[ sometime in the week after their conversation on the crystals, ness comes to the enchanter's office, a sheaf of loose papers and a pen and inkwell in hand. she peeks in the door, rather than enter outright. ]
Enchanter Isaac? Ness Tavane, here after that Circle history you offered. Is now a good time, or are you busy?
[ He is not, as it happens, busy. The spy novel (billed as a true memoir of the authorโs time as an antivan halconero, a still more rarified order of assassins) is too recently shut to qualify. ]
Mlle Tavane,
[ A sweeping gesture to the โ four chairs, two desks. Atop this one rests a plain wooden globe, beside some smaller glass orb, marbles; a series of jars, empty, else full for paper scraps, another, the flapping wings of moths.
Thereโs something of the territorial for the rowdy sprawl of it. The other half of the room,
Presumably better-ordered. At any rate, the archivist is out. ]
[ it's impolite to let one's gaze rest too long on another's things without invitation, so ness doesn't, though the curious urge to snoop does gnaw at her: how filled in is the thedosian globe, what is it she hears in that jar, is that book any good, she hasn't gotten to read anything but history yetโ
she enters the office smiling, a little less sincere than deferential, in the manner of a dog wagging its tail to dissuade raised voices or harsh hands. it's not isaac's fault; ness comes into most rooms already apologizing for being in them. ]
Thank you for making time for me. If anything comes up feel free to kick me out, I'd hate to keep you from any important work.
[ the sheaf in her hands gets transferred to her lap as she sits, inkwell and pen held in place delicately on top of them. pleasantries rise up to her lips and then subsideโthe enchanter seemed not to place much stock in them. ]
I wasn't sure how detailed we would be getting, so I thought it best to be ready to take notes, I hope that's alright.
Oh, I suppose. One of us ought to remember what on earth we talked about.
[ a joke. he observes the courteous skate of eyes (curiousity) from a faint distance, amusement written somewhere behind his own. an elbow through clutter knocks enough space free to write. at least, to shuffle the ink, because isaac shortly tips a jar into hand; uncorking the top as he speaks. ]
The principle thing to know of the Circles is their variability. [ a fat, fuzzy caterpillar works its slow way up leaf to wrist. isaac offers the glass over. ] Give him one if you like, mind the hairs, they will splinter โ
Despite the centralized nature of Chantry and Fraternity, every Circle owned different conditions. The Gallows we stand in were considered something of an extreme.
[ whatever ness was expecting to come out of that jar, a caterpillar certainly was not it. she pauses, blinking at the critter with her hands halfway to putting her note paper on the desk and her brain still trying to keep up with what isaac's saying about the circles. it takes some effort to spin together all three disparate elements of her situation into a cohesive whole she can make sense of, but after a moment she sets down the papers and inkwell and reaches for a leaf. ]
I've read some to that effect, [ as she watches the caterpillar munch happily on the offered leaf. it's hard not to smile, watching a happy little insect, and ness doesn't bother pretending that she isn't delighted by the thing. ] And it makes sense, after all, Circles might as well have been their own little cities. All cities have different cultures, even if the laws are more or less the same. Some stricter or more permissive than others, some one way or the other on paper but different in fact.
[ the leaf disappears in the caterpillar's tiny jaws, and ness holds out a finger to encourage it to crawl onto. ]
A negative extreme, I take from your tone. In what ways?
[ the caterpillar, so wooed, clambers to her hand. isaac sets the jar aside. if there's any apology due the flood of information, he doesn't grant one. ]
Their own little cities, [ he agrees, ] And as influenced by those surrounding them. Kirkwall has ever held reason to fear Tevinter, and to pattern itself in her shape. Famously corrupt, harsh, and sat in spitting distance of a dangerous history.
I was raised in Montsimmard, in Southern Orlais. Manifesting magic gave me โ gave most there โ an astonishing leap in circumstance. Access, education; connections. At the time I received leave to work beyond Circle walls, the mages here,
[ ness lets the caterpillar crawl over her as she listens, mind half on how interesting it is to watch the thing move and half on isaac's explanation. she's beginning to understand some of the culture here, the stock placed in implication and leaving things unsaid. ]
Hardly fair, [ with all the enthusiasm of one who knows the world is rarely ever fair. ] Differences of governor, I assume, and too much slack on the leash?
[ those too enamored of their own power and convinced of their righteousness are always a danger, no matter the system or setting. ]
No way to know, at the end of this, which Circle one might be shipped off to, Montsimmard or the Gallows. Is a return to the Circles guaranteed, once Corypheus is dealt with?
[ the bug inches along, tiny feet bristling; blind to the world. isaac fishes in a pocket. ]
There are those who benefitted of the Circles โ I stand among them. Were it not for the Chantry, I should be dead several times over. That isnโt enough.
To judge the Circles by their kindnesses is to excuse their abuses. I speak beyond the moral: There are ever those who would back themselves into a cage, as though good behavior will protect them. But what we permit will be used against us.
Tranquility cannot be so bad, after all. Montsimmard only made them of the willing.
[ he comes up with a cigarette, a thumb to spark. ]
I'm lecturing. You spoke of a library, and the similarities are striking; I would not have someone dangle the hope of home before you.
[ this is all alarmingโso alarming that it gives ness pause, even as she frowns deeply at her caterpillar friend.
she recalls a scribing room, sat at an elbow smudged with ink and a husky voice murmuringโ'ware the radical with vision, ennaris, always be sure to think for yourself. ren's dark, serious eyes holding hers as she explained tactics, rhetoricโthe opposition is coming for you as you sleep, your life may be forfeit if you don't align with us, anyone who disagrees is naive or stupid or an agent of the enemy.
given what she already knows of the chantry, it doesn't seem impossibleโnor, even, especially unlikelyโthat they will eventually come steal her from her bed one night. she'd be a fool, though, to be swayed so quickly, and an even bigger fool to trust without reservation a man who saw a young girl lacking context and pounced on the opportunity she presented. ]
I have experienced, [ she says slowly, finding the path of her sentence deliberately, ] being a conduit for magic I could not control. To be out of control of myselfโworse, to know that even without intention I could cause serious harm... It was terrible. For a week, I was in misery.
[ her eyes meet isaac's now, steely, daring. the caterpillar is encouraged to the desk. ]
It was a templar who first rescued me from myself, and then a native mage. They both had an earnest desire to do right by me, not ignorant of the pain I could cause but willing to reach out their hands despite.
I needed both of them to be safe and useful. Not just the mage.
[ need them. he looks back, even; but a little funny. a little distant. patterns do repeat. ]
I'm sorry to hear it. You'll find most mages sympathize โ whatever one's circumstance, the early years can be difficult. This decade's apprentices have new challenges before them. New, at least, to the South.
[ a shrug; he smokes. the caterpillar probes the edge of her notes, mandibles grinding for purchase. a native, and the order wouldn't call in an apostate. it leaves one man: ]
When you next speak with Enchanter Julius, you may wish to ask him of dispelling magic. Most Templars are presently occupied. We must take a degree of responsibility for ourselves.
[ it's not all doom and gloom, echoes a voice, it's about making you doubt yourself, too. always be open to being wrongโbut don't trust someone who just wants you to be insecure. ]
I did.
[ need them. confident, assured. she did, because she wasn't making it stop on her own. she did, because she was too afraid to look for help. she did, because she says she did, and her opinion's the only one that counts in the matter. ]
I'm currently on magebane, [ not confirming or denying julius' involvement, ] whenever I can feel a flare coming on. A stopgap, not a permanent solution, in want of a teacher I can trust, at present.
[ striking isaac's name off the mental list and, later, the physical one.
but here, lest he think her a loyalist-in-training: ]
The system as it stood a decade ago was vile. I don't plan to sit idly by while plans are made for my future without having a say in them myself, and in my future, I plan to see daylight and travel the world and do what magic I wish. I'll do what I must to make that happenโ
but you, I think, already have your own ideas on that.
[ some fascination in the way she puffs up. a cringing thing to enter, hackles now lifted clear. ]
I wonโt see the inside of another Circle.
[ acknowledgment: yes, heโs his own ideas of the work ahead. it will not go quietly. joselyn is dead, and charlotte is so terribly alive, and there is that which he can no longer stomach to trade. ]
But near fifty, I own a deal less future. [ isaac considers: ] What did you hope of our meeting, Madamoiselle? If not my account or opinions.
Exactly what you offered: the history of the Circles. Facts.
[ ness is not, by and large, stupid. nor is she particularly bad at seeing what is right in front of her, despite all appearances to the contrary. what she isn't, though, is well-versed in dealing with a great deal of subtlety or hidden agendas. she can be subtle when needs be, and often prefers itโbut she's not on the lookout for people with ulterior motives. so few people in her life have ever had them.
this first month is really a crash course in not being taken for a fool. she doesn't like it. ]
I was aware you had an agenda. I didn't expect you to pull out every line in the "I'm Radicalized, And So Can You!" handbook. At least you could have waited until our third conversation to start laying it on quite this thick.
I suppose I should thank you, [ standing up, reaching for her notesโgently brushing the caterpillar aside, because he did no wrong and shan't bear his master's crimesโ ] Were you not so heavy-handed, I might have been an easier mark.
Here's to not seeing the inside of a Circle we don't willingly set foot into, Enchanter.
[ rifters never last so long. the caterpillar wobbles loose, rolling gently to its side. miniature legs fumble to reorient, a tiny hole chewed into the end of her notes. ]
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action; office.
[ sometime in the week after their conversation on the crystals, ness comes to the enchanter's office, a sheaf of loose papers and a pen and inkwell in hand. she peeks in the door, rather than enter outright. ]
Enchanter Isaac? Ness Tavane, here after that Circle history you offered. Is now a good time, or are you busy?
no subject
Mlle Tavane,
[ A sweeping gesture to the โ four chairs, two desks. Atop this one rests a plain wooden globe, beside some smaller glass orb, marbles; a series of jars, empty, else full for paper scraps, another, the flapping wings of moths.
Thereโs something of the territorial for the rowdy sprawl of it. The other half of the room,
Presumably better-ordered. At any rate, the archivist is out. ]
Now strikes the perfect time.
no subject
[ it's impolite to let one's gaze rest too long on another's things without invitation, so ness doesn't, though the curious urge to snoop does gnaw at her: how filled in is the thedosian globe, what is it she hears in that jar, is that book any good, she hasn't gotten to read anything but history yetโ
she enters the office smiling, a little less sincere than deferential, in the manner of a dog wagging its tail to dissuade raised voices or harsh hands. it's not isaac's fault; ness comes into most rooms already apologizing for being in them. ]
Thank you for making time for me. If anything comes up feel free to kick me out, I'd hate to keep you from any important work.
[ the sheaf in her hands gets transferred to her lap as she sits, inkwell and pen held in place delicately on top of them. pleasantries rise up to her lips and then subsideโthe enchanter seemed not to place much stock in them. ]
I wasn't sure how detailed we would be getting, so I thought it best to be ready to take notes, I hope that's alright.
no subject
[ a joke. he observes the courteous skate of eyes (curiousity) from a faint distance, amusement written somewhere behind his own. an elbow through clutter knocks enough space free to write. at least, to shuffle the ink, because isaac shortly tips a jar into hand; uncorking the top as he speaks. ]
The principle thing to know of the Circles is their variability. [ a fat, fuzzy caterpillar works its slow way up leaf to wrist. isaac offers the glass over. ] Give him one if you like, mind the hairs, they will splinter โ
Despite the centralized nature of Chantry and Fraternity, every Circle owned different conditions. The Gallows we stand in were considered something of an extreme.
no subject
[ whatever ness was expecting to come out of that jar, a caterpillar certainly was not it. she pauses, blinking at the critter with her hands halfway to putting her note paper on the desk and her brain still trying to keep up with what isaac's saying about the circles. it takes some effort to spin together all three disparate elements of her situation into a cohesive whole she can make sense of, but after a moment she sets down the papers and inkwell and reaches for a leaf. ]
I've read some to that effect, [ as she watches the caterpillar munch happily on the offered leaf. it's hard not to smile, watching a happy little insect, and ness doesn't bother pretending that she isn't delighted by the thing. ] And it makes sense, after all, Circles might as well have been their own little cities. All cities have different cultures, even if the laws are more or less the same. Some stricter or more permissive than others, some one way or the other on paper but different in fact.
[ the leaf disappears in the caterpillar's tiny jaws, and ness holds out a finger to encourage it to crawl onto. ]
A negative extreme, I take from your tone. In what ways?
no subject
Their own little cities, [ he agrees, ] And as influenced by those surrounding them. Kirkwall has ever held reason to fear Tevinter, and to pattern itself in her shape. Famously corrupt, harsh, and sat in spitting distance of a dangerous history.
I was raised in Montsimmard, in Southern Orlais. Manifesting magic gave me โ gave most there โ an astonishing leap in circumstance. Access, education; connections. At the time I received leave to work beyond Circle walls, the mages here,
[ a gesture to the fortress walls ]
Were locked in cells.
no subject
[ ness lets the caterpillar crawl over her as she listens, mind half on how interesting it is to watch the thing move and half on isaac's explanation. she's beginning to understand some of the culture here, the stock placed in implication and leaving things unsaid. ]
Hardly fair, [ with all the enthusiasm of one who knows the world is rarely ever fair. ] Differences of governor, I assume, and too much slack on the leash?
[ those too enamored of their own power and convinced of their righteousness are always a danger, no matter the system or setting. ]
No way to know, at the end of this, which Circle one might be shipped off to, Montsimmard or the Gallows. Is a return to the Circles guaranteed, once Corypheus is dealt with?
no subject
[ the bug inches along, tiny feet bristling; blind to the world. isaac fishes in a pocket. ]
There are those who benefitted of the Circles โ I stand among them. Were it not for the Chantry, I should be dead several times over. That isnโt enough.
To judge the Circles by their kindnesses is to excuse their abuses. I speak beyond the moral: There are ever those who would back themselves into a cage, as though good behavior will protect them. But what we permit will be used against us.
Tranquility cannot be so bad, after all. Montsimmard only made them of the willing.
[ he comes up with a cigarette, a thumb to spark. ]
I'm lecturing. You spoke of a library, and the similarities are striking; I would not have someone dangle the hope of home before you.
no subject
[ this is all alarmingโso alarming that it gives ness pause, even as she frowns deeply at her caterpillar friend.
she recalls a scribing room, sat at an elbow smudged with ink and a husky voice murmuringโ'ware the radical with vision, ennaris, always be sure to think for yourself. ren's dark, serious eyes holding hers as she explained tactics, rhetoricโthe opposition is coming for you as you sleep, your life may be forfeit if you don't align with us, anyone who disagrees is naive or stupid or an agent of the enemy.
given what she already knows of the chantry, it doesn't seem impossibleโnor, even, especially unlikelyโthat they will eventually come steal her from her bed one night. she'd be a fool, though, to be swayed so quickly, and an even bigger fool to trust without reservation a man who saw a young girl lacking context and pounced on the opportunity she presented. ]
I have experienced, [ she says slowly, finding the path of her sentence deliberately, ] being a conduit for magic I could not control. To be out of control of myselfโworse, to know that even without intention I could cause serious harm... It was terrible. For a week, I was in misery.
[ her eyes meet isaac's now, steely, daring. the caterpillar is encouraged to the desk. ]
It was a templar who first rescued me from myself, and then a native mage. They both had an earnest desire to do right by me, not ignorant of the pain I could cause but willing to reach out their hands despite.
I needed both of them to be safe and useful. Not just the mage.
no subject
[ need them. he looks back, even; but a little funny. a little distant. patterns do repeat. ]
I'm sorry to hear it. You'll find most mages sympathize โ whatever one's circumstance, the early years can be difficult. This decade's apprentices have new challenges before them. New, at least, to the South.
[ a shrug; he smokes. the caterpillar probes the edge of her notes, mandibles grinding for purchase. a native, and the order wouldn't call in an apostate. it leaves one man: ]
When you next speak with Enchanter Julius, you may wish to ask him of dispelling magic. Most Templars are presently occupied. We must take a degree of responsibility for ourselves.
no subject
[ it's not all doom and gloom, echoes a voice, it's about making you doubt yourself, too. always be open to being wrongโbut don't trust someone who just wants you to be insecure. ]
I did.
[ need them. confident, assured. she did, because she wasn't making it stop on her own. she did, because she was too afraid to look for help. she did, because she says she did, and her opinion's the only one that counts in the matter. ]
I'm currently on magebane, [ not confirming or denying julius' involvement, ] whenever I can feel a flare coming on. A stopgap, not a permanent solution, in want of a teacher I can trust, at present.
[ striking isaac's name off the mental list and, later, the physical one.
but here, lest he think her a loyalist-in-training: ]
The system as it stood a decade ago was vile. I don't plan to sit idly by while plans are made for my future without having a say in them myself, and in my future, I plan to see daylight and travel the world and do what magic I wish. I'll do what I must to make that happenโ
but you, I think, already have your own ideas on that.
no subject
I wonโt see the inside of another Circle.
[ acknowledgment: yes, heโs his own ideas of the work ahead. it will not go quietly. joselyn is dead, and charlotte is so terribly alive, and there is that which he can no longer stomach to trade. ]
But near fifty, I own a deal less future. [ isaac considers: ] What did you hope of our meeting, Madamoiselle? If not my account or opinions.
no subject
Exactly what you offered: the history of the Circles. Facts.
[ ness is not, by and large, stupid. nor is she particularly bad at seeing what is right in front of her, despite all appearances to the contrary. what she isn't, though, is well-versed in dealing with a great deal of subtlety or hidden agendas. she can be subtle when needs be, and often prefers itโbut she's not on the lookout for people with ulterior motives. so few people in her life have ever had them.
this first month is really a crash course in not being taken for a fool. she doesn't like it. ]
I was aware you had an agenda. I didn't expect you to pull out every line in the "I'm Radicalized, And So Can You!" handbook. At least you could have waited until our third conversation to start laying it on quite this thick.
I suppose I should thank you, [ standing up, reaching for her notesโgently brushing the caterpillar aside, because he did no wrong and shan't bear his master's crimesโ ] Were you not so heavy-handed, I might have been an easier mark.
Here's to not seeing the inside of a Circle we don't willingly set foot into, Enchanter.
no subject
[ rifters never last so long. the caterpillar wobbles loose, rolling gently to its side. miniature legs fumble to reorient, a tiny hole chewed into the end of her notes. ]
Leave the door open when you go.
[ the dip of cigarette-end: cheers. ]