Daylen was now the Constable of the Grey of the Grey Wardens, but he didn't really care about titles. There was only one thing he did care about and that was finding Morrigan and after more than two years he finally had a lead.
Theron was informed that Keeper Lanaya noticed a woman just outside of Ostagar in the vicinity of Flemeth's hut. He was also grateful that Alistair and Elissa had lend the use of Barkspawn for his little adventure.
He didn't dare enter the city itself for the Dalish there were still wary of humans despite him being a Grey Warden, though he was impressed how fast they manage to rebuild these old city. It was no doubt use the aid of Bann Kallian, who sent builders to help them rebuild the old ruins.
There were few Dalish that were controlling the perimeter that stopped him when he approach, but once they realised who he was they allowed him to pass.
"I've kept watch, as the Keeper said. Yesterday, I saw smoke. And a woman," said a Dalish.
As he walked through the Wilds, he noticed there were no bones in the clearing. He supposed, given that years had passed, that was not surprising. But then, he hadn't been expecting to find bones in the first place. Throughout the wild, he'd heard birds. Unexplained rustling of leaves. Here, though, there was silence. Fearful waiting.
The hut still stood. Smoke came out of the small chimney. Whoever the Dalish had seen was still there, or had left only a brief time ago. The mabari whined at him. He smiled at him. "I'm glad you're here. I couldn't do this alone."
Barkspawn whined again, and licked his hand. He rubbed his ears. "We'll find Morrigan, I promise."
Barkspawn barks happily and at once rushed over towards the hut.
They entered into the hut and at once Barkspawn growled, they weren't alone.
A Dalish woman appeared out of the holding elven style blades in each hand, and wore armour of ironbark. "Not another step! What are you doing here?" She held the blades threateningly.
Barkspawn leaned forward and snarled.
"Call off your hound, shem!"
"Easy there, boy," said Daylen.
Barkspawn backed off and at once the woman withdrew her blades. "Fine. I am Ariane, of the Dalish people. My keeper sent me to find Asha'bellanar—the Woman of Many Years."
"I'm looking for Morrigan," he said.
She blinked. "I see. Then we have more in common than I expected." She looked around the hut. "I pursue Morrigan as well. She has done a great injustice to my clan. Has she wronged you?"
Daylen rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I loved her."
Ariane blinked. "Ah. They say she is beautiful, but I have never heard anyone claimed she is capable of love." There was an awkward silence between the two of them, but Ariane spoke again. "Morrigan stole an ancient book my clan has guarded since the days of Arlathan. We were the only ones with such a piece of our history." She gestured. "Everything we once had, all legacy of our ancient magics were stripped from us, first by the Tevinter magisters, then by the wretched Circle." A sigh escaped her. "And Morrigan took what little was left."
"How do you know Morrigan stole it?"
"One month ago, she visited our clan in the name of friendship, and took great interest in our history. She knew exactly what she was looking for." Ariane clenched her fists. "The keeper allowed her to see the book. Two nights later, it was gone."
"What's so special about this book?"
"For almost two thousand years, the Dalish people have been wanderers, a shadow of what we once were. The book - as much of a mystery as it is to us - is one of the only clues on how to reclaim that past. My keeper, Solan, says it was a treatise on something the ancients called 'Eluvian.' The word is as old as the book itself, and its meaning has been lost." She shook her head. "Save perhaps to Morrigan."
"So what now?"
"Help me. We both want Morrigan, and we can aid each other." She gestured. "The book of Eluvian was reclaimed for my clan by an elven mage, who stole it from the Circle of Magi before defecting. He said other similar treasures remain in the library, but they would never allow a Dalish to view them. Perhaps you will meet a different reception…"
"I am from the Circle. I'll get is in," he assured.
"Ma serannas, I look forward to working with you."
Barkspawn chuffed happily.
They made good time to the Circle. She had no objections to avoiding the roads and cutting overland, and seemed surprised he was able to easily keep up with the pace she set.
No one seemed to object to them taking a place on the ferry. The increased traffic provided by Alistair's easing of the restrictions on the circle provided plenty of crowd in which they could lose themselves.
Once inside the tower, however, they were almost immediately stopped by a Templar. He gave them a suspicious look. "Welcome to Ferelden's Circle of Magi. Please keep your hound under control. Some of the apprentices are easily startled." He gave Ariane a distasteful sneer. "And I see you have a Dalish elf with you."
Ariane returned the sneer. "Is that a problem?"
"Ariane can be trusted," Daylen said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She glared. "Most Dalish are common thieves?"
The Templar rolled his eyes. "As you say." He shook his head. "The Circle is glad to have you as a guest. As you can see, things are much changed from when you were last here."
"Where's Greagoir?" Daylen asked.
"Greagoir is in Denerim, attending to some important business," the Templar said. "My name is Hadley. I lead the Templars in the knight-commander's absence. Good day to you."
Ariane looked around as they entered. "I see why Keeper Solan did not want me to come here. It is all too tempting to overturn the tight order of their little world…"
"I need to go to the library."
"If you looking for a book, you can start in the index section, as a Circle Mage and Constable of the Grey, you and your guests are free to explore the first floor the tower without an escort."
"Just stay close to me," said Daylen as they entered.
"You never told me you are a Grey Warden," said Ariane curiously.
"That's right I never introduced myself my name is Dayen Amell," he said giving a little bow.
"Wait, I know that name, you were one of the Wardens that fought beside Theron the Fen'On'ala. The Great Wolf."
"I didn't just fought by his side, I was also his friend and it was he that told me that Morrigan was at her mother's old hut."
As they walk through he couldn't help but notice the young dwarf that Theron had mentioned to him. He had seen in the last time he came to the tower and it appeared that she was just as excited last time he saw her.
The moment Dagna saw him he rushed over towards him. "You! Did you come to visit? I got the notes you sent me on the rune enhanced lyrium infusions and you wouldn't believe what I've discovered about that sword you sent me and I've been working on some correlating…"
He stopped being able to follow her about five seconds later. Somehow, the young dwarven woman transcended the need to breathe when going on about her studies. It took him the better part of a minute just to calm her down and escort Ariane to the library.
"Look at all these books!" said Ariane in awe. "I've never seen so many."
"We shouldn't have a problem trying to find the book we need," said Daylen.
It took them a few minutes to find a book on elven artifacts. Unfortunately the book was an elven. Ariane, however, brightened. "I recognise the character on this page! I think it makes up part of the word 'Eluvian!'"
"Is this like the book you lost?"
"Similar. The bindings are in the same style, but the script is different." She started looking around. "This is a library, isn't it? Perhaps another book could help us translate this."
After a couple more minutes, they found a translation book. Ariane used it to locate the pages that referenced the eluvian.
"Whoa! Who let a dog in here?" The man suddenly gasped. "And what are you doing? Be careful!" He snatched the book away from Ariane and clutched it to him like it was a precious child. "You're bending the book too much. It'll crack the spine and cause the pages to fall out!" He shook his head. "Just thinking about it is making me dizzy."
Daylen rolled his eyes. "Be careful with what?"
The mage looked at him and his eyes widened. "Wait… I know you. You're… the Grey Warden mage." He then groaned. "This is even worse. Don't they teach you proper care of antique volumes in the first year?" He then rubbed his forehead. "Maker! People save the country and suddenly they think they can abuse priceless books all willy-nilly!"
Daylen shook his head. "Are you familiar with this book?"
The mage looked the book. "I've used it, but I don't know it by heart. Hmm… browsing the chapter on the Eluvians? No one's actually found one, you know."
Ariane gaped. "You know what 'Eluvian' is?"
The mage. Nodded. "It's old elvish for 'seeing glass'. Mirror."
Daylen blinked, and then glanced at Ariane. "Your keeper couldn't even translate the word for mirror?"
"It's a two-thousand-year-old dialect."
"She's right. The word is from the lost language of Arlathan, forgotten over eons of slavery." Finn shrugged. "I only know a few dozen words of it, and I'm the Circle's linguist. 'Eluvian' isn't just any mirror, it's a special kind. When the Imperium sacked Arlathan, they took these mirrors and tried to unlock their power. But all they could use them for was communication, over long distances."
Daylen frowned. "Why would Morrigan be interested in that?"
"Ah, you're a friend with a special interest? Maybe she needs to talk to someone?" she said giggling.
"Never mind," said Daylen rubbing his forehead. "Anyway, I know where to find one."
"You do?" They both asked him.
"Well, I've never seen it myself, but my friend Theron, the Hero of Ferelden found one and got corrupted by it," he explained.
Ariane gaped at him. "Ir abelas… I met his clan not too long ago, but I never linked their story with the Dalish Warden's tale. Of course!"
Daylen was really surprised by this, because while he knew that Theron had finished his book he was now having difficulty trying to find a publisher who would publish it. Though he expected that he would succeed especially with Leliana by his side.
"What happened to the mirror?" the mage asked curiously."
"My mentor smashed it to pieces. It was corrupted by darkspawn, beyond hope of recovery." He was fairly confident he could find the location again.
The mage waved his hands. "Even broken, it could be used to find the others. No, don't get ahead of yourself, Finn, you have to be sure."
"What?" Ariane asked. "What do you know?"
Finn was extremely excited and was failing in attempts to calm down. "This is so exciting! We have to go to the repository. Hadley has the key."
Daylen hope this time things would not be so hectic in the repository, he can never forget the amount of trouble Jowan had put him in the last he was down there.
"Hadley! Just the man I was looking for," Finn said.
"Not looking very hard, were you? I'm always here."
Finn chuckled. "Good one. So I… eh… need to go into the repository."
"No," Hadley said flatly.
"No? Why not? I'm not some drooling apprentice."
"It's because of me, isn't it?" Ariane asked, folding her arms.
"Actually, it may be because of me," said Daylen, rubbing the back of his neck. "The last I was down there I kind of blew up a wall and set a blood mage loose."
"No." Hadley shook his head. "The sentinels have been behaving erratically, so the repository is locked for everyone's safety."
"Oh." Finn gave a dejected sigh. "Well then… uh… sorry for bothering you."
"Is there anything I can do?" Daylen asked.
Hadley blinked. "I would certainly like to see the situation resolved, but I would hate to put you in danger." Hadley shook his head. "The repository isn't crucial to the daily functioning of the Circle, so we've left it until we can spare more men."
"I'll help with this," Daylen assured.
Hadley sighed, and handed the key over. "Very well, and your necks. But before you go, what's so important down there?"
"The statue." Finn gestured. "It knows things about Tevinter, and I need to speak to it."
Hadley nodded. "All right. Be careful, and keep the mess to a minimum."
Ariane looked at Finn strangely. "You know that talking to inanimate objects is a sign of insanity?"
"Not when it talks back," Finn smiled as they made their way towards the repository.
Ariane looked sceptical. "You think this statue talks… to you?"
"It does," said Daylen. "I had a nice little conversation with it the last time I was down there."
"Oh, yes… you were there, weren't you? With Jowan." Daylen nodded, he knew that Jowan have become tranquil, but he could never really bring himself to look at him in the eyes, not that he was now so cold. "Some of the apprentices now use his name to describe dangerous schemes with little chance of success. Technically a misnomer… since he made it out of the tower alive…"
Ariane just for the two of them like they were crazy.
"It's complicated," said Finn. "It wasn't always a statue. You'll see."
The sentinels attacked them before they'd gone halfway down the corridor. He dispatched his easily, and then watched a moment. Ariane had a bit of difficulty, but managed. That's when they notice something that looked like a dark scar in front of them.
"That's a tear in the Veil," Finn gasped as he blasted the sentinel with a fireball. "Something from the Fade is influencing the sentinels! We have to deal with this!"
"I see something like this before in the Blackmarsh, I can conceal it," said Daylen.
He then began to mumble and then fired a powerful burst of energy right into the tear destroying it. At once the sentinels stopped right in their tracks.
"We did it! And those sentinels are going back to normal. We need to deal with the rest of the rips in the Veil if we can."
"What happened in the Blackmarsh exactly?" Ariane asked curiously.
"It's a long story," said Daylen.
As they walk through he noticed that the old vials containing the phylacteries of the apprentices had moved. In truth he was exactly surprised, considering that a circle mage, an apprentice and a lay sister wayward a breakthrough the magical wards.
They soon found all the magical that the Templars at had stored in the repository, including the statue. Though something was different from it than the last time he saw it.
"The prison is breached. I see the encroaching darkness."
Ariane stared. "Wow. It does talk."
"Hello?" Finn approached the statue.
"The… the shadow will consume all…"
"What are you talking about?" Daylen asked.
"A hunger, a cage, a yawning void… help me…"
"Something is causing it distress. The tears in the Veil, most likely. The statue's useless until we mend the Veil." Finn wrung his hands.
It took some doing, but there are able to locate the tears in the Veil and destroyed them. Had one slide before the sentinels stopped attacking them in return to their usual positions.
"That's the last of them. The sentinels should stop trying to kill us now," said Finn.
"Then let's head back to the statue," said Daylen.
They made their way back towards the statue and it began to speak once more. "I am the spirit of Eleni Zinovia, once consort and—"
"Advisor to Archon Valerius, blah, blah, fall of the house. Yes, we've been through that." Finn gestured impatiently.
"Finn… greetings."
"Are you all right?" Daylen asked the statue. "You seemed distressed, earlier."
Finn looked at him as though he were the crazy one. "Are you asking the statue if it's all right? It's a statue!"
Ariane snickered. "So you'll talk to it, but it's strange to ask about its well-being?"
"It's made of stone! Short of a hammer and chisel, nothing will hurt it."
Daylen sighed. Finn had clearly never seen a golem sulk.
"Stone eyes are no longer clouded, the darkness recedes, for now."
Finn glanced at him. "It's hard to get answers out of it—requires parsing all the grandiose mumbo-jumbo." He turned back to the statue. "We know where a broken Eluvian lies. Can it still be used to find the others?"
"Scry. The broken glass, dagger-sharp, will be your key."
"Broken glass?" Daylen asked. "From the mirror?"
"Yes," the statue replied. "The Lights of Arlathan will illuminate the scryer's path. The archons possessed them, but they were misused, befouled, and lost, like so much the Imperium touched. Some were saved, carried by fugitives from the elven city. Their sorrow awoke the Stone, and her children sheltered them. They found a sanctuary in the deep halls of Cad'halash, now known as Cadash. There the Lights of Arlathan lie, shielded from unworthy eyes."
"Cadash thaig?" Daylen shook his head. "Impossible, it's not that old."
"So you know of it," said Finn slightly surprised. "Convenient."
Ariane was still staring at the statue. "She mentioned the children of the Stone. I had not realised the durgen'len once aided my people when they fled."
The statue spoke again. "Goodbye Finn. We will not speak again."
Finn started to nod, and then turned to stare at the statue. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"
The statue did not reply. Daylen shook his head and started walking out of the repository.
"Why do you think it said we wouldn't talk again?" he asked them and then his eyes widened. "I… I'm not gonna die, am I?"
"Let's not think about it," Daylen suggested. "It may have indicated that you might not return to the repository again."
Ariane grabbed Finn's arm before they got to the end of the corridor. "Now mage, tell us what's going on."
Finn gestured excitedly. "The Eluvians are linked. All of them. If you have one, you can find the others, if they still exist. But the one you know of is broken, and corrupted. So we need something else to… amplify the magic."
A note of wonder entered Ariane's voice. "The Lights of Arlathan."
"Yes," Finn said. "I'll start going over my notes. Once you find the shard and the lanterns, bring them back here and I'll be able to help you find the eluvian."
"Will you come with us, Finn?" Dayeln asked.
"Ready when you are," Finn grinned.
Once Finn had filled his satchel with books and papers. Hopefully, he wouldn't need a change of clothes or food.
Daylen took a moment to say goodbye to Dagna. She pressed a few of her creations on them before they left.