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It's nasty. Unprocessed, it can cause blisters, nausea, and in bad cases, basically dementia. Processed stuff is safe to handle as long as you're careful. Processed and ingested, it's addictive, but it also gives Templars their power. Or at least so I'm told, I'm not an expert.
[She exhales, not quite a sigh.]
They experimented on us rifters with lyrium. Not the red kind, but the regular was bad enough. It hit all of us a little differently. For me, it started with fatigue, bad circulation, intense thirst. Eventually there was a ... strong disorientation effect. It was hard to distinguish memory from present experience, and either one from dreams. But that was only toward they very end. They tried to keep me lucid to get information from my home reality out of me for as long as they could.
[She exhales, not quite a sigh.]
They experimented on us rifters with lyrium. Not the red kind, but the regular was bad enough. It hit all of us a little differently. For me, it started with fatigue, bad circulation, intense thirst. Eventually there was a ... strong disorientation effect. It was hard to distinguish memory from present experience, and either one from dreams. But that was only toward they very end. They tried to keep me lucid to get information from my home reality out of me for as long as they could.
[ he shivers, despite the heat. lyrium has always sounded too much like protomolecule to him, and cosima's explanation doesn't lessen that. amoral so-called scientists, willing to inject shit into people just to see what it'll do — even the m.o. is all too familiar. ]
I've heard about the lyrium sickness, [ he says, then, ] when Templars and rifters got sick because of their connection to lyrium. I didn't realize it could be that dangerous to us.
[ the red stuff, naturally. and it's not as if he's ever been interested in handling unprocessed lyrium. but jesus. then, slower, ]
What did they want to know?
I've heard about the lyrium sickness, [ he says, then, ] when Templars and rifters got sick because of their connection to lyrium. I didn't realize it could be that dangerous to us.
[ the red stuff, naturally. and it's not as if he's ever been interested in handling unprocessed lyrium. but jesus. then, slower, ]
What did they want to know?
I don't know what they asked the others, if anything. After I let slip I was a biologist, he started interrogating me. Any term he didn't know, any question he could think to ask about what I said. I'd um. [She exhales.] I broke my arm, trying to escape, so there was a ready-made pain point he could trigger without much effort at all, even apart from the lyrium.
[ there's some math being done at the back of his mind, about the venatori's interest in cosima's job, her world. if they wanted to know so much about a twentieth-century earth, what would they think about one in a far future with even more advanced technology? about even the concept of the protomolecule? of eros, the ring gates, the alien bullet in the corpse of ilus?
but that's at the back of his mind. at the forefront is cosima, and the ordeal she went through. no wonder she'd been afraid of them finding her again. jesus fucking christ. he reaches out, slow, and visible enough that she can draw back if she'd prefer; but if she doesn't, there'll be a hand at her forearm, bracing. ]
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
but that's at the back of his mind. at the forefront is cosima, and the ordeal she went through. no wonder she'd been afraid of them finding her again. jesus fucking christ. he reaches out, slow, and visible enough that she can draw back if she'd prefer; but if she doesn't, there'll be a hand at her forearm, bracing. ]
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
[She doesn't pull away; in fact, she shifts so she can cover his hand with her free one.]
Thanks. It's, um. I guess I was all in on opposing them quicker than a lot of Rifters who don't get up close and personal, because I knew what was at stake sooner. It's not a method I recommend, at all, but it's sometimes harder to listen to new arrivals talking about how this isn't their fight, and why should they have to pitch in, you know.
Thanks. It's, um. I guess I was all in on opposing them quicker than a lot of Rifters who don't get up close and personal, because I knew what was at stake sooner. It's not a method I recommend, at all, but it's sometimes harder to listen to new arrivals talking about how this isn't their fight, and why should they have to pitch in, you know.
I can sympathize with ... look, no one wants to hear "this is your world now" when they first arrive, I get it.
[She thinks, briefly, of Sarah, but decides that's a story for another time.]
But, like, even if we did have a way home sometime, lots of people, this is their world. It's the only home they've got. And if we can help keep the Venatori and Corypheus at bay, we should.
[Looking briefly embarassed, she adds:] That's what I think, anyway.
[She thinks, briefly, of Sarah, but decides that's a story for another time.]
But, like, even if we did have a way home sometime, lots of people, this is their world. It's the only home they've got. And if we can help keep the Venatori and Corypheus at bay, we should.
[Looking briefly embarassed, she adds:] That's what I think, anyway.
[ he hadn't wanted to hear that, either. he remembers. but, as he'd told tony not so long ago, it hadn't been long before he wasn't able to stop himself from caring about this place. ]
Not everyone could go back, or would want to. [ if they can. but he thinks of margaery, the revelation of the fate she met back home. and death isn't the only reason; thedas has to be better than some peoples' circumstances. besides which — ] And a lot of people live here.
[ every native theodosian he's ever met, and every one he hasn't. this is their home. ]
You're right. We can't just sit back and let the people here suffer. Not anyway, and not with how much they're doing for us.
Not everyone could go back, or would want to. [ if they can. but he thinks of margaery, the revelation of the fate she met back home. and death isn't the only reason; thedas has to be better than some peoples' circumstances. besides which — ] And a lot of people live here.
[ every native theodosian he's ever met, and every one he hasn't. this is their home. ]
You're right. We can't just sit back and let the people here suffer. Not anyway, and not with how much they're doing for us.
[She clinks her glass against his, lightly.]
So it shall be written, [wry, her best Yul Brynner before realizing The Ten Commandments probably didn't make it that far into the future as a cultural touchstone.]
Hey, if you ever need to vent about the weirdness of being a rifter and trying to do our best to help, I'm a pretty good listener. It's been... it's been hard, you know, starting all over. Most of the people I knew well the last time I was here are gone. But if I can help, I'm glad I came back.
So it shall be written, [wry, her best Yul Brynner before realizing The Ten Commandments probably didn't make it that far into the future as a cultural touchstone.]
Hey, if you ever need to vent about the weirdness of being a rifter and trying to do our best to help, I'm a pretty good listener. It's been... it's been hard, you know, starting all over. Most of the people I knew well the last time I was here are gone. But if I can help, I'm glad I came back.
Um, wow dude, that doesn't sound like a super cursed bet at all.
[She also sounds tired, though not too much to make a joke.]
How're you holding up?
[She also sounds tired, though not too much to make a joke.]
How're you holding up?
My man, you absolutely cannot use "could've been worse" as a Thedas measuring stick.
I'm shaken up, but not hurt either. Seems like they weren't smart enough to figure out locks, so we would've had to hit critical mass for them to break the door down.
[A short pause, then, wry:]
...could've been worse. Could've been movie velociraptors.
I'm shaken up, but not hurt either. Seems like they weren't smart enough to figure out locks, so we would've had to hit critical mass for them to break the door down.
[A short pause, then, wry:]
...could've been worse. Could've been movie velociraptors.
I'd read about Darkspawn, which kind of have a zombie feel, but this particular flavor was new and unexpected. You'd think living on an island fortress would have been a good zombie strategy, all things considered.
Maybe we should take it up with the original architects.
[ doesn't say: apparently it was a good zombie strategy. could've been worse may be a poor metric, but imagine if they didn't have all these stone walls and heavy doors and towers — ]
Every time I think I finally understand what to expect here, Thedas throws some other weird shit at us.
[ doesn't say: apparently it was a good zombie strategy. could've been worse may be a poor metric, but imagine if they didn't have all these stone walls and heavy doors and towers — ]
Every time I think I finally understand what to expect here, Thedas throws some other weird shit at us.
That's been consistent. Anyone told you about the blood plague yet?
...ok and if not and I'm going to, we definitely need to have a drink.
...ok and if not and I'm going to, we definitely need to have a drink.
Jesus, were you here for that?
[ he's had that particular existential crisis, at least, courtesy of gwenaëlle. ]
Before you answer that, I won't say no to that drink.
[ the way this conversation is going, anyway, and after recent events. — they could use it. ]
[ he's had that particular existential crisis, at least, courtesy of gwenaëlle. ]
Before you answer that, I won't say no to that drink.
[ the way this conversation is going, anyway, and after recent events. — they could use it. ]
I was, and I think it fully merits stealing a bottle of wine from the kitchens and holing up in one of our rooms. What are you doing?
You got it. I'll liberate some wine in the meantime, and you can meet me in my room. Or tell me you're back and I'll invade yours, I'm easy.
[At least they're neighbors, so no one is climbing any extra stairs.]
[At least they're neighbors, so no one is climbing any extra stairs.]
Come in.
[When he does, she has indeed grabbed fully two bottles of wine, plus a basket of lemon pastries which she's currently arranging on a plate. Her bedroom is a bit messy, but more in the sense of clothes draped on chairs and papers left on top of a dresser than in the sense of not being clean.]
Hey, you made it. I thought some snacks might be nice, while I was all the way downstairs.
[When he does, she has indeed grabbed fully two bottles of wine, plus a basket of lemon pastries which she's currently arranging on a plate. Her bedroom is a bit messy, but more in the sense of clothes draped on chairs and papers left on top of a dresser than in the sense of not being clean.]
Hey, you made it. I thought some snacks might be nice, while I was all the way downstairs.
You thought right.
[ he picks up one of the wine bottles, goes to get it open and pour out glasses for the both of them. he's dressed against the weather, to an extent; though the scarf and heavy coat were left in his room en route to here. the gloves stay, though they don't pose any difficulty as he handles the wine. ]
[ he picks up one of the wine bottles, goes to get it open and pour out glasses for the both of them. he's dressed against the weather, to an extent; though the scarf and heavy coat were left in his room en route to here. the gloves stay, though they don't pose any difficulty as he handles the wine. ]
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