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

[twelvelabours]

Not necessarily. If we're prepared to take full responsibility for him, if we're prepared to fight for it, then we can get them to work with us, but we have to keep ahead of this. If they find out on their own, there's not a chance they'll listen to us.

Might mean bringing this down on the rest of our heads, of course, but he's one of us.

( Or he was. )

[unbrokenoath]

...You're right. If he stays here, it's only a matter of time. Then it'll be too late.

[ She doesn't sound happy about it, but it makes sense. ]

But I agree that we need to stand behind him. We're already fractured enough. I'm not going to throw another one of us to the dogs, not now. Anders has proven that he's here to help.

[pinprick]

If we hadn't failed him first, he wouldn't have committed the crime. It's already on our heads.

[twelvelabours]

We failed him first, I agree. But I don't believe that absolves Anders of his responsibility. He made the decision to blow up the Chantry. He acted on that decision.

( But, Herc sighs. )

If we take responsibility for him and he acts out, tries anything like that again, he'll discredit all of us. We'll lose any shot with the Inquisition

[unbrokenoath]

I don't think he'd do it again. He wanted freedom for the mages. They're free now.

[twelvelabours]

There's still Templars and pro-Circle Inquisition members, and plenty beyond who aren't so happy about the state of mages being free.

[unbrokenoath]

Then we should sit down with him and talk about what made him think that blowing up a chantry was the only option available to him, and make sure that if those circumstances start to look similar, we should keep a tighter eye on him.

[twelvelabours]

Sounds like you've got something, there. Solo talk, or group? What's your plan?

[unbrokenoath]

[ Dad approves!! Score. ]

...Maybe not everyone, that sounds like chaos. I'd say you, him, Senior Warden Nathaniel, maybe me because it was my idea. Anyone else that you think would need to be there. You said that he claimed it was for mage freedom. So we ask him what he defines as mage freedom, and what he thinks would be the circumstances that would make things so bad that he'd do it again.

I think that whatever circumstances happen, if we're here in the Inquisition, we'll be getting front row seats to it forming. So we'll know what to look out for.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

You should have a mage there. Maybe Kaidan, or Sabriel?

[failedfirst]

How many lives has he truly taken? By his own hand, not those of the ensuing rebellion. From how I understand it, your Circles were just waiting to implode upon themselves, Anders hardly needs take responsibility for that.

He may have done a spectacularly stupid thing, but there are things far more evil creeping in this world.

[twelvelabours]

Dozens in the Chantry explosion itself, hundreds in the immediate battle in Kirkwall that it sparked. Even if we aren't counting that, dozens of lives aren't something to turn away from. One innocent life wouldn't be something to disregard.

I'm not going to argue we've got other evils to worry about, but I don't agree that he's not a potential risk that we should just leave be.

[byblow]

We've been letting Loghain out without a leash all this time.

[ Some salt for your potatoes, ser. There were thousands on the field at Ostagar.

But blah blah pre-Joining blah. ]

[unbrokenoath]

Did you know Loghain sold some of my family members into slavery? Fun fact.

[ Okay, family is slightly loose, but hey. ]

But I don't recall him causing quite this much of a stir. But what do I know.

[failedfirst]

[She lets out a snort.]

The only reason anyone is making a fuss is because he destroyed an ugly building full of preaching old women.

I killed dozens of merchants and their armed guards. They likely all had families and homes and their own preachy buildings to go to. And I did that without a demon in my head.

We should be helping him. Neither Anders nor Justice deserves to be turned upon.

[twelvelabours]

I didn't say I was interested in turning on him. Nathaniel trusts him, so does Bethany, and both their heads are screwed on all right. We have to make sure we get the Inquisition to trust us to deal with him if he goes off kilter again, not get on a high horse about how many people we've killed.

[failedfirst]

[the sigh she lets out is only kind of disgusted.]

My point was the humans leave it to the Wardens to deal with their own all the time, for crimes just as grievous if not moreso, this should be no different.

We have several skilled mages here who are experienced in subduing demons. If Anders does something foolish it would be within our power to stop him.

[unbrokenoath]

...A demon in his head?

[ Guess what NO ONE TOLD HER. ]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

He's not a demon, Kaisa. He's a misguided spirit. And ... there are ways to keep that in check.

[Sneaky Bethany voice is sneaky. Again, she's not sure what is being listened to and what isn't by Anders.]

[failedfirst]

Not... a demon, there would be nothing left of Anders if he were a demon. I may have been exaggerating for effect.

[And, you know if Justice had possessed her... he may very well have become a demon.]

[byblow]

I think that was more the Arl of Denerim. [ You know. Nathaniel's dad. While they're taking cheap shots. At least he doesn't directly name names? ] But he did let it happen.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[A tad tartly.] Are we going to be spending all of our time going after everyone's relations, Alistair?

[byblow]

Not all of it.

[twelvelabours]

By decree of a friend of yours, I believe. Different time, different people calling the shots. Ostagar is a separate issue, and you aren't the only one who lost friends there.

Now, you got something you wanna get outta your system, or are you going to act like a senior warden and deal with the matter at hand?

[byblow]

Sorry, ser.

[ He doesn't sound very sorry. hdu call Cousland his friend. ]