this is my first network post in this game oh god i hope i don't ruin it

[twelvelabours]

FORM: sending crystal
SENDER: Hercules Hansen
RECIPIENT: locked to Grey Wardens! Grey Wardens only club!!!
WHAT: Anders & what do with him: a Grey Warden opinions discussion
WHEN: late Guardian /mumbles vaguely - set after Anders turns himself into Herc, before Leliana deduces is identity
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES:
This is regarding the Anders reveal plot, as discussed in this ooc post and as a follow-on from this log thread.
Threadjacking and hopping around encouraged!
If you'd like a thread with Herc to turn to actionspam for characters in Skyhold, go for it.

Wardens. We’ve got something important to discuss. If you’re not someplace private, stop listening now, drop whatever it is you’re doing, and get somewhere suitable. This is strictly Warden business.

( This is not the happy and friendly Herc. This is tense and angry Herc, even with his temper very carefully kept in check.

He leaves a pause to allow them to either stop listening without him accidentally unveiling something, if they need to, takes a breath, and carries on. There might be the sound of wind whipping behind him as he stands on the ramparts - what you can’t hear is the sound of him trying to reduce Anders to ash with his gaze. )

A Grey Warden who left our numbers has handed himself in to answer for crimes committed. Not against the Grey Wardens, but against Kirkwall and the Chantry. Some of you already know this man. Some of you knew him by the adopted name ‘Detlef.’ Others will just know the crimes of the mage Anders.

( Considering how to continue, what to say next, Herc exhales a moment. What a day. )

Anders has turned himself into us of his own free will, ( which unfortunately denied Herc the chance to tackle-slam him face first into a wall, ho hum ) and confessed to blowing up the Kirkwall Chantry, an act he claims was for the sake of mage freedom.

( He pauses, there. )

I don’t have much of a personal stake in that. I’m not a man of the Chantry, and I’m not a mage. Far as I’m concerned, there’s mages and there’s mages. The likes of Bethany and Kaiden have saved my life more times than I can count. Others can be dangerous, and I reckon the same goes for Templars, same as any other person. You’ve got honourable ones, and you’ve got monstrosities.

Now, I don’t even know all about what was happening in Kirkwall, back then, but I can’t say I’m a fan of killing some innocent people for the sake of saving other innocent people, one way or the other.
( Sounds like a pile of crap to him, personally. ) And as Grey Wardens, our roles is to try and protect all of Thedas. From the Blight and darkspawn, usually, but I don’t think innocent lives being lost, no matter who they belong to, sits well with any of us.

( Still. )

But Nathaniel reminded me that we all know how much someone can change, and that we all come to the Wardens for different reasons. Atonement is one, but Anders’ fate isn’t something any one of us can decide. He’s one of our own, and he’s our responsibility. Speak up with your thoughts.

Whatever our decision is, we are telling the Inquisition. The Wardens integrity isn’t going to be compromised any further.

Comments

Voice

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[Bethany sounds a little out of breath - she has in fact run all the way up the steps and to the top of the tower so she can't be overheard.]

Sorry, yes, right. Just to make this clear to everyone? Anders has already been judged by the Champion of Kirkwall, and her punishment to him was to spend the rest of his life making up for all the mistakes he made.

[Her lips press together, before she says quietly.] Beyond that ... as a mage and scholar, someone who has been in close contact with Anders and his spirit hanger-on? I cannot honestly say that all Anders's actions were in fact, his actions and his alone. Justice, or whatever it is now -- has had direct control over Anders for more years in Kirkwall than I can count. Anders maintains direct control, but the subtle, and not so subtle effect on Anders's behavior is something that has to be taken into account.

[Deep breath, Bethany.] Beyond that ... he's one of our own, and he needs our help. In more ways than one.

[twelvelabours]

His friend, though. Your sister.

( Which isn't inherently an objection, more an observation, and an acknowledgement that he is aware Bethany knew about this. All of this. ) People don't always view things the way they normally would, when it comes to passing on judgment on someone that close.

( Whether it makes them more or less harsh, that just depends on the person.
And that's another thing, this spirit business. )

What kinda help would you recommend? I'm not saying we should leave the man high and dry, but he committed a crime that left a lot of people dead, and Maker knows what else. I'm not sure help alone is gonna cut it.

[pinprick]

It can.

[Nathaniel isn't sure if Anders is in on this little channel. He won't give details. He'll have to speak with Herc privately for that.]

Justice was bloodthirsty. Anders used to be apathetic to a fault before him. I wouldn't say the Chantry was Justice's fault--it's not my place to detemine another man's mind--but it was certainly the sort of thing Justice would have suggested. And something I couldn't imagine Anders suggesting as more than a joke, ten years ago.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Yes, my sister. Someone who has more reason than anyone to hate him, to wish him dead for the crimes he committed in a city she dedicated her life to. Marian could have just as easily slit his throat, Hercules. She did not.

[Which is her standing up for her sister, and that done, now standing up for herself.] Beyond that, we are Grey Wardens. Who among us is without grave sin? Certainly not I, nor you, nor Nathaniel.

[She paused herself, as Nathaniel answered, then she added right after him.]

We're looking at a slow progression and not in a direction we want Anders to go. Any of us.

[byblow]

A few of us are without grave sin, thank you.

[ here 2 help. ]

[twelvelabours]

( There's a long pause before he replies, but: ) Fair enough.

( Who's going to know Marian Hawke better than her own sister, after all? Bethany might be a little ball of sunshine, but she wasn't naive. )

So what's your proposal, then?

( Quiet, calm, not even a little bit dismissive. He wants her know her thoughts because he trusts her. Good head on her shoulders - and also not having a pissing contest, like some of these others. )

[justice_is_blond]

...apathetic to a fault?

[paperwing]

[Up until five minutes ago, Sabriel knew very little and had little to say in the matters of Kirkwall save that it had, in some way, led to the mage rebellion and the dissolution of the circles and how so many mages (and templars) had died because of it, why so many mages were afraid and so many children were here who had witnessed horrors they never should.

So, for that, she is a low-key infuriated.

But that this Anders, whom she had never had named or knew of, that he was right here in Skyhold, that he was-]

A Grey Warden destroyed the Kirkwall Chantry.

[Now she's ten steps closer to mad, or anger.

That image of the Grey Wardens is being slowly ruined. Thanks, Joining. Thanks, Anders.]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

He wasn't a Warden at the time, Sabriel. He was ... well. Missing in Action.

[Let's get that one out of the way, shall we? No need to bring that one up to the advisers.]

[paperwing]

You don't stop being a Warden just because you're missing, even if there are more important things to be done. Especially if there are more important things to be done.

[She knows about that one first hand. Her father spent a good eight years dealing with mild darkspawn problems and ducking summons to raise her, but he didn't blow up any buildings. Point being, he didn't stop being a Warden. He was a Warden before he was a father.]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

... it seemed like it was a nicer way to say, 'deserted'.

[Was Bethany's sheepish reply, before she inhaled slowly.]

He didn't do it under the Grey Warden banner. We don't take responsibility for Anders's sins. We take responsibility for making sure he lives long enough to start atoning for them.

[pinprick]

He deserted under duress. Templars infiltrated our ranks and attacked him, and he ran.

[foodsofmypeople]

[Kaidan pales as he hears Herc's announcement. He made his way to somewhere quiet, where he could think about things,

As far as he knew, he was the only mage amongst the crew of Wardens who had actually been through the worst of the Circle system. Bethany had lived as an apostate for most of her life till she had been recruited, Sabriel was kept safe by Terciel, but even when she went to Perendale, her experience was a lot more positive than his had been, and Felix had been brought up in Tevinter. He knew what the Circles could be like, and although Ansberg circle had been nowhere near as bad as Kinloch's reputation was, he knew what it was like to be pushed to a breaking point by the Templars. The only difference was he only killed one, and it was a personal attack. Anders was railing against the whole system.

He could see how easy it was for Anders to go down the path he had.

Herc was the only Warden that knows Kaidan's story, as he ran across Kaidan just as he had been recruited - the angry young man, changed forever by what he had done, seeking a new path for his life. Now it was merely a part of Kaidan's past, something that had shaped him, had helped him to become the well adjusted Warden (if there ever was such a thing) that he was.

Right now, Kaidan was full of feelings and not sure just what he was supposed to do. But Herc was right. Anders was one of their own, and part of the deal with being a Warden was who you were in the past was behind you. It could explain why he was not as eloquent as usual when he responded.]

Well.


Fuck.

[bunko]

Ah, but-- why do we have to tell? You say it is integrity. But surely there are times when it is better to keep silent? To lie, to keep a protection.

It has been a secret. Why can it not continue to be a secret?

[paperwing]

It was a secret from all of us, before. Now that we all know? We cannot not say anything. Because if we don't, the Inquisition will find out. It's Spymaster will discover it, eventually.

And then we are all implicit.

[bunko]

Well. I am a very good secret-keeper, at least. But if this is the reason, then I do not know why we stay at all. To make use of these fine Inquisition resources? These are only so good as we are free to use them.

And they are not so fine as that. I have seen far finer, in Antiva City.

[where we could all go. come on. it's warm.]

A new disguise, for our friend. A new disguise for us.

[byblow]

Do you know someone in Antiva with an army we can borrow?

[paperwing]

[that could be a valid option. there's just one, itsy little problem.]

And we leave those out west to their fates?

[the only force strong enough, with enough resources, is the inquisition. they all know that.]

They were our fates too, once. Had we not found you and Rafael, what then?

[unbrokenoath]

Can I officially vote for some kind of summary of what we've discussed and agreed on at this point in time? Maybe points that still need picking at? Because right now it feels like we're just arguing circles around each other. So, uh...

[ Look, she's taking this seriously. And trying to be organized. She's so proud of herself. ]

We're taking Anders in, we're going to talk to him about why he did what he did, and if he'll do it again--which will be a private meeting between a handful of people. We keep someone with him at all times. Nathaniel offered nights, we can probably switch between us during the day.

Then we're talking to the Inquisition, which I'm still personally worried about, because even if we don't really have a choice but to ally with them--there's a cost that could get high. But that cost could be pretty brutal if we hide it. We tell them it's Warden business, we'll take care of it, have a nice day.

--Paraphrased. Hopefully.

And, uh. Then we celebrate with some drinks, hopefully?

We've covered arguing about mage oppression, how shitty our families are, and agreed that Templars are kind of super crazy. No offense to Alistair, we stole him because he's not super crazy.

...Anything else we need to talk over?

[ Pause. ]

I'm sorry if this is super presumptuous or whatever, I'm not trying to override anyone. I'm just an idiot and I'm confused, and I'd love it if we could simplify some of this.

[foodsofmypeople]

[There is a sigh over the crystal.]

I'm going to need a fucking large drink after this.

Okay. My thoughts. At the end of the day, Anders is a Warden. Part of being a Warden is being given a fresh chance. We did it for Felix here, we've done it for many others, no matter their crimes.

It's not going to be easy. Warden Nathanial has already proved an able advocate for Anders, but you are going to need to have every single Warden fall in line behind this for the Inquisition to take us seriously.

One thing we don't do, or allow the Inquisition to do is inform Weisshaupt. They will have a far more hard line approach to Anders. If we do this, we keep it amongst ourselves. [Kaidan thankfully hadn't been in touch with his superiors there for a while.]

... I'll be in the tavern, find me there.

[byblow]

What if we tell Weisshaupt Clarel has him. Do you think they would finally pay what's happening there some Maker-forsaken attention?

[unbrokenoath]

Alistair has a good point. If we had their support, maybe we wouldn't be so dependent on the Inqusition for resources. We've been dealing with this mess ourselves, we can keep doing this on our own.

[bunko]

To say that this is Warden business, perhaps this is true. To think that this Inquisition will take this answer as acceptable--this is foolish.

You say that the cost will be high, and perhaps it will. Yet when you go to make a negotiation, you go knowing what you are willing to accept, what you are willing to pay, and what you are willing to lose. We know what it is that we want: the life of our friend, in our tending. So we must decide what it is we will offer to this Inquisition, and to any who question us, to let us have that.

They may demand a price of justice. They may choose another price. But there will be a price. I have bargained for much in my life, so this much, I know.

[pinprick]

You were willing to leave the negotiation to those who know him better before. Let it be, boy.

[bunko]

She asked! I did not say I wanted to negotiate!