hadriel | voice;

Can those out exploring the oceans receive messages from the islands? If so, have a safe and lovely trip, and try to stay out of the water: I'm not sure I want to imagine what lives down there, but I doubt it's anything friendly. [ There's a small, stained pause. ] And... if Aren Brosca is still out there, somehow, please let your housemates know when you'll be returning home. Pup seems to miss his other, furry friend.

[ It's been so long since she's heard from the Warden, though, that Cecily can only imagine Aren has long since gone home. Another from Thedas, come and gone. ]

... For those still on land, it's gotten a bit too quiet for me. If anyone is on the Westernmost island, or can make their way there, I'd love a game of Wicked Grace. I've gone through the rules before, but that was some time ago, now: I'd be happy to relay them again.

[ Best to distract with cards and some drinks, right? ... Right. ]

Look for the enormous, slobbering beast, and I should be somewhere nearby.

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[she tries to sneak a peek at the cards to see how they differ from Earth standard playing cards. and yay wine!]

We got here at the same time. She helped me out in the Colosseum, we got to talking, and we were friends ever since.

[ The cards of Wicked Grace are certainly different from standard playing cards on Earth, as Laura will notice before long. ]

Entirely by chance, then. Like the rest of us here, I think. [ All meeting each other under extraordinary circumstances. ] Do you know much about her?

[yes, they look more like Tarot cards to Laura than playing cards]

A lot. Or at least I think so? I know she was Casteless, which made other dwarves treat her like shit. I know she had to work for a crime boss 'cause she couldn't get any other job and wound up fighting in something called a---a Proving? Because of it. But she won, which freaked everyone out except for a Grey Warden recruiter who signed her up. And the rest. . . kind of went from there. A huge slaughter at--at Ostagar, her and another Warden being rescued from it. Traveling to try and build an army that could take on the Darkspawn. Killing the Archdemon. Stuff like that.

So, you know just about everything that I do. [ There's a laugh at that as she begins to shuffle, then to deal. ] I didn't know her in our world. In fact, I've only heard stories. [ Plus, the Hero of Ferelden was another person entirely. ] She was a hero, though. One deserving of the awe with which her name was spoken.

[ Or so Cecily has to assume. ]

I guess so. I miss her. [she waits until Cecily finishes dealing to pick up her cards] Really? So it must've been a trip to meet her in person. [that sounds potentially awkward] She was. Is. 'Cause she's still a hero. She's just not here anymore.

I do, too. She was an incredible person.

[ They were friends, at least, and housemates. ]

She isn't here, true, but she might come back. You never know, with Hadriel. [ Some of Cecily's friends have come and gone a few times already. ] You just never know...

[ There's a long pause, and then she drains her glass. ]

I'm sorry: have I offered you any?

[Laura isn't getting her hopes up, but] Yeah. She could? It could happen. Maybe something back home needed her?

[during that pause, Laura turns her attention to the cards in her hand, sorting them into like groups]

No, not yet. It's cool. You've got a lot of stuff on your mind.

I'm not sure. [ ... ] But, I'd imagine so. The Hero of Ferelden is needed just about everywhere, I should think.

[ Cecily scoffs at 'you've got a lot on your mind,' thinking it to be an understatement. All the same, she pours for Laura and then passes it across the table. ]

Here you are. Cheers to those of use who still have to live in this ever-changing hellscape.

Yeah. [she swallows hard] So she's probably gonna be gone for a while.

[she was trying to be diplomatic. and she takes the drink]

Yeah, cheers. May we keep our sanity. [she clinks her glass against Cecily]

Easier said than done. I don't know about you, but I've certainly lost my sanity once or twice here already.

[ That's Hadriel for you!! ]

...because of god things? Or something else? [she asks carefully]

I think everything that happens here is because of "god things." [ Her mouth flattens into an understandably unhappy flat line. ] What happens after is - just the details.

[ Still painful, naturally, and in their own unique ways. But always, always because of the gods. Or the Null.

Usually the gods. ]

It does seem that way, doesn't it? [she sighs] They really don't get how people work, do they?

[after all, Laura was dead until she came here. if she'd been approached in the afterlife and asked to volunteer to go to Hadriel in exchange for a second chance at life, free of BOB and everything he caused, she probably would've said yes]

I think that's the entire concept. They've no concept of how we function, and we don't understand them, either.

[ She isn't sure she'll ever get how the gods here think. ]

[a short laugh] I know I sure don't. But you'd think they'd be at least a little better at understanding us. They've had people here for what, two whole years?

[so they must not be trying very hard]

Nearly three, I think. [ She knows, but doesn't say. ] I'm not sure that they want to understand us, Laura. Not if it doesn't benefit them in any way.

[ Did Delight understand them better than the others? Now, they may never know. ]

Three? Holy shit. [Laura frowns] Then I guess if they wanted to figure us out, they would've by now.

[Laura wouldn't know, it seemed like right after she arrived, all that mess with the Null started]

Or we're not able to, as we're missing pieces. [ It's never as simple as a puzzle or a game, though. If only. ]

Maybe. But how can we know if we're missing pieces if we don't even know what they are?

I think it's easy enough to say that we don't have all the information.

[ She certainly doesn't feel as if they do, anyway. ]

Yeah, that would be putting it mildly. If we're missing pieces, it's like a puzzle with great big gaping holes in it.

[and she knows that she's not the one to figure any of it out]

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