[A pause, not as if he's shocked, but if he's selecting his words. (Or, perhaps, double-checking that the message is private.)]
I think that, as long as the crisis remains acute, they are not willing to do without mages, or even the majority of mages. In that, the strike achieved one aim. It proved that they were not willing to discard the resource, even with less than perfect docile passivity.
How far they can be pushed, or wisely should be, is a different question.
Wisdom requires a consensus. Just abstention from healing split us down the middle, and that was never going to be tested.
Unity of feeling is dangerous when it accompanies no unity of method. If word of Skyhold's indolence had reached us without a plan in place, which voices do you imagine would be agitating? How would it have swung, given the choice between no choice, and escalation?
[ four years ago, but they both know how the aequitarians voted. once the rebellion was out of its box, ]
If the threat of a strike falls flat, or will be imagined to?
[ this is all a bit hypothetical: the inquisition needs them more than ever right now. but as a (strictly hypothetical) agitator,
well. it's nice to know how people see themselves. ]
No large enough group will ever be unanimous, [he observes, simple and mild, if perhaps masking something a bit more focused.] The strike wasn't. The rebellion wasn't. That's not exclusive to mages, we've just got higher stakes for our internal disagreements and fewer allies to create a margin for error.
I don't think we need to imagine too hard, when the Rifters provided an all too apt object lesson shortly after. They have less in common, or many of them think so, and they managed not to send the former head of diplomacy in their delegation to Skyhold.
[He allows that he may be biased in Petrana's favor, but even allowing for that... he thinks it's illustrative.]
And hitched us together for it. We owe Mme. de Cedoux a debt,
[ which isn't an endorsement of sending her, but certainly isn't a rejection of it. resources shouldn't go untapped, if perhaps, they also shouldn't go before the faces they just spat in. ]
That we don't to her fellows. They're quicker to call for blood than our most extreme. I don't imagine they were reined in to negotiate without promises,
[ he does listen to the crystals. to card games — ]
It would do to be aware of what those were. The next internal disagreement will be shared between us.
Rather my point. For good or ill, the Rifters are less a group than we are -- not that mages are so unanimous, I grant you, but the Rifters provide a cautionary tale as to the alternative.
But. I agree that I would like to know what promises were made. It's easy to imagine the sort of lumping together the Chantry and others might like to do the moment they're able. Did you have a particular method of finding out in mind?
Possibly. It rather depends on how you ask, I suspect. Based on observation, anything that comes across accusatory will get us nowhere, but I wish I knew more about any of the people we'd be approaching, to decide on a way to frame it. Three of those who went I don't know at all, beyond reputation. I've worked with the provost, but I can't say I've much of a read on him. And I think I inadvertently offended Adalia's dragon, the one time we spoke. You?
[ the provost keeps a tranquil about. it says something, isaac suspects, of his willingness to share. adalia isn't an option. the other two,
this would be a lot easier if someone would just cry out internal policy considerations during sex. or another someone would then willingly share that information. if julius is pretending to complete obliviousness, he's done a fine job — but isaac doubts that. it's easier to refuse to see a question than to falsify an answer. ]
Perhaps we're going at it from the wrong angle.
[ reconsider: ]
Whose voices do we know most in need of taming?
[ who were the promises made to? that other one. sign elf. ]
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no subject
I think that, as long as the crisis remains acute, they are not willing to do without mages, or even the majority of mages. In that, the strike achieved one aim. It proved that they were not willing to discard the resource, even with less than perfect docile passivity.
How far they can be pushed, or wisely should be, is a different question.
no subject
Wisdom requires a consensus. Just abstention from healing split us down the middle, and that was never going to be tested.
Unity of feeling is dangerous when it accompanies no unity of method. If word of Skyhold's indolence had reached us without a plan in place, which voices do you imagine would be agitating? How would it have swung, given the choice between no choice, and escalation?
[ four years ago, but they both know how the aequitarians voted. once the rebellion was out of its box, ]
If the threat of a strike falls flat, or will be imagined to?
[ this is all a bit hypothetical: the inquisition needs them more than ever right now. but as a (strictly hypothetical) agitator,
well. it's nice to know how people see themselves. ]
no subject
I don't think we need to imagine too hard, when the Rifters provided an all too apt object lesson shortly after. They have less in common, or many of them think so, and they managed not to send the former head of diplomacy in their delegation to Skyhold.
[He allows that he may be biased in Petrana's favor, but even allowing for that... he thinks it's illustrative.]
no subject
[ which isn't an endorsement of sending her, but certainly isn't a rejection of it. resources shouldn't go untapped, if perhaps, they also shouldn't go before the faces they just spat in. ]
That we don't to her fellows. They're quicker to call for blood than our most extreme. I don't imagine they were reined in to negotiate without promises,
[ he does listen to the crystals. to card games — ]
It would do to be aware of what those were. The next internal disagreement will be shared between us.
no subject
But. I agree that I would like to know what promises were made. It's easy to imagine the sort of lumping together the Chantry and others might like to do the moment they're able. Did you have a particular method of finding out in mind?
no subject
[ that's a genuine question. you got a better idea julius ]
no subject
no subject
this would be a lot easier if someone would just cry out internal policy considerations during sex. or another someone would then willingly share that information. if julius is pretending to complete obliviousness, he's done a fine job — but isaac doubts that. it's easier to refuse to see a question than to falsify an answer. ]
Perhaps we're going at it from the wrong angle.
[ reconsider: ]
Whose voices do we know most in need of taming?
[ who were the promises made to? that other one. sign elf. ]
no subject
A valid point. Who's already shown an inability or disinclination to keep their thoughts quiet? Perhaps a productive avenue for "just asking," that.