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Who: Anders, a kitten and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Planetside. Probably among the trees.
When: A couple days after this post. That's right, this means war.

[Anders has something very important to say. Terribly important.]

It's been brought to my attention that the fleet has been suffering under a loss of fuzzy animals, although that's quickly being fixed with all these fuzzy slugs. But more importantly, there's one fuzzy animal that deserves appreciation, something my dear friend, Lady Cousland reminded me of.

[The camera tilts down to show a small tabby-orange kitten playing in the grass and leaves on the forest floor, stalking some bug or another, but never drifting too far from Anders' side.]

This is Ser-Pounce-A-Lot, the cutest kitten in the world. Aren't you the cutest kitten in the world? No mean dog is better than you, isn't that right, Ser Pounce?

[Completely unashamed of the baby-talk he just dissolved into, Anders puts his hand out for Pounce to jump onto his arm and up to his shoulder, purring and rubbing his head against Anders' chin.]

He's also incredibly intelligent and he knows it.

[He holds up a hand up to the camera.]

Please, hold your applause, I know this sad fleet has been kitten-starved. You're welcome.

[Is he serious?

You bet your ass he is. Right down to the baby-talking a kitten. Shame? He doesn't know the meaning of the word.]

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Good dog.

[He means that with all his heart. Murder all of them. Except Dorian. Probably. ]

But yes, I like the thought they disliked the magisters so much that they would turn on them and join with the 'barbarians'.

Took a good chunk out of him, too. But that's what you get for trying to enslave an entire alienage.

[And then some. Like a sword through the gut.]

I wonder: do you think the mabari's ability to choose a master and sense their worth was something the magisters were deliberately going for, or something that unintentionally developed?

Truly? The slavers are known for their brashness, but an entire alienage? It is fortunate that you were there.

[And he truly means that. Just because he doesn't like alienage elves doesn't mean he wants them in shackles. ]

Likely something unintentional. Or perhaps they did develop it and did not expect it to turn against them. They are woefully unable to realise their own downfalls and flaws.

It was during the Blight. Loghain needed coin for his war, so he made a deal with Tevinter slavers: the alienage elves for their coin. As luck had it, there was an outbreak of some sort of illness in the alienage, so the slavers came in the guise of healers. The ill - both truly ill and not - were taken in... and never came out.

[The memory still rankled her. She knew Loghain wasn't the best person, but to steep that low? To sell the very people he was supposed to protect?]

That wouldn't surprise me. Makes it all the more fitting if it was intentional. [And WAY more amusing.]

[Fenris' expression shifts. There's some anger there, rumbling behind it all, but it;s the sheer, unadulterated hatred that really comes shining through. ]

And that was the man who wished to be king. When he was willing to be as underhanded to that towards his own people. ...I suppose I should not be surprised.

[This is why Fenris trusts exactly 3% of the entire world. ]

That much is true.

A man once called the Hero of Ferelden, no less. I don't know if he was always like that, or if his paranoia drove him to it. But I don't believe anyone thought he would ever stoop so far.

[Anora had been disgusted with it. Not that that mattered in the end. She'd been more concerned with maintaining her position that standing for what was right.]

People have depths that not even they realise, which they will stoop down to if they become desperate enough.

[Seriously. He hates people so much.]

[Gosh Fenris, you're such an optimist.]

Everyone is capable of great cruelty, yes, but also great kindness. I've seen my share of both.

[He;s the team cheerleader. ]

Then you are fortunate. Outside my own group, I have seen little of it in Thedas.

...Here? In Exsilium, less so. But those are different worlds, and different people.

Sometimes it's just about knowing where to look, or even be willing to look. People don't always seem willing to give others a chance.

[Sure, she'd met people who did horrible shit. But then, when given the chance, they righted those wrongs.]

You know, for all we complain about Atroma - and Maker knows they deserve it - but they could bring far worse people here. By my understanding we likely do have a few bad apples, but no one going "mwhahahaha" and trying to murder everyone.

Mistrust in others is usually a hard-learned lesson. Giving a stranger a chance is as likely to put a knife in your back as it is a friend at your side.

[Still...he'd been right about Hawke, mostly. He still didn't LIKE the Hawke in his world, but he at least trusted the man. It's still not something he extends to most though. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is a good way to get yourself killed in Tevinter. ]

Yet [Ever the optimist. ] Though I doubt they would get far, given death is not permanent, and there is nothing here to control. It would be a pointless act.

Mmm, true. People do like to backstab. [Lookin' at you, Howe.] But that's when you just kill them and be done with it. As for myself, I've found that taking a gamble and trusting people can pay off. One of my dear friends was an assassin sent to kill me.

[Zevran's a gem.

But her little bit of reminiscing is interrupted by that little bombshell he just dropped on her.]

...death is not permanent? [WAIT WHAT] You - how?

...Yes, I was acquainted with Zevran in Exsillium.

[No mistake who THAT assassin was after all. Fenris sounds like he's recalling an annoyance, which Zevran absolutely was.]

Though I doubt many would trust the friends I have come to trust in Kirkwall. [Or...people in Kirkwall in general.] So there may be some truth in that.

Hm. Only a scant few people have died here, but they have come back within a week or two, relatively unharmed for the process.

You knew him? [GRIN.] In Exsilium, you say? Where is that?

[It certainly doesn't ring a bell for her.]

That is... alarming. Maker's breath, is there anything Atroma isn't capable of?

It is the world I was in before I cam here. The world that pulled me from Thedas. Hawke...the woman, she was there, too.

I highly doubt it. I believe they are possibly United Earth, a force we were brought into Exsilium in order to try and defeat. They have this level of power and the audacity to make it a game.

Another entity that can bring people from their worlds. One of my shipmates spoke of a place called Paradisa. Some castle where strange things happened.

[She's beginning to wonder how many such entities like Atroma or this United Earth are out there.]

Would they bother to hide behind a different moniker?

Hm, I have been told that I was also in Paradisa. I do not remember it, however.

[What else is new.]

United Earth were defeated, they did not have the same power as the Imitative at the end. They would not be so foolish as to go under their own name any more.

But you remember your time battling United Earth? How odd.

[At least he remembers something??? From somewhere else??? Positivism, Fenris!]

Ahhh, I see. Have you asked any of the locals in the places we've visited if they've heard of this United Earth?

Yes. It is...very strange.

[He'll take it where he can get it. He shakes his head.]

No. I have asked everywhere I went, and they seem unfamiliar with the term.

Damn. I suppose it was too much to hope.

Hm. Bear in mind, no one seems familiar with Drift Fleet nor Atroma, either.

I know. But I hoped perhaps that, given that this United Earth had been fought against in the past, that perhaps at least someone out there would know something.

I would have hoped that. They were quite a reviled group, but they were not without allies- forced though some of them may have been.

But if they were defeated, then their allies would have no reason to cover for them, no?

Not unless they found some way to gain power again. Time travel is...complex. I would not consider it outside the realms of possibility that they found some way to get on top again.

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