( typically, leliana should never be away from skyhold. it blinded and bound her, left her unable to oversee the network of her ravens and spies. there were times, however, when exceptions had to be made. there were some occasions when so many of her eyes were in one place, that it benefitted her best to be closer to her agents, and have a better chance at netting more.
and if it so happened that such a thing coincided with a merchant who is known to sometimes carry nugs from orzammar coming through redcliffe, well. well, that can hardly be helped, can it?
1. the gull and lantern, or ballads and brawling, a life with leliana
( she remembers many years ago, when redcliffe was under siege. she remembers morrigan asking her when she might pen a song of it, might tell the tale of redcliffe with all the knowledge of one who had witnessed it, rather than simply retelling a tale that was warped by history and embellishment. it seemed so naive, in retrospect, how appalled she had been by the thought of glorifying the events of redcliffe, when now she was content to let tales of the conclave and what happened with the inquisitor and the divine escalate across thedas to add strength to their inquisition. leliana had been, in so many ways, still a child, and so much of the innocence that had somehow remained then has been whittled away over the years. even so, it is gratifying to see the town so rebuilt, so vibrant compared to what it had been in those days of animated corpses, even in such chaotic circumstances as these.
her reasons for being in redcliffe, rather than skyhold, are her own, as is the momentary indulgence of playing her fingers over the strings of her lute and granting tales voice and tune.
perhaps your character wants to make a request of a tune, or they recognise her from skyhold, or perhaps they are the person who leliana just saw cut a slit in another patron's purse to steal the coin from it, and who presently finds a knife to their throat, as she murmurs a quiet uh uh, a smile in her tone that is almost as alarming as the sudden appearance of her blade.
(or someone else in that scenario. or something else. idk idk.) )
2. a disaster in the snow, aka. what is this starter, even.
( behold, the spymaster of skyhold, the left hand of the divine, she who deals in shadows and secrets... atop a cart. a cart covered in straw, wooden cages, and nugs.
behold as she stands heroically atop said cart, in the snow, and shoots arrows at a dragon, because sir you will not have her nugs, that she literally rescued from a miscreant of a trader like half an hour ago, thank you.
do you need a ride? do you want to help her not get eaten by a dragon? ) Maker, guide me.
( another arrow, and it seems as if she had never moved her hand to grab it, with how fast she moves. ) Andraste, shield us.
leliana | idk some dumb game series