tevinteriscoming | tuesday morning; dorian's room

Thanks. [ It's definitely distant and he's looking everywhere but Dorian as they climb up and settle in. He stands quietly for a few moments before looking at him.

There is really no non-awkward way to do this. ] So. You have a guard. Are things that bad?

[Yes, awkward is the word. He actually looks nervous, which is rare for him. But he'll take a seat on the bed; at least they ought to sit if they're going to talk.]

You tell me. I haven't been out much. [Aside from the mandatory 12 hours thing and breaks for meals, he's been keeping to himself.] It isn't so bad, from my perspective. Adrien and Marinette have been very considerate. I think - whatever else, I'm sure for those who are angry with me, this is better than me having the run of the ship.

I haven't seen many people. [ He kept himself isolated yesterday. ] But there haven't been any picket signs or torches.

[ He pauses. His voice is a little softer when he speaks this time. ] It's not like you're the dangerous one, anyway. I don't think Jack has guards or people coming after him. It's... not fair.

Oh, someone absolutely ought to lock Jack up somewhere and throw away the key, but no one will. Jack is dangerous and unpredictable, and it doesn't do to make enemies with someone like that here. I am rather more cooperative and a rather less intimidating man to make an enemy of, and thus, here I am.

[His tone is a little bitter, but he keeps it light. It does bother him, to become a punching bag when there are worse sorts around, but he doesn't feel as though he can voice that to the people he knows are only disappointed because they expected more of him. Still, the fact that Adam brings it up at all is sort of nice.]

I'm not complaining, mind. Fair or not, it's better this way, though I'd prefer not to be such an imposition on my two keepers.

[ Dorian says what Adam's thinking and that makes him feel a little easier. After all, this is why he respected him so much. ]

I'm not about to suggest a punishment for him either. [ He'll be honest too. ] I guess it is a lot for the two of them. I could offer my services but not as a guard. I'm not that capable anyway, though... I could get Luke to do something.

[ That reminds him of something he and Luke had talked about after the trial. ] Speaking of. The suspects. You didn't choose who would be up there, did you?

Nor I, obviously. I certainly don't mean to accuse others of cowardice. And I appreciate it, but don't trouble him on my account, I don't think he's too fond of me at the moment.

[He's been speaking very normally, in a somewhat bitter but otherwise flippant and conversational tone. The topic of suspects though, and directly disgusting what happened, has him a little more humble.]

No, we didn't. I'm sorry. It may not mean much, but I didn't intend for you to be involved.

[ He shrugs because he's not entirely sure where Luke stands on Dorian either. ] No, that's what... that's what I thought. He said that you got us involved but I didn't think you did.

So—I'm not mad. Arumat didn't deserve to die, but neither did Fumi. I couldn't blame Shelley and I couldn't blame Bull. So I don't blame you. [ He doesn't think it's all that important in the grand scheme of things, but he wants to make his opinion known. He moves to sit down finally. ]

I think you've had your punishment, anyway.

[Oh. Well. He wasn't expecting that, to be forgiven. He doesn't really know what to say, just looks at his hands in his lap uncomfortably for a few moments.]

I see. Thank you for saying so. I don't - I don't think that's entirely right. I hold myself to a higher standard, not to be manipulated and made into a tool. It is the responsibility of every man who has the freedom to wield magic to know his own mind and to resist temptations. I failed that responsibility.

What's more, I - [And this is a little more difficult to admit to. Because the rest, well, this situation can be blamed for so much of it. The man who killed Arumat isn't the man he was in Tevinter, or in Skyhold. But this is him, and it isn't a flattering picture.] I've known for some weeks now that we would do this. Since the week we lost Hancock and Light, at least. And yet, I continued to position myself as some sort of authority. I continued to presume to advise you on important matters. I made promises to be responsible. I am a vain man. I wanted to be seen in that light. And I wanted you, and the others, to like me, even knowing I was bound to disappoint you.

I don't say all of this to burden you with my confessions. I'm simply. I'm sorry. You wouldn't be wrong to be angry with me.

[ That is surprising to him. He should have known that this wasn't a spur of the moment thing for them, but he never really put thought to them planning it out. ]

I see. But, you know, I never assumed you or Bull wouldn't kill anyone. I figured it was commonplace where you're from. I just thought, if you ever did, it would be someone bad. [ And then he wouldn't be upset at all. ]

Sometimes I get attached to the image of people. I tend to not think there's anything beyond it. Neither of us could have kept it up. You would have made a mistake at some point and—it just happened to be this, I guess. [ He sighs. ] Did you mean what you told me? The advice? Or was it all fake like Kazuma?

Of course we kill people, but not like that. It's not assassinations in dark corners and hasty coverups. Well, aside from family reunions. We're out fighting that sort. Oh, what am I saying. I'm sure it has been that for him often enough, he's a mercenary and a Qunari spy for Andraste's sake. [He realizes he may be doing a bad job explaining this. He's killed plenty of people, generally people who were trying to kill him back. They may not have been bad people, they may have been tricked or following bad orders or under a spell, but it still wasn't the same as waiting in a dark corner while your partner garrottes a man who thought well enough of you to write you a farewell letter.]

The killing isn't the point. It's the magic, surely you see that? Whatever other trappings it comes in, this is blood magic. These trials are the ritual, and both victims and murderers alike are the sacrifices. Whatever is benefitting from our actions here, I swore I would never be part of something like it. Nothing good ever comes of blood magic. Except he showed me his video, and I believed it enough to forget all of that.

[He's gotten himself a little worked up - explaining his own actions and castigating himself isn't supposed to be what this is about. He sighs.]

The advice, then. Yes, I meant it. Whether it is at all worth following, I am not so sure.

[ No, he's a little more confused about what Dorian is trying to say. His own morality doesn't include various types of murders, it's just murder—of someone good or someone bad. It's lost on him.

But he does listen. Maybe he should stop himself from being so willing to listen to Dorian, but here he is. ] So... you think something is being powered or summoned or...? But the—the victims are around, somehow. Their bodies, I guess, aren't.

[ They don't know what happens to the corpses. So there's a possibility. And it looks like he is willing to believe Dorian, or believe that he truly thinks this. As long as Adam wasn't fooled again, this is alright. ]

The victims...? [He's not entirely sure what Adam means. The only Furry Passing letter he received was from Kazuma; it's obviously just intended to upset from his perspective. Dead is dead.] No, I'm not explaining this well. I don't know anything about computers, or artificial intelligence, or 3D printers or what have you, so I must sound like an utter simpleton. But the concept surely translates, whatever the technology. The most powerful sort of blood magic relies on the sacrifice of another living being, sometimes many living beings. The very act of killing for the sake of obtaining, via magic, a boon or avoiding a fate is an act of blood magic. So then why, I wonder, are they so intent to induce us into it?

They recruited Bull before he was told to kill aliens. Back then, his task was to ensure there was never a week without killing. It's plainly important to them. I only wonder to what end.

Do you think me entirely off target? [It's a genuine question; he's not going to pretend to Adam he has the answers when he knows it isn't true.]

[ He starts to understand a little more. It helps that he did look at Dorian's secret and learned that blood magic can be used for more than he thought. ]

... No. It's just something I never thought about before. I think you're right—something on the scale of a mass killing ritual would have to occur in order to change people's histories around. Assuming the motives are true, which has never been proven other than... well. [ And he's still holding on hope to that. ]

What can we do about it, though? If people haven't stopped, they aren't about to now. Even though you have strong feelings about the issue, you still... The only way we stopped something like that, back home, was by transferring the spellcasters. I took over the ritual and still had to sacrifice something important to me.

The killing won't stop. [He sounds sure about it.] I didn't wish to say so in public, but - the Kampff was not a singular role. There are others. Even if we manage to stop killings from our number, the demons and the Kampff can still pick us off one by one.

[Thinking carefully.] Stopping the ritual - how is that done?

[ Oh. That's something. ] Did Bull know who the others were? Did he tell you?

You'd have to take it over. So long as the ritual was started, anyone could complete it if they made a sacrifice. So I sacrificed something first, and then it was over. No going back.

He did, but he didn't tell me. Couldn't, I think, at risk of punishment. They used to meet in the evenings. I think one of the early killers may have been one of them; it's a sense I got, that one of them had already died.

[He's considering it.]

So in this context, taking it over would be using the structure of the game to subvert it.

That's still useful. If we could use the buddy system, we could track who disappears in the evenings... What day did he leave? Every day?

Yeah, we'd have to gain control. The problem is we don't know where the ritual would be taking place. I had to go to where—all the candles and mirrors were, you know, stuff for offerings. But I doubt we have access to anywhere like that.

It was after trials, in the evening sometime. I'm not sure how it works, though, and I'm not sure I'd want to stop them meeting. They'd still have to kill, they just wouldn't have the luxury of exchanging information. In any event, he hid their identity. I'd like to think he had a reason to do so, even if - [sigh].

Actually, there's another piece of information about the Kampff I've only just learned. I doubt it will be helpful, but I may as well. They've two incentives. Do you have the expression carrot and stick? There was one they must kill to avoid, and one they must get away with killing to gain.

He only told me about the one. I suppose he knew I wouldn't approve of the other, though at least he had the decency to not let me die for it.

No, I wouldn't stop them. But we should know who they are and try to work with them. Then at least we'd only have the aliens to worry about...

With two incentives, that makes it harder to convince them otherwise. But there has to be a way to get through. Was that the thing you didn't know? [ He stops and looks a bit upset. ]

... I'm sorry about him, by the way. I can't imagine what that's like.

Hm. [He looks thoughtful at that, and also wearily sad.] You know, I think you're the first person to say so. Thank you for that. Killer or no, I did care for him very much.

I agree that the Kampff can be our allies, but the extra incentive is an impediment to their cooperation. And yes, that was his secret, as it happens. He let me do this much and he nearly let me die for a ridiculous, impossible fantasy.

[ Maybe it shouldn't be so surprising to him that no one's thought about Dorian's feelings toward Bull. ] I know. I don't think any less of him.

So she promised something ridiculous and he still believed her? What was it? [ There's a pause. ] But he didn't let you die.

He didn't, no. I should be glad, I suppose, that he didn't betray me that badly.

[But yeah. The point of the secret was just that he lied, that there was another incentive. What it was doesn't matter so much, so he may as well.]

His people, the qunari, have been at war with the Imperium for, well, centuries. There's an island in particular we've squabbled over. His incentive was to end the war there, to see it at peace under the Qun. It's obvious why he wouldn't have told me. I don't have any love for the Qun, but my problem with it is more. It isn't possible to solve that with magic. Even if the Qun were to retake it, it wouldn't have been what they showed him. You know I make no apologies for my own people, but the Qun is savage to those who won't assimilate, and barbaric to mages, of which there are many. The thought of peace in Seheron under the Qun is but a fantasy, and he's smart enough that he had to have known it.

tuesday morning; dorian's room

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