[OPEN]

[smirkwood]

Who| Thranduil & OPEN
What| Of Elvenkings and elevators
Where| Training Center; Central Commons
When| January 3rd
Warnings/Notes| None at the moment.

After the initial outrage had died down some, Thranduil took to investigating the area in a quiet and casual manner. Supposedly, this is where he was to reside. Unfortunately, though he was given directions to his more private living space, he had yet to understand how to use the small room with the many buttons and moving doors... rather than admit to anyone that he was at a loss, The king takes to inspecting the room and its contents.

Though the furnishings seemed comfortable enough in appearance, they were also... very strange. He inspects a curtain with mild interest, running his fingers lightly over the fabric to feel the smoothness of it. It was not of Elven make, but well crafted none the less. The brightness of the color, though, rubbed him the wrong way, so he moves from it and finds a tall backed chair to sit in. He crosses one leg over the other at the knee and hangs his arms casually over the armrests.

Here there was a clear line of sight to the small room with the numbers, so he might be able to discern it's use if he observed the people going in and out of it long enough.

Comments

XD

[smirkwood]

The 'Don't want to offend' part is enough to keep his anger in check. It was offensive to be mistaken for anything other than an Elf, particularly for someone who's title was 'the Elvenking.' Still, a touch of annoyance comes through in his voice.

"I am indeed an Elf, and also a king."

He narrows his eyes a little and looks down his nose at her, wondering if she was perhaps touched in the head if she couldn't recognize an Elf. She obviously knew what an Elf was to even ask the question. And... did appear to be one herself. Probably. In most ways she was alike to a Silvan. ...Wait.

Thranduil glides out of his seat and draws himself up to his full height to study her. He did not know her, which was unusual, but surely she should know him if she were from his forest?

"One would think a Wood-elf would know their king."

[darmisu]

The annoyance in his voice makes her calmer. The person who cares less is always the one with more power, relatively speaking, and he seems easy to offend. Still, her calm demeanor fades just slightly when he stands; she's never seen an elf that tall. Elgar'nan, it's rare to see a human that tall.

It stumps her for a moment, but she's relatively quick-witted, enough to stop her gaping before it becomes awkward. As is, it's just obvious. "When I see a wood-elf, then, I'll tell 'em." There is, perhaps, a bit of offense there; 'wood-elf' sounds more like a slight than taxonomy. Maybe it's how it has the same rhythm as 'knife-ear'.

"I'm Dalish." She taps the tattoos on her cheekbone. Sacred to Mythal, her. "Clan Lavellan. We don't got kings, just Keepers. Kings are a human thing." She says it with the slightest roll of her eyes. Kings and princes and dukes and princesses, it's such an overcomplicated waste of time.

[smirkwood]

Not one of the Silvan then. Truthfully that puts him a little more at ease - as large as his kingdom was, he had time time to know most of them at least in passing - by sight if not by name - and all new children brought into the world received his blessing as infants... Though, less and less often was the sound of children's laughter heard in his halls as of late. In fact, Tauriel might have been the last...

"I am glad to know that you are not, for the Elves I rule would never talk to me in such a fashion, or suggest that my title is a waste of time."

His voice now is slightly raised. She obviously knew nothing of the Woodland Realm and what he did to keep it protected and whole.

[darmisu]

She tilts her head, in deference to him. It's not a bow (We are the Dalish; never again will we submit) but it is an acknowledgement. "Fair point. I don't know how elvhen kings do it; maybe they're better with it than humans. Couldn't be worse."

She sits more properly, back straight. Her preferred method of interacting with others, a kind of jocular informality, obviously has no effect on him, so she discards it. She's deeply curious about him-- she's never met an elf like him, she needs to know how he works-- which means she needs him to answer her questions.

She's sat in on war meetings, made judgements, held the pride of a nation in her hand-- it's not the sort of thing she likes to dwell on, but it means she can hang on formality when she needs to. She remembers what it was like in the court of Orlais, all masks and pretty words. She can do that again.

"If you've the time to answer, I'm curious as to how the elves live, in your... kingdom." Still, it's an odd word to apply to an elf. They haven't had even had land since the Dales fell, and that was hundreds of years ago. The alienages, existing only on sufferance of the human nobles who own the land, hardly count.

[smirkwood]

The slight incline of the head satisfies him enough for the time being in terms of her own show of respect, and his voice softens again though it is no less cool to her.

"My long years may allow me more wisdom and experience than the kings of Men, but kings they are, and also worthy of respect."

At her question, he chooses to sit once more - he was allowed to be casual, even if she wasn't. It's a long moment before he replies, considering if he wanted to answer her or not. The recent battle had taken it's toll on them, but their wounds had begun to mend, at least.

"Those of Woodland Realm are well cared for. There is enough to eat and drink, and a measure of safety within my halls."

In his halls, yes, but not the wood itself. There was the issue of the sick and blackened forest that rotted around them, and the spiders that encroached their lands... but he would not admit to his failings, not here, or to her.

[darmisu]

"After they burnt the Dales, the Dalish're a bit twitchy about bending the knee to humans." It's a bit of history everyone knows, and she says it without much feeling in her voice. It's information, freely given, but it's not about her. If anything, it makes her sound like more of a Proud Dalish Warrior than she's had any interest in being since she was twelve. But that's another matter entirely... what he says is interesting, though.

"The Woodland Realm?" She steeples her hands together in front of her face, crossing one leg over the other. It's the way she sits in Skyhold when she passes out judgements, the posture of casual power. "What of the, ah..." she smiles, "the Urban Realm? The ones who live in cities?"

[smirkwood]

That piece of information has him a bit curious, but at the same time I didn't concern him or his people - she was from another place entirely, someplace not of Middle-earth or even Arda, by the sounds of it. Her mentioning of some 'Urban Realm' confuses him just enough to give her a questioning glance.

"There is no 'Urban Realm' to speak of in Middle-earth, though if you mean to speak of Elven cities there are none... that time has long since passed."

There might have been a touch of something behind his eyes just then, but it's quickly replaced by his usual indifferent look.

[darmisu]

"Really? You got them all out of the cities? Good for you." See, it's not that she thinks the Dalish are better than the elves that live crammed into cities, just that they're better off. She envied their freedom, once, but that was before she saw what alienages looked like.

A king who actually managed to fix that... she could see bowing to him. But he's not her king, so it's... it's like Solas would say. The distinction is academic. More importantly, "do you have a name, or would you prefer to go by Your Highness?" It's maybe got an edge of that mocking from before, but she'll call him whatever he says.

[smirkwood]

"Of course not." Thranduil's voice is particularly sharp as he remembers the days of old when Doriath fell and Menegroth was in ruins. If all the Sindar had managed to escape... well, then it would be an entirely different world.

For a moment he looks like he's about to say something else... but he doesn't. Dwelling on the past would serve no purpose, nor did he think she needed to know.

Thranduil straightens up in his seat before he speaks again in a more even tone. "You may address me as either 'King Thranduil' or 'my lord.'" A pause. "And what is your name?"

[darmisu]

She dips her head again, "my lord." She's pleased to be spared of 'your highness', it just seems wrong coming out of an elf's mouth to another elf.

"Inquisitor Lavellan." It's how she prefers to be addressed these days, since it's how just about everyone addresses her. "Whatever title suits you best." Allowing people to chose often tells her much about them. She shifts a bit in her seat, still studying him. "D'you know if anyone else's here, from your... court?" She'd like to verify his story.

[smirkwood]

Her question gives him pause. Since his arrival he hadn't seen anyone he knew, and he wasn't sure what to make of that. Was this all even real, or was it the effect of some poison causing him to see and hear things that weren't there?

"Nothing here is familiar to me."

Not the people, not the furnishings, not the technology... nothing. Just for a moment uncertainty flickers onto this features.

[darmisu]

"Me neither, not really." She leans forward a bit, trying to decide the next best move. Power is good, always, but she doubts she can have it over a self-styled king. But the Inquisition traded on alliances, it was the source of its power. She'll have to start again.

"Except other elves. We ought to look out for each other; no one else is going to look out for us if we don't."

[smirkwood]

Thranduil doesn't speak immediately. There's a barely noticeable furrowing of his brows as he judges her intent. The king wasn't a fool, and such a direct suggestion made him wary. After all, from what he understood they each were meant to fight to the death in the arena. Still, she was an Elf - that much was true.

After another moment he gives just a small incline of the head in agreement. He didn't trust her fully, but he would not be counted a kinslayer himself either.