therookery | o1 ♚ especially coffee

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Marcel Gerard
RECIPIENT: Public; any and all interested
WHAT: A Rifter would like to futilely inquire as to the incomprehensible physics of Rifting and seek actually unavailable instruction w.r.t. how to get the Hell back home, please and thanks.
WHEN: Timing (backdated, covering a span, etc.)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Maybe P3-13 for language? If somebody gets emotional!

Good morning, Thedas.

[By now, the name of the world sounds comfortable enough in his mouth, but his accent is likely remains somewhat Other, cutting the consonants of his deep voice.] My name is Marcel Gerard. In the world I come from, magic is a secret pretty well-hidden from humans, and the full strength of abominations waits every month on the full moon. [Sorry, werewolves. Somebody hates you.] We also have horseless carriages, ballet, instant coffee, and the Internet. The world is called New Orleans. If you know what any of that means, we should talk.

And if you don't, you might be just the person to help me get home. You got thoughts on how to prolapse a Rift? I want to hear 'em. Talk to me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She smiles to herself. The expression is grim, but her voice is perfect: cheerful, a little teasing. ]

How do you know I don't?

I figure you'd be hesitant to bring demon technology to life, is all. Where I come from, we have some dark stories about that kind of a thing.

[His voice is just as light.]

Well. In this world, demons don't tend to deal in machinery. But maybe I'm just that reckless.

[fair enough.]

Do you think I'm a demon?

[ Too direct a question for her to evade. So: ]

No. I don't.

You on the other hand--

[The joke is unmistakable in his tone.]

[ What. ]

Excuse me?

Infernal. Can't place my finger on exactly how.

I am not infernal! Dwarves don't even have a connection to the Fade. It'd take very unusual circumstances for us to get possessed.

All right, all right, [Marcel's voice of surrender here.] I withdraw my suspicions. And applaud your purity of spirit.

Well, it's less purity, more...Just something about us. We don't enter the Fade, do magic. Any of it. So - I'm a little bit less scared of demons than elves and humans and qunari are, probably. Which is why I'm definitely going to be less jumpy and paranoid and more willing to trust you than a lot of people are. To answer your question, ultimately, of why I'm being nice to you.

Well I was hoping that my knowledge of technology and rumbling baritone made me special. But I'll take it.

And have to hope that Rifters like me are likewise... uninteresting to the Fade. Despite having minor magic. Sounds like you can't put your finger on it. Whatever sets your people apart.

[ A shrug. ]

Well, there are legends, certainly. And explanations. The most likely one is that it's because of our lives lived near to lyrium, which...certainly isn't an advantage you've had. But yeah, I do hope that as well. It's really a lot less trouble, not having that connection.

[Lyrium. At this point, Marcel's heard of that. He wonders immediately if it's like vervain.]

Would it help if I carried some lyrium around, or something? I mean I know it isn't easy to get ahold of. And it's not a toy. [Encyclopedic knowledge, go.]

[ A quick laugh - rather at his expense. ]

Oh...No. It wouldn't help. At all. Lyrium isn't a magic-blocker or something like that. It actually facilitates magic. It's more like...

[ She thinks about it a moment. ]

Sort of like - a poison, really. My people have built up resistance to it over many, many years, by just living near it and being exposed to it in low doses. Someone unaccustomed to it, exposed to raw lyrium, will at least get sick, or go mad. Or die outright.

[8(a]

Okay, scratch that.

[His expense is right. She probably just headed off an ill-conceived vampire experiment or two.]

Congratulations on your immunity. The picture I'm getting is, someday Thedas is gonna be ruled by either demons or dwarves. The only question is which.

[ A dissatisfied grunt. ]

Well, it's not going to be my people. There was a time when we were the greatest empire in Thedas, but that is very much no more.

Yeah?

You don't think you all would rule again, if the rest of us were out of the picture? [It's a story plenty of the peoples back in his home like to tell themselves. If it weren't for witches. If it weren't for Mikaelsons. The list goes on.]

[ A quiet scoff. ]

Definitely not. Not unless we actually decide to change. Of course, unless we decide to change, we'll all die, and that hasn't really been an impetus yet.