arcaneadvisor | ooc: inbox/plot with me

Most Esteemed Arcane Advisor,

Has much research been conducted into potential connections between dragons and the rifts?

I have heard suggestion that they are prominent in mythology and worlds beyond our own, and was curious,

Nightingale.

Leliana,

I believe most of the research being carried out is elven in nature, or on the Veilfire runes discovered in the Fallow Mire. I cannot say if the Wardens have carried out any research though I have spoken with Alistair regarding the connection between red lyrium, Corypheus, and his dragon.

If this extends beyond and to other worlds then one might consider the songs and perhaps how far the Fade itself extends. If the Magisters heard songs in their dreams then who can say where the songs came from now.

I wonder, what do you know of eluvians?

Morrigan

Morrigan,

Do you think it would be prudent to expand our focus, or result in spreading ourselves too thin? It seems a strange coincidence, if it is one.
It seems that, once again, matters are more complex than we believed.

Far less than yourself, no doubt. They have not been a point of focus for me.

Nightingale

( FIGHT HER MORRIGAN SHE IS THE ~~NIGHT~~ NIGHTINGALE )

Edited 2016-02-29 23:23 (UTC)

Leliana,

Perhaps while the rifters are viewed with a level of suspicion from certain parties it might behoove us to use this not just as a means of gaining information for the sake of information but in learning more about the worlds the rifters come from. I am sure you can make up whatever reasons are required to your fellows, about their experiences, their knowledge, putting them to use for something other than closing rifts. Dragons to Tevinter were beings of great power, and the Old Gods were aspects. Silence, Chaos, Fire, Slaves, and Beauty have all risen and been felled, that still leaves us with both Mystery and Night. None can say how far dreams extend.

You must understand that I know only one other here who has even seen an eluvian and repaired one, albeit with blood magic. But they are the reason why the ancient elves left no roads for they had need of none. They allow movement between them. And in their midst is a place I have named the Crossroads.

Morrigan

Morrigan,

I appreciate the idea. It's a good one, in fact, although if Cassandra is determined to interrogate, I am not certain I can have any influence on the questions asked in those circumstances, and I may not be privy even to the responses gathered. Conducting a second set of interrogations may do more to rile their ire, than win their knowledge and cooperation.

( she can say that she enjoys the way Morrigan writes. )

I spoke with a young woman of their world's archdemons. Names for the Deadly Sins, she called them, of lust, pride, greed, the list went on. They sounded greatly different from our own understanding of demons, and yet the overlap struck us both. I think we may have a good deal of work ahead of us. Can I rely upon your assistance, with this?

( I cannot do this alone, she could well say, and in this instance it would be true.
also, she's can't quite help herself; )

"None can say how far dreams extend" verges on poetic, you know. Perhaps you have something of a bard in you. The interplay of magic and stories seems another fine topic to consider, would you not say?

Such a marvel as the eluvians surely cannot be without risk. Do you think them another possible thing to bind together worlds?

Nightingale

Edited 2016-03-03 12:03 (UTC)

Leliana,

Perhaps it might be prudent to remind the Lady Seeker that the rifters are her only means to this Inquisition being anything that remotely resembles a success. After all you were present for the Fifth Blight, which only Wardens can stop, and yet were hampered at each turn. You know how easily it could have spread across the world then as this already has. One attracts more flies with honey than vinegar.

[Cassandra's a Pentaghast though, and Morrigan isn't ignorant of her name and the reputation of her family. Perhaps she seeks to try the dragon shit approach.]

Our "understanding" of demons comes from the Circle and from the Chantry, from Tevinter too. Limited perspectives. If we keep our own in mind though and try to see where the overlap occurs and what remains different, it could very well work. You will have my aid and resources in this venture.

[What Leliana won't know: how long it takes to add that last sentence, the hesitation because this is a commitment, written in her hand, signed in her name, delivered unto Leliana's hand. This is not something she can undo once it is done, not when for all that she can provide in other areas, she will require aid herself to accomplish some of them to their fullest potential.]

I have been around many bards, all far more insufferable than you ever were. But I shall ignore that to say that yes, a story comes from somewhere, from a thing we do not understand fully and tales have been passed down by so many that tracing the origin of even one could take more than a lifetime. A difficulty I have faced many times when researching the elves. You are already aware of this though. The tale of my mother that had more truth to it than you were prepared for, such is often the case.

[Ignore that the first remark is perhaps Morrigan's way of giving a backhanded compliment. Ignore that she does not write the name Flemeth when she can skirt around it. What she knows is that the ancient elves were capable of so many things that the stories are far closer to the truth than even the Dalish realise though with the blood and bone stripped out, with the heart cut into smaller, more palatable morsels, so as not to upset.]

Many are closed, broken, damaged. Some are locked and can only be opened from one way and so I cannot know where those doors might lead but...I suppose now there is proof. Of more. Of worlds beyond worlds. I apologise, tis a thing easier to show rather than to explain.

Morrigan

Morrigan,

That you, of all people, discuss the merits of honey over vinegar illustrates how very dire circumstances have become. I thought you might have deemed the acidity vinegar the more pragmatic approach to honey's excessive sweetness.
( WELL IT'S TRUE, THIS IS STILL WEIRD FOR HER.
but onto being less of a snarky jackass: )

I will appeal to her sense of reason.

That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
Overt flattery aside, unravelling the truth in tales is as much a point of interest to me as enjoying how they have developed and changed over time. The latter is of precious little use to us at present, and so I will dedicate as many of my resources as I can to the former as I can, without compromising the network my scouts have created for the Inquisition.

( They are both committed, it seems. She is not sure if that is for better or worse.

A drop of ink from where her quill hovered over the parchment a moment too long before penning this part of her response is all that might give away the surprise that had lingered, even after reading over Morrigan's letter twice before going to pen her reply. )

Was that an offer?

Nightingale

Leliana,

Do you forget that I have grown up in the Wilds and that I thrived there? Perhaps if you ventured to the gardens again you would find what I have planted that comes from there; a flower that smells of honey and has been known to cure hounds that have drunk Darkspawn blood.

[Maybe one will be on your desk one day Leliana. No matter, her point still stands.]

Be careful not to let it go to your head.

Of precious little use to us? I beg to differ. How the tale changes in the telling says much about where a person or peoples have gone, what they have faced, what they are like. I have learned as much researching Dalish lore. If your scouts find things of value, there are a few other researchers in Skyhold as well, finding out what is worth pursuing would be a simple enough task as would sorting what comes from where.

[Better for the Inquisition and worse for their enemies. Sharp minds and the will to do what needs to be done? There is little that can stand against that for long.

Perhaps a pettier Morrigan might have circled it, sent it back with a tut tut, not so this Morrigan who simply smiles and if a shrug can be conveyed in words, she has surely managed it.]

There are things one must see with their own eyes, and yours are the sharpest of any others here.

Morrigan

Morrigan,

How can I forget, when you remind me so often?

( leliana it's maybe been twice in ten years
but logic has no place when she wants to make dry commentary, and they've always had a tendency to bickering, although this seems friendlier, or at least that is how she is reading it, and it makes her squint a little at the parchment. besides, she could argue that morrigan reminds her constantly with her lingering fondness for those clothes. )

Your letter has already been posted to the wall, with the relevant section underlined. Josephine is drafting an announcement, even now.

( c: #helpful

but she sighs, and if she were not so tense simply by default, she might have laughed very quietly. as it is, she simply shakes her head. to think that the day would come when morrigan was lecturing her on stor-- actually, no. they were doing this years ago, but to think that it would be part of a collaborative discussion rather than a sharp, scornful reprimand is the strangest part. )

You make an excellent point.

Thank you. Whenever there is an opportunity, I will endeavour to make myself available, though there is no accounting for last minute delays.

Nightingale

ooc: inbox/plot with me

midday, via a scout.

via raven;

PEERS AT THAT RAVEN SUSPICIOUSLY; via raven.

that is a legit raven, but please stroke between the eyes very softly

leliana is always nice to the ravens tyvm

well she'll just have to test that for herself

does morrigan want delicious treats, leliana made them herself

no weird mushroomy things pls

pls mushrooms would not do at all... snails tho