Tales of a Child Eternal [NSFW]

[NPCs]

A methodical sip of tea, a soft, approving hum at its flavor. 

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene shudders, lowering their gaze. "There are times," they begin, slowly, their voice timid. "There are times when I feel this life is intolerable. When the things that happen to me, when the things that are inside me, feel unfair and... overwhelming." They squeeze Varric's hand, tightly. "But for Alydra, for thee, for Madam Zevvy and Beinn Varric, I will try."

[Tethras Clan]

"I... I know Helene will like as not have much the same reaction as my daughter..." Varric says slowly, trying very hard to grasp the samsaran's hand tightly and not crushingly. "But it's things like this that make me hate the gods, just a little."

[Helene Dakesh]

"This one understands. This one... cannot hate Alydra. But this one... is uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable."

[Tethras Clan]

Yeah 'cannot hate' doesn't help with that... 

[NPCs]

"This... there are times when when even the most skillest and practiced crafter attempts to create- and is surprised by the path that creation takes," the Ancient One says slowly. "But is stopping the wheel, leaving the creation unquenched, unfinished... a greater kindness?"

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene closes their eyes, shoulders sagging. "You didn't know." A pause, then, they restate: "Thou -- and the Muse Beyond Dreams -- did not know what would happen to this one when this one was set upon this path. Possibilities perhaps, but not certainty. Of course. Even Memento Mori was contentious enough to provide three equally likely possibilities worth mentioning to Hero zi'Hawke; how much more complex and confusing must this one's life path be? The chances of this one being with Sharran, being with Zevran, the chances that this one would be Clan, must have been quite small."

A pause, then they open their eyes. "But Draslina ought to have been considerably more likely. Perhaps that was necessary in a way being Clan was not."

[NPCs]

"And there are times when the master's assistant lacks the... in depth knowledge of the material's qualities to realize that the stage they are given to oversee is... not ideal." A slight shading of guilt, a still subtle but greater hint of regret, alters the Elder's soft, serene voice.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene frowns. "This one... This one is not good at detecting emotions," they admit. "This one prefers to focus on words, as those are chosen. But... This one... suspects that the emotional content.... May this one query what the Herald is implying?"

[Tethras Clan]

Seeing the tulwath go silent, Varric clears his throat. "If I may?" The Elder nods slowly, watching Varric carefully. "Thank you. Sounds like... The master in this story, this interesting bit of fiction meant to make us ponder and think," the Elder smiles faintly, for just a second, "went to make something. Maybe something new, maybe something just difficult. And it's a long project, even for someone as... long-practicing as the master crafter. After a few steps, a few stages of the crafting process were done, there was a... unusual quirk that formed in the masterpiece. Something unplanned but someone judged that would not prevent the completion of the work. But the master couldn't focus all their time on that one project, no matter how important- very busy after all, with all sorts of projects needing work."

Varric gives the Seeker Supreme a somewhat hard look. "So they assigned their assistant to watch over, check in on the project. But an apprentice is not a master of the craft and... didn't realize that a certain... that a particular part of the process was, to be blunt, suboptimal for the stage of the project, if not the entire masterwork. I would hope that the master would be called in to check and judge if the project is... permanently harmed?"

[NPCs]

"That would be a wise action for the apprentice to take," the tulwath agrees. "But the apprentice would also need to bear the burden of their ignorance and take what steps are given by the master to ensure that the masterpiece is... as wondrous as possible afterwards, despite their failure."

[Helene Dakesh]

It comes over Helene like a lightning bolt then, and they start, just a bit. "So the apprentice continued monitoring the piece after it was finished. Checking on it in storage, ensuring that the flaw did not worsen." That's why the Herald kept coming to see me in dreams. 

[NPCs]

The Elder shakes their head, just slightly. "The masterpiece is unfinished. The quirk has arisen, a natural if unexpected result of the process. It was a stage during that process, one caused by the actions of... other projects, that the apprentice did not realize the import, the impact and risk, correctly."

[Helene Dakesh]

"This one was visited, in Draslina," they say, their voice very quiet.

[NPCs]

"...even the learned may be ignorant of things outside their study," is the not quite apology they get in return.