[Open] No boom today. Boom tomorrow.

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and anyone! Or, well, almost anyone. Sorry, Fenris and Cullen...
WHAT: Anders arrives at Skyhold, takes a new fake name, and tries to get a measure of the Inquisition while keeping a low profile. Starting in prose, but will switch to brackets to match if that's preferred!
WHEN: Mid-haring
WHERE: All over Skyhold, choose your location?
NOTES: Warning for Anders? I can't think of any real ones atm, I'll update if that changes.

He's tired, but that's nothing new. The road's been long. It shows in the way he leans a little on his staff, a fairly generic-looking thing that's far from his old appreciation of things flashy, just as it shows in the state of his rather ragged-looking robes and the scruff of a beard that he doesn't exactly like. At least he's not dead on his feet - the company of a few refugees more than willing to bear the brunt of conversation on the way up had made the last couple of days more bearable than usual.

Now he's here, and the strain is back on his shoulders. Skyhold holds more than the usual level of danger but there's no getting around the fact that he has to at least visit this place. The Inquisition is likely to be a player in the future of mages, and Anders will not see the little bit of progress made be undone out of fear, or laziness, or naivete, or any other number of things that could cut down freedom for his people.

But that doesn't mean he knows how to go about working toward that, just yet. And that means he's slowly going around the fortress, gathering information by listening and asking simple, short questions. They have to be short. The second-to-last thing he can afford is to slip up and let Justice get too accusatory, which could lead to the last thing he can afford - to be recognized by someone who would turn him over to the 'authorities,' such as they are.

"Have you been with the inquisition long?" is one of the most frequent questions, along with a follow up if the answer is yes: "Do you think they treat mages well here?" It's not like he's hiding the staff, after all. But there are more simple questions mixed in as well, questions about the need for herbalists or healers, about where one might find a warm enough corner to sleep in, or where one can lose what few coppers they have over a game of cards. They're general. Careful. They have to be. He's no longer ready to die.

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

"No."

His answer is certain. He understands the cause of the question, appreciates it, even, but he can't think about life as someone without magic, can't get distracted by things that are not and will not be.

"I'd still likely be on a farm, ignorant, reinforcing a harmful system by staying uninvolved, if I was not a mage. Like this, despite all I've been through, I can make a difference. I can help. I am a healer, and I'm proud to be healer and mage alike."

There's no true level of uninvolvement. You ignore what's going on and give to the Chantry, shrink back from magic, etc., or you act. Ignorance is only bliss for those who choose to live in it, and that's too many. Now? Now there's no way to claim accidental ignorance. What is wrong has been pushed out into the open and people must face the casual cruelties of the current system.

"I wish that things were better. At least now maybe they can become better." The stew is disappearing quickly, but thankfully it's been good and he's feeling warmer. "Our world has issues, but I'm here for the hope that the Inquisition can at least set the issue of our freedom to rights. May I ask what brought you to it?"

[rathercommon]

Shit. Well, she can't well lie to him now, can she? That answer, more than the story of his oppression, gets to her and twists hard and painfully. Because it's exactly right. Standing by idly is reprehensible. Not fighting for equal rights and decent treatment is reprehensible. Staying apart from all of it and deciding it's someone else's problem is reprehensible. When there's injustice in the world, those who do nothing abet it. And those who are willing to suffer a lifetime of misery to fight it, who don't regret that lifetime of misery -

Shit, indeed.

She offers him a very small, helpless smile. "I can tell you, but...It's not something I want repeated far and wide. I assume you can keep a secret."

[justice_is_blond]

Anders meets her eyes, waits patiently for her to decide. It isn't like he's telling the whole of his story. When she reaches a decision, though, it's very easy to nod.

"I've been an apostate for a few years, now. I fully understand having secrets you want kept, and I'm discreet." With other people's secrets he's discreet, that is. He's not exactly hidden well, which is part of the reason why he's been dragged back to the Circle so many times.

[rathercommon]

But would he want to be discreet? She's still not completely certain that this is the right choice. He's affirmed that he can keep a secret, but he'd have no reason, necessarily, to want to. It's imprudent to tell him this, and there's no real gain to be had from it - nothing except the satisfaction of her own honesty, and the the relief of sharing a little bit of what weighs so heavily on her.

Is that worth it?

I think that's worth it.

So she starts with the same half-truth she's told everyone. "I'm here for safety. It's dangerous out there for someone like me." And then, more truthfully, "And I think that the Inquisition has the power to shape the world, once all this is through. I've...seen a great deal of injustice in the world. I grew up surrounded by it. I want to be here to make sure that they don't repeat the old mistakes. And I want to see if I can help them to smash the old structures that support injustice."

[justice_is_blond]

It's dangerous for nearly everyone, and he can understand that motivation. What he understands all the more is the drive to fight injustice. What he doesn't follow is how this requires discretion.

"Justice is highly important to me as well. Much of it is due to my life, but there are plenty I've known who have lived among great injustice. They should not." Maybe, a lifetime ago, he would make a joke about Justice being very close to his heart. It's not really funny anymore, though.

"But I'm... not certain why that requires discretion. Many people aren't safe out there."