#magicnotmiracles

It was always quiet in Lothering, of course, backwater as it was. Elliot just felt particularly aware of it at present.

Will I feel it when he dies? the boy wondered dully. They said spirits went through the Fade to be with the Maker when they died, and Elliot had long since begun to realize that his connection with the Fade was of a different sort than...maybe anyone’s. That he could feel everything pressing twice as close around him...

Will I feel it when Father dies?

He’d find out, soon enough. Malcolm was dying by inches, the slow steady progression of the taint. Stray darkspawn sometimes drifted through the village; it was said they had some sort of nest in the area, near Ostagar. One of these had found Malcolm before the town militia could drive it off. Hampered by the inability to cast magic without drawing attention to himself...he’d grown careless and the blood had touched him.

Mother said he might still get better, of course, but that was just because Mother didn’t want to see the truth of it. Elliot and Bethany and Carver all knew better. They’d heard the stories. Either he’d die or he’d turn into one of those...things. Dying was better.

He sat outside on the steps of the house, his arms on his knees and his head on his arms. He ought to go in and try to talk to Father...again...but it never did any good. They always ended up angry. Better to let someone else say better goodbyes.

Footsteps behind him jarred him from his thoughts but he didn’t look up. “Go ‘way,” he muttered.

magicnotmiracles: aggressive hawke says he was “strict, had high expectations, and if you didn’t meet them, you’d hear about it”

*** somniari-hawke nods ***

somniari-hawke: which definitely fit Elliot >.< cos he didn't want to be a mage, didn't want to work on being a better apostate

somniari-hawke: he just wanted to go to the circle and hide

magicnotmiracles: heh I wonder if beth would have seen a completely different side of him then

magicnotmiracles: bc I’ve headcanoned he focused with her a lot on how good and helpful magic could be

somniari-hawke: makes sense

somniari-hawke: was probably a lot more fun to teach beth cos she actually wanted to learn

somniari-hawke: so unconsciously Malcolm focused more on it

magicnotmiracles: do you have any headcanons re: elliot's proficiency?

somniari-hawke: he has a lot of raw power

somniari-hawke: bc deep fade connection

somniari-hawke: but was not adept at harnessing it

*** magicnotmiracles nods ***

magicnotmiracles: haha I wanted to bring up another possibility but didn’t want to diminish his competence :P

somniari-hawke: hit me :D

magicnotmiracles: the wikia says malcolm was a very good mage, to the point that he started hiding it so no one would realize just how good. and we know beth’s similar levels of gifted, bc she jumps like five ranks within her first three years in the circle

magicnotmiracles: I wonder if it might have kind of provoked malcolm’s frustration that elliot just wasn’t Getting It as quickly, and he set expectations that weren’t all that reasonable bc he’s used to the way he learned

somniari-hawke: that makes sense :O

somniari-hawke: I like that actually

magicnotmiracles: c:

somniari-hawke: not like he was doing it deliberately but he kind of unconsciously set Elliot up to find everything even more difficult than it already was

somniari-hawke: bad combination of circumstances

magicnotmiracles: yeah

magicnotmiracles: like not that elliot’s actually bad at it, but since malcolm was so advanced he unconsciously thought of an average student as delayed?

somniari-hawke: yeah

magicnotmiracles: and just as he’s trying to figure out if maybe his expectations are a little too high, bethany’s powers manifest and she can keep up to speed much more easily

somniari-hawke: (which probably unconsciously increased Elliot's feelings of "oh god I can't do this I'm gonna get possessed and die")

magicnotmiracles: :(

The Qunari were gone. That was supposed to mean that things would get back to normal. Instead, Meredith had Dumar’s death to gain a tighter grasp on the city. At first, that seemed to be the only difference. Life in the Gallows went on, much as it ever had, but if things had been tense before the Templars had led the mages into battle against the Qunari, it was nothing to now.

Truth be told, Aislin remembered little of the battle. The chaos of the fight coupled with solitary confinement and both silence and noise-torture had thoroughly scrambled her memory. She did remember Meredith quite clearly, how the Knight-Commander had come down on Aislin for little more than saving a Templar’s life with his own weapon.

In part, this was why her attitude had changed, quietly, mostly unnoticeable, but changed. Where once she had pranked the Templars in amusing ways, now she was more subtle, less comical. Their armor wouldn’t fit right, or their blankets, once thick and comfortable would be worn as thin as those they gave the mages, or their swords would be slightly chipped, bent, or blunted. Things they could not properly attribute to anyone, but that made their lives just a little more miserable.

That night had held her back in other ways as well. By skill alone, she should have been considered one of the Senior Enchanters by now. She wasn’t, though they still had her training the apprentices in fire casting. She was one of the best, after all. But fire was chaotic at the best of times, and the apprentices were nervous, with the Templars looming over them. Accidents happened.

A tongue of flame shot out, uncontrolled, splashed off the shield of a Templar who saw it coming, splattered his partner, standing beside him. He barely managed a shout of alarm before Aislin had reacted, drawing on ice power. It wasn’t her best skill, and consequently, his arm merely turned very cold, but it had the desired effect: the fire was snuffed out.

His own fire, had not. No longer content to loom from the sidelines, he stalked into the room, towering over the young apprentice. The boy, trembling, could not meet his glowering stare, not even when Aislin came to stand at his side, put a hand on his back.

“You seem to have missed a few lessons on control,” he sneered down at the boy. “Perhaps an alternative lesson plan is required.”

Aislin’s free hand clenched into a fist. “Your armor is designed to be resistant to the elements,” she said coolly, “in fact, to anything that we can call to hand. You wouldn’t feel a thing.”

“It does feel like some unseen force is manipulating my fate.”

When the door banged open, Aislin was on her feet, battle stance, staff in hand before she realized it was no threat. Anders stumbled in, supporting Bethany Hawke, though he too looked about ready to collapse. Discarding her staff, she ran to help them, taking Bethany off Anders’ shoulders, helping her to a bed. She glanced questioningly at Anders, who waved her off.

“Fine,” he grunted. “Overworked. Help her. Poisoned. Left leg. Spider bite.”

For a moment, Aislin stared at Anders in dismay. Though she was learning, healing magic was still not easy for her. And yet, the fact that Anders trusted her to take care of this felt incredibly... good. She knelt beside Bethany, placed one hand near her left hip, the other by her left knee, and reached for healing magic.

Almost immediately, she sensed the trail of spider venom moving up Bethany’s leg. She felt that the bite marks had been healed over, no doubt to prevent Bethany from bleeding out. She’d have to be careful, but... She closed her eyes, blocked her other senses as best she could, relying only on the feeling of the healing magic now coursing through her. After several long moments of intense concentration, she felt the venom’s threat disappear. Some had been extracted, some destroyed, but Bethany would be fine.

Aislin exhaled wearily; she’d never done something quite that intense without Anders’ help before. As she bound a cloth over the bite marks - which had broken open again during Aislin’s work - she glanced over at Anders, who was smiling faintly, proud of his student.

“The efforts your body was making to fight the venom will have sapped your energy,” she told Bethany. “And you’ll tire easier for the next few days.”

For a moment, she studied Bethany’s face intently. Then she added, “I think, if you try to move now, you won’t be up to it.” She rose, crossed the room, and brought back a jar of water.

Send me a character and (optionally) line(s) of dialogue and I will attempt to voice act them to the best of my ability. (accepting)

[[ Hee. This was difficult; Jo Wyatt’s accent is surprisingly hard to imitate and my voice is not really high enough. But I had a go! It gets better as it goes along as I got more used to the accent. :P