Chapter Four
Take One Down, Pass It Around
He didn't hate the tranquil, he really didn't. But there was something to them that just...wasn't right. It was the dead eyes, the gaping mouth, the completely rigid in stance and posture. They were more statues than men, completely devoid of all that made them living, breathing beings.
Needless to say, Xanatos had never enjoyed going up to the stockroom. When in his apprenticehood, he had done his best to not be picked as the one to get anything the mentor required from there.
"Welcome to the Circle stockroom of magical items." Owain's completely base voice spoke, a tone of complete and utter neutrality like words written upon the page of a manual. No life in it – no joy, no sorrow, no glee, no anger. Xanatos tried to keep himself from shivering unpleasantly at the very sound. "My name is Owain. How may I assist you?"
Beyond him was a room that was stacked from wall to wall with barrels, boxes, and other containers that held the items he spoke of. Xanatos's eyes flickered to them for a moment, then back to Owain.
"I need a rod of fire."
"Rods of fire serve many purposes." Owain replied, his tone never changing in pitch. "Why do you wish to acquire this particular item?"
"...why do you need to know?" Xanatos asked, a brow raised. He was a full mage now. He knew his rights, and one of those was access to the Circle stockroom. Wasn't that how it was supposed to go?
"It is procedure." The tranquil spoke simply in reply.
Xanatos rolled his eyes. "I need the rod for my research into...burning things." He said. From his robes, quick as a flash, Owain produced a slip of parchment that Xanatos recognized.
"Here is the form – "Request for Rod of Fire". Have it signed and dated by a senior enchanter. I will release a rod to you once I have the signed form."
'Great...more hoops to jump through. Things never change.' Xanatos nodded and left quickly to go find a senior enchanter. Who could he convince quickly enough to get this done? Torrin? No, he'd see right through it. Leorah, perhaps? He denied that thought again. She was too busy with her herbs and alchemy to really worry so much about other matters.
First Enchanter?
He stopped in the corridor, thinking it over.
Could he do that? To the man who had mentored him so, seeing as he was about to potential betrayal the Circle? Even if he were never caught, it was still something he would carry with him. Could he outright go to the man's face and lie about why he needed a rod of fire? The thought did not continue as Xanatos caught sight of someone familiar...Senior Enchanter Sweeney.
He was an old man, balding, and the most forgetful sort. Kind, talented in his youth, but really rather slow on the uptake now. Xanatos was sure he could very easily twist the man just enough to get what he wanted.
He came up, clearing his throat. The man turned around. "Oh...hello. I don't believe we've met." He said. "Are you...new to the Circle?" He asked.
Another day of not remembering. Lovely. "You might remember me as an apprentice." Xanatos said, humoring him nonetheless.
"I'm sorry." Sweeney laughed. "There are so many of you, and I get confused."
'No kidding.'
"Not to mention these old eyes are starting to go..."
'Surprised they didn't go before you brain...' Xanatos said, nevertheless putting a broad smile on his face and laughing along with him.
"Everyone makes mistakes."
"You're too kind. I'm old and about to fall apart. Nothing in the world can fix that."
'Just live long enough to sign the form...'
"Anyway, did you need something?"
"I just need a form signed." Xanatos said, holding out the form to him.
"What's this?" Sweeney leaned over, squinting to get a better look at the printing. "A request form from the stockroom? 'Rod of Fire'..."
'Yes, you can still read...now put that hand to use...'
"You know, I remember when the junior mages I mentor..."
'Oh, Maker damn it all!'
"...burning holes in each other's trousers. One boy burned..."
'Oh, yes, old man. Laugh and laugh and go on and on and on...'
Suddenly, he laughing due to some part of his story. Xanatos laughed as well, keeping up the facade.
"You're not involved in any such rubbish, are you?" Sweeney was giving him an appraising look, then shook his head. "No, no, of course you're not. Look at you, so...angelic." He laughed, as Xanatos did in kind. "Well, I won't ask why you need it." The man took the form over to nearby desk, dipping a quill in ink a few times and scribbling out his name and the date, giving it a moment to set before handing it back. "...and if you get the chance, burn a big hole in the seat of the trousers of the templar that patrols the library."
'First interesting thing you've said this whole conversation, old man...'
"Do that for old Sweeney, won't you? Bastard's always giving me the stink-eye."
"I'll see if I can manage that." Xanatos replied, that smile still plastered on his face. If he were going to use a rod of fire on a templar, he'd rather just roast the entire templar.
"You be on your way now."
All too happy for the dismissal, Xanatos took off with a huff of relief and headed back to the stockroom, and back to Owain.
Suddenly, he was wishing he was listening to Sweeney's boring stories again.
"Welcome to the Circle's stockroom-" Owain began his introduction.
"Here," Xanatos said, holding the signed form out to him, "is the signed form for the rod of fire." Owain took the form, looking it over.
"Everything looks to be in order." Owain stepped back into the stockroom for a moment, picked up a long, thing box and opened it, retrieving the item in question, stepping back out and handing it out to Xanatos. "Here is the rod you requested."
Xanatos was happy to take it, mutter some thanks, and was off back to the chapel.
When he returned, the group worked out a plan to get down into the basement. Within the next hour, the three had split up within the Circle Tower, planning to meet downstairs in the basement to avoid attention. Xanatos would be the first to enter, and he sat in the catacombs waiting for the others to show. Jowan was last, looking apologetic.
"Sorry...I had to wait until the guards changed."
"It doesn't matter, let's get this over with." Xanatos said, and the three made their way toward the first door, though not the one they needed the rod of fire for, apparently, since Lily shook her head as Xanatos took the item from his robes.
"The Chantry calls this entrance the 'Victim's Door'." Lily explained. "It is built of two hundred and seventy-seven planks, one for each original template."
"Thanks for the history lesson." Xanatos quipped.
"It is a reminder of all the dangers those cursed with magic pose." Lily added, ignoring his comment.
"How do we get past it?" Xanatos asked, figuring if it were not the rod of fire, it would have to be something else.
"The doors can be opened only by a templar and a mage, entering together." Lily told them.
"...well, you could have easily brought that to our attention beforehand..." Xanatos had placed his hand against his head. Oh, yes, just a pleasant little jaunt down to the repository...no big problem...oh, wait! Now there was! His mind began racing to think how they could possibly get a templar to assist them. Perhaps one of the dumber ones...like that Cullen fellow.
"The Chantry provides the password, which primes the ward, and the mage touches it with mana to release it." Lily explained.
"I'm guessing you have the password, then?" Xanatos asked, his hand sliding from against his face. Lily nodded. "Then why can't Jowan help you enter?"
"The ward only responds to the touch of one who has been through the Harrowing." She explained, and suddenly it made more sense to him. Not just an errand boy for the rod of fire, it seemed.
"Alright." Xanatos nodded.
Lily turned on her heel to face the door, raising a hand and bowing her head in supplication. "Sword of the Maker, Tears of the Fade." There was a sudden hum, and Xanatos felt his long hair blown back slightly in the breeze.
"Is that it?" He asked, rising himself. "Can we enter now?"
"The password only primes the door. Now it must feel the touch of mana."
Gathering up his energies, Xanatos faced the door. With the raw energies of mana from the Fade, he sent a blast of blue light, a dispelling burst, toward the door. It responded and opened. They quickly moved through.
"This must be the repository door..." Xanatos said, looking to an eeriely similiar door in the room they had just entered.
"Melt the locks off!" Jowan said, and Xanatos already had the item in hand, raising it and priming it with mana before he lunged forward toward the door.
Nothing happened.
The three of them looked between the rod and the door, then back again several times. Still, no result.
"W-What's the matter?" Lily gasped. "Why isn't it working?" Xanatos lunged forward once again. Not so much as a spark was generated, the rod simply touching the cold metal of the door.
"Lily, something's not right..." Jowan said, waving his hands in a manner akin to casting spells, and finding himself utterly useless for it. "I...can't cast spells here. Nothing works." Quickly, Xanatos raised his own hand, a blue lightning crackling around his fingers before he dismissed it. So it was only non-Harrowed mages who could not perform magic in here. His eyes passed over some carvings made in the stone.
"These wards carved into the stone..." Lily said, noticing the carvings as well.
"Templars' work." Xanatos said. "Anything we cast at that door isn't going to work." To illustrate the point, he conjured up his lightning once more and blasted it toward the door. As he had predicted, the electricity disappated before it even came close to the metal surface.
"I should have guessed!" Lily cried, clearly not having planned for this at all. "How do you keep mages away from something? Make their powers completely worthless!" She paced about the chamber now, shaking from her panic that threatened to overtake her. "That's it then! We're finished! We can't get in!"
"Get a hold of yourself!" Xanatos snapped, and Lily shook, looking to him, but did her best to straighten right up. His mind raced, trying to think of something they could do...and then his eyes caught the smooth metal of another door. "...that door there. Where does it lead?"
"I...I don't know." Lily's voice was still trembling even as she had stilled herself. "Do you think it's another way in?"
"That door probably leads to another part of the repository." Jowan brought up. "What are the chances of their being another entrance?"
"It wouldn't make sense to have just one entrance." Xanatos said. "Someone could get trapped down there, and then where would they be? Stuck. Let's try it."
"We can try, but I don't think it'll be easy." Lily said. "It looks locked, for one."
"Right, and locks are such a pain." Xanatos said, scanning the frame and seeing the door had no glyphs as the one directly into the repository did. "Oh, wait!" He said, taking out the rod of fire. He walked over. This door was of simple wood, and it only took a flick of the rod to get a line of fire burning brightly, searing through the lock like a hot knife through butter.
As soon as it opened, the suit of armor standing next to it sprang to life, wielding a wicked-looking battleaxe as it lifted the weapon to take off Jowan's head. It got a blast of pure mana from him, followed by the crush of a mace against the back of its helmet before it laid still on the floor.
"I think we're going to have a harder time than we thought..." Jowan muttered.
"Keep your eyes peeled." Xanatos said. "Let's go..."
There were more, of course, groups of armored knights and more as they went on. More defenses and enchantments to block their path, strengthening Xanatos's belief that they were more than on the right track. Unfortunately, the best defenses of the Circle were no match for a newly-Harrowed Mage, a Chantry initiate, and an apprentice.
'If this is all the greatest of mages can do, then we need help, not protection...' The first of those three thought as they made their way through the winding corridors. Even so, he was looking back every so often. Whether or not the collective knowledge and power of Ferelden's mages and enchanters was dangerous, Xanatos was smart enough to know the blades of the templars were not only dangerous but very, very real and needed no energy from the Fade to work.
They found another door at the end of the path, opening it to find...another part of the repository as Jowan had predicted.
"Well, that's it!" Jowan sighed.
"Wait..." Xanatos said. He stepped over to a bookcase not far off. "The phlyactery chamber is on the other side of this wall."
"...how do you know?" Jowan asked.
"I counted the steps..." Xanatos said. "Here, help me move this..."
"Right, if we work together, we can shift it." Jowan said, taking once side while Xanatos took the other. Together, they easily moved it aside. "You're right, Xanatos! It's weak in spots."
"This statue, it's Elvhen...and magical." Xanatos said, looking to a statue that had been brought into the room. "If I had to guess...it might amplify the power of the rod."
"Maybe it can knock some of the bricks loose in the wall!" Jowan said excitedly.
"Maybe just..." Xanatos said, taking the rod out once more, pointing it toward the statue of the wolf. From its maw, a massive blast of flame erupted, heading right towards the bricks, which exploded in an amazing burst of red and orange...and then, like that, the path was opened for them.
"This is the phylactery chamber!" Jowan was beside himself with joy. It had worked!
"We must find Jowan's phylactery! Quickly!" Lily said as the three rushed in.
"It's a pity they've taken mine to Denerim already." Xanatos replied glumly, looking at the wall where literally dozens of phylacteries were stacked on the shelves, those of apprentices who had not yet taken their Harrowing.
"Would you destroy yours, too? If it were here?" Jowan asked, and Xanatos considered that. Though he towed the line, he absolutely despised the Circle. The Chantry and Templars always kept their leashes tight upon the mages. He looked forward to a day when that would change, when mages would be free. But it was really a non-issue at this point.
"There's little point in discussing that. It's not here."
"Right..." Jowan muttered as they headed toward the stairs to get to the phylactery shelves. "Look for it, it has to still be here..." They spread out looking through the shelves. One phial of brown-red liquid for every apprentice there.
"Here!" Xanatos said, finding the bottle that had a label reading "Jowan". This was, in fact, the bit of blood that had been taken from his friend when he joined the Circle.
"Destroy it." Lily said, her tone hushed. "I do not wish to stay here a moment longer..." With that, Jowan took the vial and threw it with all his might at the far wall, where the glass shattered and the blood smeared the surface in a large impact splattering. Even if they could recover the blood and put it back into a new vial, it would be useless now to try and track him with it.
"C'mon, let's go. Quickly." Xanatos said. He supposed, next, that they would have to plan an escape. Now that Jowan's leash was gone, they had only a limited amount of time. Sure, there were no Templar patrols, but someone would eventually come and see that it had been destroyed.
And then, there would be no stopping them.
"I think this is the door we started at." Jowan said, walking up a set of steps to a door that swung open at his touch, that same hum at the Door of Victims heard again as the magic was primed and then discharged. "Come on!"
When they got free of the basement, that feeling of victory quickly turned dark and promptly died in agony on the floor. The templars were there, dozens. And the Knight-Commander and the First Enchanter. Literally none of them looked the least bit pleased about the three exiting the basement at that exact moment.
"So...what you said is true, Irving." Greagoir said in a tone that sounded...disappointed, almost.
"G-Greagoir..." Lily began.
"An initiate, conspiring with a blood mage," The Knight-Commander looked upon her with disdain, "I'm disappointed, Lily." He turned, looking to Irving. "She seems shocked, but fully in control of her own mind. Not a thrall of the blood mage, then." He turned to glare at Jowan, who cowered back only slightly. "You were right, Irving." He said as he turned back to the First Enchanter. "The intiaite has betrayed us. The Chantry will not let this go unpunished."
"And this one!" Greagoir nearly spat his anger, apparently having been saving it as he pointed his gauntleted finger toward Xanatos. "Newly a mage, already flouting the rules of the Circle!"
"I am disappointed in you." Irving looked upon Xanatos, and for the first time he felt shame for his actions. "You could have told me what you knew of this plan, and you didn't."
Before he could reply, Jowan roared out, "You don't care for the mages! You just bow to the Chantry's every whim!" Xanatos couldn't find an argument with that statement. Maker, he didn't want to!
"He's right!" Xanatos balled his hand into a fist. "You don't. You don't care for the apprentices at all!" Irving looked shocked at the sudden outbursts, then his face receded once more into stoicism.
"Enough!" Greagoir snapped, raising his hands as his templars were creeping into position, Xanatos had not missed their movements, nor had he waited to move his other hand to grasp his staff once more. If they were going to kill them, then it was time to go down fighting. "As Knight-Commander of the templars here assembled, I sentence this blood mage to death!" He turned, pointing to Lily. "And this initiate has scorned the Chantry and her vows! Take her to the Aconar."
'The Aeonar?!' Xanatos knew well of the mages' prison. It was the only thing more feared than the Harrowing among the initiates, causing most to tow the line completely out of fear of being sent there. Only a few Templars knew where it was, and none ever returned from it. Lily was no mage...if they were willing to send her there...
"NO!" Jowan's voice bellowed through the chambers, catching all offguard. "I won't let you touch her!"From his robes, he produced a knife and Xanatos watched, mouth agape, as his friend plunged it into his palm. The blood that fell from his hand created an eerie gust at his feet, arcane in nature as he raised his bloodied hands.
Suddenly, one by one, the Templars fell over and were racked by unimaginable pain (most dying instantly), as were the Knight-Commander and the First Enchanter. All but Lily and Jowan were hit by the sudden shockwave. Xanatos recovered just in time to see Jowan, hands bloodied, approaching the newly-frightened and trembling Lily. "By...by the Maker. Blood magic? H-how could you, Jowan? You never.."
"I admit, I dabbled in it!" Jowan was clearly trying to stumble through an explanation. "I thought it would make me a better mage!"
"Blood magic is evil, Jowan!" Lily spat back at him. "It corrupts people...changes them..."
More Chantry rhetoric, though Xanatos had no inclination to chide it at this exact moment. Right now, he felt anger settling into him as he struggled to stand. He's been betrayed!
"I'm going to give it up!" Jowan cried out, on the verge of tears seeing how he'd harmed her so. "All magic. I just want to be with you, Lily! Please, come with me..." He stepped forward, she stepped back against the wall.
"I trust you...I was ready sacrifice everything for you...I...I don't know who you are, blood mage." She dove under his arm and turned around, backing away from him again. "Stay away from me..." Xanatos could see the horror, mixed with anger in Jowan's eyes, could literally see the man crumbling before him as his love rejected him. The remaining templars were rising and, as Xanatos finally got back to his feet, he saw the doors of the Circle close where Jowan had run through them.
He was gone.
Immediately, Xanatos went over to Irving, helping the First Enchanter to stand. "Are you alright?" Irving asked, apparently far more charitable towards him than Xanatos thought he'd be. He nodded to the older man. "Where is Greagoir?"
"I knew it..." Greagoir was standing again, regrettably having survived the attack of Jowan. "A blood mage. But to overcome so many...I never thought him capable of such power..."
'Nor did I...' Xanatos thought, still enraged at the actions of his friend. He never would have thought Jowan would betray him in such a way. 'You could have told me, Jowan!' He had no idea what he would do now. The plan had fallen apart, and things did not look remotely good for him.
"He lied to me!" The mage was trembling with that anger, hardly caring what happened now. All he wanted to do was to find Jowan and rip his throat out.
"None of us expected this..." Irving pointed out as he rose with Xanatos's aid. "Are you alright, Greagoir?"
"As good as can be expected!" Greagoir snapped, the Knight-Commander was angrier than Xanatos had ever seen him. "If you had let me act sooner, this would not have happened! Now we have a blood mage on the loose and no way to track him down!"
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Xanatos snapped right back at him, catching the old templar offguard for a brief moment.
"Where is the girl?" Greagoir asked, deciding to leave that line of questioning alone for now.
"I...I am here, ser..." Lily's voice sounded meeker than Xanatos had ever heard it, seeing where she had slunk away by the stairs down into the basement from whence they'd come.
"You helped a blood mage!" Greagoir apparently thought taken on a weak Chantry initiate was better for his rage than a young mage in his prime. "Look at all he's hurt!" He pointed toward the bodies of the templars who had been knocked down and would never get up again.
"You forced Jowan's hand!" Xanatos pointed out, not letting the Knight-Commander get off that easily. Before he could respond to him, however, Lily spoke up.
"Knight-Commander...I was wrong. I...I was accomplice to a...a...blood mage. I will accept whatever punishment you see fit. Even...even Aeonar..."
"Get her out of my sight!" Greagoir snapped, not wanting to deal with this at the moment, gesturing to two of the remaining Templars, who moved to each side of Lily and escorted her away. She did not look back, though Xanatos could see she was trying her damnedest to fight back tears. "And you!" He spun around on Xanatos, his anger not yet vented and now thinking he had more of an advantage. "You know why the repository exists. Some artifacts – some magics – are locked away for a reason!"
"Yes," Xanatos snapped, "because you lack just enough stupidity to not be afraid." Magic was feared, and there was plenty of reason to be afraid of it. But those that could use magic responsibly should not be punished as so. Not that Xanatos expected the Knight-Commander to break through the years upon years of Chantry lies about it and understand that.
"Your antics have made a mockery of this Circle!" The Knight-Commander replied without a beat. "Ah...what are we going to do with you?" He asked, sighing in his frustrations of what had been, until this point, a fairly normal day.
"Jowan's the one you want, not me!" He attempted to appeal to the templar's want to kill blood mages.
"You helped a blood mage escape!" Greagoir snapped back. "All our prevention measures for naught...because of you!"
"Knight-Commander..." Xanatos heard the voice and turned to see...the Wardens. Duncan was speaking, at his side his Highever recruit and the Mabari. They looked ready to travel. "If I may...I am not only looking for mages to join the king's army. I am also recruiting for the Grey Wardens." Xanatos could not deny that his interest was piqued. "Irving spoke highly of this mage, and I would like him to join the Warden ranks."
"Duncan," Irving said, a tone of caution on his voice, "this mage has assisted a maleficar, and shown a lack of regard for the Circle's rules." So he was still disappointed.
"He is a danger," Greagoir once more had to open his mouth, "to all of us." Xanatos assumed that that would be the end of it, until Duncan spoke again.
"It is a rare person who risks all for a friend in need."
'Yeah...friend...not anymore...' Xanatos thought. Jowan had his freedom now, and he had better make sure that he never run into his old friend ever again.
"I stand by my decision, I will recruit this mage." Duncan finished.
"No!" Greagoir roared, slamming his fist against the stone wall. "I refuse to let this go unpunished!"
"I've always hoped to prove myself as a mage." Xanatos said after a moment's deliberation, shooting the Knight-Commander a daring smirk that only made the man's face turn even redder in his rage.
"Greagoir, mages are needed." Duncan's voice was rather soothing as he tried to calm the templar. "This mage is needed. Worse things plague this world than blood mages...you know that." Duncan placed his hand upon Xanatos's shoulder. "I take this young mage under my wing and bear all responsibility for his actions."
"A blood mage escapes, and his accomplice is not only unpunished, but is rewarded by becoming a Grey Warden?!" The Knight-Commander yelled incredulous of the whole situation. "Are our rules nothing?! Have we lost all authority over our mages?!"
"Enough..." Irving raised an open palm, silencing his colleague. "We have no more say in this matter." Greagoir, outraged and defeated, threw up his hands and departed with the rest of his templars, leaving only the one on his normal guard station.
"So I am to be a Grey Warden..." Xanatos mused aloud, thinking it over.
"Yes..." Irving said, turning back to him. "Be proud, child. You are luckier than you know." Xanatos once more met the First Enchanter's eyes, and there was a moment between them. A myriad of emotions flowed between student and mentor. Joy...anger...sadness...regret...all within a moment. Irving gave a small smile, as did Xanatos back to him.
"Thank you for everything, First Enchanter." He said simply. Irving nodded. Duncan clapped him on the shoulder, then turned to move toward the other recruit.
"Come. Your new life awaits." With that, he turned, and headed off with Duncan and his Highever recruit.
A/N: Slightly shorter chapter, but at least we got the Origins out of the way. From here on out, we're have less dialogue as from the game and more open and free form (I hope) barring certain events later on. Next chapter will be Ostagar, and a little more on the characters of Malcolm and Xanatos. Will they get along? Will Malcolm's desire for revenge and Xanatos's ambitions collide and be beneficial to stopping the Blight?
Oh, suddenly the plot thickens, doesn't it? The twists, the turns, all that jazz.
By the way, the reviews are always welcome. I promise, I won't bite...unless you ask me to.
...and I probably won't, so don't get your hopes up.