What Has Been Forgotten Has Not Yet Been Lost

[lifeofendurance]

WHO: Aleron and Malcolm Reed, then Cullen Rutherford
WHAT: Aleron shows up at Skyhold looking for answers.
WHEN: Guardian 20
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: Possible wallowing in guilt for failures past.

For Malcolm
In a different time, under different circumstances, Aleron could have appreciated the mountain fortress laid before him and the landscape that surrounded it. The skies are clear and blue, air fresh and free of the stench of slaughter and warmongering that lingers in the world below. Skyhold is far removed from so much that plagues Thedas that it would almost be easy to forget those troubles. Almost.

The Seeker rides through the main gates in the early afternoon, his mount picking its way carefully around pilgrims and refugees traveling on foot. Valiente is too well-trained to startle, even when the press of humanity is tight in the approach. If only the rider had the calm of the horse. His mind is torn. The world has been turned upside down, jumbled into chaos, and in its wake left much of humanity fearful and confused.

Aleron refuses to acknowledge fear, much less buckle to it, but consternation of where his duty lay now continues to assail him.

Regardless, as he dismounts, Aleron has not gone unnoticed. Whispers start up about 'another Seeker' and those that reach his ears make him hope that the others have also made their way here. At the very least, he'd heard of two known to be with the Inquisition, and it is with these comrades he hopes to confer and determine where his service should be. He spends his first hour in Skyhold inquiring where to find his brethren and watching some of the present troops give him a wide berth. Eventually someone points him where to find Seeker Reed.

And that is an excellent start.

For Cullen
There is another old acquaintance present which Aleron knows of. He'd like to think they'd established enough camaraderie to even be considered friends. That is a matter of some debate. It is the standard reservations of Seekers versus Templars. He's all too used to watching Templars cringe when he arrives anywhere, and he wonders if Commander Rutherford will feel the same.

Strange to think of him as such. Not that Cullen wasn't entirely capable of the rank. But it is difficult to wrap his mind around the man having left the Templar Order. These days seem to find too many people abandoning their vows and obligations.

However, they'd worked well together when he'd been in Kirkwall, relocating the Starkhaven Circle when it burned to the ground. Kirkwall. Not for the first time, Aleron considers that he should have seen the problems when he was there. He had looked, but not hard enough. A failure that's caused more death than he can ever wash clean.

With those heavy thoughts, he follows the directions provided, up the stairs to the battlements where Cullen's office is.

Comments

[lifeofendurance]

Malcolm's line of reasoning is sound. It seems unlikely that both women would concoct a false directive from Most Holy. That and there is a good point to be had that it seems in line with much of the other decisions she had made while living. Aleron nods, agreeing with the conclusion his fellow has reached. It's enough for now, though he will ask Cassandra later when he reports in.

"I doubt anyone could have conceived it so." Except the perpetrator, perhaps.

Where the Lady Pentaghast is at present gives him pause. Not for the location but for the purpose. "Red lyrium? I thought that contained to Kirkwall in the Gallows." Meredith's use of the substance is well-known and the stuff of nightmares. Why would it be an issue in Orlais?

[tactical_alert]

"I will be honest with you, I don't know the specifics. The Inquisition has been busy, even in the wake of the Herald's death, and new information flows in and out every day. I didn't join the mission for the sake of allowing her command as she sees fit and to better integrate myself in life within these walls. The last thing I need to be doing is stumbling into the first thing I see without any trust or an adequate understanding of the situation."

Still. Red lyrium is absolutely part of the equation, that much he knows for certain. "I fear the issue of the horrid substance is farther spread than Kirkwall. There have been occasional reports through Ferelden, through Orlais--the timing is unfortunate. Suspicious. Perhaps our enemy has some hand in this. Or perhaps the world really is starting to come to an end."

[lifeofendurance]

He listens, closely, intently, weighing and absorbing every word. To do so has been remarkably well-trained in him, though it's true to his nature. Aleron trusts Malcolm. Well... trusted all the Seekers until clearly they went mad. But this one he trusts still and that is the pertinent issue. Things are bad, very bad, if Reed thinks this is the start of the end of the world.

"Maker's breath. Why now of all times? Orlais is busy slaughtering itself from the inside and the Veil has been torn." Not to mention the Mage-Templar conflict raging. There is a great deal of chaos all at one time. There is truly only one conclusion to be reached about the red lyrium's spread. "It cannot be coincidence."

There is much destruction and discord in the Chant as a herald of the Maker's return. The words of Exaltations 1 come to mind and Aleron looks up to the sky and murmurs, "Or it's a sign of the Maker's return to us." Faith springs up anew within him, lighting a sense of hope in that possibility.

[tactical_alert]

"I suggested as much to her, the lack of coincidence. And we spoke of His involvement in all this." Malcolm shakes his head. Good to have hope, faith. His faith wears armour, steady and sure and nigh unshakeable, but his hope? That is secreted away and well guarded, behind many locked doors and stone walls.

"We cannot wait for the Maker to set foot upon the world. There is much to be done here and now, in this mortal realm. We have enemies, and they need slain. We have doubters and naysayers, and we will convince them. And in the wake of the Herald's passing, people like you and I and those who devote themselves to the Inquisition are needed now more than ever before. We are not men of inaction. It would be a boring and lazy life if we were."