "I've heard that real way-finders never have to sleep." She spoke a little dreamily when she mentioned way-finders.

They were a part of Moana's history and legends and she wanted nothing more than to be like them.

"True," Hawke agrees thoughtfully. "But I don't think most are full of violent waves. There's the Wounded Coast in the Free Marches outside Kirkwall, where a lot of people get shipwrecked from the storms and the terrible waves, and on the Ferelden side you've got the Storm Coast. Which is, apparently, full of storms."

Thedas apparently doesn't have particularly creative names at times. At least there's usually very little confusion.

"The Waking Sea tosses your ship around like a toy. That was one of the least pleasant journeys of my life." And that is saying something, honestly. She's had several unpleasant journeys by now. "The only thing that could have made it worse was if we'd picked up a bunch of giant spiders."

It was a ship, so it had seen rats and little spiders, but if there had been giant ones, they'd've been killed right off. Hawke would not stand for those.

"What's a way-finder?"

Moana felt a shiver crawl down her spine at the woman's description. She didn't want to meet giant spiders, let alone on the sea. The good news was that the ocean was just as unforgiving to humans as it was to spiders.

"Those who find their way across the sea." She spoke plainly and simply. "My ancestors were way-finders."

It wasn't something that Moana knew a lot about. She knew stories but her father had done well to erase bits and pieces of that lineage.

The description doesn't make much sense to Hawke, but her world is clearly much larger than Moana's. Or whatever it really is. One of her eyebrows arches as she tries to find a way to ask a question that won't completely offend Moana.

"What do they find on the other side?"

That's... a start. Hopefully.

Moana shook her head. "I don't know, I've never left my island until recently." She couldn't say what was beyond the horizon, only that she wanted to see it.

She wasn't offended or worried about Hawke's reply. It was freedom that she craved, it called to her. That call wasn't something that Moana would ever be able to explain. She'd tried once, to explain it to her father but she'd failed.

Hawke might not understand everything about being a way-finder or sailing the ocean Moana knows. What she does know is that goals and dreams are important. At least as long as they don't hurt innocents in the process. Her expression softens.

"I hope one day you find out," she says softly. "Goals and dreams are important."

Edited 2017-05-07 20:30 (UTC)

Moana nodded her head. "I will." She agreed with Hawke though it didn't seem like she explained herself very well. It was bound to happen with so many people from so many places.

"Why not take a look around? When you want to learn about fishing you can come find me."

Things one knows well from home are hard to explain to someone with no frame of reference. Hawke is discovering this as well. With time, they'll get better at it.

Hawke nods in response. "I will. Thank you for your help." It means a lot to her.

But for now, she turns and heads around to another part of the Inn. Or maybe outside again. She's tired of being cooped up.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

the champion's rogue heart

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject