“Oh, I’m sorry. That sounds...unpleasant.” She’s pretty sure they wouldn’t call it the Great Collapse if it were something that didn’t involve some kind of catastrophe. Otherwise, they should really rethink their naming conventions.

There’s a definite easing of tension, when Beleth sees that her clever ploy worked. It means that Klaus can’t be nearly as foreboding as his appearance makes him seem, and that she can probably trust him to not try to cause her injury. And she can probably get him to help her if she ever needs something from tall places. Ladders are for schmucks.

“Circles...” She clears her throat, glancing off to the side. Oh, boy. “I should preface this by letting you know that I don’t really know much about them. I’m Dalish, and Dalish don’t use them.” She indicates the green tattoos on her face.

“But Circles are...places that used to be for mages. It was, supposedly, to give them a place to learn and be protected, as well as protect ordinary people from them. And keep an eye out for maleficarum—mages who use mage to hurt people. But, it turns out,” And here, she uses a very dry voice, “giving a group of people total power over another group may have drawbacks. That may be a simplification, though. There are a vast range of opinions on them. In any case, the main body of mages got sick of things and revolted.”

After that, she shrugs. It is, as the ancient elvish proverb goes, not her circus, not her monkey.