Disclaimer: I dont own Dragon Age or its characters, they are the property of Bioware, EA and the respective writers and artists of the series.
Hey people, anyone who had read the first few chapters of my fic Dragon Age 3: Vox Populi, know that I'm changing the plan. I'm no longer putting a three in the title and while this would technically be a Dragon Age sequal I'm establishing from Dragon Age 2 and alternate ending and alternate plot.
This one shot establishes the first part of the alternate ending, the point of divergence that makes it AU
Vox Populi: Rival, Friend, Brother
Garret Hawke felt disturbed and it wasn't by the fact that he was a mage in a city controlled by Templars. It wasn't the fact that he was in love with a pirate queen who was the representation of every selfish desire Garret hated. It wasn't even the fact that Sandal had gone quite out of character and had spoken some kind of dark prophecy. No, Garret Hawke was disturbed because he had just come back from Anders's clinic in Darktown. After helping him gather ridiculous ingredients for a potion that was supposed to cure him of his possession by Justice, the fellow apostate had just turned around and told Garret that he needed his help to distract the Grand Cleric, that if he cared about the plight of mages he would do what he asked no questions.
He had helped Anders before, helped him with Karl even before he had gained the fame and influence that put the Templars off his back, he had even chosen to believe in him when Justice nearly killed a girl or when Corypheus controlled him. But he couldn't support him in this, in whatever scheme Anders had concocted for the Chantry. It was as if he had reached the limit of how much he would support his friend. That was what Garret considered Anders to be, a friend, perhaps even a brother or what he always hoped for in a brother. He loved Carver, but his younger brother still had so much bitterness inside him. After reaching Hightown, Garret took a seat at the steps of the chantry and looked up at the sky. The Free marches was a warm region of Thedas but the nights could get as cold as the mountain regions, that was why Garret asked that if the people did commission his mantle they include a bit of fur on it. He looked at his clawed gauntlet, simply one piece of the mantle of the champion.
As a mage, Hawke had accepted long ago that he would never be anyone important. But as more time passed and he saw how far his father was willing to go to give them freedom, Hawke began to think himself lucky. Every mage needed training, not to be locked away from their family. Mages were still alive; they weren't darkspawn but people and Garret believed as a state of fact that Andraste fought Tevinter because she cared about people and their free will. He cared for Sebastian greatly and respected the Grand Cleric, but he still believed the Chantry used Andraste to oppress mages and though they had the best of intentions they still bordered on the line of the Tevinter Imperium.
'There has to be a way we can all compromise to reach an understanding. Freedom without safety is foolish, a safety bought about through oppression is simple fear and fear must never dictate the course of our lives. There has to be a way, there has to be a better way!'
He agonised over a solution to the problem. Magic was not the problem, magic could help people, it was the fear of magic that endangered others. If every mage had a father like Malcolm Hawke and a mother like Leandra Amell, then no mage would become an Abomination. That was at least what Garret felt he represented. Meredith and the Templars knew he was a mage, but he had done more good for this city than they and they knew it.
"Hawke!"
Garret looked down the steps and gasped slightly. Anders was standing in front of them, carrying a bag. The two mages looked one another in the eyes and for a moment Garret thought he saw the flicker of Justice, no vengeance in Anders's eyes. Anders shook his head and walked the opposite way.
"Anders," Garret sighed.
"Hasn't blown up the Gallows yet I see!"
The dark haired mage turned his head, looking up into the scowling eyes of another one of his companions. Fenris was a former slave of Tevinter, his master, long dead, was a magister whom used blood magic as a form of entertainment, sacrificing a child for his guests. The white haired elf understandably had a hatred for magic, yet because of Garret's understanding and support for both groups equally and in Fenris's own past, the elf qualified Garret as his friend.
"I once said he was a deeply troubled man to placate a young mage, now however," Garret sighed before continuing, "I think he truly is troubled and probably…dangerous!"
"Is something wrong?" Fenris asked.
"I've been thinking about all of it, Meredith, Orsino, Anders, Carver, my loyalties to all of them are questioned at every step, I do one thing they accuse me of completely abandoning them, there has to be a middle ground, a point where we can all come to an understanding," Garret explained.
"Its never that simple, some people don't want to understand, I know I don't," Fenris scowled.
"Fenris, do you think that change should always come at the expense of life?" Hawke asked.
"No great change has ever come without blood shed," Fenris said.
"I'm not asking what the fact is, I'm asking what you believe!"
The elf lowered his head and sighed. He sat beside Hawke and followed his gaze of the sky.
"I think it doesn't matter what I think, people will always agree with change when enough people have died," he explained.
"Sometimes I miss the Arishok, there was a simple opponent, an opponent dedicated and not worth hating but respecting both for his strength and his belief," Garret said.
"Is that why you put his sword up on your wall?" Fenris asked.
"To remember the opponent that pushed me the most, but this, this whole issue of what the maker's will is will simply break me as its broken all other men stuck in the middle of the debate!"
The champion huffed as he stood up. He put a smile on his face as he looked at the elf.
"Have you been delivering something again?" he asked.
Fenris laughed, a rare and always short response.
"Yes something very important actually," the elf smiled.
"Did you deliver it successfully?" Hawke asked, continuing the charade of Fenris's atheism.
"I like to think it did, whether the request was successful or not I suppose only time will tell," he said.
"Well I'll see you later at the hanged man, Isabella wants to guess what colour your under clothes are again and Varric should be buying this time," Garret explained.
"Did you make your choice?" Fenris asked.
"Antivan brandy!"
"No, about the other issue?"
"Yes," Garret said as he turned away from Fenris.
"Whatever your choice is my friend, never doubt that you are not alone," Fenris said.
"Thank you!"
Both men smiled as they walked their separate ways, one to his mansion and another to the Gallows.
Carver Hawke knew that his bloodline would always carry magic, that no matter what he did it would always be a part of his life. He once called himself the lone blade in a house full of mages. But here he was, standing in the very place that his father had spent years keeping Garret and Bethany from.
'What would you say father?' the younger Hawke often wondered.
He knew what his mother's view was. It was something he always remembered. Even when had become a fully honoured knight, every conversation they had would end with mother criticising his choice. Carver always regretted the last conversation they had, he had said with the attention Garret was getting it was only a matter of time before the Templars took action. She accused him of joining the Templars to spite his brother and he had stupidly said how everyone talks about his brother, that Garret's the perfect example of a bloody hero. He said he wish he had left the family at Gwaren, joined the Wardens to fight Loghain or turned mercenary, anything that kept him out of his bloody brother's shadow. She asked him what was wrong with being Garret Hawke's brother and Carver had said he wish he'd been an only child. He never worked up the nerve to apologise to her; Garret had been there more than he, he was there at the end.
'I joined the Templars but still couldn't do a thing against blood magic, Garret was always there, always where he needed to be, more than anyone in the order,' Carver sighed as he walked to the Gallows courtyard.
Tranquil mages and other merchants sold their wares and other Templars talked like it was a regular day. But Carver knew of Thrask's attempt of rebellion, about Meredith seeking out evidence of blood mages within the circle. Orsino was desperate and Carver knew of only mage in Kirkwall who would take action against the order if Meredith crossed the line. He never liked Anders; he was a little too vocal about being a mage and the plight of mages. Garret understood the necessity of something like the Templars but he supported Anders a lot of the time. If not for his brother, Carver would be marching to the clinic and clamping irons over Anders's wrists. Anders was an abomination, everyone in Garret's group knew it but something drastic had to happen for them to turn on one another.
'What are you going to do brother when Anders crosses the line? What will I do when Meredith crosses the line?' they were questions that haunted the young Hawke and he dreaded the day they found out.
The pace of the day quickly changed when Carver saw Garret walking into the courtyard. Carver couldn't place the expression Garret had on his face; he seemed to have more clarity in his eyes now, though he still walked as if he carried a huge burden on his shoulders. He walked towards Knight-Captain Cullen, nodding to the templar.
"Champion, what would you have of me?" Cullen asked.
Garret usually came to the Gallows asking the Knight-Captain if the Templars needed assistance. Even before he had gained influence Hawke had been willing to aid the people who hunted him if it meant stopping truly dangerous mages, or even discretely helping innocent mages escape. The champion of Kirkwall remained silent for a moment before saying something he never thought he would say. Something that would change the fate of Kirkwall and Thedas forever:
"I believe one of my colleagues is plotting against the Chantry!"
"What? The Champion alerted the Templars? He betrayed Anders?"
Varric looked at Cassandra Pentaghast with a satisfied smirk.
"Bet you weren't expecting that huh? There is truth to the rumours, not the propaganda the survivors of Meredith's camp spread," Varric said.
Cassandra narrowed her eyes slightly as she walked across the room.
"Much of what we thought we knew has been proven false, they really weren't part of the occupation force?" she asked.
"Please, Hawke hated Tevinter more than you could imagine, he despised the magisters and their empire of slavery. And Anders? He talked a lot about freedom for mages and that crap he pulled proved just how far he was willing to go for it, he was even willing to kill people that had nothing to do with the conflict. But no, he wasn't a part of the Tevinter invasion force. From what I heard a Grey Warden actually spoke of a Tevinter invasion didn't he, I wonder whether he was taken seriously," Varric smirked as Cassandra frowned at him. "The events may not have been connected, but they certainly helped the Tevinter occupation, on that day, Meredith finally snapped and she showed her true colours…the only reason the city, hell even the Chantry is still standing is because of Hawke!"
"Then tell me everything Varric, tell me what happened before Tevinter invaded, tell me how the Champion died!"
Next Dragon Age: Vox Populi
Hope everyone enjoyed the short story, I hoped it set the scene for my rewritten Dragon Age: Vox Populi, I originally thought of using Bethany and I know not many people like Carver (believe me I like Bethany better, better to look at that is :) but for the sake of the story I'm trying to tell I've chosen Carver as a Templar.
Basically there will be tension between the Templars and the mages, but there wont be a full scale war, although Tevinter will naturally recruit a lot of circle mages. The beginning of the story will take place during the Last Straw, with the Tevinter invasion coming afterwards and flashing to Cassandra's interrogation of Varric.