faderift | Skyhold

Skyhold

WHO: Anyone & everyone
WHAT: Open post for business as usual around Skyhold
WHEN: The first couple weeks of Harvestmere, 9:41 (aka October)
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Please mark any necessary content warnings in thread subject lines. Also, make sure to check out the other log posts already made!

Far from the glamorous adventurous world-saving people signed up for, most of the hustle and bustle in Skyhold at present is cleaning. The Great Hall is a disaster, and crews are assigned to haul out the cracked and rotting planks fallen from the wide-open roof, and tear down the vines covering the walls. Ivy encrusts the main staircase outside and many of the fortress walls and is cleared in section while other groups assess or begin shoring up the stonework as it's revealed. There are scaffolding to build, materials to sort, crates to unload, tents to stitch together or set-up, and on and on and on, endless mundane chores vital to the survival of the organization.

When not hard at work, people cluster around fires across the courtyards. Many mingle freely, going about their business, running errands and messages, planning scouting missions, tallying up supplies, distributing or playing with the sending crystals that were found in a basement vault and which a group of mages have just today finished preparing for use. Once a good number have been passed around and the first Inquisition-wide transmission made messages start being broadcast; maybe you can help someone out.

The rebel mages and renegade templars mainly keep to themselves at opposite sides of the complex given the choice. Mages assist with healing and research and bicker amongst themselves about their options and their fate. Templars help train recruits in swordforms and basic combat techniques or spar with the more advanced and bicker amongst themselves about their options and their fate. Despite having all pledged themselves to the Inquisition, they still feel like separate factions and tension between them is palpable wherever they cross paths.

Like at meals, or the communal message board in the courtyard, or at the Herald's Rest. The mess hall/tavern is so new it still smells of sawdust, and its stock has been limited to one type of strong ale until today, when a shipment of West Hill brandy has finally arrived. The mood in the place is convivial in celebration of that, but there's still plenty of muttering, especially as the night drags on and the discontented get further into their cups.

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"This isn't about authority, girl." He all but hisses. His eyes give a roll at the very idea of a new Divine. "The Chantry is too busy to chase its tail to do anything more than be a nuisance. This isn't about freedom, either. This is about what is right and what is just. It is about what is safe for your own. And you would have your own prejudice and stupidity ensure the death and corruption of mages because you think that makes you free. You think that makes you smarter than us."

There was, indeed, more. "So, will you be the one to kill them? Will you tell that girl that you're going to kill her if she ever changes? Because that is what will happen. Let her know. Tell her that you're watching her, but do not worry. If she ever changes, you will set her on fire like Andraste would want."

"And what the Templars have done is just?" she asks. "The Templars have no prejudices of their own?" She thinks of Kirkwall and all the pain and suffering that happened there. Just because Montsimmard wasn't as bad doesn't mean it wasn't a prison.

"You seem to be under the impression that she sprang fully formed from the ground and did not come from the Circle. She was taught what happens to those who allow themselves to be taken over. She was also taught to hate and fear what she is, because that is what the Chantry wants. We here are teaching her otherwise."

Part of her wants to look over her shoulder to see if the girl is all right, but she doesn't think it wise to put her back to him when he's so close.

"I am not teaching her to take the easy way. I am not teaching her to crave power the way Templars crave lyrium. I and the others are teaching her how to be responsible with her magic."

"What have the Templars done that is just? If you ask me that, you will not believe the answer." A beat. "You do not understand what it means to be of the Order. Of what it truly means to be a Templar." Neither do those young men and women, but Stannis will teach them as best as he can.

"I get the impression that she is a young girl who is being cared for those who have foolish ideas in their head. If she has been taught to fear and hate what she is, she has been taught wrong. No mage should hate themselves. No mage should fear themselves." He takes in a deep breath to calm his anger, because he is talking to what he believes to be just as much a child as the one the woman wishes to protect.

"She has been taught that it will be a Templar blade that ends her life if she is taken over. Not your hand. Not any of these mages' hands. You are feeding her only sunlight and thinking that is all that a young mage needs because she has been in darkness." Stannis does not rise to the comment about how he craves lyrium. "If you are not teaching her to take the easy way, then allow her to take her Harrowing, you foolish mage! All you are saying is what the Harrowing is! What the true Harrowing is! Not what your Circle or her blighted Circle may have had it be used for!

"And shows me that you'll only feed her that light until she burns up." He does look towards the young girl, glaring at her now. Hating what these fools will do in the name of freedom. "I will have it be that no Templar interferes when abominations appear. That you and your own will have to kill each and every mage yourself. That you can tell me how you are teaching them when they lay dead at your feet." He has no means to do so. He has no authority. But if she wants him to use fear to see reason, by whatever Gods exist, he will do it.

"And can I not say, ser, that you do not understand what it means to be a mage? How can the Order protect mages if you do not truly understand us? You do not know what it feels like when the energy of the Fade rushes into your body unbidden, or how to control it. Only we mages do."

Her lips purse. Again and again he states that the problem is with those other Templars. Of course he can't see that those other Templars are the majority, not outliers. But then her expression shifts subtly to mild surprise. No mage should fear themselves. Where was he taught that, because it certainly hasn't trickled down. She's spoken with plenty of her fellow mages, and none have stories of Templars trusting them, believing in them, or any of that.

"Where were you stationed? Where is this idyllic place where you teach mages that they are people, not abominations waiting to cause havoc, or weapons that need to be controlled? Do you not see why we have to give them sunlight? And why do you think that is all I will teach? Yes, I went through my Harrowing, and when it was over, I was not suddenly a different person. You and I both know that full mages can become abominations at any time if the want power, if they are scared, if they have given up all hope. Why do you think that giving an apprentice hope in this uncertain time is so terrible?"

Christine shakes her head. "I cannot understand the Order, and you cannot understand mages. I have been in that girl's shoes. So have the other mages. She needs those who understand her, not those who follow a rule book laid out ages ago that has -- amazingly -- not stopped abominations from occurring."

"Ferelden." He continued to frown, because it was easy enough to answer those questions. "So you say that you do not look toward Tevinter for guidance yet you forget their history. That is what they wanted to do themselves. And we protect you because the world doesn't understand you. The small folk. The common people. Those that have heard only stories of abominations, of weapons. They would rally and kill a mage. Or be killed by one and then we would have to be asked to do so something."

That is when he takes his hand away from the sword at his side. "So while you speak of freedom and how you are so free, look around to see how many of those frightened people are being brought into Skyhold." Refugees would come to seek shelter and means to assist the people. They know of not the great politics of the rebellion and the collapse of the Circles. Some will agree; some will not. Some will just be frightened idiots and frightened idiots together cause a mob.

"I think giving them only hope is terrible, because the truth of the matter is that the Harrowing is to teach them how to face a demon, how to take all that they've learned and put it to practice. To not let it just be words on a page, words in the mind." An annoyed sigh. "So no, I cannot understand why people who say they understand and wish to protect a young girl would wish to have her one day face such a situation unprotected, unguarded, and only have pretty words and sunlight to ensure her safety. Because it doesn't keep little girls safe."

"Of course. The Order had good intentions once, but your message has become twisted. You say those Templars were wrong, but there are more than you think. Look at Kirkwall, who had the largest Circle in southern Thedas. Did you not hear what they did to mages there, and to the Tranquil as well?"

Her eyes dart down to his hand and she can't say she isn't relieved to see him let down his guard even this much.

"But I did not say only hope. I said hope, yes, but I did not say only. Apprentices know they cannot be saved if they allow a demon in. I am not hiding that from them, nor will I stay my hand against a friend who has been lost to me forever because of it. You say the Harrowing tests us, but again I say that many a mage has let a demon in after their Harrowing. Facing them during that test only gave them a taste. If a mage is going to go down that path, a successful Harrowing does not take away the idea. They would always travel down that path."

For her part, Christine is annoyed too. She really wants to be annoyed at just him, but she can't. She's annoyed at what he represents.

"I think the only thing we can agree on is that we cannot understand one another. You've made up your mind: that all I will teach her is to be hopeful and nothing else. That because I do not lay out every lesson I will give her in her training, as well as the other mages here who are taking apprentices, that you know how it all ends for them. Mages become corrupt; I do not deny this. But many a mage has lived in fear and seized the chance to become powerful. It was the threat of being made Tranquil that made me swear to myself I would be strong, but for others, it crushes them until they feel so weak, they give in. Threats only make the stubborn strong. It should not be used on all of us." She stops there, tired of bandying words back and forth. But she suddenly recalls he said he was of Ferelden. Do any of the mages here know of him?

"What is your name, ser?"

"Knight-commander Meredith was a monster and not fit to hold her title. She forgot what her duty was to the people and to the mages. She deserved to die and she deserved to die sooner than what she did. But her knight-captain did not take command when he had right to do so. The Grand Cleric did not intervene when it was her right to do so. The people did nothing until the riots started." Everyone was to blame for what happened in Kirkwall. Everyone.

"There are mages out in the Hinterlands that are a lot more than the mages that are here. There are more that do blood magic. More that become abominations. More that very well ruin what good faith and trust that the people of this world can have in them. Would you say that your kind has become twisted? That whatever message you have is now sullied because of them?" Because that is what he feels towards those Templar. They are not part of his message or his Order. They never will be.

"So because some may very well do it, we shouldn't do it at all. Because some mages turn out weak after, we shouldn't do it because of it. If that's the case, why teach a man to use a sword or use their magic? Because one day they may kill a person. Best cut the hands right off and save everyone the trouble." He opens his hands like they should be done with the whole mess. "Tranquility has been for those that fear for themselves, as well. Were you aware of that? That there are mages so frightened of themselves that they wish to be those hollow creatures?" He hates the Tranquil. He would rather kill them but that would be "inhumane." "They should never fear themselves so much that they would wish to be but shadows in this world. What is the point of living in it if you are nothing? But that is the decision the First Enchanter must make, too. No, we will not understand one another."

His name? "Knight-commander Stannis Baratheon." He holds no shame and will not hide anything that he is willing to give. "And what is yours, foolish mage?" Because she has not yet earned any right for him to call her anything else.

Christine does not flinch at his accusations. How can she, when she believes the same?

"Yes, I do not deny it. Those in the Hinterlands were twisted, corrupted. They ruined the chance for peace with their cowardice. You see, you and I both have ideals we cling to, and there are others of our number who will undo all we hope to accomplish." And yet she still feels those mages were driven to it all by their treatment in the Circles. "No apprentice enters the Circle wanting to maim and murder. Wanting to convort with demons. And yet under the watchful eye of Templars, some mages' hearts turn cold."

The Tranquil make Christine uneasy too. "And why do they fear for themselves?" she questions. It all goes back to the Templars, the Chantry, and those who have always pushed mages down. "Yes, I was aware, because I grew up alongside a few who requested it, fearful of having to face a demon. They chose a living death over real death."

She commits his name to memory. A Knight-Commander should be easy to recognize when she questions some of the Ferelden mages. Surely they can tell her more about the type of man he is. But really, has he earned the right to any name at all, after insulting her and calling her many names?

"Would you use it, if I gave it? It seems you have already coined a title for me."

"That I doubt. There are those that enter a Circle with such intentions, just as there are Templar that enter it with those intentions. Do we attempt to beat it out of those with the sword? Yes, but does it happen? Not always. Do mages sit around and think that it is all a conspiracy and think that Templar is doing so because they're allowed then tell no one?" The fault remains everyone. If does not wish to tell the knight-commander than tell the First Enchanter. There are checks and balances, always. The situation with Meredith was an outlier; it didn't matter if it was the largest Circle, it was not meant to be as it was.

"Because they do not know better. When one learns, their world grows larger. If one continues to remain small, then that is all that they will be." Yet he will not admit that things are so simple. Even the most educated merely find ways to twist it all. "But some are incapable of taking those steps and so fear eats away at them. The world eats away at them. They hate themselves, because that is the world they have been born into. The people are non-mage but have mage children are frequent enough. Not all of them have happy endings."

His eyebrows raise once more. "Would I? Good question. Perhaps. But all the same, the question itself makes me wonder if you fear me. Or if you simply do not desire to put your name to your words."

Edited 2015-10-18 05:36 (UTC)

Checks and balances, indeed. If that is the way he truly believed the Circles had operated, someone should try to sell him some swamp land in the Fallow Mire.

"And how large can their world grow when some never step foot outside their Circle? It was a prison to those. I wished to leave someday to be a healer, but was always told to know my place. I was not needed out there, they said. I was not wanted out there. Few mages have happy endings." There's a pause before she continues. "I am starting to think few people have happy endings at all, mage or not. At least with the way the world is now." She wouldn't ignore those she saw affected by the war. She wouldn't ignore that Templars devoted to a life of service slowly grew mad until one day, they were no longer to be found on duty. What was a happy ending?

"Do you think I have reason to fear you?" she asks, instead of rising to the bait.

"You seem to think that one's world increases by how much they see rather than what it is that they learn. They were right. You are not wanted out there." Needed, yes. Knowing one's place was debatable. "You seem to ignore what I have been saying about the small, stupid people. A person can maybe accept a mage if given the right circumstance, but people cannot. They would not have a happy ending out there alone.

"There are no happy endings in the world. There are just endings. Those surviving decide what kind that they are." He would think that the death of his wife was a sad end for her, but Selyse probably thought that it was how things should be. She probably thought that she would be welcomed into open arms by the Maker which made the situation less gruesome and hopeless for her. But his viewing of it was -- different.

"Do you intend to give me reason? You can dance about it as much as you like. You mages all look about ready to run when you see me. Like some guilty conscience or think me come to slaughter the lot. Not sure which I prefer." The latter is better than the former. His arms cross as he looks her in the eye. "If you guard your name, fine, then tell me this much. Has any non-mage started to come about to say anything? Anything to bring pause? And if you dance about in circles for that simple question, we can leave matters alone until a riot starts."

"Maybe I ignore it because people are not small or stupid. Some do not have your constitution, and they fear what they don't understand. Together, people share their fear and it fuels their hatred. You call it stupidity; I call it devastating, whether it is a scared mage or a scared non-mage."

This whole time, she's kept her hands down at her side as he's moved his. He's never had to remind himself to stay still so no one draws a sword at him because of the potential damage his hands alone could do. Even now, even having her freedom, there are some things she has been taught that she can't unlearn.

"I do not guard it. You would not use it, so what would be the point?" Honestly, she's not sure she understands his question. "Are you being deliberately vague so that whatever answer I give will be considered "dancing about?" I am not like my fellow Orlesians who play the Grand Game. I speak plainly. You wish to know if any non-mage has said... what, exactly? Threats? Misinformation? You are a man who speaks plainly himself, so I will answer, if you specify."

"Use whatever word makes you feel best, then. It is all the same. It ends all the same."

He gives her a cold stare, then. "Fine. I will treat you like the child that you are." Stannis would consider it quid pro quo as he shared his own. Did he care if she would call him by name? No. Did he feel like he needed that to be reason enough to share it? His eyes roll heavenward as his face twists as though he had eaten something sour.

"I am not being deliberately vague, you daft girl. All of those would be fine answers if they have happened. Threats. Misinformation. Anything that they have said that would bring pause." Orlesians. Because what reason would they have to do anything? Plain folk should stay away from mages for the mages own good rather than theirs. He takes a breath in and lets it out slow.

Ah, of course. More names, more insults. She stands here and takes it so he doesn't come any closer to the mages she's guarding from him.

"I think you have reached your limit of me for one day, ser." In fact, she's reached a plateau herself. So much so that it this point, the tension starts to leave her muscles and all she wants to do is laugh. Has she really been standing here this long having verbal abuse hurled at her and still tried to reason with him? She must be mad. Oh no, he'd better not find out. Mad mages are struck down. Now she really has to fight not to smile. What would he say if she said that children called others names? How would he take to being called a child too?

"People here are preoccupied with rebuilding efforts and tending to those wounded at Haven. We have been allowed to offer our services. Some speak to us without fear. Some ignore us. Some accept my healing them, some do not."

"I have reached a limit, yes." One in curving his tongue so that it was not so insulting and harsh as he is often told by a fellow knight-commander.

He accepts what she says with a small nod. Not yet enough time to think of the mages, then. Good. Stannis breathes out another sigh. It may not be long before that changes. He will have to speak of what to do with the Templar until then, and find out what the men know beyond how to swing a sword into another person.

"This is not over. Her Harrowing and those of other mages will be handled one way or another, girl." He stares at the lot, more glaring than anything else. His own eyes focus on the one that has not yet had her Harrowing. A quiet moment before there is a click of his tongue. Stepping backward, he turns to head toward where the other Templar are.

He isn't wrong there, but she hopes that whoever the new Divine might be will have the good sense to see that the old methods no longer work. Until that time, she must also hope that the Templars here still feel enough allegiance to the Chantry to make no move against the mages, or else this will turn out like Redcliffe again.

When he looks past her at her fellow mages, it takes everything she has not to step into his eye line. After everything she said about helping this girl learn to be strong and not fear, he thinks to test her now when she needs care and understanding more than anything. Once he turns and leaves, she stays put until she feels there's enough distance between them to turn her back. Another habit it will be hard to unlearn.

And now she has to do damage control. She took the brunt of it all, but his stare at the girl was enough to curdle milk! She returns to her friends and takes her young apprentice's hand, giving her sunlight as she speaks.

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Skyhold

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they're either going to end up having hatesex or staying on opposite sides of skyhold, lol

pfffffffft

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