PLAYER PLOT: Enfenim

[mythalenaste]

WHO: Pel, Sina, Cyril, Beleth, Sorrel, Myr, Saoirse, side of Anders and Alistair
WHAT: A demon has trapped Pel in the Fade.
WHEN: Forward-Dated to 25 Firstfall
WHERE: The Gallows, the Fade
NOTES: Trigger warning bonanza for insects, body horror, corpses, dismemberment/maiming, death, illness, drowning, blood + will update if any more happen.

What am I to do with all of these dolls?
They've covered the floors, they've covered the walls.
They're stacked up chin-high all over the floor,
But my greedy child is screaming for more...

Comments

[byblow]

"What?" Alistair says, looking up sharply from where he's shoveling food into the baby's mouth. "No."

He could elaborate. He could say he doesn't currently plan to retire—he's still very young, he can keep fighting until his Calling—and he could say that Sabine isn't going to give up her fight anytime soon, either. He could point out that unless there is some miracle cure and Alistair is actually willing to use it, any kid he has now will lose at least one parent by the age of fifteen, at the absolute latest, and maybe both if Sabine aggravates the wrong people. He could say that Orlais isn't very kind to children with elven parents, whether they're elves or not, and neither of them will leave Orlais anytime soon

But that's where things still aren't entirely all right, after their spat about Loghain. He keeps the cards he actually cares about, like Sabine, close to his chest, unless he trusts someone to be careful with them. Plus he's a little stressed out at the moment. Pel is in danger. Beleth, too. And all these random elves he doesn't know or care about, whatever.

So he continues shoveling mash into the baby. "I'm definitely not taking this little monster," he says—affectionately, if a little strained by the aforementioned stress. "How does she fit that much air in her lungs? She's tiny."

[justice_is_blond]

"Mm." It's a neutral reply to the first bit. Unless he finds a cure for the Taint in four-ish years, there aren't kids in his future. If he does... It's selfish to want to go away and retire and hide from the world but Anders is tired. He doesn't have the energy to be trying to save everyone all the time for too many more years.

"I didn't mean little Sina. Pel will be back." Because he refuses to think about the alternatives. "And infant's internal organs are actually 45% lung and 45% stomach when they're this small. The other organs are present, but they only really start growing when she does."

It's 100% lie, but due to the shared stress of the situation there isn't a teasing undertone giving the joke away.

"It means she can scream and eat more, vital things to being a baby. That may be related to why Wardens eat so much; we're reverting." Maybe that will give it away. Maybe not. If it doesn't at least he'll have a little fun teasing Alistair.

[faithlikeaseed]

Lyrium-induced sleep's often a little deeper, a little more still than the natural thing--dreaming-deep, the body plunged instantly into immobility for its own protection. So it's been for Myr--

Right up until he thrashes suddenly, throwing off the blanket over him and reaching for something in his nightmares. "Sina--?"

Then he subsides back into silence.

[justice_is_blond]

Sina. That concerns him. He's been spending so much time with Pel that he hasn't checked on Sina, and while there are other healers around her... No. There are other healers around her. He cannot do everything.

Right now he's here, and he's needed here. Anders walks over to Myr and tucks the elf back in with care. "It's all right," he says uselessly and incorrectly. They're in the Fade. It's not all right. But it's all he can think of to say.

[byblow]

Alistair's suspicious look at Anders' baby statistics doesn't have the opportunity to turn into suspicious commentary, then, before it's interrupted by the thrashing. Alistair shoots a worried look that way and then scoops up Sina Minor and... stands there. Getting her away from it was a stupid impulse, anyway. They're all asleep. The baby has no idea what's happening.

[justice_is_blond]

Anders looks up at Alistair, having caught the motion, and shrugs. Could Myr have meant the baby? Is the demon taunting Pel with images of the baby? It's possible. Right now it doesn't change anything, though. They've a vigil to keep and he exhales before coming back over to Alistair with a sigh.

"The Fade is the worst place to go, officially. There are other awful places, but the Fade is the most worst." He takes a seat as he says it.