milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Varric had meant to enter the Hanged Man this evening, but if the odd magic bar decided to appear instead, who is he to argue? Although the note that appeared when he went to see about getting a pint was pretty well unexpected, he reads it and solemnly nods. "Far be it from me to cause trouble when there's magic involved," he says. "But I'm going to need a stepstool."

He gets one.

Specials Tonight:

Antivan Brandy
Ale
Wine

After some thought he adds:

Drink a pint of Orzammar dwarven brew without making a face, and your next drink is half off

He's a surfacer. He can get away with that.

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"It's a place," says Varric, as he turns to look for the wine. "The country of Antiva, in northeastern Thedas. Haven't been there myself, but they have amazing trade goods."

"So you're not from an Earth?"

Sam smiles as he points to where some spiced wine is, he's learned to spot it.

"Not unless you're referring to the stuff that lies on top of bedrock," says Varric. "I was born and raised in Kirkwall, in the Free Marches. Spent most of my life there. Yourself?"

"Belisaere in the Old Kingdom and no, a lot of people here are from worlds called Earth."

"Mm. Can't say the world I come from has a name; people talk about Thedas, but that's pretty much just the one continent," says Varric. "If there's lands across the ocean, other than the ones the Qunari came from, I don't know about 'em. Old Kingdom, huh? Was there a revolution or something?"

"No, that's just what its always been called."

"Huh. Interesting," says Varric, and pours out the wine. "Human country, I take it?

"Yes and fairly magical. What about where you're from?"

"Oh, Kirkwall is mostly humans," says Varric. "They have an alienage where the elves live, but you get that anywhere. And there's a dwarven quarter in Hightown, not that I spend much time there myself. The Qunari enclave down by the docks doesn't really count. They hardly ever come out."

"It sounds like a complicated place to live,"

He knows that diplomacy is hard enough just between the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre, adding in other species would make it more so.

"You could say that," Varric allows. "But if you want simple, well, you're living in the wrong Age, my friend."

"I can believe that. At home it seems like there's always a new danger taht we don't understand."

"That so?" says Varric. "What kind of thing are we talking about, here?"

"The Walking Dead and a necromancer or possibly two controlling them. Its my family's duty to fight them,"

He's also a prince but he never knows how to bring that up in conversation.

Varric wrinkles his nose. "You know, I've heard stories about some of the things maleficarum can do with the dead," he says. "Didn't know templars ran in families, though."

"We're not templars, we're Abhorsens. Our bloodline only exists in the Old Kingdom since its tied to the Charter which is the magic that holds the Old Kingdom together."

"I see," says Varric. "The Chantry doesn't generally allow that kind of thing to happen in most of Thedas. Maybe in Tevinter, but Tevinter's a strange, strange place anyway."

"Who are the Chantry that they can control bloodlines?"

"It's more a matter of magic," says Varric. "Anyone in the human countries- well, other than Tevinter- who turns out to have magic's generally rounded up by the time he or she's eight years old and shipped off to the nearest Circle of Magi for training. Human or elf, doesn't matter. And once you're in the Circle, you don't get to get married, from what I understand. Not a lot of chance for having children in general in the Circle, either."

"Why? I mean its good that they're getting trained but that seems drastic."

"Couldn't tell you," says Varric. "Dwarves don't have magic, and I'm not really much of an Andrastian, so the Grand Cleric doesn't answer my letters. As far as I know, it's got to do with mages being extra likely to get possessed by demons, or something like that."

"Possessed, that's a new fear. I know when I was learning how to do things, I was taught to be conscious of what I could do. Though that's true of anything from working in the forge to using a sword to creating a spell."

"You'd have to ask one of 'em, or somebody who had a mage in the family," says Varric, shrugging. "I don't know much about mages and I don't especially care to. Not a big issue for a man in my position."

"What's your position if you don't mind my asking?"

"Mostly? Looking after my family's interests and reputation while my brother Bartrand runs the businesses," says Varric. "There's a lot of people and merchants in Kirkwall to keep on the good side of, and keeping up with it all's anything but a part-time job."

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makesthings - 2011-06-02 03:30 (UTC) - Expand

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