Queen Glimmer (
sparklequeen) wrote in
faderift2021-04-16 10:41 am
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Entry tags:
Out of the frying pan... [ Open | Arrival ]
WHO: Glimmer, anyone else.
WHAT: Glimmer arrives in Thedas via Rift, then gets settled in the Gallows
WHEN: A week or two during Cloudreach
WHERE: Location
NOTES: N/A
WHAT: Glimmer arrives in Thedas via Rift, then gets settled in the Gallows
WHEN: A week or two during Cloudreach
WHERE: Location
NOTES: N/A
i. Falling, falling, falling
Glimmer had gone to sleep in New Amsterdam, awkwardly curled on a too small mattress, doing her best not to make unappreciated skin contact with the girl she shared with. And as usual when far from home, she had been dreaming--dreaming of home. Of her friends. Of her war. When she dreams this time, it is of the endless corridors of the vessel she had been imprisoned on--a common nightmare for her. In this one, she runs through endless, identical corridors, pursued by identical monsters, each of them wearing the face of the warlord imprisoning her. She fights them, but no matter how many she blasts down with her staff or fights free of, there are always more. Endless, endless, and endless. She cannot escape. She will never escape. Until she stumbles through a doorway and into emptiness. She is tumbling down, down, down--
Her eyes shoot open and she flails. She is falling, really falling and she has a staff in her hand--she doesn't know where this is or what's happening. Too green to be New Amsterdam and yet not the familiar land of home. She flails, twists herself, and by instinct tries to teleport herself down to safety--
And finds that she can. Appears in a burst of sparkling light. There's a laugh. A bark of stressed, unsure mirth at being able to teleport once again.
"What?" It's the only thing she can think to say as she stumbles and leans against her staff. It neatly sums up her experience in the last few months.
[ There are probably some shades of the clones chasing her through her dream around to be slain, and they'll go poof pretty easy. Maybe some Fade daemons? Go wild! Please PM me if you've got other questions or ideas. ]
ii. Landing on your feet
The Gallows seems an appropriate name for the place when Glimmer first sets eyes on the imposing edifice that seems to rise out of the water of Kirkwall's harbor. Thankfully, once she sets foot on the island, she finds it much less of a miserable place than she had thought. It feels more familiar than the artificiality and sterility of New Amsterdam (at least before it had been overrun by plants) but has a feeling of oppressiveness and closed-off isolation compared to the open, airy corridors and breezeways of Bright Moon. Still... she can deal with this, right? Having gotten her bearings, she settles in for what is sure to be an interesting time.
There are days of education. She can be found learning about this new world, about what brought her here. In the training yard, sweating as she swings a practice staff against targets and works on her teleportation 'muscles' once again. Appearing and disappearing in bursts of light, firing off blasts of her photokinesis to knock down targets until she collapses from the exertion, panting and weak. It helps her work off the frustration of being far from home once again and though she's friendly enough when approached, there's something moody and closed off about the young woman from time to time.
Perhaps she's found at meal times, tired and practically dozing in her soup after a hard training sessions or with her eyes fixed on a book about Thedas as she tries to absorb whatever she can. Regardless, there's a new face to be seen at the Gallows and she could probably use someone friendly to help her feel welcome.
Or maybe you just want to needle the new kid. Either way.
[ Go wild! Open to to other stuff as well. If there's nothing here that strikes your fancy, hit me up on Discord or Plurk and we can plot something else out. ♥ ]
ii
That training did not include magic. Tiffany, going through her drills, has spent the afternoon observing the other woman. She's polite enough that her observing can't be confused with open staring--but if she had been staring, she could hardly be blamed. The display is strange and fascinating.
When the current sequence seems to have come to a close (at least for now), and the woman is catching her breath, Tiffany comes over and sets a jug of water beside her, with a friendly smile.
"Want some?"
She's tall, clad in half-armor for ease of training. Her broadsword is sheathed over her back, its pommel wrapped in bright blue leather. Her surcoat, too, is blue, the mark of the Seeker order picked out across the chest in yellow: the eye, the flames behind it.
Re: ii
Too bad she wasn't seeing much progress yet. Glimmer is dressed simply--her royal raiment of light purples and pinks stored away for more useful attire and exchanged for the simple clothing offered by the Riftwatch, a shirt of maille over a gambeson her only armor for the moment. The only concession she makes to her title is her crown--more a simple circlet of gold set with a white gem. As she looks up at the taller woman, she reaches out with her free hand and takes the offered jug.
"Thanks," she says, smiling at the taller woman. "I really should've remembered to bring some out myself, but I guess I was a little too focused on training."
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The crown is the most telling part of the woman's garb. Tiffany's eyes graze over her forehead, a quick glance. The gold catches in the sunshine. It's mot exactly easy to overlook.
"I'm Tiffany," she says. Introduction instead of asking any questions. "Lady Seeker Theophania Hart. The formality is a little much for me, but I don't like to surprise anyone at a later date. You're new to Riftwatch?"
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"I'm very new. Just fell out of a hole in the sky the other day, to be honest. And my name is Glimmer! Though if we have to be all formal, it's Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon."
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"We don't have to be formal, as long as you're comfortable with informality. I am, if you are. It's very nice to meet you, Glimmer, even if I'm sorry about the circumstances of our meeting."
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"And... well. We're pretty far from Etheria and from Bright Moon, so it's not like the title means much to any of you." A pause, perhaps a little awkward.
"Does it? I mean--I'm new to Thedas. It's why I'm doing so much reading on everything..."
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While she's here, and they're conversing, she might as well have a seat. The clink of chain mail has a kind of musicality to it as she adjusts herself to sit as comfortably as she can.
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"Bright Moon is my kingdom, back on Etheria--my planet," Glimmer starts to explain. "It's... beautiful. Purple mountains. CLear lakes and rivers. The castle glitters any time the sun hits it. It has beautiful forests. Friendly people. I... I don't know how else to describe it but beautiful."
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It helps to have Glimmer's account of her home as a distraction. She smiles as she stretches her legs out. "It sounds wonderful. I come from a place in Ferelden that sounds like it might be much the same, the Ruswold. Except the glittering castle. That sounds like something out of a wonderful story. Ruling a friendly people must be a rewarding job."
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"It's a beautiful place. And it would be more rewarding if it weren't for the war..." The war that consumed her whole childhood in one way or another. The war that seems to grow worse and worse the longer she's away, not knowing what's happened.
"Which is... It's a long story and we don't need to get into all the grim stuff. I just wish I was back home right now."
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"I'm sorry your home has known war." Simple, straightforward, genuinely meant. She digs her heels against the thin soil of the yard, making little crescent-shaped impressions. "Sometimes it seems overwhelming, thinking that everyone has lived during some war or another. Not just in Thedas, but--everywhere. It makes peace feel like some far-fetched ideal."
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"Before I was born, I know there wasn't a war. I just want things to be peaceful for my people again. I want things to be peaceful for me and my friends. Sometimes that just seems really far away. Maybe we can't ever reach it? I have to try, though." She uses the butt-end of her staff to scratch at the dirt, moving it in idle circles through the dust. The clothes she wears aren't hers, exactly. They've been given to her--new-made or handed down to her. They still need some alteration and the sleeves on her shirt are rolled up to make sure they don't fall over her hands.
"Even if it's far-fetched, I have to try."
ii / post training yard
"You push yourself very hard," comes after she's finished, and Ellis can draw up alongside the edge of the training yard when Glimmer seems ready to leave it. It's a neutral observation, Ellis studying her. There is plenty he doesn't know about how magic might work, what kind of toll it takes on the user. And Rifters, that's a whole other arena of capability; he's never seen someone disappear in a blinding flash of light before.
But what he does know is that it's likely rude to ask so bluntly about the strain any magic puts on a mage, so—
"Have you ever practiced that with partners? Someone at your flank?"
Re: ii / post training yard
"I have. Why?" Ever since she'd started taking an active interest in fighting alongside Bow and then Adora she'd been ready and willing to fight alongside others. It seemed a natural thing to do, really.
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But Ellis holds that particular piece of advice in check for the moment.
"I've some experience fighting alongside mages. And sparring with them," he offers instead, even though the word mage might not be quite the right fit. But the differences between magic in Thedas and magic everywhere else is Wysteria's domain. Ellis is thinking strategically.
"I'm not much for staves, but if you'd like a better partner than those training dummies, I'd volunteer."
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"Let me get my breath back and we can have a go, yeah? Feel free to use whatever weapon you're most comfortable with--it's better for me to spar with someone using something different, isn't it?" A pause, then she offers a hand.
"I'm Glimmer!"
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"I fight with a mace," follows after, Ellis tilting his head slightly before continuing, "But for this, a sword, maybe."
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"Either is fine with me. It'll be good practice--I haven't had to fight anyone in a while."
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There's a sense of...delicacy in the question. Ellis doesn't want to be mistaken as prying, doesn't want to be needling at something sensitive.
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"You needn't tell it if you aren't inclined to," he offers instead, rather than questions. "There'll be more than enough opportunity for you to fight here."
Is that reassuring? Ellis wants it to be, but isn't entirely sure it's had the desired effect. He tacks on, with a slight smile, "If it's not demons, it's bandits. Or bears. They'll keep you in top form."
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"I'm sure they'll keep me in good shape. I'd feel a little bad about the bears, though."
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But, more sincerely, "There'll be work for you. It might not all be..."
A pause, Ellis casting for descriptors that encompass the range of things Riftwatch is asked to tend to.
"You won't be bored," is what he settles on, apparently the most honest summation that can be mustered.
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"So. Wanna show me what I'm up against?"
ii
The voice belongs to a tiny dwarven woman dressed in the bright reds and whites of the Chantry. She looks up at Glimmer with an assessing frown, the expression pulling slightly on the blocky "S" shaped mark on her cheek.
Re: ii
"I used to be able to. At home, I mean. But since I got here, I can only seem to go places I can see. It's... weird." She frowns and her nose wrinkles.
"Maybe something to do with the local magic?"
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Because yes, she is here to recruit for a task.
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"Why? Do you need help with something?" Seems she's happy to lend a hand, if that's the case!
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She sets off without checking to see if Glimmer follows. She won't be hard to keep up with, given the height differences. She does glance over her shoulder during her march down the Gallows halls to ask: "What's your name? You're one of those new Rifters, aren't you?"
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"Oh, yeah. Just arrived a few days ago--I'm Glimmer. Well, Queen Glimmer of Bright Moon to be exact but I don't think most people are going to bother with my title here, since you know. Other world and stuff..."
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"I thought queens and such were supposed to be grown. You look young for it."
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"...My mother died," she says. As if that should be explanation enough for why she is queen when she is so markedly young.
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"Suppose those things do happen. I just wanted to be sure, since surfacers all look like children." It's sympathy and apology, awkwardly given and with Sawbones once again setting off down the hall.
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"I suppose they do." They happen and then you blame your best friend. No big. She hurries after Sawbones, lapsing into awkward silence.
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Sawbones points to one of the flowering trees. A large basket sits at the base of it, half full with various herbs. "I need to get some of those blossoms." She plucks a glass jar out of the depths of the basket, "At least enough to fill this jar. But someone's moved the ladder."
This is the very important problem that Sawbones has accosted one of the new Rifters for.
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"I'm happy to help," she says and reaches up to begin carefully plucking the blossoms from what she can reach, though she has to stand on her toes more than once as she goes. Each one is plucked, then dropped into the jar that Sawbones holds.
"What are you going to be using them for?"
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"Trying to make some of the medicines taste less bitter," she says, holding the jar and watching it fill, "I got one that helps keep fatigue off, but it's horrid to taste and you can't always have something on hand to cover it up."
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"Apple blossoms have such a nice scent."