They're entirely frightening and barbaric. Some shut down for the sake of survival, close out anything that doesn't fit into their picture of what they can live through. Others struggle the whole time.
I was part of the second group. I didn't speak the language, so I couldn't obey perfectly right from the start. I became a target for Templar annoyance then, and their frustration after I escaped for the first time. As if harrowing wasn't enough.
[He pauses, tilting his head. The circles are broken, and he's an apostate. Why not talk about it?]
Harrowing is something we're not supposed to talk about. I don't care. They haul you out of bed in the middle of the night and send you into the Fade to fight a demon they've lured and trapped. The demon can only get free if you die, you can only get free if it does. If you're too slow, the Templars will kill you anyway. Did I mention that we're half-trained at best for this?
They threw me into that the night they brought me back, and I was counted lucky as they could instead have killed me or made me Tranquil. The only reason I got Harrowed was because I had already shown a gift for healing beyond the average. The only reason my punishment for the next escape was pain and chores rather than death was because my healing was much beyond average. I was constantly injured, constantly in fear, and I was still lucky. Unlike so many others, I was never sexually abused. And my Circle was better by far than Kirkwall's.
[He stops, giving that time to sink in.]
Those who seek power and enjoy beating people had the perfect job. An entire population taught to fear themselves, hate themselves, and to never lash back.
no subject
I was part of the second group. I didn't speak the language, so I couldn't obey perfectly right from the start. I became a target for Templar annoyance then, and their frustration after I escaped for the first time. As if harrowing wasn't enough.
[He pauses, tilting his head. The circles are broken, and he's an apostate. Why not talk about it?]
Harrowing is something we're not supposed to talk about. I don't care. They haul you out of bed in the middle of the night and send you into the Fade to fight a demon they've lured and trapped. The demon can only get free if you die, you can only get free if it does. If you're too slow, the Templars will kill you anyway. Did I mention that we're half-trained at best for this?
They threw me into that the night they brought me back, and I was counted lucky as they could instead have killed me or made me Tranquil. The only reason I got Harrowed was because I had already shown a gift for healing beyond the average. The only reason my punishment for the next escape was pain and chores rather than death was because my healing was much beyond average. I was constantly injured, constantly in fear, and I was still lucky. Unlike so many others, I was never sexually abused. And my Circle was better by far than Kirkwall's.
[He stops, giving that time to sink in.]
Those who seek power and enjoy beating people had the perfect job. An entire population taught to fear themselves, hate themselves, and to never lash back.