therookery | Bulletin Board Notice on Red Templars

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{ christine delacroix }

Bulletin Board Notice on Red Templars

FORM: Written message
SENDER: Christine Delacroix
RECIPIENT: any who read the bulletin board
WHAT: Christine is looking for information on red lyrium and Red Templars.
WHEN: 30th of Haring
WHERE: Skyhold bulletin board
NOTES: In answer to her first question, the mods say there are no records of red lyrium before Kirkwall. Beyond that, go wild, and please refer to this bit of mod info if you think you might be interested in what Christine's researching and want to see where it's headed.

[ When Christine returns to Skyhold from the scouting mission in Emprise du Lion, she's exhausted but determined. The things she's seen require further study, and for that she needs to educate herself. A preliminary look in the library gets her nothing, however, so she writes a notice for the board which she hangs up before returning to the library to dive back in. The note reads as follows: ]

NOTICE: I am seeking information on the existence of red lyrium prior to the events that occurred in Kirkwall with the Knight-Commander. Does anyone have any information they would be willing to share? And if not, would anyone be willing to help me search the library for this information?

What I am doing is trying to understand this red lyrium as much as I can. I saw it firsthand in the Fallow Mire and again just recently in Emprise du Lion. As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, Templars have began ingesting this red lyrium and it is transforming their bodies, making them the Inquisition's problem should they possess new abilities. We will need to study red lyrium and these Templars in order to find weaknesses that will benefit our soldiers. If you know anything about this -- even just rumors -- I would be grateful if you would share them.

This is just the start of my plans, because book research will only take us so far. If you think you would like to be involved with the research part at least, please contact me via sending crystal. Things to come in the future with the study of actual red lyrium will be potentially very dangerous and cannot be handled lightly, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we just need to bury our noses in books.

~ contact Christine Delacroix with information or inquiries, and thank you for your time

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Varric checked the bulletin board with a frequency that qualified as semi-regular. He never expected to find much of note but, on occasion, he was amused to see half-drawn offers of assistance or hastily scrawled limericks of varying degrees of lewdness. It was a good stop in his morning routine (insofar as he could have a routine what with everything constantly going to the void around him) but, today, he stared at the board and felt a distinct sinking sensation.

He read over the posting, written in a crisp and business-like hand that screamed academic and thus willing to actually research this, and it was all he could do not to tear the page down and toss it into the nearest fire. That wouldn't actually solve the problem, of course, (it would probably create several new ones,) so he just settled for staring at it for several long, grueling minutes as he debated what to do.

Talking about Red Lyrium was right up there next to "Trekking the Fallow Mire" on Varric's list of "Things I Hate Doing" but the person asking for details? Well, they had a point about needing to understand the stuff, however much he hated to admit it. The fact that Christine Delacroix, a name he had momentarily linked to the sensation of dread that was welling up in him, intended to study it in person was what finally shoved him into action.

If he could share information and keep someone else from, say, importing some Red Lyrium to Skyhold, he'd do it.

When he contacted her via sending crystal he was, needless to say, a little uncomfortable:

"So, I hear you're looking for information on Red Lyrium. Assuming you don't actually have any on you," and Maker knows Varric was hoping she didn't, "I'd prefer to have this conversation face to face."

That hesitance totally didn't have anything to do with the fact that the last time he'd used one of these crystals? Well, he'd broadcast his conversation to everyone holding one.

"If I had any on me, we would not be having this conversation. I would be dead." She clicks her tongue. "I am human, and therefore not suitable to work with it. But it was growing out of the ground in Emprise du Lion in abundance, around all those unfortunate humans."

There's the sound of a book closing. "I am in the library. Shall I meet you somewhere?"

Varric almost groaned at the idea. The Red Lyrium at the Temple of Sacred Ashes had been jarring enough. He'd been pretty glad that there hadn't been a lot of it just kicking around the Hinterlands, not when he traveled with the Herald, but hearing this was enough to make him more than nervous. The idea that more of it was just growing out of the ground--and near humans?

This was bad.

"No, just stay there, I'll meet you."

It wasn't the most private spot, but it beat anywhere else that Varric had at his disposal.

"As you wish. You will find me at a table in an alcove. I have blonde hair and am wearing mage robes." While she waits, she tidies up her reading area, stacking books that she's finished searching through.

Varric didn't exactly drag his feet (it was more a reluctant shuffle) on the way over to meet blonde-hair-mage-robes-Christine, but it was a near thing. It was petulant, yeah, even he had to admit that, but he really and truly hated talking about Red Lyrium, even when necessary. After a few minutes, though, he topped the stairs and cast a wary glance around the library. There were a few people sitting about, the Tranquil who studied demon entrails was, by the looks of it, studying demon entrails, and after a short search he located the mage who'd put out the bulletin.

By the time he found her, Varric had resigned himself to a lengthy and uncomfortable conversation, and it showed on the grim set of his features. Were he here for literally any other reason, he would have opened with a roguish smile and a clever (by his measure) jest to lighten the mood. As it was, he just nodded and silently sat down, directly across the table from her.

"So, you're not going to find anything on it in the library," Varric told her, as a mild, rueful grimace darted across his face. "Trust me, I know. My brother and I discovered the stuff."

Waiting with her chin in her hand, Christine is surprised by who sits down, only because he very much resembles a certain author from the back cover of a great many books she's read. And after a moment's reflection, she's sure it's him.

"You are Varric Tethras, are you not?" Now is not the proper time to ask for an autograph, Christine. Taking a deep breath, she lowers her arm and sits forward in her chair.

"Very well. I've been up to my ears in ancient dwarven thaigs anyway." Her head nods towards a stack of books. "Did you discover it underground, in the places normal lyrium would usually be found?"

"Well yes...and no," Varric admitted awkwardly and lifted a hand off the table. He didn't want to drag it through his hair, so he settled for resting it against the back of his neck.

"Yes, we found it underground, in what I can only assume was an ancient dwarven thaig, but it wasn't exactly sitting around in a vein, waiting to be mined out," Varric said and rolled his shoulders in something resembling a shrug. "There was this idol there, made out of the stuff. Bartrand brought it back to the surface and, well, to say everything went 'downhill' is a bit of an understatement."

He let his hand drop once he'd finished and shook his head slightly.

"I've written to every mining caste house in Orzammmar; not one of them had seen or heard of this stuff before Bartrand and I found it. Nobody knows what it is or, really, where it comes from."

"An idol?" Christine shifts a few books aside and finds her parchment. She pulls her inkwell closer, picks up her quill, and starts taking notes. "So someone found the red lyrium and crafted this thing with it. Perhaps they saw it as a gift, and the idol was a way of saying thanks." She brushes the feather against her lips.

"It would have been a dwarf, obviously. Do you think the idol was meant to be one of the Paragons?" She's read a lot of dwarven texts today, Varric. She knows more about dwarven culture than she ever cared to before.

"A paragon?"

Honestly, Varric had never considered that it might be; the thought was so strange it rendered him silent for a moment. It wasn't hard to recall the actual idol, Maker knew he'd spent enough time thinking about it, but comparing it to contemporary dwarven statues? That was a bit beyond him. Unlike Christine, he did not have a very extensive working knowledge of Dwarven thaigs.

"Unless they really disliked them, or they were going for something abstract, I'm going to say: no," Varric answered slowly and his brow dipped as he mulled the memory over. "The thaig we found it in was old, really old, and I'm not sure if that whole Paragon tradition runs back that far."

Almost unconsciously, he settled his hands in front of him and, in a vague series of slight movements, tried to approximate the shape and size of the actual idol. Judging by the frown on his face, actually contemplating it wasn't particularly fun.

"Before it was a creepy sword, when it was just a creepy statue, it sort of looked like..." Varric paused and stared at the space between his hands. "Two starved ghouls climbing out of...I don't know, something with spines or teeth? It wasn't a very cheerful piece of sculpture, but we did find it on an altar, so I guess there's no accounting for taste?"

"It runs back to the Ancient Age, at least," she says, and it's clear from the expression on her face that she's been reading far, far too much on dwarves. What if it pushes her spirit healing studies out of her head? "Caridin was a Paragon from the Ancient Age. But never mind that."

She quickly jots down his description, making humming sounds to show she's listening even as her head is bent down over her work.

"Have you researched that image? It's possible it's unique, or something that would have only come from that ancient thaig, but it's worth a bit of research." Finding what the idol means could unlock more information about red lyrium from the past. Because right now, all they have to go on is that it's around now, and there is no information about stopping the spread of it.

There was something markedly surreal about having ancient dwarven customs explained to him by a human, but Varric didn't have it in him to complain. He made no secret about his lack of--what? Stone sense? Traditional family values? General Dwarfyness? He really wasn't the best person to ask about this sort of thing, but that's why they had other people, right? He eyed Christine as she took notes and, honestly, as much as he loathed dealing with anything regarding Red Lyrium, he was a little relieved to find someone so...engaged dealing with it in his stead.

"I can't say I have. I wouldn't know where to start researching ancient lyrium statuary," Varric admitted as some of the tension in him started to bleed away. "If you have any ideas, I'm all ears, but it might get a little complicated trying to look that stuff up.

"For obvious reasons, I'm not exactly keen on revealing the location of the Thaig we found it in, and the name of the settlement wasn't emblazoned on anything that I saw."

"It's worth a look, but I can't devote too much time to something that sounds so rare. It's just such a distinct iconography, that I wonder how it relates." But Christine shakes her head, willing to set it aside for now.

"Since we have no information about red lyrium in the past, we have to look to stopping the spread of it now. Big spikes of it are cropping up where Red Templars are camped, so obviously we need to take out these Templars. Unlike Meredith, these soldiers are ingesting it, so who knows what abilities it's granted them. They wouldn't be taking it if all it did was turn them into monsters." Christine blows out a breath, looking away for a moment. But then she looks back at Varric, the moment passed.

"You've studied the idol, yes?"

My lady, if you are looking to combat the effects of red lyrium, and stopping the red templars -- my men and I are at your disposal.

Oh, Knight-Commander Norrington, was it? Thank you. At this stage, I'm still trying to gather what information I can before we obtain an actual piece of it for study. I've been well informed of its dangers, but it's possible your ability to... purge magic may prove useful.

[ Discussing Templar abilities makes her a little twitchy, since it is what would make her defenseless, but that's not what this is about. This is about working together to understand something that is turning people into monsters and possibly making them harder to fight. ]

Ahhh, I would delighted to explain how that particular ability for your research.

[He is equally a little troubled himself, showing how his abilities work ... but if it stops the Red Templars, it was worth it.]

It could definitely benefit this project, in more ways than one. Comparing what we know of a Templar's abilities with what we see the Red Templars do will narrow down exactly what the red lyrium has given them.

I would be interested to see if that would allow our own abilities to disrupt theirs, as well ... when will you require my assistance?

Yes, that is what I wonder myself.

[ There's a pause, followed by a thoughtful hum. ]

I will need to speak with the advisers first in order to convince them to allow red lyrium here. Until such time, you are welcome to help me research red lyrium since Kirkwall here in the library. But if not, I will contact you once we have the sample here.

[He nods his head slowly, before responding.] I shall be pleased, to. Perhaps after we get samples we can see if my abilities even work effectively against those particular monsters.

Yes, there is much testing to be done to understand what we're dealing with. I cannot stress enough that it will be dangerous.

[ Just so her volunteers understand what they're getting themselves into. ]

Lyrium itself is a dangerous thing, but this... I cannot forget what it did to the bodies of those Templars. We must stop it from spreading.

Milady Christine -- I am a Templar. It is my solemn duty to put myself forth as a shield against the dangers of magic. I cannot think of anything more dangerous, outside of Corypheus himself, than this red lyrium. You are one hundred percent correct. We must stop it.

[ Milady? Christine has to smother a laugh because this is a serious discussion. But the mage daughter of a middle-class merchant has never been a Lady in her life. Not like Adelaide. ]

Very well. I just have no wish for others to spread foolish rumors that the mage didn't warn the Templars of what they would be getting into. That's all.

[Well Christine, as Norrington explained to Pel, every woman he meets is a Lady until she states otherwise to him. It is a mark of respect, not of nobility.

States the knight, from the rich merchant family himself.] Well, as long as you know that I am telling the other Templars about our disccussion, so it doesn't look like the mages are trying to experiment on the Templars with red lyrium.

That I certainly do not need said of me. I am a healer; I would never subject anyone to such... such horrors.

Nor would I subject a mage to that in kind.

You, no, but others would. Such is the way of things.

We live in a sad world, I am afraid.

[ Understatement of the century, right there. ]

Indeed. But now before we lament any further, I will return to my books, so that at least we may be better prepared for what is to come with this red lyrium.

I bid you good hunting, my Lady Christine, and I will speak to you soon about those arrangments.

[ The silence before he speaks is a little longer than it should be, probably: it's shyness, aversion to magic, and the fact that all of this feels very personal. ]

I'd like to help. [ And as an afterthought, ] This is Elian. We met at the Mire.

Ah, yes, of course. I will take down your name. I've been informed from a reliable source that I will find no documentation on red lyrium before what happened in Kirkwall, so now I am trying to compile information since that time before I go so far as to obtain a piece of it. If you would like to help me research that, you are welcome to, otherwise, I will have to bring you in to help once the Inquisition has secured a piece.

I could help with the research if you need it. [ He pauses, and then sounds transparently like he's making fun of himself, in a slightly stilted way: ] I have neat handwriting.

[ It's unexpected, and she suppresses a laugh. It may come through in her voice, though. ]

Do you? That would be an asset to this project.

I thought it might be.

[ And that's the limit of his good humor, for the moment. ]

I have friends among them.

[ Wow, mood whiplash. ]

I thought some here might. What's happened to them cannot be reversed, but we can study the lyrium and hopefully save people from what they might do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bulletin Board Notice on Red Templars

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