Entry tags:
04 | CLOSED
WHO: Lakshmi Bai & Wren, Herian, Thranduil, Araceli, Ioverth, Kitty, Solas and Teren - ( Also: Flint & Vane )
WHAT: Telling Some Whole Truths.
WHEN: Post-Fade Adventures, some time after her house arrest.
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Probably really extra.
WHAT: Telling Some Whole Truths.
WHEN: Post-Fade Adventures, some time after her house arrest.
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Probably really extra.
She sends them just the one note:
I require your presence, together this evening, for a matter of serious urgency in regards to the Inquisition.महारानी,
Lakshmi Bai
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Thranduil is better at training his face against showing his desire for it, but Beleth manages after a few moments. Even then, she needs a few seconds to process what else Lakshmi even said afterwards. Corypheus, right. It's the thought of immortal Red Templars that drags Beleth back towards the subject at hand.
"I...see. Thus, the self-immolation?" After a moment of thought, "That doesn't seem practical for attempting in the middle of battle. Would poison work?" It's her specialty, after all, despite everything else she's done. Though she quickly hurries to tack on, "It can be done quickly and painlessly."
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Then clears her throat, sliding her eyes across to Coupe. Then back to Beleth with a respectful turn of her head. A brief explanation at least, and maybe to clear something of the snap she'd had when her own fury got the better of her. "A self-immolation is a sacred act, we call it Jahaur, done in times of siege by women in my homeland when the warriors have all died and there is no hope. I am sure you have your own stories about what is done in such moments. It ensures their bodies cannot be defiled by an enemy, and that they may go onto the next life, whole. We usually burn out dead, you see, like Andrastrians, I suppose in some ways, but since no one can perform the correct rights for me after I die, I can ensure it by doing it for myself, first." Damn them, she wouldn't be misunderstood for what and why she wanted the things she did. "I requested the right to do it in the event that you deem my no longer fit to carry the blackwater and relinquish me of that burden permanently, or that you would prefer to keep me out of any useful roles. The Blackwater is something taken with great duty and those who drink it are bound to that goal eternally. If I was no longer seeking it out, then I am long ready for my death. Commander Coupe, however, disagrees." Her hand lifts, gestures to the woman, as she moves back towards the edge of the bed she had been sitting on.
sneaks in late as balls shhhhhhh
Thirdly, because Commander Coupe over there keeps shooting him narrow eyed glances, and if the Fade didn't do enough to convince him she despises him either for stabbing her message board, or for fucking her friends, this certain does (By the way, fuck you, Lakshmi, for outing them to all of these people while asking him to keep your secrets with the same breath). They've had no interaction otherwise. Whether she just wants him to drop dead every second she sees him, or she truly doesn't trust him to keep his fucking mouth shut, aside from keeping all of Thranduil's secrets thus far (for losing an eye over the keeping of his own), then anything that comes out of his mouth now will only upset Lakshmi's fate further.
That said, he had given her a small, barely there nod, when Lakshmi first mentioned his presence as a means to a swift and certain end. If she requests it, he'll do it. At the same time, should Thranduil signal for it, Iorveth will gladly put an arrow between her eyes and be done with it, just as well as he'll take any consequences it begs, because that is devotion and loyalty to him. 'Pet', indeed. But that would be a rash waste of a resource and a point of leverage, and he knows the man too well to expect him to make such a choice.
It isn't until the woman's having to defend her choice of death that he gets annoyed enough by these pissy, bickering fools to speak up from where he is in the back of the room, patiently leaned against a wall with arms crossed over his chest.
"If self-immolation is the way of her people, give her that much respect. At least some of you here should know better." Looking at you, Beleth. And you, Thranduil. A culture is the soul of a person, for many. Denying it is a heinous thing. Being so far from the Aen Seidhe has been the single most difficult thing for Iorveth to stomach in this world, war and battles and pain included. "Denying basic death rites is a war crime done by savages and barbarians."
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"Or maybe we can try to think of solutions that don't involve murdering our own comrades in arms?" She glares around at all the guilty parties here - Lakshmi included. "Honestly, it's a wonder there's still an Inquisition to speak of, if everyone's go-to when there's a problem is deciding whether to burn or poison the person beside you."
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No, she isn't letting that go, but Kitty speaks and - she shouldn't laugh, and she doesn't, though it fights a moment. A crinkle of lines around her eyes half reminiscent of the moments before when she was well on her way to being a crone of a woman.
"They are options, Kitty, no more than that as much as to live and fighting, and if the blackwater is anything is to me, it is proof that I would rather do the latter when a duty is to be fulfilled."
There she stops, there she looks up. Hovering on something, twisting it over itself. Then she looks, to each in turn, fixing in place a moment. A tenseness in her shoulders, the way her to her tongue presses against her teeth. "I know how I seem, and I know the things I have done. I know they are unforgivable and warrant no trust. But they were done in the name of duty. In the oath I long swore. One I swear the same, now and not one I give lightly. I have placed my life into your keeping. If that is no proof enough of my sincerity, I know no other. I have done as I know best, to those who I could speak for, though age does not grant you wisdom. I offer only what I can do for you."
no subject
Do you know how hard it is to set yourself on fire, Iorveth? Do you??
"I am merely offering another option. If you're fine with it, then I will mix up something appropriate--I will leave the use of it up to your discretion." She pauses a few moments, and then adds, a belated attempt to make it sound a little better, "I can make sure that it's quick, and painless, as well. More so than fire, at least."
She really wishes that she could kick the other people out right about now. These are unpleasant things to talk about, and Beleth doesn't like having to say and decide unpleasant things where other people can hear her saying them.
"I would certainly prefer that no Inquisition agent has to die, through any method, or for any reason. But I would prefer that Corypheus doesn't have access to immortal soldiers even more so. Because that would cause decidedly more deaths." It's a gruesome math that has to be done, but it is as ever necessary, and a part of her job.
"But of course, that would entirely hinge on whether or not it affects people from Thedas in the same way that it affects the people in your world. Things that come through rifts often...do not act the same as they had before they came here." There's a pause as Beleth tries to figure out the most tactful way to word this. Mostly because she doesn't want it to be apparent just how eager she is, how much it resonates with her, a deep longing that has been carried in her blood for centuries.
"I think the easiest way to settle this would be to test it on a native. If it turns out that it does not affect us as it does you, then there is no reason to worry about self-immolation, or poison, or any such unpleasantness." She spreads her hands wide, palms up. See, she can be reasonable! She's super reasonable!!
"Since I'm the one attempting to give you poison for this reason, I'd be willing to be the one to be tested--of course, only if it is suitable with you, Lady Lakshmi." A quick nod to Lakshmi, face carefully blank. "If you would prefer to test it on another, as long as the other party consents...?"
Here, she gives a glance back at the other Division Leaders, to see what they think about giving immortality potions to whatever random person Lakshmi might pick.
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First thing's first;
"I will take responsibility for Lakshmi," she says, voice soft as the drag of silk over stone. "She is of my Division, and holds a position under my supervision. If it will satisfy the other Division Heads, I am willing to accept her word and her honour, but in return the execution of all duties, Diplomatic or otherwise, will require my approval and my overseeing."
A pause, to exhale. "As for testing whether this... elixir is effective on those of us of Thedas or other rifters and determining whether that aspect of it is a threat, I think that is a matter that will require some further discussion. It could even prove to be a danger, rather than a cure. We should not risk your expertise so readily, Scoutmaster."
Quiet, and yet there is a faint crispness to the words.
no subject
Leaves her quiet for it. Small mercy no doubt.
"This is not a dress you simply put on. The time it gives you is no novelty. It is to swear yourself to a higher purpose, beyond even your own people. I only took it up after my own people thought I was dead in battle." Her head bows, the one respectfully. "Would you be willing to walk away from everything you know, Scoutmaster?"
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“Herian is correct, Beleth,” he says. “If it proves to be a poison, we cannot risk losing you.”
They’ll just have to strike the correct balance between ‘worth being trusted’ and ‘won’t be missed if dead’. But they’ve done more difficult things. To Lakshmi, next, his hands clasped before him, easy and smooth.
“Is there a compulsion to serve this ‘higher purpose’, or are those simply the traditional vows sworn by those who drink it?” He shrugs his shoulders elegantly. “You did not mention such a thing when you outlined what we might have to fear from it.”
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It's measured - and wrong of course in the tone she takes with it, little known to her is the sheer amount of people who are far older than they look in this room.
But, she carries on as she is. "Death is a gift we seldom appreciate as often as we should. Facing an eternity... you must know something more. You must choose something greater when you lose everything else that once gave your life meaning."