[Open]

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders and You*! (*unless you are someone who will turn him in. ONE DAY THERE WILL BE CR. /reaches sadly)
WHAT: Detlef going about his days, helping out, being argumentative, everything
WHEN: Mid-Wintermarch
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Probably nothing? I'll edit if that changes

Healing tents

Anders is found in these most often during the day. Everything's easier when he works, really, when he and Justice can both be on the same page. They're doing good. They're furthering the cause of mage freedom. And more importantly, no one is being hurt. Are you a patient? He's probably checking you over before getting to work. Co-worker? Hand him the elfroot salve, please? Or just drop by and find him where he's most willing to be chatty as he works.

Garden

There's nothing like seeing a mage seemingly talking to a tree. Considering previous events, it's probably a little worrying. But upon closer approach one can see that there's a terrified cat clinging to a very small branch that's just barely supporting its weight, and they can hear the mage trying to talk the cat down as if the cat can understand anything that's being said.

"You can do it. Just step... Come on. A little lower. Please?"

Just outside Skyhold

There's a garden inside the walls. It has plenty of things growing in it, including basically everything Anders is looking for. It's hard for him to stay inside the walls for too long, though. He needs to be outside, to wander some, to remind himself that the walls aren't keeping him in. While it isn't the healthiest method of coping, there are certainly worse ways to go about it.

Anyone running into him out here gets a look that's a mix of surprised and bashful - the latter due to him not really having any way to explain why he's out here with a handful of easy-to-get herbs in hand.

Library

He's seated in the Library, head buried in a book the way it never was when he was at the Circle, with a pair of large tomes next to him. They're probably not that surprising for a spirit healer, treatises on spirits and their nature, but he doesn't look pleased. And he isn't. He's not finding anything that will help with his situation, and Anders is aware that he might not have a lot of time left for the looking.

Approaches from strangers get a glance up and a nod, before he'll ask if they need to get to something past him. Known people get asked a little absently how their day is going before he turns another page.

[Or] Alternately, he's curled up off to the side, on the ground, paging through a book on obscure magic that talks about various rumored spells that the author doubts really exist. His attention is primarily on the shapeshifting portion, and he looks a little wistful. Anyone approaching who glances at the book get a half-smile and asked if it wouldn't be fun, being able to transform into animals.

Wildcard

[Hit him up wherever? He grabs food in the kitchens on the go, sometimes is at the tavern in a corner near the back, sits on the walls and looks out sometimes, surreptitiously feeds the stray cats around skyhold (and scolds any dogs that try to take the food,) and may, every now and then, see if he can zap armor in just the right way so straw and fabric and all sorts of things stick to it.]

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

"...unfit, because you can't find a single book?" Anders gives him a look that asks if Alayre is kidding. "You were blind. Caught up in the lies of your Order. But you are no longer. And as I've not heard your name before meeting you, you have never called for the Rite of Annulment, have not wanted it. You've not crossed that line. We, the mages, cannot, absolutely cannot, trust anyone who has done that. And that cuts out some of the Templars here. You treat mages like people, and we cannot trust someone who does not. That cuts out a great many more of the Templars here."

He shakes his head. "No, Alayre. You, who just called a mage a friend, are exactly what is needed for change. Someone whose eyes have opened, and opened before he went too far."

As he finishes speaking, his eyes fall on a book cover that fits the description, and Anders pulls it out, offering it.

"Would this be it?"

[equanimiti]

Alayre shakes his head. "It's not simply that. I swear I've made more mistakes than progress as of late." He admits while letting out a sigh. "I'm unused to the role I play now but you give me confidence, Detlef." The Templar says with true gratitude.

There's no way in hell that the Rite of Annulment would've been an option for Alayre. The man honestly banished such a practice from the New Order and will condemn anyone who dares brings that up. While Alayre tries his best to be agreeable and fair, he will not allow for the slaughter of innocents. He's had enough of such barbaric practices. If the Order wants to be seen beyond murderous, they must put away their fondness for violence over diplomacy.

"Ah? Is that the--it is!" Alayre takes the journal with great excitement. He truly thought he had lost it for good. "In here is years worth of wisdom that I will use throughout my time here as Chairman. These notes give me an insight of what needs to be changed for the sake of our Order." Alayre says as he flips through the pages idly.

"Not every apostate is an enemy of the Order and not every mage needs to be affiliated with us. These glided cages that we've built throughout the ages would do better as institutions of learning rather than jails." It seems that Alayre has plenty of ideas and many of them good.

"Though, I believe some of these towers should be made into monuments for those who perished."

[justice_is_blond]

"If I may, I don't think that's a good idea." Through most of what Alayre says he simply listens, nodding, giving the man a flash of a smile when the journal turns out to be what's sought after, but the last portion gives him pause.

"Those structures stood as prisons. As places where people disappeared, were abused, neglected, suffered everything under the sun. If they're torn down, it would be a visual display of that treatment ending. Let the rubble speak as a monument, not the dungeons where too many of us faced the worst times of our lives."

Let them be torn down, as the old Templar Order is hopefully being torn down. He can't have complete faith in it, not so long as Cullen is involved, but at least Alayre seems to be heading in the right direction.

"And while the notes will be handy, why not ask what questions you have directly of mages? I'm glad a book like that exists, but you've a vast source of info right here. Tap into this resource. Let living mages help specify what they need, and what must be watched out for."

It's not likely that the Templar Order and its abuses have changed that much since the book was written, but the world is an ever-evolving place.

[equanimiti]

"Bring down the towers?"

Just the suggestion alone sounds somewhat sacrilegious within itself but Detlef makes a good case. For too long the towers whether it be Pharos, White Spire or Kirkwall have been used as a source of oppression against mages. If Alayre is serious about revamping the Templar Order, then the towers need to come down. Forget making them into schools or monuments, just tear them down.

A thoughtful hum escapes Alayre as he takes up a thoughtful pose. "...I think you're onto something." He says after a brief moment of silence. "Tearing down all signs of oppression is my goal and what better way to achieve that other than knocking the towers down to the earth from whence they came." A mischievous little grin settles upon his lips.

"Though, who should do so? Mage or Templar? That's my question."

His grin fades as he takes up a more grim expression. "...I suppose I could simply ask the Mages here about their experiences and in some degree, I have." Now he's frowning. "I'll admit I find myself hesitant to ask such a question because of what I represent. I'm the Chairman of the New Order now but just yesteryear I was still a Knight-Commander. People fear me within reason and some may even hate me."

A huff escapes him. "Not everyone is like you, Detlef. You gave me a sliver of your trust since that day upon the Hinterlands and I've been quite adamant to make you not regret it." Alayre smiles somewhat.

"I truly do consider you to be a friend since you're more than willing to listen to my absurd ideas without casting a stone at me."

[justice_is_blond]

He should... probably not volunteer to take down the towers, as tempted as he is. This is where mentioning he knows how to blow things up would be a poor idea. Actually, most times it's a poor idea to mention he knows how to make things explode.

"I can't say most Templars would want to do it. It's the mages that hated their treatment and what the Circles stood for for them. For Templars, the towers are signs of what power they've had and lost. People will react in fear when mages take them down, but people will react in fear if a mage sneezes. For too long we have let other people's fear hold us back rather than living. Mages should do it."

How little his words will be worth soon enough, especially on this. He holds no illusions about how long he'll live, or even that there's a chance he'll get to see even one of the Circles toppled by someone else. It makes him wonder if he's undermining his own cause, if Alayre will reject everything Detlef said because he's truly Anders. But what else can he do?

Feel guilty, apparently. That's what else he can do, as Alayre calls him friend. What a mess he's created for himself.

"Earn trust with actions. That's what you did. You saved my life from the bear and then treated me like a person. You can't save everyone's life, nor should you try to, but be what you aspire to be, and people will come to trust it eventually. It's hard for people to trust when they've been beaten down so much, or trained into thinking that what was harmful was good."

A beat. If he's going to let Alayre consider him a friend before everything all comes out, he might as well at least offer something to make it worthwhile.

"And you can try some of your questions on me. There are some things I'll not answer, I'll warn you now. But many, likely, I will. And I wouldn't let the fact that you're hated stop you." He hadn't.