Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age, it belongs to BioWare. This is just a random idea of mine.
Dragon Age: Dawn of Chaos
The Fade, a practically limitless expanse of surreal landscapes, powerful spirits and great power, where most only gain the slightest glimpse through their dreams. There are some however that are able to access this daunting place at will, these people are known as mages and it is though this connection that granted them numerous abilities capable of bringing about much awe and respect from those who could not access The Fade at will.
However like nearly all things the powers corrupted some of the mages and gave rise to the vast empire of the Tevinter Imperium. The Magister Lords who ruled over the empire used corrupted magic's and bargains with the more dangerous spirits to suppress those under their rule. None were able to stand against them; not even the great elven empire, whose culture and history was practically wiped out after the fall of Arlathan and its people enslaved. It was not until the first Exalted March of the prophetess Andraste and her followers that the Imperium was somewhat humbled.
Eventually a new religion was founded around the teachings of Andraste, the Chantry. Its power was firmly secured after several Exalted Marches, one of which was against the Dalish – the descendants of the elves freed by Andraste.
One of the primary responsibilities of the Chantry was to prevent the rise of another Imperium by trying to maintain control of all mages, whether they be Elf, Human or even Kossith, they did this by establishing the Circles of Magi – places where the mages would be relocated to for the protection of themselves and others, under the supervision of the Templars who had been trained to counter mages and the magic they wield. While they were often considered gilded cages, most thought of them as a necessary evil.
In order for a mage to be considered a full circle mage they must first pass a trail known as 'The Harrowing', they could not choose if or when they could take it though; that decision was left to both the First Enchanter and the Knight Commander who represented the Mages and Templars respectively. This trail involved the mage in question entering the fade and confronting a demon, summoned by other mages, which aimed to possess the mage in question. Those that were unfortunate enough to be possessed or took too long would swiftly be struck down by the Templars attending. Despite this daunting process the only other option available for circle mages was the Rite of Tranquillity, a procedure that would prevent the person from being able to enter The Fade but at the cost of both their emotions and the majority of their independence or free will. If they knew what The Fade really could contain there would probably be a cry out for all the mages to be made tranquil.
It is during one of these Harrowings that we find a young elven mage who was nineteen years old, had black hair styled with two braids framing his face and had black flame-like tattoos over his forest green eyes, had just entered the fade and was currently engaged in combat with a Pride Demon.
Surana grasped his staff tightly as Mouse revealed his true form as a Pride Demon. Fighting the Rage Demon and its reinforcements was challenging but only due to numbers that he was up against and in the end the Rage Demon's lack of intelligence made it simple enough to kill when an opening presented itself.
A Pride Demon was something else altogether, not only were they more powerful than a Rage Demon but were more intelligent and right now he was facing one immediately after a battle where it had seen just how he fought. Not exactly a position he wanted to be in.
The Demon glared maliciously at him before it reared its head back and roared. The loud penetrating noise went straight through him and shook his bones. As the demon prepared to attack a crunch sounded out, not the crunch of bones or stones breaking but more like that of someone eating food.
Both elf and Demon were taken by surprise at the noise, as they both looked for the source their eyes fell upon something that wasn't there a moment ago. It appeared to be a human man lounging in a well padded chair floating in mid air, eating some form of small, crunchy, orange sticks from a bowl resting in his lap.
The man had what could be described as a mane of white hair with a black streak running through it with a matching beard that was like a goat's, his skin seemed to have a dark tone to it and his mouth had an amused smile, with a sharp fang sticking out from his lower lip.
The man's clothing was a mad patchwork of different colours, materials and styles that seemed as if it shouldn't blend or even work together and yet the chaotic ensemble did. What did seem out of place were the rather boxy glasses he wore, with one lens red and the other blue.
"Oh, don't mind me." He said in a light-hearted and amused sounding voice, "Please, continue I'm curious as to how you'll get of this one." He said to the elf as he continued snacking, only now the orange sticks had become some form of twisted mix of biscuit and bread,
"He won't escape me." The Demon growled,
"Oh yes he will." The man said in a mocking sing – song voice,
The Demon glared at him,
"And what makes you so sure?" It challenged,
The man smirked as his bizarre glasses disappeared with a pop revealing his eye, which had yellow sclera and pupils, with red irises and Surana saw that they glinted with malicious glee. He leaned further back into his chair before he snapped his fingers on his right hand and with a pop a frothy and rich brown drink, in a clear glass with a small thin tube sticking out of it, and appeared in his hand.
"Because either boyo over there will think of something or if it comes down to it, I'll step in." The man said, still smiling but his voice losing some of its humour as a dangerous edge set in,
Pride Demons by their nature are proud to the point of arrogance and so do not take challenges or dismissal well,
"Then perhaps I should rip your head from your shoulders and save you the trouble." It threatened,
The man simply shrugged his shoulders in indifference,
"You're certainly free to try. I wouldn't recommend it but you're free to try. Personally I'd recommend you walk away, find a nice Desire demon, raise a bunch of demon babies and forget this ever happened. Hopefully they'd take after mother in the looks department though." He said, smirking towards the end.
The Pride Demon let out a roar of rage before charging towards the man and raised its fist, intending to crush him. On reflex Surana looked away, but when he heard no sound of impact he looked back and felt his jaw drop at what he saw. Despite the bulk of the Demon's fist slamming on his head, the man hadn't moved at all save to keep snacking with his left hand.
The Demon took an uneasy step back, its fear becoming apparent as it gazed at the person lazily smiling back at it. The man began to suck the thin tube and the glass itself began to drain from the bottom upward leaving him holding the liquid, which he threw behind him causing an explosion when it hit the ground. The man smirked at the demon,
"Don't tell me that was the best you've got." He said condescendingly,
In response the Pride Demon growled before letting out a torrent of green fire from its mouth towards him.
Neither Surana nor the Demon was able to see the man behind the flames; however they both heard the slurping noises start, even over the roaring flames, causing the Demon to stop its attack.
The flames began moving erratically before they began to swirl in a whirlpool like manner, into the open mouth of the man. When the last of the flames had been consumed, the man smacked his lips in satisfaction before tapping his chest with his right fist and let out a small poof of black smoke from his mouth,
"Mmm, spicey." He said with satisfaction seeping into his words, "Well I don't think I'll be needing these." He said before snapping his right fingers causing both the bowl of food and the padded chair to disappear with a pop, leaving him standing in mid-air before he stepped down as if he was on a small and invisible staircase and finally stopped on the ground.
He looked dispassionately towards the demon,
"W … what are you?" The clearly terrified demon asked,
The man seemed to take a moment to consider the question before answering,
"Endless." He said simply,
The demon was quiet for a few seconds clearly trying to think quickly. Its eyes suddenly widened in dread,
"The Lord of Chaos." It said, terror unhidden in its voice despite its efforts and upon seeing the knowing smirk appear on the man's face it did something that Surana never expected it to do; it dropped to its knees and bowed its head, to the point where its forehead touched the ground,
"Forgive me, please!" It begged, "I knew not who I was addressing. Spare me and I shall bind myself eternally to your service, I shall …"
"Bored now." The Lord of Chaos said before snapping his fingers and the Demon's skin was ripped completely from its body and the rest of it was set alight with green flames, screaming in agony until it stopped a few seconds later and its body faded into nothingness.
Surana could honestly and unashamedly say that he was terrified. This 'Endless' and 'Lord of Chaos' had killed a powerful Pride Demon with less effort than an ordinary person would use to swat a fly and now he was left alone with it.
The Lord of Chaos regarded him with an amused look,
"Oh relax," he admonished, "if I wanted you dead I could have killed you in over a hundred different ways, so for now at the very least you have nothing to fear from me."
"Until you try to take over my body that is." Surana retorted sounding braver than he felt,
The endless rolled his eyes in exasperation,
"Oh Purlease. As if your mortal body could handle even a thousandth of my power. Besides it's not like I need to take over a mortals body when I can just create an avatar for me to use." He explained,
"A what?" Surana asked, unfamiliar with what it had meant,
The Lord of Chaos smiled before he reached into his robe and was somehow able to pull out an entire blackboard bigger than he was. With a snap of his fingers some chalk appeared in mid air and began to write on the board by itself, while Surana suddenly found himself sat at a desk in front of it as the chalk finished writing on the board, it said;
"Endless, Avatars and More: 101"
When Surana looked to the side of the board he saw that the Endless had somehow acquired some small round glasses that were resting on the tip of his nose, a black shawl he wore over his robes and a bizarre flat, black hat on his head. Also in his hands he held a short wooden rod and he was now stood behind a wooden podium.
It tapped the top of the podium with the rod before clearing its throat, like some of the instructors at the circle would before they began their lectures,
"Okay class." It began in a rather formal accent, "Today we begin our lecture with a basic overview of Avatars, more specifically the Avatars of The Endless." It tapped the blackboard with the rod and the writing began to form different diagrams, "An Avatar of The Endless is a manifestation of their presence on the mortal plane of existence, unlike the spirits of the fade an Endless never possess a mortal, not out of any sense of altruism but because no mortal body can handle even a fraction of an Endless' power without the destruction of the body and possibly even their soul." Its mouth spread in a darkly amused smile,
Surana swallowed nervously at the predicament he was in, sure the Pride Demon would have been a tough fight but there was a chance he could have won. With this Endless, provided that is wasn't some demon's trick, was something he had no clue what it was never mind how he could deal with it. When taking into account what might happen to him should this thing attempt to possess him and how powerless he was against it he was definitely afraid for his life, the constantly changing and moving diagrams on the blackboard were certainly not helping.
The Lord of Chaos continued in its lecture while smirking at its 'student's' discomfort,
"Now despite the power that each Endless has at their command their avatars are only capable of only a fraction of the potential of each Endless, more powerful than any single mortal but still nothing compared to those that created them and while an Avatar can be destroyed it ultimately will have no effect on the Endless, furthermore an Endless is capable of creating multiple Avatars and controlling them all and sharing in their experiences simultaneously, it is rare but it can happen." It finished with a shrug,
'This just gets better and better.' Surana thought sarcastically, to him it sounded like these endless could be a lot more dangerous than the various demons that already resided within the Fade. Still there were two questions that he was itching to ask but also didn't want to invoke the ire of the odd being in front of him.
"What exactly is an Endless?" he asked cautiously, before a thought entered his mind as he remember some of the history texts that he had read about Blights, more specifically the Archdemons, "Something like an Archdemon?"
The classroom furnishings disappeared with a pop, along with the newly acquired garments of The Endless as it paused for a moment while seeming to mull over how much it was going to say before it answered,
"No, an Endless in a being of power far beyond those you deem an Archdemon." It seemed to take a moment to collect its thoughts, "I honestly do not think that you would be able to fully comprehend what we are and so as an oversimplification the closest thing that you may be familiar with that comes close to our power are gods." It didn't sound like it was trying to be boastful or condescending but more like it was stating a simple matter of fact, like two plus two makes four or that the sky is blue.
Surana could hardly believe such a bold statement; he'd never put much stock in any religion and found it hard to believe in any form of deity, let alone something claiming to be one in while he was in the Fade,
"You're a god?" He asked unable to hid his disbelief,
The being smirked in response,
"Oh my no," it practically purred, "what I am is something infinitely greater than a mere god." It said with a roll of its eyes,
"An Endless." Surana prompted, "which I still don't understand and you haven't explained." A thought suddenly came to the forefront of his mind, "For example what's your name?" he asked,
The Endless chuckled darkly with its eyes closed and after a moment it went quiet,
"Now we're getting somewhere." It mused aloud before its eyes snapped open and locked on Surana's freezing him in place.
Without warning it burst into billowing smoke, as black as the night sky, which then proceeded to engulf the elf by surrounding him in it and left him only a small circle of space, around him which was just over the size of his arm lengths.
Surana kept looking back and forth trying to see something, anything, other than the smoke that was now drifting lazily around him but frozen when he heard the being's voice coming from all around him,
"Truth be told I've had several names over the years," it spoke with a false casualness, "and many forms as well." It said far more ominously.
A form drifted past Surana's vision but it did not resemble the being he was talking to earlier. It was a woman with a rather beautiful face, long black hair and a dress, the colour of the twilight sky, that was of a style he was unfamiliar with but he would admit that wasn't too difficult give how he grew up in The Circle Tower. What set this woman apart from an ordinary human were, most obviously, the large bat-like wings she had where her hands were supposed to be that she seemed to be using to drift lazily in and out of the smoke and around Surana, she also seemed to have grey skin but in the limited light Surana couldn't be certain however the most import thing that he noticed was her eyes. They were the same as the being he was talking to earlier.
"Eris." She said in a seductive, a definitely feminine, tone of voice before diving back into the smoke.
What came out of the smoke next was something that Surana was not expecting. It was a blue cat with purple wings, a black and wispy beard, gold cuffs on its front legs and golden collar with an unfamiliar red symbol on it, once again the only thing that seemed familiar were the eyes. It seemed to lounge in mid air as easily as it would the ground,
"Chaos." It purred out in the voice of man's, different from the one from before.
Without warning the cat seemed to simply vanish from view one piece at a time, with the smiling mouth and eyes being the last to vanish.
Surana kept his guard up, his eyes constantly searching the surrounding smoke for any sign of what might be next. From all around him he heard the being speak again, once again in its original voice,
"But ultimately these little titles given to me by mortals mean very little in the long run, I've been named and renamed by them so often that at times its barely worth the trouble of remembering each one, but I do none the less."
As Surana peered into the smoke he thought that he could see something moving in it in an undulating in an almost serpentine fashion, sometimes for a moment he though he saw a limb such as a cloven hoof or a lizards leg, one moment a blue feathered wing and the next a bat's instead but he could never be certain. It was frustrating to say the least, especially when it continued talking;
"Truth be told the only name that holds much significance is the one that my family uses for me."
Suddenly the smoke swirled past Surana and began to gather altogether in front of him, eventually forming the man from before,
"Discord, The Endless of Chaos." It said with a surprising amount of seriousness,
"Your family?" The elf prompted nervously,
"The Endless." It stated simply as if it was obvious,
An inkling suspicion began to make itself known in Surana's mind,
"How many Endless are there?" He asked, "Including yourself." He amended,
Discord gave a knowing smirk before he answered,
"Seven."
Surana frowned in thought,
'Given what this 'Discord' has told me so far, I should be far beneath his notice. So why tell me all this? It's possible that all of this could be part of the harrowing, but I doubt it. What's going on?'
"And what can you tell me about yourselves?" He asked,
"Good Question." The Endless commented with a smile, "I suppose I could tell you anything I wish. Whether or not you'll believe or understand is a different matter entirely."
The elf nodded in acknowledgement,
"Well let's see from youngest to oldest we first have…" He trailed off as a slightly melancholic look crossed his features, "… is my baby sister Del…Delirium."
An awkward moment of silence passed between the two before the elder entity suddenly perked up,
"Whoops, sorry about that. I got just got a little sidetracked down memory lane there. Anyway before her came the twins Despair and Desire …"
The name of the last Endless caught the elf's attention,
" 'Desire'? As in like a Desire Demon?" he asked without thinking and interrupting Discord in the process, only realising his folly when he saw it frown at him,
"No. Those paltry, and quite frankly, insulting sycophants can only dream of being even a fraction as capable as my sibling." Discord shrugged his shoulders, "Still I suppose I won't begrudge my sibling in their choice of favourite toy, I just happen to think that mine are more interesting." He then glared at the elf, "Oh and if you interrupt me again I'll get creative as to how I should punish your rudeness." He said making Surana tighten his lips until they were just a thin line, almost childlike were it not for the particularly dangerous being threatening him.
"Now as I was saying," Discord continued, "before the twins there was my little brothers; Destruction, the younger, and Dream, the elder." The Endless paused in thought, although it was apparent that it was just for theatrical purposes, "Come to think of it I think this Fade realm is a creation of his."
That definitely caught the young mage's attention but he resisted the urge to blurt out what questions might have been on his mind,
'If the fade was created by one of these Endless why would it permit demons to threaten those that enter it? These Endless do not sound like any spirits I've heard of.' Surana thought to himself and not liking the implication it meant for the world if what he was being told was true.
Discord smirked when he saw the questioning expression spread across the elf's face,
"I can see that you're practically burning with curiosity. So how about I let you ask a question before I continue," he held up a finger, just as Surana was about to speak, "Just one for now though, so choose carefully." His tone of voice making it seem more like it was part of a game that he was playing, "Afterwards you may ask something else and if I feel like it I may answer." A chair similar to the one from before appeared directly behind Discord, which he then lounged back in,
Surana found himself sat down in a similar, admittedly comfortable, chair as he thought about what question he wanted to ask. He had to fight the impulse to immediately ask how Discord did that with the chairs but was able to resist, he considered what was most pressing to ask and if he was honest he was more interested in the origins of The Fade. Upon deciding on his question he took a slow breath to steady his nerves,
"If this Dream created The Fade why does he allow the demons trespass in it and endanger the people that can access it?" he asked with as much resolve as he could muster.
He didn't know what to expect but Discord throwing his head back and laughing as if he'd heard some great joke but he dared not question it. Eventually after over a dozen seconds the laughter stopped, though the Endless did still have an amused smile on its face,
"I don't know what's more amusing; the fact that you think that these spirits are trespassing or that you think that mortals are supposed to be able to access The Fade at all." He said before he continued chuckling to himself,
"But that's a vital part of how we can use our magic." Surana said without thinking before immediately afterwards covering his mouth with his hands but to his surprise Discord simply started laughing again,
"That's not how it worked when I granted it to mortals," He said with a chuckle before he tapered off and shrugged his shoulders, "or at least before the Tervinters screwed things up and now that your question is out of the way it's time to continue." He said while smirking at Surana, no doubt aware that he had just left the elf with more questions.
"Believe me when I say that when it comes between my other sibling and me, I'm honestly not sure which of us is older or if we're even possibly twins, I think we've spent decades debating it, but right now that's immaterial." Discord stood up, both chairs disappearing, and took a short mocking bow towards the elf, "You of course already know of my name and what I am: 'Discord'. It is both my name and what I am." Said Endless then stood up, tall and proud, with no humour evident on his face, "While I may be fond of my games and tricks do not let my rather puckish persona fool you, I am debatably the most powerful being in this universe, certainly the most unpredictable. The reason I have told you that is just so that you can better understand the sheer magnitude of my remaining sibling, they are the only one would be able to stop me should I decide to go on a insane mass genocide-inducing rampage and the only reason they couldn't kill me, aside from the fact that we're family, is the simple fact that it is practically impossible for an Endless, never mind a mortal, to kill or even seriously hurt me. Allow that to sink in." Discord began to circle around the elf, like predator about to go in for the kill,
"I am every chaotic force in this universe, from each roll of the dice, from each random cell mutation or atomic decay, from each breeze brought from a butterfly flapping its wings. I am all the moments of chance, the good luck and the bad. I am all of this and yet more still, beyond your limited capacity to comprehend." The Endless came to a stop in front of the young mage, who found himself reluctantly impressed with its orating capacity,
'Okay, even if he's just spouting hot air, he can certainly put on a performance. Granted I have no idea what he means by 'cell mutation' or 'atomic decay.' ' The elf thought to himself, not interrupting the entity who continued,
"Yet despite this, my sibling is still able to match me. Just as I am universal constant of chaos and discord, she is the universal constant of death. It is both her name and what she is. Every death is her, every crushed bug, every infirm old mortal and even the stars themselves that die. That is The Endless."
Surana, while appreciative of the presentation, found the supposed power of these beings to be inconceivable. Yes, the being in front of him was powerful but he doubted that it was that powerful, if it was true then it wasn't exactly a comforting thought; especially considering the negative conations that their names indicated, if Discord was an indication,
"Sounds like us mortals really get screwed over from this." He said sardonically, before realising that he said that out loud,
The Endless simply raised an eye in amusement,
"Oh? How so?" It drawled with a smirk on its lips,
"Well it's just that, if there's an endless for death shouldn't there be one for life as well? You know one that gives life not take it." The elf explained with some trepidation,
"There is." Discord said simply, causing Surana to blink in surprise,
"Huh?" Came the eloquent reply of the elf,
"My sister is also the Endless of Life. Most things only meet my sister twice, the first is when she breathes life into them and the second is when she claims them once their life if ended. It's the same for my other siblings as well: Delirium – Sanity, Despair – Hope, Desire – Fulfilment, Destruction – Creation, Dream – Reality, Death – Life …" The Endless elaborated before being interrupted, granted this time he didn't seem to mind if anything it seemed like something else had caught his attention as he began looking around, as if searching for something,
"Discord – Order." The elf breathed in realisation before frowning in thought, "But if this is true, why tell me about it? I'm just a mage that hasn't even finished his Harrowing."
Discord turned his attention back to the elf,
"To be honest relieving myself of boredom was my primary motivation and if you want to achieve your potential you need to leave now." He said in a comforting tone of voice before poking the elf in the forehead with his finger and sent the elf back to his body.
The Lord of Chaos took a moment to straighten out his clothes and run his hands through his hair before her folded his arms behind his back,
"Hello, Dear Sister." He said, seemingly to nothing and out of nothing stepped what appeared to be a rather attractive woman, despite the frown she had on her face, with black hair and pale skin. She was wearing a simple black dress with what seemed to be black riding boots on her feet and around her neck she wore a chain with a silver pendent the resembled what the mortals call an 'ankh', or at least they used to or is that they will? The only make up she seemed to wear apart from some black lipstick was around her right eye, with a noticeable part of it coming to just above her cheek and ending in a curl.
"What are you up to brother?" She asked directly, her voice stern,
Discord held his hand over where his heart would be in mock anguish,
"Ooh, how you wound me with your accusations, sweet sister." He mocked melodramatically,
"Don't mistake me for a fool Discord, I know you was talking with a mortal before I arrived." She responded, her tone of voice making it clear that she wasn't in the mood for games,
Discord crossed his arms, like a stubborn teenager,
"And if I was? What of it? If the rest our family can play with mortals, why can't I?" He asked petulantly,
"Because you're dangerous that's why." Came her instant reply, making him smirk in response,
"You know that would hold a lot more weight if you weren't, you know, Death." He said sarcastically,
"I'm being serious Discord." Death said, "Remember what happened to …"
"Don't go there." Discord warned, all humour left his voice,
"Go where? Remind you what you did to Delight? Oh, wait, she goes by Delirium now doesn't she?" She said her voice becoming more hostile and bitter,
"You make it sound like I intended to hurt her. It was an accident." He defended angrily at first but became remorseful towards the end,
Death's expression softened in sympathy and she put her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him,
"And that's why we all forgave you, even Delirium, and it's why you shouldn't interact with the mortals." She explained softly, "You changed an Endless completely, Discord. That should be impossible and yet you did it by accident, can you imagine what would happen if you were to get involved with the mortals? They're a lot more fragile than us, more than you realise." As she fished she pulled him into a hug which he reciprocated,
"They're also a lot stronger than you think as well," He retorted before he relented, "but I see your point. I'll stay away from that mortal." He promised,
Death gave him a warm smile as she began to walk away,
"Thank you, I'm glad that you saw reason. Promise me you'll try to see us more? Del…Delirium misses you something terrible." She requested,
Discord returned her smile,
"Of course." He replied with a wave as he began to walk away as well.
When he could no longer feel her presence though, he rolled his eyes in exasperation.,
'My sister means well but that doesn't mean that she has to treat me as an incompetent. Besides mortals are my favourite sources of entertainment, they get a little stagnant and then I give a little nudge. Elven Empire stays fixed for a few millennia, a tweak of weather alters the path of a group of migrating humans brining the two races together.' Discord couldn't keep the smirk of his face, 'Funny how the elves of today forget that it was them that enslaved the humans first, where do they think humans got their magic from? Some may say that the humans stole it but honestly what did they expect from using those women like that?'
Discord smiled at the memory of the uprisings that eventually came about from hidden human mages, making the empire crumble into chaos, glorious chaos,
'Then came the Tevinter Empire, interesting at first but ultimately a bastardised copy of the Elven Empire. That time I used a more subtle approach, a few whispered words in that woman's ears and next thing you know it's less of a slave uprising an more of a religious revolution, her husband betraying her was unexpected, but it turned her from a mere rebel hero, into a martyr.'
He frowned as he thought of the other mortals that had the potential to be of interest,
'Watching the dwarves is like watching an old man struggle with his dying breaths.' He thought with frustration, 'Even with Destruction and Despair's creations constantly at the gates they refuse to adapt and change. Sometimes I wonder if the whole damn race wants to die off, with how crazy mortals are I wouldn't be surprised.' His frustration only grew as he thought of the newer race that had arrived in Thedas, 'Those Kossith are such a disappointment, I thought that their emphasis on technology over magic would shake things up, but they are way to fixated on order and their 'Qun', it seems that they'd rather be machines than people.'
However when he thought about what he had planned next he couldn't keep the smile off his face, it was filled with malicious glee,
'But all that will be nothing compared to what I've got cooking next.' He thought as dark chuckles began to escape his throat.
A few days passed in the mortal world and Discord was once again in the fade, holding what appeared to be a crystal ball in his hand. Inside the ball there appeared to be three people and a dog walking along a road, the one leading them was Surana, with a blond warrior on one side and dark-haired swamp witch on the other, with the Mabari brining up the rear.
The crystal ball disappeared into white smoke before reforming into a table that had a map of Thedas on it. Discord snapped his fingers and four chess-like pieces appeared on the map and placed them in Southern Ferelden, one piece was shaped like a sitting mabari, another like a crossed sword and shield that had a crown hovering uncertainly over it, one looked like a crow or raven with a lock in its claws and the last more like a mage's staff crossed with a key.
'The key appears to doing as I expected.' He thought to himself with a smirk before he turned his attention to the map before snapping his fingers again and some more pieces appeared on the board, this time in Northern Fereldan, one shaped like a mabari lying down, another like a shield shaped like a leaf, one was a mages staff with a sunburst as the 'head' and finally there was the figure of a hawk with a bow and arrow in its talons.
'And the catalyst is moving to position.' He mused privately before his smirk broke into a full blown grin, 'All according to plan.'
Years later as the lands of Thedas was engulfed in the Mage – Templar War and the Orlesian Civil War the whole world took notice when a truly terrifying sight made its presence known. High in the sky a breach in reality seemed to form which was edged by green flames and to the horror of many, particularly those that followed the Andrastian Chantry, it seemed that the breach led to the dreaded Fade. Things went from bad to worse as green fireballs began raining down from it, only to reveal that they were demons and spirits manifesting without mortal assistance, without needing to posses anyone.
As the chaos spread from the breach and encroaching spirits, no one notice the rather unusual man overlooking the scene. Or at least something that appeared to be a man but his red and yellow eyes said differently.
The man had what could be described as a mane of white hair with a black streak running through it with a matching beard that was like a goat's, his skin seemed to have a dark tone to it and his mouth had an amused smile, with a sharp fang sticking out from his lower lip.
The man's clothing was a mad patchwork of different colours, materials and styles that seemed as if it shouldn't blend or even work together and yet the chaotic ensemble did.
Despite the attention grabbing breach he seemed far more interested in rolling the dirt he had picked up from the ground between his fingers, before he threw his head back and laughed, the laughter filled with mad glee,
'Oh yes, this is going to fun.' he thought, before walking away from the breach at a leisurely pace.
For the first time in history an Endless walked the mortal plane, with all of their power.
The End.
… for now.
Authors Notes: I hope that you've all enjoyed this short story.
The idea of The Endless came from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, granted I replaced the character of Destiny with one inspired by a combination of Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation and a character created or owned by Lauren Faust, such as the name.
Hopefully I made it work considering I only have a peripheral knowledge of these franchises, save for Dragon Age.
This is not supposed to be true crossover, so differences between the characters can be explained by that.
I also made a few intentional nods to other things as well.
Some may wonder as to why the Endless have such a lack of morality but you need to remember that they are not mortal, never mind human, so they have a completely different moral spectrum even amongst each other.
Once again I hope that you have all enjoyed this.
"Feel free to review and constructive criticism is always welcome."