genessia | If I had a hammer...

Entry tags:

If I had a hammer...

Who; Dorian Pavus and the other employees of Cloak and Dagger
What; Just another day at the office?
Where; Cloak and Dagger, during or after business hours
When; May 11th, All Day
Warnings; You know, I can't think of any, but you never know. I'll update if I need to

It's been nearly three weeks since Dorian began working as an enchantment and magical item craftsman at the Cloak and Dagger, but he's still succeeded in keeping himself fairly scarce. He spends most of his time in the workshop, whether it's fulfilling customer orders or working on a project he's not quite ready to show the world, but every once in a while, he has to enter the shop proper for some part or parcel that wasn't within ready access.

He was fairly certain there were others who worked here, someone had to run the front counter after all, and Cassian was around somewhere, but certainly the boss (Maker, he was starting to sound like Bull) wouldn't mind taking some of the ingredients for a worthy cause. He'd...pay him back or something.

Otherwise, he'd be found in the workshop, with a tablet of obsidian, sweat beading on his brow as he focused intently on the runes he was carving across its surface. He doesn't look up if someone walks in, but he'll respond if he's addressed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's nice to see you lending a hand." She felt her smile widen before brushing pass her turn of phrase.

Belle saw nothing wrong with the practice though she wondered how it was that he'd create a hand for someone. If it was grown or created and then somehow attached. It sounded very useful but also potentially complicated.

"I wish I could help with such a noble task but I don't know how I might." Sometimes staying out of the way was helpful.

She wasn't sure how she could help, eh? Olive eyes panned down to her hands before looking back to her eyes.

"I may need a model...for a hand, that is." He blinked, his thoughts catching up to what she'd said and he laughed. "Ah, yes. Lending a hand. Very clever."

Belle bit back her smile. "I will be happy to model for you. I have a few more spells I wish to transcribe but I can bring my work here and be ready when you need use of my hand."

She was very amiable.

He chuckles, reaching out and touching her hand briefly.

"Oh, there's no rush, really. The enchantments are still very elementary." But there's no reason for her to go. "That being said, what is it you're working on?"

Belle looked up at him, her skin pickling at his touch. She realized then that she didn't often touch anyone. It was an interesting realization though she knew that it didn't mean very much given her sensibilities. Even still, Gaston's clumsily valved remark repeated in her head.

A frown briefly touched her lips before she was brought back to the present.

"Oh, I'm coping a few spells that Cassian had given me. They're very simple. After that he gave me some ingredients to put together for an enchantment of sorts."

Transcribing spells was, of course, her job, Dorian knew that much. His eyebrows rose at the next, though, surprised to hear she was also responsible for the assembly of enchantments.

"You...he's taught you the intricacies of enchantments already?" Perhaps he'd been wrong about her aptitude. Mayhap, like the dwarves, she was capable of enchantment, even if true magic eluded her.

Belle shook her head. "Not exactly though he offered to teach me more. Right now I am gathering the ingredients and learning about them. I can't very well work with something that I don't understand." They were small things, perhaps not true magic but Belle was just fine with that.

Cassian gave her a chance to learn something new and she wasn't going to walk away from it.

"Ah, yes, too true!" He smiled, looking pleased. "Well, if you've ever in need of instruction, I'll be around when I'm not teaching classes at the guild in Fayren."

Belle smiled up at him. "I would be honored if you would instruct me." She didn't doubt Dorian's capabilities.

"I wasn't aware that there was a guild, though I've yet to spend an extensive amount of time in Fayren. What sort of place is it? The guild and the area?" She was still looking for a good place to live.

"Why, it's a school, more than anything. An academy where they collect all manner of magical and mundane knowledge. It's quickly becoming like a second home to me."

He smiles, almost nostalgic. "It reminds me of the Mage Circles back home, actually. The circles of Tevinter that is."

Certainly not the circles of the south, where mages were cloistered away for their, and more like, non-mages protection.

"That sounds wonderful. I was hoping they had schools here." She believed that everyone deserved the chance to learn. Just the thought of a school brightened her smile.

"Are mage circles like guilds?" She knew of trading guilds, support systems for different professions.

"Well, yes. It is a school for mages, however, there is a school for children in general in Attleton." His friend worked there part time as an instructor, though he'd never visited himself. He'd never been overly fond of children. Small blessing he'd never have any of his own.

"...you mean like a Merchant's Guild? Hardly. They vary drastically based on what region one may find themselves in. Southern Andrasteans like to cloister their mages away, fearing their power and teaching them from a very young age, taken from their parents and whatnot, to do so as well. The Cirles of the Imperium, though, are much more like...well...boarding schools if you will, fostering in young Magi a love of their powers, themselves, and of knowledge."

"I see. I always thought of it as a trade, perhaps from working here but I supposed magic is something you have to be born too and as such is treated differently." It made sense but at the same time it was sad to hear that people were taken away from their families, just because they were born with magic.

"You know a lot about this realm. I don't know if I had asked before but how long have you been here?"

"Ah, yes, I can see how you could have made that mistake." He nods, turning from the shelf he'd been browsing to fully address her misinformation.

"Anyone may learn...carpentry, yes? But there are those with a finesse. A gift for carving, for bringing the wood to life, yes? In a...a similar sense, I suppose, magic is within everything, though some dormantly. Most species dream, save the dwarves, and it is during those dreams they touch the Fade, from which all magic flows. Mages," and he moves his hand to his chest at the word, indicating himself, "are born with the inate ability to reach through the Veil separating the world of flesh from the world of magic and shape that magic with our intent. Does that make things more clear?"

Without prompting, Belle pulls a small notepad from a pocket in her skirt and begins to scribble down a few notes. She doesn't write everything but enough for her to add to her notes about magic later.

"You can access that here? Is the Fade simply connected to life, not matter the realm?"

He raises a hand, pulling his fingers apart at the last moment, summoning a glittering blue flame at this fingertips, smiling proudly.

"So it would seem."

Belle's curiosity flickers like the blue flame held in Dorian's palm. "Beautiful." She spoke in a soft rush of words. She'd never learn magic, she knew that but being able to learn about it, to help Cassian with his charms. It was amazing. It was a life she would have never thought for herself.

"It'd be interesting to know how it's all connected. Perhaps a clue as to how we are here." It might be a similar connection that brings them here, if all worlds are connected by this Fade. It most likely had different names in different places, so it'd be difficult to look for but Belle was determined to try.

"Well," He closed his fist, the flame extinguished by his will as much as the motion, "the Fade is the realm of dreams, yes, but it's said the Maker dwells there, somewhere, and souls go to His side upon their deaths."

He looks thoughtful, crossing his arms and raising one hand to his chin. "No one knows the truth expanse of the Fade. It shifts, you see. So...perhaps...well, it's certainly possible..."

"Does that happen here?" Death wasn't something that Belle spent a lot of time thinking about. She did think of her mother but only what she'd been like when she was alive. She wondered if her mother was there now, a spirit, and if maybe one day Belle would be able to meet her. It'd be a strange way to meet someone and she had a feeling that it isn't that simple but it'd be interesting.

She didn't know enough about Genessia or the Fade to really be able to theorize with Dorian.

"I don't know." He chuckled, looking up from his thoughtfulness. "Of course, there no definitive proof in my own world, either."

He waved a hand, dismissing the point. "Ah, well. Regardless, what I do know is magic, and if what I can touch is here, it stands to reason the Fade is as well. That and we all dream, do we not?"

Belle smiled softly. "Yes." She didn't see a flaw with his logic but she wished that there was a way to test that.

"Is there anything else I can help you with? I do love speaking with you Dorian but I don't feel right not completing my work." It was just how she was, she'd likely not go home until she was finished the tasks she'd set for herself today.

He waved a hand. "No, no. Not at all, and I should really get back, myself...tidy up, and, perhaps, head home."

He cleared his throat. "I...believe you've caught me working overnight, after all, and I seem to have forgotten to sleep. Happens, occasionally."

Belle's eyebrows rose. "I'll make sure to keep an eye on you then. It would be awful if you made yourself sick." She was used to doing something similar with her father and some tendencies never really went away.

"Oh, I was told that Everglade was dangerous at night. Should I be worried walking home?" She wanted to ask Dorian who would be able to tell her if she was safe or not. He knew her strengths and he knew the area.

He moved to answer the girl but was forced, instead, to stifle a yawn. It must have been the mentioning of not sleeping that was quickly drawing his stamina.

"Oh, I'll be fine, Belle. No need to fret on my account. That being said, perhaps I should wrap up here and I can walk you home."

Belle watched as Dorian's jaw expanded in a yawn. She'd definitely keep an eye on him from now on. He was most likely worse than her father had been.

"Alright. Thank you." She offered him a warm smile before turning to quickly finish up her own work and gather her things.

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger

May 13th - Cloak & Dagger