Have a plan, have resources, have the entire Inquisition backing it from the very top, have a military ready to move in to reinforce the resistance. Those things at the very least.
[ a beat, and this sigh is an exasperated one: ]
And if this is you trying to get me to do it, have a sworn treatise from the Inquisition to defend Nascere's independence as a sovereign nation.
[ She wasn't - not consciously, at least; maybe her mind was going there without her being cognizant of it. But...it does make sense, doesn't it? Him, leading their forces...She hesitates, then nods. ]
[ as far as he knows, he's the only former tevinter slave in kirkwall. at least, the only one kitty knows, probably. definitely one of the very few that might be reckless and stupid enough to try this insane scheme. ]
Don't make any promises. This isn't a yes.
[ honestly, he highly doubts she'll get any traction from that. part of asking such a high price is because she won't. and flint would shit bricks if he heard about it anyway. but we'll see. ]
And it'd be brilliant, wouldn't it. None of this kissing the Archon's arse and licking Magisters' boots to keep Corypheus at bay. None of this pretending that they're all fine and what they're doing is fine so they'll be willing to ally with us. It'd be burning their entire bloody country down around their smug rich slave-keeping ears. Tearing it to bits and then after the war, giving the slaves control. Letting them build something new.
[ dear lord, this child. so much optimistic energy. he worries some (which is a rare, rare occurrence for charles vane) that she'll have that optimism crushed the hard way, and her spirit will shatter. but that's the way of the world.
he thinks 'assuming the slaves don't just turn around and start enslaving more, because some are like that. or their childrens' children will. some people are just fucked in the head. some sick impulses for greed and conquer and dehumanizing just never leave. but he won't say that to her. she's young and bright, and it isn't hurting anyone. yet, at least. ]
[ Kitty's clearly a bit fired up now, enthusiastic and keen on this idea. She's so used to being on the receiving end of discouragement that a yes, maybe, this might possibly be feasible is grand encouragement to her. ]
We won't leave them there. We can't. If the world's falling apart at the seams, then the least we can do is put it together in a way that's less bloody awful.
[ 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). ]
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[ a beat, and this sigh is an exasperated one: ]
And if this is you trying to get me to do it, have a sworn treatise from the Inquisition to defend Nascere's independence as a sovereign nation.
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I'll see what I can find out. What I can get.
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Don't make any promises. This isn't a yes.
[ honestly, he highly doubts she'll get any traction from that. part of asking such a high price is because she won't. and flint would shit bricks if he heard about it anyway. but we'll see. ]
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[ And then, with a bit of fierce enthusiasm: ]
And it'd be brilliant, wouldn't it. None of this kissing the Archon's arse and licking Magisters' boots to keep Corypheus at bay. None of this pretending that they're all fine and what they're doing is fine so they'll be willing to ally with us. It'd be burning their entire bloody country down around their smug rich slave-keeping ears. Tearing it to bits and then after the war, giving the slaves control. Letting them build something new.
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he thinks 'assuming the slaves don't just turn around and start enslaving more, because some are like that. or their childrens' children will. some people are just fucked in the head. some sick impulses for greed and conquer and dehumanizing just never leave. but he won't say that to her. she's young and bright, and it isn't hurting anyone. yet, at least. ]
I would be. If it works.
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[ Kitty's clearly a bit fired up now, enthusiastic and keen on this idea. She's so used to being on the receiving end of discouragement that a yes, maybe, this might possibly be feasible is grand encouragement to her. ]
We won't leave them there. We can't. If the world's falling apart at the seams, then the least we can do is put it together in a way that's less bloody awful.
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Won't matter who's free if Corypheus ends the world. Worry about that first. There's no liberating dead slaves.
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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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