therookery | CRYSTAL

Entry tags:

CRYSTAL - ota

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Nell Voss
RECIPIENT: All
WHAT: Hello, Inquisition. Nell is here to stir up your mage business. :]
WHEN: Forward-dated slightly to post-Llomerryn adventures
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: n/a

Inquisition, hello.

[ It's a friendly-enough voice, sort of husky without being unusually low, the common tongue spoken with the generic pronunciation favored by Circle tutors and just a hint of a muddled accent that's difficult to place beyond Northern. ]

My name is Nell, and I've only recently joined your ranks here in Kirkwall. I'd heard that the Inquisition's mages governed themselves through some sort of council, but I've yet to see hide or hair of it here. Was that only a rumor? I've heard quite a lot of rumors about the Inquisition's mages, it's not always easy to pick out the truth.

I suppose my real question is what is the status of mages here, exactly? And Templars, since I've see some about already? I'm eager to help the Inquisition in its fight, but I do like to know what I'm getting myself into.

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A great deal.

[A pause as he contemplates a starting point.]

As far as the Templars go, James Norrington and Wren Coupe seem to alternate taking charge. Norrington is trying to do better. He has apologized for his actions while the Circles stood. Wren still believes that what was done was right. She seems convinced that mages and Templars were in matters together.

[The word is said mockingly, with a snort.]

She's good with politics and diplomacy, and likely the smartest of our opponents. There are other Templars. None stand out as particularly good or ill, aside from one that's been kicked from the order, Cade. He's a habit of assaulting mages, and the Seekers decided to wash their hands of him rather than acknowledge their role in shaping him. I wouldn't call him a danger, exactly. He's alone now, and bullies prefer to have a pack. But I'd steer clear of him.

Speaking of Seekers, we've also two there that stand out. Malcolm Reed is decisive and cold, but not entirely unhelpful. Be wary around him. Aleron Darton is... perhaps not the smartest man. It's hard to make sense of what he says at times, harder still to understand what he does. He was one of the Seekers who came to Kirkwall who turned a blind eye to what was going on, he allowed Cade to assault a mage in front of him, and he married a mage. I think he thinks his money will keep her safe, and he fails to understand any of the politics.

Are you still with me? Any questions? I'll go over mages next if not.

The Seeker married a mage? Was it investigated? To be sure she knew what she was doing and came to it of her own free will?

Bethany Hawke is the mage. Hawkes have... a way of doing things that are also not the smartest. There was no investigation as people seem to think even Templars and mages are suitable pairs, as if there's no dramatic disparity there.

[There's a lot of misgiving in his voice. He can't see how there can be an end to the imbalance in those relationships any time soon.]

I do believe she went into it of her own volition. It helps that Darton is not sharp, and Bethany is not cunning, beyond wanting the nice life she had for a couple of years in Kirkwall.

[ Her initial response is just a sound, not quite a sigh, of air huffed out in mild frustration. ]

Then she's a fool. They may be fine now, while the Inquisition keeps us all more or less on the same side, but one day he'll have to choose between his Order and her, and then she'll suddenly find she's just a mage after all, not a wife.

Please tell me we're not alone here with a hundred like her.

I know. He says that if matters come to a head he'll take her to his family's estate, but they're both fools for thinking it will be that simple.

And we've plenty of fools who think that if they play nice and are obedient that everything will be fine. There have been Templars and mages dating and everyone acting as if the Circles were a part of the past and have no impact now. And as if they can't come back.

[It's frustrating. None of the issues have been solved in a lasting way, but people feel content.]

And then we've the ones who want the Circles back. A great many of those have come here because the Inquisition will likely be part of how the future Chantry takes shape. There are those that are more harmless, like Julius and Myrobalan, who will at least discuss matters. The former is better at it than the latter. The former is also a friend.

[Please don't hurt his friends even if they like the Circle.]

Then you've the sort that probably killed their own alongside Vivienne when White Spire broke. Herian Amsel. I've no proof of her doing it, just Vivienne, but she is rage paired with limited foresight.

And you've the Mage Council. They've been dormant for a bit, for the best. Teaching is crucial for young mages, but that was all the good that came from it. What the group did was keep the radicals calmer while pandering to the Templars, Seekers, and Inquisition authorities. Those who were not in favor of Circles felt heard and important when in actuality they were tolerated. It was a smart creation on the part of the Loyalists, and I'm very glad Vivienne is no longer involved with it. If her and Wren teamed up... Maker, we'd be in serious danger.

[ Nell is taking notes, and there's the faint scratch of a pen on paper at the beginning of her next message to hint at it as she finishes up taking down the names and key characteristics of those he's mentioned. She reviews with a quick sweep of her gaze but it just confirms what she'd thought she'd heard. ]

Everyone you've named is a Loyalist to some degree. There must be rebels here, I know Fiona was here herself for a time?

[ Even so, it comes out as a question. There are reasons she didn't join the Inquisition sooner, and she'd be surprised and disappointed--but not shocked--to discover that the fight has been lulled out of most of her former comrades. ]

[Have a heavy sigh.]

Most are loyalists to some degree. Maybe that's why Fiona was here so briefly.

As far as those who aren't loyalists go... You've Korrin, the qunari mage, who does not always make sense but at least she's respected. There are a few Dalish mages like Pel and Sina, and they are of course against the Circles. Bethany, of course, but it's more that she has never known the Circle and as a Warden will never know it. Morrigan who has also never know the Circles and will never. Kattrin is an Avvar mage.

Mm. Samouel Gareth is not exactly of rebel stock, not a loyalist, and he's been through the Circles. He's a good man, but if you ask him to participate in anything for freedom you'll have to be choosy about it. Christine Delacroix is worthless, refuses to be called a rebel but wants her freedom, and cannot be counted on. Inessa Serra, while a Warden, understands what it's like to want freedom, but expect her Warden vows to come first.

As far as anyone else... I've no idea where Saoirse stands. She's a possibility. I don't know your friend Kostos, if you could fill me in I'd appreciate it, and I know Vandelin by name only. There are plenty of Rifter mages who would like to keep their freedom, so they may well ally with us but they may also vanish at any moment. Petrana is sharp and careful, Sarkan is smart and... fiery, Waver is calm and collected.

[He pauses deliberately and hope enters his voice.]

And then there's Fern. One of the newer generation, who has not lived in fear of the Circles. If she can thrive, she could be exactly the model that many of the older generation need to see - a mage living outside the Circle and doing well, supported by other mages, finding her own way. Proof that not only is it doable, it's doable by them as well.

[ this time the sound Nell makes is heavier, longer, a low whistle that turns into a sigh ]

A bunch of non-human apostates who don't know anything about the Circles or the Chantry, some rifters who are Maker-knows-what from Maker-knows-where, half a Warden, and a couple of fence-sitters. That's what we have to work with here. Andraste's tits, no wonder nothing's been done in two years.

[ She takes a moment, though the recording continues even as she scrubs both hands over her face. ]

If she's lived without fear of the Circles she must be barely out of diapers, and I'm not prepared to play that long a game, here. We don't have fifteen to twenty years to wait for a bit of proof that we're not all monsters waiting to turn abomination at any moment.

[The half-a-warden comment gets a snort, but he listens quietly to the rest.]

I disagree. I believe we lose nothing by supporting her what little she needs, alongside any other projects we're doing. It is a long game, and the long games are as important as the short ones.

We are pebbles wanting an avalanche; we need many plans in motion. This does not cost us and it helps our future.

I'm not suggesting that mage children shouldn't be taught, and of course I'd prefer they be taught by people that will also teach them they should be free. I'm just saying I don't think one child's education gains us anything in the short term, and we have significant progress we need to make in the short term if there's even going to be a long game.

If you want this little girl to grow up actually not needing to fear the Circles, then we have more important things to be doing right now to make sure they don't return by the time she's old enough to be Harrowed. Apparently we're just about the only two real rebels around, and you're right, we do need a lot of different plans in motion, plans it sounds like we may have to handle on our own. Surely this is something that could be entrusted to someone else.

[He's quiet for several long moments before taking a slow breath.]

If I trusted others to not include fear in the curriculum, to encourage her to stand, I'd concede the point. But I feel like losing sight of individuals to help the whole would be a waste.

I'll work on the more urgent matters as well. Mostly, even. I've no intention of raising her.

Did you come in with plans and ideas? I've the school, I've my network, and I'm open to hearing what you're suggesting.

[And he's got the handicap of his name.]

[ Nell's reluctance and continued disagreement are palpable, but she lets it lie. 'Mostly' can be good enough for now; she'll push this if a moment comes when she needs to. ]

Alright. What you do with your time is your choice, after all. If you think you can manage this as well as the rest, that's your decision to make.

To begin with, I'd planned to join the Council and see about steering it to our ends, but it sounds as if it's dead and gone and that that may be for the best given its past leanings. If we resurrect it we'd have to do so carefully and deliberately and I don't think we're in a place right now to control it the way I'd want to, not unless there are a lot more rebels out there than you think.

So I'm going to join this Chantry Relations project and make sure any relationship the Inquisition is building with the Chantry or its supporters is known to us and takes our best interests into account. And I'm going to try to see if I can either find or make some more rebels. There must be a few that could be shoved off the fence or otherwise lured to our side.

Beyond that, I'm not sure. To be honest I hadn't expected to be starting this much from scratch.

I'd no in with the Chantry Relations project; I'm glad to have you there. And I'd be glad to see you on the Council if it does rear its head again.

While they're not from here and do vanish suddenly, it seems a majority of the Rifters can be sympathetic to our cause. Apparently in other worlds nearly everyone knows it's ghastly to cage people for how they're born, as opposed to the few with a conscience in our own.

We've an uphill climb, but we're out of the Circles and here, at least, killing mages carries repercussions. I know it's small. I know it can be taken away. But we've made some progress and we're still building on it.

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