004 || video;

[nugqueen]

Who: Leliana
Broadcast: yes
Action: aboard the blue fish
When: now

[Leliana's address to the network came somewhat late - someone had gotten revenge for her prank, after all. Her cowl is pulled back resting about her shoulders and her skin and the ends of her hair are still drying after she'd scrubbed the ink off. Schmooples could be heard snuffling from her lap, his long ears making a cameo as he was cradled against her.]

I apologize. It seems I mayhap have fallen victim to a long slumber. I don't recall the ships leaving the planet we were last on, but I am to understand some time has passed.

[Guaranteed, Riona waited a good few days before daring to draw on her face.]

I will be resuming my duties in the Interfaith Center – Stefan, I apologize sincerely for my absence. I hope it has not caused an inconvenience.

[She smiles warmly, blue eyes lit up as she continues speaking.]

For those who do not know me: I am Sister Nightingale and I assist the Interfaith Center for those of Andrastian faith, hailing from Thedas. I can also be found aboard the Blue Fish, should anyone ever seek counsel from me outside of the Center. You do not have to be Andrastian to do so, of course.

Private: Riona Cousland Theirin.

[There's a bit of an evil smile on Leliana's face as she switches the feed to private.]

You got your revenge, no?

[She laughs warmly, her eyes alight with mischief]

Care to join me for lunch? I'm feeling a bit peckish after being out of sorts. You can catch me up on all the latest gossip.

[She runs her fingers through the wet ends of her red hair and Schmooples crawls up her chest into view to snuffle at the camera over her shoulder.]

I hope I didn't worry you too much.

Action

[Leliana can be found either aboard the Blue Fish or in the Interfaith Center praying silently before her own hand made totem statue of Andraste. The nap seemed to have done her at least a little good. Still she felt the lingering grief of home and the troubles it faced but she was slowly becoming more at peace in her new life. Perhaps she could finally lay down her burdens? She wasn't so sure yet. For now she moved on to the next stage of things – normalcy.

Aboard the Blue Fish Leliana makes her security rounds, stopping to take a break to make some tea and enjoy some quiet in the kitchens. Something seemed amiss, though she couldn't put her finger on it nor guess that perhaps that it was because a crew member had gone missing. Still the stillness put her at ease.]

Comments

[nugqueen]

I understand that, but he's been corrupted. It's the same as Solas' friend... what happened to them. There was no other choice for him but to be sent back to the Fade. There is no way to reach the Fade here and with the spirit of Vengeance being unpredictable, we have no idea how to separate the two safely. Left alone, he helped Anders kill hundreds of people. I don't want that happening here.

[She does disagree with him, but not for Vengeance's wants or lack there of. It was definitely Vengeances' fault though. Just as it was Anders' fault as well.]

[killedwithlove]

No, it's not!

[Cole flickers away again, back against a far wall.]

Wisdom was Pride, Vengeance isn't Rage! Mercy isn't Despair. Why is it okay to destroy spirits because mortals corrupt them?!

Rhys didn't destroy me. I was like Vengeance. I was Mercy.

[nugqueen]

Cole-

[Leliana opens her mouth and closes it, really not sure what to say. He was right. By all accounts he had murdered people as well. She still remembered White Spire, but then - hadn't he been trying to help Rhys in his own way? Justice had wanted to help the mages too.]

You've helped people since White Spire. You helped the Inquisitor, no? And you helped those in pain.

[He'd even tried to help her, but that bee in her wine was a little weird...]

[killedwithlove]

Rhys helped me come back from Mercy to Compassion. He didn't Despair that I was too far gone. When he knew I killed those mages, he was upset, but he asked me why and I explained I was helping them. And he explained how I could help better. Why what I did was wrong but that didn't make me wrong.

[Yes, he helped people since, but it took an act of kindness and love and compassion to help him find his way back.]

The angrier you get at them, the worse it gets. You need to understand. Understanding isn't agreeing. It's understanding. Rhys understood why I did what I did but he didn't agree.

Spirits need to be understood. We're not like you. We are what mortals around us make us. In a city full of suffering and injustice and pain, what do you think would happen toany spirit?

And if you keep being angry and raging at that spirit for being what it is...

[Your rage fuels that spirit further and further into the darker side of its nature.]

If Rhys had raged and called me a monster... I would have Despaired. And I would become a monster.

[nugqueen]

[She listens, but it still doesn't shake her determination to hate Justice. The same argument should have been true for Cole. Why shouldn't she hate him? Perhaps because she knew him better than when they had first met? He'd even tried to help her through her grief, in his own strange way. Justice had been trying to help Anders and she knew that mages often were pushed too far.]

You're right. Anger does not foster understanding.

[Yet instinctively she had begun to place blame upon the incident in Kirkwall for Justinia's death. She'd wanted something to be angry at, to focus her energy into. Without the work Justinia had tried to do - the Inquisition - what else did she have? Where could she even place her grief? She wanted Vengeance more than anything and was looking for it in the wrong place.]

It does not change that Justice's situation and yours are different. Your spirit is not tied to Cole's the way that Justice is tied to Anders. The two of them exist together, fueling one another. It is only a matter of time before one finds the boiling point in the other in this place.

[At least that's what she believed. They were dangerous and dangerous things needed to be eliminated.]

[killedwithlove]

[Cole can feel her jaded pearl of pain shift and the sharp, chipped edge snap more strings of care and affection in her heart. It hurts, every time it hurts, but he doesn't move away or back off.]

They didn't kill Justinia. Corypheus did. You want revenge for her death. They want revenge for Karl. Everyone keeps getting revenge until there's no one left.

[He tucks his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on them.]

They are different. But if you can only feel that rage and vengeance, you can't go near them. You're one of the things making it worse. You'll fuel both of them. Justice will sense it and Anders can see the accusation in your gaze.

[You're part of the problem, not the solution, is what he means.]

[nugqueen]

We should have that in common, no? Anders and I.

[And the way he says it so plainly - that she was making the situation worse - makes her press her lips together in an attempt to silence any sort of retort that might lash out. He was right. Of course he was right. It didn't make hearing it any nicer.]

So you suggest I... stay away from them. My personal feelings only make the problem grow.

[She could do that, honestly. Part of her still wanted to act violently at the nearest opportunity.]

[killedwithlove]

Yes. It would make things less painful for you both and you won't be twisting Justice with your emotions.

[Plain, maybe even blunt, but he speaks a hard truth. She's doing worse than hurting Justice. She's changing him.]