#tobebrutal

[thanflowers]

@tobebrutal (nathaniel) — starter call / accepting!

        “you...came back.” elspeth frowns deeply, a furrow of confusion forming between her brows. “i told you to take whatever you could carry and go. i thought that was very generous.” her jaw tenses, arms crossing over her chest. blue-green eyes trail past him, focusing instead on a point over his shoulder. it's hard to look at him without thinking of his father. “why would you return?”

[ofeluvians]

a visit from the great hero of ferelden was something that the inquisition had been after since before its formation. letter after letter from leliana had found its way to ariana, begging her to attend the conclave, then to come to haven after the breach had been opened. she'd ignored them all initially, her head absolutely aching at the thought of getting tangled up in politics and chantry business. she was a grey warden and it'd been made very clear numerous times that, hero or not, the circle and the chantry were no longer her business. stay out of it. even with the breach in the sky, her days of heroism were over. someone else bore a mark, an anchor. this had nothing to do with her or with darkspawn or blight.

then the attack on haven happened and everything changed. corypheus. darkspawn. red lyrium. templars infused with red lyrium. the calling was ringing in her skull way too soon and the first warden was sending out orders for everyone to come back to weisheuppt. it made her head spin. blood magic was involved. there was so much more to it than initially assumed. but then again, when wasn't there more to it?

she'd sent a letter, initially saying that she wasn't coming, that she was busy. but it was a lie. ariana was already making her way to skyhold, not wanting to declare her intentions openly in case the letter was intercepted by the wrong party. paranoia rang supreme as she made her way to the frostback mountains, moving carefully and only using a false name. the last thing that corypheus or any of his agents needed to hear was that the hero of ferelden was making her way to the inquisition's headquarters. who knew what kind of trouble that he'd send her way?

relief floods through her as she finally makes her way through skyhold's front gates, the aches and exhaustion that plague her body worth it as she drags herself through the courtyard. she keeps her hood up, not wanting to risk anyone noticing her just yet. she makes a quick visit to leliana, wanting the bard to be the first to know of her arrival. she asks her old friend to keep it secret for now, especially since she doesn't want to risk undermining lavellan's authority by simply being there.

something twists in her chest as she realizes there's another person that she needs to visit. another person that she needs to announce her presence to before it slips out in whispers and rumors. ariana knows that it's best if he hears it directly from her, but the memory of how they parted is still burned into her mind. she gets the directions to his office from leliana and makes her way there, not even stopping for food or rest. she's decided that it's best to do it quickly, get it out of the way. 

she pauses outside of his door, a part of her suddenly terrified. how will he react? will he be angry? does he still hate her? she shakes her head, trying to shake away the thoughts, takes a deep breath, and pushes that fear deep down as she lifts her hand to rap on his door before carefully opening it. "cullen?" she slips inside, not lowering her hood until she was fully within and the door was shut behind her. "is...is this a bad time?" was there any good time for this kind of reunion? 

@tobebrutal

[crowspoise]

❝   𝚂𝙺𝚈𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙳   𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚄𝚁𝙸𝚃𝚈   𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙴𝚂   𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶   𝚃𝙾   𝙱𝙴   𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳,   𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁.   ❞   It   would   have   been   more   polite   if   he   had   entered   the   Inquisition’s   domain   through   the   front   door,   but   a   Crow   needed   to   know   with   whom   he   was   being   allied,   given   the   lack   of   a   contract.   Two   guards   were   bunched   up   against   a   wall,   spiked   cider   spilled   across   the   floor   and   their   soft   snores   a   hopefully   sufficient   proof   of   life.  

The   soft   slikt   of   the   whetstone   along   the   length   of   a   short   sword   demanded   most   of   Lucanis’   attention,   feet   kicked   up   on   the   former   templar’s   desk   and   looking   the   very   picture   of   relaxed.   ❝   The   walls   will   keep   most   out,   but   your   guards   are   far   too   comfortable   accepting   drinks   on   duty.   ❞

@tobebrutal && cullen ♡

[calperna]

fingers trace the strange hand, twisted and rough bark too lifelike to be anything but a corpse. a pretty one, in it's grotesque glory, but a corpse all the same. her hand falls to the side and calpernia's gaze falls to the next one that is sprawled and half-crawling across the ground. "what occurred that created these things?" it is half question and half demand for an answer as she turns to face bellara. the odd tree-bodies had not gone unnoticed in their latest trek through arlathan and calpernia can no longer keep the query silent.

@tobebrutal

[thanflowers]

elspeth vs the childish urge to kick nathaniel howe in the shin and then just run away.

[tragedia]

@tobebrutal's zevran gets a starter, [ from reyna ].

The sun is setting, and for a moment things seem quiet. It's the most welcome reprieve between all the things that would likely threaten their lives in one way or another, and although Reyna can't fully trust it, she's glad to have that moment of peace. While the fire casts dancing shadows around them, it's only her and Zevran sitting together in companionable silence. Although the choice to bring an Antivan Crow into the fold was met with judgement, Reyna doesn't regret it, even if she's not foolish enough to trust it completely just yet.

“ Thanks for having my back today. You fight well, ” Reyna says, deciding to break the silence. For someone who's naturally as gruffy as her, her words seem earnest. She has just let her hair down, massaging her scalp in gentle strokes — something her mother used to do to soothe her, before she had died. “ You know, I've been to more forests this past month than my entire life. I've never left Denerim before. I suppose that might seem strange to you, since you're so far from Antiva. ”

[freedomscall]

@tobebrutal | sebastian vael | starters

❝ It's NOT the same thing. YOU being given to the CHANTRY, ME being given to the CIRCLE. Surely you're not actually DELUDED enough to believe that. ❞

[divinesleft]

@tobebrutal

leliana sighs, her mind has been heavy since this all began. she's glad for the company of cassandra - perhaps the only other person who would understand her confusion, her frustration, right now.

"do you think it was her? i've been thinking about what the inquisitor saw... in the fade. could it have been-?"