Ghost Story

[Varric]

"Right, I think you did, I just-- that's illegal," Varric says, frowning as he tries to recall the appropriate laws and bylines. "Well. Maybe. It's illegal to block me from using, as a Nyran citizen in a Nyran protectorate. It might be-- ah! Right. You can't outlaw magic entirely, but you could tighten the requirements and licensing, provided you jump through the dozens and dozens of hoops needed. Do it cleverly enough and it's basically outlawed because no-one can manage to qualify." I guess given the demon invasion, a town this small might be able to pull it off.

[Marian Hawke]

Emma nods. "Divine magic is different, as it comes from the gods and they'll take it away if you do something bad with it -- the good ones anyway."

[Varric]

"Well, Protection from Evil is a divine spell," Varric points out. "I'm not a cleric or anything, but Vangal and Junon are pretty much always up for okaying this particular ritual. Given the reason for this casting, Mileen is a safe bet as well."

[Marian Hawke]

"That's not an arcane ritual?" she asks, blinking. "I thought... Alchemy is arcane. I just assumed... Sorry. I'll leave you alone about it."

[Varric]

"It's sort of a mix," Varric explains. "Protection spells can be cast with arcane or divine magic. My alchemy is arcane, so most of my rituals are as well. But in this case, because I need it to affect the entire household and grounds, I'm adding in a request for divine aid to it. So it's arcane based but alloyed with divine."

[Marian Hawke]

She blinks. "Isn't that dangerous? Like-- like telling the Gods what to do?"

[Varric]

Varric snorts, looking deeply amused. "Depends on the deity really. Most of the Bright ones don't care-- would you care if a dust mite deep in the farthest depths of the Plane of Elemental Earth ordered you around? Would you even notice?  Most prayers are answered by outsiders that work for a deity. The power comes from the deity, of course, but even the Heptad have staff. Mind you, prayers and rituals-- good ones anyway-- aren't orders, they're requests. Requests that are almost always answered, sure, but still requests."

[Marian Hawke]

"What if they say no?"

[Varric]

"Then your prayer or rituals is just a chant, dance or gesture," Varric says with a shrug. "It's theorized that arcane magic can be refused the same way by a caster's patron deity or even their racial deity, but there's never been a credible recorded instance of that occurring."

[Marian Hawke]

"Do you know much about Alydra? I'm told lots of people worship her in Nyra," asks Emma, a little shyly.

[Varric]

Just (too much) a bit. "I know more than most priests do about all the Heptad," Varric deflects slightly. "I enjoy learning, so I've studied at least a little in just about every field. Maths, engineering, alchemy, linguistics, magic, history and Nyra are my specialties but I know plenty about religion, the planes, law, medicine, biology, physics, architecture, and psychology. And smatterings of other things."

[Marian Hawke]

Emma boggles. "You must be Alydran, then, if you're that into knowledge. What's she like? I've always been Astean."

[Varric]

Varric hums, a neutral sound that isn't an affirmation but could be taken as such. "Well, like all the Heptad, Ne has many faces. Only logical really; something that massively profound, something that embodies so much, something that is basically one-seventeenth of everything that exists, well, how could something like that not be so complex mortals can't see the whole of it? Still, I would say that most Alydreans would agree that Alydra is thinking. I know that sounds silly, obvious, but that's only on the surface. Ne covers dreams and inspiration, which can be wild and impulsive. Passionate and reckless. But it's all about having an idea. The idea might excite you, might set your blood thrumming or your thoughts racing, but it starts by thinking. Knowledge, experimentation and study, reason and cunning, those are pretty obvious in how they relate to thinking. Knowledge can be absorbed without thought, can be just taken in by rote and tossed in the back of one's mind like brittle rock, but that's not real knowledge. It's just pretending."

[Marian Hawke]

Emma leans forward, hanging on every word. "Wow," she breathes, eyes shining. "That's it, that's exactly it. When I learn new things, I come alive."

[Varric]

A wistful smile forms as he nods at her. "There's always more to learn, more to understand. World's a big place and the Planes are far bigger yet."