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-does this do? What about this? Helllooo?

[The video feed begins with a close-up of a gauntleted thumb and then twists nauseatingly around until there's a giant eyeball... that gradually diminishes in size as its owner pulls back from the device. Once it's farther away it reveals a large man in heavy armour with a sword at his hip and a shield on his back, looking rather put out. Alistair frowns down at the thing for a moment then shrugs and begins to speak.]

I heard I can use this thing to talk to people. People far away. I don't know if I believe it, I've never heard of magic like that. But this way it doesn't look like I'm crazy and talking to myself. Maybe.

I don't talk to myself normally of course. That would be crazy. But I do talk to myself - and little... boxes - when I get lost and wind up in a strange place I've never seen before. Especially when I'm supposed to be somewhere else doing something important. Then I might talk to myself.

[But only because he hasn't found anyone else to talk to yet and he's still trying to figure out what's going on. He isn't buying anything he's heard so far so he's reduced to thinking out loud at a little box.]

Well, I think I know what's going on here. This is the Fade, is it? I'm stuck in the Fade again.

What do you think box? Am I right? [His voice turns high pitched and squeaky and the video judders about as the device is waggled back and forth.] 'I think you are Alistair, you handsome fiend you, you must be in the Fade! Now we just have to go find the eeevil demon that trapped us here and make it let you go!'

[And back to a normal voice, the video steadying again.] I'm glad you agree and I am looking rather handsome today, aren't I? Now, let's go find that demon!

[And, companion... box in hand - and still broadcasting - he strides boldly off in search of something that looks like a demon, keeping up a running commentary until someone decides to interrupt him.]

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Ooh, do we all get a guide when you're done? To help keep track?

[It would come in handy. So far there's plenty of people from home here but only one he actually knows. Having a handbook to clear up confusion would do wonders for him. Or at least help him figure out who to avoid.]

I thought you didn't know why we're here. How can you know who's to blame?

[Now Dorian really has his attention as he brings the device in closer to his face to study the man suspiciously. If he really knows who's responsible and where to find them Alistair will be there, sword in hand, in a heartbeat. But that seems a little unlikely given Dorian claims to have been here for months.]

I suppose that might do the lot of us a great deal of good-- I may do exactly that.

[It's not like he doesn't have plenty of time to make copies, after all. Excitement comes in bursts here, with weeks in between to do whatever they'd like. At times, it's convenient, though at others he's found it to be maddening, depending on how badly he needs a distraction.]

I don't know why, but I feel it's safe to say that the natives of this place aren't our friends-- the Queens, in particular, though it seems to have become 'Queen' in the singular sometime during recent months. Unfortunately, they're quite elusive, and getting a straight answer out of them when they do appear has been rather difficult.

Oh, queens.

[Ugh. He's only met one queen in his life and he's not especially fond of her. So queens in general not being helpful doesn't come as a surprise.

But there's actual people who actually are from this place. And not demons or something like that. Presumably. That's weird. And apparently not very helpful.]

Don't they want us gone? I thought they wouldn't want riffraff like us dirtying up their kingdom. Or are they too snooty to help commoners?

Our presence doesn't seem to trouble them overmuch, though the Queen of Hearts' loyal subjects appear to feel otherwise.

[Mirrors, he's learned, can be rather nasty. His own encounter with the Inquisitor's Mirror had very nearly been a fatal one.]

It's advised that we keep any mirrors in our rooms covered, just in case. Those on the other side like to use them to monitor us, or so I'm told.

Things in mirrors watching us? That sounds... creepy.

[In so many ways. Knowing Shale watched them all night had been bad enough. At least he could see the golem.]

...Do they just watch? Because I think I heard a story about a haunted mirror once and it had things much worse than just watching people sleep.

Given the opportunity, no, they'll do much more.

[He's almost certain he can still feel some of the bruises the Inquisitor's Mirror had left behind, even though it was months past now. He grimaces.]

Those on the other side of the glass are twisted versions of us. People we were never meant to be, perhaps. Pale imitations, at best, but some are violent. Given leave by their Queen, they'll cross over and cause trouble, if they can-- at least, that was my experience.

So now I have an evil twin. Everyone has an evil twin. And it could decide to come out of the mirror and try to kill me.

[An evil twin that lives in a mirror. That's stretching the limits of how many impossible things he can believe in one day. But, well, warnings of things hiding just out of reach that want to kill him aren't something to be ignored.]

Is just covering the mirrors enough to keep them away?

[Presumably not, if Dorian's twin had come calling. Which begs the question of what does work.]

That does sum it up rather neatly, yes.

[He's trying not to laugh, but really, the summary is as entertaining as it is accurate.]

Mine should most certainly be avoided, as should the Inquisitor's-- though the latter isn't like to trouble you, I suppose. You're not a mage.

[Maker help anyone who is, however, Thedas-born or otherwise.]

It's enough to keep them from watching us at all hours, at the very least. If their Queen allows them to cross over, I'm not certain there is any stopping them, though forcing them to look at their own reflection is said to send them back to whence they came.

I have that problem too! Every time I look in a mirror I just end up running, screaming, in the opposite direction.

[So there's a good reason for his stubble, see?

Maybe he should just avoid mirrors as much as possible if they could be this much trouble. It's not like he can't get by without one and fighting himself once had been enough, thank you.]

Well, if an evil me shows up I'd recommend throwing a good cheese off to the side and making a run for it while he's distracted.

[It would work on him.]

So, what, one of these evil twins hates mages? That's hypocritical, he's the one popping out of mirrors.

[Which seems like it requires some kind of magic.]

My thoughts exactly, and yet I nearly wound up on the wrong end of a holy smite.

[Just the thought of it brings some of the ache back, and he briefly touches his hand to his neck where he recalls being grabbed and forcibly thrown into the nearest wall. Southern templars certainly weren't delicate about their work. He preferred the decorative Tevinter sort.]

I'll have to keep that strategy in mind. Cheese, at least, is easy enough to get ahold of. Will he require wine to pair it with?

Unless he's really evil he won't say no to a good drink to go with it. But the cheese is the important part.

[Alistair frowns at the gesture. Clearly Dorian wound up on the wrong end of something even if it wasn't a smite. But first he wants to know-]

The Inquisitor's evil twin has Templar training. Do they all have the same abilities we do?

[Because that means his potential evil twin does too. Not so much a problem for Alistair himself but definitely could be one for mages. Like Dorian.]

It's entirely possible. My own is a mage, as well, though capable of things that I am not.

[Things he would never even consider, not even in his most desperate moments.]

I have no taste for blood magic. Proof enough that while some of the Mirrors may simply echo our own talents, there are others who may go above and beyond.

Blood magic.

[Of course there's blood magic involved somehow. Evil twins aren't bad enough, they need demons and blood magic as well.]

Great. Just great. [He pauses and squints at Dorian suspiciously.] But you definitely don't practice blood magic. Just your evil twin?

[Look, he could go 'mwahahaha, no i too am an evil blood mage!' It could happen.]

[Naturally, there has to be blood magic-- though at the suggestion, Dorian's face contorts distastefully, if only for a moment.]

There aren't enough riches in the world to convince me that blood magic is worth dabbling in.

['The last resort of weak men.' While his dislike of blood magic does have a personal angle, he's always disapproved of it on the whole-- he was raised that way.]

I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me, unless you're against fine wine and classic literature. My talents lie elsewhere.

[That seems like an honest response, filled with the same mistrust of blood magic he's seen from pretty much everyone who isn't a blood mage. It's no guarantee Dorian's evil twin doesn't have blood magic because he does but he can at least give the man a chance to start cackling or something first.]

As glad as I am to hear it - and I am, really - are you sure? You have the evil mustache to twirl already. It just seems a shame to waste it.

[Really. It's squandering a perfect opportunity.]

It does, doesn't it? I'd make an excellent spy, as well, given my perfect hair and teeth.

[He's not giving up on that reasoning for a second, and it's just easier to get the nastier words out in the open sooner rather than later. Once people learn he's from Tevinter, they all come up eventually.]

Alas, it was never to be. I found myself moved to serve far worthier causes than either blood magic or the Tevinter supremacists. The Inquisitor himself will vouch for me, though I realize that might not mean much to anyone from-- further back.

[Timelines.]

...I don't know if spies need to have good hair. Might depend on who they're spying on... I've been told assassins do though.

[And might be up for some evil mustache twirling. If they're able to grow one.]

You make it sound like I'm backwards, just because I haven't heard of your Inquisition before. [And maybe he sounds a little sulky over that but really. How is it he's the one with the problem because he doesn't think the Blight is over yet?] But it does still count for something.

[It's at least another reason to give the man a chance. He's far better to talk to than Morrigan and she is evil so there's that.]

If assassins are doing their jobs, no one is seeing their hair.

[He just feels that's worth pointing out.]

I apologize, that's hardly my intention. I've been here long enough to sort things out. Timelines are funny and fickle things, but it's hardly your fault that something simply has happened to you yet.

[It's certainly no failing of Alistair's.]

You haven't met the assassin I have. If he spent any more time on his hair we'd never get anywhere.

[And if you believe the stories the Crows are good at what they do so take that as you will.]

I- Well, good. Glad we could agree on that.

[Wow. Someone actually listened to his complaining and apologised to him.... Maybe Dorian is OK after all.]

...I guess it must be weird for you too.

[Like running into someone from Ferelden who didn't know about the Blight would be.]

Would that be Zevran?

[Robyn might have mentioned him a time or two.]

It has taken some getting used to, yes-- keeping what everyone does and doesn't know straight is something of a headache, but a necessity. I do hope that none of us decide to let these differences come between us unnecessarily. It would be an awful shame, considering how uncommon it seems to be to have someone here from one's own world. We're luckier than most, given that perspective.

You've heard of him?

[Well, his involvement during the Blight was no secret.

...And is that a lecture for him? A sort of 'play nice with the people you've never met before'? Dorian can't have heard about his chat with the Warden, can he? No. He's overreacting. It's probably more of a general 'play nice with the organisation you've never heard of before' if anything.]

This place likes us, huh? [If they're so lucky to have people from home here. People who are only sort of from home, given he doesn't actually know any of them so far. Yep. Lucky.] Well, you don't need to worry about me. There won't be any unnecessary coming between me and anyone.

[Necessary coming on the other hand was a distinct possibility and may have sort of already happened. But Dorian didn't need to know that.]

He and I have friends in common, it would seem.

[Dorian and Robyn had been fast friends, as a matter of fact, and he's certain that is own cool head concerning differences in timelines and people's memories had played a large part in that-- but if anyone was going to be calm about such discrepancies, it would have to be him, considering the magic he'd helped to develop.]

Glad to hear it. [He smiles, as winsome as he can manage.] For now, I'm afraid I've taken up enough of your time; I ought to let you get yourself situated, but I'm certain we'll talk again soon.

[Dorian, after all, is nothing if not curious, and he's heard a great deal about Alistair-- not to mention his very brief encounter with his own Thedas' version of him.]

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