Imprints in Stone [AU]

[GamesMaster]

They try their best over the next few minutes: acid splashes right off the walls without so much as a chip, and so does the adamantine dagger. They even try having Zevran mimic the force he'd used to break the prison in reality -- but nothing does more than mildly scratch the surface of their prison. 

Finally, admitting defeat, they pull back to regroup. 

[Varric]

"So... what does this mean?" Varric asks stiffly as they sit down at his kitchen table in the material world. Failure. Complete and utter failure, mitigated only in that they (probably) didn't fuck things up any more than they already were.

[Isabela]

"Maybe she's too far gone to help?" asks Isabela softly, looking around the table. Helene, for their part, is silent, chewing their lower lip, deep in thought.

[Varric]

"Thoughts?" the dwarf says, facing Helene and ignoring Isbela's nonsense. 

[Helene Dakesh]

"It is possible this is what was meant by, unable to interact, but it seems unlikely. We did slightly chip the wall, and we were able to touch each other and the floor. It seems.... perhaps... we need some way to.... perhaps convince them to open their mind or that, convince them it is safe? Or some other way to radically alter the landscape. Perhaps we can adapt the ritual in some way to... after all, it is a projection onto the dream plane, and dreams can be altered. Perhaps we can convince the landscape to be something else, or, perhaps, we could adjoin it to some fixed portion of the dream plane so that... hmm."

[Varric]

"Garrett is closed off, isolated by his fears. His mindscape reflects that by way of imagery and setting. Could maybe brute force it- alter his mental state via enchantment or drug but that sounds... risky doesn't even begin to cover how bad that could go. Could... hmmm. Need to impose a... rule change. Visiting minds can't influence that much but..." Varric frowns, eyes flicking back and forth as he thinks rapidly. "...Helene, you know this ritual better than I do: what would happen if you targeted two people instead of one?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"The ritual is not designed to accommodate that," they say promptly, giving the most precise answer. A moment later, they rethink. "Assuming you rewove the spell matrix successfully, one of two things: the minds would become joined, a border the delvers could walk between, or they would become interwoven to some degree, creating a shared dream mindscape with two focii." A pause. "Which may well breach the walls, either way."

[Varric]

Varric nods with a smile. "That was my first thought as well, with a slant towards the interwoven outcome. A lot of care would have to be given towards ensuring that the tanglement is strictly temporary. And... we'll need to figure out some manner of testing or judging which minds are... best suited for linking. Off the cuff? A strong, healthy mind would be safer in regards to getting too intermingled to separate cleanly but might also permanently... imprint itself on the damaged mind. Two wounded minds would be the reverse. Or... Actually, a strong healthy mind might not have enough flex for the interweaving, which would either cause it to fail or do the joined outcome. Maybe."

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran stares a moment, then leans over to Isabela. "...did you follow that?" he whispers very softly.

[Isabela]

"Uh." she admits. 

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods. "A healthy mind may reject the joining. Perhaps a mind that is already entangled with -- perhaps Cindy's?" they adjust abruptly, realizing the obvious answer.

[Varric]

That gets a wince. "That... could work," he allows begrudgingly. "She's... Garrett is already displaying a great deal of... not subservince, but dependence on Cindy's lead. I'd be concerned that this might increase that."

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods. "Understood. However, the two are used to functioning as a pair, and there is a level of trust not otherwise seen. Perhaps it would even be enough to bring Cindy with us into the mindscape -- but if we are going to try two focii, that seems to have the largest chance of opening the gates." a pause. "Second would be Zevran, and I suspect that would be uncomfortable for all involved."

[Tethras Clan]

"Sorry, what about me?" the merikos drow asks, confused.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene frowns, thinking a moment. "We are concerned that Marian's mind is too closed off to be delved. We suspect adding another mind into the mix, blending two mindscapes together, would open it. But then we would also be delving that person. The likely best options are Cindy or yourself."