1st Judgment ⚖ Action ⚖ Open

[whatisright]

Who: Justice and You
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Evac Station, SS Caprine
When: After the destruction of the planet, and then after everything can be done for the refugees.

Evac Station - Action

[Justice is tireless about getting the refugees settled after the planet is destroyed. Literally tireless--he never stops to eat, drink, or sleep. When there is a pause in the work, he only stops to hover by his two unconscious friends, watching them with naked concern on his face but never speaking nor attempting to wake them up.

He's just putting away more supplies when he pauses, head turning to watch a refugee man sitting on the floor, rifling through a bag. When he speaks, his voice is a touch more stern than usual.] What are you doing?

[The man looks up at him, fingering the bag.] "Just, uh, looking at my stuff."

You're lying. That's not yours.

[The color drains from the man's face even as he tries to smile and instinctively clutches the bag tighter.] "What are you talking about? Of course it's mine."

[This just sours Justice's mood further, and he turns the full weight of his glare on the man.] You stole it from a family while they slept. Your misfortune is no excuse to steal from those suffering just as much as yourself. You will return it with all its original contents immediately.

SS Caprine - Action

[Justice never actually properly explored the ship he was assigned, so enchanted he was by the planet they were on.

So now he's just getting to know what's supposed to be his home now. He unfortunately doesn't have a lot of social awareness, as may be evidenced by the fact that he chooses to look like a walking corpse, and he just wanders into random rooms, bedrooms included, to stand at the center or pick up particularly well-used objects and run his fingers across them.

Congratulations on your new weirdo, Caprine.]

[Edited to add: Justice has psychic and object-reading abilities. For more info and to let me know what's cool for him to pick up, here's a permissions post.]

Comments

[samahl]

[He gives Justice an apologetic expression.]

I'm sure. I'm very sorry if people did anything to make you question Thedas's worth.

I'd say that not all of us are like that, but I've found with spirits actions and intentions speak louder than words.

[whatisright]

Indeed, they do. That is why I know that you are all not like that.

I had the privilege of fighting alongside many goodhearted mortals when I first arrived in the waking world. If anything, I have learned that it is unfair to judge you all the same. [And he wishes he could share his findings with his fellow spirits. With news of Compassion crossing the Veil, maybe it's not as impossible as he thought.]

[samahl]

If Cole ever ends up here, I'll make sure he knows to speak with you.

I imagine Compassion and Justice have a lot in common.

[whatisright]

I would like that.

I have worked together with compassion spirits before. Our virtues may not be the same, but our goals often overlap. We usually get along well. [And, you know. It'd be nice to have another spirit around. Only a certain kind of spirit, though. Spirits like Valor or Command can stay where they are.]

[samahl]

Cole was very concerned with justice. There were people who harmed others, and he would become very upset if they weren't stopped or punished. His feelings towards their victims were always the focus.

He often reminded me that those who suffered should be the focus of those with power.

[whatisright]

I believe I would get along well with this spirit. [Not that he doesn't get along well with nearly all the compassion spirits he comes across, but this one sounds especially easy to get along with. Not all iterations of Compassion can tolerate punishment for the wicked.] Do you know how exactly it created a physical form?

[samahl]

I don't know exactly, but the way he described it, it seemed like something he was able to do because it was what Cole, the real Cole, wanted.

[whatisright]

Interesting. [Justice has never, ever heard of this happening before. Is that all that needs to happen? A mage needs to wish a spirit to have a physical form? It can't be that simple. Goodness knows that Anders and Velanna have wanted him to have his own form often enough, if only to get away from the smell of rotting corpse.

But he can't know for sure until he talks to the spirit in question, assuming Compassion hasn't wiped its own memory of the process.] Do you know how long Compassion has kept its form?

[samahl]

For several years at least. I'm not sure when the mage Cole died, but he was at the White Spire for a while after that. He contributed to the events that made things fall apart there, and that was in 9:40 Dragon. For me, the year is 9:45 Dragon and he is still in his own physical form.

He becomes more human every day, but he still has his senses and abilities. He still uses them to help people.

[whatisright]

[Justice almost asks what happened at the White Spire, almost asks what things fell apart, and if he had, that probably would have led to some uncomfortable revelations.

But he doesn't, because something Cyril says at the end there swallows his attention.]

What do you mean, 'he becomes more human every day?' [Normally, Justice would dismiss that as a turn of phrase saying that Compassion is learning how to blend in better, but 'he still has his senses and abilities'? Why would blending in more with humans affect that in any way?]

[samahl]

Oh. Yes.

I suppose that would stand out to you, because you're a spirit too. I didn't mean to be flippant about it...

Cole eventually realized that mages would be able to bind him so he had to choose between either embracing the humanity he had adopted when he took physical form, or to abandon it and return to what he once was. Either one could strengthen him against the binding, either by making him immune to it or enabling him to use an amulet as protection.

[whatisright]

[Justice's look of complete and utter bafflement is the closest he's had so far to a face with a human level of expressiveness.

What is he even hearing? The mortal can't be suggesting that Compassion is literally becoming human. Magic can do weird things, but it can't do that. Clearly, something is terribly wrong with this poor compassion spirit and it really needs to go back to the Fade soon.

And what's this about wards against binding? Justice has been under the impression that the best he can do is try to avoid blood mages, or kill them before they have a chance to bind him to anything.

There is so much to unpack here.]

How would behaving more like a human in any way affect a blood mage's ability to bind it?

And what amulet are you speaking of?

[samahl]

The amulet was Tevinter in origin. It was used by their mages to protect spirits they conjured from the Fade from their enemies.

As far as what is happening with Cole... I'm not entirely sure how it was happening. I wanted to encourage the things that made him content.

[whatisright]

[Justice is confused on so many levels.] So the amulet is intended to keep spirits that have already been bound to a mage free of extra binding? [Because he doesn't like the sound of that. Also, he didn't know that more than one mage can bind a spirit. That sounds horrifying.

Justice would really like to meet this spirit. If this elf hasn't gone mad, then there is a lot to discuss with it.] What made it content, if not easing pain?

[samahl]

[Cyril wishes that Cole was here to better explain all of this. He isn't exactly sure how the amulet was meant to work either.]

Helping people was and always will be the first thing that gives him purpose, of course. That's always going to be his focus. But he also enjoyed learning and experiencing new things.

[He's trying to think of an example, and something comes to mind.]

He and I went to a restaurant in Val Royeaux. He was amused when the maitre d' took his order. Little things like that, that he wouldn't have experienced in the Fade, made him smile.

I'm probably not explaining it fully. I wish he were here so he could meet you.

[whatisright]

New experiences are often enjoyable. That is not strange. [Except it kind of is for a spirit, but Justice doesn't realize how strange it is because hasn't noticed how much he himself has already changed since coming into the mortal world.

He is still a spirit, through and through, but if he were to wipe all of the last few months in the waking world from his mind, what person he would revert to would be very different. Justice doesn't realize how different that person would be.]

If it comes here, I would like to speak with it. This all sounds... strange.

[samahl]

If he ever arrives, I'll make sure to point him in your direction.

Any conversation between Justice and Compassion is bound to be interesting, even without Cole's uniqueness on top of it.