#dalish:ic

[skyheld]

@ghilannainguideme​ asked: ✵ for the wife :3 and if you want, for Dalish or another character of your choice?

Their first impression of your muse:  “ When she showed up in the alienage it was like Andraste herself had sent her,  except she wouldn’t have appreciated that,  so...  some Dalish god,  I suppose.   I try to learn their names for her but...  Anyway,  she was the first one,  the only one,  who listened when I said something was up with those tevinter healers,  and who did something about it.   It didn’t really matter who she was at the time as long as she could help me,  she could’ve been a brute or a rogue or even a shem for all I cared...  but I supposed what she was was a knight in shining armour,  coming out of the woods to help me.   Does that sound silly?   I bet that sounds silly. “

Current impression:   " She’s the light of my life and I want to be with her forever. “

Are they attracted to your muse?:   “ Who,  me?   To the Warden-Commander?   Oh no,  I couldn’t be,  I mean  ---  she’s just all muscle and strongness and a cute nose and those arms  ---  it’s not like we’re married,  right?   Oh wait,  I just remembered,  she’s my wife and I’m hers.   I guess I am a little attracted.   Tell everyone. “

Something they find frightening about your muse:  " She says being a Grey Warden will kill her and there’s nothing to be done about that and I say that’s bullshit,  I won’t let it happen,  and we try to forget it but it  ---  it frightens me to think she’s right and it will kill her and I’ll be useless because I can’t do anything about it. “

Something they find adorable about your muse:  “ Sometimes she snores in her sleep and its the cutest thing.   Also,  everything else. “

Would my muse sacrifice themselves for yours?:  “ In a heartbeat. “

Would my muse go on a date with yours?  platonic/romantic:  “ Don’t tell her,  but next time she’s in Denerim I’m taking her to one of the places I used to work in the harbour.   Was a shithole then,  but the new owner is a half-elf,  grew up in the alienage,  and it’s gotten better.   He owes me a favour,  so I told him he could pay me back with a private room and a dinner for two. “

One word my muse would use to describe yours:  “ Wife. “

Would my muse slap yours if they could?: Never.

Would my muse hug/kiss yours?:   All the time,  preferably.

Their first impression of your muse:   " Heard about her before I met her  ---  a Dalish elf saving Ferelden from the Blight;  every elf was talking about it.   Shemlen don’t realize how much the People talk between each other,  how far news spread without them noticing,  city to city and clan to...  but that’s beside the point.   She’s a hero,  and one of the better ones.   Not an asshole or a bigot.   Just a woman with a big sword.   I like that. “

Current impression:   “ I don’t know her that well,  but there’s something,  mm... sad about her.   Same with most Wardens I’ve met,  really.   Like they know something we don’t and it makes them sad.   I guess she’s the strong,  stoic type,  but in a nice kind of way... and she’s still a woman with a big sword,  and I still like that a lot.

Are they attracted to your muse?:  “ How shall I put it...  ah,  ‘ woman with a big sword ‘.   Yes. “

Something they find frightening about your muse:  " She’s a Grey Warden.   She stopped a Blight and killed an Archdemon.   She has seen things,  done things...  I don’t know if they make her frightening,  but they surely changed her.   And if they didn’t,  that’s more terrifying than anything. “

Something they find adorable about your muse:  “ I’m sure there’s something,  but I can’t say I’ve seen something adorable about her yet.   Awe-inspiring?   That would be easier. “

Would my muse sacrifice themselves for yours?:  " I mean,  she’s a hero and all,  but it’s a bit early for dramatics.   I’d offer to take the last slice of pie. “

Would my muse go on a date with yours?  platonic/romantic:  “ I doubt she’d be interested,  but yes. “

One word my muse would use to describe yours:  “ Woman with a...  just kidding,  that’s too many.   Hellathen;  a noble struggle,  something you fight for the good of the world and not personal gain. “

Would my muse slap yours if they could?:  “ wouldn’t dream of it. “

Would my muse hug/kiss yours?:   “ Gladly! “

[skyheld]

@mercysought said:  ‘ this is just a brief improvisation in the dance. ’ from loane to dalish

the mountain goats starters  |  accepting!

“ Oh,  that’s what this is. “   Sura laughs into the collar of Loane’s coat,  hands pulling her closer,  down on top of her as she lays on her back on the floor of the tent   She thought they’d stopped their playful dancing in their tent,  to music coming from somewhere else in the camp,  but she sees now she was mistaken.

“ This,  too,  is an improvisation “,  she says,  hooking a leg around Loane’s waist and carefully flipping them over so that she’s on top,  looking down.   Hair falls over her shoulder and,  as she leans in to kiss the dwarven woman’s lips,  it brushes over Loane’s face.   So,  too,  do her hands.   “ Though it doesn’t have to be that brief,  if you don’t want it to. “

[skyheld]

@mercysought​ said: “ forget about me … just go. ”  from loane to dalish (:

resident evil starters  |  accepting!

No heartbreak.

No grief,  no regret,  no trying to cling to what was never supposed to last,  no heartbreak.   How foolish of them to think it could be that way just because they said so.   As if a heart has ever listened to the reasoning of a mind,  even once.   As if theirs had been made to feel anything less than everything.

“ I can’t.   Loane,  I’m sorry.   I can’t go. “  

Is she being selfish?   How is her pain anything compared to Loane’s,  how can she go against the Warden’s express wish just because she wants to take farewell of her friend?

“ You don’t have to talk.   Not about that,  not about anything.   You don’t have to look at me.   But I’ll stay. “

[skyheld]

@mercysought said: “   i  say  the  stupidest  things .   ” from loane to dalish!

“ It’s not stupid.   It’s true. “   Under the covers pulled haphazardly over them,  Sura wraps her arms around the Warden,  pressing her chest tight to Loane’s muscular back and nestling her face into the hollow between her shoulderblades.   She tries to steady her breathing and her hands,  not to quiver,  not to quake.   If Loane’s weak,  then she’ll be strong.   She’s got nothing else to offer.

“ I know what it means to be a Grey Warden “,  she says into the nape of Loane’s neck.   She speaks softly;  she doesn’t mean to be cruel,  only to be true.   She couldn’t give more than false hopes,  and she doesn’t think that’s what Loane wants.   “ I knew that from the beginning,  and I still chose your company.   And I still choose that.   I’ll be with you,  as much as I possibly can,  until it’s over. “

Until your Calling comes.   She doesn’t know,  specifically,  what the Calling is,  except it’s death.   The rest is a Warden secret,  and that’s fine with Sura.   She and Loane doesn’t share everything between them;  that’s not their relationship.   What they share,  truly,  are these in-between moments of luck and happenstance,  when duty carries them into the vicinity of one another.   Brief moments which they usually fill with laughter and lightness,  savouring them because they’ll be over soon,  not regretting what they aren’t because they never would have been anything else.   This is what they have  ---  the taverns,  towns and camps where their paths meet,  those short times they walk parallel to each other.   They have nothing more,  and it was never supposed to be anything more.

There is no regret.   But sometimes there’s softness such as this,  a quiet promise of a bond that even the vastness of the whole world can’t tear.

“ If you need me “,  she says,  tracing a scar across Loane’s arm.   “ If you need me when it’s time,  send for me.   And I’ll come.   Wherever I am,  wherever you are.   I promise. “   Her fingers come to rest,  light and warm.   “ I love you. “

[skyheld]

SENTENCE STARTERS | FINAL FANTASY XII  |  accepting   |  @ourdawncomes

” AH  ---  it’s not that I don’t think you are! “

Sura raises her hands with the palms outwards,  as if to apologize for what she didn’t mean to insinuate.   She knows what it’s like to be mistaken for someone weak,  someone that has to be protected.   And though she doesn’t know Merrill,  if she says she’s tougher than she looks,  Sura will believe her.

But it’s not that.   This is Kirkwall,  and if there’s one thing Sura has learned about the city in the short time she’s been there,  it’s that tough doesn’t cut it.   Kirkwall beats the crap out of tough and leaves it crying and snivelling in the dust.   To make it here you have to be like Fisher  ---  relentless,  unstoppable,  and most of all so dangerous that other dangerous people leave you alone.   That’s not Sura,  nor does she think it’s Merrill.

“ I just, “  she says,  her tongue stumbling to spill an explanation out as quickly as possible,  “ I just thought---  I don’t like walking these streets alone at night,  and I’m a mercenary.   Even if you  ---  if you’ve done that before and it’s been fine,  it’s still---  I mean,  it’s less of a risk,  right?   If we’re two.   You don’t have to walk home alone,  is what I’m saying. “

[skyheld]

@lathal​ liked for a starter  |  accepting!

Approaching the Inquisitor feels easier now that they have been introduced,  and the edge of her inquisitor-ness has been taken of.   Bull is good at that;  at making people comfortable,  not just around him but around each other,  too,  just by being around.   When he wants to,  of course.   When he doesn’t,  he’s just as good at making people feel extremely uncomfortable.

“ I hope we didn’t scare you last night.   The Chargers can be a lot when you meet them the first time,  but we don’t mean it.   Well,  Skinner might. “   She gives a sly,  relaxed grin and holds out her hand.   “ Anyway,  didn’t want to bother back there,  but you can call me Sura if you like. I don’t have a secret identity like some of the others.   Bull just thinks it’s boring to call people by their real names. “

[skyheld]

the last unicorn  |  accepting  |  @mercysought

" I do too. “   Bolder than usual  ---  despite herself,  and her words  ---  Dalish takes a step forward,  letting her feet touch the brown and barren ground.   Grey pine needles snap under her,  brittle as bones.   The trees creak with dryness,  naked and stark against the sky.

She doesn’t need to ask what happened here.   She may not be a Warden,  but she has heard of what happens to the land when the Blight passes through.   Every Dalish elf who has been to Ferelden in the last ten years can tell of it.   Places they once used to camp in,  that they liked to visit  ---  all gone.   Blighted,  barren.   If there had been soot and ashes,  it would have looked like a forest-fire had struck recently.   But the forest hasn’t burned,  just died.

Life returns to a burned forest in little time.   In days,  the first saplings sprout;  in weeks,  a light-green haze of tender leaves and stems,  like early spring,  cover fallen trees and blackened ground.   There are flowers that grow only in those ashes.

But life is not returning to this forest,  though ten years has passed since the Blight.   It won’t for another ten,  another twenty.   Perhaps more than that.   Loane might know.

“ But it is just a forest.   It won’t hurt us.   As long as we don’t eat anything from it,  I suppose but  ---  I mean,  I can’t see anything to eat,  and  ---  you’re a Warden,  so you’d probably be fine. “   She lifts her shoulders.   Forests,  Blighted or not,  give her less anxiety than cities or caves or roads or fields.   She’s on guard;  but not afraid.   “ Or do you want to walk around it?   The area may not be that big. “

[skyheld]

Dalish: 28. (A memory that strains a relationship)

memories  |  not accepting  |  @theshirallen

Sura stops in her tracks;  plants her feet on the path with all the tense-limbed stillness of a startled deer.   “ You want me to leave?   Now? ”

“Not today, ”  Levinia says,  with a smile as though it should be obvious.   “ You’ll want time to prepare and say goodbye to everyone,  I know that.   I was thinking a little later this week,  or at the start of the next if you prefer. ”

Panic rises in Sura.   The Keeper has mentioned this before.   She wants to send Sura away from the clan.   On her own.   But it has always been in the future,  in a few years,  when she’s ready  —  and she has always sort of hoped,  sort of believed,  it will never come.   She can’t go.   She’s not ready,  not in a million years.   A week is nothing.  

“ A-Athanael, “  she stammers,  saying the first thing that comes to mind,  “ Athanael could do it,  I’m sure he’d want to— “

“ Athanael is my Second, “  Levinia says,  “ not my First.   We have talked about this,  Sura.   You knew this day would come.   I know you don’t think you’re ready— “

“ I’m not.   I’m not,  Keeper,  I’m really—”

“ But you are, “  Levinia says,  and her smile is gentle but terrifying,  because there’s no uncertainity in it.   No persuasion.   Just comfort,  for a decision that’s already been made.   “ I know this,  and I think deep down you do,  too.   Sometimes,  for fear to not hold us back,  we have to force ourselves to do the very things we’re afraid of,  the very things we think we cannot do.   Before baby birds throw themselves out of their nest the first time,  do you think they know how to fly? “

They’re birds;  they’re meant to fly.   I’m Dalish and belong with my clan.   “ I-it doesn’t have to be now,  though,  right?   I—  I could leave in a year or—  or a- a few years—  or I could just,  I could— “   I could just never leave,  she wants to say,  tears stinging the back of her eyes.

“ Sura. ”    Levinia puts one hand on each of her shoulders,  her grip firm.   “ You underestimate yourself.   You always have.   Think about it  —  you know how to navigate.   How to set up a safe camp.   How to hunt and gather food.   Don’t you? ”

“ Yes,  but that… ”

“ And you can defend yourself, ”  the Keeper continues,  ignoring her.   “ You’ve become a very strong mage these last few years,  and a good archer too I’ve noticed.   You have every skill required to survive on your own.    Don’t you? ”

“ No I don’t!   What if I meet humans?   If I meet templars?   What if get lost,  what if I’m injured and I can’t treat it,  what if— ”

“ Calm down,  da’len,  and listen.   You don’t even have to be on your own for long unless you want to.   There will be many clans more than happy to welcome you,  and I promise you,  you’ll find yourself right at home with them in no time.   Being a travelling Keeper isn’t always easy,  I won’t lie about that,  but you have everything you need to make it. ”   She looses one hand from Sura’s shoulder and places it above her heart instead.   “ Right here. “

So many times she has comforted Sura with words just like these.   Sometimes it has seemed like she’s seen right through her,  seen just the thing she’s afaid of  —  even when Sura doesn’t see it herself  —  and with just a smile and a gesture,  she has made it less daunting.   So many times she has coaxed her,  gently but firmly,  into doing something she didn’t think she could do  —  and she has done it.

But this isn’t like that.   Sura isn’t afraid.   She’s not insecure.   It’s bigger than that.   If the fears Levinia has helped her overcome were puddles to swim across,  then this is the ocean,  bottomless and dark.   Every step is insurmountable.   Is impossible.  And every word the Keeper speaks hardens the knot of anxiety in Sura’s chest,  pulls it tighter and tighter.

She shakes her head.   “ I can’t.   I’m sorry,  but I can’t.   I don’t know what made you think I—  I would be strong enough but I—  I’m not.   I’m sorry.   I don’t want to— “

“ You don’t want to, “  Levinia cuts her off,  and suddenly her gaze is hard,  her voice snaps like sails in the wind.   “ But to be a Keeper means being able to do things you do not want to do.   Things you are afraid to do.   That is part of all our responsibility,  including yours.   Sura,  your fear now is all the proof you should need that you must learn to be independent. “   She catches Sura’s eyes,  makes her unable to look away.   “ A Keeper cannot be scared by the prospect of being on their own.   A Keeper cannot be held back by fear of the unknown.   This is nothing you can avoid.   For your clan’s sake  —  our clan’s sake  —  you must go.   And if you do not do it now,  you never will. ”

“ S-so I have to? “   Sura squirms under her gaze,  trembling,  unravelling,  tears running unhindered down her cheeks.   “ You’re not—  you’re not giving me a choice? “

Levinia sighs.   “ There is…  always a choice,  da’len. “

Step down as her apprentice.   Let Athanael be First,  take up hunting or healing or halla-keeping instead.   And be known as the woman who could not be Keeper for the rest of her life.

A feeling creeps over her,  that this isn’t really happening,  not to her  —  that she’s watching it happen to someone else,  and she’s powerless to do anything about it.   What is she supposed to say?   How can she explain to Levinia that no logic or reasoning in the world is going to make it possible,  that nothing has ever gripped her thoughts with such terror as this,  that her mind has never reeled so violently at anything before?   How can she convince her of anything,  when her arguments only make Levinia more certain in her decision?   When the very fact that Sura is screaming DON’T MAKE ME LEAVE means she should leave in the Keeper’s mind?

What right does she have to decide it like this?   Suddenly anger breaks through her shock.   Sura is twenty-two years old,  she’s earned her vallaslin.   She has lived almost her entire life with this worry and fear that she inherited from her grandmother,  that runs in her blood,  and she has not allowed it to hold her back.   She has mastered powerful,  dangerous magic.   She has learnt to hunt,  to swim,  to climb trees,  to steer an aravel.   She has helped the hunters take down a bear.   She has ventured into an elven ruin with the Keeper and Athanael.   Yes,  she has often been afraid,  more so than most people  —  she has done those things despite it.   And she has learnt to listen to herself,  to her anxious,  overbearing mind.   She knows how to tell the real dangers from the imagined once;  what she can do from what she can’t.   She can make decisions for herself.   She has a right to.

There is always a choice.

“ I’ll go,  then, “  Sura says  —  or she hears herself say it,  though the words don’t seem to be her own.   In a daze she speaks,  her heart pounding with fear and with…  something else,  something deeper and braver,  something hard as ironbark and cold as a Wintersend night,  something that burrows into her spine like a spear and straightens it out.   “ I’ll go, “  she says,  “ but by the Dread Wolf I do it by my choice,  not yours.   I’m leaving the clan— “

“ Sura— “

“ — and I’m not coming back. “

[skyheld]

If you don't think that Loane kisses the HECK out of dalish............. I don't know what to tell you. Heck, she'll drag a whole chair just for ease for both of them

IT’S PAST MIDNIGHT BUT MORE KISSES  |  @mercysought

A whole chair!   And here Dalish was prepared to simply bend down a little  ---  it’s not that far after all,  and it’s for a good purpose.   But if Loane wants to be on eye level with her,  she won’t complain;  no,  she’ll put that fact to good use,  explore and let herself be explored without any awkwardness.   Loane leaves a flurry of kisses on her lips and cheeks,  on the tips of her ears...  Dalish keeps up with her,  not to be bested.

[skyheld]

@shysweet-hellhound liked for a starter | for miryem!

“ So what’s with everything they say about you? “  Dalish asks,  stepping carefully across rain-slicked stones to catch up with the Herald.   Creators,  she can’t wait to leave the Storm Coast behind,  even if a village up in the Frostbacks doesn’t sound that much more comfortable,  and she’s not all that certain about the Inquisition as a whole.   Templars and Chantry people---  but better than these damned Tevinters for sure.   “ The being carried out of a rift by whatshername Holy Andrea thing?   Is it true? “

[skyheld]

@mindsmade liked for a starter  ( not accepting )

“ So,  Krem,  you’ve been to the Inquisition. “  

She says it like she just thought about it,  but because it’s Dalish,  she’s been thinking about it a long while  ---  considering maybe not asking and then considering how and then if now is the right time or if she should ask later...  until finally deciding it doesn’t matter,  because Krem is a friend.  

“ Did they...  were there a lot of people?   I imagine there was, “  her voice quakes a bit,  nervousity fluttering like a bird trapped at the back of her throat.   If there are templars,  Skinner said,  and one of them so much as looks at you  ( even if you’re not a mage  )  I’ll cut them.   Which is sweet of her,  but a bit worrisome too,  because she absolutely would and Dalish doesn’t think that would be a good thing.   “ Of course it’s not a problem if there are, “  she says.   “ I’m just wondering. “

[skyheld]

@ghilannainguideme continued from x

…You’re Dalish? Obviously. And obviously I’m Dalish. What… Lyna wonders somewhat feebly if she hit her head when she fell before her unlikely savior’s greeting begins making sense.

“Aneth ara,” she finally manages from the ground. “Lyna Mahariel.”

Lyna grabs onto the taller woman’s hand–broad and warm, and softer than she’d expect of a fellow warrior–and pulls herself to her feet. She mentally checks herself and finds no serious injuries; a bruise forming here, a scrape there, all safe to ignore. Sura, likewise, looks in good shape, a purplish rosette blooming on her cheekbone but no other wounds to note.

“What brings you out here?”

“ Lyna Mahariel? “   Lyna Mahariel!   Not just a Grey Warden but the Warden  ---  the one the travelling Keepers have been talking about and the hahrens have added to the stories they tell of the heroes of the People;  elves such as Ameridan and Telana and Lindiranae.   But it’s not only the dalish;  even after she left her clan she has heard about Mahariel,  the Hero of Ferelden.   Dalish stutters and stammers and then says  ---  falling back,  as she usually does,  on unecessary politeness:  “ I-I’m honoured to meet you,  serah!   I’ve heard about you  ---  of course I have,  everyone has,  you’re---  you stopped the Blight  ---  but I never thought I’d meet you your---   my lady. “

My lady is probably not the right form of adress at all but frankly,  Dalish doesn’t care and never has.   She,  too,  looks over both herself and the warden and is glad that none of them are seriously harmed.   “ I was just scouting the way ahead.   The rest of my company is camped some ways back.   You’re lucky I was here! “

[skyheld]

🥚 Solas [ for Gatt and/or Dalish? ]

send a symbol for my oc’s thoughts on a character  |  @ofxelvhen

🥚 Solas

“ …he’d probably have a heart attack if he knew,  but for someone who hates nobles so much,  Solas sure acts a lot like one.

I don’t mean nobles like chevaliers or anyone who plays the game or evil blood-mage Magisters obviously  —  but there are nobles who aren’t all schemes and honour and fancy clothes  —  those who went to university and got all puffed up about how educated and intellectual they are and now they think they know better than anyone on anything and everyone who isn’t scholarly like them is beneath them and dying to learn from them because how could someone not want your superior opinion  —  and that’s the kind of noble Solas reminds me of.   It’s not his fault you feel stupid when he talks to you,  he’s just too intelligent for it to not show.   And of course you want his opinion on everything and if it makes you feel bad you should be grateful because he’s just being honest and helping you see something you’d never figure out on your own.

He’s not always like that,  just  —  sometimes.   A lot of times. “

“ Funny,  I think I heard of him before I came to Haven.   Some hunters we met when out mercenary-ing in the Dales talked about someone who’d stayed with their clan for a while,  I wouldn’t even have remembered it if their description wasn’t so funny  —  bald mage without vallaslin who looks like he found his clothes on an Alienage trash heap?   I mean  —  that’s got to be him,  though.   They said he just stayed with them for a week or so,  needed some supplies and to wait out some bad weather,  and first he seemed nice and all but then he started preaching about how they were all wrong about the Creators.   Well,  those hunters said preaching  —  they assumed he was from the Chantry or some other cult and was just trying to spread his beliefs,  so they kicked him out.   Now that I’ve met him I know it probably wasn’t that but—  I can’t blame them either.   You hear enough of people telling you you’re wrong when you’re dalish if you ever speak to someone who’s not. “

[skyheld]

@skysaved  |  sc  (  not accepting  )

It seems they’re the only ones not afraid of a bit of rain.

Night hasn’t fallen yet,  grey light still lingering behind the cover of clouds,  but the camp is already quiet.   Save for the guards patrolling the perimeter,  sullen shapes and dull glints of armour in the fog,  everyone has retreated into the tents,  taking noise and conversation with them.   It has rained all day,  and there’s no way to escape it except by sleeping.   But under the maple at the northern end of camp,  it’s only dripping.   The tree is old and thriving,  the canopy thick;  a cloak spread over a log,  and there’s a place to sit both dry and warm.   And the fire is built the dalish way,  burning steadily with barely any smoke.

“ So it’s---  it’s nice with some quiet for once “,  Dalish says,  leaning forward with her elbows on her knees to catch the warmth from the fire.   “ Don’t get much of that with the others around,  you know?   Never a calm moment with them.   I don’t mind that though,  just---  I’ve been meaning to talk to you.  Nothing,  uh,  nothing serious--- ”   She smiles,  catching the glint of the Inquisitor’s eyes in the dusk.   “ It’s just,  we’re dalish and---  I haven’t met a lot of dalish elves since I left my clan.   And I guess you haven’t either.   So I...   how do you feel,  being away from them? “

[skyheld]

@hiraecies  |  for marigold!!  |  sc  (  not accepting  )

“ Creators,  you’re good! “

The skirmish is barely over,  the last Red Templar falling with a whimper and a rattle of mail behind her when Dalish turns,  flushed with battle and excitement and with a grin stretching across blood-smeared cheeks.   Magic crackles along the veins in the wood of her bow---staff,  the crystal at its tip glowing a brilliant gold.   Until she lets go of her connection to the Fade,  and the crystal goes dull,  the bow becoming just a bow;  beautifully carved and made from the wood of the dahl’amythal,  but no more a staff than it is a sword.   But she feels no need to hide here,  not now.   The Inquisition’s templars aren’t around,  and the Inquisitor herself is a mage.   Like her.

“ I’ve never seen you fight before “,  she says,  breathless and grinning at the lady Trevelyan.   “ No one told me you could cast spells like that! “

[skyheld]

“i’d thank the gods, but i’ll settle for thanking you.“ forrrr Dalish!

THE ELDER SCROLLS SKYRIM STARTERS  |  @ghilannainguideme

“ Or you could thank both?   I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.   I don’t.   I mean,  you don’t have to thank me at all but.   Already have,  haven’t you?   Andaran atish’an! “   The last is said almost like an afterthought;  like she just remembered there’s an elven greeting and they are elves.   But then,  she doesn’t have reason to speak elven very often these days,  and they’ve just come out of a battle  —  skirmish,  really,  but an unexpected one  —  and though she knows well some Grey Wardens are dalish elves,  it’s not what she’s come to expect of them.  

She holds out a hand to help the Warden to her feet.   “ I’m Dalish,  you?   Wait,  I mean—  Sura.   My name is Sura.   Dalish is my nickname.   And I am dalish,  but you probably noticed. “