"The old, the young," the siblings, fused into a single being, monstrous and wailing and confused, "everyone."
It's a conclusion which has occurred to her beforeβthere was something different about these Darkspawn, priorities which did not match what she'd read of those of an Archdemon or Corypheus himself, but far as she is from an expert Ness has been unwilling to linger on them. Instincts validated, she unspools that thread again, considers its implications, supporting evidence, possible conclusions, pacing the floor.
"The men we hired to bring us to the Pass," she says, "the brothersβthey were not visibly Tainted, nor were they mutated. But when we came to the nest, they were clearly affected by it. They attempted... well. It's in the report, what happened there."
No reason to rehash itβto possibly tell the Warden more than he is meant to knowβshe will have to reread the report, to see what story they have committed to posterity.
"They weren't Tainted. But they were maddened, terrified, and driven to a goal. Something had a will in that room, and it bent both a nest of Darkspawn and a village of humans to its ends."
mea culpa for long delays, blanket it's ok to drop etc
"If it was buriable, there are limits to its influence. A radius."
There's one for the sense that pushes at his own, for any Blighted place, for Corypheus; greater again, an archdemon. This isn't only Taint, but if it works within it, they might set a perimeter. His knuckles fold.
"When you first met them, how certain are you the brothers were themselves?"
Back in Tallo, the fish would drift up sometimes, dangling a light before their jaws. A guide into the dark.
"Entirely," certain, that is. "They behaved like any two men pursuing a payday might."
She assumes, anyway. The answer came so quickly she feels compelled to retread each interaction, examining the memories for any false notes she may have missed at the timeβbut there are none. Even if she had missed a sign, there were six of them, it's not as though they relied on her insight alone. No one noticed anything amiss with the brothers. They were as ordinary as two humans could be,
until they weren't.
"No one in Wycome or the outlying villages appeared affected," to his radius, "neither when we left nor when we returned. You might ask the others on the expedition when they noted a lack of wild sounds. We were already in the Pass by the time it occurred to me that it was too quiet."
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no subject
It's a conclusion which has occurred to her beforeβthere was something different about these Darkspawn, priorities which did not match what she'd read of those of an Archdemon or Corypheus himself, but far as she is from an expert Ness has been unwilling to linger on them. Instincts validated, she unspools that thread again, considers its implications, supporting evidence, possible conclusions, pacing the floor.
"The men we hired to bring us to the Pass," she says, "the brothersβthey were not visibly Tainted, nor were they mutated. But when we came to the nest, they were clearly affected by it. They attempted... well. It's in the report, what happened there."
No reason to rehash itβto possibly tell the Warden more than he is meant to knowβshe will have to reread the report, to see what story they have committed to posterity.
"They weren't Tainted. But they were maddened, terrified, and driven to a goal. Something had a will in that room, and it bent both a nest of Darkspawn and a village of humans to its ends."
mea culpa for long delays, blanket it's ok to drop etc
There's one for the sense that pushes at his own, for any Blighted place, for Corypheus; greater again, an archdemon. This isn't only Taint, but if it works within it, they might set a perimeter. His knuckles fold.
"When you first met them, how certain are you the brothers were themselves?"
Back in Tallo, the fish would drift up sometimes, dangling a light before their jaws. A guide into the dark.
right back atcha, oof
She assumes, anyway. The answer came so quickly she feels compelled to retread each interaction, examining the memories for any false notes she may have missed at the timeβbut there are none. Even if she had missed a sign, there were six of them, it's not as though they relied on her insight alone. No one noticed anything amiss with the brothers. They were as ordinary as two humans could be,
until they weren't.
"No one in Wycome or the outlying villages appeared affected," to his radius, "neither when we left nor when we returned. You might ask the others on the expedition when they noted a lack of wild sounds. We were already in the Pass by the time it occurred to me that it was too quiet."