First Impressions

Cassandra and Cullen

Cullen stood hunched forward over his desk and sighed deeply. It felt like he sighed a lot nowadays. His body ached, he felt drained, irritated, defeated. He had taken command of Kirkwall's Templars after Knight Commander Meredith went insane. The whole event was a bloody affair, one that will stain the pages of history for ages to come. Even though the Champion of Kirkwall, Kaylien Hawke stood against Meredith's insanity and tried to protect the mages a lot of lives were lost that night. Either succumbing to the blades of the Templars who followed Meredith, Blood Magic or that damned Orsino. Without her intervention however, it could have been a lot worse. He silently cursed himself at the memory, regretting not seeing Meredith's insanity sooner. He heard the warnings, saw the signs but chose to ignore them. He didn't want to believe that it was true of someone he looked up to so much. When rumors that he went insane and killed mages after the events in Fereldan surfaced, she was always the first one who stood up for him and silenced his naysayers. She placed her faith in him, and he couldn't help but do the same. He couldn't help but think that the faith he had in her was partly to blame for things going this far. If only he had saw through her sooner...did something to stop it. The mages that remained in the Circle no longer trusted themselves under Templar care. He was constantly breaking up fights between them and the Templars that remained under his command. It was a pointless venture in the end however, as the mages eventually rebelled and left the Circle. He pulled his men back, instructed them to let them go as long as they did so peacefully. There weren't enough Templars to fight against the remaining mages and Kirkwall had seen enough war. It was still recovering from the last one which would take years. At first, the Champion helped him maintained order, but eventually, she left in hopes of sparing Kirkwall any further trouble once rumors that Divine Justinia would be bringing an exalted march to Kirkwall. Thankfully, the march never came and Cullen was able to steer the remaining Templars into working with Kirkwall's guards to bring back order and aid with the city's recovery. Progress had been slow and steady, however, there were more problems that he had to face within the Templars. There were mummers of discontent, some were upset at the mages being allowed to leave. They wanted to hunt them, kill them out of fear, anger and hate and they were willing to toss aside the vows they had taken as Templars to protect all life. Cullen sighed at the thought. He was doing what he can to maintain order, but he knew it was a battle he would eventually lose. He was beginning to feel restless as well. Around Thedas, the war between Templars and mages was escalating and innocent people were trapped in the middle. It didn't feel right for him to just sit by idly while it happened. Though he knew the war between mages and Templars was most likely a long time coming, he couldn't help but feel that his previous idleness brought this to bear sooner than it might have been. A knock on his door jarred him from his thoughts.

"Enter..." He pushed himself away from his desk and crossed his arms in front his chest. A Templar entered the room and saluted Cullen. He didn't bother to return the salute, his previous thoughts still tugging at his mind. The Templar shifted uncomfortably.

"Well? What is it?" Cullen asked, irritation evident in his voice.

"Ser...There is a..." The Templar hesitated, he cleared his throat and continued. "There is a Seeker here. She wants to speak with you." Cullen let his hands drop. He now understood the Templar's behavior. Seekers showed up when Templars failed to do their job. Their reputations were the stuff of nightmares for Templars. He honestly expected them to show up a lot sooner. When they hadn't, he foolishly thought they wouldn't show at all.

"Send her in immediately." The Templar saluted again and went to retrieve the Seeker.

Cassandra was escorted into Cullen's office by a rather Timid Templar. She was use to such behavior around her. She knew what she stood for, what she meant to other Templars. She entered Cullen's office. He saluted her and she returned it.

"Knight-Captain Cullen, I am Cassandra Pentaghast..."

"The Right Hand of the Divine?" He blurted suddenly, interrupting her. "It is an honor to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine. I'm actually glad you know who I am. That will make this go a bit smoother." She looked him over before continuing. He was a handsome man, and a lot younger than she expected. According to her sources, he single handedly kept the Templar order in Kirkwall together after Meredith's death, no small feat. She continued.

"I do not have to tell you what chain of events Kirkwall have caused as the effects started here before spreading out to the rest of Thedas." He nodded, his lips pressed into a tight frown but he remained silent. "You have heard rumors that the Divine plans to call a Conclave?" He nodded again.

" What you may not know is that the Divine is committed to stopping this war before any more innocent lives are taken by it..by any means necessary."

"What exactly is any means necessary?"

"The Divine has...plans that she is ready to set in motion in case the Conclave fails. We are hoping that it will not be necessary but in case it is. We would like you to oversee our military concerns." He stared at her in surprise. When she first arrived, he hadn't expected the conversation to go this way. He expected to be berated for the Templar's failure. Instead, the seeker had approached him about a rather vague offer.

"I don't understand...what plan is this? What do you mean by military concern?" Cassandra remained quiet, considering her next words.

"Things cannot remain the way they are. I'm sure this is something you agree with. If the mages and Templars cannot see reason we will make them see reason. We will not allow anymore lives to be lost. I understand that this is a lot to take in and you must take time to consider. I do not expect..."

"I accept." He responded, cutting her off. She rose a brow and stared at him.

"Are you certain? Do you truly understand what I am asking of you? I am asking you to leave the order behind and with that, any old prejudices you might have. You may be required to work with mages, to trust them as allies."

"I understand Seeker and I do not think you would have sought me out if you do not think that I was capable of working with mages."

"That...is true. I know that you worked with the Champion to protect the mages against Meredith's insanity and against the more...zealous members of the order. Still, you have been a Templar for quite some time. I am surprised that you would so readily leave."

"Before you came in here Seeker, I was thinking of my life...what I have done and what I am doing. My time in Kirkwall...my time with the order, I believe it is done. The Circle around Thedas have fallen and the land has descended into chaos. I can give no more to the Templar order. I want to do more to bring order back to the world. I believe the Maker has shown me a new path and I feel that I must take it. Cassandra smiled at him.

"Well spoken Knight-Captain...We welcome you and pray that your help will not be needed. Get your affairs in order, we leave for Haven at first light."