The Art of Gift Giving Who: Deidre "Dee" Aisli, Bethen Avilla Where: Vigil's Keep, Amaranthine When: Afternoon, 15 Molioris, 9:45, after Alistair's briefings Rating: PG-13 just in case Status: In-Progress Summary: Bethen stops by Deidre's quarters to ask for her assistance in getting Aurin a gift to take with him before the groups split up and head for different corners of Ferelden.
(OOC: This is Thread 3 in a series of Post-Joining threads where Dee checks on certain people)
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Vigil's Keep, which had been quiet and tomb-like since the Joining, was suddenly an explosion of activity once the new recruits were ordained and their companions split. From what she heard through the fortress's grapevine, there would be three groups venturing out into Ferelden and all with different sets of objectives. With a purpose again, the change of attitude within the building was palpable -- people were busily making arrangements, collecting their things or at the very least putting them in order. Supply runs have been going out regularly from the gates since the word got out. She suspected that the evening would be much of the same, about four hours or so from the present. The afternoon sun blazed a deep gold from her windows, searing past the drapes and giving her current surroundings more light than she knew what to do with.
Anyone passing down the third-floor hallway of the Keep would find the door to Deidre's borrowed quarters wide open, with the young woman busily packing her very few belongings in her bag. In most days an extremely light traveler, she had several items laid on the bed in a state of organized clutter; a few shirts were folded and stacked neatly to the side, several bound journals scattered over the bedspread. There were books, painstakingly minimized by a pair of meticulous hands and very good coin, haphazardly tossed about on the folds of the comforter. Her weapons -- a slim, single-handed sword and a dagger, were propped against the nearby desk. As she rifled through a drawer to pull out her pouch of precious gems, to lighten the burden of carrying currency wherever she went, she maintained a puzzled expression on her face. It had only been a few hours since Alistair's briefing ended, and while she understood the parameters of the assignment, she was still in somewhat of a loss as to what a Broodmother actually was.
Oh, she was certain that facing it had no small amount of peril. She comprehended why destroying such a thing was necessary -- it could generate (No, she corrected herself. Give birth to) scores of Darkspawn in its lifetime. If there was a Blight in full swing, it would be advantageous for the Wardens to make sure that there wouldn't be as many of the tainted ones to join the horde as there could be.
What she was largely in the dark on was what it looked like. She picked up her journal, another one in which she had been taking notes all through the meeting, her mind backtracking to Alistair's explanations from earlier...
It was safe to say that the Warden-Commander didn't know the slightest thing about drawing. After producing a series of nonsensical squiggles on the chalkboard in front of him, he threw up his hands in frustration and tossed the chalk away. Turning around to face the second group that he had to speak to this very day, he seemed to decide that the best way to describe what he saw was to wildly gesticulate with his body. His arms flailed to the sides. He widened his eyes to make him look as disturbing as possible. He wiggled his fingers like they were the beast's protrusions and deepened his voice as if he were telling a ghost story to a classroom of fascinated schoolchildren hanging on his every word.
"It's huuuuuuuuuge!" Alistair Theirin proclaimed. "With lots of tentacles flailing at every angle like a giant...squid...sea monster thing! Its eyes were large and horrifying. It swayed from side to side like a giant rubber doll, drunk with madness!"
Deidre scratched her head, staring at her artist's rendering of the creature the leader of the Grey Wardens described.
Something tells me it's not going to look as drunk as this, she decided.
Clapping the leather-covered book shut, she sighed as she tossed it inside her open pack. She continued to drag out her things and rearrange them in her nonspecific order on the bed. She still looked contemplative, she hadn't been able to turn her brain off ever since assignments were handed out yesterday. Not only did she learn that she and Jaden were in the same group, as a messenger found them together and notified them of the fact, but rather Alderic, Bethen, Constans the Tranquil, and a few more would be joining them. She didn't see Aurin in the group -- and upon realizing his absence, she couldn't help the slight twinge of worry. If he wasn't in their group, where would he be going? What was his assignment? Who was he going with? Would she be able to trust any of the rest to watch his back?
She frowned deeply at the thought. It wasn't as if this was Aurin's first time out -- he was almost as experienced an adventurer as she was, and he was certainly a skilled warrior. But she remembered the way he looked aboard the Northern Star and she hardly knew anyone else in the Keep save for Imenry, who would probably continue to accompany the Dagna wherever she was ordered to go.
The archaeologist sighed quietly, stepping away from the bed to pore through her small collection of books.