Under Darkness [AU]

[Tethras Clan]

"It's actually worse for someone like Hawke or I," Varric says soberly. "We're used to clear chains of thought, each link building to at least one other chain. Because of how her mind is hiding things, she has tiny isolated fragments of links, all grinding against each other. It's like having half a set of clock gears." He snorts. "More like a tenth, but you get the idea."

"How... how far off is this Delve solution? Can you find out more? Is there something we can do to... mitigate problems or... anything?" Zevran asks a touch desperately.

[GamesMaster]

Anders shakes his head. "We can give her more sedatives, buy her some time to see if the problem corrects itself, but I'm afraid Delving is strictly contra-indicated at this time."

[Tethras Clan]

"Contra-what?" Zevran asks, brow furrowed.

"Advised against," Varric explains absently. "What about... how often can you Delve someone? I mean, if nothing goes wrong? Is there a limit to how often it can be done other than resources?"

[GamesMaster]

He shakes his head. "No, there's no limit overall, but it depends on the specifics of the situation."

[Tethras Clan]

"Specifics like... mental stability again? So we're looking at once a fortnight, maybe ten days, presuming a modest to minor outcome?" Varric hazzards. "On average."

[GamesMaster]

"Stability is a big part of it, but success or failure of the delve is also a factor, and the degree of change created in the mind due to the procedure. The more change is made, the longer it takes to stabilize in the new configuration. We have seen partial successes undone by a subsequent failure -- and going back in while the patient is distraught causes the objective to be that much more difficult to achieve. In one notable case, the patient's hallucinations increased in intensity and frequency, where they had previously been manageable."

[Isabela]

"She can get worse? There is a worse?" translates Isabela. 

[Tethras Clan]

"She still trusts us. She believes us when we try to help, when we tell her that Jadan is dead, that we love her," Varric says softly. "She isn't trying to escape every day, has never attacked us. Sht talks, most days. Yeah, it can get worse."

Zevran swallows hard. "What... what's your plan, F- Varric?" the merikos drow asks shakily.

"Sorry. Well... for one, I'm thinking that.. well, a Delve is their mindscape, brought into an interactive form via the Realm of Dream. So it's Hawke's mind, all of it. We're her Clan, she trusts us, but that's pretty personal. I was hoping- thinking- that if we go on... lesser scale Delves, search out and... polish good times in her past, it might give her more of a foundation for us to work with while at the same time getting her used to our presence there. Might make it less traumatic when we go for a big Delve, to make her face her lost time."

[GamesMaster]

Anders shakes his head. "That sort of thing is better done with a Modify Memory, and we saw the result of that. A delve isn't a walk through someone's memories -- it's a walk through their mental landscape. Memory may well be involved, but sometimes they're entirely representational -- as the delve through my mind was. Add to that the chance that any progress can be wiped out if something goes horribly wrong, and the reason delving at all is contra-indicated for this patient, and I'm afraid it's no good."

[Isabela]

"Hang on, have you said why? Maybe we can change whatever the problem is?"

[GamesMaster]

Anders looks bleak. "The risk of-- we know there has been both behavior and, to a greater extent, ideation, in the realm of self-harm and of potential death."

[Tethras Clan]

"You think that Hawke will kill herself in the dreamscape," Varric says bluntly. "Correct?"

[GamesMaster]

He winces, but nods. "Precisely."

[Tethras Clan]

"Is there a way to... prevent that? Breath of Life is wound trauma only, but what about Paladin's Sacrifice?" He glances at Aveline as he asks, but she shrugs weakly.

"Maybe? I've never tried but... it might work," she says slowly, face stoic and empty.

"Aveline?" Varric says warily. "How does that invocation work, exactly?"

"...I take the blow, exactly as it would have been-"

"Never mind then. I'll not trade you for her," Varric says firmly, ignoring the slightly guilty look that Zevran hides quickly. "What's been tried already?" Varric asks Anders.

[GamesMaster]

"I'm not certain you understand the extent of the danger. If an episode is triggered inside her mindscape... her avatar will have unprecedented power over the interior of the dreamscape. I was-- I was watching when one of my mentors lost a patient this way. He backed away from the group, and a wall sprung up between them and the patient; they had no chance to get to him, no chance to restrain him before he leapt off the cliffside. In another case I'm told the team did manage to restrain the patient, but he transformed into a bird and flew away, diving for the ground once he was far enough out from them." Anders takes a long, slow breath. "Once an episode is triggered the only thing I can think that would prevent the death of the patient is to end the delve immediately -- and it usually takes some time to wake the delvers, and some time after that where none are in the mindscape while it dissolves, during which the patient is still at risk."