I'm trying something new here. This is going to be a two part story about a templar and how he and his mage sidekick start working together. Depending on how I feel about this story, I may make sequels. Leave comments to let me know what you think!

Apprentices Turned Apostates Pt. 1

"I assume that this is the tunnel," Seth asked, staring at the large hole in the floor.

"Indeed," Cullen answered. "We found the hole this morning. The exit is out in the side of a cliff on the waterfront. The mages must have used their magic to tunnel through the ground during the night."

"So it would seem," Seth mused, scratching his dark beard. Seth noticed that all of the bed sheets in the dorm room they were in had been tied together for the mages to climb down the side of the tower and escape.

Cullen scratched the top of his light curly head and asked, "Do you think otherwise?"

Seth answered, "I just find it best not to make assumptions." He approached the hole. "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Cullen asked, leaning in next to Seth. "I feel nothing."

"Precisely," Seth declared. "You are a Templar, as I am, yet neither of us can feel any disruptions of reality around this hole. The fade was not accessed to make this tunnel. Either that, or the mages found some way to hide their magic, but that is not likely."

"I see," Cullen murmered, scratching the back of his neck. He did not seem overly intrigued by Seth's discovery.

"Another thing," Seth continued. "Templars were outside this room, yet none of them heard or felt anything? I find that hard to believe."

"Do you think the guards were in on it?" Cullen asked.

"I do not think anything yet. I am merely making observations," Seth answered.

"Well, what does it matter? You can just use the phylacteries to find them."

"You are right, of course," Seth conceded. "I just wish to know exactly what happened."

"A whole room full of mages escaped during the night, and now they are apostates that need to be brought back and punished," Cullen stated. "Now, can we please go to the phylactery room? I'm sure they've got a mage there by now."

The two templars left the empty dorm room and went into the hall. They traversed several sets of stairs to reach their destination. Kinloch Hold was in most ways an ideal place to have a Circle of Magi; it was secluded, defensible, and mostly secure enough to keep mages inside. The tower, however, was also ridiculously tall, making getting anywhere within its walls frustrating due to the constant stair-climbing. At least it was good for building leg strength.

The templars reached the phylactery room at last, deep in the basement of the tower. There were three other templars there waiting for them, as well as a mage. The mage was an elf woman, with brown hair, green eyes, and a green mage robe. Mages always looked so weak in their robes next to the plate-armored templars, but Seth new too well just how powerful mages could be.

One of the templars waiting for them was none other than Knight-Commander Greagoir, who addressed them, "At last, they arrive. What is it that delayed you?"

"My apologies, ser," Cullen answered. "Seth wanted to take a look at the tunnel."

"I apologize as well, ser," Seth spoke. "I thought it would be best to see the place where the mages escaped, since it is to be myself who will be sent to search for them."

"Your efforts are noted," Greagoir declared, "But they were unnecessary. The phylacteries alone are all that you need to find the escaped aprentices. Now, since you are to lead the search, we leave it to you to open the door. The mage will assist you."

The way into the phylactery room was blocked by a series of wards and a dwarf-designed lyrium door. Entrance to the room required both a mage and a templar. This was how it had been since anyone could remember. Seth stood next to the mage, and the two of them used their abilities and had the door open quickly.

"I'm Lenessa, by the way," the elf stated matter-of-factly. "In case you cared."

"Seth," the templar responded. He normally did not talk to the mages, and most of them probably did not know him. Seth had always been the sort of person to keep to himself.

"Here are the phylacteries for the escaped mages," Greagoir observed. "All twenty of them."

The phylacteries were easy to find. They were the ones that were glowing the dimmest. All the others on the shelves were glowing brightly because the mages they belonged to were right there in the tower where they should be. Finding the missing apprentices was a matter of travelling in whatever direction made the phylacteries glow more brightly.

"Pick your templars, Seth," Greagoir instructed. "Then head out as soon as you can. Maker be with you."

Seth knew the templars that he wanted to take, for the most part. He did not really have a lot of friends, but he was attentive enough to know which templars were solid soldiers and were serious enough to trust to do their jobs. Cullen was an obvious choice. He was one of the few people that Seth considered a friend, even though the other templar would most likely have been surprised to hear it. Besides Cullen, Seth selected ten other templars. More than enough to find and capture twenty apprentices.

Before the troupe left, however, Lenessa came to find Seth and told him that she wished to go with the templars.

"Why?" Seth asked.

"One of the escaped children is my apprentice," Lenessa declared. "I care deeply for her, and I want to make sure she is alright."

"I am sure you are aware that mages are only granted the freedom to leave the tower on very rare occasions."

The elf snapped, "Of course I know that! I've been stuck here for years haven't I?" She then smoothed out her robe and spoke in a more even tone, "Look, I am not just trying to get a breath of fresh air, or anything. I care about those mages, and I will be useful in finding them. My apprentice mentioned on several occasions about wanting to escape, and, of course, I told her that she was foolish and I constantly reminded her of all the reasons the Circle is what she needs. I know I can convince her to come back peacefully, though, and I know I will be a lot better at convincing the other mages than any templar. I honestly don't know why you people don't always bring mages with you to hunt apostates."

Everything that the mage had said made perfect logical sense to Seth, and he honestly loved the idea of bringing a mage on the hunt. It was all a matter of convincing Greagoir though. Seth was going to have to spin the request in a way that would make the Knight-Commander agree to letting a mage leave the tower.

"No, I will not allow it," Greagoir declared.

"Ser, if I may," Seth began, "Mages have often left their circles in times of war to aid in battle. These mages are tools, if you will. Think of this as much the same thing. The mage is a tool that we will use to recapture the apprentices without spilling any templar blood. Lenessa's record is impeccable, ser. She has always obeyed the laws and regulations of the circle, and she is a bright and excellent student in the ways of magic. There is no chance that she would attempt to escape any more than she could fall under the influence of demons and become an abomination."

Gregoir shook his grey head and declared, "As templars, it is our duty to always assume that there is a chance for a mage to rebel or turn into an abomination. I do not believe the rewards outweigh the risks here."

Seth paused, then he decided to play his ace, "Ser, there is also the possibility that the mage aided in the escape of her apprentice." The Knight-Commander's body became rigid, and he furrowed his brow in sudden interest. "Under my watchful gaze, it will be possible to see if she aids the apprentices in their attempts to elude us. Then we will have proof of her corruption."

"Yes," Greagoir mused, "It would be the perfect test to see if she is an accomplice to all of this."

"My thoughts exactly, ser."

Greagoir paused, then declared, "Very well, Seth. You may have your mage assistant. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on her, though. We have too many escaped mages already."

"Yes ser!" Seth saluted, putting his fist to his chest and bowing slightly.

Outside of Greagoir's office, Seth was surprised to see Lenessa waiting for him. She looked at him inquisitively and asked, "Do you really suspect me of being an accomplice of this escape?"

"I am not sure that eavesdropping on the Knight-Commander's meetings is appropriate," Seth stated, "and I believe it is my job to suspect everyone." Lenessa crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. "However, to answer your question: no, I do not believe you aided your apprentice in this affair. Your record is too perfect for me to assume that you would wish to rebel, and if you had aided your apprentice, you would have either escaped with her or distanced yourself from the situation to hide your involvement. Besides, your studies have been focused in spirit magic and healing, so I do not know how you would have aided in creating that tunnel in the first place. Now, please, let us prepare to embark on this journey."

Seth began to walk past Lenessa and down the hall. He was anxious to leave and complete his mission, and the speed of his gait reflected that.

"Wait!" Lenessa insisted, jogging after him. "How do you know so much about me? We've never talked before."

Without slowing his pace, Seth replied, "It is my duty to protect the mages within this tower, and in order to do that effectively, it is my belief that I should be well read on the records and information of every mage here. It does not require me to talk to any of them."

"That's insane," Lenessa declared, struggling to keep up with Seth as they walked down a flight of stairs. "You can't possibly know the records of every mage in this tower. There are hundreds!"

Seth saw a young mage carrying a stack of books ahead of them. The templar addressed him: "What is your name, mage?"

"Hubert, ser," the boy replied.

"You are the son of two mages from Orlais, and those books are most likely about your home country, since you have failed several classes and have been described as being 'dreamy and too curios about his origins for his own good.'"

"Uh, yes ser. Do I know you?"

Seth continued to walk with Lenessa following him, but he called back to the boy, "No, son, you do not! Good day!"

To their left was a tranquil with a bald head. Seth recognized him instantly. He said to Lenessa, "That man was made tranquil 33 years ago because he was too afraid to undergo his harrowing." Then, with a more sober tone, "He had a perfect record before that."

Lenessa threw up her hands and declared, "Okay, okay, I get it. You know all the records. That doesn't mean you know everything, though. There's more to every person than what can be written on a piece of paper."

Seth shrugged and said, "You are correct, but what can be written down is all that matters. It is what separates a good person from a bad one."

The mage and templar eventually reached the stables. The rest of their party met them there. Most of the templars, including Cullen, were uneasy about allowing a mage to join the mission, but Lenessa did not seem to mind everyone's discomfort. The elf mounted a horse with ease, much to the templars' surprise. Seth was the only one not shocked by the mage's skill on horseback. He knew her past.

The party took their horses to the ferry, and rode the raft across lake Calenhad to the mainland. The trip commenced without much trouble. They followed the phylactery's glow across the lands of Ferelden in search of the mages. No bandits troubled the travelers, for it would have been very foolish to attack a group of a dozen templars. It did not take very long for Seth to realize where the phylacteries were leading them. The mages had run to Denerim.

"It will be a blighted nightmare finding the mages in that giant city," Cullen declared, riding his horse close to Seth's.

"An ideal place to hide," Seth declared. "I believe I would have chosen the same hiding place if it was I who was running."

"You speak as though you admire the apostates," Cullen pointed out.

Seth adjusted his seat in the saddle while replying, "I do not admire their choices, but shrewd strategy always demands respect."

Cullen took a drink from his water flask. He looked at Seth and spoke, "The phylacteries can not help us that much in the middle of that mass of people. What is our strategy to finding the apostates?"

Seth answered, "The apostates will know we are coming, and they will most likely seek to defend themselves. Now, where will they go to buy magical staffs or amulets to increase their magic?"

"The Wonders of Thedas!" Cullen blurted.

"Precisely," Seth nodded. "The shop proprietor should be happy to talk to us, I have never known a tranquil to keep secrets."

"We should also link up with the templars at the chantry," Cullen added. "We can see if they have received any reports of rogue mages."

"You can handle that, Cullen. I'll speak to the tranquil."

The horses reached the top of a hill. Denerim lay below like a giant blanket draped across the landscape. The walled city gave off a hum of life that could be heard from their perch on the hilltop. The city had always held a sort of strange place in Seth's mind. On one hand, it contained plenty of stimulation and many interesting sights and observations to be seen, but on the other hand, there was far too much noise, and too many people. Regardless of Seth's feelings, though, the templar's path had led him to the city, and to the city he had to go.

The templar party reached the towering gates of Denerim, and from there they split up into groups of six, with Cullen leading one to the chantry and Seth leading the other to the shop with Lenessa. Seth walked through the bustling marketplace of the city and scanned the crowd. He did not feel the presence of any magic, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The crowd was oblivious to the danger of rogue magic and demons that threatened them.

The Wonders of Thedas was inside of a building just outside the market. Seth entered there with his templar brothers and Lenessa. The other templars fanned out and began searching the shop. There were a few shop patrons who stopped their shopping to look up at the templars nervously. Seeing a group of men in heavy armor and bearing swords and shields is always frightening. Add to that the fact that templars entering a place in force always meant that they were in the middle of hunting mages, and the patrons had a right to be nervous. The only person in the room whose countenance did not change was the shop proprietor. The tranquil were very appropriately named, for they possessed almost no emotion. This was a side effect of cutting a mage off from the source of their magic, the Fade.

"Excuse me, ser," Seth addressed the tranquil. "Might I ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly, ser" the tranquil nodded. "I will do my best to give you any information that you need."

"Have you had anyone come through here purchasing magical staffs recently?" Seth asked.

"No," the tranquil answered flatly.

Seth could hardly believe that none of the apostates had been here to buy weapons. Lenessa was not surprised, though. She declared, "The mages have no wish to fight, Seth. They most likely only wish to hide."

"Ser!" one of the templars exclaimed from across the shop. "There's a staff missing from a rack over here. There's an outline of dust, it can't have been taken very long ago!"

"Did you just lie to us, tranquil?" Lenessa accused.

"No. I only said that no staffs have been sold recently. A staff has been stolen, though."

"Just one?" Seth asked.

"Yes."

Seth turned to Lenessa, "It seems as though we have at least one mage who has a wish to fight."

"Can you blame them?" she asked. "They must be terrified."

Seth looked at the tranquil again and spoke, "Did you see who took the staff?"

"No," replied the tranquil.

"Can you tell me nothing more?" Seth asked.

"I do not know what information would be of use. I told the other man the same things."

"What other man?" Seth asked, leaning in.

"He was an elf. He called himself 'Lefty,' he asked all the same questions that you did."

"We need to find this 'Lefty,'" Seth declared. He lead the templars outside back into the market. They had to rendezvous with Cullen and compare information. Before Seth had walked far, though, Lenessa grabbed his elbow and told him to wait.

"What is it?" Seth asked.

"It's about the mages," Lenessa declared. "I just want to be sure that you know that they are people. It's all about 'reports' and 'duty' to you, but this is more than just a mission, you know. These are people's lives we are dealing with. We have to try to understand the rogue mages, and we have to help them see reason if we can."

"Of course," Seth nodded. "We need to bring them back to the circle for their safety as well as the safety of the people of Denerim. In order to do that, though, we need to be objective here. We can not let our emotions cloud our judgement."

Lenessa rolled her eyes, "You templars are impossible. Just promise me you won't kill anyone if you don't have to."

"I will do whatever needs to be done for the safety of everyone, Lenessa. That is all that I can promise."

Seth and his group rendezvoused with Cullen and compared information. The templars at the chantry had indeed received a report of apostates in the city. The report in itself was useless. It did not have any information that could help the hunt. What was interesting was who submitted the report. It was an elf named 'Lefty.'

"Everything points to Lefty right now," Cullen observed. "How do we find him?"

"Simple," Seth declared. "We consult the source of all information regarding Denerim."

"King Cailen?" Cullen asked.

"Maker, no," Seth declared. "Not the king. We need to speak to someone who actually knows what goes on in Denerim: the Carta."

"Criminals?" Cullen asked disgustedly.

"Yes," Seth nodded. "I happen to know one of Kinloch Hold's former lyrium suppliers who is now a Carta member in Denerim. He should give us the information we seek."

Seth led the way to the Gnawed Noble Tavern. He, Cullen, and Lenessa went inside, leaving the other templars behind. They went down a hallway within the tavern to where the bedrooms were located. Seth knocked on a door and waited.

"What caste are you from, friend?" a voice issued from the other side of the door.

Seth replied with the correct passphrase, mimicking a dwarf accent, "There are no castes on the surface, only the rich and the stupid." Seth could hear the bolt sliding out of the lock, and soon the door creaked open. A dwarf with a bald head and a long black beard poked his head out. His eyes grew wide when they met Seth's.

"Oh sod it all!" the dwarf exclaimed, attempting to slam the door. Seth stuck his boot in the door before it closed, though, and forced his way in. The apartment was sparsely decorated, and the only furniture was a bed and a desk. The dwarf gave up on trying to keep the templars out, and instead ran to his desk and picked up a few papers from it and threw them into the fireplace.

"Easy, Bradathon. I am not here to investigate you. I am a templar, not a Denerim guard."

"Yea, but templars don't like lyrium smugglers. Uh, I mean, not that I am one," Bradathon replied nervously. "Besides, Seth, whenever you come by it almost always means trouble for me, no offense."

"We are only looking for apostates," Seth reassured.

"Oh," Bradathon sighed, staring into the fire despondently, "I didn't even read some of those letters."

"Do you know anything about twenty apostates that have recently entered the city?" Seth asked.

"Can't say that I have," Bardathon replied with a shrug, "but apostates like to stay hidden, right? You know, because of you templars tracking them down and stuff. I should really see if I can salvage any of these letters." The dwarf started to prod the smoldering papers with a poker, but Cullen knocked the fire poker out of his hand.

Cullen shouted, "Focus on us, Carta scum!" The templar grabbed the dwarf by the collar. "We are looking for an elf that is known as 'Lefty,' and you will tell us what you know, or we will hand you over to the guards!"

Lenessa grabbed Cullen's arm and yelled at him, "Stop this nonsense! He's no threat to you!"

Bardathon cringed and pleaded with Cullen, "Let me go! You can't prove a thing! I ain't a part of the Carta, alright?"

Seth put his hand on Cullen's shoulder, saying, "Easy now. You are right, we have no proof of your Carta ties. However, I have a reputation of finding everything that I look for, and as long as you are useful to me, I have no reason to search for proof of your criminal ties. Do you understand?"

"Fine! I'll talk." the dwarf conceded. Cullen let Bardathon go, and the dwarf smoothed out his shirt, shooting Cullen a glare. "Look, so I may have heard of Lefty. The kid's a street urchin. Been doing odd jobs for people for years. He's getting older though. Gotta be almost 18 by now. From what I hear, the kid's kind of weird, you know? Like he's a devout Andrastian and he hates it when people ask him about his elf heritage. That's the trouble with city elves, some hate it when you assume they worship spirits and miss the forest, and others hate it when you assume they've been fully cultured. There's just no pleasing them; no offense, ma'am."

"None taken," Lenessa replied dryly.

"Get on with it, please," Cullen groaned impatiently.

"Alright, alright," Bardathon continued. "You want to know where to find him? Well, I may know some people that he has done a bit of work for, like I said. Therefore, I might know his address in the alienage."

Cullen crossed his arms and asked, "You mean that he does criminal work for the Carta, and since you are part of the Carta you have the records?"

"I resent the implication!" Bardathon replied with mock indignancy.

"Please find Lefty's address," Seth commanded.

"Sure thing," Bardathon nodded, turning to hunt through his desk. "I sure hope I didn't burn the sodding paper." The dwarf rooted around his unorganized desk until he finally found what he was looking for. "Here it is! This is Lefty's address. Now, I don't want to be inhospitable, but if that's all you guys needed, please leave."

"Always a pleasure, Bardathon," Seth declared as he turned to leave.

"Yea, see you, Seth. If you come back it will be too soon," Bardathon called after him.

Outside, Cullen remarked, "I wish we did not have to deal with criminals to achieve our objective."

"Bardathon is not an evil man, Cullen," Seth reassured. "He was once a respectable lyrium trader before he was cut off from Orzammar. I do not know the details, but Bardathon was forced to work with the Carta in order to stay in business. Maybe he did not make the right choice, but it is unfortunate that it can be so difficult for a person to run a business in this world."

"Kings and nobles are too powerful," Lenessa remarked.

"Perhaps," Seth agreed, "but I would never say so out loud."

"Still," Cullen declared, "Lyrium smugglers need to sell that lyrium to someone, and besides the few former templars who are addicted to the stuff, apostates are their only real customers."

Seth asked, "Are you suggesting Bardathon knows more about our missing mages than he told us?"

"I am suggesting more than that," Cullen said soberly. "It is possible that the dwarf helped the apostates escape in order to increase the size of his market. You said yourself that the tunnel was not made with magic. Someone else had to have helped them."

"That is solid reasoning," Seth nodded.

"What about that tranquil?" Lenessa commented. "The mages could have easily persuaded him to help them escape. Besides, can you really trust someone who has no emotion?" Lenessa said that last part while giving Seth a sideways glance.

Seth ignored Lenessa's comment about emotion and said, "Very well, we will not rule out either of them as possible accomplices to this, but if we want information on this whole business. We should go and see Lefty to find out what he knows."

The trio rejoined the templars outside and headed for the alienage. The alienage was a sad, rundown slum where the elves were forced to live. The only thing of beauty in that filthy part of town was a giant oak tree in the middle of the alienage. Seth led his templars to the address on Bardathon's paper. It was a small hut, squeezed in between two others. Seth knocked on the door.

The door opened to reveal an elf woman with hair a mess holding a baby on her hip. The house was noisy, and Seth could see two children playing behind the woman, as well as what looked like the figure of a man passed out on the floor. The elf who had opened the door exclaimed, "Oh my! What's all this then?"

"Does anyone called 'Lefty' live here?" Seth asked.

Without saying a word, the woman turned and screamed over the noise of the house, "Oi, Lefty! Your heroes are here to see ya!"

A young man walked up to the door. The elf had shoulder-length, scraggly blonde hair, and he was dressed in rags. He appeared to have just woken up too, for he was yawning and stretching. As soon as he saw who was waiting for him, though, his eyes went wide.

"Maker's breath!" He exclaimed. "You blokes finally gonna listen to my requests and make an elf a templar? Naw, wait. You aren't from the chantry. You blokes are 'ere for them blighted apostates aren't you?"

"You are correct, young man," Seth nodded. "Am I to understand that you know something about them?"

"Yea I know where to find 'em," Lefty declared. "An' I'll 'elp ya catch those blighters too. Ya can count on me, sah!"