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[altarwolf]

[Hello Wonderland. You may have noticed a black cat wandering the grounds and within the mansion. Maybe staring at you, but running off if you turned your attention toward it. Whether or not you saw this cat, it is now human, and it is not pleased with what it's found.

The feed comes on to a young dark haired woman with piercing eyes. It switches off, switches to text, switches back to video and she stands back, apparently unsatisfied with what she has discovered of the device.]

I was under the impression this infernal contraption has the ability to send messages, but I do not see how. What magic it employs is beyond me, like much of the magic of this place. [Which is frustrating, to not know something she's meant to, something she's supposedly an expert in.

She takes a closer, disapproving look at the device. It's certainly no Eluvian.] 'Tis meant to speak to me now, yes? Rather, the voices of those it reaches. Or am I speaking plainly to a little box and looking the fool for it? ... [She'd growl if she were the sort to growl. But she's clearly exasperated. When she speaks again, her tone makes it clear she is on her last bit of patience.]

Tell me now, residents of this place, of where I am and, also, what sort of place leaves rooms strewn about its grounds, books among the leaves as they are. I am no architect, but it seems a poor choice of design.

...Well? Speak now!

Comments

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[thesamurai]

It's not magic. It's technology. And everyone in Wonderland can see what you're doing and saying.

[Michonne is holding her device out so that her face and upper body can be seen from where she's sitting up against a brick wall, somewhere outside.]

Wonderland's having some difficulties right now. Things aren't always like this.

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[altarwolf]

And you mean to tell me the item-propelling closets and the rooms that change at just a thought, they are technology as well? The food that prepares itself, 'tis technology? And what is more, that the misplaced rooms are exactly that -- misplaced? Is this entire land held together by magic? Rather, excuse me, technology.

Re: video;

[thesamurai]

Well. No.

[She takes a breath.]

Thought you just meant this thing, the communication device. Everything else is some kind of messed up magic, far as anyone can tell. So yeah, magic that likes to go rogue every other week.

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[altarwolf]

If the mage responsible cannot even control his own magic then I have walked into a farce. This place is fantastical at first glance, but of course 'tis too good to be true. Well, then there is nothing for me here. What a waste of my time.

Tell me which way I must go to find Ferelden.

Re: video;

[thesamurai]

[What the hell.]

You can't leave. No idea what or where or who Ferelden is. But once you're here, you're here. Someone explained it to me like walking through a magic portal to another world, and it closed behind you. This is it. We don't leave until the place is done with us.

[Note: do not ever put Michonne on the Wonderland Welcome Wagon committee.]

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[altarwolf]

Nonsense. There must be a way. If not beyond the sea or through the forest, then by opening another portal. All magic can be replicated, it takes only the right mage. ["And I'm the right mage, obviously," goes unsaid, but implied. No one tells Morrigan she can't do something.] Who opened the portal that brought me here? 'Twas certainly not I.

Re: video;

[thesamurai]

Well. I'd say good luck, but that implies success. There are a lot of...mages here. Whatever wants us here isn't letting us leave. You think you're the first person who wants to leave?

[Her expression shifts to one of patience, trying to get he to understand.]

All you can do is learn about this place for now. It's crazy, even more than a little terrifying. No one came here of their free will. None of us.

[magisterium]

[Dorian has had time enough, at least, to learn how to use video and respond without incident, which he does shortly after Morrigan's message appears. Whatever this place truly is, and whatever their being here means, he feels like familiar faces can't possibly be a coincidence, not after all that's gone on the last few years in Thedas, although-- she looks different, somehow. Younger?

He wouldn't dare day so, even if that's the case. You never commented on a lady's age if you could help it.]

You can be seen and heard by anyone else with one of these devices.

[He'd managed it earlier, though he'd been surprised that other people had been able to respond to him in ways other than by using their own camera-- not that he knew what to call it, just yet.]

It would appear this is an interesting day for several of the people of Thedas. I'm curious as to who we'll see next.

[She might not remember him, but he sure remembers her.]

[altarwolf]

Yes, well, at least I was not incorrect in my assumptions about this device. ["Assumptions" like she deduced it herself, no, actually she just saw someone using theirs when she was a cat.]

I have a suspicion this place is not even in Thedas, but-- You speak as if you know of me. [Which is... concerning.] Of the Warden's armies, were you one of the Circle mages?

[He's no elf or dwarf, so by process of elimination he must be of the Circle. Well, this is no good. She's already running into people that recognize her. Although she is in a completely unfamiliar place. She can't assume either way whether the Warden is here or not, but if one of her charge is then it's looking a little more likely. Which is bad.]

[magisterium]

[Taking the time to observe is still plenty resourceful; if he could turn into a cat, he'd likely have done the same thing. Alas.]

A Circle mage?

[He lets out a short, humorless bark of a laugh. No and never.]

I realize we never took the time to become the best of friends, Lady Morrigan, but I like to think myself rather more memorable than that. Few could forget this face. [He's clearly quite humble.] And I believe you're right-- we're no longer in Thedas, but a world apart entirely. Not the Fade, either, though I thought so at first.

[altarwolf]

[Yeah, laugh it up, it was the only obvious answer. If he wasn't of the Warden's armies, then who was he?] Clearly you are less memorable than you believe. I do not recall your face one bit. 'Tis well-kept, but absent from my memory. [And that's the closest she'll ever get to calling you handsome. Treasure this memory.] Certainly no soldier of Redcliffe, either. You have the ego of a city man, yet few from Denerim joined us. [An exasperated sigh.] I will not play this guessing game any longer.

Do you speak in metaphor, or are you literal when you say 'tis a different world? I have heard this to be not impossible, yet I have no recollection of travelling here, by any means.

[magisterium]

[Consider this memory treasured. If only he knew how to record it for posterity.]

That would be because I'm not from Ferelden. [He makes something of an effort not to sound too offended by the implication, if only because the fact that things aren't adding up is leading him to believe that they've both been even more displaced than he initially realized.] I hail from the Tevinter Imperium, though admittedly I've made myself something of a pariah there. Too outspoken.

[He admits that proudly, as a matter of fact.]

Yes-- I believe this to be a world all its own, separate, at least, from the Thedas we know. I'm beginning to suspect time may come into play, as well. [He was hoping to be done with that.] Tell me, Lady Morrigan-- do you remember anything of the Inquisition?

[altarwolf]

[Ah. Tevinter. That explains the... well, the everything, but mostly the fact that he's a mage and definitely not trying to hide it.

She has a different excuse.]

I know of no Inquisition, less one that came after the Inquisition of old. Not one, I imagine, that a mage of Tevinter would be seen anywhere near. What correspondence am I meant to have with this modern Inquisition? If I am truly as misplaced in time as you suspect, then you would be from my future, and there is much of my future that is uncertain. [So, perhaps, he could shed some light on the unknown.]

[Video]

[outofthebreach]

[ Brennan's still figuring these things out for himself, to be fair. But it is a sight better at getting word to people in ways that don't involve a tower full of birds. And certainly much less messy.

Still, from what he and Dorian have learned so far of this place, he hadn't been sure whether or not he'd be seeing any other familiar faces so soon, but then here is one and he is happy to see it.

Even if, on the tin screen of his device, he hasn't yet noticed that she's not looking quite as he remembered. It's still close enough that a few details get overlooked in his excitement to see her. ]

Morrigan! Thank the Maker. I wondered if anyone else had found their way here as well. Aren't these devices fascinating?

[Video]

[altarwolf]

[Sweet Andraste the box is saying her name. Rather, someone within it is saying it, and with how her life is at the moment that only means bad news. Although, it's a voice and face she can't place, and the only assumption she can make is that he must be of one of the Warden's armies. Not a dwarf, and not a Dalish elf, he must be a Circle mage. Though... He doesn't look anything like a mage, and certainly not one of the Circle, which gives her pause.

So who is he, then?]

What I will find fascinating is how you learned that name. Speak, stranger.

[outofthebreach]

Stranger?

[ Brennan echoes her demand with a baffled look, blinking down at her tiny face in confusion. ]

Morrigan, it's me, Brennan. You gave me your name. When we met in Val Royeaux. Remember?

[altarwolf]

I have never been to Val Royeaux, or any of Orlais for that matter. [She was thinking of heading to Orlais, though, if she could find no further information, tricks, spells, anything she could find to further avoid her mother on her return and prepare for her child's arrival. This place is her first lead.] Nor do I know of any Brennan. Perhaps you have mistaken me with another Morrigan?

[She's just being cheeky, she knows there's no way he's mistaking her with another person of the same name. He recognized her first, called her name second. No, there's a deeper mystery here.]

Though if I do not recall how I came to be here, 'tis not hard to imagine I may have... deeper holes in my memory than I suspected. [Perhaps she did end up in Orlais, and met this Brennan.] What do you claim to be the nature of our meeting?

[outofthebreach]

Or perhaps someone's been meddling with time again.

[ Brennan gives an exasperated sigh at that, raking his fingers through his hair. He hated time magic. It screwed everything up. As if things weren't confusing enough already without it. ]

We met at the Empress' ball in Val Royeaux. You tipped me off in stopping an assassination plot and then came to help me save the world from a would-be god. Which will hopefully still happen despite me now telling you things you haven't yet done, apparently.

....I really hate time magic.

[altarwolf]

Time magic? 'Tis not something I care to meddle with, myself, but if you have encountered it previously it may yet be at fault again. 'Twould explain our contradictory memories.

[She says she doesn't want to mess with time magic, but really she just doesn't know any. She actually really would if she could. Oh, how she would. Not to achieve any specific goal, but just to further expand her repertoire of magical ability. Because that's the sort of person she is.]

This god I will help you with... Was it an Old God? [Because that combined with what's in her womb at this very moment may make for an awkward situation indeed.]

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[onevice]

[ All-too used to the perplexing existence of modern technology, Snow smiles indulgently. ]

It isn't any magic; they're powered by electricity. [ Not exactly true, given Wonderland's... questionable nature, but it's simple enough an explanation for now. ] Though there is a lot of magic here, in Wonderland. Not all of it good.

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[altarwolf]

Natural electricity and not magical electricity? This little thing harnesses the power of lightning to work as it does? 'Tis hard to believe.

No magic is good or bad, its use depending entirely upon its wielder. Magic is devoid of morality, despite what the Chantry may have you believe about magic's supposed rule over man.

I am no stranger to magic, but the magic here is maddeningly foreign to me. And what use is there in a wardrobe that unceremoniously expels items from within that you neither want or need? Though I am impressed that the items it produces are seemingly conjured from nothing, it seems hardly practical.

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[onevice]

Hard to believe, but true. You can trust me.

[ She'd practically seem them (or some similar things) invented, after all. ]

Fair enough. [ beat ] "Chantry?" I'm sorry, I haven't heard of it, here or... otherwise.

[ Their ruling body, she supposes? ]

There isn't much method to the madness, but... well, strangely, you get almost used to it.

video;

[altarwolf]

I find few will say the words "you can trust me" and mean them to do anything other than to manipulate others into following their will. They are meaningless words and I will place my trust as I choose. Believing you about the electricity, though, now I may do that -- you have little reason to lie.

Hard to imagine that the Chantry has not yet found a way to spread itself to other worlds. 'Tis the religious body that follows Andraste, prophet of the Maker and speaker of the Chant of Light. That you do not know if it bodes well for me; we do not get along.

I pray I do not get used to it. I would hate to grow complacent.

video;

[onevice]

I have little reason to lie about most of this, you'll find.

[ Snow shrugs off Morrigan's words, unaffected by her lack of trust.

And the other words--Maker, Andraste, Chant of Light--are all foreign. ] The church in your world, I'd guess? There aren't any priests in Wonderland that I know of.

[ Yet. ]

It's hard to be complacent here. Things change very, very quickly.

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[altarwolf]

Then Wonderland has good taste; there is little more annoying than the endless prattling of a sister.

[Somewhere Leliana is offended and Morrigan does not care.]

'Tis not always so unnervingly pleasant? What should one expect to change about this world?