Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Nothing But The Truth

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Adelaide, Alistair, Anders, Bethany, Nathaniel, Varric, Vasran, Velanna
WHAT: The Second Ritual
WHEN: 10th of Bloomingtide (May 10th)
WHERE: half an hour outside of Skyhold
NOTES: Plotting post.

They've kept to the same clearing as the last, because the location's good. Far enough away that no one could stumble upon them by accident, near enough in case something went seriously wrong, it works.

He has scarcely more hope this time than he did the last, but at least there's no singing involved. This can't go as strangely. In theory.

Comments

Healing Tents

[unharrowed]

[This is probably a terrible idea. Curiosity and cats, and all that. But in the midst of all the frantic research to work out what the hell went wrong this time, Vasran finds herself with an itch that demands to be scratched.

Her feelings about the mage rebellion have always been more complex than she has wanted to admit, but she's always resented the man who set things in motion at Kirkwall...

...at least, she did when he was an abstract concept. She even still thought she did when it was revealed that he was here.

Now? Even she is not certain what she thinks. So, she tells herself as she walks into his tent, she will benefit from this conversation in more ways than one.]

I'm not afraid of you.

[There. Already she's learned something about herself.]

You don't really seem like an anarchist mastermind. And you're sort of funny. You're also subjecting yourself to this willingly, which must mean you want something to change. I could imagine why, but I can't say for sure, so I want you to tell me.

[justice_is_blond]

[That's an interesting start, and he looks up at her. 'Sort of' funny gets an eyebrow raise, he tries very hard to be actually funny, but he's not actually bothered.]

I want a lot to change. Including seeing mages living without fear, which means I'm glad you're not afraid. As far as this in particular? The attempts to return Justice to the Fade?

[Anders walks over to a side table and starts pulling some things out so he can keep working while he talks, chopping herbs, preparing them, drying them, simple things. Appeasing the spirit and making him feel like things are getting done is more important right now than ever.]

I want to get someone who helped save my life and the lives of others back home. I want to bring to an end the situation that is endangering the both of us and others. I'd like if there's the side effect of learning how to help others who are possessed, some spell that can throw whatever it is back into the Fade, but I'm not entirely optimistic there. First something has to actually work. Does that answer your question?

[unharrowed]

[She wills her mouth to stay shut until she's sure he's finished talking. As she isn't exactly compelled to speak, the only thing driving the desire to shout her truth at him is the surge of emotion she's feeling. It shows in the way her hands fist at her sides, in the tension of her face, the effort it's taking to keep a neutral expression. She wants - needs - to hear every word.

Living without fear. Those words are still ringing through her head when she speaks next.]

I was more afraid in the foothills of the Hinterlands, fighting for my life and watching my friends die, than I ever was in Kinloch Hold. And that includes the time demons and blood magic infected the tower.

[My friends gets ground out from between almost-clenched teeth. Before she can get completely overtaken by the emotion, she lets the next bit of truth escape:]

I wanted to know why you were letting this happen now. I thought, maybe, you might regret what happened in Kirkwall.

[justice_is_blond]

[He looks back over at her, expression almost neutral except for a raised eyebrow. If she hadn't been afraid in Kinloch Hold, she's not that smart, in his opinion.]

I do. And I do not.

[He resumes looking at the work in front of him, measuring absently. This is easy. This helps him keep a clear mind while he talks so that maybe he doesn't say things he doesn't want to say during this.]

I regret many of the lives lost and the chaos that followed. I do not regret killing Elthina. Her job was to protect and balance. She failed, and her failure was costing lives by the day: mages, the poor, the lost. And after seven years of trying to save lives by any peaceful means possible, I could not stand by and not act as Meredith clearly escalated toward the slaughter of every mage in the city.

[Now he looks back up, at her.]

I'll point out the obvious, though. What I did was not simply for those who were comfortable in the Circles. What I did was also for the many, many others who suffered and struggled as they were abused in every way possible or murdered. You were fine in Kinloch. Many of us were not. And another obvious thing - I'm far from the sole person responsible for the mage versus templar conflict and the broken Circles. I'm convenient, certainly. Here, whereas the Lord Seeker is missing, Elthina is dead, Meredith is dead, and countless Templars will never face justice or acknowledge that their use of mages was brutal and cruel, and so on. This was centuries in the making, and the breaking point was coming.

[unharrowed]

[Time has a way of changing perspective. Vasran remembers the isolation, the darkness of her hiding place and the sounds that echoed through the tower. She also remembers knowing that not everyone was corrupted, and praying to the Maker that they would cut down those who were. She remembers her rescue, and the sight of the Hero of Ferelden, and how those who were left had banded together even more strongly in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, in the Hinterlands, there had been no one to save her but herself.]

People always die. Someone is always suffering, whether there's a reason or not. We've only traded one sort of suffering for another.

[justice_is_blond]

That's bullshit. Not the part about someone always suffering. That's true. But it means that we should work all the harder to try to fix suffering as we find it, not accept that there will be it. The other is bullshit.

[He crosses his arms, focus on his work fading away.]

Life is not easy, freedom, choices, expectations, survival, but it is far superior to being caged. At the end of this struggle is lives of our own determining. They may not be pleasant, but they will be ours.

[unharrowed]

[She almost snaps that it isn't bullshit, because it can't be, but he goes on and she bites back the words.

Life is not easy. Life could have been easier. And no, Vasran hadn't thought overmuch about the pain of those who slipped through the cracks. Because that was the price, wasn't it? The fault of a few bad Templars, not the Circles themselves.]

Well — I know what I would choose.

I hope you manage to find a ritual that actually works, before you decide we're still not free enough.

[And that's enough, she thinks, turning away and walking toward the door of the tent.]