Meeting the First - The New Templar Order

[judgemewhole]

WHO: James Norrington, Templars, and Spies.
WHAT: Norrington summons the Knights together.
WHEN: This evening
WHERE: Tower off of the Tavern
NOTES: Warnings for language, for politics, and most importantly for Templars probably getting emotional. Plenty of NPC Templars, as well. Sections will be divided on different topics, please feel free to add your own!

As Norrington was the one who called the meeting, he and his small squad of Templars were the ones who set up the table - or rather tables. They shifted, switched, and basically mangled all the furniture into place so that when they were finished, they had a large circle of tables and chairs, all facing inward.

Norrington liked the symmetry. Not to mention the symbolism.

While his people made sure to procure refreshments from the Tavern - nothing stronger than ale and plenty of food because Maker knew how long they were all going to be there - Norrington sat at the table, with a number of books in front of him. One that sat at his right was of course The Chant Of Light. The others had books on the College of Enchanters, a few slender scrolls on the Dalish, and the Qun itself.

When the sun had started to fall, and all the templars arrived who were in fact, willing to come to the meeting, he closed the book on the Qun and pushed it firmly away, looking perturbed. Then he looked around to the crowd of faces around him.

"Good evening, Brothers and Sisters. Welcome to the first meeting of the New Templar Order. Let me begin by saying, if you are here then even while you have broken ties with the corrupt Seeker Lambert, or even with the Chantry itself, you still see yourself as following the path set before us. Long ago, the Templars were once the Inquisition itself -- and while their violent beginning was forcing the Chant of Light -- I think we can go back to the original purpose. To protect the people of Thedas - all the people of Thedas. To educate on the dangers, and benefits, of magic. To, as it was once asked of us by Andraste herself, walk through the fire on faith alone, to defend those who cannot defend themselves."

He stood up, looking around, "We all hold different ranks, outside of this room. We are Knights, we are Lieutenants and Captains. But here, we are as we have always been - Brothers and Sisters. We've been silent too long, caught up in the shame of the actions of the rogues and the Red Templars. No more, brothers and sisters, No More. We must stand up, and be counted. We must offer our aid, not just as swords for the Inquisition's army, but as their shields and instructors as well. From the filth of the old, something new must rise."

He leaned forward on the table, looking around, "But before any of that happens -- together, as equals -- we must decide who our voice will be, and what we will say to the mages ... after their vote. We must decide what our principles are, our concerns, and we must put them together intelligently -- and without malice. We will not prevail with violence, or rhetoric. We must be as calm as we are on the battlefield. So ... shall we begin?"

Comments

[judgemewhole]

"Please don't say disband them." Norrington muttered from behind his hand, while he rubbed his face, "Disbanding them is what started all this in the first place. I meant it - I do not want to fight another battle on two fronts. We need to be united under one banner, as Speaker Pentergast and Commander Rutherford have bid us. As all of Thedas have bid us."

He scowled as he looked around the table, "They wanted their freedom, they have it. If they want to rule themselves they need to know about the responsibilities that entails, and that means taking care of their own mistakes. They have the rope, see if they hang themselves with it first."

[equanimiti]

"Isn't the noose already around their necks?" Alayre asks with a slight sigh. "The longer they deny the importance of the Harrowings, the tighter that noose becomes. Believe me when I say I'm not eager to see them fail. In order for us to progress, we actually need the Mages to be self-reliant but at what cost to Skyhold?"

If the Mages continue to be unwilling to police themselves, then who should step forward? The Templars? Heavens, no! That would honestly be a grave set back but they're at war here. All this arguing back and forth between the factions leave them open to attack.

"Therefore, my inquiry stands. What shall become of the Mage Council if another series of misfortunes fall upon the Inquisition? How will we mitigate the damage from within without breaking us further apart?"

[byblow]

"The Inquisition can't do anything but kick them out of Skyhold," Alistair says, peeling himself off the wall he'd been leaning on to give Cullen a look that says--in as nice a way as it possibly can--I'm not afraid of you, I remember you before you found out about hair oil, "unless it's planning to take them all prisoner. They're here willingly, to help, the same as anyone. If you want to know what they'll do if it happens again, you ought to ask them."

[onlyhymns]

Naturally, as with all other topics, Cade is silent. He does, however, pensively side-eye Alistair while the Warden speaks.

[perseverances]

"Alistair is right." Excuse you, Ser, do not give him that look. His hair holds his power, don't make him unleash his curls.

"The Inquisition only has the authority to make them leave. If we had an Inquisitor, they would be able to pass judgement upon anyone found at fault. The Council of Magi will police and punish their own, and if they so choose to wish for a Templar to help, then you would step in."

[equanimiti]

"I suppose that's the only course of action the Inquisition can take that won't cause much scorn if it comes to be." Alayre nods in agreement with the Commander's prompt reply.

[perseverances]

"Personal views aside, the Inquisition needs both Mages and Templars to stop what we are fighting against. It may be that either side never finds a true compromise, but think of it this way. We are not all Templars or Mages any longer. We are the Inquisition. We should set our views aside for the common good."

[judgemewhole]

"I cannot argue with that, but I do not think all the mages agree with you. Or ... all of us Templars." Norrington said quietly, "You are right though -- it is time to get past all the dramatics."

[perseverances]

"I cannot expect people to feel the same way I do." He pauses, taking in a slow deep breath and exhaling just as slow. "It's taken me a great deal of time to change my own views against mages, and honestly, there are still times I feel the way I used to. But I will not force them upon any of you."

[byblow]

"Why not?"

He sounds a little offended. He's also probably thinking like a Warden again: there's no room for any of this. Mages, elves, whatever. They're Brothers and Sisters. There's no standing around talking about what ought to be done about them.

"You can't just set it aside. They won't be able to work with you—" The Templars. He's just here to watch, thanks. "—if they think you're only waiting until Corypheus is gone to go back to trying to cage them."

[judgemewhole]

Now that was an excellent point, to which Norrington stated, "All right you have our attention - how precisely do we convince the mages that we are not all just waiting to lock them up in the towers again?"

A pause, "And how can they convince us that they are willing to make the hard choices to deal with the problems that arise when magic turns to blood sacrifice and demonns?"

[byblow]

"Not having closed meetings might be a good place to start," Alistair says, which is probably not helpful given the current circumstances, which are, you know. A closed meeting. Mostly closed. He got in.

But he's looking at Norrington like he thinks he's being humored, or made fun of, and after a moment he seems to catch on—somewhat—to the fact that that isn't the case. His suspicious squinty face softens a little.

"They don't want to hurt anyone, either, and they know what's at stake," he says, with a dismissive shrug. "That's like asking someone at the edge of a cliff to convince you they don't want it to crumble. But you—you can be good for more than imprisoning them. I love working with mages. They know I've got their backs, and they know they're not likely to hurt me and I'm there to help if their spells get out of hand. The number of darkspawn they can set on fire in one go when they really let loose, it's."

Just in case he's verging on sounding seriously thoughtful—something he tries to avoid in public, with so much of his ability to stay out of trouble resting on the fact that his face appears naturally clueless—he fakes a touched, sentimental sniffle.

"It's beautiful. Truly, it is."

[judgemewhole]

"... Honestly the closed meeting was my idea and it was simply so we did not look like bumbling twits just removing our heads from our collective arses." Is James's blunt, dry reply. There is a reason why he put Alayre up to be their Spokesperson, after all.

He meets Alastair's suspicious gaze with a quizzical one. What, it was a serious question?

"I agree, magic in trained hands is a force to be reckoned with, and putting it to use in battling our combined enemies is something I would truly relish. It still doesn't answer the first question though, ser."

He looks pensive at that, "But perhaps that is your point. There is no answer to it. It will simply have to be ... a matter of faith. We trust that they have the best intentions to keep further incidents from spreading, and they trust that we are here to defeat Corpheuyus and bring back order to Thedas and nothing more."

[byblow]

"I don't know about faith and trust," Alistair says, wrinkling his nose a little. However puppyish he is with the people who've gotten on his good side, he's still a cynic by default. Not a lot of faith in the Maker, here. None in the Chantry. Only as much in people as he thinks they've earned. "But the part about Corypheus and restoring order is good. What I meant is—you can't just offer to take a step back while you still have your arrows pointed at them. That's why whole Circles fall, isn't it? A few mages go bad and the rest get scared because they know you're drawing back to fire."

Metaphors. Rambling. He isn't very good at this.

"There are going to be more abominations. There always have been. If you Harrowed them all tomorrow, there would still be more abominations. Uldred, at Kinloch Hold, he'd been Harrowed. The mage in Kirkwall had been Harrowed, too. He was one of us."

Sorry about that.

"If you're serious, I think you ought to tell them that you're at their disposal if they want to plan for emergencies, because you understand they're going to happen, and then stop talking about blighted Harrowings and abominations. Talk about Corypheus." He glances at the Templars other than Norrington—the ones he feels slightly more entitled to be annoyed with at the moment. Like Nerva. "And don't leave people to their beliefs. When we get Wardens who haven't learned how to treat mages as equals, they learn. We make sure they're ashamed of it."