The picture he paints of the world she'd found herself in is even darker than the one she'd seen with her own eyes or the one she'd read about in all these books. Which means he's either lying, or he's experienced firsthand some of the cruelties this world has to offer. Had he been friends with someone from another Circle who'd been killed? Beaten for disobeying the rules? Or had he encountered true Qunari and had been their captive at one point?
Any of those is just as likely as the others, but she isn't about to ask, not now. She's only just met him, and that's never a good time to dredge up personal trauma. But it's as good a time as any to work towards being a friend, since either way, he sounds as though he might need one.
"I'm sorry for whatever you've had to go through," she tells him sincerely. "We'll have to agree to disagree on whether violence is necessary, simply by virtue of that having usually been a last resort for me in my world; given that almost everyone here travels with a weapon, maybe that would have been different if I'd grown up here and had experienced firsthand how mages were treated. But I am sorry that you experienced it. You probably would have fared better in my world, but since we can't change that, I'll just hope that things get better here."
Shrugging a little as she also looks around, she adds, "And I'll do what I can to help things get better while I'm here. I can't promise that it will make a difference, but there's no sense in doing anything that might make things worse for myself, especially when it will also make things worse for other mages."
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Any of those is just as likely as the others, but she isn't about to ask, not now. She's only just met him, and that's never a good time to dredge up personal trauma. But it's as good a time as any to work towards being a friend, since either way, he sounds as though he might need one.
"I'm sorry for whatever you've had to go through," she tells him sincerely. "We'll have to agree to disagree on whether violence is necessary, simply by virtue of that having usually been a last resort for me in my world; given that almost everyone here travels with a weapon, maybe that would have been different if I'd grown up here and had experienced firsthand how mages were treated. But I am sorry that you experienced it. You probably would have fared better in my world, but since we can't change that, I'll just hope that things get better here."
Shrugging a little as she also looks around, she adds, "And I'll do what I can to help things get better while I'm here. I can't promise that it will make a difference, but there's no sense in doing anything that might make things worse for myself, especially when it will also make things worse for other mages."