faderift | [OPEN] Be Careful Lest Your Sins Find You Out

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[OPEN] Be Careful Lest Your Sins Find You Out

WHO: Aleron Darton and Anyone in the Gallows
WHAT: Someone remembers the Seeker from days gone by. Not happy days.
WHEN: Early Justinian (backdated)
WHERE: Gallows
NOTES: None yet. Al is still a stick-in-the-mud. ~~Although maybe no more than 4-5 tag ins so I don't leave folks hanging?~~ Still open for any previous Kirkwall/Starkhaven mages who want to wtf at him.

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Ever since receiving the news that the Inquisition was going to set up base in Kirkwall, Aleron has had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that his time in the city prior was going to rear its ugly head. He, of course, doesn't feel he was in any way wrong in his actions. But then making people uncomfortable is part and parcel of being a Seeker. He's used to it, in fact. And thus, the sudden outburst behind his head is not much of a surprise.

"You! What are you doing here?! How could you? How could you have brought us here and left us with that madwoman?"

The source: a woman with a thick Starkhaven accent, face red with rage and barrelling at Aleron as if to tackle him to the ground with her slight frame.

She stops short of tackling him. Barely.

Having his boots spit on? That does prove something of a surprise. And the slap she delivers across his face immediately thereafter.

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Bethany had turned from Aleron for a moment - just a moment - to stroke Gamlen's little fuzzy ears - when the woman marched up and spat on his boots. Then ... slapped him.

To say she was in shock was, well, an understatement.

"I. What. Why. Excuse me, but why are you slapping my husband?!"

This might have turned out okay. Maybe. If the resident Templar attack dog weren't in the vicinity to see this happen, and immediately flip a switch from doing whatever he was doing to Handling This in the best way he knows how.
Cade appears out of seemingly nowhere to tackle the woman to the ground, where he holds her arms and presses his knee to her back, radiating fury. Sorry Bethany, she probably can't answer at the moment.

All this chaos erupting about Aleron and he remains as calm and stoic as ever. Even when he places a single hand on Cade's shoulder. Not to call him off but as a physical reminder not to push the matter with more violence until answers can be gleaned.

The woman, however, is disinclined to be reasonable and is practically hissing at all of them. "How could you?" she chokes out from the ground, while thrashing to get free. The rest of her complaint gets tabled in exchange for demands to be let up. "I'm a member of the Inquisition, let me up you fool! Let me up!"

The Seeker doesn't mind if the lady gets up again or talks from the ground, so long as she keeps her hands and saliva to herself. "Only if we've your word you'll control yourself," he replies with a glance to both Bethany and Cade for their agreement or not.

...Well that escalated quickly.

Very quickly.

In fact Bethany is still trying to figure out precisely where Cade came from. She's never seen a Templar move so fast in her life. She's starting to feel glad she never ran into Cade in Kirkwall -- he would have had her for certain --

"Hm? Oh. Yes. As long as she just ... stops spitting everywhere. The slapping can stop too." She said firmly, folding her arms over her chest.

Cade shudders when Aleron touches him, but otherwise remains as he is, poised and holding fast to the poor woman. His demeanor is strangely detached, his anger instinctive rather than purposeful, as though he'd happily snap the mage's neck at Aleron's request and not even know why.

She's not happy. That's an understatement.

Wren finds him later, when word's filtered out: Hands folded behind her back, posture rigid, head tipped at such an incline to be mistaken for deference by the unwary.

She’s been avoiding Darton. Doesn’t care to look him in the eye. It had been a desperate, shit decision to drag him to Orzammar — she doesn't care to remind herself of it. But what she cares hardly matters now, now that there's been a scene.

It's difficult to say which aspect of the incident's most left her simmering. The cause? Or the fuck of a way it's been handled? If she's being truly honest, neither's the whole reason there's something burning in her chest.

She raps twice on the edge of the doorframe (some anonymous workspace she's been told he's within) to announce herself.

"Seeker," The words are brusque, her eyes hard. "Ser Coupe. A moment of your time?"

Edited (typoooo) 2017-06-27 21:29 (UTC)

Later today, Aleron is most likely to feel touched at both of them rising to his defense in their own ways. One a little more intentional than the other, but still. At present, he's trying to puzzle out what in Andraste's name is going on precisely.

From the thrashing and the rather colorful string of expletives coming out of the mage pinned to the ground, it's doubtful she's going to hold to any promises she does make to find herself standing once more. A grudging concession is made from her quarter to do whatever but let her off the ruddy ground.

"She may stand." It's carefully worded as instructions to Cade without actively naming him a Templar. There are enough casual spats that turn up in the ranks over old grudges without stirring up new ones. If she's this aggressive out of the blue towards someone without an inkling who she is, there is no telling what might come if titles are thrown about.

"Now, madam, if you will, what troubles you?" Calm, collected, no ire. Not even a touch of curiosity in his tone. And unfortunately it sets her off all over again.

Screeching. "You bastard! You cold bastard, how dare you act like nothing happened!" Without warning she rounds on Bethany. "And you. You married him? Don't you know what he's done to us? How could you?"

~~If anyone speaks angry screaming woman, please translate. Al didn't learn that language.~~

Cade missed the memo about not being identified as a Templar, since every element of his behavior pegs him as one. He allows the woman to stand, as ordered, but continues to hold her arms behind her, not at all gently.
He watches Aleron gravely all the while, awaiting orders. All the Seeker has to do is give the word.

Honestly, Aleron expects hardness from any Templars, past or present. It's part and parcel of the job and he knows it. They don't trust him and he's suspicious by nature. It comes full circle. So he's not put off by Wren's demeanor in the doorway when he looks up from his research notes.

A small nod from him and a beckoning motion for emphasis. Carefully, he lays an unused quill on the precise line he'd been reading to mark his place, then looks up again.

"Certainly. Is there something I might help you with?"

Its as if nothing at all loud and inflammatory happened out in the courtyard. Apparently his unflappable calm sets people on edge, as it turns out, and yet he's still emotionless.

"Thank you."

Evenly. She shuts the door carefully behind her (thick walls here; they’ll not be overheard), extends a hand out to the air in polite introduction, and —

"That," It cracks out sharp and furious. "Enormous fucking cockup cannot happen again."

His title was due some respect before, however warily given. He’s blown through it now. How foolish she ever was, to suppose them any different, any somehow better. As though they were anything more than men — good, bad, and petty as any other.

"Do you have the faintest idea what that sort of shitbrained, reactionary aggression costs us? What it costs the Inquisition’s cause? To assault a survivor of the Gallows in public view." She stalks closer, plants her hands on the desk. Snarls: "What did you imagine she was going to do, spit poison? Give me one good reason not to report all three of you to your division heads."

She intends to, regardless. The final decision isn't hers to make, but this must not appear to go unaddressed.

All Aleron does is raises a single eyebrow in response. This is not the reaction of a man who engages in reactionary aggression. Cade on the other hand? Yes well.

"I'm entirely aware of the inflammatory nature of Ser Harimann's behavior and it will be addressed. If you are looking for me to publicly flog him, however, I fear you will be disappointed."

Aleron doesn't deal with things in public. Aleron doesn't do public. Seekers seldom do. Sticking to the shadows until it's necessary to step out and make their presence known. He doesn't even sigh, even when by all rights a normal person would.

Instead, he motions to a chair with an open hand and a blank, impassive expression. "Please, make yourself comfortable and we can address any other complaint you have about the outburst."

"Aware of it to the extent that you allowed it to continue? That you did not immediately call him off?"

Her knuckles are white. Wren can maintain composure, when required; she has been looking for an excuse not to for the better part of a month.

(For two and a half years.)

"You are not his commanding officer any longer. While he is here, he serves the Inquisition, and you've done him as much disservice as you both did by that woman."

She doesn't sit. She doesn't move. Self-righteousness is always a comfortable position — the moral high ground being so vanishingly rare of late.

"If this is addressed, it will be through the proper channels, and it will damn well include you."

Count the times a Seeker's been held accountable, and she doesn't expect them to be now. If pressed, she'll admit it's better for everyone's image if they aren't, if the blame can be swept neatly onto a scapegoat once again. Mages and templars, you know how they are,

Sit. Stand. Doesn't much matter either way to the Seeker but his mother had hounded him to always be polite. He had to make the offer. And even with yet another frothing at the mouth woman screaming at him, for the second time in one day, he remains unmoved. He does, however, wish someone could translate for him.

"Ser Coupe, was it? I am not won't to speak in my own defense. I do not intend to make a habit of it now. However, Cade responded, albeit not wisely, to the woman making an unexpected assault on my person. She was released once I was satisfied that the extent of her aggression was going to be limited to a verbal thrashing and no longer physical."

And really, madam, if you are going to fume on your high-ground, please do not jostle these very important research documents belonging to the Inquisition. They were tidy. Now they are not. Aleron calmly sets them back to rights.

"To put a fine point on it, she struck me first and without provocation." Incorrect, the provocation was some 12 years old but nothing immediate or present today. But that is something personal and not particularly something he cares to divulge. "I have no intentions of seeking corrective action from her superiors, nor the local law enforcement. So I fail to see why you feel compelled to press the matter. Provided she makes no further threats against my family, or any others around her, I consider the matter closed."

But she can threaten or even slap him. Aleron will take it because he's lived a lifetime of enduring everything thrown at him and he will continue taking all life's abuses silently. He's rather certain he deserves them for any number of reasons.

Bethany leans back, because she is spitting again, but this is mostly due to her mouth just running a hundred leagues a moment. She too, looks calm, before she speaks quietly. Yet her words are filled with compassion, empathy. She too is a mage.

"I know how much you must have suffered, in the hands of Meredith. I know it felt like you were abandoned, but the Seekers were lied to, just as was the Chantry. There were secrets upon secrets, buried in this place. By Templars ... and mages alike. I am sorry, for your suffering, but Aleron is not personally responsible."

"None of us have the luxury of acting in isolation."

She stabs the point of a finger down on one of those very important documents, so like the stack that awaits her upstairs: Reports and letters, transcribed sermons, and surveys of issues. Maps of mood.

"She did not strike you. She slapped you. Slapped a man more than her size, a man who has always had recourse over her life — I have been a knight twenty-five years, do not pretend you do not know as well as I where the balance of power lies. She could have been brandishing an axe and been no more threat to you."

"What if it were your wife?" If she sounded venomous before, there’s a new bite behind this now. "If it had been your wife, and the Lady Seeker stood idly by?"

Reed would be wiser to name, more immediate. But she owes him too much to drag him into this.

"I am compelled because today you made a lifelong radical of an Inquisition ally. I am compelled because you’ve made my duty this much more difficult, because this war’s peace is less than tenuous, because what happened here was a fucking travesty, one you seem content to brush under the rug."

And there we are. The other half of the problem.

Edited (typosssss) 2017-06-27 23:29 (UTC)

Ah sweet Bethany, if only that were wholly true. But it's not. Aleron knows it and clearly so does this spitfire lady. He doesn't recognize her, but it's not wholly impossible he has some blame to bear here.

Unfortunately, compassion isn't exactly his strong suit and so long as this woman is being rude to his wife, Aleron isn't precisely inclined to be generous with his mercy. So long as he thinks there's a chance that she might assault Bethany, his is the opinion that being restrained is the best course of action.

It's only once her shoulders slump in defeat that Aleron gives Cade the nod to turn her loose. Possibly a foolish move on his part, but she appears docile enough for the moment. She looks from Cade to Bethany then back to Aleron and asks, "Then who's fault is it if not his? He was here and saw what she was, and turned a blind eye."

Ah. So that's what the sudden tantrum is about. To which Aleron has no reply whatsoever. Because she's right, to an extent. He was here, he did investigate, and what he found was justified. He did not delve deeply enough.

Deep down, Cade does know that Meredith was in the wrong. But if she was wrong, that means he was too, and everyone who followed her, and it means that everything that happened That Night rests at least partially on him. He shudders, fighting back the urge to throw the mage down and shout at her. Instead, at Aleron's command, he flings her aside, stepping back with his face red and every nerve twitching at the ready.
It was her, and people like her, who caused it all. Given the opportunity, he'd kill her where she stands. ...for taking his commander away.

Bethany paused for a moment, and then moved to step forward. "It was no one's ... and everyone's. Everyone in power. Elthina, the Viscount, the Lords and Ladies of Kirkwall. It's the fault of the Templars for following her, it's the fault of the mages who turned to blood magic and tied the Seeker's hands behind their backs. It's the fault of the Seekers, but only because they didn't dig deeper. But let's focus on where the fault really lies in all this ... the name that everyone is afraid to speak, as if to summon her ghost."

She went, and took the mage's hands gently in her own. "It's Meredith's fault. Meredith did this to you. Meredith's choices led you to this moment. Meredith hurt you, she hurt all the mages. You're lucky to be alive -- I was here, in the final battle. I saw how many died, horribly. Desperation and fear drove everyone else -- but madness ruled Meredith."

Her voice quieted, "Everyone's hands hold blood - but the one holding the knife is long gone." She looked over at Aleron solemnly, "My husband is a hard man - but I know he feels his mistakes keenly. If you wish, when you are ready, he will hear your full recitation of offenses against the Templars who wronged you." She looked back at the woman, "If they still live, perhaps we can find you some justice. It is what the Inquisition is all about, isn't it? Righting the right wrongs, and moving forward from our old lives?"

He does not rise to the bait of the hypothetical threat to his wife because it wouldn't happen. Frankly, the notion of Bethany slapping anyone without provocation is laughable, if he was given to laughing. And the notion of Cassandra standing by is also laughable because if anything she'd be dressing down whoever was foolish enough to attempt manhandling a Hawke. But this is only nominal in the back of Aleron's mind. Rest assured, he'd die to keep Bethany safe, but there is no real threat in speculative thought.

Really, it's the snipe at not acting in isolation that sticks and it's mostly because he has been isolated for decades. He's terrible with people and he knows it. His sisters know it, his mother knows it, and he's fairly certain Bethany now knows it too.

Even so, there's no irritation bubbling to the surface. Just the fact that Wren is still loud and angry, and more than a little unreasonable. Angry people do not make sound decisions.

"Sit down."

This time it's not a polite offer. It's the authoritative voice of someone who has made a career of investigating rogue Templars and expects to be obeyed. He has the ability to enforce the directive but would prefer not to as she's only being excessively temperamental, which is in itself dangerous, but not outright out of control.

"There was a travesty here, but not the one you imagine."

Dispassion, she'd urged Anders not so long ago. Hold your temper and do the smart thing, she'd insisted of Ashlock. The caution which she presses upon Serra, the calm manner she'd always come to expect of Vauquelin, had so seldom thought to examine --

Her teeth grit at the command. She thinks of forcing an issue of it. Thinks of telling him precisely where he can sit,

Thinks better of it. How easily her concerns can already can be written off. An aging Templar? One who's made the recent errors in judgment that she has? One who needs yet to court the Chantry's allies?

"Ser," She hisses in acknowledgement, sits with all the bristling affect of a hound. Expectation is writ clear upon her face. Get talking.

Edited 2017-06-28 01:27 (UTC)

Wren can take the affect of a soaked, spatting cat if she desires. That's neither here nor there, so long as she's taking it out on Aleron and not the Inquisition at large. He's used to this. If he were the sort to lash back with petty blames, it would be all too easy to do. But that is not in his nature. But he's not about to shy away from what he's going to drop on her head either.

"Until this morning, I did not know her name. It's Rhona. Previously of the Starkhaven Circle of Magi. Then the Kirkwall Circle of Magi." Process those facts as you will, but do it quickly because he's going to have this out. Now. "Twelve years ago, when the Starkhaven Circle burned down it was transferred to Kirkwall. Two Seekers were dispatched to oversee the relocation. While present in the city, they investigated claims that Knight-Commander Meridith was overstepping her authority and acting excessively against her charges. The investigation concluded that she was more harsh than some of her peers, but due to the rampant blood magic present in Kirkwall's Circle, her actions were justified."

No flinching. No blinking. Cold hard facts. "I was one of those Seekers."

He allows that to sit between them in silence without so much as looking away or flinching. Aleron might not be good with people but he does know how to get across his point.

"So if Rhona wants to slap me, call me a bastard, or spit on my boots, I invite her to do so. People died in Kirkwall because I did my job, but not well enough. People were made Tranquil because I did not dig deep enough. I left a Circle in the care of a madwoman. March out that door and make whatever reports will make you feel better. But know that they will haul Rhona back into offices to make inquiries into the incident. And she has suffered enough."

"You," Slowly, deliberately. It's the only way she can speak right now without raising her voice. "Do not get to decide that for her."

"You do not get to wear her hurt as a shield for your blame." If she had any doubts before, this has settled them. A Seeker, ducking investigation, trying to shed consequence. Every word she chews of late has been bloody with hypocrisy, but this — oh, there's a new tang of iron now. "If you do not take responsibility for this, you are failing her twice."

It is on her way to prayer that Saoirse is suddenly startled out of her thoughts by a rage-filled voice with an accent not unlike her own. She spins on her heels just in time to see the woman strike the Seeker, heart racing before she rushes forward to reach out toward the woman and hopefully stop another attack.

"Please," she speaks in a soft voice and equally thick accent. "I know you are angry but we cannot do as they did to us. Some might see and use it as an excuse to act as they did once before."

Not that she is accusing Aleron of anything close to the sort but she is trying, very hard at that, to connect with this woman.

There's a whole lot of people in the wrong with regards to Meredith. Aleron is more than willing to shoulder the totality of the blame and is only stopped from doing so by his wife's intercession. He still intends to do so, but Bethany has a remarkable gift for making peace and he is disinclined to prevent her from doing so.

That storm might be calming under the skill of his wife, but it's plain to see that another is brewing in Cade's corner. One that will have to be addressed and potentially reopen the headache which is keeping him from snapping and creating more problems across the board. Maker.

The angry mage woman narrows her eyes at Cade because what else should she expect from a Templar? But the woman holding her hands makes sense. She's livid, livid to the point she's shaking. She doesn't want Bethany to be making sense. She wants people to pay for what they've done. "What justice is there? Will my friends live again? Will hanging the lot of them bring anyone back?"

Of course, Aleron is not going to help the argument about how keenly he does actually feel his mistakes because he remains utterly unmoved by the whole mess. He ignores the pissy questions and calmly inquires, "What is your name?" Because he has no clue. Has had lives in his hands for years and he cannot put a name to one of them. Well, most of them.

Her head snaps his direction, fury renewed. "You see? He doesn't even know who I am. Wrecked our lives and doesn't even care. It's Rhona, not that you mind any."

"Nor do you get to decide it for her. It is her decision to take action or not. I suppose we'll see what she decides when my wife is done feeding her fruit tarts." Thank the Maker for Bethany, the peacemaker. Aleron supposes Rhona will never in her lifetime forgive him, and he would not be satisfied in any way if she did. But he does wish her to find some semblance of peace for her life. He's not about to let whatever bug got in Wren's craw wreck that.

Calmly he folds his hands in his lap as if this were the most casual of friendly visits. If friendly visits involved cold detachment. "I would suggest you seek the healers sometime today and have your hearing checked. I just told you that I take full responsibility for my failings, which are legion." Here his eyes narrow, if only a fraction. "However, you are excessively angry over something which does not concern you directly, or truly indirectly. Having not been present, I presume you are operating on hearsay and not the facts."

Ah, Aleron is so terribly bad with people, unless an interrogation is involved. And now he's just suspicious. There's no reason for this level of fury out of Wren just because her workload might have been increased. "It is my experience that people with no tangible cause to be angry use others as a platform when they are attempting to deflect from their own issues. So, I've but two conclusions to draw here. Either you wish to see Rhona disciplined for her outburst; punish the out-of-control mage as a warning to others, and if I am dragged along into it, so much the better. Perhaps in your past, the Seekers' gaze fell on you for wrong doing and this suits your purposes of revenge. Or you are attempting to hide something. Which is it? Which truth are you hiding from?"

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[OPEN] Be Careful Lest Your Sins Find You Out

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just let me know if anything doesn't work! ♥

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c'est parfait! ♥

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