[He walks into the Warden office with a couple of small papers in his hands, mentions of Darkspawn activities in the usual reports he gets from various Resolutionists and stops short at seeing Alistair alone there. Things have been... distant for a time now, and he'd been expecting Nate to be here too.]
I see you're here.
[It might win the award for most obvious statement ever.]
Most days, [ Alistair agrees without immediately looking up. But he doesn't sound angry. He doesn't even sound annoyed or exasperated. Only distracted. ] I don't suppose you know where "Low Vetera" is. Or was.
[He's so used to attacks that when they don't come he's often a bit off guard, which means the first reply Alistair gets is a blink before Anders tentatively offers up a bit of humor.]
Presumably near High Vetera. Or really, really Low Vetera.
[ Alistair misses the blink, still looking at the papers in front of him, but at the verbal response he lifts his hand to point in Anders' direction, a snappy sort of gesture that means aha, this man is onto something. And then, belatedly, he looks up, and takes stock of Anders' expression, and says, ]
I'm sorry I snapped at you.
[ Did he snap? He doesn't remember. Whatever it is he did, snapping or otherwise, he's sorry for. There are other things he isn't—but he's worn himself out, he's calmed down, that's all much easier to do when no one is lecturing him, and he's even exchanged civil words with Loghain. ]
[Things aren't ruined. That's a really nice change of pace, and it has Anders leaving the papers on Nate's desk and coming over to Alistair's.]
I'm sorry in return.
[He'd definitely snapped. But if it's this easy for Alistair, then Anders is definitely not going to make it more complicated. Not when he generally likes the guy.]
The answer was all joke. I've never heard of a Vetera before. But I'm willing to bet it's nowhere near Lake Calenhad. I've been all over the land there.
Mmmm. No. It should be somewhere in the Free Marches. Or it should have been, when it existed.
[ He goes back to frowning at the contents of his desk. It's that easy. It's also not; Alistair has walls as high as anyone's, built out of jokes and rambling deflection or, when those fail, sticking to business. But it's not about being angry. ]
[Anders, never having been good at hiding how he feels about anything, generally takes people he wants to believe at face value. He doesn't want to lose Alistair as a friend, so he has chosen to accept this.]
I think there are some older ones in the archives in the library. What's in Low Vetera? Or what was, if it's that old.
[ Alistair has been to the library, under cover of darkness and with a story about being told there was cake there if anyone caught him—no. Not really. In daylight, like a normal person. But if he gives the impression of being someone who wouldn't think to look in the library, that's his own fault, and also fine with him. As the saying goes, the dumber people think you are, the more surprised they'll be when you kill them. ]
Warden-Commander Farele. Maybe. A thousand years ago. Someone might have sold him a horse. If they did, and if we can find the village, and if was walking in a perfectly straight line, then we'll know where he went next.
[ That is, of course, incredibly unlikely and ridiculous. But it's what he currently has to go on, so until there's new information, he can spend entire days trying to puzzle it out if he damn well pleases. ]
[Following the trail of someone who did manage to defeat Corypheus, if only for a short time. It makes sense. Anders gestures at the chair in front of Alistair before sitting, half-but-not-quite asking permission. Alistair is in charge, sure, but the man's never been one for formalities and Anders isn't either.]
Do we know what his errand was then, or if he was traveling alone or with a group? That could help us figure it out.
[ Sitting is fine. Obviously. The only indication that it's fine is the fact that he doesn't react at all, because of course Anders can sit—he is so far beyond formalities, as a general rule, that it doesn't occur to him that anyone at all might ever want or need his permission. He pushes some paper aside and finds one in particular to push toward Anders for review—the one from Stafes Nerrah. ]
He disappeared. He took something he wasn't meant to take and vanished, after spending far too much time with Corypheus, apparently.
[He spends some time reading it. It's short, but there's so much potential for things going wrong there... and also so few clues.]
The fortress would have records of what was...
[Anders trails off. The fortress that Corypheus' forces now held would have records of what was taken likely at Corypheus' behest.]
On one hand, it's frustrating that he's always a step ahead. Or two steps ahead. On the other, at least he's got hundreds of years of experience on us so we've some excuse for why we haven't defeated him yet? It's a shame I don't think we've anyone who could safely, keeping themselves safe, I mean, infiltrate Weisshaupt.
And the chances are good that any paper records burned with the archives did. [ Alistair sighs at his own notes and doodles a sword unhelpfully in the margins. ] I suppose we could write to him and ask. Dearest Corypheus.
Just between us Maker-forsaken mages, would you mind sharing what you had Warden-Commander Farele retrieve for you? It would be ever so kind.
[His voice is dry as he leans back in the chair.]
With all of these cheerful thoughts, shall I add another? Corypheus was sloppy and got caught, but the Architect stayed hidden for quite some time until he chose to reveal himself. The rest could still be out there somewhere.
[ Alistair doesn't look up or bat an eye, because he's already lost sleep over that—but it doesn't mean he's thrilled to be reminded. More sleep lost tonight, then. ]
See, that's why we like you, Anders. You keep things positive.
That's me. The Warden optimist. I've many such thoughts on our world and the future of my people, but maybe that's enough optimism for one day.
[A beat.]
Alternately, we could consider that one, whatever Farele took was at least initially figured out, and two, the Architect might consider the other magisters rivals and could aid us in taking them out if we tracked him down. Granted, the first point might require blood mages and that's not exactly a recommendation I'd like to make.
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I see you're here.
[It might win the award for most obvious statement ever.]
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Presumably near High Vetera. Or really, really Low Vetera.
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I'm sorry I snapped at you.
[ Did he snap? He doesn't remember. Whatever it is he did, snapping or otherwise, he's sorry for. There are other things he isn't—but he's worn himself out, he's calmed down, that's all much easier to do when no one is lecturing him, and he's even exchanged civil words with Loghain. ]
Do you know where High Vetera is?
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I'm sorry in return.
[He'd definitely snapped. But if it's this easy for Alistair, then Anders is definitely not going to make it more complicated. Not when he generally likes the guy.]
The answer was all joke. I've never heard of a Vetera before. But I'm willing to bet it's nowhere near Lake Calenhad. I've been all over the land there.
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[ He goes back to frowning at the contents of his desk. It's that easy. It's also not; Alistair has walls as high as anyone's, built out of jokes and rambling deflection or, when those fail, sticking to business. But it's not about being angry. ]
I need older maps.
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I think there are some older ones in the archives in the library. What's in Low Vetera? Or what was, if it's that old.
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Warden-Commander Farele. Maybe. A thousand years ago. Someone might have sold him a horse. If they did, and if we can find the village, and if was walking in a perfectly straight line, then we'll know where he went next.
[ That is, of course, incredibly unlikely and ridiculous. But it's what he currently has to go on, so until there's new information, he can spend entire days trying to puzzle it out if he damn well pleases. ]
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[Following the trail of someone who did manage to defeat Corypheus, if only for a short time. It makes sense. Anders gestures at the chair in front of Alistair before sitting, half-but-not-quite asking permission. Alistair is in charge, sure, but the man's never been one for formalities and Anders isn't either.]
Do we know what his errand was then, or if he was traveling alone or with a group? That could help us figure it out.
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[ Sitting is fine. Obviously. The only indication that it's fine is the fact that he doesn't react at all, because of course Anders can sit—he is so far beyond formalities, as a general rule, that it doesn't occur to him that anyone at all might ever want or need his permission. He pushes some paper aside and finds one in particular to push toward Anders for review—the one from Stafes Nerrah. ]
He disappeared. He took something he wasn't meant to take and vanished, after spending far too much time with Corypheus, apparently.
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The fortress would have records of what was...
[Anders trails off. The fortress that Corypheus' forces now held would have records of what was taken likely at Corypheus' behest.]
On one hand, it's frustrating that he's always a step ahead. Or two steps ahead. On the other, at least he's got hundreds of years of experience on us so we've some excuse for why we haven't defeated him yet? It's a shame I don't think we've anyone who could safely, keeping themselves safe, I mean, infiltrate Weisshaupt.
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Just between us Maker-forsaken mages, would you mind sharing what you had Warden-Commander Farele retrieve for you? It would be ever so kind.
[His voice is dry as he leans back in the chair.]
With all of these cheerful thoughts, shall I add another? Corypheus was sloppy and got caught, but the Architect stayed hidden for quite some time until he chose to reveal himself. The rest could still be out there somewhere.
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See, that's why we like you, Anders. You keep things positive.
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[A beat.]
Alternately, we could consider that one, whatever Farele took was at least initially figured out, and two, the Architect might consider the other magisters rivals and could aid us in taking them out if we tracked him down. Granted, the first point might require blood mages and that's not exactly a recommendation I'd like to make.