fadewalk | RP: Anders

Neria was pacing in front of a table full of open books, parchments, journals and notes. The farther wall from the door was covered with written rituals, most of them Ancient Elven, along with more of her notes, drawings of runes and magical circles. She was completely and utterly absorbed by her own thoughts.

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"It's not the conception per se. It's what she felt over it." she sighed "Besides, have I ever told you about how I survived the killing blow?"

"I, ah, am not entirely sure I follow."

Anders arched a brow and looked back up from the notes to Neria's face.

"No? You were very hush-hush about that, as I recall."

"I think it's only fair you know, then. This motivated my whole research, after all."

She pointed him a chair.

"You should take a seat."

"Ah, all right..."

Anders sat down, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward. He fixed an expectant gaze on Neria.

"In the night before the Battle of Denerim, me and Alistair were panicking. Riordan, the Orlesian Grey Warden aiding us by Duncan's request, had just told one of us would die when killing the Archdemon."

Her voice was low, grave, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"But then Morrigan came across some interesting information on her mother's grimoire, about a ritual who could save us. This ritual involved a non-Tainted woman bearing the child of a Grey Warden, so the taint would pass down to the child and the Archdemon's immortal soul inhabit the still soulless child. No one had to die, and the Old God is not evil per se, it's just the Taint so... everyone wins."

"Um." Anders looked incredulous, and he blinked multiple times. He made an aborted gesture with one hand, first and second finger pressed to his thumb. "So you're telling me...no."

He sat back, ran his fingers through his hair, tried again.

"You and Alistair avoided dying at the end of the Blight because you engaged in some freaky sex ritual? One that resulted in a god-child??" He blew out a breath. "I knew you had done some crazy shit, Neria, but that's - that's like, myth level out there, you know?"

"I wasn't confident this would work, yet here I am."

She motioned her hands, showing herself.

"Now you see why this made me question the very fabric of the world as we know and pursue this crazy nonsense such as a cure for the Taint. The order don't know nothing of it, clearly, though I suspect the First Warden might suspect of something."

"I...am not sure I would equate the cure with that, exactly. But I suppose the whole 'not wanting to die' thing is the same."

Anders tilted his head, admitting, "It's not a notion I'm unfamiliar with, the willingness to do whatever it takes to be free and live the life you choose with your loved ones, Neria. Nor is it anything to be ashamed of."

"Oh, so I shouldn't be ashamed of depriving a child from their own father? A god-child, on the top of it?" she sighed, shoulders dropping "This could be Alistair's--"

Neria ran her hands through her hair, dropping in the nearest chair "Better focus on the spell." her hand reached for the journal, and she handed it to Anders "Care to take a look?"

Anders studied her thoughtfully for a moment, trying to puzzle out what it was she was not saying. He accepted the journal silently and flipped through it without really seeing it.

Then he said softly, not taking his eyes off the journal, "Alistair has never regretted anything about being with you, Neria, so long as I've known him, and if I know him at all, he never will."

"I know."

She said, softly, glancing at her feet.

"Regretting something usually only tortures you, and I know it and yet... under the same circumstances, I would do everything again. Love is a powerful feeling. Hence my theory about Fiona."

Anders finally looked over at her, his amber gaze soft.

"Another sentiment I'm familiar with," he said. There were a lot of things he regretted, but very few of them that he would change even so. Leaving Fenris alone for so long, that one, perhaps. Not doubting Jicosa so much. What he had done in Kirkwall? Never. He might not be comfortable with the fact that he was still alive, but he wouldn't regret that. He couldn't.

He cleared his throat and picked up a piece of charcoal from the table, making a few adjustments to some of Neria's formulas and diagrams.

"You'll want to focus more on - burning the infection, so in this case the Taint, out, rather than just healing the body back to wholeness like you would with a revival spell," he said. "You have to think of a purification spell as a kind of destructive magic, rather than a kind of creation magic."

"I see."

Neria stood up and slightly leaned over Ander's shoulder, tilting her head to take a better look of his corrections "I haven't thought that way about it. We should be careful, though, with destroying the Taint. Older Wardens might have a hard time dealing with a spell too agressive, since the Taint is deeper on them."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and for a brief moment she recalled their time in Vigil's Keep and their long chats about mage rights and magic itself. Moving even further back in time, their days on Kinloch Hold and how he used to help her with her trainings, warn her about Jowan and wrinkle his nose at her conversations with Cullen. Funny thing, thinking that Had she followed any of his advices, she wouldn't be there now. Some pain could've been avoided, yes, but at what cost? Life was curious.

Anders hummed in agreement. "Good point."

He made a few corrections to add some of the healing and rejuvenating elements of the spell back in, to combat any weakness it might create in the older Wardens.

"Surely a purification spell, even one as complex and tailored as this, is too simple a solution to the Taint, though," he muttered as he worked. "Else this would have been done long ago. What are we missing..."

Edited Date: 2015-08-29 07:38 am (UTC)

"We still lack the adequate magical source to cast and sustain the spell and..." she turned the page, a very old diagram, inscribed with elven writing "I found this on the Temple of Sylaise, goddess of fire and healing. A healing spell wrote by the goddess herself, according to the books,to save her sister. I thought this was insane at first, a spell made to be casted for days, but with the right adjustments using a Lyrium circle to power it, we can make it work."

Anders studied the circle, tracing the diagram with a finger.

"Are you sure even a lyrium circle would be powerful enough to power this?" he asked dubiously, brow furrowing.

"No, not a conventional one. We'll have to add more layers to the circle, use far more Lyrium." Neria scratched her head "I saw a book in the underground library about it. Tevene technique, very simple to use."

Anders nodded. "Did you bring that one? I could take a look at it." He chewed on his lip. "It sounds feasible, if we can get our hands on the lyrium. Do you get a supply, as Warden-Commander? I've had a beast of a time getting any on my own, though Hawke and Varric have always helped with that."

"I secured a good supply of Lyrium for Vigil's Keep since more mages and ex-templars joined the Grey Wardens with the war, years ago. Enough to draw a magic circle with Lyrium in a room bigger than this without problems. And, of course, sparing some for mister Glavonak blow things up every now and then."

She chuckled

"Now... I'm almost sure I brought that book with me... or maybe I just left it in the underground library." Neria taped her chin with one finger, thinking

Anders looked impressed. "Good," he said approvingly. "Assuming we get the spell right...this...this might just work."

Jusice hummed in his head and muttered something about the injustice of subjecting desperate people, people like Anders had been, to the Taint without their consent, not only threatening their lives initially but cutting them short inevitably. He approved of this Cure business; of course he did. As for Anders himself...he had not expected to live even this long, and the thought that he might not only have another decade or two with Hawke and Fenris, but the rest of his life? It was...incomprehensible. It was beyond what he deserved.

It was incredible.

He handed the journal with his corrections back to her. "Take a look."

"Oh, yes, please."

Neria took the journal and read it, carefully. Sometimes, a twitch of her ears or eyebrows, but her eyes were just devouring the corrections, the gears on her mind clearly analyzing the modifications, their implications and how everything would work when ready. A little smile showed on her lips when she was finally done.

"Seems functional for me. Perfectly functional. If this works... Creators..." she sighed "If this works Anders, we'll change the Grey Wardens forever. Like Alistair said, we'll have people fighting over their beliefs, and not a death sentence. This will be... beautiful. Just beautiful."

Anders took her hand and pressed it.

"You saved Thedas once, Neria. It is only just that you save yourself now too." He smiled faintly. "And the rest of us as well, I suppose."

"People should thank Jowan, actually. If that little piece of magic crap hadn't used me to destroy his phylactery, I would probably have died in the Uldred's rebellion." Neria chuckled "Now, if we can find that much Lyrium here, we can test it."

Anders lips drew together with distaste, and he looked pained.

"If we follow that logic, I suppose I should be grateful to Greagoir and Irving for tossing me in solitary, since that probably saved my life. But I have an aversion to thanking templars and jailors for things, so I shan't do that."

He shook his head and refocused his gaze on Neria. "Do you think the odds of finding that much lyrium here are any good?" he asked dubiously.

"Of course you can't." she could barely avoid a grin on her face, the kind of grin dedicated only to life-long friends "I wish I could've seen Mr. Wiggums fighting against the bucketheads, though."

Then she stood up.

"Guess we can only find that much Lyrium if we look after it, right?"