faderift | Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

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Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

WHO: Hermione Granger and Open!
WHAT: There's a new ~~witch~~ mage wandering around Skyhold. Come say hello?
WHEN: Backdated to her arrival near the end of Guardian and onward throughout Drakonis.
WHERE: ~~The library.~~ All over Skyhold. ~~But mostly its library.~~
NOTES: Feel free to run into her pretty much anywhere, or have her run into you. And be prepared for all the questions about your character and Thedas/their homeworld and everything in between.

If not for the fact that Hermione had spent so many of her formative years in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Skyhold might have been overwhelming

As it was, the sprawling fortress was a little hard to get used to, since the academic environment that had given Hogwarts some sense of structure amidst the chaos wasn't present here. There was a library, thankfully, and she spent much of her time there, though it was so small that she was certain she'd end up reading every book in there in two weeks' time if she didn't actually go out and explore the rest of her surroundings.

And so every so often, she pried herself away from the cold little corner she'd set aside for herself and wander the rest of the area, though granted, she more often than not was carrying at least one book with her. Usually it was one of the books that had survived the trip through the Fade; anyone who might spot her in the garden or tavern or a safe distance away from the sparring going on in the training grounds might notice her engrossed in such unfamiliar titles as Hogwarts, A History or occasionally digging through Spellman's Syllabary in the vain hope of finding recognizable runes on various inscriptions throughout Skyhold.

After all, just because she was endlessly fascinated by all the new people and cultures and history and magic, it didn't mean she didn't occasionally need a bittersweet reminder of home. Especially when her other major reminder was her wand, which - despite the fact that she'd taken to finding the most solitary places she could find and practicing with it harder than she ever had the night before an exam - still wasn't behaving properly at all. Apologies to those of you who end up slipping on some wayward ice or getting sprayed with pebbles from a spell gone wrong.

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"So this is all based on Chantry claims?" she asks, trying to get it all to make sense. "And I'm assuming that the Chantry is comprised of mainstream religious leaders. So is there proof that what they're saying is true, or is there a chance that they're simply promoting propaganda against mages?" She wouldn't ask such a question of someone who gives off the impression of being religious, but luckily, Korrin seems like she's perfectly all right with giving her straightforward, unbiased answers.

After a moment of silence, she asks, "Just how dangerous are these darkspawn? I've seen demons at work - big masses of flame and stick-like creatures who can jump out of the ground - so comparatively speaking, how much of a threat would they pose if I just happened to stumble across a group of them?" They don't sound particularly pleasant just from name alone, and Hermione's already fairly confident that she'll just never leave Skyhold until it's time for her to go home, at this rate.

In all fairness, Hermione would probably be more uncomfortable sitting down, especially since she still didn't know what to make of this girl.

Still, it would probably be rude to remain standing as though she was primed to walk away, so she conceded to sit down across from her. "A Muggle-born witch," she repeated. "Wizards would be the boys, witches are girls, and both of my parents are Muggles. I didn't find out about magic until I was eleven, when I received a letter stating that I was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My parents and I thought it was just a prank, until one of the professors came by and personally informed us about it."

"That must have been very...unnerving. To suddenly learn about the forces of the universe around you." Ariadne could easily see such a thing breaking a lesser spirit. Not that she knew much about Hermione's spirit. But she seemed...relatively unbroken.

She tried to imagine first learning about magic herself. But she couldn't really remember a time when it hadn't been a basic fact of life.

Science, on the other hand...

She'd been so very baffled by an electrical light, the first time she'd seen one. She must have spent a whole day flipping it on and off again.

While Korrin definitely has her own biases, and she won't even deny that, it's true that given her outsider status she has a different perspective. If nothing else, it'll give Hermione one more angle to consider other than the usual Chantry dogma. "That's the thing, no one's quite sure what is the truth. Corypheus claims to be one of the ancient magisters, but he could be lying, or mad or whatever. Still, it's true that he broke open the Fade and that's not something just anyone with magic can accomplish. There's more to it that we're not seeing, I'm sure.

As for other sources...I think the dwarves don't have a darkspawn origin story, other than that they just appeared and wiped out most of their holdings. Anything that could shed further light on that is in the Deep Roads, and no one really goes there unless they have a death wish. Tevinter denies that the magisters are responsible for the Blights at all, and that they have no connection to each other. But whether or not that's true or them just covering their own asses, who can say."

Just how dangerous are these darkspawn? Korrin isn't fazed by much, but having seen that danger firsthand, she winces a little upon remembering. "Darkspawn are extremely dangerous, not just because they're numerous and unrelentingly hostile. They have one purpose; to kill or corrupt everything in their path. The taint they spread through their blood warps people and animals alike. Death is considered a mercy, because even if they survive, they grow deformed and rabid, ultimately becoming beings we calls ghouls. It's...gruesome. There's nothing left of what they once were, when it goes on long enough. At that point, the darkspawn see ghouls as one of them. And no, healing magic does nothing against the taint. If it did, Blights and darkspawn wouldn't be as feared as they are."

"Oh, I didn't see it that way at all," Hermione remarked with a shake of her head. "That makes it sound almost mystic. No, magic is just another kind of energy, one that some people are able to access and utilize, and other people can't. There's no telling why, since it's not always a matter of genetics - wouldn't that be an interesting study, though! - but I don't think they're linked to anything necessarily preternatural."

Then again, that was the benefit of learning about magic at a relatively young age, even if she'd been fairly mature at the time. It was much easier to just accept something as truth when someone can pose it in a logical way and provide proof, regardless of how much it might shake worldviews.

"I'm pretty sure you can't talk to giants here. Anyone who tried probably didn't live to say they tried." But she left it at that, because she too was rather mystified as to how someone could be half-giant. The races in Thedas did intermingle, because they weren't so far off in size from one another, but it was rare and a sign of shame for many based on the community in which they were raised. A half-giant just seemed... well, Hermione put it best: it boggled the mind.

"Oh, thank you." Her pale face took on a rosy look, because compliments made her blush, and she shifted a little, standing up straighter and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Humans' ears are so little. They're cute, really."

"Oh."

It threw Ariadne off, that Hermione didn't see any wonder in it, but she supposed it was a natural part of her life. As much as words and song were to an Alastrian.

Hardly her place to question it.

"But that's magic in and of itself," she continued, "whether or not someone is born with one gift or another. It's the same as the magic of having brown eyes or green eyes. Or your father's nose and your mother's chin."

"It makes sense, yeah." Maybe it wouldn't have, a few years prior. After Emma has ended up in a handful of different magical worlds, though, that the idea of gaps and slips through the lining doesn't surprise her very much anymore. She's not an expert on how all the worlds connect, yet she knows that they do, that's how she has been able to travel from Maine to the Enchanted Forest to Neverland and back again. Maybe the Fade was the pathway to getting back home... it was something worth looking into, though she'd have to do it carefully.

Emma can't say she agrees with Hermoine's sentiment. While plenty of people in Skyhold were friendly, it was impossible to ignore the air of distrust toward certain parts of the population. Individuals with magic and individuals from different worlds, especially. It's hitting her how cruelly elves are treated, also — it reminds her of the cruelty and hatred toward different races back in her own world. It's not exactly enjoyable.

"Uh... you know, I'm not sure. I guess it's not impossible. My introduction to magical worlds has been very recent, I don't know everything yet." She's met goblins and trolls, giants, dragons and ogres. Who is she to say elves weren't around somewhere in the Enchanted Forest?

"That's... sad," Hermione noted softly. "Hagrid - the groundskeeper - introduced me to his half-brother, who's rather small for a full-blooded giant. He gets picked on an awful lot for his comparatively small size, and he's a little intimidating for a human to look at, but he's really quite sweet and usually listens if you tell him to put you down." Usually.

She couldn't help sheepishly grinning at the way they seemed to be batting compliments back and forth, and Hermione found herself mirroring Ellana's movements, tucking a bit of hair behind her own ear. "It's just a superficial difference," she said, trying to shrug it off. "I mean, it is, isn't it? Or do elves have better hearing than humans do? I'd never really thought about it."

Hermione's smile faltered. "I suppose," she offered, though she didn't suppose so at all. Eye color and facial structure was all a matter of genetics, which was a branch of science. She supposed, if she really thought about it, the odds of two people coming together to make a person who looked just so would be considered something special, and recreating the conditions of the womb isn't yet something science has quite perfected in her world, so that does lead the entire reproductive cycle to be known as the "miracle" of life by some.

Still, she'd rather not get into all of that with a stranger, and so she only asks, "Do they have the study of genetics in your world? It would explain a lot about why some people have one eye color and others another. I'd teach you some of it myself, but there's no telling if things work the same way where you're from as where I'm from. I wouldn't want to give you false information."

So it is just like the religion at home, wherein no one can positively prove - or disprove - all of the claims made by the people in charge. She supposes it makes sense, given how long ago it had happened, but it still sounds awfully convenient. It always sounds convenient whenever people wave their chosen faith around to explain away why they hate for no reason and otherwise make poor choices.

"There's always more to it," she mutters softly, though she tries not to sound too annoyed. It's particularly irksome, being part of a group that's discriminated against for reasons that may or may not be unfounded (or even if they are founded, that have little bearing on what kind of people mages are today). She can't even blame Tevinter for their possible part in this, since again, there's no proof one way or the other aside from what has become local legend.

"So these darkspawn... they're contagious, in a way?" She makes a face, thinking about werewolves, only with the human aspect of them taken away. It's not a pretty thought. "They're feral monsters, then? Or do they have some kind of intellect?" All things considered, she isn't sure which would be worse.

"Most of them just have a simple animal cunning and don't speak other than roars or grunts...or that grating laughter. But that simple cunning can take them a long way, as they've been known to stage ambushes and will retreat if they're in a fight they can't win. A few -emissaries- are intelligent enough to draw upon their taint somehow, to cast spells. They're the ones you have to watch out for, though fortunately I haven't seen or heard of them being that numerous, or of them being spotted above ground. Either way, they'll never surrender and if they can't retreat, will just fight to the death."

Korrin just shakes her head in disgust at everything about them. She knows more than most thanks to that trip into the Deep Roads some time ago, but none of that knowledge is the kind that helps anyone sleep at night. "What also makes them a threat is that they don't need to eat, the taint gives them fast healing and they can see better in the darkness than anyone else. That's another reason to avoid the Deep Roads; all you're doing is pitting your weakness against their collective advantage."

"I don't...think so," Ariadne admitted. "But you have to understand that not every race experiences so much...variation. Elves are always born with blue eyes." And Alastrians were always born with gray. "Humans are almost always born without magic. A lot of things are set. And there are sometimes children who are half and half but...they're not treated very nicely."

She'd seen as much in the way the court whispered about Princess Amanda's daughter. The poor girl had to work twice as hard to prove herself even half an Elf. Ariadne's heart bled for her.

Not that it mattered much. Her unique combination of Human and Elf genes made her an effective warrior. And that mattered more than purity right now.

"My world is kind of under siege though," she said. "We don't have much time to think about that kind of thing. Not when we're too busy worrying about surviving."

While Hermione has spent almost half of her life in the magical world, it was still just a community within the same world as Muggles. Actually traveling through different worlds or realities or what-have-you? It's not exactly something she's overly familiar with.

Hermione has likely been lucky in most of her encounters with people here in Thedas. Or perhaps it simply has to do with her being young and honest, and so likely not widely believed to be a threat. She can prove that idea wrong easily enough, but at the moment, it doesn't seem wise to antagonize anyone, so she doesn't.

"So you mustn't be from one of the old wizarding families, in that case," she decides when Emma claims not to know about elves. "But at the same time-... er, don't take this the wrong way, but you look a little old to be a Muggle-born who's recently discovered her magic. I only say that because my school accepts witches and wizards when they're about eleven years old, give or take, and even the Muggle-borns start showing signs of magic before that. Is that not the case, where you're from?" Whether that's America, Canada, or a distant land Hermione's never heard of.

"But they can die?" Hermione asks, just to be certain. She isn't one for killing, but if it becomes a necessity, she'd rather know all about a potential opponent's weakness. After all, even Harry had had to kill in order to bring the war to a close.

"The taint may not be curable, but is it preventable? I don't know if anyone has been able to study them extensively, but perhaps a vaccine of sorts can be developed, in the event that anyone needs to travel somewhere they're known to frequent."

Frowning immediately, Hermione rhetorically asked, "Why is it that no one knows how to treat people who are different? It doesn't matter what their parentage are; people are still people." She had a tendency of going off on very long rants when it came to this sort of topic, and so she had to force herself to stop before she got ahead of herself.

Instead, she focused on what she was being told, and she tilted her head, sympathetic as she told her, "I'm sorry to hear that. What sort of siege are you under?"

Hermione's rather enlightened view held Ariadne's interest. And she really would have enjoyed hearing more.

Ariadne had been fortunate, that she could hide who and what she was. And that the very few humanoids in her life who knew the truth didn't care. But there was a lot of hatred out there.

Too much...

But then Hermione asked her a question and she snapped back to reality. "Oh, it's very sad, really," she said. "A warlord named the Red Dragon has been taking over the realm."

"Oh, they can definitely die. I've killed more than I can count, during that Deep Roads trip that is the reason why I can say that place is a fucking death trap." Seriously, don't do it unless you're a trained mercenary and getting paid a huge amount and even then, don't do it.

Korrin arches an eyebrow at mention of the word 'vaccine' but she tries to elaborate. "Avoid their blood; that's one of the best ways to contract the taint, after all. That or be a Grey Warden. I can't say how, because they keep that knowledge to themselves, but that Order has been fighting darkspawn forever and they don't succumb to taint like the rest of us do. On the other hand, their life expectancy isn't what you'd call high."

"You know," she began, looking thoughtful, "I've never noticed if I've heard things better than the humans with me. But I do know we can see better in the dark than the other races. That's easy enough to see at night when their eyes reflect no light and the elves' eyes do."

It made her wonder how these differences came to be when the Creators set about how the People would look. Why did they need them to be able to see so clearly in the dark? Were they meant to hunt prey at night? Or was it for their safety, so predators couldn't attack them? A curious thing.

"Interesting. Course I wouldn't go around calling people that, they could take it the wrong way," he mentions with a small chuckle. He knows she wouldn't mean anything by it, but with everything going on with Rifters and other things, no reason to give anyone something to latch onto.

A school run by wizards and witches to teach those younger with magical abilities? That sounds a bit similar to what they were doing here in the Inquisition. Course their numbers here were not many, even if there was a lot of them for one space.

"It sounds like a wonderful idea. I think there have been times where the mages did try to do just that, but... that would be hard to achieve. People who can't do magic here still know of it and we also have the Fade. If demons weren't a thing to worry about we possibly would be treating magic much differently."

What on Thedas has he done? There's a dozen or twenty or more questions in there and Maker, he can't follow them all.

"All right. One... set at a time. People hated mages more than elves because people are selfish pricks. I'm sure some of them gave a damn about the elves, but most just didn't want mages in charge. Also Andraste said and wrote a lot of things, many of them vague and airy sounding enough that people could find what meaning they wanted to in them. She was an easy figurehead who was inoffensive and had the thoughtfulness to die and be tidily out of the way, so Andraste was used."

He does not have the highest opinion of the Chantry, for good reason.

"As far as the terrorist acts, let's take them one at a time. What Corypheus did isn't something any mage approves of, and the demon in him has long ago twisted him from anything human. That's not our doing. Lord Seeker Lambert was not a mage, he was a Seeker. The chaos he caused was not the fault of the mages. Those two were blows that showed the few mages that their cages did not offer the protection they thought. And the other..." The deeply personal one? Anders shakes his head with a grimace. His act had been terrorism. And she's right. But at the same time...

"There's... there was, a law that allowed Templars to declare an entire Circle of mages too rebellious, too dangerous, too anything, and kill them all. That's hundreds of mages, legally slaughtered if the right forms are filled out. It was about to happen again to the Circle in that city, which meant the choice was to stand by and let that happen yet again, and hear no outcry because they were just mages, or act and try to let the final death toll be lower."

There's a short beat. "It wasn't lower, or if it was, it wasn't by much. But it lead to outcry because it wasn't just mages dying. It... did something. There's no denying it was crossing a line. But there's no one else suggesting any alternatives that could have saved lives, and this is after quite some time. The choices were death either way."

It's no comfort that no one has suggested any other options. It doesn't make the death toll easier, doesn't make it seem right. It's still the only thing he could have done, and he hates that the situation had gotten like that, hates that no one else acted to save mages when there were people whose job it was to protect. In some ways he even hates the people who hate him - their anger is well-founded, but he's the most convenient face of so many who are at fault for what's happened.

"And on the final topic, provided I'm not missing or skipping something, it's the followers of the Qun who believe in enslaving or killing. If you don't join it, then you're not worthy of life, according to them. Plenty of people talk to them. I've spoken with followers of the Qun. I'd like to never do so again, because their take on what should happen with mages is even worse - lips sewn shut, shackles at all times. Let's hope that no Qun-following qunari come to Skyhold."

At Hermione's answer, Josephine's eyes light up in delight. "So, you are a rifter. I always wonder what you all must think of Thedas. It is a shame you could not come during less tumultuous times. There is much--" And Josephine realises she is rambling; she cuts herself off and does her best to restrain herself.

"Hm. In any case, I can understand the homesickness to some small degree. I may not have come as far as you, but I miss it. I hope your stay so far has been pleasant enough, despite the current circumstances?"

Leliana listens intently. There are surely lessons to be learned from other cultures. Entire other mappings out of people and their fates and beliefs, actions that have shaped their worlds, and in turn, have shaped those people. When Hermione speaks, though, when she says just how many people died… she is right, such numbers are impossible to comprehend. Leliana is not even sure Thedas is home to that many people in full, not when people can die so young and when there are so many dangers waiting in the shadows. Few things leave Leliana at a loss, but Hermione at struck to the heart of her.

For all her years of experience as a bard and all her control, her jaw slackens at the prospect, skin turning a few shades paler, and though she forces herself to keep looking at Hermione, it feels hard to focus. So much loss of life feels impossible to grasp, and it leaves a weight on her chest, slowly and inescapably growing heaver with each moment, forcing the air out of her. So many people, people with family and people who loved them, who they loved, with life and mirth and potential to do so much, and each one had been extinguished— for what? In the name of some master race?

Under normal circumstances she would be delighted to hear a poem or a song from another world, no matter how self indulgent she might find her own joy, and how much she might chastise herself. Here, though? Here she does not know how there could ever be joy in it.

“That is beyond imagining,” Leliana starts, when she finally finds her voice, though it is low and harsh. That Hermione thinks they might not be fussed… that is not necessarily the problem, so much as that there are so many ideas that compete, but Leliana finds herself needing a moment with her thoughts as she attempts to process this information. Spymaster and assassin she might be, but always in the hopes of protecting people, always in the hopes of saving lives.

“You are right, of course. And it is exactly that which I hope to press for.” Though sometimes it feels as though they are in a conflicting dance, even amongst the Advisors. Without Evelyn— Well. Without Evelyn they lacked a focused, guiding hand to break their debates and disagreements and fix them to a certain star.

“That man who killed so many. What became of him? Of his…” Her mouth twists, because she cannot settle on a word that is satisfactory, “Grotesque actions?"

Hermione nods at the assertion that darkspawn can be killed. It's a grim sort of comfort, but at least she knows she won't have to rely solely on outrunning these things if she ever encounters them.

Frowning a little at the mention of these Grey Wardens, Hermione asks, "If they know how to avoid being infected, why wouldn't they share that knowledge with others? Even if it's a matter of utilizing a rare herb or dangerous magic, at least let people know why it's kept such a secret. There have to have been cases where someone too important to lose has been been infected, so surely someone must have been willing to find all they could about antidotes and such."

"Like a cat?" Hermione asked, grinning a bit before sheepishly adding, "I don't mean that in any disrespectful way. I like cats. That's just the first comparison I thought of."

Unlike most people from her world - and from Thedas, for that matter - Hermione was hypersensitive to the possibility of insulting people, particularly elves. They had enough to deal with, after all.

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Our aspirations are wrapped up in books

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