[OPEN TO MAGES]

[deflocked]

WHO: Mages, mages, more mages. I guess non-mages can sneak in or be dragged along by friends, but they will be glowered fiercely at by Daylen if he knows.
WHAT: Mage meeting
WHEN: 3 Firstfall
WHERE: What would be Solas' room if Solas were there.
NOTES: Feel free to mingle/threadjack/and anything else you might think of! A top level comment will be made for the meeting itself with no particular order for commenting. There will probably be discussions of mage rights and such. I will edit if any warnings come up.

It's not exactly the biggest room, but on the plus side it's not in a terrible state of disrepair either. In case anyone isn't sure this is the right room there is a sign on the door indicating it is for the mage meeting. If that isn't enough, it is full of chairs. Arguably too many chairs for a room of this size. Especially since they are arranged in a circle for convenience of being able to talk rather than making the most of the space.

Hello, mages. Hope you're all ready to argue.

Comments

[mythalenaste]

[Pel ventures toward Sina, making sure she can see her, tilting her head while rolling scraps around her hand and palm.]

You had something you wanted to say? [she whispers, turning an ear.]

[eolasemah]

[With a hand clasped nervously over her glowing chest-shard, Sina watches the ensuing meeting with increasing wariness. She is almost caught off-guard when the other elf addresses her.]

I-- I don't know.

[She smiles weakly, and whispers back,]

I don't trust humans to know what's best for us, but I have never seen this many mages in one place. I have no... context for this.

[ungovernable]

If I may,

( from beside dorian, suppressing her faint amusement at the ice-breaker of choice and his reaction to it-- )

the purpose of this meeting is to unite us. Yes? Then we should be careful not to alienate those who are vulnerable - we should have a care not to create factionism where we would fight it. The former Templars ( a deliberately chosen term, ) are still, by many measures, at war with the mages that broke with the Chantry. We will achieve very little by ignoring that or expecting that they will.

If we mean to unite mages, then that is what we must do.

Let the Templars make their own choices. If they wish to speak with us in the future about those choices, let us have a clear voice of our own with which to answer.

( recreating circles, submitting to the templars - where benevenuta stands personally on those issues is irrelevant. trying to do it is only going to split the mages before they've even managed to come together, and it's barely even in-fighting when they have so little cohesion yet in the first place.

they need a clear-cut sense of community and leadership before they can start fighting amongst themselves about what it should mean and be.

a beat later, )

I am happy to make notes. I brought paper.

[deflocked]

[Daylen had been half-risen to go and track down the person responsible for that interruption when Adelaide manages to bring things back under control.

Does no one beside him appreciate the importance of what they're discussing? What will happen to them if they don't organise themselves? He does sit back down again once it looks like they might return to more important matters though.]

They do want to speak to us.

[The response is sullen and half to himself. He's outnumbered here. Talk of a proper alliance with the templars they have in Skyhold is probably not what's going to happen here.

More clearly:]

Notes would be certainly be useful if you are happy to make them.

[fleurdesel]

And we will speak with them on our own terms when the time is right. The Knight Commanders here are not entirely unreasonable- but as the circles have been disbanded and all of us are rebels? We no more defer to them than they to us, we all defer to the Commanders of the Inquisition. It is something that should be discussed after we have chosen how it is we wish to present a united front. Something that benefits every mage in the Inquisition.

[ If she is here to speak sensibly and attempt to keep order, then fine. She shall attempt to do so. Anything more need not rest on anyone's shoulders until they've come to some manner of agreement. It is not entirely unlike wrangling cats on a good day with mild topics at hand. With this? They may be here for some time.

Adelaide glances around the room once, taking measure of those sitting in or around the circle, and glances up to Martel and whoever else may be hiding in the eaves. Not exactly the most discreet of meeting places but- they must make do. ]

Are we all in agreement that some manner of council ought to be formed?

[el_tybs]

[It seems that bit of interruption was enough to break the last bit of ice between everyone.

There is no way that things are going to be perfect right off the bat, and it might take some time to get everything sorted. But the fact that they were trying to do something? That was the biggest step.]

A council sounds like it would be a good first step to go in. There are a lot of us and too many do not know where or who to go to, to have their issues resolved. Having a place to bring those issues to be discussed... well it might resolve some tension around Skyhold. Not all of it though.

[ungovernable]

It is a beginning.

( --spoken without glancing up from where she's busying herself with paper and pen to make these promised notes. better to do it while it's quite fresh.

perhaps she'll speak with adelaide afterwards, to ensure she hasn't missed anything important. )

[mythalenaste]

[Damn, Benevenuta and Adelaide are making sense. Pel's shoulders relax as the fight seems to slide off them. She nods to Sina, a nod that says I got your back.]

All right. I am in favor of a council and I rescind my condition about templars, for now, till the matter can be properly and officially discussed. My only condition is that the council must have one Dalish member.

[visus]

Unless by a "council" you intend to reinstate the College of Magi then we are most certainly not "all agreed."

[ Says a woman of middle years who has just now strode into the room. Her tone is dry and her accent could be from anywhere in the Free Marches or Ferelden as long as it's somewhere with money. She wears the robes of a Senior Enchanter and is accompanied by a fair-haired, placid-featured young man. Her posture is perfect to the point of being imperious. ]

This meeting was advertised as a meeting to create a circle, not fiddle about with some brilliant new system you've all just miraculously struck upon in the past twenty minutes. Creating a circle is precisely what we should do. The structure and order have served us well and will continue to do so. If we propose to govern ourselves then we must govern, and that means respecting the rules and standards to which we have always held ourselves.

[gatheringstorm]

[Newly appeased, Korrin straightens once again and glares at the woman who just entered and brought the tension back up, at least for her.]

'We'? No, I never have. I've never been part of your Circles and that isn't going to change. If that happens here, I walk. I won't be part of that crap and no one will force me into it.

[fleurdesel]

It served some well, not all. Mages from the same Circle did not have the same experiences from their circles, let alone those from different ones and different countries, or those that never came from a Circle in the first place.

[ Forcing those that never stepped into one- or those that had sour if not outright abusive experiences in their own- back into a Circle system? That is not what the Mages need. ]

That we feel a need to create a new system speaks to the failings of the old. At one point it may have worked and work well. We are past that.

[liberalum]

I believe the purpose of the notice was to seek organsiation of the mages within the Inquisition, [ Dorian comments, mild as you please, twisting a look back at this newcomer. ] Decorative heraldry notwithstanding.

Seeking the best solution to all southern mage disputes and reinstalling systems of governance and control should, perhaps, come after the world isn't ending.

Or perhaps we could call it a Square instead. Circles are so polarising.

[paperwing]

[Sabriel has spent much of the meeting standing in the shadows of the stairwell up to the floor above. She had to prioritise the Wardens first, but she was also a mage, and being a Warden did not stop how some felt about her magic, how others would be treated without the protection of being a Warden.

They needed unity. She had seen that well enough with her own order, and there, she had been the dissenter.]

Senior Enchanter, [she speaks up, stepping forward into the room. The words are laced with respect, as she nods her head to the woman and the man.] we may wish for things to be as they were, but they are not. Skyhold is no Circle, but a fortress - filled with many who have never seen a Circle's walls. [Apostates or no, she casts a glance to the Dalish that have gathered, to Korrin, to all her Circle breathren.]

Warden Sabriel. [She identifies, for those who do not know her and would not recognise her as part of the grey, given that she wore a tunic and no armour. She looks to Adelaide.] We must unite, but it will not be as a Circle. Not as they were. Whether it is named for the circles or no, [looking at you and your Squares, Dorian,] we must come together and be stronger for it.

[visus]

[ Theodora casts a look towards Dorian at his shape suggestion, like she can't quite decide if she'd rather slap his knuckles or agree with the jest. She does neither, instead turning back to the others. ]

That you feel the need to create a new system, Enchanter LeBlanc, does not mean that all here do, and with all due respect, Warden Sabriel, it is hardly a matter for you to decide. You will find there are quite a number of us here who were perfectly happy with the system we have spent our lives within. It provides structure, stability, security, and a scholarly community.

Of course, not every Circle was perfect, but we can build one here that avoids the problems caused by the few bad apples scattered about. There's no need to throw the baby out with the Chantry bathwater, and if some of you don't care to be involved then you are free to keep to yourselves as you have always done. I can't say your opinion has much to recommend itself to me as you have never experienced a Circle to know what you are rejecting.

And this is precisely the time in which structure and security are most needed, Altus Pavus. We are not on the run nor under immediate threat; there is no reason that we cannot comport ourselves in an orderly fashion.

[mythalenaste]

And you have never experienced freedom, so your opinion hasn't much to...recommend itself to me. [Argh, she uses so many words, this lady. Way too many words, and none of them mean shit.]

You might at least consider that there are better ways out there even if you didn't think of one. And you're not freeing us to do as we've always done. We can't do as we've always done. The other night, both me and the other mage from my clan were attacked. For being mages. If you form a Circle, she and I aren't protected. That's why I came here, because we need the protection of other mages.

[gatheringstorm]

[Nodding at Pel's words, Korrin just narrows her eyes at the pompous Senior Enchanter.]

So, because we were never raised in Circles that means we ought to have no voice in what happens to mages around here? Even though we're mages as well? No, fuck that. We aren't second-class citizens. This isn't just your show, and don't expect us to give a nug's ass about your opinion when your way excludes the rest of us.

[visus]

[ That gets browsed arched to the high heavens. ]

When did I ever say our way excludes either of you? If you'd like the protection of the Circle then by all means join it. It is you who refuse to participate and then in the next breath condemn the system for not allowing you to participate.

[mythalenaste]

I'm here. I'm participating. And I say, we are the last elvhen, and never again shall we submit. Bitch.

[fleurdesel]

The College of Magi failed. I was there to witness the aftermath. The structure, stability, the saftey it supposedly offered shattered at the last conclave. Were you there, Senior Enchanter? Did you see what a few 'bad apples' did to the mages and templars alike in the halls of the White Spire?

[arlathvhen]

[ Mysteriously, like a sign from the Maker Creators, confetti (from a ripped up piece of parchment) sprinkles down upon Pel. Like the gods are silently giving approval for her words.

After a moment, Korrin gets confetti as well.]

[gatheringstorm]

[Ugh, it's like talking to a wall.]

Because we don't want your fucking Circle. Because this is about all mages, not just that damned system you cling to. Fuck you and fuck your Circle. We have the right to create whatever new system works for ALL of us, not just you.

[She's so wound up that the renewed confetti gets little more than a brief smirk from her this time.]

[aceso]

Maker, let's all calm down for a moment. This is getting far too heated.

[ Christine doesn't even know if she should bother being the voice of reason here. This may have gone too far already. ]

Now Senior Enchanter, you say that there are others who wish for the structure of the Circle, but so far, only yourself and Daylen have presented that view. If others here wish to chime in, I ask they do, and I ask that no one shout them down. This is a meeting for all opinions, and it's clear we all have various ones. No one is bringing the hammer down yet, so let's continue to all talk out what we wish for.

[visus]

I was at Starkhaven and Kirkwall, Enchanter LeBlanc. I have seen my share of the worst that life has to offer us.

[ One might imagine a frosty tinge to her words, but it would be imagination. Her eyes are cold and her expression is rigid, but her tone remains perfectly civil despite the abuse that is now almost literally raining down upon her. ]

You claim that including all mages is of the highest importance, yet you hurl insults at those who do not agree with you and reject outright our desires. If you wish to include all mages I am afraid that involves me and my fucking Circle, my dears. You shall have to find a way to reconcile that with what you desire, or else concede that you only want your own freedom and have no true interest in the higher cause of unity you invoke.

[fleurdesel]

[ Temper helps no one. Adelaide takes a measured breath and forges onward, voice reigned back into a more civil tone. ]

Then you know as well as I that we must do better. If we are to consider a circle we need to be certain that every grievance against them is heard, weighed, and a means to prevent them offered. As said grievances appear to be many and varied starting from scratch rather than going through point by point and rebuilding from the foundations to the rookery seems the wiser course. If there is an alternative means I am certain we would be glad to hear it. But the old Circle as structured does not fit us all. A variation may.

[mythalenaste]

Unity isn't a cause. It's bragging rights. The problem is mages need protection or we're going to have to use magic to defend ourselves. Dalish beliefs prevent us from being bound up in a Circle, so no. It's not going to protect everyone. And if my time is being wasted and it's only going to be me standing between my clanmate and injustice, that's the norm for the Dalish and we'll make do. Should I even be here?