crystal ||

[inkindled]

FORM: sending crystal
SENDER: Matthias, on behalf of team rescue
RECIPIENT: everyone. except the dead people :,(
NOTES: info here to help you mourn accordingly. this is forward dated to 5.24 so we can make the most of this tragedy.

This is Matthias. I'm with the team that went after the missing party. They were on an assignment, looking into these elven ruins at Baron Deshaies' estate, and they--

They're dead. [He doesn't sound sad, precisely. It's the calm of someone that's gotten used to this.] We confirmed it with an Inquisition contact. Their capture from Deshaies' was purposeful but their deaths, they were-- The whole thing was the work of these mercenaries. They had a Tevinter mage with them, he was there on an assignment of his own. Somewhere on the way back, our party tried an escape. That mage, he's dead now as well, from their attempt. So they must've come close. Not that it matters now. Sometimes it's a comfort, is all.

We've made our report to the Division Heads and we're coming back, to the Gallows. We've got some of their things, that were recovered. The bodies were burned. But we thought everyone ought to know, now. Instead of waiting.

[That's the script. Matthias hesitates, and in a break from what he'd prepared to say--speaking now with more conviction, speaking in half a rush, as if he might regret what he's going to say and so has to get it all out--]

Their names were Merrill, Kitty, Anders, Sorrell, Teren, Wysteria, Bastien, Gwenaëlle [a name he's practiced saying; he stumbles on just a little], Ilias, Kain, Darras, Iorveth, John Silver, Loki, Sidony, and Magni. Saying their names, it's important. There's nothing we can do to change it or bring them back, but--they ought not to be forgotten.

Comments

[sarcophage]

[The string of beads—the secret capsule containing a bit of his blood, drawn a decade past—he's about to ask after it. But he holds, gaze gone soft, transmitting only silence while the vulture's impulse in him reveals itself as meaningless.

At length:]

Come back safely.

[inkindled]

[Oh. Matthias bites hard, at the inside of his mouth. Feels something, at first, about that. A cut of light in his chest, a smooth river pebble of feeling.]

Here I thought it was going to be a real favor.

[He's kind of joking, so he takes care to say it all with some gruffness.]

[sarcophage]

It's real enough.

[There's no curse of honesty to prevent him saying these things. Someone else might feel a pinch of guilt—and why? Not every lie is cruel. The lie itself need not be a monstrous thing.

Gone, the only one who would understand.]

While you're at it, you might look out for the rest of them too.

[inkindled]

Oh, aye, well I was going to be doing that anyways.

[This bit's got sort of a hard cheerfulness to it. He's well used to these sorts of promises.]

Anyone in particular I ought to be looking out for?

[sarcophage]

[A long, soft sigh, like he's just relaxed (or attempted to relax) into a chair. No relief in his voice, though.]

Just the mages.

[inkindled]

Really? I reckon most mages take care of themselves. Or else they'd not have made it this long.

[He surveys the others, thoughtfully, making some mental notes. There's a faint itch of misgiving that distracts him, and he's back to the conversation quite quickly--]

You all right? I mean. Not especially, probably, considering. But. In general.

[sarcophage]

Themselves and each other.

[It's important enough to loop back, if only briefly—then he forms a smile with his mouth so the shape of it will carry through.]

You're right: not especially. But we've all lived through worse.

[inkindled]

Yeah.

[Both points are very true, and Matthias knows them well. He stares off, for a second, thinking of a lot of things at once, before he comes back to himself short after.]

When we're back, I'll come and find you, yeah? Shouldn't be too long of a trip. To get back, I mean. Or to find you. S'ppose it works for both.

[sarcophage]

That sounds just fine. I'll be here.

[If nothing else, he could use the distraction. (Cute kid.)]