(no subject)

[closerift]

" this is cecily trevelyan of the inquisition.
i cannot be reached at the moment, but if you leave your information i will reply quick as i can. "

Comments

[Voice]

[closerift]

Is it possible you already are and don't know it yet?

Ah. Well, if only other people here respected the authority of the Wardens. ... Or of anything, really.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

If you're implying this is the afterlife, I gotta say: I'm not impressed.

Ha! That hardly happened even in Thedas, I don't expect it here.

[Voice]

[closerift]

Neither am I. I hope the Maker's bosom is a little more pleasant than Hadriel.

Oh, well, wait until I tell you more about the Wardens of the future. They're very pushy. ... No offense meant. To you.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

...did they get themselves banished again? Because I told them they needed to cut that shit out.

[Voice]

[closerift]

Er... a bit.

[ She'd exiled them, but, come on. They'd been up to No Good. ]

You - or any other Hero, I assume - weren't involved, though, so no hard feelings there.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

That's good, but now I feel like I ought to know what happened. You can't leave it hanging.

[Voice]

[closerift]

All right, all right. Well, this isn't really a conversation for the... devices, though, so we'll have to meet in person for it.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

Sure, where at?

[Voice]

[closerift]

I can meet you anywhere, but I'm in our home at the moment.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

Okay. I just got a job at the speakeasy as a bouncer, but I won't be working today, so I'll head right back.

[Voice]

[closerift]

[ ... Hang on. ]

A bouncer? [ Her lip twitches, the little smile clear in her voice. ] Oddly, I can see you working that job exceptionally well.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

That's exactly what I did in Denerim, you know? The Pearl and the Gnawed Noble Tavern both had assholes that needed ejecting, so I was the person to do it. If I don't have darkspawn to kill here, I might as well go with what else I remember how to do.

[Voice]

[closerift]

Ah ha. More of the pieces of our Hero fall into place. [ She chuckles. ] Well, I can't say that I don't see you doing a fine job of it.

[Voice]

[paragonbrosca]

Thanks, I try!

Where were we? Oh, right, Warden stuff. On my way.

[Voice]

[closerift]

The door will be open when you arrive. Safe travels, Warden.

[paragonbrosca]

[Before too long, the front door opens and Aren strides in after Barkspawn streaks past her to find his fellow mabari.]

Yo, I'm back!

[closerift]

Welcome! Got to warn you, my friend: the story you're about to hear isn't exactly a fun one, and it doesn't reflect especially well on... er, the Grey Wardens.

[ SRY ]

[paragonbrosca]

So, it's like Sophia Dryden all over again? Maferath's balls, when will Grey Wardens ever learn?

>[Aren heaves a sigh, wondering what it will take for her order to keep its head out of its ass.]

[closerift]

... Something like that. [ She sighs softly. ]

Will you sit? Can I offer you a drink...?

[paragonbrosca]

Thanks, but nah. I'm good.

[Ever since the Dust Town dream, Aren has been a less enthusiastic drinker at home or outside. Seeing her drunken mother might have had an effect.]

So, what happened?

[She plops down on the sofa, Garahel sprawling out on the floor after licking his buddy.]

[closerift]

All right. [ She hovers, then sighs again. ]

Essentially, a Venatori magister working for Corypheus won the ear of Warden-Commander Clarel, and he convinced her that there was a way to spare the Wardens the fate of... er, a Grey Warden. And that 'way' was with blood magic rituals.

[ Surprise! It didn't work out!! ]

A lot of Wardens were being sacrificed against their will for this, so that Clarel and the others could summon demons. They were branding anyone who spoke out against them as traitors, including Alistair Theirin. That's... the gist of it. How it began, anyway.

[paragonbrosca]

[Aren follows along as best she can, grateful that she's learned some of those terms before this conversation. At mention of blood magic sacrifices, she leans forward and rubs her temple.]

Fucking seriously? What is it with people sacrificing and summoning demons as a first resort?

...wait, Alistair? [Her brow furrows.] I made him king, why would he be--oh. This is one of those things the other Warden changed, isn't it?

[closerift]

You would think they would have learned that... [ She understands that they'd been desperate, but - Maker. How can you expect anything good to come from blood magic? ]

Ah, yes. In my version of events, the Hero of Ferelden chose Queen Anora to rule alone, and Alistair returned to the Wardens. [ For better or worse. ]

[paragonbrosca]

Huh. I considered that idea, but it seemed silly to have them fight over the crown when they could both have it. They're pretty effective together, too.

[She'll keep the fact that she misses her Warden buddy to herself; what's done is done, and Ferelden is the better for it.]

But back to the Grey Wardens: don't leave me hanging, what else happened?

[closerift]

I'm glad to hear that things worked out in your world. [ She doesn't know enough about the couple to suggest they might have hated each other's guts. ]

Well... there was an enormous battle at Adamant Fortress. Corypheus' dragon appeared... and I sort of accidentally pulled us all into the Fade. A bit.

[ oops ]

That was where the demon was that the Wardens wanted to bring into the world.