#keeper-gone-rogue

[broken-paragon]

SECRET SANTA!!!

For Velanna

***

Velanna,

I hope this letter finds you well. I’m not sure if you celebrate human holidays like this one or not, but I have found that rarely is it a bad thing to relieve a gift of friendship whatever the month or season. I hope you will agree.

I don’t know how much we’ve spoken of this before, but when I was young (eons ago it seems!) I used to spend hours at my workbench. Dwarves are all about their craftwork, as I’m sure you know, and my favorite…the class I never skipped, the pastime I always returned to, was jewelry making. Some of my kinsmen saw this area of metal art as unimportant, or unworthy, but I have always believed that putting things of meaning and (hopefully in this case!) beauty into the world is just about the most worthy thing we can do.

Since leaving home I haven’t had the time or means to work as I once did…honestly I was a little afraid that returning to those old habits would be painful…and at times they have been…but I had forgotten how much joy it brought me.

Anyway, the real reason I am writing you today is because I hope you will let me share a little of my dabbling with you. I’ve been working on a few pieces that, for lack of a better word, chronicle what the last year has been like for me and a few nights I ago while I was failing at going to sleep I remembered an encounter I had quite forgotten about. It’s funny the things you start to remember once you allow yourself to.

I was making my way through some part of Ferelden, trying to stay one step ahead of my brother, trying to convince myself that it really was better to keep moving forward than to just lie down and give up. I’m not even sure exactly where I was, I wasn’t very good at navigating such large open spaces, but I stumbled into a clearing where the most beautiful creature I have ever seen was waiting. I now know she was a Halla, then I had never even dreamed such a creature was possible. She wasn’t afraid of me. She just turned her graceful head toward me and for the longest moment we just looked at one another and I swear it was like she looked into my heart and KNEW me. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Finally she just turned away and moved quietly into the forest, and I can’t explain it, but as I watched her walk away I felt for the first time since everything fell apart that maybe I was going to be OK.

I made the enclosed that same night, remembering the graceful sweep of those impossible antlers. And I thought, if you didn’t mind too much, that I’d send it to you. I know there are things in your life that are painful, and maybe sometimes you feel like I did that day in the forest, ready to just sit down and say ‘to hell with all of it’. I hope that if that ever happens, maybe this will remind you that you are not alone. You’re people are with you, even if they don’t understand how to be just now, and your friends are with you too, even when they are clumsy and unsure of how to tell you as much (That’s me…if you were wondering.).

Anyway. You’ll have to forgive my sentiment, I guess I’ve bought into the ideals of this Human tradition more than I though. Let’s have dinner soon.

All my love, Sereda

[womenaregoodforsix]

♥

She thought, if she had to rank them, this would be her dorkiest kiss. What else could it be? Kissing over a bookshelf like a couple of nerds? But they reached for the same book, their fingers brushing, hers so pale against Isabela’s darker skin, and then they were chattering, off and running, both passionate about the slim volume of poetry and all the poetesses contained within.

When she found out that the pretty elf with the sharp mind and sharper wit worked there… “I’ll be sure to be back soon,” she grinned, and, because she couldn’t help it… she leaned over the bookshelf, her breasts brushing against the spines, and the kiss she gave the woman was almost chaste, but with just enough electricity that she thought they could be the muses of those women of the isle themselves.

[thriveintheashes]

46,85,98

46. Height

Keita’s lip curled in annoyance, glaring at some of the taller shemlen nearby, “Shorter than I would like.” 

85. Fallen for a friend

"I do not fall. For friends or otherwise." 

98. Out Of Everything In The World What Do You Wish For

"I- I no longer know." After a short pause, Keita looks back with a hard expression, "But for now, I shall settle with destroying those creatures that ruined my life. And his." 

[temptationinallthings]

A History Lesson [Velanna & Neria]

Closing up the shop was always an involved process. From checking the potted plants to make sure the soil was moist enough to double checking the inventory and reorganizing the shelves mussed by the wondering fingers of idle customers, the list of to-do’s often metastasized as tasks piled up. Still, she’d managed to accomplish her routine in a relatively quick time today, and she still had a few hours before she headed to the clinic.

Locking the storefront, she paused and took a deep breath only to crinkle her nose. She sometimes forgot that streets of Lowtown were far from pleasant. She was spoiled by the small walled-in garden behind the shop. It was always fragrant, permeated by the smell of herbs, spices, and flowers. 

She stood on the stoop, eyeing the booths that were slowly closing down for the night as she tried to decide what she wanted to do. Not really in the mood for the ale and carousing to be had at the Hanged Man, she sighed and considered slipping back into the shop and just retreating to her bedroom.

She wasn’t really tired though. She watched an elf rush past, and pursed her lips thoughtfully before shrugging. Why not? She’d wanted to check out the Alienage since she’d taken up residence in Kirkwall, but there always seemed to be one reason or another for why she hadn’t. Today was as good a day as any. Checking the door out of habit, she stepped off the stoop and started down the winding street toward the Alienage.  

”Hey there lovey, interested in-” The woman paused, finally getting a good look at her and her lip curled.

Unable to resist taunting the woman given her obvious assumption that she was just another ‘poor elf’, Neria sauntered closer and patted her coin purse. “Whut? Is my money not good enough for the likes of you?” She purred, satisfied by the look of chagrin that passed over the young woman’s face.

”It’s good enough for me. Hell…you don’ even have ta’ pay me. I’ll do ya for free Knife-ear.” A drunken miner announced with a leering grin.

Neria rolled her eyes and pushed the man toward the woman. “You two deserve each other.” She muttered, shaking her as the woman gasped when the man just about bowled her over. “Ahh Lowtown.” She muttered with a shake of her head, continuing down the street.

It didn’t take her long to reach the Alienage, and she almost felt foolish for having put it off for so long given how quickly the trip had been. However, once she got there, she just stopped, not fully descending into the giant courtyard that belonged to her people. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the giant tree that dominated the area. From the gnarled roots to the branches that fanned out above, the tree stood in stark contrast with the buildings surrounding it. A pillar from an age long past remembered only by those desperately seeking an escape from the dismal realities that threatened to consume them completely.

She watched, intrigued as Elves moved up to the tree, murmuring soft words, or making simple gestures before moving off. She didn’t understand the significance of any of it though, and that was why she’d come. She wanted to know more about her people, her history. Oh she’d read the books at the circle and she knew the Dalish history, but reading something and understanding it were two completely different things.

Finally she urged her feet to move and slipped down the final steps into the Alienage courtyard, though her attention remained focused on that tree. Like the ocean, it made her feel small…insignificant…as though its presence a proclamation to all: cities will collapse, walls will crumble, and elves will fall, but I shall remain, an indomitable force in the face of all but time itself…