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Fenris
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Date: 2020-11-10 08:27 am (UTC)Of course I know you would never jump into something without thinking it through. And it is not as if I don't see your point.
[When he lifts his head from his hand there's worry in his vivid green eyes, the reptilian pupil narrowing at the thought of Rafe falling under a demon's influence, and what that would mean for Fenris. What he wants him to do.]
But you must understand...this is how it always begins. You swear you will be careful, that you have a backup plan, and it...never ends well. I don't want to see that happen to you.
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Date: 2020-11-10 08:40 am (UTC)You think I do? Trust me, I'd also much prefer you not mercy-killing me.
[ He sobers quickly enough, settling back in his chair as he continues to watch Fenris with that unflinching blue stare. ]
But that's what's key about it: you. You've got the experience with this under your belt already, you'd know exactly what to look for and you'd know if I did any changing. The second that it went bad, I'd count on you to step in and if I were out of my mind enough to tell you to piss off, I'd count on you finding one way or another to make it right again. If I were partnering with anyone else, I'd scrap it and head back to the drawing board.
[ A shrug of the shoulder still attached. ]
And it's why I'll respect it if you say no now.
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Date: 2020-11-10 09:01 am (UTC)[Fenris says it more to himself than anything, knowing full well that Rafe's aware where his mind went last time this subject came up. There's no clarification needed — so why say it? Perhaps because he's getting himself used to the thought. Because Rafe is serious about this, thought about this, is making good points about this.
Despite his size he manages to sink into the cushions of the couch, no longer perching but slouching. His gaze still holds, though.]
If it begins to promise you things, no matter how grand they sound...we are doing his for only one reason. Promise me you will remember that.
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Date: 2020-11-10 09:28 am (UTC)[ Rafe has the grace not to let his satisfaction show— It's simple enough given his habitual control and the fact that this is serious shit, and nothing to be smug about. No matter how reassuring it is to have a confirmed, concrete way forward, to have the decision done. Whether it'll steer to good or ill, neither of them will know until it happens, but it doesn't matter.
They'll deal with that not as it comes but as they choose to meet it. ]
And I'll throw this on for a bonus: if we deal with the Fog and the Fourth decides to step up to the throne? We dip in for another go and take him out too.
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Date: 2020-11-10 08:01 pm (UTC)He believes Rafe when he swears.
Fenris already feels better when Rafe lays it out like this for him. That the Fourth is only temporary, to be slayed should it step out of line as the Fog has. His posture straightens again as he nods his head.]
I still don't like this, but you are correct that we're out of options. And while I would normally rather lay down and die than to deal with demons or creatures claiming godhood...I trust you.
cw: mentions of sex, slavery, implied abuse
Date: 2020-11-11 03:29 am (UTC)[ Of course by now he knows the gist of what Fenris has dealt with at home, has worked as best he can to unravel the Gordian knots tied up inside Fenris's head to get him thinking as a person instead of a slave. Has hit the brakes more than once rather than let passion ride to allow Fenris the time and space to get his bearings back.
But Rafe banks more on himself. He's never dealt in lies past artful omission because he's never seen the point and that's still true in Ryslig. He builds himself the best he's able, assumes that those around him will see the merit in what he says, in what he does, and will make their decisions on that. If they don't see, then that just means he has to continue at it until the facts are undeniable. ]
So now that that's settled, we can move onto the details. [ Now he sits back in his chair, one leg crossing over the other. ] First off, this alliance? Does not get discussed outside these four walls. Not even on the network. I'm not expecting us to be able to keep this quiet forever but we can hold off a while if we're careful.
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Date: 2020-11-12 05:07 am (UTC)It doesn't matter, though.]
I think that would be best. Alliances with these creatures paint a sizable target.
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Date: 2020-11-12 12:12 pm (UTC)[ Javert and Varian, Fiddleford and his band of idiots, while others in the camp played at damage control after the fact with no real consequence... Without those factors, it's possible that Felfri would've been less palatable, its shortcomings harder to swallow but in comparison? It was a downright no brainer. Hell, Rafe would eat the hat he doesn't own to think that no one else is doing what they're now planning to.
Granted, highly unlikely that most are going to be approaching this with the same kind of strategy and forethought but. You know. That's as much a given as the Fog followers continuing to be a whole pack of jackasses pulling in nineteen different directions. ]
It's a trend I'm pretty sure would benefit us to continue, to best leverage the element of surprise when it'll get the most impact.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-13 07:00 am (UTC)[The Fog Warriors were fast, quiet, even for their size you wouldn't know they were there and by the time you did it was too late. Everyone knew who they were and what they stood for but never when they were coming.
But Hawke was...blatant. Everyone had eyes on him, and a lot of it wan't his fault, but he lost count of how many times they walked right into an ambush. Every time. It was tiring.]
What do we know about the Fourth, exactly?
[He went to do some...research a while back. But then he got distracted by a certain pompous ass.] Aside from the fact that it is supposedly a child.
oops pick up lore
Date: 2020-11-26 02:13 am (UTC)[ A deep breath that he hardly needs before he starts off. Of course he's kept notes, has them on a notebook up in his room under the floorboards next to his phylactery, but he doesn't need them for a quick overview. ]
Fog and Fourth followers do seem to both put that down as fact. Kid's name used to be Elias Liewen— Same Liewen as the lab in Bavan, the guys that always show up with the laptops? Set up some random orientation table at the start of the month come hell or high water, like it's some kind of job fair instead of a fresh round of mass kidnappings.
[ Rafe rolls his eyes in dismissal of the wannabe welcome wagon that he keeps catching out the corner of his eye every month. ]
Papa Liewen apparently decided he was tired of the Fog and decided to get tinkering on a machine to suck out all the mojo what's got her going. But once he'd gotten it ready, guess he wasn't thrilled at the idea of putting himself on the line, so. He used his kid as a magic battery and shoved all the juice in him. [ Which... is fucked up. Very much so. ] That Fog priest that screwed the pooch in October said that he's permanently hooked up to those machines now. Some of those machines used to power the network but may not anymore? Hell if I know, but that whole tech affinity has at least stuck around to the point that I wouldn't trust the network with anything I would be wanting to hide from him.
oops more like HECK YEAH BITCH
Date: 2020-11-26 04:40 am (UTC)His posture stiffens as he thinks of a child's own father sacrificing them — then his own sister baiting him like a mouse for his master to find, just for her own gain...her own power. Blood really meant nothing, but sometimes it means everything. It depends if you're lucky enough to end up with a family who gives a shit versus one that will sell you down the river in the blink of an eye, like himself.
Then he thinks about Danarius, and the markings carved into his skin so the man could achieve something most magisters dared only dream of.
There's a far off look as his gaze finds something else in the room, but his tone is taut with anger and only just barely restrained.]
He...is not in this position of his own will then. A victim of twisted experimentation. Not like that fog monster at all.
NO I SAID OOPS AND I MEANT OOPS
Date: 2020-11-26 05:31 am (UTC)Not to start with, no.
[ The reply comes slowly as the gears visibly turn, patient, for Fenris to spill his own side of this story. Though eventually his own words return apace, ready with a counter-proposal even if he isn't sure he'd believe it. ]
But... Then again, maybe the Fog has her own fucked up origin story. Who knows. [ Irrelevant for now, perhaps, but nothing ever happens on its own. History shows (for those that come to it honestly, without agenda, without willingly putting on blinders) that nothing occurs in a vacuum. There's always a beginning before the beginning, an end after the end, ripples spreading out from every point between to interact with others and create second, third, fourth order consequences. ] Comes down to what they're doing with that power right now, what's being done for them by their priests and what's being done in the name of. Far as that goes, Fog's the only one bringing us here and slapping us down into shit.
[ ...Well. ]
Since we've been here, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-29 05:10 am (UTC)Every creature has an origin. I've seen things like the Fog who twisted those around them for its own purpose, whispered into their minds — an insidious ambition such as that can last for centuries. Perhaps one time it was sympathetic, but I very much doubt that. It's evil.
[He shakes his head lightly, a weak attempt at pulling himself from his...moment. But he can't help but think of Corypheus.]
The Fourth may well be too far gone. Every bit of it that was once human may be no longer...but if I must choose a side...
...No child asks for something like that.
[Maybe he did, at some point, but what he asked for...he was a stupid child and hadn't realized the ramifications of Danarius's promise.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-02 06:52 am (UTC)[ Something about the background Rafe's pieced together on the Fourth has struck Fenris and struck him hard... Specifically what, he doesn't know yet but while it seems enough to nudge Fenris closer to accepting the pinball wizard into his heart? Rafe isn't exactly thrilled if it becomes something more than that.
Hence why that stare continues to bore holes into his partner, those bright blue eyes narrowed and patient. ]
Is that going to be an issue?
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Date: 2020-12-06 05:53 am (UTC)I've no intention of getting soft. Have I not made my opinion on magic and creatures with power clear enough?
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Date: 2020-12-06 07:27 am (UTC)[ He lets the statement hang as his arms fold across his chest: a challenge, making sure that Fenris knows he knows there's more here than is being said. ]
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Date: 2020-12-07 03:23 am (UTC)[It's clear, but going in depth now is just going to make Rafe question him more. At least, that's how he sees it.]
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Date: 2020-12-08 08:01 pm (UTC)[ Zing.
Honestly, how can Fenris still think that Rafe will ever let a thing lie once he knows there's something more to it? C'mon. ]
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Date: 2020-12-13 02:46 am (UTC)He sighs and settles himself down in his seat, resigning himself to his fate.]
I never told you how these markings came to be on my body. [He always danced around the subject, or gave just enough information. It's not the easiest thing to talk about.] But I told you before that Danarius is a powerful mage. He has many experiments and research that other magisters would kill for.
[He stares down at the palm of his hand...now a claw, but still bearing the markings.]
These markings are his best work. The real reason his chase for me is so relentless. I...don't remember much from before I got them. I know that I was just a boy, that I...[Actually, that doesn't matter. He's not ready to talk about that yet.]...The process was so painful it cost me my memories.
[Fenris's gaze rises to meet Rafe's but stops just short and lands on his chest instead.]
What the Fourth's father did to it is not unlike what Danarius did to me. He turned me into a weapon. Lyrium is a volatile mineral that would cause anyone who come into contact with it permanent damage to their minds, and kill mages outright. Dwarves are the only ones who can mine it safely, and when they do they process it so that it can be used. Mages drink these lyrium potions to enhance their magic, templars drink it to help them resist magic, and some even use it to enchant armor and weapons. Mages even use it to consciously enter the Fade — a land of spirits and demons, where we are said to go when we sleep.
It's a powerful substance, present both in the physical world and the Fade, and Danarius infused it directly into my skin. Whatever I used to be, I lost it when I stepped into that sarcophagus.
So yes, I feel for the creature. But I doubt there is anything left of the child before his father twisted his very being. You don't have to worry about me going soft. The enemy of my enemy is my friend; that is all.
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Date: 2021-01-04 03:01 am (UTC)The words hang between them for a long moment before Rafe just shakes his head. ]
Starting to wonder if there's anything simple or straightforward to your life. I mean, just... Christ, dude. So when you talk about being able to phase, all that shit, that was from the—
[ Rafe has always called them tattoos because that's what they'd looked like, but now that he knows... Every joke about the random glow he's made up to now suddenly falls flat. He wonders whether Fenris allowed them because he's not particularly offended, or because of some holdover slave-logic. ]
It's because of the branding. [ A considering frown. ] Figured it was just a generic elf thing.
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Date: 2021-01-04 03:29 am (UTC)[Fenris is sure that the irony doesn't need to be pointed out. And he's sure he doesn't have to actually inform Rafe that no, there is nothing simple or straightforward about his life. From the first moment he can remember there was pain and confusion and his present is no different.]
The Dalish give their clan members vallaslin when they come of age. The designs represent an elven god of their choice. I...the gift shop in the cursed museum had "temporary" ones, whatever that means. [And yes, Fenris took some because he hoards things, it's what he does. But anyway:] Many have mistaken me for a Dalish because of these markings. I would not be surprised if the design is meant to be a mockery of the elvhen.
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Date: 2021-01-17 06:35 am (UTC)[ Mockery and debasement going hand in hand with the arrogance and base cruelty that has to come with the idea of owning another person like they're just a slightly more ambulatory ottoman. Rafe shakes his head in disquiet, another piece of information filed away before accepting what Fenris has told him at face value. ]
But if you're certain it won't be an issue, then it won't be. [ Setting his jaw, he arches an eyebrow. ] And it won't do to put this off later.
[ Because of course Rafe is ready to do this here and now, before any hesitation can set in and the part of himself that hasn't stopped screaming for nigh on six months cracks his resolve with how batshit crazy his un-life continues to be. ]
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Date: 2021-02-09 07:59 am (UTC)[Just one more affirmation, because Fenris is sure it won't be a problem. He has put down many people he considers friends in his lifetime, people he felt for, people he pitied, whether it was because their minds were lost or because he was simply ordered to.
It won't be a problem.]
You...wish to do this now, then? [Well, shit.] If you're truly certain then...I suppose putting it off is pointless.
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Date: 2021-02-09 06:57 pm (UTC)[ He doesn't know how much the Fourth would be able to pick up on, what he already knows, but the least they can do is to split up and make it hard for the little god. ]
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Date: 2021-02-09 07:57 pm (UTC)Right. I will be here then.
[Hopefully it won't take too long because he will spend every second worrying.]
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