"Once you leave? Well, it depends... but usually leaving Orzammar is permanent. You've abandoned the Stone, and your Ancestors, and your people, and then, they have little choice but to abandon you in turn." Signy's mouth turned downwards, a frown starting to grow on her face; it had not been that way for her, but explaining it was awakening insecurities and memories that had frightened her, when she had first been exiled. What was she now? What would happen when she died? "But Dagna's case was a special one--it was her discovery, and how useful it was. But such things happen only to Paragons: really, only to two. Gherlon the Blood-Risen, and Dagna."
She folded her hands in front of her, a smile spreading on her face: "You--thank you." The smile was warm, sincere, and more confident than Signy had felt in days. Weeks, perhaps. "I don't know how conscription has made a difference, but I know you'll keep me safe." She paused a moment, and then, "So you had mages where you grew up? Where did you grow up, actually?"