[closed] mission: Hot Springs Episode!!

[illusionistic]

who: Aeacinos and whoever signed up here~
what: completing the hotsprings episode.
when: April 17th-19th
where: Beyond the wall!
warnings: Probably violence.



[ After sending out a mission transmission for whoever wants to help clean up the abandoned and overgrown hotsprings, Aeacinos will wait outside the wall for whoever decided to show up. He has a lot of food and supplies in hefty sized bags at his side so that there's enough for a few days worth of traveling. ]

Comments

[tevinteraltus]

Ah, yes, where they were cloistered away, of use to no one.

[He chuckles, nodding.]

Josephine is quite apt at opening a great many things, isn't she?

[happiertimes]

Honestly, the books in Kinloch were never kept from the apprentices. Not even the books on blood magic.

[Until it was too late and the damage had been done by Jowan and Uldred.]

Josephine is a devil with a sweet smile and a silver tongue. I'm only glad that she is on our side. And I will never play cards with her ever again. "I hope I remember the rules" indeed.

[tevinteraltus]

The books on blood magic were accessible by apprentices? Tell me they were only allowed to read them with guidance.

[Because Dorian knows full well the implications of a mage having access to power without morality. It's something he feels needs to be changed in his homeland, after all.]

Ah, yes. That, one should take as a lesson in the fallacy of underestimating one's foes, should they not?

[happiertimes]

[There are few things that Cullen doesn't talk about. The Ferelden Circle Tower during the Blight is one of them. However, Jowan's little escapades and what Uldred caused are more than just a little public knowledge. There were too many witnesses.

As such, he doesn't answer Dorian. Just continues walking with his jaw set in a line so tight it might as well be stone.]

I forgot that she has spent too much time around Orlesians. Momentary weakness. It won't happen again.

[tevinteraltus]

[Dorian had heard the vaguest of whispers regarding the fate of the Ferelden Circle Tower during the last Blight, though most people seemed to wish to avoid gossiping with a "scary Tevinter Magister". He couldn't imagine why. That being said, if the entire Tower had fallen to demons and blood magic while Cullen was in attendance, he couldn't blame the man for...thoroughly avoiding the topic altogether.]

Antivans are gamblers and scoundrels without influence from Orlais, Commander.

[happiertimes]

[Between what happened at the Circle and then at Redcliff, Fereldans' views on magic has been strained. Very, very strained. Compiling that with the attack on the Chantry in Kirkwall and the horror stories that came from the Free Marches, the attempts on the Divine's life and then the great rebellion, and.... Well, it's no surprise that no one's told Dorian word one about anything.

Besides, Cullen has nightmares enough with just his memories without drag them out for discussion with others.]

Then she is doubly evil, Dorian. I'm just glad that she puts her evil to use for our side

[tevinteraltus]

She is. [ He smiles, happy to avoid the topic of circles in Ferelden. It seems to be quite the bother to Cullen, after all, and would be rude to pry. Contrary to popular belief, that does actually matter to his sometimes. ] Though it would suffice to simply describe her as Antivan. No need to quantifiers.

[happiertimes]

That's true. I've yet to meet an Antivan that wasn't shady down to their very core.

[And to be honest, Josephine was one of the better ones. He's just a very sore loser when it comes to his dignity.]

Josephine aside, did you have anything else you wished to hold over my head, Dorian?

[tevinteraltus]

[ Dorian raised an eyebrow at that. He could understand being a sore loser, Dorian prided himself on being exceptional in all things after all, but he didn't realize the Commander harbored such opinions of Josephine. She was so delightful. ]

I don't think your utter defeat was solely Josephine's doing, Cullen.

[happiertimes]

[Yes, delightful, because Dorian didn't have to work so closely with her and argue over the fate of the world over a war table.]

No, it would be my own pride allowing me to fall for her act that I ended up in that situation.

[He could also blame Varric for starting the game, but it's definitely his own fault for even going so far as to bet as much when playing anything with Josephine and the rest of the Inquisitor's Inner Circle involved.

Although, to be fair, the camaraderie they'd enjoyed that night was almost worth his own embarrassment.]

[tevinteraltus]

[ He abhors confessions of all kinds, but he's begun to think of Cullen as a friend, and he smiles at the man, genuine, not teasing. ]

Cullen, that night marked the first in which I actually felt welcome in that citadel, beyond my little piece of the library. [ And because it just wouldn't do to actually admit something like that without some sort of jest. ] Your embarrassment was simply a bonus.

[happiertimes]

[He could say that he's surprised at Dorian's slight confession, but it's hardly a surprise at all. It's not as if between Mother Giselle, the struggle with the Venatori and the Imperium's history, the cards weren't stacked against Dorian from the beginning. Especially when one considers what happened with the mages in Redcliffe and Alexius's actions in general.]

I'm glad that some good came from my discomfort. And foolishness.

[tevinteraltus]

[ Dorian chuckles again, this time nodding and not hiding the jest in the least. ]

It most certainly did. We were all talking about it for weeks.

[happiertimes]

[Cullen shakes his head in defeat. There's no way he will win. At all.]

At least it didn't affect the troops' ability to listen to me in battle.

[It might have actually made him seem human.]

[tevinteraltus]

If anything, Cullen, it helped them identify with you more.

[ He shrugs. ]

But aside from plenty of opinions related to the garish selection of uniform for the lot of them, I really know nothing of soldiers.

[happiertimes]

[Dorian's comment about the uniforms is so in character that Cullen cannot help the laugh he gives.]

I should have expected a critique of the clothing we all wear. However, a soldier's life is very regulated. There are those in positions of leadership and those that follow. And everyday has a great deal of chance behind it, as I'm sure you understand. [He's a mage. They face their own struggles.] Sometimes, the surety of knowing what duties you have from day to day makes it easier.

[tevinteraltus]

Yes, yes, and that's all well and good, Cullen.

[ He nods. ]

But is one of those duties strapping an odd bit of orange cloth around one's shoulders? I should think not.

[happiertimes]

I believe you're under the belief that I have any say in the uniforms. I assure you that I'm not.

You should take that up with Josephine. Supposedly, it's all the rage in Orlais.

[tevinteraltus]

All the rage in Orlais, you say?

[ He laughs. ]

Sweet Maker! No wonder all of southern Thedas assumed we were an Orlesian institution!

[happiertimes]

[Cullen shakes his head.]

It's not that surprising, considering just how long Cassandra, Leliana and Josephine have spent in Val Royeaux. It doesn't matter if none of them are actually from Orlais.

[tevinteraltus]

Well, it is also often assumed anything associated with the southern Chantry is Orlesian by default, with reason.

[Not that he has much of an opinion on that. It's difficult to say what he truly believes anymore.]

[happiertimes]

And yet we're not really recognized by the Chantry, not even after taking care of the reason it all happened in the first place.

[tevinteraltus]

Yes, it really is bollocks when you know you're right, but no one cares to listen, isn't it?

[happiertimes]

Well, considering a great deal of the clerics still running the Chantry aren't exactly the kind to build up power bases without our support...

[In fact, he and his men have defended a great deal of them from detractors.]

But it doesn't matter. It had to be done.