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WHO: Eirlys and YOU
WHAT: Eirlys arrives back in Skyhold
WHEN: End of Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold's courtyard and throne room
NOTES: No warnings. Prose and brackets both welcome. So yeah, Eirlys is back, I have a CR meme comment for her here!

a) Courtyard
At first glance, it's not obvious that Eirlys has been away. She gets back into the routine of life at Skyhold easily enough, if for no other reason that she excels under the sort of pressure that the healers there - and everyone else, for that matter - are under. She's brought a fresh supply of herbs and poultices, and she's kneeling in the midst of the sick and wounded, attending to them as best she can. On looking closely, however, she's very pale and tired, and she's far thinner than she was when she left Skyhold, after months of scarce food over the winter in the alienage. While she remains the pinnacle of compassion with her patients, she doesn't seem too pleased to be back overall.

b) Throne Room
It takes her a few days to pluck up the courage to make herself heard. She dislikes being the centre of attention, preferring to focus her efforts on the wellbeing of others instead, but she knows that in the long term nothing will change unless she speaks up.

She makes her way over to anyone who looks important - or at least, anyone who looks like they belong to the Inquisition more than she feels she does herself. Clearing her throat, she asks quietly, "Excuse me, but I need to speak to those in charge."

c) Wild card
Choose your own starter, or hit me up at

viridianwings if you'd like me to write another option for you!

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"Mm." Fevers in cities, but especially alienages, can spread with alarming speed. It's definitely not a surprise she'd be weary after that. What is a surprise is that she went straight to work instead of taking time to recover first.

"Have you heard the concept of seeing to one's needs before addressing the needs of others?" There's a slightly amused look on his face. "Not that I know you enough to have any right to question your choices. Would you care for a rejuvenation spell? I can at least offer that."

Eirlys' smile turns a little rueful, though still amused herself. "I've heard of it, of course, but I've never been much good at practising what I preach."

She shifts uncomfortably at his suggestion, however - she's seen magic do much good here, but having never really been in close proximity to it herself prior to her time with the Inquisition, the idea of it daunts her a little. "A spell? As-- as long as it's quite safe, by all means."

The amusement fades as Anders feels a little disheartened. If even those who are around healers often look uncomfortable at the suggestion of magic, how will mages ever be accepted by the general population? How do they even start to overcome the overwhelming amount of fear and prejudice that the Chantry has worked on installing over Ages?

"It's safe," he says quietly. His hand glows green as he slowly raises it, giving her time to parse what's going on. "You'll feel much of the weariness melt away, but it shouldn't be used often, or as a substitute for rest."

If she doesn't pull back or ask him to stop, he'll go ahead and cast as she'd said 'by all means.'

"All right." She consents but still looks a little uneasy about it, not taking her eyes off his hand for as long as it glows. He's right, though: she starts to feel better instantly, the weariness stripping away from her like a layer of old paint, and she knows she'll be in far better shape to treat others now she's been seen to herself.

"Is that really all there is to it?" She pokes at herself and flexes her fingers, as if waiting for something untoward to happen to her either as a side effect of the magic itself or a punishment from the Maker for having used it at all. When nothing happens, she brightens a little again. "Thank you, ser. I feel better already."

"That really is. It's just magic. Just creation magic, at that." This is what he has to overcome, what they all have to overcome, the every day fear that the Chantry has instilled in so many.

"You're in Skyhold. There's..." He shakes his head and sighs. "You're welcome. We're not looking to hurt people. We just want to live. Not only that, but I'm here to try to help how I can. Especially someone assisting the healers."

"I know," she replies quietly, not quite meeting his eyes, resenting that her preconceptions are getting the better of her here, especially when elves were similarly poorly treated. "Rationally, I know that. But after a lifetime of having the fear of magic instilled in you, it's not so easy to get past that. And, well..." She shifts uncomfortably. "Magic did cause all this chaos, to begin with."

He's relaxing at the beginning of her explanation, but at the end, he shakes his head.

"No. It didn't. It would be easy to think that, and in truth, most would like people to think that because then they can justify caging us again. But it's not magic that caused it. If you want this specific chaos, it's Corypheus, a darkspawn. He makes claims that cannot be proven, and serve to make him more terrifying, more powerful. If you want the greater chaos, the root cause is the very organization that worked to instill fear in everyone, that worked to keep it's power under the guise of protecting. The slaughter of mages, the actions of the Lord Seeker, the actions of Meredith Stannard, the actions of a Divines who ignored the suffering of people, and the explosion of the Chantry can all tie into it. One mage is responsible for one of those alone."

She's fully prepared to argue, but instead finds herself listening intently. News takes time to filter through to the alienage, and when it does it's generally distorted even further than the official version the Chantry tells must be. It's refreshing to hear a point of view that's so clear, and not afraid to back down.

"I don't want anyone to be caged up. I remember the Templars coming to take one of our children to the Circle, and it was awful. Going from one prison to another..." She trails off, shakes her head. It was years ago, but she could still remember it as though it was yesterday. Magic had frightened her even then, before the demons, but she'd seen the separation of families as inexcusable. "Aren't they more attracted to magic, though? The d--" She can't bring herself to say it, terrified that doing so will bring them down upon them. "Those things that are coming through the rifts."

"What is coming through the rifts no longer needs magic once it is here."

The shake of her head has won her some points, and he's not getting worked up. She's aware that it's wrong. There's simply a disconnect, which isn't surprising. The Chantry worked hard to instill that in people.

"They tend to be attracted more to mages than others because mages touch the Fade naturally. That makes it easier for them to cross over. The rifts mean they need no intermediaries, no mages who aren't on their guard. Furthermore, mages have to prove we're valuable, that we're people like you and anyone else, which means we're fighting them harder than most. We could lose our newfound freedom all over again if we don't succeed in proving ourselves. We go back to our cages, to the rampant abuse, and we can't. We can't."

Eirlys nods understanding, falling quiet for a moment as she ruminates on all he's said. It's a great relief to her to have it explained that the mages are no more susceptible to the demons than anyone else now they can get through the rifts - even though she's made friends with some of the mages around Skyhold, she's been scared that their presence would make them all even more of a walking target than they already were.

"I came back to the Inquisition to fight for my people, too. We have an opportunity now not just to help restore order, but to have a say in what sort of world we build anew, from the ashes of Haven. I certainly hope you get a say in that, and that we can build a place where mages can determine their own future, just as I hope to achieve for the elves."

"To have a place where all are equal despite the manner of their birth..." He shakes his head, voice wistful. "It would be lovely. It's what I hope for, what I've worked for."

What he's done one awful thing for.

"If we can work together and drive away fear and misunderstandings and old prejudices, if we can defeat Corypheus, we stand a chance of shaping a future where all are people. All have freedom, a chance. Granted, the chance is to succeed or fail, but that's life."

The mages who want to go back want it easy, to have their choices taken away so that there's no real chance involved, but they fail to remember the downsides of captivity, the harsh realities.

"Defeating Corypheus comes first, of course, but I constantly look to after that." She knew that nothing could be the same any more, unless those at the top forced the Inquisition to their will. And they were the ones with the money and armies, after all, so Eirlys knows it's entirely possible that the subjugation of the elves and mages again in the long term would be one condition they'd impose. "I just hope the Inquisition doesn't disappoint us, when the time comes."

"If you mean as far as what's most important, yes. If you're referring to time, I'll have to disagree."

He takes a breath, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Right now is when they're looking at us and judging. Evaluating. After the threat of Corypheus is dealt with, then they'll make their choice on us. There won't be a grace period, because many groups of people believe they need a common enemy to work together; they'll be looking for that common enemy. The work we do here is crucial. We cannot allow the Chantry to regain its power based on subjugating your people or mine."

Eirlys knows he's right, and it makes her feel very uncomfortable deep inside. She's always been torn between resenting the Chantry for marginalising her people on the one hand, and finding such inspiration and peace in the Chant itself and in her love for the Maker.

"In that case, we'd need a voice in choosing the next Divine. Someone who will advocate for real change."

She's not sure they'd be so lucky there.

The next Divine. That's larger than he's thought of before and he blinks, considering. She's right. A lasting change can only come from the top, no matter how hard those at the bottom work. Those seeking to curry favor will prey on old fears and prejudices yet again and history will repeat itself unless someone at the top believed in freedom and equality with their whole heart.

"I don't know of any candidates for that right now. Not that adding my voice to the mix would truly help one of them, but I'm not entirely without connections who are a little more respectable." Not every rebel mage who has faith in him is an extremist. There's some influence that can be had there, though very little, and he definitely needs to work on his political game if he's going to have any help with influencing the future of the Chantry. But every little bit will help.

"I'll keep my eyes and ears open, however. You're thinking big, but you're thinking correctly. We cannot do it on our own."

She pales a little as she realises the enormity of the task. It was certainly far more responsibility than she'd anticipated when she'd decided to return to the Inquisition, but at least it wasn't hers to shoulder alone.

"Do you have any specific pointers, or is it a case of carrying on just trying to set a good example?"

"Right now? Carrying on. Being vocal about how we should be free, as well, drawing attention to the fact that we're only able to do what we do for the Inquisition because right now we're being treated as people, but most of it is simply being seen being helpful. And we can do it."

His voice sounds a little optimistic, more than he actually feels, but that's simply because it would be nice if peaceful actions continued the difference already started.

"There are a lot of people who won't like that." She remembers how those who spoke out against the conditions in the alienage were treated by the local shems, seeing it as a prime excuse to put elves in their place. "But at least here, we should have the Inquisition to defend us, if it comes to it."

"I know. And yes. We have the Inquisition to defend us here, but we also have numbers here. This is our best opportunity."

Not only that, they can be unified between the groups. Elves, mages, and rifters, if all three stand together against oppression it will be that much harder to hurt them.

Eirlys offers a small, friendly smile. "You've certainly given me a lot to think about, Ser."

He dips his head in her direction.

"And you me. Thank you." And then, with that, he'll be heading back to work.

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