closerift | (no subject)

(no subject)

Image result for keira knightley elizabeth bennet

" 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. "

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

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

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.]

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.

[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?

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. ]

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?

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.

You...physically went into the Fade? Did I get that right?

...what the fuck was that like? Worse than the usual way?

[She wrinkles her nose at mention of the demon.]

Tell me you made that son of a nug-humper into a nice pincushion.

Yes, and it was about as bad as you'd expect.

[ Like a nightmare, but with the very real threat of death. ]

That's the thing... [ She sighs, tapping a finger on her arm. ] We fought it, of course, and managed to open another tear back into our world. ... But, in order for everyone else to escape, someone had to stay behind.

[ Cecily had been the first to volunteer her own name, but no one else seemed to think much of that idea. ]

Alistair saved us. [ She admits, finally, her voice softer now. ] He let Hawke and me and the rest go through the tear and stayed behind to allow us that chance.

[She stares downward, silent for a long moment. It helps to tell herself that this isn't what will happen to her friend, not in her timeline. Still, it's hard to hear even as she reminds herself that she did ask.]

...that sounds just like something he'd do. Damn. That's partly why I helped put him on the throne. I knew he'd make a decent king, anyway, but after the Blight, I wanted to make sure he wouldn't be in a position where he might have to sacrifice himself again. Because sooner or later, that's what being a Grey Warden is about.

I know. Or, so I've heard.

[ She thinks of Thom, too, of course, and of his stories. ... Not that he was really a Warden, but. ]

I'm sorry, Aren. I thought you should know the truth. ... Or, at least, the truth of what happened in my Thedas.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only