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WHO: Fenris and YOU!
WHAT: Fenris is back around Skyhold, catch-all prompts for the month!
WHEN: March/Drakonis
WHERE: Around Skyhold
NOTES: No warnings likely, just the occasional grumping from a certain elf here.

Herald's Rest

Not long after he returns to Skyhold, Fenris inevitably ends up in the tavern. He's been exhaustively busy over the time that he's been away… so of course some drinks are in order. His own stash is largely depleted, and who knows when he’ll next get a chance to replenish it? He orders a bottle of wine, but refrains from using the glass that he’s given. Nope, this is one of those times. Fenris simply grabs the bottle and starts drinking it down…

Stables

At the moment, Fenris isn’t really planning to get a mount. It’s something he may consider if he does stay longer at Skyhold, however, because it could come in handy for getting around the expanse of Ferelden or Orlais, for that matter. Who knows where the Inquisition may take him? Not that he's planning to be anything more than loosely affiliated with it. It's his choice to be here and it'll be his choice if he wants to leave again. That's essential for him to keep in mind. He'll always make sure to have an escape route, when it comes to this sort of thing.

So he’s wandering through the stables, glancing curiously at what’s there. The nuggalopes get particular attention, since they’re totally new to him. "Imagine that… Giant nug-beasts."

Gardens

“I still don’t trust that demons or spirits cannot listen in on this thing…”

He mutters to himself as he’s settled in the garden, staring intently at his Crystal as he looks through the most recent messages. He’d rather not speak into it, at least for now, so instead, he’s just getting himself caught up. Sure, nothing bad has come of it so far, and it didn’t before… but he still doesn’t entirely like it.

Wandering: Wildcard Location!

At some point, Fenris decides to get a look around, mostly to see if anything has changed. But he’s actually quietly trying to see who's still around that he recognizes, too. There are people he’d like to see if possible… and also people he’d like to avoid if he can. He’s not one for formally announcing his presence, preferring to remain down low about being around. Like a ghost or a stray, he’s kind of just slipped back into life here without making a big deal of it.

So he’s on the prowl, so to speak, looking for familiar faces all over Skyhold. He’ll drop by most anywhere, approaching those he knows, and eventually interrupting whatever they’re doing. “It’s been a while.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

For a man who walked around in wooden sandals and dressed like a rainbow, the Medicine Seller had a bizarre habit of turning up seemingly out of nowhere.

Which was, of course, ridiculous. He'd just come through the side door and had overheard Fenris's grumbling.

"If you speak so closely to it, then the words will enter their ears whether they like it or not."

Fenris looks up abruptly, taken aback by the presence of the other man's approach. He stares at him curiously for a moment... after all, that's not how most anyone normally dresses around here, except quite possibly the Orlesians.

"I'll keep that in mind," he says dryly, not entirely fond of the notion, whether or not he was actually serious. "And what do you know of these things? All magic has the potential to be corrupted, after all..."

"The hearts of the people who hold them are far easier to sway than the stones themselves," he said impassively.

"Other than that, they are convenient for those who like to talk."

Certainly less cumbersome than a telegram machine, but those did not appear to exist in this world and he did not feel like coming across as a bit touched in the head by mentioning what would sound like nonsense.

That's probably for the best, after all, Fenris is already wary upon knowing there's something a bit unusual about him. Rifters often make him wary on first meeting them, though. He's still getting used to being around them again, since they tend to stay around the Inquisition mainly.

"I have no doubt as to their convenience. Nor is it the stones that I'm concerned about... but with some form of magic powering them... who knows what demons or spirits may listen in." True, he'd hope the Inquisition has some kind of safeguard in place to prevent that, but magic can never be trusted. "All magic comes from the Fade, after all..."

"I would not discount the possibility," said the Medicine Seller, just slightly amused by the prospect.

"But do demons have any more than a passing interest in such affairs? Our lives and troubles would be fleeting from their perspective."

"Perhaps so. I've seen the messages on here are mostly practical, some... less so... but they would still know more about Inquisition business than they ought to." He frowns, not sure what to make of that, but there are other potential threats too. "Imagine if they found a way to communicate through them, as well. They could tempt the mages in that way... without even crossing over from the Fade..."

Yeah, he's really cheery to be around, of course.

Oh this was a conundrum. What should he do, what should he do? Use logic and rational thinking to allay Fenris's fears?

Or be an asshole and fan the flames of his paranoia until he either realized how silly he was being or flew into a rage?

For anyone else, the former would, undoubtedly, be the preferable option. But with great power came great responsibility - things the Medicine Seller had an abundance of both already and that got really, really boring after a while.

He set down his medicine pack and sat beside him, giving a small, encouraging nod.

"If that is the case, they would be among the Inquisition already. Would they be servants of Corypheus or working toward their own... agenda?"

When it comes to magic, spirits and demons, one can never be too cautious. Or paranoid. Though he knows that the Inquisition probably wouldn't be using them if such danger existed. Still, all magic can be corrupted, more people should be wary of such possibility.

"Both, I'm sure. Even those who might profess an alliance with Corypheus may also have their own motivations lurking underneath that. Anything from the Fade can never be trusted." He frowns, not too pleased when he thinks of that kind being among them. "Demons are clever and manipulative, they very well could disguise themselves. The Inquisition even had at least one spirit- an abomination- walking in it's midst recently." The last sentence is said with disgust. He's only heard vague things about Anders being separated from Justice. He personally doesn't care, though, once an abomination, always one.

Now there was a frightfully fascinating piece of information - something much more relevant to his interests than, say, conspiracy theories about demons wiretapping the crystals or whatever it is Fenris thought was going on.

Play it cool, Medicine Seller.

"It seems odd that beings who are driven mad merely by entering this world would have the capacity for being so... covert."

He tilted his head, now much more curious about this alleged abomination.

"Who, may I ask, is the one possessed?"

Oh, this is something he can't hold back from discussing... he almost loves to hate Anders at certain points. He shrugs to the first part, though, not about to dismiss the idea outright. Though he does want to see if more evidence arises, proof that there are spirits or demons listening in. Or both. He'll be cautious, anyway.

"His name is Anders and he's among the Grey Wardens." His expression darkens. Nothing against the Wardens, entirely, but he loathes that they'd harbored him here. "As far as I've heard, the spirit was somehow removed. The details aren't important. What's important is that this is a man who would willingly allow one of those inside him, and a man who would go to the length of mass murder to prove his points."

This here is one person who might never forgive Anders.

Well - that was unexpected. It looked like the Medicine Seller had inadvertently twanged a nerve.

Of course, being the kind of man he was, he couldn't help to twang it some more to see what kind of interesting information would fall out.

"Mass murder," he repeated. "My, my. What a troublesome one."

He wouldn't deny he was curious - after all there were so many pieces to so many puzzles he was missing, and this wasn't the first time the name 'Anders' had cropped up.

"What exactly did he try to prove."

Fenris keeps a scowl on his face as he thinks about Anders. He's caused nothing but chaos and death, as far as he's concerned. That he's allowed to live, let alone be part of the Inquisition... It's one of the worst moves the organization has made, really, and a reason he's been uncertain about staying.

"He thought he was gaining freedom for all mages. Does it even matter, when the end was such a disaster? By blowing up that chantry, he only made it worse on the very people he meant to protect..."

Of course it mattered, he thought. Reason, Regret, they always mattered. But the Medicine Seller cared little for fruitless debates when there was much more interesting things to discuss.

"...How... did he make it worse?"

As far as the Medicine Seller could tell, the mages were experiencing a hitherto unprecedented of level of freedom in the south. At least in comparison to what he'd read in the history books.

"There were lives lost in that blast, for one thing. Those can never be replaced. He incited a war. Many of the very people he sought to protect- mages- also lost their lives in the initial conflicts that followed. In some places, Templars responded by tightening restrictions, quite the opposite of what he hoped to achieve, not to mention that his actions certainly put mages in a worse light than ever to some... and some mages rebelled with no thought given to how they would deal with freedom. It was ill thought out, with no real plans in place. They've had more of a mess on hand than ever before. As of now, no true solution can be agreed upon for the mages' future."

There were attempts of course, at getting peace, but some of them like the Conclave, hadn't ended well. At the moment... it doesn't look good for completely settling what will become of the mages. They might have more freedom than before, but at what cost? And how will all these unrestricted mages affect things later on? He frowns a little, not afraid to express his opinion to the fullest on this matter.

"Besides, mages were better off in the Circles."

"He sounds a troublesome one, indeed," he mused.

He had his own opinions about the Circles. At best, they seemed pointless to him. Mages were more likely to be possessed by demons, true, but it seemed spirits that wanted in to the physical world would settle for anything they could get their incorporeal hands on. Non-mages, corpses, animals - even trees.

At worst the Circles were monstrous - a convenient place for the Chantry to keep their two most powerful forces, with the mages under the thumb of the Templars, and the Templars controlled by an addiction to some drug called Lyrium. With that sort of spiral, it would continue indefinitely or something would explode.

But the Circles weren't his problem, and he was far too removed from the situation to express any outward opinion on the matter.

"What would you have done in such a position?"

Fenris makes a disgusted expression, because it's very very hard to imagine himself as a mage, for one thing. He's spent most of his life either fearing or despising most mages, so it's a little bit... unpleasant to even go there. He scowls, getting a familiar tension in his back and stretching a little as he considers.

"I wouldn't have sacrificed others' lives for the sake of my own supposed freedom. I would have seen the value in the Circles and the freedom they can provide... yes, freedom... from possession, freedom to learn and study... and the structure to prevent mages from falling to practicing dangerous, terrible spells. The mages in the Circles had it far better than some of us ever did in other situations. I doubt I would have cared to fight against what was in place, in such a position."

Circles had a purpose, and mages benefited in his way of seeing it, far more than some of the down sides.

"My, my. Freedom does seem to mean many different things to people," he mused, not really interested in an argument or debate about what constituted dangerous, terrible spells.

"I have only heard others' accounts of the Circles. If what you say is true, how very, very terrible the lives of those outside them must be."

"It can be. Mages must be constantly vigilant against the risk of demonic possession, and without the proper guidance it's all the more difficult... Some rare ones can manage it, and some cannot." He thinks about Bethany, who he'd been initially suspicious of, but who had proven herself one of the stronger mages, the sort not ruined by power. Inessa is in a similar position, though she had a Circle upbringing. "And some others can be corrupted by their power, using it to conquer others they see as beneath them... Visit Tevinter and you'll see what I mean by that."

"I have heard of what is done in Tevinter."

There was a rare edge to the Medicine Seller's usual monotone. A hint of disgust, though the moment of genuine emotion was quickly buried.

"One need not travel so far to see a lust for power and control consume men," said the Medicine Seller, once again even-toned. One didn't even need to look to mages - plenty of people with more money, status or charisma than conscience were perfectly capable of committing atrocities on a daily basis.

Good. He seems disgusted by the ways of Tevinter. As anyone should be. "And what's done in Tevinter is the result of mages being unrestrained." That's the point he's constantly trying to make with people, which is constantly dismissed by the pro-mage types. Sigh. They have no idea what they're really advocating.

But the Medicine Seller does have a fair point, as well, and Fenris nods. "I won't argue that power can corrupt in anyone's hands, mage or not. Mages just pose more of a threat when it happens."

"Perhaps," said the Medicine Seller. "Though in time, that may change. Tevinter is already in its twilight."

Magic was not likely keep up with technology - fireballs and blood magic would give way to bombs and mustard gas. The 'how' men enacted inventive cruelties upon each other would change. The 'why' would stay exactly the same.

"Let's hope so. Tevinter has such a long history and I expect it'll go down thrashing and kicking when the time comes." Because it can't go out quietly or easily. Still, he hopes to be in on its downfall somehow.

What would rise in its place, he wonders. The way the magisters rule can't happen again, that much is certain.

"Even the oldest mountains crumble to dust," he mused. He shifted his icy stare from the gardens, casting a sidelong glance to Fenris.

"You are very keen on their downfall."

It was a statement, not a question, spoken in that aggravatingly slow monotone.

"Could it be that you have been there?"

"A hopeful sentiment." One which he would greatly like to believe in, when it comes to this situation. All things must end, that's a truth which may seem pretty harsh sometimes, but to him it's the best thing there is, knowing that even the magisters must fall eventually.

His expression darkens, clearly the Medicine Seller is correct in his assumption, just based on the reactions alone. Oh, yes, that's a whole long story in itself, one which is full of awful things. "I was born and grew up there, and I'm not eager to return ever again."

"Sometimes there is truth in hope. Time brings change, and Tevinter lingers in its past glories."

It would adapt to changing times or it would crumble - either way, it would be the death of Tevinter of old.

The Medicine Seller's own expression remained impassive as ever. Despite appearances, he was weighing Fenris's words with care.

"I have heard that elves do well to avoid Tevinter," he said. "Is that why you came here?"

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