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

[Lena Wolf]

Morning Star, 3E390 - Into the Deep Roads

"Are you the Grey Warden?" A man in mercenary armour stood before Anders. "I was told I'd find you here."

"I am a healer," Anders replied, not taking his eyes off the patient he was treating. "Do you have an ailment? Then queue up, I can't treat everyone at once."

"I have no ailment, I need to talk."

"Later." Anders still wasn't looking up.

"Now." The man said firmly.

"Then come with me," Wolf came out of an adjacent room. "If it's a Grey Warden you want..."

"Err... I was told he's the Grey Warden," the man looked around, confused.

"The Order of Grey Wardens has more than one member," Wolf smirked. "So unless you need healing, I'm your man."

"Umm... I suppose it makes no difference..." The man shot a glance at his companions and followed Wolf. "I was told you Grey Wardens have a map of Deep Roads."

"We do."

"I want it."

"Tough."

"What..?" The man didn't seem to comprehend the reply. "I mean... hand it over."

"No."

"Err... are you mad?" The man still looked confused. "I'll kill you if you resist..."

"And then you'll never have that map," Wolf smiled pleasantly. "For one, because I don't carry it in my pocket. For two, because you'll be dead."

Swords and daggers were drawn, staffs were charged, but each was waiting for the other side to attack.

"Why do you think I'd hand it over?" Wolf lowered his sword but didn't sheath it. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"Varric said you'd give it to us..." The man in mercenary armour straightened up, lowering his daggers. "Err... well... he said the mage would give it to us. He never mentioned another Grey Warden."

"If I know Varric, he didn't say any such thing," Wolf smirked. "What Varric must have said, is that you could potentially get that map from Anders if you asked nicely. But seeing how you did nothing of the sort, forget it."

"You know Varric?" The man sheathed his daggers and signalled his companions to stand down.

"Indeed I do, and I told him to stuff his red lyrium where the sun doesn't shine," Wolf shrugged. "But I see he sent you to try your hand at diplomacy, and that didn't go very well," he smiled.

"Umm... Can we start over?" The man gave Wolf a broad smile. "Name's Hawke. I'm not really a mercenary... Well, I spent a year working with them, true, but that was just... err... never mind that. This is my sister, Bethany," he jerked his head towards a mage standing next to him. "We... we really need that map."

"You want to go into the Deep Roads with Varric and his brother on a fool's quest for red lyrium," Wolf squinted. "Yes, we have scouts. That substance is evil and you'll do well to stay away from it."

"Varric says it is a hundred times more potent than regular lyrium," Hawke nodded. "And that it would set us up with fortune for the rest of our lives. We need money, see... A fortune, to be precise... Our estate..."

"There's no need to go into that in front of a stranger," Bethany interrupted her brother. "We need money, and that's enough."

"You won't be able to stop them finding it, whatever you do," Anders appeared in the doorway. "They'll find a way... We are not the only ones with a map. And even if they didn't have a map... Remember Branka?"

"How did you know?" Wolf shuddered. "You weren't with us when..."

"I can read," Anders pointed out.

"I see." Wolf looked at Anders and noticed him gently touching his wrist. "Well, may be you have a point," he turned to Hawke. "But I won't give you the map. Tell Varric I'll come to see him shortly."

...

"Red lyrium could be the key," Anders was saying at dinner. "If it is indeed as potent as the rumours claim, or even half as potent as that... It could be enough to open a proper portal to the Fade so that Justice could leave."

"Can you not open such a portal by other means?" Wolf looked up. "Is it not similar to the ritual that you wanted to perform to send someone into the Fade to fight the spirit possessing Connor?"

"It is exactly that ritual," Anders nodded. "Only this time I'd send Justice. The only snag is that if I am performing the ritual, he would need to be possessing someone else for the duration."

"That's the least of our worries, I think," Wolf shook his head. "You were going to use blood magic and take the life of Connor's mother for that... but then we brought lyrium and mages from the Circle... But it wasn't the same ritual, was it?"

"No," Anders said slowly. "Their ritual was safe. It was what they use for the graduation exam for the apprentices. It can send the spirit of one mage into the Fade - and it was enough to free Connor." He paused, staring at his food. "The blood magic ritual that I had in mind, could send anyone's spirit into the Fade... it didn't have to be a mage. Do you see how it's different?"

"Justice is not a mage," Wolf noted.

"Exactly," Anders nodded. "He is a bodyless spirit, but even in the Fade he cannot cast magic. That is why he could never leave when the host that he's possessing is dreaming. It is always the host's spirit that enters the Fade, leaving Justice in the body, and in the mortal realm."

"But then... We don't actually need red lyrium, do we?" Wolf sat up. "We just need a life. Justice can possess me for the duration, you perform the ritual and send him into the Fade."

"Last time I used someone else's blood for a ritual, I got infected with darkspawn taint," Anders shook his head. "And I only took a few drops of your blood... What would happen to me if I were to take everything a person had? I bet it would not be without side effects."

"We need to find another blood mage to do it then," Wolf shrugged.

"Or we find red lyrium," Anders looked straight at him. "If it is indeed as potent as they claim, it could replace the blood, and no one would have to die and I would not get infected with anything nasty."

"But what about the reports that it is evil?" Wolf squinted. "I didn't lie to Hawke about that."

"I read the reports," Anders nodded. "Nothing conclusive. The way I see it, I either kill someone and get exposed to something unknown through the blood magic ritual, or I use red lyrium and get exposed to something unknown through that. There's a risk either way..."

"...and with red lyrium no one needs to die," Wolf nodded, finishing his sentence. "It does seem to be the lesser evil..."

...

"We'll come with you to the Deep Roads," Wolf came to see Varric at the Hanged Man. "We want some red lyrium... not much. You can have the rest."

"Why so modest?" Varric squinted. "All profits will be divided evenly..."

"No, you misunderstand," Wolf shook his head. "We don't want profits. We want red lyrium."

"Ah..." Varric rubbed his chin. "Alright. I'm not asking any questions! Two Grey Wardens for the price of one, complete with a map of Deep Roads, that's a good deal! I'll send for you when we're ready to set off."

...

"I don't like these Grey Wardens, and I don't like that they are coming with us," Hawke was talking to Varric at the Hanged Man. "You said we could get their maps... but they are not giving them away."

"I didn't know there'd be a second Grey Warden," Varric shrugged. "Since the defeat of the Blight, they've been keeping to themselves... well... they've been always keeping to themselves... I don't know who this Wolf character is, but he is highly placed, just look at his armour."

"Yeah, quite a stark difference from Anders," Hawke smirked. "That one is always wearing the same robes..."

"The same ancient Tevinter robes," Varric pointed out with emphasis. "They are not just any ol' mages robes, either. You don't buy that in a shop. I don't even know where they got that. I've never seen robes like that!"

"Huh?" Hawke squinted in disbelief. "They are robes..." he shrugged. "Shabby, at that."

"You just don't know a real thing from a fake, do you?" Varric shook his head. "Well, never mind. I could poke around and try to find out more about them... Or we could just bring them along, maps and all. It's not like we have much choice. Besides, there's still bound to be darkspawn in the Deep Roads, and Grey Wardens are the best remedy against darkspawn."

Eventually Hawke had to agree that delaying the expedition for the sake of background checks on the Grey Wardens wasn't worth it. They gathered their party, picked the most promising entrance to the Deep Roads, and set off.

...

"If there's anything you need - anything! - just tell me," Bodahn Feddic, a dwarven merchant, gave Wolf a broad smile when the newly assembled party of explorers made their first camp in a cave in the Deep Roads. "Good to have you along, Warden," he said loudly, then added in a hushed voice: "Commander," he grinned. "Oh, I never told them I've been following you around all the while during the Blight," he winked. "And as I understand it, you never told them who you were either."

"It didn't appear necessary," Wolf shrugged. "Good to see you, Bodahn. Compared to what we've been through, this should be a walk in a park."

"Do you have a particular interest in this expedition?" Bodahn squinted. "Well, that is to say, I heard that you do."

"Then you know what we're after," Wolf nodded.

"Be careful, Commander," Bodahn lowered his voice. "Sandal doesn't like red lyrium, he stays away from it. It doesn't bode well."

Wolf nodded, they exchanged a few more pleasantries, then Bodahn got busy with the other members of the expedition and Wolf never got the chance to talk to Sandal about it.

Sandal was Bodahn's son and an exceptionally gifted enchanter. He could fold lyrium better than anyone, but in other areas of life Sandal was completely dependent on his father. He was a "savant", lyrium and enchantments were the only things he noticed or talked about, when he talked at all.

...

At first the expedition moved at pace as Deep Roads were almost clear of darkspawn. Of course, there were always other dangers there, such as giant poisonous spiders, deepstalkers, drakes and other wildlife, but the guards didn't have much trouble clearing the way. The section that they were trying to reach, was a week to ten days into the depths. It was an ancient dwarven settlement, long abandoned and never properly excavated because for reasons unknown it always had a tremendous amount of darkspawn. It was rumoured to contain red lyrium as well as riches untold, all preserved in ancient untouched vaults...

"Do we even know for sure what's in that section?" One of the members of the expedition asked during supper. "Darkspawn is getting thicker the further in we go, and I have yet to see anything of value. Not a speck of red lyrium either... not even of the regular blue lyrium... Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" He glared at Varric's older brother Bartrand who organised the expedition in the first place.

"There's nothing here yet because we're not there yet!" Bartrand cut him off. "Yeah, I'm sure. No one's been down there in centuries... Not since the last Blight, or may be even the Blight before that. There's gold there for sure."

They pushed on for a few more days, but found nothing besides darkspawn.

"Grey Wardens, I'll have to ask you to go first," Bartrand addressed Wolf and Anders after another heavy fight with darkspawn. "Darkspawn is your responsibility."

"I don't remember agreeing to that," Wolf smirked. "What did you expect? You are going into the depths of Deep Roads. Of course there will be darkspawn!"

"But this is getting dangerous," Bartrand objected. "It's like in the Dead Trenches..."

The look of disbelief on Wolf's face must have spoken volumes.

"You've never been to the Deep Roads before," Wolf said derisively. "Dead Trenches! If only the Legion of the Dead could hear you now!"

"Well, there's no need to invoke that name!" Bartrand backed off. "Alright, alright! Take someone with you... anyone... just go first, please?"

The main thoroughfare that ancient dwarves had built to connect the different settlements, was only partially intact. Large cave-ins regularly blocked the way and alternative routes through tunnels and caves had to be found. Darkspawn was growing stronger, and fights were no longer won every time. Mercenary guards were working hard for their money, with several men killed by darkspawn already. Several more became infected with darkspawn taint that promised a painful and protracted death.

"This is a death trap, Bartrand," expedition members were getting nervous. "There better be incredible riches inside!"

"There will be!" Bartrand was unwavering.

Then they had their first glimpse of red lyrium. It was glowing with a dim but steady light, very similar to regular lyrium, except for the colour. Crystals were growing under the ceiling but were much too high to reach.

"See? Red lyrium!" Bartrand exclaimed in jubilation. "It's here! Formations are just beggining, this must be the start of the vein. Yes, I know we can't reach it here... Which is why we must press ahead!"

The sight of red lyrium veins lifted the general mood, with more and more volunteers coming forward to join the Grey Wardens ahead of the main group - people were eager to be the first to collect what chippings of red lyrium they could find, as the main vein was still too high and out of their reach. Wolf objected that darkspawn numbers were still growing, now combined with drakes and venomous spiders, and that only trained soldiers could survive such battles... but greed and misplaced self-assurance overruled his words. More and more people were falling in battle.

"That's why you brought so many mercenaries, isn't it, Bartrand?" Varric said quietly when they stood away from the main group. "Cheap mercenaries too, poorly armed and armoured without any fighting skills... You're just using them to clear the way."

"No one was forcing them to come along!" Bartrand cut him off. "We've had crowds upon crowds applying to join us, you know that!" He glared at Varric. "But look at it this way: they have to be alive to collect their pay. And since they ain't..." He grinned.

Varric shook his head and scoffed.

Finally they came to a large chamber that looked like a vault. It had locked doors along the walls with golems placed between them. In the middle of the room there was a pedestal with an idol on it; the idol was made of solid red lyrium.

"Wow! Look at that!" Bartrand looked around and picked up the idol. "That's what I mean! And this is just the first vault! There's more of the same further in, I'm sure! Why don't you go ahead while we start working on these locks?" He looked at Varric, Hawke, Wolf and Anders. "Give a shout when you find another hall like this!"

Wolf peered through the door on the other end of the hall. It opened onto a long corridor with another massive doorway visible at the end. The walls of the corridor were covered in red lyrium crystals - the vein was getting thicker. Unfortunately, those crystals were still too high to reach.

"There must be some chippings on the ground though," Hawke too was looking at the veins. "We should go see." He stepped through the doorway into the corridor.

"I sense darkspawn," Wolf said quietly to Anders, and Anders nodded. Hawke was already half way the corridor, still walking unchallenged. "But why are they not attacking?"

"I don't like it," Anders agreed, stepping through the doorway after Hawke.

"I suppose we should go see what's in that hall," Varric pointed down the corridor. It seems quiet." He too took a few steps in.

Finally Wolf followed as well. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, Bartrand slammed the heavy door shut behind him.

"Hey, Bartrand!!!" Varric bolted, but it was too late. The massive door could just as well been a wall of solid rock. "You bastard!!!"

He turned around. A horde of darkspawn was rushing at them.

[Lena Wolf]

Morning Star, 3E390 - Red lyrium

"That bastard Bartrand locked us out!" Varric was cursing profusely. "Go see what's up ahead!" He mocked Bartrand's voice. "He wants all that gold for himself, that son of a..!"

"Stop cursing and focus!" Wolf barked at him. "You can curse later! Now we need your crossbow!!"

They were backed into a dead end corridor with a horde of darkspawn coming at them. Wolf took the lead slicing through the weaker genlocks with his blue meteorite sword. Hawke flanked the heavier hurlocks stabbing them where it hurt most. Anders did his best to paralyse, freeze, electrocute or burn whichever darkspawn was getting near. And last but not least, Varric was showering them with bolts from his crossbow from the rear. And with all of that they were losing as there was simply no end to that horde.

"The emissary," Wolf pointed out a darkspawn mage further up. "He's calling in more troops! Cover me!!"

He dashed forward, leaving Hawke frozen for a moment - he wasn't used to taking orders. Wolf ran up to the emissary and planted his sword into the ground with all force dispelling the emissary's magic and draining his mana. He rammed the emissary with his shield, throwing him on the ground, then rained blows with his sword. The emissary was soon defeated but such a focused assault left Wolf open to flanking attacks by other darkspawn. He was surrounded and outnumbered ten to one.

"At least if I die now, I go down fighting," he thought. "Sovngarde awaits!"

He cut down the front row of darkspawn, but more were coming. He saw Hawke slicing through genlocks and hurlocks alike, but another emissary further ahead was still calling for reinforcements. "We won't survive this..." Wolf thought. "So... since I am already dead..." Throwing caution to the wind, he cut his wrists. "Su Grah Dun!" He shouted and blood erupted from his veins, knocking out the nearest darkspawn and boosting Wolf's strength and speed of movement. He tore through the horde hurrying to get to the emissary and kill him before dying himself - blood was gushing from his wrist, he didn't expect to survive, but if he could only get that emissary, then perhaps the others stood a better chance.

...

Wolf stood in a grand hall like one of those built by dwarves. "For such short people, they really like their buildings tall," Morrigan's voice sounded in his head, it was one of the first impressions they had when they entered Orzammar seeking support from the Dwarven Kingdom against the Blight. Was he back in Orzammar? No, the hall looked different, although it was undoubtedly dwarven. He walked around, he appeared to be alone. Huge statues stood along the walls, but apart from that, the hall was empty. "What now?" Wolf wondered, not seeing any doors. The hall seemed to stretch indefinitely in either direction. Wolf shook his head and started walking.

"This is what happens to those who use blood magic," he heard Wynne's voice behind him. "I told you to stay away from it, not to drink Avernus' mixture and to kill him when you had the chance... but you always knew better, boy."

He spun around. Wynne was looking at him, her eyes glowing.

"Wynne does not speak in this way," Wolf squinted. "Even though she did tell me most of those things, but not like that. You are not Wynne."

"I am the spirit that is Wynne," the being replied. "You are in my domain."

"This is the Fade, yes, I figured as much," Wolf nodded. "So, what do you want of me, spirit?"

"I can send you back to the mortal world but you must do as I ask," the glow around Wynne's form intensified as the spirit spoke. Her form now looked like a ghost. "You must kill Anders, and Justice will die with him."

"You want me to kill your fellow spirit?" Wolf raised an eyebrow. "But why? Justice is a benevolent spirit."

"He is not, has never been!" The spirit exclaimed, glowing brighter. "He wants war and destruction!"

"Are you saying he is a demon?"

"A demon..? Well, no, that's... No, that's different." The glow around the shape of Wynne subsided and she looked like a ghost again.

"Then explain to me the difference between spirits and demons," Wolf asked. "I am no mage, I never studied such things in school..."

"Mortal schools! Bah!" The spirit scoffed. "Mortals have no understanding of the Fade! There is no difference between a spirit and a demon... They are all spirits. Demons are spirits that were corrupted by mortal desires... or spirits that were summoned into the mortal realm against their will. Either way, it is mortals who turn spirits into demons!"

"Oh my," Wolf smirked. "And here I thought that demons were simply evil spirits..."

"Well yes, that's what I said," the spirit sounded puzzled. "Coming in contact with mortals is what corrupts a spirit and makes it evil."

"Justice had been in the mortal world for some time now," Wolf pointed out. "Then according to your argument he must have long turned into a demon."

"Err... is that what I said?" The spirit seemed unsure. "Well then, may be he is a demon! The more reason to slay him!"

"By killing Anders? No." Wolf shook his head.

"Then you will perish, mortal."

"I am dead already."

That conversation was going nowhere, so Wolf turned away from the spirit and resumed walking. He didn't know if there was any point in that, he just wanted to be rid of the annoying spirit.

"You must kill Faith while she's here! Justice must be done!" A booming voice spoke forcefully behind him. Wolf stopped and turned around.

"Justice, I presume?" He said calmly. "Here to talk about the spirit inhabiting Wynne?"

"She is evil! She became a demon and is tormenting the mortal world!" Justice nodded and started glowing.

"Interesting. She was just saying the same thing about you."

"Faith is what drives numerous people to kill others of their kind! It fuels wars and hatred! Faith must be killed! She must pay for all the suffering she caused!"

"And what about all those other people who see their suffering alleviated through Faith?" Wolf squinted. "No, as annoying as Wynne can be, I won't kill her."

"Anders and countless other mages are all victims of Faith," Justice spoke in an unexpectedly calm manner. "Faith is what makes people fearful of magic, Faith is what makes them imprison and persecute their own. Faith is what makes templars into fanatical mage hunters. Faith must pay for her crimes."

"Anders is changed. Is it your doing?" Wolf faced Justice.

"Anders is too soft."

"Anders is Anders," Wolf shrugged. "There's nothing soft about him when he's facing darkspawn."

"He has a pet cat," Justice looked angry. "He imprisoned that animal the same way as your Chantry imprisons mages!"

"No." Wolf shook his head. "No, it is not the same. Are you trying to turn me against him? It won't work, I know him better than you do."

"You must kill Faith and leave Anders to me," Justice repeated. "Then I shall return you into your own body in the mortal realm."

"No," Wolf said firmly. "I won't fight your war."

He turned away from Justice and resumed walking. "Who's next?" He wondered.

"Hello, my friend," Morrigan stood before him. "I am so happy to see you!" She put her arms around him and kissed him. "Come! Our child is doing fine, he's sleeping now, but he will be glad to meet his father! Come, my love - this way!"

"Morrigan!" Wolf froze. He wanted to believe the vision... Did she just say she loved him? "Morrigan always said I would not meet my son. She had her reasons. I don't believe you." He brushed past her and kept walking.

The dwarven hall was stretching into infinity. There was no end to the giant statues along the walls, they were all the same. Wolf had been walking for a while, and no further spirits came to bother him. He stopped and walked in the opposite direction, but it made no difference. The hall was empty with only distant fog visible at either end.

"How do I get to Sovngarde?" He wondered. "The passage must be here somewhere... I am a Nord, that's where Nords go when they die... Isn't it? I fell in battle, surely I qualify..." He walked and walked, he got tired and sat down, he even took a nap, but when he woke up, he was still in the same hall, among the same dwarven statues. "What kind of a purgatory is this?" He wondered. "Are there more tests? Were those spirits not tests, perhaps? Faith and Justice, the two spirits I knew in the mortal realm... But what about the third one? I thought it was a Desire Demon, but what if... But no, real Morrigan would not do that... Would she?"

He pulled out the amulet that Morrigan left for him when she stepped through an eluvian taking their child into another realm. "Take life from the dead", said the inscription. It was one of the spells from the Spirit School, Morrigan used it in battle, as did many other mages. Wolf always thought that the amulet was simply enchanted with that spell, restoring his health slightly during a fight. More powerful amulets were abundant, yet he kept Morrigan's, he clipped it onto the same chain that held his Grey Warden amulet, a mere trinket compared to wonders of enchantment that he came across later. But to him, the sentimental value outweighed it all. "The Warden's Oath," he read the inscription on the other amulet. It was a locket said to contain a little of the mixture that he drank during the Joining. He never opened that locket. It had an engraving of a griffon on the lid with another inscription: "In War, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice." The Grey Wardens motto.

"Morrigan's amulet is also a locket," Wolf suddenly realised, examining it closer. He pressed the spring and the lid sprung open. Thick, sweet odour hit his nostrils, knocking him out.

...

"Good grief, Wolf! I was about to go after you!"

Wolf opened his eyes. Anders was kneeling over him holding a vial under his nose, thick, sweet odour still filling his breath.

"Eh... What is this stuff?" Wolf sat up. He pulled on the chain around his neck and saw both amulets still on it.

"Nightshade extract," Anders shrugged. "The same as in your amulet. That's what gave me the idea."

"What happened?" Wolf looked at the piles of darkspawn bodies covering the floor in the dwarven hall.

"You got the last emissary," Anders was putting away his vials. "We finished the rest of the darkspawn. Then spent half an hour looking for your corpse among theirs..." He sighed. "Well. May be not half an hour... But long enough. What were you thinking?!" He exclaimed.

"I was thinking that since I was already dead, I might as well take as many of them with me as I could," Wolf shrugged. "I'm glad I got that emissary though."

"This isn't the Legion of the Dead, you know," Anders looked at him with reproach.

"Legion of the Dead?" Hawke looked up. "That's just a fairy tale, right? It got Bartrand all worked up..."

"That isn't just a fairy tale..." Varric joined in.

"It's a dwarven legion similar to the Grey Wardens," Wolf explained. "Only with more drama. When you join, they hold a funeral for you so that your family might say goodbye. You are dead to the world. You then go into the Deep Roads to fight darkspawn and never come out. Eventually you fall in battle."

"Charming," Hawke shuddered.

"Some do come out," Varric disagreed.

"Aha," Wolf shot him a glance. "And some try to quit Grey Wardens," he smirked and Anders blushed. "We had a recruit from the Legion of the Dead. She failed to die and had nowhere to go. Of course we accepted her request to join us. But once that post-Blight incident was over with and she still failed to die, she returned to the Deep Roads and to the Legion. They take an oath and once she had the opportunity, she went back."

"We should try to get out of here," Varric changed the topic. "This corridor goes further into the depths, I know... but do we have a choice?"

"Onwards, then," Hawke got up.

Hawke and Varric took the lead this time, with Anders and Wolf following a few paces behind. Wolf was alive, but not fit enough to take the lead.

"Something happened in the Fade," Anders said quietly. "Where is Justice?"

"Probably battling Faith," Wolf shrugged. "Is he really gone?"

"We'll have to see... May be not completely," Anders sounded uncertain.

"How were you going to follow me?" Wolf noticed a red crystal sticking out of Anders' satchel. "Is that... red lyrium?"

"I found a chipping, yes," he nodded. "It's powerful... may be not ten times as the rumours say... but more powerful than normal, and... different, somehow. I put an arcane shield around this piece, I don't like it."

"Sandal doesn't like it either," Wolf remembered Bodahn's son. "But I never got a chance to ask why..."

"Well, if nightshade extract hadn't worked, I was going to use it to enter the Fade," Anders said. "And yes, I handled it briefly... before setting up that shield. Justice disappeared during that time."

"Justice demanded that I kill Faith," Wolf said in a near whisper. "Remember Wynne? That's the spirit within her."

"She too?!" Anders was surprised. "I never knew... Wynne, of all people!"

"It happened during that blood mage rebellion in the Tower," Wolf nodded. "She died; the spirit revived her. Without that spirit, she'd die again."

"Riiiight," Anders nodded. "Makes sense... Have you met that spirit in the Fade as well? Why did you say that Justice was after it?"

"He was and I have," Wolf confirmed. "Faith wanted me to kill Justice by killing you..."

"I don't understand," Anders sounded troubled. "They are supposed to be good, pure spirits, both of them. Not calling for death and destruction... What happened, I wonder?"

"Toss that aside, and never touch another piece!" Wolf grabbed the red lyrium chipping from Anders' satchel and flung it as far as he could. "That thing is evil. I bet that's what corrupted the spirits, and not a mere contact with mortals as Faith was trying to make me believe."

"She what..? But I should not be surprised, I suppose," Anders nodded. "So. First Bartrand, and now the spirits... This is powerful stuff."

"And Bartrand got that red lyrium idol and chippings too, no doubt. He's taking it all to the surface..."

"We must find a way out. In war, Victory. In Peace, Vigilance. In Death, Sacrifice. There's nothing there about getting lost in the Deep Roads. Come on!"

[Lena Wolf]

Morning Star, 3E390 - Blood sacrifice

"Who are these Grey Wardens, really?" Hawke asked Varric as they were walking ahead of their group. "Wolf uses blood magic... yet he is not a mage."

"I didn't have time to check their background," Varric shook his head. "Anders is from Ferelden, Wolf seems to know him, so he is probably also from Ferelden... Other than that, your guess is as good as mine."

"Ferelden, eh?" Hawke squinted. "Funny thing... I was at Ostagar, you know. Yeah, the big battle in which Loghain betrayed the King... I was with the King's troops, and when we realised that we had been left to be slaughtered, I bolted, and my brother with me. We ran to Lothering to pick up mother and sister... We were lucky they were still alive! And then we ran for our lives."

"Ran where?" Varric squinted. "Wasn't the whole area overrun by darkspawn?"

"That it was, that it was," Hawke nodded. "But they were all focusing on the battle at Ostagar, and we took advantage of those few hours to push East... The plan being to get to the nearest port and take a ship out."

"Well, you turned up in Kirkwall, so I assume it went well," Varric shrugged. "Why are you so interested in these Grey Wardens? They might have joined the Order after the Blight was defeated, you know."

"I think Anders might have done, but I'm not so sure about Wolf," Hawke shot a glance at them making sure they were still out of earshot. "He seems to know how things went during the Blight."

"So?"

"So..." Hawke paused looking over his shoulder. "I never told you this, but when we were running... We got surrounded by darkspawn on all sides. It was still much too far to the nearest port... It didn't look like we would make it. And then we were saved by Flemeth."

"Flemeth?!" Varric exclaimed a little too loudly. "The Witch of the Wilds? So she isn't a fairy tale?!"

"No she isn't, and keep your voice down," Hawke hushed him. "She's a dragon... She swooped down on us and cleared the darkspawn. What's more, she carried us to the port where we then got a ship... She mentioned that not all Grey Wardens would die in that battle... As if she knew what was coming..."

"But why would she do that?" Varric squinted. "Save you, I mean? That's not what she's famous for - saving people," he smirked.

"She gave me an amulet to deliver to a Dalish tribe somewhere near Kirkwall... Give it to the Keeper, she said, the Keeper would know what to do. I never delivered it."

"Hmm. That's weird," Varric shook his head. "What's in the amulet? Is it a locket?"

"Eh... I don't remember," Hawke admitted. "I thought it was just a trinket... didn't look special at all. It might have been a locket... Not sure."

"You didn't sell it, did you?"

"Nah, it's still somewhere among other junk... Why?"

"You should take it to the Dalish," Varric said firmly. "Not sure why, but you should."

"Well, may be, if we get out of here alive," Hawke shrugged. "Since I promised..." He paused. "She said something about the inevitable happening... I forget. That's not my point though. My point is that she spoke of several Grey Wardens surviving the massacre, and that was before the battle was over. I bet she went back there and saved a few. Which would mean that Wolf was one of them."

"Well..." Varric whistled. "There were just two of them left in the end... That was announced with the greatest fanfare... One of them was made Warden-Commander, too - they reinstated the Order in Ferelden. So... You think it could be Wolf? The Warden-Commander?" Varric threw a glance back.

"It was you who was going on about his armour... Is that a Commander's armour? I would not know," Hawke shrugged.

"It is very rare armour, that's for sure," Varric rubbed his chin. "Commander's armour would be bigger, heavier... more ceremonial. But he didn't come here for the ceremony, he came to fight. He might have left the other armour at home. There's no telling..."

"One of the two Grey Wardens was a Crown Prince," Hawke scratched the back of his head. "A bastard prince, from what I hear... He abdicated in favour of the late King's widow. Could it be Wolf? Or was that the other Warden?"

"Wolf is no Crown Prince, I know whom you mean," Varric smirked. "No... He is the Warden-Commander. Hmm. His reputation is... not straightforward. And I too saw him cutting his wrists... We should be careful, Hawke."

...

Grey Warden maps of the Deep Roads did not have the section they were in. They had to find a way out without maps, and in most cases they didn't have much choice as to where to go. With so many cave-ins everywhere, they were lucky to find a way forward at all. Yet Wolf made it a point to trace their movement on the map as best he could. "This would give us an idea where we are in relation to the places we do have on the map," he said when Hawke wondered why he was wasting his time marking up the map. "I fully intend to get out of here." He said it with such certainty that even Hawke started to believe it.

Without the sun rising and setting they could not tell how long they've been in the Deep Roads, but they made it a point to eat and sleep at regular intervals. They assumed that roughly corresponded to days. Fortunately there was no shortage of deepstalkers in the caves, so they did not have to eat darkspawn. They even found water - glowing mushrooms often grew near springs. What they did not find, however, was any more treasure, although red lyrium veins were everywhere, and that alone could set them up with money for life. They did not bother gathering any chippings though as they were heavy to carry around.

One evening they made camp in a cavern almost entirely covered in red lyrium. Crystals were everywhere, and although neither of them liked it very much, there didn't seem to be another place to camp. They cleared the area of darkspawn and settled down to sleep.

Wolf was the first to wake up. The place was quiet and his companions were still sleeping, but he'd been having nightmares and woke up. Anders was thrashing in his sleep - he must have been having nightmares too. Varric and Hawke didn't seem to be affected. Wolf woke up Anders but left the other two sleeping.

"Were you having a nightmare?" Wolf asked. "Darkspawn?"

"The Archdemon," Anders nodded. "He spoke to me again."

"There is no Archdemon, I killed him myself," Wolf shook his head. "But I dreamt of a dragon too. Why do you think it was the Archdemon?"

"Archdemon..?" Hawke woke up, shuddering. "What a nightmare!"

"You too?" Wolf looked up. "But you are not a Grey Warden!"

"What, you mean to say such dreams are normal?!" Hawke sat up.

"That depends what you dreamt about."

"The Archdemon!" Varric joined in. "I dreamt of the Archdemon! And here I thought he was dead!"

"He is dead, I assure you," Wolf said firmly. "But all four of us have dreamt of a dragon, and you two are no Grey Wardens. I don't like it."

"It wasn't just any dragon, it was the Archdemon!" Hawke insisted. "He spoke to me!"

"And what did he say?" Wolf squinted.

"That I should join him, of course... Join the darkspawn," Hawke shrugged.

"That's similar to the offer I got during the Joining," Anders pointed out. "The Archdemon was already dead when I joined," he added for Hawke and Varric. "But considering what happened right after that, I later assumed that it was the Architect who spoke to me..."

"The Architect is also dead though," Wolf rubbed his chin. "Perhaps there are more beings like him? That would explain our dreams... but I've never heard of anyone other than Grey Wardens having such nightmares."

"Could it be the taint? I mean, we aren't infected, are we?" Hawke looked at his companions. "That lizard meat that we've been eating... deepstalkers... they are not darkspawn, surely?"

"Deepstalkers are not darkspawn," Wolf shook his head. "We haven't been eating darkspawn... But there's always the risk of infection when there's so much blood. However..." He examined Hawke and Varric but so no sign of an infection. "You don't appear to be infected. So what's with the dreams?"

It was puzzling and they couldn't figure it out, so since everyone was already awake, they decided to keep moving. Red lyrium veins were everywhere, they seemed to be going towards the main trunk. Darkspawn was becoming more and more numerous, too.

"It seems we are approaching a broodmother," Wolf noted after yet another heavy battle. "We'll have to be clever about it - a broodmother will easily kill us if we are not careful."

"Oh wonderful," Varric swore. "I heard stories of a monster with tentacles... Where do they even come from?"

"They were all mortal women once," Wolf answered gravely. "Darkspawn do take prisoners - they capture women. Human, elf, dwarf, it doesn't matter - all can be turned into broodmothers. They feed them their own flesh, their kin's flesh and a lot of darkspawn flesh, and eventually the woman either dies or transforms into a broodmother."

"Their kin's flesh..?" Hawke shuddered. "That's assuming they travel with family..."

"Doesn't have to be such a close kin," Wolf shook his head. "Just needs to be the same race, is all. We are apparently all related..."

Their discussion was interrupted by more darkspawn barring their way. They were getting used to the battles. Then darkspawn stopped appearing, as if someone called them off. Suddenly empty tunnels and caves seemed even more menacing somehow. Yet they didn't have much choice but to proceed.

"Come to me, it's just up ahead," Wolf heard someone call and exquisitely beautiful music started playing in the background. It seemed to come from a large cavern further on. He froze.

"The music," he said quietly to Anders.

"And the call," Anders nodded. "Here? But how can it be?"

"Have we crossed the Veil somewhere?" Wolf shot him a worried glance. "Without realising it..."

"Why have you two stopped?" Varric and Hawke were up ahead, but they turned back noticing that their companions didn't follow.

"You don't hear it?" Wolf looked up.

"Hear what?"

"If this is the Fade, they are not who they seem to be," Anders pointed out. "Nothing is what it seems in the Fade..."

"This isn't the Fade because I'm a dwarf and dwarves have no magic," Varric objected.

"You don't have to have magic yourself to be pulled into the Fade, you just need to have a soul..." Anders was looking around him trying to figure out whether it was the Fade or not. He came up to the wall and touched it - it seemed quite real. But then, it would seem real if it was the Fade...

"We should keep walking," Wolf decided. "One way or the other... There's no point staying here. Besides, that music is more beautiful than anything I could imagine..." He resumed walking, completely ignoring his companions. After a few moments, Anders did the same.

"Is this some sort of Warden thing, you think?" Hawke turned to Varric as they watched the two Grey Wardens walk in silence. "I don't hear any music..."

"They say that Wardens start hearing voices when the taint in their blood becomes overpowering," Varric rubbed his chin. "But that takes some fifty years to develop. These two haven't been Wardens long enough to suffer such effects..."

"Ah, there you are," a dragon spread its wings in a large cavern up ahead. "Finally. I've been waiting for you, Wardens."

Wolf and Anders stopped, looking at the dragon. It didn't attack, instead it spoke to them with a beautiful, melodious voice and soft, gentle music was playing in the background.

"Finally you came to join us. Come - we have much to do."

The dragon took a step to the side revealing a chamber with guilded walls, tables laden with food, fire in the grate... Several knights in rare silverite armour sat around the table, smiling. Duncan was among them.

"Duncan is dead, this is the Fade and a trap!" Wolf turned to Anders. It was urgent, they had to run, escape... But the words that he heard himself say were quite different: "Duncan, good to see you! So, you escaped Ostagar as well?" His legs carried him to the table and he sat down, with Anders following.

...

Hawke and Varric followed the Wardens into a large chamber with a monstrous broodmother in the middle. They watched in horror how Wolf and Anders approached her not even trying to fight. She twisted her tentacles around them, squeezing them and crushing their bones until they burst. Blood ran from them and gathered in pools on the floor. When no more blood was coming, the broodmother tossed their lifeless husks onto a large heap of similarly squeezed out bodies. She then sucked up the blood through her tentacles like through straws.

Hawke and Varric were next. They saw tentacles rise from the ground all around them, caging them in. There was no where to run.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E390 - The stone

"Dwarves say that the Stone speaks to them," Varric was trying to decide whether the loaf of bread before him was worth eating. "I always thought it was just figurative. But here the stone does speak..."

"I still think it can't be the stone," Hawke shook his head. "And yet, here we are. How long have we been here? There's no telling... but I think weeks."

"That's about right," Varric agreed, deciding to take a bite from the loaf. "This is bread... Old but ordinary. They aren't feeding us darkspawn flesh... I wonder why not."

"And so for the better!" Hawke exclaimed, taking a bite from the loaf as well. "I have no wish to join the Wardens..."

"That's not how you join the Wardens," Varric objected. "Their Joining ritual is quite different... if also similar in some ways... But no, you would just get infected and turn into darkspawn, no more."

"So... they want us alive," Hawke concluded. "I wonder why... And how is it that Wolf and Anders are still alive too, after what the broodmother did to them..."

"There was no broodmother, haven't you figured it out yet?" Varric smirked. "It was all an illusion. What wouldn't I give to know what the Wardens saw..."

"Why? What do you care?"

"It gives me an idea for a book..."

...

It's been three to four weeks since our party walked into that trap with the broodmother. There was no broodmother, Varric was right. The whole thing was an illusion designed to break their spirit. They woke up in a dungeon, they were separated, with Wolf and Anders sharing a cell and Varric and Hawke sharing another. The cells had no walls between them but only bars, so all prisoners could see and talk to each other in that vast hall... if they weren't knocked out. The majority of them however were prostrate on the floor or propped up against the walls, staring into nothingness. Darkspawn guards paced the corridors from time to time bringing food to those prisoners who were able to eat, and removing something from all prisoners on a regular basis.

"Here they come again," Hawke saw another patrol approaching. "Are we getting water this time, I wonder?"

The guards were mute, or perhaps they chose not to speak. They sat a jug of water in the cell and searched the floor for something. Then they shook their heads and left without a word.

"Whatever is going through their heads?" Varric watched the guards for a bit, then watched some of the other prisoners, Wolf and Anders among them. "Just sitting there, motionless... Like they are sleeping."

"They probably are," Hawke nodded. "Did you notice... The guards never find anything in our cell, but they seem happy with what they find in some of the others... I wonder what it is."

"Red lyrium," Varric said softly. "Just watch them... There are red lyrium crystals growing in some of the cells. But not in ours."

...

"So, you've finally found your way home," Duncan raised a toast when Wolf and Anders sat down at the table with the other knights. "Welcome! You are now true Grey Wardens."

"True Grey Wardens?" Wolf looked at the knights at the table, but they were all wearing closed helmets and he couldn't tell who they were. "You mean, we were not true Grey Wardens before?"

"No, that was like... what should I call it... err... probation, perhaps?" Duncan searched for words. "A test of sorts... to see the strength of your resolve. But you made it here, so you passed that test."

"Which part of it was the test?" Wolf squinted. "The part where I killed the Archdemon? Or the Architect?"

"And how come I passed the test as well?" Anders joined him in his doubts. "I didn't do any of those things..."

"Well, it isn't as simple as any single deed," Duncan frowned. "It's how you behaved throughout... everything matters, my friends."

"Alright," Wolf nodded and took a sip from his goblet. The wine was excellent. "So, what's next?"

"Next... Why, should there be something next?" Duncan frowned again. "You are here, at the Head Quarters Fortress, you have food and drink, both of excellent quality, you are in a company of other true Grey Wardens - isn't it like your Sovngarde? Why should there be anything more?"

"So then, I am dead," Wolf nodded.

"What's Sovngarde?" Anders turned to him. "This makes no sense to me, and I don't think I'm dead."

"Ungrateful child!" Duncan cried out, looking angrily at Anders. "All that I've done for you, and here you are, complaining!"

"All that you've done for me?" Anders raised an eyebrow. "Now I know I am not dead! Begone, spirit! I understand you look like Duncan because Wolf recognised you, but I never met Duncan! I joined well after his death! Duncan did nothing for me!"

He jumped up, his staff at the ready.

"Foolish child!" Duncan cried out again but remained seated. "He is your charge, tell him to behave!" He spoke to Wolf.

"My charge?" Wolf looked up in surprise. "I helped him, yes, but Anders is not my charge... and neither is he a child any longer..."

"There! You tell him, Wolf!" Anders still had his staff charged and ready to cast, but neither Duncan nor any of the knights at the table showed any hostility.

"He is your charge the same as you are mine, will always be," Duncan replied, calming down again. "You made him a Grey Warden. It was your blood that tainted his. You cannot walk away from that, Wolf."

Wolf hesitated. Duncan's words sounded true, but at the same time something was off... If this was the Grey Wardens version of Sovngarde, then he was dead. And if he was dead, he should have gone to the real Sovngarde, he was certain. Unless it was one and the same... they did say that Sovngarde appeared different to different people. Perhaps the taint in his blood meant that his Sovngarde would always be filled with Grey Wardens...

"We are not dead," Anders said in his ear. "This is the Fade. We have to get out of here."

"Get out of here and go where?" Duncan interjected. "Stubborn child!"

"Stop calling me a child!" Anders exclaimed defiantly, but the doubt was already seeded in his mind. Had he really grown up? He tried to be more responsible since he joined the Wardens, tried not to get himself into unnecessary trouble... But then of course he got possessed by Justice, and that was hardly a smart thing to do... Perhaps he was a child still, and Duncan was right...

"Well, if this is where we should be, then you won't mind if we looked around, will you?" Wolf smiled and got up. "This place is fascinating... I've never been to the Head Quarters. Say... what's down that hall?"

"That... err... just offices that way!" Duncan tried to stop him. "Come back to the table, that's where you should be..."

But Wolf was already walking into a misty corridor, with Anders following.

"I am your charge, he's right, you know," Anders said after a while. A misty corridor stretched before them, there was nothing to see, yet Wolf kept walking, and Anders kept following. "I am a charge that slows you down. I am still that immature youngster that does everything wrong and constantly gets himself into a tremendous mess... You should leave me here. The Fade might show you a way out if you walk alone."

Wolf stopped and turned to Anders.

"You are not my charge, you are my friend," he said firmly. "You got yourself in trouble, true... But so did I. It was my blood that tainted yours."

"Without it I would have been made tranquil," Anders pointed out. "I am not complaining. But I allowed Justice to possess me... I might not have made it clear... I allowed him to 'move in', as it were, for more than a fleeting possession. I never stopped to think what consequences it would have, for myself or for people around me. He is now permanently merged with me, Wolf. I dreaded to say so... but you should know. This is why the Fade does not let me leave."

"This is bad news, Anders," Wolf sighed. "But... what about the ritual that you were suggesting? To send Justice back into the Fade? How was that supposed to work?"

"Justice would leave, yes, but only partly," Anders looked away. "This already occurred. He is gone, but not completely. I shall always remain a gateway for him to return into the mortal plane at the moment of his choosing. Which is why you should leave me behind."

"You wish to die?" Wolf remembered Niall whose spirit he met in the Fade held by a Sloth Demon. Niall died quickly because the Sloth was feeding on his soul. Was there a demon here ready to feed on Anders' soul as well?

"I do not wish to die, but I see no other way out," Anders sighed. "The Fade will not let me out, and if you stay with me, you will die too."

"I do not like this," Wolf frowned and resumed walking. Anders hesitated, but then followed.

...

"Red lyrium does not grow on the floor, it grows on the prisoners' bodies," Hawke peered through the bars. "Look at that mage, for example: she is covered in it!" He pointed at a prisoner a few cells away from them. She was propped up against the wall like most others. Red lyrium crystals were visible on her arms and neck, they cut through her robe, forming a ridge.

"Good grief!" Varric looked at her in horror. "Is she still alive? She's prostrate like the others..."

"Red lyrium is feeding on her soul," someone replied from the other end of the hall. "This is what will happen to all of us."

"What?!" Varric turned to the person who spoke. "Like a demon?!"

"Indeed," the person confirmed. He got up from the floor and stood facing them - he was a mage too. "Some theorise that red lyrium is alive... I'm not so sure about that, myself. But seeing how all prisoners here are mages..."

"We are not mages though," Hawke shook his head.

"Then I don't know why darkspawn didn't kill you," the mage was looking at them with interest. "And you're not knocked out..."

"Why are you not knocked out?" Varric squinted.

"Oh, I will be, give it time," the mage smiled weakly. "They stopped bringing me food a while back already... I suppose I'm just stronger than I look... Or rather, I was when I got here..."

"So, what do they want with us?" Hawke and Varric exchanged glances. "We should get out of here. Whatever it is, it can't be good."

"Get out of here?!" The mage laughed. "I tried to get out of here, it's quite impossible, I assure you! Do you even know where we are?"

"Somewhere in the Deep Roads, I presume," Varric shrugged. "That's where we were taken."

"The Deep Roads?" The mage looked surprised. "That would make sense... There are entrances everywhere... Hmm... Yes, well, maybe then..." He turned away from them, he seemed to be consulting a book or a scroll. A few minutes later he spoke again. "I can help you get out but you must take me with you," he said firmly. "I never considered the Deep Roads. If only we had a map... We could find a way out."

"Wolf has a map," Hawke said quietly to Varric. "But he's knocked out, the same as Anders."

"It doesn't look good for them, I'll admit," Varric looked closely. "Is that..? Can you see it, there, on their wrists? Something red?"

"That's blood, I think," Hawke peered at them as well. "It does not look like crystals... yet..."

...

"I should have never touched blood magic," Anders was saying to Wolf as they were walking aimlessly through a foggy corridor in the Fade. "It's forbidden for a reason. I see it now."

"Was the First Enchanter not delaying your graduation even before you started studying it?" Wolf tried to remember what he read in the First Enchanter's papers. "Isn't it why..?"

"Yes, yes, that's why I turned to it," Anders answered impatiently. "I was having trouble with the Fade... err... I felt ill prepared and powerless whenever I found myself in the Fade when I slept. I am not sure if any of the spirits I met were demons... But I felt threatened anyway."

"I read a letter from a mage who was made tranquil on his own request," Wolf remembered one document. "He was so frightened of spirits and demons that he was ready to kill himself. Then someone said he could be rid of all of that if he was made tranquil... and he embraced the idea."

"I know whom you mean," Anders nodded. "He spoke of it, and there were others like him, too... But I didn't want to lose myself... So I thought if I were just better prepared, I'd pass the exam..."

"And blood magic held the promise of power," Wolf smirked.

"Yes. But I didn't think of the consequences..." Anders sighed. "It condemned me to the very fate I was trying to avoid."

"Well, there's no point lamenting it now," Wolf shrugged. "We should look for a way out."

They walked in silence for a while, each thinking their own thoughts, until Wolf suddenly realised that he could no longer hear Anders' footsteps behind him. He spun around, but could see nothing but fog. Anders wasn't following.

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E390 - Imprisoned

"I can't quite reach," Hawke sighed. He tried to get to Wolf through the bars between their cells but his shoulder wouldn't go through and Wolf sat too far away. "He's got a map of the Deep Roads, it's somewhere in his bag or his pocket... but I can't reach him from here."

"How did you manage to unlock the door?" Varric called out to the mage at the other end of the prison hall who was offering to help them escape. "Since you claim to have tried a few times, you must have gotten out of your cell somehow..."

"My cell isn't locked," the mage looked up in surprise, then opened and shut the door of his cell to demonstrate. "I got out of this hall, that was easy... but where to go from there? The passage just leads to more halls like this one."

"Hmm... So how were you going to help us?" Varric squinted.

"I've seen exits... Tunnels and caves beyond. I just assumed it was some unknown mine... I can lead you to one of the exits, we'll follow the tunnels until we come to a highway in the Deep Roads... Then we'll find a way out using your map!" The mage sounded excited.

"Our door isn't locked either," Hawke realised to his surprise. He stepped out and tried the door of Wolf and Anders' cell. "As easy as that," he grinned, entering. "Now, where did he have that map..?"

...

Wolf stood alone in a foggy corridor in the Fade. He tried running back in the hope to catch up with Anders who stopped following, but the corridor was empty in either direction. Fade had no dimensions, as soon as something vanished from view, it was gone.

"May be not gone completely," Wolf remembered the time when he was stuck in the pocket of Fade that belonged to a Sloth Demon. "The Sloth's pocket had islands, portals and doors, it was well organised and stable... But it was so because the Sloth created it that way. I wonder if there is a demon here as well? Or may be the space between pockets is organised somehow? How do you even..?"

"How do you find your way in the Fade?" He heard someone talking behind him. "You don't!" A mage stood there, smiling. Something about him was familiar. "We've met before, do you remember me? I... was in a closet... during the rebellion in the Tower... I could not face the demons..."

"Ah, hello!" Wolf smiled, recognising him. "It wasn't a bad strategy, you know. You survived."

"Did I?" The mage looked around. "This doesn't look like the Tower. Where are we?"

"Oh dear."

"It's your Fade, is it not?" The mage looked at the walls and pillars with interest. "Looks dwarven. I've never seen such a long corridor before... Where are we going?"

"We?" Wolf was surprised. "How long have you been in the Fade?"

"How long? That's a strange question," the mage smirked. "Time has no meaning here... But I never left the closet, if that helps. It just never seemed safe enough... I think I fell asleep in there when the noises subsided..."

"I am sorry to hear that," Wolf sighed. "It's been years and years. I'm afraid you're dead."

"Really? Well, that would explain things, yes..." The mage didn't seem upset. "I supposed they've buried my body... or burned it... either way, I am but a spirit now."

"You sound like you like it here," once again Wolf felt that something was off.

"What's there not to like?" The mage smiled. "I know no pain or fear, there's no hunger, fatigue or disease... There isn't much to do here, granted, but I'll take safety over excitement any day!"

"Umm... I see," Wolf gave him a long look. "Then... why are you here, talking to me?"

"Why not?" The mage shrugged. "I am here, and you are here, and we are talking... What else is there to do?"

...

"Hurry up, I see a patrol approaching!" Varric whispered urgently to Hawke. "The doors may not be locked, but I bet they won't like to find you in the wrong cell!"

"I can't find his map!" Hawke hissed back. "Where could it be?"

"Leave it and come back before the guards get here!" Varric dared not shout, even though he wanted to. "We'll try again later!"

Hawke left Wolf alone and slipped back into their own cell. The patrol walked past them without looking. They were not getting any food or water that day.

"They started starving you too, I see," the mage from the other end of the hall was watching the patrol. "Time to get out. We need that map!"

...

"That's enough, I am getting out," Wolf said decisively and the mage from the closet shirked away from him. "If I am not dead, then I must be dreaming. And if I am dreaming, then I can wake up. Unless there's a demon guarding this place, all I have to do is will it..." He remembered Niall telling him this. "So... Goodbye."

He turned away from the mage and closed his eyes. He pictured the world outside, tried remembering where he was last, how he got into the Fade in the first place. He was in the Deep Roads on an expedition to find red lyrium needed for a ritual to expel Justice out of Anders' body. Red lyrium turned out to be toxic, it poisoned the mind of Bartrand, the leader of the expedition, who then locked the other partners out, leaving them to die in the Deep Roads. They'd been trying to find a way out for days... wandering among the red lyrium deposits, hearing voices... then there was a dragon... and Wolf and Anders stood in the Fade.

"There was no dragon, it was an illusion," Wolf told himself. "The others must have seen or heard something too. I wonder which visions here were just visions... And where is Anders? If it was indeed Anders and not another illusion..."

He turned around to see if the mage from the closet was still there, but he too had already vanished.

"I am leaving!" Wolf said loudly and firmly.

...

Hawke was once again going through the pockets of Wolf's coat in search of the map of the Deep Roads and not finding it.

"May be Anders has got it instead," Varric hissed, not daring to speak loudly. "Try him."

"Anders is wearing a robe though," Hawke left Wolf alone and moved over to Anders. "It's got no pockets! Blast!"

"He's got pockets, I'm sure of it," Varric didn't give up. "Check his belt, his satchel..."

"Explain yourself!" Suddenly a man's full weight was on top of Hawke, he was knocked down to the floor and pinned in place. Wolf was breathing down his neck.

"Err... But you were knocked out!" Varric exclaimed, attracting attention of several prisoners in the hall. "We need your map to get out of here!" He quickly recovered from the surprise. "He's been searching for the map!"

Wolf let go of Hawke and Hawke rushed back to his own cell. Not paying him any further attention, Wolf knelt over Anders. "Alive," he muttered to himself, having checked his pulse. "But how to bring him back?"

"Look, there's someone here who knows a way out," Varric spoke again and pointed out the mage in the other end of the hall. "He'll lead us to an exit, then we'll wander through tunnels and caverns until we hit a dwarven highway, and from there we'll need your map to find a way out!"

"Aha," Wolf looked at him in disbelief. "That's what we've been trying to do since Bartrand locked us out. That got us here."

"But do you have a better plan?" Varric didn't give up.

"Yes," Wolf looked around at all the prisoners in the hall. "First we figure out where we are. What is this place? Are we still in the Deep Roads? Who are our captors? Why are we here? And anyway, I'm not going anywhere until Anders is back."

"Back from where?" Hawke stared at Anders who was still unconscious.

"From the Fade..." Wolf said slowly. "I am going after him."

"Going how? You are no mage! This is madness!" Varric threw his arms in the air. "Look, he's a nice fellow and all, but we need to save our hides! We've got to go!"

"But if you'd rather stay, give us your map!" Hawke chimed in.

"Hush! Someone's coming!" Wolf sat down on the floor and gestured Varric and Hawke to do the same. Another patrol crossed the hall without stopping.

"Darkspawn?" Wolf turned in surprise. "We've been captured by darkspawn?"

"Now you see why we have to get out!" Varric nodded. "Before we turn into food for red lyrium." He pointed out some of the other prisoners to Wolf - the ones that had red lyrium crystals growing on their bodies.

"I see," Wolf looked grim. "Well, that explains all the voices..."

"What voices?" Hawke squinted. "I hear noise but no distinct voices..."

Wolf didn't answer. He got up and left his cell. None of the cells were locked, and he walked from one prisoner to the next examining them, shaking his head, making notes. He exchanged a few words with those prisoners that were awake, nodded and moved on. Finally he got to the mage that offered his help to escape. He entered his cell and stood really close speaking in a hushed voice.

"I know what you are, emissary," he said in a whisper. "You don't fool me, I can sense the corruption. The Architect is dead, but I suppose he wasn't the only creature of his kind... or else he freed enough darkspawn for them to set out on their own... The question is, what you intend to do with those two?"

"Grey Wardens were always going to be a bother," the mage scowled. "But your blood is worth it... more and more of us are waking up. You should be asleep, my friend... You should rest..."

He cast a spell and Wolf suddenly felt extremely tired. He shook his head, trying to stay awake, yet he could not. He slumped to the floor and the mage sat him up against the wall. A patrol was approaching. They moved Wolf to his cell and took some more blood from him and Anders. They left without even a glance at Varric and Hawke.

"This is bad," Varric said quietly. "They don't grow red lyrium in the Wardens because they want their blood... Wolf called that mage an emissary... He's darkspawn, Hawke..."

"You heard that?" Hawke was surprised but believed his friend. "So, the mage was always going to betray us... What do we do now?"

"It's always the same, is it not?" Varric smirked. "Grey Wardens are the best remedy against darkspawn. When they are not being bled on a daily basis, that is..." He propped himself against the wall and closed his eyes. "We're done, Hawke."

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E390 - Conclusion

Anders stood alone in a foggy corridor. He fell behind and allowed Wolf to disappear into the mist. Once gone, he was gone. This was the Fade, it had no time or distance.

"He'll realise how to leave and he will leave," Anders told himself. "I am a failure. This mess cannot be fixed... and I cannot allow Justice to re-enter the mortal realm." He sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. Sooner or later he'd be dead. "If there's a demon here, come and eat my soul," he said aloud. "I don't need it any more."

...

"No, I am not giving up," Wolf was back in the misty corridor in the Fade. "Anders must be here somewhere. Wynne must be here somewhere, that spirit of hers must let her in... a Spirit of Faith... Alistair... and other Grey Wardens... are we not all linked through the taint? Isn't that the point? Avernus must hear me... If only I knew how to reach them..!"

A sense of urgency filled his soul and he ran, even though the misty corridor always remained the same.

"All you have to do is will it," Niall's words echoed in his mind. What if it worked for everything and not just for leaving the Fade? He did not want to leave yet, it would only return him to the darkspawn prison. He knew where they were, he figured it out. The maps of the Deep Roads were in his pocket, one that required Wardens' taint to find... Hawke would never find it. Now he needed to call for help. Avernus. He wanted to speak with Avernus. Avernus would know what to do.

Wolf slowed down. Avernus. He kept repeating the old wizard's name over and over.

"Yes, yes, I can hear you, stop shouting already!" Avernus' voice called from further ahead. "You learned to navigate the Fade... somewhat. Not bad for a non-mage!" Avernus approached, smiling. "What's the emergency?"

Wolf explained as best he could. Showed the maps which were somehow still in his pocket ("You memorised them, of course"). They needed outside help, they needed a rescue. Avernus listened intently and promised to act.

"I shall go to Vigil Keep at once and we'll get you out," he said decisively. "You need to return to your body and wait without slipping into the Fade again. I think you can manage that..."

"But what about Anders?" Wolf sounded worried. "I cannot find him... I tried. Is Justice preventing me?"

"No, Anders is preventing you," Avernus shook his head. "It sounds like he decided to sacrifice himself... You cannot find him if he does not wish it."

"Then I know what I must do."

Avernus left and Wolf resumed walking.

"Justice!" He called loudly. "I know you are here! Show yourself!"

He called several times, and eventually Justice appeared.

"What do you want of me, mortal?" He asked with disdain. "I am back in my domain."

"You killed my friend!" Wolf exclaimed with anger. "I demand justice! Defend yourself!"

He drew his sword and Justice responded, they duelled until both were exhausted and nearly dead... but Wolf persevered. It was never going to be easy to defeat Justice, but he would not be able to live with himself if he gave up. "Sovngarde awaits!" He told himself. "I wonder how many Nords can boast about dying in a duel with the Spirit of Justice? That'll make for some great stories, no doubt..."

"I yield, that's enough," suddenly Justice stopped the fight. "You bested me, mortal..." He sighed. "But what did you mean about me killing your friend? I... I am confused. He let me in willingly."

"He did not realise that you would not be able to leave," Wolf said with a sigh. "And even now that you are back in the Fade, he serves as a gateway for you to return to the mortal realm any time you want to. Anders' being is no longer his own. And so he entered the Fade and will not return. The only way for him to close that gate is to die with it."

"I... understand," Justice nodded slowly. "It is not just that his life should end on my behalf... I... did not think of him as a person... Follow me."

Justice walked purposefully down the corridor and soon they came upon Anders sitting on the floor. As soon as Justice was near him, a cord connecting them became apparent. Justice drew his sword and cut it. Anders collapsed.

"It is up to you now, mortal," Justice turned to Wolf. "I did not feed on his soul, I am no demon. But I was sustaining his body for my benefit and his. I now cut that connection. His true condition is... weak. He will likely die anyway. But he will die free of any possession."

Justice walked away. Wolf knelt over Anders, checking his pulse - he wasn't dead yet. He shook him by the shoulders trying to wake him up, but it had no effect. Something more decisive was needed.

...

Once again Wolf was back in the mortal realm. He looked around - he was sitting in his cell, his wrist was lightly bleeding. Anders was slumped against the wall beside him, his wrist bleeding as well. He looked pale, his heartbeat was erratic.

"He will expire before long," Wolf thought. "What he needs is for someone to augment his strength until our rescue arrives... If only I was a mage..."

Another patrol was approaching. Wolf closed his eyes pretending to be asleep. He allowed them to take blood from his wrist. They took some from Anders as well, then one of them shook his head realising that Anders was dying. To Wolf's surprise, he poured a potion down his thoat and Anders' breathing improved.

"They are keeping us alive," Wolf realised. "Alive and producing blood..."

He peeked through his almost closed eyelids to check on Varric and Hawke - they were pale too, but didn't seem unconscious. There was no food or water in their cell. Rescue could not come soon enough.

...

The ruined temple in Drakefall Wastes had a vast underground network of halls and corridors. It seemed to have been built to house troops or prisoners or both, it was hard to tell. It was the same complex that the Mother had chosen for her lair years ago. Grey Wardens knew where they were going. It was hard getting there and hard finding the right hall where our party was held, but find them they did. Varric could hardly believe his eyes when a Grey Warden stood over him, a griffon crest on his armour shining from within.

"You are the best vision I've had all day," Varric smirked. "And boy, have I had visions..." Red lyrium crystals were now surrounding him and Hawke, but none were visible on their bodies yet. The rescue came in the nick of time.

Anders was still unconscious, however. They had to carry him but no one was suggesting leaving him behind.

"It's too bad we cannot help the other prisoners," Varric sighed looking at all the people prostrate in their cells. "They are already too far gone..."

"I wonder where and how they were captured," Hawke nodded. "If we can figure it out, we can put a stop to it..."

"And die in the process?" Varric shook his head. "This is big, Hawke. Too big for the likes of you and me. This requires..."

"What?"

"Something big," Varric shrugged. "I don't know. This is worse than a Blight..."

Vigil Keep wasn't too far away, and they reached it without incident. After a few days recuperation, Varric and Hawke took a ship back to Kirkwall. Anders remained unconscious and Wolf insisted that Avernus should send him back to the Fade to get Anders to return, and once they were both back in the mortal realm, he insisted again that Avernus should use his blood to keep Anders alive until his heart would beat on its own.

"That's a lot of blood," Anders commented when he was finally out of the crisis. "Look at you - you're pale as a sheet... Why are you doing it? This was a mess of my own making, and I was resigned to let it end..."

"You remind me of someone," Wolf smiled. "Someone I knew years ago... Someone who got himself into a similar mess and was ready to die to resolve it, but then got saved by a stranger... more than once. I saved you because I could do so. I don't believe you will be getting into any further mess... I could be wrong though, who knows..."

"That someone was you, wasn't it?" Anders squinted. "Back in... what was that land you are from? Skyrim..? Something to do with sky and snow, I remember..."

"The same as Anderfells, Anders," Wolf smiled. "Anders isn't a name, it's where you are from... sky and snow, as you say."

"I resented being taken to the Circle," Anders nodded. "I refused to tell them my name... So they called me Anders, and it stuck. It's my name now."

"I should have known, you Northeners stick together," Zevran walked in. "I am not letting you out of my sight again, my friend," he turned to Wolf. "I am not a Grey Warden, I would not hear your call... Yes, Avernus explained about that."

"Antiva is even further North than Anderfells," Wolf smirked. "Which makes you a Northener too."

"Antiva is a land of hot deserts, sunshine and palm trees, none of your cold and snow," Zevran shook his head vigorously. "A marvel of geography, what do I know... Antiva has been sending Crows after me again, such a bother... I'll have to go there and deal with them once and for all."

"And you are not going without me!" Wolf protested. "I still remember how to fight with daggers..."

[Lena Wolf]

Hearthfire, 3E398 - Ten years on

Grey Wardens didn't have much to do in times between the Blights. It was common for their order to retreat into the shadows and take care of their own business. They would watch the world around them but their focus would always be on darkspawn rather than politics. It was for that reason that even though Grey Wardens knew about the power of red lyrium, they did not make it their priority to investigate it any further. They watched from the shadows the swelling conflict between mages and templars - mages being locked away for life in Circle Towers with templars watching their every move, templars who were themselves controlled by the Chantry through their imposed addiction to lyrium... So much coersion and control was going to explode into everyone's faces sooner or later.

Kirkwall became the centre of that explosion. The templars there exercised particularly harsh control over the mages, to the point that even the order of Seekers got involved. The Seekers of Truth was an order of warriors overlooking the Chantry and the templars alike... they were believed to be perfectly neutral and infalliable in their judgement. They launched an investigation into alleged oppression of mages in Kirkwall, found excessive use of force by the templars, but also found many instances of the use of blood magic by the mages, and didn't investigate what came first... assuming that the original fault must be with the mages. The Seekers did not find any cause for concern even when reports of red lyrium started coming in. So when some anarchist in Kirkwall planted a bomb in the Chantry out of protest against templar oppression, the Seekers looked on as the templars denounced the Chantry, threw out their vows to protect the innocent and came down on the mages with unprecedented force, not even trying to find any wrongdoing apart from possessing the gift of magic. Many non-mages perished as well, accused of being mage sympathisers... None of that raised any concerns with the Seekers. All they saw were mages out of control.

The events in Kirkwall started a chain reaction. Mages everywhere began protesting against being locked up in the Circles, and templars began overthrowing Chantry control and persecuting mages and general public alike. A civil war of epic proportions broke out, to rival even the Blight in cruelty and ferocity. Fighting was everywhere, the world of Thedas was being swallowed by it.

It was then that the Chantry finally decided to act. Divine Justinia called a conclave - peace talks in an attempt to stop the war between mages and templars. Fighting seized temporarily, and that in itself was giving people hope. The conclave was to be held in the holiest of all places - the temple holding the Urn of Sacred Ashes. It was the last hope for peace, and everyone was finally taking it seriously, even the Grey Wardens.

"We should not be interfering in politics," Avernus was shaking his head. "It backfired three hundred years ago and it will backfire again!"

"But the Seekers are not taking red lyrium seriously," Alistair disagreed. "They are blinded by the actions of the mages - which are horrific, I agree! - and they are not seeing that the templars are out of control and turning into monsters! We are the only force that can stop them!"

"Are you suggesting we side with blood mages?!" Oghren nearly jumped up. "You, of all people! You, a templar?!"

"Almost a templar but not quite," Alistair shot him a glance. "And no, I am not suggesting we side with blood mages! Even if some of us use it..." He glared at Anders.

"What?!" Anders glared back. "You use a sword but you are selective whose head you cut off! Blood magic is just a tool, no more..."

"We are not going to side with anyone!" Wolf raised his voice over everyone else's. "We'll attend the conclave to see for ourselves what transpires. Red lyrium is lyrium corrupted with darkspawn taint, which makes it our business. If the others refuse to see the danger, we cannot. Alistair, Anders and I will go to Haven and observe the events, no more."

...

Haven was covered in snow, just as it was the first time Wolf and his party found it up in the mountains. The village had grown since, wealth was visible in every house. With so many pilgrims wanting to see the temple that once held the Urn of Sacred Ashes, the village became a tourist attraction like no other.

Of course, none was able to see the Urn of Sacred Ashes itself. Although the temple still stood like before, many cave-ins cut off large portions of it and even in spite of extensive excavations the Urn could not be found. There was no dragon nesting above the temple either, and some wondered whether the dragon had been in fact their Prophet in a different form, and when the dragon left, so did the ashes. After all, this was meant to be the Prophet's final resting place, not a busy tourist attraction...

Regardless of the Urn, however, the Temple of Sacred Ashes, as it was now known, became the holiest relic of Thedas all in its own right.

"I think I might be sick," Zevran was scanning the crowd around them, seeing mostly Chantry robes wherever he looked. "I've never seen so much clergy together in one place!"

"Nervous that your sins might catch up with you?" Alistair smirked. He never forgave Zevran his occupation. "You know that murder is wrong, don't you?"

"And so you say," Zevran looked at him sideways. "But I offer a prayer for each life I take, I ask forgiveness for my sins and always get a blessing... The Maker does not seem to mind, so why should you?"

"You ask forgiveness..?" Alistair was taken aback.

"There is a chapel at Vigil Keep," Zevran nodded. "I've never seen you there for some reason..."

Wolf grinned and shook his head. This was yet another side of Zevran he did not expect to find. Wolf never went to the chapel either, he went to the mortuary for his own devotions, that being the closest thing to a chapel of Arkay.

"Clergy has little to do with devotion though," he nodded. "I find it sickening as well. But we are here to observe, so we need to mingle..."

"Why did you join us, Zevran?" Anders asked as they resumed their wandering. "You didn't have to, it's about the most boring event I ever had to attend..."

"It is too convenient for an assassin to reach any target," Zevran replied, not taking his eyes off the crowd. "It is a threat none of you would be able to see. I am here to observe as well."

"We should see if we can get to the temple itself," Wolf decided. "That's where the actual talks are held, not here in the village. Come on."

They walked up the mountain pass and crossed the bridge to the temple. They were now seeing mages robes and templar armour as well as the clergy. They stood in separate groups and did not mix.

"The halls behind these doors are used for the talks and you are not invited," templars closed their ranks before Wolf and his party. "You may loiter in the lobby together with the rest of them, but you are not getting in."

Wolf didn't insist. He exchanged glances with Zevran and Alistair - all three of them had gone through the tests on the way to the Urn of Sacred Ashes. There was more than one entrance to those halls. They circled back, cleared some snow, moved some boulders to reveal a caved-in door, and soon they stood in a deserted corridor with voices echoing further ahead.

"Up there," Wolf nodded. "Through the traps and a puzzle bridge, if memory serves..."

...

"What was that?!" A giant explosion further ahead sent shockwaves both through earth and air. Wolf bolted, his companions hot on his heels. "What is going on here?!" he threw open the door.

"Run! Run while you can..!" A woman on a crucifix was burning with a magical fire. Flames were all around them, the place did not look like any hall of the Temple of Sacred Ashes that Wolf could recall.

"Intruder!!!" A booming voice came from above. "Kill him!!!"





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This episode has a short summary of the remainder of Dragon Age II and blends into the starting sequence of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

I skipped most of Dragon Age II. However, the story is important because the games form a sequence, including the DLC. The Dragon Age series is more about the events in the world than it is about characters, which is rather contradictory to the setup of the games, in my opinion. BioWare's strength lies with character development, and yet they insist on dropping your lead character and the majority of important figures for every game and starting from scratch with a new cast. I prefer to shift focus to characters and use politics as a backdrop, however. I therefore reuse my lead character from Origins and give some of the other characters more meaningful roles. This means that large chunks will be skipped, new stories will be added and some "historical accounts" altered, in particular where they contradict common sense.

Note also that I changed a few titles because I chose to omit the details about political systems and religion in Thedas. So where the titles were very specific, I made them more generic with the same meaning. If you played the game, you'll know what I mean.


~~~ The following will only make sense if you know the lore ~~~

My story is based exclusively on the Dragon Age games. I never read any of the spin-off novels or comic books, so I don't know what happened "behind the scenes" (although I read a few things in various Wikis). So as far as I am concerned, Alistair was a full human, his mother was a maid at Redcliffe Castle and Goldana was his true half-sister; Fiona was not a Grey Warden and never has been. Note that her being a Grey Warden actually contradicts the thesis that all Grey Wardens had their minds turned during Inquisition by... you know who. Besides, if Fiona joined Grey Wardens at around the same time as Duncan as the book claims, then by the time of Inquisition she should have been long gone to the Black City already. Avernus was the only known exception.

In a word, I see the games as forming a fairly consistent story line while the books (or rather the bits about them that I come across here and there) form an add-on with some alternative realities. Much like my own story, in fact. And therefore they don't fit into my narrative.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:15 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Hearthfire, 3E398 - Old acquaintances

"Tell me why I should not kill you now," a tall slender woman with a Nevarran accent spoke sharply. "Explain this!" She turned Wolf's palm upwards and an acid green mark shone from it.

"Eh... I told you - I don't know what this is," Wolf replied with a tired voice. "We've been over it a dozen times already, and my answer is not going to change." He was sitting in the middle of a round "interrogation room", he was cuffed and bound. He didn't remember how he got there, he thought he was in the Fade... but the place he was in didn't resemble the Fade and the woman seemed too real to be a mere spirit.

"Still no luck?" Another woman walked in.

"He is denying everything!" The Nevarran woman scowled.

"Well, if you give him to me, we have ways..." The other woman rolled her eyes, paying more attention to the Nevarran than to the prisoner.

"No," the Nevarran shook her head. "Solas thinks he may be useful even so. We are going to test it."

"Oh alright, if you must..." the other woman left, not sparing Wolf another glance.

"Come with me," the Nevarran cut the ties around Wolf's ankles and removed his cuffs. "Don't try anything, I am watching you!" She glared. She was clearly not a woman to cross. "This way."

They were still in Haven. The air was crisp as ever, but something was wrong. A giant acid green vortex rose from one of the mountain peaks - that with the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Smaller vortices were visible in several other locations. The woman was directing Wolf to one of these smaller vortices.

"This is your doing!" The Nevarran said angrily to Wolf. "The conclave is destroyed! Everyone is dead! The temple is in ruins! What kind of magic did you use there? What kind of explosives? The guards remember you sneaking around the place! Where are your co-conspirators? Answer me!!!" She pushed him against a wall of rock, her face contorted with rage.

"You haven't killed me yet, so you still need me for something," Wolf smiled pleasantly.

"Ugh!" The woman let go of him and pushed him further up the hill.

Demons rose from the ground blocking their way.

"Get behind me!!" The Nevarran ordered Wolf and charged the nearest demon.

"Well, hello, darlings, long time no see," Wolf muttered, looking around. Fallen soldiers were all over the place, he grabbed a sword and a dagger and faced a demon of his own.

"Drop your weapons!!!" The Nevarran dispatched her demon and turned on Wolf. "Now!!!!"

"Fine, have it your way," Wolf shrugged and tossed his weapons to the ground. "Where to next?"

"Hmm... No... you need that," the Nevarran sighed. "There are more demons ahead, and I need you alive. Pick that up. You go first. Hands where I can see them!!" She added menacingly.

They didn't have far to go, one of the acid green vortices was up ahead. Demons were all around it, and so they joined the fighting. Then, suddenly, an elven mage grabbed Wolf by the wrist pointing the mark on his hand at the vortex. The vortex responded, twisted and spun, then collapsed on itself and vanished.

"As I suspected," the elf said with satisfaction letting go of Wolf's hand. "This will close the rifts."

"So he's the one responsible!" The Nevarran woman exclaimed, her sword at Wolf's throat.

"No, he is not," the elf replied flatly. "He simply got caught up in the explosion, survived... somehow... and got that souvenir from it. It reacts to the rifts, that is all. He is the solution, not the problem."

"And here I was, thinking we'd be ass deep in demons forever," a dwarf stepped forward. "Varric's the name. Rogue, storyteller and an occasional tug-along, at your service," he grinned and winked.

"Absolutely not!!" The Nevarran woman looked very angry. "Our forces..."

"Your forces are thin on the ground, decimated by the mage-templar fighting and unable to hold even the smallest of villages. This calls for a different team altogether. You need me, Seeker." Varric folded his arms.

Seeker? Wolf looked at the Nevarran woman with interest, only now noticing the crest on her shield and armour: the sun overlaid with an ever-seeing eye and a sword. The Order of Seekers of Truth, the ones that stood above the templars and the Chantry.

"Ugh! But you may be right," she scoffed. "I am Cassandra Pentaghast, a Seeker of the Chantry," she introduced herself to Wolf. "What is your name, prisoner?"

"Prisoner?" Wolf smirked. "Oh yes. Would you like to cut off my hand, Seeker? That's the only part of me that you actually care about, it seems."

"That won't do," the elven mage interfered. "You have to stay alive, with the hand attached."

"Unfortunately," Cassandra grimaced, baring her teeth. "So, what is your name?"

"Wolf," Wolf mirrored her grimace. "At your service."

"Well, I am Solas," the elf said, clearly amused by the confrontation.

"An apostate!" Cassandra bared her teeth at Solas as well.

"An apostate who knows more about the Fade than any Circle mage ever hoped to," Solas said soothingly. "You need me, Cassandra."

"Let's go," Cassandra looked at each of them, shaking her head. "The mark worked. Wolf stays with us."

She started marching back to the camp and the others followed. "She doesn't like it but she understands the necessity," Wolf was thinking watching her determined walk. "And Varric didn't mention we've met... I won't be able to keep it a secret as to who I am, of course... It's a small world... I wonder who else we'll meet and why Varric is here..."

"Ah, there you are!" A cleric turned around hearing them approach. He had been argueing with someone. "I order you to put this prisoner in chains straight away and prepare him for execution!" He barked at Cassandra.

"You order me?!" She smirked. "You are a glorified clerk! You cannot order me to do anything, Lord Chancellor, and you know it!"

"And you are a thug, nothing more!" The cleric retorted. "In so-called service to the Chantry, Seeker!" He spat that title like it was a swear.

"So no one here is in charge," Wolf watched that exchange with amusement.

"You killed everyone in charge!!!" The cleric spat.

"We shall go and close the breach," Cassandra changed the topic, pointing at the big vortex over the mountain top. "His mark worked on the small one."

"He should be in chains, executed! Not going anywhere! You won't be able to close that breach anyway!!" The cleric exploded with objections, but Cassandra simply turned away.

"Come on. We'll go through the mountains, it is the most direct route," Cassandra was ready to set off.

"No, take the troops and go from the front," a woman objected. "You need him alive, and this will be safer." Her voice seemed familiar, but Wolf was already following Cassandra. Nobody seemed to agree with anybody else on anything here. So rather than trying to figure it out, he focused on staying alive.

...

The big vortex, or the breach as they called it, was located exactly above the Temple of Sacred Ashes, or rather the ruin that it had become. The Veil was thin there, as was evident from all the echoes of past events that they saw and heard. Red lyrium crystals were everywhere, covering remnants of walls and columns. The vision of a woman on a flaming crucifix was the strongest of all.

"What is going on here?!" Wolf heard his own voice.

"We have an intruder! Kill him!!" A booming voice replied.

"Run! Run while you can..!"

"That was Divine Justinia!" Cassandra exclaimed. "And you ran in when it was already too late... You didn't do it then!"

"But who was the man with the booming voice?" Varric wondered.

"The one who caused the explosion, I would presume," Solas shrugged. "The one we need to find..."

The breach was pouring demons into the mortal realm - it was a beach in the Veil similar to those that Wolf encountered before, but much larger and more active. There seemed to be an army of first-rate demons on the other side, queueing to invade, hungry for mortal souls. Whoever opened the breach, was clearly in command of them.

The Chantry's soldiers arrived, and together with Cassandra, Solas and Varric they managed to keep the demons occupied well enough so that Wolf could use the mark on his hand to close the breach. It took a long time and many interruptions, he got knocked out a few times but Solas always brought him back, and eventually the breach was closed and demons defeated, with the vortex retreating into the clouds, but still leaving a large "hole in the sky" for all to see. Wolf did not remember how the battle ended. He woke up several days later in a cabin in Haven. It was time to see what kind of trouble he was in.

...

"My Lord! You are awake!" A servant entered the cabin just as Wolf woke up. She was carrying a parcel which she dropped in surprise. "I beg your forgiveness and your blessing, My Lord Saviour!" She dropped to her knees bowing deeply.

"Err... what..?" Wolf sat up. "Why are you afraid?"

"I said the wrong thing, My Lord! Lady Cassandra said to tell her at once... At once! She said: at once!"

"Tell her what?" Wolf wasn't sure who was more confused - he or the servant.

"To tell her when you wake. To tell you to go see her in the Chantry! At once, she said! At once!"

And with that the girl ran off. "If she was afraid of Lady Cassandra..." Wolf thought, "well, that I can understand. But what's this with Lord Saviour?"

He left the cabin and made his way to the Chantry. Wherever he went, he heard the same whispers calling him Lord Saviour. He looked up at the sky and saw the "hole" still there, but there was no vortex and no demons were pouring out of it. The word must have gotten out that he closed the breach. He smirked and entered the Chantry.

"Ah, there you are!" Cassandra greeted him. "Come, I shall introduce you to the Inquisition."

"Err... I don't want to meet the Inquisition!" Wolf backed off. "I am already being blamed for something I didn't do, and no amount of torture will get any more information out of me because there's nothing to tell! I didn't do it! I don't know what this green thing on my hand is, I am no Lord Saviour and I want it all gone!"

"Ah, but you misunderstand," Cassandra softened her tone and smiled. "After you closed the breach with your mark, you passed out. We brought you here and you were thrashing for three days... A lot changed during that time. The Inquisition is a new Order meant to get to the truth and restore order in the land, and you are to lead us. You will be the Inquisitor. Lord Saviour is what the people took to calling you. Or should I say Lord Warden-Commander?" She smirked at his surprise. "Come, Commander. Let me introduce you to those few who do not yet know who you are..."

They entered a room at the back of the Chantry. A large map of Thedas was laid out on the table and three people stood looking at it - three people two of whom Wolf already knew.

"It was about time you woke up," a woman in a headscarf looked at him with apprehension. "We need you alive, you know, Warden."

"Leliana?" Wolf thought he recognised the young Chantry Sister in this rather mysterious looking veiled lady. "It's been a while!"

"That it has, that it has," she nodded, pushing back her headscarf. "The Maker calls us again to his side."

"I'm not sure it's the Maker," Wolf gave her a long look expecting yet another religious lecture.

"Oh but it is, even if you don't see it yet," she smiled.

"Leliana is our Spy Master," Cassandra put in.

"Yes, I thought as much," Wolf nodded.

"And this is..."

"...Knight-Commander Cullen," Wolf finished Cassandra's sentence. "Do you remember the Circle Tower, Commander? Of course you weren't a Knight-Commander then..."

"News travels fast," Cullen smiled. "Good to see you Wardens are paying attention. Yes, I remember... every detail," he gave Wolf a meaningful look. "But I am just a Commander now, I quit the templars Order as of last night. I lead the Inquisition forces. That is, a bunch of untrained youngsters outside... err... but we'll get them trained up, not to worry."

"And finally, the one person you don't know: Lady Josephine Montilyet, our diplomatic liaison and ambassador," Cassandra presented a lady at the table.

"Happy to make your acquaintance, Lord Warden-Commander," Lady Montilyet inclined her head. "I've heard so much about you."

"I hope that's just a turn of phrase, My Lady," Wolf bowed. "I thank you for the introductions. I would prefer to be referred to as Lord Inquisitor or Lord Saviour if you must, rather than Lord Warden-Commander. This is not the Order of the Grey, and thus that title is inappropriate."

"As you wish, Lord Trevelyan," Lady Montilyet made a note on her pad. "Shall we perhaps just call you that? Lord Wolf Asgarsen Trevelyan of Ostwick in the Free Marches? That's what your papers say."

"Indeed," Wolf smiled. "That was my title but I gave it up when I joined Grey Wardens, as duty dictates. Lord Inquisitor will do."

With introductions out of the way, Wolf hoped to be excused, but Cassandra insisted on discussing strategy and what to do next. They could not agree on anything other than the fact that they could not agree and had nothing to go on. Finally Cassandra had had enough.

"Alright, so what do you think, Lord Warden-Commander?" She glared at Wolf. "You could have told me who you were right from the start! That would have saved us some time!"

"You never asked who I was, you kept calling me 'prisoner', remember, Lady Cassandra?" Wolf smiled at her. "I think we should go where the action is, that is, where we see the heaviest fighting. The mage-templar war is the key. It is clear why mages rebelled, but not why templars turned on the Chantry. I do not like red lyrium and I don't understand how it fits in. That's what Grey Wardens would do. But you are the Inquisition, bound to your faith and the Chantry. You tell me which way to proceed."

"By your lead, Lord Inquisitor," Cassandra inclined her head.




~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:16 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Hearthfire, 3E398 - Lords and Ladies

"Bloody lords and ladies everywhere," Wolf was cursing under his breath as he was leaving the Chantry after all the introductions. "Lord Inquisitor my foot!" He cursed again. "How did I even get mixed up in this..?"

The village of Haven was transformed into a camp housing Inquisition troops. In truth, it wasn't much different to what it was like when Wolf saw it for the first time - the cultists formed armed militia which included just about every inhabitant of the village. Haven was regaining its original purpose, it seemed, that of a military camp. Wolf spotted Varric talking to some locals and decided to say hello.

"Now that Cassandra is out of earshot, how are you holding up?" Varric smiled amicably. "I didn't want to say anything about you, but of course they found out anyway."

"Yeah, I would have been surprised if they didn't," Wolf nodded. "It's been rather crazy, I won't pretend otherwise. I've never had so many titles before. Or was surrounded by so many entitled people..." He smirked.

"Welcome to the Chantry, my friend!" Varric caught his sarcasm. "I daresay things will get a lot less complicated out in the field though."

"I was surprised to find you here, I didn't remember you as a particularly devoted sort," Wolf smiled.

"Oh, I didn't come willingly, if that's what you mean," Varric smirked. "No, the trouble with the Chantry started already back in Kirkwall, the templars had already quit, which is why the Chantry finally kicked into action. They lost their precious guards! The Inquisition was established by the last Divine, and Cassandra has been harassing people for a while already... myself included. Remember Hawke? Well, he stood out during the mage rebellion in Kirkwall which was the first important rebellion... and so Cassandra wanted to 'talk' to him... except that Hawke left Kirkwall a few years ago, nobody knows why or where he went. He probably just had enough of it all... wouldn't blame him if he did. Anyway... I wrote a book about those events... you do remember that I write books, right? Yes, they are fiction, but the backdrop is often real. So Hawke was a part of the backdrop for one of my stories, and Cassandra decided that since she could not find Hawke, I was the next best thing. I got dragged here, had to tell her all I knew... well, most of it, anyway," he winked. "A writer never tells everything he knows... But anyhow she believed me for some reason and wanted me to retell it to the Divine. That never happened however because someone again blew up the Chantry... It is getting rather repetitive, if you ask me," he smirked. "I don't need to ask what you were doing here. Observation, right?"

"Yes, actually," Wolf smiled and nodded. "We didn't want to get involved but of course we needed to know what was happening, and know it first-hand. They didn't let us in, but hey, we knew a way around... We were not far from the halls where the talks were held when someone blew up the Chantry, as you put it. We just saw rubble and debris flying in all directions. I was going first... I saw a woman on a flaming crucifix - like in that echo we've seen near the breach. I rushed towards her... hmm... and then I don't know."

"Sounds about right," Varric nodded. "We'll have to unravel this. I'm here for the duration - I wouldn't miss it for anything. Plus, that hole in the sky does need fixing, and your glowing hand seems to be the key. What of the other Wardens? What is your Order going to do?" He squinted at Wolf.

"The Order is less dependent on its Warden-Commander than you might think," Wolf smiled. "I am only a regional Commander anyway. Someone will take over until I return, if I return. I haven't heard from them yet, but I expect they'll be in touch when there are fewer lords and ladies around..."

"I've heard of the title circus, yes, Lord Wolf Asgarsen Trevelyan of Ostwick in the Free Marches," Varric grinned. "Didn't realise that's where you were born. Your accent seems a bit... off."

"I guess I was a bastard son," Wolf grinned back. "Sent away and hidden and such... Got the wrong accent from the nursemaid, no doubt."

"Aha... and I am the Queen of Antiva," Varric laughed. "But I won't press."

Talking to Varric put Wolf in much better spirits, and after touring the village a bit more, he decided to return to his hut for a bit of rest. He wasn't unwell exactly, but he was far from being at his best and needed to regain his form if there was fighting to be done. As it was, his shield and sword felt heavy and awkward.

"Finally, you return," a voice behind him made him spin. "You forgot to check behind the door as I keep telling you," Zevran stood there, smiling. "But I am glad to see you on your feet again, my friend."

"Zevran!" Wolf should not have been surprised. "Tell me what happened."

"Well, nothing much happened besides what you already know," Zevran shrugged, sitting down by the fire. "You ran into that explosion and we lost sight of you. That hall kind of vanished... got covered in fog or mist or something like that... Anders says it was a rip in the Veil and we were still in the mortal world but you and the others in the hall got swallowed into the Fade. Anders wanted to run after you but Alistair stopped him. Alistair hasn't been saying much about that... I think his templar soul is taking over. He assumed command of the Ferelden chapter for now, that is, the others had him assume command... I daresay you'll meet him along the way. He plans to watch the Inquisition knowing that you're leading it, and he wants to try explore things from his end... All Grey Wardens are having nightmares and headaches, I am not a Grey Warden of course, but what about you? What does your tainted blood do to you? That green thing on your hand is probably messing it up, too."

"I have plenty of nightmares but not of the usual kind," Wolf nodded. "Confusing, if anything. I expect you're right about this mark," he turned up his palm. "It looks just like the rifts that it closes... Rips in the Veil, you say? That figures. Well, then it is... what? A piece of the Veil? Some magic or other... I think it blots out the taint completely, in fact. I'd have to test it next time we run into darkspawn..."

"You have to leave your chivalry behind and switch to daggers and poison," Zevran suddenly looked serious. "You're going where the fighting is, if I know you at all. That's bad business. Mages and templars fighting, with you caught in the middle. You need dexterity and grace instead of brute force and frontal attacks."

"When was I ever favouring frontal attacks?" Wolf laughed. "But I see what you mean. These are not genlocks and hurlocks, these are people. Smarter, more skilled and flexible, too. Stealth, then. You'll need to train me, Zev."

"That's why I am here," Zevran smiled. "We start tomorrow."

...

"Who is the assassin you've been training with?" Cassandra approached Wolf when he was alone. "The Inquisition cannot be associated with assassins!"

"Can it not? Well, that's too bad," Wolf shrugged. "Zevran is a close friend of mine, we've been through thick and thin together and more darkspawn that I care to remember. Just ask Leliana - she knows him."

"Leliana knows him?" Cassandra squinted. "She didn't say..."

"Leliana is a spymaster for a reason," Wolf grinned. "She says little, even to her friends like yourself. But I've known her before she became a spymaster..."

"Interesting," Cassandra sat back. "Leliana never talks about her past."

"She wouldn't be a good spymaster otherwise," Wolf nodded. "And while we're talking... Can we drop the Lord and Lady titles, please? I knew Cullen when he was just... well... You ask Cullen about that. But none of us were lords or ladies then. Josephine is the only new person here, besides yourself, Lady Cassandra."

"I never presented myself as Lady Cassandra," she objected. "Titles get in the way, I agree. But Inquisition must have the favour of nobility, or else we won't get anywhere. And that means titles, including yours, Lord Trevelyan. Tell me about yourself."

"Well, what do you want to know?" Wolf squinted. "You know who I am already..."

"Lord Warden-Commander, yes," Cassandra nodded. "That isn't much, however. Grey Wardens are shrouded in mystery. Your accent is not from the Free Marches."

"Oh, that story... Well, rumour has it that I am a bastard son who's been sent away at birth and raised by some foreign nursemaid, but of course once I became Lord Warden-Commander, the Trevelyans suddenly remembered that I belonged to their clan... Hence the title. But I don't actually know any of them and they are not my family in the sense of family life. Does that satisfy you, Lady Cassandra?"

"It will do for Josephine," Cassandra sighed. "Very well, I won't press."

"Give it time, Cassandra," Wolf said quietly in her ear and she jerked slightly. "I want to know a lot of things about you too. But it's too early. We are still Lords and Ladies for now."

She gave him a long look and a barely perceptible smile.

...

"You fight like a rogue and an assassin," Cassandra rose from a knock-out after a protracted battle with mages and templars at once. "You don't fight like a Grey Warden."

"Grey Wardens don't have a particular fighting style," Wolf objected, helping her up. "I, however, did not get knocked out."

"Because I charged that warrior!"

"Because Solas froze him solid," Wolf corrected her. "I can charge too. I can use a sword and a shield, but my friend the assassin insisted I switch to daggers. It appears that he was right."

"There's a Grey Warden in the area by the name of Blackwall," Varric was reading a message delivered by a scout. "Do you know him? Leliana wants us to track him down."

"I don't know every Grey Warden in Thedas!" Wolf laughed. "Never heard of him. What does Leliana want with him?"

"It appears that all Grey Wardens have vanished," Varric kept reading the message. "And Leliana is concerned... for some reason or other..." He looked up at Wolf searching.

"Well... I see... Leliana's opinion may be a bit... coloured," Wolf grinned. "Alright, alright - we didn't get along!" He shook his head as if shrugging off questioning glances of his companions. "I am not a religious type! So there! But still, if the spymistress tells us to track down this Blackwall, then that's what we should do."

"I am glad you can rise above your personal feelings," Cassandra smiled.

"Yeah, let's hope Leliana can too," Wolf scoffed and turned away.

They were "in the field", and titles indeed got dropped. Wolf insisted that his companions should not address him as "Warden" because he was there on behalf of the Inquisition, not Grey Wardens. So they settled on calling him "Wolf" in the end, that being his name.

They found Blackwall fighting off bandits who attacked refugees. He was leading three young "conscripts" whom he was trying to teach how to fight.

"Warden Blackwall?" Wolf approached him once the bandits were defeated. "If I may have a word."

Blackwall was a seasoned fighter, probably a soldier, as Wolf realised watching him fight. He'd had a lot of training and experience. His armour and shield had Grey Warden crests, yet something about him was off. "His blood isn't tainted," Wolf suddenly realised. "This is not a Grey Warden." The question was then who he was and what he was really doing there.

"Grey Wardens have disappeared, you say?" Blackwall sounded surprised when Wolf told him that. "Well, that is strange but I would not know. With the Archdemon dead, the Order is not as visible as before. My job is solitary - I am recruiting. Of course, with the mage-templar war all around us, this mostly means I'm fighting whoever is attacking peasants and refugees, be it mages, templars, bandits or demons... Thank goodness there's no darkspawn as well in that mix. I am not in contact with the Head Quarters, and that's by design. If there's a new directive, I haven't had it, but it is hardly surprising."

"I see..." Wolf looked him over. The peasants and refugees that they talked to previously, did speak highly of him, he seemed to be doing good... Grey Warden or no Grey Warden. Perhaps he had a claim to that title after all... Perhaps he didn't have a chance to go through the Joining. Wolf decided to give him the benefit of a doubt, as well as keep him close. "Well, why don't you join us then," he offered. "We can do more good together. We want to stop the war."

The matter was thus settled. Blackwall immediately revealed that he had copies of ancient Grey Warden treaties obliging various groups to render aid during a Blight; he also had maps showing Grey Warden camps throughout Thedas, claiming that every Grey Warden with a similar solitary assignment was given such maps to help them in their duties. Wolf listened in slight disbelief - Blackwall certainly didn't get them from him or from the Ferelden chapter.  So who was he? It would not take long before Blackwall knew who Wolf was, however, and so Wolf decided to act without delay. He took Blackwall aside and out of earshot of the others for a little private chat.

"You are no Grey Warden, Blackwall," Wolf decided on a direct approach. "Your name is probably not Blackwall either. Explain yourself."

"What..? How did you..?" Blackwall was taken aback. "Who are you?"

"I am Lord Inquisitor," Wolf glared at him. "So, let's hear it."

"Blackwall was a Grey Warden from Orlais," the fake Blackwall confessed. "He conscripted me. We were preparing for the Joining when he fell in battle... to protect me," he shook his head. "I did not kill him, I swear!" He looked disturbed, and for some reason Wolf believed him. "The maps and the treaties are his," he continued. "As is the armour... I took his name, too... He wasn't supposed to report back, he was out in the field conscripting... just like I told you about my duties."

"You will soon learn who I am," Wolf spoke slowly. "Yet I am not here in that capacity. You will stay with the Inquisition. If we meet any other Grey Wardens, your only chance to avoid their wrath is to say that you are with me. Do you understand?"

"I do, Warden," fake Blackwall nodded. "Blackwall never explained in detail what the Joining entailed... I never met any other Grey Wardens until now... because I stayed out of the way... I did not realise they'd know I wasn't one of them."

"Yeah, the crest is in our blood, not on our armour," Wolf smirked. "I am watching you, Blackwall."





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:17 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Frostfall, 3E398 - An obvious alliance

"We have to close the breach, and to that end we need to strengthen the magic in your mark," Cassandra pointed at the mark on Wolf's hand. "That means we have to recruit a lot more mages."

"And have them destroy heaven and earth in the process!" Cullen interjected hotly. "What we need is a lot more templars to suppress the magic of the breach - that'll seal it!"

"Have you talked to any of the templars lately?" Cassandra glared at him. "They've gone mad! It started already in Kirkwall! It was their fault that the mages were driven to extremes! They did it!"

"Cassandra!" Cullen got red in the face. "You are a templar yourself! How can you turn on your brethren like that?!"

"I am a Seeker!" Cassandra cut him off. "We are meant to stand above mages and templars both! We looked the other way when trouble in Kirkwall was only just beginning - we assumed that the mages were the root cause of it! And we were wrong! It were the templars! I shall not make the same mistake again!"

"Lord Seeker disagrees, however!" Cullen wasn't giving up. "Which is why he took the templars out of the Chantry's control! Templars will restore order!"

"Well, someone will have to make a decision," Wolf looked at each of them in turn. "Whom do we approach? Mages or templars? We cannot approach both!"

"Mages!"

"Templars!"

Cassandra and Cullen answered in unison.

"Right," Wolf smirked. "Mages it is. Ladies first."

"Ha!" Cassandra looked at Cullen in triumph. "Even the Queen of Ferelden granted sanctuary to the mages in her kingdom. Even she can see they were wronged. We shall go and talk to them."

...

"Grand-Enchanter Fiona is not our leader any longer," a very apologetic mage met Wolf and his followers when they arrived at the Redcliffe Castle to meet with the mages. "Magister Alexius is now in charge... You need to talk to him."

"Magister Alexius? That sounds Tevinter," Wolf squinted. Tevinter Imperium did not suppress its mages, instead they ruled it. It was built on slavery and was an old rival of the Southern kingdoms of Ferelden and Orlais. Tevinter Magisters were notorious for using blood of their slaves to augment their own health and abilities. And to top it off, according to the Chantry, it were Tevinter Magisters who corrupted the Heaven, created darkspawn and Blights and drove away the Maker thousands of years ago. Tevinter was still a mighty empire but its name had become a swear word everywhere else.

"He is a Tevinter Magister, yes," the mage nodded. "Alas!"

"What happened?" Wolf was perplexed.

"Grand-Enchanter Fiona... she..." The mage broke off and turned away, and Wolf could have sworn he saw tears in his eyes.

"They've been sold out," Varric said softly. "This is worse than slavery..."

Magister Alexius was only too happy to meet with Lord Inquisitor and his party. They would undoubtedly come to a compromise, the breach had to be closed, he was happy to collaborate, etcetera, etcetera. Wolf didn't believe a word of it.

What happened next was both bizarre and spectacular, involving time travel, torture, red lyrium and an ancient darkspawn lord not unlike the Father that Wolf encountered some ten years previously. In the end the mages joined the Inquisition and helped close the breach. Then, when the celebrations were in full swing, templars attacked their base, templars who had red lyrium growing out of their bodies. They were led by the darkspawn lord. The village of Haven was destroyed. The war was far from over.

...

"And so we start again," Cassandra was looking into the fire of a campsite that was now the village of Haven. "But we don't even have a base..."

"Skyhold," Solas said quietly.

"A fortress so high in the mountains that a mere attempt to reach it invariably gets you killed?" Cullen smirked. "Yeah, I know of it. But we won't be able to get there alive."

"We will if we persevere," Solas objected. "It is safe and secure, and once we're settled in, alternative transportation can be arranged..."

"What choice do we have?" Cassandra looked up. "We start marching tomorrow."

Skyhold was a grand fortress, even though it did required repairs. Everyone focused on masonry and furnishings, but Wolf couldn't shake off the feeling that people were just trying to forget why they were there. Namely, because an ancient darkspawn lord was poised to destroy the world and they vowed to stop him. What choice did they have, as Cassandra would say.

Wolf didn't like politics, but the game had to be played. The Inquisition rose from the ashes of the Chantry, and thus was a prominent public body rooted in religion. The Chantry was destroyed but not dead, civil wars were raging in most kingdoms, with mages rising up against templars everywhere and templars rising up against the mages and the Chantry both. Although the original mage-templar war was over, new civil wars replaced it, and common folk hardly saw any difference. Besides, even though the main breach over the Temple of Sacred Ashes was sealed, a lot of residual rifts still remained, spewing demons onto the land. And yes, there was still that minor matter of an ancient darkspawn lord aspiring to godhood... And so Wolf left politics to the very capable ambassador Lady Montilyet and focused on less complicated matters such as bandits, demons and templars in the field. He only returned to Skyhold to rest and restock between longer missions, but when he did return, tall stacks of papers requiring Lord Inquisitor's autograph quickly drove him back into the field. Yet Skyhold was also the only place where his entire party and his advisors and allies could be found in one place and at ease, and it was there that he could engage in conversations beyond the immediate tactics.

...

"We have to discuss your parents, Lord Inquisitor," Lady Montilyet caught Wolf's attention while he was walking around admiring the old fortress.

"Already?" He spun around, smiling at her. "I knew someone somewhere would make an honest man out of me, I just didn't expect it to be so soon..."

"What?" She looked up from her papers - it took a moment for her to realise that Lord Inquisitor wasn't being entirely serious. "Oh..." She smiled back. "Very funny. But I actually want to discuss your parents, Lord Trevelyan. They've been a nuisance to the Inquisition."

"Undoubtedly," Wolf nodded. "You realise that I never met them, right? You heard the story, I trust?"

"I know the story," she nodded and smirked. "It is a good excuse for the most part, and their behaviour does fit with it, and yet we have a problem. They want you back in Ostwick to help settle a dispute between your... err..." she checked her notes, "your second cousin thrice removed and your third cousin in the fifth degree," she looked up, smiling triumphantly. "Clan Trevelyan is quite large and I am not familiar with the nobility of the Free Marches..." she added with a slight blush. "Anyway, your parents wish that you mediate that dispute, Lord Trevelyan. In person."

"Josephine, I don't know any of those people," Wolf said in a hushed voice. "You realise that, right? I am Lord Trevelyan in title only."

"I know, Warden," she nodded. "I know that you hail from a foreign land outside of Thedas and that you are not in fact a lost son of House Trevelyan. But your papers say that you are, and I understand why. No one could imagine that Free Marches would get mixed up in Thedas politics, they never have done before... They are called Free Marches for a reason. So a bargain was struck and the Trevelyans agreed to offer provenance documentation to a foreign agent for a good cause - you came here to fight the Blight. And then you did not leave. Now they want their lost son back - having Lord Warden-Commander in their House raises their profile among the nobility of Thedas... But I see that I bore you with this," she smiled noticing Wolf's eyes glazing over. "My question is then, what do you want to do?"

"I am no noble, Josephine," Wolf shook his head. "I am a soldier."

"And you think that most nobility is any different?" She smirked. "Especially the Trevelyans. They are either clerics or templars, for the most part. Knights, too, of course. Many noble houses are like that. There are very few among them who value arts and culture and civilisation..." Her glance wandered, and Wolf suddenly realised that the Antivan lady before him was the very embodiment of culture and civilisation, and that she must miss it greatly. Yet here she was, in a derelict castle, trying her best to make the Inquisition a political force, which was necessary, oh so necessary, if they wanted to stop the wars.

"I'll do as you say," he said and Josephine looked up. "I am out of my element here, so please help me. What should I do? I can pretend being a Lord, to some extent..."

"You make a fine Lord as you are already," Josephine smiled. "Like I said, there are many soldiers among them anyway. I suggest you write letters to your cousins and your parents to help mediate the dispute. Yes, I know, they want you there in person... But Lord Inquisitor has so many other obligations, no? You can politely decline to visit and invite them to visit you here instead. I jotted down a few ideas here for your perusal..." She handed him several beautifully written letters just requiring his signature...

"Done and done!" Wolf beamed at her. "Or do you wish me to copy them over in my hand?" He looked up.

"That won't be necessary, everyone uses scribes anyway," Josephine smiled, rolling up the parchments. "I shall inform you if your 'parents' decide to visit here, we can arrange the introductions privately somewhere..."

Josephine carefully sealed and addressed the letters, preparing them for dispatch. "Lord Inquisitor Wolf Asgarsen Trevelyan of Ostwick in the Free Marches," Wolf reminded himself of his titles. "I'll never get used to this..."

He shook his head and went outside, thinking to chat to Cassandra about something or other...

In the yard he found several people gathered around Cassandra discussing what to do next. Leliana, Cullen, and several others were all looking grim, shaking their heads. The truth was that although they could pursue smaller issues like closing left-over rifts, no one had any idea how to tackle that ancient darkspawn lord that wanted to destroy the world.

"I have something that might help," Varric approached them and everyone looked at him. "Well... not something but someone, rather. I... well... I sent word. He's waiting to meet the Inquisitor."

"What?!" Cassandra glared at Varric. "If it is who I think it is..." She turned red, then white. Varric took two steps back.

"Meet him and see for yourself," he spoke to Wolf. "It'll be worth it."

Cassandra stormed off.

...

"Yeah, I figured it'd be you," Wolf came to the top of a tower that Varric was suggesting as a meeting place. "How have you been, Hawke? You supposedly vanished."

"I didn't vanish," Hawke smirked. "But I did go away. I had had enough of it all... Varric's been protecting me... not telling Cassandra where I was. But the problems we face are bigger than that."

"I have no issues with it," Wolf shrugged. "But Varric will have issues with Cassandra..."

"Yeah..." Varric sighed. "Let's hope I'll survive..."

"Anyway, the reason I returned is because I know that darkspawn lord... personally," Hawke said with difficulty. "We fought him... Varric and I, that is. It was soon after the Chantry in Kirkwall got blown up. We'd just cleared the mess with the mages and templars there, and one thing led to another... we got contacted... by someone..." He paused and shook his head. "Varric can fill in the details better than I, no doubt. The long and short of it though is that we killed him. He was dead. No pulse, no breath, full of stub wounds. He was a corpse. And now he's back."

"I see," Wolf said slowly. "Where did you find him?"

"He was locked up in a Grey Wardens prison," Hawke looked away. "Locked up by Grey Wardens long before your arrival," he shot a glance at Wolf. "Those Grey Wardens probably all died in the last Blight, or may be the Blight before that... it's hard to say. That prison was ancient."

"A thousand years before that," Wolf corrected him. "He told me. Only I didn't know what he was saying. He said he was imprisoned for a thousand years. And then he arranged for his release."

"Well then," Hawke sighed. "A thousand years... I must have Grey Wardens among my ancestors then, because my blood was needed to break the seal on his cell. And I gave it!" He looked at Wolf with horror. "This is all my fault!"

"Hardly," Wolf shook his head. "You didn't know what you were doing."

"I thought we killed him! We did kill him! So how is it that he's still alive?" Hawke looked away, not expecting an answer to his question.

"He is alive because you are not a Grey Warden," Wolf answered. "Had you been, you'd both be dead. Permanently."

"What?!" Hawke and Varric cried out in unison.

"That's how it works," Wolf shrugged. "I should not be telling you this, but since you fought him already, you have the right to know. Ancient darkspawn like him or like an Archdemon cannot be killed by just anyone. You can kill the body, for sure, and that's what you have done. But the spirit remains unaffected. It is simply transferred into another darkspawn until it finds a suitable body, and then the lord is reborn. And this is what happened. When Grey Wardens go through the Joining ritual, they ingest not just darkspawn blood - that would only infect them with the blight - but they also ingest the blood of the last Archdemon. That makes a Grey Warden a worthy vessel for the soul of an ancient darkspawn, and so when a Grey Warden delivers the killing blow, that soul is transferred to the Grey Warden so that it could live on. Except that a Grey Warden is not darkspawn. Thus the Grey Warden dies, killing the soul too. That ancient lord escaped by letting you kill his body."

Hawke and Varric were stunned.

"I see why Grey Wardens don't disclose too much about their Order," Varric finally said. "Wow. That's hard to swallow."

"That's what we're here for," Wolf smiled. "The hard part is to find that ancient lord. Killing him properly won't be a problem - I am a Grey Warden."

"Provided you survive long enough," Varric nodded.

"I am not the only Grey Warden around," Wolf looked at him. "That is why several of us go together for the kill. One must remain standing to deliver the killing blow."

"Who killed the last Archdemon then?" Varric suddenly asked.

"I did," Wolf looked in the distance.

"But you are alive."

"Yes. But that is a different story."

They stood in silence for a while. "And here I thought I knew everything worth knowing about Grey Wardens," Varric thought. "While in truth I missed the most important part... And now this Warden-Commander is also the Saviour with that mark on his hand. I wonder if he can pull the same trick to stay alive when he slays this darkspawn lord? Provided he lives long enough..."

"We need to investigate red lyrium," Hawke broke the silence. "Under the Drakesfall Wastes."

"Where we were held captive," Wolf nodded. "If I know Alistair, he's there already."

"Then that's where I'm going too," Hawke said firmly. "It's time for action. I'll find him and see if I can help."

"I'll see you there, Hawke," Wolf shook his hand. "We've always had non-Wardens walking with us. It is particularly important now because our greatest strength can be turned against us."

"And yet you Wardens always manage to come out on top," Varric said softly. "Just don't know how you do it."




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:18 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Frostfall, 3E398 - Passions

"You!!!" Cassandra flew at Varric as soon as he entered the tavern. "You lied to me, snake!!!" She threw a punch but Varric managed to duck under the table just in time. "You told me that Hawke had disappeared!!!"

"And he did!" Varric tried to reason with her, in vain. "You dragged me here in chains! Did you really think I'd tell you anything?"

"Ugh!!!" Another punch, missed.

"He is not on our side, Inquisitor!" Cassandra noticed Wolf come in. "He is a liar!!"

"I lied, I admit it!" Varric was still carefully avoiding Cassandra's punches. "I am sorry! I misjudged the situation! But Hawke is here now!"

"If Hawke had been at the conclave..!"

"He'd be dead then," Varric finished her sentence. "Because he wouldn't have run into blazing flames like the Warden here... because Hawke has no death wish."

Cassandra stopped trying to punch Varric and took a deep breath.

"Go, Varric," she said with difficulty. "Just go."

Varric didn't need to be asked twice.

Cassandra took a moment to compose herself.

"I thought I explained the situation to him," she said, shaking her head. "I thought he understood what was at stake... with the mage-templar war running out of control, with red lyrium appearing in the most unexpected places... And yet I didn't explain it well enough. He spun a tale for me and I swallowed it."

She dropped on a chair. The tavern was eerily quiet, no one spoke and the bard didn't sing. Wolf looked down from the balustrade they were on, signaling the bard to resume her performance. People saw his sign and returned to their conversations, so that the usual din was restored. Wolf picked a chair facing Cassandra and straightened her up by the shoulders.

"You did what you could," he said softly.

"Perhaps others hadn't seen where we were headed," Cassandra shook her head. "Perhaps I only saw it because I was close to the Divine... But all that foreboding... all the signs..." she sighed. "We tried to find you at first, the Hero of Ferelden, the Warden-Commander who gathered the forces and defeated the Blight... but you had vanished... There were rumours that you hailed from a distant land outside of Thedas, and we assumed that you returned there... yet here you are! Where were you?!" She exclaimed with renewed anger.

"I was in Antiva," Wolf answered evenly. "Helping a friend resolve an old dispute," he smiled. "That required a certain degree of discretion."

"You went after the Crows?!" Cassandra was taken aback. "It was for that elf, that assassin that hangs around the camp, was it not?"

"Zevran, yes," Wolf nodded. "An assassin of the Antivan Crows."

"That explains why they weren't taking contracts for a while," Cassandra smirked. "We thought they had a rebellion in their ranks... and it looks like they had... No, don't tell me!" She raised her hand, but Wolf had no intention of telling her anything more. "He is here, not on a job and not dead... that speaks volumes. Why is he following you? Are you lovers?"

"Your directness is absolutely delightful, Cassandra," Wolf laughed. "No, we are not lovers, we are friends. I prefer the company of women."

"And he?" Cassandra was piercing Wolf with her gaze.

"He likes both," Wolf returned her gaze. "But I believe in his way he is faithful to me. He only romances women now."

"Heh... That's... well... I think I understand..." She took a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders. "I made such a mess, just now with Varric..."

"Your anger is a force to behold," Wolf smiled. "I love that about you."

"What?!"

"Your fire. Your passion. You really care about the cause."

"Be careful not to get burned," Cassandra smirked.

"I am not worried," Wolf kept smiling. "I am a Grey Warden."

They talked a while longer, and the tavern returned to its usual din, but rumour has it that the stories of a Warden-Commander taming a dragon stemmed from that night.

...

"Inquisitor, may I have a word?" Mother Giselle, one of the few priests that joined the Inquisition, stopped Wolf the following morning as he descended into the great hall from his quaters.

"What is it, Reverend Mother?" He greeted her politely.

"It is about one of your companions, a young mage from Tevinter by the name of Dorian Pavus," she spoke softly, but her gaze was penetrating, as always. "I recieved a letter from his father begging to send him back to Tevinter."

"Oh?" Wolf smirked. "Dorian is a grown man, not a little boy. Why doesn't his father write to him directly?"

"Dorian is still so young..."

"Not that young, no," Wolf shook his head. "I was already... well, never mind that. Dorian makes his own decisions."

"Well, I believe there's been an estrangement... between Dorian and his parents..." Mother Giselle hesitated. "Look, here is the letter," she handed it to Wolf.

"...if I ask him directly, he surely will never come, I know my son..." Wolf read. "...a retainer from our House will meet him and escort him home..." Wolf looked at Mother Giselle in disbelief. "Absolutely not! This is a trap! If you think I'd lead Dorian into a trap, you are misjudging me, Reverend Mother!"

His anger must have been showing, because the priestess sighed and shook her head.

"Well... I hope you will reconsider..."

Wolf had no intention of tricking Dorian, so he took that letter straight to him.

"The nerve..!" Dorian was furious. "After all that..!" He shook his head. "Let's go and meet them! Will you come with me? In case they want to kill me?"

"Of course I'll come with you," Wolf nodded. "I brought you that letter, didn't I?"

They went to the inn in question, it was empty. "That doesn't bode well," Wolf readied his daggers. But there was no attack. Instead a middle-aged man in mage's robes stepped forward from a side room.

"Hello, son," he said. "I am glad you came."

"What is the meaning of this, father?" Dorian retorted angrily. "Bring me back home? Is that why you are here?"

"You are putting yourself in danger following the Inquisition," Dorian's father spoke. "Your mother is worried..."

"Bah! You never gave a damn about me, all you've ever wanted was a picture-perfect son, married to a woman with a pedigree! Well, I won't do it!" Dorian's nostrils were flaring with anger.

"Everything I've done was to ensure the best possible future for you..." his father continued.

"No!" Dorian turned sharply, now addressing Wolf. "You should know... that I prefer the company of men. I shall not marry a woman!"

"Is that all?" Wolf must have looked very surprised because Dorian smiled and his father shook his head. "Why does it even matter who you sleep with?"

"That isn't all... and in Tevinter it matters..." Dorian sighed, then turned to his father again. "You heard him - he is surprised it even matters. Yet you tried to correct my 'fault'... that one defect in your picture-perfect son! And it didn't work... I left because you won't stop until your 'cure' destroys me!"

"He what now..?" Wolf muttered involunterily, he didn't want to pry or to ask, it was none of his business. But Dorian heard him and answered nonetheless.

"They used a blood magic ritual to make me prefer women instead," he smirked. "How many slaves did you bleed for this? Do you even know what it did? What it made me feel?" He glared at his father. "And most of all - I am not a tool to be fixed!"

"I understand your anger," Dorian's father spoke again. "I understand why you left. But to join the Inquisition? Come home with me, there will be no more cures, I swear! We'll arrange a marriage of convenience, you won't have to..."

"No!"

"The Inquisition is so dangerous! You could get killed!" His father kept pleading. "You made your point, there's no need to put yourself in danger any longer!"

"I didn't join the Inquisition to make a point!" Dorian shook his head. "I joined because there's a giant hole in the sky and an ancient darkspawn lord wanting to destroy the world! I joined because it's the right thing to do! I used to have a father who could understand this..."

They fell silent. It seemed the meeting was coming to an end.

"Don't leave it like this," Wolf looked at them in turn. "You came all this way," he addressed Dorian's father. "You wanted to talk... so talk."

"Yes... yes, you are right," he nodded to Wolf. "Dorian, I... I am sorry."

...

They didn't speak much on the way back, the meeting weighed heavily on Wolf and Dorian both. For different reasons, of course, they each came away with a heavy heart but they were glad to have put it behind them. They didn't know that the matter was not yet resolved.

When they arrived at Skyhold, Mother Giselle was waiting for them. She took them aside then spoke to Dorian in an angry tone.

"You must leave the Inquisition, Dorian," she said. "You are giving the Inquisitor a bad name, a bad image. He cannot be seen with you!"

"What?!" Wolf could not believe his ears. "What, because he is from Tevinter?"

"That too, but mostly because... well... there are rumours..."

"What rumours?" Wolf pressed her, although he could imagine what it was about.

"I could not repeat them..."

"There are undoubtedly rumours that you and I are... intimate," Dorian said with a smirk. "That's it, isn't it, Reverend Mother?"

She nodded.

"Do you get this a lot?" Wolf looked at Dorian, still surprised.

"Oh yes, I know the signs..." he nodded. "I cannot have male friends, you see... But I consider you a friend, I think we get on rather well and I'll stand by you against monsters, templars or ancient darkspawn alike... if you can live with the rumours..."

"You met Zevran, right?" Wolf grinned. "Yeah, I can live with the rumours... So if there's nothing else, Reverend Mother, I suggest you do not repeat such rumours but nip them in the bud. Dorian stays, Zevran too. Good day to you."

And with that he turned his back to the Reverend Mother and went to his quarters. That had been quite a day.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:20 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Frostfall, 3E398 – First blood

"Have a look at these," Wolf laid out four long daggers on the table in the tavern at Skyhold. "Not bad for a few days clearing caves," he grinned.

"He is fond of collecting daggers, your friend," Dorian smirked addressing Zevran. "He never leaves one behind."

"Not true!" Wolf protested. "It's just that we find them more often than other weapons."

"Where did you get them from?" Zevran picked up two seemingly identical plain double-bladed daggers, leaving two fancy ones on the table. "Have you tried them already?"

"Got them from a sack in a cave," Wolf shrugged. "And yes, I tried them... they don't seem to work."

"How can they not work? It's not magic!" Dorian looked surprised. "That edge looks sharp!"

"They didn't work because you wielded them wrong," Zevran smiled. "These are Crow daggers. I wonder what they were doing in that sack... But no matter. Let me show you."

They went outside and Zevran sliced a training dummy into shreds before anyone could notice what happened.

"They are for slicing, not stabbing," he pointed out. "Now you try."

They trained all afternoon and Wolf learned a whole host of new techniques. Finally Zevran was satisfied.

"Alright, now we train for real," he said. "I'll take the other two daggers. Let's see who draws the first blood."

They started to dance. Wolf must have been a good student because he kept parrying and Zevran wasn't getting anywhere with his attacks. A crowd started gathering around them, it wasn't every day that people got to watch two assassins dancing. Of course, Wolf wasn't really an assassin, but he was doing his best. Bets were being placed, mugs of beer passed around, and still there was no blood drawn.

"I think Zevran will win," one spectator was saying. "He's an elf, he's lighter and faster. He can keep dancing for longer."

"Ah, but Wolf is stronger, he'll break through, you'll see," another one disagreed.

After some time, Wolf started getting tired. "So, parrying works but I still cannot break his guard," he thought. "It's like he has a cage around him... he parries all of my attacks as I parry his... And yet we did beat him once... That very first time when he was on the contract against us... What did we do..?"

Of course back then it wasn't a duel. Wolf and his party walked into Zevran's ambush and were attacked by a dozen men, with archers and mages among them. The only way they survived and won was because Wynne kept healing and reviving them while they methodically took out the archers and the mages before moving in on the assassins themselves... and even so, Zevran was the last man standing and it took all four of them together to take him down. True. But Wolf learned a few tricks since then. "If you cannot win outright, then cheat," he smirked at the old saying. "Here we go!"

A spray of blood from Wolf's wrist hit Zevran flat on the chest and knocked him down on the ground as if it was a rock. "Now!" Wolf lunged, aiming for the neck. And as his dagger nicked Zevran's skin, he felt Zevran's blade stabbing him through the heart... Or it would have stabbed him through the heart, had Zevran not withdrew it as soon as it drew blood. The duel was over.

"So, who won..?" The spectators tried to decide.

"You cheated," Zevran grinned. "Just like the first time. Well done."

"That was some trick!" Dorian grabbed Wolf's wrist. "Scarred all over! Small, precise cuts... But you are not a mage! You cannot possibly be using blood magic!"

"It's like Zevran said - I cheated," Wolf winked. "Come. Anders isn't here and I need a mage who knows of such things... you'll do," he grinned.

"But what about our bets?!" Someone shouted, seeing them leave. "Who won?"

"It's a draw, of course," someone else replied. "The whole pot goes to the bartender! Drinks for all!"

...

Wolf, Zevran and Dorian walked through the Great Hall of Skyhold and heads turned. They entered Wolf's private quarters, and whispers followed. It didn't matter.

Once armour was removed, it became blatantly clear that both Wolf and Zevran cheated - they were covered in small cuts. If the duel had been for real, they'd each be dead many times over. Zevran filled a bath from a barrel standing ready.

"It's always the same, isn't it," he shook his head. "They expect you'd want a warm bath... They never bring frost salts, and we're out. Dorian, would you..?"

Dorian was watching in fascination as two men were carefully removing each other's armour and clothing, then checking over each other's wounds...

"What...?" He jerked out of his reverie. "Would I what?"

"Shoot a frost spell at the water," Zevran grinned. "We're out of frost salts."

Slightly bewildered, Dorian obliged, and a thin layer of ice formed on the surface. The bath was large, and both Wolf and Zevran got in, and lay still with their eyes closed.

"Fascinating," Dorian was watching the bleeding on their bodies stop, then Wolf and Zevran getting out of the bath and moving to the bed, and proceding to apply ointments and bandages to each other. "I see you've done this before."

"The number of times that we shared a bed over the past ten years..." Wolf rolled his eyes. "There will be talk tomorrow, of course, about Lord Inquisitor's intimacy with his elf... Pay it no mind. I wanted you to see it."

"I am more interested in your wrists, in fact," Dorian walked over to the bed. "And in your blood magic. And doesn't Zevran object when you speak of him like that..?" He looked at Zevran who shook his head.

"I am an elf, it's true," he grinned. "Let them talk. Solas can stick his sermons where no one will ever find them. I don't understand a word of Elvish, my friend..."

"I'll tell you all about my blood magic tomorrow, Dorian," Wolf smiled. "I can barely keep my eyes open. Training with this assassin is utterly exhausting..." He shot a glance at Zevran who grinned, getting comfortable under the blankets. "But tomorrow we can give rise to a new set of rumours about Lord Inquisitor and his Tevinter mage..."





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:22 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dusk, 3E398 - Grey Wardens

"This discovery weighs heavily upon you," Cassandra sat next to Wolf on a rock overlooking the sea. "This Grey Wardens outpost built over an opening into the Deep Roads... Unmanned since the defeat of the Blight."

"The Wardens here gave their lives to protect the area, but of course they could not stop endless darkspawn armies..." Wolf sighed. "They've done their duty, that's not what weighs on me. It's that I didn't know this outpost even existed."

"Which isn't your fault. The Grey Wardens Order of Ferelden had been disbanded three hundred years ago. You could not have known," Cassandra objected.

"It was my duty to know, especially when Alistair returned from the Head Quarters with disturbing reports of bureaucracy... perhaps corruption even. I did nothing with that. I committed the same crime as those bureaucrats at the HQ. Indifference. Complacency. Navel gazing." Wolf grimaced and spit.

"You are being too hard on yourself," Cassandra shook her head. "No one can accuse you of that."

"I accuse myself, that's enough."

They sat in silence for a while.

"Blackwall is not taking it as hard as you," Cassandra spoke quietly.

"Blackwall is from Orlais. This is Ferelden. This was my responsibility."

"Blackwall is collecting Grey Wardens artefacts," Cassandra noted matter-of-factly. "Banners, heraldry, fake griffin feathers... He is such an obvious Grey Warden, crests all over... While you wear none of that."

"Tastes differ," Wolf shrugged, looking at her sideways. "I represent the Inquisition now, not Grey Wardens, while Blackwall is the Grey Warden with the Inquisition..."

"No, the Grey Warden with the Inquisition is you," Cassandra objected. "Everyone knows that, without any crests."

"What are you saying, Cassandra?" Wolf hushed his voice even though Blackwall was well out of earshot.

"I am not a Grey Warden and cannot sense the taint," Cassandra lowered her voice as well. "But I can see it anyway. Why are you allowing him to continue this charade?"

"Blackwall is a conscript," Wolf answered slowly, weighing how much to tell her. "It isn't his real name. It was the name of the Grey Warden who conscripted him but died before Blackwall could undergo the Joining. He told me all that."

"And how can you be sure he didn't kill the real Warden himself?" Cassandra squinted.

"To what end?" Wolf shrugged. "I see no reason. Even if Blackwall is hiding from something under that assumed identity, he would have been better off as an actual Grey Warden... No, I think he told the truth. I let him be my conscript for now."

"Do you plan to put him through the Joining?"

"Eventually," Wolf nodded. "But I am in no position to do it now. Especially since what we discovered today."

"About Alistair?" Cassandra didn't want to approach that topic at first, but this seemed like a good opening.

"Exactly," Wolf nodded. "Those two Wardens we met... I don't know them, they look green - must be new recruits. Did you hear what they said?" He looked at Cassandra and she nodded. "That they had orders from their Warden-Commander to arrest Alistair for treason... Alistair!!" Wolf flared his nostrils with anger. "Oh, I know who the traitor is, and it's not he!"

"They were quick to replace you with a new Warden-Commander," Cassandra said softly.

"I'm not worried about that, it was to be expected," Wolf shrugged. "I am not surprised even they didn't pick Alistair for the position because he never wanted to be in command. But this new person... if those are the kind of orders he gives... that's bad business."

"What are you going to do?" Cassandra held her breath.

"Find Alistair," Wolf said quietly. "Find Anders, Oghren, and others of the old guard. Alistair first though, he'll tell us what's been going on. Then find Anders..."

"The mage who blew up the Chantry in Kirkwall was named Anders," Cassandra said in a neutral tone, but the tension in her voice was palpable. "Why are you protecting him?"

"It's not the same Anders," Wolf smiled. "Anders isn't a name - it's where he's from, that is Anderfells. And yes, a lot of them are blond, and some of them are mages... But I guarantee you it isn't the same person."

"He claimed to be from the Ferelden Circle of Magi though," Cassandra squinted. "And that he was a Grey Warden."

"I have no answer to that, Cassandra, I never met him," Wolf shook his head. "But it wasn't our Anders. It sounds like someone's been using his identity for some reason..."

"He was a healer in Kirkwall first," Cassandra continued. "Then he vanished for a while, then reappeared, but never resumed his practice... People thought he looked a bit different too, but then, people do change with time."

"Our Anders was a healer in Kirkwall, that's where I found him," Wolf nodded. "Then... well... I might as well tell you... He, I, Varric and Hawke went on an expedition into the Deep Roads organised by Varric's brother Bartrand. We found red lyrium there. It got into Bartrand's head and he locked us out in the Deep Roads to die. We got captured by darkspawn. I managed to send word to the Wardens who came to our rescue. Neither Anders nor I ever returned to Kirkwall after that. So whoever blew up the Chantry there several years later, wasn't our Anders."

"So Varric knew you all along!!" Cassandra nearly jumped up, but steadied herself. "The liar!!!"

"Well, you never asked him about me, have you?" Wolf steadied her. "He lied by omission. He didn't tell lies."

"It's just as bad!" Cassandra's anger was still flaring.

"Your usual interrogation techniques don't work on the likes of Varric," Wolf tried to speak calmly. "The same as they didn't work on me. Instead of bringing him in in chains, you would have been better off inviting him to dinner. Although whether he would have told you more, I am not certain... Varric is very loyal to those he considers friends, and the Chantry isn't one of them."

"You never told me you knew Varric and Hawke either!!" Cassandra turned her anger on Wolf.

"And you never asked me," Wolf smiled. "Like you never asked my name until much later, Seeker." He paused, waiting for Cassandra to cool off. "I am surprised that Leliana didn't tell you who I was the moment she saw me."

"She didn't look at you too closely... Your appearance changed a bit since she last saw you..." Cassandra calmed down. "She blamed herself later for not taking the time to look..."

"Tell her it's fine... we didn't get on back then... but none of it matters now," Wolf dismissed the topic. "It's ten years on, the Blight has been defeated but darkspawn has not. Grey Wardens must stand up to it... but instead, they are declaring Alistair a traitor! That doesn't bode well."

"One day I hope you will tell me who you really are," Cassandra spoke softly. "I know you are not from the Free Marches..."

"One day..." Wolf smiled.

...

"Alistair!" Wolf, Hawke, Varric, Cassandra and Dorian walked into a cave where Alistair was hiding.

"Wolf," Alistair grinned. "And company," he bowed to the others curtly.

"I hear you've been declared a traitor," Wolf went straight to the heart of the matter.

"It's bad business, Wolf," Alistair shook his head. "We've been sold out to Orlais."

"Again?!"

"Well, not the kingdom of Ferelden, just the Wardens," Alistair nodded. "The Queen doesn't interfere in Wardens affairs of course, but the Head Quarters apparently decided that the Ferelden chapter was too small to be... err... economically viable... Yes, I think that was the phrase. So they took your... err... engagement with the Inquisition as the perfect excuse to dissolve the Ferelden chapter altogether and bring us under the Orlaisian one that is led by Warden-Commander Clarel. And she... there's only one way to put it... she's building a demon army."

"Blood magic?"

"With demon binding."

"That's bad."

"That's not all," Alistair sighed. "They are being led by a Tevinter Magister..."

"...who serves everyone's favourite darkspawn lord, no doubt," Wolf guessed.

"I think so."

"What else?"

"Don't you feel it?" Alistair squinted. "I guess your mark shuts it off... lucky you," he smirked. "We're all hearing the Call of the Black City. Even the youngest recruits. So Clarel panicked."

"Why is she after you?"

"Because I protested. Called out her madness..." Alistair sighed. "I've been on the run, but I've also been watching them. I am alright; but the others... I don't know..."

"Anders?" Wolf paled.

"He protested. They took him. Clarel is an incredible mage. Anders cursed, something about being back in the Circle Tower without justice..." Alistair looked away. "I am sorry that I ever doubted him. He is not that kind of a blood mage."

"No, he's got a head on his shoulders," Wolf nodded. "And may be he doesn't hear the Call... or not quite as much. How bad is it?"

"Bad," Alistair shook his head. "It's like a song that you cannot get out of your head. It calls us to die."

"You must stop this," Dorian stepped forward. "I think I know the ritual they are using... well, I know of it," he corrected himself. "It takes a life of a person to bind a demon... a life of another Warden, I presume. And you have to wonder where the demons are coming from. Who commands them? I bet those are no random demons..."

"What are you saying, Dorian?" Wolf and Alistair looked very worried.

"If those demons answer to our darkspawn lord... well... then so do the Wardens. The binding goes both ways."

Everyone held their breath at that revelation.

"Has Clarel gone truly mad?!" Wolf exclaimed in anger. "That she cannot resist the Call? Does the Call tell her to turn to demon binding?!"

"The Call doesn't have a message," Alistair said calmly. "The Call is just a song... it drives us into the Deep Roads... well, you know. The point here is why she is doing it. She believes that once she has a demon army bound to the Wardens, she'll take them to the Deep Roads in search of the Old Gods the same way as darkspawn do it... Only she intends to kill every last Old God so that there would be no more Blights ever. In her mind, she is doing her duty and saving the world..."

"I understand now what old Wardens mean when they say that the Call drives them into insanity..." Wolf said softly.

He paced around the cave. Everyone took a step back, waiting for his decision. He stopped before Alistair.

"It's up to us again, Alistair," he said in a reasonably calm tone. "You and me against the Blight."

"By your lead, Warden-Commander," Alistair smiled.

"You will need my help," Dorian stepped forward. "Because I am from Tevinter."

"Another blood mage?" Alistair raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you know my little problem..." Wolf winked and Alistair rolled his eyes. "Dorian is a mage from Tevinter. That is all."

"And don't even think about going without me," Cassandra stepped forward. "You need a templar."

"Hey, I'm the templar!" Alistair protested.

"The more the merrier," Wolf grinned. "You can have a demon each, there's no need to quarrel."

"That darkspawn lord is my fault, I tracked down his prison, thus facilitating his release," Varric stepped forward. "So I'm with you as well. Bianca is excited."

"But I don't have a death wish," Hawke shook his head. "I am no Grey Warden, I am not with the Inquisition, there's no reason why I should join you. So I'm leaving." He turned around and walked towards the exit.

"Err... well... thanks for your help finding Alistair," Wolf said after him. "You never wanted to have anything to do with blood, I remember."

"He just wants you to ask him nicely," Varric smiled, looking affectionately at Hawke walking away.

"Why should I?" Wolf shrugged. "This is Grey Wardens' mess. Hawke never trusted us, and with good reason. I understand and reciprocate the sentiment."

"You don't trust me?!" Hawke spun around and flew at Wolf. "How dare you?!"

"I barely know you," Wolf remained calm. "I heard there was some bad business in Kirkwall, but I had nothing to do with it. Grey Wardens had nothing to do with it."

"Your Anders blew up the Chantry and set it all in motion!!!" Hawke bellowed. "How dare you say you Wardens had nothing to do with it!?"

"Ah, yes, I wondered about that," Wolf nodded and shot a glance at Cassandra who nodded back. "I wondered who would impersonate Grey Warden Anders and why. It seems someone was eager to implicate us in that disaster..."

"It was the same Anders!!" Hawke didn't give up. "I met him, remember? I met him when you were in Kirkwall! I remember you fussing over him like a mother hen all the while in the Deep Roads! Carrying him back to Vigil Keep! And then he returned several years later and blew up the Chantry!"

"Go, Hawke," Wolf faced him, pale as a sheet. "Just go. This is Grey Wardens' business."

Hawke stormed off. Wolf looked at Cassandra, Dorian and Varric and addressed Cassandra.

"Like I said - this is our mess. The Inquisition does not have to get involved. I cannot play Lord Inquisitor here, it is up to you, Cassandra, what the Inquisition will do. Anyone who wishes to join Alistair and me, will walk with Grey Wardens on this. I will understand if you reconsider."

"We should return to Skyhold and speak with the others," Cassandra nodded. "I am still coming with you though, Warden. Don't ask why."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:23 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dusk, 3E398 - Here lies the abyss

"Absolutely out of the question!" Leliana shook her head and stomped her foot. "The Inquisition will NOT support Grey Wardens! And if you wish to quit, then quit! We should have never made you Lord Inquisitor, I knew it!!"

"I see," Wolf looked at her coldly. Cassandra had just retold the meeting with Alistair for Leliana, Cullen and Josephine. Together they were the Inquisition. "I have no issue quitting. But seeing how you need the mark on my hand to close Fade rifts, I don't see what you will do without me."

"Solas said we could not cut off his hand!" Josephine quickly intervened. "Don't even think it! Like it or not, we need the Warden with us. Although may be not necessarily as Lord Inquisitor."

"Fine..." Leliana glared at them all. "But we will not help him fix up that mess with the Wardens! We should just kill them all!"

"Err... I won't sacrifice our forces for this," Cullen shook his head. "You want to storm the fortress they are in... It's an ancient fortress, and we could raise it to the ground... But there's a contingent of Grey Wardens in it with a small army of demons! If we attack, they'll see us as the enemy, and I don't want every Inquisition soldier dead, because that's what will happen!"

As usual, they could not agree on anything. Wolf shook his head and left. He was going to make his own arrangements.

"I hear you are going to help the Wardens," Blackwall stopped him in the yard. "Take me with you."

"No," Wolf shook his head. "Cassandra figured out you are no Grey Warden, and if she could see it, so can the others. Sit this one out, Blackwall. When this is all over, you'll take the Joining."

"Well... it's not what I wanted to hear, but I understand..." He sighed. "Good luck to you, Commander."

Wolf was going to see the Iron Bull, the head of a mercenary unit working with them, but Cullen barred his way in an empty corridor.

"I said I won't sacrifice our forces and I won't," he started. "But I don't think you were planning a frontal assault. I know you are not afraid of demons... I remember the Circle Tower. But you will now be facing many hostile mages as well as demons - mages controlled by the darkspawn lord. We have templars among our troops. Take them with you."

"That's rather unexpected, Cullen," Wolf smiled. "Thank you. But I don't want our forces dead either."

"What is your plan, Commander?" Cullen spoke in a rather formal tone. "You do have a plan, I hope?"

"I do, Commander," Wolf replied equally formally. "Alistair obtained plans of the Adamant Fortress - it is no great secret among Grey Wardens since the fortress is so old. We've gone through them. There are several side entrances, but the desert has been encroaching on the building. We don't know which entrances will yield, but I am sure we'll find some. Then our first goal will be to find our people - Anders, Oghren and others that protested. They are likely held captive, I do hope Clarel keeps them till last... Then we'll sweep through the fortress and kill every demon and every mage that became possessed through that ritual... They are beyond saving, I have no illusions. They have become abominations," he paused with a sigh, shaking his head. "We'll try to avoid fighting other Wardens... if any of them recognise me, it'll help, I hope... The ultimate goal is to find Clarel. She will die... either by her own hand or by ours, but this madness will stop there."

He stopped talking and looked Cullen in the eye.

"It's a good plan," Cullen nodded and smiled. "I'll have templars follow your progress. As backup. They'll join in when the fighting heats up. They'll answer to you. The rest of us will stay outside and guard all exits. Good luck to you, Commander."

...

The Adamant Fortress stood guard on the Western edge of the civilised world. Beyond it was nothing but an unforgiving desert with sulfurous smoke erupting from the cracks in the earth. This was where darkspawn emerged from the underground, in particular during a Blight. The fortress stood surrounded by sand on all sides.

Wolf, Alistair, Cassandra, Varric and Dorian formed the forward force meant to break through one of the back doors. A group of templars was following them a short distance behind keeping them in view but staying out of the way. More Inquisition troops were positioned further away, almost fading into the hot air rising from the sand.

"This door will yield," Wolf was pushing a heavy wooden door. "Dig it out a bit and let's give it a good push! Again! And again!" The door eventually yielded, opening a crack, and they pried it open fully. It wasn't locked, it was just blocked by sand and debris. It led into a gloomy corridor, seemingly unused for at least a thousand years.

"This corridor leads into the depths," Alistair checked his map. "Into the dungeons, perhaps?"

"It's worth checking," Wolf agreed.

They descended several flights of stairs, took multiple turns... and got lost within five minutes of entering. The corridor was completely dark which didn't help orientation.

"Did anyone bring a lantern?" Wolf asked in a tired voice. "Don't tell me we forgot about lanterns!"

"We did," Dorian spoke from the darkness. "But luckily, you've got me." He produced two small lanterns from his pack. "Cave diving was something I did quite a lot as a boy," he smiled. "You quickly learn to always bring lanterns."

"I expected a magical light, to be honest," Alistair smirked, attaching a lantern to his belt. "But this is better."

The lanterns did help to see where they were going, but they didn't help to know where the corridors led to. Eventually they saw torches up ahead - a clear sign of civilisation. Strong stench of alcoholic breath was another sign.

"Who goes there?" They heard a hoarse voice. "I shall sodding have your heads, you bleeding idiots!!"

They turned a corner and saw a row of cells. Only one cell had an occupant.

"Brainless morons!!" The voice continued to swear. "Lock me up, will you?! I am sodding not giving my blood to no Orlaisian bird!!!"

"Oghren?" Wolf approached the cell. "It must be you, no one swears with quite the same flare."

"Commander!" Oghren was sitting on the floor, empty bottles all around him. "Are you real or have I finally drank myself into delirium?"

"I am quite real," Wolf laughed. "Alistair can confirm it."

Oghren got up rather unsteadily, shook himself like a dog in the rain, then spoke with a lot less slur.

"I drink because it keeps the song away," he explained. "It drives me mad, it does. But I am not giving my blood to summon a demon! That's madness!"

"And so they locked you up," Wolf nodded. "Hang on..." He tried to pick the lock but had to let Varric do it instead. "So. It's too bad you are not armed..."

"I don't need to be," Oghren shook his head. "I'll be armed as soon as we run into trouble," he grinned. "What's the plan?"

"Sweep the dungeons, sweep the fortress, kill Clarel," Wolf summarised. "Do you know who else was taken and where they are?"

"A few others were taken, aye," Oghren nodded. "They didn't put us together, but these dungeons are huge. They mostly were separating mages from warriors... Anders is here somewhere, and a few other lads and lasses... Let's go."

They swept through the dungeons, now using the map and trying to make sure not to miss any passages. They found Anders and a few other Wardens. Next they would come out into the open and need to fight.

"Now we separate," Wolf decided. "Two groups. Cassandra and Anders with me, Varric and Dorian with Alistair. We go left, Alistair goes right, we meet in the middle. If there's a ritual taking place, it'll be there. The rest of you hang back until you have a weapon." He glared at Oghren who was about to protest. "There will be casualties, and I want them as few as possible!" He looked at everyone and they nodded. "Try not to kill your fellow Wardens, but watch for mages that turned... we are too late for them." He paused and everyone remained silent. "Good luck to you all."

They separated. When they turned a corner, Wolf stopped.

"Ready?" He looked at Anders. "You've got no staff."

"I don't need a staff." Anders fingered his dagger. "I'll pick one up along the way. Do you intend to..?"

"Yes," Wolf said and Anders nodded.

"Ready."

"Cassandra," Wolf turned to her. "Your faith in me will be severely tested. I shall answer all your questions when this is over... My intention is unchanged. My methods will shock you."

"I think I know what you mean," Cassandra said quietly. "I've seen the scars on your wrists... But you are not a mage... I don't understand... I guess I'll see it."

"That you will."

...

Fighting on the battlements was ferocious. Too many Warden mages had already been bound to demons, and so both the mages and their demons had to be defeated. Yet a number of Wardens were still unaffected, and they quickly saw sense and stopped fighting.

"They have been performing these rituals for days now," one such Warden told Wolf. "They'd take a mage and a warrior, and have the mage sacrifice the warrior for the ritual. They'd use his blood to summon a demon and bind it to the mage. It was meant to strengthen the mages, and thus the Wardens as a whole, but we can see clearly that the mages lost all free will as a result... They are controlled by that Magister that performed the ritual. So we refuse to be sacrificed, both for our sake and for the mages'... Many mages see it too... And yet they seem to be controlled by him even before the ritual... That's strange..."

"They are probably affected by the Call more than warriors," Anders suggested. "Because mages have a connection to the Fade... isn't it where the Call comes from?"

"Possibly," Wolf agreed. "And I presume you are not affected because..."

"Oh, I'm affected," Anders shook his head. "But probably less than most... because of Justice, yes," he smiled. "I can hear the Call but it doesn't drive me mad."

"That sounds like..." Cassandra started, but then cut herself off. "We can talk later. We still have a lot of demons and abominations to slay."

She kept her comments to herself. Wolf slit his wrists many times using his blood to drive back demons and to paralyse mages, or simply to throw off attackers when he got surrounded. He slit his wrists to lend aid to Anders who also repeatedly slit his. It was blood magic against blood magic. "Dorian must be using necromancy," Wolf thought, watching Cassandra tear through a pack of demons with her templar's mace, then falling back. "That's too many demons even for a Seeker..."

Dorian did use necromancy. Less well known than blood magic, necromancy was still frowned upon and even partially outlawed, akin to blood magic. Dorian started raising corpses when their party got overwhelmed. Alistair was taken aback at first, but then quickly realised that corpses were helping them, not fighting against them. "Well, that makes for a welcome change..." He grinned, watching Dorian raise another corpse. "Unconventional, but hey, so are these demons..." Alistair had come a long way since the days when he wanted to execute every apostate mage without a trial.

Wolf and Alistair reached the middle section almost at the same time. There was a platform there and a large open surface covering the roof of the main keep, mages stood on one side of it, warriors on the other. An altar was erected on the platform, it had blood stains on it. A mage in Tevinter robes was directing a ritual. He called forward one mage and one warrior and directed the mage to slit the warrior's throat. The sacrifice had to be done in person to work. The warrior's bleeding body was put on the altar and the mage made the blood in it boil and rise, which in turn brought forward a demon out of a tear in the Veil. The demon was bound to the mage, and the mage became a slave of the Magister.

Seeing Wolf and Alistair appearing, the Magister interrupted the ritual.

"You are too late, Commander!" He shouted with glee. "My Lord will have his Grey Warden army!" He commanded the mages to raise their hands and they did. "It is not I who commands them, it is My Lord. I merely use the spell He taught me! The taint in their blood - in your blood! - is most convenient! But let us not stop on this account!" He turned to the mages that had not been bound to demons yet. "Who's next?" Several mages stepped forward, their eyes glazed over. "You see? They obey even before the ritual! Oh, but let us do something special, now that the Warden-Commander is here!" He smirked and looked aound. "Warden-Commander Clarel! Come forward! I have a special demon waiting for you!"

Clarel stepped onto the platform, and an outline of a huge Pride Demon appeared in the Veil tear.

"Bring forward your sacrifice!" The Magister commanded and one of the older warrior stepped onto the platform. "Well, you know what to do," he said encouragingly to Clarel and smiled.

"My friend," she addressed the warrior. "After all these years... I have to ask this last sacrifice of you..."

"If my sword arm can no longer serve you, then I hope my blood will," he looked at her with affection and went down on one knee.

"It will, my friend, it will..." She stood behind him and slit his throat, tears running down her face. She then carefully put the warrior's body onto the altar and prepared to start the ritual.

"Clarel! Stop!" Wolf cried out, pushing forward through the crowd. "The Call that you hear isn't real! Your Magister serves a darkspawn lord!"

"Not real..?" She stopped, looking at Wolf through her tears. "But we all hear it... Which is why we have to make that final push... to end all Blights..."

"You hear the Call not because the taint has finally corrupted your body," Wolf spoke with urgency. "You hear it because it comes from the darkspawn lord! Just like the Call of the Archdemon... The one I slayed some ten years past. Ten years! Think! It is too soon for another Blight!"

"I... what have I done..?" She looked around her, as if only now seeing glazed over expressions on the faces of her mages, now bound to the darkspawn lord. "You!!" She turned to the Magister. "You lied to us!! You said it would stop all Blights!"

"And you clutched that excuse without question!" He sneered. "You were all too greedy for all the power! Just look at the demon waiting to do your bidding! That is the Call that you cannot resist!"

He laughed derisively. Clarel's face contorted with rage and she flung a lightning bolt at him, throwing him on the ground.

"Oh I see," he scrambled to his feet. "My Lord warned me that this could happen. Which is why he taught me another spell..."

He cast a spell, and a shriek and a roar filled the air. A great big undead dragon descended onto the fortress, a dragon very much resembling an Archdemon.

"What?!" Clarel was furious. She shot another bolt at the Magister, nearly killing him where he stood. She was back in control, but it was too late. Great many mages and warriors had been sacrificed already. "No!!" She turned her attention to the dragon. "Not on my watch! Oh what have I done..." She shot a bolt at the dragon and it reeled in pain and took to the air. Clarel went after it, running up the watchtower, expecting the dragon to land there. Demons and mages bound to them attacked the other Wardens turning the roof into a bloody battlefield. Wolf signalled his party to leave the battle and to charge after Clarel. If they could kill the dragon, it was their duty to do so.

Clarel was ahead of them. She kept shooting lightning bolts at the dragon, trying to force it to land. It kept shrieking and circling the tower but didn't fly away and didn't land. Anders, Dorian and Varric added their shots to Clarel's, and Wolf regretted bitterly not bringing his crossbow. Finally the dragon seemed to weaken, another bolt would bring it down... and it did. The dragon crashed into the tower, taking tons of brickwork towards the abyss on the other side. Clarel dived after it, the dragon rose once again, then fell onto the tower, smashing the rest of it and sending the debris and the people into the abyss. The last thing Wolf saw before the abyss closed in, was Clarel plunging her staff into the dragon's skull.

In death, Sacrifice.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:24 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dusk, 3E398 - Nightmares

Wolf was standing in the Fade. He knew what it looked like because he'd been there before. It looked like a rocky coast of Northern Ferelden, he could hear the sea nearby and could taste the salt in the air. Everything was wet, and he slipped on the rocks a few times. The Black City was visible in the distance, floating on an island in the sky. "What happened?" Wolf tried to remember. The last thing he knew, he was fighting a dragon... was that the Archdemon? Hadn't he slain the Archdemon already? He could not recall. But whatever happened in Mundus, he had to get back there, he had to find a way out. And so he started walking.

The place was deserted, but there were signs of other travellers here and there - a scrap of a letter here, a half-finished bottle of wine there, a bloody teddy bear, a bunch of wilted flowers, a candle that's gone out... "Someone's memories," Wolf thought. He hoped he would find his own memories too, and so he continued walking.

"Conscription ale: vintage Riordan," Wolf picked up a bottle half-filled with some alcoholic drink. "Riordan. I remember you." Grey Wardens didn't have mules following them around, so every item in their packs was carefully selected. It became a tradition to carry a single bottle of alcohol that got topped up with whatever liqueur they came upon their travels. They nicknamed it "Conscription Ale" because nothing burned like the Joining Cup. Riordan was the Warden that joined Wolf in Alistair for the final assault on the Archdemon. He fell in that battle. Wolf pocketed Riordan's bottle and walked on.

"I don't know you, mage!" He heard an angry voice ahead. "Get out of my way!"

"But you are my son..." A woman's voice pleaded. "And a Grey Warden, like I once was... Your father was the King of Ferelden, we were lovers for so long... The throne is yours by right!"

"You are not my mother!" The angry voice objected. "I am no elf-blood! My mother was a maid at the Redcliffe Castle, she had a brief encounter with the King, and I was the result! Yes, I'm a royal bastard! I know I have a claim on the throne, and I don't want it! Begone, spirit!!"

Wolf turned a corner and saw Alistair argueing with an elven mage... she looked familiar somehow...

"Lord Inquisitor!" She turned to Wolf. "You remember me, right? Fiona. I lead the rebel mages... You recently made us your allies."

"Fiona," Wolf nodded. "Yes, I remember you. We spoke once or twice. You sold out the mages to the Tevinter Imperium," he scowled.

"Oh... but we were desperate!" Fiona protested. "I did explain... You still made us your allies."

"I made the mages my allies because they are not to blame for your transgressions," Wolf frowned. "But this is not why you are here, surely?"

"I am Alistair's mother," Fiona said with a sigh. "But he does not believe me. Make him believe me! Make him remember!"

"Remember what, exactly?" Wolf squinted. "Being inside your womb? Don't be ridiculous."

"My mother was a maid at the castle and she died in child birth... My half-sister said I killed her..." Alistair protested, hotly at first, then the memory of his encounter with his half-sister made him sad and uneasy. "She only wanted my money... as if I had any..."

"That's what people were told! That you were the son of a kitchen maid who died in child birth," Fiona nodded. "Only her babe died with her. You were born shortly after, and thus the story was put together. The King's son could not be an elf-blood! Not even a bastard son! I had to give you up and leave, never to return."

"Could this be true?" Alistair looked at Wolf. "That I am an elf-blood? That I have magic in me? That I was born with the Grey Warden taint and therefore survived the Joining? That I was always meant to be a Grey Warden? That... well... but then the Call I hear is real... if the taint had been in my blood since the start... I should have killed the Archdemon, then. My time is nearly up."

"Yes, this is an interesting point," Wolf had to steady Alistair who looked like he was about to collapse. "What do you mean - you were a Grey Warden, Fiona? You can quit the Order but you cannot stop being a Grey Warden. The taint in your blood is forever. And how come you don't hear the Call?"

"Well, that's just it, no one understands it," Fiona nodded. "It just... fizzled out one day. I could no longer sense darkspawn. I still can't, and I don't hear the Call. My blood is no longer tainted. That's why Grey Wardens booted me out of the Order. I regretted it so much at first... Duncan was such a good friend..."

"Duncan?" Alistair looked up. "What about him?"

"Well, we joined the Order at about the same time," Fiona smiled. "And as two young recruits we shared a lot of missions. We became friends. Then later, when you were born, Duncan promised to make you a Grey Warden and look after you... and he kept his promise."

"Well, that just gets worse by the minute..." Alistair shook his head. "It's like a web closing in on me... Everything was pre-destined, I had no say in anything from before I was even born..."

"Don't listen to her," Wolf said decisively. "For one, this is not the real Fiona because Fiona is back in Skyhold and not here in the Fade." He gave her a hard stare and she rolled her eyes. "For two, Fiona is one of the most slippery and conniving individuals I've ever met," he kept his eyes on her. "She started the mage rebellion... oh yes, it was she who started it, and not that single mage who blew up the Chantry in Kirkwall. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been her agent all along... implicating Grey Wardens, too. Yet Grey Wardens didn't take the fall for the disaster in Kirkwall, that must have been a real setback. Then she led her rebel mages into the war with templars, and let us not pretend that the mages caused no harm. They did! They used blood magic galore, they burned the land and committed crimes, all in the name of freedom and greater good. I understand where they were coming from, with all the repressions, in particular in Kirkwall, but it does not justify what Fiona thought was acceptable to do in that war. The mages were victims no longer!" Wolf glared at Fiona but she remained impenetrable. "And then, just as we've defeated templar units around the area where the mages were staying, Fiona declared an imminent existential threat from the templars and sold out her mages to Tevinter! While no such threat any longer existed! And yes, that Tevinter Magister did manipulate the fabric of time, but even so, even in his new warped reality, the immediate threat from the templars had already been eliminated! There was no need to sell out the mages at all! Which is what most mages could see and said so! I really don't understand why you still live."

"I still live because none of that matters, Inquisitor," Fiona answered with a smirk. "I still live because there's no one else the mages would rather have as their leader. Because none of them has the guts to step up and challenge me. That's why they were so easy to manipulate, as you too have found out."

"The mages still remember the horrors of blood magic rebellion in the Circle Tower in Ferelden and later in Kirkwall," Alistair nodded. "They are terrified from such events repeating."

"What the mages need to understand, is that they can draw strength from templars," Wolf nodded. "But this notion is too far out for the present. And anyway... Alistair, this spirit does not represent your mother. I do not believe that Fiona could be your mother. I think your mother was that human woman who died in child birth."

"And my life was not pre-destined," Alistair nodded. "I made my own choices. I joined Grey Wardens because I asked to join Grey Wardens. I abdicated my birth right to the throne because I chose to do so. Because I wanted to remain with the Order. Which is my family. Where I have a purpose and a job to do. That's right! Begone, spirit!" Alistair straightened up and looked at Fiona. "I do not believe you."

Fiona vanished.

"Phew..." Alistair sighed. "Thank you, friend. That was a hard one... My worst nightmare... lack of control..."

"Well, it's over," Wolf smiled. "I wonder who else is here. What happened? I remember fighting a dragon... was that the Archdemon?"

"No, that was some other dragon..." Alistair scratched the back of his head. "It sure looked like the Archdemon though... Something isn't right. And there were others with us - Anders, Dorian, Varric, Cassandra... I wonder if they are here as well."

"I wonder if we need to find them in order to get out," Wolf nodded. "And where is the exit..?"

They walked on, looking for anything other than the endless rocks and sea.

...

"Well, I am sorry!" They heard an apologetic voice further ahead. "I didn't know what red lyrium was... what it did..."

"But you were greedy, just like your brother!" An angry voice replied.

"I admit that I was," the first voice sounded dejected. "It's all my fault, after all... You're dead because of me, Hawke..."

Wolf and Alistair turned a corner and saw Varric talking to Hawke.

"I died in that stupid assault on the Grey Wardens fortress!" Hawke replied hotly. "What madness!! What were you thinking?! How could you send me into that battle?!"

"I..." Varric was nearly crying.

"You did no such thing," Wolf interrupted them. "There was no frontal assault, we went through a back door... and Hawke wasn't with us because he refused to come! This spirit is taunting you, Varric."

"There wasn't..?" Varric stood aghast. "But I remember..."

"What do you remember?" Alistair joined in. "Because I remember you following me. I don't remember you commanding any troops or sending anyone into battle, least of all Hawke. Wake up, Varric!"

"Hawke always followed me though, after a fashion," Varric was looking at Hawke with affection. "He's perhaps my closest friend... I shielded him from Cassandra... but then I gave him up. Because I thought that the hole in the sky was more important. Rubbish! What good is this world if I lose my closest friend?"

"But he's not dead, Varric," Wolf said quietly. "He didn't come with us."

"You'd think that, wouldn't you," Varric smirked. "Because he's stubborn, the same as you, Warden... Hawke has his pride... He'd rather join in the shadows and come to light in the end... He'll be there, one way or the other..."

"Well, that may be, but I haven't seen him and there's no reason to believe that he's dead," Wolf said firmly. "We'll have to get out of here and see what's going on."

"Yeah, may be..." Varric looked around. "Yeah, that's it. That's rubbish, and this is not Hawke, I am going back and there I'll find him and help him fight..."

Varric vanished before he could even finish his sentence. Hawke glared at Wolf and Alistair and vanished too.

"Now, which of them was a real person?" Alistair looked around in surprise.

"Who knows?" Wolf shrugged. "May be neither. Come on."

...

"How did you get out of the Fade before?" Alistair stopped after they'd been walking for a long time but only saw rocks and sea around them.

"I simply willed it," Wolf stopped too. "I pictured where I was just before I entered the Fade, and I willed myself to be there again... And I was out. Unless there's a demon guarding the pocket we're in, that's all that it takes."

"Well, I only remember falling into the abyss," Alistair sighed. "I can't remember rightly what was going on... We were fighting a lot of demons... and mages... there was a sacrifice..."

"...a blood magic ritual binding a demon to a mage," Wolf nodded. "Yes, at the Grey Warden fortress. They were all Grey Wardens."

"Which is why we had to stop them," Alistair nodded. "It's coming back to me..."

"I remember that bit too, but what I don't recall is how I got this mark," Wolf raised his hand. "There was a Conclave... we came to observe... then there was a massive explosion and I ran in... then woke up three days later with this thing on my hand. But what happened in that room? What is it?"

"I can't help you there," Alistair shook his head. "We all were behind you. We just saw the explosion. What you need is to find your memories. Perhaps they are here, in the Fade."

"Perhaps this is what's keeping us here," Wolf nodded.

He took a few steps, something caught his eye.

"Come look at this!" He called to Alistair but got no answer. He turned around - Alistair was gone. "He's out," Wolf decided. "He remembered everything he needed to remember. But I have not..."

He looked around at the endless rocks melting into the sea, at the floating island of the Black City in the distance... It changed somehow. Was that... a dragon? A dragon was circling the floating island, as if trying to decide which way to go. Which dragon was that? It looked familiar... If only Wolf could recall...





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:25 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dusk, 3E398 - Voices from the past

"Hello, my friend, it's been too long," a voice from the past called and Wolf spun around. Morrigan. "You haven't tried to find me, as I requested. Is that because you respected my wishes or because you no longer care?" She looked at him with a sad smile.

"It's because that's what you wanted," Wolf answered with caution. "You are not Morrigan, I know, but what is it you want, spirit?"

"Not Morrigan? Are you sure? Morrigan can walk in the Fade," the spirit objected. "But it does not matter, the result will be the same. Look: here is your son." She flicked her wrist and an image of a young boy appeared in a mirror - an elven eluvyan, which, too, appeared next to Morrigan. "He will be ten years old soon."

"I cannot remember my son because I've never seen him," Wolf looked at the spirit. "Now I am certain you are not Morrigan."

"You don't want to kiss me then?" She pouted her lips. "For the old times' sake?"

"No."

"What if I was the real Morrigan?" She smiled slyly. "Would you want to kiss her?"

Wolf did not have time to reply. They heard noises of a battle and Cassandra charged in, fencing with several ghosts.

"Stay back! Get behind me! These demons are aggressive!!!" She shot a glance at Wolf and scowled, seeing Morrigan by his side.

"These demons are no match for you, Seeker!" Wolf shouted and joined her in the fight. Within minutes, the battle was over.

"Always such a gentleman," Morrigan smiled.

"He is... He killed the Divine!!" Cassandra scowled at Wolf. "He is my prisoner! I am taking him to be executed!!"

"No, you were taking me to close a rift in the Veil, remember?" Wolf shook his head. "I was unarmed and you tried to protect me from the demons along the way."

"Close a rift in the Veil?" Cassandra stepped back. "Ah... yes... It's coming back to me now... You've got a holy mark on your hand... To close the rifts... We set up the Inquisition... You are the Inquisitor... and... oh... but who is she?!" It was only then that Cassandra took a good look at Morrigan. "An apostate?! A hedge witch?!!"

"I do look the part, don't I?" Morrigan smirked. "It is only I, the Witch of the Wilds, here talking to the father of my child..."

"What..?" Cassandra's voice fell. "So why then..?" She stepped back, shaking her head. "No... I imagined it all, if course. It never happened. No one would ever... what was I thinking..?"

"I don't think that even real Morrigan would be so cruel," Wolf glared at Morrigan. "Get lost!!"

Morrigan only smiled and Wolf snorted and turned his back to her.

"You didn't imagine it, Cassandra," he took a step towards her. "I was flirting with you. And I have no intention of stopping."

"But why?" Cassandra looked at him sideways. "I am a warrior. I have no graces and no charm. I cannot compare to her," she shot a glance at Morrigan.

"You have charm and graces more than you know," Wolf didn't give up. "Your passion, your fire, you cannot hide that."

"No," she shook her head. "You cannot court me."

"Why not? I'd like to try."

"You... you have a son!"

"Whom I've never seen, in accordance with his mother's wishes," Wolf took another step towards Cassandra.

"But what if you see him? What if..?"

"What if I meet the real Morrigan, you mean?" Wolf turned to look at Morrigan who stood there smiling. "It's been ten years." He turned back to Cassandra. "She never wanted to see me again, she chose a different path. I have to assume she will want to continue on it. And I have my own path to follow."

"That does not involve me," Cassandra nodded.

"I don't know," Wolf smiled. "That would depend on you."

"Ah..!"

"We need to leave this place," Wolf came close, speaking into her ear. "It isn't exactly romantic... all this wet rock..."

Herz, mein Herz, was soll das geben?
Was bedränget dich so sehr?
Welch ein fremdes, neues Leben!
Ich erkenne dich nicht mehr.

"No!" Cassandra paled, surprised, pulling back.

Weg ist alles was du liebtest,
Weg, warum du dich betrübtest,
Weg dein Fleiß und deine Ruh -
Ach, wie kamst du nur dazu!

Wolf took another step towards her.

Und an diesem Zauberfädchen,
Das sich nicht zerreißen lässt...

Cassandra twisted away and jumped back.

Die Veränderung, ach, wie groß!
Liebe! Liebe! Laß mich los!

She laughed, finishing the poem for him.

"Let's get out of here," she smiled. "All this wet rock..."

She vanished before she could finish her sentence.

"Well, well, I see you are up to your old tricks - courting the one woman of substance in the party," Morrigan smirked. "I do wonder... What will you do when the real Morrigan joins you at Skyhold? What will you say to your son when you see him? How will you explain this new woman in your life? I shall be watching you, Lord Wolf Asgarsen Trevelyan. I shall be watching..."

She turned away, took a few steps and vanished. Wolf was no longer certain it wasn't the real Morrigan after all.

...

Wolf had been walking for hours, it seemed. He was alone among the rocks and the sea. Nothing interrupted the monotony. He pulled out Riordan's bottle and took a sip. The liqueur was strong but nothing burned quite like the Joining Cup. "I should start a bottle of my own," he thought. The mark on his hand burned with searing pain. "I have to remember how I got this..." He got up and started walking again.

After a while he saw a woman on a burning crucifix. She looked familiar, and he approached.

"Run, run while you can!" She cried.

He stood in the chamber of the Conclave. The woman was being held in place with some unknown magic, it weren't the flames that he saw, it was the magical force holding her in place. She was the Divine. The darkspawn lord held an orb in his hand, he intended to do something with it... but Wolf's appearance interrupted it, he looked away momentarily, and the Divine kicked at his hand with all her force. The orb flew through the air... and Wolf caught it. It burned worse than the Joining Cup. He dropped it, it was impossible to hold. Then... he stood in the Fade. He remembered running towards a glowing portal... he was being chased... by some creatures... spiders, scorpions, whatever they were... He made it to the portal and leapt through it. He woke up in Haven three days later.

"So, the orb," he thought. "That was the Elven artefact that Solas was talking about. That was what caused the explosion and created the breach. Solas knows what it is but is not telling. I wonder why. Surely, he cannot be blamed for the magic created by ancient elves..."

Wolf never trusted Solas. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. It wasn't because Solas kept to himself and was aloof and distant. A lot of people were like that. Solas was likely very old by human standards, he knew a great deal about the Fade and ancient elven magics, he wasn't just another mage. Why did he join the Inquisition? He wanted to defeat the darkspawn lord, he claimed... That part was probably true. But his interest in the orb went beyond academic. Wolf didn't trust him and never took him along if he could help it.

That orb was the key. One way or the other, they'd have to find that darkspawn lord and pry the orb from him, and then Wolf would simply fling it into the heavens and close the breach.

He got up and straightened his back. He knew what to do.

...

"Finally!" Zevran bent over Wolf's cot in the infirmary wing at Skyhold. "You gave us a fright! Three days! It's been three days!"

"Three days since what?" Wolf sat up, awake.

"Since they brought you here from the desert," Zevran smiled. "That is, it's been three days and a week! What happened?"

"The Fade," Wolf shrugged. "The others?"

"You all returned, except Clarel," Zevran pointed at the other cots. "All unconscious. All had to be carried here on carts. It takes a week to travel at that speed from the desert! But the others woke up before you. You've been thrashing."

"Spiders," Wolf grimaced. "And... things." He looked around. "Grey Wardens?"

"Many were lost, of course," Zevran said with a sigh. "But many more survived. They still hear the Call, but not as bad and not as persistent, and now that they know it's not real, they can resist. The Order will have to be rebuilt, but for now they joined the Inquisition."

"Was that Alistair's doing?" Wolf grinned.

"No, actually," Zevran sounded surprised. "It was... a general sentiment. You can ask them yourself when the nurse allows you to get up."

...

It was a few days before the nurse was satisfied with Wolf's condition and released him from the infirmary wing. He went to the barracks, as Zevran had suggested. Grey Wardens were huddled together, tending to their arms and armour, training and practicing spells. Wolf noticed they were mostly warriors, very few mages survived.

"No, blood magic is not inherently evil!" He heard a familiar voice coming from a group of mages. "I know you just had a shock! But that isn't all that blood magic is good for! I'd never suggest doing anything of the sort! But there are other uses!!"

The mages were having none of it, with many discontent voices covering Anders.

"He's right, you know," Wolf approached them and everyone turned around. "Blood magic can be used. But you must know what you are doing."

"Warden-Commander!" They stopped arguing and saluted. "If you say so... but we are not convinced."

"Leave them be, Anders," Wolf patted his arm. "They've been through a lot lately. We'll keep blood magic between us for now. I think they've seen the very worst one could think of..." Then he turned to the mages. "I am very sorry that we couldn't save the others... but..."

"...they were too far gone," someone said softly. "We know. No one here wants to use blood magic for that reason."

"Grey Wardens do not prohibit blood magic, but neither do they insist on its use," Wolf declared, shooting Anders a glance and changing the topic. "I hear you all joined the Inquisition. I welcome your help, of course. But shouldn't Grey Wardens look after the Order first?"

"We will when you return to Vigil Keep," someone said from the back of the crowd.

"There are too few of us and we need a leader," someone else seconded.

"And he is here, that is you, Warden-Commander," another person added.

"The Wardens will remain for as long as we are useful in your fight against the darkspawn lord," a mage at the front summarised. "Because Grey Wardens always rise against darkspawn."

"Then it is time to make it clear that Lord Inquisitor is a Grey Warden," Wolf nodded and smiled, as the griffon crest on his armour caught the light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetry: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Neue Liebe, neues Leben", a sonnet first published in 1775.

I looked at English translations but found them lacking. Wolf preferred the original, and Cassandra agreed.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:26 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Evening Star, 3E398 - Romance

"What's on your mind, my friend?" Zevran produced a bottle of Antivan brandy. "You've been brooding lately."

"Yes, I have..." Wolf accepted a goblet and took a sip. Antivan brandy always helped the flow of conversation. "It's about us..."

They were sitting on the roof of a watchtower, away from prying eyes and ears. What Wolf had to say, was no one's business. Everyone already got used to Zevran spending many a night in Wolf's quarters, and although at first people assumed that it showed Wolf's preference for men, after a time different rumours won over - those about a secret connection between Wolf and Zevran that had nothing to do with sex. It must have been demonic possession, blood magic binding, an ancient elven curse or something equally absurd; or it was just that Zevran was Wolf's slave, and thus... what exactly? People always preferred spectacular stories to mundane ones, regardless of their merit, and Wolf didn't care enough about the rumours to try to correct them. A few people realised that Wolf and Zevran were simply old friends who both felt out of place with the Inquisition and sought each other's company instead.

"Cassandra?" Zevran smiled. "I noticed the way you look at her. I shall stay out of your quarters."

"Cassandra, yes, but there's more..." Wolf took another sip of his brandy. "We've been traveling together for ten years now, give or take," Wolf coughed uncomfortably and shifted in his seat. "And you never... well... you stopped romancing men after we got together... after the Archdemon was slain... And I wasn't romancing anyone serious since Morrigan left... So even though you and I never... oh this is really awkward..." He paused again and took another sip, but Zevran remained silent, waiting for Wolf to finish what he had to say. "I feel like I never reciprocated your affection in a way that shows what you mean to me, in a way you would have wanted... you aren't just another friend... I feel like if I get involved with Cassandra, it would come between us. I like her a lot, but this isn't worth hurting your feelings. And so I am at a loss..."

"You are afraid that your relationship with Cassandra may become serious," Zevran summarised. "And that you would be 'unfaithful' to me in that case. Worry not, my friend, for I know you need a woman, and I am a man. I shall not abandon you."

"I wish I could..." Wolf shook his head.

"No need," Zevran smiled. "You telling me this now is enough. But I wonder... What will you do when your Imperial Legion calls you back? Because one day they will."

"Yes, this thought crossed my mind many times," Wolf nodded. "It could be years still, but one day they'll call me back, that is the point. Yet my stay here in Thedas is too long not to make bonds... I suppose when they do call me back, I'll have to either break my bonds or perhaps ask the other person to come with me... Would you be willing to leave Antiva behind and come with me to Tamriel?" He looked up; he surprised himself with this question, he never meant to ask it, not yet... but he thought of it often. Zevran would be better off in Tamriel, there was no stigma against elves there, he would no longer be a slave... but he would have to leave his beloved Antiva behind, and Wolf felt it might be too big a sacrifice.

"I... that is a hard question," Zevran agreed. "When the Archdemon was slain, you offered me to stay with the Wardens, even if I didn't want to become a Grey Warden myself. That was easy, and I accepted it gladly. Antiva was still only a few days travel away... But Tamriel is too far for a casual visit. If I leave, it will be for a very long time... a lifetime, perhaps. But not to leave would mean for me to remain here alone... I don't know if Antiva would still shine without you being there as well."

Zevran fell silent. They sat on the tower roof sipping their brandy, watching the sun set into the mountain tops and the stars dot the sky.

"Do the stars look the same in Tamriel?" Zevran asked softly.

"They do," Wolf nodded. "And we have two moons as well..."

"Two moons..." Zevran smiled. "Have you noticed ours? No moons at all for the most part, but sometimes one large moon rises..."

"Masser," Wolf pointed at a crescent just visible over the mountains. "You see it better in the Hissing Wastes..."

"Ah, the desert in the West," Zevran was looking at the stars. "Indeed. But sometimes it also rises above Antiva..."

"I am not leaving yet, my friend," Wolf said softly. "It may be still years. You don't need to decide today."

"I think I know already though," Zevran turned to look at him. "I'll collect what memories I can of Antiva... and then I'll come with you. The moon will be there to remind me of home until perhaps I find a new home in Tamriel."

"I am glad," Wolf raised a toast. "When this Inquisition is over and the darkspawn threat is defeated once again, we should leave for Antiva. The Crows send their regards."

"You want to take over the Crows?" Zevran laughed. "That would be something..."

"No, I want to play," Wolf winked. "I am not a Crows assassin, but you still are. Can I not be your sidekick for a change? I'm sure the Legion will wait."

"And what about Grey Wardens?" Zevran looked up.

"They need a vacation," Wolf grinned. "Grey Wardens deserve some boredom without any duties for a time. There aren't many of us left in Ferelden... and perhaps this time if the Crows get a contract on one or the other Grey Warden, they will actually succeed..."

"Oh you want to... The Crows will be honoured, I'm sure," Zevran laughed and raised a toast. "The Crows send their regards!"

...

"Cassandra, I'd like to speak with you, please," Wolf approached Cassandra interrupting her training. "That dummy needs replacing," he noted with a smile. "And while they are doing that... There's a grove just outside of the main gate, down the path - do you know it?" Cassandra nodded. "Well... meet me there in a bit."

"What is it about?" Cassandra squinted.

"You'll see," Wolf smiled, noting her paleness. "You won't need your sword, I hope."

He turned around and walked away, leaving Cassandra quite nervous. She did have an idea what it was about... and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. She loitered and played for time, she first went to see the quartermaster about the dummy... but when she could no longer pretend to have duties, she went to the grove.

She noticed Zevran loitering near the start of the path, pretending not to watch it. "So he wants to prevent us being disturbed," she thought. As she walked and the castle behind her became hidden from view, she saw candles and lanterns adorning the grove, flowers never before seen growing there, she saw a picnic set out in the middle with cheese and wine and grapes... but other than that, the grove seemed deserted.

Away with your fictions of flimsy romance;
Those tissues of falsehood which folly has wove!
Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance,
Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love.

Cassandra spun around, but there were too many trees and leafy bushes to see anything or anyone.

Ye rhymers, whose bosoms with phantasy glow,
Whose pastoral passions are made for the grove;
From what blest inspiration your sonnets would flow,
Could you ever have tasted the first kiss of love!

"And this is the poem you chose?" She spoke in the direction of Wolf's voice. "A poem that was once forbidden?"

If Apollo should e'er his assistance refuse,
Or the Nine be desposed from your service to rove,
Invoke them no more, bid adieu to the muse,
and try the effect of the first kiss of love.

Cassandra laughed softly and replied with a verse of her own:

In play, there are two pleasures for your choosing-
The one is winning, and the other losing.

Wolf stepped out into the grove.

Oh! cease to affirm that man, since his birth,
From Adam till now, has with wretchedness strove,
Some portion of paradise still is on earth,
And Eden revives in the first kiss of love.

Cassandra leaned onto a tree, relaxing and letting go. Letting go of what? She wasn't certain, but it felt as if chains were falling away from her heart.

She spoke in a softer, gentler tone, her Navarran accent strongly resembling that of the depths of Skyrim.

When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past-
For years fleet away with the wings of the dove-

Wolf stood just behind her, not rushing into contact. He felt he should let her take the lead. Just another line...

The dearest rememberance will still be the last-

She spun around, facing him.

Our sweetest memorial the first kiss of love.

...

"Why did you do all this?" Cassandra sat up on the picnic blanket. The evening was unexpectedly warm, or perhaps they didn't feel the chill for other reasons. "This romantic place..." she looked around. "The lights, the flowers..."

"The wine and the cheese as well," Wolf laughed, handing her a goblet. "I know you only mentioned the candles and flowers, and the shops around here are short on poetry books... so I had to make do with what I knew by heart. And you knew it too, I notice." He pulled her close and kissed her again. "I always felt you were a romantic."

"I was... once," she nodded and smiled. "But after my brother's death... I was too angry for too long. Then I met a man who changed all that... he was a mage... we were together for a year or two, in the middle of the rebellion, of the civil war... imagine - a mage and a Seeker! We couldn't meet much... And then he died in the explosion at the Conclave." She paused, taking a sip of her wine. "And you survived... the only one to survive that explosion, and it wasn't he!" She looked at Wolf and shook her head.

"So you put me in chains," Wolf nodded. "Your interrogation... well, it wasn't technically a torture... but only technically..." He smirked. "I understand now, Cassandra."

"But duty took over," she nodded. "You had the mark, and it worked in closing rifts, so like it or not, we had to keep you, and keep you alive... Oh how I would have liked to swap your life for his!" She gave a short laugh. "And then... with everything you did... even if I disagreed... And now this picnic, the poetry... Am I just a challenge to you? Have I just lost?"

"I love you, Cassandra," Wolf said without hesitation, surprising himself perhaps more than her.

"Do you?" She looked at him searching. "You better, Warden-Commander..."






~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poetry: Lord Byron, "The First Kiss of Love", December 1806; also two lines from "Don Juan", 1819.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:28 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Morning Star, 3E399 - Duties and requests

The Inquisition was very busy. The mage-templar war was stopped, but not in the way people had hoped. Instead of templars clashing with mages, there were now new kind of templars with their own agenda, plus a cult of mages from Tevinter with a similar agenda. These mages and templars didn't fight between themselves but instead focused on mining red lyrium where veins already existed, and creating new veins where there were none. And that was done by growing red lyrium on the bodies of people... The same thing that Wolf and others had seen in the darkspawn prison where they ended up during their expedition to the Deep Roads years ago. Now no villager was safe, people were being captured and sent to red lyrium farms, never to return. It was a terrible fate. The darkspawn lord lost his army of rebel mages and his army of Grey Wardens, but he still had an army of templars and another army of Tevinter mages... And of course he also had a dragon. All in all, the Inquisition still had a lot to do.

"We must see to it that we disable those armies," Cullen was arguing at the war table. "We can disrupt lyrium supplies and disable as many red lyrium farms as we are able. That'll bring him to his knees!"

"It is a nice idea but it won't work," Leliana cut him off. "If he has an Archdemon, we need an army of Grey Wardens to tackle it, and the Grey Wardens Order is severely short on manpower..."

"We were short on manpower ten years ago, during the Blight, with just Alistair and myself being the entire Grey Wardens contingent," Wolf pointed out. "We made alliances. You were there, Leliana, you should know."

"I know!" She protested. "I also know that we now have that darkspawn lord on top!"

"So then, we take the fight to them!" Cullen slammed his fist on the table. "It's been long enough!"

"And where exactly would that be?" Josephine joined in. "Nobody knows where this lord is hiding or how to draw him out! It seems to me he will come to us, and we'll have to fight him on his terms, not ours!"

After half an hour of circular arguments Wolf threw up his hands in the air and left the room.

"The Inquisition is at an impasse, I see," Dorian joined him in the garden. "I'd say take it one task at a time. Those mages from Tevinter... I can imagine what drives them. Tevinter was once the grandest empire in Thedas... Tevinter was Thedas, the other kingdoms did not even exist. Well, that's because we had enslaved everyone... Horrible, I know, but it is still my homeland. These mages probably hope to restore our lost glory... but I don't know how it fits with that darkspawn lord... Was he a Magister from Tevinter, perhaps? Still alive after a thousand years?"

"He told me he spent a thousand years in the Grey Wardens prison," Wolf nodded. "So yeah, it could be true."

"That would be since before the First Blight," Dorian rubbed his chin. "Well, your Chantry preaches that it were Tevinter Magisters who reached out to Heaven and corrupted the Maker's Golden City... While our Chantry naturally preaches that the Golden City was already corrupted when the Magisters got there... A slight distinction, whether or not the Blights are our fault."

"I think it doesn't matter, Dorian," Wolf shrugged. "It no longer matters who started it. The question now is how to prevent the next end of the world."

"Why was that lord imprisoned?" Dorian suddenly asked. "I mean, I understand why Grey Wardens imprisoned him then, after all the Order was just created and they were facing an unknown threat. But Grey Wardens learned to kill Archdemons since then. Why did they not kill that lord in the same way?"

"Hmm... I wish I knew..." Wolf shook his head.

"But you are a Warden-Commander," Dorian was not giving up. "Surely, someone knows. Why don't they share that knowledge with their Commanders?"

"I think something strange is happening at the Head Quarters," Wolf agreed. "But I have no time now to dive into that..."

...

"The Seekers have disappeared!" Cassandra looked very crossed and hit the dummy exceptionally hard. "They didn't join the templars, they didn't follow that darkspawn lord, as some had suggested. No, the whole Order just vanished!" Wham! The dummy had to pay for that.

"Out comes the dragon," Wolf smirked to himself. "Have you tried to find them?" He asked aloud.

"I have," Cassandra stopped hitting the dummy. "I got a few leads... I'd appreciate it if we could investigate them... even though I know you're very busy, Lord Inquisitor. And I want no favours on the account of..." She didn't get to finish her sentence because Lord Inquisitor took measures to temper the dragon with a kiss.

"Nonsense, Cassandra," he said softly, still holding her close. "Oh, don't worry, everyone already knows. Did you want to keep it a secret? So naturally it spread like wildfire. People do wonder whether you'll now settle down, whether we'll get married and have three children at least..."

"WHAT?!!!" Cassandra nearly jumped out of Wolf's embrace but he held her tightly.

"Isn't it what's expected of a fine noble couple like ourselves?" He smirked. "People are also talking that you down-sold yourself, Lady Cassandra Pentaghast, member of the Royal House of Nevarra, 87th in line for the throne. I am, after all, but a humble noble from the Free Marches..." He grinned, watching her roll her eyes. "Although House Trevelyan is going to be thrilled to learn that their 'lost son' liaised himself with the Pentaghasts."

"Oh drop it already!" Cassandra sighed. "I am too old to have children anyway..."

"Regrets?"

"Yes... No..." Cassandra shook her head. "I would have liked to experience motherhood... but I don't like everything else that comes with it. Like being a Lady of the Court, or staying at home, or giving up being a Seeker..."

"Romantic, as always," Wolf smiled. "We'll search for the missing Seekers, of course. And not because it's you who's asking... Well, not only because of that. Something isn't right..."

...

"Lord Inquisitor, if I could have a moment..." Josephine called out to Wolf when he was passing her office on the way to the war room. "I wonder if I may impose on you with a personal request?" She looked somewhat embarrassed. "It's about my family."

"Of course, Josephine," Wolf smiled. "The war council can wait. What is it?"

"Well... You see..." she stumbled, which was very unlike her. "My family, House Montilyet, has been exiled to Orlais from our native Antiva for over a century now. We've been disgraced, indebted..." she sighed, then shook her head. "Oh, very few people know about that. But such is the truth. I am the eldest child and the head of our House... and I found proof of that old intrigue. With it, our honour and standing can be reinstated. I sent it to the Empress of Orlais as is the proper procedure... but the messenger was found murdered with the proof missing. And now..." She looked even more uneasy. "Now I received a personal threat. It seems, there is a contract on my life... not with the Antivan Crows but a rival assassins group in Orlais... so..." She seemed unsure how to proceed with her request.

"We need to deal with the assassins somehow," Wolf nodded. "And you'll need a bodyguard."

"Yes, well, that... err... That's where my request comes in," she smiled. "Your friend is a Crows assassin... Zevran, is it? Perhaps he would know what to do?"

"Zevran can guard your life, for sure," Wolf nodded. "But we need to deal with the contract."

"Yes, I know, he is your friend, not mine, but may be now that you have Cassandra to soothe your nights..."

"Josephine!" Wolf didn't like where that was going. "Zevran can guard your life, but he is no whore."

"Oh I would never..!" Josephine blushed to the roots of her dark hair.

"Lady Montilyet, let us return to the topic of the contract," Wolf said quite formally. "If it is not held by the Antivan Crows, Zevran can only assist in guarding your life, not in eliminating the contract. Tell me the rest."

"Well, I received a letter from a certain Marquis in Orlais... inviting me to discuss this contract," Josephine recovered from her embarrassment. "Only I know that man. He is about as likely to be involved as the Empress' favourite rabbit... It is clearly a trap, yet one I cannot ignore. Will you come with me to this meeting, Lord Trevelyan?" She looked at him and smiled. "For moral support."

"I'll bring my best daggers," Wolf smiled.

...

"Lord Inquisitor!" Leliana was out of breath. "I'm glad I could catch you here at Skyhold. I have a favour to ask."

"Of course you do," Wolf turned around. "Let's hear it."

"I received a letter from the late Divine..."

"What?! But she's dead!"

"It is a will of sorts," Leliana giggled at the effect of her statement. "She didn't send it after her death, she wrote it a long time ago and left it with a trustee to be dispatched upon her demise. He now forwarded it to me. She left something for me at the Chantry where she was a priest. But I feel uneasy about it..."

"And you want me to come with you in case it is a trap," Wolf nodded. "Alright."

"Please!" Leliana looked pleadingly at him. "For old times sake! Please, Warden-Commander!"

"But I already agreed," Wolf smiled. "Of course I'll help. Even if you and I disagree on just about every matter."

"Oh... Yes... thank you," Leliana smiled. "Let's not delay it too much though, it could be important."

...

"Warden, if I may have a word?" Varric called out to Wolf in the Great Hall. "It's about..."

"Red lyrium," a dwarven woman whom Wolf had never seen before, was standing next to Varric.

"This is Bianca," Varric introduced her.

"Ah, like the crossbow," Wolf grinned. "So this one is the original, is she, Varric?" He winked.

"Well..."

"I am." Bianca beamed at him. "And I've got something to tell you... and to show you. It's about red lyrium and how your darkspawn lord knew about its existence."

"Alright," Wolf nodded. "And you want us to leave straight away, no doubt?"

"Well, Bianca does need to get back..." Varric shuffled his feet.

"At your service," Wolf grinned. "I think we'll cancel war council meetings for the next month."

...

Everyone wanted something from Wolf all of a sudden. Every single person asked for a favour. Everyone except Dorian. So Wolf sought out Dorian himself.

"Can you explain this to me?" He looked at Dorian quizzically. "They all want something, they all have needs that only Lord Inquisitor can fulfil... but not you?"

"'What's wrong with you?' - is that what you are asking?" Dorian laughed. "But no, I have no favours to ask. I handle my affairs myself."

"So, there's something, then," Wolf smiled. "It's safe to tell me, you know I'm quite impartial in this."

"Well... It isn't that important." Dorian looked away and Wolf got a distinct impression that it was very important.

"It's your call, Dorian," Wolf said quietly. "Just remember that I'm your friend and I'll help if I can. The darkspawn lord can wait, I'm sure."

"Yes, well... You will think it silly... I recently broke up with a... friend... well, lover. I had given him a gift... in better days... it's a family trinket of mine, it's my birthright as a Magister. A token, if you like. And while I have no plans on becoming a Magister myself, I want that trinket back because I don't want him to have it... not after... well... we didn't remain friends." Dorian fell silent.

"But you still love him," Wolf nodded.

"Yes... despite what came to pass. How did you know?"

"It shows."

"I never thought..."

"A wounded heart shows," Wolf looked at Dorian sideways. "Even though you don't wear it on your sleeve. But I can see the signs. What do you want me to do?"

"He must not die over this," Dorian looked at Wolf. "But perhaps you could talk to him..?"

...

"People trust you, you've earned the authority," Anders was giving his take on the matter when Wolf complained that everyone started asking favours all of a sudden. "These are not new matters, and may be each of them was grinding to a halt... festering without resolution..."

"I've declined a few," Wolf looked at him. "Vivienne asked me to hunt some ferocious beast for its heart so that she could fulfil a request of some noble or other... I don't see why she thought I'd do it!"

"She was testing you, perhaps?" Anders shrugged.

"Well, then she failed," Wolf scowled. "I am no doormat, even if it does seem otherwise sometimes..."

"Oh no, you are no doormat, Warden-Commander," Anders laughed. "We all know that. But people like Vivienne, they find themselves too important to look around."

"Yeah... If she wants to leave, she won't be missed."

It was good to talk to an old friend who had no favours to ask. Wolf spent the rest of the day with the Wardens until Oghren finally drank him under the table. No one could outdrink Oghren, but it was always fun to try.

"The ppproblem with your Inquisssssssition..." Oghren tried to speak between hiccups, "...is that evvvvveryone has an agenda. Not like the Wwwwwardens who jusssssst want to..."

"Smash all darkspawwwwwwwn!!" Someone picked up his sentence.

"Rrrright!! Bartender..!"

"You drank all the ale! What am I supposed to serve you?!" The bartender kicked an empty barrel.

"It matters not," Anders raised his head. "Nothing burns quite like the Joining Cup..."





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:30 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E399 - Revelations

"We have a breakthrough," Josephine proudly declared during a war council meeting. "The Empress of Orlais is sending us her Arcane Adviser, a mage who is exceptionally versed in the matters of the Fade as well as ancient artefacts..."

"But we already have such a mage," Cassandra interrupted, confused. "Solas."

"Yes, well, but this mage is not an elf herself," Josephine pointed out.

"So? Why is that better?" Cassandra squinted.

"That makes her impartial!"

"Hardly!"

"Stop arguing and tells us who she is!" Wolf had had enough of it. It was always the same thing - arguments, arguments and arguments.

"Her name is Lady Morrigan," Josephine consulted her notes. "She is the Arcane Adviser to the Empress of Orlais."

"Morrigan?!" Wolf, Leliana and Cullen exclaimed in chorus. "An adviser to the Empress??" Wolf couldn't get over the surprise.

"Yes... Why are you all staring at me?" Josephine took a step back.

"Morrigan is the Witch of the Wilds," Leliana said with a hiss.

"Morrigan is an apostate!" Cullen scowled.

"Morrigan... is coming here?" Wolf asked softly and Cassandra shot him a glance.

"They should be here shortly," Josephine confirmed, consulting her notes again. "She is also bringing her son."

...

"Morrigan?!" Alistair was as surprised as Wolf. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean? I'm going to hear what she has to say... err..." Wolf shuffled his feet.

"Yeah... I bet she'll have something to say..." Alistair shook his head. "And the boy with her? Your son?"

"Yes..." Wolf nodded. "But you remember..."

"He's got a soul of an ancient god, straight out of the Archdemon," Alistair nodded. "Yes, I remember. I always knew it was a bad idea."

"No point dwelling on it now, the boy is ten years old. I rather wonder why Morrigan decided to come here now. I'm sure it is not because of me," Wolf pointed out. "In all these years she never made contact, and she did make me promise to leave her alone. So I wonder what changed."

"The hole in the sky may have something to do with it," Alistair smirked. "And that glowing mark on your hand."

The following day Morrigan arrived at Skyhold. She had an oxcart laden with something very large encased in a sturdy wooden box the size of a wardrobe. Yet Wolf didn't think it contained any dresses. Once Morrigan settled in, she called the war council to explain her presence.

"I am here because I believe I can help you find your darkspawn lord," she stated without a preamble. "You all know who I am, some of you better than others," she shot a glance at Leliana. "Oh please don't act surprised, Sister," she smirked. "I've noticed your crows circling around my quarters at the palace. You knew exactly where I was and what I was doing. But to business," she turned to Wolf. "You remember the eluvian that I went through just after my son... our son was born? Well, I brought such an eluvian with me, recovered from a crumbling elven ruin. It leads to a crossroads of sorts, a space in the Fade with many other eluvians in it. Each leads either to another pocket of the Fade, or to a place in Thedas, or somewhere in between. And by that I mean a plane where ancient elves used to live. Modern elves believe it was in the forests of Thedas, but they are wrong. It was on a different plane, a plane they can no longer reach, and thus it is no more than a legend now. When you caught that elven artefact which left the mark on your hand," she looked at Wolf again, "you spoiled the ritual that your darkspawn lord was trying to perform. That artefact was changed and can no longer be used as he had intended. I believe he will now try to reach that elven plane in order to either purify the artefact or find something to replace it. That plane has many temples and many solutions, I am sure."

"So all we have to do is enter that plane before he does and stop him," Cullen summarised with sarcasm. "Do you even know what you are proposing, witch?!"

"I do not believe you have a choice," Morrigan answered coldly. "Hiding in a cage won't save you this time, Cullen."

"What..?" Cullen paled and swallowed.

"Leave him be, Morrigan," Wolf turned to her with some authority. "Cullen was one of the few to withstand that horror in the Circle Tower. No! Stop it. It's ten years on, and we're all older and wiser now."

"Older, yes, but wiser..." Morrigan sighed and shook her head. "Oh very well. Since you asked so nicely."

"We have been stuck in an impass for months," Wolf looked at everyone in turn. "We've tracked down all templar leutenants, all red lyrium mines that we could find, we eliminated various groups of Tevinter mages, we found the missing Seekers... I am sorry, Cassandra... I am sorry that we found them dead," he paused. "We've followed every lead, and none of them brought us any closer to actually finding that darkspawn lord, let alone foiling his plan. Morrigan brings a new approach. I say we must follow up and see where it leads."

...

Morrigan knew what she was talking about. She showed Wolf the crossroads with all the other eluvians there, most of them dark and inactive. She found one that would lead to a ruin with an eluvian leading into the Fade, to the Golden City.

"This is what your darkspawn lord wants," she explained. "The Golden City, the seat of the Maker. Of course, it is no longer Golden, it's been corrupted and is now known as the Black City, but it is the same place. If he reaches it, he won't need any other artefacts - from there he can rule the world. Or destroy it."

"So we have to get to that eluvian and prevent him from using it," Wolf nodded. "Good grief..."

It wasn't easy by any stretch of imagination, but they did get to the ruin that Morrigan was talking about. It had an eluvian, but it was inactive.

"So for the better!" Wolf smiled. "It isn't working! He won't be able to get through!"

"Each eluvian has a key... something that activates it... they are all different," Morrigan stepped into a pond in front of it. "I wonder what opens this one..?"

At that moment the darkspawn lord appeared. He was enraged - he had seen all the corpses of his templars littering the way.

"You defeated my templars, but your fight is only just beginning!" He bellowed and attacked. He summoned demons by the dozen, the fighting was worse than anything they'd seen before. Several Grey Wardens ran in, the lord's personal guard, their minds fully controlled by him. "Why Grey Wardens?" Wolf wondered. "Are we really better at fighting than templars?" The thought caressed his ego and gave him a second wind...

Eventually they prevailed. The lord's Grey Wardens lay dead, his demons vanished and he himself was on the ground. Wolf ran up to him and thrust a dagger through the heart. "In Death, Sacrifice," he repeated the Grey Wardens motto, fully expecting to die. By all accounts this darkspawn lord was akin an Archdemon, which meant that his spirit would leave the body behind and seek one with the taint, namely him, Wolf, who dealt the killing blow. Wolf would die, and with him also the darkspawn lord. "Hawke could not kill him because Hawke is not a Grey Warden," he told himself. "I shall do better."

Everyone saw a wisp leaving the corpse of the darkspawn lord. The wisp hovered over Wolf, then moved on. It entered a dead Grey Warden, first animating the corpse, then transforming it into darkspawn, then into a dragon, nay, a wyvern, something half-finished but good enough to take off and fly away...

...

"What just happened?" Cullen asked in a fallen voice. Everyone was stunned.

"The darkspawn lord was reborn in the body of a Grey Warden," Morrigan said in a near whisper. "Do you realise what this means?!" She cried out, looking at each of them in turn. "That he cannot be killed! Not even by a Grey Warden!"

"That explains why the first Grey Wardens locked him away in that prison," Varric nodded. "And then I had to let him out..."

"Nonsense, he manipulated people to arrange his release," Wolf shook his head. "It isn't your fault. What I want to know however, is why these Grey Wardens were so completely taken over, while others are still able to resist... What did he do to them..?" He knelt over a dead Grey Warden. "He looks... he was dying... corruption in his blood was too great... This fate awaits us all... hmm... I wonder..."

"He did not fight like a dying man," Iron Bull objected. "He was strong... too strong, perhaps..."

"Red lyrium?" Cullen also knelt over the body. "No, doesn't look like it... His corruption is black, just like the Blight..."

"Yes, this is what the taint does to us, in about fifty years..." Wolf nodded. "But it also takes away strength, not increases it... Something isn't right..."

"Let's bring him back to Skyhold," Cullen suddenly suggested. "And the other dead Grey Warden too. Give them a proper burial."

"What about the templars?" Wolf looked around. "Don't they deserve a funeral as well?"

"May be we can come back for them?"

"Hello, this is not the most important thing right now!" Morrigan interrupted Wolf's and Cullen's musings. "We have to figure out how to work this eluvian. Then you can come and go as you please!"

"Why?" Wolf turned to her. "Why do we need this eluvian?"

"Because it leads to the Golden City!"

"Nonsense, Morrigan," Wolf shook his head. "You don't have all the answers. You don't know where it leads. And if it does lead to the Golden City - or rather the Black City now - then going there will serve no purpose other than to satisfy your curiosity."

"But it's an ancient artefact! It's what your darkspawn lord wanted!" She protested. "And for that reason we must find the key, activate it, learn where it leads and then deactivate it so that he could not use it! And yes, I do want to know."

"Fine," Wolf scowled. "You figure it out while Cullen and I tend to the dead."

He walked away. He failed to kill the darkspawn lord. He killed him, but didn't kill his soul. Did it mean that he could never be killed? Did they just lose that war? Did it mean that the world would die with them? Learning the secrets of the eluvian seemed pointless and unimportant in comparison.

The elven temple was silent, death flooding the halls.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2024, 02:31 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 3E399 - Reunion

"Please stay with me here," Morrigan spoke quietly to Wolf when most people wandered off, unsure what to do next. "I... am sorry. For everything... You're right, I don't have all the answers. And we haven't talked since I arrived... I was hoping to talk after it's all over, but it doesn't look like it'll be finished any time soon."

"You've always played your cards close to your chest," Wolf smirked. "I know. I just... this battle... and that darkspawn lord rising again... I admit, I don't see a way forward."

"'Tis not plain," Morrigan nodded. "But I do have thoughts... Only I don't want to bring them all out, for all to see... Send everyone home. We can always use the eluvian at Skyhold to come here, should you wish to collect the dead... Then stay here with me, I do believe this temple has what we need... I cannot explain why I believe it."

Wolf nodded. Whatever Morrigan was thinking, it was better than nothing at all.

"Cassandra..." Wolf approached her, but she shook her head.

"We'll talk later. When... you'll have made up your mind." She smiled and walked away with the others. Wolf and Morrigan were alone in the ancient elven temple with a pond in front of an inactive eluvian.

"I've seen your son," Wolf said, trying to sound neutral. "In the garden. He said hello to me but he does not know who I am."

"Our son," Morrigan smiled. "He knows that his father is a Grey Warden, and that he is alive. He knows that Grey Wardens have duties, that they must give up their families and peaceful life. His father is away as his duty commands... Is this not true?"

"His father would have liked to keep in touch if his mother hadn't prevented him," Wolf looked at her with scorn. "I bet you omitted that little fact."

"It is better that he does not know... the whole truth... as yet," Morrigan smiled. "He is but a boy."

"Why have you been staying away? I..." Wolf looked at her and sighed. "Well, yes... I loved you... Perhaps still do..."

"Then what of Cassandra?" Morrigan's voice sounded detached, betraying no emotion.

"It's been ten years, Morrigan... I never thought to see you again... I've waited... And yes, I shall leave Thedas one day, so why start another bond?" He smirked. "But life is a messy affair, is it not? Cassandra is a remarkable woman, and... well... it's good while it lasts. But it won't last, not with her. Like you, she is driven. Once the novelty of a love affair will have worn off, she'll want to return to her duties... and I won't fit into the saddle bags."

"That is not a very flattering opinion of her," Morrigan gave a short laugh. "Or of me, for that matter."

"But that's what you two have in common," Wolf smiled. "May be that's what I like in a woman..."

"That we don't stick around?"

"That you have your own life to live."

They were strolling through the elven ruin that lay silent around them. It was peaceful. The air seemed to have cleansed itself of the horrors of death and battle, even though bodies still littered the floor. They too looked peaceful somehow.

"I left because I had to leave..." Morrigan said softly. "Not because I wanted to... I had to take care of our son... I still do. He is too young."

"What of the spirit inside him?" Wolf stopped, looking at her. "I've seen Anders struggle with Justice, and Wynne getting mixed up with Faith, and Cassandra... well... I don't think she's got a spirit inside her now, but she is no regular mortal either... It isn't a small thing to have a spirit in you. How is he holding up?"

"He... has nightmares," Morrigan looked up. "Dreams of a dragon... I am unsure... He is your son, he has your dragon blood and your taint... as well as that spirit... I thought the taint would be neutralised, but what if I was wrong..?"

"In that case the spirit inside him would grow into another Archdemon," Wolf noted. "I should be worried... Alistair thought the whole thing was a dreadful idea..."

"Alistair..." Morrigan started, but Wolf put a finger across her lips.

"Don't. Alistair is not as dumb as he likes to play up."

That touch was all it took, old flames were awakened. Morrigan didn't protest or object... The temple appeared to close in, vines and grass pushing through the stone. The temple was watching them, it seemed... watching over them even. Time itself stood still.

"Will you have another child?" Wolf smiled.

"No, carrying Kieran with that spirit inside him burned that away," she smiled with sadness. "No more children for me."

"Morrigan, when this is all over..." Wolf sat up, but Morrigan shook her head.

"We don't know what will happen then," she said with a frown. "We don't know which sacrifices will still need to be made... what will become of us, assuming that we survive... what will become of Kieran... One way or the other, when he is older, I'll need to free him of that spirit... or lose him. It is just dreams now, while he's but a boy, but he will want to live his life as a man one day... That spirit won't allow it."

"You didn't think you'd care for the child when you asked me for one," Wolf gave her a long look. "Ten years ago."

"No, I did not," Morrigan returned his gaze. "I did not think he'd be anything but an ancient spirit to me, in a boy's body... Oh how I was wrong."

"You don't have to do it alone," Wolf said firmly. "I told you this before, and I'm saying it again... Let me come with you."

"No, I can't..." she shook her head. "I can't... I must not..." she sighed. "After this, you go with Cassandra."

"I am not ready to let go of you yet... not again..."

...

They spent a long time in the temple, it felt like days. They pushed aside the world's problems and focused on each other. They would not have another opportunity like that, they both felt it.

"You must promise me to go back to living your life," Morrigan said quite seriously. "No more waiting... You will return to Tamriel one day, and there you must start over."

"I'll hold off until then, in that case," he grinned.

"Oh, you are insufferable!" She laughed.

Alas, they could not remain in that temple for ever. Eventually it was time to return to the matters at hand, and the thought of their defeat overshadowed feelings of love that they held towards each other.

"I still believe that this eluvian holds the answer," Morrigan touched the inactive glass. "The darkspawn lord came here, to this very chamber. He wasn't just chasing you... He wanted something from here. But what? Did he have the key to this eluvian? But we did not find it..."

"Do you really want to go to the Black City?" Wolf turned to her. "If this is where this eluvian leads... what good will it be? We're mortals, we cannot set foot there... we'd be dead."

"This eluvian does not lead to the Golden City," a voice behind them answered, and they spun around. A tall elf in ancient guilded armour stood there. "This eluvian conducts the wisdom of Mythal."

"Mythal?" Morrigan was eyeing him with great curiosity. "The ancient elven goddess? The protector of the people? But she is dead, along with the other elven gods."

"Yet her wisdom survives," the elf replied. "Who are you? You are intruders in this temple. What do you want here? And why has the temple not struck you down?"

"We are... intruders," Morrigan nodded. "We came here in the hope to slay the darkspawn lord who wishes to destroy the world. You've seen him, no doubt. He... well... I believe he wanted something from here. We tried to stop him."

"And you failed," the elf watched them. "Then you wish nothing from this temple for yourself?"

"We still hope to find a way to stop that darkspawn," Wolf replied. "Beyond that, we wish nothing."

"Well... this temple has so many ancient artefacts..!" Morrigan started.

"Morrigan!" Wolf cut her off quite sternly.

"What? To study and to preserve, not to sell or bargain with!" She objected.

"The temple hasn't struck you down... in fact, it gave you space... I've been watching you," the elf smiled, quite unexpectedly. "Mythal passed her judgement. One of you may partake of her wisdom, but know that it comes with a price. You will be forever bound to her will."

"Such gifts do not come without a price, indeed," Morrigan nodded. "But Mythal is dead. This warning sounds hollow. I wish to partake of the wisdom."

"I am not so sure that Mythal is really dead..." Wolf shook his head. "This could be a terrible bind, Morrigan. Worse than that of your mother."

"But if it helps us to stop that darkspawn..." She looked at Wolf and smiled. "If that wisdom helps... I am willing to take the risk. Mythal is dead."

"Then drink from the well," the elf pointed at the water of the pond at their feet. "This is the Well of Sorrows."

Morrigan gasped - she had clearly heard of such a well before. Then, without further explanations, she stepped into the pond and submerged. When she stood up again, she looked confused, but also enlightened.

"There is so much..." she started saying, but an Archdemon swooped down on them just then. A great big flaming Archdemon!

"Escape!" The elf shouted, pointing at the eluvian. It was active - the waters of the Well of Sorrows had been the key. Morrigan squeezed Wolf's hand and ran towards the eluvian, jumping into it and pulling Wolf after her. The Archdemon could not follow.

They stepped out of the eluvian at Skyhold.

"The eluvian in the elven temple did not lead to the Golden City," Wolf said, looking around. "We are home."

"The wisdom of Mythal brought us here," Morrigan nodded. "I... have ideas what to do next. The Well holds knowledge..."

"But what will stop that darkspawn from drinking from it as well?" Wolf looked worried.

"Oh no, it is just plain water now," Morrigan shook her head. "It only becomes the Well of Sorrows with Mythal's blessing... hmm... or something like that. But anyhow, he won't be able to use it."

"And you think he wanted it because..?" Wolf still wasn't convinced.

"Because he thought it would tell him how to reach the Golden City, perhaps?" Morrigan shrugged. "Perhaps like me, he thought that the eluvian behind the pond would lead him there? Does it matter?" She looked around, as if seeing the room for the first time. "We have to prepare. I need to sort through this but... yes, I have ideas... Give me a day or two, then we'll talk..."

She walked away, looking dazed and somewhat absent-minded. Not surprising, considering that her head had just been filled with a thousand years worth of knowledge. She would indeed need a day or two to work through it all.

...

When everything finally appeared to be going to plan, Morrigan's son Kieran disappeared. A maid out of breath ran up to Wolf calling him urgently to the room with the eluvian, and when he got there, she said that Kieran had stepped through and Morrigan went after him... Wolf didn't need asking twice and stepped through the portal too.

The eluvian did not lead to the crossroads or to the elven temple; instead Wolf stood among wet rocks of the Fade. He called after Morrigan, ran around a bit and soon found her looking lost and frightened.

"Kieran ran into the eluvian," she said through tears. "I do not understand... He's never done such a thing... He is such a serious, studious boy... Oh... What am I going to do..?"

"First of all you calm down, I am here for you," Wolf hugged her. "Now, we'll look for Kieran together. If I am finally allowed to meet my son..."

Morrigan smiled and nodded, her usual wit and sarcasm cast aside as a mask.

"How is it possible that this eluvian changed destination?" Wolf asked in an attempt to get Morrigan's mind away from imagining the worst possible scenarios for Kieran. "I thought they were locked in."

"And so did I," Morrigan shrugged. "But obviously it isn't the case... No one knows for sure how eluvians work. We only have fragments of information..."

They walked through the Fade, but Kieran was no where to be found.

"He's just a boy, you know... my son..." Morrigan started sobbing again.

"I think the spirit inside him led him here, I think this is why he could activate the eluvian," Wolf pointed out. "But wait... I hear voices!"

They came to a clearing and found Flemeth and Kieran talking. It was clearly Flemeth, but dressed in armour, and with horns like a dragon... "She is a dragon," Wolf reminded himself.

"Mother!!!" Morrigan ran up to them. "You kidnapped my son!!!" She shot a spell at her.

"I did no such thing, girl," with a wave of her hand Flemeth cancelled the spell. "We were expecting you. Aren't you going to introduce Kieran? I think it is time."

"How dare you!!!" Morrigan was furious.

"Do it, or I will." Flemeth remained calm, she knew her daughter well.

Morrigan took a moment to compose herself, then spoke in a much calmer tone.

"Kieran... this is the Warden I told you about..." She walked over to Kieran. "This is your father."

"I knew it," Kieran nodded and smiled. "The moment I saw you, I knew it. But mother didn't want us to meet..." He shot a glance at Morrigan.

"Morrigan has strange ideas about family," Flemeth smirked. "I suppose it is my fault."

Wolf walked over to Kieran and sat on a rock.

"A Grey Warden breastplate," he noticed a griffin crest that Kieran wore around his neck. "I am sorry I wasn't there for you all these years, son."

"You couldn't..." Morrigan said softly. "It could not be done... You had duties... And besides, I was afraid..."

"You - afraid?" Wolf looked up. "Of what?"

"Of darkspawn corruption," she said in a near whisper. "Kieran's spirit... the spirit inside him... had to remain pure..."

"And I carry the taint..." Wolf nodded and sighed. "I understand it now."

"I can sense your taint," Kieran said and touched his face. "I can sense the taint in all Grey Wardens at Skyhold... Am I in danger?" He looked at Morrigan who became visibly worried.

"Would you like me to take that spirit away?" Flemeth asked him.

"What..? How..?" Morrigan stumbled.

"There was once a young woman wronged by a wicked man, it is all true. I met her crying her eyes out. We talked and she allowed me in. My first host. There were many young women after her, lending me their bodies. I am Mythal." Flemeth smiled. "Or rather, what's left of her."

"Mythal..." Morrigan mouthed the name almost without a sound. "I spent my days seeking out ancient artefacts, unravelling their mysteries... But the greatest mystery of all has always been right before me... my own mother..."

"The very same!" Flemeth smiled. "But you were never in danger from me, my daughter. I could never touch an unwilling spirit like yours."

"And that is why you didn't kill her when I asked you to," Morrigan looked at Wolf. "You knew."

"Flemeth told me you were in no danger and I believed her," Wolf nodded.

"What now, grandmother?" Kieran turned to Flemeth. "Can you make the dreams go away? I don't want them."

"I can take that spirit away, indeed," Flemeth nodded. "But Morrigan will forever remain bound to my will. Or I can take the boy with me, and you will be free from me forever, my daughter. You choose." She looked at Morrigan with a question.

"Mythal..." Morrigan was still stunned by the discovery. "No, no, Kieran must be free. I... I submit to your will."

Flemeth waved her hand and a silvery wisp escaped from under Kieran's Grey Warden breastplate and entered Flemeth's body.

"No more dreams, child," she smiled. "Go with your mother."

Flemeth vanished. Kieran ran to Morrigan and she hugged him, crying.

"Will you let me stay with you now?" Wolf touched her shoulder. "My taint is no longer a threat to our son."

"But my bond to Mythal is!" Morrigan exclaimed. "No, I cannot drag you down that path with me! She won't touch Kieran, I am certain, but you will never be safe! Please... Mythal is not a benevolent goddess!"

"Mythal the Protector..?" Wolf didn't understand. "All-Mother? Not a benevolent goddess?"

"People fear her too," Morrigan nodded. "There are legends... She knows no mercy. She is Justice, in a way."

"And mercy is not just," Wolf sighed. "And you think that my presence..."

"Anyone's presence," Morrigan corrected him. "Anyone at my side... except Kieran... is in danger. We... we've had our time," she smiled. "Now we must walk our separate paths. I shall help you defeat your darkspawn nemesis... I now have the means, more than you know. But after that I shall leave. And Kieran..."

"Take care of your mother, won't you," Wolf spoke to him and Kieran nodded, hugging her around the middle.

"I see you in him, my friend," Morrigan said through tears as Wolf kissed her one last time. "He's got your eyes."