[ Marcus has located a spot with an air of privacy in spite of the open nature of the hall, which is easier done when it's as late as it is. He is waiting without pretense of having occupied himself in the time it took Julius to come downstairs -- no book or paperwork or other amusement, instead content to silently watch the window nearby, in company of his own thoughts, arms folded and posture forward.
He doesn't really look like a mage. Not only because of the scars on his face, but also his dress; frock coat and necktie and the proper way he's bound his hair all imply a specific kind of upper-middleclass Free Marcher social setting, where Circles had stripped all of that away. Expensive and tidy angles, in plain greys and an absence of flourish.
There is food, also, gathered. The bits and pieces of the end of a dinner service. Stew of the day in bowls, bread, a pitcher of dark ale.
Spying Julius, he sits up a little, and gestures for the empty space opposite him across the table. ]
There wasn't a lot of variety to choose from. We're well into our winter stocks, it seems.
[He says it with a rueful smile as he comes to sit down.]
It's my own fault for leaving it so late. I got rather caught up in what I was doing and lost track of the time. I'm glad you're eating a bit, too; it's always awkward to eat while the other party just watches, but it occurred to me after we spoke that it might be late enough you didn't want anything.
[ Marcus picks up the bread as Julius speaks, roughly breaking it with a twist but all in a lax and lazy manner, and placing the other half on the other man's side of the table. He then sees about sharing between them the ale. ]
Well, I shouldn't want to make things awkward.
[ Amusement is there, fleeting, blink and you'll miss it. ]
It was a late invitation. In many ways. I met Petra just as winter was getting its teeth in.
[No titles there, evidently. He doesn't react to the lack of it, though, reaching for his bowl of soup to dip the bread in.]
She mentioned. And while I'm pleased to have eventually made your better acquaintance, I'm not under the impression that I'm owed an introduction to everyone she knows. We both have many irons in the fire, after all. Not that I'm ungrateful for the invitation now, mind,
[he adds, glancing up]
but I wouldn't necessarily call it late unless you have other reasons to think so.
Because I expected to make fast friends with likeminded folk.
[ A little bluntly in this admission, like an ulterior motive dug up from the dirt and offered plainly. ]
But I've found there is much work to do, and this is true doubly for those with proper duties, and I have a habit for observation. But, as you say. [ He'll cede the point, spidering his hand over his cup of ale. ]
[ The answer is 'no', but he says so by way of thinking over his answer for a few seconds of silence, collecting his thoughts. ]
That you have reaped some reward from sincere and diligent work, and that in the same manner as your lady companion, you've found a posting that suits you. Not simply, that is, for your skill, but a position as mobile, and vital, as it is inoffensive.
What I can't learn through observation alone is what you intend to do with it.
My bold question, boldly answered. Fair enough. I originally got the posting as a lucky chance, almost; it was empty and they needed it not to remain so, back when we were still the Inquisition. If it's remained inoffensive, it's been largely in the finessing of any inherently sharp edges.
[Of the position? Of his own personality? Evidence might suggest both.]
[ During Julius's response, Marcus had set to tending to his food. Neat but not overly mannerly, eating with his hands and pieces of crusty bread, elbows set against the edge of the table. ]
Because the politics and motivations of the mage heading the project that relates most directly to the downfall of Corypheus, Maker willing, is interesting.
And it might, at some point in the future, go remarked upon.
[ Then he smiles, a little crooked, as if finding himself amusing. ]
But please, I truly did invite you to dinner. I've no intention of interrogation.
[ Wryly delivered over his raised tankard of ale, which he then drinks from. ]
Rest assured, we needn't talk about the weather, either. I'd learn more about the organisation, as you see it. My duties thus far have consisted of assisting a Chantry sister in collecting medical leeches, and breaking Petra's fall down a mountain.
[Personally, at least, he is grateful for the latter.]
I suppose I'll start with a question, though. What brought you to us, rather than the Inquisition? I can think of several possible reasons, but I'm not sure which is yours.
[ His eyes are down, now, as he speaks, focused on his meal. In some ways, he's allowing himself to be observed without challenge, although there is not very much externally to learn from -- save that in spite of some mannerly airs, he doesn't mind talking in and around bites of food. ]
While the Lady of Iron holds court in the Frostbacks, a more outspoken collection of voices started echoing about the Gallows. I have friends, here, more so than out there.
[ He glances up, and adds; ] I fought with a few of them.
[ The likes of Averesch and Voss might dispute a friendship, but. They're not here. ]
[It's fine, claiming Voss as a friend when she's not there to embarrassingly disagree is a high-quality hobby for all sorts of mages.]
I suppose being outspoken is one department in which Riftwatch is likely to hold true to its reputation. We've no shortage of opinions, and no shortage of people eager to loudly share them, for better or worse.
[It's mostly fondly said, at least in this context. There are times he's said it less fondly.]
[ Julius is not the first person to invent mannerly conditions prior to inquiry, to alleviate some form of rhetorical pressure or make innocent a bold question, and yet Marcus sort of looks at him like he has, just now.
The distraction passes, amusement receding as he speaks to the question. ]
Immediately before, [ he says ] I was situated not far out of Wildervale, here in the Free Marches. Myself and some companions had negotiated our way into some mostly unused territories to forge something of a home, for the time being. And I was catching up on my reading.
[ Not terribly heroic, but he doesn't infuse apology into his tone. ]
[Genuinely so. Julius had never been pleased to have to hide, but that aside, his time on the road after the Circles fell had been a taste of another life, and not one without its charms. He wasn't inclined to romanticize it -- keeping himself fed and housed hadn't always been easy. But there were things he missed, too.]
It's common knowledge I wasn't fighting before Corypheus changed the stakes. I was worried, when I first came, that it might be a problem. It hasn't been, for the most part, at least not in ways that impede the work. But it's not as if I had an impressive "immediately before" myself.
[While it's framed as commiseration, it's also something of a quiet test. Julius' lack of participation in the Mage-Templar war is no secret, but he doesn't have a sense of whether it's something that Marcus in particular will judge him for.]
[ Marcus isn't moved to pick apart Julius's words, not out loud, but there is no real sense that he's somehow missed implications, the easy avenues that could lead to something like confrontation. He finds his own navigation. ]
We've not yet entered a world where we can just lay down our belongings and live peaceably, try though we did. Perhaps we felt a little entitled to make the attempt.
And this is not, I've heard, the first time you've taken up arms either.
Most soldiers I've met aren't eager to run back into the fray.
[ Agreeably, spoken as he tears a pinch out of the bread roll he procured for them. Then; ]
Highly dependent on the fray, though. The nature of the peril, the world being imperiled. I want to say that qualifier is both why I took my time as well as why I came back around. Would you agree, as to yourself?
[ He takes a bite of food, a more wolfish motion than the rest of his more mannely affectations. ]
The scale of the conflict rather abruptly changed. It felt that whatever I wanted to do next would require the world to survive Corypheus first. And I've never been inclined to sit around and wait on someone else to fix a problem on my behalf.
[He reaches for his tankard, to have a swallow of ale. Then he adds:]
I'm not afraid of a fight if there's some good to be gotten out of it. I suppose the arithmetic of loss and gain shifted fairly definitively. But of course, that will always be a subjective judgment in any situation.
[ He'd said this wasn't an interrogation, but perhaps Julius can tell, even with as little as they know about each other, that Marcus would very much like to discard that reassurance as he studies him across the table. ]
Sometimes, [ he says, after thoughtful silence, ] I find the math doesn't quite add up to doing what one intuits as the right thing.
[Franker than he'd often be, but he suspects it's the better way forward, here. He's still feeling Marcus out, but he's willing to extend him a bit of honesty based on his view of Petrana's ability to evaluate people's trustworthiness.]
It was a mixed outcome that got interrupted by a major shift in the state of the world. And anyone who says it's clear what will happen to mages in Southern Thedas after Corypheus is either selling a point of view or hasn't thought about it long enough.
But math isn't everything, regardless. If it were, I doubt anyone would be joining Riftwatch, for one.
[ Agreeing with more than just a joke about the wildcard that is Riftwatch. Done with his food for the moment, he curls his hands around his tankard and lets it rest against the table. ]
Hard though it is to shake a sense of something dead in the water after having fought for it. I should speak plainly-- [ A slightly inelegant switching of tracks manifested too in a shift of his posture, but he makes it nonetheless. ]
My curiousity as to a mage who did not take up arms as others did is not in some-- effort to know who to trust or befriend. Even if your lady companion had not already spoken of your shift in political allegiance, although I find that all the more intriguing. Hopeful, even.
A mixed outcome, as you said, not the least of which because we are a mixed people. The only enemy I would care to make is the kind that would stop others from seeking what they need to feel free.
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He doesn't really look like a mage. Not only because of the scars on his face, but also his dress; frock coat and necktie and the proper way he's bound his hair all imply a specific kind of upper-middleclass Free Marcher social setting, where Circles had stripped all of that away. Expensive and tidy angles, in plain greys and an absence of flourish.
There is food, also, gathered. The bits and pieces of the end of a dinner service. Stew of the day in bowls, bread, a pitcher of dark ale.
Spying Julius, he sits up a little, and gestures for the empty space opposite him across the table. ]
There wasn't a lot of variety to choose from. We're well into our winter stocks, it seems.
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[He says it with a rueful smile as he comes to sit down.]
It's my own fault for leaving it so late. I got rather caught up in what I was doing and lost track of the time. I'm glad you're eating a bit, too; it's always awkward to eat while the other party just watches, but it occurred to me after we spoke that it might be late enough you didn't want anything.
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Well, I shouldn't want to make things awkward.
[ Amusement is there, fleeting, blink and you'll miss it. ]
It was a late invitation. In many ways. I met Petra just as winter was getting its teeth in.
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She mentioned. And while I'm pleased to have eventually made your better acquaintance, I'm not under the impression that I'm owed an introduction to everyone she knows. We both have many irons in the fire, after all. Not that I'm ungrateful for the invitation now, mind,
[he adds, glancing up]
but I wouldn't necessarily call it late unless you have other reasons to think so.
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[ A little bluntly in this admission, like an ulterior motive dug up from the dirt and offered plainly. ]
But I've found there is much work to do, and this is true doubly for those with proper duties, and I have a habit for observation. But, as you say. [ He'll cede the point, spidering his hand over his cup of ale. ]
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[His humor is good, but then, it generally is. Or seems to be. Both, either.]
Is it too bold to ask what you've observed?
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That you have reaped some reward from sincere and diligent work, and that in the same manner as your lady companion, you've found a posting that suits you. Not simply, that is, for your skill, but a position as mobile, and vital, as it is inoffensive.
What I can't learn through observation alone is what you intend to do with it.
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My bold question, boldly answered. Fair enough. I originally got the posting as a lucky chance, almost; it was empty and they needed it not to remain so, back when we were still the Inquisition. If it's remained inoffensive, it's been largely in the finessing of any inherently sharp edges.
[Of the position? Of his own personality? Evidence might suggest both.]
Why are you interested?
[He can think of a few potential reasons.]
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Because the politics and motivations of the mage heading the project that relates most directly to the downfall of Corypheus, Maker willing, is interesting.
And it might, at some point in the future, go remarked upon.
[ Then he smiles, a little crooked, as if finding himself amusing. ]
But please, I truly did invite you to dinner. I've no intention of interrogation.
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[rueful. It's common enough knowledge that he sees no reason to shy away from it.]
But fair. I'm not the most practiced at true leisure.
[He was about to say these days, but it might suggest a time he was better at it. After a brief pause:]
Miss Poppell did succeed at teaching me croquet, a rifter game with absolutely no practical applications whatsoever.
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[ Wryly delivered over his raised tankard of ale, which he then drinks from. ]
Rest assured, we needn't talk about the weather, either. I'd learn more about the organisation, as you see it. My duties thus far have consisted of assisting a Chantry sister in collecting medical leeches, and breaking Petra's fall down a mountain.
[ Very illustrious, all round. ]
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[Personally, at least, he is grateful for the latter.]
I suppose I'll start with a question, though. What brought you to us, rather than the Inquisition? I can think of several possible reasons, but I'm not sure which is yours.
no subject
[ His eyes are down, now, as he speaks, focused on his meal. In some ways, he's allowing himself to be observed without challenge, although there is not very much externally to learn from -- save that in spite of some mannerly airs, he doesn't mind talking in and around bites of food. ]
While the Lady of Iron holds court in the Frostbacks, a more outspoken collection of voices started echoing about the Gallows. I have friends, here, more so than out there.
[ He glances up, and adds; ] I fought with a few of them.
[ The likes of Averesch and Voss might dispute a friendship, but. They're not here. ]
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I suppose being outspoken is one department in which Riftwatch is likely to hold true to its reputation. We've no shortage of opinions, and no shortage of people eager to loudly share them, for better or worse.
[It's mostly fondly said, at least in this context. There are times he's said it less fondly.]
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[ Agreement, hummed around his next bite. He lists back in his chair, then, wiping his hands off crumbs. ]
And if I am to make myself useful in combating a Tevinter darkspawn magister despot, I might as well do so in good company.
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[Not so different from why Julius, himself, decided to turn up at Skyhold in the first place.]
If you don't wish to say, you needn't, but I am curious: Where were you, immediately before?
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The distraction passes, amusement receding as he speaks to the question. ]
Immediately before, [ he says ] I was situated not far out of Wildervale, here in the Free Marches. Myself and some companions had negotiated our way into some mostly unused territories to forge something of a home, for the time being. And I was catching up on my reading.
[ Not terribly heroic, but he doesn't infuse apology into his tone. ]
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[Genuinely so. Julius had never been pleased to have to hide, but that aside, his time on the road after the Circles fell had been a taste of another life, and not one without its charms. He wasn't inclined to romanticize it -- keeping himself fed and housed hadn't always been easy. But there were things he missed, too.]
It's common knowledge I wasn't fighting before Corypheus changed the stakes. I was worried, when I first came, that it might be a problem. It hasn't been, for the most part, at least not in ways that impede the work. But it's not as if I had an impressive "immediately before" myself.
[While it's framed as commiseration, it's also something of a quiet test. Julius' lack of participation in the Mage-Templar war is no secret, but he doesn't have a sense of whether it's something that Marcus in particular will judge him for.]
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[ Marcus isn't moved to pick apart Julius's words, not out loud, but there is no real sense that he's somehow missed implications, the easy avenues that could lead to something like confrontation. He finds his own navigation. ]
We've not yet entered a world where we can just lay down our belongings and live peaceably, try though we did. Perhaps we felt a little entitled to make the attempt.
And this is not, I've heard, the first time you've taken up arms either.
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[And, perhaps, not unrelated to his complicated position when it came to taking them up again.]
I'd foolishly hoped the Fifth Blight was my lifetime's measure of potentially world-ending peril, but alas, no such luck.
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[ Agreeably, spoken as he tears a pinch out of the bread roll he procured for them. Then; ]
Highly dependent on the fray, though. The nature of the peril, the world being imperiled. I want to say that qualifier is both why I took my time as well as why I came back around. Would you agree, as to yourself?
[ He takes a bite of food, a more wolfish motion than the rest of his more mannely affectations. ]
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[Julius considers that.]
The scale of the conflict rather abruptly changed. It felt that whatever I wanted to do next would require the world to survive Corypheus first. And I've never been inclined to sit around and wait on someone else to fix a problem on my behalf.
[He reaches for his tankard, to have a swallow of ale. Then he adds:]
I'm not afraid of a fight if there's some good to be gotten out of it. I suppose the arithmetic of loss and gain shifted fairly definitively. But of course, that will always be a subjective judgment in any situation.
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[ He'd said this wasn't an interrogation, but perhaps Julius can tell, even with as little as they know about each other, that Marcus would very much like to discard that reassurance as he studies him across the table. ]
Sometimes, [ he says, after thoughtful silence, ] I find the math doesn't quite add up to doing what one intuits as the right thing.
The rebellion did, after all, fail at its war.
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[Franker than he'd often be, but he suspects it's the better way forward, here. He's still feeling Marcus out, but he's willing to extend him a bit of honesty based on his view of Petrana's ability to evaluate people's trustworthiness.]
It was a mixed outcome that got interrupted by a major shift in the state of the world. And anyone who says it's clear what will happen to mages in Southern Thedas after Corypheus is either selling a point of view or hasn't thought about it long enough.
But math isn't everything, regardless. If it were, I doubt anyone would be joining Riftwatch, for one.
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That is so.
[ Agreeing with more than just a joke about the wildcard that is Riftwatch. Done with his food for the moment, he curls his hands around his tankard and lets it rest against the table. ]
Hard though it is to shake a sense of something dead in the water after having fought for it. I should speak plainly-- [ A slightly inelegant switching of tracks manifested too in a shift of his posture, but he makes it nonetheless. ]
My curiousity as to a mage who did not take up arms as others did is not in some-- effort to know who to trust or befriend. Even if your lady companion had not already spoken of your shift in political allegiance, although I find that all the more intriguing. Hopeful, even.
A mixed outcome, as you said, not the least of which because we are a mixed people. The only enemy I would care to make is the kind that would stop others from seeking what they need to feel free.
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