driftfleet | 004 // the house of sin

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004 // the house of sin

Who: Dorian and assorted guests
Broadcast: Fleet-wide, 3/10
Action: In a villa practically in the forest (THE HOUSE OF SIN)
When: Broadcast- 3/10 // Action- 3/9-3/31? Until we leave.

Broadcast:

[The broadcast goes out on 3/10, and Dorian smirks a bit into the feed.]

I believe I've secured lodging for myself, with room enough for several others. If you need a place to stay, do let me know. It's a quaint little villa a bit outside of town. ...please don't mind the suspicious glances, I assure you, I've done nothing entirely against the guidelines that were set.

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Action:

[Dorian has secured a villa, but the residents of Mor don't seem too keen on having an evil mage for a neighbor. As the month goes on, more and more villagers will show up to stand at the gates of the villa and threaten to come in after the "evil wizard".

Maybe he shouldn't have gone so overboard with the whole "contacting the spirits of the dead" thing.]

((OOC: Mingle post for the House of Sin. We'll pretend there are enough rooms in here for everyone! Even if you character only drops by to rest their feet a bit, everyone is welcome to visit and stay the night if they want.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His stomach lurches a bit. That phrase never boded well- the last person to tell Dorian "we need to talk" and ask him to do it behind closed doors was his father, just before Dorian refused to marry Livia. Those words invoked nothing but fear and shame in him, but he tries not to let the emotions settle on his face too much. He can't avoid a bit of unease showing- he cannot bring himself to completely wear a mask, not around Jove.

He trusted her far too much for that.

He closes the door, and looks her over carefully.]

Very well. What is it?

[She sits on the bed and pats the space beside her, an invitation to sit as well but one she won't hold against him for denying. She doesn't like that look on his face, doesn't want this to go on any longer than it has to.]

When I was in the woods a few days ago, a boy came barreling into the clearing I was in like he was perfectly set to murder me. He was a human, too, or at least he looked like one, and it only made it-

[Terrifying, she was afraid in that moment like she had been transported back in time to when she had been a child and the only option was to run from humans and hope they didn't catch you.

But she can't say that, because she's the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor can't show fear because of something as silly as a fear of humans that apparently hadn't cleared up completely.]

He told me he heard the screaming of pain and terror of the soul you put on that necklace from the city. You split a soul into pieces for it, Dorian?

[Dorian sauntered over, sitting down next to her and listening with unsease. He bristled slightly at the accusation- far too many lately had told him that is magic was wrong, that it was unacceptable, and he would have normally shrugged it off, said it was weak southern sensibilities, distrusting everything they simply did not understand.

But this was different. These were other mages.

He holds back a biting retort, and his voice is far more even than it need to be.]

I did not split a soul. I bound somethat that there already was- a fragment of a fragment, like a mote of dust plucked from the fade.

[For better or worse she's more inclined to believe Dorian, so she nods absently. A mote of dust. She wants that to be true.]

I demanded he prove it. He showed me what he saw, and I- well. I understood his misgivings.

[That's an understatement, but as horrible as it had been, as wrong as it felt to see and hear it for herself, it wasn't what Dorian had intended. Maybe he didn't even know that the souls suffered, she has no idea. She'd chosen to be a Knight Enchanter for her people and now she regrets not studying the other forms of magic closer. If she hadn't been so focused on restoring what the elves had lost, maybe she would be a better judge of this.]

I really didn't think much of it when you gave it to me. I asked you for a ward, and even though you told me it would scare people I didn't expect- [She laughs, weakly. Why does she feel so lost?] I was sure it was as simple as some chanting in Tevene and maybe a little blood magic if you'd decided to get especially flashy. I wasn't prepared for chains and terror and screaming.

[He laughs derisively.]

Vishante kaffas, I'm not entirely certain which is worse- that I've upset you, or that you think I, of all people, would stoop to blood magic.

[He sighed, covering his face with his hands.]

The fragment was a mote of terror. It was chosen specifically for that purpose. You asked for something to protect you, and that was the best thing that I could think of. Vinhedis, damnant quod non intellegunt.

Edited 2015-03-16 01:07 (UTC)

I've told you before that Solas- oh, it doesn't matter. I wasn't trying to insult you, Dorian.

[She's sorry if it sounded that way, but she doesn't know if she should apologize yet or save it or what she should do here at all, really. They've never had so much as a disagreement before, this isn't a side of Dorian she's had much experience with.

Still, his use of a language she doesn't understand doesn't help this much.]

I use the elven language with you because it's part of who I am and I know you'll understand me, thanks to these things in our heads. So you'll hear it from someone used to saying it and be able to recreate it yourself. I'd hope you could at least not use a language I don't understand to call me stupid.

[Because all she could really piece together out of that was the words not intelligent.]

I'm not ungrateful for the care you put into it, Dorian. [Her tone is even, infuriatingly so when she wishes she could swear right back at him. She wants to respond just as hotly but she keeps it to herself, endlessly glad she took this time to think through what she was going to say. If she hadn't it's likely the would be screaming at each other now.] I just wish you had told me I was walking around with a soul bound to me.

It wasn't a-

[He sighed. It was a losing battle, to try and explain the subtle nuances to them. It wasn't a complete soul. He would never bind one of those. It would be fascinating work, truly, and if he found one that was agreeable to it, he might consider it, but no, it was the difference between telling someone they were keeping a man captive and torturing him when really all he had done was trapped a fly in a glass jar.]

What I said was that you, and others, and judging me where you do not understand. Not that you're stupid, merely ignorant. You do not have the knowledge of necromancy that I do, and yet here I am, being told that my methods are as unacceptable as anything else.

[He uncovered his face, looking over at her.]

I respect you, Jove, and I only did that because I wanted to be certain you were safe when I could not be there to watch over you. You are more dear to me than I have words, consanguinea.

You're right, I didn't understand. I still don't quite understand, because hearing you explain it makes it sound just fine. But what I saw, the way it screamed-

[She pales again, vallaslin standing out like ink on her skin. She's not shaking, thank the creators, but she does feel incredibly cold. She hates it, that there could ever be any part of Dorian she didn't like, but she can't stop thinking of Cole now. It's a mess and now she wishes she had just kept her worries to herself. She could handle Tek, she didn't need a charm to keep him at bay even in her sleep.]

I know you only did it to protect me, I didn't forget that for a second.

[She wouldn't let herself.]

[Dorian nods, softly. He wants to reach out to her, but he can't bring himself to say that he was sorry. He wasn't, and he can't lie to her.

The truth was that he didn't feel he had done anything wrong. He hadn't bound a whole spirit, just a fragment of a fragment, just a tiny piece that wasn't capable of anything. It was like a worm, inconsequential.

No one seemed to understand that, and so he just sighed, shoulders sagging a bit.

It seemed that even among the mages here, too, he was a pariah.]

[She doesn't want him to apologize. There's a reason she didn't tell Allen who it was who gave her that necklace, and there's a reason she isn't holding this over Dorian's head as his biggest mistake.

It's not. It's her mistake, but even calling it that feels off. A misunderstanding, a large one, but this is Dorian. Nothing about him could be a mistake in her eyes. She reaches a hand out to touch his arm.]

I'd like it if we could just put this behind us. In the future if you're at all willing I'd like to learn more about how you use your magic, but for now can we just please talk about how handsome your mustache looks today?

[Dorian manages a soft smile, and then nods.]

I suppose I could teach you much. I've learned a fair deal from the Mortalitasi teachings, not only about death, but life, as well.

[Death was only part of the cycle, as natural as birth. It was only taboo because it frightened, terrified people. Death, passing beyond the Veil, was inevitable.

But he smiled at her, it was almost strained, as if he couldn't manage to lie to her.]

I suppose I could stand to hear more.

[And then he moved, shifting up the bed until he was sitting with a pillow against his lower back and the headboard against his shoulders. He reached out his hands to her.]

That's quite enough about consequential matters tonight. Come here, consanguinea.

Edited 2015-03-18 01:41 (UTC)

Well, if you insist.

[She'll play it like he's asking for moon, but they both know better. She wastes no time scooting up beside him and laying herself down in his arms, head resting on his chest. As funny as it feels to admit it, she's missed him. Missed this.]

You see, there's a word I don't mind even though I don't know it.

[Dorian smiles softly as she settles against him. Jove is more dear to him than he knows how to say- an echo of a nurse that he adored and left behind in Tevinter, and the longing he had always had for someone who cared for him for who he is, and not what he is. Jove does not expect things of him, as women had before, and her kindness and caring comes with no expectations that he be anyone but himself.

She knows him, and she still cares. That means more than he can ever say.

He wraps an arm around her, smiling down at her. His voice is almost quiet, as if the honesty is not something that he can really trust himself with.]

Perhaps I ought to teach you Tevene. Consanguinea is a term, one for a woman that you feel kinship with. It implies that you are my blood kin.

[In the same way, Dorian is safe for Jove. Her experiences with humans might now have always been good, but from their very first meeting Jove had liked Dorian. Flashy and talented, come to save her from the Venatori. There really was no knowing what could have happened had they gotten their hands on her, but it was a fate Jove had never had to worry about.

They haven't talked about what they saw in the future, but the horrors of all that red lyrium, the things that only the two of them know, it's bound them together, sparked their friendship into what it is now out of a desire to not suffer alone. He doesn't know the details of her lyrium nightmares, but he'd caught her up at night in Haven, shivering. Let her blame it on the snow even though he knew better.

It's really no surprise they've found a name for each other that conveys that connection. They're blood in name, a piece of each other. She tips her head back and kisses his cheek, lightly.]

So you matched me when I called you lethallan. I wish I had known at the time.

Ah, but that would have taken some of the fun out of it.

[He smiled down at her, a chuckle rumbling in his chest.]

I am a man of my secrets, Jove, and you understand that more than many others here. But I did tell you, eventually, so I should think you'll forgive me for only being as forthright as ever.

Your love of secrets is why I'm a bit surprised you'd offer to teach me Tevene. When you go gossiping with Fenris there might finally be someone to understand you.

Gossiping, you make us sound like old hens. Perhaps we're simply plotting for revolution, how are you to know? Perhaps he's simply enthralled with my proper grooming and terribly good looks and likes to talk to me about them at length.

[He pokes her nose fondly.]

It can't be both?

[She scrunches her nose up when he touches it, reciprocating by reaching up to twirl his mustache around her finger.]

You know I always did think it was a shame women couldn't do this, it's positively dashing. You should do it more often. Pair it with that Tevinter laugh Sera's so certain you have.

I try to explain to you that there'a license and examination for a proper cackle. If you don't have the license, they fine you each time you do it. There's a mess of paperwork, it's all terribly bureaucratic. Fifty gold for every "Muahaha" and five for each additional "haha", you see.

I think you're confusing me for our other dear elf. [She sighs, a little wistful.] I do miss Sera, she'd be exactly what we needed to keep us from letting all this get under our skin.

Just imagine her stealing all the breaches.

She would be hanging them on the villa gate! And, of course, I would have no option but to make sure they were hung properly, you see.

[Not that he didn't enjoy Sera's mischief. She was a charming girl, in some ways, and a devious imp in others. She was entertaining, though, and rarely ever dull.]

It's a good thing Vivienne is not here. Could you imagine? She would sniff at my choice of housing arrangements and call them uncultured and rustic.

And then she would cackle and make jokes about things being hung.

[Said so fondly. Sera, you were the best of us.]

Would think I'd gone completely mad if I told you I missed her too? We became quite close, though you wouldn't know that. It happens down the line. [There's a thoughtful pause.] I killed a wyvern for her.

Ah, I do so miss her effortless jabs and insults.

[And he smiles, kissing the top of Jove's head.]

A wyvern? Truly? Now I'm curious and slightly scandalized! Do tell.

Scandalized? Please. I think you all asked me to kill something for you at one point.

[But she isn't adverse to talking about the little quest, so she just cuddles in a little closer and absently fiddles with the straps on his robes.]

She needed a heart for a potion, she said. Only the heart of the snowy wyvern would do and we had to trek for hours through knee high water to find it. The fight wasn't too bad, thanks to Bull and Cassandra, but it wasn't pleasant cutting a heart out of one of those things.

When we returned I found a recipe for a potion sitting near her things, and being the curious young elf I am, of course I looked. You'll never guess what she wanted the heart to make.

I didn't ask you to kill anyone that didn't entirely deserve it.

[He says it, as if making a point, like Venatori were just mongrels that needed to be put down. And, in Dorian's eyes, they certainly were.

But he can't keep the almost scandalized, gossiping tone from his voice.]

What did she need it for? Do tell!

004 // the house of sin

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