OPEN ||

[degenere]

FORM: sending crystal
SENDER: Val de Foncé
RECIPIENT: EVERYONE.
WHAT: a poetry reading, a contest announcement.
WHEN: today.
WHERE: Skyhold, but broadcast to everywhere!
NOTES: the poem is a little racy. the contest will be a little objectifying. we're all going to have a good time.

In Orlais, Inquisition, where so many of you are now so lucky to be-- [And his accent is so Orlesian, so yes, he would know how lucky you are!] --we have an appreciation for beauty. Since the Inquisition has made foray to this country, each report will be redolent with agreements and accolades to my point. Orlais' streets and buildings, artwork and artistry--fashion, if you can stomach its peculiar charm--countryside, the wildlife, the gardens--even the arrangement of food, upon a plate--all of it, such beauty. And in a time of such strife a we live--we should appreciate beauty all the more.

So first--a poem.

[And he clears his throat and recites, in quite a good voice; this is not his first poetry reading:]

"My fingers have forgotten I don't love you
they remember the circumference of your wrist the way
that my throat knows the weight of your palm
blue veins and the hard jut of tendon.

My slack thighs know the ghost of your hand, holding
they save a place for you, a candle lit in a window
when will my lover return from the war
when I am the war, and is it your hands or my voice
that rasps my throat?

My feet remember the way
twenty-one steps, staircase, balcony, the third door
the graze of stone under my palms, a collision
my body knows to sigh and I, I have forgotten to listen
my fingers have forgotten you didn't love me."

[He concludes with a sigh.]

Such beauty. This, my friends, is the work of none other than one of Orlais' finest poets: Ilde Sauvageon, a name all should know. Is it too bold to speak of her so highly? Orlais has had so many poets, and Sauvageon is so young in comparison. What's more, some have made the claim that her work is without propriety. Why either of these would be a complaint, I do not know. The brutal confrontation of each line has a beauty all its own, a signature charm that cannot be put into words, yet is still felt quite deeply.

And if someone finds himself uncomfortably aroused by such directness--as I suspect is the case, with Sauvageon's critics--then he should seek his comfort, not demean the work of a celebrated poet.

And now that we are in the mood for it--an announcement! A need has arisen for the mages of the Inquisition to submit themselves to a contest of beauty. This is entirely the idea of your fellow mage, Sadira, who I find to be of uncommon good looks and a charming temperament--and possessed of unfortunate taste in wine, but she cannot help herself, I suppose. No portraits need be submitted, but all will be considered and judged against a model of perfection.

Of course, we will wait, for there are so many of the Inquisition so far from Skyhold. Sadira has insisted it be so. But in the darkness of each day, you must fix your mind upon beauty, and what better beauty than this collected beauties that will be in all of our futures! A contest always cheers the spirits. We all, I think, need cheering.

Comments

[el_tybs]

[He wouldn't say that there was any directness or arousal from that, but then again he had kind of half listened to the voice that came up on the stone. At least until the last part.]

The mages of the Inquisition have to do what?

[degenere]

Fetch me any poems by Ilde Sauvageon that have been published in the last, oh. Six months or so.

[elegiaque]

( oh no. )

[degenere]

[senses no psychic distress, too busy wallpapering his quarters with I <3 ILDE S. posters]

[byblow]

Maker, you can't go around talking about thighs on these things. Children might hear.

[ He's joking. Mostly. Eighty-five percent. ]

[degenere]

The Inquisition has children in it?

[provenforce]

...Do you actually think that this is something we all needed to hear?

[degenere]

That depends.Did you know of Ilde Sauvageon until this moment?

[failedfirst]

[ordinarily Velanna would just ignore this shit. But the phrasing of how the mages need to submit themselves gets her hackles up.]

The mages need do no such thing. To judge us by our appearance is an insult to us all.

[justice_is_blond]

Have I mentioned lately that I'm glad you joined the Wardens? Because I'm glad you joined.

[degenere]

On the contrary. It is a compliment. If it were an insult, I would have phrased it all very, very differently.

[justice_is_blond]

I'm sorry, I'm not currently available to be the model of perfection. You'll have to make do with someone else.

[degenere]

What a pity. Is that what I say?

Who do you suggest?

1/3

[fledglingenchanter]

Re: 2/3

[fledglingenchanter]

3/3

[fledglingenchanter]

[After some time to stop internally screaming she manages to find the sending crystal.]

Don't... Sell yourself short Val. This was as much your idea as mine. I cannot take credit for this.

Private

[circleprodigy]

...Sadira? Can you elaborate?

[Because she's not trusting the word of this Orlesian fop.]

[justice_is_blond]

Wait, this truly was your idea? I'd assumed he'd made it up.

[degenere]

No, you must take credit. You were right, you know. About the portraits.

[fightorfright]

( Disgust. This is a tone of disgust. )

Why mages?

[degenere]

Because...? Why not mages?

[gatheringstorm]

No.

[degenere]

To which?

[circleprodigy]

A 'model of perfection'?

[degenere]

Yes. Like a paragon. There must be a standard against which to measure and judge, or else it will all be arbitrary, and based upon personal feeling.

We must be fair, you surely agree.

[mythalenaste]

Obviously you know that's not going to happen.

[degenere]

No. I don't know that. Tell me, why would it not happen?

[unsullies]

[ Sternly: ] Beauty is hardly the most important quality in a person.

[ ... Then: ]

I enjoyed that poem. Are there more by that writer?

[degenere]

I would never suggest that beauty is the most important.

[But it's also not unimportant. To the contrary, actually. But the poem is a better topic anyways, one Val takes up without hesitation--]

And there are many, many poems written by Ilde Sauvageon. She has been a prolific writer, much to the benefit of us, her humble but adoring fans. And may I compliment you on your taste, mademoiselle? It seems there are few in Skyhold who appreciate the work of Sauvageon in the way that it should be appreciated. This one is one of my many favorites. It is too hard to select a single favorite.