Demon of Andraste
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age or Starcraft
As I step out of the dimensional portal, the first thing I do is scan the minds nearby to determine where I am. The tribal tattooed elf woman below my vantage point is undertaking her Harrowing which means I'm in the Fade from the Dragon Age game series. Oddly, she appears to favor wearing only bra and panties with no sign of armor unless she keeps it packed in her bag. After watching her defeat a Rage demon with minimal aid from a Pride demon disguised as a failed Mage Apprentice, I use a transdimensional Blink to reach the location of her real body. "Attack Neria at your own risk. Attack me and the Circle will fall." I greet the five Templar and one Mage while retracting my skeletal wings.
Ignoring the attempts of the Templar to drain my magic, I notice Neria's real appearance is identical to her Fade appearance right down to the undergarments as her only clothing. Raising a Psionic Shield, I pick up Neria and carry her to her bed in the Apprentice Quarters where I let her sleep until she recovers from her Harrowing. A few hours later, a male apprentice nervously approaches me. "Could you give Neria a message for me if she wakes up?" He asks as I gently probe his mind for his name.
"You can give her the message yourself Jowan. She'll be awake in just a few minutes and you have nothing critical to do before then." I reply as I quickly scan the rest of the Circle tower for relevant information. When Neria wakes, Jowan tells her First Enchanter Irving wants to see her about something and talks a little about his concerns that his Harrowing has not happened yet. "This should be interesting. Will you be meeting Irving in your small clothes, full apprentice robes or perhaps fully nude like me Neria?" I comment when Jowan walks away.
"Who are you and why do you care how I dress?" Neria asks in response. "And where are your clothes anyways? I've never seen anyone go around completely naked before."
"You wouldn't believe where I come from, but my name is Chris Ham and I lead a hive mind race with natural toughness high enough to never need clothing or armor for protection from our surroundings. I don't particularly care how you dress, but I am curious since you are the only local to not be fully dressed outside quarters." I reply as I step out of the Apprentice Quarters. A minute later, Neria steps out of the quarters and starts towards Irving's office wearing no coverings at all. Just a belt, two magic rings and a magic pendant. When we reach Irving's office, the First enchanter is having a discussion with a dark skinned human who appears to be a Grey Warden and an older pale skinned human in Templar armor.
"Congratulations on passing your Harrowing Neria. No offence intended, but what can you tell us about your friend who appeared at the end of your Harrowing?" Irving asks with a nod in my direction. Neria tells Irving she never saw me until she woke after her Harrowing. Though he looked troubled by her words, the First Enchanter gave Neria a Mage staff and robes along with a small pendant containing minor magical properties.
"No offence taken First Enchanter. In this world, I would be considered a Mage though I entered the Fade from another world entirely. Neria didn't see me during her Harrowing because I observed her from a distance and used what you would call mind magic to learn about her and the Fade denizens she encountered. Now, I'm guessing there is a reason the Warden is still here?" I comment to Irving while Neria uses a minor storage spell on her new robes and places the pendant around her neck.
"Ah, I was going to introduce Duncan here to my star pupil, but I suppose I got sidetracked by your arrival. Could the two of you escort Warden Duncan to his quarters while getting to know each other? I have much work to do." Irving says prompting Duncan to move towards the hallway.
Most of the conversation between Neria and Duncan revolves around the Grey Wardens and their role in Thedas. The only other significant conversation is with a young Templar named Cullen who has a crush on Neria and had been assigned the role of executioner in the event Neria had failed her Harrowing. On leaving Duncan in the guest quarters, Neria and I encounter an Apprentice Mage named Jovan who asks us to meet him for a secret discussion in the back of the local worship hall. Thanks to a quick scan of his mind, (and having played the Mage origin story for Dragon Age: Origins) I know Jovan is recruiting us to help him flee from the Rite of Tranquility that will punish him for dabbling in Blood Magic. After the meeting, Neria and I return to the First Enchanter and notify him of everything we have learned and the three of us make plans for both Jovan and his Chantry girlfriend Lily to be caught and punished.
Returning to Jovan, Neria and I tell him we will aid him. Jovan's chantry girlfriend tells us we will need a Rod of Fire to melt the locks on the door to the phylactery chamber. A quick stop by the storehouse containing the Rod of Fire gets us a request form that needs to be signed by a Senior Enchanter. Neria leads me to a newer Senior Enchanter who happens to be in charge of the finished goods storehouse and is friendly towards her when not having trouble with a spider infestation. I quickly arrange a deal for the Senior Enchanter to sign the request form if Neria and I exterminate the spiders. One extermination later, Neria and I rejoin Jovan and his girlfriend and take advantage of a shift change to enter the basement without being spotted by the Templar who guard the Mages like prison guards watching convicts.
The first obstacle is easily cleared by a frost spell from Neria after Lily speaks the pass phrase. The second door however is secured to the point where even our Rod of Fire doesn't work. After discussing our options for a moment, I use Psionic Chill and shatter the door along with its anti magic runes. Unfortunately, this causes every enchanted guardian statue in the basement to activate and attack us. Luckily, between Neria, Jovan and I, the guardians are quickly dealt with. Just minutes later, Jovan finds his phylactery and destroys it so the Templar forces can't track him when he flees the Circle.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. Please review.