#krisholmes

[exploraexplora]

Inge Druckrey: Teaching to See

[drchiropterajones]

OC profile: Hester

Next up in my OC character profiles - Hester! Questions, comments all welcome. You can find writing about Hester by looking in my tag for her fanfic, Liminal Loyalties. 

Art by @allenvooreef!

Name: Hester Langley

Age: 33

Race: Elf

Gender: Female

Orientation: Bisexual

Nationality: Fereldan

Likes: Apple dumplings, running, people who can laugh at themselves

Dislikes: Being condescended to, salt meat and hard tack, wet marshy places

Basic Intro:

Hester is a naturally somewhat hot-tempered and impulsive person who tries her best not to be either of those things. She doesn’t think she’s very good at being the level-headed one, but nobody else seems to want to pick up the slack, so she does her best.

She’s a pretty strong mage, and her training was pretty heavily slanted towards combat magic, mostly due to circumstances outside of her control. She was/is impressive on the battlefield, but sometimes wishes she knew how to do more delicate spell-work instead of the brute power she’s accustomed to using. She is brave, tenacious (some would say stubborn to a fault), and believes very strongly that the world (more particularly the Circles) can and will be improved with sustained effort.

She is nominally Andrastian, but doesn’t have much faith. In her younger years she had only disdain for circle politics and other bureaucracy, but over the last few years she has become much more interested and involved, because she sees it as the only way the Circles will ever improve.

Background:

Hester was born to city elf parents in Ferelden, but her magic manifested at the age of 6 and she was taken by templars to the Circle at Kinloch Hold. She lived there up until the age of 22 or so, which is when the Blight hit Ferelden and the Fereldan Circle was devastated by Uldred’s rebellion and the ensuing demon infestation.

Hester survived the events of Broken Circle, but witnessed many friends and peers either be murdered by abominations or become abominations themselves. At a loss for what else to do, and unable to contemplate returning to the Tower of Kinloch Hold, she volunteered to join the Fereldan army to fight the Blight.

While with the Fereldan army she met Laurent, who was one of the templars sent along with the army to watch the mages. They saved each other’s lives several times as the Blight wore on, and became very good friends.

After the slaying of the Arch-demon, Laurent returned to Circle duty, but Hester was determined to never go back to Kinloch. She stayed with the Fereldan army for several years, cleaning up the remnants of the Darkspawn and doing other work, but eventually the army had no more need of mages. She chose to go to Krisholm Circle in the Free Marches, where she remained until the point our story starts.

[contactbuugeng]

#krisholm36 #veganlifestyle #unicycle #krisholm #kh36 (presso L'angolo/parco 80)

[voonicycle]

32″ inch wheel

Finally I got time to inform you about my newest unicycle - 32 inch geared machine. I always wanted to go far and fast on the uni and my current "muni" was not enough even in the road setup, even if 27.5"x2.8" was really quick already. Of course the ultimate machine for road would be geared 36", but I skipped that out of one main reason - 36" is too big for my uni-wardrobe. That is why I decided to try a new size that emerged last years - 32". I wanted the option to put my Schlumpf geared hub in it, so I skipped the only 32" complete unicycle available - Nimbus Oracle which is offered only with 125mm wide hub, while Schlumpf has more traditional 100mm. 

I ordered the wheel from UDC, just it was custom made with regular 100mm hub. The frame was not an easier part. The only available 32″ frame is Oracle made for 125mm wide hubs. The custom made frames were quite expensive and Mad4One Large frame is on the border of fitting the Nimbus 32″ tire, and I didn’t want to risk that. Then I was left with 36″ frames. I grabbed a cheap QuAx one when I had the opportunity and built the uni around it. I got some old cranks, pedals and the T-bar and I decided to try Nimbus Stadium saddle.

As a result I got nice commute uni. It is quite fast, but still responsive and easy to manouver, especially compared to 36″. It rides more like a 29″ actually, but is a bit faster. Unfortunately it was not fast enough compared to my current geared 27,5″ unicycle. On my 10km commute I managed to average about 16.5km/h on 32″ (most rides were between 16 and 17km/h), while I have 15.5km/h on 27.5 ungeared and 17.5km/h on 27.5 geared on same route and similar conditions. Average was comparable, but I was lacking the feel of speed when you reach about 30km/h on high gear.

That is why I started to think about putting geared hub into the uni. Unfortunately the frame I got had pressed bearing holders which are not compatible with Schlumpf hub, so I needed a new frame. After quick search I decided to go safe way and took the KH36 frame, which is known for Schlumpf compatibility. It also has rim brake mounts, which was a plus for me as I know the pain of disk hub setup on Schlumpf, so I wanted to have rim brake setup possibility at least as a backup.

And yes, this is fast, but still relatively easy to control. I was able to hit 19km/h average once on my commute and average comparable to the previous results  mentioned would be 18.5km/h. I also managed to hit my max of about 35km/h (33km/h average on 200m segment confirmed and I believe I hit 35 shown both by Strava and my Garmin device). But as without gears I was comfortable riding this big wheel without brakes, now I needed something to stop. I went DIY way and mimicked my old Magura to V-brake converters with some furniture connectors. So far after one test ride I can say it brakes. Not very strong, but enough to slow down or help your legs on long descends.

All in all, this uni is a perfect commuter. Fast enough to get bike-like speeds but still quite easy to control in the low gear (and reasonable in high). I haven’t tried much offroad on it yet, but I guess it will be a blast on fireroads or some forest paths.

I have just two problems with this setup. First and the biggest is that I miss my geared hub in my smaller uni. I got so used to the fact that I can ride fast over the town to get to the forest and then ride more technical things on low gear that now it is hard to be always on low when I go muni. And the small average speed difference between the two unis makes no sense in investing in two geared hubs which cost fortune. The second problem I have is the feeling that if I managed to get a road tire in 29+ size, I could get a uni that would have similar speeds, but could be bit lighter actually. So far the biggest I’ve found is 29x2.5″ Maxiss Holy Roller, but I keep searching.

Most probably I’ll keep riding in this setup this season and then I will decide if I should get back to 27.5″, keep 32″ or go 29″. We’ll see.

[intergalacticbicycleservice]

Some recent builds, let's get you your next set going. #handbuiltwheels #wheelbuildwednesday #wheelbuild #hopetech #krisholm #raceface #maxxistires #dtswiss #dtswiss350 http://ift.tt/2pgZgZu

[drchiropterajones]

Reece’s Harrowing

So instead of writing my next chapter, I’ve been procrastinating on fixing up and finishing a little excerpt about Reece’s Harrowing. I was originally planning on including this in the fic proper, and I might still do that if the opportunity arises. But it probably won’t come up, so I’ll post it here. 

(note, this isn’t the whole thing, this is about half of the whole Harrowing). 

Under the cut! 

“Reece! Reece!”

Reece looked up from his book, the wind stirring his hair. He sat in the grass, a notebook in his lap and his back leaning up against a tree. What had he been doing, again? He felt the tantalising feeling of having almost succeeded at something he’d been working hard on.

From his vantage point on the hill he could see the grounds of the Hywell estate, and the winding path that lead up to his position. There was a young woman making her way up that path, the wind whipping her dark hair around her head as she laughed. He watched her approach, puzzled.

“You’re going to be late for dinner again!” the young woman said once she had reached the top of the hill. She planted her fists on her hips. “Honestly, Reece, you promised Mother. Did you lose track of time?”

“Oh! Um, I guess I did,” Reece said, closing his notebook. “Sorry! I’m coming.”

He stood up, dusting the dirt and grass off his – no, not his robes, his breeches and coat. He smoothed his hands over the material of his coat, confused. Did he remember… his mother buying this coat for him?

“Still struggling with the conclusion of chapter… which one was it, again? Fifteen?” Ilse asked sympathetically. Yes, his sister, Ilse. She had grown up to look a lot like their mother. Idly Reece wondered – yes, of course, Marc had as well.

“Oh, yes,” he said absently. “I think I almost have it, though. It just needs to be tightened up in a few places, tied back to chapter ten.” The feeling of being almost finished something important struck him again.

Ilse linked her arm through his and began to lead him down the pathway. “Father says he doesn’t understand how you can focus on anything out here in the wind,” she said. “But, you’re the scholar, not him, so he – ”

Reece stopped dead, clutching the book with tense fingers. “Father?” he said anxiously. “Father called me a scholar? Father knows about….” Reece looked down at the book. His book. The title of it wasn’t in his mind at that point, but of course he knew what it was about; he’d been working on it for months.

Ilse laughed. “Of course, silly! He’s a bit peeved you won’t let him read the draft.”

“Oh, right.” Reece chuckled self-consciously. “I guess I have been working on it pretty much nonstop, for months, so he can’t have missed it. He knows that’s what I’ve been doing.” He hesitated. “… wait, you said he wants to read it?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Ilse re-wrapped her hands around his elbow and drew him down the hill. “He said the first copy is going pride of place in the library, when it’s done.”

Reece stopped. He looked down at the book in his hands. “Why?”

“Because you wrote it!” She laughed. “He’s proud of you, Reece.”

Of course he was proud. Reece was his son, why wouldn’t he be proud? Reece frowned, ignoring the tugging of Ilse on his elbow. He tried to picture his father being pleased and excited to read something Reece had written. He couldn’t.

“I’m proud, too,” Ilse said. “Come on.”

He let Ilse tug him along the path. Something wasn’t right here. What was going on? Something was missing.

“Magic!” he said aloud. He looked around, trying to push the cobwebs from his mind. “I’m not supposed to be here. This isn’t right. Why am I here? Why aren’t I in the Circle?”

“Oh, Reece, not that again,” Ilse sighed. “Don’t worry! That all got sorted out, remember? You’re all better now, and you’re home. Nobody’s going to come and take you back to the Circle.”

He blinked at her. “Better?”

“You remember, don’t you? Mother and Father spoke to the chantry for you, and the First Enchanter took the magic away, so you could come back and live with us.” She smiled up at him. “I’m so glad you chose that. I would have missed you such a lot if you had to stay in the Circle.”

“I… chose,” Reece echoed. And as soon as she’d said it, he remembered. Of course. He’d chosen to have the magic taken away.

And why shouldn’t he have? It wasn’t as though Reece was – had been a strong mage. He couldn’t do – couldn’t have done anything useful with it anyway, it wasn’t as though he could fight or heal or do anything helpful.

- fighting, of course, his father had always wanted him to do something more proper like that - he wouldn’t have wanted him to fight with magic, though. 

So of course Reece had chosen to have it taken away. And now he was his family’s son again, and they didn’t – care – that he had once had it, that he was accursed, that the Fade whispered to him at night – no, it had whispered to him once, it didn’t do it anymore. And wasn’t that so much safer?

“What do I do, Ilse?” he asked, suddenly worried. “What do I – I mean, what do I do all day?”

“What a silly question!” she said, beaming. “You’re our little scholar, Reece! You have the library – ”

“What library?” he asked bluntly. “You mean the two shelves of books Mother has? That hardly qualifies as a library, Ilse!” A library was much bigger – rooms and rooms of books on every subject, like the one that was at the Krisholm Circle - the Circle library that Reece had never spent much time in because why would he, when he had no magic?

“Well, you bought more, of course!” she said.

“And they let me do that?” Reece stepped backwards, shaking his arm to get it free from Ilse’s. Panic filled him. This was wrong. Everything was wrong. “Why would they – how did I possibly learn all of this stuff about – what am I going to do? I’m supposed to have magic - Father must be so angry – he must hate me so much, what do I - ”

Ilse settled a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, it’s okay,” she said soothingly. “Of course Father isn’t angry with you! You don’t have magic. You’re home. Your parents love you, they’re proud of you –”

Reece shook his head, pulled her hand off his shoulder. “No, they’re not!” With those words, he – reached out – and wrenched the world back into alignment.

He dropped to his knees, on the formless spongy grey of the raw Fade. Gasping, he looked up to where Ilse had been standing.

“Oh, dear,” the desire demon said. “You do pick at the seams so, Reece. Anybody would think you didn’t want to be happy.”

[contactbuugeng]

#volare #kh36 #krisholm36 #veganlifestyle #unicycle #krisholm (presso Parco di Monza)

[drago-n]

Tumblr Crushes:

invernei

reichenfall

golpes-secos

dead-leprosy

krisholmes

aworld4us

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=)

[pelandocables]

Feliz cumpleaños que lo pases bien y sea un buen año para ti

Y me llueva plata y cague dinero

Gracias perro :D

[intergalacticbicycleservice]

Bullet proof! #krisholm #hopetech #dtswiss #wheelbuild #wheelbuildwednesday #handbuiltwheels #surlybikes #surlytroll http://ift.tt/2pmASbU

[drchiropterajones]

Lately I have been hit with a wave of Feelings about my Dragon Age OCs, Laurent and Hester. So I am going to blather about them for a while under the cut. 

  They’re two people who probably shouldn’t have been able to befriend each other in the first place. They’re in three different groups who historically despise each other - human and elf, Orlesian and Fereldan, templar and mage. It was largely due to the Blight that they did. But now it’s years later and there’s this huge gulf between them, and they’re both in their own way trying to bridge it, and it’s just not working.

Hester survived the rebellion at Kinloch Hold Circle, and volunteered to go fight the Blight afterwards. As you can imagine, she was kind of a prickly ball of trauma when she first met Laurent. For his part, Laurent was resentful about being sent to a backwater in the middle of a civil war, but told himself that there was still valuable work to be done so he’d better make the best of it.

Supposedly the templars were there to watch the mages, not so much to fight the darkspawn themselves, but in the face of a darkspawn horde it doesn’t really work like that. The templars, mages and regular army fought side by side.

Hester and Laurent didn’t get along at first (because mages vs templars, and also because Laurent had some casual racism he had to unlearn) but they eventually came to trust and respect each other a great deal, after fighting side by side for months and saving each others’ lives a few times. Laurent basically proved himself a decent templar who saw mages as people and wasn’t going to stand for unfair treatment; Hester showed a level of courage and willpower that impressed the hell out of Laurent. 

They stayed with the army throughout the main battles and also the gruelling, unpleasant clean-up work that lasted for a couple of years afterwards. But eventually Laurent got promoted away – an opportunity he grabbed with both hands because back in Orlais he’d grown used to the idea that as a commoner he’d never get far up the ranks. And Laurent was/is ambitious - he’s a good person, so that’s mostly because he thinks he’d be good at it and he wants to fix the various problems he can see.

Hester stayed out of the Circle for as long as she could, but eventually there wasn’t any need/excuse for mages to help with Blight cleanup anymore. She chose to transfer to a Circle in the Free Marches rather than go back to Kinloch.

They wrote to each other occasionally after that but didn’t meet again until they both ended up in Krisholm. The relations between mages and templars have changed over the intervening years, with the Circles becoming harsher, stricter places. Laurent and Hester have changed too - both are calmer and more mature, and Laurent has grown into authority.

Lately, Laurent has come to the uncomfortable realisation that if he were to see a young templar interacting with a mage today in the informal, friendly way he used to interact with Hester, he would probably frown and give that templar a bit of a talk about appropriate boundaries and maintaining dignity. He would definitely consider a templar going out drinking with mages, as he did several times while in Ferelden, inappropriate.  These days he keeps his interactions with mages courteous but distant, even those he works closely with and respects.

And yet he can’t quite bring himself to admit that his friendship with Hester was a bad thing or that he shouldn’t have done it.

Hester, for her part, has done a lot of thinking about the Circles and her place in them over the past few years. Laurent accuses her of having developed an interest in Circle politics as if it was a bad thing, but really it’s just a matter of her maturing and realising that organising as a community to get things done is vitally important, even if it does involve a lot of back-and-forthing and arguing. She still feels there’s a lot of time wasted, but now she grits her teeth and attempts to haul the discussion forward instead of rolling her eyes and ignoring it.

Hester trusts Laurent, and that wasn’t cheaply earned. Back in Ferelden during the Blight, she saw a man who would do the right thing even if it was hard or dangerous or nobody would thank him for it. And she’s convinced he still is that person. It’s just getting harder to hold onto that belief, as the templars become harsher and more antagonistic and he… goes along with it.

[contactbuugeng]

#unicycle #krisholm #kh36 #krisholm36 #veganlifestyle (presso Parco di Monza)

[apologiaalaviolencia]

hola c: ¿que tal tu navidad? ¿como estas? me gusto tu tumblr *--*

Hola :33 piola en familia, y bien, y tú ? jiji gracias ♥ 

[too-dead-2-care]

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[the-bi-bi-girl]

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Oh, hey. You're my 300th follower(: