People were coming from all directions, all headed toward the same place. Some traveled via the roads on horseback, some walked along snowy paths, some hiked through the mountains, and some, like Maxwell Trevelyan, traveled by ship. All were heading for a place which, ten years ago, was a thing of legends.
Maxwell was the youngest of his many siblings; most of the younger children in his family had joined the Chantry since they had such little chance of becoming an heir, and it was likely that Maxwell would soon join suit. However, for the moment, he and his uncle were heading to the Conclave, where they would meet up with relatives who had ties to the Chantry, and they would all represent the Trevelyan family.
He was in awe of how many people there were. It would be a while until the Conclave began, and yet so many people were beginning to gather. One group which he couldn't help but stare at had a horse drawn wagon with several passengers. However, what took Maxwell's attention was the group of armed qunari guarding the wagon, with a particularly large qunari at the front, leading them all forward.
"Hey, Adaar," said one of the mercs, this one a rather tall, male elf, "do you think this is going to end in violence?"
"Ha! If it doesn't, I owe Shokrakar twenty silver!" All the mercs laughed at the qunari's comment despite the seriousness of the situation.
As they were on horseback, they were faster, and so Maxwell and his uncle soon got ahead of the mercenaries and their employers. As they passed, Maxwell couldn't help but look back, and he shuddered when his eyes met those of the qunari Adaar, who glared at him. Adaar. That would be the first of the three strange people Maxwell would end up seeing that day.
The second he saw right outside of the temple. His uncle spotted their relatives and went ahead without Maxwell, leaving the young man alone for the moment. Maxwell's attention turned to the next when he heard a shout.
"Cadash? Is that you?" He looked to see a male dwarf dressed in casual clothing run towards another dwarf, this one clad in heavy armor and holding a metal case. She brushed back her long, mahogany curls so that she could glare at the dwarf who had just approached her with her steely eyes. From this point on Maxwell couldn't hear their conversation amongst all the chatter, but he saw the woman grab the man by the beard, pulling him close so that she could whisper some words into his ear. He quickly retreated, his eyes wide in fear from whatever he had just heard. Maxwell slowly walked by the intimidating dwarven women, who snarled when their eyes met.
It was in the temple that he noticed the third odd person. She tried to hide under her hood, but Maxwell noticed her anyway. She was an elf with bleach blonde hair and bright green markings decorating her face. She looked behind her to make sure that no one was following, and then quietly walked up the stairs. Interested with this turn of events, Maxwell followed her.
He found the woman fiddling with one of the brick walls, muttering in a language he couldn't understand. "What are you doing up here?" Maxwell asked.
The woman let out a little shriek and turned to look at Maxwell. "You frightened me!" she said, moving the brick she had just been fiddling with and jerking it out of its place in the wall, leaving a nice peephole into the next room where the Conclave would be held.
"Have you been here before?" Maxwell inquired.
"That's none of your business," she said, which Maxwell took as a "yes". "Now please, just forget you saw anything and go, or else."
Maxwell couldn't help but laugh at that comment, wondering what a little thing like her could possibly do to him. She glared and held out her hand, igniting a small ball of fire. Maxwell quickly took a step back, nodding in acknowledgment, and the flame went out just as quickly as it had materialized.
"I take it you wouldn't answer if I asked what you were doing?"
"Correct."
Maxwell and the elf stared at each other for about a minute straight, neither averting their gazes. Finally, Maxwell gave in. "Alright," he said, "but can I at least ask you your name?"
"She was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Fine. My name is Ell-... Lavellan." A human wouldn't know that this was actually the name of her clan, she figured.
"Then, Miss Lavellan, I'll leave you to your suspicious activity," Maxwell said with a polite bow, causing Lavellan to roll her eyes.
He was about to walk down the stairs when the noise came.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Lavellan.
"Seriously?" she replied. "Just go."
"I'm not kidding," he said. "I thought I heard a scream. Someone might be in trouble. We should go check to see if everything's alright."
"Do it yourself," the elf said, completely uninterested. "You may not care, but I came here to do a job, so I'm not going anywhere."
Maxwell shot her a disgusted look, but the young elven woman gave no response. She had no time to converse with a human. Especially a rude one who had secretly followed her.
Neither she nor Maxwell knew that his doing so would save his life. He ran toward the sound of the scream, and neither he nor the elf bothered looking back.