#i do think that meeran/athenril maybe throwing the idea around even as an empty threat

[vigilskeep]

I think it has smth to do w the fact tht they were an indentured servant (basically) for Meeran/Athenril? Bc it’s like ok freelance mercenary work or thievery is one thing. But then it’s like not ur choice bc u have to bc they have a contract tht says that You Are Theirs. Esp as an apostate hawke bc they can lord over u tht if you step out of line they don’t have to protect u from the Templars. And typically when it comes to an indenture contract the holder of the contract will add on shit to make sure u need to spend more time in their employ to pay off ur debt. So maybe Meeran was like oh yeah you rmr the time you used a company poultice when u got stabbed in the gut? You have to pay me back for tht too. Or smth similar. When their contract got close to being up. Which would def sour a relationship.

yeah that's my thought! it definitely reads like meeran/athenril wanted more work out of them, tried to push the contract, that went over real bad with hawke. the question is, of course, how hawke managed to get out of that! and not only get out, but apparently still end up on relatively even footing with meeran/athenril where they can, potentially, take a job from them, and meeran/athenril sends other work and contacts their way

the hawkes are a valuable commodity because of their magic but also intensely vulnerable because of it. if meeran/athenril came right out with it and said you're sticking with us or i go to the templars, what could they possibly do? so why don't meeran and athenril do that? they're covering you because you can do work for them sure but they don't exactly seem like they have pro mage rights moral scruples. and still they don't sell you out once you're gone; they don't even go to the templars about you if you fuck them over during loose ends, they come at you themselves. which is obviously because the game can't let them do that, but i'm addressing it as an in-world question here

honestly my first instinct is the delightful and fascinating takeaway that there's a no snitches code of honour when it comes to apostates, which is probably mostly upheld because if as a mercenary or smuggler leader it gets out that you're holding that over mages then you get essentially fucking blacklisted and not one apostate in the free marches is going to be desperate enough to come near you. which would be a massive disadvantage. it's also obvious that the hawkes have built up relationships with all the contacts and suppliers and such, presumably not to mention other members of the smugglers/red iron, and in general it wouldn't look great for meeran/athenril to sell them out especially when the hawkes clearly fulfilled the contract they were given

as a side note i wonder if there's anything to be said about a cultural difference here that might make the hawkes particularly react bad to the servitude thing. i don't know quite how different things are in the free marches but fereldans typically hold ideals of freedom very highly; they don't have serfs, for example, and all fereldans high or low theoretically have the right to go where they will, work where they will, and be paid for that work. i'm not saying there are no discrepancies and abuses in ferelden because i'm sure there are but i've often thought that's a problem fereldan workers might have in general in kirkwall (and why kirkwaller employers might be so consistently vocal against fereldan workers) and no less true for the hawkes during their servitude