Xander's mind reeled, trying to process the information that he just heard. Avernus is lying. The Chantry doesn't have secrets. They wouldn't force Arland to attack the Keep to cover up secrets. "I see you're struggling to accept the truth my young Warden brother." said Avernus. Xander's eyes narrowed as he turned to the ancient mage. "Truth? You don't know the meaning of the word. You're a bloo-" "A BLOOD MAGE THAT IS TRYING TO OPEN YOUR EYES YOU FOOL!" shrieked Avernus. "What sense would it make for me to lie to you? Are you that tied to your Chantry slave masters that you refuse to hear anything against them?" Xander flinched at these words. "I...I..." Alistair stepped forward. "Think about it from our point of view Avernus. You're expecting us to believe that the Wardens built this Keep in this location because they discovered the Chantry doing experiments? And they tricked Arland into attacking the Wardens to cover it up?" Avernus leered at them. "And what do you think my lady?" he intoned. Ashna shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me if it was true. The Chantry isn't exactly known for being up front." "He's lying" muttered Xander. "I should have expected this from you" sighed Avernus. "I see you will not accept the truth without proof, so check the well. Then tell me if I'm lying or not."

"Pasheraa. This is yet another pointless waste of time when we should be battling the Blight" said Sten, his ever present disapproving scowl on his face. Xander rolled his eyes. "I appreciate your position Sten, but this is something we need to do. We need to understand the truth. Lets go." He leapt onto the edge of the well then turned to face his companions. "If Im not back within an hour, Alistair lead the group and pursue the rest of the treaties." His eyes roamed over his friends, lingering a bit on Ashna. "Maker guide you Warden" said Leliana. He nodded in acknowledgement, then nodded to Sten. He grabbed the end of the rope that Xander had tied around his waist and lowered him into well. His boots scraped the stone sides of the well as he moved deeper into the dark murky depths, his nostrils filled with the smell of aged stone and mold. He reached the bottom, surrounded by darkness. He tugged on the rope once to signal that he had reached the bottom, then removed it from his waist. He cast a spell to light the lyrium crystal in his staff, and looked around to figure out his surroundings. It took him a while to notice a glyph traced into the side of the wall. It seemed vaguely familiar, and his mind reeled back to his Hunter training. The glyph was one used by mages to conceal doors that they were hiding behind; he remembered one of the apprentices using it when he was hiding in a broom cupboard because he was so terrified of his Harrowing. He raised his staff and dispelled the glyph, and a bright light shone as a door built into the stone revealed itself.

The door led into an underground cave. Xander noticed the lyrium streams running through the stone. This must be the song that the demon was talking about. Creatures from the fade have an affinity for lyrium he thought. This also explains the visions that we saw when we came here. The memories are burned into the lyrium. He followed the path of the cave until the path opened up into a wide underground lake cavern. There were ancient cots, eaten away by cave vermin and the elements. Worn away lyrium buckets lay discarded, and spots of dried blood littered the floor and walls. He saw long metallic rods with sharp edges, recognizing them as the tools that the templars used to poke the lyrium tattoos into his flesh. His eyes fell upon an ancient tome, laying on a worn down table. He picked it up and purple bolts raised from the book and engulfed his body. He immediately fell to his knees as his mind was filled with images.

There was a young elven man running from pursuers through the woods. He called down lightning on his attackers, the fury destroying the body and spirits of his pursuers, overwhelming the runes in their armor. Many of them fell under the fury of the elements, however one of them caught him, then there was blackness.

He was in an underground cavern, being poked with pieces of pure lyrium. He felt his magic twisting in his veins, his lightning powers evolving into something else. He felt his mind twist under madness but he fought it.

He wrote in the tome and sealed the words. Only another mage would be able to receive his knowledge. One would come and bring the power of the Thundaga to make the Chantry pay for what they did to him and the others...

He woke up with a start on the ground, his staff lying several feet away. He raised a hand to his throbbing head, and immediately pulled it away as he noticed that his lyrium was now purple. Looking closely, he could see tiny sparks of lightning pulsing in the lyrium. His mind revealed his new powers and spells to him. He went over to the water and saw that his eyes were now the same purple color as his lyrium. He picked up his staff, and the lyrium in it reacted to his new powers, changing the metallic blue to a metallic purple, and lighting bolts surrounded the staff. Xander shook his head as even more questions popped up. Who was the mage? Did he survive? How did he get these incredible powers? And most importantly, what had the Chantry done to make him so angry? He picked up the tome again, and found a pair of small silver hoop earrings attached to the back page. The knowledge from the tome showed him that they would give a boost to his powers. He put them in his ears, slightly grunting as the sharp point passed through the unpierced flesh of his ear.

"Thats a good look for you traitor. Makes you look more like a badass" a voice sneered. He turned and saw a tall dark skinned man with his long black hair braided back, and flowing down to his waist. He had a long scar running down his right eye, and his hard muscles told a tale of many battles. His chainmail armor bore the crest of the Chantry, as well as many runes that Xander recognized as spell resistant ones. The hilts of his two longswords were over his left shoulder. Xander twirled his staff behind his back, the blade pointing down. "Who are you? What do you want?" The man leered evilly. "I am of the Venatoré, and I am here to kill you who have betrayed the Chantry." He drew his longswords, and crouched into a fighting stance. "You are ended traitor!" he screamed as he rushed at Xander.

Sparks flew as the two dueled back and forth. Xander was having trouble keeping up with the blinding speed of the Venatoré's attacks. Lighting crackled with each parry and strike as swords and staff clanged against each other. He dodged a wild swing, and fired a lightning bolt that knocked the Venatoré back. His lyrium glowed as lightning flowed from it to his staff, and then erupted in a cone of lightning. The Venatoré's armor absorbed the attack as he moved in and brought his sword towards Xander's neck. Xander quickly parried the blow, but wasn't quick enough to block the follow up strike to his calf. He stumbled back as he looked at the wound. Blood and some blue gas flowed from the wound, and Xander immediately felt weak. "Magebane" he muttered. The Venatoré laughed wickedly. "You're still a mage, traitor. And now you die!" He moved in for the killing blow, and Xander dodged it, then punched him in the side of his head. He followed it with a swing with his staff blade, but the Venaoré somersaulted over the swing and then swung his swords as the two warriors continued to attack and counterattack. Xander fired a spirit bolt that the Venatoré dodged by leaping into the air and corkscrewing his body to dodge the energy bolt. Xander swung his arms around in an arc, lightning forming around his arms and hands and then brought them up. Lightning bolts struck from the air, peppering the Venatoré with heavy electricity strikes. He stumbled back and fell to one knee, his runes being overcome with the power of Xander's magic. Xander walked forward and phased his arm and thrust it into the Venatoré's chest. "Fine peace at the Makers side" he spat. He charged his phased arm with lightning, and the Venatoré screamed in agony as his body spasmed and seized as he was shocked to death. The smell of burning flesh was heavy in the air as Xander finally let his body drop. "I have a Blight to stop." he muttered to himself as he made his way back to the entrance.