#//Talks to it to resolve whatever’s got him stumped. drastic Times have him bringing out the Tighnari and Cyno ones too nfbfb

[dutybcrne]

Kaveh keeps Haitham’s TCG card with him at all times; esp at work, send tweet-

[heartslogos]

newfragile yellows [824]

“I don’t make it a habit of questioning gods," Ellana says.

Bull starts laughing. Ellana would describe it as uncontrollably but Bull is nothing if not a master of his own body.

Ellana glares at him as she tries to figure out a way around the rocks blocking the entrance to the narrow cave.

“You wanna rephrase that?” He asks, gently nudging her aside so he can inspect the rocks, tapping his knuckles against a few of them. “Move a bit away. I’m going to start moving rocks and I’d rather you were clear.”

“Fine. I don’t make a habit of questioning my god’s existence. Everything else is suspect,” she corrects. “I don’t know. The Wolf has always been the Wolf. He doesn’t have an origin story like the others do.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that all of your gods have normal portrayals and then you’ve got the one that’s an animal?”

“Ghilan’nain is portrayed as a hala and Mythal is Mother of Dragons.”

“Yeah but they’re mostly depicted as people, not hala and dragons,” Bull replies. “And I’ve never seen a depiction of Fen’Harel as anything other than a wolf. Also — all of them have origin stories. How can Fen’Harel not? I mean. He didn’t just appear.”

“You think I’m going to ask the Dread Wolf what his lineage is?” Ellana replies, scoffing as she watches the stones above them for any movement. “All I know is that he was associated with both sides. The Creators and the Forgotten ones, and he’s the reason why the Creators are beyond the Veil and the Forgotten ones are in the abyssal realms.” Ellana keeps the information that it was not a betrayal on the Creator’s part to herself.

They wanted to go. They were ready to go. The Wolf lingers just in case. He is not the gate keeper, but the observer.

She doesn’t think Bull would accept that without further question. And Ellana might be the sort to ask questions, but there are things even she doesn’t poke into without express invitation. And the Wolf is not inviting.

“What do you need here?” Bull asks, stepping back from the rock and stone to observe it as a whole.

“I don’t know yet,” Ellana says. “I suppose I’ll find out when I get inside. From what I can guess, whatever caused the collapse of the entrance probably upset something inside. Maybe I have to fix it, or clean it.”

“He really doesn’t tell you what you’re supposed to be doing? What happens if you don’t have what you need to fix it?”

“I figure it out,” Ellana shrugs, sitting on a tree stump and putting her chin in her hands. “Besides, this time isn’t so bad. He told me to bring you with me. Clearly he felt pity on me this time around. He wanted me to have someone with muscle and a bit of structural knowledge.”

“Or maybe he got tired of you talking at him and wanted you to talk at me instead,” Bull says. “Is he here?”

“No.”

“Did you check?”

“Don’t need to.” Ellana shrugs. “He isn’t here. I just know it.”

Bull gives Ellana a flat look. “You wanna ask him — “

“No,” Ellana cuts him off. “He’s not going to offer us any hints. Well. He’s not going to offer me any hints. He’s already gone off to do whatever he does when he isn’t telling me to do things or watching me struggle because he’s bored. Should we go back and get Rocky?”

Bull takes another look at the collapsed entrance. “Give me another pass at it. If I can’t figure it out we’ll get Rocky. But his solution is probably going to cause more damage to whatever’s inside.”

“Maybe he wants me to destroy what’s inside.”

“A lot of guesswork going on here. Isn’t that a little dangerous when god is involved?”

“It’s god. It’s nothing but guesswork. Take a look at the Chantry if you want a pillar of example for that. I highly doubt the Maker was such a good wordsmith as to craft the entire Chant of Light. Nor am I guess Andraste returned from the dead to personally pen every verse — including the forbidden ones. Guesswork is basically faith with touches of the tangible thrown in. Guesswork is an act of prayer.”

Bull looks absolutely scandalized. Ellana smiles at him.

“You’re backwards,” he says, turning his back on her. “I’m going back to trying to figure out something that has actual logic to it. Don’t talk to me until I’ve sorted my brain out again.”

Ellana rolls her eyes before sliding onto the ground. She crosses her legs, laying her staff across her knees and closes her eyes.

The Wolf isn’t here and Ellana said she wouldn’t call him. But she can still try and reach him.

Guesswork is an act of prayer after all. And Ellana guessing that the Wolf hears her when she throws her thoughts out looking for him is a prayer all on its own.

Ellana focuses outwards and calls, a single, questioning howl into the ether.

Like the brush of a leaf, like the tip of a claw, Ellana feels a single touch to the center of her mind. He’s far away, but she has some of his attention.

Does what is needed here require caution and delicacy?

The touch wavers, fading.

Am I able to use force for expediency?

The touch strengthens, pushing hard. 

Do I drastically increase my chance of causing harm to myself and others from the effect of what lies beyond by using speed and power to resolve this?

The touch remains steady.

Will the situation worsen if I take my time to fix this in order to make sure my safety is secure?

The Wolf’s presence brushes over her, like a hand. His voice answers, no. And he’s gone.

Ellana opens her eyes to see that Bull’s marked some stones with some chalk.

“We can go slow on this,” Ellana tells him. “If worse comes to worse, we can get Rocky, but it might be more trouble than it’s worth. I don’t think it’d kill us, though.”

Bull grunts. “Did you ask if there’s a timetable for this?”

“It won’t get worse if we work on it slowly. But I don’t think the Wolf would appreciate me leaving this for later entirely.”

“Alright, fine. Come over here and let me borrow your small hands. I need you to feel for some gaps.”