therookery | I. OPEN.

FORM: Sending crystal.
SENDER: Dorian Pavus and some fans.
RECIPIENT: Everyone.
WHAT: Karma.
WHEN: Guardian 18.
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: I won't actually action this one out, but we can work out by arrangement if your character would in fact like a chicken, but most will go to the barn despite this offer. Dorian just wants people to remove them. ;-;

[ Clearly, this message is being sent on slight impulse, a certain degree of stress and despair in his tone despite being delivered, initially, with somewhat sarcastic cheer. ]

It appears I have come into a sudden wealth of--

[ A brief pause, a struggle, not really wanting to say it. ]

--poultry. Livestock.

[ In the background, the gentle clucking of perfectly content chickens makes for a background to Dorian's clipped syllables, clenched teeth, the slight implication in his tone that he might laugh or cry or both, left unchecked. ]

Do come by if you would like one of these. Take as many as you can carry, you're welcome to them. They're not leaving, they just keep running back in, I swear they're following me around-- oh, look at this, just--! It laid an egg! In Nevarran satin! And feathers, everywhere, this coat was spotless, and now it looks like I've rolled around in a chicken--

[ This is the moment he realises why this is happening to him. ]

--coop. Well, I hope you're happy. [ Whether he's addressing a broody hen or Leliana is left to interpretation. ] But no, really, someone take them from-- no no no, get away from that--

[ Message ends. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Manacles and chains!

[ Ellana had told him, in a vague and general way, of the awful way the humans of Tevinter and Orlais had treated Elves. But he'd never heard of anything like that. If Beleth wants a dramatic reaction (and to traumatize some poor hobbit forever), she's hit her mark. ]

I - I never heard of no such thing, not among decent folk.

Is that what they did to the Elves, then?

[ growing horror ]

Well, I mean--Yes, to all of our ancestors.

[ Now she's a bit startled. He doesn't know...? Perhaps he's one of those Rifters. Beleth had never heard of Hobbiton, but she has never heard of the vast majority of places in Thedas, either. Either way, she is more than happy to let Sam know exactly what the situation is. The ancient calling of the Dalish, from the days of Arlathan: To never stop being salty. ]

The elves used to be immortal, at one with nature and had a natural magic. Then Tevinter went to war with the elves, and won. All the elves were imprisoned for many centuries. However, when the Alamari rebelled against Tevinter, we helped, and they were defeated. We earned our freedom, and left to establish our kingdom in the Dales.

Of course, then the Chantry sent an Exalted March against us and kicked us out, so now we either live in the city slums or live the nomadic life of a Dalish. Also, slavery still exists in Tevinter. They occasionally send slavers to come down and take more elves up there.

The wonderful lives of elves.

[ If she knew what it was and Sam could see, she would probably be making some jazz hands right about now. Have fun with that whole info dump, Sam. ]

Edited 2016-02-22 04:05 (UTC)

[ For a moment long enough to be worrisome, there's nothing but silence on the other end of the crystal.

And then, timidly, and in a faint, wavering tone, ]

All the elves?

Th-they take them as slaves?

[ It's too much. He'd heard about some of the bad things that happen in Thedas - children without parents, and the elves losing their home, and everything that Rachette had told him about the dwarves. But this -

He remembers Sina, assuming that he was a slave himself when he had called Mr. Frodo his master, and feels sick. ]

Well, they did at one point. That's not the case any more. There are many slaves in Tevinter still, but there are those of us outside of it who are free. And we will never be slaves again.

[ Sam's gone and gotten her all worked up about Elvish things, for better or worse. Probably worse. Either way, there's a certainty in her voice, as she reverently repeats that sacred oath. ]

We are the Dalish: keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path. We are the last of the Elvhenan, and never again shall we submit.

[ This might be really cool, or totally overdramatic! Who knows. ]

[ It's Samwise Gamgee. Of course he thinks it's really cool.

It's enough to make him feel a bit better, anyway, and pull him back from the edge of tears as he listens to her recite the words. ]

The last of the Elvhenan...

[ It's still sad, just as the Elves going to the Sea had been sad back home, even as they were wondrous and beautiful. He takes a deep breath, hanging on Beleth's every word. ]

I-is that a bit of poetry you're reciting there? Is there more?

It's the oath of the Dalish, to remind ourselves, and everyone else, that we will never be put in bondage again.

[ Except Cyril, but that's Different. ]

There is more Dalish poetry, but that's as far as the Oath goes, I believe. If there's more to it, it's been lost to time.

Oh...

[ That's even sadder than he had thought. But it's still beautiful, all the same. ]

I hope you might find it again, if there is more to be found. But what of the other Elves? The - the slaves still in Tevinter?

[ why aren't we all on a mission to rescue them RIGHT NOW ]

I doubt that I'd be the one to discover it, but I'd be delighted if there was more to be found.

[ She pauses for a bit, trying to figure out what he's asking, exactly, and what the proper response would be. ]

I hear bad things about the elves in Tevinter. But I don't know what I could do about it. I don't know what anybody can do about it. I hear that Tevinter has been having a lot of internal struggles, and they're fighting with the qunari. Maybe we'll get lucky and the entire country will revolt.

The qunari?

[ That gives him a sudden burst of hope. He knows the qunari - a few of them, anyhow. Korrin. Korrin will help. ]

Oh yes; well if the qunari come in and tell them to stop, I don't see how anyone could do different!

[ It's a good thing Sam can't see her face, because she spends an inordinate amount of time opening her mouth, pausing, and closing it again. After a few of these cycles, she decides that trying to explain that the qunari are not planning on chatting with Tevinter risks devolving into an explanation of the Qun, which Beleth is hilariously unequipped to handle. ]

Yes, well, even shemlen have a hard time not doing what a qunari asks them to do. So who knows? I wish there was more I could do, but I'd rather not risk ending up a slave myself. I'd die, first.

[ Sam hesitates. He likes to think he's done a pretty good job of learning about Thedas and its people - even the strange ones, like the qunari, that have no equivalent in Middle-earth. But shemlen is new to him, and for all he tries he can't quite figure out what she might mean by it. ]

What's - what are shemlen?

Oh--Shemlen. It's the elven word for human. If you hear someone say something about 'shems', then that's just a shorter way of saying it.

[ She says it flippantly enough. Who cares if the humans don't particularly like being called that, Beleth didn't like a vast majority of the names they called her. ]

Shemlen.

[ Never, perhaps, in the history of Thedas has that particular word been uttered in quite such a tone of reverent wonder. Sam doesn't know much Elvish, not like Mr. Frodo does, but he's picked up a word or two, and is always happy to learn more. ]

I'll remember.

[ Perhaps he'll even try using it himself, if he can find a way. Won't everyone be impressed by that! ]

I. OPEN.

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