crystal | closed to circle mages

[galvanising]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Nell, Kostos
RECIPIENT: Former Circle Mages in the Gallows
WHAT: Phylactery update, discussing a labor strike, business as usual
WHEN: After everyone is back from the Sunless Lands
NOTES: There's no "Circle mage" filter for the crystals; they're having to read off the names of everyone they know who might be one. But if your character has been reasonably open with the Inquisition about being a mage from a Circle, you can assume they're included.

Skyhold has ordered that the phylacteries recovered from the Seekers in the Storm Coast be locked up here in the Gallows until they choose what to do with them. Since they seem to be struggling to come to a decision, we thought we should help them by making clear to them where the mages of the Inquisition stand on this issue. To begin with, Kostos and I are drafting a letter to the leadership urging them to destroy these phylacteries and any others that come into the Inquisition's possession in the future, and we would like to be able to tell the advisors that the affected mages here in Kirkwall are in unanimous agreement, or near enough.

We'll be getting in touch with the mages in Skyhold and the other bases separately, and may speak with others in the wider community if further support seems needed, but since former Circle mages are the only people actually affected by this decision, we are the ones who should be making it.

[ Kostos—quiet, due to both internal conflict, a habit of following Nell's lead, and a natural disinclination to talk to large groups of near-strangers—breaks his silence to add, ] In the meantime, if everyone could refrain from doing anything hideously stupid that would remind people why they're useful, that would be… [ Good. You know. ] And we do need to know how you feel, and how strongly. There is a fine line between making threats and explaining consequences, and we can do our best to stay on the right side of it.

But we need to know how many of you will be willing to follow through if it becomes necessary to demonstrate to the Inquisition just how much they need us.

Comments

[overharrowed]

My apologies for misinterpreting your word choice. I truly hope, as it sounds that most of us do, that if we present our request reasonably and with a united front, the Inquisition will see that it benefits not only many of its members, but the aims of the organization as a whole, to destroy them.

But there is no perfect answer to "what next" if they say they will not. I am, frankly, glad we are taking time to discuss it now before it comes to that, so we can at least weigh it properly. You dislike the idea of refusing to help as a demonstration, and I can understand your position. But it seems likely to me that at least some mages may prefer to do their part against Corypheus elsewhere, through other means, if the Inquisition makes it so explicitly clear that they are less than their compatriots when they were once told they were equals. A well-planned demonstration of limited scope would offer a middle way, if it is needed, between pure acceptance of such a situation and breaking ties completely.

[dashing]

Your apologies are not necessary, Enchanter, but I... suspect my own may be. I am not... gifted with words, not their choosing.

( There is a long pause, as she tries to organise her thoughts, to do better. )

You are not incorrect, nor must we assume that our hands will be bound to a particular course of action, or indeed, inaction. I simply... dread the potential outcomes of abandoning our work here, and that even should we begin that work anew elsewhere, much will be lost.

( Her jaw is tense, but she forces herself to keep talking. ) It may be that we cannot move forward without risk.