I'm very proud of you for being willing to stand up and admit you know fuck-all about Dalish dowries, Iorveth. Most people like to lie and pretend they know everything, but not you.
You're humble.
[He laughs.]
So, how in the Beyond did that happen? Who'd marry you anyways?
You mistake me, my friend. I stand up to admit I know fuck-all about dowries period. I think it involves some scale of wife worth to chickens?
[ first of all, not an Aen Seidhe practice. Second of all, Sorrel's right, no one is batshit enough to even attempt to marry him, this surprises no one. ]
A mission, in Ostwick. There was a killer targeting newly weds, so bait was to be acquired.
For the Dalish it's mostly about convincing the actual person you're not as worthless a provider as you seem. Chickens usually don't enter into it.
[Unless they be particularly large and impressive chickens, one supposes. Any hunter who brought home a chicken the size of a bear to his intended probably wouldn't have trouble convincing her of his usefulness.]
I'm trying to imagine the fate of someone coming upon the two of you in a dark, contained space. It's a pretty terrifying idea, I'll tell you.
Ah. Seems much more reasonable. I know nothing of livestock besides.
[ a farmer he is not. however, coincidentally, he does have a horse sized chicken in the gallows stables that apparently believes iorveth is her mother. so that's a thing. ]
Someone did. I tore out his ankle and used his knife to pin his hand to the floorboards. [ if you can imagine, there is a creepy but cheeky grin associated with this. ]
[Sorrel snorts, able to almost hear the teeth in that smile.]
And you let Beleth do the talking, then? Cruel. [Actually, it's almost kind, considering the options at hand. But then, Sorrel has very vivid memories of Beleth's version of real cruelty, and no such memories of Iorveth.] So it was all worth the trouble in the end? I hate to see a good marriage go to waste.
That I did. She asked questions, and I removed fingers until I was satisfied we were given a truthful answer.
[ Iorveth's version of real cruelty is a thing that's scared the entire Continent, made the description of his face known throughout the Northern Kingdoms. This was just professional interrogation. ]
The finest honeymoon I've ever been on. [ the only honeymoon he's ever been on. ]
[He stops, mentally cursing himself for saying anything in the first place. It had seemed so natural, had come out without pain or bitterness, for once and... and of course the question would arise.]
She was from Clan Dahlasanor. She got too close to a rift one day, and a shard caught her, in the chest-- it happens sometimes. Anyone can become a Rifter, if they're unlucky enough. So she came to the Inquisition for help; that's why I joined, initially, to be with her. But that thing made her sick, she could never breathe well enough after. It was... Slow.
[ That... is not something he'd been expecting, and the horrible part of it is he knows who Sorrel's speaking of. ]
Inessa... told me of a woman who'd suffered as much. [ when they'd spoken of the shards and how the natives sometimes come by them. at the time, while the story was a sad one, he hadn't spared too much thought to the woman. a nameless entity, connected to nothing he was familiar with. a certain guilt fills him now. ]
I'm deeply sorry for your loss, my friend. It's a tragic, terrible way to have lost her life.
[ one she wouldn't have suffered, if Corypheus hadn't started all this, brother the Rifters through, perhaps even if a Rifter had been there to close it before she suffered the shard. ]
Her name was Siuona. Everyone called her Sina, though.
[Sorrel had spent that first month after her death in a haze, had done almost nothing but what he'd been told, had had to be reminded to eat, had to be reminded to do everything, except sleep and little else. Sina, and her passing, had changed everything.]
She was always very sweet, and kind, but whenever anyone crossed her, or The People, she'd show this core of iron. And she was so powerful, when she did! Sina was the one who grew the forest, in hightown. The one the shems burned.
I don't... I don't usually talk about her this much. It's still hard. But I think maybe she'd have liked you, Iorveth.
[ Iorveth listens intently, trying to build a mental picture of this woman, of what Sorrel looked like next to her. What happiness might've been in place of this crushing grief that flows from him. ]
She sounds like an incredible woman. I wish I could've met her. I'm sure the world's lesser for her loss.
[ the wrong people are always the ones to die, such is the world, senseless and unforgiving. there's not really anyone to blame for this either - no humans to point to and exact vengeance. just cruel fate and happenstance. there's little to do with mourning like that. ]
I imagine it will be hurt for much longer, but if there's anything I can do for you, my friend, don't hesitate to ask.
You do plenty drinking half my bottle, instead of letting me do the whole, thanks. I ought to know my limits, you'd think, but...
[But life is hard and there's a certain kind of peace to be had in forgetting. And wine is good for that, even if it's good for nothing else-- Sorrel doesn't indulge often, and that for a reason.]
Anyhow. Hope your married life is going better than mine. If my sister comes back coughing blood on account of you not taking care of her, I'll have to do something really fatal and stupid.
Well, someone had to polish it off, and you’ve far too little body to you to manage it in good health.
[ he saved you from puking, appreciate his graciousness. That was definitely the plot behind chugging your booze. Absolutely. ]
If Beleth returns from anything coughing blood, you’ll have to chase after me while I’m off to murder the cause of it, if you’re so committed to fatality and stupidity.
[ Beleth is a Good, and so is Sorrel, and Iorveth will strangle things for jacking with either of them. ]
[ dry as the sahara. actually, his mother probably would be. she always wanted him to stop being a psycho and just get a wife and have some kids. sorry, ma. ]
So fortunate. I've only acorns and pocket lint to offer for one anyway.
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You're humble.
[He laughs.]
So, how in the Beyond did that happen? Who'd marry you anyways?
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[ first of all, not an Aen Seidhe practice. Second of all, Sorrel's right, no one is batshit enough to even attempt to marry him, this surprises no one. ]
A mission, in Ostwick. There was a killer targeting newly weds, so bait was to be acquired.
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[Unless they be particularly large and impressive chickens, one supposes. Any hunter who brought home a chicken the size of a bear to his intended probably wouldn't have trouble convincing her of his usefulness.]
I'm trying to imagine the fate of someone coming upon the two of you in a dark, contained space. It's a pretty terrifying idea, I'll tell you.
no subject
[ a farmer he is not. however, coincidentally, he does have a horse sized chicken in the gallows stables that apparently believes iorveth is her mother. so that's a thing. ]
Someone did. I tore out his ankle and used his knife to pin his hand to the floorboards. [ if you can imagine, there is a creepy but cheeky grin associated with this. ]
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And you let Beleth do the talking, then? Cruel. [Actually, it's almost kind, considering the options at hand. But then, Sorrel has very vivid memories of Beleth's version of real cruelty, and no such memories of Iorveth.] So it was all worth the trouble in the end? I hate to see a good marriage go to waste.
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[ Iorveth's version of real cruelty is a thing that's scared the entire Continent, made the description of his face known throughout the Northern Kingdoms. This was just professional interrogation. ]
The finest honeymoon I've ever been on. [ the only honeymoon he's ever been on. ]
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You know, sometimes I wonder how you and my wife would have gotten on.
[Sina was very Dalish, and born of the bloodthirsty Dahlasanor-- but also she'd been uncommonly gentle, as a person. It was hard to know.]
I guess a hand of shem-fingers is.... sort of like a dowry? [He's trying not to laugh.] Is this really all you called to talk about?
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[ if anything. Sorrel seems so young, it's odd to think of him as married already. ]
Essentially, yes. This world has left me bereft of responsibilities that usually took up most of my time. [ what he means is he's fucking bored. ]
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[Deep breath, now.]
She died.
[He stops, mentally cursing himself for saying anything in the first place. It had seemed so natural, had come out without pain or bitterness, for once and... and of course the question would arise.]
She was from Clan Dahlasanor. She got too close to a rift one day, and a shard caught her, in the chest-- it happens sometimes. Anyone can become a Rifter, if they're unlucky enough. So she came to the Inquisition for help; that's why I joined, initially, to be with her. But that thing made her sick, she could never breathe well enough after. It was... Slow.
no subject
Inessa... told me of a woman who'd suffered as much. [ when they'd spoken of the shards and how the natives sometimes come by them. at the time, while the story was a sad one, he hadn't spared too much thought to the woman. a nameless entity, connected to nothing he was familiar with. a certain guilt fills him now. ]
I'm deeply sorry for your loss, my friend. It's a tragic, terrible way to have lost her life.
[ one she wouldn't have suffered, if Corypheus hadn't started all this, brother the Rifters through, perhaps even if a Rifter had been there to close it before she suffered the shard. ]
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[Sorrel had spent that first month after her death in a haze, had done almost nothing but what he'd been told, had had to be reminded to eat, had to be reminded to do everything, except sleep and little else. Sina, and her passing, had changed everything.]
She was always very sweet, and kind, but whenever anyone crossed her, or The People, she'd show this core of iron. And she was so powerful, when she did! Sina was the one who grew the forest, in hightown. The one the shems burned.
I don't... I don't usually talk about her this much. It's still hard. But I think maybe she'd have liked you, Iorveth.
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She sounds like an incredible woman. I wish I could've met her. I'm sure the world's lesser for her loss.
[ the wrong people are always the ones to die, such is the world, senseless and unforgiving. there's not really anyone to blame for this either - no humans to point to and exact vengeance. just cruel fate and happenstance. there's little to do with mourning like that. ]
I imagine it will be hurt for much longer, but if there's anything I can do for you, my friend, don't hesitate to ask.
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[But life is hard and there's a certain kind of peace to be had in forgetting. And wine is good for that, even if it's good for nothing else-- Sorrel doesn't indulge often, and that for a reason.]
Anyhow. Hope your married life is going better than mine. If my sister comes back coughing blood on account of you not taking care of her, I'll have to do something really fatal and stupid.
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[ he saved you from puking, appreciate his graciousness. That was definitely the plot behind chugging your booze. Absolutely. ]
If Beleth returns from anything coughing blood, you’ll have to chase after me while I’m off to murder the cause of it, if you’re so committed to fatality and stupidity.
[ Beleth is a Good, and so is Sorrel, and Iorveth will strangle things for jacking with either of them. ]
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[Officially approved as husband material? Not quite. But truly, not far from it.]
No dowry needed after all.
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[ dry as the sahara. actually, his mother probably would be. she always wanted him to stop being a psycho and just get a wife and have some kids. sorry, ma. ]
So fortunate. I've only acorns and pocket lint to offer for one anyway.