Oh dear, that was not the exit either. Instead of a staircase leading upward, shelves of jars and sacks of produce stared at her instead. It appeared that Asala had found the pantry instead. She sighed heavily and let her head fall against the cool wood of the door, absolutely exasperated. Livia had told her she could find Cyrus somewhere down in the underbelly of the keep, but all she found so far was a series of dead ends and storage rooms. After the first couple of rooms, she'd decided to just call it a loss and escape the network of rooms and halls. Instead, she'd lost the staircase.
She wandered back to the larger hallway where she hesitated. The whole area was dark, with very few candles lighting it up-- which only made her sense of direction worse. There was a large picture at the end of the hall, though of what she could not tell. It was not the exit, that much was for certain. One more attempt, and she chose another hallway by random with only the hope that that was the one. She meandered for a while before she pulled up to a door. She pulled on the handle and with a small prayer, stuck her head in. It was neither Cyrus, nor the stairs, but Lady Marceline's wine cellar. With a muted thunk, Asala's head fell against the doorway as the frustrations mounted. That was the second time she'd found this wine cellar.
"Uuugh," she partly moaned, partly whined. "Cyyyyrus?" she called out in the whiny tone.
At first, there was no answer. But then she could hear the protesting creak of a door opening back down the way she'd come. Not long after, Cyrus leaned out, turning his head to face her general direction and squinting. Light spilled out from whatever room he was in, the soft blue-purple of it suggestive of, of course, magic. It spilled over his back and shoulders, casting his shadow long and deep over the ground.
“Asala?" He blinked slowly, as though adjusting his eyes to the gloom. “What are you doing down here?" The and why on earth are you calling for me? was merely implied, but very obvious nonetheless. He didn't seem upset, only surprised.
The scarlet blossoming on her face was immediate. She didn't expect him to answer. Not only was the lost, but now she was embarrassed, but at least she had found Cyrus. Though, she couldn't say if that was a good thing or bad at the moment. In all honestly, she kind of wished he hadn't heard her call out his name, at least in that tone. "Uh..." she stumbled, slowly closing the door into the wine cellar. "L-looking for you?" she said, with a slight tick upward in tone on the last word, almost like she was the one asking him.
He shook his head slightly, as though the answer vaguely baffled him, but a small smile touched his mouth. “And now you have found me. Would you care to come in?" He pushed himself back away from the door, disappearing once more inside the chamber he'd emerged from. The color of the light shifted, losing a bit of the purple and brightening where it spilled out into the hallway. He hadn't waited for her to answer, but he'd left the door open.
The room itself turned out to be a storage like most everything else down here, but the items she could see didn't seem to have any sort of unified purpose, like the ones in the pantry, cellar, or any of the furniture-storage rooms with everything covered in sheets. Rather, it looked like a bits-and-bobs assembly of... just old things, more or less. Some reasonably-intact pieces of wooden furniture, a few stained or torn art pieces, bronze fragments of what might have at one point been a wall mosaic, even what looked like moth-eaten curtains were folded neatly onto a dusty shelf.
It was the peculiar arrangement of more esoteric objects laid out on a desk against the back wall of the room that seemed to preoccupy Cyrus. Two carved spheres of unknown origin, a few tarnished navigation devices, what must have been focus crystals for spells or parts of staves—the only thing they had in common was extreme age.
“All that remains from Skyhold's previous occupants, whoever they were." Cyrus picked up a crystal, turning it about over his knuckles with his fingers. “It's quite the interesting little collection, isn't it?"
She forgot about her momentary embarrassment, and was soon enthralled by the baubles Cyrus had found. She reached out for one of the crystals, though hesitantly at first in case Cyrus advised against it. When he didn't discourage her, she went ahead and carefully picked up a rather jagged crystal. She held it up to one of the candles and looked into before channeling a bit of magic into it. Instead of the blue that normally resulted from the use of her barriers, the crystal burned a bright red. "Flame," she noted absently, "Very old flame."
Asala let the light die out before dropping her hand and looking at the rest of the bits he'd collected. "Are they elvish?" she asked about the rest of the items. She had heard somewhere that Skyhold was once elven, though she did not get many more details than that.
“Most undoubtedly are. Skyhold itself was first built by elves, but it has been occupied and rebuilt since by different groups. None very recently, until ourselves." Cyrus picked up one of the metallic spheres and held it out so she could see. There were words engraved onto the surface in a beautiful, flowing script. He must have channelled a little magic into it, because the surface took on a pearlescent sheen that had not been there before, and the letters lit up with cerulean sharpness.
He let the magic go, and set the artifact back down on the desk. “But the mysteries go deeper. The first one of these was indeed here, in the castle. But the second, I'd found in the ruins I was exploring before you lot collected me." He moved several of the smaller crystals around on the desk's surface, lining them up as he spoke. “They strengthen the Veil. Over quite a wide area, too. Not much magic can affect the rest so directly as that. They're basically the opposite of what the rifts do, but they can't close them. Only the Anchors can do that."
Cyrus hummed to himself, stepping back a bit from the desk and the crystals. He turned his eyes to her, smiling enigmatically. “Do you know your elemental affinities, Asala? A test like this is administered to every mage-child in the Imperium when they begin their tutelage. I'd say your skill with barriers and healing makes you likely to have a spirit affinity, but there are four other possibilities. Like the fire you have there." He gestured at the stones, as though inviting her to try the rest and see what happened.
"I was, uh, never taught," she revealed, looking at the crystals spread on the table, and then the one in her hand. "I mean, we had a healer I apprenticed under, but he was no mage. I learned mostly on my own," she continued, placing the crystal among the others. "I have never... had a chance to find my own."
She glanced between Cyrus and the crystals on the table once more before she reached out with a hand. She reached into the fade with that hand and pulled, blanketing the area in front of them with magic. The crystals all lit up and hummed with the fade. The glow they held ebbed and flowed, but none among them did much more. Glancing at Cyrus for a moment, she pulled the fade harder, and the lights intensified, but otherwise nothing changed. At least, not until the crystal that glowed blue twitched.
Asala's brow furrowed for a moment, before a light shone from the heart of it. Specks of light drifted around the crystal, putting on a dazzling light show on the wall the table was pressed up against. She hummed in awe as she released the magic, killing the lights. "So, uh... what does that mean?"
“Oh, the usual." Cyrus picked up the crystal as it faded, clearly quite amused. “Only that I'm right. Your magic is most naturally attuned to spirit energy." He smoothed a thumb over the object, reaching into a pocket with his other hand and withdrawing what looked like some kind of flexible leather cord. The crystal was only about as long as his index finger, and slightly wider; he wrapped the end securely with the cord and then tied it together into a wide loop.
Holding it out towards her, he lifted one shoulder. “I've never had to account for putting something on over horns before, but I suspect it will work." One side of his mouth pulled upwards in an uneven smile. “It's no good to anyone down here, and I have a different affinity, so it makes sense for you to have it, don't you think?"
Asala smiled and nodded. "At least they curve backwards," she said with a light laugh, running hand the length of one of her horns, "I know some whose horns go out to the side," she added indicating the direction with her hands. "They... do not wear many shirts," she explained.
Regardless, she took a hold of the necklace and examined it for a moment, channeling the fade into it once more to see it's blue glow once more before she put it on. It took some maneuvering to loop it around her horns in the back, but nothing that she was unaccustomed to, and soon it sat neatly on her chest. "Uh, thank you, Cyrus," she said, this time with a bit more seriousness in her tone. She hesitated for a moment before she added a slight awkward bow afterward.
He huffed softly. “You don't have to do that, you know. The bowing. It's..." His face pinched slightly around the mouth, a flicker of discomfort passing over it. “One nice thing about the south is that there's much less of all that business. We're colleagues, you and I—and I've already told you that I owe you far more than you could ever conceivably owe me." He had indeed mentioned as much, when the discussion had been about Asala's part in helping Estella, after the Conclave.
“Anyway... I seem to have diverted us. I'm... rather difficult in that way, I suspect. You came looking for me, and I still don't know why." He arched an eyebrow in clear invitation for her to elaborate.
"Actually..." she said, taking the crystal in hand and clutching it, "We were not diverted too far," she said with a smile. "I actually wished to ask if we could continue our lessons. There is... still so much that I do not know, that I wish to know." She was frowning now. The thought of watching Romulus leave Skyhold just to return injured, and watching helpless as she was too slow to do anything to save the chevalier who had been executed by Halfhand.
"I feel there is still... more I can do to help," she explained.
Cyrus actually looked somewhat surprised by the request, his eyes opening just a fraction wider before he blinked at her mutely. Fortunately, that only lasted a few seconds. “Ah. Well... yes. We can certainly do that, if you like. I am not a healing specialist either, but I think I know enough." He reached up, running a hand through his thick black hair. The bluish light they were under gave everything a bit of a tint, and it was no exception. “Besides... it seems as though you have most of the practical knowledge already. What you're missing is just the theoretical underpinning that will advance you further still."
He reached behind him for the desk, looking baffled to realize that he hit the wood of the furniture and not anything else. Only then did he glance around, apparently remembering where he was, exactly. “There are books in my atelier you'll want to start with. I'll translate the ones in Tevene, of course. You can read them at whatever pace you like, and we'll discuss the chapters as you finish them... and practice anything you want to try. Does that sound agreeable?" His words were hasty, almost rushed, and a tad breathless, even, as though he were physically exerting himself somehow.
She tilted her head in curiosity at his actions, but opted to not bring it up. Instead she nodded and smiled warmly.
"Yes, that sounds wonderful. Thank you."
Cyrus cleared his throat slightly, regaining his usual demeanor in the process. “Excellent. Let's go get those books, then."
As usual, he was out the door before Asala had much time to respond.
She wandered back to the larger hallway where she hesitated. The whole area was dark, with very few candles lighting it up-- which only made her sense of direction worse. There was a large picture at the end of the hall, though of what she could not tell. It was not the exit, that much was for certain. One more attempt, and she chose another hallway by random with only the hope that that was the one. She meandered for a while before she pulled up to a door. She pulled on the handle and with a small prayer, stuck her head in. It was neither Cyrus, nor the stairs, but Lady Marceline's wine cellar. With a muted thunk, Asala's head fell against the doorway as the frustrations mounted. That was the second time she'd found this wine cellar.
"Uuugh," she partly moaned, partly whined. "Cyyyyrus?" she called out in the whiny tone.
At first, there was no answer. But then she could hear the protesting creak of a door opening back down the way she'd come. Not long after, Cyrus leaned out, turning his head to face her general direction and squinting. Light spilled out from whatever room he was in, the soft blue-purple of it suggestive of, of course, magic. It spilled over his back and shoulders, casting his shadow long and deep over the ground.
“Asala?" He blinked slowly, as though adjusting his eyes to the gloom. “What are you doing down here?" The and why on earth are you calling for me? was merely implied, but very obvious nonetheless. He didn't seem upset, only surprised.
The scarlet blossoming on her face was immediate. She didn't expect him to answer. Not only was the lost, but now she was embarrassed, but at least she had found Cyrus. Though, she couldn't say if that was a good thing or bad at the moment. In all honestly, she kind of wished he hadn't heard her call out his name, at least in that tone. "Uh..." she stumbled, slowly closing the door into the wine cellar. "L-looking for you?" she said, with a slight tick upward in tone on the last word, almost like she was the one asking him.
He shook his head slightly, as though the answer vaguely baffled him, but a small smile touched his mouth. “And now you have found me. Would you care to come in?" He pushed himself back away from the door, disappearing once more inside the chamber he'd emerged from. The color of the light shifted, losing a bit of the purple and brightening where it spilled out into the hallway. He hadn't waited for her to answer, but he'd left the door open.
The room itself turned out to be a storage like most everything else down here, but the items she could see didn't seem to have any sort of unified purpose, like the ones in the pantry, cellar, or any of the furniture-storage rooms with everything covered in sheets. Rather, it looked like a bits-and-bobs assembly of... just old things, more or less. Some reasonably-intact pieces of wooden furniture, a few stained or torn art pieces, bronze fragments of what might have at one point been a wall mosaic, even what looked like moth-eaten curtains were folded neatly onto a dusty shelf.
It was the peculiar arrangement of more esoteric objects laid out on a desk against the back wall of the room that seemed to preoccupy Cyrus. Two carved spheres of unknown origin, a few tarnished navigation devices, what must have been focus crystals for spells or parts of staves—the only thing they had in common was extreme age.
“All that remains from Skyhold's previous occupants, whoever they were." Cyrus picked up a crystal, turning it about over his knuckles with his fingers. “It's quite the interesting little collection, isn't it?"
She forgot about her momentary embarrassment, and was soon enthralled by the baubles Cyrus had found. She reached out for one of the crystals, though hesitantly at first in case Cyrus advised against it. When he didn't discourage her, she went ahead and carefully picked up a rather jagged crystal. She held it up to one of the candles and looked into before channeling a bit of magic into it. Instead of the blue that normally resulted from the use of her barriers, the crystal burned a bright red. "Flame," she noted absently, "Very old flame."
Asala let the light die out before dropping her hand and looking at the rest of the bits he'd collected. "Are they elvish?" she asked about the rest of the items. She had heard somewhere that Skyhold was once elven, though she did not get many more details than that.
“Most undoubtedly are. Skyhold itself was first built by elves, but it has been occupied and rebuilt since by different groups. None very recently, until ourselves." Cyrus picked up one of the metallic spheres and held it out so she could see. There were words engraved onto the surface in a beautiful, flowing script. He must have channelled a little magic into it, because the surface took on a pearlescent sheen that had not been there before, and the letters lit up with cerulean sharpness.
He let the magic go, and set the artifact back down on the desk. “But the mysteries go deeper. The first one of these was indeed here, in the castle. But the second, I'd found in the ruins I was exploring before you lot collected me." He moved several of the smaller crystals around on the desk's surface, lining them up as he spoke. “They strengthen the Veil. Over quite a wide area, too. Not much magic can affect the rest so directly as that. They're basically the opposite of what the rifts do, but they can't close them. Only the Anchors can do that."
Cyrus hummed to himself, stepping back a bit from the desk and the crystals. He turned his eyes to her, smiling enigmatically. “Do you know your elemental affinities, Asala? A test like this is administered to every mage-child in the Imperium when they begin their tutelage. I'd say your skill with barriers and healing makes you likely to have a spirit affinity, but there are four other possibilities. Like the fire you have there." He gestured at the stones, as though inviting her to try the rest and see what happened.
"I was, uh, never taught," she revealed, looking at the crystals spread on the table, and then the one in her hand. "I mean, we had a healer I apprenticed under, but he was no mage. I learned mostly on my own," she continued, placing the crystal among the others. "I have never... had a chance to find my own."
She glanced between Cyrus and the crystals on the table once more before she reached out with a hand. She reached into the fade with that hand and pulled, blanketing the area in front of them with magic. The crystals all lit up and hummed with the fade. The glow they held ebbed and flowed, but none among them did much more. Glancing at Cyrus for a moment, she pulled the fade harder, and the lights intensified, but otherwise nothing changed. At least, not until the crystal that glowed blue twitched.
Asala's brow furrowed for a moment, before a light shone from the heart of it. Specks of light drifted around the crystal, putting on a dazzling light show on the wall the table was pressed up against. She hummed in awe as she released the magic, killing the lights. "So, uh... what does that mean?"
“Oh, the usual." Cyrus picked up the crystal as it faded, clearly quite amused. “Only that I'm right. Your magic is most naturally attuned to spirit energy." He smoothed a thumb over the object, reaching into a pocket with his other hand and withdrawing what looked like some kind of flexible leather cord. The crystal was only about as long as his index finger, and slightly wider; he wrapped the end securely with the cord and then tied it together into a wide loop.
Holding it out towards her, he lifted one shoulder. “I've never had to account for putting something on over horns before, but I suspect it will work." One side of his mouth pulled upwards in an uneven smile. “It's no good to anyone down here, and I have a different affinity, so it makes sense for you to have it, don't you think?"
Asala smiled and nodded. "At least they curve backwards," she said with a light laugh, running hand the length of one of her horns, "I know some whose horns go out to the side," she added indicating the direction with her hands. "They... do not wear many shirts," she explained.
Regardless, she took a hold of the necklace and examined it for a moment, channeling the fade into it once more to see it's blue glow once more before she put it on. It took some maneuvering to loop it around her horns in the back, but nothing that she was unaccustomed to, and soon it sat neatly on her chest. "Uh, thank you, Cyrus," she said, this time with a bit more seriousness in her tone. She hesitated for a moment before she added a slight awkward bow afterward.
He huffed softly. “You don't have to do that, you know. The bowing. It's..." His face pinched slightly around the mouth, a flicker of discomfort passing over it. “One nice thing about the south is that there's much less of all that business. We're colleagues, you and I—and I've already told you that I owe you far more than you could ever conceivably owe me." He had indeed mentioned as much, when the discussion had been about Asala's part in helping Estella, after the Conclave.
“Anyway... I seem to have diverted us. I'm... rather difficult in that way, I suspect. You came looking for me, and I still don't know why." He arched an eyebrow in clear invitation for her to elaborate.
"Actually..." she said, taking the crystal in hand and clutching it, "We were not diverted too far," she said with a smile. "I actually wished to ask if we could continue our lessons. There is... still so much that I do not know, that I wish to know." She was frowning now. The thought of watching Romulus leave Skyhold just to return injured, and watching helpless as she was too slow to do anything to save the chevalier who had been executed by Halfhand.
"I feel there is still... more I can do to help," she explained.
Cyrus actually looked somewhat surprised by the request, his eyes opening just a fraction wider before he blinked at her mutely. Fortunately, that only lasted a few seconds. “Ah. Well... yes. We can certainly do that, if you like. I am not a healing specialist either, but I think I know enough." He reached up, running a hand through his thick black hair. The bluish light they were under gave everything a bit of a tint, and it was no exception. “Besides... it seems as though you have most of the practical knowledge already. What you're missing is just the theoretical underpinning that will advance you further still."
He reached behind him for the desk, looking baffled to realize that he hit the wood of the furniture and not anything else. Only then did he glance around, apparently remembering where he was, exactly. “There are books in my atelier you'll want to start with. I'll translate the ones in Tevene, of course. You can read them at whatever pace you like, and we'll discuss the chapters as you finish them... and practice anything you want to try. Does that sound agreeable?" His words were hasty, almost rushed, and a tad breathless, even, as though he were physically exerting himself somehow.
She tilted her head in curiosity at his actions, but opted to not bring it up. Instead she nodded and smiled warmly.
"Yes, that sounds wonderful. Thank you."
Cyrus cleared his throat slightly, regaining his usual demeanor in the process. “Excellent. Let's go get those books, then."
As usual, he was out the door before Asala had much time to respond.