t(-.-t) (the_warden) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-25 16:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, maia amell (the warden), morrigan |
Who: Morrigan and Maia
What: Morrigan gets books of ancient elven lore, proceeds to geek out. Maia captures video evidence. They plot Solas's pre-emptive murder.
When: Recent
Where: Morrigan's place
Status: complete
rating: PG
Morrigan had gotten a dream gift, despite the fact that her dreams had seemed to have stopped a while back. Though this gift was certainly a good one. She’d received some books of ancient elven lore, written in ancient elvish. She was eager to start reading them, and after passing through her greenhouse once to ensure her plants were doing well, she made some tea, then curled up on the couch with the books. She tucked her legs under her and she started to read.
Thanks to having drank from the Well of Sorrows, she actually understood everything. The nuances of the language suddenly became so clear to her. She even started laughing a bit, her face lighting up as she read.
“Magnificent! Now it all makes sense! I now understand the nuance behind the elven words,” she marveled, more talking to herself than anything else. Or so she thought.
Maia hadn’t quite moved in yet. Oh she had several boxes in process, and she spent half her nights there, but the move was a Work In Progress. This morning was one of the ‘staying there’ nights, and she woke up late. She froze mid yawn, and raised her eyebrows. Folding her arms, Maia didn’t interrupt Morrigan. In fact, she had a better idea. She recorded her enthusiasm for posterity!
Morrigan was far too enraptured in the book to notice Maia had woken up and was now standing there. She had quite the smile on her face. “The ancient lore reveals patterns I never would have suspected! ‘Tis exhilarating, the rush of images...truth dangling just out of reach.” Seeing Morrigan this animated was a very rare thing. She seemed every bit the archaeologist who had just discovered Atlantis, the Holy Grail, and a whole host of lost knowledge from the ancient world all at the same time.
She was so animated that it was adorable, and Maia was recording every second of it. She’d keep it for herself. Maybe any kids they had. Not that she planned for any kids but this was Orange County, it happened. She could wake up with a willy one day. She finally broke her silence. “Tell the audience what you’ve uncovered, love.”
She startled as she heard Maia, looking over at her. “How long have you been there?” She asked, her heart pounding a bit in her chest. “Are you recording this?” She added, eyeing that device in Maia’s hand suspiciously.
“At least ten minutes,” Maia said, grinning from behind her phone. “I’m recording it for our grandbabies. Or grandpuppies as the case might be.” She approached her fiance, phone still held aloft. “What was that about truth out of reach, love?”
“You left out grandkittens, love. The cats are offended by that,” she teased lightly. Though the mention of grandchildren did hit on those very real maternal feelings she’d been having ever since dreaming of Kieran. But she’d kept those close to her, not really knowing what to do with them. Nevertheless, Maia asked about what she’d been talking about and she promptly went back to it.
“For instance, the eluvians. It was always assumed that their use was lost after the Tevinter conquest of Arlathan. But the ancient elves had closed all the paths to the Crossroads long before. They warred with themselves, and the eluvians were sealed to prevent an enemy from using them to attack. So much is misunderstood!”
“Tevinter wrote the histories,” Maia said. “As the elves faded, it only makes sense that a lot of knowledge and history would be lost. It’s really quite depressing. Could you imagine, if they’d never been through all that?” Though the fact that the elves had screwed themselves over was news to her. “What else have you discovered?”
“Tevinter was only part of the problem. The Chantry erased just as much.” Especially in relation to the elves. “Max told me a while back that Solas, an elven mage that was part of the Inquisition, was actually Fen’Harel. I have not found anything linking the two in my reading, but there could be merit to it. Max said that Solas was attempting to regain his strength, that he wishes to reshape the world with elven mages at the top of the hierarchy. If he is doing such a thing now, then perhaps he had something to do with the war between the elves that began their decline.”
“And water is wet.” That the chantry erased information was much less of a surprise. Anything that contradicted their doctrine tended to end up ignored, or worse. See exhibit a) mages and circles. While Maia might believe in the Maker, she’d seen far too much to put much stock into the Chantry.
“Indeed. I simply wish I had more texts to read. Perhaps I could glean more information about the lost history of the elves. Nevertheless, there are undoubtedly secrets in these few books my dreams delivered to me this morning that may prove intriguing.” Morrigan would like to say that perhaps there was some secret within these texts that could cure the Blight without making someone a Grey Warden, something to reverse the Joining. But the elven empire had existed and fallen long before the Blights ever began.
“Too bad we don’t have any elves about. At least not ones from our dreams.” There was that one lady, she knew, but she seemed to be an entirely different sort of elf. Elegant and ethereal and she’d met her once and it was hard not to love Luthien just a little bit. She was nearly as beautiful as Morrigan, and that was saying something to Maia.
“Ancient elves, to be precise. Though if Solas ever appears here, Max and Leliana may attempt to kill him on sight.” She looked at Maia. “There is also something else you should be aware of. I am uncertain if I told you about it after Max told me or not. Solas has my mother’s soul in him. Meaning not only is he Fen’Harel, but he is also Mythal as well. Were he to appear here, he could potentially control me the way Mythal could.” And that was entirely disconcerting, and Morrigan really wished she’d let the Inquisitor drink from the Well instead.
“If they wish to kill him on sight, there’s probably a good reason for it.” There were times Maia could be very hard lined, and she was entirely too okay with murdering a person for good reasons. It just had to be good reasons. Or at least convincing reasons.
Maia frowned. “In that case, we might have to make him disappear. I don’t care if he might be innocent in this world, the risk is too great.”
“Max may be more sympathetic, but you and I well know that Leliana does not take kindly to traitors. And Solas betrayed the Inquisition.” Morrigan suspected he had other things he was responsible for, but she had not asked Max and she wasn’t certain she wanted to know. “T’would be best to at least neutralize him before he becomes Fen’Harel. Otherwise one cannot know what he would do to this world.”
“Maybe there’s a spell in there we can use? We have enough mages, I think, to perhaps cage or neutralize him if not outright destroy him. Something we can put in place as a precaution. Think of it like a trap should he ever manifest as anything more than an elf mage.” That gave Solas a chance to be normal, while also protecting their butts, should he move into the county.
“Like a binding spell, you mean? Tis possible, yes, though we shall have to see.” A last resort would be tranquility, but that was the absolute last resort. Morrigan couldn’t imagine doing such a thing to another mage unless it was the only option they had left and the world was going to die if they didn’t do it.
Maia didn’t even consider Tranquility an option. It was that abhorrent to her. Though she’d have to suppose that saving the world meant compromising morals, which she’d done more than once. Or maybe her morals were elastic.
“Yes, exactly. There must be a way to bind a creature like that. Perhaps even to the point where he never realizes the connection.”
“I believe there could be. If demons can be bound, surely there is a way to bind other types of power.” After all, that’s what the Wardens had been doing, using blood magic to summon demons and then binding them to Corypheus. Morrigan was very glad that she didn’t have to see that first hand. “Perhaps if I knew more of how exactly the demons were being bound to Corypheus it could give us something to look into. We should talk to Max about that as he saw it first-hand. I only have second-hand accounts of it.”
“Are mages not demons, in a way? Not too different from spirits, just from our side of the veil.” That sounded like a nasty business, with Corypheus and binding demons to him. But it wouldn’t be the first time she’d done something risky, or dealing with Blood Magic. Like all things, it was all about intention.
“We can discuss it with Max. At the least it should be an interesting exercise in theory.”
“Some may see us as such, yes.” Morrigan would not put it quite like that. They simply had a stronger, deeper connection to the Fade than those without magic. “Indeed it should. Though for now, I believe we should turn the conversation to lighter topics. Would you not agree, love?” She hadn’t meant to turn the conversation to that darker, heavier subject.
“I’m … rather all for lighter subjects,” Maia agreed. It was such heavy stuff, what came over from Thedas. But she was glad they’d discussed it, now. She leaned in, brushing their lips together. “What if I made you brunch and you continued to geek out adorably over Elvish to me?”
So much of Thedas was heavy and dark, though it was not all doom and gloom. There were lighter and happier things as well. And there were many happier and lighter things in this world. Such as Morrigan’s fiancé who was offering to make food. “So long as you do not film nor photograph it in any way, you have a deal.”