[MEMORY WRITE-UP - DIALOGUE WITH ANDERS AND FENRIS, ACT 1]

[eluvianathema]

Dialogue between Merrill and Fenris, act 1.

Merrill: You've probably never met a Dalish before, have you?
Fenris: I wouldn't know.
Merrill: I'm sure you'd be able to tell. Dalish aren't much like the elves in the cities.
Fenris: The smug sense of superiority does give you away.

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Merrill: Certainly your people have stories about the Dalish. No?
Fenris: My people?
Merrill: The elves in Tevinter. They must have heard of us.
Fenris: They've heard. They just don't care.
Merrill: But if they ran away, the Dalish would help them.
Fenris: You might as well say, "If they flew into the sky, they could live in the clouds."
Merrill: What would they eat in the clouds? There's nothing there but fluff and the occasional bird.
Fenris: This is why nobody takes the Dalish seriously.

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Fenris: Why are you watching me like that?
Merrill: You have vallaslin. The same markings that the Dalish have.
Fenris: Yours are not made of lyrium.
Merrill: No, they're made of blood. Our blood. That's what vallaslin means: blood writing. It's a mark of adulthood.
Fenris: Mine were carved into my flesh against my will, in a ritual I remember only for the agony it caused me.
Merrill: I'm... so sorry.

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Fenris: I don't want your pity.
Merrill: Are you talking to me?
Fenris: You said you were sorry about the ritual I endured. Keep your sorrow.
Merrill: I only meant—
Fenris: You have all the freedom none of our kind enjoy, and you throw it away. On what?
Merrill: Our people need to reclaim their heritage.
Fenris: A heritage of defeat? To what end?
Merrill: Would you truly turn your back on your own history? There's so much we don't know...
Fenris: It's not my history. It's simply history.

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Fenris: Tampering around in mud all day, how do the Dalish do it?
Merrill: Do you like the crowded cities better?
Fenris: It's a smell I'm more familiar with, yes.



Dialogue between Merrill and Anders, act 1.

Anders: So, when you first did blood magic, it was... just an accident, right?
Anders: You cut yourself and realized the power? You didn't actually deal with a demon?
Merrill: Oh, no. I did.
Anders: Why would you do that?
Merrill: I needed his help. He was really very nice about it.
Anders: Of course he was! He's using you to get a foothold in a mortal brain!
Merrill: He's a spirit. He offered me his aid. I hardly think you're one to criticize.

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Merrill: I heard Varric saying you were a Grey Warden.
Anders: I was.
Merrill: Did you... did you ever meet a Dalish Warden? Mahariel?
Anders: As a matter of fact, I did.
Anders: Do you know them?
Merrill: We grew up together. They were one of my clan.
Merrill: I keep hoping to hear some news...
Anders: I wouldn't get your hopes up. The Hero of Ferelden values privacy rather highly.

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Merrill: Ser Pounce-a-lot... who knighted him?
Anders: Is that a serious question?
Merrill: Did he have a little sword, or just his claws? I bet he had a dashing cap with a feather in it!
Anders: Would you stop making fun of my cat?
Merrill: Oh... no hat, then?

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Anders: Maybe you don't really understand the difference between spirits and demons.
Merrill: Did I ask you?
Anders: Spirits were the first children of the Maker, but He turned his back on them to dote on His mortal creations.
Anders: The ones who resented this became demons, driven to take everything mortals had and gain back the Maker's favor.
Merrill: Your "Maker" is a story you humans use to explain the world.
Merrill: We have our own stories. I don't need to borrow yours.


LEARNED
+ Fenris is a jerk.
+ But Fenris has some reason to be a jerk, being an escaped fugitive elven slave from Tevinter who experienced ritual torture and all.
+ He doesn't have to be so mean though!! About everything!!! AND HE NEVER SMILES :(
+ Anders is sssooooo condescending
+ (also I guess I did blood magic and that involves demons and it sounds pretty bad based on what happened in Night Terrors... :'D?)
+ This is the first time Merrill has heard mention of Mahariel, the Dalish Grey Warden who saved Ferelden. There won't be any immediate connection to Warden on Ratatoskr, but more of a "maybe they knew the Hero of Ferelden like Anders did" realization.
+ One good point in Anders' favor: he had a cat named Ser Pounce-a-lot and sometimes he and Merrill coo over cute kitties.
+ Anders is definitely a Chantry-learned type, like most human mages. Even though he hates the way the church oppresses mages.
+ Mythal, he's such a hypocrite.