Disclaimer: I don't own fate or dragon age.

Author Pre-notes: Some answers to guest reviews. Come on guys log in :p

Ben1: Illya uses wish craft and she has the mystic eyes of binding. She can literally side step all the complicated magecraft and say a whole load of rubbish and it will still work as a geis. That's how ha her powers are. But I've countered that by making it a highly taxing concentration wise form of magic. Rin for example formed a geis magical contract on the run during the Holy Grail war so it's not so unusual to create these contracts off the cuff.

Ben2: Indeed Artoria is very powerful but I'm going to be solving that issue in the coming chapters. Mostly…It won't be nerfing so don't worry about that but let's just say the blights are going to get that little bit more complicated.

Poerium: One-punch man ftw! That's actually what I was thinking of when I did it :p It's supposed to be ridiculous as it's a perfectly Shirou like idea. It also ties a lot in with the ideas that Naruto propagate: that working together can bring dreams to fruition. If everyone works hard together you really could accomplish anything. The trouble is getting them to do it :p.

Chapter Seven: Trip to Orzammar, Illya's Admirer?

Illya strolled along the high bridge between the main keep proper and her magus tower. Her heavy coat traded for a light white dress and slippers in the summer "heat". She leaned against the barrier looking down on the keep courtyard where she could see Onii-chan and Artoria sparring. Her eyes tried to follow their movements but were far too fast for her; she honestly couldn't believe how strong he was getting. It seemed only yesterday he couldn't project anything with any reliability. Now he could project and mimic Archer's sword skills with his weapons, the same was true for Artoria's Caliburn much to the prior owners chagrin. Illya smirked Onii-chan had always surprised her with his persistence, it was true during the Holy Grail War and it was true now.

It had been a month since they had liberated Soldier's Keep. In that time so much had changed it was hard to keep track of. Levi had been good to his word and had arrived a week later with his nephew Mikan and brother Mikhael, alongside them they had brought a small party of builders to help make the keep liveable. Mikhael was a "rogue" blacksmith seemingly on the run from someone, he never would say who or even what no matter how press. Illya thought the guy was full of it, but she couldn't deny he was amazing at the forge. Mikan was a "good boy" putting up with his father's eccentricities and helping as best he could around the forge, to Illya he was utterly boring.

The builders had worked fast and within a few days the keep was cleared out and stripped bare of rotten or spoiled furniture and supplies. Avernus hadn't been pleased that they were "messing up" his keep but she shut him up with threats of pulling out a certain costume again. She took great pleasure in tormenting him with trivial requests like, "wear this please" or "dance like a chicken", she would make certain he would pay for his transgressions one way or another! If it happened to amuse her...well that was payment for her public service!

Onii-chan had spent much of that time setting up lines of communication between them and the chantry charters. If anyone that posts a message a copy gets sent to Soldier's keep. It wasn't an easy to set up as it also required him to inform the chantry of his intentions, for the most part the reverent mothers had been positive if not indulgent of the idea. It still cost them to organize and the chantry took their sweet "donation" as part of the bargain. Always it was money that everyone wanted; they were lucky she was so good at making people give her theirs.

Moving home had been a difficult prospect but it had been made far easier with Levi's help. He had lent one of his carts to help transfer their belongings in Denerim. They hadn't had much but the content of "her" workshop. Selling the house had helped set up some of the starting capital to start renovations around the keep. Just paying the builders to clear the place had set them back a pretty penny. If only Onii-chan would let her mind-control them all of this would be soo much easier!

Illya looked away from the spar as it continued; staring back up at her magus tower she thought about the mysteries that she had forced Avernus to yield to her. Archdemons couldn't be killed without a grey warden. They would simply body hop to the nearest darkspawn and possess a new body. It would take time to reconstitute the dragon form but it would happen. It was what brought the world to its knees during the first era. A time when magic was arguable far stronger and when the dwarves were some of the most advanced people on Thedas.

It was desperation that had brought about the creation of the grey wardens after numerous battles where they had slain the Archdemon. They had finally drank of the creature's blood thereby forging a connection between themselves and the taint within the Archdemon. The next time they slew the dragon the "grey warden" to finish the beast absorbed the creature's essence and died, the old god spirit going with him. It answered many questions as to why it was always a grey warden and not some unaffiliated hero or heroine that slew the corrupted dragon.

Avernus had been a fount of information regarding the fade and its properties. Apparently the spirits of the fade had absolutely no knowledge regarding darkspawn or the maker. That meant that the tale that the taint came from the black city and the fade was probably a total fabrication. It also meant that it was likely that the maker didn't exist as some immaterial spirit either otherwise the fade denizens would know of him or it. Her idea of the taint being a completely alien thing to the face of Thedas was taking root.

The big question was how were old gods connected to the taint if it was an alien creation? From what Avernus told her the darkspawn would seek out and corrupt an old god which would then awaken as an Archdemon. Until that point the darkspawn would remain a dangerous but mostly instinctive force. Smart mage type "emissaries" could control large numbers of the darkspawn but not enough to truly be a threat. Only an Archdemon could press its will across the entire population and turn them into an army.

Illya turned back as she heard the portcullis receding into the gate house a trio of traders and their mules pulling into the courtyard. Onii-chan's spar drew to a halt as he greeted and directed them to Levi who was taking care of the logistics of running the keep within one of the outbuildings.

Setting up Soldier's Peak as a small trading post had been a surprising success due to the general lack of oversight from Arl or Teryn. It made a desirable location to trade what with the nascent presence of the "Heroes Association" watching over it and the general lack of red tape. Artoria had concerns over possible smuggling cropping up but so far it seemed the criminals had decided to stay away for now. Illya supposed that they had probably heard that "Blue Saber" had set up shop here and decided not to risk their necks.

Illya was shivered, she sauntered her way into the keep proper. It was still very bare but the fires were kept lit so it stayed as warm as you could expect an ancient keep could be. Onii-chan was still deciding what to do next regarding the so called "Heroes Association". Levi had helped a lot in the short term as his family were wealthy and he truly did believe it was a venture worth exploring. Besides he was making a tidy profit on the trading they were doing here.

Levi had set up some discussions with the Merchant's guild, they had gone well but it was purely conditional support. Essentially they stated that they would support the Association with exclusive jobs contracts if they could prove that the venture was looking promising. That meant they wanted to know that there were more than three members to this movement and more gold than just their own backing it. It was an approach that Levi had expected them to take. The "Wait and see" approach. It also meant that they still needed someone to take that first step in funding them. This left two groups that they could approach. The Fereldan Nobility and the Dwarves of Orzammar.

Illya had read about and watched King Cailan as he roamed about his palace. He was a man possessed by the glory of past heroes and their adventures, to him his father King Maric was larger than life. Maric going missing had pushed Cailan further into his pursuit of "heroism" believing that he had to match his father to be a good king. His wife Queen Anora seemed to possess a platonic relationship with the man; Illya had not once seen them couple during all the time they had been at Denerim. He did however seem to bounce around from woman to woman in short liaisons. Regardless it may be possible that they could conjure up some funding from him if approached correctly but it would push them into the spot light too quickly.

It was just a question of who to approach first and if they did indeed wish to. Illya was confident that they could manipulate Cailan easily if they already had the support of dwarven gold. He would be "forced" into helping them to avoid looking cheap to his subjects. Not that it would be needed, he would likely jump at the chance to fund a "Heroes Association" within the borders of his own nation. His support could likely be gained "no strings" attached apart from the added attention of having a monarch fund them directly.

Illya sat down in the only fully furnished part of the keep, the kitchen -Onii-chan's sacred grounds. He had recreated his stoves and equipment from home, just in a far larger set up. She frowned while ripping pieces of bread from a hard roll and eating the tit bits.

The hard part in that plan was getting the dwarves to support them. The question was "how" to do it. There were several ways open to them, one appeal to the king. However that could only be done after impressing the dwarves and that could only be done by venturing into the deep roads. The deep roads were essentially the ancient remnants of the underground highway that had connected the original dwarf empire of "thaigs"; cities and towns was the nearest translation Illya supposed. Currently however it was home to the darkspawn horde, their breeding grounds and their natural habitat when a blight wasn't underway. Deep down below that however were the truly primeval passageways, likely the hidden places where the old gods slumbered. Or at least that was what Avernus believed.

Two gain a Paragon's attention. The second relied on there being a "living" Paragon and current lore did not seem to indicate that there was one. Up to date information would be needed which could only be gotten in Orzammar itself, the dwarves were notoriously xenophobic over outsiders unless they had something to offer them hence why the information wasn't commonly available.

Illya started from her thoughts as she heard the door clack closed, she turned and suddenly the top of her head was ruffled by a gentle hand. She smiled up at her brother. She was glad she could honestly say she loved him with all of her heart. She knew he would always take care of her just like Berserker had before.

"Onii-channn…" she pouted soothing her hair back. He laughed lightly a twinkly sound that made her heart surge in joy.

"Ohayou Illya! Sleep well?" he pulled off his chest armour and placed it on a chair. Illya watched as he started to prepare some eggs for them on the hot stove.

"Mmm! I've been thinking a lot about what we could do in Orzammar. You know about the Paragons right?" at Shirou's confused glance she continued, "Oops sorry I forgot I hadn't mentioned "what" they were only that they were important." She smiled as she organized her thoughts and continued with an explanation.

"First you have to know that Dwarves don't worship gods, they venerate their Ancestors. These Ancestors are usually the named "Paragons" which form their own noble houses. They personified some aspect of dwarven society so completely as to awe others. Be it warrior arts, politics or even poetic rhyming, literally anything could get a dwarf named a Paragon as long as it was either beneficial or culturally enriching on a grand scale." Onii-chan set down some breakfast in front of her as he continued making Artoria's portion.

Illya glanced again as the door once again clacked shut. Artoria strolled in wearing a much understated dress of simple design, it was once again blue. Was it her favourite colour or something Illya thought with exasperation? She went up to Onii-chan and kissed him on the cheek giving him a small smile before accepting her breakfast. The smile he gave her couldn't have been larger; the two of them had been much more affectionate since their time together in Denerim that much Illya knew. Illya shied away from thinking about that stuff and continued after Artoria started devouring her meal with zest.

"…What we are interested in is what Paragons can do. They are kings in all but name capable of wielding immense influence within dwarven society. If we could get a Paragon on side with us, it would make what we are needing a paltry request." Illya smirked her eyes popping open as she finished the last of her breakfast.

"I believe we can create a Paragon…we know things that no one here in this world has knowledge of. Skills, inventions. If I can find a dwarf amenable to my influence we really could create a Paragon that would not only be dependent on us somewhat but would also be grateful to us!"

"That sounds dishonorable manipulating someone like that…" Illya sighed at Artoria sometimes her sensibilities were just so finicky. The blond woman had also finished her breakfast and was starting on her seconds much to Onii-chan's amusement. His gaze returned to her his expression pensive.

"It does sound underhanded, I would prefer some other way to gain favor; I want to help the dwarves not manipulate their society." His tone spoke resolve and determination much to Illya's anger.

"It's not like they don't benefit massively out of the arrangement! Fine…if you and Artoria want to find some other way to do this then you're welcome to try when we get there!" Illya huffed…stupid Onii-chan and his girlfriend ganging up on her. She stood up quickly and ran for the stairs willing her shining eyes not to be seen.


Shirou watched Illya run up the stairs in flight. He sighed he hadn't meant to hurt her feelings on the matter, he couldn't deny that her plan might very well work but he couldn't agree with it in principle. He preferred an upfront approach. Gain the dwarves support through some deed of valor and get the attention of their king. To him that was a fairer option to all those concerned. They didn't need to manipulate their entire society.

He had already arranged it with Levi that tomorrow they would be leaving for Orzammar. With Avernus here and ordered to protect the keep from any invaders of ill intent towards Levi and his family he felt safe leaving them for an extended period of time.

"I'm sorry Shirou…I shouldn't have been so a harsh on Illya. Please don't feel the need to agree with me…it was a good plan." Artoria's softly spoken voice sounded by his elbow. He shook his head his eyes focused on his breakfast, it wasn't her fault they were of one mind on this. In many ways he had grown to be more like Artoria after their connection had begun to grow deeper. He had no problem with attacking from a position of strength but somehow using their superior knowledge of future technologies to manipulate the dwarves just didn't sit right with him.

"It's okay…it's not your fault I sometimes forget that she is still a child in many ways…" His eyes darkened, Avalon had not fixed the problem as he hoped. Concerning her maturity there was nothing technically "wrong", her body was the way it was supposed to be. It could freeze her aging and grant her a normal life for a time but it would keep her frozen in this child-like limbo for the rest of her life. She never would grow up, and Shirou had a feeling that Illya knew this sad truth.

"…Well its best to leave her for now, we have full day of preparations with Levi, he's getting a cart together with any supplies we might need." Shirou was hopeful this would turn out well. It was likely that they would encounter darkspawn for the first time, from what he had heard while monstrous they shouldn't have too much trouble with them. Still preparation was the key to any successful operation.


Illya stared at the Frostback Mountains as they grew to glower over them. They were foreboding with their snow covered peaks, looking lonely and isolated even amongst their fellows. She was half hid under the waxed leather covers of the cart, the pitter patter of rain drowning out the sound of most everything else. The weather was rotten, it had been half a day since they set off when the rain had started and it hadn't let up the entire way. Illya could swear that her dress and coat had been soaked through several times already. They were lucky it was a warm shower and they weren't in danger of hypothermia.

Looking ahead she could see Onii-chan and Artoria sitting side by side at the reins guiding the horse through the dreary weather. Even just looking at their waxed leather covered forms she could tell how glum both of them were. The warm weather hadn't lasted long before it had given way to the notorious Fereldan weather.

It was another hour into the mountains before Illya started to see some life. Stalls set up along the foot of the mountain cliffs, some selling dwarven wears the others from Antiva and Fereldan. Traders it seemed really did get everywhere and would endure any weather to get a sale. As they passed the traders were shouting their hardest through the rain trying to get their attention. Onii-chan just steered past them intent on finally being free of the rain.

Gaining entry to Orzammar hadn't been an easy trick, not just any surfacer got to ply their trade in Orzammar proper. Levi as usual had proven invaluable and had gone ahead and procured them the necessary passes. As expensive as they were it would be a drop in the bucket to what they hoped to acquire. Illya watched as they pulled up alongside a particularly grim and sick looking dwarven guardsman, his face was lined and craggy with a long black beard poking out from under his full face helmet he was also completely sodden.

"…ughh don't make me look up surfacer, I hate seeing the sky, gives me the wobbles it does." The dwarf slowly looked up at them, "You got the proper passes?" Onii-chan stepped off the cart and handed them over. The dwarf spent several seconds looking them over before nodding, everything in order. "You must have more money that sense surfacer going to the trouble of getting these licenses…you're clear to move into Orzammar, watch yourself we'll be watching." The dwarf signaled to some unseen compatriot, the huge rune encrusted doors of Orzammar slowly creeped open, the rain water droplets lashed over the edges of the massive doors.

"Thank you! I can't wait to get out of the rain!" Onii-chan leaped back up on the cart as Artoria snapped the reins driving the horse on ahead through the newly opened doors.

"You and me both surfacer, I swear I must have offended a noble sometime to get saddled with this job day in day out…" the dwarf grumbled after them.

Suddenly like someone had turned off the taps they sound of the rain stopped and they pulled though entrance way. They first came to an enormous stables capable of holding at least a dozen carts at once. Leaving their sodden cart and "merchandise" parked with their horse happily munching on dry hay. Illya trotted on after Onii-chan and Artoria as they led the way forward.

Illya stared as the wide corridor opened out even further allowing them to see the hall of the Paragons, numerous statues of dwarves stood resplendent on all sides. Only one looked relatively fresh, one of a dwarven woman with a smiths hammer. That would be someone to investigate for sure, if it was recent they might still be around. Taking a close look yielded nothing, her name was declared in dwarven runes something she had not yet learned. She ran back to Artoria's side as the emerged into Orzammar proper.

She had seen some impressive things in her time as a magus but nothing had prepared her for the grandness that was Orzammar. It was overwhelming! They must have tunneled out an entire mountain! The dwarf city was constructed in concentric tiers each more narrow than the last heading up towards the inner summit of the utterly massive cavern. All of it was surrounding a lake of lava! They must have built this entire city on an inactive volcano or something similar. Paying more attention to the details she noticed they had walked out onto what looked to be the first tier before the lava, it also seemed to be a market place. Stalls selling various types of goods from what looked like arms and armour, exotic fine silks and skins to native foods.

Dwarves were milling around some buying and selling goods; their fashion all seemed to be very angular…like the stone they hewn their city from. Others looked like they were organized bands of warriors going home after some expedition, their armour dented and caked in black blood. Some of the full face helmeted dwarves were guarding the entrance to the tier and were eyeing them carefully as they stood in dumbstruck awe.

She didn't even know where to begin, Orzammar was less a city and more an entire world in and of itself!


It had taken a few minutes and a few requested directions to get their bearings on where they were and what was on this level. Apparently this was the "Commons" a location where most surfacers got to ply their trade. It was also the main social area of Orzammar with the proving grounds, a dwarven stadium, not too far from it just opposite the entrance on the other side of the lava lake. Dwarves of all castes lived here apart from the noble caste which occupied the more wealth higher tiers of the city.

Oni-chan had decided to retreat to a nearby tavern to see if they could dig up some information on what the current situation was in Orzammar. They were nearly bowled over by a red-haired dwarf tumbling out of the establishment head over heels, thankfully named in common tongue, "Tapsters Tavern". The dwarf groaned as he lifted his face from the finely made slabs. Onii-chan helped him stand up, and with a muttered slurred thank you he tottered off.

The sound within the tavern hit them like a wall of noise, music, roaring fires and dwarves ripping fresh meat off the bone. Tankards clanked and were drained and refilled. The merriment was constant as was the stream of mead.

They grabbed the nearest empty table and sat down to organize their thoughts. Illya watched the surrounding rowdy dwarf patrons drink by the tankard. Drinking it seemed was a dwarf talent of no small proportion. It was strange for Illya so used to everyone towering over her; it was a pleasant experience to be amongst people that were in fact sometimes shorter than her.

"So what's the plan?" Illya's eyes darted around and quickly as possible, taking in the range of patrons, fancy looking dwarves, grubby looking dwarves, warrior like ones; all likely from separate castes. The one thing that it seemed was universal was the need to have a drink.

Onii-chan looked about as overwhelmed as she felt, Artoria also had a rather befuddled expression on. It was culture shock that was for certain, they were used to human cities here and back home on earth. While the dwarves may look "mostly" human they had an odd way about them that told them emphatically that they were not human.

"The only thing we can do, split up and have a look around, find the information we need." Onii-chan focused on her, "Illya I know I said that I didn't want to carry out your plan but I want you to stay here if we end up having to travel into the deep roads, I simply can't risk you down there. And while you're up here you might as well not waste your time so…"

"You mean I can start with my plan?! Yaay!" Illya's eyes closed for joy as her hands formed fists raised above her head. The image was adorable and for a moment she really did match the rather rowdy crowd around her.

"…just don't do anything really crazy please, and watch your back." Onii-chan still looked worried but honestly he had nothing to worry about, who could possibly harm her here, thieves and bandits? Fine she would keep half and eye out, she was reasonably confident that the commons was safe however.

"I won't Onii-chan, let split up and see if we can gather some information!"


It didn't take long chatting up a few of the patrons before they had learned the rather dire situation that Orzammar was in. They were basically under a constant siege from beneath the city, the deep roads were completely overrun; the legion of the dead a so called dwarf penal legion had been nearly completely destroyed with the darkspawn resurgence. This left the dwarves in a very dangerous position, the future of their species' ancestral home was very much in danger. Most of the dwarves they had talked to however didn't seem to take it terribly seriously trusting in Orzammar's defences which were indeed considerable.

On the subject of Paragons they were in luck, there was in fact a "living" ancestor and as Illya had guessed it a dwarf woman by the name of Branka. A prodigal smith she had devised a smokeless coal that could burn without air. It had seemingly saved a great deal of lives from death by "black lung" which sounded just about as horrible as it probably was. She had seemingly been the boon of the age so far with no others coming forth as exemplars of dwarven might, intelligence or culture.

The big problem was that she had traveled into the deep roads nearly nine months ago along with her entire house in retinue. It seemed that the public were more or less split down the middle as to what had happened to her. Death by darkspawn or lost in the deep roads forever. Some believed she would emerge in a few months but they were in the minority.

It seemed Onii-chan had been right he and Artoria would have to venture into the deep roads. They had decided that bringing news of Branka would be a sufficiently grand deed as to warrant attention from the nobles. After all it wasn't like they could just walk up to them and demand an audience. The problem was they couldn't just walk into the deep roads and expect to emerge unscathed, they needed maps and maybe even a guide for that.

Illya followed her brother as they ventured out into the main thoroughfare of the commons, he stopped not far from the entrance to the deep roads. It seemed that providence was smiling on them however as they were confronted by a thankfully sober-ish version of the red haired dwarf that had nearly bowled them over. Illya wrinkled her nose he stank of alcohol. He was geared up in some heavy looking dwarf styled armour but he was seemingly unarmed. His bleary eyes were focused somewhat ineffectually on Onii-chan.

"…Hey you…I've heard you've been talkin about Branka, why you wantin to know about her?" His face twisted slightly as he said the name, whether it was in pain or simply in the effort to avoid vomiting Illya didn't know.

"We simply wanted to know where she had gone, we were interested in finding her….you wouldn't know anyone willing to help us would you?" Onii-chan as diplomatic as usual, honestly she didn't know why he was bothering with this trash.

"Heh…Someone that can help! You're lookin at him, I want to find Branka for my own reasons. I guess you don't know your arse from the deep roads do you surfacers. The name's Oghren and without me you'll never find her!" His furry eye brows twitched as he hiccuped, he shook his frame as if the hangover would just fall off his body, his beard bounced around amusingly.

"I know the deep roads, and I know where she was goin. I just needed the help getting there or I would have gone ages ago. So what do you say?" The dwarf held out his forearm waiting for a response.

"Of course we would accept your help." Onii-chan responded quickly clasping him by the arm. The dwarf's bleary eyes sharpened with gladness, Illya could only groan as a useless life-form was added to the team. Oh well he would serve as a good meat shield for her brother and his girlfriend!

"We'll be needen a lot of supplies to get to where she is I hope you've got the coin and the will to make it that far." Oghren seemed to have shaken off the most of his drunken stupor. Perhaps dwarves really could shake drink out of their bodies.

"Don't worry we came to Orzammar stocked up with supplies, we imagined we would have to venture out on an expedition like this." Onii-chan reassured their "guide".

"Huh…strange, that a surfacer would go all to the trouble to find Branka of all people." At the quizzical expressions he continued, "She's not exactly a people person yeh see…" he trailed off awkwardly. Illya got the feeling there was more to this than was being said. Onii-chan led Oghren onwards back to the stables and their supplies, they continued their conversation out of earshot.

Artoria got down on one knee and looked her in the eye, "Illya I want you to be very careful, this place is a den of snakes with each of them willing and able to cut their compatriots to pieces. They pretend to have honor here but they only practise it when it suits them."

Illya was speechless, Artoria had never been so personal with her before. "Use the Tapster's Tavern as a base for yourself, be careful going up to the noble districts they might not be so accommodating." Her bright green eyes were fixed on her own so much that Illya started to go bright red.

A small movement later and Illya was enveloped in a tight hug. Utterly speechless she could only watch as her brother's usually stoic girlfriend left her to follow on after the two men at a brisk pace. Illya sighed and hurried after them trying to keep up.


It wasn't long before they were ready, loaded up with some heavy packs they looked ready for a week's journey or more. Illya couldn't help but cry a little as Onii-chan said his goodbyes to her. She hated staying behind but he had been adamant that she stay, it was far too dangerous in the deep roads for her. The chance of being tainted far too great to gamble on. Her battle sense simply wasn't as refined as his own or Artoria's was and in the darkness ahead it could prove a deadly oversight. She may be deadly but in a situation where they could be attacked at any time and from any direction she simply couldn't match up yet.

It had been an hour after they had left descending deep into the darkness where Orzammar's final outer gate awaited them. As much as she hated the thought, she put her faith in the smelling red dwarf and hoped that they would all return safely. She had a dreadful feeling that not all would be well however.

Illya had been wondering about the commons district almost listless not able to focus on looking for anyone or anything. Her black mood impeachable even looking at some of the pretty wares hadn't captured her interest. Her bright white dress far finer than anything they had on display, projected as it was from images of modern thread and machined work.

A moment later and her attention was peaked. Someone was following her…badly. She hadn't noticed so far due to her rather bad mood but she was being followed. She walked past the last stalls and wandered into an ally and waited behind the corner. Not thirty seconds later a small figure peered around the corner into the darkness. Illya seized them by the collar and shoved them with all her reinforced strength up against the wall.

She was confronted with someone the same height as her with dark auburn hair and bright amber eyes full of fear. The lips were a rosy and rather soft looking. All together it was a rather striking unarmed dwarf girl that she was holding by the throat in a dark alleyway. Illya was mortified, her hands released her as if burned. The girl soon started coughing her eyes losing the fear they had gained in the intervening seconds.

"I..I'm sorry I thought someone was trying to harm me…I didn't mean to hurt you!" Illya's cheeks coloured in embarrassment at her rather physical response to the situation she hadn't been her usual subtle self. The dwarf was wearing what looked like an apprentice smith apron with miscellaneous tools stowed away at her side.

The dwarf girl simply stared at her in awe. Huh…that wasn't the normal response to getting strangled.


Dagna was a dwarf born into the smith caste of Orzammar. It was a fact that she had loathed since the day she had understood it well enough, to know she would end up pounding metal for the rest of her life. Her entire life was already laid out for her since she had been born. Her entire family all thought she should could be like Branka, the Paragon master smith if only she would "apply" herself. Truthfully molding bits of steel and iron while it had been interesting at first bored her to death now.

No her passion in life was learning all she could about enchanting and magic. She would spend all her free time searching for the few imported curiosity tomes that would come through on the very few trade caravans that gained entrance to Orzammar proper. Sadly there was only so much she could learn. Rune smithing was an old art but the majority of dwarf enchanters had gone extinct long ago, only a few existed now and they kept their secrets close to their chest within their families or houses.

It had been like any other day, she was sitting outside her father's shop waiting for him to close up for the day, when she had seen something incredible. This person had to be magic, nobody could look like that and not have a shred of magic within them. It would simply be impossible! It was a girl…human or dwarf she couldn't tell she was certainly the right height for a dwarf but her colourings and build, no she had never seen anyone with that colour of skin and hair and she was far too thin for that. Maybe she was an elf! Wouldn't that be exciting! The vision of silver hair and pale almost alabaster skin was wandering about the commons as easy as you please.

She couldn't help it as she started following her through the market place, the girl looked at the various goods on display somtimes picking up and object for a closer look; Dagna hid behind several stalls to watch her with bated breath. Her expression was sad almost like she wasn't seeing anything that was in front of her. Dagna hoped she wasn't sad because of something one of her people had done, that would be awful!

The girl seemed to come back to herself after a few more minutes of watching. She seemed to glance around, Dagna kept her head down. The girl then continued into a dark alleyway, that wasn't good what if she was robbed by some of the casteless!? Dagna summoned up her courage and peaked her head around the corner.

The next few moments were blur as her whole body was slammed up against the wall by a thin arm which shouldn't have contained the near explosive strength she had just been subjected to. The thin fingers on the hand were tightly around her neck almost making them feel like claws. Dagna couldn't scream, she was far too stunned to understand what was happening. A moment later she could breathe again.

Her eyes refocused on the girl as she regained her wherewithal, Dagna felt her bruised throat gingerly. The girl before her looked rather horrified at her own actions. Perhaps she had expected some burly man to be attacking her.

"I..I'm sorry I thought someone was trying to harm me…I didn't mean to hurt you!" Her voice was just as melodic as Dagna had expected, all thoughts of her own injuries fled her mind as she stared into the confused ruby eyes sparkling in the half-darkness created by the alley entrance.

Woah…

Author Note:

Hi all bet you all thought I was dead or something :D. Updates for this fic will happen when I feel creative, so it will be usually every week at the very least.

Starting off the Orzammar arc was really quite hard for me, I hope it was done convincingly as to "why" they had to do this. Illya, Shirou and Artoria have split and gone their separate ways. Their skills lending to different battles and tasks. Don't expect for one second for this to be a roll over. This is going to be a very important arc for the future. Artoria and Shirou will be getting plenty of screen time in their own chapter next. I wanted to focus on Illya's meeting with Dagna a dwarf that loves everything magical. Dagna will be a very important character for the future much like Levi but for different reasons.

The gang met Oghren who over heard them talking about Branka and we all know how he was wanting to rally support to go after her. So this was a perfect opportunity for him.

How will this work with Illya's "plan" to create a Paragon well we will just have to see what she has planned. That will happen in chapter nine. Now I'm sure there will be mutterings of IllyaxDagna this is a big development for Illya and I fully understand her character near as I can tell. So don't worry I won't suddenly turn her OOC.

Chapter eight however will see Shirou and Artoria test themselves against the darkspawn as an insidious enemy listens in the dark. Plots abound in chapter eight so look forward to it!

Anyway please tell me how this chapter went, wasn't so full of action but I wanted to keep the word count a bit lower than my prior chapter which dragged on for far too long. I went over it as well as I could please tell me if I missed anything.

Aside:

I always wondering about Branka being able to demand that her whole house follow her to certain death. Dwarves really are fanatically loyal to their Paragons aren't they…

Edit: I've added a poll as to which origin you would prefer to have as "canon" hero of Fereldan. Please vote ^_^