Khari shifted, her back leaning a bit deeper into the plush upholstery of the armchair. The way it was shaped made it kind of difficult to pull her legs up and cross them underneath her, but she did it anyway. It made her feel a little less like she was sinking into the furniture. Normally, she would have thought chairs this roomy were kind of excessive, but she could definitely understand why Leon had to have big furniture.
Letting her hands fall into her lap and trying not to fidget with them, she glanced up. The commander himself was sitting at his desk, probably wondering just what the heck this was all about. Séverine was there, too, but apparently they hadn't been discussing anything too urgent, because they'd let her in anyway. Now she kind of felt like she was intruding. Despite all appearances to the contrary, she didn't particularly relish the feeling. Maybe this wasn't really relevant enough to bring to someone with a million other things to be doing, anyway.
Sighing heavily, she decided to try and keep it short. “Uh, so." She was off to a great start on the relevance. There was a curl brushing against her neck, the rough ends of the hairs irritating and ticklish at the same time. She shoved it behind a tapered ear. “Back in the Graves. You... kind of almost put me in charge of a group." Really, he'd probably just meant to appoint her as the navigator, but she'd made it sound like being put in charge in her own head, and it had made her really uncomfortable.
“But... basically when we got to the ruin, Ves just... did all that. Told us how to arrange ourselves, where to go, when to move and all that." She shook her head, dislodging the damn piece of hair, which promptly fell back against her skin. She tucked it back again. “Not that I minded, honestly. He's... better at that, than me." Or Saraya was, but from where Khari sat, that distinction didn't make much difference, and she wasn't going to mention Saraya in front of Séverine anyway.
She grimaced. “I don't know how to do any of that stuff. To be a leader or someone who tells other people what to do. In any situation, really, but especially in a situation like that. But it made me realize that I probably should know. Strategy, and formation, and pretty much anything besides 'put the people with armor in the front and the mages in the back.'" Khari's brows furrowed; she fixed him with a stare that was probably a little harder than she meant it to be.
“I used to think because of how I fight, because I have to get mad, I'd never be able to do any of that. But you know how to do all of it, and I've seen you. If you don't get mad like I do, you do something close." And that was a crucial similarity. It invalidated her excuse. “How do you do both?"
Leon leaned forward at his desk, hands together and chin braced on his knuckles. He listened attentively until Khari had explained everything, then canted his head slightly to the side. If he found the question unusual, he made no sign of it, though a vague look of discomfort flitted over his face for a split second when she mentioned his own approach to battle. When she finished speaking, he let the silence linger a few moments more, then expelled a breath through his nose rather heavily.
"There's no one rule or trick," he said, leaning back in his chair and letting his arms fall to the rests. It creaked slightly under his weight. "One part of it is, as you put it, knowing tactics, though I'd say there's much more to being an effective leader than that. The other half is managing what you need to in the thick of things, yes." He blinked at her, his expression forming into a slight smile. "But there is no reason a berserker can't lead on a battlefield. Your style wouldn't be like everyone else's, but that's not necessarily a bad thing." He shrugged. "Most of the real strategy happens before the battle actually begins. After that, you do have to be able to stay aware enough to decide when to change your tactics, but that's not quite the same thing, which is why I can do it, and you could as well."
She hadn't figured it would be simple. But Khari was well-aware that this was an area in which she was dangerously deficient. Chevaliers were expected to be capable of command; one of the most obvious functions of the job was serving as an officer in the Orlesian army. Back when she'd been thinking of nothing but getting there in the first place, she'd sort of figured she could work that part out later, but now... she wanted to be able to do the job, in its entirety, even before she was allowed to do it.
Besides, it couldn't hurt the Inquisition, and her current preoccupation with helping it, if she knew all of this. Maybe if she'd been more strategy-minded, she'd have been able to see through Ser Durand's deception. Or notice the trap they triggered in the Graves had a hidden component, or any of a bunch of other important things. It was one thing to keep training until she was the best weapon she could be. But she also had to know how to use the skills she wanted to have, or she risked being manipulated again. Put to someone else's use without her knowledge, like a fool. And she didn't want that.
Pulling in a deep breath, she slapped her hands onto her knees and leaned forward. “Teach me. Please." She grimaced, but didn't drop her eye contact with Leon. “I want to be better at this. I want to be better at everything, but this is something I don't even know how to learn, never mind how to do." He was busy and she knew it, and maybe that made her selfish for asking. But this was important, and she didn't want to ask anyone else. It had to be Leon; he clearly understood what problems she was likely going to run up against trying to do this. And he, she thought more than anyone in the Inquisition, really was a leader. Not just a person in a position of power, but someone who knew how to command.
For a moment, Leon's eyes rounded. But a moment later, he laughed. Not loudly, more like a breathy chuckle than anything. He shook his head faintly, then spoke. "I'm not sure what I expected. Perhaps I should have known you'd ask." Something clearly amused him about either the request or the manner in which she'd made it, but he didn't explain, so it was hard to say exactly what. He reached up to rub at the back of his neck with a large, callused hand, studying her. "It's going to be a lot of reading, at first," he cautioned. "And some of the books are dry. I'm sure Ser Séverine can attest to that—the old strategy manuals are no trainee's favorite work. I know I used to prefer everything else but latrine duty."
He half-smiled, making it unclear just how serious he was about that. "But... if you're willing to put up with boring reading and tasks that probably won't make sense to you at first, then... yes. I'll teach you." He paused, moving his attention to Sev.
"And you, Captain? I'm sure the advice of someone who's moved up a command structure as you have would also be valuable to Khari, if you don't mind lending a bit of it. Perhaps some of mine would be useful to you, as well? You aren't obligated, of course."
Séverine had been observing the conversation thus far with interest, not at all looking down on Khari's request to learn. Not visually, anyway. Though from what small experience Khari had around the Orlesian woman, she wasn't really one to hide her judgements or feelings behind a mask, metal or otherwise. She sat with legs crossed beside Leon's table, which carried a few maps of what looked like the Emerald Graves, recently drawn. There were marks along the roads running through the forest, dotted trails marking possible routes of the Red Templars, circled spots pointing out caves, ruins, ravines, other shelters both natural and otherwise that they might make use of in their operations.
Given that, it seemed likely she and the Commander had been discussing the events of the Emerald Graves before she arrived, but whatever it was, it wasn't urgent enough to send her away. "I might be able to offer a few things. Templar training is nothing to scoff at, after all, even if I did bumble my way through most of it." She became thoughtful for a moment, possibly going over what she might be able to contribute. "I've found I can command capably enough. Tell soldiers where they need to be, what they need to do, what they might have to die for..." Her expression became quite sober by the end of that. "But in my experience there's a great difference between commanders and leaders. I've met many commanders, but only a few real leaders."
She tilted her head towards Leon. "And that's something I've yet to even begin learning."
Khari hadn't even figured there was a difference, but now that she thought about it, there had to be. “Well... I probably need to learn both, so all the help is appreciated." She offered Sev a grin, relaxing back a little, though her hands remained on her knees. “And I'll read all the boring books you want, honest. Lay 'em on me."
She might not have had any ambitions to be a templar, but she sure as hell wasn't about to turn her nose up at learning anything templars learned, either. Good strategy was good strategy, and she was sure that some of the anti-magic things they knew would be helpful even for someone like her, who'd never taken lyrium in her life and didn't plan to.
Leon nodded, still smiling a bit himself, and stood, picking his chair up rather than letting it scrape against the floor. He went to the bookshelf next to his desk, scanning it until he found what he wanted. With an index finger, he tugged at a smallish book with a blue leather cover, and a slightly larger one, in plain black binding. The first was unmarked, but when he handed them to her, Khari could see plainly that the black one was a copy of the Qun.
"You can start here," Leon said. "The blue one is a treatise on warfare that Kordillus I wrote for his son. The second, as you can see, is a translation of the Tome of Koslun. The third Canto, in particular, is essentially a guide to battle strategy. Don't take either of them as absolute truth, of course, but there are valuable lessons in both."
He paused a moment, then stepped away. "I believe I've heard you play chess. Do you have a set?"
The Qun, huh? She wouldn't have expected that, but it made sense when he explained it. Few people were as good as the Qunari at organized warfare. “Something tells me this isn't standard templar curriculum." Khari snorted and waved the book at him with false admonishment. But she thought it was actually a good thing. It meant she was learning what Leon thought it was best for her to know. And the other book, the blue one... that was just going to be really interesting. Kordillus Drakon was one of the most effective military leaders in history. Anything he had to say would be worth reading.
“And I play, yeah. Pretty well, too. I don't have my own set, but I bet Cy'd let me borrow his. Why?"
Leon shrugged. "It's a good way to get a sense of someone's existing strategic strengths and weaknesses. I'd like to play you both at some point, if that's all right. We'll set up some regular time to meet once the two of us dealt with the rest of this." He gestured at the table Séverine occupied, and whatever had been keeping their attention before Khari entered. Probably the fallout from all that stuff with the Reds.
"In the meantime... I think you have some reading to do."
Khari stacked the books in her lap, then gripped them in both hands and stood. She was doing a pretty poor job of containing her enthusiasm, probably, but she didn't care, and she doubted they did either. Offering up a toothy smile, she nodded once.
“I think I do."
Letting her hands fall into her lap and trying not to fidget with them, she glanced up. The commander himself was sitting at his desk, probably wondering just what the heck this was all about. Séverine was there, too, but apparently they hadn't been discussing anything too urgent, because they'd let her in anyway. Now she kind of felt like she was intruding. Despite all appearances to the contrary, she didn't particularly relish the feeling. Maybe this wasn't really relevant enough to bring to someone with a million other things to be doing, anyway.
Sighing heavily, she decided to try and keep it short. “Uh, so." She was off to a great start on the relevance. There was a curl brushing against her neck, the rough ends of the hairs irritating and ticklish at the same time. She shoved it behind a tapered ear. “Back in the Graves. You... kind of almost put me in charge of a group." Really, he'd probably just meant to appoint her as the navigator, but she'd made it sound like being put in charge in her own head, and it had made her really uncomfortable.
“But... basically when we got to the ruin, Ves just... did all that. Told us how to arrange ourselves, where to go, when to move and all that." She shook her head, dislodging the damn piece of hair, which promptly fell back against her skin. She tucked it back again. “Not that I minded, honestly. He's... better at that, than me." Or Saraya was, but from where Khari sat, that distinction didn't make much difference, and she wasn't going to mention Saraya in front of Séverine anyway.
She grimaced. “I don't know how to do any of that stuff. To be a leader or someone who tells other people what to do. In any situation, really, but especially in a situation like that. But it made me realize that I probably should know. Strategy, and formation, and pretty much anything besides 'put the people with armor in the front and the mages in the back.'" Khari's brows furrowed; she fixed him with a stare that was probably a little harder than she meant it to be.
“I used to think because of how I fight, because I have to get mad, I'd never be able to do any of that. But you know how to do all of it, and I've seen you. If you don't get mad like I do, you do something close." And that was a crucial similarity. It invalidated her excuse. “How do you do both?"
Leon leaned forward at his desk, hands together and chin braced on his knuckles. He listened attentively until Khari had explained everything, then canted his head slightly to the side. If he found the question unusual, he made no sign of it, though a vague look of discomfort flitted over his face for a split second when she mentioned his own approach to battle. When she finished speaking, he let the silence linger a few moments more, then expelled a breath through his nose rather heavily.
"There's no one rule or trick," he said, leaning back in his chair and letting his arms fall to the rests. It creaked slightly under his weight. "One part of it is, as you put it, knowing tactics, though I'd say there's much more to being an effective leader than that. The other half is managing what you need to in the thick of things, yes." He blinked at her, his expression forming into a slight smile. "But there is no reason a berserker can't lead on a battlefield. Your style wouldn't be like everyone else's, but that's not necessarily a bad thing." He shrugged. "Most of the real strategy happens before the battle actually begins. After that, you do have to be able to stay aware enough to decide when to change your tactics, but that's not quite the same thing, which is why I can do it, and you could as well."
She hadn't figured it would be simple. But Khari was well-aware that this was an area in which she was dangerously deficient. Chevaliers were expected to be capable of command; one of the most obvious functions of the job was serving as an officer in the Orlesian army. Back when she'd been thinking of nothing but getting there in the first place, she'd sort of figured she could work that part out later, but now... she wanted to be able to do the job, in its entirety, even before she was allowed to do it.
Besides, it couldn't hurt the Inquisition, and her current preoccupation with helping it, if she knew all of this. Maybe if she'd been more strategy-minded, she'd have been able to see through Ser Durand's deception. Or notice the trap they triggered in the Graves had a hidden component, or any of a bunch of other important things. It was one thing to keep training until she was the best weapon she could be. But she also had to know how to use the skills she wanted to have, or she risked being manipulated again. Put to someone else's use without her knowledge, like a fool. And she didn't want that.
Pulling in a deep breath, she slapped her hands onto her knees and leaned forward. “Teach me. Please." She grimaced, but didn't drop her eye contact with Leon. “I want to be better at this. I want to be better at everything, but this is something I don't even know how to learn, never mind how to do." He was busy and she knew it, and maybe that made her selfish for asking. But this was important, and she didn't want to ask anyone else. It had to be Leon; he clearly understood what problems she was likely going to run up against trying to do this. And he, she thought more than anyone in the Inquisition, really was a leader. Not just a person in a position of power, but someone who knew how to command.
For a moment, Leon's eyes rounded. But a moment later, he laughed. Not loudly, more like a breathy chuckle than anything. He shook his head faintly, then spoke. "I'm not sure what I expected. Perhaps I should have known you'd ask." Something clearly amused him about either the request or the manner in which she'd made it, but he didn't explain, so it was hard to say exactly what. He reached up to rub at the back of his neck with a large, callused hand, studying her. "It's going to be a lot of reading, at first," he cautioned. "And some of the books are dry. I'm sure Ser Séverine can attest to that—the old strategy manuals are no trainee's favorite work. I know I used to prefer everything else but latrine duty."
He half-smiled, making it unclear just how serious he was about that. "But... if you're willing to put up with boring reading and tasks that probably won't make sense to you at first, then... yes. I'll teach you." He paused, moving his attention to Sev.
"And you, Captain? I'm sure the advice of someone who's moved up a command structure as you have would also be valuable to Khari, if you don't mind lending a bit of it. Perhaps some of mine would be useful to you, as well? You aren't obligated, of course."
Séverine had been observing the conversation thus far with interest, not at all looking down on Khari's request to learn. Not visually, anyway. Though from what small experience Khari had around the Orlesian woman, she wasn't really one to hide her judgements or feelings behind a mask, metal or otherwise. She sat with legs crossed beside Leon's table, which carried a few maps of what looked like the Emerald Graves, recently drawn. There were marks along the roads running through the forest, dotted trails marking possible routes of the Red Templars, circled spots pointing out caves, ruins, ravines, other shelters both natural and otherwise that they might make use of in their operations.
Given that, it seemed likely she and the Commander had been discussing the events of the Emerald Graves before she arrived, but whatever it was, it wasn't urgent enough to send her away. "I might be able to offer a few things. Templar training is nothing to scoff at, after all, even if I did bumble my way through most of it." She became thoughtful for a moment, possibly going over what she might be able to contribute. "I've found I can command capably enough. Tell soldiers where they need to be, what they need to do, what they might have to die for..." Her expression became quite sober by the end of that. "But in my experience there's a great difference between commanders and leaders. I've met many commanders, but only a few real leaders."
She tilted her head towards Leon. "And that's something I've yet to even begin learning."
Khari hadn't even figured there was a difference, but now that she thought about it, there had to be. “Well... I probably need to learn both, so all the help is appreciated." She offered Sev a grin, relaxing back a little, though her hands remained on her knees. “And I'll read all the boring books you want, honest. Lay 'em on me."
She might not have had any ambitions to be a templar, but she sure as hell wasn't about to turn her nose up at learning anything templars learned, either. Good strategy was good strategy, and she was sure that some of the anti-magic things they knew would be helpful even for someone like her, who'd never taken lyrium in her life and didn't plan to.
Leon nodded, still smiling a bit himself, and stood, picking his chair up rather than letting it scrape against the floor. He went to the bookshelf next to his desk, scanning it until he found what he wanted. With an index finger, he tugged at a smallish book with a blue leather cover, and a slightly larger one, in plain black binding. The first was unmarked, but when he handed them to her, Khari could see plainly that the black one was a copy of the Qun.
"You can start here," Leon said. "The blue one is a treatise on warfare that Kordillus I wrote for his son. The second, as you can see, is a translation of the Tome of Koslun. The third Canto, in particular, is essentially a guide to battle strategy. Don't take either of them as absolute truth, of course, but there are valuable lessons in both."
He paused a moment, then stepped away. "I believe I've heard you play chess. Do you have a set?"
The Qun, huh? She wouldn't have expected that, but it made sense when he explained it. Few people were as good as the Qunari at organized warfare. “Something tells me this isn't standard templar curriculum." Khari snorted and waved the book at him with false admonishment. But she thought it was actually a good thing. It meant she was learning what Leon thought it was best for her to know. And the other book, the blue one... that was just going to be really interesting. Kordillus Drakon was one of the most effective military leaders in history. Anything he had to say would be worth reading.
“And I play, yeah. Pretty well, too. I don't have my own set, but I bet Cy'd let me borrow his. Why?"
Leon shrugged. "It's a good way to get a sense of someone's existing strategic strengths and weaknesses. I'd like to play you both at some point, if that's all right. We'll set up some regular time to meet once the two of us dealt with the rest of this." He gestured at the table Séverine occupied, and whatever had been keeping their attention before Khari entered. Probably the fallout from all that stuff with the Reds.
"In the meantime... I think you have some reading to do."
Khari stacked the books in her lap, then gripped them in both hands and stood. She was doing a pretty poor job of containing her enthusiasm, probably, but she didn't care, and she doubted they did either. Offering up a toothy smile, she nodded once.
“I think I do."