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Because you think we are attempting to tame you- considering how Daylen went on about 'civilization and shoes' I cannot entirely fault you for that assumption. But, no. That is not the intent.

The intent is to make us all look presentable and recognizable. You don't need a uniform for the latter, and the only people who have a problem with the former are the apostates.

By someone of Vivienne's standards, I am hardly presentable. My skirts have been hemmed and torn and restitched, my hands are often stained with ink or from herbs, and I do not care what it is I am wearing so long as I am covered and able to move.

Then you and I have similar tastes. [But she's relaxing on this now. Maybe it's not just a racist thing.] What about Harrowings? The only people immediately affected by those are apostates.

Or those mages of the Circle that have not been Harrowed. Six of my students were too young to consider it and I know they are not the only ones in the Inquisition that have not. Everything they have been through- when they were taken from their families and sent to their Circles- they were promised safety. A place to learn. Structure. Control. All this they endure as children and finally we have somewhere for them that is safe, structured, and if not yet entirely comfortable well on it's way to being so- to throw them to face a demon?

I will not allow it. Not as they were done in the Circle. Not as I endured. Something must be done- but not that.

I'm glad you see reason. Tempting fate is no way to keep people safe.

When the alternatives are death or tranquility- many take the leap. Others choose tranquility.

[ And even that is not so permanent a fix, even that does not spare them their own set of indignities. ]

We do what we must to survive. That we must survive the traditions of our own kind- it is foolishness. But warding against demons, training for it- something like that must be done.

Nobody's suggesting doing nothing.

With all due respect, Pel "Saying No" and "Mindful Awareness" are difficult to teach with the gravity facing a demon requires. The best advice I have been able to give is that the more like a person any particular entity in the fade is- the more likely that you've found a demon.

I oversimplified, but it was for a reason. I really do believe there are a lot of things about how you Circle mages do things that need to be thought of more simply. The more complicated you make things, the more likely it all is to go wrong.

As is the more simple a thing is, the easier it can be to teach or learn incorrectly. Specificity makes things complicated- the worst of it is that no one mage hears demons or spirits the same. There is no one method.

That's what I was trying to say. Daylen and Vivienne believe we have all the answers and we don't. All we can do is compile all the things we know do work--our own ways of avoiding possession, sometimes--and keep adding to it as we find things. No clinging to relics because they're there for some unspecified reason. Can you imagine if Sina took the Harrowing?

She'd die. Sometimes the process itself is so strenuous that it kills the mage before it is incomplete. It's a rare thing but- she would die or she would be possessed. It is not a question of her will but the shard in her chest would call every demon in the fade like a beacon.

She came to me to ask me to sit on the Council. She said she trusted me.

You need not convince me of the risks a Harrowing make. I've lost-

[ She sighs. ]

I know well enough. We are in agreement for this, Pel.

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm just...I need to talk about this. Because I've promised Sina I'll protect her. What if I can't do that? What if the council votes in favor?

Three votes, at least, will be against. Much as I would rather for something like this we require the vote to be unanimous because it is so controversial, no matter what is proposed? Not all of us will support it.

That is why the discussion has been tabled. It is something I think we will be picking at for a long while yet.

[A pause.]

Then our strategy is to make sure it stays tabled. Postponed indefinitely.

No. We cannot do that- because something must be done. A stand must be made. Dithering makes us no better than the foutu College and we are to be better than that.

No, listen.

I've a quarter of an idea and it's only coming through a bit at a time.

We have to postpone it. Trust me when I say nothing bad is going to happen just because you're not having Harrowings--we apostates have dealt without them for centuries. We dither. We use dithering like the tool it is, because dithering is sometimes better than rushing into something. And while we're dithering, we're also writing up our own proposal and selling it to the Councilors who can be swayed. We'll know what the vote will be before it's taken.

We are facing demons on this side of the Fade every time a rift opens- and that is happening more often as we move forward. How long until someone, Circle or not, speaks to one? Is charmed by one? Won over by one? We are, all of us, tired. We are angry. We are afraid of this war and this world and what may come. If that does not leave us ripe for the picking I do not know what does. We need something while we dither.

Restrictions on which mages are permitted to approach rifts? No. Restrictions on...

[Fuck.]

Mages in risky areas being accompanied by a templar. No exceptions, so we're not seen as singling anyone out. And I doubt our conservative councilors will object to that as a temporary solution.

Convincing Korrin of it's merit will the the harder part.

I can convince Korrin, especially if it's temporary. Worst comes to worst, we'll pass it without her vote. Just tell me if you think that would work. Not from a political standpoint, but if it would do the job you need to be done.

Demons cannot easily sway more than one mind at once unless they are terribly powerful and well established on this side of the fade. None that are torn through with the rifts will likely be able to manage it. Having so different a mind as a templar's there would make their ploy difficult- they could manage one or the other and be struck down by the partnered mage or templar should they make the attempt. It could work.

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