This or That
Aug. 21st, 2021 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elementalherodragonlord posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
yarntails| 1. Person A posts their character
2. Person B replies with RNG 1-13 3. Person A picks option A or B 4. Have fun rp'ing! 5. If you have suggestions to add to the table hmu and I'll do it |
| 1a. Coffee Shop AU | or | 1b. Flower Shop AU |
| 2a. Alternate Universe | or | 2b. Fix-It |
| 3a. Enemies to Lovers | or | 3b. Childhood Friends |
| 4a. Angst | or | 4b. Fluff |
| 5a. Love at First Sight | or | 5b. Pining |
| 6a. Modern AU | or | 6b. Historical AU |
| 7a. Soulmates | or | 7b. Unrequited |
| 8a. Fake Dating | or | 8b. Secret Dating |
| 9a. Break-Up & Make-Up | or | 9b. Proposals & Weddings |
| 10a. Get Together | or | 10b. Established Relationship |
| 11a. Oblivious Pining | or | 11b. Domestic Fluff |
| 12a. Hurt/Comfort | or | 12b. Crack |
| 13a. Meet the Parents | or | 13b. Meet Cute |
Tabris
Date: 2021-08-24 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-24 02:24 am (UTC)technology based vaguely on the 60s for this!
Date: 2021-10-07 01:22 am (UTC)[Tabris remembers the lights, the thin waves of green weaving through the night sky. She'd been out with Shianni and Soris at the time, half-drunk in a stranger's backyard and heckling the host's second cousin while he mangled a popular song on the guitar. Everyone had gone dead silent, and Soris spilled his cup of shitty beer on Tabris' shoes.]
[Someone found a radio, and the whole party clustered around it, all interest in stupid games and inebriated flirting forgotten. Justinia was dead. It had been sudden, and probably violent. Right in the middle of some diplomatic talks. The radio hosts don't know much, but Tabris isn't so far outside the church that she doesn't know how the transfer of godright goes. There shouldn't be magic fizzling above their heads. Someone else should have taken it as Justinia went out, the next servant in the line. Heralds don't get sick, and they would have known way in advance if her body was failing.]
[It's a long few weeks before the public learns who has the godright. The lights continue for days, flickering and flaring, hard to make out during the day but visible when the clouds came through. It burns out telephone lines and downs planes across Thedas. Thunderstorms become hell on earth, the fade bleeding through. Tabris' father keeps going to work, but Soris won't leave the house. Shianni sleeps in Tabris' bed like she used to when they were small, holding tight to her older cousin.]
[Finally, it stops, almost as abruptly as they started. They've completed the ritual to transfer the godright.]
[It's another few days before Tabris gets a look at the girl who's been saddled with the thing. She's getting dinner after work with some of the girls from the factory, and they pass an electronics store. Even in black and white, the image fuzzy, Tabris sees it-- the thin, delicate lines of vallaslin. They've given the godright to one of the Dalish.]
[She calls out of work the next day and heads out into the woods, hoping Velanna hasn't moved. Luck smiles upon her, though, and her friend is right where she left her, campsite set up with magic wards around the fire to keep it from attracting company. It isn't a long visit, barely an hour, but she gets what she wants to know. The godright is parasitic magic, ancient and cruel and weaponized, and Velanna doesn't sugarcoat that.]
["The shemlen won't let it die. Someone needs to kill it, before it kills that poor girl."]
[Tabris leaves her with a bottle of cheap wine and a tight, half-reciprocated hug. Velanna's self-imposed isolation strikes her as desperately lonely, but she's never been able to talk her out of it.]
[She tells Shianni. She doesn't tell Soris, or her father. They pay one of the cleaning girls at the Haven more money than they really have to let Tabris take her shift, and humans once again prove their inability to tell elves apart. From there, the plan is basically stupid enough to work-- she hides in a supply closet until the place shuts down for the day, then sneaks into the room they're keeping their new Herald in. The guards are outside the hall, not outside the room.]
[Odd as it feels to do so, she knocks, quietly. The last thing she needs is to startle this poor girl and make her scream.]
hours of research and au building later...
Date: 2021-10-08 12:02 am (UTC)For a few days after the assassination she was a suspect in their investigation. She wonders if anyone still thinks she might have killed Justinia. Her name has been officially cleared but it's hard to tell if she's getting dirty looks from members of The Inquisition because of the potential murderer thing or the being an elf thing.
What a name for a group, too. The Inquisition? Terrifying. It suits them. After all, she's basically been kidnapped. They told her working with them was the only way to prove she's innocent, which doesn't make any sense but they sure seem to need her for...something. They something about protecting Thedas. What she remembers most about that conversation is their silence when she asked why the godright hurts. As lucky as she feels having grown up among her clan outside of the city she wishes in this moment that she had more experience among the shemlen.
Maybe if she watched more tv or read more history books she would be better prepared for this. She's not prepared when they bring her on tv for the first time, either. They dress her in a plain red shift dress, not hers, a pearl choker, not hers, and a pair of kitten heels, not hers. She feels like a president's wife or something, not at all like herself, which, she realizes, is probably the point. After, back in her room, she wonders if she looked as uncomfortable as she feels.
At this point her entire wardrobe is Chantry Approved. The only clothing of her own that she has is the outfit she wore to the event, a low cut cotton dress with embroidered tree and leaf motifs, a brown embossed leather vest, sandals, and jewelry borrowed from her family. She still wears her brother's leather cuff almost every day, it's easier to hide among her new clothes than the earrings or necklace would be.
Today, after a long day of sitting in meetings, Egg is walked back to her room past the guards. What do they think she's going to do? She barely knows how to use her hand and even if she tried to leave where would she go? She's elvhen in a city of shemlen and she glows. She switches from a dress and tights, not hers, to a white night gown, not hers, and lays down. Egg holds her left hand up in front of her face and and stares into the green glow until she can't stand the eye strain. Fenedhis.
Egg hears the quiet knock after what feels like only a few moments later and sits up. She's pretty sure she shouldn't be expecting anyone at this hour. They usually come for her in the mornings but it wouldn't be the first time someone invaded what she thought was private time in this place. She pulls on a robe, not hers, and goes to open the door with her left hand, she's still testing what will hurt it. When it's not Cassandra or Cullen or even a human at all she looks surprised.]
...Hi?
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 12:54 am (UTC)[Speaking of which--]
Fuck, that glows more than I expected.
[A beat.]
Right, right-- Hi, I'm Tabris, I live in town. I am absolutely not supposed to be here, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't scream.
[She tries for a smile, and while it's strained, it's definitely genuine.]
Dalish friend of mine said you might need help getting out of here? Well, she actually said she'd let the dread wolf braid her hair if you'd actually agreed to be here, but I got the general idea.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-08 01:45 am (UTC)Oh--um...
[She looks behind Tabris and can't see the guards so she ushers her inside the room and closes the door quietly behind them. Egg leans up against the door and lets out a soft puff of air.]
I'm Ellana but you..probably already know that. How did you get in here?
[Can she really trust Tabris? Well..this is still the best shot at escaping she's had in a month even if it is completely bizarre. She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns.]
Anyway, your friend was right, I didn't agree to be here. But how am I supposed to go anywhere with this?
[She holds up her glowing hand.]
re: tabris' rumor, no, they have not caught him
Date: 2021-10-08 02:18 am (UTC)Somebody I went to school with is on the cleaning crew in here. Last party we went to, she was complaining that the guard captain can't tell the elf girls apart, so she kept getting in trouble for other people's mistakes. Paid her off to let me come in for her shift today, hid in a closet until everyone went home.
[She shrugs, a smug grin on her face. The plan really was too simple, it shouldn't have worked, but apparently the Inquisition is more interested in keeping their golden goose in than keeping everyone else out. It's surprising after the assassination, but then, Tabris heard a rumor that they caught the guy already.]
[The smirk falls off immediately when Egg lifts her hand.]
Well, I brought leather gloves for you, but now that I'm actually seeing the maker-forsaken thing, I'm not sure that'll work. I have a knife, we could cut up your bedclothes and wrap it in layers? Have you experimented with hiding the light at all?
[A thoughtful pause!]
I was also planning on taking us out the window, but I'm not sure you could hold the rope if we need to mummify your hand. I can probably carry you? Maybe? The weight's not a problem, but the positioning might be a challenge...
they should get on that :|
Date: 2021-10-08 12:09 pm (UTC)Are you fucking kidding me? These shemlen deserve whatever is coming to them. Not that I'm not grateful you came! It's just...Creators...it was that easy??
[She shakes her head and sighs.]
I was going to ask if you checked if there were any guards outside my window or anything but I'm starting to doubt they put any thought into me trying to escape.
[Egg herself has put plenty of thought into escape over the past month. Under other circumstances she's able to get herself in and out of almost anywhere without being noticed, she's practiced in walking silently in places where she could snap a branch with any step, but with all eyes on her she had given up on any real possibility of getting out. It just didn't seem possible until she at least got some control over the godright's power. With Tabris here though...]
I've really only tried to cover it when it's keeping me awake. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it would be to sleep with a flashlight shining at you all night.
[She gives Tabris a tired smile.]
The pillow works okay if I press it really hard against my hand so maybe if we have enough layers that would do the trick? It's risky.
[Egg looks over Tabris when she suggests carrying her. She's small but Egg can see even at a glance that she has strong arms. It looks like she's experienced with using her body so she's probably right about the weight. Egg shrugs.]
If you have a rope I do have more than one hand.
[She holds up her non-glowing hand for emphasis.]
I'm, well, I used to be one of the hunters for my clan and I mostly use a bow and arrow, it's quieter than a gun. I can probably support myself if you spot me.