[ Sniffing: ] Kids my age tend to be very stupid. [ Then, either more or less charitably: ] And it's not as though adults are any different. They get distracted by all the things they're told matter - marriage, wealth, fancy houses and well-made shoes. But you're all here to fight, you're all ignoring those things, and so am I.
[ he lets out an actual laugh, and the apocalypse is nigh. ]
Yes, they do. [ even with none of those things in his life when he was kitty's age, he was still pretty fucking stupid. anyway, he's actually pretty proud of kitty for that answer, about what people are distracted by. ] Exactly. You asked why no one stopped slave trafficking in the south before. That's your answer.
[ because no one fucking cares. not enough, anyway, and the rulers prefer them that way, because it keeps them in line. keep working for that comfort we've promised you, keep our system running smoothly, keep yourself in chains. keep eating the lies we feed. ]
[ if the others can change, change them, but the numbers are what they are. ]
That's why we have Nascere. [ well, part of it. not everyone in nascere is like vane, because vane's pretty fucking special. it is a safe place to be like him. freedom, above all other things. in nascere, you owe no one anything, and if they want to take something from you, they have to fight you to do it. there's no law to hide behind. ]
[ make a number that means something out of them. ]
But attempting to force change when you don't have the power will only get more of them slaughtered. [ which is what happens to most people that care about this - the inescapable hierarchy of society, the slavery, the mages in towers and poor dying in the streets. they stand up for something, and because they're the only ones, they die. ]
There's more than one fight to be fought. [ vane never passes up a ship holding human cargo to take as prize, whether those on his crew are excited about it or not. he never leaves any of their crew alive, regardless of what bargain he's offered.
the slaves are dropped at nascere or wherever else they'll be safe and free, but he won't keep them and force them into a fight, else what difference is there between him and their masters? he knows, as well, that that is all his means are capable of achieving, with only him and what he commands. taking one ship against the entire tevinter armada would mean no more of those slavery ships are liberated by men so absolutely willing to forgo a possible payout to see slaves freed. ] You do what you're able, and don't waste what you have, and what you could do, by taking a task you have no hope to win.
But how can you tell the difference between a task you can't win, and a task you're just too scared to take on? It's easy to convince yourself it's the one when it's really the other.
[ all of thedas. all of tevinter, all of the south, all of everyone who is going to raise even a single argument about why it's foolhardy. ]
I would die right now if it meant every slave in Tevinter would go free. If it meant everyone in Nascere would go free and no argument would be brought to her sovereignty. [ vane's also special in that he doesn't actually talk a bigger game than he plays. part of the philosophy he lives by is that even ideas cage you, and lying to improve someone's opinion is part of that. when he says that, he means it. ] But if I die and it doesn't, our resistance is down a commander, and I've abandoned the last hope of winning that fight the more difficult way by being reckless and stupid.
Every battle is a risk, so find the ones already fighting, learn the strategy. [ numbers can be made up for with tactics, but only to a point. ] Build your army, take the fights you can handle until you can handle more. No one wins a war on luck and passion alone.
[ It makes sense. Of course it makes sense. There's no point in dying senselessly. Fred, Stan, Anne, Gladys, Mr Pennyfeather - all of them had died senselessly. Never having landed a nick on the Empire. And Kitty, she'd been ready to do the same, to die with her knives in hand, drawing what blood she could from the werewolves on her tail. But it's not right, and it's not good. It's better to fight smart, to wait for the right moment. But sometimes she feels the frustration so keenly that it might tear her apart, that she wants to go and hurl herself on the slavekeepers of Tevinter and hit them because it'll be worth it to die like that and not have to feel this frustration and rage any longer.
But it does no one any good. No one. Not even her. ]
[ not when it comes to this. or to anything he'dbe even remotely annoyed at. what had ned low said about him? there's always one - the one you don't cross.
for the most part, when a slave owner shows up in front of him, they die. end of story. the only reason thor didn't get stabbed today was john silver, and the fact vane's not actually certain for sure that the man owns slaves (though, really, if it was nascere, he'd do it anyway, for the crime of silent compliance). ]
Don't call it a fit. That makes me sound like a child, which I'm not, thanks. And also, I said I could stand to learn some of that sometimes; having a temper is more often quite useful, isn't it. I wouldn't trade mine for the world.
[ But - ]
But if you're saying that you'll tell me things when I ask, then I accept, and thanks very much.
And so what? Pirates can be polite. There's nothing about piracy that says, oh, yeah, I've got to be a bit of an arse to the people around me. I've known pickpockets and burglars who used please and thank-you like they were second nature. Pirates can, too.
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I can worry about more than one thing at once, Captain Vane.
[ definitely a monster ]
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Big worries to have, those two. Aren't kids your age usually chasing each other instead of Archons and archdemons?
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Yes, they do. [ even with none of those things in his life when he was kitty's age, he was still pretty fucking stupid. anyway, he's actually pretty proud of kitty for that answer, about what people are distracted by. ] Exactly. You asked why no one stopped slave trafficking in the south before. That's your answer.
[ because no one fucking cares. not enough, anyway, and the rulers prefer them that way, because it keeps them in line. keep working for that comfort we've promised you, keep our system running smoothly, keep yourself in chains. keep eating the lies we feed. ]
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[ That takes the wind out of her sails. So to speak. But she rallies: ]
But not everyone's like that. We aren't.
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[ if the others can change, change them, but the numbers are what they are. ]
That's why we have Nascere. [ well, part of it. not everyone in nascere is like vane, because vane's pretty fucking special. it is a safe place to be like him. freedom, above all other things. in nascere, you owe no one anything, and if they want to take something from you, they have to fight you to do it. there's no law to hide behind. ]
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[ That doesn't come out as firm as she'd wanted it to, but - it's not bad. A slight hesitation, then she says - ]
Back home, there weren't many of us. But we found more. We were working on finding more.
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[ make a number that means something out of them. ]
But attempting to force change when you don't have the power will only get more of them slaughtered. [ which is what happens to most people that care about this - the inescapable hierarchy of society, the slavery, the mages in towers and poor dying in the streets. they stand up for something, and because they're the only ones, they die. ]
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[ She gnaws a little on the inside of her cheek. ]
But it's better to die fighting than live sitting down. I think.
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There's more than one fight to be fought. [ vane never passes up a ship holding human cargo to take as prize, whether those on his crew are excited about it or not. he never leaves any of their crew alive, regardless of what bargain he's offered.
the slaves are dropped at nascere or wherever else they'll be safe and free, but he won't keep them and force them into a fight, else what difference is there between him and their masters? he knows, as well, that that is all his means are capable of achieving, with only him and what he commands. taking one ship against the entire tevinter armada would mean no more of those slavery ships are liberated by men so absolutely willing to forgo a possible payout to see slaves freed. ] You do what you're able, and don't waste what you have, and what you could do, by taking a task you have no hope to win.
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[ all of thedas. all of tevinter, all of the south, all of everyone who is going to raise even a single argument about why it's foolhardy. ]
I would die right now if it meant every slave in Tevinter would go free. If it meant everyone in Nascere would go free and no argument would be brought to her sovereignty. [ vane's also special in that he doesn't actually talk a bigger game than he plays. part of the philosophy he lives by is that even ideas cage you, and lying to improve someone's opinion is part of that. when he says that, he means it. ] But if I die and it doesn't, our resistance is down a commander, and I've abandoned the last hope of winning that fight the more difficult way by being reckless and stupid.
Every battle is a risk, so find the ones already fighting, learn the strategy. [ numbers can be made up for with tactics, but only to a point. ] Build your army, take the fights you can handle until you can handle more. No one wins a war on luck and passion alone.
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But it does no one any good. No one. Not even her. ]
How d'you keep your calm?
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[ not when it comes to this. or to anything he'dbe even remotely annoyed at. what had ned low said about him? there's always one - the one you don't cross.
for the most part, when a slave owner shows up in front of him, they die. end of story. the only reason thor didn't get stabbed today was john silver, and the fact vane's not actually certain for sure that the man owns slaves (though, really, if it was nascere, he'd do it anyway, for the crime of silent compliance). ]
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Dunno. Just how I am.
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Next time you feel you need it, instead of working yourself into a fit, come talk to me.
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Don't call it a fit. That makes me sound like a child, which I'm not, thanks. And also, I said I could stand to learn some of that sometimes; having a temper is more often quite useful, isn't it. I wouldn't trade mine for the world.
[ But - ]
But if you're saying that you'll tell me things when I ask, then I accept, and thanks very much.
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[ ignoring all of the rest of that, because he's charles vane and he does what he wants. ]
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Nearly seventeen.
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[ nearly only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. ]
My crew didn't stop calling me 'boy' until I was 25 and their captain.
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