{ CLOSED } To Red Lyrium project team

[aceso]

WHO: Red Lyrium Project team
WHAT: Christine has an announcement to make.
WHEN: As soon as everyone returns from the Sunless Lands.
WHERE: Christine's office, 7th floor of the central tower in the Gallows
NOTES: Sorry for the delay on this.

The wind and sleet beat against the tiny window of Christine's office, causing an ominous howling sound that doesn't set a pleasant mood. However, since Christine has gathered the whole group together, it's clear this isn't a meeting meant for pleasantries anyway. There aren't enough seats in the office for all those assemblied, so she'll keep things brief for the sake of their feet.

"Thank you for coming. I felt it important to have a discussion about some recently discovered things. Firstly, through use of her microscope, Cosima believes that lyrium is not a mineral after all. It behaves like a thing that is alive. Additional tests show that with different stimuli, it continues to respond the same way. Lyrium is a living thing."

She pauses to let that sink in. This changes so much about what they know of the world, that everyone needs time to process it all. And even if they don't care or have a vested interest, surely they must all be thinking along the same lines: If lyrium is alive, then what is infecting it to make it red?


[ ooc: one thread please. tag as often as you want to keep things rolling until we reach a good stopping point. christine has an additional report to bring up, and there should be discussion of darkspawn, the blight, and gathering samples before the thread is done. ]

Comments

[circleprodigy]

Inessa recoils and grimaces at the thought of red lyrium-darkspawn, and it prompts a whine from Garahel. Glancing over to Alistair as he mentions the Anderfels, she remains silent on that matter. It's probably not relevant, anyway.

"...no, I cannot say I have seen infected darkspawn. Maker willing, the taint they already carry won't allow for it." But add that to the list of things that will keep her up at night. "I agree, a living one might be our best chance for a breakthrough."

[unshadowing]

Somehow, things always manage to exceed Carver's worst expectations. He looks over the report, just as disturbed as his other fellow Wardens. This doesn't bode well for anyone.

"I haven't either." Though it makes him wonder... "What are those ones called... emissaries? The magic ones? Could they have gotten their hands on it?" They're not using the lyrium to enhance magic suppressing abilities, at any rate.

Or at least he certainly hopes not.

[aceso]

"But would the Red Templars be trying to infect darkspawn? I would think they would be too unpredictable and hard to control. They have their own agenda, yes? To spread the Blight." Gesturing to the report, she adds, "There was no mention of red lyrium being sown in the ground or rocks. It was only present on the bones. And I have seen such before -- long ago. When we were stationed in the Fallow Mire, a group of us performed an autopsy on a body we pulled up from the water. It also had red lyrium growing on its bones, though there was none growing nearby from the ground. Not like in Emprise du Lion." Her lips press together in a firm line for a moment. "Is it possibly those bones were of emissaries consuming lyrium to perform magic?"

And if so, how did it go from blue to red? This seems like it could be an isolated incident, but what if it's a sign of things to come? Maker willing, the taint they already carry won't allow for it. But that isn't so. The red lyrium was there on those tainted bones, growing.

"It is possible," she begins slowly, trying to find the best way to say this, "That whatever red lyrium is has a resistance to the Blight. If so, it would serve your Order well to help us discover what that is. But... I cannot see how something as dangerous as red lyrium can be helpful in beating back the Blight. Red lyrium corrupts peoples' bodies and minds. It destroys them. It-- It is like the Blight in that way."

[youwonscience]

"Is it possible, and not so dangerous it's out of the question that way, to get something while the red lyrium is growing in it? Not a person, obviously, but like the ground or a rock or something. If it can grow in both organic and inorganic, um, living and nonliving things, I'd be interested to see if we can figure out how it's replicating itself."

Cosima's suggestion is uncharacteristically tentative, not because she's unsure it's worth making, but because even after a few years in Thedas, there's a lot of context she doesn't have. She knows less about darkspawn and the Blight than even most non-Wardens, for all she's been told the basics. If it's not possible, she'll take the word of people who know more about it.

[circleprodigy]

"Emissaries with red lyrium...now there's a nightmare." Inessa's lips form a thin line, trying to focus past her revulsion. "Darkspawn may be impossible to control, but if their goal is to spread chaos...it would be rather effective, nonetheless. It's...a possibility I suppose we can't quite dismiss, unfortunately." Not yet, anyway.

Pausing, she glances to Cosima. A curious though wary expression forms, and she glances over to Alistair to see what he thinks. "There might be some merit in that, should it be pursued with all due precaution. But I can't imagine anyone among use being casual about such matters." They've all see the threat that red lyrium poses, and they know to take it very seriously.