I've been having these spells. At first it was just sudden exhaustion, mild disorientation. I thought maybe I was ill, or not sleeping well or something. But there have been moments when training where my magic just won't come. Not it's weaker, it's just not there at all, like a Templar has blocked me but I haven't found any around when it happens.
[ Kostos knows Nell well enough not to ask if she may just be overreaching her limits. Not because he doesn't think she wouldn't. But she wouldn't be telling him if that were it. So he doesn't waste the time he would waste with literally anyone else, to make sure they weren't alarmed over nothing. He snaps his book shut, audibly. ]
It could. I've been trying to keep track of where I am when it happens, who's around. Keep an eye out for anyone following me or paying more attention than they should. I can't think of anyone who would do it. I've been through the mage lists, there's no one here I remember ever meeting before, and the only person I've given reason to hate me so far is probably Amsel, and she's far too wrapped up in all that honor nonsense to do this. She'd just challenge me to a duel.
At first just once or twice a week? I don't think I even noticed the first ones, it wasn't until it kept happening that it stood out. Now it's... I've had three today. And now it's paralysis, too. I was just writing a letter and suddenly couldn't move at all for a full ten seconds.
[ She's not freaking out--Nell doesn't really do that, in his experience--but this is getting worrying. ]
[ There's shuffling, footsteps. He's on his way. It isn't very far, but he leaves the crystal connection open, because she's a little freaked out, and so's he. ]
Could it be the plague? When did it— [ He pauses, and adds in quieter Nevarran, not to her but to a wisp he's leaving behind, ] Stay there, do not move, just watch.
I will enjoy the authority while I have it, don't be jealous just because your Division Head is still able.
[ But good question. She ignores his wisp-whispering and considers. ]
I'm not sure. When it was just dizziness, my magic flickering, I thought maybe. It's a part of why I supported the quarantine. But it seems different, and the paralysis is unlike anything I've heard of others suffering.
[ There's more wispering in the hallway before he appears in the door and crosses without comment to the nearest window, for additional wispering, leaving an adorable little ball of light hovering on the sill. ]
It could. [ Nell is perched on the edge of a desk, arms crossed tightly against her chest, one hand raised to press knuckles against her mouth. She doesn't pay the wisps any mind. ] I don't remember the precise timing, and I don't know when this illness started exactly. It could be. What else? Who would bother to hex me from the other tower?
[ The qualification makes Kostos close his mouth before he can start listing people—though it would have been a short and high-level list, as he doesn't know many of their names, given the circumstances—so he's silent while he leans against the edge of the desk next to her, shoulder to shoulder. ]
We'll find out.
[ He manages to make it sound fairly ominous and threatening, for a man who would in that case most likely just be holding Nell's earrings. ]
You should keep talking, or working. If you stop moving again I can try to dispell it.
[ Holding her earrings and watching her back when she neglects a barrier to better tear whoever did this apart. That shouldn't be discounted.
She intentionally bumps his shoulder with hers before she pushes off the desk, stepping around to retake her seat behind it. She pushes paper and the inkwell toward him. ] Alright. But while I do paperwork and wait to be paralyzed, you can help me come up with a team for Tantervale.
[ He's not far behind her in moving away from the desk, turning so he can stand and watch her. His line between I'm staring at you because I'd like you to die and I'm staring at you because I'd like you to live could probably stand to be less thin. ]
[ Even Nell can't really tell the difference, but thankfully there are context clues. Like that he's looking at her. ]
Well, since we didn't find anything to bring her down with we have to make something. So we're going to ambush the shipment of tithes and donations making their way to her and then plant them in her residence. We'll make sure either that they're seen or that word of it gets to her rivals, and they'll do the rest.
Isn't he the Man? And your parents? [ Nell's eyebrows grow only more skeptical. ]
If there's some reason you think he might actually be useful, say so, because all I have seen from him thus far is wining and whinging. But of course I didn't know he even existed, so I defer to you on his abilities.
And the Rifters... I suppose, perhaps. Have you met any that can fight? And blend in?
[ Kostos makes a supplicating gesture, palms up and hands spread near his sides. His family is his family. ]
He is an assassin. That's why they left Nevarra. [ And Kostos, though left is too active a verb for being pulled out of bed in the early morning and transported in cuffs with no explanation. ] As I understand it—and given that he has survived Antiva all this time—he is much better at it now than when he was nineteen. We do not need to kill the Revered Mother, of course, but the planning, the ambush, the planting. If he agrees with the cause, he will not be useless.
[ As for rifters who can blend in and not be useless... ] Prompto, from Northern Powers. He's done reconnaissance work. Perhaps the one who works for Madame de Cedoux. Or—no. That's it.
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I've been having these spells. At first it was just sudden exhaustion, mild disorientation. I thought maybe I was ill, or not sleeping well or something. But there have been moments when training where my magic just won't come. Not it's weaker, it's just not there at all, like a Templar has blocked me but I haven't found any around when it happens.
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It could be a mage.
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How often is it happening?
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[ She's not freaking out--Nell doesn't really do that, in his experience--but this is getting worrying. ]
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Writing where? [ A pause. ] If we can catch it happening we can see if it can be dispelled.
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[ ok she's a little freaked out ]
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[ There's shuffling, footsteps. He's on his way. It isn't very far, but he leaves the crystal connection open, because she's a little freaked out, and so's he. ]
Could it be the plague? When did it— [ He pauses, and adds in quieter Nevarran, not to her but to a wisp he's leaving behind, ] Stay there, do not move, just watch.
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[ But good question. She ignores his wisp-whispering and considers. ]
I'm not sure. When it was just dizziness, my magic flickering, I thought maybe. It's a part of why I supported the quarantine. But it seems different, and the paralysis is unlike anything I've heard of others suffering.
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[ There's more wispering in the hallway before he appears in the door and crosses without comment to the nearest window, for additional wispering, leaving an adorable little ball of light hovering on the sill. ]
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[ A pause. ]
Who here?
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We'll find out.
[ He manages to make it sound fairly ominous and threatening, for a man who would in that case most likely just be holding Nell's earrings. ]
You should keep talking, or working. If you stop moving again I can try to dispell it.
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She intentionally bumps his shoulder with hers before she pushes off the desk, stepping around to retake her seat behind it. She pushes paper and the inkwell toward him. ] Alright. But while I do paperwork and wait to be paralyzed, you can help me come up with a team for Tantervale.
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What exactly are you planning to do?
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Well, since we didn't find anything to bring her down with we have to make something. So we're going to ambush the shipment of tithes and donations making their way to her and then plant them in her residence. We'll make sure either that they're seen or that word of it gets to her rivals, and they'll do the rest.
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Would you laugh if I recommended my brother?
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Why? Drinking wine and glowering won't be of much use and if they were, I have you.
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[ rip all his shirts. ]
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I'm not sure that Melys likes us much. But she also doesn't seem like she'd be precious about the Chantry. Maybe.
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[ He glances toward his window wisp to make sure it hasn't wandered off. ]
The rifters, if they survive—on the whole they do not seem to have any love for the Chantry.
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If there's some reason you think he might actually be useful, say so, because all I have seen from him thus far is wining and whinging. But of course I didn't know he even existed, so I defer to you on his abilities.
And the Rifters... I suppose, perhaps. Have you met any that can fight? And blend in?
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He is an assassin. That's why they left Nevarra. [ And Kostos, though left is too active a verb for being pulled out of bed in the early morning and transported in cuffs with no explanation. ] As I understand it—and given that he has survived Antiva all this time—he is much better at it now than when he was nineteen. We do not need to kill the Revered Mother, of course, but the planning, the ambush, the planting. If he agrees with the cause, he will not be useless.
[ As for rifters who can blend in and not be useless... ] Prompto, from Northern Powers. He's done reconnaissance work. Perhaps the one who works for Madame de Cedoux. Or—no. That's it.
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