"I found him..." She mumbled to Aslog, her spirit caregiver who stood beside her, bound to a red lion, she stood tall, and quite fierce. "I don't think you should continue to pester this dwarf... he will get smart one day...' Aslog said, but Calista waved it off. "Nah... He still hasn't learned. Look, chests haven't been locked and he's down for a nap..." She said, moving to get onto the snow-covered road. Her footsteps were light, but regardless, they still made a heavy crunch with each step. The dwarf drank so badly she was sure he could piss and have himself another free pint of ale. But his drinking habits only made it easier for Calista to move over to the locked chest, crouching not 3 feet away from the snoozing dwarf as she opened the chest slowly, looking inside to see quite a few beautiful gems. No doubt they were worth a few good coins, at least. And Calista was in need of a new cloak. She looked at them for a few moments before picking the one she found more pleasing, and it happened to be a rather large, perfectly polished Emerald with flecks of lyrium inside giving it a light blue glow. She closed the chest and heard the dwarf stir beside her, grumbling to himself as his eyes fluttered open and landed on her. Calista grinned and tucked the stone into her pouch and stood. She stood for a moment looking at him, as he seemed to stare at her, still sleep dazed, before he realized who she was.
"Not again... You sodding mountain...." He growled as he struggled to get up, gripping his axe he shook it at her. Calista laughed, slowly backing away. "Nice to see you again as well, Aghrim... I'd love to stay and exchange insults, but... Places to go, you know." She said, before the dwarf came at her with his axe, and Calista took off running, skidding down a small bit of the mountain side with the short dwarf coming right behind her. He, however, fancied rolling instead of running. But no matter, his short legs were eager to catch the woman who held one of his more valuable gems.
"You nug humping, thieving little bastard you!" He called from behind her as they continued down the steep slopes, Calista laughing while ahead of her, Aslog was consistently shaking her head.
"Come on now, Aghrim, that's no way to talk to a loyal customer! I thought you'd have caught me by now, I'm doing this just for you!" She said, as she crouched down and skidded down another, longer slope that made her dwarven victim stop in his tracks. She looked back at him, grinning as she continued her descent. She leapt down a small, 5 foot drop and gasped as she saw herself barreling towards a rather tall male figure in front of her. She collided with the person, knocking the air from her lungs as they fell onto the mountain ground. She caught her breath,groaning as she heard the dwarf behind her. "Stop her! Stop that thieving little shit!" He said, carefully trying to step down the slope.
Meanwhile, Calista took a deep breath, looking down at the male beneath her and giving him a big grin. "I'm sorry about that big guy..." She said, giving his chest a pat as she got off the poor male. "Unless you're actually going to help him, I'd say you should run as well." She said, biting her bottom lip lightly before looking back to watch the dwarf stumbled again, skidding on his backside down the hill, again barreling towards them.
The male scrambled to his feet in short order, shocked that he was - for once - involved in trouble that wasn't of his own making. Blue eyes gawked at the dwarf shouting angrily and climbing down toward them for a few moments then flipped to the woman who'd quite abruptly landed on him. To say that Jovar was surprised by these sudden events was an incredible understatement. He'd just been reading, he'd swear. Didn't matter now, though, adventure was bound and determined to find him. "Swina bqllr," he told her in the blunt language of his people, tone like he was making an ordinary observation instead of cursing, before pulling the straps of his pack up his bare shoulders. "Good idea," he added before he took off down the slope, long legs and sure feet making the descent every bit as quick as it made the Avvar look more like a awkwardly proportioned mountain goat than an actual human being.
Calista heard him curse and arched an eyebrow at him. She didn't know much of outside people, but she traveled the Fade enough to come across that one. However, she didn't dwell on it long as she also took off, this time going full speed. For one who was significantly shorter than the giant male, her legs and feet were quick and precise, able to navigate the terrain so surely, it was almost as if she were one of the many animals that were native to the Frostbacks. Eventually, she heard the dwarf's words grow fainter and fainter. As much as she loved messing with the short male, she didn't want him to know where she lived. After the voice was nonexistent, she stopped running and left herself fall into the snow and laughed so hard she was near tears. "Ohhh... Worth it every time, I swear..." She breathed before sitting up. She loved the snow, fluffy, white soft. And the cold was nothing but a small bite on the wind to her on most days.
Jovar skidded to a stop after his new companion did, letting out a few panting breaths with a positively roguish grin on his face and one hand resting on his hip. In the other hand was clenched a crumpled piece of paper a raven had dropped off only a few minutes before he'd been knocked off his feet in a very literal sense by this stranger. He let out a chuckle as he eyed the snowbank she'd plopped herself into, and barely gave it a moment's thought before dropping his pack - bow, quiver, furs, food, basic supplies, and bedroll all wrapped up neatly - on the ground and falling into the snow beside her. Was that a wise decision, given he was wearing nothing but his boots and his leggings? No. Did he care in the least? No. "That was certainly something," Jovar commented after a moment, his eyes moving from a falcon circling around the peaks high above them to the woman in the snow beside him. He looked her over with an openly curious expression, but he'd wait to ask. Rude to just demand a person's name, after all.
Calista saw the male's reaction and simply gave a few more chuckles, before removing the hood from her head, revealing the long braid that hung over her shoulder and down to her hip. It was thick, and well-kept. But weaved into the braid was a blue ribbon that had needle-like spikes on it that barely showed when seen at a glance. "Yeah... Aghrim is always something. He tries but we both know that when I actually try to run from him, he couldn't keep up." She said, sighing and leaning back in the snow a bit, looking over at him, she saw the curioisty on his face and she seemed to cock her head to the side slightly. "I feel like you have a question. Seeing as I happened to knock you down, I think I owe you one." She said, smirking slightly as she pulled her trophy out of her pouch to further examine it. It was so beautiful, she wouldn't want to part with the thing. But she needed supplies. The winter had grown more harsh than the previous year, and with more hunters about after the inquisition set up shop, she was finding it hard to get the food she needed.
"One question?" Jovar asked, popping up out of the snow into a seated position with another laugh and an expression of incredulity. "Shit, wait, that was a question. I need a moment." His expression took a turn for the thoughtful, but he couldn't quite wipe the smile off his face. This was the most entertainment he'd had in weeks. Sure, he'd set out months ago specifically to explore on his own, companionless and looking forward to the peace and quiet, but he'd spent enough time alone that he missed people. Regardless. One question. Just had to choose which. "Are you hungry?" was what he finally settled on, looking back to her with a winning smile. Food would earn him some more information, certainly? "I haven't had breakfast yet." He punctuated the statement by pulling his pack over to him, ignoring the cold seeping into his leggings while he dug through it.
Calista heard him ask a question about the one question, and then the question he asked wasn't at all what she expected. She laughed lightly at his reaction, but not necessarily at him. She wasn't used to people, herself. At least, not many that were so... Unusual that she found herself curious. "Not literally one question, but I assumed you'd start with one." She said, a touch of humor in her voice. The offer of food was tempting, and in fact, she was hungry. But, she wasn't entirely sure who this was, and she wasn't always the most trusting. However, she wasn't sure if this was a situation where saying no would be good or bad. "Maybe a little..." She said, and at the mention of breakfast, she gave a small smile. "People and their odd terms for meals. Does everyone time when they eat?" She wondered more to herself than him. She was used to nibbling on bits of salted meats, cheese, and bread when she felt she needed to, but often a few mouthfuls did the trick. She found eating a little between hunting and moving through the mountains kept her light on her feet, and less likely to vomit while adjusting to the different altitudes of the Frostbacks. "I'm not sure if this is proper to inquire but, what is your name?" She asked, tucking the jewel away yet again.
With a soft noise of discontent, Jovar set down the summons he'd received on the ground safely away from the snow - and towards his new companion - and dug into his pack with both hands and renewed vigor. It was a moment before he produced part of a loaf of bread that was liberally sprinkled with nuts and grains, along with a ceramic container that could hold a couple ladlefuls of soup at most, its lid secured with a leather strap.
"Best not to grant me permission to ask questions," he remarked with a snort while he dug around in his pack some more. "We'd be here all day. Hang on, breakfast has a specific time in the day?" He turned back to her with a frown and furrowed brows, but his face relaxed in an instant. "Ah-ha!" With a triumphant expression, he produced two spoons. The ceramic container was filled with a thick stew, as it turned out, an aromatic assortment of meats and bits of vegetables or the odd herb filling the little thing to the brim. He offered it and a spoon to her. "No fire to warm it up, apologies. Still tastes good cold, though. And my name is Jovar. Jovar High-Reach, more specifically, but that addition is a long story. Feel like sharing your name? Or how you came to knock me off my feet?"
Calista scoffed at his remark. "Trust me, if you stay here long enough you'll be bombarded with questions. I don't go out of the mountains much anymore, so I don't know much about the outside world. Never knew much about it anyways. But that is neither here nor there." She said, before she heard his question and almost burst out laughing again, but forced herself to breathe. "Apparently, breakfast is a morning meal. Dinner is afternoon, and supper is evening. I never understood it but... Humans." She said with a shrug.
She saw the food, and a childish part of her wanted to do a happy dance, but she made herself be calm as she looked over it all. She hadn't had much to eat the last few days, she was on her last handful of meat and cheese, having gone through most of the bread at that point. "I could warm it for you." She said, swirling her finger and a little flame slowly started to dance around it before she closed her fist around it and it went out. "But since you say it is better cold... I will try it." She said, before hearing his name. "J... Jovar? High Reach? Is that because you are tall?" She asked, taking his name literally.
"Calista De Leon. And I did that by pure accident. not many are around these parts on the best of days, so I hardly expected to barrel into you. The dwarf, Aghrim... He's a dwarf I regularly steal from. Technically if I really wanted to, I could go into Orzammar, help with the deep roads, and get such things easily, however, there have been far too many darkspawn for me to feel comfortable down there of late." She said honestly, taking a small spoonful of the stew and tasting it a bit, keeping it in her mouth like she was checking for something before swallowing. "It is good... Very odd though. It's, what is it?" She asked, referring to why the stew tasted different from her usual. Then again, she lived off of salted meats most days, her rare stews were made of melted snow, salt, any vegetables she could find in nearby villages and salt. Never much else.
"Worse fates than being bombarded with questions by an attractive person," Jovar responded, taking a piece of the bread and noisily munching on it while he listened to Calista answer his various questions. He hummed his agreement to her "humans" comment and didn't react much to her display of magic. Between the practices of his own people and all the time he'd spent with the mages of the Inquisition, it wasn't even surprising that the one person who ran into him in the whole of the Frostbacks was a mage. Her question about his legend mark and his height got a laughing snort, though, Jovar barely managing to keep his bread in his mouth instead of spitting it over the ground. "No," he answered once he'd stopped laughing and swallowed. "No, I got stuck up on the peak of a mountain when I was a boy. Quite the tale, but the name is High Reach like my reach extending beyond my grasp? The skald was very pleased with her poetry on that one." Darkspawn piqued his interest, but he didn't ask. Probably had something to do with the summons. What was it that Warden fellow had called it? A Blight? One of those would likely serve reasons for a summons, yeah? Hm. "Good to meet you, Calista. And...well, it's just the best bits off the things I hunt, what herbs and veggies I can forage, find, or trade for, and some lowlander spices I snuck off with when I left Skyhold," he answered to her question about his stew. The spices were tucked into the bottom of his pack, wrapped in fur and well covered up. Precious items, they were, it was almost like lowlanders didn't understand their value.
Calista gave a smile at the mention of her being attractive. She'd gotten many descriptions before, Unnerving, ethereal, wild... But attractive was not one she came across often. His indifference to her magic seemed to make her that much more willing to listen, if not answer his questions and she took small bites, seeming not to understand why he laughed so hard. "You got stuck... on a peak?" she asked, not seeming to understand how that could happen. But she knew not many lived as she had so she let that one go. "What is a Skald?" She asked, popping a tiny piece of bread into her mouth.
"I never have most of those things. Grew up in the harshest areas of the Frostbacks, so what I have is what I can hunt and what I can steal. Things I can't get in either of those ways, I have to buy. Which means selling valuable items I have stolen." She said, being completely blunt about her process. But the mention of Skyhold made her pause and visibly tense up. The last time she was in that place... It hadn't been pleasant. Not in the slightest. And she was sure that was one place she wasn't all that welcome. "Skyhold, hm?" She asked, looking around to see Aslog not far off, which gave her a bit of comfort, but not enough to be completely comfortable in the current situation, with someone who'd been inside of Skyhold as a welcome guest.
"Oh! Stuck up on the peak while climbing. I got to the top and couldn't climb back down. Huntmaster had to climb all the way up after me and tie me to his back to get me back off the mountain. I was too cold to keep a proper grip by then," Jovar explained with a soft smile, his tone far more fond than bitter. "Skalds are-" He made a thoughtful noise, making a broad gesture with one large hand. "Storytellers. Bards is what lowlanders call them." He noticed her tense when he mentioned Skyhold, head tilting for the second he spent contemplating how to respond. "Aye, Skyhold. I was an agent for the Inquisition years ago. Been summoned back. Just today, actually. Not ten minutes before you ran into me."
Calista gave a little laugh at the thought. "I wish I could have seen that..." She mumbled, before she heard what a Skald was and she seemed to understand. "Ah... You enjoy this memory?" She asked him, taking one last bite of the oddly flavored, but amazing stew before offering him the spoon back. "I see... I was a... Guest at Skyhold at one point or another. I am not fond of the place, to be entirely honest with you." She said, before her brow furrowed. "They're summoning agents back? Does that mean the darkspawn in the deeproads are really a big issue?" She asked curiously. She wanted to know more, but she wasn't sure if there was much he could, or was allowed to tell her.
The Avvar gave a hum of agreement, another smile on his face as he accepted the spoon. "I do. Huntmaster kept trying to lecture me on thinking ahead, not climbing what I couldn't get down from, that sort of thing. I kept insisting it was impossible to think ahead, impossible to think in any direction because thoughts were in your head anyways. He was done with me by the time we got back to the hold." The smile fell when he turned his mind to the summons and the reasons for it. "Doesn't say why we're being called back," he answered, picking up the paper and offering it to her. "Darkspawn? Some political issue between the dog lowlanders and the mask lowlanders? Can't say. I don't imagine it's for a party, though. We already had one."
Calista laughed, shaking her head at him. "Your Huntmaster was right, you do have to plan your move as you climb. Otherwise you end up a mess on the mountain floors." She said honestly, before taking the paper and looking it over. Calista wondered just how many people that they had summoned, if it was all agents, or anyone they thought would be helpful in whatever chaos was about to be unleashed. "Interesting... Well, seems more your business than mine at this point." She said, before smiling. "It was good to meet you, Jovar. Travel safely and, try not to get stuck on any more peaks. That would be rather unfortunate." She said, giving him a playful smile.
"I'm a better climber now," Jovar defended, a smile still playing at his lips. "I can get down from the peaks I foolishly climb, these days." He returned his items to his pack, checking his arrows and elegantly curved and delicately carved bow, both hanging off the outside, before closing it up. "I doubt it's only my business," he added after a moment, sniffing once and giving a contemplative glance towards the sky. "The Inquisition is a strange bunch, with their Andraste god and their odd practices, but I haven't seen them put their noses in business that didn't need a guiding hand. Last time, it was demons. Stitching the tears in the Lady's skin. Failing meant the world being turned inside out, the realm of my gods emptied into this one. The natural order, disrupted. The world, in chaos. Well, more chaos than usual." His eyes turned back to her, eyebrows raising. "My people are out here, scattered about the mountains. Always moving. Always changing. Lowlander politcs wouldn't affect them in the slightest, and yet I still go to Skyhold. Something is wrong in the world. I can feel it in my gut. And, if my gut is wrong and it's merely humans causing trouble again, I can always return here. Return home." He stood up to punctuate the statement, hissing when he felt exactly how cold his bum was. "I won't force you to return with me, Calista, and I won't force you to stay, but I believe the gods brought us together for a purpose. Doesn't it bear investigation, at least?"
Calista laughed at his defense and shook her head the muscled giant. "Bet I could beat you in a climbing competition, High-Reach." She said, looking over his bow. Such a pretty thing, but she was never all that great at shooting arrows, or using daggers of swords. Too awkward or too heavy for her, nine times out of ten. "I do not believe in any one thing. I was raised by spirits. As such my... Mindset is very different. The idea of the Maker and Andraste is so... Odd." She said, honestly. But she knew that this was not the place to speak of such things. At his small speech about his people and Skyhold and something being wrong, she couldn't deny there was a point. But her safety wasn't ensured either. She did happen to get tortured and kill a few choice templars to escape that place. It made her wonder if they'd take kindly to her going back in. "I do not find that place safe for me. No matter the state of things now, 'hedge mages', as I was once called, are not generally a welcome bunch. But... You seem trustworthy enough. If you stay as my companion in this new place, I will go with you... I do not want to be in any part of the stone cage alone..." She said honestly, getting up as well.
"You were raised by the gods?" Jovar asked, amazed and excited at the same time, but he quickly tamped the reaction down. That was going to take explanation on both of their parts. Later, though. On the way to Skyhold...It was a freeing feeling, wanting to share his culture with someone for once. It was exciting, too, the prospect that she'd perhaps been raised by gods. This was shaping up to be a very interesting adventure. "Nevermind. Later. I'd be glad to accompany you there, Calista. The Templars hate me nearly as much as they're going to hate you, I bet. I'm basically a-" A pause, some vague gesturing while Jovar tried to find the right word. "-an abomination, that's it. So I say bring them on."
Calista raised both eyebrows at him. Spirits were his Gods? She wasn't sure if that was interesting or terrifying, since not all spirits were good. "I am basically an escaped prisoner. I may have killed a few templars on my way out, well deserved, I will have you know." She said, before patting his arm and smiling. "Abomination is a term so loosely used.... Before we go." She waved to Aslog, and the 600 pound Red Lion ran over to them from a distance. "This is Aslog. For all intents and purposes I consider her my mother. She was just recently bound to this creature. Could she come with us?" She asked, a hand absently going to Aslog's shoulder while the odd glowing blue eyes of the lion looked Jovar over.
"Lowlanders put a lot of significance on the word god," Jovar told her in response to the confused look she gave him, though it wasn't said with nearly as much bite as he usually said it. It was merely a truth instead of a remark made out of anger. "If they captured you, killing them was well deserved, certainly. If you-" He trailed off mid sentence, watching the red lion approach with the wariness of one used to fighting them. Running from them more often than fighting them, actually, massive and clever creatures they were. This was obviously no ordinary red lion, however, that was certain. It was like a hold beast. No, more than a hold beast. Those odd eyes did not belong on any natural creature. "Of course," he said with a dismissive gesture like it was a question with an obvious answer, before turning toward the lion-bound spirit, pressing his arm over his chest and bowing respectfully. "It is an honor," he told the spirit with genuine respect in his tone, lifting his head to make eye contact. "Your kind so rarely take physical form."
"I find the idea of Gods very... Odd." She said honestly. However, his remark to her being captured made her shake her head. "Mm... You don't know the half of it..." She mumbled more to herself than him, before smiling rather happily when he said Aslog could come with them. Aslog gave a small, pleased snort. 'This is a new one....' she spoke, her voice seeming to have an odd echo to it. 'It is... A pleasure to meet you as well. As for my physical form... It was necessary.' Aslog said, giving a small nod of her head before looking to Calista. "Lead the way, Jovar." She said nervously.
"Good thing leading is something I am good at," Jovar joked with a smile, feeling lighter than he had in days. He had food, he had company, he had a destination, and there was a spirit accompanying the pair of them on the journey. Quite the interesting day he'd had, and it was only midmorning. "Skyhold is a few days travel in-" he spun around in place, sharp eyes scouring the peaks for whatever landmark he was seeking. "This direction!" he declared after stopping, gesturing down the slope and towards the valley below. He hefted his pack onto his shoulders before proceeding in that direction, every bit the awkwardly proportioned mountain goat he'd been when fleeing from the dwarf.
Calista laughed, shaking her head at him and having to leap almost to pat his head playfully. "Good, Jovar. You and your... leadership skills." She said, her voice almost flirty as she looked towards the direction she pointed. To hide how nervous she was about going back, she smirked and began running that direction. "Make it a race, High-Reach?!" She called back to him, Aslog running behind her as the two challenged their new companion. At least the journey to Skyhold would be fun.
Jovar paused on stable footing, turning back to look at Calista and her spirit companion. "Done!" he called back with a roguish grin, waiting until she'd drawn roughly even with his position before bounding down the slope once again.
