"We must all remember the example of the Conclave. Even when events seem darkest the light will always come. The enemies of the Maker will fall before his followers…"

-Divine Victoria I, 9.58. Following the surrender of Ostwick to the Qunari. The words would be reused by many future leaders of the Southern (or White) Chantry as well over the years, most famously said by Divine Celestine III as she fled across the Amaranthine Ocean with the Fereldan Emperor following the Fall of Denerim during the Divine War.

Chapter I

The Conclave had been going for nearly a week by now, and nothing had gotten done. Admittedly in part it was my fault of course, Alistair had given no orders before I left Denerim, and none had arrived since my arrival. Abstaining from every matter of importance was the only course available.

The Ostwick leader, Fiona-something asked our stance on issues of the lyrium trade following the war. As always I looked up and answered, "Fereldan has no position at this time." It was largely true. Policy had been frozen for the last six months, with Alistair incapacitated much of the time, and spending his time in the Vigil most of the rest for treatment.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I quickly glanced up to see the most amazing woman in the world gesturing me to follow her. I nodded, and quickly ducked out of the conference.

As soon as we were outside Bethany turned to me and whispered, "We have a problem."

I nodded, "Of course we do…"

She cut me off and said, "I'm serious dear. Come on."

She started down the temple, and I ran to catch up after a moment. She led me through the twists of the temple, until finally we arrived in one of the smaller rooms overlooking the conference, which was taking place in the main area of the temple which normally would have been where any of the Andrastian faithful who visited would be for services, not that there had been very many with the war raging in the north. These rooms were supposed to be for more private, and quiet, contemplation. That was the theory they told me anyway.

The main sight in the room however were a trio of bodies; an elf, a Qunari, and a dwarf. All of them were very obviously dead, with bodies twisted at odd angles. Bethany stepped up next to me and whispered, "Notice anything?"

I started to shake my head, then suddenly froze as I did notice something odd. There was no blood. At all. I whispered the answer back to her and she nodded, "Blood magic, definitely. Which means…"

I finished, "We have an assassin loose. Let the guards know. I'll order a search of the Temple.

Bethany frowned, "Do you think we should evacuate?"

I thought about it before finally saying, "No. They should be safer in this complex than anywhere outside. There are dozens of guards, and regardless of their differences the neutral mages aren't going to let the Divine die without fighting back."

Bethany nodded again, "Very well. We should probably get the other two up here."

I scowled. She was naturally talking about the Hands of the Divine, who were never, under any circumstances, allowed into this building. I was friends with Leliana, but trusting her was a bit beyond my risk tolerance when the Chantry was involved. And Pentaghast…well interacting to Pentaghast was never a pleasant experience. However I sighed in agreement and said, "Meet me at the entrance, we'll go down to Haven together."

It took a few minutes to set the various guards to work, the Marchers began first, while what few mages were actively on the Chantry's side got to work examining the bodies more closely. The elf was identified as the apprentice to a Keeper in one of the Clans which had sided with the Chantry when Antiva was invaded, the Qunari was from one of the many mercenary bands hired to help fight the war, but no one was entirely certain who the dwarf was.

Security was left in the hands of Alexander Trevelyan, some noble from the Free Marches, and his cousin, who I couldn't remember the name of. We had few Fereldans involved. Most of the army was still deployed in former Orlesian territory, and most of the rest were either running the border post between the kingdom and Orzammar, or deployed on the northern coast in case Orsino tried anything. Around Haven we had only a single regiment of militia, a group of Chasind light infantry, and two squads of werewolves.

Finally I managed to get away and found my wife waiting for me. She smiled, then offered a hand as we started down into the little town of Haven.

Haven had changed since the recovery of the Urn. The people stared at us in hatred as we passed, but the presence of Fisher and the werewolves kept them from acting openly. The dragon cult had taken years to reach even this limited level of cooperation.

As expected Leliana saw us long before we spotted her, and she met us on the road, though I couldn't help but notice she was giving me a strange look. She fell in beside us, and after a moment whispered, "Okay, I wasn't paying close attention last time, but wasn't the mountain, well, that one?"

She pointed at a peak on the opposite side of the village, and I followed her gaze for a moment, then answered, "Of course not. You don't think we'd build a temple on the wrong mountain by accident do you?"

She frowned, then said, "Not by accident…no."

Before she could go on the other Hand met us. Cassandra Pentaghast, the most irritating person I had the misfortune of interacting with on a semi-regular basis now. She wore a seemingly perpetual frown, and seemed to think that everything I did was a move against her, and what she was fighting for. Admittedly that is partly true, but still…

We quickly explained what we had found, and Leliana started asking questions, but we couldn't give much information. Finally the two of them ordered what followers they had to get back to the Temple, when there was a terrible shriek, followed by a roar.

Bethany reacted almost instantly, throwing up one hand and a shield formed around us, and just in time as a wave of energy swept over us. It had enough force to topple the nearby trees, and blasted all the built-up snow and ice of winter in the Frostbacks aside, leaving the grown almost clear. The frozen river next to the road shattered, and then the shield failed. The remaining energy threw us backwards, Bethany and I landed in one of the new snow piles that had formed while Leliana managed to catch herself on an extended tree branch and was quickly upright and staring upwards.

I pulled myself up and offered a hand to Bethany, her robes making it more difficult for her to stand again. She took it and then stopped as she followed Leliana's gaze upward. I frowned, then looked as well, and was frozen in shock.

The sky was gone. The area directly over the Temple was gone. Not the top of the building, though given the force of the blast that probably was gone, but the sky. The clouds which had covered the sky all day were simply gone. In its place was a sickly green fog. After a moment I said, "Is that…the Fade?"

Bethany nodded in horror, "It's a tear in the Veil. The biggest I've ever seen…ever heard of…"

I nodded, "It has to be if I can see it." There was a sudden pulse of energy, and we were nearly knocked backwards again, and the tear looked ever so slightly bigger now.

Behind us Cassandra was shouting something, but I could barely hear her, until Leliana called back, "We need to get up there. Find out what's going on."

Maxwell Trevelyan had found he hated Fereldan. It was far too cold, the people were insubbordinat toward their noble betters, even the nobles were barely presentable in polite society. There were exceptions of course, he practically followed the Teyrn of Gwarren around when possible. Maxwell had been a boy when the Blight swept across Fereldan, and he'd grown up being told stories about the Battle of Denerim. To actually meet one of the Heroes of Fereldan had seemed like a dream come true, then he'd realized one of the sister's accompanying the Divine was one as well, and had nearly fainted from glee.

Still, the country irritated him. To make it worse, guarding the conference was simply so boring. He'd have much rather been in the north, fighting in Antiva alongside both his older brothers. That comfort was gone now though as his cousin ordered Maxwell's soldiers to secure the area surrounding the Conference room, a task accomplished easily enough. As he made checked the map to ensure every entrance to the room was guarded Maxwell doubled back to check on the eight guards he'd left at the main entrance.

They were dead. Not just dead, they had almost literally been ripped apart. Body parts had been scattered everywhere, but something didn't sit right as he looked down at them, then realized, there was no blood. For the son who had expected all his life to go into the Templar Order the answer was obvious. Blood magic, a lot of blood magic. Without thinking he grabbed a nearby bell and began ringing it.

The signal quickly spread and every soldier in the building converged on the main doorway. Alexander was among them, and the older man quickly took charge, preparing what few people with Templar training, Maxwell among them, to hang back for a moment. As the soldiers organized themselves Alexander took a moment to peak inside, and when he turned back he had turned white. After a moment he said, "The Divine is still alive."

He turned to Maxwell's group and said, "We need to get her out of here. Understand? Nothing else matters."

They nodded, and a moment later Alexander smashed the door in, and the soldiers charged. They took the oddly dressed soldiers by surprise, killing several before the rest could even respond. As the fighting began in earnest Maxwell looked ahead and saw the Divine hanging in the center of the room, her arms stretched above her head, and in front of her stood the most horrifying creature he had ever seen. It seemed to have once been human, but had been twisted by something, some power. It barely paid the group any mind as they fought their way closer, focusing instead on an orb which hung between it and Justinia.

With a lunge Alexander broke through the rank of enemy soldiers, and charged the monster, his enchanted sword ahead of him. The monster finally reacted, swinging an arm toward the young man as he approached, then Alexander almost exploded, his body torn apart by the magic of this…thing. The creature was distracted for a moment, and in that moment Justinia kicked, and her foot connection with the orb, thowing it across the room, where Maxwell, without thinking, caught it. As he did so there was a horrible, searing pain in his hand as the orb burned bright green, then there was an explosion. He tried to let go, but the orb had almost fastened itself to his hand, and then a beam shot from the device, and there was a tearing sound, and he looked up to see a green sky, the ceiling ripped away by the blast.

There was another flash, blinding him for a moment, then another explosion, and the green extended down, tearing through more of the Temple, destroying the conference table, and sucking the still living soldiers inside. Even as they were sucked away however the monster turned with hatred in its eyes toward Maxwell and charged at him. Without thinking he raised the orb as it flashed again, and this time the beam lanced out, striking the monster and tearing it apart.

Maxwell sighed in relief as the creature died, though he could swear he saw something, maybe smoke escape before the creature finally died. He barely had time to celebrate however, as the orb continued to pulse, then stopped, and fell from his hand. With a start Maxwell realized the orb was all that was keeping him from being sucked in as well, and he desperately tried to grab a nearby pillar, but lost his grip and flew into the Fade, and as he entered the portal he saw another monster, a demon looming over those who had been drawn inside. Something about the creature struck him, and all his memories were gone, replaced only by the sheer horror that thing invoked.

Even as he landed creatures began swarming around him, spiders, enormous spiders. They swept down, and in terror Maxwell turned to flee, and as he did so a voice behind him urged, "Run." He glanced back, and could barely make out a female figure between himself and the spiders. She said again, "Run."

Without thinking he did as ordered. He ran, and as he did so he threw his left hand out, something on his hand flashed, and he was suddenly running out of the Temple's entrance. He barely could see a black haired young woman catch him before he passed out, babbling something about the woman who had saved him.

"Who is he?" Bethany asked as she passed the boy off to the soldiers.

I glanced at him and said, "One of the Trevelyans I think. His cousin was leading the guards in the Temple."

Leliana however asked, "What did he mean, a woman saved him from the Fade?"

I shrugged, "Bethany caught him, maybe that's it."

Leliana answered, "Maybe." She didn't sound convinced though. "Regardless, we'll need to wake him up as soon as possible. We need to find out what went on in there."

I nodded, "I'll get a mage healer sent over to deal with his injuries. What was that on his hand?"

Bethany frowned, "The glowing scar? No idea. It looked a bit like Fenris's tattoos when he would use his powers…but brighter, more direct somehow." She paused, then said, "And it was the same color as the beam that shot out of the Temple a few minutes after the Veil was torn open."

"As it was torn open actually," said a fourth voice. It was one which, unfortunately, I recognized. Solas. Cassandra's apostate assistant, and easily as irritating as she was. Still for actual information regarding the Fade, rather than the opinions he so often resorted to, there was no one better. He continued, "You might now have been watching, but when the Veil was torn open a beam shot from the Temple, and another followed."

I started to respond, then looked down and said, "Oh for the love of God."

"What?" Bethany and Leliana asked at the same time, while Solas continued to stare upward into the rift.

I gestured down the hill where Cassandra's guards were taking charge of the boy. Then I said, "She seems to think he was behind it. The kid's an idiot, not an all-powerful breach-ripping supermage. Come on, let's get him before she can put him in a cell or something."

To guest12: Leliana will be elected Divine, though that's not to say she will be elected immediately…

The fight you mention between Solona and the other mage will occur near the end of this story. You are right about Occam's Razor, though I left out a bit of detail before. The SI also has the benefit of viewing all magic as…well basically equally impossible, meaning he isn't biased against the explanation on the grounds of "nothing we know of can do that," since to him its ALL impossible (or at the very least should be if the universe was behaving itself.) And while it didn't happen this time around you are right in thinking that physically being inside the Fade will be a very different experience…

Feel free to keep the theorization going. I'm perfectly fine with people trying to figure out where the story's going (wouldn't include the historical sections and their references otherwise), it's interesting to see any theories that pop up (and of course, if the theory is interesting I may borrow it, or some elements for the future.)

Finally, a similar coat might, as part of the formal wear later, though I'm not sure yet. The revolver will not. It's not something which can be easily fixed at the moment.