faderift | Blood Magic

Entry tags:

Blood Magic - 101

WHO: James Norrington, and YOU.
WHAT: Norrington gets ambushed, for information.
WHEN: Currently
WHERE: Norrington's 'office' (aka the table he's secured outside his tent to write reports)
NOTES: Warnings for blood magic, irritated Templar and probable Mage and Templar politics abounding, as well as people asking silly questions

Honestly, he really should have seen this coming. He was a known Templar Knight Commander - he had been hunting blood mages for nearly fifteen years now. His name were on several papers on Maelficarium, and he had trained Knights all over the Free Marches and even as far away as Orlais and Fereldan on how to properly hunt and kill blood mages.

Certainly, people were going to know of him. Certainly people were going to ask him about his past experiences. It was inevitable.

What he did not expect that was after coming in at the tail-end of an abomination attack to be bombarded by questions about blood magic - from soldiers down to the common folk. They crowded around him now, and you could just hear his voice over the fray of questions, stern and sometimes even caustic.

" -- NO I am not here to execute all the apprentice mages! One of them slipped - one. That does not mean the rest of them are suddenly going to start slicing open their wrists! They are children, they are learning. Is there a danger? Yes, but I sincerely doubt any of the mages here is blatantly teaching them ancient mind control rituals... "

There was a fast murmur of questions and then Norrington's voice could be heard again. "... No. You cannot do blood magic simply by cutting your finger and cursing. If that was the case every cook in the history of Thedas would be a blood mage. There are practices that someone must follow to use blood magic. If not, that is how we get abominations and demons from those failed spells."

Another fast and loud rat-a-tat of questions, and Norrington could be seen rubbing his face, "... No, not every blood mage is a Tevinter. Nor are they all Dalish. No, the Dalish do not practice sacrificing babies with Tevinter magisters -- do you know what the majority of the slave trade is? Yes, then it stands to reason that the Dalish and the Tevinter Magisters are Not In Cahoots. And NO the Dalish are not aiding Corpheyus with their tattoos -- their tattoos are not blood magic!"

Clearly, this is going well. So if you wish to help Norrington -- or just add more fuel to the fire -- please, feel free to stop by.

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Hunts blood mages, does he? Pel didn't know that. If she had, she would have been warier. Any time someone hunts a particular type of person, warning flags go up. That Pel personally refuses to practice blood magic means little here--Norrington could murder perfectly good people and say it was the right thing to do, because of a technicality. People are not for hunting.

She hears him defend the Dalish...sort of. When there's a lull, she locks gazes with him, then approaches slowly, reluctantly.

"You really hunted people?" she asks lowly.

'Quite a stir' Roul said. This wasn't a 'stir', this was a riot waiting to happen. It didn't occur to Adelaide at the time exactly who she'd treated upon Norrington's arrival, she didn't think anything of this particular group of templars but in the light of day, with the crowd surging about his desk and he trying to sense it was difficult to not.

"That is enough." No clack of her staff on the flagstones, but her voice was sharp and carried through the din. "The Knight-Commander Norrington is here to aide the Inquisition. Not to slaughter apprentices or shackle Dalish Mages. If you've concerns of either- speak to the Mage Council. It is why we are here."

He does, in fact, hunt blood mages. He has never been ashamed of that - in fact for him it is a matter of honor, and of justice. That he firmly has to explain what blood magic is to these people is alarming. Maker knows how many innocent people could be painted with a maelficarium brush if he didn't get them some proper education --

He doesn't know enough about the Dalish - just yet - to properly defend them but he knows that the Dalish do practice blood rituals. He also knows that they slay their own abominations and are firm about how they handle mages in their clans. So he leaves them be - it is safer that way.

When he has finally gotten through to these people about what blood magic is - and is not - he looks up to find Pel looking at him.

It actually hurts to see that look in her eyes, a look of distrust. Still, he is what he is. "I hunt maelficarium. Dangerous blood mages - those who openly sacrifice themselves and other people for power." He snorted softly, rubbing a hand over his stubble. "I hunt those who have clearly lost control of themselves - not a mage who threw a fireball to protect himself from a riot."

All right. All right, that makes her chest ease. She nods understanding, and takes a step closer.

"It's just...easy to take things too far. When you say you'll hunt those who need hunting, it's easier and easier to add to the pile of who needs hunting. Elves die that way all the time."

Heads turned towards Adelaide's voice, as did Norrington's. He shot her a grateful look, before he frowned at the crowd's reaction. Some looked unsure, even more looked uneasy. Many even came closer to him, and it occurred to him that now it was less of a mob that there were young mages in the crowd who moved towards Adelaide.

Oh no, he was not going to have innocent children hurt. So he pushed through the crowd, to put himself at Adelaide's side. "She is correct. I am here to aid the Inquisition, and that means I am here to aid the Mage's Council as well. Clearly, the abomination was a horrible accident - but it was an accident. I know the Mage Council is working now with the Inquisition Advisors and within their own ranks to solve this problem - fairly and justly."

He put a hand on his blade hilt, his green eyes looking over all the people here. "The Templars are here to protect you from the dangers of magic - from things like Corpheyus. Clearly Lady LeBlanc agrees ... and the ... New Templar Order - " which he was going to have to talk to Alayre and Maria about creating about five minutes from now, " - and the Mage Council will be working together to educate you all on the dangers of real blood magic abuse."

Every apprentice that came to her was reason enough to hold her ground. This was what came of being some manner of public official; this was what Vivienne warned her of, schooled her for in her own way; what her mother had wanted for her. Unprepared as she might be for the role she took it all the same. To the apprentices she softened her gaze, gentled her voice. Told them quietly to return to their studies or wait for her in the garden if they had further questions.

Much as it was her favored place to meditate it served as a stark reminder as to why they all needed to take care. Why they did, in some way, need the skills of the templars.

To the crowd and to Norrington, she remained firm. Unyielding. Comfortable now that this was a question of education- for that was where she spent most of her adult life. Educating. "Cone with your questions- what we need to address and need to refute, what we must explain may not be what we think to write- we have been told these truths and educated for the entirety of our lives; we do not know our fears as well as you. Ask and you shall be answered."

He looks at her, his gaze unwavering as he speaks quietly, his hands folding behind him. "It is easy to take things too far - if you are a thug." He dropped his gaze, and sighed, "Which, I have to admit, many of my former brothers were ... but not all of us."

He looked back at her, "Just as all mages do not resort to dangerous blood magic, or use their magic to hurt others, but to protect themselves. Lady Pel ... it is also my duty to protect mages from - well." He nodded towards the crowd of people that were dispersing, "Them. Ignorance breeds wanton violence."

She breathes easy again, though her eyes aren't quite meeting his. Not guilty, but definitely anxious. Worried he's going to judge her for asking these things.

"In the future, you can say the Dalish don't sacrifice babies," she says with less of an edge. "Because those people are just as likely to kill me for being an elf as for being a mage."

She's afraid, that's all. Being confronted with all those ignorant statements, those harmful slanders, brought back to her how close she and her kin really are to being hurt for no reason.

Edited 2015-12-28 19:28 (UTC)

He continues to look at her, as she avoids his gaze. He wonders what she is thinking that she does not want to accuse him of such things, and she must ask to be sure of him. Therefore, he is going to answer as truthfully and bluntly, as possible.

Although he was going to have to be a little dry, "Yes, I thought it was safe to assume the Dalish didn't sacrifice babies. Unfortunately that was not the question I was asked - idiot." He glowered at the back of one particular worker, before he sighed again, "But his ignorance is why such things are allowed to take hold. That must change, for all our sake."

He looks back at her, his mouth thinning a little, "Are you afraid of me, now?"

Norrington, for his part, simply nodded respectfully to all the apprentices. He knew he couldn't convince them he was completely harmless - he was after all there if another abomination occurred. But if they stayed strong, kept to their training, he would protect them. To the death, if need be.

He straightened to his full height, making sure that the Templar emblem could be seen across the crowd, "Nothing will be kept from you -- what we ask in turn is that if you are afraid you do not answer in fear but in faith. We are all part of the Inquisition, and we will tell you the truth of such things, but we are trusting you all to use this information wisely. To educate others."

Some of the crowd dispersed, but most came forward, and timidly began to ask questions.

"No." Rather, she's thinking about that impossible force in the universe that would see all elves dead, and strives to correct the matter when they insist on living. Corpses littered about before her eyes, people she loved; or, that mysterious void, negative space at the Arlathvhen where a clan simply never came, and was never heard from, and nobody knew why. Demon possession? A raid? A plague?

People growing in fields like wheat, hacked down in sheaves and bundled up for the harvest. People who reap death, who go in search of it instead of flying from it, or protecting others from it. Pick up a fallen stalk that hasn't quite been cut away, give it a good yank till it snaps, and move on. The dead fall like rag dolls and it's easier to pretend they're only dolls and not people. She's only a doll, though her hands and arms used to embrace Pel like she was her real daughter.

Her mood grows fey, cold and morbid like black steel.

"I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

The words are cold, and she turns away after to depart.

Edited 2015-12-28 21:30 (UTC)

Now was as good a time as any, but some of the questions were absurd.

"...No you cannot use blood magic to make someone pregnant. The usual course of things is what brings children, not blood magic." Explaining how one could make a blood thrall perform the 'usual course of things' probably wouldn't win them any favors. "There is no ritual that any mage might perform to see someone uninvolved made pregnant. Magic in general does not work that way, let alone blood magic."

If this was what Norrington had to endure all hours of the morning, Adelaide had to admire his patience.

Oh, Adelaide. You have no idea. There is a reason why Norrington is rubbing his face again.

" ... No, there has never been any sort of practice of Templars and Mages sleeping together to develop ... incredibly powerful Mage-Templar babies through blood magic. In fact that is utterly ridiculous."

Another pause, and then he frowned, "No of course not - listen, I do not care what they did in Kirkwall -- clearly there were issues. No one should use the Tranquil for that - Ever. They are people - people who had to sacrifice everything else to save their lives. They simply have no connection to the Fade, like you or I. And if any templar has been doing that here, you will report that to myself, Commander Alayre or Captain Maria Hill immediately."

"That's not how it works. That's not how any- one is a mage or one is not. One cannot be both mage and templar, the skills and mentalities are vastly different and- no. Just- no." Deep breaths. Deep. Even breaths. Which came through grit teeth at that question.

"And you will inform any Council member if you see the same of a Mage or civilian. Tranquil are to be protected from such abuses as much as anyone else, all the more so for their inability to protect themselves." Deep, even breaths. "...No I am not a medium, nor am I possessed. I work with a spirit in the Fade, not as one- that. That isn't how Spirit Healing works. No I cannot call the soul of your dead grandmother-"

Oh, this is just ... he set his teeth and glowered at the man who asked that, "No. Spirit healing does not deal with blood magic - how do I know that? Because spirits don't bleed. Yes, spirit healers have been here for eons. The Templars have no problems with them. No they are not possessed by spirits - the spirits work with them - NO Templars are not possessed by spirits too! Because we have no connection with the Fade! ...why not? Why - do you actually understand what a Templar does with his or her powers?"

"This is getting out of hand-" She murmured in an aside before lifting her staff and sending out a short pulse of light to garner the attention and quiet of those around them. "Further questions ought to be submitted, formally, in writing, to the Inquisition Council of Magi and the...New Templar Order to be addressed collectively and concisely. In the interest of giving Knight Commander Norrington and myself time and space enough to answer them with all due consideration, perhaps it might be best if you all went about your business."

"It's been getting out of hand for about two hours now... " He muttered before firmly gripping his sword, making sure that he had on his most intimidating look. "All questions will be answered in the order that they have been received -- questions about the sexual relations of anyone will in fact be Tossed. Out. Relevant questions will be answered promptly."

He nodded, "On your way now, all of you."

Combined authority worked on - well, anyone in the Inquisition at any rate. The advisers had trained them well. Norrington sighed, rubbing his face again. "My apologies, Lady LeBlanc, for getting you pulled into that ... cesspool."

"Send for backup, next time." He probably had refrained due to not thinking of it- or not wanting to bother anyone with this mess. Still. It could have gone worse. It also could have gone a great deal better but such was how the world turned. Adelaide tucked her staff against her shoulder, a bit of authority unwinding as she turned to quirk a brow at him. "I was a teacher for the better part of ten years. These are not the most intrusive or foolish questions I have answered."

He can see it, gathering across her face, dark clouds going into a storm. Whatever is going through her mind right now, it is tearing her apart. He should know, he's seen that face in the mirror, after a long night and too little lyrium in his veins. Which is why he knows he cannot let her go like this.

Not alone.

So he reaches out, and touches her, because he is not afraid of her either. Just a light touch, on the shoulder.

"You have every right to ask." He states simply, "I just want to make sure that my answer is enough. It ... hurts me, to think that I have hurt you. To see you hurting. Can I do anything?"

"Well now I know where the back-up is -- gladly." He snorted softly, as he rested his hands on the pommel of his sword, his lips twisting into a faint smirk. He shook his head, his tone completely dry, "Ten years as a teacher ... you are a braver soul than I, Lady LeBlanc."

"It is not as though we had many other options in the Circles. Grow, learn, teach what we are allowed, research what we are permitted regardless of relevance, try not to make the templars think we're rebellious or possessed, age, die." She shrugged. "It was what it was. Some of that is coming to use now."

He looked at her, surprise registering over his face before it melted into sorrow. "I am sorry that you felt trapped, Lady LeBlanc. I must remember so very few mages saw serving in a Circle as a holy calling and merely saw it as a prison. Either way -- I thank you for the assistance, and the willingness to help educate the masses."

He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug, "And ... now you may teach and learn whatever you like. Teach your own students, as well, whatever you think is relevant. I hope you will not teach them blood magic -- especially after this particular fiasco -- but still. You have your freedom."

"Fear comes from ignorance and misunderstanding. If they know more, they are less likely to be quite so afraid. A write up of what is and isn't blood magic is something that I can rough out and hand over to you to look at easily enough; and perhaps a write up of what Templars are actually for might be to your benefit as well. Save on questions, maybe earn a little support." Politics. Why did it come back to politics. "Less that I felt trapped and more that I did not know better. It was the life I lived and it was well enough. Knowing that we can do more? That we should be doing more? I cannot go back to what it once was."

Not when there was so much work that yet needed doing. "Honestly I would like them to learn more from mages of other circles and those that are not. A proper compendium of techniques would be-"

She was getting off track. "We can sort this out. I suggest whatever we have written up and edit accordingly be submitted to both the Council and the Order- New order-"

A beat passed. "Is there a new order?"

Emmeline doesn't contribute to any of the antics of the crowd, but slowly starts pushing a few of them away before any of them get too violent. Not saying that anyone deserves it, but a mob against one man who was probably just doing his job isn't right at all.

When the majority of the crowd disperses, she stays behind and studies him for a moment before speaking up. "Shall we start setting up crowd control? We can form a line. I can make a sign, if you wish it."

"I shall endeavor to give a full write-up of what a Templar's duties are, in plain common tongue." There is a faint snort there, and oh, it is bitter, "Little support, or none. Those seem to be all the choices for Templars now. Ah well, we shall exchange our duties - making up for the sins of our brothers and sisters. I truly envy you your future, Lady LeBlanc. Mine is coming up ... decidedly bleak."

He thinks wistfully of rebuilding the Templar Order, but honestly, from what he's seen he's not even sure the mages will allow that and -

"Hmmm? Oh, well. I suppose so. If you can count the New Templar Order as me."

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Blood Magic - 101

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