closed;

[libratus]

WHO: Ilias Fabria & James Flint
WHAT: Talking future plans, beachside cottages, etc.
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: Last time on Sunk Cost Fallacies Inc...

[ He'd brought a board game, this time. The sort with simple rules, few pieces, and an infinite variety of ways to win. The sort you give a pack of viperine teenagers locked in a tower when you want to keep them both occupied and, Andraste's blessed nightgown please, quiet.

Evidently, that is not a problem Ilias posed very often. But then, 'strategy lessons' wouldn't be much of a cover if he were good at it already. ]

Enchanter Rowntree has a reputation of note, does he not? For Hunter Fell.

[ (It isn't much of a cover. But after the jungle, maybe there's value in a little reminder of civilization, too.) ]

Comments

[libratus]

[ A withering chuff. But light fingers pluck his felled pieces from the board all the same. One tap-taps against the tabletop, considering. ]

I would not presume to part the Seneschal from his duties.

[ Which is to say, their selection of loyalist mages: not expansive. ]

I cannot say I found the Enchanter at all disagreeable myself, but, [ A vague gesture -- You've met me, or, Insert litany of reasons I ought not do this personally here. ] Julius, then?

[katabasis]

He had some involvement with the whole phylactery business, if the reports are correct. It was just before my time with the Inquisition, so I can't say for certain what specifics he played if any but-- [He shrugs small, settling back into his chair and lacing his fingers across his middle for a moment before he seems to think better of it, and instead settles on twisting a ring absently back and forth on his small finger.] If I were to hazard a guess, I would say there are worse choices available to us.

[It is a stacked bet in favor of Madame de Cedoux, were things to go to plan. Abd while there might be something to that, for posterity:]

We might consider Nell in place of Rowntree. Similar histories, and she's been with Riftwatch and the Inquisition for longer than either of us.

[libratus]

Hm. And with the sort of renown to impress young Matthias, at the least.

[ Not their goal, but not irrelevant. If anyone might serve as a barometer for rebel mage opinions, after all. Ilias leans in to place his piece -- exploring a new strategy. ]

We were in the Circle together, you know. Not close, by any means, but she knows Nevarra. And she has a more level head than the company she keeps.

[ Not to name any Averesches. ]

[katabasis]

So I've gathered.

[Flint follows the placement of the piece, tap-tap-tapping the flat face of that finger on his finger with the edge of his thumb. If he has any opinion of the placement, he keeps it to himself at present.]

I don't suppose she spoke of any great affection for the Van Markhams while you and her were there.

[A glance is tipped back in Ilias's direction, brow rising. He thinks he's funny, at least.]

[libratus]

Our sole topic of conversation, in fact -- whether Caius Van Markham's facial hair was more dashing than the King's.

[ So no. A sigh, leaning back. ]

She worked with the city guard for a time, I believe? But that may not be a fair measure of loyalty, all things considered.

[katabasis]

Her choice of company, however—

[But they are not discussing the Averesches.

He pauses a moment to consider the board before them and its array of pieces, though he is certain already of the move he means to make. Preparing ahead of time is the nature of the thing.]

What was your Circle like?

[libratus]

Comfortable. Comparably permissive.

[ Fine. But that isn't useful; that isn't what drives anyone to rebel. His eyes are on the board; his attention, just past it. ]

I suppose it was the sort of place that made it easy to forget where one was.

[ A cage; not a home. ]

[katabasis]

And I assume you were all made well aware of exactly how comparably permissive it was. Or were those freedoms primarily reserved for those with relatives of import and an interest in the Mortalitasi?

[On the board, he shifts a piece forward. It's an incremental move.]

[libratus]

[ Ilias reaches for a move -- reactive, escapist, tempting, ]

Ah.

[ but with effort, lowers his hand again. ]

A mix of both, if I had to guess. Transfer or tranquility were never empty threats, but, [ when 1 of your 2 childhood friends ends up with a magical lobotomy and it's the one who didn't do a blood magic, ] Apparently emptier for me than the others.

If you behaved well, you were treated well enough, though. Petronella was doing fine for herself when I left, and I didn't-- pay a lot of attention, after that.

[katabasis]

Demanding work in the Grand Necropolis, or distanced by design?

[He glances briefly up from the board. An explanation, or the roughest outline of an apology without saying the actual word:] I can't say I've known many Circles mages personally. The written accounts vary, obviously.

[In a thing like this, details will matter.]

[libratus]

No, it's-- [ Fine, this is fine. He places his piece in what is quite honestly a worse position than he'd been eying the moment before, just to have it out of his hands. (What does it matter? It's not as if the Commander will care a wit, beyond the necessary coloring-in of life in a Circle.) ]

We are separated at a certain point, the Mortalitasi apprentices from the Circle mages, for sake of secrecy. But it's not usually absolute, I simply-- had a difficult few years, around the time she would have started making her mark.

[ Like he'd slipped in the bath and accidentally went catatonic. Embarrassing. The corners of his lips pull tight. See? Fine. ]

Likely as not, I was under guard at the time. I don't recall the details. Another bout of permissiveness, I suppose.

[katabasis]

[There is an obvious follow up to that poor move, a glaring chance in which that all but sacrificed marker ought to be snapped up. It would take very little commitment on the part of Flint's metaphorical front line to do so. Indeed, he does reach for Ilias's piece. Though rather than move one of his own into claiming the square, it is simply resets it back to its previous position.

Try again, says the soft click of stone on the board.]

I can think of other questions if you'd rather we not discuss the particulars.

cw: talkin about suicidal ideation, for posterity

[libratus]

[ Ah. His eyes lift to meet his opponent's, gratitude softening their edges just so, and yet-- studying. ]

I doubt the particulars would be illuminating. Surely, one does not choose a life at sea without knowing what it is to have something to escape.

[ Or offer an uncharacteristic gesture of kindness, if one has quite so little to give. After a beat, Ilias reaches to pluck another piece. ]

For a mage, that is the easiest way, that is all. Fall asleep, stop fighting, and a demon takes care of the rest. Easier still, make a threat, and the Templars will handle it. Unless one has relatives of import, of course, and then there is only the demon.

Nell, [ A redirect; a new move: better? ] has never struck me as the type to take the easy route. Whatever it was that made her decide to get out, she fought for it -- and I've no doubt she would continue.

[katabasis]

[Better. The opposing move is to close along the flank of one of Ilias's pieces, though as of yet he has no capacity to capture anything.]

Which makes the better question, which between the two of them would be more satisfied with the half measure Nevarra is offering?

[Taking the bait of this path is as much flexibility as he is capable of. Never mind his preferences for Voss; if they are going down this road, they may as well interrogate it.]

I believe that under the right circumstances, what Van Markham has promised could take on a more defined shape. That he might be convinced to follow some guidance by an outside hand. But he might just as easily change his mind the moment the throne has been delivered to him. Anyone bringing this to the Grand Enchanter will have to be willing to at least entertain the idea of what is on the table today and how to use that, not what might be there tomorrow if we were to instead meet Van Markham with bared teeth.

[libratus]

Mn. [ Hesitant. Considering. That's far from an ideal outcome, and they have made sacrifices that make anything less a bit difficult to stomach. But far worse, the prospect it would all have been for nothing. ]

For that, I suspect we may have to ask. But I doubt Enchanter Voss has tolerated Averesch for so many years without some willingness to consider Circle reform as a possible end.

[ What else is there to like about him, his personality? ]