I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Lena Wolf]

Indeed! The Empire has been watching the Blight in Thedas for a long time... And perhaps if they had not been, then the events of 3E405 in Daggerfall would have been so much more devastating...

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E387 - Ostagar

"Just how many varieties of undead do they have there?" Agent Wolf Asgarsen was studying the old tome that the Legate gave him in preparation for his mission in Ferelden. The trip would take a month or two, and as long as the sea was not too rough, he could keep his mind off his stomach by focusing on the book. "They all seem to be some sort of zombies," he decided. "Rotting flesh, black blood... They call them 'darkspawn' because of that - very apt indeed! Ugh, you are ugly!"

The illustrations were graphic enough to make Wolf's stomach turn even on calm seas, yet he had to learn about these creatures. Not only did they come in different sizes, but they also possessed different skills and were organised in units with a commanding structure. At the very top stood the Archdemon - a dragon.

"Armed and armoured zombies that can also cast magic and possess superior constitution and strength." Wolf shut the book with a thump. "Lovely. With a dragon to lead them, a dragon that talks to me in my sleep! Why, I feel right at home already."

The Legate had instructed Wolf to make his way to Ostagar, a place that used to be a village, but had since become a central point for the fight against the Blight. This was because Ostagar lay at the Southern border of the civilised world - beyond it was nothing but wilderness.

"We don't normally sail that far South in the Frozen Sea," the captain bent over the map with Wolf. "But the Legion is very persuasive. We shall make a detour and drop you off here," he tapped the map. "The Eastern edge of the Korcari Wilds, just where it meets with the Brecilian Forest... A wilder place would be hard to find," he smirked. "It's not darkspawn you need to worry about there, it's the apostate mages, werewolves, elves and of course the Witch of the Wilds." The captain nodded to himself. "Ostagar is not too far inland, perhaps a day on foot. Provided you don't run into anything..." He grinned and got up to leave.

"Apostate mages, werewolves, elves and the Witch," Wolf repeated to himself, opening his tome again to look up all of that and to try to understand how the elves, a whole people, ended up in such company. And who was that Witch deserving of a special mention?

The matter of elves was easily clarified: humans despised them, and the elves reciprocated, and yet they did not rebel, they somehow simply accepted their fate of being sold into slavery or made into servants if they were lucky. Just one tribe lived in freedom, inhabiting the Brecilian Forest, and they shot humans on sight.

The tome had a short paragraph on apostate mages - those were mages who refused to be locked away in a tower with templars watching their every move. Magic was not illegal in Ferelden, but it was illegal to be a mage and not to be locked up in that tower. Mages were not permitted to live freely, to have a gift of magic meant to be imprisoned for life. Magic was seen as dangerous, mages as inherently unreliable and untrustworthy, and locking them away was considered the only way to keep the rest of the society safe. Why was that? The Chantry insisted that it were mages who created darkspawn, who created the Blight. Not by intent, but by callously poking their noses into matters they did not understand. Such curiosity was a danger to all.

Wolf smirked reading about this doctrine. Of course, the reality was much more complex than that. He did not believe that mages, powerful as they might be, were capable of reaching out into the Void itself and bringing the Void into Mundus - for that was in essence what the Chantry was saying. He felt that the repression of mages was going to explode into everyone's faces sooner or later, but may be just like the elves, the mages were still accepting their fate for now.

The tome had no information on werewolves or the Witch of the Wilds, and Wolf figured that werewolves were probably the same as in Tamriel, and the Witch... well, he would just have to see for himself about that. The captain lent him a few books of old tales and legends, and a few pamphlets for King and Country, and by the time the ship reached the shores of Ferelden, Wolf felt that he'd learned everything he could learn from books and was ready to step out into this new world and join the turmoil.

...

Ostagar was indeed not too far from the coast. Wolf moved through the forest watching for wild animals and avoiding every and all encounter - his goal was not to die on his first day in Ferelden. He arrived without incident and went looking for Duncan - the man in charge of the Grey Wardens that was supposed to be expecting him.

"Welcome," Duncan did expect him. "I received word that a worthy recruit from overseas would be joining us," he smiled. "That must be you. It is good to have a seasoned warrior join us for once, we often get beginners and have to train them up first. But there is no time now - this camp, this gathering of troops is here to fight a horde of darkspawn... You are informed of that, I trust?" He squinted, and Wolf smiled.

"I am," he nodded. "I also know that it isn't just a horde. I've had word..."

"Ah!" Duncan's face cleared. "Your Legate did mention that the recruit they were sending was no ordinary soldier. You have to tell me about this later, this is remarkable indeed! Normally only those that have gone through the Joining can hear the Archdemon... Well, well!"

The camp was buzzing with activity around them, people were running, shouting, arguing, lamenting, praying, laughing - all at once. Dogs were barking loudly, some appeared to be in distress.

"We've had heavy fighting here already," Duncan turned towards the kennels. "The hounds get infected with the Blight when they bite darkspawn. It gives them much pain and is deadly unless treated. Of course we try to treat it as quickly as we can. In fact..." He stopped talking for a moment, listening to the barking and the howls from the dogs. "Well, why not. You will need to go into the woods - into the Korcari Wilds, you and the other recruits, to get darkspawn blood for the Joining Ritual. I believe the kennel master is running out of herbs to treat the dogs, so why don't you ask him what he needs and see if you can find some. It may be a small thing, but it will give you a start in learning our flora... for if you wish to survive, you will need to make your own medicine here."

Wolf nodded, it made a lot of sense. This new land had its own plants, and he had to learn that too, better sooner than later. He went to see the kennels master.

"Going into the Wilds are you?" The master was keeping the gate shut firmly behind him. "The dogs are restless, many are in pain from the darkspawn. We are running out of herbs, too... So yeah, white flowers, tall stems, quite striking - the others will show you. Bring as many as you can..." One dog kept pushing the gate behind the kennel master and finally got its head through. "Oh, get back, you!" The master spun around trying to push the dog back, but the dog was having none of it.

"He really wants to get out," Wolf laughed and knelt, coming level with the dog. "Hello, fellow," he smiled and the dog sat before him and stopped barking.

"Why, I never..." the kennel master stopped too, watching in surprise. "These are Mabari hounds, they bond with their master for life. This one just lost his master in a battle a few days ago... this would often mean the death of the dog as well... they just never bond with anyone else again. Usually. Except now. Why, I think you just got yourself a dog!"

"I'll go into the woods and get you herbs," Wolf said to the dog. "You stay here for now and behave yourself. Got it?"

The dog gave a little whine, a wag of his tail, got up and returned into the kennels enclosure without any fuss or complaint.

"He will need a day or two longer to recover from that fight," the kennels master turned to Wolf. "I am glad, really. I hate to see these powerful beasts wither and die of grief for their fallen masters..."

...

"Ah, you must be the other new recruit!" A young blond warrior spoke quite loudly behind Wolf, making Wolf spin around on the spot. "Armour of a foreign make, Duncan did say you'd be from overseas. Well, all right, let's get going!" He turned and started to walk, then changed his mind. "Erm... you do speak our language, don't you? Language? You... un-der-stand me?"

"I understand you," Wolf replied with an amplified Nord accent. "But who are you? Because you obviously know who I am."

"Oh," the fellow blushed. "I didn't introduce myself, did I? Err... Sorry... I'm Alistair. I am to lead you on our outing into the Wilds... Did Duncan mention that? To get darkspawn blood?" Alistair was blushing even more, realising that he was a good deal younger than Wolf.

"Yes, Duncan did mention that," Wolf nodded. "Lead on, Alistair."

"Right, let's get the other recruits... follow me!" Alistair recovered from his embarrassment and sprinted towards a small group that appeared to be waiting for him.

"Are we all assembled? Can we go now?" A recruit in a costly shining armour wielding a brand new greatsword drew himself up. "Is it just the three of us?"

"The four of us," Alistair corrected him. "I am coming too. You did mean me, right..?" He blushed again, interrupting himself.

Wolf thought: "His first time in command. I wonder why they didn't send a more senior Grey Warden?"

"They didn't send anyone more senior than me because there is no one more senior than me here, apart from Duncan," Alistair seemed to have read his mind. "There are no other Grey Wardens here at all, in fact. But there will be, once you've gone through the Joining!" He added happily, but with a shadow lurking behind his smile. "But worry not, I shall suffice..."

He waved his hand, turned and started walking briskly towards the gate to the Korcari Wilds, with his three recruits following.

"I am not so sure about this," the knight in shining armour leveled with Wolf. "You look like an experienced warrior. Should you not lead us instead? I don't know if that pup is up to the task..."

"This pup has excellent hearing," Alistair spun around. "You will have to follow me now, I am afraid, because I am the only Grey Warden in our group, and thus the only one who can sense the darkspawn approach. Pup or no pup... but there is no substitute for me just yet."

Wolf smiled but said nothing. Alistair was young and inexperienced, and still tripped over his own feet, so to say, but he had the spark, Wolf thought. And so he did not mention that he too could sense the darkspawn approach, even though he had not gone through the Joining yet... In fact, several darkspawn were close... very close...

Alistair tensed, drawing his sword. "Get ready! Here they come!"

"What? Where..?" The knight was jerking his head left and right, while the third recruit, a rogue by the look of things, drew his long daggers and crouched.

"Here!!!" Wolf bellowed, planting his axe into a stump rising from the ground. Alistair smirked and proceeded slashing another stump, the rogue caught on and sliced up another one into ribbons... the darkspawn were rising from below ground.

"What?! Stand up and fight!!" The knight finally spotted one that rose up to the waist already.

"Hit him!!!" Alistair screamed, busy with an adversary of his own.

"No, there is no honour in that! I have to wait until he emerges and stands against me!"

"No, you don't!!!"

A few more hits from Wolf's axe, another twirl of the rogue's daggers, and this small group of darkspawn was defeated.

"You really don't have to wait for them to fully emerge," Alistair was collecting some blood from one of the corpses. "You don't really want them to fight back."

"But there's no honour in that!" The knight protested. "I am only joining for the honour!"

"Hmm..." Alistair was about to say something, but Wolf touched his arm - leave it.

"I don't think that this darkspawn cares much for honour," he turned to the knight. "Have you been in many battles? Your armour looks pristine."

"I... well, no," the knight smiled. "I just got married... got a young wife and a child on the way... I am soon to take over from my father, I'll be in the Landsmeet... Joining the Grey Wardens is just an extra honour. And I can fight, I assure you! I won many tournaments, year after year!"

"Err..." Alistair faced him. "Grey Wardens have to give up their prior lives, you know," he said softly. "You can still see your wife, of course, from time to time... but the Landsmeet... I don't think so."

"Oh." The knight looked really disappointed. "Duncan mentioned it, but I thought he was just saying it for the form... Well, I think I won't go through with it then."

"Umm..."

"Let us focus on what we are here for," Wolf interrupted another revelation from Alistair. "You'll have to discuss it with Duncan when we return."

Everyone agreed and prepared to enter the Korcari Wilds proper.

[Acadian]

So Agent Wolf is recruited from Skyland for his dragonborniness and sets off to a new land to contract some likely deadly disease and fight some seriously scary undead. What could go wrong?

What a waste and potential loss of combat power to enslave elves and lock up mages!

I chuckled over the pristine knight, as the small herb and undead hunting party got down to business. I'm sure the darkspawn probably don't fight by tournament rules.

At least Wolf may have himself a loyal dog waiting for when/if he returns.

[Lena Wolf]

Acadian - indeed, tournament is out with this darkspawn, methinks. But dragons are the same everywhere, are they not? Agent Wolf has never seen a dragon before, so he would not know, but he might sense it. The Legate thought so. Hmm... he's got a long road ahead.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun’s Dawn, 3E387 – The last of Grey Wardens

The foray into the Korcari Wilds was successful. Alistair proved true to his word and was able to warn Grey Warden recruits of approaching darkspawn, even though the darkspawn rose from under the earth. Wolf could sense them too, every time without fail... He found it most unpleasant.

One other thing that they had to do in the Wilds was to retrieve ancient Grey Warden treaties from a magically sealed chest in an old ruin. That fortress wasn't a ruin when the treaties were stored there - it was centuries ago, and it was one of the Grey Warden strongholds... one of many, at the time. At present no Grey Warden strongholds remained in Ferelden. Although darkspawn incursions never seized, there hadn't been a true Blight for centuries - four, five hundred years, perhaps. People had grown complacent, and although the Grey Wardens had not disappeared, their ranks dwindled and their strongholds fell, either to wilderness or to fellow men who found "better" uses for them. The stronghold in the Korcari Wilds fell to ruin simply because no one set foot into it for several hundred years. Nature took it back into its fold.

They found the ruin without much difficulty, and in it they found an ornate chest... utterly destroyed. Every bandit and every adventurer would have been interested in a chest like that, expecting to find great treasures within. Eventually someone broke the magical seal, or perhaps it simply wore off. And, undoubtedly, some adventurer found a pack of old scrolls and used them to light a fire...

"The Grey Wardens should have never left those treaties in a disused tower like this!" The knight in their party shook his head, and for once everyone agreed. "Of course, all is lost now."

"Well, well, who have we here?" A young woman in an eccentric dress stepped out from behind a column, a home-made staff at her back. "A scavenger or an intruder, I wonder?"

"She's a witch, she is!" The knight was quick to comment. "Best not cross her..."

"Now, there's a smart lad," the woman smirked. "What of the rest of you? I've followed your progress for some time... Where are they going, I wondered, what are they here for? Hmm?" She rested her eyes on each member of the Grey Warden party, and each felt her probing gaze.

"We are here to retrieve something that belongs to us," Alistair cleared his throat and said in a would-be authoritative tone. "Except that the chest is destroyed and the contents gone..." He added with hesitation.

"Grey Warden treaties," the woman nodded. "That magical seal had worn off ages ago. You should have come for them sooner."

"So you stole them!" Alistair nearly screamed. "Return them at once!"

Wolf turned away, hiding a smile - Alistair resembled a toddler demanding his favourite toy... The woman smiled openly and answered with a little laugh.

"I shall not return them, for it wasn't I who took them in the first place!"

"You didn't? Then who was it?" Alistair's tone became more neutral, but still carried some impatient irritation in it.

"It was my mother, in fact," the woman said simply.

"Then take us to her!" Alistair said impatiently and Wolf could just picture him stomp his foot as well.

"Do you think it's wise?" The third recruit finally opened his mouth. "She's the Witch of the Wild, she is! She'll stick us in a pot or turn into toads!"

"If that pot is warmer than this forest, then I'm all for it!" The knight was indeed shivering in his armour and the steel parts started clattering against each other.

"But what of you, hmm?" The woman looked at Wolf. "You haven't said anything so far. What are you - a scavenger or an intruder?"

"A scavenger, I guess, given those choices," Wolf smiled at her. "I am Wolf."

"Ah, manners at last!" The woman smiled. "And I am Morrigan. Come, I shall take you to my mother, for she has your treaties."

It was only a short walk, and the saw a hut among the trees and an older woman standing before it. She was dressed quite plainly and didn't carry a staff, and yet everyone instantly knew that if there was a Witch of the Wild among them, it was she. The knight and the rogue swallowed hard, Alistair straightened his back, but Wolf relaxed and smiled. He could not explain it, but he felt an instant kinship to the old woman. He smiled and greeted her politely, before Alistair could say something they would all regret. He seemed to have an animosity towards mages, even "tame" and "regularised" mages back at the camp, and certainly these "wild witches" standing before them... What was it they called such mages? Apostates, Wolf recalled. Mages that refused to be locked up in a tower. Quite.

"We should not be talking to apostates," Alistair said through his teeth to no one in particular. "Do you have our treaties?" He stared at the old woman with open hostility.

"I do indeed," she nodded, smirking at his attitude, apparently not offended but rather amused by it. "Your magical seal wore off centuries ago, I was keeping them safe for you." She produced the treaties from a simple chest just behind her and handed them to Alistair. "Here you are, Grey Warden."

"So... the seal wore off... and you've been keeping them safe... for centuries..?" Alistair's tone lost all hostility as he looked through old scrolls, intact and still readable. "But who are you?"

"An apostate mage," the old woman laughed. "The one you shouldn't accept help from."

"Oh." Alistair blushed. "Point taken... Thank you. But might not we know your name?"

The change of tone was so striking, that both women gave a short laugh, while the knight and the rogue swallowed hard - again. Perhaps they thought that Alistair feared the Witch, whichever woman it was, if not both.

"The folk here call me Flemeth," the old woman replied.

"THE Flemeth..?" Alistair took a step back. "But then you are the Witch of the Wilds!"

Wolf was looking at Flemeth and Alistair and wondering what turned Alistair's hostility into outright panic and fear. He could sense that Flemeth was a powerful mage, but that wasn't it... there was more... there had to be more... The captain of his ship mentioned the Witch of the Wilds, and now apparently she stood before him. He shook his head - now was not the time.

"Thank you, Flemeth," he said. "Thank you for safeguarding these treaties for us. We should be going now." He looked at Alistair who nodded vigorously along with the other recruits.

...

"Did you get enough darkspawn blood?" Duncan met them back at the camp. "Then let us proceed with the Joining."

The Joining ceremony was simple and solemn. All they had to do was drink darkspawn blood that they had collected.

"All Grey Wardens give their lives to fight the darkspawn," Duncan said gravely. "Some of us give their lives sooner rather than later though. Not all survive the Joining. But this is the price we pay for becoming what we are. Grey Wardens can sense the darkspawn because drinking darkspawn blood marks us with their taint. This gives us the very advantage that allows us to defeat them. And this is why Grey Wardens must leave their prior lives behind. From this moment on your life consists of battling darkspawn."

He paused and looked at the three recruits before him. No one spoke.

"You first, Daveth," Duncan handed the Joining Cup to their rogue. "Good luck."

Daveth drank. When darkspawn blood mixed with his own, his eyes became deadly white, he screamed and collapsed on the ground. His convulsions continued for a few moments, and then he was dead.

"I am sorry, Daveth," Duncan knelt before him. "You gave your life sooner rather than later."

"What?!" The knight took a step back in disgust and fear. "No! There is no glory in this! No! I refuse!" He took up his greatsword, although no one was attacking him. "I shall not drink that!"

"There is no turning back, Jori," Duncan put down the cup he was preparing and turned to the knight. "You've come too far." He looked stern, his voice was as hard as steel. He dropped the knight's title, not calling him "Sir Jori", Wolf noticed. Indeed, those were not the actions of a knight.

Jori started swinging his greatsword, and Wolf and Alistair stepped back. Duncan stepped forward, unsheathing one of his long daggers. Another step, then a quick lunge while Jori's greatsword was out of the way... Wolf watched and nodded: "A dagger through the heart while the knight is doing a tournament twirl," he thought. "Grey Wardens fight to win."

"I am sorry, Jori," Duncan stood over Jori's corpse. "I am sorry it came to this." Then he turned to Wolf, looking into his face, but said nothing - he could read his answer. Duncan nodded and prepared a fresh Joining Cup for Wolf. "Your turn, Wolf. Good luck."

Wolf drank from the cup. The blood tasted bitter and dead somehow. He thought it was only logical, considering that it was in fact dead...

...

"Ahhh, you come to join me," a dragon towered over Wolf. "Welcome, Dragonborn. We meet at last! Come, partake of our feast - fresh humans are on the menu..."

Wolf sat up. He had been lying on a wide natural stone bridge in a huge cavern. Fires were burning everywhere, the dragon was perched on the edge of a cliffside nearby. A sea of smaller fires was below them, far as the eye could see, seemingly without end. Wolf looked closer. Those were torches and braziers illuminating long, narrow tables laden with meat. Darkspawn of all ranks and sizes were gathered around them, standing and sitting, devouring the meat. Human flesh. That is why there were rarely corpses left behind after a battle with darkspawn.

...

"He will live." Duncan knelt over Wolf convulsing on the ground. "You just wait," he looked up at Alistair who was shaking his head. "This recruit will become a Grey Warden."

A few minutes later Wolf opened his eyes. His dream ended as suddenly as it began.

"Welcome, Grey Warden," Duncan smiled at him. "You've met the Archdemon, have you not? And he did not try to slay you... Interesting... You'll need to tell me about that later. After the battle."

A loud bark interrupted him and a lively Mabari dog put his paws on Wolf's chest.

"Hello, fellow," Wolf smiled. "Did the kennel master give you leave?" He looked sternly at the dog and the dog cocked his head with a little guilty whine. "Almost, eh?" Wolf smirked. "Alright then, we should best go see him then."

"What are you going to call him?" Alistair cautiously petted the dog and didn't have his hand bitten off.

"Bob," Wolf answered before he even knew what he was saying. "He wants to be called Bob."

"Is that so?" Alistair looked at Bob with a hint of envy. "They do say that the Mabari hounds are smart enough to understand all we're saying and wise enough not to speak."

"Which cannot be said about you, Alistair," Duncan laughed. "Come on. We have strategy to discuss - darkspawn awaits!"

...

The strategy was being presented by the King's general Loghain. The plan was quite simple: the forward force led by the King and the Grey Wardens would engage the darkspawn horde in a narrow impasse, then Loghain's much larger army would attack darkspawn at their flank, thus felling as many of them as possible without taking damage. It did mean that the forward force would likely be fully slaughtered, but the King didn't think it probable. Duncan had his doubts but didn't have a say in the matter.

"Someone will need to light the beacon to let us know when to attack," Loghain finished relating his plan. "The beacon on the tower of Ishal," he pointed at a tall tower some distance away. "We shall be waiting nearby."

"So then lighting the beacon in time is a critical mission," the King nodded. "We should send our best - Alistair and the new Grey Warden. I am sorry we didn't have a chance to get acquainted," he looked at Wolf and smiled. "But there will be plenty of time for that during the celebrations after the battle."

"You seem so certain, Your Majesty," Duncan coughed and looked away.

"But of course!" The King laughed, his guilded armour reflecting the fires. "I have the mighty Grey Wardens at my side! What could possibly go wrong? Besides, I am not even convinced it's a true Blight! There's plenty of darkspawn about, but I've seen no sign of the Archdemon..."

"Disappointed, Your Majesty?" Duncan's eyes grew dark.

"Oh, I suppose this will have to do..." The King shrugged. "All right, let's get ready - the party awaits!"

...

"I thought there were no other Grey Wardens in the camp?" Wolf turned to Alistair when they were on the way to the tower. "But the King spoke as if he had an army of them..."

"There's Duncan," Alistair frowned. "And three more Grey Wardens arrived last night. That's the army."

"Then I suppose we should get to the tower, light the beacon and join the battle as soon as we can." Wolf hastened his step and Alistair gladly followed.

When they got to the tower, they found it overrun by darkspawn, even though Loghain's forces were supposed to keep it clear.

"I don't like this," Wolf shot a glance at Alistair and got a glance back.

They pressed on, fighting darkspawn on every floor. They got to the top and lit the beacon. From there they had a perfect view of the battle below. The sea of darkspawn pouring into the impasse with the King's forward force wedge in it. Loghain's army waiting for the signal. Ah, they'd seen it. Now the tide of the battle would turn.

"Sound the retreat!!!" The wind carried Loghain's command up to the top of the tower. The army turned around and marched off. A fresh wave of darkspawn stormed the tower. There was no sight of the Archdemon, but he would be there at the celebrations afterwards, no doubt. Two Grey Wardens and a Mabari hound could not defeat endless waves of darkspawn coming at them.

"This was a rather short mission," Wolf thought, realising that the arrow in his neck had nicked an artery. "Some Dragonborn I turned out to be..."

[Acadian]

I think Morrigan and her mom were right. The Gray Wardens shouldn’t have left those treaties to only a warded chest. Happily, the witches readily surrender them.

The Joining is tough! Too bad about the rogue. The knight. . . not so much. And Wolf makes it.

Uh-oh, the end of this episode does not sound hopeful at all. Perhaps those wild witches will intervene again?

[Lena Wolf]

Yes, going through that tower, defeating all that darkspawn, lighting the beacon, and then watching the cinematic of getting an arrow in the neck and dying... well... that was rather anti-climatic. Very impressive though. And yes, you guessed right, the story doesn't actually end there, against all odds.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun’s Dawn, 3E387 – Kinship of the dragon

"Ah, you are finally awake!" Morrigan turned around when she heard Wolf sit up in his bed. "A bit pale from the loss of blood, but awake... Mother was right, you're made of strong stuff. Your friend too. You Grey Wardens do live up to your reputation."

Wolf wanted to object that he only became a Grey Warden the day before and couldn't take the credit... Then the memories of the big battle in Ostagar, Loghain's betrayal and all the darkspawn rose before his eyes. He remembered an arrow in the neck, too. But how could they possibly be saved? There was no way out! Darkspawn was everywhere, and the King with his small forward force must be dead... The King, Duncan, the other Grey Wardens, and every soldier in that force...

"We've been betrayed," said Wolf grimly.

"Indeed." Morrigan was watching him. "Your friend is not taking it well."

"My friend?" Wolf was momentarily confused, this whole thing was still very new to him. "Oh, you mean Alistair? Yeah, that figures... I better go see him." He made an effort to get up, but had to sit down again because the loss of blood made him very light-headed. "In a minute," he smiled. "Tell me what happened... err... not about the battle - I remember that part. How is it possible that we were saved?"

"Ah, yes, well, mother does have a trick or two up her sleeve," Morrigan laughed. "She turned into a giant bird, flew to the top of that tower and plucked you and your friend from the floor, one in each talon. And if you don't believe this explanation, then you're welcome to ask her yourself." Morrigan pouted her lips, and Wolf thought that she suddenly looked like a little girl.

"Oh, I believe it," Wolf laughed. "With a small correction - she didn't turn into a bird, she turned into a dragon."

"What..? How..?" Morrigan stood aghast.

"How I knew? I didn't, but you just told me," Wolf smiled. "I am Dragonborn. I felt kinship to your mother the moment I saw her when we came looking for treaties. I do not feel kinship to every chicken I eat, so if you say she turned into a bird, you mean she turned into a dragon. You probably can shape-shift as well, being her daughter... Although not into a dragon form, or I would have felt it. How am I doing so far?" He grinned.

"Very well indeed!" Morrigan beamed at him. "You are different from your friend... err... the dim-witted one... the other Grey Warden," she struggled to describe Alistair, for some reason avoiding calling him by name. "I heard you just only joined Grey Wardens a week ago... Oh, yes, it's been a week..."

"Alistair has a thing against mages, I don't understand it," Wolf shook his head. "A week? That's a long time to have your ear talked off... Apparently, he felt some special connection to Duncan, beyond the fact that the was a senior Grey Warden... I dunno. But I would not be surprised if he's grieving. He's still young... Don't be too hard on him."

"Well, I am still young too." Morrigan answered with defiance. "Yet I don't behave like a child."

"Not all the time, no," Wolf laughed. "Oh, lay off him, will you? Anyway, I should go find him and we'll be out of your hair in no time." He finally managed to get up, overcoming light-headedness. "I don't suppose your mother managed to rescue a dog as well, did she? Bob was a welcome friend..."

"We do have a mangy Mabari hanging around here, I suppose it's him," Morrigan squinted. "Bob? Yeah, whatever. As long as you take him with you when you leave."

...

"Can you believe what Loghain did? Betray us like that? Betray the King? What are we to do now???" Alistair poured a flood of laments over Wolf by way of greeting. "Oh, and good to see you awake, by the way. You lost so much blood, I didn't think you'd survive. But these... witches... well, they kept pouring potions into you... and look at that... you're actually alive."

"Yes, they nursed me back to life," Wolf nodded. "I should thank them properly. Without these - ah - witches, we would be dead, Alistair."

Alistair was still muttering something under his breath when Wolf approached Flemeth who was stirring stew over the fire.

"Thank you for rescuing us, Flemeth," he said with a little bow. "And thank you and Morrigan for nursing us back to life afterwards. Alistair too. Forgive his ranting, please, he is grieving."

"I did what had to be done, but you are welcome," Flemeth straightened her back. "You are Dragonborn. You can make a difference here, and you must make a difference here. Alistair... well, he is a Grey Warden, so he'll help. I could save two, so I saved you both. You must rise against the Blight."

"Two Grey Wardens cannot rise against the Blight!" Alistair caught up with them, and either didn't hear or didn't understand Flemeth's remark about Wolf being Dragonborn. "You are expecting too much of us... With the King's army lost... with Loghain's betrayal and all the politics of it... The Blight will swallow us, and we have nothing to oppose it."

"Two Grey Wardens cannot rise against the Blight," Flemeth repeated with a nod. "But two Grey Wardens can and must raise an army with which to rise against the Blight. That was exactly why I was looking after those treaties for you. The dwarves, the elves, the mages, some of the nobility too... didn't they all pledge their aid in times of the Blight? And yes, you do have politics to contend with as well, but what else is new? Since the Archdemon won your grand battle at Ostagar, he will take some time to regroup before the next decisive march, and you must use that time to build an army... Because if you don't, all will perish... You are a Grey Warden, you know how it goes."

Alistair wanted to object, perhaps simply for the sake of contradicting a mage, but then he saw the sense in Flemeth's words.

"We should try at least," he said grimly. "Two Grey Wardens... I just can't believe it... without Duncan..." His voice trailed off and he turned away, and Wolf thought that it was definitely more than simple grief for the loss of a senior Warden.

"We should be going, thank you again for all your help," Wolf turned to Flemeth again. "We'll do our best."

"There is something else I can give you," Flemeth looked at Morrigan. "The most precious thing I have... not a thing at all, in fact... my daughter. Take Morrigan with you, Warden."

"Take me... what?!" Morrigan spun around to face her mother. "Just like that? Without a warning? Don't I get a say in this? And I'm not ready..!"

"You must be ready, girl," Flemeth shook her head. "You've been itching to get out of the woods for ages. They need your help. They don't know it yet, but without one of us, without you, they will surely fail. You know why."

"I... I know why," Morrigan nodded. "Very well..."

"Wait - what?!" Alistair finally realised what was happening. "Take her along? That witch?! No! I'm sure we can manage just fine on our own!"

"Now, Warden..." Flemeth looked sternly at him and Morrigan was about to fly into a rage.

"Morrigan comes with us, and that's final." Wolf said firmly and loudly, making everyone stare at him. Flemeth smiled, Morrigan raised an eyebrow, and Alistair shook his head, looking dejected. "Unless you wish to lead, Alistair?"

"I..? No!" Alistair shook his head so vigorously, he risked damaging his neck. "I would not know where to start even... I'd make a horrible leader... You lead... Morrigan comes with us... alright, I'll accept it."

With matters thus settled, Wolf, Alistair, Morrigan and Bob the Mabari hound said their goodbyes to Flemeth and set off towards the nearest village outside the woods.

...

The village of Lothering was overrun with refugees fleeing the darkspawn. Our party tried to help them where they could, donating coin, medicine and supplies in exchange for rumours and various titbits of information. They picked up two new members for their party as well - a lay sister of the Chantry who could fight "like an Archdemon", and a Qunari mercenary who was imprisoned for murder.

Qunari were a race of giants, or rather a race of tall and wide-shouldered people, about a head taller than humans. Wolf didn't think that qualified as "giants", but people did tend to exaggerate. The Qunari generally despised humans and elves both, and doubly despised dwarves, which went some way of explaining why no one was particularly welcoming towards them. It remained unclear what that lone Qunari mercenary was doing in a human village, and Wolf thought that perhaps he had been a scout for the Qunari army posing as a mercenary. Whatever the reason, he had murdered a farmer and his family, and was now locked up in a cage without food or water. "I leave him to the mercy and judgement of the Maker," the Reverend Mother had said, and Wolf thought that it was an exceptionally cruel thing to do to leave someone to die of hunger and thirst or to be slaughtered by darkspawn, whichever came first. However, after a small "donation" of thirty silvers towards the Chantry fund, the Reverend Mother was willing to part with the key to Sten's cage, proclaiming it to be the Will of the Maker that the Wardens should take Sten into their custody. Wolf shook his head, but didn't argue, pinching Morrigan to keep her mouth shut as well. Sten was suspicious of being released at first, but when he learned that he would be going against the Blight with the Grey Wardens, he joined them willingly, considering it a worthy cause.

As our party walked into the local tavern, they were attacked by a group of mercenaries wanting their heads. It transpired that General Loghain had named himself the King Regent of Ferelden, and in his version of events of the battle at Ostagar, it were the Grey Wardens who betrayed the King which led to the King's demise. He therefore declared all Grey Wardens to be traitors to the land and offered a generous reward per head.

A fight in a crowded tavern was messy but short, and soon the mercenaries were begging for mercy. They weren't some random mercenaries after all... They were Loghain's men, specifically instructed to seek out the two remaining Grey Wardens - Wolf and Alistair, and kill them. Loghain's plan had been of course to have them perish in the tower with the beacon, but knowing how resourceful Grey Wardens usually were, he was taking no chances until the bodies of Wolf and Alistair were found or until their heads were decorating the spikes in front of Loghain's mansion. Thus things turned personal - the last two Grey Wardens of Ferelden got themselves an enemy.

"I'll let you live," Wolf turned to Loghain's agents. "Return to him and take a message: challenge accepted."

As the "mercenaries" ran out of the tavern, a young Chantry sister stepped forward, two bloody daggers behind her back.

"You forgot to tell him to say his prayers and prepare to die," she smirked. "Why so modest?"

"General Loghain is a seasoned warrior and won't be intimidated by a couple of Grey Wardens," Wolf shrugged. "It would be empty bragging. He is not someone we could just track down and kill. Oh, we'll get to him in time, but whether it will be he who dies or one of us, I am not so certain."

"Now, there's a cheery prospect..." Alistair whistled. "Realistic though..."

"I didn't realise Chantry sisters were permitted to carry arms, or to use them," Wolf smiled at the Chantry sister. "Where did you learn to fight like that, Sister?"

"Not in the Chantry, if that's what you're asking," she smiled back. "I am coming with you, Warden. The Maker told me to."

"I beg your pardon..?" Wolf thought for a moment that he had misheard.

"I know it sounds crazy. But He did. I had a dream. You are going against the Blight, are you not? Well. I'm coming with you."

"Err..."

"She isn't just a Chantry sister," Morrigan said in Wolf's ear. "She has a past."

"That much is obvious," Wolf replied in a low voice.

"What are you too whispering about?" Alistair joined in. "We can all hear you, you know."

"Well, we certainly need recruits, and a Chantry sister who fights like the Archdemon will fit right in," Wolf smiled at her. "What's your name, dear?"

"Leliana," she smiled. "And call me 'dear' one more time, and you'll have met the Archdemon early."

The party was certainly becoming quite colourful. They stayed in Lothering a little longer, gathered supplies and discussed strategy, such as it could be at these early stages of building an army to go against the Blight. Wolf couldn't make up his mind which group to approach first, and everyone was suggesting something different. In the end he whistled for Bob and went for a stroll in the woods to clear his head of all the chatter. His companions weren't soldiers, they joined the group for their own reasons... and it was his task to make them work together. Suddenly he just wished for a small horde of darkspawn to take his mind off the politics.

[Acadian]

Ahah! So those wonderful witches did indeed intervene. And one is dragonborne no less.

With Flemeth’s help, Wolf now has a plan – sort of. And his small party is growing into what he correctly calls colorful.

Now to try and recruit some serious numbers.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun’s Dawn, 3E387 – The evil within

"Our first stop is Arl Eamon," Wolf announced to his party. "We have a treaty signed by his ancestors promising aid to Grey Wardens in times of the Blight. So we're going to see that he prepares some troops for us. They weren't at Ostagar, so they must still all be alive and well... or at least we hope so."

"Why start with nobility?" Morrigan raised an eyebrow. "A bunch of overfed self-righteous brats, the lot of them." She pouted her lips and stared at Alistair.

"What are you looking at me for? That's nothing to do with me!" He protested, but also blushed, and Wolf thought that Morrigan wasn't wrong in her assessment. But why did Alistair take it to heart like that?

"We have to start somewhere, and Redcliffe is nearest geographically," Wolf explained, making it sound final.

...

The village of Redcliffe lay on the shore of a large lake, with Castle Redcliffe towering above it. The area was mountainous, and the road was coming in from a high pass. There was a camping site before the pass, and our party stopped there, as they didn't want to go into the village with such a large group. As usual, only three or four of them would go talk to people, with the remaining members staying back at the camp. This time Wolf asked Alistair and Morrigan to join him, also whistling for Bob.

"Is the mongrel going to follow us around again?" Morrigan pouted her lips.

"He is not a mongrel, and yes," Wolf smiled and Bob gave a little hurt whine.

The village looked beautiful from the high pass, although looking closer, Wolf didn't see any farmers or fishermen, but only armed militia... They were armed and armoured, practicing sword fighting and archery, but at the same time they didn't look like soldiers at all. "These are farmers and fishermen preparing for battle," Wolf thought and his heart fell. He didn't sense any darkspawn about, so what could be the matter? He shot a quick glance at Alistair who too was looking anxiously at the village below.

"Before we go any further, I've got to tell you something," Alistair turned to Wolf, completely ignoring Morrigan.

"Alright, what is it?" Wolf had a feeling it wasn't about the state of the village.

"I grew up here," Alistair pointed at the castle. "In the castle. My mother died giving birth to me, my father was... indisposed, and Arl Eamon took me in. He raised me as his own son in the castle. Then he married a young woman from Orlais, I was about ten years old then, and she did not like me at all, because, you see, there were rumours that I was Arl Eamon's son... And seeing how my mother was a simple kitchen maid... well... that sounded like a scandal! While in fact my father was... well... the previous King... So the King that just fell in battle at Ostagar was my half-brother... err... Yeah, alright, I'm a bastard! So there! And yes, when the new Arlesse came to live in the castle, she insisted that I should be sent away to the Chantry to be trained as a templar... just so the rumours of me being Arl Eamon's son would stop... which of course didn't make them stop because the truth had to be kept secret... although a lot of people knew it anyway..."

Wolf was listening to this flood of revelations and thinking that the young man before him was in a lot of hot water. Suddenly it became clear why the self-proclaimed King Regent wanted him dead - not because he was a Grey Warden, but because he was a Prince, a bastard perhaps, but still a Prince, and thus a pretender to the throne. And although Wolf, as well as most people, could hardly imagine Alistair behaving like a king, it didn't change his blood. And that other thing - he was sent to the Chantry and trained as a templar... Templars were a Chantry-owned order of knights that kept the mages imprisoned in that infamous tower and hunted down any that escaped from it... any apostates, like Morrigan and her mother. Finally things started falling into place.

"So, to summarise," Wolf's face remained blank and closed as he looked at Alistair when he finished talking. "We are going to see your adoptive father. Well, no matter - we have a treaty signed by his great-great-great-grandfather or something, so it is only a coincidence that you're a relation. Everything else is not a coincidence, of course, but let's try to focus on the matter at hand. I appreciate you telling me this, it is important background information. And - Alistair? Don't worry about family matters getting in the way. You are a Grey Warden, and aren't Grey Wardens supposed to leave their previous lives behind? Well then..."

Alistair was taken aback, but stopped blushing and fidgeting.

"A Grey Warden..." he repeated as if realising it for the first time. "Yes, that's right. I am a Grey Warden. Here to enact an ancient treaty. Because that's my duty. Right. Let's go."

Morrigan listened intently, taking it all in. Her face did not betray her thoughts and she didn't say anything, for now at least.

As they entered the village, it became obvious that the locals were preparing for battle, just like Wolf had surmised. Undead rotting corpses had been attacking the village each night for the past week or so, and many people had already perished. The corpses were coming from the castle, but no one knew what summoned them. They had no word from the castle at all, and didn't know what was going on there, and whether anyone there was still alive. Arl Eamon himself had been taken gravely ill some weeks ago, and the Arlesse sent every knight out in search of a sacred artefact that alone had the power to save the Arl. The whole thing was extremely confusing and Wolf thought that many things didn't add up. However, with the Arl on his deathbed, they could forget about getting any troops to fight the Blight, unless they managed to cure the Arl somehow first. With Alistair nearly in tears breathing down his neck, Wolf decided to face that challenge.

"We are going to help you fight the monsters tonight," he told the village mayor. "What do you need?"

"What?!" Morrigan nearly exploded in protest. "You want to help these people fight a futile battle while we have more important things to worry about?!" She stared at Wolf, the air crisp with both charge and frost around her. "Shouldn't we be going after the Blight instead?!"

"Yes, we are going to help these people fight the walking corpses tonight," Wolf answered calmly. "I am counting on your aid. It will be an angry battle - right up your alley."

"Why not rescue kittens out of trees next!" Morrigan snapped but didn't object any further.

The battle was indeed ferocious, and in spite of all the preparations, many villagers fell. The walking corpses were much stronger than any ordinary zombies that Wolf encountered before, and they were different from darkspawn, too. The corpses seemed to have been directed by some force... presumably the evil that took possession of the castle.

Then, in the morning, just as Arl's brother was telling Wolf about a secret passage into the castle, the Arlesse came running down the hill, appearing in the village for the first time since the corpse invasion began.

"Teagan, you must come with me, quickly and alone!" She addressed Arl's brother without preliminaries. "I beg of you, there isn't any time!"

"What..?" He was visibly taken aback. "You... you are alive? Is anyone else alive in the castle? The Arl..?"

"Yes, yes, he is alive, he's in his bed, the same as before," the Arlesse brushed off his questions impatiently. "We're all alive... well, may be not all... but everyone who's important, is alive..."

"I don't like this..." Wolf said quietly under his breath, and Teagan shot him a glance and nodded.

"You will have to do better than that, Arlesse," he turned to the lady in quite a formal fashion. "Explain what has been going on."

"Oh Teagan, there is no time! Come with me quick! We've got to hurry!" She tried to plead, but then realised that it wasn't working. "Very well... My husband was poisoned! The mage responsible was caught and is now locked up in the dungeon. But then the corpses appeared - he must have summoned them!"

"Hold on..." Teagan squinted. "A mage poisoned my brother - that's bad. And if the poison was potent, I understand the need for a sacred artefact to cure him. But what was that mage doing in your castle in the first place? How did he manage to poison the Arl?"

"He... I... He was tutoring my son..." The Arlesse stuttered. "He stayed with us... for many weeks... but in secret... My husband must never find out! I hired that mage to teach my son to hide his magic!"

"Because if my brother had realised that the boy had magical abilities, he would have sent him to the tower," Teagan nodded. "As is the law in this country, as you well know," he glared at the Arlesse. "So then the mage is an apostate."

"Yes."

"But why did he poison the Arl?"

"He says that Loghain hired him to do that when... well... word got around that I was looking to hire a mage to teach my son..." The Arlesse's voice was getting weaker and weaker. "The mage could be lying though..." She looked pleadingly at Teagan.

"I don't think the mage is lying," he dismissed her words. "It's all your fault, Lady Arlesse."

She nodded and started crying.

"So then why do you want me to come with you now, quickly and alone?" Teagan wasn't melting before her tears.

"It's my son! He wants to see you!" She pleaded, but Teagan just shook his head. "Alright, alright! Something inside my son! He... Oh Teagan! Just come with me, please!" She now completely broke down in a flood of tears.

"The boy is possessed by a demon, by the sound of things," Morrigan said softly. "That mage may have poisoned the Arl, but I do not believe he had anything to do with the demon or the walking corpses..."

"But he did! It's all his fault! He summoned the demon, the corpses, everything!!" The Arlesse cried out, but everyone just shook their heads.

"Magic doesn't work that way, Arlesse," Morrigan said dismissively. "He could not have done it even if he wanted to."

"Alright, enough talk," Teagan made up his mind. "I'll come with you, Arlesse." Then, taking Wolf aside and out of earshot, he continued. "It's a trap, of course, I have no illusions. But I have to see if I can help my brother, I still don't fully understand the situation. I ask you to enter the castle through the secret passage I told you about, and see what transpires. We both want my brother to recover, so our goals are thus aligned, are they not, Warden?"

"Indeed," Wolf nodded. "We'll do as you suggest. And once we know the full story, we can decide how to proceed."

They parted ways. Teagan followed the Arlesse into the castle, and Wolf took his party through the secret passage which came out in the dungeons.

...

"Hello? Is anyone there?" A weak voice was heard from one of the cells. "Hello?"

"Ah, that must be the mage that poisoned Arl Eamon!" Alistair was ready to spit in the face of a young mage behind bars, no older than Alistair himself. "I say we kill him now!!"

"Now, now, no rush moves, please," Wolf stood between Alistair's sword and the bars, while the mage retreated as far back into the cell as he could. "Let's at least hear his side of the story first."

"It's true, I poisoned the Arl," the mage nodded. "I got myself into so much trouble with the Circle... The Circle of Magi in the tower, you know..." He added, noticing Wolf's foreign accent and thinking that perhaps he needed to explain a bit more. "I escaped once a twice... well... ten or twenty times, may be... as a kid... but they always caught me! Always returned me there... And then I dabbled in blood magic... And yes, I can actually do a few things with it... That makes me a maleficar... I shall be executed, as soon as templars get their hands on me... So when Loghain offered to make my troubles go away, I could not refuse... He had explained that this Arl was an enemy of the state, but I've never heard of him before... I grew up in the tower, I had no idea of politics of the land... Of course now it all seems upside down, but there you are..."

"Ah!!! A blood mage!!! He is a blood mage!!!!" Alistair bellowed, nearly running Wolf through with his sword in his eagerness to execute the mage.

"What, this boy - a blood mage?" Morrigan laughed, but not unkindly. "I don't believe a word of it. Just knowing a ritual or two that uses blood magic does not make you into a maleficar..."

"But he summoned the demon! And the demon raised the corpses!!" Alistair wouldn't give up.

"I rather think that the Arlesse's son summoned the demon, most likely inadvertently," Morrigan objected. "How much of a mage is that boy, actually?" She turned to the mage in the cell. "How much did you teach him?"

"I only taught him some basic spells," the mage shrugged his shoulders. "His magic is only just awakening, but therein lies the danger. He cannot control it yet."

"And that's what the demon exploited," Morrigan nodded. "The question is why... I mean so many children go through this, and hardly anyone ever gets possessed... so why this boy, I wonder?"

"Well, we are not going to solve this riddle down here," Wolf sheathed Alistair's sword for him. "Do you want me to unlock your cell?" He turned to the mage. "The castle is overrun by walking corpses, so I don't know whether you'd be safer in or out."

Alistair tried to protest, but Wolf just stared at him.

"Out would be safer," the mage said with a glimmer of hope. "I shall try to get to the boy. I don't know... I am not all that strong any more, after all the torture... but may be I can be of use."

"We are going there as well," Wolf nodded. "Try not to die now."

Wolf unlocked the cell, they walked together till the end of the corridor, and then the mage took the route through the kitchen, while Wolf and his party engaged a fresh batch of walking corpses on their way to the castle courtyard. Somewhere there was a great evil possessing a little boy.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun’s Dawn, 3E387 – A maleficar

Waves of walking corpses were not going to stop two Grey Wardens, a witch and a war dog, and eventually Wolf and his party reached the main hall of Castle Redcliffe where they found Teagan, the Arl's brother, performing a silly dance in front of a young boy and his crying mother, the Arlesse. The boy spoke with a deep, booming voice... clearly not his own.

"Ahhh, you are the one who dared to deprive me of entertainment!" He lashed out angrily at Wolf. "You killed my soldiers! But never fear, I'll have more tonight and that stupid village will finally fall!"

"Oh Conor, please..!" The Arlesse tried to intervene, but he slapped her and she fell. So, the boy had the demon's strength as well as his voice. And that demon had a short temper, and a fight broke out before the conversation was over. More walking corpses appeared out of nowhere... it was getting old.

But the demon tired of fighting quickly, and when the corpses were defeated, the boy ran away, leaving the adults to ponder what to do.

"So it is as we had thought - the boy is possessed by a demon," Morrigan observed. "A rather angry one, by the looks of things. But how did this happen? And don't say that your apostate mage summoned him!" She glared at the Arlesse who was indeed about to blame the mage.

"It all started some time after we imprisoned the mage," she said meekly. "When the word got around that the Arl had been poisoned... Conor was very upset about it and vowed to keep him alive... but how could he, he's just a little boy!" She raised her eyes and looked at everyone in turn, but it was obvious that she had understood long ago what really happened.

"And so the demon found Conor through his distress," Morrigan observed. "And offered him to keep his father alive, no doubt. Of course Conor didn't know that any mage could do that much for his father without any demonic involvement... and so he agreed. Anything to keep his father alive... Hmm..."

"So then no one really summoned the demon," Teagan concluded.

"It's all my fault for poisoning the Arl," the mage that had been imprisoned in the dungeons entered the room.

"You!!!" The Arlesse flew into a rage. "Who released you?!!" She glared at Wolf, realising it must have been he.

"I released the mage, yes," Wolf nodded. "You tortured him enough and he's fully aware how he'd been played and what a mess he created. But he is the one person your son trusts, even if the demon does not. He poses no threat and will help us."

"Help us how?" Teagan squinted. "Although I agree that he poses no threat..."

"The question is how to get rid of the demon," Wolf turned to him. "The obvious option is to kill the boy, but I don't like it. There are ways to reach the demon without killing the child."

Wolf didn't really know what he was talking about, not being a mage himself. He'd never seen a possessed person before, and surely never had to deal with any demons... But something was telling him that it should be possible.

"Of course, one should simply go into the Fade and confront the demon there," Morrigan shrugged her shoulders.

"Go into the Void, find a particular spirit in there, fight and kill it and try not to die in the process," Wolf summarised. "Do we have any other options?" He smirked. "Something more realistic, perhaps?"

"I can send someone into the Fade," the mage said quietly. "It won't be hard finding the demon possessing Conor because Conor is here. The fight, however, won't be easy..."

"I'll go," Wolf gave him a long look, checking his sword.

"There is another snag," the mage returned the look. "This ritual takes a lot of energy. We either need a lot of lyrium and several mages to assist me, or... we can use blood magic and take the energy from another person... But it will take so much, that that person will die."

"Then take me!" The Arlesse cried out. "Take my life energy! I want to save my son!"

"You were about to execute that mage just a minute ago," Teagan turned to her. "Now you are ready to hand over your life to him! You knew from the start that he's just a confused young man who made some bad mistakes..."

"It's true," the Arlesse nodded and blushed. "The blame for everything is really mine. I made it all possible..."

"We should stop kicking the blame around and focus on freeing the boy!" Morrigan interrupted them. "You can resume your blame game afterwards!" She glared at everyone. "You cannot go into the Fade, Warden," she turned to Wolf. "You are not a mage. I shall go. Let's begin."

"Whoa - hold it!" Wolf shook his head. "The tower of magi is just on the other shore of the lake. I am sure they will lend their aid in this. We shall go there and ask, I don't want to kill the mother either. With her dead, the blame game will become a lot less entertaining."

"Err..." Teagan smirked and raised an eyebrow, then realised that that last comment from Wolf was just meant to diffuse the tension, and it worked. Everyone sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Warden, we shall await your return," he bowed his head. Then, turning to the "maleficar" mage, he added without hostility: "You will keep an eye on Conor and try to prevent the demon from sending more walking corpses into the village. You are guilty of poisoning the Arl, of course, but I see no reason to have you locked up any longer."

With the situation thus peacefully resolved, our party returned to their camp outside the village, aiming to leave for the mages' tower the following day. Wolf, however, still had some talking to do.

First, he approached Morrigan who had set up her tent a bit away from everyone else.

"If I may have a word?" He started and she looked up. "You are very eager to go into the Fade and meet the demon, and I understand why. I may not be a mage, but this isn't about magic specifically. This is about power. I wonder if I can trust you."

"You are very observant," Morrigan smiled thinly. "I start to understand what mother saw in you... why she went to such lengths to save you." She sighed and her expression cleared. "Yes, of course I have no intention of fighting the demon. Demons can bestow power or knowledge, and I intend to make a deal. The boy will be free, anyhow, that I promise."

"How can you be so sure?" Wolf squinted. "How many demons have you encountered before?"

"A few," Morrigan conceded. "It isn't uncommon for a mage... we enter the Fade in our dreams, we are drawn to it. Even non-mages enter the Fade when they dream, or rather their spirits do... But demons are not interested in the spirits of non-mages, so most people don't realise where the visions in dreams come from."

"So, if it is so easy for anyone's spirit to enter the Fade, then why do we need a ritual to send someone there?" Wolf sat down next to her, glad that they were having a polite conversation.

"To remain aware and in control of your actions," Morrigan explained. "Normally it's the other way around - the Fade takes control. But in order to do something purposeful, the spirit of the person going in, has to remain aware... So while I've met some demons in the Fade before, I was never able to engage in any sort of conversation with them unless they initiated it, which they didn't..." She added with some regret.

"Don't rush into it..." Wolf looked at her sideways. "Demons aren't nice people, you know."

"Demons aren't... How would you even know?" Morrigan exclaimed in surprise. "You are not a mage!"

"But I am Dragonborn," Wolf smiled. "I met the Archdemon in the Fade several times already... if it was the Fade... because the Archdemon is not a spirit, of course..."

"Dragons can dwell in the Fade as well," Morrigan nodded. "Dragons are... quite peculiar beings, really..."

"Are you really Flemeth's daughter?" Wolf asked suddenly. "You can shape-shift like her, but you are not a dragon..."

"I am not a child of her womb, no," Morrigan answered slowly. "But she raised me since I was a babe, so I call her mother. I've often wondered why of all orphans she picked me... She must have sensed that I had magic..."

"Just how much do you know about her?" Wolf squinted and wondered whether there were a few crucial details about Flemeth that Morrigan wasn't aware of.

"I know that she is more than just a gifted witch," Morrigan smirked. "That transformation into a dragon, that's a sight to see... I don't even come close. I can do a spider and a bear, but a dragon... that's an entirely different game."

"So you don't know that your mother is in fact..." Wolf cut himself off mid-sentence. If Morrigan didn't know what he could sense, then Flemeth had not told her.

"That she's what?"

"It doesn't matter now," Wolf shook his head. "You will find out in time, I have no doubt."

He got up, ending their conversation, and leaving Morrigan to ponder what "Dragonborn" actually meant.

Next he went to talk to Alistair.

"You have been awfully quiet since I released the mage in the dungeon," Wolf started. "You would rather I killed him on sight."

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "He poisoned Arl Eamon and he is a blood mage! How could you even consider letting him live?" Alistair looked bitter and hurt. "How could Teagan even consider it? Have you both gone mad?!"

"We have not," Wolf smiled. "That mage was a pawn in Loghain's game of power - he was a convenient tool to infiltrate the castle of Redcliffe, get close to the Arl and poison him. I'm sure you can see that it was Loghain's doing, not the mage's." Alistair sighed and nodded, and Wolf continued. "And so while that mage is not innocent in this, he is no threat to anyone either."

"But he is a blood mage!" Alistair protested. "And an apostate!!"

"And you are not a templar," Wolf retorted. "You no longer serve the Chantry. You do not hunt mages. You do not kill 'undesirable' mages on sight. You do not enforce their perpetual imprisonment in that tower. You do not police their choices of magical practices. Do I need to go on?" He glared at Alistair.

"You don't like templars," Alistair concluded.

"No."

"But... aren't you a soldier yourself?" Alistair squinted. "Duncan had mentioned something or other... an officer even... from a foreign land, perhaps, but still..."

"I am an Agent of the Imperial Legion of Tamriel, yes," Wolf nodded. "But it is irrelevant here. My mission is to fight the Blight with the Grey Wardens, and our ranks are currently limited to you and me. We have to focus on what we, Grey Wardens, do, and how we do it. We have to leave our prior lives behind... including our prior habits. Grey Wardens fight to win, do they not? Grey Wardens do not police mages."

"Grey Wardens have mages in their ranks, normally," Alistair nodded. "Point taken. Don't you have a word for warriors like us? Battle-mages or something?"

"Battlemages is what we call knights that also use magic, yes," Wolf nodded. "Templars are battlemages too, just of a different kind."

"They use magic to disrupt mages," Alistair sighed. "I never looked at it this way, but it's true, of course. Our land must seem pretty backwards to you..."

"Every land has different laws, and I don't judge," Wolf shrugged. "Although I have my doubts whether imprisoning all mages can really be the answer... Just look what it led to here, in Redcliffe... with the Arlesse being so afraid to lose her son to the tower, that she preferred to go against the law and make the boy an apostate... Even if that mage she hired hadn't poisoned the Arl, the boy would have been condemned to death for not being in the tower, all long before he was even old enough to make up his own mind."

"It's a mess, granted," Alistair sighed. "Gosh, am I glad I'm not the one leading this campain..."

He smiled and relaxed, and Wolf was glad that peace was restored in their little group. "Grey Wardens fight to win," he repeated to himself. "Grey Wardens do not allow chivalry or even morality get in the way of victory... I wonder where it would lead, and whether it would go too far... whether it had gone too far in the past already..." Something was telling him that he would eventually find out. Could two Grey Wardens stand against the Blight? Not if they were too picky in their choices of allies, he was certain. And yet some principles had to be maintained, and Wolf decided that he would do what felt right, using his own morality as a gauge. Whether it was right or wrong he didn't know, but it was something he could maintain with consistency. "If it were up to Alistair, Grey Wardens would have no mages in their ranks," he reflected. "It's just as well that he isn't leading this campain..."

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E387 - Red mist

When Wolf and his party arrived at the Tower of Magi, they found the gates locked, with no one going in or out.

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it?" Wolf turned to Alistair. "It's not supposed to be a literal prison, is it?" Alistair shrugged his shoulders, he too was surprised, it indeed wasn't supposed to be a literal prison, at least not in appearances.

They knocked once or twice, but there was no response. Yet they needed to speak to the mages for two reasons: one was to ask them to help free a boy from possession at the Redcliffe Castle, and the other was the matter of the ancient trieaties pledging help to the Grey Wardens in times of the Blight. Both were important and could not just be brushed away, and so Wolf continued knocking on the door until his banging became truly deafening.

"Alright, alright, I hear you, stop that noise already!" A closed helmet appeared in the door. "The Tower is closed. No one is to go in or out. Now get lost." And the door was shut in their faces again.

"Erm..." Wolf picked up a rock from the ground. "If you think you'll get rid of me that easily, you've got it wrong, pal..." Banging on a metal door with a rock was much louder than banging on it with a fist.

"What?!!" The helmet appeared in the door again. "I told you to get lost!!"

"And I need to speak to the mages," Wolf quickly put his shield in the door. "I am a Grey Warden and we need their help fighting the Blight."

"You can be my mother's maid, for all I care, I still won't let you in," the helmet retorted. "Closed is closed." However, with Wolf's shield stuck in the door, he couldn't shut it.

"Your mother's maid?" Wolf smirked. "Quite fond of the girl then, are we?"

"Erm..." The helmet looked up and sighed. "Persistent, aren't you? A Grey Warden, you say? Well, I'll let you in. The Knight Commander will kick you out in a minute anyway..."

...

"The Tower of Magi is closed - permanently." The Knight Commander stood firm watching Wolf approach. "We've had a... situation. We've sent away for the Rite of Annulement, and until then the tower has been sealed."

"And what happens when this Rite arrives?" Wolf didn't like it already.

"We shall set the tower on fire and maintain it until it burns down to the ground," the Commander smirked. "What do you think will happen? We'll go in and kill everything and everyone in there who isn't dead already."

"What is this 'situation' that you've been having?" Wolf squinted.

"A mage rebellion," the Knight Commander shrugged. "A bad one - with blood magic. There are demons and abominations inside."

"And mages, presumably?" Wolf asked dispassionately. "Fighting those demons and abominations?"

"If they are still alive, yes, some of my templars as well. But they are all forfeit now, or they will be, once the Rite of Annulement arrives." He sighed with regret. "I don't want to do it, you know. A small group of mages rebelled, but they summoned demons using blood magic, both of which is forbidden. And with a good reason! It's dangerous... The demons are too powerful for this world... And they took over the tower, there's fighting on every floor. We templars cannot control it any longer, so the only way to resolve it is to kill everyone indiscriminantly, which we can do still... We will probably just set fire to it all..."

"Allow me to go in and try to help defeat the demons," Wolf asked calmly.

"Are you mad?!" The Knight Commander looked at Wolf with doubt. "You don't know what's behind that door!"

"I don't," Wolf nodded. "But I do know that without mages in our ranks, we will not stand against the Blight because the Archdemon, he does have mages... I have to try."

"We can do without mages, I am certain of it!" Alistair said in a loud, clear voice. "We do not need mages. We can slay darkspawn with swords and arrows alone!"

Morrigan smirked hearing this, Leliana nodded and Wolf turned to Alistair, still calm as ever.

"Is that Alistair the Grey Warden speaking or Alistair the templar?" He asked coldly. "Or perhaps Alistair the Crown Prince? Ready to wipe out all mages in his Kingdom?"

Alistair paled, that blow was below the belt.

"How dare you..." He exhaled.

"I dare," Wolf's voice turned to ice. "Ferelden has but two Grey Wardens to stand against tens of thousands of darkspawn troops with a dragon leading them. Just you and me. I dare to remind you of your duty - we are here to build an army, an army stronger than the one that was crushed at Ostagar led by a King who underestimated the danger."

Alistair remained silent for a short time, then he shook his head as if clearing it of fog.

"Yeah, you are right... I don't know what came over me..."

"Oh, I know what came over you," Wolf spoke in a much softer tone, leading Alistair out of earshot. "The Chantry still has its hold on you. We are amidst templars, and all the brainwashing that you received, is coming to the fore. I see it is too strong still. Stay behind, sit this one out. I'll take someone else with me."

"You need my templar skills though," Alistair objected. "To disrupt magic... it works against demons as well as against mages, you know."

"It would have been useful, but we'll manage without," Wolf nodded. "Your mind isn't strong enough yet." Then, returning to the Knight Commander, he said with resolve: "We'll go in. Don't burn down the tower until we're back."

"I'll wait another day," the Knight Commander sighed. "But if you don't return by then... well... You are quite mad, you know."

Wolf nodded and stepped through the door to the tower proper.

...

Everything inside the tower was covered in blood. There were corpses everywhere - mages, templars, servants... it didn't look like anyone was still alive. Strange fleshy sacks adorned the walls, with blood dripping off them.

"What is this?" Wolf turned to Morrigan. "I thought demons were spirits, so what's with all the flesh hanging like in a slaughterhouse?"

"Demons are spirits," Morrigan nodded. "They feed on our souls. But they also draw power from blood... I am not entirely sure how, exactly. These fleshy sacks are not corpses, they are demonic growth..."

"It's gross and it stinks to high heaven!" Leliana pinched her nose. "Is it like this in the rest of the tower? I think I am going to be sick!"

"It is like this in the rest of the land as well," Wolf looked at her sideways. "Welcome to the Blight, Sister! Didn't your Maker warn you about the smell?"

Leliana bit her lip but stopped complaining. Bob shot into a side passage, returning a few minutes later with a huge rat in his mouth. Morrigan rolled her eyes. Leliana giggled. They continued into the tower.

...

"Stop right there and do not approach!" A threatening voice up ahead stopped them in their tracks. "Who are you?" An older woman held her staff poised at them.

"Wynn?" Wolf recalled meeting her at the army camp in Ostagar. "You survived Ostagar as well?"

"Do I know you?" She peered into Wolf's face but did not stand down. "Ostagar? You seem familiar..."

"I was one of the new Grey Warden recruits," Wolf reminded her. "We spoke briefly... There were many mages there, has anyone else survived?"

"Ah... yes, now I remember," Wynn relaxed her stance and put away her staff. "What's your name, young man?"

"Wolf," he answered, smiling at the "young man" designation. Young compared to her, no doubt.

"Quite a few of us survived, in fact," Wynn continued. "The King wanted us to join the battle after Loghain's assault, and since that never happened... well..." She sighed and shook her head. "We fought our way out of there when all was already lost."

"What is happening here?" Wolf changed the topic.

"You went in not knowing?" Wynn raised an eyebrow. "Demons, abominations and blood mages have taken over our tower. I sealed the door to protect the children here... but I don't know how much longer I can maintain the barrier." She wiped her brow and Wolf realised just how tired she looked. "Is the Knight Commander not with you?"

"No," Wolf didn't know how to say it, seeing cautious childen's faces peeking from behind a door. "The Knight Commander sent for the Rite of Annulement." He decided to be direct.

"What?! Leaving us to die here?!" Wynn was indignant. "Ooh, I shall not go down so easily! Let him come! After Ostagar, there's little that frightens this old woman!"

"I say these mages are getting what they deserve," Morrigan was looking at the other mages in the room with disdain. "To allow themselves to be imprisoned like that, to be trodded upon by the Chantry and its templars... They have no pride, no self-esteem! Leave them to die then!"

Remarkably, several mages backed off as if Morrigan's words burned them like fire. Even Wynn had nothing to say.

"I too find this law peculiar, to say the least," Wolf nodded. "And it seems that some mages tried to rebel. And this is the result," he waved his hand at the fleshy sacks.

"Hmm..." Morrigan looked at him sideways. "They didn't do it right, obviously... couldn't control the demons..."

"Controlling demons is no easy matter, if even at all possible," Wynn said calmly. "That is why we object to summoning them. Demonology is still in its infancy, but with the research being based on unethical methods, it is never going to be allowed... So all that is left is to refrain from it altogether."

"As if you can refrain from meeting demons in the Fade!" Morrigan turned to Wynn, surprised to hear her join the argument.

"It's not the same though, is it?" Wynn smiled at Morrigan. "But perhaps we should focus on the situation at hand. I am willing to go in and try to slay as many demons as I can, but you must remain here and protect the children," she turned to Wolf. "They are innocent in this."

"No, I shall go in and fight the demons and you stay here and look after the kids," Wolf shook his head.

"Why don't you both go and I shall stay behind and play hide and seek with the children?" Leliana joined in with a short laugh. "The Knight Commander was right - you are quite mad, you know."

"Well, I am not going to squander this opportunity to play with demons!" Morrigan stepped forward. "I am going in!"

They looked around searching for Bob, but he seemed to have disappearred into another corridor after an even bigger rat, so that discounted him as well.

"Sten?" Wolf turned to the quanari companion. "Fancy coming along to stretch your legs?"

A low grunt was his reply and Sten stepped forward. Demons weren't exactly darkspawn, but it was better than sitting in camp doing nothing.

"Well... Alright then," Wynn looked at each of them in turn. "That's quite a party." She smiled at Sten and dissolved the barrier.

...

They found the same thing on every floor. Flesh sacks on the walls, corpses on the ground, overturned furniture blocking the way. They faced a few demons and dispatched them without too much trouble, and Wolf wondered what had really taken place there. What were the rebels trying to achieve? It wasn't just a protest, it was an attempt to seize power.

"Who is in charge here normally?" He asked Wynn. "Is it the Knight Commander?"

"He'd like to think so," Wynn frowned. "But no, he is not in charge. Sure, the templars have swords and shields, but look how easily they were defeated by a small group of rogue mages... Perhaps we do allow this encarceration through our compliance..." She shot a sideways glance at Morrigan who was pretending that Wynn wasn't there. "The First Enchanter is in charge," she answered Wolf's question. "His office is on the floor above us, although I doubt he'd be at his desk..."

"Then we must find him, or find his body," Wolf decided.

The First Enchanter's office was empty. There weren't even any demons in it, and Wolf started going through the papers. Wynn objected at first and tried to stop him, but he replied that he still didn't understand what was going on, and when Wynn couldn't explain how a small group of rogue mages managed to defeat so many mages and templars, she had to concede that she didn't understand it either.

"And you are one of the Senior Enchanters," Wolf shook his head. "So if you don't know it..."

"Well, I may have missed a meeting or two," Wynn smiled. "Very well, let's see what we can find."

They didn't find much. The First Enchanter had some cryptic notes, some letters and some lengthy treateses on his shelves, but none of it explained what happened. Then, as they continued going through the tower, they were attacked by mages rather than demons.

"Don't kill them all!" Wolf shouted just in time. These were indeed the rebels.

"Petra!" Wynn stood over a defeated mage. "I never! Explain yourself!"

"It's simple, Wynn, open your eyes and see," Petra smirked. "Most of us were never allowed to leave this tower, unlike yourself. What makes you so special? You have no idea what it was like!"

"But turn to blood magic?" Wynn frowned.

"It's not blood, it's demons where we went wrong," Petra shook her head. "Just ask the First Enchanter. Blood magic is only forbidden because it makes it possible to summon demons..."

"And because it makes it possible to manipulate other people's minds!" Wynn retorted.

"Oh please!" Petra rolled her eyes. "There are scores of other spells that do just that, and they are perfectly legal..."

"I hate to interrupt this learned discourse," Wolf interjected. "But I would rather like to know what happened here and what led to it, minus the moral aspect. What were you rebels trying to achieve?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Petra looked up in surprise. "You mean, it didn't happen?"

"What didn't happen?"

"Loghain didn't send his troops?"

"Loghain?" Wolf squinted. "His name does keep turning up as a bad penny, doesn't it? No, he didn't send his troops. Was he supposed to? Explain."

"Uldred told us it already happened..." Petra shook her head. "He lied... Uldred is our leader," she looked up at Wolf. "During the last council meeting he proposed that the Circle of Magi should join Loghain in his coup against the King. Our mages were to retreat with Loghain's troops from the battle at Ostagar, and in exchange Loghain would free us from the Chantry and its templars. But the First Enchanter refused, along with some senior mages. The First Enchanter wanted to send word to the King..."

"But that's treason!" Wynn cried out. "When was this meeting?"

"After you left for Ostagar," Petra looked at her. "If the First Enchanter had agreed, you would have received word in time."

"Somehow I doubt that..." Wynn shook her head.

"Hmm... But that doesn't explain what happened here." Wolf was getting impatient.

"I was just getting to that. Uldred told us that since the First Enchanter refused to cooperate, we should force his hand by staging a rebellion in this tower during the following council meeting. This way we'd have all the senior mages in the same room, you see," she smiled slyly. "We'd summon a few lesser demons, kill a few templars, make a lot of noise and thus allow Loghain's troops to enter the tower while the templars would be busy with us... And Loghain would then remove the First Enchanter and free the mages. But since he isn't here..."

"You are not getting freed," Wolf finished her sentence. "He isn't coming. Do you want me to kill you now or do you prefer to take your chances with the templars? Because I think they'll execute you anyway."

Petra shook her head and Wolf took it for the choice to stay alive for now.

"And so this is why the fighting continued," Wynn concluded as they moved on. "They might have started by summoning lesser demons, but that ripped up the Veil and then other demons started coming through, without being summoned. That's the danger with demons. The plan was to repair the Veil quickly after a short battle, no doubt, but it didn't work out that way..."

"Can the Veil still be repaired?" Wolf started wondering whether the Knight Commander had a point with his Rite of Annulement.

"Oh yes, it can be repaired," Wynn said with certainty. "We need to find the First Enchanter."

"Welcome, welcome!" A deep, booming voice greeted them as they entered the next hall. "Come, it has been a long day. Come, rest, relax. Sit by the fire, it's warm. You must be hungry - we have stew and soup, or do you prefer roast..?" The voice started trailing off, and Wolf suddenly realised just how tired he was. A break was long overdue, and the stew and the roast smelled so much better than the fleshy sacks of demonic growth... surely, a rest could not hurt...

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E387 - A warrior in the Fade

"Is this... Elsweyr?" Wolf looked at the strange sandy landscape around him. "No, it's too cold for Elsweyr," he decided. "What is this place?" He saw dunes with tall, dead trees lining the paths, like a strange but cultured garden.

He walked down a path and came to a clearing with several magical portals and a sundial.

"Hello!" Someone greeted him from behind the trees. "Are you new here?"

"I am new here, yes," Wolf walked towards the sound of the voice. A man of about his age was walking towards him. He wore mage's robes but had no staff.

"I am Niall," he introduced himself. "I've been stuck here... well... for a while now. But you... you don't look like a mage."

"I am not a mage," Wolf shook his head. "Name's Wolf. What is this place?"

"It's the Fade," Niall gave Wolf a long look. "Then you met the demon in Mundus..."

"We've been fighting demons in the mages' tower, yes," Wolf nodded. "How did I get here?"

"It's the Sloth Demon," Niall explained. "Like many others, he entered Mundus through the tear in the Veil. Did he offer you rest? And you accepted? There's no shame in this, you could not refuse even if you had tried..."

"We are trapped then," Wolf sighed.

"We? You and I, you mean? Afraid so."

"I meant my companions... Are they here as well?"

"You weren't alone? Yes, they are likely here too," Niall nodded.

"How do we get out?" Wolf looked around, but didn't see an exit.

"Get out?" Niall gave a short laugh. "You don't. Well, I couldn't. You don't have much time - the demon is feeding off your soul, weakening it every minute you stay here... It does not take long, and there isn't enough of it left to return to Mundus. Then you die."

"Then I have to hurry," Wolf decided. "You said there was a way out. What do I do?"

"Nothing dampens your spirit, does it?" Niall smiled. "Alright, here's what I learned - this will save you some time. This domain has islands, they are linked and they reinforce each other. Each island has a lesser demon guarding it. You have to defeat all five lesser demons to unlock the central island where you will presumably face the Sloth Demon himself. I didn't get that far, don't know..." Niall paused, and Wolf noticed peculiar paleness in his face. Was that because he'd been in the Fade for too long? "But there are obstacles along the way. Different types of doors and passages, portals and stairs. There are other dreamers here too, and enemies - so many enemies. You are not meant to go looking for an exit, you see. The Sloth Demon makes you comfortable, so that you just relax and let him devour your soul without resistance..."

"How do I get through those various doors?" Wolf was listening intently, he promised himself not to relax.

"The other dreamers, some of them have learned to take on other shapes that let you pass through those doors. You'd have to collect several in order to reach each of the lesser demons, or to find your companions. And you have to hurry..." Niall smiled, he was looking very weak.

"I must try," Wolf checked his sword. "I shall be back, I hope. Will you still be here?"

"I'll be here," Niall nodded. "I have no strength left to go anywhere else." He sat down on a bench and smiled at Wolf. "Those sundials are actually Fade Pedestals," he pointed. "Portals of sorts. You can move from island to island through them, but you have to unlock the islands first. Good luck, Wolf."

Wolf nodded and approached the pedestal. As he touched it, runes appeared before him, a plan of the domain. One island was highlighted - the island he was on, he realised. He would have to start by exploring it and see if anything changed.

...

"Portal to portal, down the path, turn left, fight a demon... or may be just a spirit, who knows... down another path, through the portal... How do I get back to Niall?" Wolf started feeling discouraged. "Alright, alright! Keep going... May be something'll come up..."

...

"Hey! Hey!!!" A very high pitched voice sounded from somewhere below the ground. "Over here!!!" No, not below the ground - on the ground, in the bushes. What? A mouse?

"Now I know I'm dreaming - it's a talking mouse," Wolf said loudly.

"There's no need to be rude!" Said the mouse. "I am not a mouse. Well, I am now... I'm stuck in this form! I was so afraid of all the spirits, I got transformed... not sure how it happened, but hey, it's the Fade. And now I'm stuck!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Wolf crouched in front of the mouse. "That's tough."

"It has its perks though," the mouse walked over to a mouse hole. "See these? They connect sections of this island. I can go places where you cannot."

"Ah, that's what Niall was talking about!" Wolf realised that it was one of those special doors. You needed a special form to get through, in this case a mouse. "I want to learn your form. How did you do it?"

"I said I don't know," the mouse replied in a hurt voice. "I was afraid - then it happened. Do you want me to scare you so that you can transform too?"

"Err... I am not sure that would work," Wolf rubbed his chin.

"Oh, you think you're so big and strong and cannot be scared by a mouse?" The mouse replied defiantly. "Well, even huge elephants are afraid of us mice, I'll have you know!"

"Hmm." Wolf got up. "You'll have to do better than that. I'm not scared yet."

The mouse turned around and disappeared into a mouse hole nearby.

"Oh great," Wolf swore. "Now he's gone and I can't follow." He stared at the little hill of a mouse hole with a narrow passage going into the earth. "I want to get through." He crouched before it. "If I can't learn the mouse form, I won't be able to leave." He imagined getting paler and paler, like Nial. He would lose his strength and would not be able to lift his sword... he would just sit there and let the Sloth Demon feed off his soul, sucking it dry like a coconut through a straw... then discarding his empty shell... his physical body would die and be raised as a walking corpse in service of the demon in all eternity... "Whoa!!!" Wolf jumped up. That was a scary prospect. Suddenly the earth moved towards him and the tiny passage of the mouse hole grew in size, and now he could enter and walk in it freely. Or crawl... no, walk, run... on all fours... He was now a mouse.

"I see it worked after all," the mouse greeted him on the other side of the passage. "See you around, mouse!" He ran off, and Wolf proceded exploring this new part of the island.

...

It took some practice, but after a while Wolf learned to transform into the mouse form and back into a man at will. This was just the first step, but he felt it was important to master it, and then other forms would come easier. He wanted to believe it, anyway. He went through several mouse holes and portals and somehow found himself in the clearing where Niall was still sitting on a bench.

"Something happened," Niall greeted him. "I felt vibrations. What did you find?"

"I learned the mouse form," Wolf smiled and transformed back and forth to demonstrate. "I explored the rest of this island and defeated something... it wasn't a demon, I think, but it seemed different from the rest."

"It's your first key," Niall nodded. "I managed that too. Now you know how it goes."

Wolf stepped to the Fade Pedestal and saw several runes light up - he could now enter a few other islands. He picked one.

...

Each island presented new challenges and took time to go through. There were still many doors that Wolf could not open, and he realised that the mouse form was only the beginning of a long and arduous journey, a journey meant to seep his strength. He started looking for shortcuts, building a map of the domain in his mind. Yes, it could be done, each island could be mapped out, divided into sections, subdivided into rooms, with doors that he could or could not open, yet. But did he have enough time to do it? He could not tell.

From time to time he returned to Niall - he had figured out how to find him. There was nothing new that Niall could tell him, but Wolf found it comforting to talk to someone who had attempted the same journey. They discussed Wolf's progress, and Niall tried not to sound discouraging.

Finally Wolf had learned enough forms to get to the first lesser demon. They fought, Wolf won. It was hard, but nothing that Wolf could not handle. He felt a little of his strength and determination return to him, perhaps that was the key. The second lesser demon wasn't that hard either, and it opened a way to a new island. As Wolf stepped through the portal, he found Morrigan argueing with her mother.

"You are not my mother - begone, demon!" Morrigan was having none of it.

"Impertinent, as always!" Flemeth replied and slapped Morrigan across the face. "You should know your place, girl!"

"Ah, that's more like it, but that's too little, too late, demon!" Morrigan laughed in her face. "You are nothing like my mother!" She attacked the demon and soon it was defeated.

"Interesting," Morrigan turned to Wolf. "I've been attacking her since I got here, but it is only now that I could defeat her... Why is it I wonder?"

Wolf was about to say something, but Morrigan dissolved into thin air before she could even finish her sentence.

"Does that mean she is free?" He wondered. There was nothing else to do on that island, so he pressed on.

The next lesser demon was significantly harder to defeat than the first two. It was a powerful spirit, and Wolf's sword wasn't having much of an effect.

"You do not die outright in this domain," the spirit told him when he lay on the ground, defeated. "The Sloth is in no rush. There is no escape and resistance is futile, mortal."

After a while Wolf was able to get up, but he felt weaker than before. Perhaps that demon was too strong for him. He went away and tried another island, learning another form - that of a spirit.

"Why don't you use your new forms in battle?" Niall suggested when Wolf told him of his defeat. "What have you got? A burning man, a golem, a spirit... perhaps they are not just for opening doors."

"How far did you come, Niall?" Wolf was wondering whether he had enough strength to do it all.

"I defeated four lesser demons, learned all the forms... but I took too long trying to figure it out, and the Sloth had seeped too much of my strength by then. I could not continue." He smiled with sadness. "I was just getting defeated by every spirit I met."

"That's too bad, I am sorry," Wolf shook his head.

"Go. You are not done yet," Niall urged him on.

Speed was the key. Wolf was making steady progress, with ample use of the mouse form to find shortcuts and to scout the area before engaging angry spirits. He could not avoid the fights altogether, but stealth gave him an edge. He was switching from form to form depending on the enemy, and felt himself quite the mage for doing so. Wolf Asgarsen - a mage? He never pictured himself as one. Back in Tamriel he learned a little magic, just healing and shielding, but wasn't good at it and preferred to rely on potions instead. But here, these transformations were something else.

Finally the central rune on the map lit up, that final island must house the Sloth Demon. Wolf took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Sep 12 2024, 08:17 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E387 - Demons

The Sloth Demon was far stronger than the lesser demons that Wolf fought previously. He lost the battle so quickly, that the demon just laughed.

"Come back if you want to try again, mortal," the demon smirked. "If that's what makes you happy, I'll oblige."

Morrigan appeared out of nowhere - she wasn't free yet, she was being held on another island with nothing to do.

"Not even a demon to bother me, can you imagine?!" She ran up to Wolf, helping him up. "So, what happened to the others?"

"I haven't found them yet, I went straight here," Wolf confessed, realising that it was a mistake. "Can you come with me? It'll be easier going together."

Morrigan tried to follow, but when Wolf stepped through a portal, she wasn't with him on the other side.

"Got to do it myself then," he sighed.

Releasing Wynn and Sten wasn't hard, now that he had learned all the forms. They too vanished when their respective demons were defeated, and Wolf hoped to find them all on the central island. Perhaps together they could overcome the Sloth Demon.

...

"That was one hell of a battle," Wolf got up after yet another knock-out. "Did we get him this time?"

"We did, finally," Wynn nodded, still casting healing magic at everyone. "It's a good thing you don't die in battle in this domain! We would have been dead long ago."

"We can still find ourselves dead," Wolf objected. "The Sloth Demon lies defeated, but we are still in the Fade. How do we get out? We should go back to Niall, may be he has an idea."

Niall was amazed to see them all.

"Wow, you've really done it!" He turned to Wolf. "I felt it - the earth shook! Did you defeat the Sloth Demon?"

"We did, eventually," Wolf nodded. "But now what? We're still here, trapped as before."

"Yes, that is a problem," Niall nodded. "Demons are immortal, of course... You defeated it, but he isn't dead. His realm still holds, even without his presence or that of the lesser demons. It's just a bit safer here for now, that's all. But..."

"Wait... So what are you saying?" Wolf shook his head in disbelief. "That there's no way out, no matter what we do?!"

"That's... that's what the Sloth would like you to believe..." Niall smiled. "I've been thinking about that while you were gone. What would happen if you were to defeat the Sloth? Apparently nothing. But I believe it is an illusion."

"So there must be a way out after all," Wynn nodded. "But it is masked. The locks are gone but the door is hidden..."

"We are in the Fade," Morrigan joined in. "A realm of spirits. Our bodies are of course still back in Mundus... We have to return our spirits into our bodies, and now that the Sloth lies defeated, he cannot hold us. We should not wait too long though, for he will rise again."

"Alright, so what do we do?" Wolf looked at the three mages in turn. "Stop talking in riddles, I am no mage, I don't understand how to return my spirit into my body!"

"You just have to will it," Niall said quietly. "Now that the locks are gone, that's all that it takes. You have to want to leave."

"I certainly want to leave!" Sten said loudly, having spoken for the first time. "We quanari are not permitted to enter the Fade! We burn incense by the bed to prevent it happening during sleep... Of course I was forced into it this time, but I am keen to correct this as soon as I can! So I am going!" He finished with emphasis, there was a puff of smoke and Sten disappeared.

"See - his will was strong," Niall nodded. "So go. There are still demons to fight in the tower."

"And you? Aren't you coming with us?" Wolf looked into his face but the answer was clear - Niall was too weak.

"I'd love to, believe me," he smiled. "But the Sloth had already seeped too much of my strength. Even if I did manage to leave now, I would die in Mundus - my body has withered along with my spirit. I prefer to stay here and dissolve in time, and perhaps help someone else, who knows..."

"I am so sorry, Niall..."

There wasn't anything else they could do or say, except may be one last thing.

"When you are back in Mundus, find my body," Niall suddenly said with renewed strength. "It should be in the same hall... the Sloth does not move much. There's a scroll in my pocket - it disrupts blood magic, when the mage is trying to turn another mage into an abomination to fight for him... Oh yes, I know what is going on. I was going to confront Uldred, but by the time I found that scroll in the library, the tower was already overrun... and my companions dead... But you - you can do it!"

"You found the Litany of Andrala?" Wynn looked up in surprise. "But that was lost to the ages, believed destroyed..."

"Well, it wasn't," Niall smiled. "But it took a long time to find. Too long. Take it and use it - good luck to you!"

...

"Niall gave his life to find the one thing that will stop this horror," Wynn picked up the scroll from Niall's body. "We must not waste this chance."

"Niall had companions," Wolf corrected her. "They too gave their lives for this. It's time to end it."

They didn't have far to go - there was just one floor left to explore, the very top of the tower, which had a single hall. Uldred had to be there.

He was. Surrounded by demons and abominations, Uldred was in the process of converting senior mages to his side. He'd summon a demon, subdue a mage with the help of the other demons, and allow the newly arrived demon to possess the mage, thus turning him into an abomination. He believed the abominations to be his servants... but even Wolf could see that it was only an illusion.

"Loghain will have the strongest army the world had ever seen!" He cried, madness shining in his eyes. "An army of demons! All at my command!"

"You cannot control the demons, fool!" An old mage replied defiantly. He was kneeling, his hands tied behind his back. "The demons are controlling you every step of the way!"

"You do not believe me, First Enchanter! But you will! I'm keeping you for last! But you too will join my army!"

It was then that Uldred noticed Wolf and his party entering the room.

"And who do we have here?" He cried in surprise. "Two warriors and two mages - have you come to stop me? I recognise you, Wynn, but who are your companions?" He laughed with derision. "But actually, I don't care! Join the queue! You too can be useful in Loghain's demon army!"

There was no talking to Uldred, and Wolf attacked.

"Remember the Litany of Andrala!" Wynn called out to him, trying to shout over the noise of the magical explosions. "Use it when you notice a mage being raised into the air to be made into an abomination! Use it, even if it kills that mage!"

"Use it - how?" Wolf tried to ask, but the battle was too intense for conversations. Had Wynn forgotten he was no mage? Why did he have the Litany while they had two mages in the group? Why didn't Wynn keep the Litany and used it at the right time?

But there was no more time for questions. Wolf had to watch the battlefield, as well as fight the demons, the abominations, the walking corpses and even some darkspawn that appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly he saw a luminous circle forming around one of the senior mages who was kneeling against the wall with his hands tied up, just like the First Enchanter. "That's one of the victims," Wolf decided. "And Uldred is now trying to convert him into an abomination. Use the Litany to stop him... Err... Use - how?" But with every moment he was hesitating, the mage was being lifted higher and higher into the air, and there - he already started the transformation into a grotesque fleshy corpse that was the shape of Uldred's abominations in Mundus.

"Use the Litany!!!" Wynn shouted. "Now!!!"

"Alright! It's a scroll... and what do you do with scrolls? You read them!" Wolf decided to try the most obvious thing. He backed against the wall, away from battle, sheathed his sword and unrolled the scroll. The words were in some old, foreign language, but the script was familiar, so he just read them out as best he could, without understanding any of it. The luminous circle around the mage faded and vanished, and the mage fell to the ground, dead. He had gone too far in his transformation - his body had already withered. "Next time I have to do it sooner!" Wolf thought with regret. From that point on he watched the battle closer, fought less and focused on reading the Litany in time.

The battle was ferocious. Uldred may not have controlled the demons in the room, but they were keen on fighting anyway, so it looked like he controlled them. It encouraged him beyond measure. He turned into a huge ogre and did great damage to Wolf's party. Fortunately, he had to turn back into a man when he wanted to make another mage into an abomination, and during that time Wolf's companions had a chance to attack Uldred without the danger of being crushed, while Wolf had to watch his actions carefully and read the Litany just in time to save the victim... And since the demons, corpses and darkspawn in the room did not stop their assault during that time, chaos was complete.

Yet eventually Uldred lay defeated. With his death there was no further danger of seeing captive mages being turned into abominations, and Wolf could rejoin the battle. Demons and corpses continued the fight, and it was painfully obvious that they didn't care in the slightest whether Uldred was dead or alive.

Sten was the first to fall. Although he was the strongest of them all by far, fighting demons required more than strength - it required magic. His mighty battleaxe was only doing small damage to them, distracting them more than anything. It took a while for Sten to realise and accept it, and once he focused on the corpses and darkspawn instead, he started making much more of a difference. However, the demons realised it too. They focused their attack on him, and soon knocked him out.

Wolf did better, partly because he "missed" the first half of the battle trying to keep out and watching Uldred. He was more agile than Sten, and managed to avoid most of the demons' spells. His experience in the Fade was now helping him navigate that battle of spirits. Yet he too became overpowered and knocked out. Fortunately by then the corpses and darkspawn were largely defeated, and Wynn and Morrigan just had the demons to contend with. "Just" the demons...

"You need healing!" Wynn shouted, seeing Morrigan bleed. "Wait - I'll help you!"

"Don't waste your magic on me!" Morrigan shouted back, casting a complex spell. "I'll take life from the dead... You can lecture me on the evil of necromancy later!!" A vortex opened around her, siphoning life energy from the many corpses in the hall, as well as from Wolf and Sten who were not actually dead.

"You'll kill them with your spells, witch!" Wynn noticed it and shouted in anger. "Necromancy makes no distinction between dead and unconscious!"

"They can take it!" Morrigan retorted. "Or else I'll bring them back afterwards! Watch out for that Sloth!!"

A demon greatly resembling the Sloth Demon that they had fought not long ago, rose from the floor, appearing out of nowhere. Was this invasion ever going to end? With the Veil torn, was there anything to stop an endless flood of demons coming through?

"Untie me!" The First Enchanter called to them. "I'll close the tear in the Veil while you battle the demons!"

With Uldred dead, his magical ties on the First Enchanter and the remaining senior mages were broken, and only physical ties remained. Wynn quickly cut his ties and he helped the other mages on their feet, and together they mustered enough power to close the tear in the Veil while Wynn and Morrigan battled the remaining demons.

Yet it wasn't done in a blink of an eye, closing the tear took time, and Wynn got overwhelmed and fell, knocked out. "That's what happens when you focus on restoration only!" Morrigan swore. "You need offensive spells too! Like this one!" A huge blast of fire erupted around her. With all her companions knocked out and the First Enchanter standing out of the way, she could finally use her area spells. They took a lot of magicka, true, but were also very effective. "Aha!" She laughed, seeing the demons cringe. "You didn't like that, did you?"

"Use your anger!!!" A glowing red Rage Demon rose from the floor before her - it was immune to fire and took the place of the others. Besides, it was feeding off the anger of its opponents, recovering some of its strength with each angry hit.

"Ugh!!" Morrigan prepared an ice spell. "I've got something for you!" The spell hit and the Rage Demon shrank at first, but then recovered, glowing brighter than before.

"Calm your anger!" The First Enchanter noticed it and shouted to Morrigan. "It's a Rage Demon!"

"I know it's a Rage Demon!" Morrigan retorted angrily, then bit her lip. A Rage Demon. Quite. "How am I supposed to fight it without getting angry?" She muttered to herself but made an effort to calm down. "Right. I am just going to unleash winter onto this hall..." An iced area spell centered on herself rather than the demon did the trick. It caught the demon in its circle, but there wasn't enough anger in the room to restore it, and it shriveled like a mushroom in a drought.

The remaining spirits were easily dispatched. The battle was over. The Veil had been restored, and no new demons were getting through. Wolf, Sten and Wynn eventually got up from their knock-outs.

"And this is what blood magic can do, and this is why we forbid it," the First Enchanter turned to Wolf. "I know that Grey Wardens do not put restrictions on their mages - the same as many other countries, in fact - but here in Ferelden we have strict rules. Blood magic is absolutely forbidden."

"I see," Wolf nodded, looking around at all the corpses and the bleeding fleshy growth decorating the walls. "And that is why you were so easily overthrown when a small group of mages decided to disagree."

"That... is also true," the First Enchanter gave Wolf a long, penetrating look. "And that is why... ah... but you are not a mage. Keep my papers to yourself, and all will be well."

"Your papers?"

"You have gone through my office, no doubt..."

The First Enchanter winked, and Wolf realised that some of the papers mentioning blood magic might have been more important than he had thought.

"You are a Grey Warden, and therefore you are here to ask us mages for help against the Blight, is it not so?" The First Enchanter assumed a business-like tone. "Yes, I am aware of the treaties. Of course the mages will help. As will the templars, leave it to me. With the Tower of Magi back under our control, things will soon return to normal... with the exception of all those who fell in the fighting, of course..." He sighed with regret.

They were walking through the halls of the tower where the fleshy sacks of demonic growth already started to shrink, but the dead bodies of mages and templars remained unchanged. Yet there were also survivors. Wounded and left for dead, or just lucky to somehow have been overlooked by the demons, some mages and templars were still alive. When our party reached the entrance hall, the Knight Commander froze in disbelief.

"I am not a demon, it's the real me, Gregor," the First Enchanter addressed him and touched his hand. "Feel it."

The Knight Commander took a moment, but then sighed a sigh of relief.

"Indeed, Irving, welcome back! Is it all over?"

"The Veil has been repaired," the First Enchanter nodded. "We have many wounded and even more dead... but the survivors are our first priority."

The Knight Commander didn't need to be asked twice. He was already dispatching his templars into the tower in search of survivors.

"So the Rite of Annulment..?" Wolf had to make sure.

"Is annulled," the Knight Commander smiled, tearing up an official looking scroll with a large red seal of the King of Ferelden. "The mages and the templars will not join Loghain." He smirked, noticing Wolf's surprise. "Oh yes, I read the papers... I do know what that rebellion was really about. We will not turn on Grey Wardens, that I promise you."

With the matters thus settled, Wolf was almost ready to leave. One more request still remained.

"I would like to ask your aid to free a young boy from possession, First Enchanter," he said politely. "Arl Eamon's son at Castle Redcliffe is possessed by a demon..."

"And you wish to save the boy?" The First Enchanter interrupted, fire in his eyes. "Of course... yes... a mage can go into the Fade and fight the demon there... yes... We may not be in the best shape just now, but we can do this... We'll depart as soon as we can!"

"Thank you..." Wolf started but Wynn interrupted him.

"I wish to ask leave to follow the Grey Wardens, First Enchanter," she said firmly. "They need my help."

"Err..." Wolf turned to her in surprise.

"You need my help of a healer, you have no healer in the party," she cut him off. "I may not be a spring chicken any longer, but I am not dead yet either. I am coming with you."

"Is anyone ever going to ask us first before declaring they are coming along?" Alistair joined them. "Another mage?" He shot a glance at Wolf but remembered their conversation earlier and didn't continue.

"Well, what say you, Grey Warden?" The First Enchanter turned to Wolf. "Wynn has never been one to sit in the tower when there was adventure to be had elsewhere..."

"We should be honoured to have her along, of course," Wolf smiled formally and politely, making sure that everyone understood his position. "It is true, we do need a healer. We have a long road ahead..."

And with that he said his goodbyes and the party crossed the lake to their camp, everyone being in need of rest and patching up before tackling the next demon.

[Renee]

Lucien & Lena, planning to get married in six weeks. "Besides, your friends would like to offer their moral support on the day you pledge yourself to the terrible Lucien Lachance" -- that's a great line.

In the next chapter Lena mentions spending 27,000 septims on paperwork. Which lends a clue as to how much money she's got. Always find these things sort of interesting, I do.

Eh, she says she's broke, but she'll earn it back somehow. Always easy to earn in these games, for adventurers, anyway.

http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?s=&...st&p=340284

[Lena Wolf]

Lucien & Lena, planning to get married in six weeks. "Besides, your friends would like to offer their moral support on the day you pledge yourself to the terrible Lucien Lachance" -- that's a great line.

I think they are not too different in that respect though. Lena just looks younger.

In the next chapter Lena mentions spending 27,000 septims on paperwork. Which lends a clue as to how much money she's got. Always find these things sort of interesting, I do.

I remember when I was writing that chapter! We've been having troubles with a building application here in real life! With fees and all! So I took it out on the story! Well, it fitted.

[Lena Wolf]

First Seed, 3E387 - Blood and magic

When Wolf and his party finally got to their camp after their ordeal at the Tower of Magi, everyone was much too tired to talk, let alone to go through the stuff they picked up along the way. It was therefore decided that the following day would be spent resting, for no one was in any shape to battle more demons just then.

As Wolf was sorting bits and pieces that they found in the tower, he made sure to set aside and out of sight any papers that he had collected. Some would have come from the First Enchanter's office, others from random places in the tower. Although Wolf wasn't a mage, he felt that most of it was about politics rather than magic, so decided to go through it himself, not even involving Alistair, who had proven himself to be very biased when it came to mages.

Perhaps the most remarkable discovery turned out to be that of Flemeth's Grimoir.

"Morrigan would like to see this, I am certain," Wolf thought leafing through the pages. It wasn't about magic as such, it explained how Flemeth stayed alive for so long - several thousands of years, if the Grimoir was to be believed. According to the text, whenever she felt that her body was becoming old and withered, she would take an orphan girl and raise her as her daughter. Then, when the girl became a woman, Flemeth would take over her body, thus renewing herself. What happened to the girl's soul, the Grimoir did not clarify. "The soul was either possessed or devoured," Wolf reasoned. "Flemeth didn't seem like she had an army of souls under her possession - and it would have been many, according to this - so then, she devoured them. Hmm..."

"Wolf wasn't sure whether he believed it, exactly. He was also not sure why this Grimoir was lying around in the First Enchanter's office, not hidden and not locked away. Surely, a secret of this magnitude would not be left unprotected. He decided to give it to Morrigan and see what she would do.

Morrigan nearly jumped for joy, as uncharacteristic as it looked. She grabbed the book eagerly and immediately started studying it. Wolf left her alone. Their next task - that of freeing Arl Eamon's son from possession - required a mage, and Morrigan had been eager to do it, but she was also going to make a deal with the demon for her own benefit, and Wolf wasn't so sure it was a good idea. He'd had his fill of demons for the time being. "Perhaps Morrigan will be too distracted reading her mother's Grimoir and skip this trip," he thought and smiled to himself.

But whom should he send into the Fade then? It had to be a mage, so either Wynn ("NO!!") or... ah. He could not explain why he didn't want to ask Wynn to do it, but something about her put him on edge. She was too correct, too righteous, too rigid somehow. As if she had sinned and was now intent on redeeming herself... Wolf thought it very odd, but at the same time they did need a healer, so he figured things would clear up in time. For the moment, however, he was unsure how to proceed with the ritual for the boy.

"Whom would you send into the Fade, Alistair?" He asked, taking Alistair completely by surprise. "To fight the demon that possesses Arl Eamon's son," he smiled, explaining. "Remember? We need a mage for that."

"Oh, yes, that's a good one," Alistair looked puzzled. "It is by far the best solution, no doubt... but yeah, a mage would have to do it... which is to say... err..."

"You don't trust any of them," Wolf finished Alistair's sentence for him. "I am at a loss as well."

"The First Enchanter is bringing several mages with him though, isn't he?" Alistair was pondering the question. "Perhaps one of them could do it?"

They could not solve it sitting in camp, and decided to go to Castle Redcliffe the following day and hope for some fresh ideas on the ground.

...

"We brought lyrium and we have several mages with us ready to start the ritual," the First Enchanter greeted Wolf. "Whom do you wish to send into the Fade? It can be anyone, as long as it is a mage... And, well, you have to trust them."

Wolf looked at the people in the hall. The First Enchanter was an old and wise wizard and would have been perfect for this, if in fact he could go. But he had to stay behind and conduct the ritual. "He is actually also too frail just now," Wolf noticed. "That ordeal in the tower took too much out of him..." Wolf looked at the other senior mages that came from the tower, and thought the same. They were all there, in the top room, held by Uldred, their souls were frayed as the demons were feeding off them... "It is a miracle they are even here and ready to perform a ritual of this magnitude," Wolf shook his head. "On another day, sure, any of them could go into the Fade, but today... No, not them." Wynn was looking eager, trying to catch his attention... Morrigan was lost in Flemeth's Grimoir that she brought with her "to pass the time while we wait", as she put it. There was another mage in the room though - the one that they found in the dungeons, the one that had poisoned Arl Eamon. He just stood there, behind everyone else, but his hands weren't bound, meaning that he had been behaving himself. Wolf walked over to him.

"Walk with me," he said. "What is your name?"

"What?" The mage looked up in surprise. "Err... I am Anders... But why..? I think I am going to be executed as soon as we free the boy. I've been preparing myself..."

"Walk with me," Wolf repeated, leading him out into the courtyard.

They were out of earshot of everyone, yet Wolf continued walking - he wanted to be out of sight as well. Then they found a quiet spot under the trees and sat down for a talk.

"I have been reading some papers about blood magic," Wolf started. "I am no mage, and I am new to this land, I've never heard of it before. We have no blood magic in Tamriel, that I know of." He paused, but Anders didn't say anything, and Wolf continued. "Grey Wardens do not forbid it, so in my eyes, apart from poisoning Arl Eamon, you've done nothing wrong." Again he paused, and again Anders said nothing. "I want to ask you to go into the Fade and confront the demon that's possessing that little boy."

"You what..?!" Anders was so surprised, it took a moment for him to digest what he was hearing. "I am not a qualified mage, are you aware of that?" He squinted. "Still an apprentice... The First Enchanter kept pushing back my Harrowing..."

"The First Enchanter was trying to save your life," Wolf smirked. "Oh, he knew full well what was going on in his tower. I've seen the papers. You're qualified... more than qualified for all you've been through. Minus the poisoning, of course, that was dumb."

"Tell me about it," Anders sighed. "I fell for it like a schoolboy... which technically speaking I still am..."

"Are you aware of the rebellion in the Tower?" Wolf changed the subject.

"I've heard talk..." Anders nodded. "I wasn't a part of it, if that's what you're asking..."

"I know you weren't," Wolf nodded. "I cannot guarantee what will happen to you after we free the boy. In their eyes you're still a blood mage, a maleficar, with sins to overshadow the poisoning of the Arl. I suspect Teagan will want to keep you here in the castle until we revive Arl Eamon somehow... But after that... We'll talk again then."

"I understand," Anders nodded.

"So, will you do it?" Wolf squinted and Anders straightened his back.

"I'll do it," he said firmly. "And no deals. I went so wrong with a human, I expect it would be a hundred times worse with a demon, were I to make a deal. If the First Enchanter allows it, I'll go into the Fade."

"For once, the First Enchanter is not the one calling all the shots," Wolf winked. "Let's go and surprise them, Anders."

...

"Anders will go into the Fade and confront the demon," Wolf announced when they were back in the castle.

"WHAT?!!!"

Everyone was talking at once. Has the Grey Warden lost his mind? Does he not know that it is a Blood Mage he's sending into the Fade? A BLOOD MAGE who summoned that demon in the first place? A MALEFICAR SUPERIOR just waiting to destroy them all? A MASTERMIND unlike any other?!!!

When the shouting finally stopped, Wolf repeated his decision.

"He is none of those things, and you know it, Lady Arlesse," he addressed the mother of the boy who had been shouting the loudest. "Last time we spoke you were ready to hand him your life to perform a blood magic ritual to free your son. You know full well that he is not a maleficar. Stop that hypocrisy or I might take your life myself."

That remark made everyone turn around and stare at Wolf.

"I was a soldier before I became a Grey Warden," he looked into the faces of the civilians around him. "Even Alistair does not know what that means, since he never completed his training. I shall do what it takes to fulfill my mission, which is to defeat the Blight. To that end we need the help of Arl Eamon and his troops, and this is why we have to save his son. Your role in this is only circumstantial, Arlesse. Plus, you were the one who made it all possible, and broke the law as well. If you now stand in my way, I shall have to remove you."

"Wow!" Morrigan looked up from her mother's Grimoir. Everyone fell silent.

"Do as you choose, Warden," the Arlesse said in a fallen voice and stepped back.

"Are you sure?" The First Enchanter threw a questioning glance at Wolf. "Are you not too trusting in this?"

"I am sure," Wolf confirmed. "Anders goes into the Fade."

"Well... Good luck to you, my student," the First Enchanter turned to Anders, smiled and passed him his own staff. "Take this."

"But..?" Anders was perplexed since only his spirit would enter the Fade, he could not take a staff with him anyway... But what a pity... the First Enchanter's staff..! He took it, and felt a surge of energy and magicka from the enchantment... and something else...

Before he knew it, he stood in the Fade.

...

"So it is done," Teagan shook Wolf's hand when Anders awoke from his trance. "The ritual is over, the First Enchanter assures me it went well, and Conor is back to his old self... not having any memory of the possession. It's just as well, I guess." He smiled, watching the boy play. "But I'm keeping Anders here nevertheless," he said with a frown. "He poisoned Arl Eamon, and is therefore under arrest. No, we won't lock him up again, but he must stay in the castle. If the Arl dies, he will hang for murder."

Wolf agreed and their party returned to the camp for rest.

As soon as they settled down, Morrigan pulled him aside.

"You won't believe what I found out!!" She exclaimed, excited and worried at the same time. "From my mother's Grimoir!"

"Well, what did you find out?" Wolf tried not to let her notice that he had already read that Grimoir himself.

"She is only raising me in order to possess my body! She is essentially going to kill me and just use my flesh! Arghhhh!!!!"

"Ugh, that's... err... disturbing," Wolf struggled to find the right word.

"And then some!!" Morrigan was fuming. "The nerve!!"

"Well, she is the Witch of the Wilds..."

"Hmm..."

"Question is: what are you going to do about it?" Wolf squinted. That was a test of Morrigan's character.

"What to do about it? Oh, but there's just one thing to do about it: you must kill her."

"Huh?" He should have expected it, yet he didn't.

"I obviously can't do it because she'd immediately possess me 'ahead of schedule', so to speak, and I'd be nowhere still. Someone else has to kill her, that is you." She looked triumphant, as if Flemeth already lay dead... and that made her very attractive indeed.

"So, you want me to go and kill Flemeth?" Wolf repeated slowly. "Flemeth, the Witch of the Wilds? That Flemeth? A thousand year old being that is probably immortal anyway?"

"Oh, she is not immortal," Morrigan brushed aside Wolf's remark like an annoying fly. "That's just what she wants you to believe... But yes, I want you to kill that Flemeth," she smiled again. It is remarkable how charming she could be, if she wanted to. "Will you do it?"

"Well..." Wolf started, not taking his eyes off her. "Umm..." She kept smiling. "Let's see now..." More smiling. "Well, alright, I'll see what I can do," he finally agreed.

"Excellent!" Morrigan beamed at him. "Don't delay, there's no telling what she'll do. Bring me her spellbook, that is her real Grimoir... it should be in the hut somewhere, she never let me read it properly. Then I'll know that she's dead."

Wolf walked to the central campfire scratching his head. Kill Flemeth... Somehow that seemed like a much greater challenge than all the demons taken together.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those of you who know Dragon Age Origins, will have realised that I changed the name of the mage whom Wolf sent into the fade at Castle Redcliffe. Yes, the mage whom they found locked up in the dungeons, the one that poisoned Arl Eamon... Since Bioware never developed the original character but they did develop Anders, I decided to let Anders come in early. This will make a lot more sense for my story.

As for the original mage character... In Lena's story we've met him already, some 250 years later than the year 3E387 when Wolf Asgarsen was sending a mage into the Fade to fight a demon. So you see, that other guy wasn't even born yet. I felt that the two mage characters had so much in common, that a substitution like that was only natural. After all, who is to say how things really went?

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Sep 15 2024, 08:06 PM

[Lena Wolf]

First Seed, 3E387 - Loyalty

The following morning Wolf went to see Flemeth, only bringing his faithful dog with him. Had he gone mad? Perhaps not entirely.

"So, the Grey Warden returns," Flemeth greeted him, noting the lack of company. "Have you come to kill me?"

"This happened before, hasn't it?" Wolf smiled.

"Not with Morrigan, but before that - yes," Flemeth laughed. "Let me guess - lovely Morrigan discovered something shocking, and you are her knight in shining armour who is supposed to save her from imminent annihilation. Am I close?" She smirked. "Oh, but this is a tale that Flemeth had heard many times before, a tale that she herself had many times retold. So what are you going to do?"

"I have no wish to battle you, and even less to kill you," Wolf said calmly. "I think you can see that. Even though, in theory, if I survived and won, I could in fact devour your soul. I've never done such a thing, mind, but by all accounts that's what Dragonborns do."

"Perhaps I should have left you on the top of that tower in Ostagar then," Flemeth pulled a long face. "But yes, tell is, Dragonborns are a bane for dragons. Of course you would have to defeat me first, which..."

"...is unlikely," Wolf nodded. "Yet I need Morrigan, and I think she is more than just a hedge witch."

"Well, she is my daughter..." Flemeth smiled thinly. "Adoptive, but still. Yes, she is quite special. Which is why I am willing to let her go. This body will serve me long enough to raise another daughter..." She patted her apron. "Or perhaps I'll find another way... What does Morrigan want as proof of my demise? My spellbook, I suppose? Then take it - it's in the hut. I had prepared a new robe for her as well - exactly like her own creation, but with a better enchantment... It dampens her will a little as well - just to take the edge off, not to harm. You might find it useful..." She smiled, then laughed. "Oh, Morrigan is coming of age! It is not how I envisaged it... no, it is better."

"What will you do when I leave?" Wolf was watching Flemeth, realising that her appearance of an old woman was just an illusion... But what was underneath?

"I shall leave here," Flemeth shrugged. "The woods are completely overrun with darkspawn now, there is no point in me staying anyway. A sea of darkspawn can swallow a dragon with ease... The Blight threatens me the same as everyone. Not every dragon is the same..."

"I've met the Archdemon, I know," Wolf nodded. "Thank you, Flemeth, and goodbye... Will we meet again?"

"I have no doubt," Flemeth smiled.

...

"Here is your mother's spellbook," Wolf handed an old hand-written tome to Morrigan. "You are free."

"You've done it!" She beamed, grabbing the book and starting reading it straight away. "Yes, this is the book I meant! The real thing... A Spider transformation grows in power with the mage performing it... Indeed! I always suspected it was the case... yet my spider isn't as deadly as I would have liked... Hmm..." She walked off, completely absorbed in her study. Wolf shook his head and left her new dress in her tent. It looked exactly the same as her old one... would she notice the difference? He was certain she would.

...

"We have to go to the capital and look for the scholar who researched that sacred artefact that could save Arl Eamon," Alistair sat next to Wolf. "We can't really leave him in limbo like that... who knows how long he can stay alive that way..."

"...now that the demon is slain?" Wolf looked at him sideways.

"Demon? What demon?"

"The demon that was possessing the boy... That was the deal: Arl Eamon would stay alive for as long as the boy was possessed."

"Oh... I think I missed that part," Alistair looked confused. "Was the demon keeping its word? Surely, you cannot trust demons?"

"A demon will trick you, that's for sure, but once they give their word, they keep it," Wolf nodded. "The First Enchanter told me. Something to do with magic bonds... They cannot break their promise, it appears."

"Well, that's good, right?" Alistair looked up.

"May be. But that demon is no more. Let's hope Arl Eamon won't die without it."

"So the more reason to hurry to the capital!" Alistair exclaimed. "What..? You don't look convinced..."

"Do Grey Wardens have a base in Ferelden?" Wolf suddenly asked, changing the topic.

"Err... no... not any more," Alistair shook his head. "There's a grand base somewhere up North, but not in Ferelden. There are Grey Wardens in every kingdom."

"Ever heard of Soldier's Peak?" Wolf squinted, passing Alistair a letter. "That chap apparently found an old fortress there, still North, but not that far North. It used to be a Grey Wardens' base centuries ago... but it's been abandoned after something unmentionable happened, and it is now overrun by ghostly apparitions..."

"And that unmentionable wouldn't begin with the letter B, would it?" Alistair squinted at Wolf, scanning the letter.

"Most likely," Wolf nodded. "Blood magic and demons is what we will likely find there, as well as darkspawn of course - darkspawn sauce is everywhere."

"We should probably go there then," Alistair nodded. "But first, I want to return to Ostagar... Yeah, it's overrun by darkspawn, I know. But their army has retreated for now, I can sense it... I want to find the King's body, give him a burial... Find Duncan's body too..." His voice trailed off, but Wolf didn't need convincing, he wanted to return there too. Why - he could not explain.

"Are you two making battle plans?" Leliana joined them with a pack of letters. "We've got mail! Remarkable how even in the times of the Blight, the courier service is still operating..." she mused. "These are mostly from the Chantry," she passed them to Wolf. "Requests to help refugees. If you ask me, those refugees are probably dead already, but not going doesn't seem right either..."

"We'll go," Wolf nodded. "It's on the way. Ostagar first, it's just to the South from here, then turn around and travel North, and look - all these places align quite nicely between Ostagar and Soldier's Peak..."

"What's at Soldier's Peak?" Leliana looked up in surprise.

"Home, I hope," Wolf smiled.

...

The next week or so was spent looking in on all those refugees that Chantry asked about. They went to Ostagar first, as planned. It was covered an bodies and they found the King's body as well as Duncan's, recovered some armour and weapons and made a pyre for the King and for Duncan. Not that the other fallen didn't deserve a pyre, but they could not do it for everyone.

"The King's armour is almost pristine," Alistair was examining the pieces after they reclaimed them from darkspawn. "He didn't get much use out of it..."

"Or it wasn't of much use against the darkspawn," Wolf muttered under his breath. "They got overwhelmed," he said aloud. "It was all over fairly quickly, by the look of things..."

They collected what was still of use, with Alistair taking the King's sword and Wolf taking Duncan's sword and dagger. Neither of them could wear the King's armour that was too heavy, but they took it anyway. They could not stand seeing it fall to darkspawn.

They met more and more darkspawn along the way, the South was well and truly overrun. But even so, those were just stray groups, not the main army of the Blight. They were glad to find some of the refugees still alive and fighting, against all odds. With the Grey Wardens' help, the refugees could now continue their journey North, and may be even reach some place of relative safety.

One group of refugees, however, turned out to be an ambush. A dozen mercenaries attacked them from every angle, but despite their superior numbers, they didn't last very long. The biggest challenge presented a single rogue who seemed to be able to disappear and emerge behind them, backstabbing and poisoning, again and again. But finally, also he was defeated.

"This must be the leader, don't kill him yet," Wolf stopped his companions from finishing off the rogue. "I want some answers."

"Well, you can safely kill me now, for I am already dead," he looked up at them from the ground, not able to rise on his own. "I failed in my mission."

"Your mission?" Wolf crouched before him. "Who sent you? Tell me about it."

"I am an assassin of the Antivan Crows," the rogue answered with a little bow. He was an elf, Wolf noticed. "You've never heard of us? Well, then you must be from a foreign land... which would explain your accent," he nodded to himself. "The Antivan Crows is the most successful and the most expensive and exclusive assassins bureau in Thedas," he explained. "We hardly ever fail, today was really an exception. But then again, we don't normally get contracts on Grey Wardens."

"I see," Wolf looked him over. His armour was of a very good make, and his weapons were even better. "The Antivan Crows are clearly not in financial difficulties," he smirked. "And you are well paid. But who sent you? Do you know?" Wolf realised that assassins did not usually get all the details of a contract, so he would not have been surprised if the elf before him could not tell him who the contract giver was. He had a pretty good idea already, anyway.

"I know, I had to get his signature myself," the elf smiled. "The current King of Ferelden... Well, King Regent or something... Loghain, I think was the name. You have some powerful enemies, Warden."

"Not surprising," Wolf nodded, exchanging a glance with Alistair. "But you failed. What now?"

"To the Crows I am dead already," the elf smirked. "We are not allowed to fail - we are supposed to die trying. Were I to return to Antiva now, the Crows would kill me themselves. So... since you haven't killed me yet... I offer to join you. You are going after the Blight, are you not? That is what Grey Wardens do. I'll join you in your fight which is better than being eliminated by the Crows."

"You are not loyal to the Crows, then," Alistair was looking at the elf with disdain. "How can we be sure that you won't kill us in our sleep?"

"Loyalty is an interesting concept," the elf smiled. "I didn't choose to join them - they bought me on the slave market when I was eleven. They got their money worth many times over - I am pretty good, if I say so myself. And now that I failed, they will kill me, should I return. I have no reason to kill you in your sleep because this contract is already forfeit, word of your continued existence will soon reach the contract giver and he will demand a retry or a refund. In either case, my life is forfeit as well. Being in your company, however, would afford me some protection... So yes, you can be sure that you are safe from me."

"Hmm... I see," Alistair was trying to remain objective, with little success. "But to accept an assassin into our group... that's a sure sign that we're desperate! Do we really have to?"

"If you don't want him to join us, then kill him now," Wolf turned to Alistair. "That shouldn't be too hard. He did attack us first."

"Oh... umm... err..." Alistair backed off. "That does seem a bit extreme..."

"Why? He is an assassin with a contract on our lives," Wolf shrugged. "I am not willing to release him. Either he comes with us, or we kill him. Your choice."

Alistair paled.

"He comes with us," he said meekly.

"Very well, assassin," Wolf turned to the elf, helping him up. "What's your name?"

"Zevran, at your service," the elf gave a little bow. "I am your man until further notice... Oh, I won't stab you in your sleep, you can be sure of that."

[Lena Wolf]

First Seed, 3E387 - Soldier's Peak

When Wolf and his party finally arrived at the Soldier's Peak, they found the fortress abandoned with nothing going on. Yet a strange feeling of foreboding made everyone uncomfortable.

"This fortress has been abandoned for over three hundred years," the fellow who called them there explained. "My grand-grand-grandmother or something was the Commander of the Grey Wardens here. According to history books, Grey Wardens had rebelled against the King, and the King had ordered the Wardens' elimination."

"Sounds familiar," Alistair smirked.

"Yeah, except that we never rebelled against the King, remember?" Wolf objected. "But please, continue," he turned to Levi Dryden, their guide.

"Well, that king was a tyrant - history made its ruling," he picked up his story. "But many think that the Grey Wardens still should have stayed out of politics. The king had ordered a seige of this fortress, returning months later when the supplies had run thin. It wasn't easy by any account, but the king's forces prevailed and the fortress fell... with every Grey Warden slaughtered. The books don't say how many of the king's men fell in that battle, but I reckon many times more than the number of Grey Wardens killed... But that isn't why we, the Drydens, have been dragged through dirt for the past three hundred years. Rumour has it that the Wardens had summoned demons, or used blood magic, or both, I don't really understand it, but the point was they did something unmentionable that decent people just don't do. And my grand-grandmother knew about it, possibly even ordered it... Which is why her name is vilified, and our whole family with her. I hope we can find some proof that she was none of those things, so the name of Drydens could be cleared."

"Well, so far nothing is going on here," Alistair shrugged his shoulders, stepping into the courtyard. "No monsters, no demons, no walking dead, no skeletons or wraiths or anything of the sort... Ouch!!!" A walking skeleton hit him from behind. "Where did this come from?!!!"

"It's called magic, Alistair," Wolf smirked, engaging an enraged walking corpse. "They rose from under the earth as soon as you stepped into the circle of the fortress. Every fallen Warden and every fallen soldier of the king's army are here to attack us. But look on the bright side - there's no darkspawn."

The battle was ferocious even without the darkspawn. The numbers of skeletons and walking corpses were astounding, new waves kept rising to replace the defeated ones. But after a while the courtyard was quiet. For some reason Levi Dryden could walk among the corpses and the skeletons and not even one of them ever attacked him, as if he didn't exist.

"Why are they leaving you alone?" Wolf squinted. "It's good, of course, but strange."

"Perhaps they feel the blood connection?" Levi shrugged. "My grand-grand... whoever was one of them... probably still is, somewhere deeper in."

"The veil is very thin here, demons will soon start appearing," Morrigan noted, sniffing the air. "They are attracted to fresh blood, and you are bleeding," she pointed out Alistair's wound. "You've got to bandage that up."

"That won't make much difference to the demons," Wynn objected. "Although it might make a difference to Alistair," she smirked, helping him with the bandage. "Something evil is awaiting us, I can sense it. I can also sense a magical seal around this fortress, which explains why none of these walking corpses made it out. Someone here is still alive and holding up that seal."

"Could a demon do that?" Alistair asked and shivered.

"It could, in theory," Wynn nodded. "But why would they? Something doesn't add up..."

They could not solve it in the courtyard and decided to enter the fortress keep.

They met more undead inside, they had visions of the final battle. None of it explained anything, so they pressed on, exploring every room in search of some tangible clue or record of the events. They found a library, but most books had perished one way or another, including what looked like a logbook. There were no records to be found.

As they moved further, the corpses were replaced by demons, especially in the central hall where, judging by the visions, the main battle took place. They saw the Commander ordering their mage to summon demons for defense. He obeyed, summoning dozens of them at her command. But, the same as what happened in the Tower of Magi, the demons turned on all humans, making no distinction between the Wardens or the king's men. The demons were in control, not the mage who summoned them. Thus everyone perished.

"So the summoning circles are still active, the Veil is still torn," Wynn concluded. "We need to repair it."

"We cannot repair it without reverting the original summoning magic, you know that!" Morrigan objected. "And where is that mage that cast it? Well, he's been dead for three hundred years, that's where!"

"Then we'll just have to..." Wynn started casting some spell.

"What?!" Morrigan interrupted her casting. "Summon another demon to end all demons? You are getting senile with old age!"

Wynn blushed and scowled, but stopped her incantation. Was Morrigan right? Was Wynn in fact summoning a demon? Wynn, that right-as-rain straight and correct mage? It was hard to believe but it certainly looked that way... Wolf decided not to ask any questions just then though. They weren't done yet, and perhaps further events would clarify matters.

Going further in they found another demon, but it wasn't attacking them. Instead, it wanted to talk. It was wearing the late Commander's armour and was animating her corpse, rotten yet still intact, and Levi Dryden shivered. The demon complained that it could not leave the fortress, that a magical seal was preventing it from leaving. It wanted to go into the world and explore it, it was curious about the mortals, and yes, it would feed on some, but hey, demons had to eat too. It just so happened that human souls was their natural sustenance... And in exchange the demon offered to permanently close the tear in the Veil and prevent any further demons from entering Mundus through it.

"Don't negotiate with a demon," Wynn urged Wolf. "Don't even talk to her... it... whatever. It's a trick!"

"Oh, I think it's no trick," Wolf shook his head. "I think this demon is quite serious and would do as it promises. I've met a few demons just recently, remember?" He turned to Wynn and smiled. "Have no fear, I am not as ignorant as I look."

Morrigan laughed and Alistair scratched the back of his head, not quite getting Wolf's sarcasm. Wynn blushed with anger and stopped talking.

Wolf didn't think that the demon's bargain was worth it, he was sure they could find a way to close that tear in the Veil on their own. But since the demon remembered the battle and the events leading up to it, and since it had access to the late Commander's memories, Wolf wanted information first of all. Yet they did not learn anything new. The demon essentially recounted what they already saw in visions. It wasn't what Levi Dryden wanted to hear - the Commander did order their mage to summon the demons. It was her decision.

When all was told, Wolf refused the demon's offer of a deal, a fight followed, and the demon was slain. The body of Sophia Dryden, a Grey Warden Commander, now lay motionless on the floor. No one wanted to touch it.

"I don't know what to think of my grandmother now," Levi sighed heavily. "We always thought she was brave and honourable, but now it appears she ordered to summon the demons... I just can't square that..."

"Let us continue exploring the fortress," Wolf led him away. "Perhaps there's more to find here."

...

"I hear you, let me just finish this..." An old wizard called out to them when they entered a tower connected to the main keep by a high bridge. "It was about time someone showed up."

He finished his writing and turned around, and they recognised the mage from the visions, the one that summoned the demons. He was much older now, but it was clearly the same man.

"Avernus?" Wolf thought that was the name. "Magister Avernus, is that you? Or are you a demon animating his corpse? Or someone else entirely?"

"I am Avernus, indeed," the mage nodded. "Not a demon. And you must be the boy who stumbled onto this fortress years ago and to whom I've been sending clues ever since..." He turned to Levi Dryden. "I am glad you finally made it here. I don't think I have much longer to live."

"So the dreams..." Levi stood aghast.

"Indeed, I could not leave because I had to keep the seal intact, and I could not very well write a letter... Not after three hundred years..." the mage sighed. "But you were curious enough to go searching for the old fortress held by your grand-grand-grandmother, whose corpse is being animated by a demon as we speak..."

"Not any more," Wolf put in.

"Ah, good," Avernus smiled. "Are you the present day Grey Wardens?" He looked at all of them in turn, somehow recognising the signs in Wolf and Alistair and discounting Morrigan and Wynn. "What, just the two of you?"

"Afraid so," Wolf nodded. "The entire contingent of Ferelden Grey Wardens stands before you, Magister. And of course you know about the Blight."

"Oh yes, I've felt it of course," the mage frowned. "It's bad... but I am not surprised. Well, you've seen the visions, no doubt, you know what came to pass here. Yes, it was I who summoned the demons, and yes, Sophia Dryden, our Commander, ordered me to do so. It was an act of desperation... and of overconfidence on my part. I believed that I, together with our other mages, could control the demons. I know better now, but alas, it's too late."

He fell silent. His tower was a laboratory with cages and tables meant for experimentation on humans. His logbooks were there as well, the only books that were still intact in the fortress. Wolf took the time to read them. The old mage was conducting experiments on a several Grey Wardens that escaped death in that battle. He was trying to tap into the power of darkspawn blood that each Grey Warden had to drink at the Joining. It appeared that his subjects agreed to the experiments, lethal though they were, feeling that it was the last thing they could do for their Order. This research bore fruit, a concoction that would allow to awaken the power of darkspawn in Grey Wardens. It was knowledge obtained at a terrible price, and Wynn would see that concoction destroyed... but Wolf disagreed.

"If I break this vial, those Grey Wardens would have suffered and died for nothing," he told her and drank the mixture. He collapsed and saw the Archdemon again, it was not unlike the vision at the Joining. But something has changed. He felt one with the darkspawn, and when he awoke, he felt a new power surge through his veins.

"Is it blood magic?" He turned to Avernus.

"Of sorts," Avernus nodded. "It's got to do with blood, so yes, it's blood magic. But you are not a mage... Yet it works on you, you say? That is most interesting... I need to make a note of that..." Avernus squinted. "It is supposed to give you a kind of berserk power, I should think... at the cost of your own health... for a time... hmm... try it, and let me know how it goes. I've only tested it on myself, so I know what it does to a mage... but you are a warrior..."

"But this research is inhumane!" Wynn exclaimed angrily, having read the logbooks as well. "Experimenting on human beings! Whether they consented to that, is immaterial! You must be judged and executed for your crimes!" She pointed at Avernus.

"Well, you've judged me already," he chuckled. "Yet, I think, there's more to you than what meets the eye..."

Wynn blushed and stopped talking, and Wolf thought that being a mage, and an old and very experienced mage at that, Avernus must have sensed something about Wynn that Wolf had only guessed. Perhaps Morrigan sensed something as well... perhaps that could explain her hostility towards Wynn and a touch of disdain.

But they had a pressing matter to attend to first and foremost: the tear in the Veil. Avernus would clear his old summoning circles and close the tear, but the Wardens had to watch out for demons and make sure Avernus wasn't interrupted. It was a straightforward, if tiresome battle, and in the end the Veil was restored.

"You have to judge him now, Warden," Wynn insisted. "His crimes against humanity demand immediate punishment!"

"And I think it is I who should judge him - why?" Wolf turned to face her.

"You are the senior Grey Warden of Ferelden," she shrugged. "Or are you not?"

"Well... Alistair is the senior Grey Warden of Ferelden, officially," Wolf smiled. But Alistair was shaking his head violently, so Wolf continued. "Very well. As the senior Grey Warden of Ferelden I declare Avernus has done nothing wrong."

"WHAT?!!!" Wynn was having none of it. "You can't just leave it like that! He must be punished!!"

"I said no," Wolf repeated calmly. "Grey Wardens do not answer to the king, to the Chantry or to the First Enchanter. Besides, it is Avernus who is the senior Grey Warden of Ferelden. The whole thing is ridiculous, Wynn. There's just the three of us. I shall not judge what happened three hundred years ago. Avernus is welcome to stay here or leave or do as he pleases, now that the Veil has been repaired and he no longer needs to maintain the seal around the fortress... which he has done for three hundred years straight. The man deserves a break."

Avernus smiled, listening to Wolf. This was a Grey Warden after his own heart.

"But what of Soldier's Peak?" Levi Dryden suddenly changed the topic. "This fortress? The Dryden family? Was this all for naught?"

"Your grand-grandmother was the best of us, but there is no proof of that and history has judged differently," Avernus turned to Levi. "I am sorry. The fortress is now safe though, so perhaps the Grey Wardens of today can make use of it?"

"Home at last," Wolf smiled. "Indeed. The Drydens are welcome here, Grey Wardens or not... it's much too big for the three of us, you know."

"Yes! One fortress freed of demons and monsters!" Alistair wiped some blood off his armour. "We do good work."

"Well... I have no say in this... so have it your way," Wynn said with a scowl. "But I won't forget this, Warden..."

[Lena Wolf]

Rain's Hand, 3E387 - Haven

"So, Haven is apparently a small village in the Frostback Mountains, nothing special about it, except that it isn't marked on a single map," Wolf summarised what they'd learned about the location of the sacred artefact needed to cure Arl Eamon. "The cleric who was researching this subject had gone there leaving behind his apprentice who got assassinated by some unknown group. This doesn't look good."

"Yes, I wonder who they were," Alistair mused. "The fellow who pretended to be the apprentice, tried to send us on a wild goose chase..."

"Not quite so wild," Zevran shook his head. "He tried to send us to a certain inn that... well... I know it, but you wouldn't, of course... That inn is a trap, you see. If you want someone murdered, you send them there."

"Antivan Crows?" Wolf raised an eyebrow. This didn't sound very professional, and Antivan Crows positioned themselves as a very professional assassins guild.

"Of course not!" Zevran replied hotly, and Wolf smiled. "Some local bandits hang out in that inn! But I don't think that the imposter in the cleric's house was associated with those bandits. He wasn't after our loot, he just wanted us dead. So he tried to send us there, but we saw through his ruse."

"We should not have killed him," Morrigan joined the conversation and everyone looked up in surprise. "I mean, we should not have killed him straight away," she corrected herself with a smile. "I could have kept him alive indefinitely, while one of you applied some persuasion... But not when his skull was sliced in two," she glared at Alistair.

"What?!" He jumped, stung. "I was being efficient!"

"Cracking his skull so as to use his brain to buff up yours, no doubt?" Morrigan squinted.

"Stop it, both of you!" Wolf raised his voice before hostilities could break out. "He was a fool to try to attack us, seeing how there were four of us and only one of him..."

"We shall eventually find out who he was with, I'm pretty sure of that," Zevran said in a soothing tone. "Because we're still alive, and if we go to that Haven village, they are bound to try again."

"I wonder why it's not on any map though," Wolf mused, studying the map of Ferelden. "Frostback Mountains are here in the West. Several areas look like they could have a settlement there... How are we supposed to know where to go?"

"Let me see..." Alistair pulled the map towards him. "Here in the North is the passage to Orzammar - the Dwarven lands. So that's not it. In the South it just gets wilder and wilder, so that's not it either. Somewhere in the middle then?" He looked at the others but no one had a clue. "Well, there's a road circling the nearby lake, it skirts the Frostback Mountains on the Eastern side, why don't we just go there and see? Or... unless you think it's a silly idea... then may be we shouldn't... err..."

"That's exactly what we'll do," Wolf nodded, folding the map. "Follow the road and keep our eyes peeled for a possible passage into the mountains. If that cleric could figure it out, so will we."

They packed up their camp and left the following morning. The trek was uneventful, barring the usual interludes with darkspawn. The road took them North, then turned South, skirting the mountains on the Eastern edge. Eventually they saw what looked like a narrow passage, they took it, it opened onto a decent road leading up, and before they knew it, they came to a small village nestled high in the mountains. The peaks were covered in snow and the air was crispy with frost.

"You have no business here, best you were on your way," a guard greeted them as they approached.

"Well, that's at least straightforward," Wolf smirked. "Is this Haven?"

"It is, and you have no business here," the guard nodded. "We don't like lowlanders come in and stare at us like that. This ain't a zoo."

"I didn't expect to see a daedroth, don't worry," Wolf said through his teeth.

"A dae... what?" The guard squinted. "You've got no business here!"

"And so you said already," Wolf sighed. "We are looking for a cleric - a Brother Genitivi. We were told he was headed here. Is he in the village?"

"I wouldn't know, we don't normally let lowlanders in," the guard shook his head. "You may ask the Reverend Father Erik about it. He is in the Chantry."

"A Reverend Father?" Alistair asked in surprise. "But Chantry priests are all women!"

"This ain't lowland, I keep telling yah!" The guard was getting cross. "Haven has a Reverend Father. This has been like that for ages, and we like to keep our traditions! Now, you may trade in the shop and you may go to the Chantry to see Reverend Father about... err... whoever it is you're looking for. But then - be off!"

The village was eerily empty, with just a few people in the street.

"Nothing strange about it," one of the villagers shrugged. "Everyone's in the Chantry. There's a service on."

"What do you expect?" Zevran shrugged too. "It's a rural place. I've never seen one with song and dance in the street... it's always doom and gloom..."

"There would be doom a gloom if they were expecting an assassin!" Alistair rolled his eyes.

"We don't generally send a letter to make an appointment," Zevran smiled. "Although it is an interesting idea. I shall suggest it to the Crows if, by some miracle, they take me back alive."

"Do you want to go back?" Alistair squinted.

"I just want to go back to Antiva, not necessarily to the Crows. But officially I am still their slave, their property. They never sat me free. So if I were to return to Antiva, I return to the Crows..." Zevran's voice trailed off and no one felt like saying anything either.

...

The service was indeed in full swing when they entered the Chantry. They stood back, but the guard pushed them forward, and the priest interrupted the service and sent everyone home. Wolf thought it was odd, he even said that there was no need to stop on their account. But it appeared that there was in fact such a need.

When the Reverend Father heard that they came looking for Brother Genitivi, he gave a sign and the guards attacked. The battle was short, but such a strong and immediate action was unexpected. Did they normally kill all visitors on sight? Surely, that was a bit extreme even for a rural place like this!

A search of the Chantry soon revealed a hidden chamber, and inside it Brother Genitivi, still alive.

"What happened?" Wolf asked, helping to bandage his injured leg.

"They wanted to know everything about my research," Brother Genitivi looked quite astonished by such interest. "The sacred artefact - it's here!"

"What is this sacred artefact exactly?" Wolf squinted. "It isn't really the ashes of some cremated woman, is it?"

"How dare you!!" Brother Genitivi got quite hot under the collar. "She is our Prophet and the Maker's Bride!"

"Err... forgive me, I haven't had time to study the religion of Ferelden," Wolf quickly backed down. "I heard people speak of ashes in an urn... that's what you do with cremations, isn't it?"

"Well, you do have a foreign accent, so I forgive you," Brother Genitivi softened his tone. "She was a hero and a Prophet, she made the Maker look upon his creation and help his people..."

A lecture on Ferelden's religion followed, and Wolf cursed himself for his awkward remark. He did know the basics, he read it during the trip from Skyrim... he just didn't take it seriously. Wrongly so, it appeared.

The Urn of Sacred Ashes was indeed an urn containing cremated remains of a woman considered to be a Prophet. She was worshiped in life, but her husband grew jealous of this affection and betrayed her. She was burned at the stake, and her ashes were carefully collected and placed in an urn which was then taken to a remote location in the Frostback Mountains. The guardians of the ashes founded a village named Haven... It was meant to be a quiet resting place for their beloved Prophet, and thus its location was kept a secret. And now Brother Genitivi wanted to publish his research, and of course the guardians could not allow it.

"Do you have Erik's medallion?" Brother Genitivi looked up at Wolf. "It's a key to the temple!"

They took the medallion off Reverend Father Erik's body and walked out into the mountains, fighting and killing most villagers in the process. It just didn't seem worth it... Yet they needed the ashes, and so it had to be done.

"Do you really think the ashes are magical?" Wolf asked Morrigan, falling back slightly.

"I don't know," she mused. "The Prophet was a real person, that much is certain... She led a rebellion together with her husband who was a warlord... But you know all that, we've just had the lecture," she smirked. "She was burned at the stake... If she was a mage, she could have infused her body - and thus her ashes - with a curse or a blessing... let's hope for a blessing, shall we?" She smiled and stopped talking - they stood before the door to the ancient temple.

The medallion fitted the lock and the door opened. It was a ruin of a grand temple, and Brother Genitivi immediately got lost in thought marveling at it.

"The Urn of Sacred Ashes is inside," he said, smiling radiantly. "You go, I'll stay here. There will be plenty of fighting ahead, these villagers are tough fighters, I think you'll find. They breed drakes and drink dragon blood... What, didn't you know?" He stopped talking, noticing Wolf's astonishment. "There's a dragon atop this mountain and a drake lair in the caves under this temple. This location was chosen specifically for this. The dragon is protecting the ashes, to say nothing of the traps!"

"Charming," Wolf's brow furrowed.

The temple was filled with angry guardians and an occasional brontosaur. Battles were gruelling. Yet our party prevailed and entered one inner sanctum after the next. They found the cave housing drakes, there were several adult drakes in it, a large number of hatchlings and an astounding number of dragon eggs. Some eggs were set apart, mounted in eggcups, very much like boiled eggs served for breakfast. One such egg had a cracked shell, and Wolf thought that perhaps it was about to hatch, but when he looked closer, he discovered that it was just an empty shell used as storage. He pulled a nice battleaxe out of that egg.

"This is really bizarre," he turned to his companions. "To keep the shells and use them for storage..."

"Yeah, I usually smash mine into tiny bits," Zevran nodded, looking around. "This just looks like a breakfast hall for giants..."

Finally they found some people who were not attacking them on sight.

"Who are you and why are you here?!" One of them demanded in a very angry voice.

"We are here for the ashes of the prophet, we understand the urn is here somewhere," Wolf explained. "We haven't found it yet though."

"No, that's because it's further on," the man confirmed. "What do you want with it?"

"I need it to heal a sick man."

"Oh... well... that changes things," the man suddenly softened his tone. "We can let you pass - the urn is up ahead," he pointed at a passage behind him. "If you agree to do us a service."

"I don't like this already..." Alistair muttered.

"The Prophet is not dead!" The man exclaimed with pathos. "She rose again in a form more radiant than before! But she is being held back by her ashes from realising her true potential. We'll give you a vial with her blood to be poured into the ashes. Do this, and you will become one of us!"

"Err... wait," Wolf was watching the man before him. "Just how exactly would I become one of you? And why would I want to?"

"Once the Prophet's ashes are annihilated, we shall let you drink the blood of her new form," the man explained, undeterred. "Blood carries power and knowledge! You will learn what we've learned over the centuries!"

"Drinking blood!" Alistair exclaimed with derision. "No! Just think what happened last time you had to drink some blood!"

"Yeah, I joined your Order," Wolf turned to him. "That's what happened. I became a Grey Warden, which is apparently a huge honour... So how is drinking dragon blood any worse?"

"Err... I don't know..." Alistair had to admit. "But destroying the Prophet's ashes is plain wrong!"

"I don't disagree with that," Wolf nodded. "However, these ashes have been here for centuries, no one ever saw or touched them. They've played no role in the affairs of the world. So whether they actually exist or not, makes no difference."

"You know you're just making up excuses, don't you?" Alistair squinted. "I can't stop you, but I think it's wrong."

"I think it makes no difference," Zevran joined in. "No one gets to see these ashes anyway. The man before us is mad, of course, but do we really want to fight a dragon?"

"We'll be fighting one soon enough, the Archdemon is a dragon," Wolf reminded him. "I haven't made up my mind yet as to what to do..."

"I say drink the dragon blood and gain favour of this powerful group," Morrigan offered her opinion. "With them at your side, battling darkspawn will be easier."

"I don't think they'll battle darkspawn," Wolf shook his head. "No. If I drink dragon blood, this will be only for my own benefit... I just have to decide whether destroying a historic artefact is worth it. Destroying a historic artefact, and also desecrating the memory of a beloved Prophet... and destroying a source of magical healing... all at once... hmm..."

"I don't understand why you're even considering it," Alistair looked dejected. "Don't do it."

"How do you kill a dragon?" Wolf suddenly turned to him. "I mean the Archdemon. How do we kill it?"

"Err... cut off its head?" Alistair offered. "I dunno... how do you kill any living being?"

"I think it is rather more complex than that," Morrigan joined in. "Dragons are immortal. You have to destroy its soul too, or else it will simply be reborn in a new body... like Flemeth..."

"Flemeth? What does that have to do with Flemeth?" Alistair was confused.

"Never mind Flemeth," Wolf didn't want to complicate matters too much. "But Morrigan has a point. Dragons are immortal. I heard talk that only a Grey Warden can truly kill the Archdemon, so there has to be more to it than just cutting off its head. What is it? You should know it, Alistair, because if you don't... I don't know what we shall do."

"Well, yes, I do know it," Alistair nodded, looking somber. "Duncan explained it at some point, but I put it right out of my mind. One Grey Warden is chosen to deliver the killing blow, usually a stab through the heart of the dragon. The dragon's soul is then transferred into that Grey Warden, killing him. Thus the Archdemon's soul dies with the Grey Warden then and there."

"And it has to be a Grey Warden to deliver the final blow because the dragon soul can only be transferred into a dragon kin," Wolf nodded. "Yes, that makes sense... Grey Wardens become dragon kin when they drink darkspawn blood... But a dragon's soul is too large for a man and kills him... unless..."

"It is an honour to die for the Grey Wardens!" Alistair exclaimed with pathos. "I would offer my life without hesitation!"

"But what if you didn't have to die?" Morrigan gave him a long look. "Darkspawn taint is too far removed from true dragon kin... It may be good enough to attract a dragon soul, but it is too weak for it..."

"While drinking real dragon blood... I see now!" Zevran smiled. "This could be a way out."

"We shall do as you ask," Wolf turned to the guardian before him. "Give me the vial of dragon blood and I shall pour it into the ashes."

"That's a bad idea..!" Alistair muttered again, but didn't interfere.

"You will be our Prophet's true champion!" The guardian smiled radiantly, passing a vial of dark blood to Wolf. "Good luck to you! I hope you'll pass the tests!"

"Tests?"

"There are tests of course, to separate true pilgrims from false ones who intend to destroy the ashes by pouring dragon blood into them," the guardian shrugged. "But you came here seeking the ashes to cure a sick man. You'll be fine."

"Hmm..." Wolf shook his head in doubt, but stashed away the vial with dragon blood all the same.

"I am just going to hope that you have some clever sneaky trick up your sleeve," Alistair said in his ear. "I can tell you are still undecided."

"This gets us past the guardians here, and possibly past the dragon," Wolf nodded, replying in a low voice. "We haven't found that urn yet. And yes, I am still undecided... Let's go."