faderift | [semi-open] a friendly query

WHO: Cassandra and rifters/shardbearers
WHAT: Rifter interrogations
WHEN: Following Cassandra's log with Galadriel and the advisors' conversation
WHERE: Skyhold
NOTES: For planned rifter/shardbearer interrogation threads with Cassandra! If we haven't discussed your character's thread, please drop me a note here or hit me up on Plurk for general (this can be very general) setup/discussion of what you hope the outcome to be. She'll be most interested in talking to rifter mages, but we can swing her interrogating anyone with a shard.

With or without your support, she had said to the Spymaster, and she had meant it. She would have preferred that Leliana understand her position, the necessity of action - but she does not, and dwelling on it will do nothing to change that now. Whether anyone else sees it or not, Cassandra at least recognizes the risk that the shardbearers pose. If nothing else, they must understand who the rifters are, what they are capable of - and what they may do.

There are still plenty who agree with her, who are not as idealistic in this matter as Leliana, and it's not difficult to find soldiers willing to find those of interest and bring them to her, one at a time. She waits until each is seated before she turns to face them, and always begins the same way, whether she recognizes them or not.

"I am Cassandra Pentaghast, and I represent the Inquisition. State your name, and where you come from."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You are...

Something made. A golem, or something like it? A - a person made of steel, of electricity, somehow - she looks doubtfully at his body, seemingly of the same flesh and blood as anyone else.

But he keeps talking, as usual, and her eyes snap up to his, her entire body suddenly on edge. Even the guards on either side of the door, motionless and unaffected up until now, seem to tense slightly. There is a metallic clang, and suddenly Church finds himself backed against the wall, Cassandra's sword at his throat and her face close to his.

He is not a man. He is not human, by his own admission. But worse than any of that - he can possess people. As a spirit might. A demon.

"Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you now."

Oh, okay, yeah, see, this is why Addie told him to keep his fucking mouth shut on the whole 'not originally human' matter. With the swords and the anger and the probably cutting off his head thing. And, you know, the only swords he ever really had to deal with before was the special stupid key/prophecy sword of question Tucker had. That's basically it. Not real metal swords turned on him.

"B-because!" he stammers. Oh, if you thought he was articulate before... "Because I'm not a demon!" That's the fear, right? Demons possessing mages, walking around in their skin? "I was about to die and then this green portal thing happened and when I fell into the fucking swamp I had a human body! I didn't pick it! I'm not from the Fade! We don't have demons in my world, and I can't possess shit now. I'm stuck here. I'm not--I'm not a god damn danger to anyone."

If he could melt into the wall he would. Hell if he could ghost out of this body and leave it frozen in place or leave it to whatever fate it might have, he would. But he can't. "I'm a real boy now, for better or worse. And if you wanna kill an innocent guy from another world and open up that can of worms, then..." Then she's stupider than she looks, but jesus fuckin christ he's not going to say that to her face. "Then could you maybe not do that?!"

Her face twists, but she doesn't press the sword any closer to his skin. Normally, perhaps, she would not let his pleading stop her. But in the wake of Galadriel, of Leliana's unforeseen anger and her vicious disapproval of Cassandra doing so much as imprisoning a potential threat -

She does not dare.

With a frustrated ugh, she pulls back, lowering her sword to clutch it tightly at her side.

"Swear to me," she grounds out. "Whatever you are. That you will do nothing to harm any member of the Inquisition, or any resident of Skyhold. That you will follow any orders you are given and you will use whatever power or skill you may have only to assist in fighting the enemies of the Inquisition, and to assist in the closing of the rifts."

Not getting his head cut off is a plus! This is a positive. It's a step in the right direction. So obviously he's with her up until the 'follow any orders', which has him weakly getting out a, "hey, wait a minute-"

But, sword. Sword! Sword and angry woman, kind of important details, so he shuts up. To be fair, aside from the follow orders thing, it's a pretty reasonable request. (Demand.) This isn't his army, and maybe he doesn't want to play soldier anymore. What if the Inquisition ends up on the wrong side of something, and he doesn't want to fight an enemy? (Would he even know to question it? He recognizes, at least, that the more he learns about Thedas, the less he understands. And alien demon things? Need fighting.)

"Yeah, okay, sure!" His hands are still up by his head to look non-threatening, in case she has reason to come at him again. "Sure, yes, those things, whatever, fine, yeah! I'm not here to hurt people that don't need hurt, okay, I'm not a demon, I'm just a guy trying to not die in your crazy backwards world of magic okay!"

She glowers a moment longer, still not entirely convinced - but he had sworn. If nothing else, she will be fully within her rights to execute him for treason to the Inquisition, should he disobey.

And he is clearly not the powerful mage Galadriel is. She would have dismissed him as completely ineffectual, if he had not mentioned possession.

She nods curtly, and steps back.

"Good," she says, and gestures to the door. Still glaring. "You may go."

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