[Closed] Everything is a privilege

[happiertimes]

who: Cullen Rutherford, Dorian Pavus, Relm Hawke and etc
what: Checking on the electrical fences (Re: this post)
when: 9/3 - 9/12
where: Southern Fence of the Quarantine
warnings: language, violence, Thedosians?

A few days after asking if anyone else wanted to go with him to the Southern Quandrant to check on the electric fencing that keeps the Quarantine safe from the wildlife, he has assembled the group that has agreed to come with him. It's not about running away from the Dragosta festivities so much as it is getting away from the crowds of the Quarantine during these particular holidays.

At least for him it is.

Comments

OTA

[indigobird]

[Sigh. It's just not a fun trek without someone around complaining about nature or jabs being exchanged between friends (or "friends" at least). It's too quiet, even with the bouts of idle chatter that pick up now and again. Sure, they could be focused and watching the area around them and all that crap, but where's the fun in that?]

So. Who's up for a game of "I, Spy?"

[tevinteraltus]

[Dorian rarely complained about travel, unless it was particularly cold. The Quarantine, though, was rather pleasant most of the time and, considering he was so often trapped in a day-to-day tedium, this was a welcome reprieve.

Oh, and research. Always such a lovely addendum.

He does groan audibly at her Relm's suggestion, though.]

Really, Hawke? Must we?

[indigobird]

What, do you want to meander about in absolute silence the whole time? There are only so many conversations a person can have.

[It's fun! It passes the time! It drives people crazy! What's not to love about it?]

[tevinteraltus]

Then by all means, Hawke, let us have a conversation about anything other than some banal observation game.

[He taps his chin thoughtfully for a moment.]

What went through your mind as you faced the Arishok in single combat?

[indigobird]

Oh, fine, if you want to be boring about it.

[Aaaand then he asks that question, and her smile falls. Ugh. Well, at least he didn't ask about the Chantry explosion. That would earn him a glare and a Stone Fist. She supposes her fighting the Arishok should be her most glorious moment. And in a way, it was, but after everything that's happened, and everything that led to that duel, it's hard to think of it that way. Being Champion was an honor, blah blah blah, but with all the responsibilities and blame she bore with it, the glamor wore off rather quickly and she grew to rather resent the title.

She snorts.]

"I really hope I don't die."

[tevinteraltus]

[He chuckles at the response, but realizes, probably a bit too late, Relm was getting across her desire not to discuss it. He frowned, looking aside for a moment before looking back to her.]

I see. [He clears his throat.] Surely you must be curious about Tevinter, you can...ask me question if you like. I am one of my favorite topics, after all.

[indigobird]

[The laughing doesn't bother her. She's always used humor to deflect such things so it was intended. But he's gotten the hint and has moved on, for which she's glad. Perhaps someday she might go more into it. But for now, she's not ready.]

Hmmm... [Admittedly she wasn't prepared for questioning so it takes her a moment to think of something. When she does, well... it's not a happy question, but she can't help but wonder.] Did you know a magister by the name of Danarius?

[tevinteraltus]

[He shakes his head. Having read the Tale of the Champion, though, he's not entirely surprised it was posed.]

Not personally, no. He was a colleague of my father's, and he rarely spoke of work. That being said, he was a tad notorious, especially considering my father was his guest more than once. Can I assume you're asking in regards to your escaped slave companion? Fenris?

[Because you know, he would love to talk about Fenris. Because his markings are fascinating! Control yourself, Pavus. She'll get the wrong idea.]

[indigobird]

["Don't all you Tevinters know each other?" she kind of wants to say, but that's stupid and ignorant, even for her, all joking aside. So instead she just... listens.]

He's not a slave. [Not anymore. And it's what Fenris would say so she feels the need to say it for him since he's not here.] But yes, that's why I'm asking. Notorious, how? Just because of Fenris?

[tevinteraltus]

True, my apologies. [And he is actually completely serious and sincere in that sentiment.]

Ah, yes, Magister Danarius. Mediocre apprentices, very nearly openly a blood mage. He was everything that embodied the worst of us, really, though quite influential in the Magisterium, which is really the only place most care to be notable. [He smirks, though, looking over to her.]

We were all deeply grieved when he didn't return from his holiday.

[indigobird]

It's okay. Thank you. [...she almost laughs at the mental image of Fenris's reaction. He'd be floored by the apology, she thinks. Especially coming from someone from Tevinter.]

Mediocre indeed. I met one of them. Hadriana. Sniveling little bitch. She died in almost a dramatic a manner as Danarius. [What a good day. Well, that part at least was. Fenris's freakout afterwards, not so much.] He must have been quite influential, since I can't see any other earthly reason why anyone would want to spend any amount of time around him.

[She laughs.]

Is that how he phrased it? I suppose he wouldn't want to admit he had to go try and drag his "pet" back himself.

[tevinteraltus]

Handriana... [He plays the name around his mind for a moment before shaking his head.] I don't believe we ever met, though our fields of study, her mentor and my own, were vastly different. It's hardly surprising.

[He chuckles at that.]

He was a Magister, Hawke. There is no higher seat in our government beyond the Archon himself. Of course he was influential. [Though he did nod, a snide smirk twisting his lips.] Naturally. How unsightly.

[indigobird]

You weren't missing much. Snotty, brown-nosing little bitch who liked to starve slaves for fun. She got what she deserved.

[She scrunches her nose.]

Ugh, but aren't there better looking, more tolerable magisters for people to suck up to? [Even she knows they can't ALL be like Danarius. At least she fucking hopes not.] I hope people laughed at him for losing Fenris. He must have spent an obscene amount of coin sending hunters after him, and all for nothing. And I really, really hope they laughed when it was found out he died trying to do so himself.

[tevinteraltus]

[He frowns at her description.] Aside from that bit about starvation, you've described half the apprentices in Minrathous.

[And most of them did, in fact, deserve what they got. It was a constant tug-o-war, certainly, the power struggle, the constant pursuit of ascension.

He detested it.]

Someone so groundbreaking as to orchestrate a means by which to move through solid matter? I may not have been his number 1 fan, but he was a pioneer in his field. [He raised a hand to stay any protest she may have.] I, by no means, condone his methods.

[indigobird]

Gee, good to know that's not a common trait in Tevinter.

[Hadriana was as cruel as her master. Two magical peas in a vile pod. She knows Fenris hadn't intended to actually kill her, at least not when he swore he wouldn't in exchange for information, but... the bitch still deserved it and she stands by that.

It's good he finished with that because Hawke had already opened her mouth to argue it, but Dorian cuts off the argument before it can start.]

And that's why I hate academia.

[tevinteraltus]

At least not that I'm aware of.

[Dorian has never played the innocent card, of course. He's well aware many slaves are mistreated in his homeland. It's one of the many things he's hopes to change, after all.]

We were able to save the world due to experimental magics, you know.

[indigobird]

[She cocks a brow at that, focusing on the subject of magic and happily letting the one about slaves drop.]

Isn't experimental magic also part of what got the world into trouble in the first place? Or at least it's what caused the shitstorm in Redcliffe.

[Yeeeeeeeah, Varric told her about that mess.]

[tevinteraltus]

Well, yes, but magic isn't fine-tuned without experimentation. I did, after all, help to stop said experimentation, you know. It was unmaking the world.

[indigobird]

Big difference between fine-tuning a fire spell and fine-tuning world breaking shit. Sure, it's how we learn and refine spells, but... there needs to be boundaries. Because when that sort of shit happens, it just gives people more reason to fear mages.

[tevinteraltus]

What happened in Redcliffe was an exception that specifically utilized the power of the Breach.

[indigobird]

So up until that point, no one had talked about or tinkered with time magic? That just happened completely by accident? Like one might set their coat on fire by mistake?

[stumbledfromtheashes]

[Iona arches an eyebrow, a hint of an amused smile on her face.]

... I think it would be a terribly short game, given our current surroundings.

[indigobird]

On the contrary. We're surrounded by trees and rocks and other nature-y things. If I spy a rock, well, you'll be trying to guess which one for quite awhile, wouldn't you?

[stumbledfromtheashes]

[She smirks.]

If I bother trying to guess the exact rock in the first place.

[indigobird]

Oh but that's half the fun! Well, for the person making the other guess, anyway. Usually it winds up with the guesser quitting in frustration. Sometimes in actually taking a rock and throwing it at the other person's head. ...and once that actually being the very rock they were supposed to guess.

[That was a wild game of I Spy and the first and only time Fenris made the mistake of playing it with Anders.]