Louise screams.

The elf- elf- looks surprised.

Elf.

First the orc-demon thing, and now...

...Now her wand is missing.

The elf says something in a foreign tongue. A spell?

Louise crawls backwards, barely noticing that she's on some sort of Infirmary bed. If the elf is using elvish magic...

Louise's thought process is cut of by her reaching the end of the bed and falling off.

Louise cries out, closes her eyes and waits for impact...

...which never comes.

After a moment, the terrified Noble opens her eyes.

A giant, glowing rune laid on the ground below her. The elf- a female elf, it looks like- is standing over her, talking waiting to catch her when she falls.

It takes all of Louise's willpower to not just faint. Instead, she screams again.

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"Ah! No, it's okay, it's just a Glyph of Paralysis! Uh- stop screaming, please? I just need to make sure you healed properly! Don't worry, the Glyph should wear off in a minu-"

"...Merrill..." Sighs Mirath.

"Oh! Hi Mirath! Could you help me calm her down?" Merrill gestures to the still screaming girl. "She won't stop, and you're more diplomatic than me."

Mirath sighs again. "I only heard her speak once in the Ruins, but I don't think she was talking Fereldan..."

"Really? Oh, I've always wanted to talk another language. I mean, other than Dalish, but most of the Dalish language was lost years ago, so we can't really talk that properly, and-" Merrill is cut off by the Glyph of Paralysis flickering out of existence, and the pink-haired girl falling into her arms.

The girl says something in a language that neither Elf recognises, and tries to hit the Dalish mage

Mirath grabs the girl. "Okay, why don't you-" She taps the mage on the chest, causing the girl to flinch. "-stay here-" Mirath taps the mattress "-while I-" Taps herself. "-go get the Keeper-" Points towards the general direction of said Keeper. "-so that she can help us talk." Here, Mirath points at her mouth and mimes some gibberish.

The pink haired mage starts hyperventilating.

Mirath sighs. "Or I could stay here and make sure you don't hurt anyone until the Keeper comes here to investigate why you screamed. That might be safer."

Merrill frowns. "I doubt she'd be much of a threat. You said that she used Magic, and we took her Wand... What kind of Mage uses a Wand anyway?"

"The kind that can blow a Genlock's arm off, singing the rest of the body, with one spell, while on fire." Responds Mirath.

"Ah."

"And just because she's unarmed doesn't mean she's dangerous. I've seen you cast spells without your staff."

"Yes, but it requires much more concentration and uses up more Mana. I doubt she can concentrate right now." Explains the Dalish First.

"And she could always go for the common Shem'len method of fighting dirty."

"You do that to, though."

"My point," Mirath cuts in, "Is she could poke your eye out if she panics."

"...Good point."

"Hey!" Calls a voice. The pink haired girl flinches, and curl into a ball. Mirath and Merrill look over, to see Tamlen walking over.

"So, what's up with the Shem'len? I didn't expect her to just... panic like that. Not after the Genlock."

"I'd tell you if I knew, Tamlen." Says Mirath. "She doesn't speak Fereldan."

Then she sighs again. "Where is the Keeper? She should've come when she heard the scream."

"She's talking to the Grey Warden." Replies Tamlen. "I overheard him talking about recruits."

"Looking for recruits?" Asks Merrill. "I wonder why. I mean, Grey Wardens don't recruit often, don't they? At least, I think they don't. Not from the Dalish, at least. Oh, she's panicking again."

The pink haired Shem'len continues hyperventilating, seemingly noticed the flowers that the younger elves had braided into her hair.

"I'll calm her down." Says Merrill.

Mirath sighs again. "The sooner the Keeper gets here and tries talking to her the better... Ah, there she is."

Marethari and Duncan walk over, discussing something that seems extremely important.

"Let's just hope she can understand whatever the Shem'len is saying." Replies Tamlen.

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"I have no idea what she is saying." Says Marethari.

Tamlen resists the urge to facepalm.

"Seriously?" Asks Mirath. "You have no idea what she's saying? How many languages do you speak, anyway?"

"The more important question," Replies the Dalish Keeper, "Is how many she speaks."

Mirath's eyes widen in understanding, as Marethari kneeled in front of the Shem'len.

The pink haired mage had curled into a ball and was muttering something that sounded like a prayer.

"Can you understand me?" Asks Marethari, speaking in Antivan. The girl doesn't respond.

Marethari frowns, and repeats her question in Tevene. Again, the girl doesn't respond.

Frowning, the Dalish Keeper switches to Orlesian.

"Can you understand me now?"

The pink haired girl stops her muttering, and looks up.

Feeling hopeful, Marethari repeats her question, still in Orlesian.

The girl nods slowly.

"Here we go." Mutters the Dalish Keeper. "Progress."

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Louise was having a bad day.

The failed summoning had somehow transferred her to a set of ruins, home of some sort of orc monster mage thing.

Then, after she had fallen unconscious, she had woken up amongst elves.

She is alone, curled into a little ball, like a child.

What should she do? What could she do? Not even Mother could fight a camp full of Elves, and she wasn't anything near Mothers level. She was just a failure, a pathetic-

"Understand, Thy can?"

...Elves speak Gallian? Really, really outdated Gallian, with horrible grammar...

Peeking up, out of her little ball- ohFounderwhyistheelfsoclose- the noble supresses a sniffle. She notices that the elf has some sort of marking on it's face... Maybe it's a sign of rank? Or maybe it's something to do with age, or... This was a clan, wasn't it? Maybe the markings vary depending on the clan?

The elf repeats it's question, cutting Louise out of her train of thought.

Slowly, Louise nods. It's... talking. Maybe it wants to mock her? Then why was it being so... calming? Maybe it was trying to get her hopes up?

The elf mutters something, then turns to it's companions.

They talk in another language for a bit, before the tallest one coming closer and kneeling down in front of he-

...Wait.

He's human.

Why is he here? Why is he not being attacked? Why is-

"Name thee?"

...He's human. And... she thinks that he's asking her name. That dialect and grammar really is horrible. But that's not the point.

...Maybe...

...Maybe if she does what they say, they'll let her go? Or maybe she can just pretend until she can escape?

Yes, that's a good plan. Mother would do that. She should try it.

...Wait. He's looking at her. She should answer the question.

"...L-Louise." She stutters.

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The Chantry has a story, about the origins of Spirits and Demons.

"You felt it, I presume?"

They are said to be the Maker's first children, Demons and Spirits are the same, with one difference.

"Of course. How could we not?"

Inhabitants of the Fade, Spirits are content to spend their lives enjoying what they have.

"He has kept his legacy alive. We should have crushed him when we had the chance."

Demons, however, grew jealous of those who lived outside the Fade.

"When? Before we knew of his power, or after he mastered it?"

Demons of Rage, Hunger, Sloth, Desire and Pride.

"This is your fault! If you had just let us-"

"Enough."

The voice of Pride is enough to stop the bickering.

"What has passed has passed. It is no longer important."

Silence reigns for a moment.

"What do we do?"

"I say we lure the heir to an Artefact. The Anvil, maybe."

"So, you want to make our first chance in millennium fight through the Deep Roads, further than anyone has gotten in years? Great plan."

"Okay then, what do you think we should do?"

"We should scout out the heir. We were too rushed with him, but we have time here. The heir is distant enough from most conflicts. We see what they want, then plan on how to take them."

"I like that plan. It's a good plan."

"...Bah, fine."

"All in favour?"

Four voices rang out in response. The result was anonymous.

"Then it is decided. We shall observe the heir, and thus stare into the heart of the Void. We shall discuss later."