Semi-open

[cartas]

Who| Lilah, the Dragon Age crew and their allies
What| The newest Inquisitor meets her doppelgangers
Where| The Inquisitors' camp
When| Backdated to a day or so after Lilah's arrival in the Arena, week 1
Warnings/Notes| No warnings inherent. Brackets and prose both welcome. Feel free to tag around with each other in here if you like as well, not just with Lilah.


She wasn't entirely certain what to expect when she arrived at the camp, but if there was anyone Lilah trusted it was Cullen, and she'd far rather take up with his allies than try to figure out the Arena alone. By the time she arrives she's exhausted, hungry, freezing in her skimpy outfit, and thoroughly fed up, but she's determined to make as good an impression as she can, waving a friendly hello at whoever she encounters, the anchor glowing on her hand bobbing back and forth as she does so, hoping they'll ally with her instead of see her as easy pickings.

Comments

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell would have said he was surprised, except that would have been a lie. Even before the woman waved, the Anchor flashing like a firefly, he had his suspicions.

There were only so many tributes Cullen would bring back to their camp: fellow Thedosians, chief among them. And the Capitol had already proven a taste for Inquisitors, and Maxwell knew there were still dozens, perhaps even hundreds or more, for them to kidnap.

He wished he still could have been surprised.

Taking a deep breath, he left his post at the edge of the camp to approach her, and introduce himself.

"Hello," he said, and one corner of his mouth twitched into a small, wry sort of smile. "Welcome... for what it's worth."

His Anchor was wrapped with cloth, as out of sight as he could make it. He decided to leave it for the moment, unsure how much Cullen had told her and not wanting to spring everything on her at once.

[cartas]

"Hello yourself!" She looks Maxwell up and down, impressed at the company Cullen's chosen as she's fairly sure he can handle himself. "It's a better welcome than most I've had here, though that's probably small comfort. Being shoved in this... thing..." she gestures down at the skimpy knight outfit "and told I'm to fight to the death really does put a damper on your day."

[dreadinquisitor]

"If it helps, you can consider yourself among the lucky in that you got a shirt," he replied wryly. "Not everyone did, and it is -- cool here."

To say the least.

He held out his hand.

"Maxwell Trevelyan."

[cartas]

Trevelyan... the name is vaguely familiar to Lilah. Weren't there a fancy noble family in Ostwick called Trevelyan? The name only stuck in her mind because she was sure they had connections to the Templars, and thus to the lyrium trade, though she could be mistaken; the affairs of human nobility didn't interest her much at all.

"I'm very pleased indeed to meet you, Maxwell. Lilah Cadash."

She grips his hand firmly, shaking.

[dreadinquisitor]

Conversely, her name meant regrettably little to Maxwell. His connections to the Carta had been minor, via Varric's knowledge of them, and those had been - strained ever since he'd discovered they were transporting red lyrium through the Deep Roads access in the Hinterlands.

So he simply smiled and focused on what he did know. She was an Inquisitor. And by how easily things were progressing so far, either the idea of multiple -- 'hers' didn't faze her, or she didn't know.

The ice had already been broken when he'd met Adella. He wasn't entirely certain how to proceed.

"Inquisitor Cadash?" he said after a moment. "The Chantry must have loved that."

[cartas]

"Oh, they were overjoyed. Just what they wanted, a dwarf as their herald and saviour." She doesn't even try to hide the sarcasm in her tone. "Personally I'd have played up the 'casteless surfacer' angle, made it seem like Andraste had chosen to make something from nothing and all that, but then if I did PR for the Chantry we wouldn't be in the mess we're in anyway."

[dreadinquisitor]

He chuckled softly, with honest humor, but the sound did trail off as he glanced across the camp toward Adella.

"...It's nice to see they can agree on something, at least," he said slowly, making his approach to the subject carefully. "The Chantry wasn't particularly happy to see Adella and I either."

[cartas]

She follows his glance over to Adella, blinking in surprise. "Wait, her too?"

[dreadinquisitor]

So Cullen had told her, then. That made things easier. Relaxing visibly, a few lines of tension easing from his face, he nodded.

"Her and I, both, yes."

Gently, he began to unwrap his hand, the Anchor coming into few like a captured firefly, lying in his palm.

"And there was another - a Lady Lavellan - but... she didn't return from her first arena."

[cartas]

She raises her palm and lays it flat near to his, glancing from one to another. "So much for being The Inquisitor."

[dreadinquisitor]

Her hand was smaller, so much smaller, but otherwise they were eerily the same. The Anchor ripped across their palms, glowing bright with whatever power the Capitol had in place of the Fade.

"Somewhere Corypheus has a terrible feeling of dread and he doesn't know why," Maxwell joked softly, offering a small, wry sort of smile.

He knew what she was feeling.

[cartas]

Lilah finds herself laughing at that remark. "He wouldn't stand a chance against three Inquisitors."

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell chuckled gently, pleased there was some humor to be found in it, at least.

"It takes some getting used to," he admitted, looking around the camp. "But... you're not alone. Trust me."

[cartas]

"I'm not sure whether that's reassuring or not." She felt a little disappointed really, her position as Inquisitor being the only thing that had set her apart as 'special'. "Does this mean there's three of everyone else, too? I'm not sure I can deal with three Cassandras making that disgusted noise at me all the time."

[dreadinquisitor]

He'd meant it to be as comforting as it could be, in the face of realizing everything you had known was gone. But, given that response... she hadn't realized how changed everything was.

What had really been done to them.

"...No," he said slowly. "Not exactly. Things are very complicated here." He paused a moment, trying to decide the best way to explain it. "Cullen -- he didn't recognize you, did he?"

[cartas]

"No, he didn't." She sounded rather put out about it; after all she'd done and given up for the Inquisition, she'd felt quite hurt that no one knew who she was, not even her own advisor.

[dreadinquisitor]

"That's the thing," he said. "We're all from Thedas, but most of us aren't from the same Thedas. Cullen and Adella, Tabris and Alistair... they're the only ones that I know of. The rest of us...."

His shoulders rose and fell and a long breath pushed through his nose.

"It seems there are endless possibilities."

[cartas]

Some of the names he lists off are familiar to Lilah, and she blinks in surprise a little. "The Hero of Ferelden was called Tabris, but she died ten years ago, to end the Blight." Lilah had always held up Olwyn Tabris as a prime example of what not to do in the leadership role that had been thrust upon her. She wasn't at all noble - that was a quality that was impossible to come by in the Carta - and if defeating Corypheus meant sacrificing herself she'd probably run as far as she could.

She frowns a little as she tries to place the other name. "Alistair... Leliana's mentioned an Alistair. The would-be King who became a washed up drunk." She sighs a little - he's the exact opposite of the sort of help she'd want in here.

"I suppose it doesn't matter either way now. It means I have the advantage in knowing more about some of them, while they know nothing at all about me. I could tell any tale I wanted, really."

[dreadinquisitor]

Maxwell shook his head.

"Revas Tabris," he said. "Hero of Ferelden in her world. And Alistair, King Alistair in my world - and in the worlds of many here - but not his own. In his, he and Revas are married, and serve as Wardens together."

He looked around the camp, gestured to the people gathered.

"You'll know the inner circle, I'm sure. But even them - they all have different worlds, different experiences. They're similar, so similar... but they're not the same people."

[earthborn]

Shepard's been around this block before. You can divide people along a lot of lines in this place-- most notably, those with 'abilities' or not. Special units, Hackett would have called them, diplomatically, but he would have meant biotics or alien forces, not women who threw ice from their fingertips or people with blinding day-glo scars. But you got to seeing it, the things that divided one 'world' from another. You could put Sandy and Bucky Barnes in the same category of shared references that excluded people like Adela Trevelyan and Iron Bull.

Shepard, personally, considered her own stance in the matter as the most practical and sane of the lot, but there was a great deal of argument on that score. When hadn't there been?

Cadash's hand would mark her point of origin, even if her friendly approach didn't-- a true stranger, someone hostile, would have been more careful. This woman knew these people. Shepard lifted her own hand from her corner-vantage by a broken bit of plywood. The surroundings of the house were lit by the combined beaconfire of those within as if by an eerie full moon; somebody had to keep watch, after all.

"Looks like we're three for three on Inquisitors, around here. You...are 'The Inquisitor' right?" And yes, those are air-quotes, you're seeing, Cadash, "What's your name, huh?"

[cartas]

Wait -- three of them? That was something Cullen had neglected to tell her, and she looks a little surprised and hurt. The anchor and the title were the only things that had ever demarcated her as special, and now apparently even Inquisitors were run-of-the-mill here. "The Inquisitor," she confirms, "the one and only. Lilah Cadash, at your service."

[earthborn]

"Well, you should tell the other two that you're The Inquisitor, miss Cadash, because they haven't heard," True to form, pugnacious is just how she rolls; Shepard's had too many brick-wall arguments about hard truths, "Over there; Adella and Maxwell Trevelyan."

And there they are, speaking quietly over by the door, winking green palms and all. Can't have an Inquisition without an Inquisitor, right?

"I'm Commander Shepard. Welcome to Panem."

That's a joke, if you want one.

[cartas]

She looks over to where the other two Inquisitors are in conversation, frowning at the anchor on their palms and closing her own hand into a fist before shoving it behind her back, suddenly self conscious about having it at all. The fact that they share a surname doesn't escape her notice. "They married, or siblings?"

"It's not been much of a welcome so far, but I appreciate the sentiment. What are you the Commander of? Don't tell me it's another Inquisition."

[earthborn]

"Neither, I think. As far as I can tell, they'd never met before being brought here."

The Inquisitors Trevelyan are a mystery on more levels than one. It's clear that a lot of things don't quite add up between them. But they work hard, and they mean well; it'll have to do.

"Hell no, you could not pay me enough to do Cullen's job," Now that is a joke, enough to win half a smile even as she looks away through the gap in the boards again. Movement? No, just a breeze in the trees, "I'm not from your world. I'm with the Systems Alliance Navy, if that means anything to you."

Her tone says that she doesn't expect it will.

"I was in charge of the SSV Normandy. That was before I was brought here, though. It's been a couple of years, I don't think they'd have waited around for me."

[cartas]

"Is that so?" She glances over at them, eyes narrowing as she tries to figure them out. "It's hard getting my head around it, multiple versions of Thedas or however they're explaining it. Cullen didn't recognise me either. So much for being 'The Inquisitor'."

She listens with interest, clearly impressed at the position even though the names mean nothing to her. "Sounds important. Hopefully good experience for being thrown in here, too."

[earthborn]

"This is pretty dead-end as far as career advancement options go," Get it, Lilah? Dead end. Because we're probably all going to die, "I know what I'm doing."

Well, as much as anyone could, here. It's funny, the differences-- both Adella and Max had looked at her with interest, but nothing like the clear impression or respect Cadash was giving her. Shepard shifted in her seat, just slightly, turning more fully to face her.

"Tell you what, I'll give you the same deal I offered them. You back me and my cree up in here, and I'll do the same for you and yours," She held out a hand, open-palmed, "We don't need any more enemies."

[cartas]

Lilah respected hard work and competence, and wanted to surround herself with anyone who'd earned their way to a position of authority and responsibility, especially as she was well aware that the position she occupied as Inquisitor had been thrust on her due to the circumstances rather than any particular qualification she held. She was good, but not that good, and she'd always relied on her companions and advisors to keep her safe and make the plans. She felt it was a good precedent to keep here, and she's relieved, though not too surprised, that Cullen and the other Inquisitors have had the sense to find exactly the sort of allies she'd seek out herself.

"Gladly. Good allies are few and far between, and if my counterparts have chosen you then who am I to argue?" She shakes the offered hand firmly.