faderift | class is in session

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class is in session

WHO: Merril; Waver
WHAT: Summary of content
WHEN: Today
WHERE: Merrill's School For People Who Want To Thedas Good And Learn How To Do Other Stuff Good Too
NOTES: None.

Waver was trying his best to get comfortable with Skyhold, he really was. To that end, he found the entire concept of optional classes to be in his best interest with getting up to speed, never mind not having to bombard individuals with too many questions when they might not be up for playing world ambassador. It was also the first time he had been a student in a very long time indeed, and it was a strange feeling to be the one sitting and listening to the lecture rather than giving it.

He appreciated the novelty though, and his own newer perspective on what it was like to stand and talk for hours on end while everyone else took notes. Waver knew that he wouldn't have appreciated such things in his youth, and it also meant he occasionally copied the acts of his students when he needed to. Namely, being that one student who tried to ask questions as the instructor called time for the day and was packing up. Quite a few of his kids did that to him - sometimes welcome, other times not so much - and he knew it could pay off.

Which was why he chose to do it at the conclusion of the day's lesson on the Dalish. Getting up off of his ass as the rest of the students exited, he cleared his throat politely as he approached Merrill.

"Can I ask an outstanding question that wasn't addressed?"

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Without Waver adjusting the various papers, Merrill goes to do it herself. There's not much thought behind it, nor really any structure; she is only picking, trying to busy herself -- or, rather, her hands.

"Some of it, yes. There are various schools of magic -- Creation, Entropy, that sort of thing. Things like working with nature, controlling vines or moving through the earth, are mostly found among the Dalish. And being taught, how we're taught, is different as well -- since we're not completely under the Chantry and only teaching what they are willing to allow."

Her staff, jarred by her fidgeting, begins to roll; it's caught with one bare foot and drawn back in. "The Dalish also teach that there's no real difference between spirits and demons. They're all spirits. None of them are mortal and none of them think the way mortals do, therefore all have the potential to be dangerous."

Waver murmured nice catch as Merrill caught the run away staff, otherwise he was completely attentive. The schools of magic were as familiar to things back home, although the kind of nature control she described would probably be a family trait.

But it was when she started talking about spirits that Waver really perked up. He had heard enough about attitudes towards mages here from Anders to understand that fear of demons seemed to be one of the biggest driving forces that demanded control of magi, but what Merrill was describing felt well.

It felt more measured. Certainly more nuanced.

"That is interesting," Waver said finally, his breathless voice accompanied with a very thin smile. "It seems foolish that only the Dalish hold that kind of view."

Perhaps it was a family trait, once upon a time. They do say magic is carried in the blood, and as it is, there are not a lot of Dalish. They're likely all at least partially related.

The smile, the breathlessness -- those have Merrill perk up a little herself, and she smiles back. This is a topic she's always longed to discuss more at length with others, but so many don't want to hear about it.

"Yes, well, most Dalish would tell you that shemlen are very foolish anyway." This is said with a bit of a giggle; there's no ill-will here, she promises. "There's definitely a lot of caution regarding any spirit with us, but there are those of us that believe that if you're careful and keep your wits about you, you can work with a spirit -- or demon -- without being possessed. You just have to remember that they are different."

Waver took shemlen to simply mean any non-Dalish, it seemed straight forward enough. Everything else that Merrill said though was infinitely more interesting, especially with what he did know of treatment of magi. Of course, having Anders as one's source was a bias Waver wasn't quite aware of yet.

"And the idea of passing this kind of tradition onto anyone else just isn't done," Waver said, half asking, half trying to make a reasonable conclusion. "Because even this approach feels like it could help with uhm--" He didn't know what the right words were.

"Everything else I've learned about perspectives towards magi."

"You've only meant Dalish within the Inquisition, I'm guessing," Merrill starts, rubbing at the back of her neck. A moment later, she's putting both hands on top of her staff and leaning forward with it as support. "Most humans consider us to be scary elves that will snatch away their children and feed them to the wolves. Most Dalish consider humans to be the same. Surface dwarves are lumped in with humans, no Dalish that I know of has met a pure Orzammar dwarf, and elves that aren't Dalish are usually considered to not be real elves. Qunari and Vashoth are also to be avoided."

She sighs. Race relations were never easy, but did they have to be this complicated?

"We're a minority, at the end of the day, and treated poorly for it. The Inquisition doesn't tend to put up with that nonsense, but outside of Skyhold? It's not just Dalish who are treated badly, of course -- alienages have been burned because the elves within have done things like demand to be treated well -- but our clans are small and split up and easier targets. Not that we don't fight back, and maybe that just makes them more determined to kill us for it."

"In my defense, I have only been here two months," Waver pointed out, more gentle than he might be with another instructor. The sentence would have had a huffier tone, the assumption that the instructor knew that already. "So my practical experience is fairly low and the only instruction I get is between what you've set up and the library."

Which meant that yeah, the subtle aspects of race relations in Thedas hadn't even entered the picture yet, not fully. He felt as if he ought to be taking notes as Merrill explained everyone else's opinions on the Dalish. It was well. Not confusing, but it felt like an intricate collection of lines between each group.

"Jeez," he said quietly as she finished, ending with the general treatment of the group. He paused, rubbing the bridge of his nose slowly. That kind of destruction took time to absorb. "Is there anything here in Thedas that isn't vulnerable to getting attacked or under another's control?"

"That's why I do this." Her smile this time is a little sadder, but no less genuine for it. "You're thrown in here with no knowledge of this world and expected to follow its rules. It isn't fair to you. The least I can do is try to help by providing accessible information. Technically the advisers have the final say as far as who can teach and what can be taught, but they can't stop me from sending you to people they don't approve of or teaching you things off the record."

Just casually breaking the rules if she has to, no big deal. Then again, Merrill has always been her own sort of rebel, at least among the Dalish.

As for Waver's question... Merrill rubs at the back of her neck again, humming slightly in thought. "Well. The dwarves don't dream, so they don't have mages and are at a lower risk for possession because of it? Though they can be mind controlled. So- no, not really."

Everyone in Thedas has good reason to be paranoid.

"Well I think things are all the better for it, and I appreciate it." Waver's own smile was small, but there was no dishonesty in it. He had held his teaching position for some time, he knew what kinds of nonsense that anyone involved in education had to deal with on a daily basis. "It makes me wonder if it'd be worth creating written curriculum if only for recording what was covered."

Did the Inquisition keep it's own records? It must. But that was neither here nor there.

As for his previous question's response, he could only shake his head. Some things in Thedas seemed, well. Depressing no matter the angle. "I can't say anything like that explains a few things, but I do have to say, I wonder what might be if the Dalish perspective on how to approach spirits was transmitted to magi who could then work to get that understanding out to a larger audience."

"I try to keep everything organized, and I try to encourage everyone else to do the same for their classes." The Dalish know the value of keeping information, if only because they've lost so damn much of it. "It can be hard, though -- people will miss lesson due to missions or because they've only just arrived. Do you cover everything again? Do you keep going? Do you scramble for more teachers, more classes? Do you take them aside?"

She's rather glad Waver has taken her aside, at least. Merrill doesn't mind questions like this at all. Unfortunately, she can't just deposit the information into everyones mind -- or she could, but that would be frowned upon.

The idea of introducing the Dalish perspective on spirits to other mages, however, just makes her sigh again. "Most likely we'd all be branded heretics and hunted. The Chantry wants things their way, not ours. And mages aren't going to be listened to by most, not as it is now. We're dangerous; they'd rather pretend we don't exist until it's useful to them."

"With my background, we've already got a system in place to answer that. Mostly it boils down to having courses on rotation, as well as topics on different levels. 101, 102, that sort of thing," was the response, maybe a little too automatically. Waver's life was dictated by Reines and the semesters at Clock Tower. Always.

Waver wasn't surprised by the reaction, honestly. It was only a passing thought, but it seemed like such a missed opportunity to try and change things.

"That's understandable - safety comes first. It just seemed, well, an obvious part of the solution. But maybe I'm just biased as an outsider."

"How often do they rotate? I just worry that people will have to wait to learn and end up in a messy situation that could have been avoided otherwise, you know?" But then, Merrill worries about everyone. It's not always clear that she does, since she's often busy watching butterflies, but she does.

It's definitely a missed opportunity. It's just one Merrill doesn't believe is feasible, not just yet.

"Maybe we could try it within the Inquisition, but beyond that... I don't know. A lot of humans want nothing to do with the Dalish save killing us, so."

"Three or four months, but you can always make adjustments," Waver said. There was a thoughtful hum as he considered. "Perhaps here, a month might work. That way introductory classes are always available, and from the start of the proverbial round."

Speaking of the start. Waver considered the matter of the Inquistion versus the rest of the world, then tapped his finger to his chin. "It might actually be the only sort of place to experiment, really. My understanding of this organization is that it's half a think tank, and half an agent of change anyway."

"It does seem to happen rather regularly, doesn't it? It's very strange." Then again, what about people falling out of rifts and coming from other worlds isn't strange?

Humming a bit in thought, Merrill nods slowly. "Actually... there has been some talk about classes that have a quiet goal of warming people up to magic, showing that it can be useful. I don't know if, as a Rifter, you'd have any interest- but I do think the Inquisition is the best place to start."

"It does," Waver said with a frown. It was weird, truly. "Tell you what. If you give me a week, I could draw up a potential draft of what a rotation schedule of classes might look like, and you can take it from there. Who knows - everyone else involved might reject it."

It wouldn't be the first time that an idea of Waver's got the boot, nor would it be the last. At least this on was low stakes.

"As a mage back home and who was alarmed as hell upon finding out how this place treats magi, yes, consider me interested. Of course you'd have to come up with a better angle than magic is good!, but I think it'd be a worthwhile thing to attempt."

Merrill, at least, perks up immediately. "Oh, that would be great! You seem used to this sort of thing- I'll take all the advice I can get, honestly. It's much less formal among the Dalish, mostly because we have to get ready to move due to humans or weather or angry bears at any time."

There was always something going on in the wilds, after all. It's similar enough to the Inquisition, actually.

"Have you met Anders at all?" There is a bit of hesitance here -- Merrill, at least, knows how many people feel about Anders.

"Just give me a list of all of the classes, and I'll get to work on it tomorrow." It was a good logical challenge, and something Waver found himself in want of. So much of his emphasis was on learning lately, it felt odd to not be puzzling something out instead. Although. "--Bears?"

Were they so common as to cause that level of comment?

"And yes, I have." The hesitation struck him. "Why do you ask with that kind of uncertainty?"

"The bears are very- well. Violent." There's no playing dead until they go away with these bears. They'll juts finish the job.

"Oh- oh, don't misunderstand! I like Anders quite a bit. It's just that a lot of people... don't. He used to be possessed by a spirit of Justice, you see, but it kind of turned more into Vengeance and it helped him do some... things."

Merrill, you can't defend Anders without actually saying what he did. Come on, now.

"Anyway- he used to be a bit more radical, that's all. Now he's much more even-tempered. He's got better ideas than I do about the classes to help warm people up to magic, that's all."

"Those are certainly advanced bears versus the ones back home," Waver said, almost smiling once he realized he said advanced bears. "Most respond to playing dead."

But, other matters were far more important. The spirit possession thing was new information, and it nearly sounded like Waver was better off ignorant of what some things were.

"He's how I first learned of the treatment of mages in Thedas, actually. That's why I was drawing on the connections I was in the manner I was."

"Anders lived through some of the worst treatment," Merrill says softly, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Many others aren't treated that way, but the issue is that so many are, or that many think it's acceptable or just turn a blind eye to it."

Of course, Anders may have said as much to him. She really has no idea what Anders tells people that aren't her, honestly.

"We never got into depth." Waver now understood why. He sighed heavily, frowning at the entire concept.

"It needs to be changed, regardless of any good treatment that does exist. The worst part of me appreciates the perspective though. The issues back home are very small in comparison."

"There are several mages here who were treated well in their Circles, but I think they're all out on missions. Or most of them. Maybe." There's a sheepish laugh. "Honestly, I try not to ask around if people are apostates or how they were treated in their Circles if not."

It's a bit of a touchy subject.

"I mean, it isn't like it is considered polite to walk up to someone and go were you horribly mistreated, and if so, how?." Waver can only imagine how badly a conversation like that would go. He flinched at the thought.

"But it is sort of beyond the point. The Circle system seems too rife for abuse."

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class is in session

face in hands i'm sorry life is being itself

it is ok

<3

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