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this is fuckin' awesome

Open RP Post

⊛ find a character you want to play with and respond to their thread. can't find who you want? let me know!
⊛ we can make up a scenario, adapt a meme of some sort, or... something else? whatever the fuck we want.
⊛ if you need ideas, the random scenario meme has just about anything you could want.
⊛ wanna do a picture prompt? we can do some picture prompts.
⊛ FUCK YEAH WE'RE TOTALLY ROLEPLAYING RIGHT NOW!!!

Handy-Dandy Quick Links:
Vanessa Cleveland ⊛ Catty Turner ⊛ Finnick Odair ⊛ Belle Beaumont ⊛ Chloe Saunders
Commander Shepard ⊛ Piper McLean ⊛ Jordan Langley ⊛ Jaime Lannister ⊛ Eli Keaton
Sally Malik ⊛ Corey Carling ⊛ Shadow ⊛ Fenris ⊛ Meetra Surik
Revan ⊛ Keiko Nakagawa ⊛ Alyss Heart ⊛ Ava ⊛ James
Percy Jackson ⊛ Frank Zhang ⊛ Helen ⊛ Jason Grace ⊛ David Levin
April O'Neil ⊛ Galen Marek ⊛ Reyna ⊛ Jackson Swift ⊛ Jaime Reyes
Fran Zhang (AU) ⊛ Jasa Grace (AU) ⊛ Piper McLean (AU) ⊛ Gretel ⊛ Sirius Black
Cullen ⊛ Liv Durand ⊛ Maddie Moss ⊛ Daniel Bianchi ⊛ Finley Odair (AU)
Persephone Jackson (AU) ⊛ Derek Hale ⊛ Raleigh Becket ⊛ Allison Argent ⊛ Liam Hunt
Seph McCauley ⊛ Jonah Kinlock ⊛ Edward Kenway ⊛ Aveline de Grandpre ⊛ Gale Hawthone
Will Scarlet ⊛ Korra ⊛ Carswell Thorne ⊛ Scarlet Benoit

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[Cullen isn't much of a templar these days. He still wears the armor though, most days. All days, but whatever. He's a templar that doesn't know where he is. What he's doing. He wonders if mages should be locked up or let free; neither solution works entirely.

It's hard to keep asking himself that whenever he looks at Solona. Ridiculous, really. Maker help him, you'd think several years would have given him time to get over her. She had been nothing but a silly boyhood crush, naive and wistful. They're not innocent anymore. Not naive or wistful or even entirely whole. They've seen too much at this point.

But when he looks at her, he doesn't really see a mage. He sees a woman who has carved a path for herself, who broke out of the circles that bound her and made her own way.

What Cullen sees in Solona is something he's never been able to do. Not that he believes she's free. She traded one cage for another, but at least this one allows for freedom of movement.

Today, he's out of the armor that bound him too. It makes him feel naked. Kirkwall is a hothouse of insanity, but he doesn't want to be a templar today. His sword is still strapped to his side, however.] How much longer do you think you will stick around?

[ it doesn't take much for Solona to become enraptured with text. Old parchments, tomes, relics of the arcane- it didn't matter. Despite everything, the Blight, the war, there is solace to be found holed up behind a desk, elbow-deep in knowledge waiting to be sifted through and used. A Circle mage, if nothing else, is a product of their surroundings. And growing up, Solona's surroundings had included a very, very large library.

One that had not held anything remotely like what she was seeing now.

Orsino's effects had been left to her scrutiny, and she doesn't fool herself on the credentials. Orsino's research and relics were hers to evaluate only because she is mage enough for the remnants of the Circle to trust her, and enough steps away for the Templars to think her tamed but not a threat. Mage Amell is gone, but Warden Amell remains.

And Warden Amell is supposed to be uninvolved.

But as she sits, for the fifth or sixth night in a row, pouring tirelessly over Orsino's work (and there is no mention of blood magic, but Solona sees it all over the pages regardless. It is not obvious, but the absence of its influence betrays his hidden desperation. Orsino discusses trivial matters such as restricting certain supplies for the apprentices, what herbology is approved for the newly Harrowed, how many elfroots are in the stocks- but what Solona reads is a man losing more and more authority as the details become more trivial. A man losing everything. And a man who's lost everything can only give himself ) it becomes impossible to hold the middle-ground. She can't help but see the tidy scrawl of Irving's notes in the tomes Orsino has collected, and think of the young apprentices as her hands ghost over another page of the former First Enchanter's personal books.

This war is going to be the end of the Circle, she feels it in her bones. And the end of the Circle means the end of the Templar's protection, no matter how such a thing could be interpreted.

Solona leans back in her chair, closing her eyes and her mind drifts to the Hold. Of her Harrowing. Of Jowan. Of Uldred and what he had done to the mages his Abominations had dragged through the halls, screaming-]

[And Cullen's sudden question from outside of the office makes her startle back, knocking over a well of ink that spills liberally over the priceless, priceless inscriptions ]

Maker's rotting breath-

[ She reacts quickly, dabbing at the pages frantically with the sleeves of her robes, shaking parchments out as dobs of ink only splatter.

Years of fighting Darkspawn, of honing her magic, of hardening herself- and Warden Amell knocks over a well of ink and almost feels reduced to hysterics over it ]

-I'm sorry, what was the question?

[ the pages can be redeemed, maybe. Solona takes a deep breath and feels a similar satisfaction in rescuing Orsino's poultice recipe to the pride she held when slaying an ogre ]

[The curse brings a smile to his face, and he's glad - for the moment - that she can't actually see him. It's gone by the time he turns and steps into the doorway of Orsino's office. Cullen takes a moment to look around. He realizes that he's never actually been in here before, despite the fact that they were only a few doors away from each other. Both strange and... Not.

Orsino was not Irving. Cullen didn't trust Orsino on a personal level, didn't really know him. But the horrors he remembers from that night when the Chantry blew, when the First Enchanter used blood magic to seal a pact with a demon...

It reflects on his face for a moment. Just a moment. And then it's gone.]

Here I thought that becoming a Warden gave you a special set of skills. Grace hasn't become one of them. [In reference to her spilling ink. Oops. There's a beat before he steps further into the room, one step at a time as if he's unsure. Because he is. He really is. He shouldn't be in here.]

I was asking how long you planned to stay in Kirkwall. [You know, not for any personal reasons or anything.]

[ she's too concerned with trying to save history from being...well, blighted-by ink, fortunately this time- to catch the expression, but she does hear the all-too familiar sound of hesitant Cullen steps. ]

I don't think I ruined the vellum... [ it's muttered to herself, and when she looks up and finally sees him, there is a strange sensation she feels when she notices there is no Templar armor on him today. He looks more like himself, and at the same time more of a complete stranger. And numbly, she realizes that she has worn nothing but Mage robes for the better part of fifteen years ]

Cullen. [ she offers a small smile in greeting "You look smaller" on the tip of her tongue but she staves it ] Grace isn't really required of the Wardens. They're more of a strike-with-lightning-now, ask questions never persuasion.

[ it takes another moment for her thoughts to fast forward up to speed in time with Cullen's question, and when it does she tries not to feel strongly one way or another as she contemplates her answer. she sighs, setting down the last of the parchments and stretching out the knot that had formed in her shoulder ]

Until I am needed more elsewhere, I suspect.

Solona. [Despite himself, a small smile flickers across his face in response before it gets sort of buried underneath of everything else.] Ah, then that explains a lot, now that I come to think about it. Then again, I know plenty of those not a Warden that react the same way. [He lets his gaze roam over her for a moment, taking in what she's doing, the spill and the papers and her.

There's a nod, but also a bit of disappointment at the idea of her leaving. It's inevitable, of course.] Well, as I haven't seen that particular order come through just yet, I think it would be okay for you to leave this office for an hour or two. [A beat.] You haven't gone anywhere for days, and I am beginning to wonder what it is that you're living off of in here exactly.

[ she sees that smile, Serrah Serious Templar, and gives him a bigger, easier one in return. ] War, Blight, and too much ale will do that, I've discovered.

[ the statement catches her off-guard. True, she's been holed up in Orsino's office, but she...never really considered that someone here would be noticing her absence. Kirkwall, after all, is almost entirely a city of strangers aside from the man standing across from her ]

Tea? [ that shouldn't be a question. Solona knows she's been living off tea ] And willpower, mostly.

[ she smiles again at him, and the memory of seeing her after she had awakened from her Harrowing returns. How he had stuttered, and said she could talk to him whenever she liked.

...it feels like ages since she's been able to talk to anyone, really ]

Trying to get me away from here already, I see.

[He's noticed her absence. He notices her presence, too. Solona is a noticeable woman, and he doesn't know how to focus on something not her when she's around. He feels like a kid again.

It's a strangely comforting feeling.

He smiles back at her again, body somewhat relaxed. He has never realized how heavy his armor was before he took it off, in all sense of the word.]

I am trying to make sure that you don't pass out over Orsino's desk. And to stop the rumors over your disappearance into this place. Some of the younger templars believe you might be a demon. [There's a note of amusement in his voice.] You need more than tea and willpower, Solona.

[ it's nice, to hear the joking again. The last time she had really talked to Cullen, he had been locked in the mental prison of a desire demon, thinking that she...

well. that she was something she imagined he hadn't wanted her to hear at the time ]

My particular brand of demon can last just fine with it. [ she starts to pace a little, cringing when she realizes just how long it's been since she stood up, went outside, or any of those normal, non-demon transforming mage activities. Solona turns to him with a small half smile ]

I suppose now's not the time to encourage wariness between mages and templars. What would you suggest doing to convince the recruits not to smite me?

[We don't talk about that, Solona. That period of time.]

I wouldn't go around just dropping that word where others could hear, not after what's happened. [A few of the people believed that a demon had blown the chantry up, Orsino's story had spread. His voice is soft as he tells her that.

His eyes follow her as she paces, despite himself.] You need actual food. Let me take you out to eat.

[ right. never happened 8| especially not with Wynne standing like, right there.

her smile goes a little sad, at that. demons were never really a joking matter, but with the damage they've inflicted to the Circles lately, it was a more touchy subject than most ] I understand.

[ that catches her off-guard, and Solona's foot freezes mid-step to look at him ]

Out to eat? [ spoken as if he had just said something to her in Orlesian. ]

Are you sure?

[Even before all of this, joking about demons would likely have been in bad taste in his eyes. He nods, though, when she says that she understands.

There's a pause then. He's caught the Here of Ferelden by surprise. A pathetic templar in barely a name-only sort of way. There's a definite smile on his face now.]

Am I sure that you are in need of food? Yes. Nobody can survive the way you have, not even you.

No I mean-

[ it sounds bad even as she says it, but Amell's social graces always were subservient for her curiosity ]

-are you sure you want to take me? [ why is she sounding like a girl again, asking why he's stuttering. Solona clears her throat awkwardly ]

A mage and a templar usually don't...associate outside of Circle duties.

[ such things had never bothered her, not even now, with the two groups balancing on the precipice around each other. but for cullen, it might. ]

Yes? [But her questioning it is making him question it as well, and there's a look of uncertainty on his face as he says the words. He means to be firm. Eating is not anything serious. Not dangerous.]

This isn't much of a Circle anymore, and you're not particularly a mage. You're a Warden.

[See? Loopholes.]

You mean I'm not just a mage. [ she smiles just a little sadly ] It doesn't...go away.

[ and now she's going down a path she knows she shouldn't, making a simple invitation into something it wasn't meant to be. Solona shakes her head, gives the vellum a shake just to be sure the ink is completely off, and orders her thoughts to refocus ]

Lunch, would be much appreciated I think.

[ she gives what she hopes is her best reassuring and friendly grin ]

Lunch and maybe some ale.

I know it doesn't. [A sigh.] But anyone could just look at you and see that you are more than a mere mage.

[It's an awkward compliment, and he shifts somewhat, feeling uncomfortable. Feeling like a young man again. Not that he has gained a world more experience since that time.]

An ale seems more than appropriate. [He feels like he's going to need it.]

[ definitely an awkward compliment. but solona has gotten used to the whole...fish out of water experience when dealing with things ]

I-

Thank you. I think. Yes, thank you.

[ she clears her throat, and with only a small amount of hesitance, offers her arm ] Allow me to escort the Knight-Commander to the tavern?

[Her arm. Such a tantalizing arm. Will people talk if he takes it? What does it matter? Except that, the general rule of thumb tends to be that templars don't usually have relationships, and they...

Also don't take the arm of mages.

Even the Hero of Ferelden.

So he takes her arm anyway.] I would be honored to be seen with a Warden-Commander.

[ yes, all. connected to her shoulder. she smiles at that and maybe leans into the hold a little ]

You don't have to call me that, you know.

[ she leads out of the office, trying not to look at any of the templars as they head down the hall ]

Or the Hero of Ferelden, if that title was next.

Edited 2013-08-21 03:44 (UTC)

[Cullen trains his eyes forward, not daring - or caring - to look at anyone else who might be sending them questioning looks.]

Are you attempting to tell me that we can be on a first name basis now, my lady?

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