dragons with wicked eyes and wicked hearts; (OPEN)

[revocation]

Who| Cullen and Dorian; Cullen and YOU!
What| So a medieval fantasy knight walks into Panem...
Where| All around the tribute tower, possibly in the city itself! He's exploring and trying to figure out wtf is going on.
When| The first week or so after the end of the arena.
Warnings/Notes| Uhhhh... possibly some spoilers for Dragon Age Inquisition...? I can put him just about anywhere, so feel free to just toss up a location. If you're not sure if he'd be somewhere, feel free to PM me or ping me on plurk (frodabaggins)!

The place he wakes up in is no less surreal than the dark metal monstrosity he left, though it's obviously cleaner and more brightly lit - less overtly dangerous. It's all shiny, flat surfaces, with metal and glass and strange materials he doesn't recognize. No stonework, no masonry, no crenelations or battlements. Just strange flat squares showing moving images in practically every room. There must be some powerful magic at work here, to be able to light whole buildings with no candles that he can see, and make those framed faces talk.

He spends some time looking for his armor, for his sword, but he can't for the life of him find any of it - makes sense, he supposes, that their captors would want to remove his weapons, his outward defenses. Even though, as far as he can tell, he's free to move about the place as he wishes. No one tries to stop him.

In the kitchen area, he finds a box filled with cold food - more magic? And he pokes at strange boxes with buttons on them that look nothing like any oven he's ever seen before. At the elevator bank, he can be seen examining the doors and panels with a confused expression on his face, his brow furrowed slightly. Eventually, he finds his way to the training room, where there are actually weapons he recognizes, at least, even if much of it is still strange and alien to him. In the city itself, he is nearly overwhelmed by the number of people. The outrageous fashions remind him a little of Orlais, and when strangers approach him in the street to gawk and ask him questions he looks incredibly uncomfortable.

There isn't even a proper Chantry in this place.

Comments

[revocation]

"It's a substance naturally imbued with magic," Cullen explains between sips of his drink. "The only substance which exists both in the physical world and the Fade, the realm of spirits and dreams. That's how he could be partially incorporeal, you see, the lyrium would've allowed him to, in a sense, Fade-step. And because time and distance don't work the same in the Fade as they do in the real world, he could move much faster than usual."

That's the theory behind it of course, and Cullen's voice remains somewhat clinically detached, but having it etched into one's skin isn't something he'd wish on his worst enemy.

[earthborn]

Now here came the fun part.

"Alright, Cullen, I want you to pretend that you're talking to someone who has no idea what a Fade-step is, or the 'Fade' and has never even once seen Lyrium in their life," she held out both hands, elbows leaned on the bar, "Explain it to me like I'm an idiot. Or a small child."

Anybody want to explain it to the slow-witted human in simple terms? The sarcasm was well-intentioned, but quite palpable.

[revocation]

"That was the simple explanation. I'm not sure how I can make it simpler," Cullen says with a snort. "We used to think lyrium was a mineral, but now we're not so sure. It's found underground, though, and mined like a mineral. In its pure form, it's toxic to all but the most resistant. In diluted form, it's a powerful magical reagent that can be consumed to add power to spells, or used to imbue weapons and armor with enchantments."

Another sip of his drink. "The Fade is as I've described - the realm of dreams and spirits. We enter the Fade when we dream, and, according to the Chant of Light, it's where our spirits go when we die, for a time. Other spirits dwell there as well. Demons."

[earthborn]

"It all just sounds like fiction to me. Fantasy. Fairy tales with magic and dragons and stuff," She doesn't actually want to insult Cullen, but... Well, at least her world makes sense, "Wild shit."

Demons. Spirits. Hell, even the Asari weren't so devout as to claim literal truth when they talked about that kind of thing. Even Liara...

"And you... I mean, this isn't just faith talking? You're describing actual reality, here?"

[revocation]

"Well, forgive me for saying so, but ships that can travel the stars and visit other worlds seem equally implausible to me," Cullen points out.

"And yes, it's real. The Fade is very real, as anyone in my world can attest, after the Veil was ripped open and a breach created, spilling demons into the physical realm and killing hundreds. Not that we needed that as proof."

He rubs a finger up the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Mages can enter the Fade willingly, with enough lyrium and practice."

[earthborn]

"Hah, well. It's the same stuff that drives starships as makes Biotics possible," she shrugs, one-shouldered, "Once you can reliably violate physics, the rest follows naturally."

But she thought about that, about Dorian tossing off lightning like a curveball, fire chasing ice out of his fingertips. Where did the energy really come from? Where did it go? And yet, his people still rode horses and used swords and steel armor, lived in castles and thought of the stars as immutable dots in the sky.

"...But maybe that's not always true," She thought about the Reapers, waiting to slap down any civilization that held its head up too high. Maybe it was better to stay on the ground, after all. Too small to be worth killing, "So we're both from pretty weird places. I'm glad to have met you, Commander."

A little perspective was, after all, a gift.

[revocation]

"I can't claim any great knowledge, even of my own world, but I would venture to say that it's possible the rules differ, from world to world," Cullen says easily.

He finishes off his drink, and offers his hand to shake. "Likewise, Commander."