"World-making Glory," I cried out in sorrow,
"How shall your children apology make?
We have forgotten, in ignorance stumbling,
Only a Light in this darken'd time breaks.
Call to Your children, teach us Your greatness.
What has been forgotten has not yet been lost.”
-Canticle of Andraste 1:13
It'd been a few months after their resounding defeat of Corypheus, Skyhold had entered the crisp, chilly autumn months of the Frostbacks. With their main goal accomplished, some of the Inquisition's forces had began filter out, to return to their previous duties, or attempt to find new ones. Zahra had set off to sea once more, and had taken their healer with them. Lady Marceline had to admit, without the Captain the Inquisition felt a lot smaller as a whole. She hadn't been the only one either. The majority of the mage forces had departed, including their Captain, Aurora, and her second, Sparrow. Few had remained with the Inquisition.
However, that did not mean their jobs were done. Not yet. The Inquisition still had all of its advisors, for now, and both Inquisitors. Lady Marceline had convened a meeting with them, along with a few others including Astraia, who'd been promoted to the Inquisition's lead medical officer after the departure of Asala. They had met in the war room, which, Marceline felt misnamed as of late, with no real war going on.
Even the table in the middle of the floor was rendered relatively bare. It still held a map, yes, but all the tokens, mission reports, and all other materials had been wiped off and put away, leaving only the most recent correspondence as the centerpiece. A letter from their very own Divine Galatea herself. It was... one of the reasons why the session was decided to be held.
Lady Marceline didn't decide to wait too long after the last person arrived to begin. "We have received a request, of sorts, by the Divine."
"She wishes to convene a meeting consisting of delegates from the Inquisition, Orlais, and... Ferelden in order to discuss outstanding issues and to discuss the Inquisition moving forward," she stated. Their relationship with Orlais was more positive than negative, having a personal friend on the throne tended to help with that, though there of course were others in the country that still did not like the Inquisition. Ferelden... less so. Not only did they not have many allies in the kingdom, but technically, Skyhold was inside their borders.
“The Fereldan delegation will be headed by Arl Teagan, the King's uncle." Rilien's voice was toneless as always, though it was possible there was the slightest hint of something in it. A hint that this wasn't excellent news for them. “The Arl of Redcliffe in particular. I do not think I have to specify that our previous activities there have made him less than supportive of our endeavors in general. Ferelden is expected to demand the Inquisition's full and immediate disbandment."
"Orlais is less likely to push for anything like that," Leon added, "but even the Emperor will have to be careful in this setting. We're on Fereldan land, and so the amount of say he really has is minimal. While I'm certain the Arl will take him seriously, he'll want to be careful not to look like he's encroaching on Fereldan sovereignty. The war for independence isn't fifty years gone yet; some of the people who fought it still live." Marceline knew well that the Emperor's own father had stood across battlefields from King Maric, too—that kind of history was not easily left behind. Relations had been cordial recently, but cordial and warm were not the same thing, and it remained to be seen if Lucien would be able to do anything about that.
"Disbandment, though? Really?" Estella looked vaguely perturbed. "That's pushing their authority a bit far, I think. I wouldn't want an army at my border, necessarily, but it's not as though they urgently need Skyhold back—it was lost to history when we found it. A ruin."
Leon expelled a heavy breath. "Unfortunately we've legally never been any more than squatters here. We've little recourse if they insist except to try and convince them of our worth. And our lack of threat. They'll see how well we get on with Orlais and wonder if we aren't just an arm of the Empire."
"So what's the plan?" Romulus looked somewhat uncomfortable, standing almost tensely holding one arm at the wrist in front of him. He still hadn't grown relaxed at these sorts of meetings, though he was significantly better off than when he was first named Lord Inquisitor. It seemed to be something more putting him on edge today. "We're not disbanding, right? Corypheus hasn't been gone more than a few months. We can't lower our guard yet, but... if we have to change, how much are we willing to?"
"It will be difficult for them to force our outright disbandment. The Inquisition stretches further than Ferelden alone and there are many more opinions to consider than just theirs," Marceline stated. In truth, she the decision laid more on the Inquisitors' shoulders than their advisors, but she was careful not to lay that all at his feet at the moment. "However, Leon is correct. If they insist that we concede Skyhold, I fear we do not have much in the way of options," she said with a frown, and then a acknowledging tip of her head. "That being said, the Inquisition is more than just one castle, and will still survive so long as you two are still at its head," she said, pointing toward Estella and Romulus. "We will just have to adapt."
"Yes, but to what?" Estella pursed her lips. "We're not the arm of any country, we're not the Chantry, nor the Wardens... and considering how that went, I doubt anyone's feeling too excited about the idea of an independent organization with its own power. Its own army. Maybe we should hear them out before we decide anything important. If it's all just posturing then we don't have to do any more than the minimum. But maybe someone with a bigger view of Thedas than we have has some kind of idea of where we'd best fit in it."
The point came from a place of humility, but no longer the same debilitating lack of self-esteem as before. It was worth acknowledging that neither she nor Romulus had been raised and trained to lead anything with a global reach. Of course some of the finer points of it would be outside their grasps. She seemed to think it was worth seeing more of the lay of things before deciding, at least.
She might have said more, but a soft cracking sound issued into the war room, followed by her sharp gasp. She closed her right hand over into a fist, face contorted into a grimace. "Sorry, it's—I think it's getting worse." She glanced towards Romulus, as if to ask if he shared the thought.
He nodded, looking none too happy about it. "I've had the same. Started noticing it a few weeks ago, thought it would pass but... it seems to be just getting worse." It was easy to see now that he was holding his marked hand at the wrist likely for that very reason. Romulus had the tolerance for pain necessary to hide such things, so it was possibly even worse than he was letting on.
“And there is no obvious cause?" Rilien folded his hands into his sleeves. “They have given no signs of slowing?" It was at best incredibly inconvenient timing, with the two people who might have known the most about the marks no longer present, nor their once-full contingent of healers to manage the symptoms. The worst might well be much worse.
Estella shook her head, shaking out her hand and loosening the fist to let it fall back to her side. "The worst is intermittent, but it... aches. Almost all the time now." She exhaled, reaching across her body to rub her palm with her other hand. "They got kind of like this, sometimes, but usually Cy would—" She cut herself off, clearing her throat. It was sometimes easy to forget that the experts the Inquisition was missing were her family members; she did a good job of maintaining her professionalism, at least in front of Marceline.
"Anyway, I don't really know what's been going on. Astraia's been helping with them, but—I don't know, do you have any thoughts?" She looked back at the young elf in question, clearly inviting her to share any insights she might have with the group at large.
"Um." Astraia seemed surprised to be addressed, though the fact that Estella had done so must've diminished that somewhat. "I'm no expert in any of this, but from what I've studied of the marks, I don't know that this is going to get better, or go away. Before they almost seemed like wounds that wouldn't heal, but now it's like they're opening up." She glanced nervously between the two Inquisitors. "I don't know what to do about it, though. I don't know what kind of magic would be safe to try using on them, what would even have a chance of fixing them."
She shrugged, somewhat poor posture making her look even smaller than she was. "I don't know. Harellan might know, he knows so much old magic, and he..." She gestured halfway up to her face, clear of the vallaslin that had originally adorned it when the Inquisition first met her. "He might know what to do."
“The eluvian has been reconfigured." Rilien broke the silence that followed. No doubt this was new information to some of those present, but definitely not all of them. “This lends credence to the theory that one or both of them departed through it. Unfortunately it also means that there is no good way to track them. I have deployed agents to all of the other known eluvian locations, and there is nothing to be found there, either." He paused; Marceline swore she could see a muscle in his jaw jump. No doubt even his limited emotional repertoire was strained with the news that his protegée was in this much danger, and the people who might be able to do something about it had vanished.
“I will keep looking."
That did not sound good, but Marceline knew even less of the marks. "Unfortunate," Marceline said with a taut frown, "That he decided to take his leave so soon then." She shook her head and her eyes fell back to the Divine's letter. It was just another thing to worry about in the coming days, but the marks was not something that it sounded like they were equipped to deal with now, as much she wished it was. "Astraia, you'll keep looking into this?" She asked, "And I assume you'll help," she added with a glance toward Rilien. It wasn't really a question she needed an answer to.
"The rest of us will prepare for the meeting."
However, that did not mean their jobs were done. Not yet. The Inquisition still had all of its advisors, for now, and both Inquisitors. Lady Marceline had convened a meeting with them, along with a few others including Astraia, who'd been promoted to the Inquisition's lead medical officer after the departure of Asala. They had met in the war room, which, Marceline felt misnamed as of late, with no real war going on.
Even the table in the middle of the floor was rendered relatively bare. It still held a map, yes, but all the tokens, mission reports, and all other materials had been wiped off and put away, leaving only the most recent correspondence as the centerpiece. A letter from their very own Divine Galatea herself. It was... one of the reasons why the session was decided to be held.
Lady Marceline didn't decide to wait too long after the last person arrived to begin. "We have received a request, of sorts, by the Divine."
"She wishes to convene a meeting consisting of delegates from the Inquisition, Orlais, and... Ferelden in order to discuss outstanding issues and to discuss the Inquisition moving forward," she stated. Their relationship with Orlais was more positive than negative, having a personal friend on the throne tended to help with that, though there of course were others in the country that still did not like the Inquisition. Ferelden... less so. Not only did they not have many allies in the kingdom, but technically, Skyhold was inside their borders.
“The Fereldan delegation will be headed by Arl Teagan, the King's uncle." Rilien's voice was toneless as always, though it was possible there was the slightest hint of something in it. A hint that this wasn't excellent news for them. “The Arl of Redcliffe in particular. I do not think I have to specify that our previous activities there have made him less than supportive of our endeavors in general. Ferelden is expected to demand the Inquisition's full and immediate disbandment."
"Orlais is less likely to push for anything like that," Leon added, "but even the Emperor will have to be careful in this setting. We're on Fereldan land, and so the amount of say he really has is minimal. While I'm certain the Arl will take him seriously, he'll want to be careful not to look like he's encroaching on Fereldan sovereignty. The war for independence isn't fifty years gone yet; some of the people who fought it still live." Marceline knew well that the Emperor's own father had stood across battlefields from King Maric, too—that kind of history was not easily left behind. Relations had been cordial recently, but cordial and warm were not the same thing, and it remained to be seen if Lucien would be able to do anything about that.
"Disbandment, though? Really?" Estella looked vaguely perturbed. "That's pushing their authority a bit far, I think. I wouldn't want an army at my border, necessarily, but it's not as though they urgently need Skyhold back—it was lost to history when we found it. A ruin."
Leon expelled a heavy breath. "Unfortunately we've legally never been any more than squatters here. We've little recourse if they insist except to try and convince them of our worth. And our lack of threat. They'll see how well we get on with Orlais and wonder if we aren't just an arm of the Empire."
"So what's the plan?" Romulus looked somewhat uncomfortable, standing almost tensely holding one arm at the wrist in front of him. He still hadn't grown relaxed at these sorts of meetings, though he was significantly better off than when he was first named Lord Inquisitor. It seemed to be something more putting him on edge today. "We're not disbanding, right? Corypheus hasn't been gone more than a few months. We can't lower our guard yet, but... if we have to change, how much are we willing to?"
"It will be difficult for them to force our outright disbandment. The Inquisition stretches further than Ferelden alone and there are many more opinions to consider than just theirs," Marceline stated. In truth, she the decision laid more on the Inquisitors' shoulders than their advisors, but she was careful not to lay that all at his feet at the moment. "However, Leon is correct. If they insist that we concede Skyhold, I fear we do not have much in the way of options," she said with a frown, and then a acknowledging tip of her head. "That being said, the Inquisition is more than just one castle, and will still survive so long as you two are still at its head," she said, pointing toward Estella and Romulus. "We will just have to adapt."
"Yes, but to what?" Estella pursed her lips. "We're not the arm of any country, we're not the Chantry, nor the Wardens... and considering how that went, I doubt anyone's feeling too excited about the idea of an independent organization with its own power. Its own army. Maybe we should hear them out before we decide anything important. If it's all just posturing then we don't have to do any more than the minimum. But maybe someone with a bigger view of Thedas than we have has some kind of idea of where we'd best fit in it."
The point came from a place of humility, but no longer the same debilitating lack of self-esteem as before. It was worth acknowledging that neither she nor Romulus had been raised and trained to lead anything with a global reach. Of course some of the finer points of it would be outside their grasps. She seemed to think it was worth seeing more of the lay of things before deciding, at least.
She might have said more, but a soft cracking sound issued into the war room, followed by her sharp gasp. She closed her right hand over into a fist, face contorted into a grimace. "Sorry, it's—I think it's getting worse." She glanced towards Romulus, as if to ask if he shared the thought.
He nodded, looking none too happy about it. "I've had the same. Started noticing it a few weeks ago, thought it would pass but... it seems to be just getting worse." It was easy to see now that he was holding his marked hand at the wrist likely for that very reason. Romulus had the tolerance for pain necessary to hide such things, so it was possibly even worse than he was letting on.
“And there is no obvious cause?" Rilien folded his hands into his sleeves. “They have given no signs of slowing?" It was at best incredibly inconvenient timing, with the two people who might have known the most about the marks no longer present, nor their once-full contingent of healers to manage the symptoms. The worst might well be much worse.
Estella shook her head, shaking out her hand and loosening the fist to let it fall back to her side. "The worst is intermittent, but it... aches. Almost all the time now." She exhaled, reaching across her body to rub her palm with her other hand. "They got kind of like this, sometimes, but usually Cy would—" She cut herself off, clearing her throat. It was sometimes easy to forget that the experts the Inquisition was missing were her family members; she did a good job of maintaining her professionalism, at least in front of Marceline.
"Anyway, I don't really know what's been going on. Astraia's been helping with them, but—I don't know, do you have any thoughts?" She looked back at the young elf in question, clearly inviting her to share any insights she might have with the group at large.
"Um." Astraia seemed surprised to be addressed, though the fact that Estella had done so must've diminished that somewhat. "I'm no expert in any of this, but from what I've studied of the marks, I don't know that this is going to get better, or go away. Before they almost seemed like wounds that wouldn't heal, but now it's like they're opening up." She glanced nervously between the two Inquisitors. "I don't know what to do about it, though. I don't know what kind of magic would be safe to try using on them, what would even have a chance of fixing them."
She shrugged, somewhat poor posture making her look even smaller than she was. "I don't know. Harellan might know, he knows so much old magic, and he..." She gestured halfway up to her face, clear of the vallaslin that had originally adorned it when the Inquisition first met her. "He might know what to do."
“The eluvian has been reconfigured." Rilien broke the silence that followed. No doubt this was new information to some of those present, but definitely not all of them. “This lends credence to the theory that one or both of them departed through it. Unfortunately it also means that there is no good way to track them. I have deployed agents to all of the other known eluvian locations, and there is nothing to be found there, either." He paused; Marceline swore she could see a muscle in his jaw jump. No doubt even his limited emotional repertoire was strained with the news that his protegée was in this much danger, and the people who might be able to do something about it had vanished.
“I will keep looking."
That did not sound good, but Marceline knew even less of the marks. "Unfortunate," Marceline said with a taut frown, "That he decided to take his leave so soon then." She shook her head and her eyes fell back to the Divine's letter. It was just another thing to worry about in the coming days, but the marks was not something that it sounded like they were equipped to deal with now, as much she wished it was. "Astraia, you'll keep looking into this?" She asked, "And I assume you'll help," she added with a glance toward Rilien. It wasn't really a question she needed an answer to.
"The rest of us will prepare for the meeting."