[CLOSED] PLAYER PLOT: The Ashes Underneath His Nails

[amygdalae]

WHO: Jim Kirk, Hermione Granger, Adelaide Leblanc, Herian Amsel, Anders, Inessa Serra, Raylan Gibbs, Ciri
WHAT: The Inquisition sends a group of agents to uncover the truth behind a string of mysterious disappearances.
WHEN: Kingsway 1st - 8th
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: Plotting post is here - feel free to post in there still for queries and concerns and further stuff where needed. Warnings for blood, violence, talks about death, experimentation horror, abomination-related stuff etc and eventual on-screen child death. ALSO no tag order - just respond when you feel like you should and I'll try to hit it back if it feels appropriate!!

QUICK JUMP LINKS TRAVELLING TO FROMAGE & FROMAGE GENERAL THREAD ROUTE INVESTIGATION SEEKRIT CAVE ENTRANCE INTO THE SEEKRIT CAVE CAVE INVESTIGATION - LEFT TEAM CAVE INVESTIGATION - RIGHT TEAM KID ABOMINATION THREAD BACK TO SKYHOLD

(—he remembers the chill of the frost and snow biting at bare skin, its usual pure white now tinged a horrid pink from the blood on his hands. He's far away from them now, the danger and the pain and everything else, but the blood will forever be on his hands no matter how much he tries to wash it away. His father had been right all along. He truly was a monster of the greatest kind.)

QUEST: THE ASHES UNDERNEATH HIS NAILS (PART I) The message had come swiftly, the letter itself hastily written with a shaky hand. The request itself was simple; a plea for help from a village at the outskirts of Emprise du Lion, whose people have been mysteriously disappearing over the last few weeks. Considering the ongoing civil unrest that's still transpiring in Orlais the Inquisition made its decision to send out a team of agents to look into this message and see exactly what was going on. The eight agents tasked with the mission were given enough time to prepare for the trip ahead. They would all meet up first at the Inquisition camp set within the Emprise and from there travel for about a day until they reached where their destination was - Fromage, a quaint little village that rested at the outskirts of the area. From that point on, it was up to the agents of the Inquisition to solve this ongoing mystery. The mission: to discover the truth behind these disappearances - and to stop it, if possible.

Comments

[dashing]

"All a knight does should be for the protection of others. Offering succour to those with need of it, showing mercy and compassion, fighting for what is right no matter what the cost may be to ourselves. We are to protect, and act with honour and integrity at every turn. That is— rarely so simple as one might hope."

But there was no honour in killing a child, and it is hard to completely divorce him from being so when his last words had been so human.

She turns in her seat slightly, sizing up the Warden beside her. "How do you fare?" Inessa's reaction had not been... subtle.

[circleprodigy]

It certainly hadn't, which is an enormous break from normal. Inessa doesn't easily crack under pressure. But that entire fiasco had broken her in the worst way, and she winces and looks downward just thinking about it.

"...I don't know. I suppose I'm still numb. This...it reminded me of what happened in Kinloch Hold, when my tower was overtaken by blood mages and abominations. The Hero of Ferelden saved us, along with his entourage, but a good portion had already died or turned before they reached the tower. There weren't many of us left to pick up the pieces. I thought I had long since moved past that, but all that...it was as though I was eight years old all over again."

[dashing]

Herian listens in attentive silence, all focus on Inessa, even as her hand still rests on the scraps of parchment she had been studying. Though she does not reach out to Inessa, does not rest a hand over hers or touch her shoulder, she feels for her, and keenly.

Silence stretches a moment before she tries to sketch a response. "I cannot claim to know how horrifying such a thing must have been." She had endured the Spire, aye, and she had fled the Dalish, but she had never been in the midst of such blood magic and so many abominations as what Inessa describes, even in such broad strokes. "But I do have some familiarity with encountering matters that dig their claws into the very darkest seams of my memory. Events and people that drag all the most painful things into the very forefront of mine mind, so that I cannot evade them. It is not the same, I am uncertain any two people can share horrors with one another and hope to make a comparison, when the hurts are so personal, but—"

A moment, and she shakes her head. "I suspect I may have an understanding of it. I am sorry that such a darkness was forced upon you, and that this tore those wounds asunder once more."

[circleprodigy]

Broad strokes are about all that Inessa can manage and retain a semblance of calm, but she remembers every horrifying detail. Having a sharp memory isn't always a blessing, not when she can see the blood spatters and bodies so clearly. The children's caretakers tried to shield them as best they could, but there was no escaping the horror wrought, not when it was so widespread. Some part of her is always mired in that crisis, as with Cullen and likely many others. As much as she tries to fight it, that remains true.

And though Herian's experience isn't her own, hearing what she's willing to share helps pull Inessa from that tower headspace, just a little. It's something and at the moment, every bit counts. "It's not an understanding I would wish on anyone. It's said that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but...I don't know. I don't know how to be stronger when it comes to those memories. How do you keep them at bay, long enough to function in the heat of the moment?" If she can't, then she's a liability and not an asset to the Inquisition. That's not a truth she's prepared to let happen.

[dashing]

"I keep them at bay because I must. Because to be a knight I must be steady and controlled. My emotions matter not; only the code matters. Honour, compassion, kindness. The willingness to act to protect, to vanquish evils and offer succour to those that need it. I use the code to guide every action I take, and interrogate my every response as best I can."

It is difficult, what comes next. A raw admission, in feeling if not in tone. "Whenever I see the Dalish within the Inquisition, I feel as though the very air in my chest is stolen from me. That my heart runs faster than even a dragon's wings might carry it. There are precious few in this world I despise and I dread more than they, and I must look upon them each day and call them allies in this cause. The code forbids me from causing offence wantonly, from acting against those with whom I must take up arms, from compromising my honour in the name of satisfying my own impulses. There are things greater than ourselves that we must strive to uphold, Warden. Whether it is the code of knighthood, or simply the cause of Thedas, find a point of focus that you can hold above all else and remind yourself of in even the darkest moments, and you will overcome."

Herian does not smile, but she tilts her head slightly in acknowledgement. "'Tis not the kindest advice that might befall you, I suspect, but that is what has sustained me. It takes time and training and forbearance. Councillor Leblanc taught me much in the way of meditation when she senior to me in the Spire. That might be a fine place to start."

[circleprodigy]

It must be comforting, having that ability to clamp down on one's emotions, pushing them aside for the greater good. For a moment, Inessa looks a bit envious. Even though she prides herself on discipline, that discipline obviously didn't help her back in the cave, not when she might as well have been an eight-year-old again. She needed something more, something that would help her not to break.

Listening to all that's said intently, Inessa's eyebrows flicker upward at mention of the Dalish, confused, but not about to interrupt. She nods automatically at the 'there re greater things than ourselves' sentiment, having felt that keenly all her life. It's why she left to join the Grey Wardens after all, instead of hiding or joining any particular side in the war. She shakes her head, not overly disturbed by the nature of the advice given.

"I prefer bald facts to sugarcoating and in that, you have provided. I cannot complain. That your code has sustained you is what matters in the end, does it not? It helps you uphold what you hold dear, beyond yourself, and in that I can see much merit. I know I don't have it in me to be a knight-enchanter, but I admire it all the same." She takes a deep breath and nods. "Meditation...that could be an acceptable course. We haven't spoken beyond the needs of the moment in our missions, but I will remember to ask."

It can't hurt. And she hesitates, not knowing if she should say more, but Herian was kind to take the time to speak with her, even if she didn't think so. "I can't claim to have any great experience with the Dalish. The Inquisition is the most exposure I've ever had with them. I'm sorry they have caused you harm, whatever they have done in the past. You need not explain, if you don't wish. Should you need to tolerate their presence, I am willing to act as a buffer. You need not interact more than you are comfortable with doing."

[dashing]

There is a moment where—

She wants to explain. Wants to be able to say what it is that transpired, because she is not blind to how people look at her, and how so many in the Inquisition favour the Dalish. They are allies, they help, they are sweet and kind and so many fawn all over them. They do not see what they are and what they are capable of.

Herian looks at the pieces of parchment before her. She wishes that she had the need to blink, that her eyes stung. She feels hollow. Sometimes a fire rages in her so intense that there is something else she can feel. Others, it feels as if the fire has gutted all that remained of her, as if she is no longer herself.

She could speak honestly or she could hold it within herself, and after the brutality of this mission she does not know if she can rightly lock it within herself and now feel undone.

"They murdered my father. Mutilated him. Mutilated me. We were their sport, and they relished each moment of our suffering."

It is not the full of it, but the truth entire was so vast and so painful that it was not a truth delved into simply, nor quickly. "I cannot hide behind the charity of others, but your offer is a kind one, and I am more than grateful, Warden. A knight cannot cower from their fears, or they will control us."

[circleprodigy]

For Inessa's part, there's no fawning or rage in regards to the Dalish, when her mind lingers on them at all. They may be fellow elves, yes, but pointed ears and the scorn of humans are about all she has in common with them. They aren't Andrastian, and much of their experiences have no parallel with her own. As long as they don't attempt to assert over her about what an elf should be, she has no real opinion on them.

Having already steeled herself for a refusal, she listens in surprise as Herian explains...and then horror at what had been done. Herian doesn't have to go into detail; she can well understand sticking to bare-bones facts in order to spare onself reliving an experience. What's been said is more than enough for her to get the general picture, and after her eyes widen, they narrow, lips forming a thin angry line. Her voice remains calm, though. This is not her memory to lose control over, not her place to do anything but listen. "...a fair point, and I understand.

I am so sorry about your father. My own is gone; during the battle for Denerim, I believe. But he would not have suffered as yours did, as you did. I have heard no sign of those present in the Inquisition pursuing such actions, but if such instances surface, I will gladly join you in stopping them." If Herian can't allow herself that first option, Inessa hopes the second will be possible.

[dashing]

Herian is silent moments after Inessa speaks, before finally drawing in breath. She remains the picture of calm, save that the pull of that one breath seems more fitting for one recovering from a sprint that set their lungs to bursting than someone simply sitting in a tavern.

"My condolences for your father, as well. If it should come to needing to step before injustice done, I would be glad to accept your help."

Extending her arm, Herian offers her hand to Inessa to shake, a gesture of solidarity more so than formality.

[circleprodigy]

Solidarity is something she'll gladly accept. In her view, one can't really go through what they did and not feel that for those involved. They can try to explain to others, but only those who were present will ever really know the extent of the horror the had uncovered. It's a similar mindset that she shares with those of Kinloch Hold, with those who had endured the false Calling. They aren't memories Inessa looks upon with fondness, but there's a certain comfort in knowing that bonds can come of it.

So she manages a small but genuine smile, her smaller hand shaking Herian's. "Good. I cannot rightly speak for any Warden but myself, though I suspect such an event would gain the assistance of others in the order, as well." Ciri, definitely, and those she doesn't know the rest as well is reasonably convinced as to their honorable intent.

Garahel, quiet and listless until now, perks up and offers his paw, too. Shake? He's probably not even expecting treats this time, honest.