[indeed francel seems genuinely interested, and indeed, it is rare for him to show interest in... most anything that is not grieving, or moping, or the affairs of ishgard. he leans forward in his chair, so slightly that it must be an unconscious movement. now he understands what solas mentioned in the library about divination and dreaming.

(he was always the kind of student who would awkwardly allow his lessons to wash over him, mostly because he never knew how to give voice to the questions he wanted to ask.)]

Lyrium, then — it is a kind of substance? And the spirits — I presume you don't mean the departed — are they very difficult for most men to understand?

[this would be an odd thing to intuit if not for the fact that francel has guessed: there seem to be certain commonalities in their world, and spirits sound like the elementals of gridania.]