attempt 001

[unconfines]

Who: Anders
Broadcast: FLEETWIDE VIDEO HIT IT
Action: SS Golden
When: 2/14, not long after shuffling WE ARE BACKDATING THIS MY FRIENDS

[He surprises himself when the feed clicks on easily enough. It's unsettling, but at least it's simple. He can bury the unsettling parts.

Those of you who are familiar—or who have had enough introductions to become familiar—might recognize the striped grey and blue of a Grey Warden uniform, with its high, studded collar, and the curled griffon on the shoulder.

Anders is, for his part, smiling broadly.]

So! Now that I've gotten through the "manhandled into a tin can" bit, closely followed by the "manhandled into a slightly smaller tin can" bit, I thought I'd take some time to say hello. Is everyone comfortable? Because I am not, thanks for asking. [beat] Does it ever bother you how terribly one-sided this is?

[Let him talk and he'll talk. Congratulations on being the captive audience.

Right, back on track.]

Now, I don't usually mind a bit of manhandling, of course, but even I have some standards. It was all terribly anticlimactic. Hardly a kidnapping at all, really.

Anyhow. [with a bit more grandeur:] I believe introductions are in order, don't you? I'm going to eat this [he lifts the little dessert cream in a toast] so you go first.

[Ready: go.]

Comments

video

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Aw, someone else beat me to the manhandling joke.

[he chuckles, giving a little wave at the camera.]

I'm Robin, like the bird. It's very one-sided, yes.

[unconfines]

Ah, better luck next time, my friend. You just can't let opportunities like that one slip by.

Anders, for my part. A pleasure.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

It will haunt me until the end of my days. Or about ten minutes from now, whichever comes sooner.

[tilting his head, curious...] Is that a uniform?

[unconfines]

So it is! [His shoulders square a little. He might be preening, but only a little.] What gave me away? Was it the incredibly ostentatious griffon? It wouldn't be right without the griffon, they said.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

It was the griffon. I think. I assume the animal is the griffon--we don't have those where I'm from.

[unconfines]

Neither do we, coincidentally. Well, we used to, a few hundred years ago. You'd think the Order would have moved on to another legendary creature in that amount of time, but no such luck.

[beat]

Apparently they were very majestic. That's about as much as I can tell you.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ah, well. It looks majestic, I suppose...

[he leans closer in towards the camera, as if that'd help him get a better look at the design... but since that's not how cameras work, he sits back down, leaning back in his chair.]

So what's "the Order", and what are you doing in one of their uniforms?

[unconfines]

The Grey Wardens, of course. Because I am a Grey Warden. Is there any other reason to wear a uniform?

[He shrugs one shoulder so that he can inspect the emblazoned griffon from the other side.]

I'm certainly not doing it for style.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

What's a Grey Warden? I've never heard of one before.

[he's only curious because Anders doesn't strike him as much of a military man... so maybe they're something else, or, entirely likely, Anders is kind of a failure, like his soldier drop-out buddy back home.]

[unconfines]

Never heard of the Grey Wardens? [beat] No, I don't suppose that's surprising at all, is it?

Are there Blights, wherever you're from?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he nods at the first bit... get used to weird questions, buddy.]

There are plagues, sickness in the plants and wildlife... But your "blight" sounds more specific than that, yes?

[unconfines]

You could say that. [a pause, for effect.] Rise of darkspawn to the surface, tainted land, corrupted animals, fear and pestilence, root of all evil, giant dragon leading the charge.

Not ringing any bells?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ah, my world didn't have "dragons", either... Though the rest of it mirrors something that happened a long time ago. Are these "darkspawn" monsters of some kind?

[unconfines]

That takes a bit of the drama out of it, but yes. "Monster" is a good enough word for them, if you don't know anything else about them. And explaining them to the Chantry's satisfaction would take more time and patience than I think either of us probably have.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

All right. If I'm following correctly, you're going to tell me that the Grey Wardens are responsible for taking care of blights and darkspawn.

[what a nice word. 'darkspawn'. if only his world was as thoughtful.]

[unconfines]

Hit the nail on the head. Defeating evil, constant vigilance, the whole thing. Was it that obvious?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

As little as I know about griffons, lovingly attaching a symbol on the shoulder of a uniform usually means "justice and militancy".

So. [smiling...] Now that you're away from them, what are you going to do?

[unconfines]

[He hums thoughtfully. It is something he's considered, what he'd do if he didn't have to be a Grey Warden, though less in recent weeks.]

It's hard to say. I mean, it doesn't seem like there's much to be done in way of spreading my wings in this place. I did mean it when I said tin can.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Well, you're either in an admirable state of denial, or you don't sound all that upset to be gone... [he shrugs a little.] Maybe these little tin cans will be a good adventure for you.

[unconfines]

It'll be something, at the very least. I always did prefer to have a bit of change every now and then. What could it hurt?

[a beat]

I just wish they'd given us some breathing room, that's all.

[Claustrophobic: yes.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

I understand. [being from a world where most people live in little caves under the ground.] But don't worry yourself too much, you'll be able to walk on actual ground before too long.

[unconfines]

Well, that's good to know. Anything that means the tin can parts are temporary is good in my estimation. Is that where we're going, with all this? Visiting exotic lands amongst the stars, or whatever?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Ah, yes. [he waves his hand, vaguely--just like all the vague galaxies they will visit.] Touring around all of creation, seeing strange and mysterious sights, all for the entertainment of the very poorly-defined masses. It's... A unique setup, I'll give it that.