Uh, hey. ...is it Miss Poppell, do I remember that right?
[Wysteria's right that they didn't talk much her first time around, but on the other hand, it isn't as if Wysteria is easy to miss even at a distance. She does, however, set her food aside to gamely look through the pages.]
Wow, this is thorough. Have you gotten all the Rifters to sign on? That's a seriously impressive data pool.
Edited (to make it clear she's asking about the honorific because I reread and it wasn't) 2021-04-08 00:05 (UTC)
Oh—[Clearly equal parts caught off guard and a little charmed, which successfully delays her from launching into her next monologue.] Yes. Miss is correct.
And no. Not quite all the Rifters. But myself and Mister Fitz have done our best to collect information from the bulk of them. Particularly as they arrive. It is so much easier to do so when they've only first arrived, so I'm sorry to say that our data with respect to the...long standing, I suppose? Members of the club is partial at best.
Oh yeah, that's fair. I mean, once you've been here a while, you get busy.
[And, presumably, you learn enough to know what is and isn't compulsory, but she doesn't add as much.]
I feel like I'm gonna be an outlier for you in a lot of ways, but I'll do what I can for you. Do you really want it written, or have you ever done interviews? It might make it easier if you have follow-up questions.
If you would prefer to discuss it aloud, I would be more than happy to take notes. Here, you may keep that copy as a guideline, [she says, and from somewhere behind her ear--the uptwist of her hair, perhaps?--she draws a pen. She flips over the page on the top of the stack and poises her hand for writing.]
And truly, I doubt you will be as much of an outlier as you suspect. There has been quite the variety of answers.
Fair enough, dude. I'm easy, whatever you'd prefer, but if we do the interview you'll probably get your data faster. I've been known to get lost in my work, sometimes.
[With a smile, this last. She glances down at the first page.]
Oh hey, though, I guess we're sort of starting there, huh?
What a happy coincidence. Now, [has the air of turning a page, metaphorically speaking, as Wysteria's attention lowers to the page before her. She dutifully reads aloud:]
'Question one-dash-A. Conceptually, how familiar are the Fade and the Veil to you? Are there similar phenomena (however minor the resemblance) in the place from which you came?' Stop me, of course, [--she glances up--] Should anything seem completely inapplicable to your experience.
Definitely nothing I know of like the Fade or the Veil in my home world, that's easy. Nothing similar to magic in the Thedosian sense at all, at least as far as I know.
I learned a bit about the Fade in my first visit here, though. My research was split between Rifts and the Veil and Red Lyrium, which were subsumed into Project Felandaris and Project Sashamiri, respectively.
[She nods and hums, writing hand jotting merrily along.]
And if you were asked to give a very brief summary of your studies? —And how long were you here last, if you don't mind me asking? And do you really anything about the details of leaving here? I have always been quite curious and it is so rare that any Rifter returns.
There's probably precise records, but I was here a little more than three years, I think. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about leaving, though. It was sort of like coming in reverse, but demon-free. I just went to bed and woke up at home. I didn't have any memory of Thedas so it was just ... a normal morning. I hadn't lost any time at all.
[It's a little weird to remember not remembering, now, but it's easy enough to keep straight in her head with a bit of concentration.]
Um, high-level summary. OK. I did some work on rifts' effects on the landscape and ecology. But the bulk of my work right before I left was on the nature of red lyrium. It's really wild in that if lyrium were a mineral like I'm used to, it couldn't be infected with essentially a magic disease, but that's what the Blight is so ... anyway. High level. Nature of lyrium, what it does and doesn't do, etc. Ideally, long term, I'd love to know if we could cure it, for lack of a better word, but I wasn't close to that before I left so it's more a hope than a short-term goal.
[There is a funny thing that Wysteria does as Cosima speaks where her hand continues merrily along, scratching long lines of shorthand notes on the papers even as her attention is fixed as if they are simply in conversation. If there are instances where she writes over a line or two, or overlaps with a question on the survey, she seems untroubled by it.]
Were there Wardens here at the time? I believe they're experts in the Blight; if you didn't work closely with them then, you might consider discussing the matter with them now. I have found the members of the Order presently in our company are the very height of helpfulness.
[But that's neither here nor there; it's hardly relevant to the survey.]
Do you recall then how long you were here previously? And had you developed any, let us call it talents with your rift anchor shard while you were here?
There may have been some Wardens here. I think, uh, Alistair? Maybe a few others, but a lot of them at the time were very "Warden stuff for Wardens only" about it so it's nice if they've loosened up a bit.
[She considers her hand at the other two questions.]
I could probably pull exact dates from Riftwatch records if they go back far enough to have some Inquisition overlap. But I want to say a little more than three years. Maybe three and a couple months. As for the shard ... I was starting to crack it, I think. Or at least part of it. I can remember what I did, but it's like the uh, muscle memory is gone, I guess? I should probably take some time to train with it more consistently.
Will you keep me updated should that change? I should like very much to know if the ability returns, given that you're one of the few returning Rifters in our company. To my knowledge, anyway.
[She skips the contents of her survey then, mentally marking off various questions answered succinctly by 'Nothing similar to magic in the Thedosian sense at all'--]
Had you had any trouble with it at all? Your anchor, I mean. Before you left. Any adverse effects such as intense pain or anything like it. I have heard they are quite dangerous and ought to be treated cautiously when placed anywhere but an extremity, but we've seen little evidence of anything...mortal, let us say? In recent years.
Yeah, totally, I'll let you know, [to the first question].
Um, let's see. It'd ache, somemtimes. But I wasn't experiencing any of the more serious symptoms I've heard about. And saw, when Sina was in her last days, though I didn't know her well enough to be privy to the details. I did have the blood plague, but since Templars were affected too and as far as I remember native shard-bearers weren't, I think that had more to do with Rifters' general nature than the actual anchor shard.
Oh! [Given the grim subject matter in question—anchor poisonings, death, blood plagues—, is it somewhat uncouth for her to brighten so considerably? She certainly doesn't seem to think twice about propriety, all sunshine and keen interest when she asks:]
Would you be so kind as to review the blood plague with me? I have read various accounts of the thing, but it was entirely before my time and the scholarship is—limited, let us say. Mister Fitz and I—he is no longer with us, I'm afraid—have been conducting research on the nature of Rifters, of which this survey is naturally a part, and there are so few rifters in residence still here who experienced the thing directly.
[Unsaid: she would feel strange interrogating Madame de Cedoux or the Provost on the subject now. But here! This is a perfect opportunity to ask all the questions that might occur to her.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[Wysteria's right that they didn't talk much her first time around, but on the other hand, it isn't as if Wysteria is easy to miss even at a distance. She does, however, set her food aside to gamely look through the pages.]
Wow, this is thorough. Have you gotten all the Rifters to sign on? That's a seriously impressive data pool.
no subject
And no. Not quite all the Rifters. But myself and Mister Fitz have done our best to collect information from the bulk of them. Particularly as they arrive. It is so much easier to do so when they've only first arrived, so I'm sorry to say that our data with respect to the...long standing, I suppose? Members of the club is partial at best.
no subject
[And, presumably, you learn enough to know what is and isn't compulsory, but she doesn't add as much.]
I feel like I'm gonna be an outlier for you in a lot of ways, but I'll do what I can for you. Do you really want it written, or have you ever done interviews? It might make it easier if you have follow-up questions.
no subject
And truly, I doubt you will be as much of an outlier as you suspect. There has been quite the variety of answers.
no subject
[With a smile, this last. She glances down at the first page.]
Oh hey, though, I guess we're sort of starting there, huh?
no subject
'Question one-dash-A. Conceptually, how familiar are the Fade and the Veil to you? Are there similar phenomena (however minor the resemblance) in the place from which you came?' Stop me, of course, [--she glances up--] Should anything seem completely inapplicable to your experience.
no subject
I learned a bit about the Fade in my first visit here, though. My research was split between Rifts and the Veil and Red Lyrium, which were subsumed into Project Felandaris and Project Sashamiri, respectively.
no subject
And if you were asked to give a very brief summary of your studies? —And how long were you here last, if you don't mind me asking? And do you really anything about the details of leaving here? I have always been quite curious and it is so rare that any Rifter returns.
no subject
[It's a little weird to remember not remembering, now, but it's easy enough to keep straight in her head with a bit of concentration.]
Um, high-level summary. OK. I did some work on rifts' effects on the landscape and ecology. But the bulk of my work right before I left was on the nature of red lyrium. It's really wild in that if lyrium were a mineral like I'm used to, it couldn't be infected with essentially a magic disease, but that's what the Blight is so ... anyway. High level. Nature of lyrium, what it does and doesn't do, etc. Ideally, long term, I'd love to know if we could cure it, for lack of a better word, but I wasn't close to that before I left so it's more a hope than a short-term goal.
no subject
Were there Wardens here at the time? I believe they're experts in the Blight; if you didn't work closely with them then, you might consider discussing the matter with them now. I have found the members of the Order presently in our company are the very height of helpfulness.
[But that's neither here nor there; it's hardly relevant to the survey.]
Do you recall then how long you were here previously? And had you developed any, let us call it talents with your rift anchor shard while you were here?
no subject
[She considers her hand at the other two questions.]
I could probably pull exact dates from Riftwatch records if they go back far enough to have some Inquisition overlap. But I want to say a little more than three years. Maybe three and a couple months. As for the shard ... I was starting to crack it, I think. Or at least part of it. I can remember what I did, but it's like the uh, muscle memory is gone, I guess? I should probably take some time to train with it more consistently.
no subject
Will you keep me updated should that change? I should like very much to know if the ability returns, given that you're one of the few returning Rifters in our company. To my knowledge, anyway.
[She skips the contents of her survey then, mentally marking off various questions answered succinctly by 'Nothing similar to magic in the Thedosian sense at all'--]
Had you had any trouble with it at all? Your anchor, I mean. Before you left. Any adverse effects such as intense pain or anything like it. I have heard they are quite dangerous and ought to be treated cautiously when placed anywhere but an extremity, but we've seen little evidence of anything...mortal, let us say? In recent years.
no subject
Um, let's see. It'd ache, somemtimes. But I wasn't experiencing any of the more serious symptoms I've heard about. And saw, when Sina was in her last days, though I didn't know her well enough to be privy to the details. I did have the blood plague, but since Templars were affected too and as far as I remember native shard-bearers weren't, I think that had more to do with Rifters' general nature than the actual anchor shard.
no subject
Would you be so kind as to review the blood plague with me? I have read various accounts of the thing, but it was entirely before my time and the scholarship is—limited, let us say. Mister Fitz and I—he is no longer with us, I'm afraid—have been conducting research on the nature of Rifters, of which this survey is naturally a part, and there are so few rifters in residence still here who experienced the thing directly.
[Unsaid: she would feel strange interrogating Madame de Cedoux or the Provost on the subject now. But here! This is a perfect opportunity to ask all the questions that might occur to her.]