[ it does make her angry, actually. seeing the tranquil. the way they're treated. but she shoves it down behind a smile. plays the role of good girl. she doesn't want to act out of turn, after all. she doesn't want to hurt anyone, or scare anyone ]
[ she, of course, tries to spend as much time with the other mages as possible. be that their little group -- trying to lift their spirits, keep them together -- or the escapist. trying to get to know him better. helping wynne out whenever possible. trying to get on the templars' good sides--- if only to try to convince them to be kinder to the mages. ]
Both Jiaoqiu and Shadowheart - Charlie and Kaworu too! All of you - are more than welcome to help with the healers. They need the hands. You treat all sorts of everyday mundane things that happen to mages all the time. A pair of scuffed knees from a Force spell sending a Junior Enchanter sliding across the floor to the riotous laughter of her students, ice from a scorned girlfriend who saw her lover flirting with someone else over last night’s horrible stew, an apprentice covered in horrible burns he’d obtained trying to set himself alight instead of living in this tower for even one more day. A Tranquil who was assigned to kitchen duty who had accidentally gripped a tray of bread from the oven without gloves and hadn’t noticed at all until his apprentice assistant had smelled the flesh searing and screamed. A heavily pregnant mage who is anxiously visiting twice a day seemingly more to spend time here in the quiet medical bay than out there where a certain Templar looks at her for far too long and with too much malice. A boy who complains of sore wrists from writing too much all day and then giving himself a migraine by insisting on doing all this feverish writing in low light.
Shadowheart, you do some subtle (or not so subtle) inquiries - and you’re met with several answers. Of course there aren’t blood mages here. Anyone she asks will be disdainful, dismissive of the very idea. In fact, it’s highly suspect you’re even interested! Though she’s probably deft enough to poke around without making too many waves. But … you aren’t stupid, or unobservant. You can see, especially now you are amongst the adults, there are certain groups that only hang around each other, huddled in corners of the library, or in the darkest shadows of the Chantry after everyone has cleared out.
No one will talk to you about blood magic, though one night you find yourself poking around the library and you see some rusty stains on the floor, some books shoved hurriedly back onto the shelves. You pull one down and a note flutters out. It’s in code, but it’s not a difficult one to crack. It seems to say not to panic. Just meet in the catacombs when it happens. When what happens … ? It seems something is planned. And soon.
Jiao you can definitely try and sneak into the First Enchanter’s office. It actually isn’t even all that hard, if you time it right. There are Templars guarding it, but you can spot them dozing off or wandering from their post a mile away. You slip in past the door the second you have the opportunity. There’s mostly just a lot of paperwork and mess in here. Irving is old and has held this position a long time. You’ve never been that badly behaved, so you haven’t been sent up here much to be sat in the low chair across from his desk and lectured on the virtues of good behavior, but you know others who have. Your strongest memory is first arriving here. You were young, but old enough to know what outside is like, what having a family is like, but they had so easily handed you over. In fact, they had seemed rather relieved to do it, to pass the burden of raising you off to someone else. When you’d first been brought here, you’d been dragged up to this office. Irving had been here, and he’d been so kind then, especially compared to the Templar woman who had practically dragged you by the scruff up the stairs and thrown you to the floor. `Don’t worry.` He’d said, as he’d pressed the sharp glass of the phylactery into your palm. `We take a bit of your blood to keep you safe. To make sure we can always find you, if you get lost.`
As you dig through the drawers, you find reports written by the Templars. Suspected blood magic, always, but what else is new. Still, there seems to be more of these lately, and the feeling is like something building to a fever pitch. And insistent requests for apprentices to be Harrowed faster and more at a time. They’ve been coddling you all too much, it seems. Funnily enough, these requests don’t come from the Templars, but from a Senior Enchanter. Uldred? Evil-ass sounding name.
Kaworu, life is difficult for one so young who separated from his peers. It makes you an outsider. You aren’t an apprentice, but you aren’t really regarded as an adult either. The boys are all a little too old in the new dorms, and the ones your age seem a bit frightened of you. But starting to investigate gives you a reason to talk to people. It turns out it’s not actually that hard to figure out how the escape artist did it, because he’s a loud-mouth braggart, at least according to the very annoyed girl you’ve cornered in the cafeteria to ask about it. Maybe she’s just mad she got dumped. Whatever! Hater.
Still, maybe it’s better to go straight to the source on this one. even if it seems like the source might be prone to inflating his stories with half-truths and exaggerations. Charlie is there too, tagging along to talk to The Source. Anders is easy to talk to, and charming in a kind of mean way, and tells you a lot about outside, which is mostly how muddy it is and how many dogs there are. Also, far too old for you Kaworu, sorry. But he’s more than happy to tell his tales. He claims he once swam across all of Lake Calenhad to escape, which seems insane. You’ve heard of other escape attempts drowning in the process, and he doesn’t strike you a strong swimmer. The more you talk to him though, the more he’s willing to share. He needs to make it to Kirkwall, you see. Someoone is waiting for him. He has a bit of plan for his next crack at it, you see. Don’t tell Wynne, but he’s been squirreling away herbs, powerful ones. Enough to knock out the entire Templar squad, if he catches their dinner at the right time. And then once they’re out on their asses, he’s heard the catacombs actually run all the way under the lake. Dry the whole way! A big improvement. Apart from the spiders.
Charlie, you also try and get onto the Templar’s good side … it isn’t actually that hard. They’re still humans. All, humans, for the record. They don’t accept elves in their rants. Still, not all of them are terrible. There are bad apples in every cart, right? And in talking to them, about their childhoods, their lives, you hear some interesting stories. It turns out, a lot of Templars start young too. Very young. Second sons and third daughters, sold off to the Chantry to lessen the burden on a family. Boys and girls from poverty stricken ratholes, seeking a life of meaning with the Chantry - and conveniently three meals a day too. You also learn, by hanging around them, a bit about the lyrium. They all take it - everyone knows that. It helps them to resist magic, to defeat demons. But it’s very … very addictive. Once you join the Templars, you can’t exactly leave, or they’ll cut off your supply. Lyrium is too expensive, too scarce, to get any other way. Funny, that.
You also learn that the Templars are all quite antsy lately. They feel something in the air. They can’t quite tell what it is. But a friend of yours, a young woman almost exactly your age pulls you aside one night and whispers in a hushed tone to be careful. Something is going to happen soon. ]
[she definitely knows better than to make obvious inquiries about this, yes. but she'll poke around and learn what she can. still unsure if she plans to use this for herself or if she plans to turn in whoever is responsible and use it for her way out. probably the former but the latter is a good excuse if she gets caught.
anyway, she will wait until it seems that something is happening and then meet in the catacombs.]
[ the injured really... get him, sometimes. specifically the one covered in burns. he thinks about that for a long time afterwards, wondering if there's a universe where he might have tried to do the same. he might try to tell the others about the harrowings if there's ever a point where he's able to catch them without the templars lurking.
can he find his phylactery somewhere... is it a physical object. if he can find it he wants to take it back. that's HIS blood.
he can't say he's not interested in blood magic if it helps him heal people, honestly. he wonders what he could do with it, absently. ]
[Well, Kaworu can't swim so the lake is a non-starter. But he looks out at it every day and imagines being a bird and just flying over the water, away, to wherever he wants to go.
The nice thing about being young and small for your age is people underestimate you, so it is much easier to sneak around. Most of the templars are unconcerned and the other mages seem to ignore per someone's command.
So one night, he'll creep down to the catacombs and lurk in a corner. Hoping to find Anders so he can beg the older mage to take him away from here. Kaworu will go to Kirkwall. He'll go to Antiva or Rivain or wherever. Any place that isn't here.]
[ charlie does indeed help heal and and take care of mages. even the templars she'll help out :( she can't help it, she wants to help everyone ]
[ she keeps up everything she's doing with no indication she's thinking about the catacombs. she does investigate the lyrium-- where it's coming from, if the higher ups are purposefully trying to keep the lower ranks hooked on it, and how dangerous it is ]
[ but that night, she will meet in the catacombs as well ]
[ I love how none of you were like. better check in with my friends about this very ominous information I’ve found. Time to go to the DEPTHS. I support literally all of you.
Shadowheart, you aren’t on your best observation skills here. You awake one morning to silence. Which is very fucking odd, considering how loud the damn tower is most of the time. With all the people milling around, all the Templars and mages and even the Tranquil have their own rhythms and sounds. But not now. There’s only you, and when you exit the dormitories, a templar slumped over on the ground. If you go over to him and try and rouse him, he doesn’t respond. You are moving under your own power, you own mind, and you don’t really notice anything else off … but you suspect that something might be happening. You head to the catacombs.
Jiaoqiu you feel all your senses alight this morning. You’ve felt your vision returning, but now it’s full force. It’s a wonderful feeling. It could even better than it was. Everything feels better. You can even hear better. As you awake, you realize that it isn’t silence. From the floors above you - it’s distant, as if through water, but screaming. crying. terror. and you can smell it, that coppery scent in the air. but … you’ve thought about your phylactery. and something inside of you latches onto that idea. what a good idea. Yes. Your phylactery is a physical object, a little vial of blood, and they store it in the tower until you pass your Harrowing. It probably hasn’t had time to be moved yet. If you’re quick, you can get to it in time, get rid of it, be free of this horrible place. You hear the screaming, and even if every part of you wants to go investigate, by the Maker to fucking help …
you don’t exactly get a choice. you find your feet moving you towards the catacombs into the depths against your will. A comforting presence presses against your mind, guiding you. `I promised I would be here.` And you feel warm. And safe.
Kaworu, you also don’t seem to notice much of anything amiss as you head for the catacombs except for the fact that the Templars who normally guard the door are face down on the ground. One of them appears to be weakly moving, but sluggish and groggy. the other— the armor is scorched, and they aren’t moving. But maybe that’s not important right now. What’s important is this opportunity. Getting the hell out of here. You bolt for the door and make it - it seems someone might have been this way already. You did beat my pathetic DC3, so yeah, it doesn’t take long to run into Anders. He hasn’t made it far, but seems in something of a goddamn panic. He didn’t think it would hit the Templars that hard? And where is everyone? Maybe there’s just an assembly he forgot about this morning. It doesn’t matter, though. If you’re here, you’re here. He’ll agree to take you, but you’ve got to fucking move.
Charlie.
Oh Charlie. You can do a lot of reading about the intricacies of the Lyrium trade. She’ll find out that Lyrium is the Chantry’s greatest resource. A powerful substance that in its raw form can kill a mage outright, but in its refined form is the most important magical tool there is. Everything is made with this stuff. It’s necessary for enchantment, for magical items, for even the most basic of mage staves. The ring you wear is lined with lyrium, and the walls of the Circle are lit with lyrium lamps. It comes from the Deep Roads, and is mined by the dwarves, and its trade is the most expansive and powerful network across the entire continent. There is no seat of power too high that does not have a hand in it, from the Tevinter Imperium to the Empress of Orlais.
Of course it’s very dangerous.
And there’s nothing you can really do about it. Not from here. You’re helpless. And that makes you so angry as well. You’re seeing so much red that you barely notice when you’ve made your way all the way to the catacombs, all the way down here without paying much attention at all to where you’ve even come from.
But uh. You’re all together now. I don’t think anyone successfully hides.
[that also sounds extremely dangerous. she was prepared to break the rules, but just escaping isn't a decision you could undo. she isn't interested in helping any slumped over templars, but she doesn't want to get caught and ruin her life for these people, either.
on the other hand, maybe by virtue of being here at all its already too late, she'll get blamed for being part of whatever this is no matter what she protests.]
[ i promised you i'd be there. she is. she's there. and he trusts her, more than anything, so... he goes.
he's down here just... hanging out, watching the rest of them quietly. but when they speak up, when anders suggests they leave, he smiles a little. pleasant, placid, as always. ]
If we destroy our phylacteries, they will not be able to follow us. [ ... ] I don't see why we can't leave.
[ it's not like the templars care, right? not about them, just about their magic. and jiaoqiu doesn't have anywhere to go, but... maybe he can find somewhere that he can have purpose. maybe she'll lead him to it. ]
[ her mind is pulsating red, angry thoughts -- at the system, at lyrium, at everything, but she takes a deep breath, tries to calm her neves ]
... I don't know.
[ it doesn't feel right to just abandon the other mages, leave everyone to something potentially dangerous. even the templars, she doesn't want them badly hurt or worse ]
[ it is a little too late. maybe? you could always run back into the tower. you could certainly try. but there is a force inside of you now, charlie, that is leaning in close with all of a mother's warmth and telling you that it is `going to be okay.`
anders will take one look at almost all of you except the child who seems to be looking to him for guidance and instantly decide you're all being very fucking weird and it's giving him the heebie jeebies. ]
Your phylacteries will be here.
[ there's a little bit of bitterness there, because his isn't. but he's known that. this is all very unusual, he's never had people try to escape with him. if they are doing that at all. ]
I know where they are. And I know the way to get out I think.
[ so confident!
well, despite all of that - you hear a sound in the distance - it sounds like ice cracking and then glass shattering. A lot of glass. there's also a shout, but it's indistinct.
so. whatcha up to. Are we going for phylacteries, are we leaving, are we turning tail and running? ]
Listen. I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of living as an apostate in the woods for the rest of my life, but I do not exactly relish sticking around and finding out what they do to us for this when they wake up.
[it doesn’t matter that they weren’t involved. Heads will have to roll for this, and they’ll find whatever heads are convenient to blame. All it will take is someone reporting that they saw them acting suspicious, going somewhere they weren’t meant to go. At best they’ll be watched and under suspicion and subject to random acts of violent vengeance but more likely they’ll be accused and thrown in a cell or made tranquil. She’s not optimistic and there is not a single authority figure in this place she would trust to defend her from any of that.
she doesn’t hate the idea of freedom either, it’s just that she dreamed of a freedom that wouldn’t mean being hunted, hiding. she nods at jiaoqiu.]
If we’re doing this, let’s be smart about it. Destroy the phylacteries first. Even if it doesn’t stop them looking, it slows them down.
[ yeah like listen jiaoqiu has not spent a single day of his life outside in the cold. he is a somewhat spoiled child who came to a place where everything was decided for him, and so while he can cook and take care of himself... being out in the world is going to be a huge adjustment.
but shadowheart is right. if there's any sort of indication that the four of them were here, the templars will not care if they did something or not. they will be held responsible, and the last thing in the world that jiaoqiu wants is to be made tranquil. the little voice in his head tells him that it'll be okay. that they can make it work. and she's never lied to him, so he believes her.
[Wow, he is not a child, he is a teenager, thank you very much! He doesn't feel like his phylactery is here. There were too many hushed whispers and glancing looks his way.
But he now realizes that saying so would raise suspicion and they might view him as a liability and leave him behind. Then he'd be stuck there and his plans of escape would fade back into dreams.]
Because it's where all the glass crashing sounds are coming from ... ?
[ obviously. COME ON.
well. if yall are going that way, he doesn't seem to have much choice other than to follow - if only to see where this is going? this seems like a bad idea but you are all so compelling he doesn't have much choice.
as you head down the winding passageways, built stone and archways give way to more natural looking caverns, and lower light - the only way to navigate down here is by sparse mage light, which leaves an eerie blue glow on everything. You arrive at a doorway that seems like it was once heavily locked and guarded, but there's two templars thrown to the sides of the room here - neither are moving, and both are covered in blood, armor rent open by something powerful. What exactly it is is hard to say.
You can hear voices further in, an argument, and the sound of further glass breaking.
The air smells heavily of iron and copper, and the whole place pulses with something like power. Anders looks like he's about to bolt for it. ]
You’re the one who suggested this in the first place, nitwit!
[she’s so mad! she doesn’t want to be here at all! But now she’s gotta do everything herself. Examining the templars on the ground. Guessing this is where they’re doing all the blood magic. Can she steal herself a sword? I know she’s a mage but a girl can always multiclass. She still thinks they should go in there and she’s not afraid of some blood mages, but if everyone else is a weenie and doesn’t want to she would probably listen to reason.]
[ jiaoqiu isn't exactly the type to jump to fighting normally, but the second that they get close to this area, he's going to gather some fire energy. something about his brain being just a little fucked up, right this second. maybe they've noticed, maybe they haven't, but he is far less timid than he used to be, after his harrowing.
anyway. fire hands! he is a fire unit... sorry to steal your shtick, anders.
he should be scared of this, really, but he isn't. instead, he's curious. he's pretty sure whatever is in there are blood mages, and he should be scared of that, but honestly? maybe a little blood magic isn't that bad. he'd just like to see what he can do with it... he glances at the others. ]
I don't think there's much point in backing out now.
[ they've got magic! shadowheart will protect them. ]
If we're not willing to fight now, then how are going to fight all the way to freedom?
[He inhales. The smell and taste metal in the air doesn't bother him. In fact, it's comforting. Like it's pulling at the edges of his skin and leading him closer. The pulse in the air keeping time with the beat of his heart. He's never been in a fight before but he feels like knows he can win against some low level templars.
He'll put a barrier a magic barrier over them and then just... start moving forward.]
[ charlie kneels by the templars (likely dead), to see if there's anything that can be done for them. even if they are (jean ralphio voice) the wooooooooorst, she is, at heart, a pacifist, and doesn't want to see them die. ]
[ in brain, however, she is possessed, so if they're dead, she'll just close their eyes and move on, her own hands sizzling with faint traces of lightning magic as they move forward. surely, she will be the voice of reason here? ]
Well-- let's just see what's happening. If it's too much, we can leave.
[ yes she can have a sword even though you are a mage surely you have no training with that shit. they don't teach mages how to fight in the Circle, but maybe you learned elsewhere. it is very fucking heavy.
they are so super dead and anders is giving her such a judgey look for even trying to help them sorry
anders himself is going to stay VERY in the back of this pile-up, which is maybe the smart idea because the instant they all move into the room they're all getting hit with a violent blast of Force magic that is far more powerful than anything they've ever been hit with in any class or seminar. The barrier is up, but the blast still sends a lot of the glass shards that are laying around this room flying at them with extreme force - enough to pierce through the barrier if your concentration drops for even a second.
this room, though. it's a storage room, mostly full of shelves and shelves of various containers - clay and glass and wood - and everything is being throughly destroyed by three mages. An older man, a young woman, and a boy who can't be older than 14. The woman has blood dripping down from her hands and is the one who's cast the spell at you first thing without asking any questions. ]
[whatever, she may have no training but she is already making it glow like a cool knight enchanter sword. anyway, fucking ouch. she will barrier up as soon as shit pops off, but it doesn't do much to prevent her from being knocked about with force, shards of glass cutting her skin. fuck this! she gets what they may be trying to do here, but rude to attack them straight away.]
We have no fight with you. We came here for what belongs to us, and we'll go if we have it.
[she shouts this, but that doesn't mean she has much hope that they are going to get out of this without a fight. she just thinks these idiots should stop, they're mages too, they're just trying to escape. they didn't ask to be dragged into whatever the fuck this is. but can she look around and presume that their phylacteries may already be destroyed?
[ jesus, okay!! well, he gets pelted by glass shards - nothing terribly painful, but enough that it makes him drop the flame he had gathering around his hands. he makes a startled sound, trying to move out of the way of getting further injured. he doesn't want to hurt the people in this room, but he will if forced.
shadowheart's said everything he wanted to say, so he scoots off to the side behind whatever sort of cover he can find and scans the room for what it is they're doing, exactly. is the blood the woman's? or did she steal it from someone.
also, do they all look like they want to be here? they're not holding this kid hostage, right? ]
[Kaworu will kiss the boy if it counts on the kiss counter getting a kiss on the counter is the only thing i care about FUCK Y'ALL.
Anyway, Kaworu does look at look at the boy his age. Perhaps he recognizes him despite having little interaction with his same age peers due to being a new arrival and passing the Harrowing at a young age.
He looks at the blood on the woman's arm and doesn't feel disgust. Instead he feels drawn to it. What powers are within his body if he were only willing to access them?
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-23 03:14 pm
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[ she, of course, tries to spend as much time with the other mages as possible. be that their little group -- trying to lift their spirits, keep them together -- or the escapist. trying to get to know him better. helping wynne out whenever possible. trying to get on the templars' good sides--- if only to try to convince them to be kinder to the mages. ]
cw: suicide ment
Both Jiaoqiu and Shadowheart - Charlie and Kaworu too! All of you - are more than welcome to help with the healers. They need the hands. You treat all sorts of everyday mundane things that happen to mages all the time. A pair of scuffed knees from a Force spell sending a Junior Enchanter sliding across the floor to the riotous laughter of her students, ice from a scorned girlfriend who saw her lover flirting with someone else over last night’s horrible stew, an apprentice covered in horrible burns he’d obtained trying to set himself alight instead of living in this tower for even one more day. A Tranquil who was assigned to kitchen duty who had accidentally gripped a tray of bread from the oven without gloves and hadn’t noticed at all until his apprentice assistant had smelled the flesh searing and screamed. A heavily pregnant mage who is anxiously visiting twice a day seemingly more to spend time here in the quiet medical bay than out there where a certain Templar looks at her for far too long and with too much malice. A boy who complains of sore wrists from writing too much all day and then giving himself a migraine by insisting on doing all this feverish writing in low light.
Shadowheart, you do some subtle (or not so subtle) inquiries - and you’re met with several answers. Of course there aren’t blood mages here. Anyone she asks will be disdainful, dismissive of the very idea. In fact, it’s highly suspect you’re even interested! Though she’s probably deft enough to poke around without making too many waves. But … you aren’t stupid, or unobservant. You can see, especially now you are amongst the adults, there are certain groups that only hang around each other, huddled in corners of the library, or in the darkest shadows of the Chantry after everyone has cleared out.
No one will talk to you about blood magic, though one night you find yourself poking around the library and you see some rusty stains on the floor, some books shoved hurriedly back onto the shelves. You pull one down and a note flutters out. It’s in code, but it’s not a difficult one to crack. It seems to say not to panic. Just meet in the catacombs when it happens. When what happens … ? It seems something is planned. And soon.
Jiao you can definitely try and sneak into the First Enchanter’s office. It actually isn’t even all that hard, if you time it right. There are Templars guarding it, but you can spot them dozing off or wandering from their post a mile away. You slip in past the door the second you have the opportunity. There’s mostly just a lot of paperwork and mess in here. Irving is old and has held this position a long time. You’ve never been that badly behaved, so you haven’t been sent up here much to be sat in the low chair across from his desk and lectured on the virtues of good behavior, but you know others who have. Your strongest memory is first arriving here. You were young, but old enough to know what outside is like, what having a family is like, but they had so easily handed you over. In fact, they had seemed rather relieved to do it, to pass the burden of raising you off to someone else. When you’d first been brought here, you’d been dragged up to this office. Irving had been here, and he’d been so kind then, especially compared to the Templar woman who had practically dragged you by the scruff up the stairs and thrown you to the floor. `Don’t worry.` He’d said, as he’d pressed the sharp glass of the phylactery into your palm. `We take a bit of your blood to keep you safe. To make sure we can always find you, if you get lost.`
As you dig through the drawers, you find reports written by the Templars. Suspected blood magic, always, but what else is new. Still, there seems to be more of these lately, and the feeling is like something building to a fever pitch. And insistent requests for apprentices to be Harrowed faster and more at a time. They’ve been coddling you all too much, it seems. Funnily enough, these requests don’t come from the Templars, but from a Senior Enchanter. Uldred? Evil-ass sounding name.
Kaworu, life is difficult for one so young who separated from his peers. It makes you an outsider. You aren’t an apprentice, but you aren’t really regarded as an adult either. The boys are all a little too old in the new dorms, and the ones your age seem a bit frightened of you. But starting to investigate gives you a reason to talk to people. It turns out it’s not actually that hard to figure out how the escape artist did it, because he’s a loud-mouth braggart, at least according to the very annoyed girl you’ve cornered in the cafeteria to ask about it. Maybe she’s just mad she got dumped. Whatever! Hater.
Still, maybe it’s better to go straight to the source on this one. even if it seems like the source might be prone to inflating his stories with half-truths and exaggerations. Charlie is there too, tagging along to talk to The Source. Anders is easy to talk to, and charming in a kind of mean way, and tells you a lot about outside, which is mostly how muddy it is and how many dogs there are. Also, far too old for you Kaworu, sorry. But he’s more than happy to tell his tales. He claims he once swam across all of Lake Calenhad to escape, which seems insane. You’ve heard of other escape attempts drowning in the process, and he doesn’t strike you a strong swimmer. The more you talk to him though, the more he’s willing to share. He needs to make it to Kirkwall, you see. Someoone is waiting for him. He has a bit of plan for his next crack at it, you see. Don’t tell Wynne, but he’s been squirreling away herbs, powerful ones. Enough to knock out the entire Templar squad, if he catches their dinner at the right time. And then once they’re out on their asses, he’s heard the catacombs actually run all the way under the lake. Dry the whole way! A big improvement. Apart from the spiders.
Charlie, you also try and get onto the Templar’s good side … it isn’t actually that hard. They’re still humans. All, humans, for the record. They don’t accept elves in their rants. Still, not all of them are terrible. There are bad apples in every cart, right? And in talking to them, about their childhoods, their lives, you hear some interesting stories. It turns out, a lot of Templars start young too. Very young. Second sons and third daughters, sold off to the Chantry to lessen the burden on a family. Boys and girls from poverty stricken ratholes, seeking a life of meaning with the Chantry - and conveniently three meals a day too. You also learn, by hanging around them, a bit about the lyrium. They all take it - everyone knows that. It helps them to resist magic, to defeat demons. But it’s very … very addictive. Once you join the Templars, you can’t exactly leave, or they’ll cut off your supply. Lyrium is too expensive, too scarce, to get any other way. Funny, that.
You also learn that the Templars are all quite antsy lately. They feel something in the air. They can’t quite tell what it is. But a friend of yours, a young woman almost exactly your age pulls you aside one night and whispers in a hushed tone to be careful. Something is going to happen soon. ]
no subject
anyway, she will wait until it seems that something is happening and then meet in the catacombs.]
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can he find his phylactery somewhere... is it a physical object. if he can find it he wants to take it back. that's HIS blood.
he can't say he's not interested in blood magic if it helps him heal people, honestly. he wonders what he could do with it, absently. ]
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The nice thing about being young and small for your age is people underestimate you, so it is much easier to sneak around. Most of the templars are unconcerned and the other mages seem to ignore per someone's command.
So one night, he'll creep down to the catacombs and lurk in a corner. Hoping to find Anders so he can beg the older mage to take him away from here. Kaworu will go to Kirkwall. He'll go to Antiva or Rivain or wherever. Any place that isn't here.]
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[ she keeps up everything she's doing with no indication she's thinking about the catacombs. she does investigate the lyrium-- where it's coming from, if the higher ups are purposefully trying to keep the lower ranks hooked on it, and how dangerous it is ]
[ but that night, she will meet in the catacombs as well ]
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Shadowheart, you aren’t on your best observation skills here. You awake one morning to silence. Which is very fucking odd, considering how loud the damn tower is most of the time. With all the people milling around, all the Templars and mages and even the Tranquil have their own rhythms and sounds. But not now. There’s only you, and when you exit the dormitories, a templar slumped over on the ground. If you go over to him and try and rouse him, he doesn’t respond. You are moving under your own power, you own mind, and you don’t really notice anything else off … but you suspect that something might be happening. You head to the catacombs.
Jiaoqiu you feel all your senses alight this morning. You’ve felt your vision returning, but now it’s full force. It’s a wonderful feeling. It could even better than it was. Everything feels better. You can even hear better. As you awake, you realize that it isn’t silence. From the floors above you - it’s distant, as if through water, but screaming. crying. terror. and you can smell it, that coppery scent in the air. but … you’ve thought about your phylactery. and something inside of you latches onto that idea. what a good idea. Yes. Your phylactery is a physical object, a little vial of blood, and they store it in the tower until you pass your Harrowing. It probably hasn’t had time to be moved yet. If you’re quick, you can get to it in time, get rid of it, be free of this horrible place. You hear the screaming, and even if every part of you wants to go investigate, by the Maker to fucking help …
you don’t exactly get a choice. you find your feet moving you towards the catacombs into the depths against your will. A comforting presence presses against your mind, guiding you. `I promised I would be here.` And you feel warm. And safe.
Kaworu, you also don’t seem to notice much of anything amiss as you head for the catacombs except for the fact that the Templars who normally guard the door are face down on the ground. One of them appears to be weakly moving, but sluggish and groggy. the other— the armor is scorched, and they aren’t moving. But maybe that’s not important right now. What’s important is this opportunity. Getting the hell out of here. You bolt for the door and make it - it seems someone might have been this way already. You did beat my pathetic DC3, so yeah, it doesn’t take long to run into Anders. He hasn’t made it far, but seems in something of a goddamn panic. He didn’t think it would hit the Templars that hard? And where is everyone? Maybe there’s just an assembly he forgot about this morning. It doesn’t matter, though. If you’re here, you’re here. He’ll agree to take you, but you’ve got to fucking move.
Charlie.
Oh Charlie. You can do a lot of reading about the intricacies of the Lyrium trade. She’ll find out that Lyrium is the Chantry’s greatest resource. A powerful substance that in its raw form can kill a mage outright, but in its refined form is the most important magical tool there is. Everything is made with this stuff. It’s necessary for enchantment, for magical items, for even the most basic of mage staves. The ring you wear is lined with lyrium, and the walls of the Circle are lit with lyrium lamps. It comes from the Deep Roads, and is mined by the dwarves, and its trade is the most expansive and powerful network across the entire continent. There is no seat of power too high that does not have a hand in it, from the Tevinter Imperium to the Empress of Orlais.
Of course it’s very dangerous.
And there’s nothing you can really do about it. Not from here. You’re helpless. And that makes you so angry as well. You’re seeing so much red that you barely notice when you’ve made your way all the way to the catacombs, all the way down here without paying much attention at all to where you’ve even come from.
But uh. You’re all together now. I don’t think anyone successfully hides.
Anders is the first to clear his throat. ]
… Do you think we should just try and leave?
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[that also sounds extremely dangerous. she was prepared to break the rules, but just escaping isn't a decision you could undo. she isn't interested in helping any slumped over templars, but she doesn't want to get caught and ruin her life for these people, either.
on the other hand, maybe by virtue of being here at all its already too late, she'll get blamed for being part of whatever this is no matter what she protests.]
I don't see how we do it.
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he's down here just... hanging out, watching the rest of them quietly. but when they speak up, when anders suggests they leave, he smiles a little. pleasant, placid, as always. ]
If we destroy our phylacteries, they will not be able to follow us. [ ... ] I don't see why we can't leave.
[ it's not like the templars care, right? not about them, just about their magic. and jiaoqiu doesn't have anywhere to go, but... maybe he can find somewhere that he can have purpose. maybe she'll lead him to it. ]
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Getting our phylacteries will just slow us down. Even if the track us, we just keep hiding.
[He steps closer to Anders and looks at the rest. He's willing to risk it. Plus he has doubts his phylactery is even here. So what is the point.]
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... I don't know.
[ it doesn't feel right to just abandon the other mages, leave everyone to something potentially dangerous. even the templars, she doesn't want them badly hurt or worse ]
[ but then again, it's too late, isn't it? ]
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anders will take one look at almost all of you except the child who seems to be looking to him for guidance and instantly decide you're all being very fucking weird and it's giving him the heebie jeebies. ]
Your phylacteries will be here.
[ there's a little bit of bitterness there, because his isn't. but he's known that. this is all very unusual, he's never had people try to escape with him. if they are doing that at all. ]
I know where they are. And I know the way to get out I think.
[ so confident!
well, despite all of that - you hear a sound in the distance - it sounds like ice cracking and then glass shattering. A lot of glass. there's also a shout, but it's indistinct.
so. whatcha up to. Are we going for phylacteries, are we leaving, are we turning tail and running? ]
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[it doesn’t matter that they weren’t involved. Heads will have to roll for this, and they’ll find whatever heads are convenient to blame. All it will take is someone reporting that they saw them acting suspicious, going somewhere they weren’t meant to go. At best they’ll be watched and under suspicion and subject to random acts of violent vengeance but more likely they’ll be accused and thrown in a cell or made tranquil. She’s not optimistic and there is not a single authority figure in this place she would trust to defend her from any of that.
she doesn’t hate the idea of freedom either, it’s just that she dreamed of a freedom that wouldn’t mean being hunted, hiding. she nods at jiaoqiu.]
If we’re doing this, let’s be smart about it. Destroy the phylacteries first. Even if it doesn’t stop them looking, it slows them down.
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but shadowheart is right. if there's any sort of indication that the four of them were here, the templars will not care if they did something or not. they will be held responsible, and the last thing in the world that jiaoqiu wants is to be made tranquil. the little voice in his head tells him that it'll be okay. that they can make it work. and she's never lied to him, so he believes her.
he nods. ]
Agreed. I will not be made an example of.
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But he now realizes that saying so would raise suspicion and they might view him as a liability and leave him behind. Then he'd be stuck there and his plans of escape would fade back into dreams.]
Fine. But we should make it fast.
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[ charlie asks anders, antsy. she also wants to make this quick, but she imagines they're on the same page about that ]
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[ obviously. COME ON.
well. if yall are going that way, he doesn't seem to have much choice other than to follow - if only to see where this is going? this seems like a bad idea but you are all so compelling he doesn't have much choice.
as you head down the winding passageways, built stone and archways give way to more natural looking caverns, and lower light - the only way to navigate down here is by sparse mage light, which leaves an eerie blue glow on everything. You arrive at a doorway that seems like it was once heavily locked and guarded, but there's two templars thrown to the sides of the room here - neither are moving, and both are covered in blood, armor rent open by something powerful. What exactly it is is hard to say.
You can hear voices further in, an argument, and the sound of further glass breaking.
The air smells heavily of iron and copper, and the whole place pulses with something like power. Anders looks like he's about to bolt for it. ]
Are you sure about this ... ?
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[she’s so mad! she doesn’t want to be here at all! But now she’s gotta do everything herself. Examining the templars on the ground. Guessing this is where they’re doing all the blood magic. Can she steal herself a sword? I know she’s a mage but a girl can always multiclass. She still thinks they should go in there and she’s not afraid of some blood mages, but if everyone else is a weenie and doesn’t want to she would probably listen to reason.]
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anyway. fire hands! he is a fire unit... sorry to steal your shtick, anders.
he should be scared of this, really, but he isn't. instead, he's curious. he's pretty sure whatever is in there are blood mages, and he should be scared of that, but honestly? maybe a little blood magic isn't that bad. he'd just like to see what he can do with it... he glances at the others. ]
I don't think there's much point in backing out now.
[ they've got magic! shadowheart will protect them. ]
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[He inhales. The smell and taste metal in the air doesn't bother him. In fact, it's comforting. Like it's pulling at the edges of his skin and leading him closer. The pulse in the air keeping time with the beat of his heart. He's never been in a fight before but he feels like knows he can win against some low level templars.
He'll put a barrier a magic barrier over them and then just... start moving forward.]
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[ in brain, however, she is possessed, so if they're dead, she'll just close their eyes and move on, her own hands sizzling with faint traces of lightning magic as they move forward. surely, she will be the voice of reason here? ]
Well-- let's just see what's happening. If it's too much, we can leave.
[ jk ]
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they are so super dead and anders is giving her such a judgey look for even trying to help them sorry
anders himself is going to stay VERY in the back of this pile-up, which is maybe the smart idea because the instant they all move into the room they're all getting hit with a violent blast of Force magic that is far more powerful than anything they've ever been hit with in any class or seminar. The barrier is up, but the blast still sends a lot of the glass shards that are laying around this room flying at them with extreme force - enough to pierce through the barrier if your concentration drops for even a second.
this room, though. it's a storage room, mostly full of shelves and shelves of various containers - clay and glass and wood - and everything is being throughly destroyed by three mages. An older man, a young woman, and a boy who can't be older than 14. The woman has blood dripping down from her hands and is the one who's cast the spell at you first thing without asking any questions. ]
Our work will not be disturbed!
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We have no fight with you. We came here for what belongs to us, and we'll go if we have it.
[she shouts this, but that doesn't mean she has much hope that they are going to get out of this without a fight. she just thinks these idiots should stop, they're mages too, they're just trying to escape. they didn't ask to be dragged into whatever the fuck this is. but can she look around and presume that their phylacteries may already be destroyed?
anyway kaworu you should totally kiss that boy.]
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shadowheart's said everything he wanted to say, so he scoots off to the side behind whatever sort of cover he can find and scans the room for what it is they're doing, exactly. is the blood the woman's? or did she steal it from someone.
also, do they all look like they want to be here? they're not holding this kid hostage, right? ]
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Anyway, Kaworu does look at look at the boy his age. Perhaps he recognizes him despite having little interaction with his same age peers due to being a new arrival and passing the Harrowing at a young age.
He looks at the blood on the woman's arm and doesn't feel disgust. Instead he feels drawn to it. What powers are within his body if he were only willing to access them?
Then he nods at Shadowheart.]
Are we not all mages? We don't need to fight.
[But he will.]
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