driftfleet | interfaith dinner mingle!!

Entry tags:

interfaith dinner mingle!!

Who: Interfaith Center regulars & the not-so-regulars (party crashers are welcome too!!)
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Interfaith Center on the Iskaulit
When: Forward-dated to November 4th

[The Interfaith Center sounds far more bustling and busy than usual - and anyone peering inside would quickly figure out that a communal dinner is underway! Take off your shoes and walk in: the lounge has extra tablecloths on the floor as well as buffet tables with non-alcoholic beverages and all sorts of food, including Jordanian cuisine (or the outer space equivalent of Jordanian food).

The board games are out of their hiding nooks; the furniture's arranged for the maximum seating possible; and even the teddy bears donated by Kitty & Winn are out for cuddling, should anyone want them.

The kitchen's bustling with helpers - Stefan's running around at vamp-speed to make sure everything's a) done on time and b) cooked to perfection - but he sure wouldn't mind an extra hand. And if you're still not up for some food? Well, the prayer rooms are open as usual. There's always a quiet moment to be found, even if the laughter's louder and the scent of freshly-baked mansaf's wafting through the long corridors.

Anyone and everyone who's ever been inside the Interfaith Center has been invited (via text message - and Stefan even used the fancy emoji). If you're not particularly faithful or devout? Well, drop by anyways. There's more than enough food to spare.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hawke isn't wrong, either.

No one faith dominates: Allen and Misty practice different forms of Christianity; Kitty and Erik seem more culturally Jewish than religious; Stefan's the lone Muslim; the Seraphim can't exactly worship themselves; and Leliana's Maker sounds like a different deity altogether. Stefan's wondered if that day would ever come, and if it did, how he'd react.

The praise, however, catches him completely off-guard.]

Oh, uh - thank you. [His cheeks - and ears! - turn a faint red.] It only felt right, you know? Even if we're traveling to new worlds, our faiths and cultures don't suddenly disappear.

It's true. Back home, my family and I were forced north, out of the country my siblings and I grew up in. Suddenly living in Kirkwall instead of the colder south with its lush forests and myriad of muds and dogs was an experience. But still, people are people wherever you go. Even here, we do have a lot in common. Just as much as we have differences.

[He glances down the hall at the door Anders had vanished into and not yet emerged. Wolfe might as well get at least a little into the spirit of sharing, he supposes.]

You probably know about Andrastianism through Leliana, but I'm curious as to what your faith entails. If you don't mind the asking.

I know pieces, here and there. Not nearly enough for a full picture.

[No two people will worship in the same manner. Faith will take on different forms and customs, and well - Stefan wants to accept and cherish those rituals too.]

My faith, ah - we believe in one God that created everything. In English, they call him "God," but I grew up calling him Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. [His expression softens.] He sent out prophets, all the way up until two thousand years ago. The last Prophet, Muhammad, revealed the Qur'an - our holy book - to us and showed us the straight path.

It's a similar faith to Misty's, if she's told you anything - we share several prophets - but we have slightly different beliefs about our God.

I don't know if she told you, but she's actually involved in the Chantry herself, so she would likely know doctrine much better than I anyway. I mostly just know what its like in practice. There is a difference, sadly.

[He lets out a breath, reminding himself he needs to be on better behavior than to denounce the entire organized section of his world's predominant religion.]

What you describe sound a little familiar though. Our holy writ is the Chant of Light and much of it is the words of Andraste, the Bride of the Maker. Sort of like a prophet, though more of a be all, end all one. It's interesting too that you have different systems centered about the same God. I thought Thedas was unique in that regard.

Yeah, but it's that difference I'm interested in. [He laughs, folding his arms as he regards Hawke. Anyone can tell that he's not the religious sort - and while Stefan won't press further, he's also curious.] If you want to truly serve a congregation - and I mean really serve them - you have to learn how people practice their faith.

[He leans in, all conspiratorially:] The best religious leaders love people as much as they love their God or their Maker.

I thought Earth was unique too, back when Leliana told me, but it seems like all universes share a little in common.

[Adalwolfe will certainly answer questions about his faith or lack thereof, he's just not keen on offending anyone here, especially the host.

Stefan's conspiratorial pronouncement pulls a short laugh from Wolfe. He hopes it doesn't sound bitter.]

One could hope, but I've never met any religious leader like that, not high enough to make any difference anyway.

[What was that about not offending anyone?]

[Someone out there is probably offended, but that someone sure isn't Stefan. He snickers at the mental image, struggling to keep it in and - oh. Nope.

That's the funniest thing he's heard all night.]

I wish that weren't so true. [He lets out a small, amused huff.] No, unfortunately - a lot of our leaders let the power and the prestige get to their head, and they forget why they wanted to serve in the first place.

I just hope I never get there myself.

If they ever wanted to serve in the first place. Honestly I think a lot of them just get off on being able to do whatever they want because they have the Maker's name to back them up. No wonder He turned away from the world.

[Seeing as Stefan isn't calling him a heathen and instead he's warming up a bit, Adalwolfe feels a bit more comfortable airing some of his grievances with religion as a whole. Easier to do when you know your overarching theocratic bodies aren't so different.]

Could you get that high? Does your religion allow male priests?

Mine personally doesn't - the community hires their religious leaders, so they can dictate who's in power at any given time. [Stefan tilts his head thoughtfully.] Theoretically, if I were doing a crappy job, the people here could toss me out.

["If" being the keyword.]

Now, uh, other branches of our faith do believe in male priests, and the Church has hiring power over them. It gets trickier the further you go in, but the short answer? Mine doesn't, Misty's does.

Huh. Weird.

[He doesn't have much else to say about that, only that male priests are such an odd thing. They exist in Thedas, but it's either in the lowest capacities or up in the Imperium, where even the Divine is male. Also weird.]

I guess it's nice to have a mix here, with all the differences among Fleeters. Then everyone's going to have someone they can talk with that they're used to. At least in theory.

Yeah, it's harder to tell in practice, but it seems like it's working.

[That's the beauty of interfaith. Differences in faith are shared and celebrated, rather than shunned and ignored by those who believe differently. Stefan may vehemently believe in one faith and one God, but he wouldn't turn someone away for believing otherwise.]

I figure you're not much for the stuff we have to offer, but you're always welcome to come back. Even if it's just for the board games.

That easy to tell, is it?

[He smiles, a bit tightly, and rubs the back of his neck.]

No, you're right, I just came for Anders. He's in one of the rooms. I don't really understand it but it's what he wants, so.

[Adalwolfe spreads his hands in a helpless gesture. He's just along for the ride.]

Just a little bit.

[Stefan laughs, not unkindly, following Hawke's gaze. He's really not offended or even bothered - people have different relationships with faith, and Stefan isn't going to broach it more than he needs to.]

I don't think I've met him yet. When he comes out, I'll have to drop by again and introduce myself.

If you like. He's always in a sort of wistfully stoic mood after praying though, fair warning.

So you're from this Earth place like Misty is, right? Same Earth or a different version?

[This is what passes for small talk in the Fleet, right?]

You know, I'm not really sure. Our Earths are similar enough that we could be from the same one. [He tilts his head thoughtfully.] I'm sure we could figure it out, given enough time, but uh -

I don't really think there's much need at this point.

[More like he doesn't want to be sorely disappointed when he realizes that no, they're not from the same ~~canon~~ world.]

No? That's basically the first thing we do when someone new from Thedas shows up. What do you know, what's different, what's the same. Though honestly it's sort of exhausting so I don't blame you for not bothering, especially with just how many people seem to be from Earth. It sounds enormous.

We've got about seven billion people, so... [He laughs.] I'd say we're pretty big, all things considered.

There's a few commonalities - a lot of us come from two countries, or around the same couple of decades. I'm assuming that's a pattern for a Reason.

Seven billion? Maker's balls, I don't think there are that many people on all of Thedas!

[Granted Thedas isn't entirely explored. It would probably be more accurate to term Thedas as the continent instead of the entire world but it's just not something Adalwolfe thinks about. The known world is Thedas, end of story.

Besides, he's a little more concerned with the fact that he just blasphemed in the interfaith center talking to someone he more or less would like to think well of him.]

Sorry. Habit.

Hm. You're new, so you don't know how we treat blasphemy here, but....

[Stefan gives Hawke his sternest scowl, standing up a little straighter and trying very, very hard to come off as intimidating. It would probably work, were the edges of his lips not threatening to turn into a smile –]

Around these parts, sir Hawke? We usually insist on you getting extra baklava. Chaplain's orders, you see.

[Stefan you're the least intimidating. Wolfe isn't easily intimidated though. Once you've been skewered by an eight-plus-foot massively muscled slab of a Qunari, scrawny humans tend to lose the ability to be threatening.]

Oh, I swear and I get extra food? Careful I don't start interspersing all conversation that way, with that policy in place.

[He grins cheekily.]

You'd have to eat every time, you see. Long after your stomach's full.

[Stefan knows he's jumped straight from decent dude to full-on doting Uncle status. He also doesn't particularly care at the moment.]

But no, uh. It's not a big deal for me. If it's fine with Leliana and - your companion? - then it's fine with me. They're better judges of your world's faith.

[Stefan may see himself as a doting uncle but considering he looks in his 20s to Adalwolfe, that's certainly not how the mage takes it. Besides, the only uncle he has any experience with is a deadbeat who gambles everything away to unsavory folk. He does find Stefan to be a good guy though.]

My boyfriend, and considering the general consensus is that the Maker's turned his back on everyone anyway I don't think He cares so much about language.

[He casually corrects Stefan, not thinking much of it. Really the only people in Thedas that he's run into that care who you bed around with are nobility and that only so far as producing an heir, so he doesn't even imagine there would be a problem considering no one but the Thedosians here know he's nobility. Well, and Kate. But she doesn't care either.

As for the Maker, surely Leliana's explained that to Stefan, right?]

Ah. [Stefan's expression softens - he just quietly notes that for reference, so he won't make that mistake again.] Yeah, Earth had a school of thought like that. They believed God created the world and its laws, then left the rest in the hands of those who lived in it.

[He must've discussed this with Leiliana - his lack of surprise indicates as such - but he's also keenly interested in Adalwolfe's thoughts. It's not every day he gets to hear other perspectives on the same faith governing a world.]

Either way, I genuinely don't care, but I never know who would, so. [He shrugs.] Don't sweat it so much.

[Adalwolfe nods to the closure of the swearing issue, but this Earth god leaving the world piques his interest in spite of himself.]

The way you say that makes it sound as if that god made it as a gift instead of throwing a bloody tantrum and not wanting anything to do with it anymore.

[So, you know, that's a difference.]

Because it is. [He is a little surprised, given that well, Stefan's a devout person by nature. He believes the best not only in people but in God as well.] Without a God, or a Maker, we wouldn't have the universes we came from. We wouldn't be here talking about the ones who created us, and we most certainly wouldn't be at Atroma's whims.

Our worlds can be corrupt, and they're nowhere near what they're supposed to be, but they're still ours. We were born, we lived, and we continued to exist there. Isn't that a gift in and of itself?

interfaith dinner mingle!!

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wrap!