#victim: uldred

[massgrav]

Purged agony, all the grief Acceptance, my arms aloft, my crucifix Lived my way Fall away

—

Plague patient n.2 - Pneumonic

[explodingchantry]

Anders isn't my problematic fave because he isn't problematic. I think the wider concept of anders being 'wrong' the fandom has is a clear example of how biased the writing has been in the games. It's the same reason why people hate Jowan, or why they think the kinloch hold mages were stupid. There's a clear bias in the writing and framing of it all that guides the player towards feeling negatively.

The majority of answers you can give Jowan in Dao are negative, mocking, or downright insulting. The ones who aren't are just... Neutral. You can be a bit sympathetic to him in the circle origin but by the time you meed him in redcliff most of your dialogue choices are so fucking mean. In my replay I was trying desperately to be nice and sympathetic to him but the best you can do is be neutral and let him go but for every rude dialogue option there is no "you've been through something horrible, I'm sorry" or "you were manipulated, loghain took advantage of your vulnerability, I'm sorry" it's soooooo.

Likewise, I always make sure to speak to every single npc in the mage origins and the One mention of uldred before the broken circle quest is from the one mage who tells you about the different political faction enchanters are in, and it's with absolute disdain. That mage thinks uldred is annoying and it's implied that the other enchanters think so, too. Uldred who was an activist for mage liberation is treated as annoying for being an activist.

Then he turns out to be a blood mage and to have killed the majority of the circle, turning them into abominations. The message is clear: those who seek liberation are wicked. In the first game of the series, thus in the game which introduced the concept of circles at all, their existence is justified by the text. It overtly says: look at all those foolish mages, how dangerous they can be when One of them is wicked. Can you imagine if they were free? Can you imagine those abominations' destruction if they were out in the open?

Something similar happens in the mage origin, with Jowan. Through the whole origin, whilst Jowan is painted as annoying, he's definitely seen as a victim. Up until he uses blood magic, that is. Suddenly, the player is likely supposed to think "oh, so they were right to want to make him tranquil after all". Instead of being a way to show that the circle will often turn innocent mages tranquil, it shows you that greagoir was right to distrust Jowan, because he was indeed a blood mage. Instead of showing you how paranoid those in power are about mages, the writing justifies their fear and hatred.

Bear in mind this is the first game and likely the very first thing that happens to a lot of new players. The game does not expect you to know the intricacies of its lore yet, doesn't expect you to understand that blood magic is actually fucking neutral unless you sacrifice people for it. You might be tempted to argue that it's setting up for that realisation later and for you to feel bad about Jowan later, realizing he was led to blood magic because it was his only solution, because he and all other mages are caged like dogs (except this is ferelden, so the dogs are better treated than them). But then you've got the redcliff fiasco where it's obvious the writers expect you to fucking hate his guts

And while dragon age 2 is more overt in its depiction of mage suffering, it also tries to pass on the idea that kirkwall is a special case, that it's only the gallows that are this bad. That it's just Meredith whose craaazeyyy 🤪 and not just Meredith being a product of a corrupt system. The writers expect you to think of Anders as an unstable extremist, or as his writer puts it, a "bipolar terrorist" (note that ofc there's nothing fucking wrong with being bipolar, but I don't think his writer cares!)

With different writers and the exact same set of events, Anders blowing up the chantry would be easily recognized as a positive, as an act of justice, of rightful rebellion. Instead it's seen as a tragedy, a mistake. Instead Anders is categorized as a villain, morally grey even though Hawke themselves has a higher death toll than he ever will.

It's a lesson, I think. In narrative bias.

[the-rebel-archivist]

15 10 Lines of Dialogue - Frederick Amell

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

Tagged by @dreadfutures, thank you! Tagging @askweisswolf, @magicmissiled @theluckywizard

"You promised that I could live as a hero in a way that no other Grey Wardens have been able to, believing it was what I wanted. Perhaps it was, once, but now I taste only bitterness and the emptiness of a lonely future. I spend my days hating and loving you by turns, never sure which emotion is the truer."

“Let me in to your plans. You say Kieran has a destiny before him; teach me to understand it and let me help you. I need a purpose, like you have purpose.”

"I knew every flagstone, every chest placed neatly at the foot of every bed. It was a prison, I know that now, but for sixteen years it was where I passed every minute of every day, laughed with friends, ate meals, lost myself in tales of adventure."

"If you can’t find inspiration in standing where legends once walked there’s someone else who’s more than happy to listen to me go on.” He turned away from her and knelt down before his beloved war hound, Calenhad. “Let me tell you the stories about the Rebel Queen,” he began.

“I’m not afraid of death, not really. I fear my death having no meaning. I fear going on a quest that may ultimately be a fool’s errand to lengthen my life, losing the time I might have had with my family, and dying anyway.”

"My travel companions look to me like I’m the Maker returned; some have even taken to calling me “Warden-Commander” again even though I am nothing of the sort. Without you to ground me I fear that I may return with an inflated sense of self-importance and then what will become of me? I shall be truly insufferable. Clearly I must be rescued from myself."

“But what use am I if not to pester you until you smile at me, my carnivorous plant of a woman?” “Do not restrict me to an object of admiration, nor yourself to the position of admirer. ‘Tis a folly I abhor. Discover your use without my involvement.” “Perhaps you’re right.” He sighed. “Nevertheless, I should like to stay as we are forever.” “Would you forget your duty and the destiny that has been appointed for you? The man I know, his head full of ambitions toward heroism and tongue singing the praises of the great kings of this land would not. We would both tire of an aimless life devoid of purpose within a fortnight.”

"They were supposed to be happy here. They were supposed to be protected, but they had been abandoned by the ones meant to keep them safe! What use are the Templars if their only solution is to murder indiscriminately without trial or attempt to differentiate victims from instigators? Both mage and Templar were affected by Uldred’s machinations, their minds no longer their own, and yet only the mages needed be sacrificed in the name of safety."

“Everything that is in my power to grant you, you have. The protection of my body and my magic I will grant to you, your favours I will wear with love and pride, all of my devotion I lay at your feet, but I can give you no more. I am your servant, my queen. That is all.”

"Let anyone who comes after know that we were happy here. Grievous duty beckoned but while these walls remain may they remember the love of those who came before."

[crossdressingdeath]

Didn't Irving also set it up so that the mages could easily find books on blood magic to tempt them so that the Templars would get their victim quota filled? I seem to remember something like that, but I haven't played the game in ages. Also Irving's response if you tell him about Jowan's plan is more aimed at Lily than anything else. He seems to resent the Chantry (understandable) and takes it out on her, more so than Jowan.

I believe the prevailing theory is that Uldred was tricking young mages into getting involved in blood magic (with the theory going that Jowan was one of his victims) and then tipping Irving off so Irving could tell the Templars, with how much Irving knew about the details of the plan unclear. Irving does eventually remove the books on blood magic from display (they're in a pile in his office), but it is a little suspicious that he had books on blood magic out in plain sight in the library to begin with. Also that the Templars didn't do anything about those books existing and being on the library shelves where anyone could get at them. Basically while there's no clear evidence that Irving was part of Uldred's plans there does seem to have been a fair amount of entrapment going on with the apprentices being deliberately pushed into desperation and then exposed to perfect opportunities to learn blood magic, and if Irving wasn't aware that it was going on he was likely deliberately blinding himself to it.

But there really is something horrible about how Irving is pretty openly using Jowan, the Warden and Lily as pawns in his pissing contest with the Chantry. Like... he could've stopped it, he could've given the Warden instructions to prevent Jowan's plan, and instead he just... orders them to carry it out. Jowan as an apprentice could be made Tranquil for that, the exact thing the three of them are doing all this to avoid. The Warden (who only has Irving's word saying that they haven't done anything wrong, assuming Greagoir would even take that given the Templars ultimately have power over the First Enchanter and have just been humiliated by him via Lily; I wouldn't put it past him to screw over Irving's favourite just to get back at Irving) could be executed or thrown into solitary like Anders was, since Tranquility isn't an option for Harrowed mages (and Kinloch Hold does seem to at least hold to that rule). Lily obviously is ultimately sent to Aeonar. These are three young people who've done nothing but care about each other, and Irving willingly ruins their lives just to make the Chantry look bad within the small group aware of what's happening. It's an incredibly juvenile display that destroys these three (especially if Surana/Amell isn't the Warden, in which case they're likely either killed as a result of this event or locked up and left defenceless when Uldred's rebellion goes to shit), two of whom are supposed to be under Irving's direct protection! Jowan's angry insistence that Irving doesn't really care about the mages definitely makes sense, given he pretty clearly knew this was going on and tipped off the Templars even if you don't tell him the plan; if he thought the plan was a bad move but wanted to protect his mages he'd have headed them off before things got to this point and not alerted the Templars, if he wanted them to succeed he'd have done his best to keep the Templars away, but instead he let them carry out the plan and had the Templars waiting when they came out. Sure, it was ultimately more about catching Lily to humiliate the Chantry within the Circle... but he sees Jowan and the Warden as acceptable collateral damage just to make the Chantry look bad within Kinloch Hold for a little bit. Even throwing Lily under the bus like that is kind of messed up given she's a young woman who's never done anything to him beyond being part of the Chantry, but Jowan and the Warden? They're young adults who Irving as First Enchanter (and the Warden's direct mentor) likely helped to raise, and he just... hands them to the Templars for whatever awful fate the Chantry (and its pride, which Irving deliberately bruised for his own satisfaction) decides for them so he can win a point in his stupid pissing contest with Greagoir and the Chantry. I would've liked more opportunities for the Warden to call Irving out on that at some point...

[sylvansmercy]

me, realizing mei probably has some misdirected rage towards alistair after the broken circle quest bc she’s a little out of control w/ grief and just So Done With Templars and also still lowkey annoyed with him over the whole having to lead the group herself thing that she can’t help seeing him as just a man who was almost a templar for a bit while she’s reeling from that experience (and also bc alistair implying that it might be for the best to let greagoir annul the tower when they first arrived is still fresh in her mind): 

[wyvernscales]

Things in Dragon Age: Origins with the absolute worst vibes:

Writing Xs in goat’s blood on a bunch of doors in Denerim

Sprinkling ashes on the ground and summoning a demon who fell in love with a woman who later cut out a man’s throat for proposing to her because the demon got jealous

The terrified spirit of an elven child calling for its mother

Tossing corpses into the well beside the Chantry right next to Templars and Sisters

The corpse of King Caillan strung up naked by darkspawn at Ostagar

The camp in the Brecilian Forest that seems warm and inviting until you wake up and realize you slept in an ancient camp surrounded by the remains of victims to a sloth demon you had almost fallen prey to

The Mad Hermit????

That Irving trusted Uldred to weed out the blood mages by planting tomes in the library and waiting to see who picked them up, and Uldred only outed the weaklings to forward his rebellion

All of Haven really

Finding a torso, head, and limbs in bags scattered around the Deep Roads and using them to summon a pride demon

Sophia Dryden’s centuries’ old walking corpse

Connor...

[for-the-ninth]

So I’d love to know that if Cullen has to “earn” Shielan’s approval what does Shielan have to do to earn his approval? Because idk why he would care for someone who is outright awful to him in general and dismisses his trauma (despite having literally seen the memories) and struggle trying to break his ties to the chantry?

Ah yes, another anonymous Cullenite complaining about Cullen being treated like the criminal he is.

Listen, the excerpt you're referring to hasn't even been posted on AO3. It's one of many preview snippets of later chapters I've written that require context to understand, which you don't have bc you haven't read the fic. So I'm not terribly inclined to give you personally - someone who does not understand Shielan's history, motivations, or values, bc again, you've not actually read my shit - a thorough answer. But I will expand for the sake of those who do read and enjoy my fic, as a lil meta treat for anyone curious.

First things first, Cullen's trauma is valid and what he went through was awful. And it doesn't justify the harm he inflicted and endorsed on people who did not cause him that trauma. People who can't understand that very basic concept just aren't gonna like this fic.

Secondly, Cullen doesn't have to earn Shielan's approval. He wants to, because he admires her strength, resilience, and leadership and he (unlike some of his fans, apparently) knows he fucked up. The mages of the Inquisiton, Kirkwall survivors among them, petitioned for his removal as Commander, and he resigned and imprisoned himself voluntarily. He's heard from the survivors of the Rite of Annulment. He knows all won't be forgiven - and he's trying to do better anyway. Because your accountability process shouldn't be dependent on the forgiveness of your victims. It places too much pressure on their shoulders and stifles your own growth if they choose not to forgive you.

Now if you'd read any of the actual story, dear anon, you'd know just how laughable it is to suggest Shielan earn approval from anyone. She left her own clan before her vallaslin even healed, knowing damn well she probably wouldn't be allowed to return. You really think she gives a shit what some templar fuck thinks of her? (Spoiler: she def doesn't lmao). Shielan cares about justice for her people and the mages of Thedas, not her oppressors.

She did indeed see a singular memory of the day Uldred took the tower. But neither Cullen nor anyone else has told her exactly what happened, so she has no context for this memory and no understanding of how that event affected him. And at this point in the story, she doesn't fucking care, which brings me to my next point...

It's an enemies to friends to lovers story, ya fuckin goon! It's exactly what it says on the tin! Try reading the tags next time!

I'd personally love to know A. why you even felt the need to type the hot sewage that just left your virtual mouth when you haven't read my fucking writing and B. why you think a Dalish mage should give two fucks about a guy who has actively oppressed her people and thought of them as subfuckinghuman for over a decade.

I look forward to hearing your answers! 🥰😘

[bluekaddis]

You almost mentioned Cullen as the best written character, but tbh he is written quite bad, his abuse and hate is never confronted in Inquisition and he is made victim by narrative, while he was the very problem why Chantry sucks. Even his fans admit that. He is mostly liked because of romance.

Ugh.

I was waiting for that moment when admitting I like Cullen’s character and story arc will bite me in the ass.

TL; DR (for those who don’t want to get through my long rant) 

Let everyone enjoy any characters/romances/game choices they want. I have my reasons for having Cullen as a fav DA character and liking his story arc and I don’t think there are more problems with writing of his character than the majority of other companions in DA games. 

Full answer below

First of all – I don’t want to argue that everyone should like or dislike the same elements of fiction as I do – it would be stupid. We all have different tastes, like different character archetypes and have varying opinions on what makes a good story. I’m trying to keep my blog character positive and unless someone asks me directly to share my opinion on a certain character or plot element I prefer keeping my critique to myself. I also don’t feel entitled to confront fans who, in their own posts, state they find Cullen boring, unredeemable or overrated, even if I personally disagree with all these statements. 

If your ask, anon, stated the words “i think” or “in my opinion” I wouldn’t probably bother with such a lengthy answer, HOWEVER, you write your personal opinion like it was an objective statement, like you were in position to tell me how I should view the certain character. What did you expect, that I would suddenly realize “oh crap, NOW I see that a character and plot I had liked for my 200 hours of gameplay is actually bad, I was just too stupid to notice it!”.

Haha, no.

So, let’s go through your comment.

“tbh he is written quite bad”

In. Your. Opinion. There are people who don’t like Cullen’s character development. Some like the general idea but would make some changes if they could. Others (like me) don’t have problem with his story arc and just like to add some headcanons to fill the gaps.

It is understandable that when years pass between games, fans have time to develop their opinions and wishes of what they’d like to see. And because none of them actually writes the story it is very easy to feel disappointed and say “well, I would do it better (= my way)”. But the truth is - your way is not necessary a better way. It may be the case that “your version” would be even more hated by the fandom. Some opinions are just more popular than others and therefore may seem like they are objective but it’s an illusion. A well designed pool, with large sample size and good statistics may be objective. Opinions, on the other hand, are like farts – you always think yours are less stinky than the others’ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But I digress.

Yes, I think Cullen is a well written character and yes, I like his story arc. Cullen’s redemption works for me because I see it not as much about atonement for his actions as for his lack of action.

Let me explain.

Anti-Cullen fans tend to assume that he personally did a lot of atrocities, but when you look not at fandom assumptions but at his actual actions we see in games or WoT, you can see that he caused most evil by not doing shit.

He should have protected the mages.

He didn’t.

He should have questioned Meredith’s actions.

He didn’t.

He should have noticed she’s going mad.

He didn’t .

He should have stopped her before she evoked the Rite.

He didn’t.

He was very passive and basically let either Meredith or Hawke make all the choices for him. If he let Meredith decide – people died. If he listened to Hawke (based on player’s choices) he voted for whatever Hawke had proposed.

Why was he behaving like that? Probably because he had lost faith in his own judgment so he put all the responsibility on authority figures (Templar Order and Chantry teachings). Cullen’s core motivation throughout all games was to protect people and it never changes. What changes is his belief of what methods are moral or necessary to achieve that goal and whether he, as an individual, should be in a position to decide it.

In Inquisition Cullen does the opposite. He is a workaholic. He makes his own decisions (leaves Kirkwall, stops taking lyrium) and takes full responsibility for them. He doesn’t follow his leader blindly but openly states his own opinions and advice (whether they are correct or wrong is another topic). He gets really furious when someone in position of power lie to or sacrifice people under their command (like in case of Samson or Rainier). Finally, he dedicates his life, health, skills, basically everything, for a cause - to stop the war that can be blamed mostly on his former organisation, without complaint or asking for forgiveness.

And I love that aspect of his character.

In Inquisition Cullen is still a work in progress. He tries his best but his templar past comes back sometimes - and it’s good. If he was completely free of his biases, it would be damn unnatural. 

I would never say that Cullen is a flawless ray of sunshine. He can be stubborn, biased, narrow-minded, hypocritical, bitter, aggressive and vengeful. But guess what – so can all the other characters. That’s why they are interesting.

“his abuse and hate is never confronted in Inquisition”

It is, at least for the standards of this particular game. DA:I doesn’t have full developed friendship-rivalry mechanics like DA:2 and you can’t even get approval points from advisors. The Inquisitor basically has far less options to condemn the Inner Circle’s actions or change their worldviews than Hawke (you don’t really argue with Dorian about slavery or with Iron Bull about Saarebas or Reeducators either).

But even if the Inquisitor has limited dialogue options to confront Cullen’s actions directly, Cullen himself brings the topic to the player. Cullen’s dialogue and actions in DA:I show that

he is ashamed of the person he became after Uldred’s uprising    

he knows he needs to atone for his actions and he wants to work for it

but doesn’t really believe he can fully atone for what he did

supports the reform of the Chantry, Templar Order and Circles rather than agreeing to their traditional methods

That man already hates himself, give him some rest.

And if you still think he needs an extra punishment for his crimes - Cullen is actually one of only 3 companions/advisors in DA:I whose life you can literally ruin through your choices (the other two being Blackwall and Iron Bull). If your Inky thinks that Cullen’s actions are unredeemable and he deserves nothing better than to forever be chained to the templar life he has chosen as a kid - they can order him to take lyrium again. For me it’s a heartless and morally wrong choice, but anyone can play their game however they want.

„he is made victim by narrative”

Ok, that part really bothers me. Are you saying that it is a bad thing that a narrative treats a person who has been physically, mentally and sexually abused for weeks as a victim of that abuse? Or encourages empathy towards a character fed drugs, manipulation and propaganda? Acknowledging Cullen’s PTSD doesn’t automatically result in ignoring or diminishing traumas and abuse that happened to Anders, Carl or any other character. Empathy doesn’t have to be reserved to people you personally agree with, just saying.

„he was the very problem why Chantry sucks.”

I’d say he was an example showing why Chantry sucks. A symptome, not a cause. Chantry benefits only high ranking members of that intitution + some nobles and rich dudes. Mages are abused and denied most of the rights because of the Chantry. Templars are drugged and brainwashed because of the Chantry. Common folk can’t freely benefit from things like healing magic because of the Chantry. Non-humans are treated like heretics and barbarians - because of the Chantry. The Chantry, as we see at the beginning of DA:I is a corrupt, powerful institution that has forsaken almost all ideals it had been built upon and desperately needs a reform. Everyone can see that. I have NEVER met any fan who said „yeah, Circles, Templar Order, the Chantry – they were perfectly alright, no need to change lol”. Same goes to characters labelled by fandom as pro-Chantry (like Cassandra, Cullen or Vivienne). They all see that major changes must be done, they just believe the reformation is better than abolition.

„Even his fans admit that.”

Some, yes. Others don’t have a problem with his arc. Personally I don’t think there are many Cullen fans that would agree with every single point you made.

„He is mostly liked because of romance.”

Um, no. The reason why the game developers even bothered with making Cullen a romance option in DA:I is that he was already quite liked and popular among fans, despite being just a secondary character. I’d agree that the romance plot made Cullen even more popular, especially among players who didn’t play previous games, but it is wrong to assume that the only reason people enjoy his character is because he’s a pretty boy. I played the games in order and Cullen was one of my fav characters in DA2 - I just like paragon anti-villains with redemption potential. Fight me. 

To conclude this overly long rant - I’m generally under impression that some DA fans tend to point certain aspects of Cullen’s character and story as “stupid excuses made by Bioware and fans to redeem a son of the bitch” and then use almost exactly the same arguments to defend their own favs. It’s the topic for maybe another discussion, but I think it’s a good thing to confront your own biases sometimes.

P.S. I also recommend watching this video about writing redemption arcs. Just for fun.

I rest my case. 

(thanks, Ania, for the high quality picture to sum up my feelings)

[catzeatyerface]

Things I would change about Dragon Age

The Stolen Throne

Katriel was banished, not murdered.

No “Loghain is going to betray you” prophecy cause it doesn’t happen.

No Katriel or Rowan being assaulted.

Adaia makes an appearance.

The Calling

Fiona’s backstory is not revealed to anyone. Her nightmare is told from her perspective and she is the first to break out and go to save everyone else. Then she tells Maric herself why she hates human nobles so much.

Duncan is cured of the taint too and he is made a minor knight by Maric and raises Alistair. Alistair knows Fiona as Duncan’s friend. He still has the dagger.

Fatherhood and knighthood is what makes Duncan who he is in Origins.

Julian and Nicholas being partners is made more explicit.

Origins

Dwarven Noble

No rape threat to fAeducan from the people Bhelen hired to kill her.

Castless Dwarf

No incest comment from Leske to mBrosca.

Human Noble

Less talk about how women can’t be cool anymore once they get married.

No “wenches and ale” comment. Maybe just the ale part.

City Elf

No corpse raping comment about your wife after she’s killed.

No horrible dialogue for the girl who’s afraid of being raped.

My changes to the rest of the story.

Ostagar

You’re recruited by someone else and there is a different junior grey warden there.

Daveth apologizes for his comment if you are offended by it.

Elves can stand up to the ash warrior more.

Morrigan isn’t whitepassing.

You are the only one sent to the tower of Ishal.

After

You and Morrigan are sent off alone (or with dog).

Alistair and Duncan go looking for grey wardens and they find the dog you cured at Ostagar. Duncan is a Redcliffe knight and Alistair had just become a recruit.

Alistair is a Guardian.

Dog senses you and runs off to find you and they chase after him.

You and Morrigan are fighting that group of darkspawn when dog runs up followed by Alistair and Duncan.

You tell them of what’s happened and they agree to help you fix things.

Duncan leaves at Lothering to go contact the Grey Wardens and tells Alistair to stay to help.

At camp Alistair tells you you were having a nightmare.

Broken  Circle

You have the option to not give the blood mage you spare any flack at all.

You have the option to sympathize with the mages.

When you talk to Uldred you have the option of trying to reach through to him.

The Arl of Redcliffe

Duncan and Alistair live in Redcliffe so that’s what all of the dialogue implies.

Isolde and Eamon don’t know Alistair and Teagan only knows him as the son of Duncan and a recruit.

That orphan girl is much older

No misogyny from the mayor

You can actually save Jowan

A Paragon of Her Kind

Rewrite the whole Darkspawn breeding shit to be something disturbing that isn’t misogynistic and doesn’t exploit sexual abuse victims for shock value (unsurprisingly this was written by the scum bags Kristjanson and Hepler).

Branka still let her people be turned into darkspawn but it was not done in that way.

Branka did not do this to Hespith, but Hespith was horrified by her actions and left. She got lost and ended up with corruption and became a ghoul. Branka was broken up about this but told herself it was even more reason why she needed to get to the Anvil.

Dragon Age 2

Act 1

Take the ableism and mage victim blaming out of “Magistrate’s Orders” and make Kelder just a racist serial killer.

Act 2

Pol doesn’t die, he just acts terrified of Merrill.

Act 3

Merrill’s clan dying is not an option.

The demon that kills Marethari was not the same one that Merrill learned blood magic from.

It’s made clear that Marethari was possed because of her own pride, not because Merrill put her in danger.

No Sebastian villain turn for not killing Anders

No Orsino boss fight

Silent Grove / Those Who Speak / Until We Sleep

Cut out all the racist shit in Isabela’s writing.

Maevaris doesn’t have her clothes torn off when she’s captured.

The Masked Empire

Mhiris’ clan isn’t killed.

Michel de Chevin isn’t half elf.

Asunder

No “Join the rebellion or die” mages.

Adrian is alive and with the mage rebellion.

Evangeline actually acknowledges that her way of thinking was wrong.

Inquisition

Gameplay

Mages done more like the old games (ie. more activated spells)

Better discisions made about which quests are field quests and which are war table mission.

All the “stop your family from dying” quests are as easy as Trevelyan’s.

Lights in the Shadow

A complete rewrite of the “siding with the mages” story

Champions of the Just

Haven is attacked by the Venatori if you side with the templars, NOT the rebel mages or Fiona.

Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts

Vivienne tells you about Celene’s genocide. If not Vivienne then someone else.

What Pride Had Wrought

Write it to have less of a “white people in ancient tombs of people we’re pretending no longer exist” feel.

Just totally trash the revelation about the Elven gods.

[orsino-the-enchanter]

Repressed and friend/best friend ? :)

✖ - a repressed memory

“When I heard that the butcher of lowtown was sending his victims white lillies, i had an odd feeling that it reminds me of something, but I couldn’t put a finger on it. A few days later, I happened to be replacing the enchanter who was teaching herbalism to the apprentices, for they had fallen sick. I was demonstrating how to make a growth-enabling serum that involved the use of some lilly oil, since the serum itself smells rather horribly. Suddenly, something Quentin had told me came to mind; something I thought I had forgotten for good. 

Quentin knew I hated herbalism with passion when I was an apprentice, and although he found it amusing -he thought all elves love herbalism- he was trying to cheer me up during a study session; with his own… creepy unique way. So, as I was studying, a shadow was suddenly cast over my book, and next thing,he leans uncomfortably close and whispers to my ear: “Ooh, the lily tonic.I’ve always loved lilies. Did you know that they are the only flower whose scent can mask the stench of death?” I think my hair grew a bit greyer from the scare he gave me that day; however the memory quickly faded and vanished -or so I thought. 

That memory was what made me first suspect him of the murders, but I quickly casted the thought away. If I had trusted my instincts, perhaps I would have known sooner… but then… what good would that do to me or the victims? I still wouldn’t be able to frame him. And knowing it was him all along would still break my heart.”

♬ - a friend/best friend memory

“My first time at the College of Magi in Cumberland is impossible to forget, mainly because we caused quite the stirr. I say “we”, because it was myself and Uldred. 

To the outsiders, the College of Magi seems to be an important gathering: “oh, but they elect a grand enchanter!”. To me and Uldred it was a bore; a bunch of senior and first enchanters gossiping and arguing about politics, thinking that they are going to make some difference in an indifferent world only with words. Quite frankly, the only reason we attended -other than the fact we couldn’t avoid it- was the good wine. 

So there we are; drinking our wine quietly at a corner, minding our business and waiting for time to pass, until we were summoned by a nearby company of rather drunk mages to join their discussion. We did not refuse; why make enemies? Uldred already had plenty and I already had Meredith, neither of us needed more. However, with Uldred being his usual outspoken self and me playing the devil’s advocate it did not take long for things to escalate. The alcohol didn’t help at all. A couple loyalists -I believe they were from some circle in Orlais- started drunkenly challenging Uldred, with that hilarious accent of theirs. Lots of fanfare and posturing “Come on, you think you’re man enough, bring it on!” but no staves being pulled out. Uldred’ expression was more serene than a Tranquil’s, which agitated them even more; so even more threats “i’ll do this, I’ll do that” -over politics, mind you. The whole room stopped their chattering and were staring at us. 

This continued until the bell rang -the gathering was over for the night, we would retire, think our votes over and then place them first thing the next morning. Everybody gets up to leave; I’ve had enough though, so I go to the door, close it and stand in front of it. “Okay, boys” I say, “you wanted a fight, you got your chance. I you want to have Uldred paint the walls with your guts hurry up; I want to see blood.” Uldred cracks his knuckles and flashes that signature grin of his, and everyone goes insane. I don’t think I had seen a crowd scattering so fast ever before; they either never meant to actually fight to begin with, or they just thought we were ten times crazier than they were. Either way, they apologized to Uldred the morning after and never bothered us again. Also, noone ever tried to approach us the following years either. I wonder why.”

[naked-exo]

Uldr*n does suck, but I’m still irritated by yet an (ambiguously) gay character falling victim to the “kill your gays” trope

but like..... other canonically gay characters like ana bray or devrim kay like. they don’t die. they’re alive and well in the game. and plus, suraya is also confirmed to be interested in women, and she was a big part of the main campaign. like, i don’t know what else you could want, but like i don’t think uldr*n’s death at all falls into the “kill/bury your gays” trope at all.

[ourdawncomes]

💰 Josephine 🐦 Leliana 🦁 Cullen - for Vivienne | 🍷 Hof 🦅 Hawke - for Merril

character thoughts meme | accepting

Josephine

“She truly has worked wonders with Skyhold, hasn’t she? It was not so long ago this place looked little better than your average hovel, albeit a defensible one. Without her connections, I imagine we would still be stepping over piles of rubble. It’s not perfect, of course. The dining hall’s upholstery is ghastly, and she refuses to hear my suggestions for proper replacements. Thankfully, thus far it has not spoiled our guests’ appetites.”

Vivienne has a significant amount of respect for Josephine. She knows her job isn’t easy, and that managing the Inquisitoin’s coffers will doubtless make her grey well before her time. Though she can’t claim to know their ambassador well, she knows her well enough to know what to get her for satinalia.

Leliana

“Now there’s a woman I would think twice about crossing. She did not survive the Fifth Blight nor Orlais’ court without learning how to be ruthless. Some of the ideas she espouses are… radical, to say the least. I do wonder where she came about them. I am not deaf to the clerics’ plans, she may one day serve as Divine. Depending upon where the cards fall, we may one day end up working against one another, a most unfortunate predicament for the both of us.”

Again, like Josephine, Vivienne respects Leliana. Her work ethic in particular, as well as her bard skills. When it comes to politics, they’re more likely to clash. Vivienne has played her hand in such a way that she will survive no matter who ascends to the throne (she doesn’t even seem to have any approval changes regardless of who you pick) but I tend to believe she somewhat favours Gaspard, where Leliana is quite comfortable letting her die and more supportive of Briala iirc. Then of course there’s the Divine Election. As I’ve written before, I think Vivienne deserves more credit as the centrist candidate with Cassandra standing as the most conservative option. Vivienne gives the mages more freedom and does give us some progress, but her views on the Circle and the Chantry are radically different from Leliana’s. Should Leliana be named Divine her feelings about Leliana as a person may sour, although the respect remains.

Cullen

“Our Commander is a simple man, though I suppose that goes hand-in-hand with being Fereldan. There is something to his manner that makes me wonder how long he will remain with us once Corypheus is slain. Retirement is rare among Templars in spite of the stress they endure, but then again, he is a Templar no longer.”

Her feelings about Cullen are pretty neutral overall? Like “oh he sure is there.” Kirkwall was a mess and as second-in-command she’s quite confident he either had some hand in the abuse, was complicit/willfully blind, or just that ignorant. So her opinion of his ability to guard mages is quite low, but he proves himself well enough as Commander that she’s willing to overlook it unless she has some reason to play that card. She’d pity him were she to find out he was a victim of Uldred’s Rebellion, but as it stands there’s little chance of her ever finding that out. I think they might have the potential to be ok acquaintances, but they have very little in common in any sense of the word.

[carelessgraces]

on astoria and control ( part one ) —

In both of Astoria’s main verses, her adolescence is marked by a series of pretty intense traumas following the same model: she is “educated” by previously unknown family members whom the rest of her family trusts. These family members — her godparents !! That’s a huge responsibility in a devout Catholic family like the Grimani family, and it brings with it a huge level of trust — violate that trust repeatedly: first, by manipulating Astoria’s mind and memory through magic; second, by physically and psychologically abusing her to force her into compliance, isolation, and fear; and third, by using her to harm other people, usually her own family, for their own purposes. It’s an intense thing to go through at any age, but at 14 – 15, Astoria is at a crucial moment in her development, and this fundamentally alters how she thinks, how she feels, how she reacts to things, how she develops and maintains relationships, going forward. Please proceed with caution: the following will discuss abuse, trauma, and recovery.

     Astoria is only able to bring about an end to the abuse and manipulation when she starts manipulating her abusers back. The more that Amycus and Alecto mistreat her, the more she plays into what they want: she stops asking questions, she flinches at loud noises, she very much emphasizes her own fear and vulnerability. She recognizes the signs of her trauma starting to manifest and, rather than trying to hide them to keep herself from seeming vulnerable and like an easier target, she makes that front and center of her visible personality and reactions. More than that, she deliberately acts ashamed of this, so that Amycus and Alecto won’t suspect anything. 

     The psychological abuse is the major piece of this — while Amycus’ “discipline” is violent and leaves significant damage, it’s rare, and intended as a punishment for failure or disobedience. With Alecto, it’s constant gaslighting and manipulation, designed to make Astoria doubt her own perception of reality. Astoria learns the responses that Alecto wants and provides them, and the more that Alecto imagines that Astoria is easy to control. In both verses, Astoria is able to use this to lay a trap to stop them: first, she isolates them; then, she leaves a trail for anyone who’s looking to find; and third, she antagonizes them and goads them until they move to harm her, and in doing so, lead to their own deaths. 

     For the sake of ease, I’m going to talk about each verse individually, so apologies for length.

DRAGON AGE.

     Astoria is able to leave Seleny, her grandfather, and her mother behind for a time, and she spends about six years in Orlais. The only family she maintains regular contact with on her mother’s side is her uncle — Giovanni hadn’t known, hadn’t even been present for most of it, and couldn’t have identified a blood mage’s thrall even if he was around. She slowly picks up communication with her mother and grandfather again after she settles into Orlais and begins studying at the University, but for the most part, the only people from home she cares to speak to are Giovanni and Lorenzo. She starts to develop a strong relationship with her father, visiting the Storm Coast whenever there’s a holiday, and she in turn becomes deeply connected to the bannorn itself. She works through the short-term trauma by becoming one of the many noble students at the University to take up bard training, and so her teenage angst is literally worked through by learning how to navigate the deadliest court in Thedas, and that includes violence and murder. ( As per Veronica Sawyer — “My teen angst has a body count.” )

     If, as per her main DA timeline, she ends up caught in the Blight and traveling with the Hero of Ferelden, this is what brings about her healing. At first, I thought it was Alistair who did it, but it’s just the matter of traveling through this country that she has only recently started to call home and risking her life for it even when it’s not her responsibility, even when she ( arguably ) has a greater responsibility to do the opposite, and to get home to protect Seleny. It’s her first real act of selflessness, and it changes her: until this, she has always known in theory that she must be ready to sacrifice everything, her life included, for the people she ruled. Now, she knows that she can do just that, and more than that, she will.

     And in so many ways, that’s what it comes down to: knowing that this is a choice she’ll make of her own volition, knowing that this is a sacrifice she’ll be willing to offer without anyone else’s influence. The Warden’s companions ( regardless of what the Wardens do ) will give her the chance to leave, over and over and over again, and every time she chooses to stay, it’s for her father, and her sister, and the bannorn, and everyone she meets. Astoria is selfish at her core, but she has the capacity for a really profound selflessness when it comes to the people for whom she is responsible; that’s what makes her a good leader, and it prepares her to become Inquisitor. It helps her get past her anger, it helps her understand that some failures can’t be fixed but they can be handled, and it gives her the space she needs to heal in an honest way. When she comes home to Seleny in 9:34, it’s with a sense of peace. 

     If, instead, she stays in the bannorn during the Blight, she goes to Kirkwall next, and Kirkwall is not the sort of place that really encourages one’s better angels. She can do just about anything, and really, who’s going to prevent her? So her anger comes out in different ways: she doesn’t feel like she has a home in Antiva or in Ferelden, and so she treats Kirkwall as temporary. She lashes out in battle, she’s vicious, she’s calculating to an extreme, and depending on Hawke’s influence, she is utterly lawless. This time, it’s Fenris who evens her out: she sees someone with similar fears of magic, but with more focus, more drive. The more she knows Fenris, the more she begins to realize that the biggest difference between them is that she’s in a position where she can make the changes she wants, that she can do something about all of this. 

     Astoria isn’t fit to be anybody’s princess until the end of Act II — again, after she’s risked her life when she really doesn’t have to, and after she’s been made to take a stand in favor of people who can do absolutely nothing for her in terms of social and political mobility. When the Arishok describes what happened to the elves who converted, and why they converted, Astoria is moved to defend Kirkwall not because she thinks that the Guard should have access to those elves to punish them, but because she realizes that the elves and the mages really can’t go anywhere else, and really, what the hell kind of princess is she if she’s not willing to do something about that? Astoria fights, Astoria bleeds, and at the end of it, Astoria returns to Seleny not because of her grandfather’s health, but because she knows she has to. She’s a little clumsier around the one act of selflessness — she’s had less time to make sense of it — but by Inquisition she’s the same person: she’s a fine princess for Seleny, and while she knows that her own life has a great deal of value if only for its symbolic value ( if she lives, Seleny remains stable, the changes she makes can be made permanent, she can protect the people and the economy, etc etc ) she knows, too, that there’s a lot to be gained by bleeding in place of, or alongside, her people. It’s what sends her to the Conclave, and if she’s not Inquisitor, it’s what keeps her with the Inquisition.

     And it all comes down to control and anger. Astoria’s greatest fear is losing control of herself, and she spends all of her youth pushing back against even a perceived threat to her self control. She imagines that control of the self will lead to control of the world around her, and it’s the process of understanding that this isn’t always the case that helps her to grow. 

ON WRATH.

     While Astoria’s susceptible to any and all of the ~deadly sins,~ and commits most of them frequently and with great enjoyment, the one that’s the most detrimental to her is wrath. She recognizes the power of anger: it mobilizes, it kickstarts healing, it has a lot of value and it can be a really important part of just existing in a hostile world. For Astoria, though, her anger takes on a life of its own: she’s been wounded in profoundly personal and brutal ways, told time and time again that she brought those wounds on herself or that the wounds simply do not exist, and that she’s only hurting herself. 

     It feeds off of her fear of a lack of control — if she can’t trust her perception of reality, then what can she trust? How can she keep control of anything? She has an instinct to punish, rather than towards true justice: her wrath tells her that the only way to guarantee that she is never made a victim again is to destroy anyone who tries to victimize her. Her wrath tells her that her safety may need to be bought through someone else’s blood, and that she has to be ready to pay that price. It’s not entirely wrong: Trevisan assassins have been coming after her with some regularity since she was fourteen, and she’s been placed under the thrall of someone she should have been able to trust. In all of these cases, it’s kill or be killed. ( As per Katherine Pierce — “Better you die than I.” ) 

     Part of gaining a greater control of herself is in gaining control of that wrath and learning to overcome it. ( Kirkwall’s terrible for her in that regard — wrath runs pretty rampant in Kirkwall, and there’s no shortage of people willing to pick a fight. ) It proves difficult, in part because there are a lot of people who Astoria thinks deserves to die, and these are the people she’s fighting: slavers, and Loghain’s forces ( and Loghain himself ), and Uldred and his blood mages, and the werewolves. In Kirkwall, there are slavers around every corner, and the Templars abuse their power in ways that sicken her. In Inquisition, she genuinely cannot go more than a few days without killing someone, because she’s constantly fighting some battle or another. 

     And after a while, she becomes desensitized, because it’s part of her new normal. Astoria is not a good person, and I’ve said this a thousand times by now: the blood on her hands cannot and should not be ignored. Frankly, nobody in a Dragon Age setting is a good person. I think that’s something that needs to be grappled with, but that’s for another day. When her wrath becomes normalized, that’s when it’s at its most dangerous, and she struggles with that constantly, because wrath is another thing that takes control away from her.

     Nowhere is this better illustrated than in a Dragon Age universe, because it leaves her vulnerable to literal demons of wrath. ( And I have been itching for a verse where Astoria is left in the Fade and comes out possessed by a demon of wrath, js. ) 

     To follow: modern verses, and how this impacts Astoria in shipping.

[vstiges]

on blood magic.

Amell’s view of blood magic has always been pretty nuanced, as much as she wants to know the full capabilities of a mage’s powers, she’s superstitious of ever practicing it on herself. After Broken Circle, she keeps the Litany of Adralla always hidden in the fabric of her clothing, paranoid, the horrors of what happened to the mages and templars alike within the tower still fresh in her mind. It becomes more habit than fear as the years go by, but she keeps the litany nonetheless and it becomes a major staple to her gear. 

    But on the other side, in the cases of Zathrian and Avernus, with their prolonged life and power, she feels it’d be too much of a waste to let that knowledge die with them. They obviously haven’t gone possessed from their exposure, not like Uldred, and she’s ready to put them down if they do later on. She keeps tabs on Zathrian after the Blight, even after he’s left his clan, and with Avernus she always has the Litany in case he decides to ‘nudge her’ to take more risks with his work … Now their work.

   There’s a lot of unpredictability in the results with who she allows to live, but she’ll never put her life or control on the line. She’d rather Avernus or the Blood Mage in question take the fall to demons if it comes that. Magic, for what it is, is a deeply repressed tool in Ferelden, and she feels the better it is to preserve some of that talent, the more growth eventual research can sustain.

The relentless pursuit of knowledge is a temptation many mages fall victim to, only she’s too proud to admit it once the blight ends. 

[sekhmetanders]

Cell Bound

Title: My Lioness: Cell Bound

Author: MelpomeneTears

Game: Dragon Age 2

Characters/Pairing: Sekhmet Hawke, Bethany Hawke, Varric, Anders, Cullen

Disclaimer: Violence, Spoilers, Strong Language

As they walked around the bend Anders saw Cullen or as he was now known, Knight Captain Cullen.  Of course, they would promote Cullen of all people. And interestingly enough he seemed to be attacking a young recruit.  Kid couldn’t have been more than Bethany’s age and looked scared.

“So now the Templars even beat their new recruits, a novel approach.  I suppose since beating mages into doing what you tell them has worked so well you’ve decided it should work on recruits too.”  Hawke was already clutching both of her daggers.  

Anders tried to relax and pushed down Justice’s rage.  He thought it might be a good idea to keep Justice in check for a few days after what happened.  Justice wasn’t making it easy though, he’d been getting louder and louder since Hawke told him they were looking for a Templar.  Anders hadn’t been too keen on the idea either, but Hawke had convinced him to help by telling him they were just looking for a lost kid, not even a full Templar yet.  Judging from the young age of Wilmod she’d been right.

Bethany took a step backwards, “Sekhmet, that’s the Knight Captain, shut up, please.”  The poor girl looked terrified, just the sight of Cullen striking fear into her.  

Cullen turned away from the recruit to look at Hawke, his face looking surprisingly worn.  “This is no business of yours, stranger.  I suggest you move along.”

Anders expected an angry response from Hawke or at least another snark but she was quiet.  She studied Cullen for a few moments before she jerked her head, looking at Wilmod as she took several quick steps backward. He was confused when she looked back to Cullen and raised her voice in warning.  “I suggest you move, Templar.”

Cullen opened his mouth again but didn’t manage to get anything out before Wilmod gave a dark and wild laugh all trace of fear evaporating in a blink.  A sickly yellowish light swirled around the young man, and Justice growled “demon” in Anders’ head.  As Wilmod’s feet left the ground he hissed at Cullen, “You have struck me for the last time you pathetic human…to me”

Hawke rolled her shoulders and tightened her grip on her blades a little, “Ready yourselves, we’re about to have company.”

He still needed to have a talk with Hawke about how she could possibly detect magic; she always seemed busy whenever he was free though.  And now, she’d felt a demon’s presence before even Justice.  It was upsetting the spirit enough that he was demanding to know what Hawke was, as if she was not exactly human.  Anders ignored him and focused on what was going on around him.

Cullen’s eyes widened in horror as shades, abominations and demons cropped up around them.  “Maker preserve us.”

If the fool only knew, he wouldn’t waste his breath.  The demons as well as the Wilmod abomination all went down easily and soon it was just the four of them with Cullen again, he refused to call that bastard Knight Captain. He relished Cullen’s confused and horrified face, it was always satisfying to see Templars looking completely lost.

The Templar raked his gauntlet back through his hair staring at the former recruit’s body, “How is this even possible?”

Hawke, darling woman that she was, rolled her eyes at Cullen like he was an idiot.  “He was possessed.”

Slowly, Cullen’s eyes pulled from the body and finally looked to Hawke’s face, “We don’t worry about Templars being possessed.”

“Yes, well Templars aren’t known for being particularly smart or rational.  As a whole, they make a lot of assumptions.  Besides, with half the shit I’ve seen in Kirkwall, nothing really surprises me anymore.”  She gave a little shrug even as Bethany inhaled sharply behind them.

Cullen scowled, for a moment he looked as if he was going to argue with her; instead he let out a long slow breath and gave a slight bow, “I am Knight Captain Cullen, I thank you for your assistance.  As of late, I have been conducting an investigation regarding several of our recruits who have gone missing.  Wilmod was the first to return.  I had hoped to confront him quietly out of sight, try to ascertain what was going on.”

Hawke let out a sharp bark of laughter, “So, you had no idea whether there was really a problem or not, but drew your sword on a fresh recruit anyway?”

Anders’ attention started faltering.  His head was pounding as Justice screamed and raged wanting to tear Cullen apart. Justice remembered who Cullen was from Anders’ memories of the tower and wanted to punish him for what he considered Anders’ incarceration and mistreatment in the Ferelden Circle.  He had to admit, it was tempting to let Justice run riot on the Templar, but they still had a missing boy to find.

Hawke kept looking at him, concern on her face even as she spoke with Cullen, “Do you have any idea where he might have been while he was gone?”  Her eyes flicked to him again before looking back at Cullen.

Cullen shrugged, “I thought perhaps he was meeting with some friends who had escaped the Circle.  He never really understood that mages cannot be our friends, they must always be watched.”

Anders closed his eyes for a few moments as Justice’s screams devolved into growls and waves of anger that pulsed through him in a staccato rhythm.  It would be a miracle if he made it out of here without killing Cullen where he stood.  Killing a Templar was one thing, but taking out the Knight Captain of Kirkwall would draw more attention than he was ready for just yet.  

Seeing an actual Templar who had been part of Anders’ time in the Circle had Justice beyond anger. As Justice struggled and fought for control his skin began to feel too tight and his sight went a bit hazy. Staying calm was getting harder and harder.  Justice’s anger mirrored his own, was created by his own and it was hard to fight its seductive call.  He needed to think about something else.  A boy, a boy, we’re here to save a boy as young as little Beth.  Concentrate, Focus.

Hawke didn’t bother to battle her anger, she snapped at Cullen, “Can’t be our friends?  I happen to have mage friends, who I trust with my life.”  

Cullen’s eyes swept to Anders for a moment before returning to Hawke.  “Yeah, she’s talking about me you jackass.”  Part of him wanted to scream it at Cullen, but he couldn’t indulge his anger like that and expect to retain control.  It was a close thing as it was.

“Though I suppose if the Chantry ever decided it was against slavery, cruelty and oppression you’d be out of a job, Knight Captain.”  His title crossed Hawke’s lips like the vilest of epithets.

Cullen’s jaw tightened and Anders enjoyed the man’s anger.  Templars so rarely came across people who were willing to tell them what a bunch of hypocrites they were; this was obviously a new experience for the man. And it seemed Cullen didn’t take criticism well.

His gauntlet closed into a tight fist before he spoke again.  “I was at the Circle Tower in Ferelden during the Blight.  I saw firsthand how Templar’s trust and leniency can be rewarded.”

Fury swept through Anders burning like a firestorm, licking through his veins like acid.  He stepped forward looming over the Templar, “Trust and leniency, you dare use those words? With me standing right here?  A year you heartless fuck, a godsdamned year!”  The last word came out as a yell with overtones of Justice threaded through it.  He felt a small hand on his back, Hawke’s, no doubt meant to soothe him.  He drew a deep breath and slowly relaxed back into her touch as he a stepped away from Cullen, who at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“Anders?”  Hawke’s voice was quiet and sweet.  

Her sweet voice, tinged with concern for him made him ache, a gnawing in his chest for what he wanted and couldn’t have.  After a moment he was surprised when he realized not only did he fell calmer just from her touch but Justice seemed to have quieted a bit as well.  Anders gave her a slight nod to let her know he was alright, Maker knew she had enough to worry about.

Cullen watched the two of them with interest for a moment but Anders didn’t care, or rather he did but he didn’t want Cullen to know he cared.  Ever a Templar, he was looking for a weakness he could use against Anders. And if he had one, it was definitely Hawke.  If Cullen hurt her Anders would make him pay for it slowly for weeks.  

He put the idea out of his head not wanting to squander the curious reprieve from Justice’s angry ranting that Hawke’s concern had afforded him.  He was curious why it had affected Justice at all, usually he hated it when Anders was touched and could care less about how people felt about Anders.  It was something new he’d have to think about.

Cullen finally spoke again, his voice bordering on tremulous, “I still have nightmares of Uldred’s depravities.”  He was still trying to play the victim apparently.

Was the man really that obtuse, that blind?  “And how many mages have nightmares of you Cullen?”

He looked shocked, like Anders’ words had never occurred to him.  Anders had firsthand experience of Cullen’s enormous capability to turn a blind eye to the worst of Templar behavior, to convince himself that whatever was being done was the right thing.  He’d heard from others about Cullen’s cruelty after the Blight.  

He’d even heard about the poor girl the Templar had once had a painfully obvious crush on before the Blight and how after the Blight Cullen had terrorized her until she had killed herself.  Which was why Anders had been shocked to learn of the man’s transfer and promotion in Kirkwall.  

Silence fell over them all for several minutes before Hawke spoke up again.  “We were looking for a recruit named Keran, he was Wilmod’s friend. Do you know where we might find him?”

Cullen tore his gaze away from Anders to answer her.  He gave a brief shake of his head.  “No, I fear he might have met the same fate as Wilmod as they were both last seen together at the Blooming Rose.”  He flushed a little, “I’ve had no luck interrogating the …uh…young ladies there. Though, I doubt they know anything of magic or demons.”

Hawke smiled at Cullen, a soft teasing smile.  “Hmm, the Rose, I should have no problem speaking with them.  Pillow talk can be very productive.”

Anders grit his teeth in an effort to try to keep silent, he didn’t like her smiling at Cullen like that and he liked the idea of her getting answers from pillow talk even less. It surprised him that even the thought of Hawke with another woman was enough to stir jealousy inside of him.  “I’m going with you.”  The words were sharp, he wasn’t going to argue with her about it, he was going and that was all there was too it.

A look of surprise touched her face for only a split second, “Of course.”

Cullen watched them both for a moment, searching their faces and Anders carefully kept his blank.  A skill he hadn’t used in a while, but one that was essential when dealing with Templars.  He needed to get his emotions under better control if he was going to convince Cullen there was no leverage to be gained from Hawke.

At length Cullen spoke again, “The Order would appreciate your assistance in this matter.”

Hawke’s eyes narrowed, “I’m not doing this to help you or the Templars.  There’s a woman who is scared for her missing brother.  I’m helping her.”

Cullen’s look soured, “Nonetheless.”

Hawke scowled at the Knight Captain before she turned to face Anders keeping her voice a quiet whisper, “What do you want to do with him?  If he hurt you I’ll gut him and he can sit in a pile of his own intestines while he waits for death to claim him.”

He loved her, he really did, he loved her as much as he hated fate for bringing them together. How could he not love her when she said things like that?  And he knew she meant every word of it.  “He never touched me, now let’s find the boy.”  Maybe letting Cullen live was a mistake, time would tell.  Right now all he wanted was to be away from the man.

********

Bethany bit her tongue to keep herself from laughing; somehow she doubted Anders would appreciate it. The moment they stepped inside the brothel he had moved between her and Sekhmet and glared at anyone who even looked at them.  Sure, his interests in keeping men away from Sekhmet were personal, but it was his protective nature that had him looking over Bethany.  For a moment it was like having Carver back.  Although, Carver would have been running his mouth as well as glaring.

Anders apparently didn’t see the humor in his actions though.  He caught Varric smirking and snapped at him.  “You have something to say, dwarf?”

Varric chuckled, “Not at all, I just had no idea you were so gallant, Blondie.”

Sekhmet paused and turned to look at Anders, “What’s going on?”

His scowl deepened and he answered her brusquely.  “Nothing, let’s just take care of this and get out of here.”  

Sekhmet nodded and looked briefly around the main room.  A plain looking woman with short brown hair walked up to her, “Do you need something honey?”

“I’m looking for information.”  

A quick conversation sent them to a room on the second floor belonging to a woman named Idunna.  As they entered the room Bethany was nearly overwhelmed with the heavy perfume in the air, it was so sweet it almost made her gag.  Anders glanced at Idunna but looked away almost looking bored.

Bethany thought she was kind of pretty, her make-up was a little heavy, but her dress was pretty and her hair looked soft.  Her skin was clear and smooth, lighter than her own but darker that Sekhmet’s by far. She noticed her sister fidgeting out of the corner of her eye and looked to see what exactly she was doing.

Sekhmet’s hand fiddled with her armor for a second before she brushed a few hairs off her forehead. Bethany watched her curiously was she primping to meet this woman?  She wasn’t the only one that noticed either; Anders was watching her looking as confused as Bethany felt.

He leaned over and whispered to her, “What’s she doing?”

Bethany shook her head and shrugged, she really had no idea.

“She’s not seriously worried about how she looks is she?”  He had dropped his voice even lower; she had to strain to hear him.

She didn’t get a chance to answer him because Sekhmet spoke up, “You are Idunna?”

The woman turned unhurriedly to look at the four of them, a slow smile spreading across her over painted lips.  “Who’s asking?”  

Sekhmet wasn’t looking at Idunna as she spoke, her eyes taking in the room around them instead. “I’m looking for a Templar recruit named Keran, do you remember entertaining him or perhaps his friend Wilmod?”

A long painted fingernail tapped against Idunna’s bottom lip.  “Wilmod…Keran…hmm, no I’m sorry.  It doesn’t sound familiar, but I do see a lot of men.”

Sekhmet’s gaze finally landed on Idunna, looking as if she were just casually observing her but Bethany knew all her attention was sharply focused now and the smile on her lips was a ruse.  “You would think a woman of your trade would want to remember the name of a client as faithful as Wilmod.  Just courtesy to remember the man’s name who thinks you’re worth all that repeat business.”

Idunna gave a nonchalant shrug and wandered to sit on the bed.  She patted the mattress beside herself, “Surely, there are more interesting things we could be doing.”

“I just want answers, tell me about the boys.”  She still sounded friendly but her posture had stiffened a little and Bethany felt herself tensing in response.  Long years of working together taught her to pay close attention when Sekhmet became uneasy.

Varric brushed past her and Anders to stand at the end of the bed, his eyes staring adoringly at Idunna. “Hawke, go easy on this lovely creature.”

Idunna gave them a saccharine smile, “You should listen to your friend.”

Sekhmet’s smile disappeared and she growled at Idunna.  “I don’t know what it is you’re casting, but you can stop it now.  Your magic is thick like fog in here.”  

Bethany didn’t even notice it until Sekhmet said something.  It was so thick and heavy she wondered how she missed it.  She looked to Anders and saw that he was uneasy as well, though whether it was because of the magic or because Sekhmet had sensed it she didn’t know.  For some reason Sekhmet’s ability to detect magic bothered him.  Beth thought he should be grateful; Sekhmet’s gift saved their lives numerous times.

Idunna looked scared for a moment before she stood again, advancing on the four of them.  Anders closed his eyes and turned away for some reason. Varric’s eyes became vacant and a moment later she felt as if she had been wrapped in thick blankets and given a sleeping potion.  She felt groggy and out of sorts, her head swimming.  She heard Idunna speaking but only vaguely and didn’t feel like she had the energy to look at the woman.  

“ I was going to ask you who told you about me, but I see we’ll have to skip the games and get right to wrapping up.  So, my white haired darling, do me a little favor.”  Bethany heard the rustling of her dress as she moved closer to them but still couldn’t look up from the floor for whatever reason.   “Draw one of those wicked looking blades,” the sound of metal being slipped free of its sheath rang through the room.

Bethany’s thoughts felt fuzzy, she knew she should look up to see what was happening but couldn’t seem to compel herself to move.  She felt so tired and worn she could barely keep her eyes open.  Whatever spell Idunna was using it was surprisingly strong. Her mind barely wrapped around the idea that she was under a spell than the thought was slipping away again.

“Now draw it gently across your your pale little throat.”  Idunna’s voice was filled with feigned sweetness.

Silence fell over the room and moments passed slowly.  Why couldn’t she make herself move?  Was Sekhmet going to hurt herself?  Why wasn’t anyone speaking, or trying to stop Idunna?  Eventually, her sister made an irritated snarl then another few minutes of silence slipped by.  Bethany felt like she was floating above herself.

Her sister’s voice was strained; she was obviously trying hard to fight whatever was happening to her, to all of them.  “Bethany,” a long silence and a strangled whimper before she spoke again, “stop her.”

She struggled for a moment but it was no use, she couldn’t move.  She almost gave up when she seized onto a thought.  “I couldn’t save Carver, but I can save Sekhmet.”  Almost immediately she felt the compulsion begin to lighten.

A heartbeat after she grabbed onto that thought she heard Anders grit out next to her.  “Please help her Beth.”

It suddenly felt like a heavy weight had been pushed off, a wash of cool air brushed over her clearing her head almost completely.  She wasted a half second, astounded at Anders’ strength even in his current state, before she focused her attention on Idunna.  She gathered her power focusing on burning away the magic Idunna had cast. She shook with the strain of lifting her arm, “Let…go…of…” a loud crack rang through the room as the spell was broken. Her hand slipped easily through the air as she finished, my sister.”

She felt more than saw Anders moving out of the corner of her eye and heard him swear softly, “Holy shit, Beth.”

Sekhmet dropped the hand holding her knife to her throat as Idunna wheeled backwards away from them, stumbling in her rush.  She stared at Bethany with wide terrified eyes, “How did you…” she scrabbled even further away from Bethany, “oh shit.”

Sekhmet responded, “You can say that again.  You’re in quite of bit of trouble little girl.”

She raised her hands in supplication in front of her face.  “Spare me, messere.”

Bethany saw Anders’ eyes flash pale blue beside her.  He closed his eyes and walked away from them.  She thought about following him to see if he was alright, but he seemed embarrassed when anyone besides Sekhmet saw Justice take over.  Varric stood on her other side and flashed her a sheepish smile when she looked at him.  Poor guy must have felt guilty about defending Idunna.

Her sister hissed at Idunna, “What foul magic was that?”

Clearly, Bethany’s show of power had cowed Idunna, or at least Bethany hoped that was what did it. Idunna answered all of Sekhmet’s questions including where she had sent Keran and the others as well as how she had enchanted them.  Apparently, there was a cabal of bloodmages in the Undercity led by a bloodmage called Tarohne.

And at the end of her questioning Sekhmet was clearly not in a forgiving mood.  Idunna begged for her life but was answered with nothing but a sweet smile and a knife between the ribs.  As the woman crumpled into a heap on the floor Sekhmet turned away from her already dismissing the woman’s corpse.

Wiping the knife off on her leather she spoke “Let’s get the fuck out of here.  We have a boy to save.”  She stopped next to Anders who was leaning against the door with his eyes closed.  “You okay?”

It was funny how nice Sekhmet always was to him.  She was never that nice to anyone and the two of them still ended up fighting half the time. He opened his eyes and nodded before looking at Beth.  “That was really impressive work, Beth.”

She shrugged feeling a little self conscious, “You helped.”

He shook his head, “Barely. I was just hoping we could break the spell’s control on you.  You broke it’s hold on all of us.”  He shook his head in disbelief, “Absolutely amazing.”  He looked back to Sekhmet, “Your sister has one heck of an iron will. It must run in the family, eh? Did you girls get that from your father or your mother?”

Bethany smiled, pleased that Anders had been so impressed with her.  It meant a lot from him, he was a far more experienced mage than she was, if he was impressed maybe her father hadn’t been just trying to make her feel good about herself when he was teaching her.  “From father.”

Sekhmet shook her head, “No, I think it’s a little of each, but let’s talk about it some other time. We should get going.“  They followed her as she strode from the room with quick steps, headed directly for the Undercity, clearly still spitting mad.

********

More shades and abominations as well as rage demons greeted them in Tahrone’s sanctuary.  Even still, they made good time clearing it out.  As they descended another set of stairs there was a young man held about twelve feet in the air, white light swirling around him seemingly holding him in place.  The four of them approached carefully, unsure of what exactly the light was.

“Do you think that’s Keran?” Bethany’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“What have they done to him?”  Hawke’s fingers stretched out towards the young man encased in light.

“Hawke, I wouldn’t touch him.  We don’t know what kind of spell that might be.”  If she became immobile like the young man she might be in danger if they were attacked again.  He used a few soft tendrils of magic to feel the edges of the spell and try to discern exactly what spell was holding the poor kid.

His attention was drawn to three people walking casually into the room.  Two masked mages and a woman, dressed all in white, even her make-up was a pristine white color.  Anders thought she looked mad before she even opened her mouth.  He rubbed his neck and took a deep breath.  This needed to end soon, Justice was becoming more and more angry about helping a Templar and he didn’t care that the Templar in question was only a boy.

The woman gave a low laugh, “How wonderful for you all to come.  We needed more vessels for our experiments.”

“Save your ramblings, just tell me where Keran is.”  Hawke moved closer to her, dagger held in front of her ready to strike.

The woman in white ignored Hawke, “Perhaps the demons will find one of you suitable.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Hawke lashed out lightning quick and decapitated the woman.  The other mages stared on in horror.  “Varric?”

“My pleasure,” rapid fire both mages were struck down with bolts from Bianca.

He was almost disappointed that there was no real fight.  It was a testament to how angry Hawke was about the whole situation though. She didn’t even want to hear any excuses or ramblings from anyone.   Usually, it took a lot longer for her to get to the point of where she just couldn’t even be bothered to pretend to listen.

As the second mage hit the floor the white light surrounding the young boy disappeared and he tumbled to the ground.  Hawke bent and reached out a hand to help the boy up and Justice snarled inside Anders’ head, not even words just the sound of an angry beast  He rubbed his temples trying to assuage some of the pain.  The spirit was still furious they had been so easily controlled at the brothel.  

Anders was just as angry at himself.  Hawke had nearly killed herself and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it.  It kind of put a kink in his whole theory that he travelled with her to protect her, a fact Justice was more than happy to point out between angry rants about helping the Templars.

The boy stood on shaky legs, his eyes clearly frightened, “Is it…is it over or are you more visions?”

Hawke’s face relaxed for the first time in hours, “Are you Keran?”

“Yes, I am Keran.”  He glanced down at himself, running his fingers over his chest as if to make sure he was all in one piece.

“Hawke, after the other recruit we met perhaps you don’t want to stand so close to him.  What if he’s possessed?”  Varric held Bianca, pointing her steadily at the young Templar.

“Varric,” the word was an admonishment but Anders stopped her.

“Actually, Varric has a valid point, step back for a minute; I promise I won’t hurt the boy.”  A short blast of spirit magic should determine if he was a danger or not.

Hawke stared at him for a moment, but when he didn’t back down she gave a faint nod and stepped away. “Fine, if you feel it’s necessary.”

He walked closer to the fair haired boy, feeling the kid’s uneasy gaze as he loomed closer. “M…mister?”

As fast as he could he pulled up energy and shot a spirit bolt through the boy’s middle, strong enough to provoke a response from anything that might be residing inside Keran. The boy reeled backwards, hand flying to his chest again before he looked up at Anders with an accusatory expression.

“What was that?”  A whine from the would-be Templar.

Anders turned away, “He’s clear, if there was a demon it would have protected itself.”  He kept walking until he was behind Bethany and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples again.  He knew rubbing them wouldn’t relief the pressure and pain of Justice’s angry screams but it was habit.  Justice please, we’re almost done. The damned spirit didn’t seem inclined to listen.

“Go find your sister Keran, she’s worried for you.”  Hawke gave him a small smile.  

“What about the Templars? What will you tell them?  I worry what they might do to me.  Please don’t tell them.”  He voice was tinged with fear once again.

“I have to tell them something Keran.  People’s lives might be in danger.”  

Keran looked hurt but he turned and ran from the sanctuary without another word.  He obviously wanted out of the pit he had suffered in for Maker knew how long.  Hawke re-sheathed her weapons and bent to go through the pockets of the three dead mages.

Anders needed to get back to his clinic; he could barely see straight his head throbbed so badly from Justice’s non-stop barrage.  The issue of speaking to the Templars needed to be addressed though.  “Do you really need to speak to the Templars?  Cullen said Wilmod was the first to return and he’s dead.  We’ve come across no other recruits and we verified that Keran is demon free.”

“Don’t you think they need to know?  What if there were others but Cullen just didn’t realize it?”  She stood, wiping her hands on her armor before turning to look at him.

Anders blinked clutching his head as Justice screamed that Hawke was still helping the Templars, that the day hadn’t been about just saving a boy.  Justice was enraged and trying to get through.  He couldn’t even respond to Hawke, the words couldn’t seem to get past his lips.  Justice had worn him down.  Fighting him all day had been a nightmare and now he was going to lose his hold.

Hawke seemed oblivious to his internal struggle, walking past the others to stand just a couple feet in front of him.  “I have to tell the Templars about the blood mages and what they did.  If Templars are possessed by demons people’s lives are in danger including mages.”

He tried to see her reasoning, logically it made sense but all he could think about was that Meredith would clamp down even harder on mages and the Tranquil would gain more emotionless zombies to their deadened throng.  He was losing control of his temper and control in general.  His skin shimmered blue and he stepped away from Hawke, he was going to lose this one.  “Hawke,” he ground out, voice already tinged at the edges with Justice’s rich baritone.  “You need to get out of here.”

Confusion crossed her face, “Anders, are you alright?”  She closed the gap between them.

Justice’s fury was carrying him away on a strong current.  Anders’ control slipped and with his last moment of control he shouted at Hawke, his voice more Justice than Anders, “Get away from me!”  And that was it, he slipped into blackness, Justice was so completely in control that he couldn’t even see what was happening for several minutes.

********

The flash of blue fire that heralded Justice’s arrival was hot this time instead of cool.  She barely had the chance to process that before she felt his burning fingers clamp around her throat, searing her flesh. “He never should have trusted you. You conspire with the Templars.”

She heard Varric fire Bianca and caught the quick shimmer of blue before the bolt fell harmlessly to the floor.   Justice had put up a shield.  Right on the heels of the bolt a blast of fire jetted around them, flowing harmlessly around the shield.

Justice snarled like an animal, magic coiling around his arm.  Her heart was pounding, that was Anders’ lightning coiling and sparking around his arm now and it was stronger than anything she had ever felt Anders cast.

She yanked at his hand around her throat and screamed as loud as she could, “Varric, get her out of here right now!”

“Hawke…”

She cut him off, “Now!”

Bethany screamed, her voice full of fear, “No Sekhmet, I won’t go.”  But Varric was already pulling her towards the door.

“Come on Sunshine, don’t make me carry you out of here.”

Sekhmet was still struggling against Justice’s grip.  She didn’t see it but she heard an angry yell followed by the noise of two people hitting the floor just a split second just before Justice let loose his spell.  The air hissed and crackled around her.  She nearly screamed when a peripheral crackle hit her in the side.

Justice’s fingers, still as hot as a brand, clenched digging deeper into her throat, almost completely cutting off her air supply as he started lifting her off her feet.  She clutched onto his arm with both hands trying to relieve some of the strain to her neck and jaw.

Bethany was sobbing from somewhere behind her, “Anders, that’s Sekhmet you don’t want to hurt her. Stop him Anders, please.”

The hair on her arms stood up as Justice started gathering power for another bolt of lightning. She’d never been this close to him when Justice was in control.  Heat baked off his body, which was odd, she didn’t remember Anders’ body getting hot like this in the past when Justice took control.  The sheer amount of magic washing over her body was astonishing, she’d never felt anything like it.  If Justice wasn’t looking to punish her or possibly kill her she might have even liked it.

She kicked him and jerked her arms trying to get free or at least to get his grip loose enough that she could warn Varric and Bethany.  But she couldn’t get his grip loosened even a little bit.  He barely seemed to be noticing her at all.

From behind her she heard Varric speak softly, his voice strained.  “Sorry about this Sunshine.”  Glass broke and she realized he had used one of his flasks to daze her sister so he could get her out of there and to safety, away from her and Justice. “I’ll keep her safe, Hawke.”  His heavy tread moved quickly away as he spoke.

Justice was apparently content to let them go, he released the power he had been building for another lightning spell.  Now that Bethany was safe it was time to concentrate on Justice.  Her life might be pointless but she wasn’t ready to die just yet.  Not when Bethany still had no protection against the Templars.

She planted one of her feet against his hip then pulled the other foot back and nailed him square between the legs.  He didn’t even react.  She tried to rasp out his name, tried to focus him, to bring his attention to her to get him to think and not just blindly strangle her in anger. “Jus…tice.”  His fingers tightened again and now she couldn’t breathe at all.

A cruel smile curled on Justice’s lips and she realized she couldn’t try to spare Anders anymore.  It would likely cost her life if she did. She kicked at him, foot still planted in his hip for leverage.  Using her right hand she grabbed her dagger from its sheath on her back.  Justice’s eyes glittered dangerously.  She closed her eyes repeating to herself “Not Anders, not Anders, he’s not Anders.”   She plunged the dagger into his chest, high and to the right, not a killing blow, but close.

She opened her eyes to see that Justice’s expression hadn’t even changed.  She wanted to laugh, she was going to die, killed by the man she was in love with, which in her life made perfect sense.  “Coming to see you soon Carver so you can tell me how worthless I am, how I couldn’t even save you or make Bethany safe.”

She yanked her dagger downwards and kicked at him again, he was like a column of steel, his body not giving at all.  For just a moment she thought she had seen a flash of emotion in his eyes, a look filled with anguish but then it was gone.  It was hard to focus, her lungs were burning and she could feel consciousness slipping away.

She dragged downward on the dagger one last time, her legs still, too weak to move.  She was ready to die she decided, Varric would protect Bethany.  In truth, she had been ready for years.  She was tired and ready to be with papa, she missed him so much.  She could tell him about the man she loved and the spirit that possessed his body that had killed her.

Her vision dim and fading she raised her fingers to her mouth and placed a soft kiss on them before touching them to Justice’s cheek.  His eyes flared bright but she hardly noticed.  She dropped her hands and closed her eyes trying to focus on ignoring the burning in her lungs and her body’s need to fight back.  She welcomed the darkness.

Her body was falling, was this what death felt like?  The illusion shattered when she hit the ground, her legs folding awkwardly under her before she fell backwards.  The hard floor hurting her upper back as it slammed into the ground and finally her head smacked against it sending pain though her head and neck.

She heard a loud grunt followed by a short bark of pain.  Metal hitting the ground and a rustle of clothes then long fingers were brushing her hair from her face, Anders’ soft, gentle fingers.  She wanted to open her eyes and look at him, to see for herself that his eyes were no longer glowing blue, but couldn’t seem to pry them open.  And really there was no need to, Justice would never touch her with the kind of tenderness that Anders did.

“Maker’s breath, Justice was killing you and you give him a kiss?  You’re crazy, you know that?”  Cool magic washed over her body soothing her pains and pushing away the fog in her mind.

She took long slow breaths, for some reason she didn’t feel like moving.  Warm, soft lips pressed against her forehead.

“Open those pretty blue eyes, please.”  The words were murmured against her forehead as he pulled away.

She opened them, blinking several times.   Anders’ warm brown eyes were watching her.  They were glistening with tears and a wet track down his cheek showed he’d been shedding those tears.  He was bleeding from where she stabbed Justice, the wound clearly not healed. Slowly, she sat up, still feeling a bit dazed.  He backed away from her as if he were afraid to be near her.

“You’re bleeding.”  It was the only thing she could think of to say. She felt confused about what had just happened.  Anders had been afraid Justice would hurt her; he’d tried to warn her away.  And obviously he’d wrested back control and saved her, but Justice wore Anders’ face.  She felt numb about the whole thing, not mad or worried just kind of blank, like “oh, so that happened.” There was no emotion attached to it.

“Are you still hurt? Did I miss anything?”  He seemed to be having a hard time looking at her.

“I’m tired and a little out of sorts, but no other injuries.”  She gestured to the blood soaking the front of his coat.  “Heal that, will you, before you bleed to death?”

His eyes slipped closed and his hand hovered over his chest as he healed it.  When he finished Hawke pushed to her feet, walking the few steps to pick up her dagger.  Her stomach did a little flip and her chest tightened.  It was Anders’ blood coating the blade, the blood of the man she loved and had stabbed.  Pushing the thought away she wiped the blood off on her leathers before slipping the blade back into its sheath.

“Guess I should be glad you used your right hand.  If it had been your left I’d be dead for sure.”  His voice was tight and so sad it made her heart ache.

“I missed on purpose.” She murmured then headed for the door. She needed to let Varric and Bethany know that she was alright.

“You can’t pretend this didn’t happen.  I nearly killed you.”  Such anguish in his voice.

She paused but didn’t turn to look at him.  “No, Justice tried to kill me.  You tried to warn me and then ended up saving me.”

“Talk to me.”  It killed her to hear him begging.

She was so damned tired she just wanted to sleep for a month.  She couldn’t deny Anders though, especially when he sounded so heartbroken. “We can talk, just not here. Let’s go to your clinic, okay?”

“Alright.”

She started walking out not waiting to see if he would follow, she knew he would.  He wouldn’t be happy until he had spent a good hour explaining in detail that she should stay away from him.  They both knew it was pointless.  She was convinced he could learn to control Justice better if he just wasn’t so scared all the time and Anders was of course convinced that the rest of his life needed to be filled with loneliness and self-flagellation.

“Hey, I thought we were going to the clinic?”  Anders sped up and was now striding beside her.

“We will, but first I need to see Bethany and Varric and let them know everything is fine.”  Bethany would hit the roof if Sekhmet didn’t go to her immediately.

Anders’ steps slowed, “Maybe I should wait in the clinic.”

“No, you’re going with me to show them everything is fine.  Let’s just wrap this up, then I promise, I’m all yours.”  She jogged up the steps, trying not to break out into a run. She hoped Bethany had been wise enough to stay with Varric and hadn’t run home to tell their mother what happened.

“Hawke,” Anders tone was admonishing and she really didn’t want to hear it.

She turned and shoved him against the wall of the stairwell.  “You want to talk to me, want to rehash every single detail of what happened then you come with me.  I have no interest in watching you put yourself through a self-torture session Anders. We’re friends though and if you need to talk, then fine we’ll talk as long as you want, about anything you want, when we’ve let Bethany and Varric know we’re alright and have given the Templars a heads up about their recruits possibly being possessed.”

“I don’t think going to the Gallows right now is a good idea for me.”  His eyes darkened and he turned his head away from her as he spoke.

She watched him for a moment, confused.  He didn’t sound like he was pleading like he had before, or even angry so why wouldn’t he look at her.  “Anders?”

His eyes slipped closed like he was in pain, “What?”  He growled before taking a deep breath and slowly opening his eyes.

“Are you still hurting? I didn’t push you that hard, did I?” She was frustrated with him, but had no desire to hurt him.

He slid along the wall a little until he could turn and head back up the stairs, “No, I’m fine.  Do you think they’ll be at The Hanged Man?”

“Probably,” she walked behind him trying to figure out if he was just upset with her, or if he was lying and was still in pain.  She watched him closely and as they reached the top of the stairs he tried to subtly adjust himself and she laughed.  

Anders cringed but kept walking.  

She caught up to him, “Well, that’s certainly interesting.”

He didn’t respond or slow down.

“So, we can’t pretend Justice trying to kill me didn’t happen, but pretending me shoving you against the wall didn’t turn you on is fine?  That hardly seems fair, or any fun.”  She waited for a response but still didn’t get one, unless you counted him quickening his pace.  “If you need a woman to rough you up to get you in the mood, I’m more than happy to oblige, Anders.”

He stopped and looked at her, scowling with a muscle twitching along his jaw, in other words he was furious…again.  “Just because it’s the only way you’ve managed to get me aroused doesn’t mean I need it.”

She felt like he’d slapped her.  Her cheeks flamed red and couldn’t stop it.  It was her turn to turn away and rush ahead.  She headed for The Hanged Man, wanting nothing more than to disappear and be left alone.  Her eyes stung and she realized she was on the brink of crying.  She really was pathetic.

“Hawke, I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.”  His voice was soft, all traces of anger gone.

She forced herself to laugh and kept her voice light.  “No need to apologize.  I crossed the line.”

“You were just teasing.” He fell into step beside her again.

She kept moving, taking deep breaths to keep herself calm.  “Let’s just forget it.  Besides, we’re almost at the tavern.  We don’t want to still be arguing when we find Beth and Varric.  They might take it the wrong way.”

So they walked into Varric’s rooms with smiles on their faces.  Bethany jumped out of the chair she had been sitting in and ran across the room, almost tackling Sekhmet.  Varric was silent as he watched them for several long seconds.  Sekhmet glanced up and gave him a nod to let him know she was fine.

The dwarf seemed to finally relax and walked across the room and clapped Anders on the back.  “Feeling more like yourself now are we?”

Before he could answer Sekhmet chimed in, “Everything is fine, turns out Justice is just jealous of all the time I’ve been spending with Anders.  He wanted to make sure he had my undivided attention.  I had to promise him several sexual favors to be redeemed at the time and place of his choice, but he’s happy now.”

Varric laughed but Bethany gave her a look that spoke volumes.  And though Anders didn’t say anything he shut his eyes and sighed in obvious frustration.  She didn’t want things to be awkward between anyone so she realized she had to get things rolling, get things back to as normal as possible as quickly as possible.

“Now that you two have finished lazing about, how about we get to the Gallows and let them know what we found.  The sooner we’re done dealing with them the better.”  She left the room not giving anyone a chance to argue.

********

Anders walked up to Hawke as she stood at the front of the ferry.  He’d finally managed to tactfully get away from Varric who had been trying very hard to act like everything was normal.  The dwarf had a hard time keeping his gaze off the large bloodstain on the front of Anders’ coat.  Bethany had gradually relaxed and had even interjected a few times, but Varric was clearly not as alright with everything that happened as he tried to pretend.  It was almost a relief to have at least one person who wasn’t able to so easily pretend everything was fine, that nothing had changed.

“Have you thought about what you’ll say to Cullen?”  He didn’t want to fight with her, especially not after what he’d done to her, but it wasn’t like he could stop worrying about mages.

She gave him a small smile which was surprisingly genuine.  “Is this your subtle way of telling me my normal sparkling personality might not be the best approach?”

He thought about it for a second wondering how exactly to phrase it, at length he nodded, “I think an attempt at humor would just upset him and end up making things worse for the recruits as well as the mages.  I think straight forward without too much detail would be the better option.”

“Sadly, I can promise nothing.  As you have no doubt noticed, my mouth often runs without my consent.”  She looked at him guiltily.

“I suppose it’s a good thing you’re so damn cute then.”  It immediately got the response he had been hoping for.  She smiled at him small white even teeth, purple painted lips and all, a smile showing her pleasant surprise.  He was glad to have made her smile, but didn’t want to get into another disagreement about what could never be.  So, before she had a chance to respond he gestured to the dock, “We’re ready to dock, let’s go.”

She looked like she would say something but just nodded and headed off the ferry.  He followed her off the ferry and took a deep breath though his nose trying to steel himself for entering the Gallows.  At least he had that smile to hold onto, something he could picture to try to keep calm.  As they crossed through the gate and into the courtyard each step became increasingly difficult.  

There were Tranquil everywhere selling goods and cleaning the area.  Templars were stationed throughout, like the Gallows was a military installation.  Each mage he saw that was not Tranquil walked with quickened steps, eyes cast down at their feet giving the Templars a wide berth.

Thankfully, Justice was still quiet after his attack on Hawke.  He was lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out why Hawke had kissed him while he was strangling the life out of her.  But, Anders didn’t need Justice to be angry at what he saw.  Was there ever a clearer example of oppressed mages?

“Ser Cullen, I’m afraid I have some good news as well as some bad news.”  Hawke nodded to Keran when the boy turned at the sound of her voice.

Cullen’s gaze flicked to Anders and his expression darkened before he turned back to Hawke.  “What did you find?”

She gestured to the young recruit, “Obviously, we found Keran and he is fine.  However, there is a chance other recruits might be possessed like Wilmod was.”

A young woman he figured was likely Keran’s sister looked at Keran her eyes going wide.  She took several steps backwards away from her brother, “Possessed…by demons?”

Keran turned to her, worry etched on his young face.  The poor kid had been through the Void and back and now his own sister was looking at him with fear.  “I’m sorry Masha, I didn’t want to tell you so you wouldn’t worry.”  He turned and looked at Hawke, “Thank the Maker for you messere, those mages see the rest of us as ants to be crushed.  I don’t think they’ll stop until the Templars and the Chantry are destroyed forever.”

Anders watched Hawke’s whole posture change.  She stood taller, her shoulders pushed back and it looked like her muscles tensed, like she was ready to pounce.  He even thought he heard her grinding her teeth for a brief second.  “Your precious Templars have caged, tortured and heaped abuses far worse on mages for a thousand years.  Is it any wonder they want to see the end of their tormentors?”

Cullen’s heavy footsteps resounded on the stone around them as he moved closer to Hawke, standing almost nose to nose with her, or rather chest to nose, as she was so much shorter than Cullen.  Did the man have a death wish?  As careful as Hawke and her companions were the Templars still knew Hawke was a very dangerous woman.  

“How can you possibly say that after what you’ve seen and heard today?  These mages,” The word a curse on his lips, “cannot be treated like people.   No matter what you think, they are not like you and me.”

Keran’s sister, Masha, looked at Cullen with shock on her face.  “Surely that’s a little harsh.”

Anders more than a little surprised to find an ally in the sister of a Templar.  

Bethany, stepping forward and clamping her hand onto Hawke’s shoulder, dragged his attention to the Hawke sisters again.  The younger Hawke’s voice was little more than a whisper.  “Sekhmet, please don’t argue with the Templar, not here of all places.”

But the fire in Hawke’s eyes didn’t die, if anything it blazed brighter.  

Cullen tried again to sway her, “Mages are not people.  They are weapons, created for destruction.  They have the power to raze a city to the ground in a fit of pique. Weapons that deadly must be kept in check.”

Anders watched Hawke clench her fists.  Would she lose her temper completely and behead the Knight Captain as she did so many other Templars.  He almost hoped she would.  He glanced around them quickly trying to determine the fastest and safest route out if they should need to run.  They were formidable together, but he doubted even the four of them could take on all the Templars in the tower.

“Take a look around you. Mages are humans and elves just like the rest of us.  They deserve the same courtesy and respect that,” she reached out and poked Cullen in the chest to emphasize her words, the metal of his armor made a faint noise as she did “you do.  They cure the sick and heal the injured; they create things that make our lives easier. The protect us against all sorts of disasters including the Blight.  And how do you repay them?  You lock them in cages until the next time you need them to save you.”  She spit on the ground at his feet.  

Cullen had watched her whole tirade with his mouth gaping open.  

“Still think she’s working with Templars, Justice?”  The spirit was silent but Anders was sure that he got the message all the same.  

Cullen suddenly regained himself.  His haughty air firmly back in place, his words and tone were beyond condescending. “Many people may go their whole lives thinking that, but if even one in ten mages falls to the lure of blood magic they could destroy this world.”  He turned towards Keran as if to speak but Hawke stopped him again.

“The Qunari could destroy the world, an Exalted March can destroy world and nearly has in the past. Even an army of ordinary men can destroy the world.  And, just how many mages do fall to the lure of blood magic?  One in one hundred, less?  How many of those who turn to blood magic do so after you have caged and tormented them?”  Her voice hadn’t gotten any louder but with each word her voice became sharper and sharper, the sound of it hurting Anders’ ears.

Even so he was astounded at her restraint.  Perhaps he shouldn’t have been.  Bethany’s hand was still clamped onto her shoulder, the girl’s knuckles white from how hard she was gripping Hawke.  

Cullen started to speak and stopped several times, Anders thought it was probably safest if the Knight Captain just kept his mouth shut.  Hawke was on the verge of snapping, in fact Anders was more than a little surprised that even sweet Bethany still had any sway with the elder Hawke.  If Hawke had been a mage she would have been sparking.  Eventually the man seemed to give up on trying to convince Hawke to his way of thinking and instead turned his attention to Keran once more.

He approached the young recruit, probably glad to be away from Hawke’s rage.  “Keran, I fear I must strip you of your commission immediately unless it is proven that you are free of demons.”  

His sister clutched Keran’s arm, her nails digging deep into the sleeve of his uniform, “No, please ser, you can’t really think that he’s possessed.  He’s fine; he’s safe look at him.”

Bethany, to Anders astonishment released Hawke and stepped forward moving close to the Knight Captain. “Keran deserves mercy, what happened to him wasn’t his fault.”

The young recruit looked like he was ready to cry, “Please ser, I tried to resist, I never took anything they offered.  I…I need this position or my sister can’t eat.  I’ve been training for five years.”

Cullen seemed to think it over for a minute before turning to look at Hawke.  Anders bit his tongue, it was funny, the Knight Captain had been arguing with her only moments before and now he was looking to her for advice? What was the man playing at?

She used a civil tone, but by her rigid posture she was still furious with the Knight Captain. “Keran isn’t possessed.  We conducted tests on him to be sure, so it’s safe for him to stay in the order.  And Bethany is right; he deserves a little mercy and compassion.”

Cullen gave her a sour look, was he seriously disappointed that she disagreed with him?  He wasn’t really surprised was he?  “I hesitate to ask what methods you could have possibly used that you are so certain.  However, you have done much for the Templars by stopping the activities of these blood mages.  So, I shall heed your request.  If Keran has shown no signs of demonic possession in ten years time, he will become eligible for full knighthood.”

Hawke snapped at him, “Ten years?  That’s not necessary and you know it.  There is no sound reasoning behind an arbitrary number that far in the future. He’s not possessed.  Why are you punishing him?  Is it because he was kidnapped and subjected to torture and therefore might feel some compassion for others in the same circumstance?  Or perhaps it’s because he had the audacity to seek the company of a woman?”  Hawke shook her head, gritting her teeth in obvious frustration.

“Serrah Hawke, the fact that I am allowing Keran to stay at all is by-passing some major rules of the order.  If there is even the slightest chance that he could be possessed he should be discharged immediately.  In this situation I need to be prudent.  Besides, this is not really any of your concern.”  Cullen, of course, made a big show of his explanation, as if it were a child he were speaking to rather than a group of adults.

Anders watched Hawke to see if she would push the issue but she didn’t.  She just gave a heavy sigh and started to move away.  As angry and frustrated as she was, he wasn’t sure if talking with her now was such a good idea.  Though, it might make it easier to tell her they couldn’t work together anymore. He pushed the thought away for now, it just hurt too much and he would have time to dwell, time to ache later, after he’d told her.

Masha hurried after her. “Serrah, I just wanted to thank you for saving my brother, but without a full knighthood Keran gets paid so little, I cannot reward you as you deserve.”

Cullen pushed her gently aside, arrogant and authoritative, “I will handle that miss.”  He loosened a pouch on his belt and pulled out several coins. He quickly dropped them into Hawke’s hand, “You have done the order a great service, we will not forget it.”

Hawke tucked the coins into her own coin purse without responding.  She turned on her heel and headed out of the Gallows.  Bethany and Varric were both quick to follow but Anders held back for a moment.  He and Cullen stood watching each other for another minute before Cullen spoke.

“You know we’ll find you sooner or later, Anders.”  Cullen’s eyes glared fire at him.

He gave the Templar a smile, “Not if I find you first.”

Cullen shook his head, “Your magic is useless against me, I would not risk it if I were you.”

There was no need to let the Templar know that he didn’t necessarily need magic to beat him. “I’ll be seeing you Knight Captain.” He turned away with a smirk heading back to where the ferry awaited.  He climbed back on and Hawke waived him over.

“Did you have fun playing with the Knight Captain?”  Hawke’s voice was as sweet as the smile she tilted up to him.  She always had a smile for him, even after he had nearly killed her.

Which was yet another reason to stay far from her, but for now, “One does not play with Cullen.  Did I enjoy making him wonder a little?  Yes, immensely.”  He gave her a smile, small but genuine.

[natshinigamiwrites]

World State - Unabridged

This really had no say in the story other than background but will be good to put things in perspective once the 6th work in this series becomes a reality.

Enjoy Varric’s narrative, straight from DragonAgeKeep with a few tweaks of my own, mostly in the subjects of names, classes and other relevant stuff I think you ought to know. The more important tweaks, however, will only appear when relevant as not to spoil from the beginning some of the plot points I want to explore.

The Fifth Blight and the Leadership of Ferelden

If you believe the stories, mankind's pride gave rise to the darkspawn.

Countless in number and toxic to all life, darkspawn search endlessly for an Archdemon. When they find one, darkspawn armies surge up from their corrupt barrows beneath the ground-and a Blight begins. Grey Wardens are the only warriors capable of destroying an Archdemon, and history always honors the one who sacrifices all to kill the beast.

In the Fifth Blight, that Warden was the Hero of Ferelden, Gwendolyn Cousland.

Youngest child of Ferelden's powerful Teyrn Cousland. Betrayal saw the Cousland's ancestral castle burn, and the Teyrn and his wife slain. Duncan, a Grey Warden, helped their daughter escape to a new life with the Wardens.

The allied Ferelden and Grey Warden forces met in Ostagar, where King Cailan's armies and a host of Wardens gathered, ready to destroy the darkspawn. But valor turned to despair as Loghain betrayed his king. Cailan's forces were slaughtered, and the south was lost. The Hero, now a full-fledged Grey Warden, survived with the aid of Flemeth, the mysterious Witch of the Wilds. 

Joined by Flemeth's daughter, Morrigan, and a Grey Warden named Alistair, the Hero set out to build an army strong enough to abolish the Blight. With the traitorous Loghain now seated on Ferelden's throne, the Wardens sought help from the influential Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. However, they arrived in Redcliffe to find the town under siege, as each night, undead rose in waves and assailed the battered village. With the Hero's help, the people of Redcliffe stood fast against the undead horde. 

The Wardens reached Arl Eamon's castle only to find the Arl lying at the edge of death, and his court fallen into madness. To save his father's life, Eamon's young son, Connor, had made a deal with a demon -  and had quickly fallen victim to its possession. The Hero intervened, freeing Connor from possession and breaking the demon's hold over Redcliffe. 

But deals with demons are never straightforward: the demon agreed only to save Eamon's life, not restore him to health. Arl Eamon needed a miracle to recover. 

The Hero located an urn containing the Sacred Ashes of Andraste, which were said to cure any ailment. The urn was protected by ancient traps, tests of will, and a dragon-worshipping cult that wanted to twist the urn's power to its own ends. The urn remained pure but mysteriously disappeared after the Wardens departed. Only the temple dedicated to it still stands. With the pinch of the ashes, the Hero restored the Arl to health. Informed of Loghain's treachery, Eamon swore his political and military support. 

The Circles of Magi are bound by oath to aid the Grey Wardens in times of Blight. However, Lake Calenhad's tower could offer little help: one of its mages, Uldred, had become possessed by a pride demon and was twisting other Circle mages into abominations. The Hero fought to the top of the tower and defeated Uldred, saving the remaining mages. Grateful for their lives, the mages joined the Wardens' army.

The allies gained at the Circle were not the only soldiers to join the Wardens forces, however. 

Dalish Elves don't usually make alliances, but even deep hatred can be set aside in the face of oblivion. An ancient curse was destroying Ferelden's largest Dalish clans, turning the elves into werewolves. Zathrian, the clan's Keeper, claimed that the cure required the heart of the great wolf, Witherfang. Years before, Zathrian himself had afflicted a group of humans with the curse that now ravaged his clan. As long as he lived, the curse endured. The Hero freed the werewolves from their long-standing curse, and the Dalish joined the Wardens' forces.

Blights might happen hundreds of years apart, but the dwarves who live below the surface of Thedas fight darkspawn every day. No one is better schooled in battling darkspawn than the warriors of Orzamar-except perhaps their allies of old, the Grey Wardens. 

The Hero arrived in Orzamar in the wake of King Endrin's death to find political factions fighting for control of the dwarven capital. Only the vote of a venerated Paragon could break the deadlock to elect a ruler-and order the dwarves to honor their Grey Warden treaty and join the battle against the new Blight. The Hero set off to find a Paragon named Branka who had disappeared into the Deep Roads in search of a legendary artifact: the Anvil of the Void, created by the renowned smith Caridin to forge mighty war golems. The Hero helped Caridin destroy the Anvil of the Void-along with the dark secrets that could trap a living soul inside a mechanical construct. 

The Hero emerged from the Deep Roads with a master-forged crown to bestow the Paragon's favor upon whichever rival candidate would be crowned king: Bhelen, the youngest son of King Endrin who was suspected of foul play, or Harrowmont, the aging traditionalist backed by the dwarven assembly. Bhelen followed his father's footsteps to the throne. He leads with a ruthless, but progressive, hand, seeking to reestablish ties to the surface kingdoms. 

With dwarven strength now bolstering the Warden's army, the Hero had to deal with Loghain so Ferelden could stand unified against the darkspawn - before the Blight swallowed the world.

The kingdom of Ferelden stood divided: while some nobles supported Loghain's regency, others condemned his inaction against the darkspawn. Civil war brewed, and Arl Eamon called a Landsmeet in hopes of curtailing the conflict and removing Loghain from the throne. Alistair himself ended Loghain's life in the name of justice for the Wardens who died at Ostagar. 

As the Warden's united army massed in Redcliffe, the darkspawn overran Denerim, laying siege to Ferelden's capital city. The Hero's army fought valiantly through Denerim and broke the darkspawn siege. On Fort Drakon's highest tower, the Hero's strongest allies fought alongside the Warden in a final heroic battle against the massive Archdemon. The Archdemon was killed without the sacrifice of a Grey Warden's life. 

With no Archdemon to lead them, the darkspawn scattered. Most fled underground, still teeming in number and always seeking a new Archdemon to awaken. The shattered Kingdom of Ferelden embarked on a long journey to recovery. 

In the Blight's aftermath, strong leadership was crucial. Alistair, King Cailan's half-brother, became the new king of Ferelden, joined in rule by Gwen, now Hero of Ferelden and daughter of one of the nation's most powerful leaders. 

Ferelden still stands, as obstinate and resolute as the dog lords ever are, but the events of the Fifth Blight loom over it as the nation rebuilds. For people across Thedas, legends of the Hero of Ferelden remain the nation's brightest beacons of hope during its darkest times.

The events on Kirkwall and the spark of the Mage Rebellion

It all began in Kirkwall: the fall of Knight-Commander Meredith, the Quinari uprising, and of course, the Chantry's destruction and the onset of mage rebellion. One person always stood amidst the swirling chaos: Senra Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. 

The Hawke family fled Lothering, refugees from the Blight. Leandra, mother of the Champion and siblings Bethany and Carver, hoped to find refuge at her family's estate in Kirkwall, far to the north. As a mage with a family legacy on both sides, Hawke naturally became involved in the events that ultimately lead to the mage rebellion. 

The Hawkes escaped the Blight with help from Aveline Vallen, a warrior and family friend. It's said that the family was also aided by Flemeth, the notorious Witch of the Wilds. Hawke's sister, Bethany, never reached the Free Marches: she was killed by darkspawn while defending her family. 

The family's first years in Kirkwall were difficult: Leandra's brother, Gamlen, had lost the family fortune. The Hawkes lived in poverty, forced to indenture themselves in return for entrance to the city. To pay off the debt, Hawke was forced to work for a gang of smugglers. All the while, Hawke, and Carver did their best to hide Hawke's magic from the Templars. 

Opportunity eventually struck in the form of a dwarf named Bartrand Tethras, who was planning an expedition to the Deep Roads. It was a long shot, but with gold gained from the expedition, Hawke could free the family from its criminal creditors-and further templar scrutiny. 

Hawke met a rogue Grey Warden named Anders who possessed detailed maps of the Deep Roads. These maps were crucial to the expedition's success; once Hawke obtained them, everything else fell quickly into place.

Out of concern for his safety, Hawke insisted that Carver stay in Kirkwall rather than accompany the expedition. Hawke did find ancient dwarven treasure, but the group also stumbled upon a statuette formed from a strange, red lyrium. Upon returning to the surface, Hawke learned that Carver had joined the Templars, pursuing his own fate instead of living in his sibling's shadow. 

The gold Hawke recovered from the Deep Roads bought back Leandra's stately childhood home in Hightown. The Hawkes had barely settled into their new home when Leandra was murdered-a deeply sinister and twisted killing. Hawke hunted down Quentin, the blood mage responsible, but could not prevent Leandra's death. 

Leandra's tragic death was part of a critical problem facing Kirkwall: rising tension between the city's mages, who felt increasingly oppressed, and Templars, who grew increasingly suspicious of their activities. Adding to the stain, a large contingent of Qunari had also established themselves in Kirkwall, much to the growing discomfort of the city's rulers.

After their dreadnought was shipwrecked many years before, a group of stranded Quinari were allowed to remain in a cordoned-off area in Lowtown. As time passed, the Qunari made no effort to return home and offered no explanation about why they remained. 

Tensions rose to a breaking point: Revered Mother Petrice, convinced the Qunari were a threat to the Chantry's faith, incited violence between the Qunari and the Kirkwall populace. Hawke knew that Petrice would bring about unnecessary conflict, though the Champion tried to stop her, Petrice orchestrated the murder of Saemus Dumar, a viscount's son and recent convert to the Qun. When her crime was discovered, a Qunari assassin killed her. After Saemus was murdered, the Arishok of the Qunari group lost patience with the humans of Kirkwall: they would now submit to the Qun-or die.

The Qunari struck hard and fast: they took the palace in Hightown and beheaded the viscount to immediately quash any resistance. Aided by Knight-Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino, Hawke reached the palace and stood toes-to-toes with the fearsome Qunari leader. Hawke fought the Qunari leader, the fierce battle resulted in the Arishok's death and the liberation of Kirkwall from its brief occupation. The Qunari quickly withdrew from the city entirely. 

Hawke saved Kirkwall and earned the grudging respect of the city's templars, mages, and nobility-along with the title that history remembers: the Champion of Kirkwall.

Kirkwall's problems were still not over, however. 

After Viscount Dumar's death, Knight-Commander Meredith took power and blocked all attempts to appoint a new viscount. Under Meredith's command, the templars tightened their grip on the mages, planning to suppress what Meredith saw as a growing rebellion. Anders, who had spent years fighting for justice and freedom for his fellow mages, saw the time for negotiation was past.

He destroyed Kirkwall's chantry, killing hundreds-including Grand Cleric Elthina. This single act began a rebellion that spread from Circle to Circle-until all the Circles of Magi had risen up in defiance against Chantry rule. 

There was no forgiveness for what Anders had done, and he asked for death at Hawke's hands. Hawke fulfilled the troubled mage's final request, and many others died along with Anders that day. 

Fighting spread swiftly through the city: some mages rebelled openly, many of them succumbing to possession. Templars turned their swords on mages who rebelled-and on those who did not. 

As First Enchanter Orsino refused to bend to the Templars, Knight-Commander Meredith demanded that every mage in Kirkwall be put to the sword. Hawke saved many mages from templar blades, keeping them from succumbing to possession or the temptations of blood magic. In the end, however, Hawke was forced to strike down Orsino, who had betrayed his own values by resorting to blood magic, himself. 

The battle proved one thing: Knight-Commander Meredith had gone mad. Hawke saw the truth of it when Meredith unsheathed her sword-and the red lyrium idol from the Deep Roads was embedded within it. The blade fueled her hatred and paranoia, as it had for months. After a horrific battle, the red lyrium of the Knight-Commander's sword consumed her as she died: Meredith became a statue, her face a frozen mask of horror.

Little is known of the Champion since that final battle, however, Hawke's story lives on in legend and song-memories of the indelible changes the Champion of Kirkwall brought to the face of Thedas.

The State of the World as of 9:40 Dragon

The mage rebellion in Kirkwall was felt throughout Thedas, the news spreading like wildfire. The Templars clamped down in response... but each new restriction only made things worse. Led by Grand Enchanter Fiona, the mages voted for independence. The Circle of Magi would govern itself, without the Chantry and especially without the Templars. 

The result was cataclysmic: two Circles were destroyed, those within killed to the last mage before the rest fled into the wilderness. Perhaps the mighty Empire of Orlais could have intervened in the war before it began, but that was not to be. Grand Duke Gaspard began a deadly civil war against Empress Celene, vying for the Orlesian throne. 

The mages were offered safe haven in neighboring Ferelden, but the Templars followed, and so their battle spread across all of Thedas. As head of the chantry, Divine Justinia ordered the Templars to stand down. They refused, declaring their own independence. 

Thus the war began in earnest. Templars hunting mages, mages fighting Templars. Their clashes wreaked untold destruction, and all sense of order was falling to pieces. 

Divine Justinia made one final desperate bid to end the war. She approached the leaders of both sides and convinced them to come to a conclave held on neutral ground. With the Chantry to mediate, mages and templars will talk for the first time since this all began. 

It is our last-and perhaps our only chance for peace.