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.
I've changed what I call myself, that's so. I allow that's not all,
[He can practically feel Petrana giving him a look, for all she's absent,]
but I've always held that separating all mages into two ideological camps was an oversimplification. I understand why it happened, but the fact remains. I've always hoped for an improved, sustainable system. What that will look like...
[Julius sighs, and takes a spoonful of soup. After a moment:]
Has she, or anyone else, talked to you about the incident with the phylacteries yet?
[ It'd be an easy thing, to dive deeply into such matters, and Marcus holds off as Julius steers the conversation along. There's time enough, Maker knows, to embark on the messy business that is the particulars, beneath the veneer of generalities.
But they're just having dinner, so. ]
She spoke a little of that, yes, and her part in it.
Mmm. It was complicated, obviously. But I was part of the group that the mages voted on, to go negotiate. And I thought at the time... it seemed to be the skeleton of something that might be built on. A group of mages — Maker knows we didn't agree on much — working out priorities and working together to try to reach an agreement everyone could live with.
The deck was stacked against us, but we were invited to the table, which was quite a first concession in itself under the circumstances.
[He wasn't sure it would happen, if the matter had come up today instead. But that was a different problem.
I'd heard a little of the mages of the Inquisition forming a council, of kinds, [ he says, absently turning his cup around in place at a fidget. ] Not long after the ceasefire. I couldn't say what they accomplished, what they wished to accomplish.
But I had heard of negotiations over the phylacteries. That the Chantry recognised a negotiation.
[ Marcus, likely, does not strike someone as a mage who is content with small concessions, and his tone is a little flat.
I heard about the council, too. Before my time, though.
[It's almost absent, largely giving himself a moment to think of how he wants to put the answer to that.]
It was a reminder, [he says, eventually.] An objective illustration of the principle that we needn't all agree entirely in order to be united enough to get something done. It was frustrating and I still think the Inquisition squandered a useful opportunity on an organizational level by being too timid. But it proved to the Inquisition's mages that we could still listen to one another. That was a valuable foundational stone.
[He exhales, leans back.]
Granted, the Divine election was happy to come along and do its best to undermine all of that tentative optimism.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[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.
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
[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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[He can practically feel Petrana giving him a look, for all she's absent,]
but I've always held that separating all mages into two ideological camps was an oversimplification. I understand why it happened, but the fact remains. I've always hoped for an improved, sustainable system. What that will look like...
[Julius sighs, and takes a spoonful of soup. After a moment:]
Has she, or anyone else, talked to you about the incident with the phylacteries yet?
no subject
But they're just having dinner, so. ]
She spoke a little of that, yes, and her part in it.
no subject
The deck was stacked against us, but we were invited to the table, which was quite a first concession in itself under the circumstances.
[He wasn't sure it would happen, if the matter had come up today instead. But that was a different problem.
no subject
But I had heard of negotiations over the phylacteries. That the Chantry recognised a negotiation.
[ Marcus, likely, does not strike someone as a mage who is content with small concessions, and his tone is a little flat.
Curiousity ekes into his tone as he asks; ]
What was the best thing out of that, for you?
no subject
[It's almost absent, largely giving himself a moment to think of how he wants to put the answer to that.]
It was a reminder, [he says, eventually.] An objective illustration of the principle that we needn't all agree entirely in order to be united enough to get something done. It was frustrating and I still think the Inquisition squandered a useful opportunity on an organizational level by being too timid. But it proved to the Inquisition's mages that we could still listen to one another. That was a valuable foundational stone.
[He exhales, leans back.]
Granted, the Divine election was happy to come along and do its best to undermine all of that tentative optimism.