Well. This was awkward. That was what Asala thought while she stood out in front of the infirmary with their newest addition. From what she understood, Vesryn and the others had convinced Astraia to join the Inquisition instead of returning to her clan--though, that was probably before whatever happened that left Estella injured. Truth be told, she wished she'd been there too, to do what she could to help them, but that was in the past now. Asala did not ask for the details, and figured if they were really important, then they would've told her. Still, she was happy they were all alright in the end. Not only had they all came home in relatively one piece, but they had also brought her back with them.
After some deliberation on where to place her, the Inquisition had decided to assign her with the healers while she trained with the other aspects of her magic. Which meant she would also work a lot with Aurora as well as Asala herself. However, it fell to her to show the young woman around. Which, was going about as well as she expected. "So, uh... Yes, this is the infirmary," she said, gesturing toward the tower. It had a number of clean glass windows to let in natural light and a carved wooden sign above the door that stated what it was.
"I know," Astraia replied gently, fiddling with her fingers. "I spent a lot of time here after my brother got sick. Reading, mostly, or trying to." Her staff was across her back, along with a few smaller bags. The elf didn't carry a large amount of personal belongings with her, but the Dalish were supposedly quite good at that. Always on the move, never collecting too many things to be bogged down. Though she sure seemed to be storing a lot of useless material in her hair. "Do you lead the healers, or... is there a leader?"
"Oh. Right, yes. I-- sorry. My mind was, uh, elsewhere," Asala offered with a tiny smile, but she feel the flush springing to her cheeks. She could vaguely remember her now while she tended to Zethlasan, but her focus had been on him at the time. It surprised her immensely to find he had become well enough to leave on his own power. She had expected the worst at the time, and she was doing all she could to make his passing as comfortable as possible. Despite the circumstances, she was happy that he had lived through his ailment. She sighed and shook her head, hoping she wouldn't look foolish again.
"Oh, no. Not me," she answered her question, "I, uh, just see to it that thing are... running smoothly, I suppose. We really do not have a leader as such, no. We sort things out amongst each other." She thought for a moment and shrugged, "Technically, I suppose the mages among us do answer to Aurora, though not all of our personnel are mages," She added. "She lets the ones with a focus on healing magic apply their skills here," she explained. Asala had truthfully never thought about her official position in the Inquisition. She worked in the infirmary and sometimes ventured out with the other irregulars where she aided them in the field, so she supposed that meant she didn't really answer to Aurora either.
She frowned in thought for a moment before she realized that Astraia was still with her. "Oh, uh, right. Sorry," she said with a laugh, "I was lost in thought for a moment. Shall we, uh, go in?" Asala asked.
"Sure." Astraia smiled, and followed Asala inside. The light did indeed flood over the area quite well, leaving minimal need for any fire or mage-created light sources. The beds were mostly empty, given the lack of action the Inquisition had faced lately, but Astraia seemed to look around for one to be filled in particular. "Did Estella heal alright? I tried my best, but uh... I haven't treated many serious knife wounds like that. To the stomach. I wasn't sure if I missed anything."
Asala had stepped in the middle of the room, the ambient scent of sterilization surrounding them. When she spoke, she had turned to face Astraia, and nodded after she had spoken. "She is fine," Asala reassured, "She had some lingering issues with her arm, and some internal injuries I had to see to, but she is fine. She was out in a day," Asala answered with a warm smile. Estella, while not in the worst shape she had seen her in, still had some injuries Asala had to attend to regardless. Still, she was a strong woman, perhaps stronger than she knew. It would take more than that to lay her low.
"You did fine," Asala reaffirmed kindly. "Thank you for, uh... bringing her back to us. We are all grateful." Asala added sincerely. She couldn't help but worry. About Estella, yes, but also for Astraia. The infirmary was quiet now, but she'd learned to cherish those moments. She still vividly remembered the aftermath of the siege of Adamant, and the fall of Haven before that-- as well as the numerous smaller skirmishes in between that left one or more of her friends injured and in her care. She could only hope that Astraia was up to the task when the time came. But she would not be unprepared, Asala would see to that.
"You're welcome. It's..." she hesitated for a moment. "I'd never actually saved anyone's life with my healing before. My clan avoids stuff like that, so I only ever helped with accidents, you know? Training injuries, bite wounds on hunters, little things like turned ankles and bruises. Actually, I think I tended the halla more than anything. I was really good at that. Going to miss them, honestly..." She looked a bit thoughtful for a moment, maybe even a little wistful. Dangerously close to approaching homesickness, despite it being a little too late to change her mind about her immediate future.
"Were you a healer, too? Before you joined the Inquisition?" She shrugged. "Seems to me like everyone here is from somewhere else. It's weird, but... I like it."
"I was," Asala answered as she leaned against one of the beds in the room. "Not... too different from you, actually. Turned ankles and bruises mostly, though... I had to figure out the healing magic on my own," she said with a smile as she reflected back, "But before that, I was an apprentice to an herbalist. We did not have any other mages beside my brother and I, so I learned of herbs and poultices before I started mending wounds with magic."
She then frowned and crossed her arms while she thought. "I... left home, after the mage rebellion with my kadan--my brother. To find the mages and better our magic, he had said-- though I believe he wished to see the world and that was the excuse he used. However, we did find the mages and we... were given the chance to hone our skills," Asala explained solemnly. It was with Aurora and her mages that she began to heal more substantial wounds. "I do not regret it, we saved many lives," she added. Traveling as apostate was not safe, and injuries did happen, but she had leaned to tend to them while she was with them.
A set of heavy footfalls came from behind her, and she turned to find Donovan's burly figure paused mid-step. "I apologize for interrupting," in stated in a deep baritone, his lips never moving past his ever present frown. He then pointed toward the cabinet that held their medical supplies. "I was about to take stock for Millian," he explained.
"Oh! Donovan," Asala said, straightening up. She glance between him and Astraia for a moment before she nodded. "Um, while you are here, this is Astraia," she said introducing the woman, "Astraia? This is Donovan. He may be large, and he never smiles, but he is a gentle man, I promise," Asala said brightly. Donovan for his part, inclined his head in greeting. "Actually, he was the one who helped me with my healing," she added as if just remembering.
"Hello." Astraia didn't seem daunted by the man, despite him appearing alongside Asala as near giants compared to her. Donovan in particular was broad as well as tall, further contrasting from how thin Astraia was. "I remember you. Mostly from the, uh..." Her hands lifted for a moment above her shoulders, as though she meant to raise them to indicate how big he was. "You know. Thanks for helping with my brother's sickness." She said it with a bit of heaviness, though it was perhaps understandable why, even if Zethlasan had pulled through in the end, somehow.
"Were you with the mages before the Inquisition too, then?"
"Yes, long before that, even," Donovan answered, continuing to move toward the cabinet. Once he reached it however, he did not begin to take stock, but instead turned to speak with them better. "I was with Aurora-- No, Aurora found me, I should say, in Kirkwall, before the..." His frown deepened for a moment as she spoke about, "Rebellion began. I was not the only one, either. She found a number of other apostates. She... gave us all a safe haven away from the prying eyes of the Templars to practice our gifts together, and those that needed it, she taught. We're all grateful for her," With that, he turned toward the cabinet and opened it, shuffling through the contents.
Asala smiled and turned back toward Astraia, "If you would like, we could also meet Milly? She is here, yes?" She asked Donovan.
He did not take his eyes off of the stock, but nodded all the same. "Upstairs," he answered, taking a moment to point toward the nearby staircase.
"Alright." Astraia seemed amiable to doing just about anything at the moment, and she spent a fair amount of her time looking around the infirmary, as though she actually hadn't seen it before, despite being inside for a long time earlier, as she had said. "Do we sleep upstairs?" she asked, shrugging the packs over her shoulder a bit higher. "Do we all get our own beds, even if we're not guests anymore?" Perhaps having her own bed was something strange to Astraia. The Dalish did have rather unique customs, after all.
"Well, yes," she answered, rather embarrassed. "But I... have my own room, in a different part of the keep," she explained. "Although, if you would prefer, we could maybe get you a bunk in the barracks with the other mages. I am sure Aurora would not mind," Asala added quickly. At the top of the stairs, Asala opened a thick door to let them into the second floor. The door helped keep the scent of the infirmary below, and once they passed through it, the sterile smell faded away. They found themselves in a long hall way, a number of doors lining each side. "If you stay here you, uh, may have to share a room with another, if that is okay?" Asala asked tentatively. "But you do get your own bed," she amended.
Astraia actually laughed softly at that. "After you've shared an aravel for twenty-two years, sharing a room sounds like a nice next step." Her smile faltered a little. "I don't even know if I could sleep in a room if no one was there. So quiet..." She glanced sideways at Asala. "My brother... he snores."
"Mine did too," Asala replied with a wistful smile of her own. She still felt his absence, sometimes sharply, but he would not want her to mourn him forever. He'd rather her live for him, and she was... trying her best. Asala stopped at the second door on her left, and placard next to had the name Millian Randrel, and Donovan McGregor under it. Asala knocked on the door three times before she opened it, to reveal the woman sitting at a desk that was pushed up against the window. A bed was positioned on either side of her, but the room still seemed rather spacious. In one corner a bookcase stood, filled with leather bound books.
At her knock, Milly had stopped writing in a ledger and turned around to face them, the sunburst brand clearly visible on her forehead. "Hello Asala, is there something I can help you with?" she asked in the signature monotone of a tranquil.
"Ah, no. Not this time, Milly. I just wanted to introduce you to Astraia. She is to help in the infirmary," Asala answered.
"A pleasure, Astraia. I am Millian. However, many call me Milly," she replied.
Astraia's eyes quite obviously went to the brand on Milly's forehead, but she averted them quickly. Not quickly enough to avoid reddening in the face a little. "Hi. It's nice to meet you." An awkward moment of silence followed. It would make sense for Astraia to be a little uncomfortable around Tranquil. The Dalish had little reason to ever encounter them, and she'd probably only ever met a few.
For her part, Astraia seemed eager to move things along. "So, uh... where can I put my things? And what will I be practicing first?"
"Across the hall, and down a door," she answered, waving a farewell to Milly as they exited. "When you are settled, I suppose we can work on refining our healing spells," Asala said with a warm smile. "There are... some things that I need to work on as well. Tell me Astraia, have you heard of spirit healers?"
After some deliberation on where to place her, the Inquisition had decided to assign her with the healers while she trained with the other aspects of her magic. Which meant she would also work a lot with Aurora as well as Asala herself. However, it fell to her to show the young woman around. Which, was going about as well as she expected. "So, uh... Yes, this is the infirmary," she said, gesturing toward the tower. It had a number of clean glass windows to let in natural light and a carved wooden sign above the door that stated what it was.
"I know," Astraia replied gently, fiddling with her fingers. "I spent a lot of time here after my brother got sick. Reading, mostly, or trying to." Her staff was across her back, along with a few smaller bags. The elf didn't carry a large amount of personal belongings with her, but the Dalish were supposedly quite good at that. Always on the move, never collecting too many things to be bogged down. Though she sure seemed to be storing a lot of useless material in her hair. "Do you lead the healers, or... is there a leader?"
"Oh. Right, yes. I-- sorry. My mind was, uh, elsewhere," Asala offered with a tiny smile, but she feel the flush springing to her cheeks. She could vaguely remember her now while she tended to Zethlasan, but her focus had been on him at the time. It surprised her immensely to find he had become well enough to leave on his own power. She had expected the worst at the time, and she was doing all she could to make his passing as comfortable as possible. Despite the circumstances, she was happy that he had lived through his ailment. She sighed and shook her head, hoping she wouldn't look foolish again.
"Oh, no. Not me," she answered her question, "I, uh, just see to it that thing are... running smoothly, I suppose. We really do not have a leader as such, no. We sort things out amongst each other." She thought for a moment and shrugged, "Technically, I suppose the mages among us do answer to Aurora, though not all of our personnel are mages," She added. "She lets the ones with a focus on healing magic apply their skills here," she explained. Asala had truthfully never thought about her official position in the Inquisition. She worked in the infirmary and sometimes ventured out with the other irregulars where she aided them in the field, so she supposed that meant she didn't really answer to Aurora either.
She frowned in thought for a moment before she realized that Astraia was still with her. "Oh, uh, right. Sorry," she said with a laugh, "I was lost in thought for a moment. Shall we, uh, go in?" Asala asked.
"Sure." Astraia smiled, and followed Asala inside. The light did indeed flood over the area quite well, leaving minimal need for any fire or mage-created light sources. The beds were mostly empty, given the lack of action the Inquisition had faced lately, but Astraia seemed to look around for one to be filled in particular. "Did Estella heal alright? I tried my best, but uh... I haven't treated many serious knife wounds like that. To the stomach. I wasn't sure if I missed anything."
Asala had stepped in the middle of the room, the ambient scent of sterilization surrounding them. When she spoke, she had turned to face Astraia, and nodded after she had spoken. "She is fine," Asala reassured, "She had some lingering issues with her arm, and some internal injuries I had to see to, but she is fine. She was out in a day," Asala answered with a warm smile. Estella, while not in the worst shape she had seen her in, still had some injuries Asala had to attend to regardless. Still, she was a strong woman, perhaps stronger than she knew. It would take more than that to lay her low.
"You did fine," Asala reaffirmed kindly. "Thank you for, uh... bringing her back to us. We are all grateful." Asala added sincerely. She couldn't help but worry. About Estella, yes, but also for Astraia. The infirmary was quiet now, but she'd learned to cherish those moments. She still vividly remembered the aftermath of the siege of Adamant, and the fall of Haven before that-- as well as the numerous smaller skirmishes in between that left one or more of her friends injured and in her care. She could only hope that Astraia was up to the task when the time came. But she would not be unprepared, Asala would see to that.
"You're welcome. It's..." she hesitated for a moment. "I'd never actually saved anyone's life with my healing before. My clan avoids stuff like that, so I only ever helped with accidents, you know? Training injuries, bite wounds on hunters, little things like turned ankles and bruises. Actually, I think I tended the halla more than anything. I was really good at that. Going to miss them, honestly..." She looked a bit thoughtful for a moment, maybe even a little wistful. Dangerously close to approaching homesickness, despite it being a little too late to change her mind about her immediate future.
"Were you a healer, too? Before you joined the Inquisition?" She shrugged. "Seems to me like everyone here is from somewhere else. It's weird, but... I like it."
"I was," Asala answered as she leaned against one of the beds in the room. "Not... too different from you, actually. Turned ankles and bruises mostly, though... I had to figure out the healing magic on my own," she said with a smile as she reflected back, "But before that, I was an apprentice to an herbalist. We did not have any other mages beside my brother and I, so I learned of herbs and poultices before I started mending wounds with magic."
She then frowned and crossed her arms while she thought. "I... left home, after the mage rebellion with my kadan--my brother. To find the mages and better our magic, he had said-- though I believe he wished to see the world and that was the excuse he used. However, we did find the mages and we... were given the chance to hone our skills," Asala explained solemnly. It was with Aurora and her mages that she began to heal more substantial wounds. "I do not regret it, we saved many lives," she added. Traveling as apostate was not safe, and injuries did happen, but she had leaned to tend to them while she was with them.
A set of heavy footfalls came from behind her, and she turned to find Donovan's burly figure paused mid-step. "I apologize for interrupting," in stated in a deep baritone, his lips never moving past his ever present frown. He then pointed toward the cabinet that held their medical supplies. "I was about to take stock for Millian," he explained.
"Oh! Donovan," Asala said, straightening up. She glance between him and Astraia for a moment before she nodded. "Um, while you are here, this is Astraia," she said introducing the woman, "Astraia? This is Donovan. He may be large, and he never smiles, but he is a gentle man, I promise," Asala said brightly. Donovan for his part, inclined his head in greeting. "Actually, he was the one who helped me with my healing," she added as if just remembering.
"Hello." Astraia didn't seem daunted by the man, despite him appearing alongside Asala as near giants compared to her. Donovan in particular was broad as well as tall, further contrasting from how thin Astraia was. "I remember you. Mostly from the, uh..." Her hands lifted for a moment above her shoulders, as though she meant to raise them to indicate how big he was. "You know. Thanks for helping with my brother's sickness." She said it with a bit of heaviness, though it was perhaps understandable why, even if Zethlasan had pulled through in the end, somehow.
"Were you with the mages before the Inquisition too, then?"
"Yes, long before that, even," Donovan answered, continuing to move toward the cabinet. Once he reached it however, he did not begin to take stock, but instead turned to speak with them better. "I was with Aurora-- No, Aurora found me, I should say, in Kirkwall, before the..." His frown deepened for a moment as she spoke about, "Rebellion began. I was not the only one, either. She found a number of other apostates. She... gave us all a safe haven away from the prying eyes of the Templars to practice our gifts together, and those that needed it, she taught. We're all grateful for her," With that, he turned toward the cabinet and opened it, shuffling through the contents.
Asala smiled and turned back toward Astraia, "If you would like, we could also meet Milly? She is here, yes?" She asked Donovan.
He did not take his eyes off of the stock, but nodded all the same. "Upstairs," he answered, taking a moment to point toward the nearby staircase.
"Alright." Astraia seemed amiable to doing just about anything at the moment, and she spent a fair amount of her time looking around the infirmary, as though she actually hadn't seen it before, despite being inside for a long time earlier, as she had said. "Do we sleep upstairs?" she asked, shrugging the packs over her shoulder a bit higher. "Do we all get our own beds, even if we're not guests anymore?" Perhaps having her own bed was something strange to Astraia. The Dalish did have rather unique customs, after all.
"Well, yes," she answered, rather embarrassed. "But I... have my own room, in a different part of the keep," she explained. "Although, if you would prefer, we could maybe get you a bunk in the barracks with the other mages. I am sure Aurora would not mind," Asala added quickly. At the top of the stairs, Asala opened a thick door to let them into the second floor. The door helped keep the scent of the infirmary below, and once they passed through it, the sterile smell faded away. They found themselves in a long hall way, a number of doors lining each side. "If you stay here you, uh, may have to share a room with another, if that is okay?" Asala asked tentatively. "But you do get your own bed," she amended.
Astraia actually laughed softly at that. "After you've shared an aravel for twenty-two years, sharing a room sounds like a nice next step." Her smile faltered a little. "I don't even know if I could sleep in a room if no one was there. So quiet..." She glanced sideways at Asala. "My brother... he snores."
"Mine did too," Asala replied with a wistful smile of her own. She still felt his absence, sometimes sharply, but he would not want her to mourn him forever. He'd rather her live for him, and she was... trying her best. Asala stopped at the second door on her left, and placard next to had the name Millian Randrel, and Donovan McGregor under it. Asala knocked on the door three times before she opened it, to reveal the woman sitting at a desk that was pushed up against the window. A bed was positioned on either side of her, but the room still seemed rather spacious. In one corner a bookcase stood, filled with leather bound books.
At her knock, Milly had stopped writing in a ledger and turned around to face them, the sunburst brand clearly visible on her forehead. "Hello Asala, is there something I can help you with?" she asked in the signature monotone of a tranquil.
"Ah, no. Not this time, Milly. I just wanted to introduce you to Astraia. She is to help in the infirmary," Asala answered.
"A pleasure, Astraia. I am Millian. However, many call me Milly," she replied.
Astraia's eyes quite obviously went to the brand on Milly's forehead, but she averted them quickly. Not quickly enough to avoid reddening in the face a little. "Hi. It's nice to meet you." An awkward moment of silence followed. It would make sense for Astraia to be a little uncomfortable around Tranquil. The Dalish had little reason to ever encounter them, and she'd probably only ever met a few.
For her part, Astraia seemed eager to move things along. "So, uh... where can I put my things? And what will I be practicing first?"
"Across the hall, and down a door," she answered, waving a farewell to Milly as they exited. "When you are settled, I suppose we can work on refining our healing spells," Asala said with a warm smile. "There are... some things that I need to work on as well. Tell me Astraia, have you heard of spirit healers?"