Who: The Warden, the Witch and the Bard (aka Maia, Morrigan and Leliana) What: Tea time discussions of happy things like the Blight, darkspawn and red lyrium. When: Recently! Where: A tea house and eatery Warnings: Fairly tame, though darkspawn, Blights and red lyrium aren't that nice
Leave it to Leliana to choose something quaint and adorable for a lunch between soon-to-be married women - a vintage house converted into a tea house and eatery, each room a different theme. From something queenly and posh to whimsical and dainty, but she’d chosen a somewhat more vibrant little room for them to chit-chat in. It was a tribute to Alice in Wonderland, the walls painted to tell the story of her fall down the rabbit hole and through what was probably the most well-known acid trip in literature and children’s movies.
Their was a large selection of tea to choose from and simple snacks, like finger sandwiches and scones, chocolate-covered strawberries and parfait cups. Blackberry chai had been her own choice, poured in a teacup with a tag attached that said drink me. Leliana thought it was precious. “You’ll both have to tell me how China went. It must have been lovely, no?”
Morrigan wasn’t certain why she’d agreed to this gathering, but Maia was rather persuasive when she wanted to be. She was in that awkward stage of getting along on some level with both Leliana and Alistair in this world, which served to unnerve considering their relationships in the dreams were antagonistic at best. But she’d do her best to play nice and not fall back into bad habits her dream self tended to do during the Blight.
Though of course Leliana would choose a place like this. She could stomach the Alice in Wonderland room. It wasn’t too cutesy for her, and she did find the selection of tea and snacks rather fetching. It took her a while to choose a tea, but she finally did. But she had a new ring on her finger that hadn’t been there before the trip to China. “T’was lovely, yes. Save for the little incident in the tomb.” She eyed Maia, then Leliana, uncertain if Maia had told her about that. Or if Leliana had heard about it through her network.
Really, Maia would like to do a proper reunion, but since it was really just them and Leliana, that probably wasn't an option.
The tea house was, franklu, adorable. "It was quite lovely, thank you. Even if I had to burn my favourite blouse when we torched some darkspawn."
She'd only really mentioned it once on the network, and had promised to tell Alistair about their trip. "Becuase of course you can't go underground with a warden and not expect some darkspawn."
Maker’s breath. Conversing about darkspawn over tea? It was ultimately fitting, she supposed, and while Leliana’s face wasn’t one of complete and utter shock, those copper brows did lift in reaction. “Dark spawn in China,” she murmured under her breath, mulling that over. “No, I suppose that is true. I know there is technically an entrance to the Deep Roads around here somewhere, but the tunnels seem limited. It doesn’t go any further than some sort of treasure room, I hear.”
Though she imagined if they took a pick-axe (or a mage used a blasty sort of spell) and knocked a rock wall over, they could find a more elaborate network of tunnels underground. She didn’t think they were quite that desperate to test that theory. “Do you think it may be something to be concerned about here? We had the Breach, it only seems fitting to have the Blight ravage us too.”
“In the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, no less,” Morrigan added. It had been both surprising and not surprising when they’d encountered them. Max had told her about the Deep Roads in Orange County, though she didn’t know how far they went, nor did she really want to. Morrigan had little wish to go back into the Deep Roads. Not unless a darkspawn horde was amassing to attack.
“I suppose ‘tis not out of the question. The Breach happened, and much else has happened from the worlds others dream of. A Blight would not be out of the question, though I would rather not go through another one.” She glanced at Maia, knowing that if such a thing happened, she would make the offer to do the ritual again. Which obviously meant sleeping with Alistair. And that was not something she wished to think about.
“Just when you think it was safe to spelunk, Darkspawn.” Maia’s eye twinkle quickly faded. “I’ve lied to others about this, but I can’t keep it from you two. I’ve heard whisperings. I don’t know if it’s bullshite from the dreams or the Calling, or what. But I’ve heard the whisperings. They’re not strong like the Blight. Not yet, anyway.”
Dream bleedover would be the best case scenario. Drive her a bit crazy but it was better than a Blight. For that matter, actually going crazy with the Calling would be better than the Blight.
Leliana took a second to sip her tea, the downward dip of her lips a sign a worry. “Perhaps it wouldn’t be unwise to hope for the best and expect the worse? It all is very possible. Has Alistair heard anything, by any chance?” By all means, it could - and she hoped - the whisperings Maia heard were lingering vestiges from the dreams, but if it reaches Alistair? Plenty of reason to believe that it was a very real threat coming their way.
A Blight, the taint, an archdemon. It was a disaster waiting to happen and their home was, literally, a disaster zone itself. It probably could survive it, but not without casualties.
Some color drained from Morrigan’s face at Maia’s admission. She seriously hoped it was bleedover from the dreams. If it wasn’t, then time was of the essence in preparing the other Dreamers for a potential invasion. She took a slow breath, followed by a sip of tea, eyes moving from Maia to Leliana. “Not that I know of. Though I am probably the last person he would confess such a thing to.”
But she hoped that Alistair didn’t hear it. A Blight was not something they needed to deal with. Especially when they’d had to deal with the Breach not that long ago.
“I don’t believe he has. I just need to figure out how to ask without worrying him overly much. I still need to tell him about China.” And she would. She just wanted him to have a normal type of life. No darkspawn or dragons or strange creatures or unwanted kingships. But still, they should be on the same page. “I suppose in any event we need to consider the Calling anyway. Or if would even apply here.”
Nothing about living here was ever normal. Leliana supposed if someone wanted a more mundane routine without gender-swapping surprises or sudden bleeding illnesses, they had the option of moving outside of this parameter of…oddness. Still, many of them stubbornly remained for various reasons - she personally had her fill of global traveling and bloodying her hands in death and secrecy. Running a boutique for shoes seemed like a fitting retirement plan for her.
“As in, listening to the whispers and music of darkspawn or being taken over by the taint?” During the time of the Breach she recalled her own Hero of Ferelden traveling, searching for a cure to to The Calling. It was somehow possible, considering Fiona was cured.
As far as the Calling went, Morrigan had some clues on that. But as it was, she had nothing concrete to discuss so she did not yet share that. Leliana’s question was also obviously directed at Maia, so Morrigan didn’t say anything, she simply took one of the sandwiches and took a bite of it. Time was of the essence no matter if this was dream-related or Maia starting to hear the Calling. She did not want to lose her, especially not to the madness of the taint. And she cared more than most people ever saw.
Maia had a good job tailored to her interests, and she could take sabbaticals if she wanted to see other places. It was obvious that for her at least, her dreams followed. Maybe if she moved away permanently. But then she’d miss certain people, not the least of which was Morrigan.
“The latter,” Maia replied. “The part where you go mad, or go to your death, which is far preferable to the former from all accounts.”
Leliana made a face. None of that seemed preferable, but then again she wasn’t a Warden herself. The last thing she wanted to see were her or Alistair succumbing to the taint that way, and it caused her eyes to flicker to Morrigan.
“What do you think?” she asked, setting the teacup back down onto the floral saucer. Fingers plucked a chocolate-covered strawberry from the tier of snacks, and instead of taking a bite she seemed more occupied in pulling the green foliage sprouting on top. “I would imagine if someone had any sort of arcane insight into this, you would be the best to go to.”
Morrigan’s gaze slid to Leliana. At least Leliana recognized that. “There is a possibility that a cure for the Blight exists. I came across a vague reference that seemed to have some merit backing it up as I looked further into it. I shared it with Maia in the dreams after she tracked me down. What it actually is, tis difficult to decipher. The reference I saw, while being insufferably vague, was also more of a strange riddle.” She squared her shoulders a bit. “Whatever it is, I believe my mother knew of it. The reference was in her grimoire. Which, thankfully, the dreams gave to me.”
Flemeth knew a great many things of Thedas. She’d lived many lives, and add on whatever knowledge Mythal had, and Morrigan’s mother was probably one of the only people who knew the secrets of the entire world’s history. Considering how Flemeth had even known why only a Grey Warden could kill an Archdemon, it stood to reason she knew a great deal of other things about the Wardens, darkspawn and the corruption thereof.
“Of course it would be a puzzle, it couldn’t be anything but. Never easy.” A riddle that was driving her mad. She would like to sit Flemeth down in a particularly uncomfortable chair and force her to spill all of those secrets. “Try not to go mad sifting through that tome, and do let me have a peek now and again. There’s probably some amount of blood magic involved, too, considering all that goes into the Joining.”
Ah, if only their tea was spiked - though she didn’t think anything would pair well with her milky and fruity tea, but she supposed they’d have to go through tentatively touching upon the possibility of a Blight with a sense of sobriety. Strawberry popped into her mouth, Leliana washed it down with her warm beverage. “I know of a mage-warden cured of the sickness, but how it came to be is a method still unknown to the my own version of the Hero of Ferelden - I don’t doubt the best place to search for it would be within those notes. Preparation is all we can attempt to do for something that may be inevitable.”
“I shall do my best, love,” Morrigan assured Maia as she looked at her. But as everything was when it came to Flemeth, nothing was straight forward. She never trusted a single word that came out of her mother’s mouth. Sipping her tea, she looked back at Leliana with interest. “That is at least promising to know that it can occur. Though t’would help if these dreams of ours would give more clues for where we are able to look.” But they were getting a bit besides the point. “As it stands, the presence of darkspawn in China could point to a potential future threat that we should prepare for. And as much as we may not wish to, we should perhaps look into other potential entrances to the Deep Roads, and if there is more to the ones under Orange County than have been explored.”
Which then reminded her of something. “Max told me of the lyrium vein he discovered. I suppose that also means we should be on the lookout for the potential for red lyrium to show up.” Lyrium was bad enough in its own right, but red lyrium was horrific. Morrigan had seen what it had done to the Red Templars in the Arbor Wilds. She had seen Corypheus’ dragon, even fought it. They did not need red lyrium getting loose in Orange County.
“If we do get an archdemon, I’ll do my best to apologize to California,” Maia quipped. She took a sip of her drink. Funny, flippant Maia as always, but she often pushed limits when it came to defeating the Blight. After growing up in the Circle, she’d found a cause to throw herself into, even if she had to damn others to do it. Sometimes she thought she should have died in Denarim. But then she was too selfish to. “Tell me about this red Lyrium. I’m afraid it was a bit past my memories.”
Leliana knew of the lyrium vein referred to; the Inquisitor was using it for a prosthetic that would allow a channeling and enhancement of magic, a thing she already voiced her concerned about and put it to the rest. Now with the appearance of darkspawn, red lyrium was also a very possible reality.
“We discovered red lyrium is regular lyrium infected with the taint,” she explained to Maia with a pensive hum, dropping another sugar cube into her chai. “Very potent, and much more dangerous. Varric and Hawke did a lot of research into it after what happened in Kirkwall - it drove the Knight-Commander literally mad, and changed her in a way we didn’t quite understand until the Templars siding with Corypheus were exposed to it. I have also dreamt of another…timeline, so to say, when Tevinter mages were experimenting with time magic - in it, red lyrium was all-consuming. It gives off heat like anger, and can spread like a fungus on a landscape. One of the goals during the Inquisition was to find the deposits of red lyrium to destroy them to stop its growth.”
Morrigan eyed Maia, knowing she was being flippant to hide the seriousness of the Blight. And she knew Maia well enough to know that she would do whatever it took to stop the Blight, even die. Which left Morrigan with having some emotions but she did her best to keep them to herself. No need to get emotional in public and in front of Leliana.
“I do wonder why it was not until recently that red lyrium surfaced? Though the implications of lyirum having the taint are disastrous. Only living creatures get the blight, so what is lyrium exactly?” Those were questions that weren’t necessarily easily answered, though Morrigan was certain if anyone knew potential answers, it would be Leliana. And she was a little frightened at the prospect of lyrium having the taint.
Lyrium with the taint? Maia could scarcely believe it. Oh, it made sense after some thought, but it was still such a smack upside the head that she sat there, eyes wide for several seconds as the implications sank in. Lyrium was alive? What if Lyrium was in some way the source? “It was first discovered deep underground, yes? How long between then and it reaching the surface?”
“Living,” was Leliana’s answer to the shapeshifter’s inquiry, serious as could be. “Perhaps not in the way you and I would define living, but it was a theory entertained by scholars and what we’ve experienced throughout the Inquisition has done well to confirm it.” Then, of course, there was earthquakes that rattled the Stormcoast that came to their attention - they wouldn’t subside and interrupted their lyrium trade with the Inquisition, and the reports from that investigation were…
Interesting.
Nightingale took in a deep breath, then exhaled a heavy sigh. “The Inquisitor learned that lyrium was the ‘blood of titans.’ Beings that came before the dwarves.” There were some secrets the Inquisition needed to keep; at that time, it’d been one of them. “As for your question, Maia, the red lyrium? It was underground, yes, in form of some kind of artifact - it was brought to the surface by Varric’s brother. It sung to him, and over the years corrupted him. I don’t know if red lyrium had been discovered before that, but it certainly became a presence afterwards.”
That gave Morrigan pause. Blood of titans, beings that pre-dated the dwarves? How very strange. She’d never heard of these creatures. She was aware there were oddities in the world that could not be easily explained, such as dwarven ruins on the surface, or how elves seemed to have lived alongside dwarves in the Deep Roads at some point.
Sometimes, Morrigan didn’t actually know everything. Which was an admission that she did not make lightly.
“Lyrium is blood of some ancient beings. That, I did not expect. Though I would suppose it should not be a complete surprise considering lyrium’s properties.” It made sense when one stopped to think about it.
Maia was silent for a moment after Morrigan had finished speaking. She looked down at her hands, then back up at the two of them as an odd expression crossed her face. Her emotions bubbled over, stemming from a mixture of old guilt and shame as to some of her actions in the dreams. And then she laughed. A deep belly sort of laugh, the kind that came with a great release of pressure.
She wiped at her eyes and said. “Lyrium is blood and we rely upon Lyrium for our magic. All magic is blood magic!”
Leliana blinked. Glad to see that the warden found some humor in the situation, she supposed? Or perhaps this was a way to cope with the scenarios they were discussing - laughter seemed like a good medicine as any other. “I would have to refer back to the reports from that mission but, yes.” They were in the rookery somewhere in Skyhold, hidden with the rest of any written correspondence she had ever received from agents.
A tiny spinach quiche was placed onto her plate from the assortment of eats. “I did not think our discussion would turn into some kind of business meeting, but I believe it is only fitting at this rate. We can never complain we are ever bored, no?”
Oh Maker, Maia was making one of her terrible jokes. Morrigan just shook her head a bit, knowing it was also part of her coping mechanisms so she didn’t do or say much more on that front. But welcome to Morrigan’s world, Leliana, this was the Warden she had to deal with in her dreams and in this life, the woman she loved for sometimes inexplicable reasons.
“Given the state of our dream world and things from it appearing here, t’was bound to happen sooner or later.” It was a conversation they would have had at some point in time, regardless of anything else. “Nevertheless, perhaps turning to lighter subjects may be best so as not to completely depress ourselves.”
Maia had experience with blood magic. She’d made deals. The irony that Lyrium was also blood had kind of struck her as very funny. Both the Chantry and the Circle could suck it.
“Ahem…” Maia cleared her throat. “I’m all for lighter subjects. And I know just the thing. Leliana, how would you like to help us with dresses and shoes for our wedding?”
Can of Worms. Opened.
Color Leliana not surprised, darlings. That ring on that specific finger had been noted - she had one of her own as well, and she thought it the perfect subject to segue into while their conversation lingered at the edges of her mind. “Congratulations,” she smiled, genuinely sweet. Her voice held a hint of glee through that French accent. “And I’d love to, of course. I can get second opinions on my own from you ladies as well.”
Wedding planning seemed like a more suitable topic, with all the dainty tea cups and snacks at their fingertips.