driftfleet | 001 // too much time

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001 // too much time

Who: DORIAN THE EXPLORIAN (Dorian Pavus)
Broadcast: Video, fleet-wide
Action: The Marsiva~
When: 1/21

[Dorian spends a fair deal of time poking around the ship before deciding to try out sending a broadcast. He's not entirely certain how he knows how to use the device, only that he does, and that almost unnerves him.

Still, his voice is pleasant, almost chipper.]

Well, if this isn't a curious little jaunt that I didn't exactly expect to take this afternoon. I do hope someone might be able to enlighten me as to where, exactly, I am...and when, for that matter. ...and where one might find passable reading material would also be appreciated.

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[It was a game Fenris did not miss. Even just observing the Magisters play it was enough. Finally, though, Dorian's comment makes him give a disgusted scoff.]

Please. You have clearly never been a slave. Our situations are as different as day and night. You may be looked down upon by your family, but your freedom is still YOURS. Unless you are going to tell me you spent night after night being starved of food and sleep. Of being beaten for any tiny slight. Of being reminded every second of every day how absolutely worthless you are.

[That made him pause. If this were a dance, Fenris would have tripped him, sent him stumbling and trying to find his footing again.

Halward Pavus was not a cruel man, and that was one of the things that was impressed to Dorian from a young age. Of course, they had slaves, they were a ruling family, it's simply what was done. But their slaves had been kept from the streets, given a home, a sort of a family. They had quarters, they had clothes that were befitting a Magister's household. They were kept well, and from everything that Dorian could ever tell, they were pleased enough with their end of the situation. It was better than starving in the streets, in inescapable poverty, by far.

He had known, distantly, that some Magisters were not as kind- they were not always kind men. But that was always something different, not a person staring him down, it was a distant, abstract concept.

Not now, though. And for once, he was at a loss for words. It would have been easier if Fenris had physically hit him- he would have easier had words for that.]

I...well...I was only...

...you are right.

I know better than to doubt your words- there are cruel men in Tevinter. Forgive me.

[Fenris was expecting an argument. That is the general view of most of the privileged, especially the privileged of Tevinter. He pauses, for a second, confusion in his face, unsure as how to deal with this.]

...Is this a game? I have never seen anyone from the Altus anything like you.

[Dorian laughs, and it's a bitter scoff.]

And that is precisely the problem, I fear. There are less men like me in Tevinter than there are vipers in the Magisterium.

[Dorian knew he was not a Good man, not in the sense of a person full of virtue. But he knew what was right, and what needed to change. It didn't make him a good person, he thought, only one that was sensible, if foolish.

For all that he spoke of Tevinter, he loved his homeland, dearly. It was to him as Halward Pavus was- something he loved, but knew needed to change. Something he could not be a part of now, but some day he would be able to make the changes necessary.

It was ambitious, and foolish, but he didn't think that even Tevinter was beyond redemption.]

[Fenris is nothing is not brutally honest. He tends to forget to use that little filter other people have, when discussing sensitive matters with others. He huffs out a frustrated sigh.]

I do not know what to make of you. I have hated your kind for such a long time. I have only known of the cruelties of the upper classes.

[A part of him is annoyed. Denied his usual bloodlust and rage against his countrymen. He feels almost cheated. Cheated by something he never thought could actually exist.]

You are either a master of manipulation or you are something I never thought possible.

...

Or possibly you are insane.

I believe the prevailing thought in Tevinter is something close to "insane". Dangerous, perhaps a little more charming than need be.

But I will not rest until I see it changed for the better. Even if it means going the path of my forefathers.

[Gideon Pavus was, to Dorian, a beacon of hope, a shining example that his family had always tried to do good, and could be the best hope that Tevinter has ever had.]

I can see why they would consider you a danger, if you ignore the status quo. You are, frankly, lucky to be still breathing.

[This is unsettling. It was so much easier to assume Tevinter was a lost cause forever. Maker's balls, Dorian why do you have to exist? You make his whole vengeance thing a lot less sharp now.]

You have a difficult task set ahead of you.

I do, but I will see it done. For all the ill I speak of it, I see Tevinter as a place that can be changed for the better. I know that you likely do not share my blind optimism, but if there is anything that I can change, I will see that it is done, or die trying.

I might be the best hope that there is to sorting out the viper's nest and changing things. Foolish, idealistic, but it needs to be done.

[He smiles, if a bit bitterly, knowing that it was possible he would be laughed at, a fool. But he knew somewhere in his heart that Tevinter must change, and that he would see to it.]

I have long since given up on Tevinter. It is not my home, I doubt it ever truly was. To make it anything more than the pit of vipers it is...I do not think it is possible. It is beyond repair. The rot within it is deep, and no amount of work will cut it out.

I fear you will likely run yourself into an early grave, than fix that place.

[A part of him, though...]

The slavery would have to go.

I wonder what would be preferable. Some slaves, like those in my household, were treated quite well- it was a home, an escape from poverty. I would not leave the destitute without an escape from that, leaving them to die in the streets.

[He brings a hand to his chin, thinking. Perhaps contracted servitude or some other system where the poor could still sell their way into a household.]

It is better to have a choice to die, than not to have a choice at all. It matters not if they were treated well or not. They were still slaves.

[Varania's words come back to haunt him, though. How she and their mother starved, struggled to survive, thanks to the actions he had taken. The ones he does not remember. Did he truly condemn them to such a life? He never stopped to look at the souls struggling on the bottom rung in Tevinter. He just turned his back and ran and ran until he hit the Waking Sea.]

I would not spend my time tearing the hearts out of slavers if I felt otherwise.

I understand.

[He still feels conflicted, but if that must change, so be it. Better that the system be humane than the chance that someone could suffer, as Fenris had. The Magisters had gone too far and needed to be dealt with, if there was to ever be a bright future for Tevinter.

That was enough for today. He knew where to set his feet after Corypheus was dealt with, now he just had to figure out how to get back.]

Fortunate that you were here, Fenris. You've given me much to think about.

[And then he smiles a bit.]

I do hope to see more of you. Perhaps not separated by a screen sometime, we could make a proper introduction, perhaps get a drink.

[Dorian I cannot take you anywhere I s2g]

It is telling that you wish to think about it at all.

[His expression suddenly becomes blank at that proposition. Before he carefully puts the communicator face down on the table and walks away.

Maybe he'll come back?

Probably not, though.]

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001 // too much time

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