LET NO SOUL HUNGER FOR JUSTICE: SONG FOR THE SOUL

[fleurdesel]

WHO: Anders, Bethany, Nathaniel, Leliana, Kallian, Sina, Beleth
WHAT: The First Ritual
WHEN: 1st of Bloomingtide (May 1st)
WHERE: half an hour outside Skyhold
NOTES: plotting thread.

The clearing is not all that far from Skyhold- only half an hour's ride. They don't anticipate anything going wrong in this particular ritual but familiarity with the location and a fear that something might go wrong in the future is more than enough to give it a solid once over before they begin. On it's own the ritual is absurd- but there'd been notes enough to make it seem, if not entirely credible, worth a shot. After all it will work or it will not.

Won't it?

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

I was.

[There's some bitterness in his voice now as he looks after her.]

If you want to hear about it, know that there will be ranting involved. I'm not the only one bothered by what goes on in the circles; Justice is as well.

[eolasemah]

[Sina doesn't seem put off by the warning. She smiles a little, sympathetically.]

I don't mind. Some have tried to defend them to me, but I find the idea of them frightening and barbaric.

[justice_is_blond]

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.

[eolasemah]

[Sina listens with a growing despair, her young face ashen and anguished the more she hears. This is only confirming what she already suspected: the Circles are every bit as bad as the Keeper made them out to be, and she should count her lucky stars every day for having never been discovered.]

...there was talk about Harrowings here, [she says, her voice low and sick-sounding,] for those of us who never had one. The Dalish, older apostates. We refused.

[She looks down and away, considering.] ...I was taught to defend myself against spirits. Not to kill them. They are their own beings, undeserving of our intervention unless they try to cross the veil. [She purses her lips, then looks to Anders again.]

You are very courageous. We are lucky to have your help and your voice, even after all that's been done to you.

[justice_is_blond]

[He pales when he hears that there'd been talk of them. Cruel, barbaric rites that should never be brought back, and mages who were free wanted them here? They're so controlled by fear even now, because that's all a return to the Harrowings were - an ineffective response to fear.]

I'm glad you all refused. They do nothing, nothing at all except perpetuate suffering. And we should only bother ourselves with the spirits trying to force their way over, or the ones who will work with us through the Fade.

[But the other, the other isn't as easy to respond to, and he bends his head, humbled and touched. He doesn't feel courageous. He feels like he's reacting and on edge more often than not. Sometimes, though, it's not about the reality of what someone feels. It's about what they need to hear to keep a movement growing.]

I...

[He doesn't deserve the praise. But he wants to encourage the mages to keep standing, to keep working toward freedom.]

What I can do, what help I can give, I will. The struggle is still continuing, and there's much work to be done. I want our freedom to last.

[eolasemah]

[To his assertions on Harrowings, Sina nods seriously.]

The Dalish have many reasons to avoid them, between our... well, how we're often treated by those devoted to the Chantry, mages or not. [Of course, for those who are...]

I would not fear it, necessarily. I would be angered if any harm came to my people, and I... [She glances self-consciously down at her shard.] ...more than anything, I fear what might happen outside the Fade.

[justice_is_blond]

[He offers a hand for hers if she would like.]

There's... definitely still a danger. And when Corypheus is dealt with there will be intense scrutiny. The Inquisition will lose the treat it has united against, and will have to decide if it's been forged together enough to stand or if it will pick another target. I want the former. I fear the latter. But we've time to find a way to protect our peoples.

[eolasemah]

[Unused to such gestures, Sina nonetheless takes his hand, offering a small smile of pleasant surprise.]

I admit I know little about the Inquisition itself. ...its goals. [She looks aside, a bit bashfully.] My reasons for coming here are selfish, and my reasons for staying are as well.