therookery | crystal

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crystal

FORM: Sending crystal
SENDER: Morrigan
RECIPIENT: All
WHAT: Let's talk about what god is aka so you found a troubling thing and need to address that one day
WHEN: Post-tourney
WHERE: Kirkwall/Kirkwall-adjacent
NOTES: If you want to push Morrigan on certain things you can certainly try but her finding Geldauran's Claim isn't public knowledge yet given the possibility for it to be highly inflammatory, especially with the rifter status and the Dalish in positions of power in the Inquisition

What do you believe gods are Inquisition? Do you indeed believe that there are gods? The Chantry that likes to press and to meddle might not be for all but there are many of those who will still have the name of the Maker upon their lips in a time of strife. The Dalish have the Creators. The Avvar have beliefs about spirits and gods, and the Chasind have gods of a fashion, men and women beloved of them.

Rifters need not be shy in answering, I ask about...what a god is. What it might be. If it is a thing indeed. Something far beyond the comprehension of any mortal being, shifting even beyond the Veil or Fade that we might never know what it truly is, or if it might something else. Something closer to flesh and blood fashioned long ago. Shaped in the way the world is shaped.

[That phrase turned over and over: There is only the subject and the object, the actor and the acted upon.]

Perhaps… [and well she might as well voice a possibility when they're in Kirkwall where the Veil was stretched so thin long ago] once 'twas possible to raise those of ambition and power as high as the magisters of old Tevinter, to leave terror and awe in their wake depending on the mood, the whim, the offering.

[Eventually...well eventually there will be a report, but until she can trust how to write it, can know what the reception might be when it dares to leave the small group that know even the truth of what lies deep in the Tirashan, she can't bring her hand to write it.]

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I became trapped once through the machinations of a demon, if you wish to know of that I am willing to tell you more of it, 'twas unlike other experiences I have had of it.

[There's the eluvians, however for all that's public about them now, given this topic of discussion she'd rather not. They aren't strictly relevant either.]

Less seeing if they can affect it by their actions, rather that I wonder what so many dwelling here for so long has done, continues to do, and will leave whenever the Inquisition departs from Kirkwall be it when the work is done or should the need for another outpost come about before that. [After all, there still remains the chance they outstay their welcome in Kirkwall before Corypheus meets his end given some amongst them and the growing tensions that seemed poised to boil over before so many departed for the tourney.] A long time ago - this would be back when we dwelt in Skyhold - there were mages who said they struggled with their magic. Now given that we mages native to Thedas draw from the Fade when casting spells and are able to remain conscious when travelling there, that suggests something rather different, though I have seen non-native mages casting spells, so perhaps it varies person to person in how their spells work. Do you have magic that has changed at all that you have noticed upon arrival?

[If she sounds fascinated as a magpie alighting upon a branch at the sight of something shiny, it's because she is. Before the projects, there was this about the rifters in the background and though her notes were submitted some months ago she keeps them still, considers what the future might hold for her and her research.]

'Tis said the Maker cast the Magisters out of the Golden City and in doing so created the first Darkspawn, or that is how the Chantry teaches it. The Old Gods that became Archdemons were imprisoned deep beneath the earth, also by the Maker. The Dalish of course have the trickster, Fen'Harel. [Also the Forgotten Ones, vicious, angry things by the sound of it. But forgotten. So what Dalish outside those in the Tirashan will know the name of any of them?] I...I could see it. A mortal with the willingness to do it. There are those who would position themselves that way [her voice is soft, these aren't things to say much of the time but perhaps she's one who can say them without many reprisals being who - or rather - what she is] to have so many ready to do their bidding, for whatever purpose.

That does sound like a fascinating tale, but perhaps one better shared in person, over a cup of tea or something like that. It sounds fascinating, if also rather unpleasant.

[ Alacruun's interest is most certainly piqued. He would love to hear more about a first-hand encounter with a demon and if she's willing to provide that information, he certainly won't complain one wit. He clicks his tongue and listens for a moment, sorting the information she gives him and trying to organize it all in his head. He's also writing some of it down. It's very similar to much of what he's already ready, but getting opinions holds value as well. ]

My magic is considerably weaker than it used to be and I find myself much more limited in what I can do with it and with what spells I can cast. Some of it is beyond my reach entirely, even if I remember the correct words and gestures. As if my power is being throttled - or perhaps simple because magic is manipulated differently in this plane of existence. I remain... unsure. And have no way to test that particular hypothesis.

[ Alas. ]

There are more than a few mortals who would love to have the power of a god. But there are very, very few with the power and determination to see such a plan through to the end. It takes a great deal of determination and a ruthlessness that many people do not have. You are, after all, seeking to be able to control the fabric of the universe itself.

If you happen by Sundermount there is a house alone in the shadow of the mountain, one with a garden, small, more mushrooms and herbs than any vegetable. You will find me there most days. Be careful of the wards. Or the things that walk the paths, those who summoned them in ages past are long dead, they did not tell those they called to battle that the war is long since over.

[All of this interests her, however some conversations are for a sending crystal, some for the Gallows, and some for where she can be certain others won't be listening by the door. Sundermount is that place for her, her own home, far from a hollowed out Circle repurposed as if that will ever take away from what it once was.]

How fascinating, at least the knowledge is still there and not lost to you though I imagine that does little to ease any frustration at being unable to use it. It could very well be the Fade though for what I know of it, knowing how a rifter is connected to it is far from what I have studied. Even those looking into the matter of the rifts may not have made it so far there. [Morrigan's not sure what, exactly, they do there. Surveys. She heard about a survey, the Inquisition is mad for surveys.] I would not advise anything that might open a rift, one did so before, she was of ill-health and it near killed her, and the resulting demons...Given the current climate, I doubt any would welcome tests that push limits.

[But you know she's not your mother, if you're going to get up to anything doing it inside the Gallows means that at least the rabble is there to deal with and/or scream at it.]

There are those that have though. The Imperium controlled much of Thedas, and the Imperium was once driven by worship of the Old Gods yet suppose we misunderstand what a god might even be. If it were possible a god has only ever been those of such rare power 'tis impossible to deny them. Somniari are mages who can enter the Fade without lyrium or blood magic, shaping the Fade with the power to drive a person mad, to make suggestions at will, even to kill. Sometimes, suggestion is enough. [People flock, people have ever flocked for the most, it's what they always do even when it's senseless, and in those old days? Was it enough? A dreamer comes. A dreamer comes to kill someone of power or whisper in the ear, makes a display, then they fall in line, and the next, and the next. Then the people don't need to be shown the display, the tale is already being told, and shaped. Reality shivers about them.]

Sundermount. I'll remember that. One of these days I probably will drop by; it would be very interesting to exchange notes and see what we can glean.

[ He may be a self-centered, would-be tyrant, but he's also a giant nerd. So this stuff really gets him interested. ]

I won't worry too over-much about the 'things'. I have dealt with magic and things from beyond the planes before.

[ He has and he's a bit arrogant about it. He assumes he has everything under control, until he doesn't. ]

Somniari. I don't know enough about the Fade yet to even offer a theory on all of the magic and possibilities that exist in this world, but I hope to be able to one day. Or at least offer a decent comparison to the magic of my own home. There is something to that, though - the idea that the gods may not truly be gods, simply very powerful beings that can be killed or cast down like any other. I believe that to be true of most gods, although it is perhaps a hypothesis that cannot be proven without great personal risk.

[ He's prattling on a bit. ]

[The last...well the last is that which she-- well fear is a strong word. A wrong word. Isn't this what she wants after all, proof that there are others who can discuss this calmly and rationally to come to the conclusion that yes, people are capable of raising up others? Why does it still have some part of her so ready for action? Maybe it's where she found it. Maybe the words will always come blood-soaked, a scream in them, cruel laughter, duty first on the hunt.]

What say you if ever were anything that might disprove it? That might stand against what we know to say otherwise? I can imagine that for here that many would dismiss it for nonsense [so she would hope, or does believe given all that's known but right now with so much out of balance who can say for certain anymore] yet there are those would take it for a sign. Vindication. Abandonment. Have you ever come across that?

[It might be (likely is) too much to hope but she is clutching at straws to know how she presents this, that she can sit on it only so long. She finds her mother, she tells them. She finds nothing and in the end she will have to give all that she has because the Inquisition will need this, or she can't just keep it to herself as she might have.

Sometimes being alone is a hell of a lot simpler in truth.]

Then I would have to reevaluate a great many choices I've made and it would be... interesting, to say the least. I can't be sure of what I would say to that, but it would be very enlightening.

[ There's the sound of a considering 'hrmmm' and Alacruun thinks for a long, long moment. He has intended to become a god himself. He came very close last time, but here he is just another mortal. He has no desire to try that here, where the rules are very different and his skill with magic less. No, here he just needs to survive.

Although the talk of gods intrigues him, as always. ]

But I have never known a god to simply abandon their followers. At least... not in all of the lore that I read. If they did - well. That would again change the equation.

[Morrigan takes a note of that, given he could well be coming to her home but given all she's met, it only feels sensible to do so now.]

It could all come to naugt, and 'tis likely to be near impossible to prove yet all that has come to pass these past few years...how much can be ruled out now?

Not even on the shedding of a skin? Forgive me, there is much I have read of dragons and serpents of late, but shed them as one thing if no longer fit for purpose to become something new entirely.

[After all there's her mother with a name the Chasind gave her and another from the Dalish, who takes flight should she need to. The thought doesn't come easily exactly but come it does. Unwelcome, unasked for, but such is life.]

Nothing can ever really be ruled out with any certainty, although you can eliminate choices due to how low the probability. At least... that's what I think about such things.

[ He also tends to get surprised when he loses control, mostly because of his ego, but that doesn't seem very relevant to the discussion. ]

The dragons here are very different from the dragons I know, so I'm afraid I'm not in a good position to opine on the subject, having only read scattered accounts in books of how your dragons tend to act and behave. Although - gods do change shape, I imagine, for their own purposes. But they still need followers and worshippers - else they wouldn't be gods. So perhaps they have different guises, but aren't completely alien from another identity they took up.

For what it might be worth, my mother is no god though both the Chasind and the Dalish give her a name befitting of the legends about her, the Mother of Vengeance and Asha'bellanar, and she can turn into a dragon and take flight. [Why does she bring this up? Oh no reason, no reason at all for her to be bringing this up right now.] Only the largest dragons in Thedas are female, males will only ever grow so large as a drake.

'Twould be a grand trick though, to amass followers by many names and guises if it could be done. To be worshipped and set them against one another. If that were ever the case.

[Morrigan still isn't sure what a Forgotten One is but it could be something pretending to be another thing. Growing powerful in a dark place while somewhere else it has others following it. It's worthy of consideration when there's so little she can rule out.]

Can she?

[ Despite himself, there is a note of interest in his voice. That sounds promising to him, for a variety of reasons. He makes a low noise - a sort of clearing of the throat - and then continues. ]

Where I am from, dragons are known to change themselves to humanoid shapes at times and some wizards can take the shape of dragons themselves, but... I gather that it's a rather rarer power here. If it's so, it wouldn't surprise me that she could potentially make people think that she's some sort of goddess...

The Dalish name for her means woman of many years, and her tales paint her as consorting with spirits or demons. She sought vengeance for being wronged, becoming host to a spirit once making it to the Wilds where much later the Chasind learnt their magic from her. So their stories tell.

Yet even I know not the truth of what she is, she is no abomination if you have seen the like of those in Thedas. I am shapeshifter myself, taught by her, but to become a dragon? 'Tis far beyond me.

I've only read of abominations, never seen or encountered one.

[ He sounds thoughtful. ]

It's an interesting story. So I would like to ask your opinion. Do you believe your mother is truly that old? Or that she taught magic to the Chasind? You've more experience of her than I.

Give it time.

[These days of war and death and fear? Rage and resentment bitter out on the roads or in the dark, a wonder so few within the walls turned outside the most dramatic incident.]

I believe that she is. All that she knows is not what could have been learnt from study. And she has a way to prolong her life that no other I have heard of does, at least not her particular method to account for much of it. [Seems that will never not stick in her throat.]

I know of those with particularly long lives where I hail from, but that is due to their nature. Elves, for example, live for hundreds of years. And dragons can be thousands upon thousands of years old. Here, however... most people seem to live a rather shorter lifespan.

[ He seems to consider this for a moment. ]

I know of ways to prolong life - or at least stave off death. But again, this is new territory to me in this world.

The elves here have not known immortality for generations. [Spiders Zathrian, who lives in the woods and binds nature spirits should not be counted.] Dragons are mortal beings likewise. My mother...

[She breathes away from the crystal, better not to let it come shuddering out of her.]

My mother possesses her daughters, their bodies. That is how she lives on. I had and have no intention of allowing such a fate to befall me.

Ah.

[ That's a missing piece of the puzzle. And an interesting one. He's not all that horrified, but he is intrigued. ]

I admit, I would feel much the same were I in your shoes. I enjoy my body and being in control of it.

I know not if any part of me would have remained, trapped behind glass to pound on it with my fists or if all would be lost to Flemeth. I have no intention of finding out.

[Let one of these others take her place. If they exist.]

Should you ever hear anyone foolish enough to wonder oh where is Flemeth when she aided the Hero and the Champion, perhaps remember that. [And that witches seldom do shit for free but Morrigan doubts someone like him needs to be told that, the rest of the rabble alas...]

Sensible. I'd not want to risk such, either. I put far too much value on being free in my own body.

[ Or, uh, someone else's, but he's quietly not mentioning that and it's mostly irrelevant to the discussion since it's beyond his powers here, anyway. ]

If I ever meet your mother, I'll be sure to remember that note of caution.

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