driftfleet | 007 // blink and you'll miss a revolution

Who: Dorian!
Broadcast: Fleet-wide!
Action: On the Three Twins
When: 5/26, night

Well, now that we've all gotten our fill of rampant debauchery, I thought I might pose a little question to you, Fleet. A more...somber question.

[Dorian looks considering for a moment, and when he speaks, he talks with his hands as much as his mouth. It seems like a subject he's certainly into, that's for sure.]

What would you do if, for example, you disagreed with the politics of your home? What measures would you go to? At what cost would you ensure that things were righted, were changed for the better?

[He raises a brow.]

Would you kill for it? Would you bring about chaos and disarray because the end would justify those means, as it were? How many deaths can be justified by a revolutionary change? 10? 100? Thousands? If it were for the greater good, how many lives could you sacrifice?

[He brings the hand back to his chin, thinking.]

Color me curious. What are your politics there?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah. This again. Kaneis gives a pause to consider before he answers privately. It's an important topic, but there's no need to advertise to the rest of the fleet he knows what he's talking about.]

The answer is zero. You go in with some expectation of making people into sacrifices, then your home will not be any better than when you started.

Even the corrupt, or are they not counted as a sacrifice?

Sorry, even the corrupt.

I'm not saying don't kill, in fact some bloodshed might be inevitable. But going in first thing, staff swinging, with intention to take out the corrupted- well, people have tried that in my home. Sometimes even with the best of intentions, but you know what they end up being? Slaughters. You know why? Because once you start down that path, eventually- you start to lose sight and soon anyone will seem corrupted to you.

It's better to work with the people, even the corrupted. People are complicated, most aren't the pure evil villains you read about in fairy tales. Some of the corrupted can change their views, with the right words. Some might not agree with your ideals, but they'll turn to whichever way the wind's blowing. So you command the wind to blow towards you. Others might be harder to sway, but still they're useful and not a huge threat- so you just simply find ways to remove any threat they do have, discreetly. De-claw them, in a sense.

Only kill if you're absolutely sure they won't give you another way that doesn't risk other people's right to live. And then you show no hesitation, but make it clear they brought it on themselves.

Edited 2015-05-27 04:24 (UTC)

...ah.

[Dorian thinks about it for a bit, considering the broken and crooked Magisterium. Much as Kaenis says it, there are a great number of them that are evil.

No, they're not all the same chaotic, cackling evil that seeks to overthrow the world. They're not all Corypheus. Many of them are the more common evil- men that seek to control and corrupt, who want nothing more than to use people for their own ends.]

Would that I could believe that these Magisters could change.

Some would change. Some can't. Never said it'd be easy. Hell, it'll probably take years.

[Aselia had a long road ahead of it, he knew it. But it was changing. And it was changing for the better]

It can happen though. Things can change, if you do it right.

I hope that you're right, Kaneis.

[And he did, but even Dorian knew that it would take both time and a steady hand and bloodshed to fix Tevinter...and he wondered sometimes if he was the right man for it, even as certain as he was at other times that this was necessary.]

Turned out right for my world.

Thousands of years of oppression. Half-elves enslaving and killing humans in some parts, humans enslaving and killing half-elves in other parts. The rich and powerful exploiting the weaker every chance they get. It was a mess.

But...it's getting better now. The Human Ranches in Sylvarant are gone, the laws oppressing half-elves in Tethe'alla are being renounced- no more people are going to get killed as ritual sacrifices for the church.

Still got a long road to go...but I got to talk to someone from the future once. It's getting better, more than I thought it could.

So...I want to believe the same's possible for Tevinter.

007 // blink and you'll miss a revolution

Encrypted;

Encrypted;

Encrypted;

Encrypted;

Encrypted;

Encrypted;

Encrypted;