Chapter 4

Lothering

The town of lothering was a lot bigger than the game made it out to be. It must be at least three or four times bigger than I had originally expected. However if I think about it, it only makes sense. Most of the extra space is for residents to live. There might be an extra shop but I wasn't exactly able to wander around to find out.

As we walked in people began to gather to watch the three Knights bring their prisoner into town. It was surprising to see so many people after spending so much time in the wilderness with these three.

Among them stood a man who looked an awful lot like a priest or something with a young boy next to him. The man was saying something about the way of the chant. It was obvious that he was quoting something. Perhaps some religious thing, they worship the Maker if I'm not mistaken. There were several faces that were mixed with joy or curiosity.

As I scanned the crowd I caught a glimpse of three figures who looked familiar yet I couldn't place why. Similarly I had the same feeling about Aveline although I had marked it off as just being a coincidence.

The three in the crowd were obviously related, all had black hair and similar eyes. Two brothers and a sister if I wasn't mistaken. One brother was heavily built and had a large sword on his back, the smaller brother was still a bit taller than me and had a beard that made me very envious. He seemed like more of an agile person but it was the sister that truly caught my eye. She was shorter than the bearded man and had equally black hair. I tried to get a slightly better look but I couldn't see much as they had all three started to turn and go.

However as they started to turn I could feel something coming from the girl. It was indescribable I had never felt it before. It was like an aura, if that makes sense, it actually made me a little uncomfortable and wary. Could this sensation have something to do with my magic? I couldn't think on the feeling any, longer because of the large Templar knight behind me began pushing me forward. "Keep moving apostate." Weasley ordered.

"I know, I know, sheesh why do you enjoy making me uncomfortable?" I responded to his ordering. After I got no response I just sighed and kept walking.

After we walked through the small crowd of people we approached a large building located near the center of town. It would have looked welcoming had it not been for the Knights guarding it. That was probably based on my opinion however seeing as they were kind of the reason I was bound right now.

My "companions" walked me through the courtyard and into the large building, passing by the two Knights which stood stone faced and made no gesture of recognition to any of the four of us. As we passed over the threshold of the door a nice scent filled my nose and several people men and women alike went about what I assumed was their regular routine.

The main room was similar to what you might expect to find in a church building back home. There were long benches running down the right and the left of the building's walls. A long red carpet with gold borders ran the entire length of the center all the way up onto what I could only assume was a pulpit. At the other end of the room was a woman with soft red hair which stopped just short of her shoulders.

We stopped somewhere near the middle of the carpet. Weasley said he would greet the revered mother and walked into a hall at the far right corner of the building. This gave me an opportunity to get a better look at the girl ahead of us.

She appeared to be praying as she was kneeling down on both knees and she didn't move from that position at all. Soon Weasley had returned. He was followed by three people. Two woman and a man. The man was armored similarly to the three around me but the design of the cross on his breast plate was bigger with a silver outline. He had his helmet off giving me a clear view of his face. Said face had a tiny scar over his lip which disrupted his brown mustache. He had a strong jawline and a chin that you would put on the stereotypical muscly man. His hair was brown as were his eyes which honestly weren't that menacing, you know like most of the people I had met before.

The second seemed to be a lowly servant. She had blond hair that curled all around her. Had it been straight it might have made it halfway down her back. Other than that she didn't seem to have as much of a presence as the other woman.

This third one was very elegant in her strides. Never missing a beat as she walked towards us. She held her head high and back straight. She was obviously the most important person here. I saw both Aveline and Richard bow their heads as she approached. I felt a tug on the rope that held me bound and saw Aveline make a motion, telling me to follow suit. As she got closer I lowered my head.

"Please raise your heads, you have had a long journey." The woman's voice said to us. Her voice carried authority and yet a strong feeling of compassion. It was a large difference to how I had been addressed in the past day and a half.

As we all raised our heads she addressed the two Knights beside me. "Please go get some rest. I will call for you to debrief yourselves in a little while."

"With all due respect revered mother." Weasley spoke. "Please allow me to stay and explain the presence of this man." He said motioning to me. Her eyes moved to him and gave a slow elegant nod.

Both Aveline and Richard moved away and towards a door off the to left side of the large room. Richard made a look back at us but was urged away by Aveline.

It was about this time that the redhead stood and moved over to us, showing interest. I finally got a good look at her face. I had to make a physical effort to keep my jaw from falling open. The person I saw was none other than Liliana.

She gave me an interested look before her eyes turned to the "Revered mother."

I had to shake myself out of my surprise and my attention returned to the others. As I did I just managed to hear Weasley say, "-His presence in the wilderness is dangerous, I request that he be taken to the tower at once." His voice was aggressive and yet somehow respectful. It's probably easy to guess which side of his speech was meant for who.

The Revered mother's eyes never once blinked as she gave every ounce of attention she had to Weasly. When he finished she finally blinked and turned her gaze to me. "This is true? You are really an apostate?"

I was a little taken back by her bluntness to the situation and her simple wording to her question. "Of course he is, this needs no-" before he got any farther into whatever nonsense he was going to spout off next the woman held up a hand which cut him off.

"Are you an Apostate?" She asked her question again. I wasn't sure why she would need to hear me say it.

"Yes, I-I am." I said after a moment of thought. Wow it sounds kinda weird to admit to such a question. Up until a couple of days ago I would have said magic doesn't even exist save for in fairy tales.

Weasley nodded in triumph as if I had just brought an argument between a debate club team to a close and his team had just won by a landslide.

She processed my answer for a moment before she gave me a smile. Again unexpected. "I appreciate your honesty in this matter, even if you couldn't deny it given the evidence." She said before she slowly looked behind her. The man behind her straightened up at the attention. "Kent," she referred to the armored individual. "How many men are available?" The Revered mother asked.

"Not too many I'm afraid, with most of them at Ostagar I'm afraid I can't spare anymore." He spoke with a low and authoritative voice.

"I see," she spoke again. "Then we will keep this apostate, what was your name?" She asked turning back to me.

"Connor, Revered mother, at least that's what he calls himself." Weasley answered before I could. I gave him a dirty look which he ignored.

"Conner." She said, almost like she was testing my name before she could use it in a sentence. "Very well then. Connor will need to be kept here until our Templars return from Ostagar to take him to the Tower of Magi." She said

I guess I expected this result.

Wait something just dawned on me. No one is going to be returning from Ostagar, only the hero, Alistar, and Logain's forces will leave that battle alive. And then the Darkspawn horde will be headed... Here. Oh no, I'm beginning to feel very concerned.

"Is something wrong, are you sick?" I heard the voice behind the others. That nice Orlisian voice that I enjoyed listening to in every play through of Dragon Age Origins, Lilliana.

"What? Oh I'm just a little tired is all." I answered the red haired woman. In my head though I was anything but. This isn't good, I need to figure a way out of here before the events of Ostagar come to pass. If not...

"Well then we had best send him to a nice comfortable cell." Weasley butted in again. Lilliana looked at him with a raised eyebrow but said nothing as he moved forward and grabbed me by my arm and led me to a door off to the side. I glanced back at Lilliana as she began to approach the Revered mother.

"Mother I need to speak to you about the visions I've been having." I could hear her say before I was out of sight and going down a steep set of stairs which led to a dimly lit room with a large cage with cast iron bars.

The cage was more spacious then I expected, probably made to house around three people. In the center was a small bucket which I dismissed quickly, in the far left corner was a pair of beds with poorly made blankets. On the top right wall was hole with two iron bars which served as a window. The door was thinner than most I've seen in this building and I was made to duck down and turn sideways to get into it.

Now inside I straightened up and looked back as Weasley turned the key in the lock. He looked up at me holding the key at his side. "I will be back with a vile to take some blood for a phylactery." He said turning as another man walked in. This one was shorter than me but had muscles twice as large as my own. Which isn't exactly saying much.

"This is irregular. I don't think I've seen him in a'bout the town." The man said.

"He'll be staying for a while." Weasley said heading for the door. "He's an apostate so make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Oh, sure" the man answered with a scowl as he watched the other leave. "Tell me how to run my jail?" He muttered just loud enough for me to hear. "The nerve." He then changed his gaze on me. "Don' mind 'em. The name's Dorcus. Wus yours?" He asked.

"Connor." My response came coldly, not that I intended to be hostile but I felt my frustration leak into my voice. I looked around to get a better look at my surrounding. The walls were mostly submerged in the ground with maybe the top foot or a half was actually uncovered. This would explain the high up window.

"Connor, thas uh good name." He said with a slow nod. "So you a Mage eh?" He questioned further. I could tell this guy probably doesn't get much talking done.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I responded. I studied the bars now. Probably some iron, I doubt they would make it from steel, although my knowledge of medieval jail is limited.

"You guess?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, "you either is or is not. You can't exactly guess 'bout tha." He stated.

I now had my attention on him. I couldn't decide if I liked him or not. He was currently the one keeping me here but he at least talks to me like I'm interesting and I can't get angry at him for doing his job. "I am an Apostate, a rouge Mage. However I know very little magic." Actually I could argue that I know none. Just that I can use it but he doesn't need to know that right now.

"Alrigh, but you's still uh Mage." He gave me a somewhat toothy smile. Well at least there was a few teeth here and there.

"Um, yeah." I responded.

"Righ then." He stopped and turned to the door which I had previously come through to get here and the same one which Weasly used to leave. I could hear footsteps now that everything was quiet. The door opened and Richard entered with Lilliana.

Lilliana held a vile and what looked like a syringe. She looked at Dorcus and gave him quite the attractive smile. "Good day Mr. Dorcus." She said.

"Gud day sistar." Dorcus responded heartily.

Then Richard cleared his throat. "Um, Connor we are going to make you a phylactery." He said looking at me somewhat awkwardly. "I requested to do it instead of Weasly." He said as if he needed to explain himself. "I felt if maybe I did it as your friend it would not be as bad."

"Your friend has a kind heart." Liliana stated her eyes becoming fixed on our interaction.

"So what's this going to do?" I asked. If my game knowledge is correct then they draw my blood and use some lyrium and then they can track me if I escape or something.

"Well I am going to take some of your blood." Ding ringer on that one, wait why am I excited about that, this is bad. With this around I can't escape. With this I will be trapped here in lothering for sure. Then when the Darkspawn horde shows up I will... I will die. In fact, everyone and everything will die. But what else is there what can I do, if I don't submit myself then they will use force. I can't refuse no matter what.

As if putting an end to my mental debate Richard opened the cage and turned his body with a few noises of protest from his armor and ducked into the cage. Once he had returned to his full stature Liliana followed although with much more grace.

"Fine, I guess I have no choice, do what you will." I said, defeated.

He looked down for a moment before taking the syringe in his hand. He turned to me once more. "Please raise your sleeve." He said. His voice came forced and reluctant. I could tell that he was conflicted in his judgment.

I did as I was asked. He moved closer to me and positioned himself ready to draw the blood. "this may hurt." He said. I nodded.

I remembered the advice that my friend had given me. 'Before the doc pokes you with a needle cough right before. It distracts you from the pain.'

Right as I felt the needle make contact with my skin I coughed. And it stung. I guess the cough only helps when the one taking your blood knows how to do it. It was only a brief time but I still felt ill. Richard looked at me concerned as Liliana put cloth pad to the point where the needle entered.

"Are you well? You are pale." Richard asked.

I nodded quickly and sat on the bed. "Yeah I'll be fine. I just… need to settle down a bit." I said, my voice quaking. Sure I didn't fear needles but I'm not used to dealing with them drawing blood. No matter how small the amount drawn was.

"Alright, I will go and prepare this for the grand enchanter. He will want to get this ready when we get you to him" I paused for a moment.

Wait what? "I thought the Templars made the phylacteries." I said now back in control of my voice.

"No, well not exactly. All the blood must be prepared by the grand enchanter before it's made into a phylactery." Richard said in response.

"oh." I said. A simple response, when in reality I was beginning to spin the gears in my head. Maybe I could escape maybe I can avoid the blight. These thoughts and more ran through my head.

It was now that Richard and Liliana left the jail and I was left alone with Dorcus.

It wasn't much later that I felt the call of nature and I got up and walked to the cage door.

"Hey Dorcus, I need to use the bathroom." I said.

"eh? Oh well it's right behind ya." he said.

I looked back confused until my eyes came to rest on the bucket. "oh no." I whispered to myself I also noted the book under the bucket which seemed to have several pages ripped out of it.

"If ya wan, I can step ma'self outa her fer a few minutes ta let ya do yur busnis." Dorcus said with a smile.

I took a deep breath, I hate this place soooo much.

Its been a while. A long while since I'vewritten. I wish I could say I had a good reason but I really don't. The fact that I left this just kinda left me sour with myself. This chapter has been done for some time now and I know the few of you that have read this way back when will know that I started writingwith excitementand poor punctuation. Now I feel not as excited. To those of you new and originalalike, I say welcome back but don't get too excited. I am still trying to figure out how to manage this story while also doing another thing and figuring out where I want this to go. This means that my posting will be a slow process. If anyone is interested in helping with the plot problem I have please give me ideas. your comments will be welcome. Things I'm looking for are, Who should the hero of Fereldan be? Male, female, race, class, origin etc. That will help out in the future.

Anyways if any of that made sense I thank you for getting this far.

So long and may you have a good day!