Jonathan Strange (
kingsroads) wrote in
congrekate2017-06-30 08:39 am
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dragon age au!
The rumor mill is still going on as to why Jonathan Strange fled the circle to become an apostate mage. Some say that it's as simple as an argument with his former tutor. Others say that the man never really recovered from his actions in the Mage-Templar War. The most likely answer is that something snapped after the death of his beloved. The one thing everyone can agree on is that it's really a shame someone with such potential threw it all away. He could have easily made his way up the social ladder, working at a court somewhere!
To which Strange would respond that he was doing perfectly fine right now, thank you very much, even if he was currently living in a shack that leaked when it rained, he had not even half of the books he was used to, and he heard people whisper behind his back, calling him the 'mad mage of the Dales'. So be it. His plan was probably a bit mad to begin with: Jonathan Strange planned to summon a god.
Not just any god, of course. He had gone through the various pantheons, trying to find the perfect one to grant him what he wanted (power, mostly, a way to take the tools and trade of necromancy and make it more solid, to raise the dead instead of raising spirits.) And eventually, Strange settled on Fen'Harel. He could draw upon the power of the location of the Dales as well as his status as an outsider himself to appeal to the god. The ritual itself was the most complex part, but modified necromancy bindings and a few of his own additions should suffice.
And so, Strange performs the magic. And poor Solas is probably just damn confused as to what he sees when he's forcibly woken up from his nap. The shack is small, covered head to toe with knick-knacks and trinkets, some of magical significance, others not. Dried herbs cover a table and books cover almost any other flat surface. Good luck trying to find where Strange sleeps as the bed has also become storage space. The mage himself looks wild: a middle aged human with scruff and hair that looks like it hasn't seen a brush in years, clothes ragged and dirty. And he just regards Solas with sheer confusion.
"I thought the wolf part was literal."
This is an elf. This isn't a dog. Did he make a mistake in the summoning? And if he didn't summon a god, then who the hell did he summon?
To which Strange would respond that he was doing perfectly fine right now, thank you very much, even if he was currently living in a shack that leaked when it rained, he had not even half of the books he was used to, and he heard people whisper behind his back, calling him the 'mad mage of the Dales'. So be it. His plan was probably a bit mad to begin with: Jonathan Strange planned to summon a god.
Not just any god, of course. He had gone through the various pantheons, trying to find the perfect one to grant him what he wanted (power, mostly, a way to take the tools and trade of necromancy and make it more solid, to raise the dead instead of raising spirits.) And eventually, Strange settled on Fen'Harel. He could draw upon the power of the location of the Dales as well as his status as an outsider himself to appeal to the god. The ritual itself was the most complex part, but modified necromancy bindings and a few of his own additions should suffice.
And so, Strange performs the magic. And poor Solas is probably just damn confused as to what he sees when he's forcibly woken up from his nap. The shack is small, covered head to toe with knick-knacks and trinkets, some of magical significance, others not. Dried herbs cover a table and books cover almost any other flat surface. Good luck trying to find where Strange sleeps as the bed has also become storage space. The mage himself looks wild: a middle aged human with scruff and hair that looks like it hasn't seen a brush in years, clothes ragged and dirty. And he just regards Solas with sheer confusion.
"I thought the wolf part was literal."
This is an elf. This isn't a dog. Did he make a mistake in the summoning? And if he didn't summon a god, then who the hell did he summon?
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Without starting up a conversation, Strange sits on the ground, takes the dead animal and attempts to start skinning it. And really, attempts is the best way to describe this thing. Hoo boy is it awful. You can take the man out of snooty mage training but you can't take the snooty mage training out of the man. Strange's practical skills are a solid D+ with regards to this situation.
Eventually he's gotten the skin mostly off. Though...okay. Now what. Now he guts it, right? It's got to be gutted at some point, he's not eating the intestines and other chattal. But when exactly does the creature get gutted?
Top of his class at the White Spire, staring at this slightly skinless nug without a damn clue in the world of what to do next.
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His gaze doesn't leave Strange though he wonders how helpful he should be. Being woken early and dragged from his plans had made him far less receptive, but watching this was getting to the point where he'd rather take the nug from Strange's hands and do this himself.
"How is your dinner coming along?" he asks eventually, deciding to settle on that.
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"Perfectly fine," Strange lies, despite the fact that it is amazingly apparent that his dinner's coming along terribly. At least he's decided on what the next step of how to cook a nug is: gut it and take out the organs. Or at least, that's the next step on how he's cooking the nug. Drawing a slit across the animal's belly, Strange gingerly tries to cut out the heart, lungs, et cetera...until the knife slips in the wrong direction and the blood and bile and internal fluids just squirt in Strange's face. Unfortunately? He's about to sass something at Solas before the knife slips so a little bit of the blood/bile/whatever gets in his mouth.
Nature is awful and he hates it.
"Funnily enough, I'm not hungry anymore."
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He's simply watching until he notices the knife slip and his eyes widen. Once he sees exactly where the spray ends up, he doesn't hold back his laughter. That was one way to make a 'god' laugh and Solas had been hoping for a show to go with Strange's dinner.
"Your knife play could use some work."
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"I'm a mage," Strange responds, with a roll of his eyes. "Forgive me if I need some more experience in something I rarely use in the first place."
And for all his complaining that he's not hungry...he still kind of is hungry. So out of a combination of stubbornness and hunger, Strange goes back to trying to gut the animal. They'll be here for a while.
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So no matter how many excuses Solas heard, he'd find them ridiculous. It was a wonder the man had survived after his wife had passed away. Still watching Strange's display, Solas stands to investigate a nearby bush of berries and recognizing them as an edible kind, picks a handful to eat. It would have to do since there was no popcorn handy.
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It's odd, being a mage from the Circle. Though the idea made his skin crawl, Strange expected to spend the rest of his life in the White Spire, under the eyes of the Templars. It was only recently that he set off on his own ergo only recently that he had to learn things like 'survival skills'.
"We certainly weren't coddled in the White Spire. But it's different than being out in the wilderness like this."
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Which was why he needed to make it to the ruins he was guiding them to. This was not the kind of diversion from his plans he wanted.
He watches Strange for a moment longer before asking, "Do you require a fire?" Solas could start one since he's not entirely sure what type of magic Strange has an affinity before. Well. Besides the kind that preserves dead bodies and wakes gods from their slumber.
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But look, the nug's mostly gutted by now! He got there eventually! Granted, it's not a pretty gutting and more of the entrails are on Strange's coat than the floor, but if he cooks it and manages to not completely char the thing, it'll at least keep him full.
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Once prepared, his gaze shifts back to Strange and he gestures to it. Whenever he's ready, Solas is prepared to watch.
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"There we go," Strange mutters, with a little sigh. Carefully, he scoots a little closer, holding the nug in the fire in an attempt to get the damn thing roasted as quickly as possible.
"Fire's simple," he explains, watching his dinner carefully. "Of course, some of the other mages from the Spire prided themselves on fire as a specialty, but even those who didn't focus on that element could at least manipulate it somewhat."
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"I have noticed the education of mages here is limited." Likely due to their shorter lifespans. There was little time to experiment and master different elements or styles if one was unlikely to live for even a full century. "What are your specialties?"
Because Solas can assume he knows them, but he wants to hear it described by the mage himself.
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"I know the basic elemental work. Creating a fire, making ice, things like that. My other specialties are more...esoteric. I wouldn't classify myself a spirit mage, but I have spent some time studying the Fade. It was a personal variation on a spell to summon a spirit that let me bind you in the first place. Recently, my research has focused towards Necromancy for obvious reasons."
It seems that with the exception of binding, Strange falls along the lines of jack of all trades, master of none.
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"You summoned spirits?" Along with potentially binding them, as he's seen those in Tevinter and elsewhere in Thedas doing. Another form of servitude where the spirit had little choice but to comply once they were called into existence outside the Fade. "And what ones did you attract?"
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"The results have been mixed for more powerful spirits. I tried for Compassion once, but that was a failure. Knowledge went much more smoothly. We were able to work together for a while before I broke the bonds and released it back into the Fade."
Probably leaving the spirit a little messed up in the head thanks to being forcibly summoned in the first place, but Strange doesn't know that!
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A novel idea for mages in this day and age of Thedas, he knows. Maybe if they spent less time being fearful of what would happen if they risked something for knowledge, they could be pleasantly surprised by the results. Instead, their own inability to keep control of their emotions and desires caused nothing but corruption in all they touched.
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Besides, he wasn't going to leave Arabella. He's nervous enough as is leaving her corpse for so long. Solas said he would preserve her and the spellwork was strong, but this is the longest he's been away from her since she died and he undertook the quest to bring her back to life.
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"Do you view spirits as nothing more than a means to an end?" A teaching of the Circle, no doubt. Their understanding of the Fade was so limited it was baffling how they managed to summon or speak to spirits at all.
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"And what do you view them as in comparison?" he asks, knowing full well that if Solas is asking this question, spirits must mean something different to him than they do to Strange and the Circle. "You've hardly had any training on the matter—are you so foolish as to think of them as equal?"
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He had spent countless years wandering it and before that, the Fade had been far more accessible and open to him and the rest of Elvhenan. That Strange would try to claim otherwise was laughable.
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"And, as far as I know, no one in the Circle is an ancient elven god. We've made do with the knowledge we had. If you would care to share more information about the Fade with the Circle, then we'll happily listen."
Probably not. But, at least, Strange would listen.
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"Your knowledge is founded on fear and a desire to control." Whether it was the mages with strong connections to the Fade or the spirits they summoned, all the Circle sought to do was control. "There is little that will change such ignorance."
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There's a little bit of distancing himself from the Circle, though Strange hasn't fully realized that yet. Yes, the Circle's magic was formed from a desire to control. And yes, so was Strange's magic. All of this was to gain control over death, to bring back one person who had passed. But as much as Strange was a part of the Circle, he wasn't entirely it. Yes, there was a desire to control. But there was also a desire to simply learn.
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"Then listen to this," he starts, speaking evenly. "You are a fool to squander what knowledge a spirit could share with you and force them into servitude for your petty goals."
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By now, the nug smells slightly charred. Quickly, Strange pulls it out of the flames, blowing out any smaller flames that still cling to the beast's flesh. He's still glaring at Solas all the while as he does so.
"There's nothing petty about bringing back someone who didn't deserve to die. That's just, nothing more."
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after doing a ctrl + f through 200 comments to see if eluvians got mentioned somewhere before...