[And sure enough, about fifteen minutes later there's a knock on the door by a mage who has his other hand jammed deeply in his pocket. He'd have no complaints if what's held there is prematurely broken, but there would be an issue if someone saw it. Somehow. Even though it's in the pocket and not capable of jumping out.
...He's a little paranoid about the phylacteries.]
[In this case, at least, not without some reason; Julius lets him in and closes the door again before he speaks.]
...thank you. Really, I -- it's more than I expected.
[It wasn't a choice without risk, and both of them know it. Julius certainly wouldn't have thought any less of Anders if he'd confided it to securing his own.]
[As soon as the door is closed, Anders pulls out the brightly glowing vial and holds it out.]
Of course. I'd an opening, and you're my friend.
[Seeing the name had made the choice easy, seeing the glow grow as they got back to Kirkwall had confirmed that it belonged to this Julius. All of that, and:]
And it's not like I trust the Inquisition with them. They'll defeat Corypheus, they're important for that and so I'll support them with that goal, but after that they're part of the Chantry and they're going to want a means to retain power. These? These could be key to that.
[He thinks not, but it's not impossible. They should have done it without prompting, but prompting might be sufficient if done persuasively. Still, he takes his own phylactery with gratitude.]
Even politically, keeping the phylacteries is short-sighted. But rhetoric claiaming you're overturning years of prejudice is easier when your choices are "mages" or "mages we can't control." Besides, many of the senior mages are, from what I understand, here rather than in Skyhold. At a minimum, they may need someone to point out to them that this could undermine their post-Corypheus power as easily as support it. In many ways, I suspect keeping them is the riskier option.
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no subject
[And sure enough, about fifteen minutes later there's a knock on the door by a mage who has his other hand jammed deeply in his pocket. He'd have no complaints if what's held there is prematurely broken, but there would be an issue if someone saw it. Somehow. Even though it's in the pocket and not capable of jumping out.
...He's a little paranoid about the phylacteries.]
no subject
...thank you. Really, I -- it's more than I expected.
[It wasn't a choice without risk, and both of them know it. Julius certainly wouldn't have thought any less of Anders if he'd confided it to securing his own.]
no subject
Of course. I'd an opening, and you're my friend.
[Seeing the name had made the choice easy, seeing the glow grow as they got back to Kirkwall had confirmed that it belonged to this Julius. All of that, and:]
And it's not like I trust the Inquisition with them. They'll defeat Corypheus, they're important for that and so I'll support them with that goal, but after that they're part of the Chantry and they're going to want a means to retain power. These? These could be key to that.
no subject
[He thinks not, but it's not impossible. They should have done it without prompting, but prompting might be sufficient if done persuasively. Still, he takes his own phylactery with gratitude.]
Even politically, keeping the phylacteries is short-sighted. But rhetoric claiaming you're overturning years of prejudice is easier when your choices are "mages" or "mages we can't control." Besides, many of the senior mages are, from what I understand, here rather than in Skyhold. At a minimum, they may need someone to point out to them that this could undermine their post-Corypheus power as easily as support it. In many ways, I suspect keeping them is the riskier option.