hadriel | Video 1

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[the video opens with a sixteen year old girl who is doing her best to appear self-assured and confident. she's in armor and she's sitting ramrod straight in a plain, wooden chair. she takes a deep breath and speaks]

Hello. My name is Lady Mariane Cousland and I'm looking for sparring partners. I use a sword and dagger, but I'm willing to fight with any kind of swordsman. Or swordswoman.

I'm also willing to teach others to fight, so please let me know if you'd be interested in that.

[she looks away from the camera briefly, as though debating with herself whether or not to say anything more]

Any responses would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

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[Maric's Blade was an engagement present of sorts. it had belonged to her lover's father. Alistair hadn't exactly asked her to marry him at the point that she got it, but the two of them had an understanding that their relationship was a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

Mariane would hope so. she's found so few people here she can relate to]

It sounds unlike any world I've heard of.

[her accent sounds Nevarran to Mariane's ears. she knows of Nevarra, but so far as she knows, her father never approached any Nevarrans when he was negotiating for Mariane's hand]

There's nothing to forgive. We all come from different worlds, after all. May I ask what the Healing Church is?

[and she hears that waver. should Maria ask, Mariane would be able to reassure her that no time was passing back home while she was here. otherwise, she would be worried sick about Alistair and how he was faring as king while she was gone.

and she knows that feeling. she has duties of her own to go home to, a wedding to plan, and a crown of her own to take]

In time, I believe we shall all face the Null. But in the meanwhile, yes. We are useless. I go to the range to train every day at dawn. Does that time suit you?

That's because it is unlike any world you've heard of or could imagine.

[ How do you tell a stranger from another plan of existence that the world you spoke of, your world was created by an Eldric presence that dwells in the moon? How do you tell someone that everything you lived for was a lie and that the one person you thought you could trust the most, helped to trap you inside a living nightmare? She couldn't, so she didn't. ]

The Healing Church?

[ The question threw Maria off. It had been so long since she had met anyone that didn't know of it. Its reputation had spread further than Yharnam, that's how the population grew so large, how the Ashen Blood infected so many. She shook the thoughts from her mind and focused on the present. ]

Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears. Seek the old blood, but beware the frailty of men.

[ Maria resited their prayer. It came out almost automatically. ]

The Healing Church is the home of Blood Ministrations. The old blood is given for it's healing properties, distributed to those hurt or in need of relief. I am- I was part of the Old Healing Church Workshop, dedicated Hunters that protect the people from the Beasts, cull the infected and mutated. Stop the spread of the scourge.

[ She knew that part of what she was saying was a lie, she'd long since found out the dirty little secrets her beloved Healing Church hide. Though Maria was an intelligent woman, she never knew when the Great Ones were, or if they were listening, watching. It was best to keep up the facade. ]

Dawn. The range. Yes, I can be there. I hope you'll be ready for me.

[ A hint of enjoyment shone through in her tone. If there was one thing Maria enjoyed, it was bettering herself and her blade skills. Hopefully, this Mariane would be a worthy opponent. ]

Edited 2019-03-10 01:45 (UTC)

Indeed?

[there's a hint of curiosity in her voice. so many of these worlds that these people come from are so unlike hers that they all sound like things out of stories. but she would know a little something about everything she knew to be true being lies, given how her father's dearest friend betrayed him, slaughtered his household, and tried to have Mariane killed as well]

Yes. I've not heard the term before.

[Thedas has its Chantries, its White Divine and its Black Divine, but the Maker himself turns a blind eye to humanity and its follies. the Chantry believes that if the Chant of Light spreads across all of Thedas, the Maker will return, but they've been believing for nine Ages and they've yet to meet their goal. Mariane believes they never will, especially given the growing influence of the Qun]

Thirst? For blood?

[vampires don't exist in Thedas.

and she looks vaguely confused] I'm--I'm afraid I don't understand. Blood is used for healing? How? And what is a scourge?

[she's heard of blood being used for magic and she ingested Avernus' concoction which gave her certain . . . powers over her own blood, but the idea of an entire church being centered around blood is a bit peculiar]

I will be.

[she is very curious to see how this woman fights. it's been too long since she had a proper challenge]

Don't think of me as some crazy woman, spewing the ramblings of madness. My mind is sound, though I know that what I speak of can sometimes be hard to comprehend.

[ Lady Maria picked up on that curiosity like a bloodhound to blood. It was to be expected, wasn't it? That someone would show curiosity. Maria took a breath, straightened her back and looked on from under the peak of her tricorn hat that covered almost all of her pale, stoic face. ]

Yes. Blood ministrations are performed on all who seek it. The Church pack the blood into vails so that you might inject yourself at will when needed.

[ How does she explain it without giving herself away? Would she even know what a Vileblood is? Would she wish the same tragedy bestowed on Maria's people that the executioners did? No, she couldn't, how could she? They were worlds apart. ]

Master Willem who founded the College of Byrgenwerth, he found that the old blood had healing properties when infused or consumed. Though, the latter is more intoxicating than anything else. We don't know how, we just know it was a gift, from the Cosmos... From the Great Ones. And the scourge of the beast is a sickness that infected most of the population. A plague that riddled Yharnam. Only us Hunters are capable of controlling the infection, with our Workshop weapons and vails of healing blood.

[ She almost misses it now that she's opening up about it. Still, she keeps parts to herself, it would only contradict what she's already told her, to learn that the Church caused the infection in the first place with the very blood that was supposed to be healing people.

Politics and corruption. It's enough to make her sick. ]

You have given me something to look forward to. I am competitive and learn fast, so I hope you will be ready?

[her eyes widen at Lady Maria's response]

No, no--do not think that I consider you mad. It's simply that your world must be so very different from mine. It makes it hard for me to comprehend. I apologize.

[she tries to meet Maria's eyes in an attempt to convey her sincerity in a manner other than simple words]

That is . . . so unlike my world. Some do have blood drawn from them, it's true, but they're mages and the blood is used like a leash. If the mage manages to escape the Circle tower, they are hunted using that blood. It's terrible, a practice I would attempt to end when I become queen.

[she went into the Circle tower with no real feelings on the subject of the freedom of mages and emerged convinced that they needed to be given far greater leniency. and she trusted a Circle mage and an apostate mage to watch her and Alistair's backs as they took the fight to the Archdemon and without their aid, Mariane and Alistair never would have succeeded]

Blood can be used as a source of great power. It certainly sounds as though it is in your world. Mine has been given no such gifts. [and she listens to the description of the scourge carefully. it's not the Blight, but it sounds close to Blight sickness] Is being a Hunter a very great burden?

[as she found being a Grey Warden to be. she'd done it, she'd ended the Blight, but there will be questions as to how both Alistair and herself survived. they can't lie and say that Riordan did the deed, too many saw Mariane plunge her blades into the head of the Archdemon and emerge unscathed]

Thank you. As am I, so I hope you shall be ready as well.

My world is bathed in sleepless dreams. Living nightmares and unimaginable horrors. I envy you, Lady Mariane. Truly I do.

[ The sincerity was recognized and Maria offered a nod of understanding. She was hotheaded when her sanity was questioned but then again, wouldn't you be too if you'd spent God knows how many years trapped in a neverending cycle of death and sorrow? ]

Mages?

[ There are no such thing as mages in Maria's world. There are cold abyssal gems some use to power arcane weapons but that's about as close to magic as her world gets.

Maria noticed the part about when she becomes Queen? I made her smile, just a little, knowing that she was once more in the company of royalty. Though, something told her Mariane would be nothing like Queen Annalise, her distant relative, ruler of the Vilebloods. ]

I use the term gift lightly. For many, it is a curse.

[ The tone of her voice changed as she recalled the countless men she had slain, those who were transformed into beasts from the very blood that healed them. Mariane's question stopped Maria in her train of thought, it made something like a lump in her throat form. ]

Yes. It is a heavy burden even for those with strong backs to carry it. Though, we are revered by the townsfolk. They see us as heroes, keeping the wolf from the door.

[ It was a bad thought that clouded Maria's mind. Shaking off the memories of the heinous acts she'd been part of, all while under the name of a Hunter. ]

Indeed. Show me how a future Queen fights.

Do not envy me yet. My world has its own horrors. Horrors called the Darkspawn, beings who are driven to kill all living things and whose very presence pollute the air and land and water.

[Mariane had the year of the Blight and earnestly hopes that with killing the Archdemon, that will be the end of Ferelden's troubles]

Yes. Those who wield magic.

[Mariane would be startled to hear that. magic is so prevalent in Thedas, the threat of it, the fear of it. but she doesn't fear mages, not anymore.

she will be queen once she marries Alistair. she regrets that her time here is postponing that day, but she knows that no time passes back home. it is something of a relief.

and Lady Maria's description reminds her of becoming a Grey Warden. for some, it is a gift, a second chance at a life with meaning. for Mariane, it is a curse of likely infertility and an early death.

and she could tell a tale of the Joining, of how she was the only one of three to survive and of the slaughter at Ostagar.

and she nods at her later words] I. . . know something of such things. Though, in Ferelden the Grey Wardens were seen as relics of the past. Until the Blight started.

[and even then, Alistair and Mariane were deemed dangerous criminals at worst. precious few saw them as heroes until it became clear that they were all that stood between Ferelden and annihilation]

You will see. Soon.

Edited 2019-03-12 18:25 (UTC)

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