Who: Noah, Meghan, Officer Pat O'Clery (npc) When: Current Where: Police station, Edinburgh, Scotland What: Pat's got a scared woman who pulled a knife on an officer. Noah's trying to calm her down and talk. Rating/Warnings: Status: Complete
Noah's got a box of iced scones,a tea cake, and a package of some cookies of various flavors. He's expecting to lose the top box at the front desk, so he deliberately picked one that he knows is popular. He's mostly cleaned up from baking, but he does smell of fresh bread and vanilla.
"Is Officer O'Clery in? He e-mailed saying there was a young lady who was pretty upset here who might be kin of my husband." Noah's pretty sure someone's waiting for him, but - he can follow the rules and ask.
It’s just a matter of about a minute, maybe less, before Pat’s being paged and he’s heading up, looking relieved that Noah’s around. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to handle this sort of thing, but it felt like the sort of situation where someone who’s been through things would handle it better.
“Noah, hello. It’s good you came. And you’re loaded up, aren’t you?” he grins a little. “Thank you, on both accounts.”
"Iced scones?" Noah taps the top box. "If you want to grab it for the coffee room. And I've got a tea cake and some cookies."
“You are brilliant.” Pat smiles. “The scones you do are fantastic. And I suppose I should give you a few more details about what’s happening in the meantime.” He takes the box to drop off along the way, before he’s grabbing a walkie talkie and issueing a few coded instructions, then…”We’ve got someone to talk to the princess back there. At least I’m fairly sure she is.”
And then he turns to Noah. “Or, all right, maybe more of a dressed down version of a princess. Like the middle class varient for some reason? That WAS a thing at least here. Chaucer wrote about people being terrified of merchants gaining power and less people being serfs.”
"She might be a priestess, or a relative? I'm not certain." Noah shrugs a little. "Names unless it's one I remember won't help much either, but I can try talking with her."
“I think it’d help to at least have her talking to someone who knows what the switching universes is like if not.” Pat says. “We REALLY need to hire someone on staff who’s been through that. It would help I think, for cases like this. I do liasons, mostly, but...there’s times the extra explanation goes a long way.”
He’s stopping at the break room to deposit the scones, though he’s snagging a few along the way too. Hey, he knows the group are pretty much vultures where free food is concerned.
Noah follows along. "And I'm not sure I can help, but would it help to have photos of the phones and the cards? So you can show them?"
“THAT is a good idea.” Pat nods. “It’d help with people seeing how to use things too. I know there’s those tutorials people have written, but..maybe videos would be a good thing too. That could probably be arranged as part of the introduction.”
And he’s getting another bit of a call and nodding a bit. “They’re opening up the room they left her in now. One of the younger officers has been checking in. We thought another woman might be less threatening.”
"Is she injured? Or just scared and pulled a knife?" Noah's grimacing. "I doubt I look trustworthy myself, but I can try talking to her."
“Just scared as we can tell. Not used to being approached by uniformed men or…” Pat frowns. “Might be an association thing of uniforms, which is why I wondered about..I know there was a coup and mercenaries were hired in Starkhaven...if she was attached to the royal family and had escaped, there may be some associations there. And you’re not in a uniform.” He has a little flour in his hair, Pat noticed, but...that’s probably reassuring.
"And from what Sebastian said, the ones who weren't killed may've seen some blood magic. Which involves blood but might also imply some unsavory things. And he did mention mercenaries. I think he had some, to retake the city, and they had some in taking it." Noah shakes his head. "A grim mess."
He straightens his back though as they approach what he thinks is the cell.
“Aye. There IS that.” Pat agrees. “Which is...pretty bad. I’ve dabbled with the games. Blood magic is...it doesn’t end well in a lot of cases. Merril, Sebastian’s probably mentioned her, manages to balance things out in the game but every other blood mage...it’s rare it doesn’t hurt someone. Fenris lost his memories because of trauma from being exposed, but saw other things after that are...It’s difficult to realize it’s a reality for a lot of people.”
The lock up rooms are at least a little better than the traditional view of a cell. They’re still locked, but relatively clean, and brightly lit, with decent looking, if industrial cots. There’s a girl about fifteen perched on the edge of one, a blanket drapped around her shoulders and she glances up as they come in, eyes a little wild, with her face set. If she has to, she’ll fight her way out of this, but she’s waiting to read their actions before it happens. That seems to have been the mistake so far, so she’s not making it again.
Pat clears his throat a little. “I’ve brought someone who can help explain what’s happened to you a bit better, all right? I ken it’s not exactly comfortable here, but we’ll do what we can to speed things up once you’re up to speed and find you someplace safe.” And he’s nodding towards Noah.
“I’ve got a hunch Ser Noah here…” She’ll recongize the address if she’s from what he thinks, “Has a better way of putting it.”
Noah bows slightly. "Let me sit down, ma'am, so I'm not being tall uselessly, and I can try to explain. I brought cake, and sweets for you." He gestures at the boxes which get to set down on the farthest end of the cot. "I work at a bakery, so I suppose it's an easy thing to break bread with."
He's moving to sit down on the floor. "You resemble people I live with here, but I'm not originally from here. I was pulled out of a prison here, and ended up in a bush, acting a bit like a fish fresh pulled from the sea. Is there a good honorific for me to use? We'd use mistress, at home, for most women, but I'm not sure when Sers or Serrah's and variants are proper."
She’s offering Noah a bit of a smile there, since he seems, not to be a part of the rest of this. The way it’s been explained now, it appears these other people are officials, guards, and not members of some army out to drag people away and capture them, more like templars or the wardens, but at the time it hadn’t felt that way.
“I...thank you.” She blinks at that. “They said that others tended to stumble into here too.” And the accent’s strong, and has a bit of the Starkhaven cadence to it. A bit more like Aedan or Iomhar than the others, which could be telling. “I was along the river, gathering. My mistress had run low on healing herbs and was showing me more poultices for, well, I was going to be a midwife. And Mistress is one, but Ser and Serrah as well. Bit more of a catch all for everyone. Messere for the fancier sort, but that isn’t me.”
Her clothes are clean, but a bit faded and patched carefully, likely by hand, or someone’s helped her with that, and her darker tinged red hair, a little like Sebastian’s, is pilled into a knot on the back of her head.
Noah nods slowly. "Exactly. My brother and I landed in a bush, Sebastian in the middle of the road, and his brother in a lake. His other brother appeared ready to fight with a sword. Considering Sebastian was from a time when his brothers were dead, they had a major shock."
“Sebastian…” She blinks a little at that name, as if it’s something vaguely familiar. “Vael? The Chantry brother? He’s made a bid for the throne I’m told, or one claiming to be him. And Cal...Corbinian was to be Prince, once.” It’s too much of an identification to use ‘Calum’ for the man that used to be her uncle, since that was not known publicly as a name he used. It’d mark her as being close to the scene of things and she’s spent the last ten years trying to avoid just that. If Sebastian HAD managed to come home, then maybe it would be all right but…
“Wait. You say that they are here? BOTH brothers?”
"Aye. I didn't know them by Corbinian, but I think Ser Calum implied his formal name was something else. Ser Iomhar's the way I know the other one." Noah gestures a bit. "Sebastian has two children as well who arrived. There's no Starkhaven here, and none of the countries of my home, but they welcomed me into their home none the less."
The mention of Iomhar has her eyes lighting for half a second, or lighting a bit more at least. “No Starkhaven and...has he?” her eyes widen. “There’s a bit of difference from what I knew of Starkhaven’s goings on in the city proper. But you don’t mention Prince Goran, or the Harrimans. He was a cousin and she was a friend of the last Princess who stayed on the scene to help him manage when he came to rule after the tragedy so I’d last heard. I’d not been to the city itself in some time, but news reaches us too, on the outskirts.”
"Aye. They haven't showed up here, and I believe Sebastian evicted - he said he had a not very bright . . . cousin? I think that's Goran. Harrimans were into blood magic and had mercenaries?" Noah's tilting his head. "I'm going by Sebastian's stories. He retook Starkhaven, before ending up here. We're sort of - slipped between worlds, to a new one. There's ways to recognize each other, other than people being baffled about geography. People get things to communicate with each other, and some starting funds."
“He was trying it, the reclaiming.” she says, her voice a little soft. “The chantry hadn’t quite known what to make of it so we’d heard but news took a bit to reach us, out of the city proper. And aye, the Flint company. They...stopped being heard from not long after it, somehow. It...we listened for that news. I was just tiny then, but it was important to know if things were safe. And that’s..close to what the guard were saying after the confusion here. It’s...that’s all right then, I suppose. I’ve started over the once.”
"I have images, on my phone, of the Vaels. Would that help? I could see if you're from then, you'd be uneasy. Understandably so." Noah's gesturing. "This is a thing that lets you talk to people who aren't here, and other things."
“Aye…” She’s nodding slowly, biting her lip a bit. “I’ve...you feel safe enough. It’s more of an..it HAS been a long time. I didn’t quite work out what I’d wanted to do if Sebastian did come to the throne. I’d mess things up a bit. There was a time I was a bit ahead of him, succession wise, or would’ve been if I weren’t five, and that’s bound to mess things up a bit for someone who by all accounts had had a life that was a bit mucked up to start.” The accent sounds a whole lot more like “tae” there, with a bit of tension still in her words, though not so much now. “And weel, there’s talk of all that happened to Goran’s own children to ensure the Harriman daughter had her chance at marrying into this…”
In other words, not speaking up until Sebastian was a known quantity had felt safer. “And Ah’ve goat..I’ve got some training for a career on my own someday. It’s no as though..If I’d have to stay silent, I could do it on me own feet.”
Definitely a Vael with that turning up of her chin as she says that, meeting Noah’s eyes squarely.
"Aye. Midwife, you said? It's different, here, medically, but there's options to learn. Sebastian has an heir, and I suppose he's the head of the family right now. Calum was happy to be in a more organizational role, and he and his brother were both crushed with the loss of their family. That's one reason why I wanted to come to see you. I'm a Vael, by marriage, but I'm sure they'd like to meet you, but it's pointless to make you wait." He slides the phone over. "This is from a dinner." Before the wedding, but there's a fair amount of plaid about.
She’s not sure what to make of the phone, but she’s taking it and looking at the image. It’s a sort of magical device as she understands, that lets you communicate and preserves images, so it’s not as though she’s totally bewildered here. Just starring for a moment. It’s...been a long time since she’s seen those colors. And the faces… It’s a little much, actually, even in small.
“Andraste’s grace…” she mutters, glancing down. “They really are alive here.”
"They are. Who would you like to talk to, if any of them?" Noah's flipping to another picture. Illya's got a plate of dumplings, and Noah's leaning on Sebastian's arm holding a mug of tea.
“I’ve…” She blinks at the photo there. Not someone she remembers by sight so… “Prince Sebastian, I’ll assume? He was already in the chantry when...I suppose I’d speak to anyone who’d have me? I’m Meghan.” She adds. “If...they look so close, the others, to what they did on that day. I suppose I’d be a shock.”
"I'll ask them to respond as soon as they can. May I offer your name? And then I'll see if this station can produce some tea, to break bread with you." Noah's opening another thing on the phone and showing her as he types in that he's at the police station, and met a young lady who seems to be a Vael. He'd like to have someone show up here. "And aye. I'm . . . his consort."
“I...all right.” She nods. It does feel all right to do it now. It IS them in the picture, even if Meghan’s instincts are saying it COULD be a trap. If it IS one, though, so far Noah has been kind to her, and well, she can fight her way out if she has to later. “His consort.” she smiles. “You’d be...from a different world, you said? I don’t quite hear any Free Marches in you.”
"I am. I met Sebastian here." Noah spreads his hands after adding in that her name is Meghan. "I'll see about that tea. Just give me a little." Noah leans to set the phone down. "Here's a file for how to use it. So if it rings, you can press this, and if there's a message, this will blink. I'll just be a little while."
“Aye...of course.” Meghan’s a bit curious about the file and having a look at the phone for herself. How DOES it let people speak to others from across the distance? More of this universe’s brand of magic? She’s leaning over to read the file and try to get a better idea, glad to have something to look back on.
As Noah’s heading out, his phone is ringing, and the little screen pops up to read ‘Calum’. Taking a deep breath, Meghan’s reaching out and pressing the button. “Uncle? I think I’ve found my way back home.”