(open-ish) out of the slumbers of my head

[fightingale]

WHO: Leliana & open-ish - see notes
WHAT: FREEDOM. talks about freedom/the Chantry/wherever it takes us.
WHEN: throughout late-late-late Drakonis and early/mid Cloudreach, can be after hearing some rumours.
WHERE: Default setting will be the Rookery, others possible on request.
NOTES:
1. Likely referral to imprisonment and torture in narrative, others to be added if they come up.
2. It's not exactly open-open because I'd like to be able to keep the different threads unique and avoid burn out on the topic, but if you are interested then just shoot me a pm or talk to me on plurk and we can figure it out!
tldr I am flexible with who/when/where and such, but hammering out some info first would be greatly appreciated.
3. Prose or brackets are totally fine, I'll match style :]b

Too long has she stayed her hand. First it was her ignorance that silenced her, and then it was loyalty, the belief that Justinia wished to make the world better, stronger. A more just world, where all would benefit rather than a rare few. As time has passed, though, and as the Inquisition grows, Leliana has realised more and more that Justinia's peace and her vision for the Chantry were not enough. For all that Justinia had once been a worldly woman she had not fought in the Blight, had not fought side by side with mage and elf alike. She had moved as a player of the Grand Game must, small moves, small changes, and stability had always been her first thought. It was Justinia who had threatened to deny aid to Celene in the settling of mage and Templar if Celene did not cease the elf rebellion simmering in Orlais before the burning of Halamshiral. Justinia was a good woman, a good friend and teacher and mother, and she had great vision. Even so she had been blinkered by the prejudices that ran rife throughout Thedas, the small mindedness that seemed to define each country in different ways. No one should be enslaved or punished simply for being; no one's personhood should be compromised by the simple facts and circumstances of their birth.

Most often she is in the Rookery and must be sort out between scouts and ravens bringing reports, or meetings with the other Advisors. The tower is cold, and candles flicker from a shrine to Andraste and make shadows dance. (And, if visitors come late in Drakonis and early in Cloudreach, they may find evidence of Dorian's prank, for which there will be dire consequences.)

Comments

[easternseaqueen]

"So... A couple times a day, then? I'll have to keep an eye out for that." She laughs a little.

She crosses her arms expectantly.
"So how much of a plan have you put together? I take it strongly-worded letters aren't on the agenda."

[fightingale]

Isabela laughs, and Leliana's jaw tenses almost imperceptibly. She is aware that Isabela is not laughing at her, and yet with the combination of everything over the past few months the sound which should be delightful is a little grating. She is too good a bard, though, to let something so simple as a laugh get to her enough that she remarks sharply.

Finally, she actually looks at Isabela. "I think the entire Chantry should be taken apart and rebuilt, and with the Chantry changed, so too will the rest of Thedas."

So, you know. Nothing ambitious.

[easternseaqueen]

"And?" Isabela prompts, though with a certain resignation, as if she's heard it all before. And in some ways, she has, with the years spent listening to Anders trying to wheedle and cajole her over to supporting his manifesto.

"Hell of a goal you have there, but goals are just wishes without action. Just like any words. So. What's your plan for all this?"

[fightingale]

"And action can end in ruination without careful forethought," Leliana replies, without any venom, just thoughtful and even agreeing. Alistair had made backhanded jokes, and she has been going over and over the last few years and months of Justinia's time as Divine, trying to make sense of it all.

She exhales a breath that could almost be a laugh - almost. "We need Divine who does not believe that mages and elves should simply be patient. A Divine who grasps the importance of immediate change, and the opportunity that has been presented to us, even in the midst of all this turmoil and suffering." Quiet, pensive. She does not know who would meet such requirements, honestly, and if she were to begin to consider herself then there are other fears, concerns, that worry at her.

You and I are the same, Marjolaine had said. She cannot forget that.

[easternseaqueen]

Isabela makes a sound halfway between a laugh and a scoff.
"You don't have to tell me that twice, Kitten. But even if you do plan things, that doesn't always mean it turns out the way you want it to."

She crossed her arms.
"Immediate change, hmm? So, instead of blowing up a chantry literally, you're going to do it metaphorically? You're fooling yourself if you think that's going to be bloodless. People don't change their beliefs just because you want them to."

"Mages, elves, they deserve to be free. Everyone deserves to be free. But not everyone thinks that way, including some of the very people you think you're helping. It's sort of like trying to boil a frog. Sure, you can heat things up first and try to throw the frog in, and it going to know you're trying to kill it, and will fight you the whole way. Yes, you'll probably kill it eventually, but there's a good chance you'll get burned doing it. The better way is to put the frog in the water while it's still cold and gradually turn the heat up. By the time it realizes what's happening, it's too late. It might try to fight, but it's already lost, and probably dead before things really come to roil. So the question is, how hot is your water?"

[fightingale]

Coming from Isabela, how hot is your water? could be a particularly terrible pick up line. Then again, Isabela could likely turn most things into a pick up line, and there would be those that were charmed by it, and Leliana does not feel much inclined to touch on that at present.

"That I know very well." She tries to equip her scouts with as much information as possible, train them as well as possible, and even with the most simple of plans things can fall to pieces, and they are left with their wits and their skills to guide them through. "They would change if a Divine ordered them to," Leliana replies, the expression giving away that she hardly thinks that a solution. Pick a Divine with the correct beliefs, simple. "Restoring the Canticle of Shartan, pointing to the life of Andraste and..." Leliana trails off, shaking her head. "The right Divine would be able to do it. It might not be bloodless, but it would be change from within, hastened by a leading hand. Those who wished to preserve their power would be forced to change. If they spoke out against the Divine, there would be others who would counter them."

But it's not a perfect solution, and she lets it show in her tone a little. "I do not think that any more innocent lives should be lost to those who would control them. If it is those who would enslave elves and mages - who would enslave anyone - who would rise against such a Divine, then I would sooner see their blood spilled than that of an innocent while our hands were stayed to make the change more palatable." And, she almost smirks. "Besides. It is always possible to weaken people so that when they go to take up arms they find themselves too weak to make a stand."