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WHO: Corsina Surana
WHERE: The fountain park, the inn
WHEN: May 21st
OPEN TO: Corsina's arrival is locked to Hawke, and I'm taking up to five threads for the OTA portion at the inn.
WARNINGS: N/A, will update if needed.
STATUS: Open

the fountain; locked to Astrid Hawke

The first thing Corsina is conscious of is that she can't breathe. Her lungs feel on fire, burning pain and a tightness in her chest like — like drowning, and the second thing she realizes is the reason her limbs feel slow and heavy: she's in water, although she can't for the life of her recall how or why. Among the things Corsina learned at the Circle and with the Wardens, swimming wasn't really one of them — but she can tread water a little, and her arms and legs work just enough to propel her to the surface.

She breaks through the water with a gasp, and probably would have sunk right back below the surface if not for the instinctual grab at something that turns out — when she can get her breath and her bearings enough to focus — to be the rim of a stone fountain. She clings onto it for a while, trying to get a sense of where she is. She's in what looks to be a courtyard of some sort with the fountain at its center, but there are buildings in the near distance; this must be a village of some sort, although not like anything she's ever seen.

Corsina pulls herself out of the fountain, waterlogged and still gasping for breath a little. She remembers where she was — in Denerim, although she was supposed to travel to Amaranthine in a few days, to take up possession of the fortress Vigil's Keep as a new central base for the Fereldan Grey Wardens. This — she doesn't know where this is, but it's nowhere near Denerim nor Amaranthine, of that much she is certain. She's dressed in strange clothes — trousers and shirt made of some plain blue-green fabric, and heavy brown boots with laces — and the heavy weight on her back turns out to be a pack, though she doesn't yet try to open it to see what's in it, overwhelmed just from the realization that she's nowhere near where she was and fighting not to panic at the idea that she must have been kidnapped somehow, there's no explanation for this that makes sense otherwise.

"Where in the Maker's name—" she manages, half of a breathless sentence as she sits right back down on the rim of the fountain.

She'll recover in a few minutes and get to finding someone who can tell her where she is and what's going on. She will. But right now — right now this is all a little bit much.

the inn; open

Corsina's had a few things explained to her now, and realized a few things about herself and why she feels so strange, but even so, there's still a sense that maybe this isn't really happening. Everything's fine; it has to be. This is a dream and she'll wake up, or someone will come and rescue her, or — something, because she's not processed the idea that being trapped here might be for good.

Hawke has been kind to her, but eventually she has to leave the house to take a walk, try to clear her head and get a sense of her surroundings. She's trying not to be intrusive and look into people's houses, but there's a large building that looks like it might be a common building of some kind.

Stranded in this strange village she might be, but she pushes open the door and — well, she knows a tavern when she sees one. There's a small sigh of relief — finally, something that makes some kind of sense — and she takes her time to look around, examining the tables and chairs, the fireplace, and then moving a bit further into the kitchen.

Corsina doesn't know what she was expecting, but she startles a little on seeing someone else in the kitchen. "I'm sorry," she says. "I... didn't realize there was anyone here."

It sounds silly as she says it; she's not quite blushing, but a rueful, self-deprecating smile pulls at her mouth. Everything about this entire situation is throwing her off. Warden-Commander she might be, but right now she feels more like the sheltered girl from the Circle that she used to be than anything else.

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Corsina Surana is a name just about everyone in Thedas knows well. Most call her the Hero of Ferelden at this point. Her face isn't as well known, but that is most likely due to the fact that pictures don't exactly exist in Thedas. One would have to commission a portrait and even then it wouldn't be exactly the same as having the real person. So for better or worse, when Hawke approaches the fountain today, she has no idea who it is sitting there trying to catch her breath.

Really, the new clearly-just-out-of-the-fountain face would be enough to stop Hawke, but it's the oath in the Maker's name that really catches her attention. That has her adjusting her steps, turning to the fountain for sure this time.

"The Maker owes a lot of us, it would seem," she jokes dryly. "Welcome to the nameless village, home of too many people to name plus a few who actually know about Thedas."

She's going out on a limb here in her assumptions, but so far everyone who has mentioned a Maker like that has been from Thedas.

The first thing Corsina realizes is that this woman sounds Fereldan, and that catches her attention right away even before the mention of Thedas. She's still in shock, soaked through to the skin, long red hair dripping uncomfortably down her back, but even the small familiarity helps shake her out of it a bit.

"You're Fereldan," she says, over-blunt and not exactly eloquent, but she thinks maybe she can be excused this time. Corsina stands up, looking at the other woman, eyes a little wide with nervousness and fear, though not of her. "We're not in Thedas?"

That's what scares her, though to her credit she holds her ground, her voice doesn't shake, nor does she stammer. When you're a Warden, you learn to keep your fears in check.

Hawke will help get her somewhere dry soon enough. Right now, there are more important things to deal with. Like that question and how Hawke still doesn't know the answer.

"Originally, yes," Hawke agrees slowly. Her accent gives her away every time, but she isn't sure if she would count herself as Ferelden anymore. She'd once told King Alistair that Kirkwall was her home more than Ferelden, and though she would agree with that statement now, she doesn't know that she would call either of them home anymore. "Born in Lothering, moved to Kirkwall." An eyebrow arches suspiciously. She's surprised she hasn't been recognized on sight, though maybe that's for the better.

"Hawke," she finally offers as an introduction before shaking her head at the question. "If we are, the Maker owes us all rather than the Chantry." Pause. "No, actually, I like the idea of being owed by the Chantry a second time. Let's go with that."

Kirkwall — that's in the Marches, on the other side of the Waking Sea, somewhere Corsina's never been. She wants to ask more, namely about what the other woman is doing there rather than in Ferelden; but then again, a lot of people fled the Blight, didn't they? For all that Corsina had rather been caught up in things, she hadn't been completely out of touch.

She hesitates, visibly, at the idea of introducing herself. Her name is known all over Ferelden, and she wouldn't be surprised if that were the case in other parts of Thedas, too. Corsina is, by now, used to expecting a certain set of reactions when people find out who she is — either skepticism or hero worship, and she's not fond of either one.

"Corsina Surana." She doesn't say it's a pleasure to meet the other woman, not because it's not but because the situation is wrong. Corsina takes a deep breath, and adds, "If you don't mind answering a few questions, could we go somewhere else? I'd like to sit down."

At least she's got her words back, though she still feels disoriented — and it's not just shock. Her body feels strange in a way she can't describe, like something about her has changed. It reminds her a bit of how she felt for a while after the Joining, like she was wearing a body that wasn't quite hers.

That moment of hesitation is one Hawke knows all too well. It’s the moment of knowing that your name will bring a certain sort of reaction and not being sure you want to deal with it. Hawke’s name is well known as well, though the fact that this woman didn’t ask her if she was Astrid or Bethany is curious. Makes her wonder who in Thedas is left who doesn’t know her name and her history thanks to Varric.

“Of course,” Hawke answers immediately, doing her best not to make a comment about Corsina being the Hero of Ferelden. She knows all too well what it’s like to be hero worshiped for something out of her control, something she would rather forget about. Or something traumatizing. Kirkwall had traumatized her. She doubts the blight did anything less to Corsina.

“I’ve a house not far away and it’s probably less crowded than the tavern. I’ll take you to either.” Whichever Corsina decides she’s more comfortable in.

Tina may not have stayed at the inn but in the months since arriving she came by often. Mostly it was to look into anything new on the lists and maps and see if there was something new. Today, however, she'd only just made it to the inn after her rearrival in the woods. Sorted out the sprain with some of the communal emergency supplies and didn't have the energy to leave just yet.

Instead the woman found herself in the kitchen, sitting at the island where Moana once had her do while she cooked fish. Propped carefully against the seat and giving anyone her entered a curt nod. She is of no mind to start any conversation and most seemed to go about their business without too much bother. Tina was just about ready to get up and make the small-- or perhaps today: long-- trek home when the other woman entered.

She placed her hand on the countertop and glanced over at the woman in confusion before she shook her head. "No, you're fine," She offered, her smile something more of a grimace before she let out a breath. "Were you looking for something? I'm sure someone will be making something to eat sometime soon."

"Oh, no. Not really. I—" She looks slightly apologetic. "I'm new here, and I've just been looking around. This place is a lot to get used to."

It's an understatement, but she thinks it gets across what she means. She looks at the other woman curiously; she's pretty, with dark hair cut short, and a sort of look about her that suggests discomfort, maybe, at being there. It doesn't stop Corsina from being friendly, though; if she's going to be trapped in this village for the time being, she might as well get to know the residents.

"I'm Corsina," she says, already expecting this woman won't know her name. "Corsina Surana. It's good to meet you."

She actually means that. Already she can almost hear Morrigan griping about her being too quick to claim pleasant first meetings, but that never stopped her before and it doesn't now.

Fenris turns, sharply, his head twitching around to peer back over his shoulder at the sound of the voice. He's never been able to shake that, even now that Danarius has been dead for years and nobody has sent slavers after him since. He's been fighting slavers, and none of them have tried to claim him as a magister's property.

He still has the reflexes of a fugitive, though, and he's ready to fight if he has to, unconsciously tensed at the startling voice.

It's a woman, with reddish hair and a slight build. Unarmed, and therefore no obvious threat, in a place in which he apparently no longer need fear attack by magic.

"Ah," he says, turning away from the strange device that provides water into the inn, just as one does in Hawke's house. "No need to apologize. There do not seem to be many people here at the moment."

Edited 2017-05-25 04:45 (UTC)

"I suppose not," she agrees. "Still, I'm sorry to have startled you." She can tell she did, from the sharpness of his reflexes, the quick twist of muscles that pulled him round to face her.

He's got an interesting look about him, she thinks, catching what seem to be tattoos poking out from the neckline of his shirt and climbing up his neck to his face. Corsina only knows what she was taught about magic in the Circle, mostly, and the lyrium branding isn't familiar to her. It hardly matters now, regardless.

"I've just got here. I have to say it's a little disorienting," she admits, and almost laughs at how vast an understatement that is.

"Disorienting is the least you could say," he says, agreeing in his own way, which is less snide than it would have been had he not been spending time around Hawke again lately. "There is a woman called Kate Kelly who often looks after the tavern, but I don't know where she is. People seem to come and go."

He pauses for a moment, caught as he is invading the tavern's kitchen with a glass of water in his hand. Once, there'd been a time when he'd broken into kitchens to steal food, because it was steal food or survive, but there's a respectability -- albeit tenuous, coming hand in hand with notoriety -- in being one of Hawke's companions that had given him some coin along with something more than just the marked status of runaway slave. He hadn't had to steal food for a long time before he found himself here.

He supposes, though, that he wouldn't actually have to run for it, here, on being discovered. He's well aware that people are welcomed to meals here, regardless of who they are or of any ability to pay, since currency is hardly a consideration here. Many things he's used to are not considerations here, but one thing is, and that is where a person is from, and for all he can tell little about her in the plain clothes their captors put people in, he can hear something.

"You sound Fereldan."

Kate Kelly — she memorizes that name, because if there's anything Corsina has learned it's that the person who knows the most in any given town is the local innkeeper, and if nothing else it would be a good idea to get on her good side.

She wasn't quite this shrewd, in the Circle. How the Blight changed things.

"Is it obvious?" Corsina says, with a quick whimsical flash of a smile. She knows it is; she's spent her whole life in Ferelden, and until now had never left its borders. "I'm Corsina. Corsina Surana."

Recently Warden-Commander of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden, recently of Kinloch Hold — though if he doesn't recognize her name and thus realize she's a mage, she's not going to advertise it.

They'd made a big fuss of it, after she'd been appointed Warden-Commander — the first elven mage to hold that post. She really, really wishes they wouldn't fuss.

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