mllemaenad

[mllemaenad]

There is ... an Elder Scrolls: Oblivion remaster, apparently. I have loved The Elder Scrolls since Morrowind (Daggerfall and I did not get on – although in fairness that was likely a hardware issue I did not then know how to diagnose). This thing ... costs $85. It wants 125GB of hard drive space, 32GB RAM and from what I've been reading, modders are unsure if they'll be able to create new assets for it.

That ... sounds like a very belated April Fools joke.

[mllemaenad]

It's fine. It's just noble bullshit. Casteless – and elven slave kids, apparently – get swept up in noble bullshit all the time. And then you've got a bunch of rich people who don't know your name mad at you for Stone-knows-what because you succeeded or failed and now there's a feud.

As far as Seanna's concerned, Zevran is an honorary casteless. Not that that term makes any sense.

But! Since he did just make a giant mess, he can come help find that caravan we were looking for in the first place.

[mllemaenad]

I realise the rest of the group thinks she's lost her mind, but Zevran is one of the very few topsiders Seanna has met who makes complete and utter sense.

There are a lot of bosses who think it's your duty to die for their cause. Often without even knowing what their cause is or whether you'd be for it.

[mllemaenad]

Ha! Seanna came from the Carta. They have the same severance package.

Honestly? If she knew how the fuck the Joining works, she'd do a pitch for joining the Wardens.

They do not keep you supplied in wine, women, men or anything else except darkspawn. But she's coming to learn you can make a killing looting the bodies of ghouls. And the blue armour is very fetching.

[mllemaenad]

No, no, she does. See: Seanna's been here.

The mission has gone sideways, and now you have to have the "this is why you shouldn't kill me" conversation. Also, given the whole "the mission has gone sideways" aspect of the situation – you've usually got a concussion or some broken ribs or some other wildly distracting injury while you're having that conversation. It makes the required witticisms really bloody rough.

You're doing fine, salroka. Keep it up!

[mllemaenad]

And, okay, he reminds Seanna just a tiny bit of Leske. Leske was full of shit one hundred percent of the time ... but she still misses him.

[mllemaenad]

Ah. Seanna has no idea what an "Antivan Crow" is supposed to be, but she does know this guy. Not him, personally, of course, but she knows what he is. He's almost exactly the same sort of thug she used to be.

[mllemaenad]

That was ... very annoying. Paralysis spells and Mark of Death. Ouch.

[mllemaenad]

Ohhhh. I forgot he brought an entire army for this nonsense. Actually, while this is about to be very annoying for me personally, I do enjoy the more practical take on the Crows here. I'm not disputing the brutal training regime Zevran will discuss once we've resolved this situation ... but the main thing that makes the Crows successful is that the organisation simply has the money to bring as many thugs as necessary.

In this case: about five million to deal with a couple of scared teenagers.

[mllemaenad]

Credit where it's due: this is an excellent ambush. We were specifically looking for a lost caravan, for one of the Chanter's Board quests.

[mllemaenad]

I have this mod, and it's my new favourite thing. My usual method of triggering all the party banter has been to run back and forth across that one bridge in Redcliffe. While that works, it isn't what I'd describe as fun.

Now, apparently, Alistair can bother Sten anytime anywhere. I'm sure this will be a good thing for group cohesion.

[mllemaenad]

The Chantry has so, so much to answer for.

The Avvar, the Chasind, the Rivaini ... they'd all look Wynne up and down and go "What? No, you're fine." Because she is fine. She has a friend who happens to be a spirit, and that spirit took drastic action to save her life when necessary. Nothing terrible has happened here.

It's not even a question of being possessed. We know that's fixable. We literally just fixed Connor. Rather, there is no way back from the perception that you are the sort of mage who gets possessed by demons. You will now always be an abomination, no matter what you do.

[mllemaenad]

This is a rough conversation for Seanna. What is she doing, if not trying to change her fate? Sten's idea, that she must carry her castelessness with her because it is what she is destined to be, is especially terrifying to her because she thinks it might be true.

She has every reason to believe that she is cursed; that the Stone and the ancestors have rejected her; that her destiny is just to die in a gutter. That's what her whole society (Rica aside) has told her every day. More than that – Orzammar is fundamentally built around this idea. It's not just Seanna herself: every casteless in a repulsive outcast. That's why they live as they do.

Joining the Grey Wardens is an attempt to be something more than that. To have a life with meaning in it. Sten can talk about finding joy in one's role and one's duty all he likes ... but the duty of a casteless to their people is to live in squalor and endure the whole city's scorn until they die and become a ghost story. Seanna has been a walking cautionary tale since the day she was born.

Would Sten have an easy time finding joy in that?

Of course, if pressed, he would probably say that Seanna's problem is simply that she does not live under the Qun. But, frankly, once you know that being assigned a role can bring you nothing but misery, changing the role assignment system doesn't sound like a real solution.

That said: we are definitely going cookie shopping. The casteless girl who has never eaten this well in her whole life is in complete agreement about Ferelden's snack food options.

[mllemaenad]

The awkward teenagers are giving me terrible secondhand embarrassment. Although, come to that, Jo and Anders in Dragon Age 2 are definitely worse than this. So it may not be the teenage thing that's the problem.

Plus side! At least I managed to trigger this scene in camp, instead of where it usually happens: in a dungeon, covered with blood with the rest of the party staring at them.

[mllemaenad]

No one hates this job more than Loghain. He has engaged in an epic amount of scheming with some very unsavoury people to get it and he has never been so miserable in his whole life.

[mllemaenad]

Seanna: So ... just so I'm clear ... I can't have the spare mage no one's using ... but you want me to go and track down a jar full of dead person? To ... fix your poisoned husband? Instead of getting ... a herbalist or ... a really good mage ... or something?

You are ... all ... sun-touched. This is why we don't live above ground. It does things to your head.

[mllemaenad]

Seanna: First off – I don't think Lady Isolde gets a say here, since "let's hire some guy we don't know to help pretend connor can't do magic" and "Teagan should just come to the castle alone no questions asked" were both her plans.

Second – I am up to my neck in darkspawn. There is an Archdemon flying around ... somewhere that I'm supposed to deal with. Somehow. Teryn Loghain murdered my entire Order and now his lackeys keep popping up everywhere I go like hungry tezpadam determined to ruin my day.

You've got a mage locked up here who marched into the Fade and fought a demon and came back with all his limbs still on.

I am not picky. That will do.

You have no idea how much I need the help right now.

Just ... let me have the mage no one wants. He'd fit right in.