Snowblind Inbox

[warriorscribe]

[Such a wondrous device. Are there little invisible couriers for these messages?]

Comments

[whiteknightnecromancer]

Some do study Ancient Tevene texts and language but I have very little idea how many have survived the politics, weather, and so forth since then to still be around to be read. It's not really something I've ever studied, my education was focused elsewhere.

I was taught my family's history and I can recite my bloodline going back to the Time of the Dreamers before the Old Gods went to sleep.

[warriorscribe]

[It isn't the same, and the thought of such a valuable thing lost...it's not his own world and it's not relevant to this one but it still ignites something.]

Bloodlines, but...the context thereof? I can recite mine to the beginning of humanity - which is a considerably shorter list than it sounds - but it all means nothing if we don't know what we did. What we learned, what we tried and failed at.

One's heritage is important, I can't deny that...are all people taught the same of theirs? Perhaps records can be made if necessary...

[whiteknightnecromancer]

Oh, we keep records on bloodlines.

[Dorian snorts.]

And then when it's time to make a betrothal for the newest generation, everyone pulls them out and compares notes.

[He makes a gagging noise.]

Considering how laughably wrong the rest of our history seems to be, I doubt it's worth it to coordinate. Unless someone would find it instructive to know the Telerii are prone to having at least one harelip per generation. But I'm not an historian.

[warriorscribe]

[The suggestion that seems most natural - that is, that perhaps finding where and why it went wrong might prove valuable still - gets lost immediately in the implications here.]

Things like harelips are recorded for-...I have seen marriages built on many things, but the appearance of the couple's children is entirely new to me.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

Well, not purely on that. Intelligence, magical talent, political ties, and wealth all play a factor as well. It paid off rather well in my case, as you can see.

[Dorian says it sarcastically enough that it could be taken for a joke. He ends on a theatrically preening note.]

[warriorscribe]

[All of those make at least a little sense (wealth being the one that makes the most sense to him of all), except...]

...Intelligence? I'm not certain that runs in blood. Unless...do you mean the new family's ability to function politically?

[whiteknightnecromancer]

It runs in blood much the same way beauty does: avoid traits that cause deficits.

[Given that they live in a system where Magisters get the best nutrition and health care, that would confuse them on how well breeding for intelligence works or doesn't.]

[warriorscribe]

Traits which- I can't say I've been paying close attention, but does an addled mind really tend to run in families?

[Not that his world is equipped to know.]

[whiteknightnecromancer]

When not the result of head trauma, yes. Though not all such ailments are the same. Some strike in the womb, some in old age, and some in between.

[Dorian is serious about that.]

Of course, it can be difficult to tell the difference between an ailment and eccentricity in some cases. So perhaps not a perfect correlation.

[warriorscribe]

It seems like something so...erratic, to plan for. Focusing on education sounds much less of a gamble.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

You sound like my mentor.

[Dorian means that as a compliment.]

Yes. Education is important and we altus mages have access to the best. I attended three different Circles and spent the bulk of the time from when I was nine to when I was fourteen being privately tutored. I'm something of an outlier but from what I saw, the educational system works well enough for the majority. It doesn't always do well by prodigies nor does it do well with gifted children who would rather visit brothels.

My mentor was in favor of opening the Circles to children from families without magic to get the best of their talents as well. He never made much headway but then he wasn't much of a politician.

[warriorscribe]

[Circles sound like schools for mages. Pretty clear from context, so he doesn't consider it worth confirming.]

If that's the sort of man your mentor was, I'll take the comparison as a compliment. Many skills can come from the most unlikely of places sometimes.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

On good days, that's who he was. It's how I prefer to remember him. And I agree. We would all be better off if we offered opportunities to people from all walks of life.

It's one of the things I plan to push for in the Magisterium. Everyone should have a chance at a better life. A fair chance.

[warriorscribe]

That's how better futures come about. Envisioning them, acting on those visions or empowering another to do so... I hope you can help get your country what it needs should we escape.

[It normally would be "when we escape" but his optimism has taken a beating.]

[whiteknightnecromancer]

Yes, very much so. Better futures don't happen by accident. We have to work for them.

[Which may not be quite what Enoch meant but it's the kind of optimism Dorian believes in.]

Should we escape, what do you hope to achieve where you go?

[warriorscribe]

[It is exactly what he meant. People create their own paths. Or should.]

I'm not sure. It depends on...well, where I go. If we can follow others, I'm not sure I could simply return to my own world as if nothing ever happened.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

That sounds reasonable, I suppose. I would not want to forget but if that was the price... that's bearable.

[There were people here he cared about but none he cared about more than Tevinter.]

[warriorscribe]

That's not quite what I-...

[He goes quiet, solemn, trying to word what he means in such a way that it still carries all its weight, without making it sound as if he's abandoning either side. That's the hard part, he's not. But...]

...I meant, I'm not certain how much like home it will feel anymore.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

That... well. Yes. Home changes, we change.

[Dorian sounds subdued.]

[warriorscribe]

We change...

[So does he.]

...The strange thing is, I didn't have a home, really. And yet here we are.

[With this conversation, this train of thought...]

[whiteknightnecromancer]

I've been told home is more of a feeling than a place. There are things we become accustomed to, for good or ill. We feel loss when they change even if they were terrible.

[warriorscribe]

A feeling...

[Still subdued. He sighs.]

What would you say it feels like, being home?

[whiteknightnecromancer]

For me?

[Dorian laughs bitterly.]

One of my friends said it was where when you go there, people let you put your dirty boots on the furniture.

[warriorscribe]

[He gives a laugh of his own, awkward in that sense that Dorian definitely just avoided answering for himself there, but in that he...also gets it, really.]

A place where one can do and be as they please, within reason.

[whiteknightnecromancer]

Yes. That's a clean summation. Of course, his home is a city filled with demons, blood magic, and mobsters so 'reason' may be a bit of a loose fit but I think that was what he was getting at. Or he was distracting me during cards. Take your pick.