bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
Beth couldn't have been more envious than she was of this young man -- not for the riches he would have owned, nor for the luxuries he could have indulged in, but for the places he had seen with his own eyes and the stood on with his feet. She had no shortage of imagination or interest in research, but it was not the same as breathing, seeing, feeling, living in a world she only glimpsed at through the words and drawings of someone else. Anyone who had the freedom to come and go from the Tower was a subject worthy of her awe; most of the templars rarely humored her questions, but Coan seemed just as open to sharing what he knew as she had been with him, and that made him even more impressive to her. She could barely contain her enthusiasm, eyes wide with fascination as he spoke. "I've never been to Denerim, or any city at all, actually. The Tower seems crowded at times, but this is nothing compared to their demography. That many people, in so little a space... My village barely had a fraction of that number," Beth replied with wonder, though she stopped to consider something. It wasn't difficult to tell when she was thinking; her dark brows usually came together while her lips pursed just a little.
"It's a very small town to the south, called Lothering. You may know of it, actually. Your family isn't originally from Gwaren, if I'm not mistaken," she paused, checking his face for confirmation, but forged on ahead with her line of thought before he could answer. Beth wasn't the best at keeping up with Fereldan politics, but she wasn't so out of touch with the world to not have some understanding of the regime changes under the new Queen, and wasn't lacking in any history books to memorize. "The Brylands were of South Reach, yes? Not more than a week's travel from our home, as I recall. My father used to do business at the fortress once a month, though I wasn't old enough to accompany him before..." She suddenly trailed off somberly, looking somewhat deflated, just for a second.
It was only that second, though, as Beth quickly picked up her conversation with renewed vigor. Her smile broadened as she spoke, "But, that is the past. You are quite lucky, Coan! I've only ever met one dwarf before, Dagna. She came straight from Orzammar to study with us for several years. Well, until she had her great revelation, and we haven't heard from her since she left. I do often wonder what's become of her." Again, her voice dropped out and she looked away from him quite pensively. It was unseemly to brood in front of Coan, however. Bethen's eyes lit up again. "But maybe you'll find that out soon enough. I hope you get to see the inside of the city. There's supposed to be rivers of molten rock flowing through the canals, and the buildings are carved from the inside of the mountains. I suspect it's even more amazing in person."