Why'd You Kill the Merchant?!

[sansseraph]

Who: ALL O' Y'ALL
Broadcast: If you want
Action: FRICK YEAH PARTY AT THE JUNKYARD...I mean, Waystation. Junkstation.
When: 10/07 - Event End

It looks more like a junk heap than a waystation, but luckily there aren't any math fetishists to add you to the pile (hopefully). Talk to the scavengers and heed their warnings...if you want. Or perhaps you'll approach a shady individual for purchasing or selling stuff.

"Welcome, stranger!"

Comments

[wolfuncaged]

[The lyrium markings flare bright as the elf spins around at the sound of the clattering scrap, prepared for an ambush, another fight. Recognition sparks in his eyes as they land on Felix, and while he doesn't really relax, he does at least turn his attention back to his captive. ]

I strongly suggest you continue walking.

[The man, meanwhile, sees a way out of his situation and cries out to Felix, desperate.]

Please help me!! I didn't do nothing and he just attacked me!!

[lord_wizard]

[He's not a threat to most people, and least of all to Fenris. His attention moves from the elf to the man in his clutches, and he takes the suggestion in the exactly opposite way he'd intended; he gets closer.

If the man was hoping for a valiant rescue, he might be disappointed in the hesitant approach and the lack of any move to intervene physically. As volatile as Fenris is, though, he doesn't think he'd attack for no reason, so the plea only twists the uncertainty deeper.]

I somehow doubt that. Fenris...what did he do?

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris turns his head slightly as Felix moves, watching him. But no... Felix wasn't interested in saving the man, and that made him let his guard down a little. ]

He's a slaver. He's been kidnapping people and selling them to the highest bidder.

[The man tries to deny it, but his protests get strangled out by Fenris' tightening hand. ]

And I intend to kill him.

[lord_wizard]

[As if there had been any doubt.

Felix finds no joy in murder, but the sudden dryness in his mouth isn't just from the fact that he might be about to see one happen - it's also from what Fenris' accusation implies. This wasn't about some perceived insult or accident. It was slavery.]

I've heard what some people on this station are involved in. It's not much of a secret. Are you so certain this man is one of them?

[He tenses a little, along with the pressure of the elf's hand on the stranger's throat]

[wolfuncaged]

[And there, Felix would be right. Fenris takes no joy in this. He's simply exterminating a threat that needs to be removed. It's as simple as that. ]

I have been trailing them. This one had plans to capture a young Nunnilis tonight. He found me, instead.

[lord_wizard]

[He purses his lips and stares at the man. He doesn't feel the kind of anger Fenris does at the idea, just a vague unpleasant coldness like nausea, but it's leeching away what little sympathy he was holding in reserve. It's not enough for him to want to kill the man himself, certainly. That kind of passion had been reserved only for one man, and while Malkar's death caused no regret, it wasn't in him to repeat it.

But was it in him to enable?]

I don't suppose extracting the promise to never do it again would be sufficient enough to make you consider letting him go?

[wolfuncaged]

[And that was the problem. Fenris didn't believe any of these people had it in them to change, to stop. They could promise anything, and the second the Fleet left, they'd continue again. Their words were as worthless as they were. ]

No.

[The lyrium flares bright, and Fenris plunges his hand into the mans chest. The man struggles against it, trying to flail ineffectively as blood pools at the corners of his mouth. Fenris pulls his hand back, crushing the heart between his fingers as it leaves the slavers chest. He drops the body and the heart to the ground, glad to let it rot there. ]

They don't deserve the chance to even pretend they can change.

[lord_wizard]

[He'd been poised to say more, even if he hadn't been sure why he was trying save the man's life.

But he doesn't get the chance.

Even though he'd known there was power in the tattoos, he'd never seen Fenris fight, and it's impossible to be prepared for the sight of it. His mouth hangs open, words lost, as he stares down at the vivid red of the man's life pooling in the ground between them. He clutches one arm to his chest while the other drifts up to cover his mouth.

Outside of the horror are the thoughts rattling around in his mind. He understands the elf's anger, but the matter had never felt as clear cut to him. Would his mother have deserved the same death, for her decision?

Felix swallows.]

I feel there is a distinction between those who do the selling and those who do the buying but...I suppose that's moot now.

[It doesn't even come out angry or accusatory; simply distant, even to his own ears.]

[wolfuncaged]

[Had he known Felix better, perhaps the man would have had a better chance. Or at least...a stay of execution. But Fenris is nothing if not easy to get close to, and though he's vaguely aware the red-haired mage knows him, the man is yet another memory taken from him. If that memory was his at all to begin with. Perhaps it belong to another Fenris, from another version of Thedas, he does not know.

His eyes narrow at Felix's comment, he takes a deep exhale. Calm. Centre. When he speaks, his voice is level, but the anger is bubbling just under the surface. ]

Tell that to the families who have someone torn away from them in the night, never to see them again. Or the people they take away, and sell to the highest bidder as if they were cattle.

[He points down at the rather messy corpse he's left in his wake. ]

They are what fuel it. Without the sellers the buyers would struggle. There's no difference. And you are a fool if you think otherwise.

[lord_wizard]

[He takes a small step back, distancing himself from the corpse as much as he is from the elf's anger, and wrenches his gaze back up. His expression is sorrowful and cold, but for his part, he isn't really angry. It would have been better if no one had to die, but now that it's done, his sympathy withers.]

You're right. Perhaps I am...for many reasons. [He flinches at himself a little] But I didn't mean to say he is blameless. Nothing could change that, I know that...

[wolfuncaged]

[For Fenris, the death was necessary, a means to an end. Extermination of a deadly virus. ]

Good. People like him. They are best removed from the world.

[lord_wizard]

[Felix considers this. He'd hated the men who held him, but killing them had never been a consideration until Malkar. But once that had been done, he hadn't spared it much thought. It was reprehensible, but the practices of the Lower City were simply something he accepted. Much like the presence of blood witches, the Mirador turned a blind eye to the practice because...why? Because it was too costly to fight? Because their concerns were turned outwards instead of in? Or because, like pulling weeds, more always sprung up to take their place?

He nodded, minutely.]

True. But do you think you can change these people? When we leave, what will stop them from returning to their way of life?

[wolfuncaged]

[He knew such a battle. Tevinter would never change, there would be no fixing the problem, because the problem was too deep. The disease too embedded into the very fabric of the country. But he could kill the slavers he saw. He could do something. ]

Nothing. And they likely will. But there is nothing we can do to change their minds, either. This, at least, will give them something to remember. Something to fear. Something to make them have second thoughts.

[lord_wizard]

I suppose I cannot argue with those results. You clearly already have their attention...

[And with that thought, he glances nervously behind him, where the junk he'd inadvertently scattered on the ground lies. It might have been a silent assassination if not for him, and now...

He returns his gaze to Fenris] Did you do that to all of them?

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris, it seems, doesn't really care. They'd be coming for him soon regardless. He'd just rather not have innocent people caught in the crossfire. ]

The ones I could catch, yes.