[Closed]

[theladyofhighever]

Who: Mariane Cousland and The Dog
What: Two Hadrielites meet up for a talk
Where: The Range
When: Current
Warnings: None



[there were still very few people Mariane felt close to. she'd always had a difficult time letting people in due to her melancholy. the time of the Blight was different, being forced in such close quarters with others.

this place was different. it was possible to hide herself away with only Chance for company. deep down, she knew she shouldn't do that, that she should be trying to reach out to others more. but taking that first step was difficult.

so she went out with Chance to the range. she'd heard that the Dog frequented it and she'd genuinely enjoyed their earlier conversation. she was hoping to run into him there and hoping that their conversation would go as well as their earlier one had]

Comments

[standformyself]

So far they have. No one has tried to kick me or hit me.

[Even if she wouldn't allow herself to be, it wouldn't be nice.]

Although I also tend to poke my nose at everyone, so one never knows what the future will hold.

[theladyofhighever]

They'd best not. Such treatment is not to be bourne.

[Mariane doesn't know that. but she does know how cruel people can be in a crisis]

I don't think I could do such a thing. So many people! It's [she takes a breath] intimidating.

[standformyself]

The best way to start a task is to start off small. One step at a time.

[Holding her paw out and wiggling her toes.]

And before you know it, you've walked very far.

[theladyofhighever]

[Mariane listens to her words and smiles slightly as she wiggles her toes]

I--I suppose so. Looking at it that way, it's not too different than the way I approached ending the Blight. One step at a time.

[standformyself]

It tends to be a good way to go.

[Crawl, walk, run. Whatever pace one wants. Just keep always attempting to go forward, as sometimes a step or two may be taken backwards. Maybe not always a straight line, as least if the Dog has anything to say about it, but still forward.]

[theladyofhighever]

I suppose so.

[she didn't have much of a choice but to go at a fevered pace to end the Blight, but now it seems as though she has nothing but time]

So, how are you adjusting to life here?

[standformyself]

[Her ears give a little flicker. In all honesty, she isn't that perturbed about being here. She'd had no real game plan for some time back home, other than splashing around in death, and perhaps chasing some there.]

It's not too bad, really. There are things to chase around, and plenty of people to speak with.

[theladyofhighever]

[while Mariane desperately wants to go home. she has a fiance to marry and a crown to assume. she also wants to spend time with her elder brother, who she'd assumed died in the Wilds. the two of them are the only Couslands left]

The little rodent creatures? Chance likes to chase those around, though he reacted poorly when he tried to eat one. And are there any people in particular you'd recommend I talk to?

[standformyself]

[The Dog chases them, although eating them is not something that she actually does. More often than not they get away anyway, but it allows the Dog to dig after them. The chase, really, is what the Dog is after.

The question though does give her a moment of contemplation.]

Ones that look approach worthy?

[theladyofhighever]

[Chance tried digging after them, but lost interest after he realized that they weren't good to eat. he's all stomach. stomach and a fierce protectiveness towards his person

and she knots her hands together]

Yes. I would wish to . . . make more friends, but it seems as though Ferelden is so provincial compared to the worlds that others are from. So I worry about being judged harshly because of it.

[standformyself]

[Her ears flatten back a little.]

What makes everyone special and unique is their own world view. If they judge, then they aren't worth your time.

(cw: rape implication)

[theladyofhighever]

[she worries that she's done something to offend before hearing her words]

My own world view is . . . strange. I was raised expecting to be the wife of one noble or another, likely in Orlais or Antiva as marrying another Fereldan would be a step down in rank for a Teyrn's daughter.

In one night, all of that changed. My parents were slaughtered, betrayed by their best friend, and I was conscripted into the ranks of the Grey Wardens. Had I refused, I would have been left behind to die. Or worse.

[standformyself]

[The Dog's own view of the world is likely just as strange. After all, she was around before the creation of the Charter, but who she is today is but a small part of what she had once been. She is disreputable, doing as she pleases, chaotic, but good.]

Your own desires were never taken in to account for anything?

[theladyofhighever]

[she's known more than a few chaotic but good beings in her time. there was a time when she would have been lawful but good. those were the days before her eyes were opened and she saw the everyday struggles of the mages and the elves of Thedas]

I assume my parents wouldn't have wed me to anyone I found truly objectionable, but once I was conscripted my choices were . . . limited.

[standformyself]

There is no leaving?

[Her mistress is the Abhorsen in waiting, and a Remembrancer, but the Dog knows that had Lirael so chosen, she could have backed out. It won't be an easy path all the time, but she will do good in the world.]

(cw: suicide)

[theladyofhighever]

The Grey Wardens? No. My blood is tainted by the Darkspawn and there's no cure. Within the next thirty years, the taint will overcome my body's ability to fight it and I'll have no choice but to head to the Deep Roads and die fighting as many darkspawn as I can. Or simply take my own life. There are no other options.

[and that is why she hates being a Grey Warden. no choice but to die absurdly young, possibly no chance of ever bearing a child. and she misses having choices]

[standformyself]

Darkspawn? What exactly is that?

[The Dog knows that Free Magic can taint individuals, although she is completely unfamiliar with anything like what she is describing.]

[theladyofhighever]

According to Chantry legend, darkspawn were created when magisters of the Tevinter Imperium gained enough magic and power to breach the Fade and seek to unseat the Maker of all.

The magisters stormed the Golden City, the seat of the Maker, but their sin corrupted it and turned it from golden to black. The magisters were cast back down to Thedas as the first darkspawn, but not the last.

Their numbers swelled to the tens of thousands and they have only one goal: to seek out and corrupt an Old God, transforming it into an Archdemon to lead them to the surface and cause a Blight.

Darkspawn are largely mindless killers who corrupt the ground they stand upon, the water they drink, and the people unfortunate enough to not simply be killed. Blight sickness is uncurable and it eventually drives a person mad, making them a mindless servant to the darkspawn.

[and she'll never be free of them]

[standformyself]

[She takes a moment to absorb that, or to absorb it as much as she can. She would need to learn far more to have it make better sense, but that it is something that will change her life is clear.]

I am sorry to hear that. I hope it does not happen for a long time.

[theladyofhighever]

[she doesn't pray, not anymore, but she can't help but hope that the darkspawn never find their way here]

...it did happen. In Ferelden, my home country. It ended two weeks before I came here.

[standformyself]

[She gave a little step forward, brushing her nose against Mariane's hand.]

[theladyofhighever]

[she jumps slightly when she feels the Dog's nose brush against her, but she reaches out with a trembling hand to place it on the Dog's head and pet gently]

...thank you. For your kindness.

[standformyself]

It is not something you need to thank.

[Twisting to give a little lick along her wrist, before twisting her head back, to her her hand rest back on the top of her head.]

[theladyofhighever]

In this world, it is.

[she smiles at the Dog's kindness and gently pets her head. she misses her companions desperately and has been in need of a little kindness]

[standformyself]

Then you're more than welcome.

[With complete earnestness to her voice.]