bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
It would be creepy to say so out loud, but Bethen's immediate thought upon hearing Signy's admission was that she wanted to study her. Not in that weird...dissection or measurement or physical way, just...see what she could do. Because she was just...an impossibility. One incredibly important lesson she had been taught was defied by the young woman simply being, sitting there in front of her, close enough to reach out and touch if she didn't think that motion would be equally as weird and awkward as her current line of thought. After all, Signy was still a person, too. She suddenly hoped it didn't look like she had been staring -- well, she had been, but it was better if the dwarf didn't realize it.
Beth tried to focus on her words instead, and the comparative analysis of humanity's primary guide to faith to dwarven ideals, nodding slowly as she went along. Funny that some of a lapsed Andrastian's closests friends were her servants; Bethen took no offense to the notion that the statues of the Maker's Bride were not nearly as impressive as the constructs honoring Signy's predecessors. It was actually fascinating to hear her reflections and observations on the world that Beth considered her everyday; it was like being on the other side of a looking glass. She couldn't help but laugh a little, "Please don't take offense to this, but...I have to admit that it's strange to imagine Dagna being something of an...idol. Not surprising, just... It's not how I remember her, if you know what I mean?" Reconciling the picture of this bright-eyed girl, no older than Signy herself, showing up quite ragged at their shoreline, requesting entry into the Circle to study and asking a million questions per minute, with what was likely depicted in one of those massive stone carvings that overlooked an entire thaig, was admittedly difficult for her.
"Did she send you here, then? To...represent what she had accomplished? Or...did something else happen?" she asked quietly, having gotten this much information out of her already that she didn't think hearing the rest of the story would be too difficult to achieve. Then she recalled the way that the smaller mage had carefully chosen the word 'situation' previously, and decided that she didn't want to push the subject. Though Beth herself was often liable to blurting out the first thing to come to mind, it was possibly too soon to delve into such a touchy topic. "But...er, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand, completely. If you have any questions about the Circle, though, things that Dagna-- the Paragon, didn't answer, I can try to help."