closed || Quid Pro Quo

[nonsibi]

WHO: Bellamy, Church, Clarke, Cosima, Fenris
WHAT: Orzammar asked for the Inquisition to come fix Thedas' very first underground rift, and our brave heroes are just the heroes for the job. The Inquisition has also asked our heroes to heroically take the measure of those controlling the Inquisition's lyrium contract, in hopes of softening them up to renegotiate for a better price. And then there's that dead dwarf....
WHEN: vaguely Justinian
WHERE: Orzammar
NOTES: at least one dead body

starters for each piece of this mission are in the comments!

Comments

[lyriumcarved]

[Along the route, Fenris is generally more content to walk than to ride, frequently allowing others to take the horses. He's not overly fond of them truthfully, though he'll occasionally take a break and do so anyway. Not that he's very good with relaxing. The swift, steady pace they're taking works well for him. The sooner they get there, the better.]

[He doesn't settle much even at the end of the day once they've make camp, stretching and pacing a little as he scans the area.]

We should be there soon, at this rate.

[youwonscience]

Have you been to Orzammar before?

[Cosima might have asked this earlier -- she probably would have, except for the irrational part of her that spent the first few days of the mission wondering how she'd manage to end up in a jail cell yet again. She's relaxed a bit, though, as they fall into something like a rhythm of travel. And with the relaxation comes indulging her curiosity. It can't hurt to ask?]

[lyriumcarved]

I haven't. I can't say I've ever wanted to visit it before, either... I've heard that the more traditional among the dwarves aren't specially fond of visitors. They must be desperate if they're asking this of us.

[But how else are they going to close that rift? It's not something so easily done, not without a rifter or other shardbearer. Which means bringing the Inquisition in to handle it. Lucky them. Still, Fenris does have to admit he's... morbidly curious to see what life is really like underground.]

[youwonscience]

I guess you don't build a heavily fortified underground city if you're fond of visitors.

[Still, it is interesting at that. And it's mildly novel that they won't necessarily object to rifters more than any other Inquisition personnel.]

Still, it's going to be interesting. Hopefully the regular interesting, not the euphemistic kind where we're all running from something at the end of it.

[lyriumcarved]

I wouldn’t count out the possibility of this all ending in a massive disaster of some sort. They wouldn’t involve the Inquisition otherwise.

[After a lot of the things he’s been through, Fenris has come to trust in things generally going from “ok” to “oh god can it get any worse” pretty fast. But who knows? They might be surprised.]

But dwarves really are peculiar people… the underground and surface ones alike. [Especially when your name is Varric.] Did you know that these dwarves who live in the underground are forbidden from ever going to the surface?

[youwonscience]

I didn't. Do people know why? Is it just, like, a cultural purity thing, or is there some other reason?

[She'd seen dwarves enough on the surface that she'd just assumed some of them came from Orzammar; she sees now that was probably hasty, but she's so used to playing catch-up here that she's not shocked she's filled in some of her blanks incorrectly.]

[lyriumcarved]

[Fenris nods. He’s got some knowledge of the dwarves, although none of it is direct, like some other cultures would be. But he knows the basics that most do on Thedas. He frowns a little bit, thinking of what he knows about their society.]

The underground dwarves have a very strict caste system. Orzammar itself is divided quite rigidly by these castes, with the nobles having their own section, the merchants and so forth… and then there are the undesirables. There are always undesirables. [He makes another face at that, disliking the whole notion on principle. Sure, it’s not quite slavery, but even so...] They call them the casteless, and they live in the most rundown part of town. They say their Ancestors disfavor them.

That also happens for those who leave for the surface. I believe the word they use is ‘sun-touched’ or along those lines. Once a dwarf departs for the surface, they’re considered casteless, outside of their society. Exile to the surface could be considered a terrible punishment for some. Though some willingly choose this, of course, if their place in underground life is unappealing… but they can never be welcomed back into the society if they leave.

[youwonscience]

Wow. That's intense.

[In fairness, a lot of things in Thedas are intense, in Cosima's experience.]

So caste is a birth thing? Because if there's not a way to move between castes, you'd think a lot of the people who are casteless anyway would just take their chance on the surface if they could.

[Her tone is sympathetic, mainly. She can't approve of a system where people are stuck in shitty lives indefinitely. Sure, this is hardly the only system that works that way, but that doesn't mean she has to like it better.]

[lyriumcarved]

I would certainly take my chances.

[Yes, he can't blame them whatsoever. To live in a society with such a rigid order, with your station imposed on you without a choice, to be looked down on, enslaved, treated with cruelty... No. Dwarven society below the surface is just unpleasant, even with the lack of mages. Surprisingly.]

Who knows what keeps them down there? At least on the surface, there are opportunities... and the dwarves still need trade to come from somewhere, so the surface dwarves have an essential role. Far better than being the lowest of the low, in their society's eyes.

[youwonscience]

I mean, I'd think so. But I also realize that I'm like, the last person qualified to guess anything about any culture in Thedas so.

[Thus the questions.]

Thanks, though. I really appreciate when people take the time to answer what must seem like incredibly basic questions, that's gotta get old.

[lyriumcarved]

It must get just as old having to deal with a world that's not your own. I can't blame you.

[He's still getting used to that notion, but in a way he understands. Even being in a less familiar country could be daunting, let alone another world.]

Some of this world isn't so bad... but I've always thought it for the best to know the full truth of what you're getting into, no matter how terrible it may seem. Dwarven culture takes some careful navigation, but it won't be impossible to deal with.

[youwonscience]

There's that too. Luckily, no one sent me here to negotiate anything. Just [she wiggles the hand with the anchor shard] practical considerations.

There's a lot of this world that's really fascinating, but it wasn't like I was a politician or a diplomat at home, either. I mean, not beyond what it takes to try to sweet-talk someone into funding my research, at least.

[lyriumcarved]

I’m no diplomat either… Maker knows why I’ve been sent along.

[He may be underestimating his skills with such things, but of all things, he’d never have seen himself going down to negotiate with dwarves. If Varric could see him now...]

Do you ever get used to it? Having that shard in your hand?

[As used to it as one might get toward glowy brands all over, he supposes, though.]

[youwonscience]

[She shrugs.]

Yes and no. It aches pretty steadily, though if I'm doing something else I'm less conscious of it. Like a mild headache in your hand. It's still startling, when I glance down and see it. Maybe you get used to that too, but I haven't yet.

[She considers asking about his markings but doesn't; if he wants to bring them up, she figures, he will without prompting. Instead, she decided to be frank:]

I'm a pretty deeply unmagical woman, though, so sometimes it's existentially uncomfortable be so intimately tied to something I don't understand and can't really control.

[lyriumcarved]

[The constant ache is something he can understand all too well. It may not be at all the same circumstances, but in some ways this does help him understand this aspect of rifters a little better. A lot better.]

It's probably for the best not to get too used to it... then you'll start accepting it. [Has he gotten too used to his own... alteration? That's something he'll have to ponder some more, soon.]

Magic is unnatural and dangerous, and has only ever ultimately caused more harm than good. [He pauses a moment.] I don't mean to frighten you. But that's my way of agreeing... you're right to be wary of it.

[youwonscience]

I mean, I'm a little more worried about what it's actually doing than the ache itself. Anything that can close a rip in reality without me understanding how it works...

[She shrugs.]

My world doesn't have magic at all, as far as I know. It's hard for me to get a sense of what different people here consider 'normal,' sometimes.

[lyriumcarved]

Count yourself fortunate to have grown up in a world free of magic.

[For all the positives it might have, the negative aspects of magic far outweigh those. Always.]

I don't know if there's a such thing as normal around here either, but generally having a glowing shard in your hand is far from it. Let's hope they'll start to understand more about it, in time.