Fourth Floor Common Room, Tuesday Morning

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra clomped into the common room still wearing her full armor: she had just done her rounds of the island, and then engaged in some sparring at the salle. Soon, she would retreat to her room to take off the armor and perhaps begin taking her daily notes, but for the moment, she felt she had earned a moment to sit.

And so it was that a heavily armored butt hit the sofa. She sighed, took off her helmet, and pulled her ponytail free from where it had been wedged against the lower plates.

She set the helmet down on the table. Then she glanced furtively into the hallway, ensuring no one was there before she produced a thin volume from somewhere between the plates. There were hearts on the cover. And swooning.

Shh. She didn't want Gwen to make fun of her again.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Templars?" Sounded like it, but she couldn't be sure. "And mages. So it is a different world."

[seeks_truth]

"Templars, yes," Cassandra said. Now she wondered if this one had spoken to Anders. "And indeed. I've yet to find any evidence that this world knows Thedas."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

She hadn't, and it probably wouldn't matter much anyway. "I do not know of anything that goes by that name here, so you would be right." And she came from some sort of medieval setting. Wow.

"Has it been difficult to adapt?"

[seeks_truth]

"In some fashion, yes," Cassandra said. "The local culture is... unusual. And I am unfamiliar with many of the devices that are used. It is also strange that there are relatively few dwarves and elves here, and no Qunari. But this is not difficult to adapt to. Merely strange."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Unfamiliar how?" Maybe she could be of help here; Laura knew a good deal of things she failed to apply, or simply didn't care enough to try.

"What are Qunari?" They sounded annoying.

[seeks_truth]

"Unfamiliar as in that my universe does not feature such devices," Cassandra said mildly, "I am adjusting to their presence, but it can be... somewhat complicated."

Mostly because all the noise gave her a headache.

"Qunari are... they are large. Very large. And they have horns."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Human-like?" Large and with horns could be so many things.

[seeks_truth]

"I suppose," Cassandra said. She tilted her head. "Some call them ox-men."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Ox-men, children of the Qun.

No, wrong canon.

"You do not like them very much, I think." Or so her tone told her.

[seeks_truth]

"I have never known one personally," Cassandra said. So her personal feelings were fairly dispassionate, at least on a scale of Cassandra. "But they have a reputation for their violence, and have attempted to invade from the north many times. Sometimes succesfully."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Laura nodded slowly. "Do they have any reason to do so beyond expansionism?" Religious, political, a need for resources...

[seeks_truth]

"I am not an expert," Cassandra warned. "But they have a firm belief that their culture is superior to ours, and all must turn to it eventually. That is what I was told."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Fanatic and fundamentalists." Laura frowned. That wasn't a nice combo. "It must be difficult to reason with them, if reason has any place in their doctrine."

[seeks_truth]

"As I have said, I have not met them," Cassandra said, and though she did not shrug, her tone had a shrug-like quality to it. "We drove them out of our lans years ago. They are Tevinter's problem now, and Tevinter is not part of the Chantry."

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"I see." Laura was going to be smart and not mention how a system ruled from religious belief was all sorts of outdated, because it clearly wasn't for Cassandra here.

There was something else in her mind, anyway. "Do you have a map of your world? Or part of it."

[seeks_truth]

"I brought one when I returned here last summer," Cassandra said. She tilted her head and shot Laura a questioning look. "Why do you ask?"

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"To compare it with a map from my world. Or this world, at least." Even if it was just a section of Cass' world (or all of it, Laura wasn't going to assume) she trusted her analytic skills enough to be able to tell if there were similarities there.