An idea I had years ago, back on my second playthrough. Leliana's line about 'bad weather brought me here' planted the seed, and I finally got around to writing it. Anything you recognise is property of the respective owners. Anything you don't is property of my warped little mind.

'… Maker help me, which one is it?' Marshall asked himself, staring at the meal in front of him. 'The only thing I remember about fancy meals is that it's bad manners to ask, and also I'm sure the Arlessa will just apologise again about the food being simple. I'm surprised they still had the stores for… whatever this food is. Must be something Orlesian.' Resisting the urge to scratch his head, the young Warden slightly leant towards his right.

"Leliana" he whispered, "… Which fork am I supposed to use for this course?"

With an amused look, she reached to her own utensils and touched one for a brief moment. 'And without breaking conversation with Wynne' Marshall smiled, picking up the fork. 'But I got through to desert, without having to ask. Yay for me, as well…' He glanced up, noticing Alistair and Sten had copied his choice. 'I guess they didn't know either… how's Morrigan coping with all this?'

He carefully looked down the table, where the Witch in question had apparently not bothered with etiquette and continued using the same knife and fork for all the courses. 'Just like her' he thought, as a hand lightly grabbed his shoulder. Wincing as her nails subtly dug in, Marshall turned.

"Bann Teagan wants to ask you something" Leliana explained, with a forced smile. Marshall nodded, noticing Zev hiding his smirk at the pair of them. 'I guess picking her didn't mean she wouldn't get jealous anymore…' Marshall told himself. "My apologies, Bann Teagan. I was lost in thought."

"It's quite alright" the nobleman answered. "I just wanted to ask where you found that Golem you arrived with. It reminds me of one I saw, as a child."

"We met by accident, honestly. As I might have mentioned, after leaving Denerim and the Brecilian we circuited the lake to the Circle and Orzammar. We heard from the merchants that the gates had been sealed until further notice, and there was gossip about… well, Redcliffe" the Warden Mage mentally kicked himself for bringing up that subject. "Concerning items my companion" he motioned towards Sten, "wished to recover from scavengers." 'Nice save, Marsh! I bet nobody noticed!' "On our way down the western side of Calenhad, we met a merchant who told us where to find Shale. A lucky thing too, the village was under attack by Darkspawn when we arrived. After dealing with that, and…" Marshall trailed off again, peeking at Connor as the boy absently picked at his plate. 'Yeah, better not bring up Kitty right now.' "… And helping the villagers load up to leave, we woke Shale up and discovered it was free-willed. Thankfully, it was willing to join us. Then, we arrived here… the rest, you already know."

After dinner was finally, mercifully, concluded, Marshall excused himself and retreated to a sitting room. 'Well… that was fun. So that's what life in Kirkwall would have been like?'

"Hiding?" he heard a familiar Antivan voice tease. "I believe even your hound realised you had no idea what to do."

"Thank you, Zev. Your conversational daggers are much appreciated."

"Ah, but those ones merely wound your pride! Only short-lived pain, yes?"

"I know I'll be hearing jokes when we return to the road" Marshall groaned. "For now, I'm hiding from a different lecture."

"Ah yes… the lovely Wynne."

"Wynne? No, I… why Wynne?"

Zevran laughed. "Oh, you did not see? She seemed to be watching, everytime you and your Bard spoke… or even smiled at each other. She did not seem pleased, I shall warn you now."

"Even with a free meal, Wynne's not happy. I'll try not to faint from surprise" Marshall sighed. "I made the mistake of looking down the table, to see how Morrigan handled the pomposity of dinner." Loosening his sleeve, both men looked at the faint lines in his skin. "As you see, I don't think Leliana liked that."

"Oh, so she's a scratcher! That's good, for you to know that in advance" Zev chuckled. "You may find she enjoys digging in, during intimacy."

Feeling himself turn red, Marshall stared back at his companion. "… Is that common?"

Shrugging, Zev smirked further. "It is not uncommon. But that's good. It means she's spirited, from my experience. Especially after arguments. So just ride out her disapproval, and you shall be thankful for it, my blushing friend."

"Well… yeah… but I still think I'll have to think twice before looking in Morrigan's direction again."

"Ah, such a pity, too… although I envied your conundrum, between those two, I do not imagine you had an easy decision. I offered to help our dear Witch's rejection, I should admit."

"… Of course you did" Marshall scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Alas, her wounds were too fresh… she threatened to set fire to my p… my painful area. You know the one."

"Not how you'd want her hands so close to your…" Noticing Zev's cough of warning, and eyes flickering to the doorway, Marshall abandoned his sentence and turned around. "… Hello, young Lord!" he awkwardly greeted Connor, who stood at the entrance. "May I help you?"

Fidgeting nervously, Connor looked around the room. "… I asked the older lady, what the Circle's like. She almost answered, but then said I should ask you."

"Me? … Did she say why, or anything?" Marshall asked in confusion. 'First time Wynne ever turned down guiding a new student of the craft.'

"Not to me" Connor offered. "… She only said that I shouldn't be bothered, if you were talking to the red-haired lady. The two of you wouldn't mind answering me."

Barking out a short laugh, Zev shot the Warden Mage an 'I told you so' grin and left the room. "I shall you two to your discussion… I know very little on the topic, after all."

"Well… where do you want me to start? She knows more about Circle life, being so old." 'That's for the unnecessary blocking attempt, Wynne.'

"I don't know… I don't really know anything about Mages. People always said they're bad, and not much else. But you and the old lady seem good? I think I remember you, feeling you in my mind when you got rid of… her." Marshall sat down, and motioned for Connor to join him. "… Even the odd black-haired lady. She looks mean, but I noticed during dinner, every so often she slipped meat to the Mabari under the table."

'… I thought I locked Rylock up in the kennels. She must have gotten out… and snuck away before I could spot her. Or she's still hiding under the table. Bloody dog… I suppose it serves me right for how I named her. Her name can be Rylock, since she's a bitch. Not so funny now.' "Most people in the Circle are perfectly nice, you'll find. Magic's generally not bad, but using it uncontrolled can be dangerous."

"… Because the monsters want to trick us" Connor sadly replied.

"That's part of it. There's also people who try using magic, to force others to do what they want. We had to stop one, the last time I visited the Tower." '… I don't know how to talk to kids. Damn it, Wynne.'

"But there's just as many good Mages? In the Tower?"

"There sure are. Petra, Finn… Anders, I guess. He's a trouble-maker, but he usually means well. Plenty of Mages are good… it's just that people only ever hear about the bad ones. Where we found the Golem, a man told us its last owner was a Mage, who fought back in the War. With your… grandfather, I think."

"… Father never mentioned that."

"See? Mages have been great heroes, too" Marshall smiled.

"… Can you tell me about some?"

'… Kid called your bluff. Old Wilhelm never got mentioned in the Tower either, probably so we wouldn't get ideas about Royal Writs of Freedom. Better make a legend up, quick.' "… How about the most famous Mage of all?" 'What the hell did you say that for?!'

"Oh, yes please!" Connor shouted in excitement.

'Damn idiot… better think of something big.'

"I can tell you about a Mage" Leliana interrupted, as she walked into the room. "If that's alright."

Sighing, Marshall nodded thankfully. "She's a much better storyteller than I am" he told Connor. "Shall we listen?"

"You know about the best Mage?"

"An amazing one indeed" she smiled at the young boy. "He doesn't show up in the story right away, so please be patient."

"That's fine" Connor nodded. "I like stories."

"It begins with a poor young girl, who found herself far from her home after… bad weather. She ended up sheltered, in a small, small town. When the storm passed, she was unsure about whether to stay. But, one day, she was tasked with an important quest" Leliana stopped, and glanced at Marshall. "She didn't know it yet, but she also found… a magical blessing."

Raising an eyebrow, Marshall smiled. "Ah, I know this story."

"I should hope so… now, hush" Leliana lightly said. "But there was also trouble. An awful, hideous creature… the Wicked Witch of the Wilds emerged in the small town. She was dreadfully jealous of the girl's magical blessing, and wanted it for herself."

'Gee, I wonder what the message of this story is…' Marshall inwardly groaned.

"What was it?" Connor asked. "The blessing?"

"… Fancy shoes" Marshall answered quickly. "With fancy gold charms and hanging ribbons."

"The girl was delighted to be given them, too" Leliana smiled. "But as I said, the Wicked Witch of the Wilds was insanely jealous, because in her swamp there was nothing pretty to wear. The girl offered to take her dress shopping, but was rejected. Only the shoes would satisfy her."

'So if I'm shoes, I guess Zev would be Antivan leather-hide boots.'

"The girl knew she had to leave the small town, so she left… accompanied by a dog, and a strange man she met nearby. He had the most curious hair, no matter the weather, his hair would always be shooting up. Like straw."

"He had straw in his head?"

"That's right, Connor" Marshall grinned. "He had so much straw in his head, it often fell down into his skull and left him stupid and confused."

"So the girl, the dog, and the… straw-head found a road, and they followed it a short distance. Where they found a tall man, unable to move. Being so clever, the girl and her group discovered how to help him escape the trap he had been stuck in. A special weapon had made him do terrible things, before, that was why he had become stuck. He didn't trust magic, so he decided to help them elude the Wicked Witch."

'Kid looks confused… he's probably wondering when we get to the good Mage. I guess I'm not the hero in this story, after all.'

"But there was also another member they found… a golem, a very odd and rare creature in the areas they travelled. Although it looked massive and fearsome, with great strength, it had to be talked into coming along. It often panicked, saying … winged abominations from the sky would descend upon them."

"It was scared of that?"

"So it seemed… you see, its people were famous for not blinking at danger. Showing emotion was very uncommon for them, which made it very alone."

"The girl did get it to admit it looked shoes… because of the magic ones" Marshall added.

Leliana grinned at the memory. "Eventually, yes… like the others in her group, the golem was also scared of magic. Especially the Wicked Witch of Wilds' type of magic. Like turning into animals – because, remember, it was horrified of flying creatures."

"Were they monsters?" Connor asked, looking worried.

"Wretched, twisted things, the cowardly golem always called them" Marshall explained. '… And now we just need to insult Wynne, with this story.'

"Was the dog scared of all this?"

"Oh, the dog could be the worst. But also fierce… sometimes playful. Often gluttonous, most of the time" Leliana told Connor.

As if summoned, Rylock stuck her head around the corner with a disapproving look. "Hey! I know you were sneaking food at dinner!" Marshall reprimanded his Mabari. "Back to the kennels, or you won't get your actual meal tonight."

"After many travels, like through the southern forest…"

"What did they find there?" the young boy interrupted.

"Strange, ancient trees that attacked them. Talking beasts. The forest was older than memory, and contained many lost things. But with the forest behind them, they again found trouble from the Wicked Witch. To secure the support of the brilliant Mage who lived in the lands, the girl had to stop the Witch's interfering for good."

"What are you all talking about?" Alistair's voice made them all look up in surprise.

"They're telling me about the great Mage, and the girl who got blown to a new land by storms."

"… Of course. Did they mention their handsome travelling companion, with the amazing hair?"

"Is that the straw-head?"

"Straw… head?"

"Yeah, with the stiff hair that pokes down into his head and makes him foolish."

Shooting an annoyed glare at the storytellers' overly-innocent faces, Alistair sat on the floor. "That's just what the jealous people thought of him. He was the land's next King, in the end… with a crown and everything. And they don't let just anybody be king."

"Getting ahead of yo… the story, aren't you?" Marshall smirked. "There would be a lot of hard work before the straw-headed King."

"Right, right… where are we, in the story?"

"She said the Wicked Witch of the Wilds was making trouble again" Connor said, impatiently.

"Oohh, her… it's true, she was nothing but trouble. Very rude, too" Alistair smiled. "Luckily for the party, the… straw-head realised her weakness. She had arrived, insulting them all for swimming and just having any fun at all. He suddenly figured it out – the Witch's mother, who had the exact same ugly nose, had never allowed the Witch to learn to swim. Too much fun for Witchs to be seen doing. She could only swim if she became a fish. So the straw… the future King soaked her with a mighty splash, and she melted away into the night, never to bother them again. Truly a hero for the history books, he was."

Connor sat quiet for a moment. "… All that time and trouble, and she was defeated by water?"

"… That's the Wicked Witch for you. Thought she was so grand and powerful, but such a simple thing brought her undone. Think about it" Alistair offered.

"… But why didn't they just splash her at the start?"

Leliana stood up to explain. "Only the straw-head thought of it, because such a bizarre weakness takes an uncommon mind to think about."

"Then he became King" Alistair replied, trying to sound defiant.

"Yes, he certainly did" she waved him down. "But we were getting to the Mage. With the Wicked Witch chased back to her swamp, her enchantment against the Mage was lifted and he could be his real self again. Since he was free to help the girl's group, he offered them all gifts. The golem, he convinced not to be so afraid of the evil flying things… because they were only evil because of the Witch. The tall man, with the special weapon, he was reunited with his heart and soul. The straw-head learnt when to be foolish and when not, and went on to be King."

"What about the girl? Or the dog?"

"The dog was well-fed… and the girl? Once the trouble in the land was dealt with, and she helped the Mage live again and discover what he really wanted… the great Mage agreed to return to her homeland with her, to see it. Where they both lived happily."

"… The Mage didn't actually do much" Connor complained.

"His story doesn't end there, he went on to do more things" Leliana said.

"Also, he knew he had to get everyone to fight for themselves, he couldn't fix everything himself" Marshall answered. "That might make him a bit of a fraud, but it was important for the people to remember their own strength. You need it, in the bad times… that's when liars can trick you the easiest."

"Like her" Connor nodded.

"Yes… you know, old Wynne has a story that's more fun."

"She does?"

With a smirk, Marshall patted the boy's shoulder. "Go ask her to tell you her Griffon story. She loves to be asked about Griffons. Say 'Dear old Wynne, tell me about the Griffons' and she'll know the one you want."

"Alright, I will! Everyone loves Griffons!" he announced, leaving the room.

"So… straw-head, am I?" Alistair broke the silence.

"… And a King. I think the straw-head will make a good one… first he has to pardon two loose-tongued countryfolk?"

"… Foreigners, who don't know any better" Alistair shrugged. "Let's leave it at that."

"See? Wise and merciful. You're a good King, already" Leliana pointed out.

"… I doubt I will be. But I can pretend until we boot out Loghain, and get Anora back in power."

"Ah!" Marshall laughed, clapping his hands. "The next part of the tale – the true queen is returned, and the wise straw-head steps aside."

Shaking her head as the two Wardens began playfully wrestling over the jest, Leliana stepped out of the room. '… I suppose someone has to get Rylock back in her kennel.'