On their way to Redcliffe the two of them stopped by an abandoned home just on the outskirts of the town. Verna was the first to open and walk inside the home with Morgan quietly following after her inside, closing the door behind the two of them and taking a look around the simplistic medieval building while Verna rummaged about.
"What are-" Morgan turned to look at Verna and just barely caught a bundle that was thrown their way.
They unraveled it and found that it was clothing "No offense to what you're wearing-" Verna momentarily eyed the foreign clothing that Morgan wore "-but I think it'd be best if you didn't stand out too much. Wouldn't want to catch unwanted attention"
Morgan nodded in agreement "I appreciate it, thank you." They said, looking up to see the woman give a polite smile that said 'you're welcome' before she turned away to give Morgan some privacy while she looked for a pair of boots.
There would've been nothing wrong with what Morgan currently wore; a black turtleneck that complimented their feminine curves, a fleece grey jacket with black clasps and a hood, dark navy blue jeans, simple black sneakers, and a silver pocket watch that dangled from a long chain around their neck. However this wasn't their world, this wasn't the city of Los Diablos, so even if their clothing was as plain as can be to them it would stick out like a sore thumb in this supposed medieval world of magic. Morgan quietly began to change out of their clothing, sparring a brief glance to their bare body before shaking their head and slipping on the new clothing.
As they changed they brushed their mind against Verna's thoughts once more to see what was going on in the mage's head, and as expected it was a flurry of questions and speculations. Even though she kept her composure the racing thoughts were still there;
'What was that strange grey rift? It could've been caused by the Breach as well, but then how was it formed? Where did Morgan come from exactly? What is this strange feeling that's coming from them? Is it perhaps magic or something else?'
That last thought made Morgan freeze, could it be that she was sensing their telepathy? They didn't know how mages in this world worked exactly, so perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising. Still, it was information that was good to know and they relaxed their tense muscles, using this time to examine Verna as she came back with a pair of leather boots while they adjusted their red hair into a neater small ponytail.
"The clothing should help better stave off the cold than what you were wearing earlier. It tends to be quite frigid here." She said as Morgan gave a small smile.
"Thank you Verna, I really appreciate what you're doing, truly." Morgan took a brief second to search what was in Verna's hazel eyes.
A look of discomfort, feeling like her mind was completely exposed to the stranger before her for reasons unknown, a thought that also left small dashes of confusion in the mixture. Admittedly Morgan took a form of comfort in this as they took the well-insulated boots from the female mage "Don't mention it, pack your clothes in this." She handed Morgan a satchel "And lets get going."
Morgan did just that and once again the two continued their travel to Redcliffe. As they traveled Morgan relaxed their telepathic gifts so it merely simmered on the surface instead of reaching out and prodding nearby minds; normally they would only relax their powers around sensors, but since mages could potentially sense their powers too it would be for the best, even if they couldn't get a more detailed read on the minds of others. They noted how Verna relaxed a little at that.
After a while the two came up to a steel gate that had two guards posted as watch "You can open the gate, it's just us two." Verna said as she gestured to herself and Morgan.
The two gave a nod at that when they recognized Verna, prompting one of them to head over and begin raising the gates for them "Welcome back, Lady Trevelyan." One of the guards said in a polite manner.
"There's no need for such formalities, just Verna is fine." The woman smiled softly at the guard.
"Ah, right, sorry La- I mean Verna." He quickly said as he returned the smile and allowed the two to enter and turn left down the wide path.
Morgan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Verna, even though they already got the impression from the guard's mind: nobility "What was that about?" They asked in an inquiring tone.
"With the guard back there?" Verna rubbed the back of her neck "Well, it's no secret that I'm from the Trevelyan house of nobility. It was for a while, but word got out eventually and people started talking." She shrugged.
"You're of nobility? For a noble you're rather humble, no offense of course." Verna chuckled at that and waved it off as they walked down the steady slope.
"None taken, I known most nobles tend to act more privileged than what's fair." Her smile then wavered "I probably would've been like that too if I hadn't been sent to the Circle…" she trailed off on a sad note.
"The circle?" Morgan gently prodded, recognizing that this was a topic that needed to be approached with sensitivity.
Verna blinked and gave Morgan a surprised look that immediately faded away once she remembered that they weren't from this world "The Circles of Magi is where all mages go when their magic is discovered, at least those who have been found, those who aren't are called apostates. Not all Circles are the same, but some can be very… harsh towards their mages, which wasn't the case for mine where they tried to maintain neutral ground between mages and templars. I was meant to have a privileged and spoiled childhood until my magic surfaced when I was young, once that happened I was handed to the Ostwick Circle by my parents without a second thought. I knew that my family was loyal to the Chantry, but that didn't lessen the feeling of betrayal as they gave away their daughter to what was basically the equivalent to a prison. I may be of the Andrastian faith, but I don't hold my faith in the Chantry and how they treat mages. I would have been left to rot there for the rest of my life had the mages not rebelled." She let out a heavy breath as Morgan felt a sharp stab of empathy.
They couldn't stop their hand from reaching out and holding Verna's own, giving it a gentle squeeze and saying in a soft tone "Living like that can only make you stronger when you stand back up and fight."
Verna blinked and looked at Morgan in surprise as they flexed their telepathic gifts and reached towards the mage's mind, wrapping it in a silk veil of warmth. A gasp escaped her lips and her mind recoiled, but after a moment of assuring her mind she let herself relax into the veil, finding herself walking a little closer to Morgan who smiled a genuinely warm smile.
"Is that experience speaking?" Verna managed to ask, locking her hazel eyes with Morgan's own green ones.
"Somewhat, but that's a story best left to a later date." Morgan spoke in a quiet tone, and Verna nodded in understanding as the two turned right and stepped into the boundaries of Redcliffe.
Walking through the wooden archways Morgan was greeted with the sight of civilians working about in this section of the town. They and Verna briefly walked on a wooden pathway until it transitioned into dirt once more, all the while Morgan caught sight of a wooden building that sat beside a creek that powered the building's water wheel. Not too far from the building's crude fence gate was a large white, red, and orange banner fluttering in the breeze, portraying two lions facing each other set within a shield shape. They could spot a few more of these banners strewn about the town.
Stone braziers with dog head carvings stood tall and a few stone platforms raised other buildings and gave them stable ground to stand on. Walking further into the town the path split off into three parts; one continued forward on a gentle rising slope where a large griffin statue laid in the center of three wooden buildings that circled it, two of which Morgan suspected of being shops, and continued onwards.
To the left of that one was a path that sloped further downwards towards a small harbor that had a few boats docked. This path was much wider than the first, though that was no surprise as it was most likely for goods to be better moved about.
Between the second and third path was a small area where a few civilians hung around, a tall statue of a woman wrapped in a hooded robe held a metal hanging brazier in her hands that were raised skyward. The third path had a bridge with small stone pillars that had dog heads carved into them flanking either side of the entrance, but this wooden bridge looked to have broken and fallen into the creek long ago. That part of the town across the bridge looked to be sealed off, and Morgan could make out a few of the skeletons of destroyed buildings.
They then directed their attention across the river the creek flowed into, catching sight of a large and formidable castle in the distance.
"Welcome to Redcliffe." Verna said with a soft smile "Most, if not all the rebel mages, stay there in Redcliffe Castle." She pointed to the said structure.
"The king and queen granted us sanctuary here in Redcliffe and let us stay in the castle. Though I normally prefer to wander around and help about in Redcliffe. It's been too long since I've been apart of the outside world." Verna glanced down and noticed that the two were still holding hands.
She quickly pulled her hand away with a blush of embarrassment "Sorry about that, I didn't realize." She said sheepishly as Morgan waved it off.
"Don't worry yourself about it, it's absolutely fine." Verna gave a soft smile at that as the two took to the first path.
Going beyond the griffin statue, after Verna gave a brief explanation that it was in tribute to the Hero of Fereldan, the two went down the path that branched off to the right and approached a building that had a sign that said 'The Gull and Tavern' and entered it. Immediately Morgan was greeted with the sound of light chatter and the melodies of a lute, and looking off to the right side of the background they weren't surprised to see the typical features of a tavern. However Verna led Morgan to the left where they climbed up a flight of stairs. They turned to the right and walked down the short hallway where they entered the second room, Verna closed the door behind the two of them once they were inside.
"We should be fine here." Morgan raised an eyebrow at Verna.
"Why here?" They asked, crossing their arms over their chest and giving a curious tilt of their head.
"Well, if I'm being honest urgent curiosity demands I find out more about your powers." Verna started "No offense, but as soothing as it was earlier not knowing what it is puts me on edge."
"I can't blame you for feeling that way really, though I certainly wasn't expecting you to sense it. However it's good that I found out as soon as I did, it could help in the long run for however long I'll be here for." Verna gave them a look of confusion when Morgan went off on their own mindful ramblings near the end.
"I'm going off the assumption that I wasn't supposed to be able to sense it. What is it exactly? And what does it do?" Morgan sat down on the bed as Verna leaned against the small desk, placing her palms against the edge.
"It's called Telepathy back home, and where I come from people aren't normally able to sense it at all. This power comes directly from the mind and it's capable of reading and manipulating the minds of others. People with this power are called Telepaths, and the strongest level for a Telepath is Alpha level. Alpha level telepaths are capable of altering memories, possessing people, and a few other tricks."
"Posses people?" Verna seemed deeply disturbed by that detail "Are you an alpha level Telepath?" She asked cautiously as Morgan shook their head.
"No, I'm only Beta level, a step below Alpha level and so I can only read surface thoughts and delve into people's minds to, say, help them remember something. I can influence the mind somewhat but not to the extent of complete control, more so just simple nudges in a certain direction, a skill I used just as often as reading surface thoughts to gain an edge in battle."
"Ok." Verna relaxed a little at that "What do you mean by 'surface thoughts'? And if you can read my thoughts why do you let me ask these questions? Can you choose whose thoughts you can hear and block out the rest?" She crossed one arm across her chest and propped her elbow up on it, lightly pinching her chin between her thumb and finger in a pondering manner.
"Surface thoughts are just thoughts you're currently thinking about, a Telepath could also sense any prominent emotions too. I let you ask because I prefer to be polite, wouldn't it disturb or creep you out if you didn't know about my telepathy and I kept answering your questions before you asked them?"
Verna gave a pause at that and then a shrug "Alright, that does sound reasonable."
"My case exactly. And to answer your final question no, I hear everyone's thoughts whether I want to or not and I can't block them out. I can relax my powers so they're not as loud and I hear less, but they're still there, whispers within my head." Morgan noticed the look of sympathy on Verna's features and their insides couldn't help but squirm in discomfort, they weren't looking for sympathy nor were they used to such a look.
"Doesn't it become burdensome to hear everyone's thoughts all at once? No matter to what extent?" Morgan sighed at the question and rubbed the back of their head.
"It… depends on the kind of day I have. Other than that it's something that doesn't really bother me, and quite frankly the thought of not having telepathy is a little uncomfortable. Though I wouldn't mind a little silence on my more rougher days." Morgan gave a shrug at that and it fell silent between the two of them.
"Why don't we find you a place to stay? I don't think you'd want to rent a room here." Verna broke the silence and offered a friendly smile.
"That is preferable, I would like to have a place relatively to myself. I'm not too picky about luxury though." They said as they stood up.
Following Verna out the door Morgan couldn't help but poke around the mage's head. They weren't surprised to find the caring concern now lingering in Verna's thoughts and the want to get to know Morgan a little better. Admittedly the concern was… nice despite future complications, though that bit they only had them self to blame for. The kinship that Morgan started to associate with Verna was something they couldn't and didn't want to deny, and when Verna looked back at them and gave them another of her soft smiles Morgan couldn't help but return it slightly.
'I want to know more about her.' They subconsciously thought.
