bryces_pup | Driftfleet Inbox

that suits me. i'll meet you down there shortly.

[Sure enough, when Allen arrives down in the shuttle bay, he'll find Riona there as well, leaning against an empty shuttle.]

Alright. I'll see you soon.

[ And so he makes his way to the shuttles. He's still limping around on crutches, but he looks much better than he has the past couple weeks. He offers a smile when he sees her. ]

Thanks for coming. Shall we? [He'll gesture at the shuttle she's leaning against. ]

Of course. [She opens the shuttle door for him, stepping back to give him some room to maneuver on his crutches. Admittedly, she's a little worried over what this might be about, but she tries to keep smiling when she climbs in after him.]

[He climbs into the shuttle, not hesitating to take a seat in the nearest seat and set his crutches next to him. Once the shuttle's door is shut, he'll start]

I suppose I should just cut to it.

Are you familiar with a man named Anders?

[She stiffens immediately upon mention of Anders's name. Ten to one, she knows what this is going to be about.]

Yes. He served under me when I was active Warden-Commander. I consider him a good friend.

I see.

[He nods. Good.]

Leliana got in contact with me a few weeks ago about Ander's problem. She had hopes that my abilities might be able to help him. I was a bit busy at the time, so I couldn't do much, but...that's all done with.

[He looks at her]

Right now, mostly- I want to know as much about the situation as I can. Leliana gave me a debriefing, so I have some ideas. But...well, nothing against her, but I have a lot of bad history with church officials not telling me the full story, so...

[Complete trust isn't there]

So I was wondering if you could tell me what you know. Your take on the matters. To help me decide if I can help.

Edited 2016-10-01 23:50 (UTC)

[At least he didn't hear it from Fenris. Still, she's leery about what Leliana may have told him.]

I'm glad you are speaking with me about it. I have a different perspective on it than she does.

[She sighs.]

Anders has a spirit of Justice within him. It was a mutual decision on both their parts. Justice had been stuck inside a corpse - through no fault of his own - and Anders was in danger. But, the spirits of Thedas embody a feeling or an idea. Wholeheartedly. And... if they are exposed to a great deal of a different emotion or feeling, their composition changes. Anders held a lot of anger over the way mages are treated in Thedas. When Justice merged with him, he was exposed to that anger. And it changed him. Now... he's Vengeance. And Vengeance is not kind. Anders's anger and his Vengeful nature fed into each other, and they... did something terrible.

[It hurts to talk about it, honestly. But she hardens her resolve and keeps going.]

Justice - Vengeance - isn't a demon yet. But it may only be a matter of time. If he changes again, he'll become Rage, and that... will not be good. He'll be a danger to everyone in the fleet. But it's not his fault. And while he and Anders should be separated, he doesn't deserve to be tossed aside and harmed just because he's not a "person". He has thoughts and feelings, too.

Yeah...Leliana told me what they did. Blew up a Chantry, as I recall.

[Oh yeah, that's a very different perspective than what he heard from Leliana. The way she talks about Justice and Vengeance...]

Did you know Justice? I mean, before he became Vengeance?

Yes. It hasn't happened in the time I'm from, but I heard about it.

[That's a whole other can of worms she doesn't want to get too much into.]

I did. He served under me as well. That's how he and Anders met. Despite not being a person, he fought as hard as any of the other Wardens. He protected people like Leliana and the others from horrors that would keep them awake at night. And... he's my friend. But I fear many of the others from Thedas would have no qualms about killing Justice. [Save for Anders and Cole.] So in a way, I need to look out for Justice more than Anders. Not because I care less, but because most won't.

[He gives a nod] I can understand that. He was one of your men, even if he wasn't human.

[Allen can respect that. What more, someone who actually cares about trapped spirit as much as the person is always good in Allen's book.]

What can you tell me about Justice, about spirits on Thedas? I...Cole explained some things, but he speaks in riddles and ...well, we haven't spoken in awhile.

[The mention of Cole makes her chuckle a bit.]

That he does.

Let's see... spirits come from the Fade. It's their realm, I suppose for a lack of better term. Like I said, they tend to embody an emotion or idea from the waking world. Compassion, envy, justice, rage... just to name a few. People visit the Fade in their dreams, and the spirits sort of interact with us when we're there. It's usually safe, except if you're a mage. Spirits can possess a mage, as you've learned with Anders and Justice. Usually it's not such a... nice arrangement. Those mages become abominations, and things and people tend to get destroyed.

[It's not a fun time.]

Beyond that... well, I'm not really an expert. Is there anything in particular you need to know?

...Why did he leave the Fade? It sounds like he needs a vessel to function in this realm. Can he go back?

It was an accident. Long story short, me and a few Wardens got sent into the Fade via very surprising means. A powerful sorceress sent an entire village she was governing to the Fade decades ago when they revolted against her. They had been trapped in there that whole time. Their plight drew the attention of a spirit of Justice. He rallied the villagers to stand up against the sorceress. Us Wardens were trying to find a way out, and we hoped that if the sorceress could release the village, we could be sent back to the waking world as well.

With us, Justice and the villagers closing in on her, in a desperate bid she cast some powerful magic and sent us all back to the waking world... including Justice. He got sent into a corpse, and thus he became trapped. I suppose there must have been some way that he could have left it - obviously he did if he managed to merge with Anders. But now that he's in a living host, it's much more dangerous to try and separate them via any means we had back home. Though, again, I'm no expert. Anders would know more about that than I.

Whoa...an entire village? That's crazy.

[He's never seen magic spells from a single person be THAT strong to send an entire village to another realm.]

But I see...[A pause] Would he want to go back to the Fade, if he had the choice?

I suspect blood magic was involved, given the power of the spell.

[Which means a lot of dead villagers.]

I... yes, I'm quite sure he would want to. It's his home.

[Her brow furrows.]

Why? Would you be able to help him?

Ah, right. Blood magic.

[Not going to say anything more about blood magic. He knows how much Thedas folk freak out about the stuff]

...Maybe.

My powers specialise in releasing and purifying trapped souls. Essentially when I use them, the mechanism that was used to bind them to the host is broken, and it allows the soul to move on to where it's supposed to go, free of corruption.

Spirits sound a bit similar to souls. So, it's possible if I do it, he could move on back to the Fade, if that's where he's supposed to be.

But the Fade doesn't exist here. Would he be able to reach it from here?

[He sighs]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm not a medium, I can't check on spirits of other realms once they leave this one. So I can't make any promises there.

Ultimately, the choice if they want to chance it is up to Anders and Justice. But if we are working on limited time before he becomes Rage, it might be the best chance we can get.

[As much as it scares her, he's right. They may be able to move Justice into another vessel, even a non-living one, but would that really solve the problem?]

I see. I... let me talk to them about this first. If Justice still has the presence of mind to listen to anyone, it's me. If and when they acquiesce, then you can be brought in. Given his state, he may not trust something this risky if it's laid out before him by a stranger.

[And if he's going to flip out anyway, she'd rather it be on her than someone else.]

[he gives a little nod]

Alright, that sounds like a good idea. [He knows he's not exactly the best with approaching people anyway] I still need about another week or so to heal up anyway,so you have some time.

Rest up, Allen. I'll let you know what they say.

[He smiles and nods]

Thank you, Riona. For that, and talking to me. It helped a lot.

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