faderift | 01 | Open | General introduction and foundation building

Entry tags:

01 | Open | General introduction and foundation building

WHO: Waver
WHAT: Waver getting to grips with surroundings
WHEN: Post inital arrival on 8 Firstfall-End of th month
WHERE: Location
NOTES: Content warnings, OOC notes, links to other relevant posts, etc.

I. Stables
Staying near the stables so much isn't exactly a good choice, Waver knew. It meant he smelled like horse constantly, and the smell lingered in his hair most of all. Lingering also made him look just as much as a fish out of water as he felt, but such things weren't quite as important as why he insisted on frequenting the area so much: horses meant fast transport. Fast transport meant greater paths to learning outside of the immediate area. And being thrown into another world entirely, Waver wanted to learn everything he could as quickly as he could. He was at a disadvantage now, and he disliked it intensely.

So he stayed, watching tack go on and off the horses, memorizing the order of events. Observing horses and their personalities, so that he knew which ones might eventually accommodate someone who had never rode a horse before. Trying to figure out who to approach for lessons with minimizing awkwardness or needing to take up more of Iskandar's time. It was a delicate balance of observation, and one that got involving after some time. Enough involvement to ignore the rest of his surroundings, and for him to become more obvious than he'd like.

Then again, it was fairly hard to miss a strange tall man in a red coat, looking at horses like he was going to write a book on them.

II. Outside
One thing that Waver had insisted on doing, was adamant about doing, was trying to keep himself doing was walking the grounds and trying to learn them as quickly as possible. Certainty staying with and near Iskandar would be safe enough for his untrained self whose primary form of self defense was starting to dwindle, but on the off chance of something going wrong or else getting separated, Waver wanted to have some routes available to him.

But he was informed by his desire for safety as he was by Iskandar's preference for staying outside of the primary buildings, sleeping in a stable or a tent like the man was on one of his legendary campaigns. Waver had to admit, perhaps there was something there, but not something he wanted to dwell on.

So he simply walked time and again, retracing paths, a cigar sticking out of his mouth and the smoke billowing ahead of him, the acrid smell announcing his approach. From time to time, he took the thing out and examined it, before muttering, "Where can I get a steady supply of these anyway? I'm nearly out."

III. Additional
For additional prompts in and around the location!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, that answers at least one burning question on my mind," was the response, cheerful enough. Not that Waver was thrilled to know that something clearly irregular was going on for a year and change, but still. Good to know.

"I started out in another department, but now I head the Modern Magecraft Theory department. Not that it's exactly a prestige appointment."

Quite the opposite. Waver was aware that he had been placed there in hopes of failing and becoming easy pray for those who disliked him.

Despite what he says about prestige, Korrin raises an eyebrow. "So, it's a mage school or at least one with a mage element to it? I hope it's voluntary, at least. The state of Thedas as it is now is at least partly what happens when they try to corral and control mages like they're criminals simply for being born as they are."

Yeah, she might be a tad biased in that area.

"Entirely devoted to magecraft," he clarified, before stopping at the rest. Waver had been trying to understand exactly what the attitudes towards magic were here, and Korrin's words sink his stomach like a stone.

His voice was far more hushed when he continued. "Yes, it is voluntary. Magi are a small population, and secretive for-- well. No one else back home knows magecraft exists and there'd be chaos if it got out. But now I have to ask you to clarify. What exactly was the nature of the persecution there?"

Was being the operative word. It sounded like too many things were in flux at present.

That reaction doesn't go unnoticed, but Korrin isn't going to apologize for being blunt. Better that he learn how mages are treated before an incident happens due to ignorance. She's silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts while she works on the nuggalope.

"That's complicated, but I'll try to make it as brief as possible. You must know about the Chantry, the overarching religion of Thedas. They're a reaction to the Tevinter magisters of long ago, who ruled the continent and were basically cruel, insufferable assholes whose empire killed their prophet. On top of that, beforehand, seven Tevinter magisters made a huge-ass blood sacrifice to breach the Fade and gain access to the Golden City because blah blah blah more power. Except it backfired, turned them into darkspawn and introduced Thedas to the horror of the Blights. So the Chantry gained a foothold with their 'magic was meant to serve man and never to rule over him'.

As a result mages -the ones in the south, anyway, Tevinter is a different can of worms- eventually gained a lot of restrictions to prevent an encore of Tevinter from ever happening elsewhere, and they ran with it. Most mages, upon their power manifesting, were immediately taken to the Circle. No family contact, no leaving it without Chantry sanction. If you escaped and became an apostate, the Templars would hunt you down with a portion of your blood used to create a phylactery.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Mages are more susceptible to demonic possession since they're drawn to our power. If they take over, then the resulting abomination can easily wipe out entire towns. All Circle mages undergo a Harrowing, which is basically a thing where they chuck you into the Fade and summon a demon. If you resist its wiles, you get to live as a full-fledged mage. If you don't, the Templars kill you. And if you don't want to go through the Harrowing or they think you too weak-willed, you can be made Tranquil. That's when you're cut off from the Fade; you have no magic, or ability to feel or dream. I've seen Tranquil before and...it's so sad. You know they were more, once. Not that they aren't still people, but a vital part of them is missing.

And before you ask, I was never a Circle mage. I'm one of those 'apostates' that grew up outside those places. What I know I've heard from other mages and seen the aftermath thanks to the mage rebellion."

Edited 2016-11-30 01:52 (UTC)

Waver listened carefully, to the point where his hand stilled and he was no longer paying attention to Asher at all. All the snarky comments he'd apply to his own brand of magecrat, the quirks, the hierarchy and the politics, he had been prepared to bust those out or to at least make comparisons.

But there was nothing to compare, there was only a quite mutter of, "Good God."

Followed by a quiet moment of contemplation of how to handle his middling magical abilities. He paused, his free hand slowly pinching the bridge of his nose. A reminder that this was a conversation, not a history lesson. "Thank you," he said, after silence settled in for just that moment too long. "For telling me, even if that's the grimmest and most horrifying approach to anything involving magic that I've encountered in my entire life."

Satisfied with Asher's care by this point, Korrin pats the nuggalope before leaning against the stable door and turning her full attention to Waver. She expects to impart a history lesson every time a new rifter is met, as evidenced by her somewhat practiced tone. Nodding, her expression is grimly sympathetic as she crosses her arms.

"That's why the Circle mages rebelled, after centuries of abuse. It doesn't hurt that the phylacteries of many senior mages were destroyed in the White Spire, so the Templars couldn't hunt them down anymore. That's not to say it went swimmingly after the war broke out; in fact, the rebellion was in a pretty awful state by the time the Inquisition caught up with them. Long story short, their leader said they were losing and had no choice but to pledge themselves to the Venatori, Tevinter mages we later learned were working with the darkspawn magister asshole behind all this mess. If the Inquisition hadn't intervened, they'd be their indentured servants by now, and probably battle fodder."

Waver quietly wondered why rebellion had taken as long as it did, but that was a question that screeched ignorance and superiority. He shoved it aside, marking it as something to never ask, then focused on the rest of it. The rest of it was, after all, present politics rather than a discussion of hierarchy, and something that he needed to get to grips with now.

"Part of me wants to know what exactly intervening entailed, the rest of me wants to know how magi are treated at present so I can cover my own ass. Although," Waver paused, realizing there was a third question. "Does any of this actually tie into the rift? Logic says it does, given the chaos of what you said, but logic also suggests I'm reading too heavily into things."

"Well, yeah. Corypheus -the darkspawn magister asshole I was talking about- is the one who created the Breach, the mother of all rifts that was steadily devour the world before the Herald put a stop to it. She had the Anchor, which is a more powerful version of that shard you have. While it takes several people to close a rift now, back then it only needed her." And yes, all past tense. Korrin frowns a little, crossing her arms and remembering what she could of Evelyn back then, which wasn't much up close but that isn't to say she didn't observe.

"Intervening meant that the Inquisition infiltrated Redcliffe Castle, where the Venatori were holed up, and got their leader to submit. I think he's still in the dungeons of Skyhold. If he'd succeeded...well, ask Dorian about the details since he was the only one with the Herald from the start of it, but from what he's said that alternate timeline was...brutal. We already took steps to prevent it, but that isn't to say we're in the clear.

As for how mages are treated now...in Skyhold itself, you'll be treated civilly for the most part. Just avoid the Templars; they're even more suspicious about magic from beyond the rift than native mages. Outside of Skyhold, it varies though as long as you're in Inquisition company, you'll have support. But the Mage-Templar War hasn't improved mages' overall image. Many ordinary people don't see that mages are fighting for their lives and freedom, they just see the damage all the fighting has caused. And the Templars, well, they benefit from those ordinary people seeing them as heroes, keeping them safe from the dangers of magic. It's a tough balancing act for us."

Waver quietly ticked off the number of boxes that fit into his own home's understanding of magic. There were five overarching ones, ones that allowed for multiple universes, time travel, all of the big stuff. All of them were involved here, involved and active. It was that second part that mentally set Waver's teeth on edge. That level of magic was genuinely rare-to-impossible back home, and here in Thedas it was just something that happened.

"Got it. Although honestly, it sounds as if I'd almost be better off simply keeping any abilities to myself." It'd be like inhabiting the non-magical world of London, really. "Given that outside of one or two large feats, I'm one to talk about theory."

Not by choice, he noted bitterly. Magi were, by and large, more powerful through successive generations, and he was from a young family. That had always been true. But this all meant something else, something Waver disliked even more. Physical self defense, rather than bounded fields that created safe bubbles to ward off all attacks. "Fuck. Are there decent tutors in self defense around?"

"That's up to you, though the shard will always get you attention no matter what...bad and good. When there's an active rift around, people tend to throw their usual fears aside in favor of doing whatever it takes to close them." Korrin shrugs, having seen how quickly distrust transforms into gratitude under the right circumstances, though she lacks one of those hand-shards herself.

"And yeah, there are some. Jim Kirk, another rifter and a friend of mine has offered self-defense classes. Dorian has something similar going, though with a mage bent to it. If you're not familiar with a staff and want to wield one effectively, he's your guy."

"Like my hand didn't have enough weird crap on it," Waver snorted, his eyes temporarily going back down to the faded command seals that once existed to exert power over Iskandar ten years ago. They look more like faded scars than anything else, and they're something Waver's used to looking over. Treating as another part of himself. The shard would have to join such a rank.

"Magic requires a staff here?" Waver chided himself for that being what he's fixated on, but for now, that was better than anything else Korrin had shared with him about magic in Thedas. "That's novel."

"Requires, no, but it's always a good idea to have one. Most mages are lightly armored and fight from a distance. If you run out of mana during a fight, a staff is simple to use and keeps you at a distance. Plus, we've found out that rifters with magic have an easier time of using it when they conform to how magic works here. The more their magic resembles something we have, the better off they tend to be."

"Back home that kind of extra material screams of cliche in popular imagination," he admitted. At least the fighting from a distance was consistent, magi hated to actually get their hands dirty back home. Grail Wars were a perfect encapsulation of it, really. Summon someone to do the physical fighting for you while you took care of the sneaky stuff.

"I have a distinct feeling that there are going to be more differences between my school of magecraft and what's common here though." And if Waver didn't hide his grimace, so be it.

Edited (What is spelling.) 2016-12-02 18:32 (UTC)

Korrin's glances is sympathetic as she pats Asher one last time before stepping away from his stable, gesturing for Waver to walk with her. "Let's compare and find out. I always like to know what people can do before we're on the battlefield, since it can save a lot of time and prevent stupid mistakes. Like the time when a fellow mage and I cast opposing elements at an enemy and effectively canceled each other out. I'd like to avoid that shit, if I can."

So, yeah. Her magic. "I lean towards Storm magic, so lots of lightning, but I know basic Winter and Inferno spells to round things out. I've also received extra training as a Knight-Enchanter, so unlike a lot of mages, I can last on the front line, and my barriers hold pretty much as long as I keep attacking. I've learned a little rift magic, too, but to be honest that's a lower priority since I wanted to master Knight-Enchanter stuff first."

And she pauses, as something comes to mind. "If you know any blood magic...that's really not something you can get away with here. For several reasons. It can be used to control people, so that always has people freaked out. Not to mention that it tears the Veil to shit and we already have problems with that. We don't need more. And also, Tevinter was heavily into sacrificing people for blood magic spells, so that's wrapped up in the anti-Tevinter backlash."

"Well, first off, your magic is combat based from the sounds of it," Waver began, his eyes flicking around for a towel. There was still balm on his hand, and it definitely needed to be wiped off. "For magi back home, there's more of an academic element to our craft, as all magi supposedly share the same goal of reaching the root of the universe. Or root of all magic. Depending on how you want to define it. It sounds all too lofty, truth be told."

Lofty and ridiculous, as far as Waver was concerned. "Families will pick something to specialize in, be it an element or a more specific magic type, and that specialization is passed down family lines. Spellcasting ability generally gets stronger in successive generations, so older families are more powerful, and then they have the luxury of developing more combat based applications of their family specialization. All the better to protect family secrets, especially since older families can end up having feuds with each other."

All of this was rather beating around the bush though of his own abilities. Or general lack thereof, which Waver disliked admitting to anyone. Back home, a title and his teaching position helped. Here, well, none of that existed. "Mostly I can use hypnosis and bounded fields. Protective barriers, by any other name. I've done plenty of development for others, up to and including adding artificial intelligence to familiars, but my spellcasting ability isn't stellar." Weak. "But from time to time I can pull off an evocation. Equivalent to the demon summonings you described, but it doesn't always have to be demons. Spirits of heroes past can be called up, for example."

The mention of blood magic does cause Waver to pause though, and frown. "It isn't odd for blood to be used for us. It's just part and parcel of what a spell might use, either human or from an animal. But it doesn't resonate with tearing Veils or anything, it is just relying on nature. I won't comment on using humans either, as I'm not foolish enough to say no mage has ever not done it."

Noting his glancing around, Korrin picks up a random towel hanging off a hook and tosses it to him.

"I've found that when it comes to fucked-up magic practices, it's always safe to bet on someone having done it before." Cynical, sure, but given Korrin's world history, she has good reason to think such. "Be careful about the summonings, too. I don't know what you can actually pull over here, but not a lot of people make the distinction between demons and spirits, anyway. And sure, you can try to tell them, but if a mob forms, they're not necessarily going to listen. Spirit Healers and Necromancers are often under a lot of suspicion no matter what they do, just because of their contact with spirits."

The rest is good to know, and she nods; good, so he can take care of himself in a pinch. He doesn't need to have a vast amount of talent or experience under his belt, as long as he can make the best of what he has. "Protective barriers will definitely see use, and hypnosis could be damn useful depending. And yeah, my magic is combat-based, because I was raised to become a mercenary. Not every mage in Thedas has that skillset; believe it or not, a lot of the Circle mages had to be taught how to fight when the Circles fell, because they never had to learn before. A lot of them have an affinity for one type of magic or other, often the kind that first manifests itself. A lot of times that can be elemental, but not always."

She shrugs, sure that her mentor could explain it a lot better. But he's not here, so. "Family secrets and feuds, huh? That sounds a lot like Tevinter, or so I'm told. Qunari and the Imperium have been at odds for forever, so my kind -whether part of the Qun or not- aren't exactly welcome there."

"Thanks," he said, catching the towel and immediately wiping his hand off. Unsure of where to return it to, Waver simply draped it over his shoulder.

"Believe me, I wouldn't think to try anything like a summons," he continued, deadly serious even if his tone sounded upbeat. "I'd bet anything that someone would see it, scream demons, and then I'm absolutely done for thanks to a glorious combination of being a mage and being a stranger from another world." If there was one thing magi were good at, after all, it was self preservation.

"Hypnosis is pretty easily trumped by a strong will though, it might not take on a person or it could take for only a short amount of time. Reapplication is possible, but--" he trailed off, knowing that the rest filled itself in. It was a risk, and one that would have to be calculated depending on the situation. "Elemental is a common thread then, although we tend to have elemental plus specialization in something. Evocation, alchemy, minerology, so on and so forth. A lens for the element to manifest itself through."

Waver paused at the mention of international tensions, tilting his head very slightly. "By forever are you talking centuries or millennia?"

"Centuries. The Qunari arrived in Thedas the Steel Age, from somewhere in the east. They promptly took over Par Vollen in the north, then Seheron and then tried to bring the entire continent under the Qun. It could have worked, too. Fortunately, several Exalted Marches beat them back and though they're still in those two areas, relative peace has been made with every other nation except Tevinter. Everyone thinks that the peace won't last, though; at some point, the Qunari are going to try and invade again, because they didn't get the fucking hint the first several times that we like our freedom."

Korrin just shakes her head in disgust. "We may look the same, but they are not my people. My parents left that shit behind for good reason. There are actually a couple of Qunari in the Inquisition, because the advisors allowed for it, but most of us have nothing to do with the Qun so assuming otherwise is a great way to get a bunch of horned giants annoyed at you. Yeah, Thedas has a lot of cultural pitfalls. Sorry."

Edited 2016-12-03 20:41 (UTC)

As Korrin spoke, Waver tried to visualize the map of Thedas in his head. He was getting better at remembering places, but only in the grand scope of things. But fortunately, knowing "north" was enough, because everything else was a territory dispute. And for now, temporary settlement.

"Such pitfalls would exist if our roles were reversed," he said with an easy sort of shrug. "It's just which pitfalls exist, and from everything you've just said, it seems like my best bet is to assume nothing and use ignorance to one's advantage to avoid cultural issues if at all possible."

"Good idea." Korrin nods approvingly. "The more you go with that, the easier it will be to adapt. I think those who cling to whatever notions they have of the world they come from are those who have the hardest time here, whether they admit it or not. Not that I can judge; if it were reversed, I'm not sure how well I'd do in their place. But regardless, you will have people here who will try to smooth the process as much as possible. Not everyone is dumb enough to still question if rifters are demons. I'm a fucking mage, I know the difference."

"The thing is that we have a large frame work that allows for there to be other worlds," Waver admitted. "Five overarching types of Magic. So being in another place and time is within the realm of possibility, no matter how far fetched it might seem. The rest of it though," he paused, feeling embarrassed about the next part. "Beyond adjusting to the laws your magi live by, the shift in technology is going to be the hardest."

Which really meant no electronic communication and no video games to relax with, so Waver would have to find a substitute. Sooner, rather than later, ideally.

"And if you don't mind my saying, I think the horns would be the biggest obstacle to adjustment in my world."

"None of my kind if your world, I take it? I'm not surprised. Humans and elves are everywhere and even dwarves can be rifters, but qunari -Tal-Vashoth, Vashoth or the real deal- seem to only originate from this world. If there are any elsewhere, I've never heard of them." It's a little disconcerting but since she's on her native turf, Korrin's not going to dwell on it much.

"As for technology, it depends on what you're looking to do with it. Considering what we get from the dwarves, we're not that badly off, and enchantments tend to cover what those don't. You've been told how the sending crystals work, right?"

"Nothing but humans where I'm from, you'll find. We're low on intelligent life form diversity." For better or for worse, he noted internally.

"I've been told, yes, and that's close to our mobile phones. Haven't used one though, mostly because I've had little reason to. The only other person I know here is Iskandar, and if I want to talk to him I just have to look around for a massive red head who is probably shouting anyway."

"I wonder if that makes for a less divided world...who am I kidding, of course it doesn't. People never run out of things to fight about." Korrin's seen that in Orlais often enough, thanks to its Game, not to mention the Mage-Templar War is mostly humans.

Mention of Iskandar brings a grin to her face. "He's a good guy. I'm glad to have fought alongside him here; he made a pretty good Fool for the Satinalia festival, too. I'm sorry you've been yanked from your world, but I'm glad he has someone who knew him from before, all the same."

Waver tried not to laugh at the thought, but a flash of teeth still showed. "Oh, not at all. It's just along different lines, and that's never going away. Some parts of nature are universal, I think."

The mention of Iskandar as a very literal fool however did prompt a smile to cross his face, something genuine. "I'd like to know much more about this festival and what exactly being a Fool entailed. Although I'm not surprised that he's proven a good fighting companion. He always was."

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