driftfleet | SS Pathstone Mingle

[And Cole won't disabuse her of that. Neither will Solas, because he is usually kind, even if he doesn't have friends.]

A lot of what I know about other spirits and about me, I know because of Solas. He taught me, told me.

He did?

[ She recalls repeating the exact same words that Cole told her to Solas. She was afraid of boring him by telling him things he already knew, but he was kind to her about it. ]

...And then you taught me! He's a good teacher.

He is. He'd be glad to know that what he taught me as been taught to other people.

I'll let him know what else you taught me! I-... I want to learn so much more too...

For when you go to Thedas.

[Because he had faith they'd work something out. Get Elize there.]

I don't think I can teach you much. I don't really understand mortal culture.

[ A head shake. ]

You don't have to tell me about mortal culture. You can tell me about anything.

[ Her depression had brought her down in the past month, but she has been trying to keep her hopes up now. Trying to believe she'd reach Thedas in some way to reunite with her father.

She'd been learning to write in common tongue, though it's not just for when she goes to Thedas. Cullen had left behind a letter for her and she was unable to fully understand it without Jove's help. She wants to be able to write back to him, while she's waiting for her time on the fleet. What she has been up to, how everyone's doing, about the people she meets, about the places she has been going to, a lot of different things, anything... ]

[It's a good thing Cole doesn't get hold of this letter. The emotions would probably be too much.]

I don't know a lot. I haven't been on this side of the veil very long. Only... a few years. And the things I know aren't always very nice and Cullen would yell at me if I told you about them.

After I was released from the laboratory and the shack in Hamil, I've only been traveling the world with my friends for a little less than a year. I don't know a lot either... but I'm always learning something new! We can learn new things together and tell each other about it.

[ She frowns, then sticks her nose up in the air with a bit of haughtiness. She can be sassy at Cullen if she wants... ]

I'll keep the bad things a secret from him. I can handle it. I won't let Daddy yell at you.

[Nothing will make Cole divulge the horrors of Thedas. The children of Thedas have to grow up too hard and fast. And some things.... there are things no child needs to know.]

Did they tell you about the Blight?

[That she will need to know about and maybe it will make her feel like he's sharing the darkness.]

[ Cullen was overprotective of her. He would get uncomfortable whenever she grew curious about the darker side of Thedas, like the treatment of mages and the circles. ]

No... this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

[ Already she's suspecting it's nothing good, but she's bracing herself to hear whatever it is. ]

[He takes her to her personnel room and sits her down.]

Wait, I'll be back and explain then.

[He dropped his paints. And the other presents in the bag. He flickers to go and grab them first before coming back.]

[ When he returns, she's sitting on her couch, hands propped on her lap. Quiet and patient. ]

[Cole sets down the bag and paints and starts sorting things out. He doesn't have money, but he's never really needed money for things.]

The Blight is dark, sick, sweet song, squirming in the soul. It squashes hope and wholeness. It spreads underground, in the Old Roads, tirelessly calling and chanting to the old, sleeping dragon gods until it finds one. Then it wakes it and they swarm the surface, screaming and celebrating.

It spreads until the Grey Wardens kill the Archdemon. The infected dragon. Then they fall back, underground, and start looking for the next dragon to lead them.

Blights, when that happens, don't happen often. There's hundreds of years between them. But the Blight, the sickness, is still in the Old Roads. Still comes up. That's why you don't go into caves unless they've been explored.

[ She watches him, listening carefully and trying to understand. What he describes sounds terrifying and she'd never been fond of dragons. Obviously this is something that Cullen wouldn't dare ever tell her about. ]

"Them"? So they're like monsters that find dragon gods? And the sickness, what is that like?

Yes. Monsters.

[Birthed from monsters, birthed from horror. He doesn't tell her that.]

Blight sickness... The tainted. Um, you get pale and cough, and feel unwell and it just slowly... makes you sicken away.

Is there anything that can cure the sickness? Magic?

[ Not that she ever plans on going near any caves on her own, if or when she shows up in Thedas. She can heal though. Maybe she can help people. ]

No. There's no cure for Blight and Taint. You can treat the symptoms, that's all.

[They have powerful healing magics in Thedas. They don't even buy time from the sickness.]

It gets into the land and water and spreads. But, if you get rid of all the plants and animals, the land does recover eventually. The Blight fades away, eventually.

Oh...

[ Eventually. It sounds like a process that would take awhile. She rocks her legs uneasily, back and forth off the edge of the couch. ]

So you have to... kill all the plants and animals?

[Cole nods.]

Once they have the sickness, you can't stop them dying. You can just stop them suffering. But a lot of animals and people flee ahead of the Blight.

[Thedas has a dark side. Thedas is mostly dark sides, but this one is unavoidable and dark without being terrifying.]

And they keep fleeing until the Blight fades away?

[ Elize is really better off staying in Rieze Maxia, despite its problems. What keeps her shying from Thedas, no matter what darkness it holds, are the people that she knows that come from there. And she's completely bent on seeing Cullen again. ]

Well, they leave the area and settle in other areas. Sometimes they move back. Sometimes they have new lives in new areas.

I see. They start over.

And what about the other Blight, the song... [ She backtracks a bit. ] Who are the Grey Wardens? Are they the only ones that can kill the dragon?

Same Blight.

I don't think mortals hear the song... But I do. The Darkspawn do. I don't like it like they do.

Grey Wardens... The face the taint, draw blade and staff and march against the swell of darkness.

Only they can kill the Dragon. Swallow and sink, swim until they sing.

[He knows what he's saying, but he can't quite stop. Knows it doesn't make sense, won't explain it. Can't.]

[ That obviously leaves Elize looking puzzled and concerned. ]

Cole? I don't understand...

[He sighs and gives her a helpless look and shrug.]

Grey Wardens kill the Archdemon. No one else can. I don't really understand why. But they do.

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