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

Library

[laurenande]

[Galadriel has been, admittedly, preoccupied of late. She'd spent a great deal of time completing gifts for others but had, as of yet, to find Adelaide. The last she'd seen of the woman had been a harrowing dream and, as she heard her muttering amid the books, Galadriel's vague sense of worry was only amplified.

She found Adelaide bent over her table, twin beverages at her arm and a bevvy of notes spread across the remaining available surface. A set of candles burned low in a tray just past her drinks. When she approaches it is quietly.

Perhaps too quietly, as Adelaide doesn't seem aware of her, even as she stands beside her.]

A dire statement, but often true.

[She doesn't lean to read the notes, but she glances the contents that she can see while standing alongside the table. They are not Adelaide's notes about Rifters, but what then, if not that?]

Has something unfortunate happened?

[fleurdesel]

Balles de Deiu!

[ Adelaide startles, sharply, flinching away from Galadirel's voice and snapping up a barrier without thought. The faint blue shimmer to the air lingers for a moment or two as she caches her breath and claws for her composure again. Galadriel, no one else.

She has not been quite so tightly wound in...months. As much as it is a point in favor of her settling into some manner of normality it makes the loss of control all the more mortifying. With a vague wave of her hand she dismisses the barrier and breathes through her nose to calm her hammering heart. ]

You frightened me.

[ Understatement, that. ]

I failed, again. If that is a mark of what is to come with the rest of this- [ She flicks her fingers at the notes before her. ] it may be better to not.

[laurenande]

[Galadriel recoils as the barrier abruptly rises, but the magic does no harm and, in the end, dissipates. Adelaide's shock is...less surprising than it should be and the elf offers an apologetic look.]

Ah, forgive me, it was not my intent.

[She moves around the table and, in passing, glances the notes again. While she has become competent in reading the common language of Thedas, personal handwriting is still something of a hindrance and Adelaide's notes are as dense as her own are wont to be.]

Failed? [She arches a brow and turns her attention to the human.] Howso?

[fleurdesel]

You are forgiven. I am more upset at my reaction than I am with you.

[ Ah- too much. She bites down on the rest, breathing slowly to shake off the thought and truth she might speak further. Perhaps drowning it in cold tea will help.

A sip and she swallows down that tangled knot, focus once again on her notes. ]

The ritual did not work. It has, instead, backfired spectacularly much in the same way as the last ritual. At least I am not stuck singing for a day. And no one else is possessed, and no one is dead. It could have gone worse.

[laurenande]

[If Galadriel notes the pause, the silence Adelaide imposes on herself, she makes no mention of it. Rather, she waits for the human to explain, as she would, and once it is done, takes on a thoughtful expression.]

A grim and...curious measurement, but if no harm has been done? [Galadriel lets this question linger, there, as she continues. Adelaide had confirmed that none died, that none were possessed, and...that none were singing?] Then perhaps it is not so unfortunate.

The cost of an attempt, no matter the goal, is often failure...though, I admit, I have never heard tales of the cost being...persistent song?

[She's not mocking, not precisely, but that was a strange sentiment...one that was at odds with how dire and dreadful Adelaide's situation seemed. Galadriel would offer her assistance but, despite her great age and politesse, she cannot resist:]

A terrible fate, indeed.

[fleurdesel]

I am unaccustomed to failure. I do my work, I do it well, the desired results are achieved. Even when testing new applications of magic I know the theory well enough to tell if an experiment is possible long before it is ever put into practice.

[ And yet, all of this. It is all the more vital, the risks are all the greater, and it is all the more frustrating that she cannot manage to predict precisely how they have failed.

That they would not work- it had never been a question. That they would backfire quite like this? ]

The first ritual involved a song, thus- everyone was compelled to sing instead of speak for a day. This ritual involved the true nature of a soul, the true nature of a spirit. Thus everyone involved is compelled to speak the truth.

[ A week past the failure and it still stings- but she can snort a faint laugh. ]

You have not heard Nathaniel sing. It was awful.

[laurenande]

[To be compelled to speak the truth was an odd curse but, abstractly, Galadriel could see the danger in it. She considers commenting but, as Adelaide snorts and decry's Nathaniel's singing voice, Galadriel can only smile.]

Ah, so it was more a trial on your ears than anything else.

[She is looming as she stands above the table, she realizes, but given the nature of Adelaide's malady, she doesn't immediately sit.]

If you would prefer, I can leave you be until you are no longer...compelled. I had not found you dishonest, but I can understand the weight of candor.

[fleurdesel]

So long as you do not expect me to be particularly diplomatic or discuss the matters of the Mage Council- for if I start on that count I do not think I will stop and you have seen me lose my composure and listened to me rant once already and this is decidedly less private than the battlements, you are welcome to stay.

[ A beat, a sigh, Adelaide puts her hands through her hair for a moment, the loose knot at the nape of her neck showing she's done that more than once already. ]

If you wish to remain, you are welcome to remain. I have always enjoyed your company and benefited from your perspective.

[laurenande]

[Galadriel takes a seat across from Adelaide once she grants her the leave to, her smile soft and kind as she considers the human.]

I would not presume to hinder you with diplomacy, Adelaide, but I am glad that you are not as distressed as you were. I am your friend; to see you so harrowed was worrying.

[She settles her hands on the table and cards her fingers together.]

If it comforts you, I have never lied to you. Indeed, it is a practice I gave up some time ago.

If there is anything you wish to ask me, as ever, I would answer it...but I admit, there are questions I have longed to ask you that sit eagerly in my mind. I will refrain, however, if you prefer, and you may simply tell me what you will.

[fleurdesel]

I am better than I was. Less uncertain. It is still frustrating at times but- I suppose I no longer feel quite so overwhelmed by the responsibility?

[ Having people to nudge her back from the ledge has helped, breaking down what must be done has helped, delegating has helped. Little things. ]

And for that I am grateful. There are few things that are as disappointing as dishonesty. As a student it hobbles more than helps, as a teacher? It makes further instruction difficult. Shades of it are required as a diplomat but I tend to leave those matters to my more diplomatic peers.

[ Hiding behind Benevenuta and Vivienne is likely not the best option, but she is ill suited to dealing with other nobles. She hasn't the patience. ]

Ask away, now is as good a time as any.

[laurenande]

You seemed so fearful of dreams, after seeing yours I cannot help but wonder: are all your dreams so grating? Do all mages of Thedas face such things?

[If they did, the set of Galadriel's shoulders speaks of action. She would see this changed, as ridiculous a task as that sounds.]

Does your Compassion not prevent the shadow from encroaching?

[fleurdesel]

It depends on the night, how long I have been working, what I've read beforehand, if I've spoken at length with any of the Tranquil, if my students are doing well or distressed, how much time I have spent around Anders, if I've lost any patients in the past week, and if I have had any particularly startling reminders of the Spire.

[ A beat. ]

As of late, yes. They are that grating. Most mages have them to some degree or another, Spirit Healers have them worse.

[ Such is the way of things unfortunately. ]

Compassion is how I know when I am facing a demon rather than shades of a dream. They help as best they can.

[laurenande]

Worse? Why would they be worse?

[The very idea flummoxed Galadriel. A being already possessed was, surely, less appealing that one who was not? One who could not determine the nature of the voices in the dark?]

Is there no remedy for these things?

[fleurdesel]

[ Adelaide sketches on one of the rare blank sheets of paper, turned so Galadriel might see. At first? A rather plain house. Her voice takes on the tone of one repeating a familiar lecture. ]

Imagine a house with no windows with one thickly bolted door. For the average person that is not a mage- thus is their presence in the fade as they dream. Demons are aware but cannot enter easily.

Mages have windows- [ The house is given wide, bright windows on otherwise blank walls. ] some mages have smaller ones, some mages have larger ones- and is it not all the more tempting to break into a house and take what is inside if you can see what it is you will be taking? The door is still bolted- perhaps even all the more so than someone else- but they can see inside, they can plan how they will attempt to charm their way in. Or they can break a window.

[ Next to this house- a framework, something closer to a greenhouse, all panes of glass and wrought iron. ]

Spirit healers live in glass houses with glass doors. We call Spirits to work with us, invite them to the porch but not inside. The glass is thicker, stronger than the average mage for our training but...demons see. They wander, wonder. They come up for a chat much like a neighbor. One can add windows or walls of glass if they so choose this path of study, but you cannot ever go back to a wooden house with the one window ever again.

They see us as an easier path, and for some? They may very well be right. The only way we know of, and whether or not that is even accurate any longer, to no longer be at risk is to be made Tranquil.