[Closed] Wherever a door closes ...

[sunshinethroughgrey]

WHO: Bethany Hawke, Anders, Merrill (Kirkwall creeeeew!)
WHAT: Wardens and Not a Blood Mage get together to discuss the Blight, and the removal thereof.
WHEN: First week of Draconis, after Anders is done dealing with Oghren
WHERE: Crumbling tower that no one lives in.
NOTES: There are no warnings, only mage nerds trying to solve the Blight.

Bethany sent out a crystal message to Merrill, after she finishes her giggle fit with Anders, to meet them in the crumbling tower. After the conversation with Alistair, she had the sneaking feeling that she ought to avoid speaking publicly about what she, Anders, Merrill, and Nate were working on. She didn't think Alistair would try to stop them -- but now that she had her doubts about Teren?

Well.

She brought all the books and notes, spread out on a clean quilt she had put together, along with some food and wine. After all you couldn't delve into the mysteries of some holy corrupting disease without something on your stomach. She herself was nibbling on a cheese sandwich while she waited for the two of them to arrive, skimming through volumes of Grey Warden history to find what she could on pregnant Grey Wardens.

Comments

[chainlightning]

Quiet for a minute as she's reading, Merrill concludes with a hum. "It all seems to relate directly back to the Architect, doesn't it? Which makes sense as far as accelerating the taint, but removing it..."

With Anders reading over her shoulder and close, Merrill feels quite comfortable in using him as something to lean on. Hi Anders. "Do we know if Fiona was a Grey Warden already when the baby was conceived?"

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[Text of the letter: here.]

Bethany picked up an apple and nibbled on it herself, looking thoughtful as she gestured to it, "From what I could gather - from the letter and from Alistair - that she became pregnant while under the Architect's ... loving care. Nine months after the incident, the child was given to the Circle. Alistair says the trail runs cold there but I am not sure I believe him. I understand he wants to protect some poor orphan'd lad's life, but that man could be vital."

[justice_is_blond]

Anders takes a few moments to think (and to adjust to Merrill leaning on his shoulder.) The friendliness is still a little on the new side of things.

"Pursuing the child could be dangerous. They're Chantry-trained, whether as a mage or not, and what we'd be looking for would be found in the blood. I'm torn on whether we should try and risk opening us up to those accusations, especially when the child... or man now, I suppose, going off the dates, may have no relevance. I don't know."

He sighs, looking down at his food. "Do we know which Circle he was given to? There's a not-insignificant chance they never made it to adulthood, either."

[chainlightning]

"How strange," Merrill decides, not budging from her spot where she's leaned against Anders as she takes another bite of her apple. "Although- how does Alistair know so much about it, anyway? Just because he was with the Hero of Ferelden, or...?"

It's not like most of the Grey Wardens are fond of him, after all.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"He apparently spoke to Fiona a great deal while she was here. Besides that, I asked him to pass on the letter. He must have asked questions." Bethany's smile turned wry, "You know Alistair. He always likes to put his nose into people's business to cause trouble."

[justice_is_blond]

She's comfortable, and he's not feeling like being an asshole. Anders lets her stay and continues eating himself, listening and thinking.

"Not always to cause trouble," he says with a small smile. "He's mentioned his mother was a mage, which means he was another Chantry-raised child. It may easily be sympathy for another who didn't get to know their parents thanks to the Circles and Chantry. I can't blame him for being protective."

Alistair's not the villain here, in his opinion. It's the Circles.

[chainlightning]

Merrill giggles a little, but nods; that all makes sense. One of her legs draws up, her wrist loosely resting over it, apple in hand. It makes her gestures a little funnier, which amuses her, at least.

"I'm still not really sure about all this business with the Architect -- you both know more than I do. And whatever's done with him, I suppose that's more of Warden issue than a- a me issue. But I would like to know more. I want to help people."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"Well you're the only person I know of who has ever been able to clear Blight corruption from anything, Merrill. It might be as simple as the wood your tool was made out of, or the magic you used." Bethany folded her legs up underneath her.

"Are there different elvhen rights, to cleaning up ... I don't know, spiritual corruption?"

[justice_is_blond]

"To go not too far back, the Architect is another of the magisters who went into the Golden City and found it Black. Or made it black, either way. He wants to end the Blight, he says, but the means he uses to do so make his end goal questionable. Nathaniel, Velanna, Oghren, and I have all been his... guests as well. He wanted our blood for his Darkspawn, because apparently Warden blood could make them intelligent. When we encountered him, he'd awoken a broodmother, who formed an army to attempt to fight him. We had to save a city and the fortress, so we agreed not to fight him so that he wouldn't stab us in the back while we cleaned up his mess with the Mother."

Anders shrugged. "He didn't stab us in the back, at least. But he's still out there, running his experiments. And he has no issue using blood for personal gain, or using it from unwilling subjects. He might be able to help us, or he might sabotage us, and that's even if we can find him. He's elusive and intelligent."

[chainlightning]

"Not that I know of," Merrill tells Bethany, frowning slightly. "But- I mean, they didn't really want to tell me much. The spirit I spoke with, that's where most of my information was from." And it did work.

There's another slight hum of thought when Anders is done speaking. Fingertips tap on her knee, a bare foot likewise tapping on the stone. "How did Fiona come across him?"

[sunshinethroughgrey]

"I suppose we could try asking another spirit." Bethany mused - and she means Spirit. Not Demon. Spirit, Merrill. There is a delicate difference sometimes but Bethany isn't going to let her desires get twisted. Or let her desires twist others.

"Apparently she was captured by him, about, ah, thirty, thirty five years ago?" She hummed, "It's a matter of Grey Warden record - by the by Merrill we never told you about this. Just in case."

[justice_is_blond]

"Grey Warden record," Anders mutters. "Of course the time I had access to the records we were dealing with the Architect, and then Templars that tried to pretend they were brothers and sisters."

He sighs. "Talking to spirits is difficult, but maybe we can get enough lyrium to be able to speak with some and see what they know. Wisdom is the most likely to be useful." Definitely leaning toward the Spirit side of things and not the Demon. It's an important distinction, and he feels like naming Wisdom helps make that clear. Or he hopes it does.

[chainlightning]

"Told me about what?" This is a joke. Mostly.

And excuse you, humans. Stop shoving your culture down her throat. They're all dangerous, and it's never stopped Merrill before.

"Wisdom might tell us that we're not being very wise," Merrill points out, not able to help the slight giggle that accompanies her words. "If there's something like- like Knowledge, that would help."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

She grins at that, before she picked up her apple again to nibble upon. Merrill's words made total sense and she nodded in agreement.

"Knowledge. Knowledge would be our best bet -- but we must know the right spell and we must do it with all proper respect. The Blight shouldn't touch the Veil any more than it has."

[justice_is_blond]

"How do you define proper respect? It's a spirit, not a prickly Orlesian ambassador." He's amused as he pulls out his boot knife to start slicing his apple.

"Two of us make the blight touch the veil every night when we sleep. I'm not certain that there's a fix for that. We just need to not thrust random things at it." That's all. Though a lot of research is throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

"We'll read, theorize, and try what seems to make the most sense and probably won't explode in our faces. Emphasis on probably." Because you can never know for certain what won't explode.

[chainlightning]

"Well, don't yell at it, probably," Merrill muses, taking another bite of her own apple. She's quiet for a moment -- she also should not talk to spirits or friends with her mouth full. "And don't call it a demon, and... I mean, Knowledge probably likes knowledge, right? Maybe we can... tell it... something? Or offer to tell it whatever we find out?"

She has no idea.

"I know no one wants to just start testing any Grey Wardens or other people corrupted by the Blight, but- what about a bereskarn or something?"

[sunshinethroughgrey]

She makes a brief face at Anders, but her gaze is thoughtful when she looks over at Merrill, "That's a good idea. Offering knowledge to Knowledge. We'll have to find something good - a what now?"

She thought about it then went, "Ah! Yes, a blighted bear. I forgot we called them those."

[justice_is_blond]

"Blighted animals are probably the best place to start. And then it depends on the sort of cure we think we've found. Orally ingested? A blighted bear would be the best bet, because it's easy to treat meat and leave it out for a predator. Something that requires a spell application, or physical, or a mix, we should get something a little less... aggressive."

He puts together a sandwich of sorts and uses it to gesture at the two women. "We're mages. I want to find a cure, and I'd like to find it with as little blood spilled as possible." A beat, and then a glance at Merrill. "...as little blood accidentally spilled as possible. And then we tell the knowledge spirit that what we learn, we'll share. It's not like we've a reason to hide whatever we find."