entranceway | 02 [accidental video]

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02 [accidental video]

[There's no warning what's going on before the video starts, just a flash of bright light and violent motion as the recording device shoots across the room and bounces off a wall, landing to give a tilted view of Jowan's room. It's not a particularly interesting room, nearly as stark and empty as they all start out when claimed, although it does now feature a small fire burning merrily in the corner. Not in a fireplace, which is probably why it's starting to spread quite alarmingly, but it definitely brightens the place up.

It's also probably the reason why Jowan is panicking just a little.] That wasn't supposed to happen!

[He stands at the edge of what the device is recording of the room and looks largely uncertain, glancing around the room for an idea of what to do before swallowing hard and taking a step forward, brow furrowing as he extends his hands and frost leaves his fingertips. The flames crackle loudly at the ice and Jowan closes his eyes, pushing more power into the spell until a sheet of ice surges forward suddenly, dousing the flames and leaving a good chunk of the room covered in ice. But at least there's no fire any more, right?]

I don't understand what went wrong! It shouldn't be this difficult. [He wanders over to nudge the ice with a toe and sigh heavily.] Why does this always end up happening to me?

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Jowan-- Hey, Jowan!

_{[Ring ring! Over here! The voice issues from Jowan's device still waiting to be noticed in the corner. That same poor, much abused device is currently providing Anders an off-center view of what he assumes are Jowan's quarters, now liberally decorated with ice under a sheen of smoke.]}

Did you start a fire in your room? Where are the marshmallows? Everybody knows you can't have a good house fire without them.

_{[Too soon?]}

[Jowan jumps like a startled cat the moment he hears an all too familiar voice, and Anders is treated to him scrabbling around trying to find the device that he remembers belatedly as being launched across the room by a rogue blast of magic.

He grabs for it and turns it towards his face, shooting worried glances between Anders and the mass of ice.]

I, uh... Did you see all of that? [Maker, just when he'd thought this couldn't get much worse. He deflates visibly at the idea that the entire mansion had been treated to the display.]

I didn't mean to, I was trying Creation magic but I got frustrated and then it... sort of got away from me.

[ Brennan might be peering a little sideways in his screen to try and make out what just happened. ]

Uh, Jowan? Are you alright in there?

Do I even want to ask what was supposed to happen?

[He's aware now thanks to Anders that he can't just pretend that didn't happen and everything is fine, so Jowan prepares for what he imagines is going to be no small amount of mocking. He's at least mildly reassured by the face that Brennan doesn't seem to be going that route, though he wouldn't blame him if he changes once he hears what happened.]

I'm fine, nothing hurt but my pride. [He kicks at the ice again.] I was trying Creation magic but it wasn't working right and I got frustrated and then... everything exploded.

[He looks at Brennan again then, an idea occurring to him.] Could you give me some advice maybe? Your magic was out of control before, with your hand... How do you control it?

_{[Take your time, he'll wait. Once he picks the device up, Jowan looks as guilty as a schoolboy caught setting off firecrackers in the privy, and the disbelieving chuckle Anders lets loose is probably answer enough. Suddenly he's glad they don't share adjoining rooms.]}

You mean did I see you almost torch your bedroom? Nope. The marshmallows were just a good guess.

_{[He chuckles again, unable to help himself. Imagine the look on Irving's face if he saw this now...

In hindsight, it's actually not that funny since if there's one person Irving's more fed up with than Anders, it's probably Jowan. He lets out the last of his amusement on a long exhale.]}

First of all, are you all right, or do you need an actual healer? And secondly, I hope you weren't practicing on anything alive in there. They're going to wish they had a healer, too, if that's the end result.

No, I'm fine. [Jowan answers, a touch sulkily since it's hard not to be a little hurt by the teasing. At least Anders isn't pushing it much further, so it makes him hopeful that the other mage may actually want to help out a bit.]

And I wasn't practising on anyone either. I thought I'd just try a wisp to start with, something small since I've never had much luck with Creation magic before, but I did something wrong. I'm not sure I'd have much better luck with healing, or how to practise it.

[He shifts a bit uncomfortably, glancing back towards where he'd been sitting on his bed.]

I know what people would think if I... did anything to myself to try healing it, even if it was just a small cut.

Lucky that your room'll repair itself in due time. If I were you, I'd get a mop and bucket ready for when that ice melts.

_{[He could have voiced what he's thinking, which is that Jowan doesn't seem to be doing himself any favors with the self study. Teasing is the good cop routine. The bad cop routine would involve a finger wag or two, but with the fire out and no one seriously hurt, it's mostly a moot point.

Anders has a feeling Jowan's heard every possible variation of "you screwed up" inside the Tower without him coming along and pointing out the obvious, besides. (And finger-wagging isn't really Anders' style to begin with.)]}

You mean to boost your spell power? Cutting yourself does tend to defeat the purpose of most Creation spells. You're thinking about it the wrong way around if you think you need a great deal of power to get the job done--it's more about finesse. Think chisels, not hammers.

Jowan? [ Like the Inquisitor, the Warden is both concerned and curious. ] Are you hurt?

[ It doesn't seem so, but it's polite to ask, isn't it? Particularly when the person she's speaking to has just had a fire in his room. ]

You might ask Dorian or Anders if you need help. [ She suggests lightly, producing the names of the two mages that she's closest with. ]

[ Cullen is on his feet the moment his device lets him witness the disaster. Of all days, he frowns, when his head spins with every step. He makes it nearly to Jowan's room, but by then it seems the fire has been stopped. By then it makes little difference whether he sends a message to the device, or calls out straight through the door. ]

Jowan? Did you get everything under control?

Uh.

[ Brennan blinks, because magic is really not his forte. Outside of the Anchor, he's never wielded magic of any kind and he's not at all sure this is the same thing. ]

I'm not sure it's control so much as.... hmm. Focusing it? I'm not trying to make it do something other than what it's already trying to do, or what it's made to do. I'm just... aiming it better I guess?

That's probably not very helpful. I'm sorry.

[Elizabeth turns pale when she sees how Jowan's panicking, and the reason why. She instinctively goes to clap her hands over her mouth, but ends up nearly dropping the device as she does so.]

Oh my goodness! Are you all right?

[This video is of special interest to Bethany because -- well, elemental magic is something of the family specialty, isn't it?

She blinks, though, and replies matter-of-factly,]

Because you're allowing your emotions to get the better of you, I think. It leads to unpredictable magics.

Well, that's something you don't see every day.

[Sarah can't help it, she's assuming this definitely isn't right, both what happened and the broadcast, and she raises an eyebrow.]

I'd offer some advice, but I've never even seen someone pull a rabbit out of a hat successfully.

Chisels? [Jowan's brow furrows as he tries to follow Anders' explanation, but while he sort of gets what the other mage is going for, he's failing to see how he could actually put it into practise.]

But if it's about being subtle, how am I supposed to learn that? And how do you learn healing if there's no one hurt?

[This is so much like being in the Circle again, Jowan can't help but grumpily drag fingers through his hair.]

This is why I didn't do well with Wynne's classes either...

It's that easy for you? [Jowan's shoulders slum as he thinks how skilled a mage Brennan must be to find magic that simple.] You must have a lot of practise in that case. Have you ever had problems with magic before?

No, I'm all right. Um... [Strangers' concern for him is surprising and... actually not that terrible, though he's still a touch confused about why they'd care really.]

I am going to talk to both of them but, do I know you? Did we meet before and I forgot? I'm sorry if I did! It's just that I don't think I know your name...

[Oh Maker, if there's one thing to make him jump, it's hearing Cullen's voice outside of his door. Jowan instinctively moves to his bed, making sure the book that he certainly had no intentions of reading at all was stashed carefully away. Then he creeps to the door and opens it a little, uncertain what to do at a time like this. Usually templars would just let themselves into the apprentice rooms if they thought that they had reason to, someone being concerned for his privacy is strange.]

I put out the fire... [He offers uncertainly, then his brow furrows again at the sight of Cullen.] Are you all right? You don't look very good, Ser Cullen.

[He immediately feels bad for the concern in Elizabeth's voice, and Jowan turns the device away to hide the slowly melting ice taking up a corner of his room now.]

I'm fine, I just... lost control for a little bit. It's under control now, though? [He tries a small smile.] You don't have to worry about it.

[He winces at that tone; it's one he's heard before in the Circle, the voice of an older mage who knows exactly what he keeps getting wrong... and was often the mage trying to teach it to him in the first place.]

Sorry. [He mumbles, feeling a lot like an apprentice again.] I was trying though? It's just hard to control, ma'am.

What? [It's such a strange thing to talk about that Jowan looks utterly confused for a moment.]

But I wasn't trying to pull a rabbit out of anything. [He says at last.] Why would I even be trying to do that?

Chisels. _{[He repeats it decisively.]} Detail work and a steady mind, that's the gist. Ever wonder why most blood mages make terrible Creation practitioners? It's not the sort of thing you can brute force your way through.

_{[Is this starting to illuminate where Jowan had gone wrong? His spell had probably lost cohesion the minute he'd started letting his frustration leak into his casting... and Anders seriously hopes there hadn't been any blood magic involved or else Cullen and Alistair are going to be unhappy campers when they see this.]}

Speaking as a spirit healer? Maybe don't think about using paper cuts as a contingency.

_{[Because it's kind of gross when you get down to it, for one, but also? Pretty much the opposite of subtle.]}

What brought this on? Decided to throw your lot in with the Creation school, have you?

I'm not going to start using blood magic every time there's some small injury! [Jowan snaps, the teasing obviously striking a nerve. Part of it's frustration with how he feels as though everyone's expecting him to do exactly that at a moment's notice but another part is defensiveness brought on by the book he's hiding. It's harder than he likes to admit to forget the demon's words, how blood magic might be easier, something to keep in mind if they decide here as they had in the Circle that he couldn't be trusted and with how he's already struggling, a gloomy thought that he can't shake is that he mightn't be good at any other magic anyway. It makes him more defensive than usual, and he wonders if this is what Cullen meant that he shouldn't ask Anders for help.]

I just want to learn and try to be a good mage. [He continues, taking a moment to kick at the ice again.] I thought maybe I could try being a healer since that's really different from being a blood mage, but I don't know where to start on anything and there's no teachers here.

I wish I'd just stayed in the Circle and let them make me Tranquil. Then none of this would have happened and I wouldn't have hurt anyone.

You're the one who started talking in hypotheticals.

_{[Not to mention the one who'd decided against tutelage in conventional magic in favor of blood magic to begin with. How is Jowan enjoying the view from that glass house?

But the Circle's to blame for this mess when all is said and done. If Jowan's pitiable, it's only because he's a product of his circumstances. The same circumstances Anders had lost almost everything to in his bid to get away from the arbitrary spectrum that constitutes the difference between a good mage and a failed one.

And Jowan's trying, Maker help him. Anders actually feels sorry for the guy which makes him sigh again. It's a sigh of defeat. He can't walk away now.]}

No, you don't. You don't want to be Tranquil. It wouldn't do you any good, or those you want to make amends for. And I wasn't trying to say your intentions aren't noble--it's good of you to be working on improving your magic. A fair number of mages wouldn't bother. You know what happened to Uldred. He lost sight of a better way of doing things.

_{[A fair number of mages--desperate and having abandoned hope like Uldred--would settle for blood magic and leave it at that.]}

If you're really serious about it, I suppose I could show you a few things. _{[A short pause.]} I mean, I'm no teacher, but I know my way around one or two healing spells.

I was wondering if you'd even want to, but Cullen said-- [Jowan begins, and then Anders' words catch up to him and his brow furrows in total confusion.]

What? Uldred? But he was the mage that spoke to me about... What happened to him? What are you talking about?

[ He feels the sweat beading on his forehead. Resolve or not, concealing the worst days only goes so far. But this line of questioning is not happening, and Cullen stands up straighter. He looks past Jowan into the- ice cave. Maker. ]

Are you? I'm not the one who set his room ablaze.

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