"Not all elves are Dalish. I have enough to do without that sort of superstition."

"Fair enough."

"What is your desire?"

"I desire for mages to be accorded respect as people and not treated as unexploded bombs, and for Meredith Stannard to be removed from command and broken of her paranoia."

"You don't desire to rule?"

"Managing one Circle is headache enough."

"Such droll dreams. Quite disappointing, really."

"They're not for your amusement."

"I would think this whole world was."

"But I do wish to help. I am not much fond of chains - and the Tranquil. A horrid practice."

"Somehow I suspect your notion of help won't exactly be constructive."

She laughs. "It is so very hard to build anything at all without breaking a few things."

"What do you intend on breaking?"

"Tranquility."

Orsino sighs. "There's no mage who likes the existence of that ritual. How do you propose to do that?"

"I doubt the templars could do much if they didn't exist."

"Even if you could kill all the templars in Kirkwall, the Chantry would just send more."

"And you don't think you could make that a very costly mistake?"

"The Chantry has power even in here. The Circle would be divided against itself."

"If you act before this little breeze moves on, I think you'll find that all the armies of the continent could not do much against a proper uprising."

Hisame is very certain the average shinobi could take the average mage or templar, and while Hisame isn't quite as powerful as Madara, she's certainly in that weight class.

"I'd need- time, to prepare things. Make sure the right people are in place."

"Very well."

"How can I contact you?"

She gestures, and a small mottled grey snake appears in her hand. "My friend here will carry any messages for you." And spy for her.

The snake flicks his tongue.

(Hisame is delighted she can still summon her snakes. She likes them.)

"I... see. Just leave it on the desk, then."

She lets the snake slither over to the desk. "His name is Doku. I'm sure you'll both get along wonderfully."

"I'm sure we will." This is not the face of someone who likes snakes.