Richard Dickerson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
nonvenomous) wrote2034-10-19 09:51 am
nonvenomous) wrote2034-10-19 09:51 am
Inbox - Fade Rift
Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.
Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.
Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.
no subject
The pause for him to take her in head on is distinct. ]
‘Richard’ is fine. [ He isn’t feeling very much like a Mister or a Serrah or a human at all on this day, hungover and tired and muddled over his own presence here. There’s a tell-tale weariness to the way he nods and turns away to seat himself, dark circles around bright eyes while he watches her follow. ]
How long have you been a Warden?
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[ She is familiar with what someone looks like when hungover and takes a mental note of it, but doesn't think anything poorly about him as a result; it's been a difficult time for many, and Ellis' regard carries a lot of weight in her mind to begin with. He'd have to do worse than be hungover to take a step down from that. ]
Ten years. [ A sigh. ] Almost eleven. [ There are memories there, and they are not all good ones, if the slight darkening of her expression is to mean anything. ] I was young when I Joined. How about you? How long have you been with Riftwatch?
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I understand that’s an impressive tenure.
[ Less impressively: ]
I’ve been here for a year and a half. Just water, [ he adds, aside to the aforementioned proprietor approaching with a horn of ale, ] eggs and toast, if you have it.
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[ She's somewhat used to not being what people expect of a Warden, honestly. Too bubbly, too honest, too young. Too apparently unscarred from a life of horrors. As it is, she smiles at the proprietor sweetly. ]
Ah. [ Hm. She hadn't considered food. ] Do you have any sausage?
[ The proprietor nods and bustles off, leaving the ale in front of Adrasteia. Well. She'll have some but there are no guarantees she'll be able to finish a drink of that size. ]
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[ Richard peels his gloves off while she orders, and there’s the anchor shard wedged like a glass splinter in his left palm. He flops the gloves aside; an oversized cup of water is placed down before him, not near enough of a distraction to interrupt a slightly more skeptical survey of her person now that they’re settled. ]
What kind of an emergency are you anticipating in Warden Ellis’ absence.
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[ She takes note of the shard but doesn't stare, is too polite to do so. Instead she sips the ale and waits for food, or a question, whichever comes first.
It appears that 'question' wins. ]
I don't know, actually. Part of the difficulty of Riftwatch I'm finding is being uncertain of what to expect, other than newcomers at some point, possibly via tears in the Fade or simply by word of mouth.
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[ Should she be taking notes? Probably not. Dick seems to think this is all very routine -- the sort of information that could just as easily be disseminated by a pamphlet. He pulls his cup in closer, and raises it to drink after a pause to consider the state of his stomach contents. ]
It’s rare for a threat to find us in the Gallows. Last year, an abomination made its way inside our walls. And we remain vulnerable to outside influence within the Fade.
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She folds her hands underneath her chin as he continues to speak, nodding along. A few moments after he stops, while she's considering her response, the proprietor has returned with eggs, toast, and a side of spicy-smelling sausage set on the table between them. ]
It's fortunate that nothing has seen fit to come to Kirkwall's shores, [ she settles on, but there's an obvious thread of worry in her words. At some point, it'll be worse than just an abomination crashing through the walls, of that she's certain. She wonders what sort of siege capabilities the Gallows has to itself.
Something to look into actually. ]
Anyone and anything with even the most tenuous connection to the Fade remains vulnerable to outside influence within it, [ she points out, but there's no heat in her statement, just an issue of fact as she understands it. ] Especially when whatever is doing the influencing is native to the Fade.
no subject
[ There have been more pressing threats in years past. Before Riftwatch or after it. Their food has arrived, and he is briefly distant as the scent turns his stomach. ]
I only know what I see, and what I’m told.
[ He’s more tired in saying so than he was upon his arrival, his fork turned and lifted. ]
It’s nothing more terrible than anything you’ve already contended with, I’m sure.
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[ There's a little headtilt, but she doesn't say anything more about it. Instead she smiles. ]
I can think of several things I've seen in the Deep Roads that I hope never reach the light of the Gallows dawn.
[ She pulls the plate of sausage closer to herself and picks up one of the forks from the center of the table. ]
What sort of things do you think I should be worried about, in Ellis' absence?
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[ He measures the clot of egg white on his fork before putting it into his mouth, reluctant to look up to her from his plate now that their food has arrived and the conversation has narrowed. ]
Anything more immediately deadly will necessitate improvisation.
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Well. She did sign up for the job.
Chewing, and then swallowing, she gestures with the fork. ]
Improvisation is a useful skill, but you'll forgive me if I hope we won't need it.
What about morale? Do you have any suggestions?
no subject
[ No, Richard Dickerson does not have any suggestions for how to improve morale, one brow kicked up at his eggs after he’s taken a moment to think about it. There are multiple reasons he never sought the position she’s taken on, the total absence of any practical hope rated chief among them. Even in their dreams, this was just the beginning of the end.
He chews a while and swallows before looking up again, bleak even for someone in his state and condition, with his name. ]
Perhaps if the crystals we’re issued were only to be used for official, scripted communications.
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I doubt I'd be able to convince most anyone of that, unfortunately? [ She does lift the end of that statement to make it into a question. ] I'm not nearly high enough in the rankings to make that decision and have it stick, not after so long of people using the crystals for anything that catches their attention.
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[ One would think free breakfast would be a start, but Richard is as dry now as he was when he first answered her call. ]
May I ask why you decided to join Riftwatch?
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[ All of which is true. What she doesn't say includes I never made it back to Weisshaupt after Adamant and I felt like I wasn't doing enough, or the right things, and I wanted the comfort of the familiar in unfamiliar times. ]
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[ He pauses to sigh once he’s said it, and goes back to forking at his toast under curds of cooling egg. ]
Warden Ellis has saved my life on at least two occasions.
[ One of them while dreaming, but far be it from him to canonize dirty deeds only. ]
no subject
The other admission, however, has her raising her eyebrows but smiling. ]
Warden Ellis is a good Warden, a good man. I can't say that I'm surprised.
[ Just gonna finish off her sausage here, thanks. ]
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[ Just a casual observation, brief and to the point as Richard gives up on his fork and folds the toast up in his fingers to finish it off that way. ]
How well do you know him?
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[ That's the way of Ellis. It's also the way of Adrasteia, to insist someone is a good person even if they themselves would disagree with that evaluation.
She has no regrets in that direction. ]
I knew of him, before Adamant. We were never close, before. Why?
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[ This feels at least slightly more normal and polite than professing to be a curious human. ]
And it’s by his grace that we’re spending this time together.
[ He pushes the last of the bread in past his teeth in a lump, and effectively excuses himself from any kind of immediate answer with the time it’ll take him to chew it down. ]
no subject
Running water seeks its own level. Something my father used to say.
I'm glad that Ellis has people in his corner. [ She'd worried, upon her arrival to Kirkwall and learning he was here, that he didn't. That he had no one and was just existing, surviving as part of a group but functionally separate. It's nice to know that isn't entirely true.
She waits for him to finish chewing before asking: ] Do you miss your home terribly?
no subject
[ His saying so is more calculated and considered than the sentiment should call for. It’s an easy observation to make, word choice and framing the only complications. He makes it sound as though Ellis has started a farm, and seems to know it, staying further elaboration with a drink of water. ]
I miss pieces of it that were important to me. [ Easy, reasonable, dry at a glance. He misses his cat and his god.
Otherwise there’s no love lost between him and the snakehole he crawled out of. ]
What about you?
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[ Adrasteia smiles to herself. She's very glad to hear that Ellis has done well, made friends, a lasting impression on several it would seem.
Also, who wouldn't miss the pieces of home that were important to them? But it's interesting, that his answer isn't just 'yes'. She has the impression that Richard is very particular about the things he says.
She's just not sure what that says about him. ]
I grew up near Amaranthine, do you know anything about it?
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[ Doubtless he’s read or overheard something in the year and a half he’s been here, even if the overall focus of his study has been directed towards the Fade and its spirits. His curiosity is too low key to suggest any immediate association between the name and anything the Darkspawn might’ve gotten up to there in decades past.
He’s only interested because she’s asked -- but he is interested. Breakfast has fueled some life back into him, worn down as he is. ]
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