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Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2021-05-08
Completed:
2021-11-27
Words:
138,086
Chapters:
32/32
Comments:
444
Kudos:
728
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221
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17,235

Coiling Time

Summary:

Coiling Time aka. the Thedosian Pottery fic

"Just that feeling when you’re about to go but then you’ve forgotten this particular data strand and the continuity just barely lets you pass through deflux... You know, like every molecule in your body is screaming in frustration at you over being reassembled just a little off. Oh fuck,” a wave of nausea and pain passes through me, and I accept a hot metal cup of liquid with shaking hands and a grateful sigh. “Thank you. I really must have miscalced some… something, something bad this time. Was it a timecode thing? Two days, you said?”

The man hums, as if in agreement.

“Well, there goes my plan to document hand-building techniques and drip glazes for a few months in the nineteen-seventies... Oh, this tastes nice and herb-y. Is that mint? And... Fennel seed?”

“Elfroot, mostly,” the man says, and I nod, leaning back.
 

Following what appears to be a mishap with her calendarium, time travelling 22nd century researcher Malika finds herself in Thedas during the Inquisition. Staying undercover proves hard however, despite your training, when you've caught the interest of a certain stoic elven mage... Also, pottery? Complete!

Notes:

A few words of content warning and thanks before we begin this journey (contains spoilers) -

Tags:
I've done my best to tag appropriately, but if you feel a specific tag is warranted, let me know.

Relationships and NSFW chapters:
Chapters with smut are marked in the titles. This story does contain (very eventual) sex scenes, but only in the main relationship. Secret identities are not resolved before the smut. The relationships tagged as minor happen in the background.

Viscera and violence:
There are some rather in-detail descriptions of the process of tanning that are on the more visceral side in this fic, as are some descriptions of wounds and the violence that causes them. In those chapters, a warning will be in the notes at the beginning of the chapter.

Canon-typical Racism:
This is an element present and discussed, but, Malika's experiences prior to Thedas - in our world - are also part of this story.

Credit where credit is due:
I make use of Project Elvhen for most of the pig elvhen you'll see throughout this fic. For geography, Dumped, Drunk and Dalish's maps have been an invaluable tool, and I would be remiss not to mention Kispesan's NPC ambient dialogue transcripts as well.

 

And there we go! The expected length here is around 29 chapters, and upwards of 120k words.
Updates are posted weekly on Saturdays!

Comment moderation is on, but comments are very much appreciated! ♡

Chapter 1: Preface

Chapter Text



Preface

Time travel! No matter who you ask, it seems we humans long for a different time. Few and far between are those born in the right place, at the right time, never reaching to the future or longing for the past. Luckily, by my time we know how to rectify this issue, all in the name of science, naturally. 

Not just anyone is allowed to travel through time, of course, and not everyone is able. It requires skill, a subcutaneous device called a calendarium , and some research funds, and approval of plans. It’s still risky, and it’s easy to make fatal mistakes. You need a passport, of sorts, and there are some places, events and times that are off limits, forever. No, you cannot visit the Titanic, nor Obama’s inauguration; you cannot ride on the Mayflower or march with Gandhi. Don’t eat a dodo and don’t poke a panda. Make no promises and no commitments, take no lives and make no friends. 

Instead, enjoy the small moments in places that are no more. Take a walk in Barcelona or Philadelphia before their destruction, or an ancient city like Abarsal, or Numantia before the siege. Drink a cup of cocoa in secret with a pre-columbian Zapotec woman, or munch down on a croissant in late 20th century rural France. Watch the waves crash on forgotten shores and the sun rise over long-eroded cliffs.

See stars that have shifted, the rivers that we’ve bent; lands that have drifted, and the dreams that we’ve dreamt.

Thus, in many ways, the possibilities and charm of the Fade, as Solas described it to me, was intimately familiar far before I found myself in the place, and time, known as Thedas in the Dragon Age, but now I’m getting ahead of myself.