#ameridan:verse:inquisitor

[skyheld]

@dalishflame cont. x

"Not merely ridiculous, I find it troubling. I am— so glad you agree." It brings him no joy to see Atreion in such distress, but he does visibly relax at their reaction; it's the clearest confirmation he could want that his fears were unfounded. "I misunderstood you, thank the Creators. For a moment..."

He sighs, briefly closing his eyes around memories he wishes he could bury. For a moment he heard an echo of Drakon's words through their mouth: I have to lay the world under me because it's in shambles, don't you see? I can only stop this chaos if I can control everything. It doesn't have to be forevr, but look at how many lives would be lost if I let go.

In the light of that, Ameridan's reaction wasn't an overreaction. Atreion isn't anything like the emperor who ordered the execution of a cult of singers because they refused to bear weapons even against the darkspawn, but then Drakon as a young man wasn't like that either. He changed. He was changed. Power did something to him, as did the hardships he faced and the whispered words of his counselors, urging him to take more control, convincing him that it was needed. As did hearing the words he wrote into the Chant sung in the temple he'd built, by a choir led by the Divine he had elected. In his defense, that would change anyone.

At least Atreion doesn't have to deal with that — yet. Then again forcing them to listen to Chantry verse about themselves would likely have a different effect on them than it did on Drakon. "Maybe your advisors have been playing the Game for too long. They forget the pieces they move around on the board are people, even when they are right in front of them. Their trust in you is well-placed—" he says that earnestly, meaning it, especially now, "—but no one, no matter how good, should have the power you hold. As you already know, clearly."