I've been hoping for a sign...

[hallaifyouherd]

Who| Marjara Lavellan, and YOU?
What| The new kid in town is finding her way around.
Where| Around the ship in general.
When| First arrival.
Warnings/Notes| If you're squicked by mentions of amputation...well. Here's your warning.


As Inquisitor, she's traveled through the Veil to the Fade, the realm of abstracts and dreams. She's traveled through time. She's delved into the literal hearts of beings too massive and ancient to fathom. But this place is something else entirely. Sleek and metal, with no ground or dirt to be seen, outside of the lush forest that's been afforded her as her biome. And Elgar'nan, she'd never seen so many stars in her life.

Yes, she could certainly be found on the Observation Deck, putting it to its purpose with wide, dark eyes. One sleeve hangs empty, but her other arm extends to grip the rail, allowing her to lean forward as far as she dares. It's all a bit dizzying.

People might blink to see her poke her head into the training room, given her size and slender form, but she does so with great interest. With the loss of her arm, she'll have to relearn fighting with a staff, regaining proper balance with the weapon. She'll need to learn sooner, rather than later. Particularly if she's agreed to fight with the Legion.

Another fight to save all of creation. At least it doesn't fall entirely on her shoulders, this time.

She traverses the halls as well, taking in all the sights and sounds with perked ears and all the curiosity of a kitten. There are a great many humans here but none have mistaken her for a servant yet. So that's a pleasant change of pace. There have been whispers of a farm or garden, something of that nature. Perhaps a place she might be able to continue her study of herbs and potion-making? She may as well cultivate any advantage she can get.

Comments

[isthisapidge]

"So, what, two-and-a-half out of three? That's almost impossibly good for random chance." Pidge looks thoughtful at that. You can see the wheels turning in her head until she finally shrugs.

"I'd say there wasn't really any evidence for it, but there wasn't really any evidence for a super-weapon hidden on Earth by aliens and that turned out to be very, very real. So it could-"

Wait, this was kind of the same thing the Alteans had gone through, right? Sort of. The dying off part. Still, suddenly everything makes more sense.

"Oh! If the Alteans had to come to the planet to hide the lion then that would make so much sense!" She feels like she's solved a mystery!

...One that might need some explaining. "The Alteans look really elven. Except they can shape-shift and are...actually pretty tall." She clears her throat. Implying that she was short was a good way to make things awkward again, especially when it came from Pidge. A good time to do a normal human socialization thing.

"My name is Pidge, by the way."

[hallaifyouherd]

It's alright, Pidge. She knows she's tiny. Her fumblings are more amusing than they are insulting, and she's actually doing her best not to smile too openly. "Well, again, not many of us can use magic, but there are a few who mastered the shapeshifting arts. Perhaps where you come from, the story is told a little differently."

She can buy into that, sure. Not sure what the mention of a lion is about, but she can always inquire later.

"It's very nice to meet you, Pidge." She inclines her head politely, as she's done so many times before. It seems a fairly neutral yet polite human custom, surely it will extend here as well. Hopefully.

"My name is Marjara, of clan Lavellan."

[isthisapidge]

"Sorry about the awkwardness. Welcome to The Legion, at least?"

Pidge returns the gesture. Her embarrassment is subsiding, so maybe it's a good time to ask her...

"What about you? Can you use magic?"

[hallaifyouherd]

"I can. Not to the extent I could at home, but I think magic works differently here. There's no Fade to draw on..."

She frowns, lifting her hand to sift through the air as if feeling for something tangible. But a second later, flames flicker into existence around her fingertips. Just a small thing, licking upwards in the air, enough to demonstrate before vanishing once more as she lowers her hand.

"But I understand talents like those aren't uncommon here."

[isthisapidge]

Pidge examines the fire closely, but aside from the fact that it doesn't hurt her hand at all...it does seem to be perfectly ordinary fire.

"What's the Fade? Never heard of it." She pulls back because it's fire and it's hot. "But you're right, I couldn't turn invisible until I came here. Though I was working on it!"

[hallaifyouherd]

Well. It's a lot different than she originally thought it was. Though now she can explain properly, she supposes. Taking in Pidge's curious look with a wry smile of her own, Marjara gives a faint sigh nonetheless.

"The Fade...used to be part of our world. Long ago a powerful barrier was brought into existance in our world, and all things magical, abstract, and subconscious were forced onto one side of that barrier. That world is the Fade, and it is the source of dreams and magic."

Oh, how Solas would hate so pithy an explanation. But she doesn't want to overwhelm her new friend.

[isthisapidge]

"Magic, OK. Magic, I get, that has to have a source, but...dreams?"

Pidge leans in a little closer, brain going a mile a minute behind her wide eyes. "In my world, dreams are just the subconscious mind sorting through random information during certain stages of sleep. Are you telling me your brain is connected to another plane of existence when you sleep?"

Her smile goes impossibly wider. She's not a psychologist or an expert on sleep or anything, but it an idea she'll be playing with for a long time. "Cool!"

[hallaifyouherd]

"As I said, it used to be part of our world. And some parts of it can still slip through, be it magic, spirits, or even demons. And sometimes physically tears in the Veil that stood between those worlds could occur."

Her lips tip wryly upwards.

"I dealt with them quite a bit, back home."

[isthisapidge]

"Like wormholes..." OK, maybe not quite like wormholes, but it's a passage that things can come through and opening it up to the wrong kind of Things could spell disaster.

"So if magic can come out of the Veil, can people enter it?"

[hallaifyouherd]

"Most people only ever visit in dreams. Mages have a little more control over their surroundings, but even they never go there physically."

And lest Pidge get too curious about the idea, perhaps she ought to heed Dorian's advice. There's a reason people don't try to visit the Fade, and she's been too many times for her liking, as it is.

"Long ago, a group of mages purposefully tried to pass through into the Fade, to harness its power or meet their gods...the reason didn't matter. They were cast back out as monsters, infecting everything they touched." Her lips twist wryly. "So trying to do so isn't advisable."

[isthisapidge]

"So...there's some kind of magic dream disease in the Fade? Or was it something someone did to them? So is a physical entering or is your consciousness projected somehow or...?"

Oddly, Pidge seems even more curious than before about the Veil and the Fade and the way dreaming works. She doesn't really want to go in, at least without proper protective gear, but knowing how that all works would be cool.

It's all hypothetical anyway.