The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Varric]

"Oh get fucked. You dump my ass in this hell to be tortured and humiliated and now you're going to pull some evasive bullshit while asking for a favor? Piss off." At his sides, the dwarf's hands tighten into fists around his manacles, which he'd slipped offer since this conversation started. He barely notices the sharp ache in his thumbs from the rapid dislocation and resetting, too focused on the confrontation.

[GamesMaster]

He spreads his hands, then, palms up. "To whom much is taken, much is owed," he says, a simple, quiet statement. "If you wish it, answers are an acceptable use of the boon I have come to grant you. But perhaps you would like to hear the extent of said boon first?"

[Varric]

Finally. ''Alright. State your piece,'' Varric says, his expression and posture indicating he's calmed down instantly. Truth be told- as the Ancient One can easily detect- his eyes hint at the rage and bitterness still simmering inside him.

[GamesMaster]

"Harm was done to Varric of clan Tethras, so that greater good may be done. But the recipient of the harm and the recipient of much of the good are not the same. Therefore, an imbalance was created. A boon must be offered to even the scales. The requested favor must be worth the same or less than the harm done. If you ask, it can be redeemed for an exit as quickly as mortals can be summoned, plus a little material gain to even the scales. However, as only one was imprisoned, only one can be removed in this manner. In three days time, if Seeker Helene who was Dakesh is still physically present in this facility, the Seeker will Seek no more. An opportunity will present itself in two days where resourceful, small mortals can slip their chains -- but said Seeker will be unable to seize it alone."

[Varric]

Varric goes still. The Seeker will Seek no more? Helene (our prize student, 'the Littlest Seeker'). Seek no more. Death? Brain damage? Fuck. She doesn't deserve that. Few do, and she is very, very much not one of them. Alright. So. Done is done. Already had to suffer sev- eight now days of this shit. Two days more is... well, no, it's really awful. But tolerable. Day and half- because 'as fast as mortals can be summoned' would likely still take a few hours, maybe half a day. I can handle that easily enough. 

''Please provide at least two examples of what else I can use a boon of this value for?'' he asks almost absently as he mulls over what's being asked of him.

[GamesMaster]

"I have alluded to answers -- an amount of truth can be had," the dwarf offers. "That is perhaps what most Seekers would relish. Some small funds, say, ten thousand gold. For another to be punished in measure with the suffering you have gone through. Something of that nature." It pains the Ancient One to be so direct, but it must be done; Alydra requested it. The chain of boons for suffering does not end here.

[Varric]

That is... not a small amount of money. That's... that could well be enough to get Bi- get my prototype finished. And then some really. ''So I can leave now with a handful of coins in my pocket or I can wait a bit longer, free Helene and walk out with a modest boon from a Heptad deity.'' Or I can maybe ask for assistance directly, skip the coin. Or... no, better to bank it for now. Think it through.

[GamesMaster]

"That is, as you would say, accurate."

[Varric]

Varric snorts a little, amused despite himself. ''Alright, got some humor in you, good.'' He nods slowly. ''How exactly would I go about cashing in this... divine IOU, if I don't do it now?'' A beat later, he rolls his eyes. ''Nevermind, let me guess- Seek and ask and one shall hear?''

[GamesMaster]

"The best answers can often be found from within," the visitor agrees.

[Varric]

''Alright, I'll think it over.'' Need to stop making big decisions off the cuff. That's how you ended up in Draslina in the first place. He gives the elderly dwarf a thoughtful look. ''...you any good at maths?''  Would not mind a good mathematical theorem discussion right about now while I think that over...

[GamesMaster]

"All things are known," he agrees. "Is that the boon you would request?"

[Varric]

''What're you, a bound genie? I was asking you wanted to have a friendly discussion.''

[GamesMaster]

"A friendly discussion is welcome. However, time spent on the Material Plane is, sadly, limited." The dwarf nods, then, something like a respectful bow. "Seek knowledge, Varric Tethras. Collaboration well becomes you."

And then Varric is alone, without ever seeming to see anyone vanish. How could he? No-one's been here all night.

[Helene Dakesh]

There's a flaw in Varric's escape plan, one he doesn't think through before they get free -- he doesn't know where to go. His room at the Temple of Clockwork Tomes isn't likely to still be there, not when he hasn't returned in a week; he could go ask, but when Helene fell unexpectedly, he heard a definite crack of a broken arm, and it's really not a good thing to be going so far afield for an uncertain future. He could lead the way to the nearest Temple, except it's behind them, or the next-nearest, but it's down the street from a place like this and hasn't lifted a finger to shut it down. Can he really trust it?

Thankfully, he doesn't have to have a place to go. Helene takes the lead once they get to the streets, cradling the bleeding arm in her good one, and leads him only a few blocks away. This building isn't a temple, but it's a place where scholars can let rooms -- the place, in fact, he'd sent a letter asking for an audience a few days before the building collapse that led to his being incarcerated. 

Helene knocks gently, then steps aside so he can pound on the door. A girl answers shortly, a stranger: nut-brown skin, pointed ears, and a sleep expression in her dark eyes. Merikos elf, at a glance, and wearing a thin cotton nightgown and not much else. 

Her eyes widen when she takes in the sight. "Master! Come in, I'll run for a healer."