sixthiterationlogs | (no subject)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.