#project save the south from bioware's wonky writing choices is a go !!

[immobiliter]

       “ I would not be asking the question of you if I also could not, Queen Anora. ”

       Two decades, and it still pained her to stand in this very throne room, knowing the blood that had been spilled on this very floor all those years ago. The blood of Teyrn Loghain, a man who had betrayed all Grey Wardens in exchange for power, a father; and of Alistair Theirin, a bastard son who had never wanted to be king, a lover and a dear friend. In the feuds and rebellions of decades past, much had been lost for the two women now brought once more into the same room by a threat far greater than both of them. Even with the added presence of the Queen's husband and the Inquisitor in this tête-à-tête, the atmosphere remained tense. But Val was determined to remain civil: the future of all Ferelden, after all, perhaps all of Thedas, hung in the balance.

       “ I fear the Blight has changed beyond all recognition, ” she began, wasting no further time with cordiality. “ We Grey Wardens are connected to the darkspawn, and many of us can sense that this connection has changed. I do not know what this means yet — and any information we can gather from the situation in the north would be most helpful — ” At this, Val's eyes strayed towards Inquisitor Lavellan. “ — but this is very much uncharted territory. If it is an elven god at the head of this and not an archdemon... ” To even say it out loud filled her with complete and utter dread. “ And with those elven gods currently on the other side of the continent, it may be that all we can do is stem the spread of this new Blight until the Inquisitor's allies find a way of killing Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain. ”

       It was not ideal, but when a darkspawn did not march with an archdemon at its head, how were the wardens meant to stop it? It was a question that had been haunting Val for days now, and she was still no closer to having an answer.

@mercysought / cont