contact part deux

[bouchonne]

if this were modern times byerly would probably make you listen to total eclipse of the heart before you were able to leave a message

Comments

[katabasis]

Somewhat. Why?

[bouchonne]

Just a little curious. I haven't spent time with a revolutionary before. - Well, that's not entirely true. I haven't spent time with an effective revolutionary before.

[katabasis]

[If it stings, no one is placed to see the effect.]

I'll be certain to ask his contact for their opinion.

[bouchonne]

I've never known you to lack the ability to form one of your own.

[katabasis]

From what little time I spent with the man, he appeared remarkably resilient. But then I suppose there are really only two options for what a person will become if left long in a pit.

[bouchonne]

I thought about that rather a lot after I read the report.

[ His voice is wry, yet there's nothing remotely amusing about his words. ]

I'd go mad altogether. After about three days.

[katabasis]

Then we had best avoid throwing you into any pits in the future.

[bouchonne]

Oh, you do care!

[ Then: ]

But to cut through all the double-talk and evasiveness for which you're so famed, Captain [ that's funny, see ] I'll simply ask the question more directly: how sure of him are you?

[ Translation: is he actually sane? ]

[katabasis]

I think he is likely the best doorway through which we might reach a people very willing to take up arms against Minrathous, but individually?

I would prefer to find more reliable friends among his network so we might bypass him if necessary.

[bouchonne]

Have you known many madmen?

[katabasis]

Remarkably few.

[bouchonne]

Not a surprise, I suppose. It's quite easy to be mad within a lawful society, and quite difficult to be mad in a lawless one. One can still accomplish it, but it takes rather a lot of effort.

[ Anyway - ]

Something that is important to know about madmen is that no two look exactly alike. There's a common image, of course, of a raving lunatic - and there are a few madmen who are like that, I'll grant; my great-aunt Polina, for example, always swathed herself in velvet because she believed she was made of glass and needed to be protected from shattering. Classic. But many other types of madness are...quiet. Subtle. You don't see them until Riftwatch has already been thoroughly fucked over.

[katabasis]

Would you prefer we leave him to cut whatever deals he believes necessary with the likes of Calpernia?

[bouchonne]

We could always assassinate him.

[ LOL JUST KIDDING ]

[katabasis]

[Sure Jan.]

If we were going to assassinate him, we ought to have done it between levering him out of a hole and giving him back over to his allies. No one would have been the wiser then. If we do it now, we stand to lose what little standing we have with his network.

[bouchonne]

Not necessarily. Not if we - oh, you know - desperately attempt to save him from Venatori assassins but fail despite valiant efforts, et cetera, et cetera.

[katabasis]

All right. And what then?

[bouchonne]

Find a more reliable soul amongst his lieutenants, arrange events so that that lieutenant is promoted...Or something of the sort. I would never presume to have the skillset to do the Scoutmaster's job.

[katabasis]

[Flint's answering hmmm is the sort of sound a man makes when he is humoring someone. At last—]

It's touching that you're so concerned. I'll be sure Yseult knows of it.

[bouchonne]

And what do you think of it, Captain?

[katabasis]

Of Valeriantus or your concerns?

[bouchonne]

Of my suggestion that we strike down this man.

[katabasis]

I think it's fascinating that of all the people we might assassinate for our convenience, that you've picked one of the few contacts we have inside Tevinter.

[bouchonne]

[ With amusement: ] Ooh, is that a little intimation that I'm in league with Corypheus? After all this time?

[katabasis]

Hardly. Only that I've heard no suggestion to do away with Orlesian generals stonewalling the siege of Val Chevin or Antivans willing to trade with the North. Yet our most promising contact to this effort inside the Imperium is apparently disposable.