Author's Note: After three school projects and then some minor computer difficulties delayed this about a week here is the first part of what really happened in the Fade. Just a quick note on the subject of the interludes themselves as well. This and the next one will likely be the largest. The later ones will mainly be things like character interaction (to show why certain people get a long later when in the main story itself the in-universe author hasn't mentioned it) and later certain companion quests, some of which will involve the main character, but some won't. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
Interlude # 1
(Or, what really happened with the sloth demon)
The small group of "heroes" stormed into the room, two of them held weapons ready, one held back to heal any damage the others might take. The final two sort of trailed in without really wanting too.
The Sloth Demon looked on them and prepared its spell. It had drained the life of a dozen souls over the course of the battle in the Tower. These five would just add to its power.
As all the others had one approached the demon to strike it down and it spoke to him, "Visitors… I like visitors, but they are always such a pain."
Alistair raised his sword and said, "Well then, I suppose I should put you out of your misery shouldn't I?"
He prepared to drive the sword into the demon when he found himself locked in place. The Sloth demon spoke again, the voice a horrible sound that made fingernails on a chalkboard seem like a soothing song. Then it released its power and cast the spell over the five. Each tried to fight it in turn. The old woman went first, then the templar who had tried to kill it, the two mages started to sink next. The final one, a being who didn't feel right took longer. He took one difficult step after another closer to the demon, drawing his sword as he did so.
It didn't matter in the end; the person was unable to fight the spell off for long. As he sank to the ground the sloth demon finally settled on what was wrong, this person had no connection the Fade whatsoever, not even the limited connection of the dwarves. For a moment the demon considered killing him just in case, but dismissed it. After all if the power of such a creature could be harnessed the demon might well gain more power than any other demon had ever wielded.
The eldritch creature sank back into the Fade to feed and watch his new victims live in their little worlds.
Alim opened his eyes groggily and saw face looming over him. It was Jowan, his best friend. No, a memory almost half-remembered came back to him, not his best friend; Jowan was a blood mage who had betrayed his trust and nearly gotten him killed in a scheme right after the Harrowing.
Instinctively Alim did what he had imagined doing for eight months now; he punched Jowan in the face. The other man reeled back and said, "Alim what are you…"
He was cut off as Alim slammed his staff into Jowan's stomach. Jowan went down on his knees and Alim kicked him to the ground, before pointing his staff at Jowan's face. "Give me a reason, I dare you."
His former friend looked up confused and asked, "Why are you doing this? We're friends."
Alim snarled back, "You tried to kill me. You betrayed the girl you loved and left me to die with the Templars. If Irving hadn't intervened I would have died. Now I get to return the favor you bastard."
Almost immediately there was a change in Jowan's face and he said, "Oh. Remembered that did you? Well no matter, this would have been so much easier if you had just accepted this." The man stood and waved a hand and a jet of flames shot out of it.
Alim waved his staff and an energy shield appeared around him, then countered with a bolt of lightning. Jowan responded by bringing up his own shield, but Alim's spell had been a diversion. Even as Jowan blocked the lightning Alim's mana clash hit him square on. Moments later Jowan screamed and the form disintegrated, leaving only a low-level demon in its place. With one final spell Alim destroyed it.
With the demon gone Alim finally started to look around. It seemed to be the Tower, but there was something off about it. He concentrated on what it was before finally noticing the sky. There was no roof on this Tower; instead there was only a sickly green sky and a massive floating city in the distance.
With a shock he realized that this was the Fade, he remembered it from the Harrowing, and he remembered the demon that had very nearly destroyed him. Alim shuddered at the memory, but the rest of it started to return as well and he realized something worse, the others had been sent here too. It had only been his hatred for the figure the demon had chosen that let him break free; what if they had nothing to call them back from.
No soon than he had the thought then the nearby pedestal attracted his attention. It had generated a glowing circle of light, that he was almost certain (in the Fade nothing was ever truly certain) hadn't been there before. Curious at the nature of it Alim stepped up and placed his hand on it. A jolt of pain went through him but a map of sorts appeared. The map formed a tree-like shape (or as close as he had ever seen to a tree having almost never left the Tower), with eleven points on it. He assumed these were places much like the one he was on. With trepidation Alim touched one of the lights and the world went black for a few seconds.
The horrid light returned and the island had completely changed. The pedestal was now dark, but again there was a person there. The other man looked at him a little while before saying sadly, "So, someone else got out of the illusion too?"
Alim tried to place the man's face, but gave up after a few seconds. Instead he answered, "Yes. Who are you?"
The man laughed darkly and said, "Niall. I was a Senior Enchanter, but something tells me that doesn't matter out of this place anymore. I tried to save the Circle you know." Alim tried to interrupt to ask how he could get out, but Niall kept going, "My mother always said I was going to be great. Some hero I turned out to be," Niall broke down and started sobbing.
Alim tried to think of something comforting, but couldn't really think of anything. He was ready to move on to see what he could find when Niall pulled himself together and managed to choke out, "If you want to find the demon you'll have to defeat the defenders of the other islands, but it's not possible. Every time you make progress there is an obstacle: a door with no key, an entrance out of even the Fade, a river of flames, a passage no bigger than a mouse. Nothing can get through."
Alim raised an eyebrow and said, "I think I could." With a slight exertion of his will he shrank. In a mere moment he was a mouse. With a quick thought he returned to his human form and asked, "Still think I can't do it?"
Niall sat on his bench for a moment dumbstruck but finally said, "That, that was amazing. Where did you learn to do that?"
Alim shrugged and answered, "Oh, I learned from a Pride Demon the last time I was here. It isn't that hard once you know you can do it. Now, where are these guardians?"
Niall pointed to a door to their right and said, "The first one is through there. But you can't get through, it's not… something… enough to open."
Alim nodded and went to inspect the door. The first thing he noticed was how right Niall's statement was. Something about the door was inherently wrong, much like the demons and the sky. It wasn't something he could pin down but the door simply should not be. Finally he shook off the feeling and tried to actually touch the door.
Rather than impacting on it his hand simply never connected. He stepped right up to where the door should be and reached out again, there was no connection. His hand hadn't passed through but, there was just no contact. Finally he drew back and ran back through his only previous time in the Fade. He had learned a lot then, more than any of the others could have guessed and finally he settled on a means of getting through.
With a slight push of his mind Alim's form shifted again, this time fading into a more spiritual form until he settled into the same form that the Spirit of Valor he'd met in the Fade before. With a slight push the door opened and Alim found himself transported into a completely different looking area. He dropped the form as he a demon launched itself at him. There was a blast of energy where his head had been as Alim dove forward. He swept his staff up and turned the demon's mana against her. The demon screamed horribly and Alim sealed her up in a crushing prison.
The demon hung there for a moment before the prison collapsed and she launched a massive blast of power where Alim had been, but those precious seconds she had been distracted had let him slip away. He dropped the mouse form as she started to turn and with another burst of his will his form shifted again. This time he took on the most terrifying image he'd ever seen, the Pride Demon that had almost killed him during his Harrowing.
The Demon started to cast another spell but Alim caught her in one arm and then smashed her down on the ground before tearing the demon in half. As the demon died her island died with her, Alim found himself back in front of Niall who looked at him in amazement. Alim smiled and asked, "So, still think I can't get out?"
Niall shook his head and answered, "No. If anyone can, it will be you. Now go, the pedestal is active and the island is collapsing. They're manifestations of the demon's will and that's why they block entry into the demon that trapped us here, if you can kill the other four and your companions you might be able to make it."
Alim started moving toward the pedestal, but stopped and asked, "What about you? Are you coming?"
Niall shook his head, "No. I've been here too long. I'm dead in the real world after all this time. Once you leave this place will disappear and everyone here will be released."
Alim nodded and said, "You will be remembered by the Circle Niall." With that he turned to the pedestal and activated it. Without really knowing why he reached out to a specific island, there was a slight flash and the light faded to a room that might have been part of the Tower.
The room was lined with bookshelves and had a single door away from the pedestal. Closer to the pedestal was a mouse hole, but Alim decided to try the door before bothering with shape-changing again.
He opened the door and peaked outside. There was a hall similar to that of the Tower. Alim stepped out into the Hall, and passed by the first door without looking inside. The second door however he opened; it was the most likely to connect him to the third, which was surrounded by flames. Inside was a Chantry virtually identical to the one in the Tower. To the left was a door leading onwards. He crept up to it and peaked through to see two Templars on fire inside.
After a moment's preparation Alim swung the door open and shot a lightning bolt into the first Templar. The man screamed as electricity blasted into him and he fell. The other one though rushed Alim with his sword, Alim blocked with his staff, before shooting a wall of lightning into the man's face. He fell and Alim shot another blast of magic into the first Templar to make sure the fight was over.
Finally Alim looked around and started up the stairs. He was barely off the top when two flaming Mabari warhounds charged at him. With a quick move Alim blasted lighting into the first one, but as he swung to face the second it leapt and snapped its jaws shut on his forearm.
The bones snapped under the beast's bite as Alim shot a bolt of magic into its chest with his free hand. The bite slackened and Alim pried the jaws open to free his arm. He pushed the dog off of him and fell back against a wall to look at the arm. It was beyond saving save for magic, which he didn't know. Healing had never been his specialty, nor did he have the faintest idea where to even start.
Instead he pulled out one of the poultices the others had given him and gingerly wrapped it around the wound before tearing off part of his robes for a sling. He considered the staff for a moment before taking it in his uninjured hand. He pressed on slowly, steadily fighting through the creatures that appeared: two flaming Templars, and five burning hounds died under his magic, but Alim could steadily feel himself getting weaker as he kept losing blood and mana from each clash.
After what seemed like hours, or minutes it was hard to be sure in this place, Alim stumbled across a mouse-hole. Seeing no other way forward he shrank down to a mouse and started working his way through it. Almost by instinct he made his way to another room, and was immediately attacked by another Templar.
Alim jumped backwards, transforming back into a person as he did so. He thrust both arms forward and slammed a prison of magic around the Templar, who promptly banished it. As the man swung his sword again Alim barely brought his staff up to block it, only to have the flaming blade go halfway through the piece of wood. As the staff split in half Alim stabbed upward with the now pointy (and otherwise useless) stick into the man's throat. There was a gurgle as blood began to pool in the wound and then he fell.
As he fell a shadow of him took his place, without the flames. He said in an almost happy voice, "Thank you. The anger was all-consuming. You've released me from it." The shadow faded and information on how to clothe himself in flames to walk through the rivers of fire came into Alim's mind. He stood there absorbing it all for a moment before a slightly more pressing issue caught his attention.
His arm was no longer broken. It was in fact almost brand new. Alim looked at it for a moment in puzzlement, trying to figure out why it was like this, but in the end he gave up. The Fade worked on principles not understood by any mages, and he wasn't going to figure them out now.
The next door was one that couldn't be opened by the force of a mortal, so Alim transformed into a pride demon instead and smashed it open. To go through he took on his human form with a flame aura. He emerged to be set upon by six flaming Templars and two Mabari. Without dropping the aura Alim shot lightning into the first group, but was knocked backward by a Templar smiting him. A second dispersed Alim's aura and stabbed him in the leg. A Mabari grabbed hold of the other and the second dragged him to the ground. Desperate Alim returned to pride demon form and with a roar he threw the two dogs off of him.
Both collided with a wall and died on impact. With a furious move Alim ripped a Templar in half while the others tried desperately to kill him. He swept outward with a hand, breaking the neck of a Templar who hadn't managed to get out of the way. He stamped on another, crushing the man's spine. Two others he grabbed up and slammed against each other. Their helmets collapsed inward from the impact and he threw them aside, one collided with the final Templar and he too died. With all his opponents dead Alim returned to human form and looked on the carnage. It was horrifying. For the first time he truly stopped to realize what he had done, and the thought combined with the smell made him vomit, or at least retch since he didn't have an actual stomach in the Fade.
And as he realized that the truth about why his arm had healed hit him. The Fade him wasn't really him. It was just a manifestation of his willpower, and so long as he kept it up nothing, except maybe demons, could permanently harm him. As the thought struck him a second, far worse one did as well, if he was limited here by his connection the Fade, what exactly would a person not connected be able to do?
While that was probably impossible, it was a terrifying thought.
Alim brushed the thought aside and went through to the demon's chamber. Inside was waiting a simple rage demon. Almost laughing at the absurdity of it Alim locked the creature in a Crushing Prison and then blasted it with lightning until the thing dissipated. There had been far worse waiting for him during his Harrowing, and a single Rage demon guarding one of the islands seemed ridiculous.
The reason was revealed moments later when the creature reemerged. It shot a jet of flames at Alim that he only barely managed to dodge. Whirling a hand around he answered with a lightning bolt, and then a Walking Bomb. The demon stumbled (as much as something without legs can stumble) but stayed upright. It screeched and leapt at Alim with a movement that really should have been impossible.
Alim rolled aside, and blasted back with a magical bolt of energy that caught the demon in the face. This time he immediately followed up with a wave of lightning that steadily drove the demon down. He kept the stream of electricity up for almost a minute before the thing finally collapsed. As it did so there was a sound much like the one that had accompanied the last demon's death and Alim grabbed the pedestal. The room faded and light replaced it.
When the light faded Alim found himself in the middle of a dining room. He looked into the next room and found Solona busily working on a meal. She turned and saw him, dropping the ladle and grabbing her staff as she did so. "Who are you?"
He raised his hands and said, "I'm Alim. We're clearing the Circle of abominations together. Don't you remember?"
Solona's eyes burned and she snapped, "There is no Circle. Uldred and Irving destroyed the Templars who kept me prisoner. I'm free. Free to do anything."
Alim raised an eyebrow and asked, "And you chose to be a housewife?"
Solona glared and answered, "Yeah so? I like cooking and cleaning. Things I could never do when the Templars watched over me. Everything I do is a slap to the Chantry's face."
Alim shrugged and changed course, "Think Solona. You didn't destroy the Templars. Irving refused and Uldred unleashed abominations into the Tower. And you helped. You caused misery and suffering. Think about what you did."
Her eyes watered a little and she said, "I… No. It can't have…"
"But it did Solona. You did it. And now you must atone."
She finally nodded, and the tears started flowing freely. "You're right. I did. We have to go." As she agreed the room collapsed around them and all that was left was a barren patch of rock floating in nothingness with a single Pedestal sitting on it.
Solona collapsed crying until Alim put a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's not your fault. You're as much a victim as the others."
She shook her head and answered, "No. I was a cause of this. I'm a criminal for what I've done, not a victim. This is atonement." Her voice hardened and she said, "Now, what's going on?"
Alim gave her a short run-through of everything Niall had told him and his own guesses about this place. Solona listened carefully and finally said, "You're right. This place isn't real. I figured that out during my Harrowing. Everything that happens is an expression of our willpower. If Niall is keeping the other one from collapsing it stands to reason that they are necessary to bring down the Ward. So I'll have to stay here and keep this place up. When all the others are doing the same we all need to go to the center island. The five of us should be enough to defeat the Sloth demon."
Alim thought for a moment and agreed with her. Solona ordered, "Then find the others. I'll be waiting."
Alim nodded in appreciation and stepped over to the pedestal. He touched it and again the island disappeared in a wave of light.
The light faded to be replaced by another section of the Circle. This one resembled one of the study rooms of the upper floors, places Alim stayed away from if he could. The other mages had never really gotten over the helping Jowan escape, even if he had been on orders to do it.
Ahead of him was a door, he pushed it open and started forward. There was almost immediately a fork in the road, one led to a massive door, the other led to two monsters. They didn't notice him immediately so Alim threw a hand up and shot the first one with a Walking Bomb spell. They turned and started charging, but the one he had already hit exploded as the spell did its work. All that was left was a massive stain with splotches where the explosion had gone. The second creature kept coming though, until Alim blasted it with a lightning bolt. It writhed for a moment, before falling.
No sooner was it dead then another pair of creatures appeared from the end of the hallway. Behind them came yet more. An unstoppable tide of monsters swarmed out.
Alim blasted the front rank of monsters with a wave of lightning, before retreating. He turned to face the creatures again at the entrance to the room he had arrived in, managing to shoot down at least a dozen creatures before it was obvious the numbers would overwhelm him.
Seeing no other choice Alim transformed himself into a mouse and scurried into the hole he had previously ignored. The tunnel led on to a small area with two other holes to pick from. He went to the left-most one and scurried inside, eventually coming out in a room with yet more monsters. As he struck them down with magic Alim finally realized what they were: darkspawn. He had read about them, but never truly considered what it would be like to face them. As more emerged from one of the doors they seemed numberless.
Alim turned and fled, transforming back into a mouse as he went. He ran into the next room and dove into the next hole before the darkspawn could grab him. The hole emerged in a similar area as the last one had. This time though when Alim rounded a corner he found himself face to face with a group of at least a dozen Genlocks. He hastily shot a bolt of magic at them before turning and running the other way. He dove for the second hole, changing into a mouse as he did so. By the time he landed it was complete and Alim scurried into the hole before the monsters could catch up. He emerged into the next room and found another six darkspawn attacking a lone soldier. The man fought bravely, but it was obvious he was outmatched.
Without much choice Alim joined in the fight. He blasted two darkspawn with lightning before they even noticed him. The man cut down a third as Alim locked a prison around another. The emissary he hit with a mana clash, and the other man decapitated the final Hurlock, but was stabbed in the stomach as he did so. He collapsed along with the final foe and as Alim went over to look at the wound he gasped out, "no. Don't look for me. More will come. More always come. I've killed dozens, but there numbers are never-ending. You must go beyond the door, the unbreachable door to stop this. I will hold them if I can, go."
Even as he finished the sound of another group of darkspawn came through the corridor. Alim shot a single spell through the entrance they would come from, then turned and transformed into a pride demon. With unnatural strength he smashed the door from its hinges and strode through to find another six darkspawn waiting for him. Alim didn't bother to turn back into a human; instead he used the pride demon form's strength to crush all six of them in moments. In less than thirty seconds he had smashed down a second door, and strode through to face the demon inside.
The demon was in the form of an ogre, but Alim charged at it. His pride demon form collided with the beast and its horns slammed him in the chest. He answered by ripping one of the horns off and slamming it into the ogre's neck. It roared and in answer drove a fist into Alim's stomach. He caught the arm as it withdrew and with exact purpose snapped the bone. The demon roared and tried to headbutt him again, but this time Alim caught its head and slammed it into a wall.
It went down and Alim transformed back into himself. As it started to push itself up Alim put a hand in front of its face and fired a blast of lightning into its head. It held there for a moment, and Alim poured more electricity into the thing's head. Finally "life" faded from the demon's eyes and it fell. As it did so the pedestal was awoken and the island began to collapse around him.
Alim dashed to it and grabbed hold. As before he was transported somewhere new, this one an unfamiliar keep, but with the same sky. Slowly Alim walked up the entrance hall, and finally ascended to a level where one of his new companions was talking to another man. Alistair turned to him and asked, "Oh? Did we get some new recruits Duncan? I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Alistair."
Alim looked around and said, "Think. Why are you here?"
Alistair frowned, as if to ask what he meant, but Duncan beat him to it, "We are here celebrating the fall of the Archdemon. It died at Ostagar and the horde was destroyed. The Warden's will return to the lives we led previously now. Things will be right again."
Alim shook his head, "No. Ostagar was a disaster. The King was killed and Teyrn Loghain wasn't able to save him. They said the Wardens abandoned the King at the last moments before being cut down."
At this Alistair suddenly said, "We did not. The Wardens died beside the King when Loghain betray…" he trailed off and suddenly looked around with new focus. Finally he turned to Duncan and said, "And you died. All of you died. This isn't real. It can't be real."
Duncan sighed and asked, "Why must you make this so difficult? I promise you a life of peace and comfort. Just accept the gifts and live."
Alistair snarled, "No. This isn't peace, this is sick. The real Duncan would never have made me abandon duty. You're a demon." With that he swept his sword up and drove it into Duncan's chest. The old man gasped as the blade hit his "heart" and fell. As he did so Alistair drew the blade back out and decapitated him. The body lingered for a moment before fading into nothingness.
He turned and said, "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."
Alim smiled and said, "I'm sure you would have realized eventually. Now, we need to plan our next move." He quickly laid out Solona's thoughts on this place and Alistair listened attentively until he was done.
Finally Alistair thought for a moment and said, "Well, I don't know nearly as much about the Fade as you two, so I'll defer to your judgment. I'll stay here to keep the island working and wait for the last two to be brought down as well. See you on the other side."
Alim nodded, then stepped up and grasped the pedestal, and was swept away to the next island.
AN: I should probably note here that Solona's theory is completely wrong. They could actually have gone together the whole way, which would likely make the next part a bit easier for them.