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Annie is on her trike on her way to school.
This van labeled HAZARDOUS MATERIALS is also on its way to school.
The van hits a patch of black ice. It goes spinning, it turns over, it slices itself open on a wrought-iron fence with spikes, and it disgorges boxes which smash open on the pavement. Some of them skitter clear into the slush.
Some of them - along with most of the van - land on Annie.
There is a whirl of bewildering pain and confusion -
- and she falls to the ground, injured and in more kinds of discomfort beyond that and moaning.
She slowly starts to heal before the eyes of her sole witness.
six artifact pileup annie in thedas
keep_busy
keep_busy
"Ooh. Do those tend to specialize in gendered clothing or can we just go to the same one?"
first-and-final
"We can go to the same one. Or have the same one come to us, more likely. I also need to officially reappear as Prince Stalas beforehand, so that's going to happen, which will technically allow me to move back into my suite at the palace assuming I'm not immediately clapped in chains, and then I'll be able to wear my old clothes, but I don't think they'll fit me very well, I'm even more outrageously skinny than I used to be."
keep_busy
"...Will it be possible to take me with you to the palace or does that have to wait until we're publicly betrothed?"
first-and-final
"That's part of what I'm thinking about. What do you prefer? It'll be far more convenient for you to casually speak to Caridin if you stay here, and I might want to delay the public betrothal until the question of my exile is firmly settled so that you don't get too tangled up in whatever foolishness that turns out to involve."
first-and-final
"Hopefully not very long! If all goes well, it'll be less than an hour of argument in the Assembly and maybe a speech or two and then I'll be a prince again. If I'm less lucky than that, someone will demand I fight a Proving, and that might take as long as another day or two to set up and accomplish, but it can't get much more inconvenient than that without Bhelen stabbing me in the back again and at this point he's likelier to sprout wings and fly away." Pause. "Which is strictly impossible as far as I know."
keep_busy
"If it's only a day or two I can stay here if that's more convenient. Especially if you visit me."
first-and-final
"This afternoon at the latest, assuming I manage to get out of bed anytime in the next several hours, which isn't a guarantee."
first-and-final
And he will go off golem-suited and find a tailor and then grab some of his old clothes and armour and stand in front of the Assembly and publicly declare, with the support of both Bhelen and Pyral, that he never killed his brother and they're all idiots and he's back now and what would they like to do about it?
He phrases it more politely than that. The public reunion with Bhelen is very moving. By near-unanimous vote, they would like to reverse his exile and welcome him back to Orzammar.
But you always get that one asshole.
That one asshole says he doesn't believe this nonsense, and he looks on track to end up challenging Bhelen before Stalas interrupts him and redirects the conversation.
"Are you going to make me fight you over this?" he calls, to a sudden silence from the approximately two-thirds of the Assembly who have seen him fight. That one asshole isn't among them, and he doesn't take the hint. Steward Bandelor calls for order, glaring at both of them, and announces that an honour Proving will take place the following day to settle this dispute. Stalas agrees cheerfully. He returns to the palace, puts his golem suit back on - people are going to start catching on pretty shortly, he thinks, but it's still good for another couple of days - and goes back to Caridin's house to see how Annie's doing.
He phrases it more politely than that. The public reunion with Bhelen is very moving. By near-unanimous vote, they would like to reverse his exile and welcome him back to Orzammar.
But you always get that one asshole.
That one asshole says he doesn't believe this nonsense, and he looks on track to end up challenging Bhelen before Stalas interrupts him and redirects the conversation.
"Are you going to make me fight you over this?" he calls, to a sudden silence from the approximately two-thirds of the Assembly who have seen him fight. That one asshole isn't among them, and he doesn't take the hint. Steward Bandelor calls for order, glaring at both of them, and announces that an honour Proving will take place the following day to settle this dispute. Stalas agrees cheerfully. He returns to the palace, puts his golem suit back on - people are going to start catching on pretty shortly, he thinks, but it's still good for another couple of days - and goes back to Caridin's house to see how Annie's doing.