hadriel | Video 1

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[the video opens with a sixteen year old girl who is doing her best to appear self-assured and confident. she's in armor and she's sitting ramrod straight in a plain, wooden chair. she takes a deep breath and speaks]

Hello. My name is Lady Mariane Cousland and I'm looking for sparring partners. I use a sword and dagger, but I'm willing to fight with any kind of swordsman. Or swordswoman.

I'm also willing to teach others to fight, so please let me know if you'd be interested in that.

[she looks away from the camera briefly, as though debating with herself whether or not to say anything more]

Any responses would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

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[Sonya's torn between amusement and something like nostalgia; something in Cousland reminds her of herself at that age.]

Weapons skill varies, but my preference is more hand-to-hand.

[never say that you're amused by Mariane Cousland. she takes herself very seriously]

Hand-to-hand? I must . . . admit that I'm not skilled in that area. Perhaps you could teach me?

I can spar with a dagger, as you know, but you'll have a distinct advantage.

[ You know. Because of the hand situation. ]

[she nods]

Indeed. We will have to find a way around your--situation. You were an archer, yes?

[Kain definitely appreciates whenever he sees someone taking their fighting skills so seriously.]

I'm always willing to spar. I favor the lance as my primary weapon, but I also have skills with swords and axes if something else is preferred.

[she takes them very seriously. they've saved her life on many occasions]

Good. I've never fought an opponent using a lance, but I think it would be very useful to learn how.

[ If there was one thing Maria was good at, it was fighting with a sword.

She had purposely swapped her Cainhurst Chikage, a weapon wielded by the royal guards who protect Annalise, Queen of the Vilebloods. A blade that when imbrued with blood, sings in scarlet hues, however, the rite eats away at the wielder's very essence, for a Rakuyo, a very similar blade that instead, feeds on dexterity.

So when she saw the call for a sparring partner, Maria felt something selfish inside her rise to the surface. The need to keep her skills as sharp and dangerous as they already were. ]

Greetings, Lady Mariane, I am Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.

[ With the introduction given, Maria tipped her head, the point of her tricorn hat covering her face for fully for a few seconds as she did so. She was sat in a similar position, in a very similar chair too.]

I use a Trick Weapon, the Rakuyo. A blade that can be split in two and dual-wielded. I would be pleased to spar with you, my lady, should you have me.

[as is Mariane. what began as simple lessons in a thing all Fereldan ladies needed to know became all that stood between herself and death during the year of the Blight.

she carries Maric's blade, a sword belonging to Maric the Savior, the king who ended the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden and a dagger that she found in the Deep Roads. each are enchanted with Grandmaster Frost Runes and Grandmaster Paralysis Runes and the Grandmaster Frost Runes inflict frostbite along with the ordinary wounds such blades would cause

she feels the same way. she would not let her skills atrophy just because she's trapped here]

Well met, Lady Maria. May I ask where the Astral Clocktower is?

[she nods in response, closing her eyes as she does so, then lifts it back up again and opens her eyes to regard her earnestly]

I would very much like to test myself against such a weapon. Thank you. What days and times would you wish to do so?

You're a skilled warrior and yet haven't been taught basic hand-to-hand? [She could understand if she was a lady just trying to defend herself, but all signs pointed to this being a sort of career and occupation for her. Mastering hand-to-hand before mastering a weapon seemed the natural order of things.]

If you want. I'm already teaching someone. [She gives the days and time she usually teaches Margery.] You don't mind sharing a timeslot or a different day?

I'm a rogue, not a warrior. Rogues depend on quickness, subterfuge, misdirection, and poisons to win our battles. [it didn't start out as a career for her. no, she was intended for the marriage market to gain some valuable alliance with an Orlesian or Antivan nobleman. instead, her parents were slaughtered and she was drafted into the Grey Wardens]

I do want. Perhaps different days would be best?

[Sonya finds herself flinching without realizing. She's known too many 'rogues' and other people who used such means to achieve their ends-none of them any good.]

[This wasn't the time though. With all else going around, they couldn't afford to make enemies on assumption] I would assume it's even more a reason to learn-something of a last resort.

Very well. I've been teaching her for some months now so until we know your skill level, private lessons might be better. Payment will be sword training.

[and she's known Zevran, Leliana, and her own mother. Zevran had his own code of morals, despite being an assassin and Leliana was one of the kindest people Mariane had ever known. and her mother was beyond reproach, and once the greatest pirate in Ferelden history.

and she nods] Indeed. In case I am disarmed. It has yet to happen, but [a small shrug] it might.

Very well, I agree to your terms. You will need both a sword and a dagger.

Edited 2019-03-08 03:46 (UTC)

Key word is always yet. [She spoke from years of experience.] As it happens, I have both. I've had some lessons here and there so I'm not a total novice.

What about magic? If you don't mind spells lobbed your way, I can give you a good work out.

I suppose. [but she considers it Unlikely] Ah, that's good. Our styles may need some time to . . . get used to one another.

Magic would be wonderful! [she both looks and sounds eager] Fighting mages takes its own kind of skill. Thank you.

[a pause]

It is good to see you again, Lup.

[ Lady Maria admired the sword and dagger Mariane had on her person, they looked well made and as strong as their owners will. Maria's own weapons were ones given to her, such as her pistolEvelyn, a relic of her Cainhurst heritage and her Rakuyo, a variant of the Cainhurts Chikage.

There was something familiar about this woman. Nobility and yet fluent in blade battle. A kindred spirit perhaps? ]

A dark and cursed place. Far, far away from this world. A Nightmare within a dream, locked away for all eternity.

[ She sounded cryptic, (what with her Eastern European accent) and that wasn't what she had intended. Lady Maria caught herself, stopped herself from continuing in that tone. ]

-Forgive my flights of fancy, what I meant to say is, that the Astral Clocktower sits atop of the Research Hall in Yharnam, a place ran by the Healing Church and a last stop before the... Before the Fishing Hamlet.

[ Her voice wavered as she spoke of that last place. A place that Lady Maria had sworn to protect. Now that she was here, how could she stop Hunters seeking the sweet secrets that beckon them there? She couldn't and this fact distressed her so. ]

My time here is wasted already. I am free all days and all times. I need not rest.

[ A small tut was made after she spoke. Maria had views on why she was here and she wasn't pleased about it. ]

I am a stationed soldier, here to fight a war but with no one to fight. How useless they have made me. Name a time, a place and I will be there.

[ She nodded, hand on chest to show she meant to keep her word. ]

[Maric's Blade was an engagement present of sorts. it had belonged to her lover's father. Alistair hadn't exactly asked her to marry him at the point that she got it, but the two of them had an understanding that their relationship was a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

Mariane would hope so. she's found so few people here she can relate to]

It sounds unlike any world I've heard of.

[her accent sounds Nevarran to Mariane's ears. she knows of Nevarra, but so far as she knows, her father never approached any Nevarrans when he was negotiating for Mariane's hand]

There's nothing to forgive. We all come from different worlds, after all. May I ask what the Healing Church is?

[and she hears that waver. should Maria ask, Mariane would be able to reassure her that no time was passing back home while she was here. otherwise, she would be worried sick about Alistair and how he was faring as king while she was gone.

and she knows that feeling. she has duties of her own to go home to, a wedding to plan, and a crown of her own to take]

In time, I believe we shall all face the Null. But in the meanwhile, yes. We are useless. I go to the range to train every day at dawn. Does that time suit you?

My weapon is both a gun and a sword.

[He's almost out of bullets so Leon isn't really using the gun portion of his weapon, still the gunblade looks as silly as it sounds.]

And I could definitely use a sparring partner myself.

Edited 2019-03-09 23:18 (UTC)

[she has heard of guns. she definitely knows swords. what she doesn't know is how a weapon can be both. but that can be explained later]

I'm glad to hear that. Which days would you like to meet?

Very well, then I'll stick to my main weapon in that case. I always enjoy going up against swordfighters. Do you have any special skills beyond the sword?

[Because it's always possible that she's got magic, or just something else beyond the weaponry.]

Good. I welcome the chance to test myself against it. [in a dry voice] I am a skilled dancer and singer, but those likely won't prove necessary.

[Oh, interesting. Jo keeps hearing this offer from people and then they disappear, but...]

Can you teach swordfighting? [Her machete is good, but a sword would be so cool.]

[much to her despair, Mariane isn't going anywhere]

Yes, I can. I specialize in dual weilding a sword and dagger. Would that be acceptable?

That's because it is unlike any world you've heard of or could imagine.

[ How do you tell a stranger from another plan of existence that the world you spoke of, your world was created by an Eldric presence that dwells in the moon? How do you tell someone that everything you lived for was a lie and that the one person you thought you could trust the most, helped to trap you inside a living nightmare? She couldn't, so she didn't. ]

The Healing Church?

[ The question threw Maria off. It had been so long since she had met anyone that didn't know of it. Its reputation had spread further than Yharnam, that's how the population grew so large, how the Ashen Blood infected so many. She shook the thoughts from her mind and focused on the present. ]

Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears. Seek the old blood, but beware the frailty of men.

[ Maria resited their prayer. It came out almost automatically. ]

The Healing Church is the home of Blood Ministrations. The old blood is given for it's healing properties, distributed to those hurt or in need of relief. I am- I was part of the Old Healing Church Workshop, dedicated Hunters that protect the people from the Beasts, cull the infected and mutated. Stop the spread of the scourge.

[ She knew that part of what she was saying was a lie, she'd long since found out the dirty little secrets her beloved Healing Church hide. Though Maria was an intelligent woman, she never knew when the Great Ones were, or if they were listening, watching. It was best to keep up the facade. ]

Dawn. The range. Yes, I can be there. I hope you'll be ready for me.

[ A hint of enjoyment shone through in her tone. If there was one thing Maria enjoyed, it was bettering herself and her blade skills. Hopefully, this Mariane would be a worthy opponent. ]

Edited 2019-03-10 01:45 (UTC)

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