[II. Video.]

[demonbloodblade]

[The screen comes on, showing Meliantha, with two small barrels - about knee-high, each - with markings on them (probably writing, but not Earth languages) on the table next to her.]

It has been brought to my attention that, for the good of us all, I must sacrifice some things I brought with me.

This [She puts her hand on one of them] is a small-keg of Tanagyr's Stout, a dark stout, well-regarded and smuggled heavily from place to place. And this [She touches the other] is a small-keg of Saerloonian Special Red, which is as the name implies a red wine, considered excellent where I am from.

I currently have about nine gallons of the beer, and eleven gallons of the wine, available. In order to keep the peace and help those in need, I will be willing to share these with us who have been brought here. Bring your own cups or glasses.

Since many people do not think well of those that just give things away, therefore I request in return the best joke you know - I am sharing something to improve people's moods, so we can have that in return.

Comments

[ofthegrey]

Yes, that's one thing I've found very...odd. Most of the people here I've met from Thedas I either know directly or know someone who knows them. All connected. Thedas is a large world. The odds of such a thing are minuscule.

[He takes another sip of his wine, definitely not drinking tonight with an eye to getting drunk.]

If you wind up with that kind of trouble here, let me know. They'll learn you won't go quietly.

[demonbloodblade]

Perhaps there's some interconnection for the people from Thedas, and whatever that is, I lack the connection with others that might bring them here. Or maybe it's just some wizard from back home or another wreaking havoc - not uncommon.

[She leans back, holds out her hand, and suddenly her sword is there. It was nowhere in sight before that.]

No. Not quietly at all. [And she smiles a little mischievously.]

[ofthegrey]

Perhaps. Or we're particularly difficult to resist because of our leagues of charm. [A touch dryly.]

If I could have done something like that, my life might have turned out quite differently. [His mouth quirks in a half smile.]

Handy trick that.

[demonbloodblade]

It's part of our bond, the one we had before we came here.

Indeed. Now. I was reading, if you would be so kind? [The voice is a trifle grumpy.]

Fine. [The blade disappears.]

I've seen some of your people on the talk-glass. Some of them seem very ...sure of themselves.

[The expression on her face says 'I should have said full, not sure', but she's trying not to be insulting.]

[ofthegrey]

Dare I ask how a sword reads?

[He has enough class to hold the question until after the blade in question is gone once more.]

Ha! You must be talking about Anora. One thing she isn't lacking is self...anything.

[That's OK. He'll do it.]

[demonbloodblade]

Not entirely sure. I put his hilt on the book and he seems to do it that way. Some kind of magic, beyond me.

[She nods.]

Yes, yes indeed. You can tell she's a queen, and not just in that she married a king. Not sure if that's dangerous or not for the people she knows. That would depend on the king, I suspect.

[ofthegrey]

At least he's not flipping pages. You'd lose more books that way...

[His expression is a little difficult to read.]

She is very much a product of her father, not one to turn your back toward.

[demonbloodblade]

He likes trashy romances. It boggles me sometimes. No accounting for taste.

[She pauses at that last.]

I'll try not to get into a situation where it might be an issue for me, then.

[ofthegrey]

Literature that spans worlds. I don't know if I should be amused or appalled.

[He looks more the former.]

I should in fairness perhaps explain a bit better. She isn't an outright danger. However, she is most likely to act in her own interest and doesn't seem to mind if that is at another's expense. Her word is only as good as the interest in which it is given.

[He knows that she nearly cost Elissa her life and won't ever be quick to forget that.]

[demonbloodblade]

There's trashy and then there's 'who thought this was a good idea'. Things like 'The Evereska/Mithril Hall Treaty Ceremony', which had sex between the two rulers of the city, in a public situation. Last I heard, the author had spent all the gold he made from that on anti-scrying spells, but the elves had an idea where he was. Don't know if declaring it lese majeste still held, that was sort of a hat-pull, but the really bad novels are finally slowing down.

[A nod.]

As long as she counts her kingdom in 'me' for that, it's not the worst way of looking at things. Sometimes a ruler needs be ruthless in the defense of their kingdom, even if it hurts. But that's good to know, in case she and I run into each other when things are tight. Most of the people I've worked with work for the same organization, so we have a community of interest, but even within that, there's degrees of interest.

[ofthegrey]

Andraste's knickers, that's normal literature in Orlais. [Sadly, he's probably not joking. Much.]

That's difficult to say. I never witnessed her rule beyond what power she held beside her husband. I only know of certain questionable things that happened after the fact from sources I consider reliable. I'd say keep to your own sword and skill, and you can't go wrong.

Are you with a mercenary group, or is it something else?

[demonbloodblade]

The Harpers are... well, they seek a world where people need not fear, where song and history are kept and not lost or twisted to promote a particular belief, where nature and civilization are in balance. What that tends to mean in practice is a lot of running around and fighting those who believe otherwise, like slavers, and crime syndicates, and the less pleasant churches - Bane, god of Tyranny, as an example.

You don't really choose to join; you get recruited after coming to the attentions of other Harpers. There's no formal swearing of oaths until you get your pin, showing you've got enough sense to not leave a mess behind you.

[She unbuttons her vest (there is a shirt underneath) and flips it over, showing a pin in the shape of a crescent moon with a harp between the horns, made of a silver metal, then flips it back.]

In general, the Harpers let people do what they feel they should do, but sometimes you get an assignment. Last one I got was... I think I mentioned it, starting a slave rebellion.

[ofthegrey]

[He listens closely and leans in to have a closer look at the pin when she reveals it.]

Noble goals. I would not envy anyone such a task in any world. I believe no matter where you go there will be others seeking to carve out more than their share or take advantage of the weaker.

In some aspects it sounds like our Grey Wardens, but in others we are very different.

[demonbloodblade]

It's not easy work, but when you don't quite fit in anywhere like me, having fulfilling work to do helps.

What are the Grey Wardens like?

[ofthegrey]

Then you come to a place like this where no one fits. The Initiative, our benevolent equalizers.

[His tone slightly dry, but for the moment he's not bitter or annoyed. He takes another sip of the wine.]

We're an ancient order, born of the necessity of saving our world from an at the time unprecedented plague of darkness and evil. Creatures that had never before been seen swarmed the dwarven kingdoms underground and erupted upward, impelled by the commands of an insane god. They infected those who came in contact with them, mutating and sickening them, and blighting the lands they touched.

Wardens drove them back and slew the god. Another rose to take its place. Five times this devastation has been visited upon our world. We recruit from all races and nationalities, and we answer to no one kingdom or government, for the threat we combat knows no borders and recognizes no treaty. It's difficult to keep our numbers up, because these blights have spanned the ages, often going hundreds of years between one and the next.

People are more apt to concern themselves with the here and now than the possibility of an ancient threat that hardly seems real, dark legends from stories told to keep errant children in line. It's an understandable but short-sighted attitude. Only in the Anderfels do we face no opposition, for they are under constant assault from the enemy, and much of their land is blighted beyond hope of any recovery. It's much harder to ignore the enemy not only on your doorstep but beyond your threshold.

[demonbloodblade]

[She chuckles.] Sometimes it's easier to fit in when everyone is one kind of misfit or another.

[And then she listens.] Indeed. Sometime when things are difficult, the right-now is easier to deal with than the what-could-be, though. Farmers and their crops and keeping them safe.

But that's the point, I think, of people like the Grey Wardens and the Harpers - remembering the dangers, keeping an eye open, keeping the knowledge of how to fight them for when it's needed, and that little bit of hope that you won't need to use it again, because the enemy will no longer be returning to fight. The Anderfels you speak of - they need your order, and I would imagine it's hard even there when you're needed and unopposed.

I hope your order can someday lay down its burden. But history - well, my world's, at least - shows there will always be a need for those who stand apart and keep watch and protect.

[She raises a mug to him.]

To the Grey Wardens: may their sacrifices be rewarded.

[ofthegrey]

So it is. Our common circumstance gives a good starting point for building understanding.

[Not to say that he believes everyone here would make a trustworthy ally. He has seen some network posts that have him questioning not just the nature of some of the people with them but their sanity.]

Yes, and no one likes to be inconvenienced or told that perhaps one day they will be needed to face near certain death to prevent more deaths. I do understand that.

[He had been one of them once.]

The Anderfels is the birthplace of our order, their people grim and practical folk. It is a hard existence. I feel for them, them and the dwarves who have lost and sacrificed more than any of us surface folk combined. Once their kingdom spanned the underside of the entire continent, connected by roads and outposts with wonders whose secrets are lost to their descendants. All that remain are two besieged cities on opposite sides of the world. The rest between is crumbling and befouled by centuries of darkspawn occupation, a filth that spreads with the virulence of an invasive fungus.

I hope the threat will end as well. They say there are only seven of the ancient gods slumbering. If it's true, there is no way to know what will happen once the last is awakened and dispatched. Will the threat abate, or will the darkspawn forever multiply until their numbers alone overwhelm us even without the guidance of a dark intelligence?

[And what of the Architect, the strange darkspawn emissary who claimed to have a diabolical solution to all of their woes? He is quiet for a moment with that thought before shaking it off. He raises his glass and leans over to clack it against her mug.]

And to the Harpers. Long may you preserve balance in your lands, and long may people sing of your deeds.