Sending Crystal; Locked to Grey Wardens

[pinprick]

FORM: Sending Crystal
SENDER: Nathaniel Howe
RECIPIENT: The Wardens
WHAT: Office meeting re: the Architect and whether to tell the Inquisition about him.
WHEN: Current
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: TW: Mention of broodmothers.

[A gruff but refined voice.]

I am Senior Warden Nathaniel Howe. I was one of the Wardens personally recruited by the Hero of Ferelden after the Archdemon was killed. The others here who can say the same are Velanna and Anders. We were party to something that deserves an explanation.

[A sigh that might as well say "this is going to be a long one."] After the Archdemon was slain, the Blight...continued more than it ought. It was no matter of clearing up stray patches of darkspawn. They were organized, and marching over Amaranthine in Ferelden. Most alarmingly, some were able to talk and order themselves like had never been seen before.

The reason... [he takes a second, figuring out how to make this as short as possible] The reason was a creature known as the Architect. He was...is a darkspawn magister like Corypheus, but his aim was different. He sought peace and enlightenment, and the awakening of the darkspawn to thought and purpose entirely free from the compulsion of the Old Gods. He...thought of them as his children.

He began to experiment. As we drink darkspawn blood to change ourselves, they drank the blood of Grey Wardens to awaken, to become thinking beings with conscience. Doing so did not always produce...good results. His experiments woke the archdemon Urthemiel and began the Blight. And they created the Mother.

The Mother was a broodmother he had awakened. She was driven mad by it. It was she who organized the darkspawn after the Archdemon was slain. That was the end of the organized darkspawn attacks after the Blight.

The Architect...we spared the Architect. More than that, we allied with him against the Mother. It is his desire to rid the world of all future Blights, and so he continues his work, trying to free the darkspawn of the control of the Old Gods.

We have kept him a secret from the world. Now, the world is threatened by Corypheus, a darkspawn of independent thinking, who wields power of the Calling like an Old God. I believe that if there is a time to share our secret alliance with anyone, it is now. The Inquisition fights against Corypheus for the fate of the world. The Architect may have answers we all need.

But I wanted to ask for your opinions before meeting with the Inquisition's leaders. Is there a good enough reason for us to keep this from the Inquisition?

Comments

[pinprick]

Is "but that's just me" the full reasoning you have?

[unbrokenoath]

My full reasoning is that we're already on thin ice with the advisors, and presumably, the rest of Thedas, for keeping Corypheus a secret, and for the bullshit that Clarel pulled. That this has potential to affect us even more negatively, because this isn't just something that the Wardens pulled hundreds of years ago, that we, the group here, have deniability over, because those Wardens took it to their pyres. This is something that a handful of us, right here, did.

I don't blame you for keeping mum on it. It's a bad idea to let everyone know that the King went around chumming it up with talking darkspawn. But--I don't think that's changed, just because of Corypheus. If anything, it makes it more important to keep this on the down low. We don't need to start a panic. And how much good will is left from the Inquisition? How many more surprises and 'Hey, just so you know's are they going to take before they decide to just boot us the whole way out?

Or worse, what if they try to reign us in? Put us on a collar and tell everyone 'hey, look, we've got pet wardens'. The Wardens are independent, and we need to make sure that no one gets enough power over us to keep it that way. Just tell the Inquisition that we heard rumors and went to investigate. We can take care of this without their help.

But. That's just me.

[pinprick]

Noted.

[byblow]

[ Rrrrrrrroooound two. ]

I think they'd consider a few just-so-you-knows a huge improvement over another sorry for waiting until we got caught or people were dead to say anything about this but we really thought we had it under control.

[unbrokenoath]

We already have everyone who lost someone in the Kirkwall riots personally blaming us, do we really want to add everyone who lost family to the Blight? The Blight that was this fuckhead's fault?

[ There's a bitterness in that like haha maybe she's ONE OF THEM. ]

Every single person who lost someone is going to look at that guy and say, he did that. He killed them. And then we're supposed to tell them 'Well, he seemed like a nice guy'.

[byblow]

I don't think telling the entire world is on the table at the moment [ UNFORTUNATELY ] but even if it were, it's going to look worse if he shows up with his friends and we never said anything. The advisors should know. They're the ones with the army of people who can get close to Corypheus without losing their blighted minds. We're not doing this alone if they toss us out. Furher out. And I doubt they're anymore interested in panicking people than you are.

Even if he never turns up again and it's only a gesture that we're trying harder to work with them. That's going to help, not hurt. Because you're right, we're on very thin ice.

[pinprick]

Alistair is right. At any rate, making decisions based on how it makes us look is what the Orlesians do. It's not enough for us to look good. We have to be good. And this is how we do that.

[unbrokenoath]

Low blow.

[ There is a LINE, NATHANIEL. ]

[unbrokenoath]

Hhhhhh. Hhhhhhhhhh.

[ The disgruntled and unhappy sounds of Kaisa losing the argument. ]

This is going to bite us in the ass. And I'm going to be there, with my ass being bitten, going, 'I fucking told you so, you knuckleheads'.

But I guess it could, potentially, bite us in the ass worse if we don't say anything. I suppose. And then you'd get to be the one saying I told you so, and we can't have that.

[ichaer]

Is this how very thin ice feels? Because it honestly feels like they're dangling us by our ankles over a volcano full of sharks instead of lava. Maybe the sharks breathe lava and hell, they probably fly too.

... Lava breathing crow-sharks, I can see it.

[unbrokenoath]

Lava griffins seem more thematically appropriate.

[ichaer]

What about lava griffins with shark teeth. Those rows of teeth are creepy.

[ Ugh! Shudder. ] Give myself the heebie jeebies just thinking about them.

[unbrokenoath]

Deal, I'll submit the decision to the advisors. They have to find an active volcano, though.

[ichaer]

I don't know about the other two but the one made of creepy birds could probably find one. [ Sorry Leliana, she knows you have a real name. ]

The Lady Seeker could probably make one if she tried hard enough.