faderift | PLAYER PLOT: The Least of His Children

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PLAYER PLOT: The Least of His Children

WHO: Nathaniel Howe, Felix Alexius, Anders, James Norrington, Kaisa Daesun, Fenris, Araceli, Inessa.
WHAT: A quest to rescue a slave.
WHEN: August 26
WHERE: Tevinter
NOTES: Will update. Plotting post is here.

The Mastermind: Nathaniel Howe
The Game: Green Goods
The Grifter: Felix Alexius
The Mark: Magister Leo Valerius is an ailing old man, but his mind is sharp. His main concern of late has been to leave his sons a good inheritance, though he isn't exactly straight-up greedy.
The Prize: Alavda Endris is a slave to Valerius. The bad news is that she almost never leaves his side. The good news is that that makes her easy to find.

The Plan: One team is sent in, with Felix dressed as a minor lordling and his entourage trying to climb the social ladder by schmoozing an old magister. Felix claims to be staying as a guest of a nearby lord (technically true) and only visiting for the day. Valerius must believe this boy is an upstart with no political value and too much money.

Another team performs a heist and gains the money Valerius keeps at this estate by pretending to be contractors hired to work on the floorboards in the room with the vault door (an appointment Valerius set up months ago and our team hijacked). Planting bees in the floorboards will clear the room of guards. Felix pretends to fall in love with Alavda and asks to borrow her from Valerius. If Valerius hesitates, Felix offers him more and more money until he consents. He has loaned Alavda to other lords before, and Felix's show of being petulant and stupid should help wear away any suspicion that this is a set-up. In that way, it's a basic hustle. Once Valerius consents, Felix then sends an attendant outside to fetch that amount from the money stolen from Valerius' vault. The entourage departs, claiming to be returning to the local lord's house. They leave with Alavda and return to Skyhold.

MAJOR OBSTACLES:

Alavda is wearing an enchanted collar which allows Valerius to locate her. If it is cut away or in most any other way removed, it sends a massive and lethal shock through her system. The team will need to find a way to remove the collar without killing Alavda.

If/when the collar is removed, Valerius will send people to find her.

Valerius has about twenty guards on his property.

The vault door operates on reacting to a specific keystone which cannot be found, but aside from the magical lock, the mechanism is still a mechanism. A good thief can crack it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is vital that the members of this team keep their involvement and mission details secret before and after the mission. It must not get out that Inquisition members and affiliates were involved in hustling a magister.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kallian isn't hard to find in the camp, currently busily sorting through healing supplies. Her dark hair is tied back in the same ribbons Anders gave her for a gift.

When she notices Anders approaching, she greets him with a smile.
"Vati!" she calls out brightly. But as he gets closer, something seems... off. She's not quite sure what. Something in his expression or his posture... She cants her head. "...is everything all right?"

Maker, how much he likes to hear her call him that. She is the daughter of his heart. Anders gives her a small smile and holds out his arms, visually asking for a hug.

"I think things are good. I've... I've got someone to introduce you to. I mean, it was Nate's lead, his masterminding, but I've brought her over."

She happily runs into his arms to hug him, turning her face inward so the feathers on his coat don't tickle her nose.

"I'm just glad you made it back safely. But who is this person?" she asks, face still buried in his neck.

He takes a slow breath, holding her tight for several moments before his hold loosens a little in case she wants to take off and see when he says.

"Your mother, dear one. We found, and freed, your mother."

"You... what?" She stares at him blankly, as if not sure she heard him right.

He reaches up and gently pushes a lock of her hair back.

"Your mother, Kallian. We can't publicize that we did it, it has to stay quiet so there aren't repercussions for the Wardens or the Inquisition, but we have her."

"It... it doesn't seem possible... Are you sure it's her?" she asks in a soft voice?

"Mostly? From what Nate was able to find, it's likely her, but you're the only one that can say for certain." He hopes this is good news. She surrounds herself with so much fear that it might not be.

"Nate really did this just for me? Did he find any of the others who were taken, or just her?"

There's a certain dazed quality to her expression, still trying to grip the reality of the situation, and it isn't just a dream.

"How... how did he find her? I wanted to, but I had no idea where to even begin..."

She's trembling slightly.
"Did... did you talk to her? I haven't seen her since the Blight. She... she doesn't know about... She doesn't know I'm... you know..."

"Nate did this for you, and for himself." Because Nathaniel feels guilty, and Anders understands how guilt feels.

"As far as how, he's a Howe." There's a little smile on his lips for a moment. "I didn't ask after his exact methods, especially as I've a feeling some of them should stay secret. But we've not told her much other than we were rescuing slaves. I wasn't..." And now the nerves show again. "I wasn't, I didn't want...I don't know how this would go. I wanted you to have options."

He's terrified that he's about to be replaced.

"...I didn't think he liked me enough for this..."

She bites her lip nervously.
"She's been in Tevinter all this time... I wouldn't be surprised if she hates mages because of it. And now I'm one. How do I tell her? How do I tell her it's my fault she went through all that? She always wanted me to be part of the Game and follow in her footsteps... What if she... can't accept what I've become?"

She looks up at him, a little extra shine of blue in her eyes, the shine of Hope.
"...I'll at least still have my Vati, won't I?"

"Nate's hard to read, Kallian."

So many treat him like he's cold or humorless, when Nate simply takes a while. A long while. But it's a relief to know that Kalli still wants him.

"Most importantly, yes. You'll have me. Secondly, it's not your fault she went through what she did. And thirdly, you don't have to join the game. You can heal. You can bring life, and joy, rather than take life and always live in the shadows, doubting everyone. The life of the Game, of a bard, is not one for you."

How could a spirit healer fit into the Game? How could Hope fit into it?

"...will you help me find a way to thank him? Even if she doesn't want me anymore, Nate deserves thanks. He's... my hero now."

She hugs Anders a little more tightly.
"I'm glad I have you, Vati. But it really is my fault. If not for my magic and the fire, they wouldn't have found us. She wouldn't have been taken away. This is my doing."

Kallian says nothing about his third point. He says it's not a life for her, but... living in the shadows, plagued with doubt... She realizes something: if that is what it means to be part of the Game, she is already playing.

"I... I suppose she's waiting for me. Where is she?"

"I'll help you find a way. But it is never your fault that you're a mage, Kallian."

If she wants to talk about doubts ever, though, he'll point one thing out to start - she doubts herself and that has no place in the Game.

He tiles his head to the side. "She's this way."

"All right."

She takes a long, deep breath to steady her nerves.

"Let's go see her, then."

Nathaniel is leaving the room as they reach the door. He gives Anders a nod, but doesn't manage to look Kallian in the eye before turning and walking away, leaving them alone and at Alavda's door.

He almost reaches out to try for a short grasp of Nate's hand, but then the archer is gone. Anders understands. The whole situation is difficult for Nate. If it winds up going poorly, at least he knows where to find his lover later.

"Shall we?" Anders knocks lightly on the door before stepping in and nodding to Alavda. She's seen him on the journey, of course, but he hasn't explained his connection to her before. Now, maybe, it will be rather clear since he has her daughter in tow.

"Nate..." Kallian tries to implore him, to thank him, but he again brushes her off, barely acknowledging her. She looks at Anders, unable to entirely hide her disappointment. "Do you know if he likes muffins?" she asks softly.

She hesitates momentarily at the door, not quite sure what to expect on the other side, but she has Anders' reassuring presence with her and she heads in.

"...Maman...?" Kallian asks softly.

The resemblance between mother and daughter is unmistakable. Kallian clearly inherited much of Alavda's look, with the same dark hair and blue eyes and delicate skin.

"Kallian? Ma petite fleur?" comes the response. There is a hesitant, marveling pause, and a little hiccoughing sob slips out of Kalli's mouth before the two elves embrace.

Alavda looks to Anders.
"For bringing me my daughter, thank you."

"He does," Anders assures her gently before they go in. Later he'll explain some of this, how the circumstances remind Nate of a lot of pain, but not right now. Right now they have something else to navigate.

He hangs back as the elves embrace, trying to breathe, trying to remind himself that Kalli just called him father. That this doesn't change things. But what would he give to be hugged by his mother again? How could anything else compare?

Alavda addresses Anders, and he clears his throat and nods.

"It's my honor to help her. She's an amazing young woman, gifted, talented, and..." He looks over at Kalli. "Precious to me."

That earns Anders a raised eyebrow from Alavda, but she turns her attention back to Kallian.

"Come, let me see you. Let me look at you," she says to her daughter. Kalli immediately moves back, swiping away the tears on her wet cheeks. Alavda smiles at her. "Ah, so grown up. So pretty. Tell me, to which lucky fool did the elders marry you off?"

Kalli blushes.
"Oh, no, Maman. They didn't. I'm not. Never have been," the younger Endris answers in a rush. She holds up her hand to show she doesn't have a ring.

"No? At your age? Ma fleur, you will be 24 at the end of Parvulis. I admit I am surprised, but good." She looks back at Anders. "So, what, then? You have my daughter as your mistress?"

"Maman!" Kallian gasps, "No, it's not like that at all! I love him dearly, but he is as a father to me. My Vati. He's not-- He'd never-- I've never-- There's no one like that. At all."

His own eyebrows fly into his hairline at the question, but thankfully Kallian is dealing with that quickly leaving him to ponder the 'at all.' Later. Later he'll speak with her about Jamie. Right now there's a reunion going on. One that he's not sure about his place in yet, and he dries his palms on his robes.

"She's a spirit healer, you know," he offers, "with inherent ability and she learns well. Quickly."

The pretty comments and marriage questions bother him a little; he wants Alvada to be proud of Kalli for more than her perceived worth there. She's his... She's his daughter in every way that matters. He wants her to know what she's capable of, and it's far more than being a pretty face.

"I see. Surprising, but--" Alavda begins, but then Anders mentions Kalli's healing abilities.

"You're a mage?"

Kallian flinches a little, but nods and lets the little tendrils of blue light ignite along her veins as proof.
"It's true, Maman," she admits softly.

"...so that explains it. It's all right, chère, it's all right. We will find a way to work with it. Were you taken to the Circle, then?" Alavda asks.

Kalli shakes her head.
"No, never. Nienna... Old Nienna... She took me in and trained me until she died last year. Then, Vati has done the same since," she explains.

"...so an apostate, too, I see. The Maker works mysteriously."

"...I sing, too, sometimes..." Kallian ventures shyly.

"Do you?" That brightens Alavda up. "This I must hear."

"Excuse me." His voice has gone a little cold. Alavda can approve of Kallian's singing all she likes, but she can't disapprove of the magic.

"The magic is as much a part of her as her voice. It's not finding a way to work with it. She's a spirit healer and an excellent singer, both. You can't like one part of who she is and not something else." He won't stand for that. He won't stand for Kalli being scared of her own mother, and her mother being an asshole.

Alavda looks back at him, equally steely.

"I am aware of the inherent nature of magic. If you have not forgotten, I have been up close with it for some time now. It may give her power, but it narrows her opportunities where she has few to start with. Mages bear a heavy burden in their responsibility, and in some ways, it is as much curse as gift. It will take effort and clever maneuvering to ensure it becomes an advantage for her. But we will find a way."

Kallian says nothing, carefully watching the exchange between them.

"She is a spirit healer," he repeats. "One of the rarest types of mages, with opportunity everywhere. That the Inquisition has six is unheard of; whole countries have never held that many."

Or at least the non-Tevinter ones hadn't.

"Doors will open to someone who can heal the way a spirit healer can. There are places for her. It doesn't need maneuvering." He can feel anger building, though he's working very hard to keep it in control. This is Kalli's mother.

"You've not seen the woman she's become. She is kind, and caring, and works with Hope. Hope. You cannot know what that means, but I'll simplify - Hope is powerful, and also fragile. This bond that she's created with it requires certain things of her, as it does with any spirit healer. If you don't want to hurt the bond, and hurt your daughter, you're going to stop acting like her magic is a detriment or like she is an object."

Because that's what he's seeing here. And that's something he cannot, will not, abide.

PLAYER PLOT: The Least of His Children

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Did we want Tori to jump in here?

Yes, now would be good.

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