Her turn to give him a flat look. "Enchanter, if I had any patience for this round about method of conversation, I would have done significantly better in Orlais. Get to the point, please."
"We'd not even gotten to dark insinuations of character." He hasn't even lied. Excuse. "I'd like to install a mural. In the Infirmary proper. I've an artist or two in mind, but think it best they have guidance in subject matter."
Visitors sometimes wander through. Visitors that Riftwatch wants things from. They probably don't need to see throbbing breasts, however artfully shaded.
Of all the things he might have wanted to speak with her about, that had been no where on the list.
"The only art I've ever had experience with is in research texts or Chantries," Sawbones says, frowning slightly, "Don't suppose anybody would appreciate a diagram of the placement of organs." She considers a moment, "Something with flowers, perhaps? People like those."
A diagram of the placement of organs, no, he wouldn't appreciate that sort of attention at all. He stops himself from asking if she cares for flowers -
(Get to the point, yes, how boring.)
"Quite appropriate," He agrees: Flowers, herbs. All that. "I believe a suitably pious meaning could be arranged. Nothing overtly theological, but there are enough to symbolize - oh, duty, faith. The usual virtues."
He shifts back in his seat, as though the matter's decided.
"Of course, you'll need approval from the Seneschal."
"I imagine there must be. You'd have to ask someone who's more informed on the meaning of plants." It's certainly never been her field of study.
And she's back to frowning at him, "I'm not manning this effort for you, unless you truly do want to have the whole place plastered in anatomical diagrams."
"Sister Sara," Evenly. "One may do a thing, and one may be seen to do it."
He almost misses Mhavos, others (Sidony, the Sister) miss the point. What good is it for Isaac to ask? If all he wanted was a painting, he'd pick up a brush.
"Before you dismiss that as some airy frivolity which does not concern the work of the Maker's charitable, or lecture me upon your exile to direst Kirkwall, you might consider those you've been exiled to." A splayed hand. "I don't imagine you've had an easy time of the cloth. But Riftwatch was still a step down, weren't we?"
"You represent some five-dozen lives to the Chantry. Appearances matter, for our sake. I've asked nothing of you but the gesture of support; no one will stop you washing wounds."
There's a pause where she stares at him and then the laughter explodes out of her, so suddenly it nearly startles out a coughing fit and she has to slap a hand over her face to stifle it down to a manageable snort. When she speaks again, the clean Orlesian tones tumble backwards as the broad Dust Town drawl stretches out.
"Stone, salrocka, is that what you think." She runs her hands over her face and lets out a few more snickering chuckles before she looks back up at him. "I'm a Brand from Dust Town, you nugshit, Riftwatch's a fuckin' summer palace. Anyway, I asked to come here to start with." Sawbones finally catches her breath and grins at him, a rare enough sight. "Listen, I don't blame you for thinking a Chantry girl isn't gonna give somebody from the Circles a fair shake, if that's even what you were thinkin'. But truly, Enchanter, just tell me specifically what you're trying to do here and why you need me for it."
Isaac leans back, pushes out a long breath; waits until she's finished.
"You aren't in Dust Town, Sister, that's my point. I don't imagine," He repeats his previous words, exact: "You've had an easy time. That doesn't erase the way that others see you now."
"Brand," A fiddly little gesture to his face. "Or no brand, you wear the robes. You are the closest thing we have to a Chantry sister in good standing. Riftwatch is not in good standing."
"I would like the visiting faithful to think, when they occasionally tour the grounds, that we are not all degenerate heathens who need be hanged as soon as the March turns from Tevinter. I've asked you to take responsibility for a cheery picture on a wall, because it tells me that I can trust you to think about them. Can I?"
"No," she says, succinctly, "But I reckon you can trust that with Sister Heloise. Suppose technically she's junior to me, but she's gonna have a better understanding of what'll appeal to whoever you're trying to appeal to. She's cleaner, too, if you're looking to please Chantry folk. Who specifically are we working over here?"
"Riftwatch's other Chantry Sister in good standing. Better standing than me if you want the truth of it. She's been helping the Lowtown Sisters with the outbreak and running a couple requisitions for us." Or stealing bedsheets off Hightown laundry lines, whichever.
"That part, yes. Why you seem invested playing a long game with this, not as much." She settles her elbow on her knee, resting her chin on her hand and repeats her question again, "Who specifically are we working over here, Enchanter?"
"No one. It's a picture on a wall. Sick people look at it, and the wall looks nicer. A Chantry sister arranged it, and the story is nicer. I frankly do not understand how I could make this more clear."
He stands, moves to leave.
"Ask the Seneschal for permission, or don't. Get some rest."
Does it look nicer? Sawbones gives the walls a considering look, mostly just seeing carved stone. Nothing fancy. Solid and dependable and safe. Hard to fathom anything more comforting than that.
"One more question, why would you paint on stone?" It's always been a little puzzling to her and since he's brought the whole subject up to begin with, he might as well be the one to answer.
"That is the question I think I would like answered," she says, "But it seemed too broad. I understand a little of why Ozammar artisans carve stone and a lot of Dusters like tattoos, but surface painting is something I've never understood."
She's hardly bothered by it. She sits back a little, "The carvings are part of the work of the Shaperate, to commemorate the Paragons and remember the history." Or at least, so she's heard, but now is hardly the time to dwell on that, "The tattooing is much more variable, which I suppose makes sense given it seems based inherently on the individual. Some do it to commemorate an event or a person, some do it to hide or enhance certain markings or scars. But both these methods are more permanent than paint."
She's tempted to point out that a wall doesn't have any particular feelings about how it's seen, considering it's a wall, but more than likely that's the fever talking.
"Yes, yes, appearances. They're very important and I ought to be more invested in them, but not in a specific way or for a specific group, just the general sense of it."
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the icon choice is significantly more stressful than the med adjacent topic
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Visitors sometimes wander through. Visitors that Riftwatch wants things from. They probably don't need to see throbbing breasts, however artfully shaded.
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"The only art I've ever had experience with is in research texts or Chantries," Sawbones says, frowning slightly, "Don't suppose anybody would appreciate a diagram of the placement of organs." She considers a moment, "Something with flowers, perhaps? People like those."
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(Get to the point, yes, how boring.)
"Quite appropriate," He agrees: Flowers, herbs. All that. "I believe a suitably pious meaning could be arranged. Nothing overtly theological, but there are enough to symbolize - oh, duty, faith. The usual virtues."
He shifts back in his seat, as though the matter's decided.
"Of course, you'll need approval from the Seneschal."
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And she's back to frowning at him, "I'm not manning this effort for you, unless you truly do want to have the whole place plastered in anatomical diagrams."
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He almost misses Mhavos, others (Sidony, the Sister) miss the point. What good is it for Isaac to ask? If all he wanted was a painting, he'd pick up a brush.
"Before you dismiss that as some airy frivolity which does not concern the work of the Maker's charitable, or lecture me upon your exile to direst Kirkwall, you might consider those you've been exiled to." A splayed hand. "I don't imagine you've had an easy time of the cloth. But Riftwatch was still a step down, weren't we?"
"You represent some five-dozen lives to the Chantry. Appearances matter, for our sake. I've asked nothing of you but the gesture of support; no one will stop you washing wounds."
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"Stone, salrocka, is that what you think." She runs her hands over her face and lets out a few more snickering chuckles before she looks back up at him. "I'm a Brand from Dust Town, you nugshit, Riftwatch's a fuckin' summer palace. Anyway, I asked to come here to start with." Sawbones finally catches her breath and grins at him, a rare enough sight. "Listen, I don't blame you for thinking a Chantry girl isn't gonna give somebody from the Circles a fair shake, if that's even what you were thinkin'. But truly, Enchanter, just tell me specifically what you're trying to do here and why you need me for it."
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"You aren't in Dust Town, Sister, that's my point. I don't imagine," He repeats his previous words, exact: "You've had an easy time. That doesn't erase the way that others see you now."
"Brand," A fiddly little gesture to his face. "Or no brand, you wear the robes. You are the closest thing we have to a Chantry sister in good standing. Riftwatch is not in good standing."
"I would like the visiting faithful to think, when they occasionally tour the grounds, that we are not all degenerate heathens who need be hanged as soon as the March turns from Tevinter. I've asked you to take responsibility for a cheery picture on a wall, because it tells me that I can trust you to think about them. Can I?"
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"Who the fuck is Sister Heloise?"
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"Does she work in the Infirmary?"
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About the Infirmary-specific project.
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He stands, moves to leave.
"Ask the Seneschal for permission, or don't. Get some rest."
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"One more question, why would you paint on stone?" It's always been a little puzzling to her and since he's brought the whole subject up to begin with, he might as well be the one to answer.
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"Why would you paint on anything?"
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Fuck, he's tired.
"How someone wishes to be seen."
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"Yes, yes, appearances. They're very important and I ought to be more invested in them, but not in a specific way or for a specific group, just the general sense of it."