Misdirection.
Heyyyy so what's up guys hahaha
There is a poll on my profile that pertains to the possible romance in this story between S'aravi and another.
The overwhelming results of the previous poll wanted S'aravi to be involved romantically with someone, but the poll on my profile will help answer who that might be.
Head to my profile to vote!
It was a nice day off, time to rest and relax with her allies and though it went quickly, she was ready to get back to work. Hawke was heading out to present his earnings to Bartrand and between the time it will take to ready the expedition crew and the actual expedition, Hawke was intending on taking care of a few loose ends.
Hawke had pick of the litter with his allies. He had Anders and his sister, Bethany, to act as their mages. There was Fenris, the lyrium addled ex-slave. Varric was joining the expedition of course, he would never miss out on riches. Aveline was able to be contracted as a hired guard, her strength and resilience could prove useful if they run into trouble. S'aravi would be on the expedition not as a partner, but more as a mercenary position. Hired by Varric, for him and Bartrand, specifically contracted through Coterie.
No matter the choices, this trip would be long, arduous, and had the potential to pay for a way to see the viscount. If Leandra had not already made a name for herself by the time the expedition was over, Hawke would be returning with enough to force their way into the upper class. With lots of gold.
If this expedition goes well.
S'aravi donned her newest armor. The neck piece of the armor she bought was leather and supported the collar well. It kept it off her skin and bone, for this she was thankful. The mask and cloak was serving their means as she had hoped. Now fully hidden, she could walk around the town more with less suspicion.
Granted a masked stranger was still a curious sight, she had no need to hide in the corners of the marketplace while Hawke traded his found items. She could move freely with her full body outfit, so long as she kept her tail hidden of course.
Once she was dressed, she exited the bedroom to see Hawke waiting. He was intending on picking up two more people to join them, specifically he had Varric and Aveline waiting just outside. Apparently there was some templar matter they had been asked to look into the day before and, while Hawke would never leave his sister to adventure without her, he knew that it was pushing their luck taking her to meet active templars.
In this matter he knew S'aravi could function with healing magic, but the kind that the templar's they would be meeting would not be able to tell. Her healing magic, on touch, was subtle enough to fly under the templar noses, but still potent enough to help in case something happens.
Aveline would help his public image to the templars, as a guard woman with a strong conscious. S'aravi and Varric's appearances would do nearly the opposite, but at least they weren't open mages like Bethany. Anything to make the templars think he knows no mages outside the Circle.
As she saw Hawke overlooking his equipment at the table, she wondered what this templar business was. S'aravi opened the front door and saw Hawke smile and look up, wrapping up the left over supplies and leaving them on the table. As she stepped outside, making extra certain her armor and mask was in place, she was greeted by Aveline's usual stern expression.
"Good to see you again..." Aveline glanced over S'aravi's full body outfit. "I see you've changed your look."
S'aravi nodded, stepping out of the way so Hawke could join them. "Yes, it was frustrating trying to hide under a cloak all the time. I figured I could spend my time making something useful yesterday." She shrugged, "Anything to make getting around Kirkwall easier."
"Glad to hear it then, it does make you look a little... curious. I suppose that while you still have to hide it is a good thing, perhaps someday we will be able to fix that." Aveline disliked S'aravi being forced to hide herself. While Aveline did not really believe S'aravi to be a demon, she understood that the people in Kirkwall were comfortable in their life, their understanding of the world, and even the slightest change could prove disastrous.
"Not having to hide behind all these layers would be nice, but I'll take what I can get." It still bothered S'aravi being forced to hide, though if it was necessary she could hardly complain after being saved from slavers. This was a far better option.
"Won't it be great, instead of scaring the skin off the people trying to kill us, you'll start scaring everyone." Varric commented, as always this usual smirk on his face. "Not that it's a bad thing, I'd certainly pay to watch the Kirkwall nobles jump when you let out a roar in the plaza. I imagine they'd all be disgusted and-"
"And would immediately make it the guard's problem with all their complaints." Aveline interrupted, "If we get to that point, I'd ask you not to let Varric talk you into it."
Varric gasped, "Well, I feel a little insulted. You think I would go out of my way to cause the city guard more problems?" He joking gave Aveline a hurt expression and a hand over his heart.
Aveline stared him dead in the eyes. "Yes."
"Alright, alright. We have some work to do. You can keep arguing about what Varric will or won't do to scare a bunch of haughty nobles, but do so while we walk. We have to go to Hightown anyways, information leads us to..." Hawke groaned, looking pained as he knew Varric would have something to say. "... The Blooming Rose."
"Oh, fantastic. Talking about flustered nobles of course," Varric started as Hawke began leading the crew down the stairs and through Lowtown, "The Blooming Rose is a place for crime bosses and tax collectors to kick back and spend some of their hard earned gold. They all get nervous if you identify them in the Rose, everyone knows they're there, no one wants to point it out though."
"Crime bosses and tax collectors..." Hawke chuckled, "You don't have to state the same thing twice. I'm pretty sure in Kirkwall those two groups are one in the same."
Varric tilted a hand, "Majority, but not always. Still, good point, Hawke."
"A brothel in Hightown." S'aravi thought that was a strange place for a business considered less than reputable. "Would that not be in Lowtown? Why would they stick a whore house where everyone can see who enters and exits? Is it not meant to be discreet?"
"Another good point, but it functions on something of a don't ask, don't tell basis. You can see someone that you know is married enter, but you go in too; so if you confirm they entered, they can probably confirm you entered too." Varric answered, fiddling with the cuff of his jacket. "Though I suppose that doesn't mean much in the long run. If everyone does it and everyone knows they do it; it stops being something to be ashamed about."
"It is still embarrassing." S'aravi stated, giving Varric a lame look he could not see beneath her mask.
"It's still embarrassing." He repeated quickly, laughing at S'aravi's open statement. Regardless of most people frequenting the brothel, no one wanted to be caught inside one. Varric did not much mind if he was, he was not married and had no need to keep up some noble social standing.
All Aveline offered was a tired glance at the two and rolled her eyes. Discussing whore houses was not something she wanted to spend her time on.
As the conversation died down S'aravi found herself enjoying their walk through to Hightown. Without having to restrict herself to hiding in public, she felt far more confident walking around. People cannot question her if they do not know what to ask about, her nature was not an issue so long as she did not show herself.
The transition between Lowtown, the alleys between, and Hightown was always remarkable to S'aravi. In the various cities across Cyrodiil the upper class and lower class usually were blurred together through the town. Either that or the town was relatively on the same middle class level. Anvil was a good example of this, it held mostly middle class citizens who lived in similar standing.
There were few people in the city who were not politicians aiding the city operations that owned larger than average homes. Such as S'aravi herself and the mansion she purchased. Of course it was cursed, but that was another issue all together.
In Kirkwall the classes were segregated wholly. There were no homes to purchase for middle or lower class in Hightown, it was a nobles only situation. As mentioned before, they had to have a name in the city to get their estate back. Lowtown was a place that no noble wanted to live it, not only because it was less covered in spotless marble, but also because it hurt their public image.
This stark contrast between Cyrodiil cities and Kirkwall was something that S'aravi was slowly adjusting too, but it was helping her in the long run. While Hightown had guards cautious of the slightest suspicious person, Lowtown did not much care if you looked like a thief or a murderer, so long as you were not caught doing said illegal activities.
S'aravi certainly looked like a thief at best, an assassin at worst. She hoped they would assume her to be protecting her identity, not aiming for stealing wealthy Hightown residents.
No matter the situation, S'aravi knew Aveline would help her if a guard questioned her. Aveline would protect S'aravi as long as she did not break the law, if S'aravi murdered someone in the city and was caught, Aveline would not stick her neck out for unlawfulness.
This was all fine, naturally. S'aravi did not intend to create trouble while she was already on thin enough ice in the city. If she did consider illegal activity, she did not intend to be caught.
Once they arrived in Hightown, after climbing the steps to reach it, Hawke took a moments pause to inhale deeply. Seasons were changing, it had been a little warm the last few days. Warm compared to the usual windy chill of Kirkwall's towers. Cyrodiil had a variety of temperatures, offered many seasons at once. It was unique to travel North to South and see the snow melt and autumn colour the trees around her.
Feeling a bit homesick. S'aravi frowned, she was thinking of this land compared to Cyrodiil more often. She thought of the people, the smells, the cities; this made her feel as though she was more homesick than she first thought. It was unfair to say Kirkwall was less than her home cities, because she was completely biased. Her love of Cyrodiil was rooted deep in her heart and Kirkwall was new, but not truly a pleasant experience.
Though the people who live here would likely disagree with her. Familiarity was comfortable and while the statues of slavery in the city was unsettling, the more unfortunate in the city seemed more punished; Cyrodiil differed, even though corruption did exist.
Her thoughts on this city against her homeland was unimportant, she was only distracting herself from their task at hand.
As they strolled through Hightown, Hawke's demeanor as they approached the Blooming Rose. He was noticeably uncomfortable with the eyes of the people around them on the team entering the front door.
Immediately they were meant with the fragrance of a flowery perfume that filled the entire building. It was not unpleasant only wafting through the door as they all stacked inside. Hawke paled, many half dressed men and women strolled around and every one were giving their crew sultry looks. They were selling their product and S'aravi was not buying this act.
She may have laid with men and women solely for pleasure before there had never been a time where she purchased that company. Not that they would accept her in their beds anyways, surely their fear would immediately suspend any intimate actions.
Hawke was clearly fighting back rather deep blush. The man was not accustomed to seeing men and women so loosely dressed just walking around as though it was no issue. Varric was finding Hawke's reddened face beyond interesting, it was all he could do to not laugh. Aveline was not impressed by anything here, though she was flattered by those that expressed interest in her company; she was not too keen on accepting any offers aimed at her.
"We're looking for someone, someone to tell us who some templar might have visited here. Wilmod and Keran. They were here, we need to know who they talked to so... ask around or something." Hawke huffed, flustered as an elven woman dressed in a tight, small corset that just barely covered her came strutting by lightly brushing her fingers over Hawke's chest. He disliked the idea of buying someone for his bed, but this attention was making him nervous.
Varric stifled his laugh, nearly choking on Hawke's scared face. Hawke barely had the focus to glare daggers at the dwarf before Aveline sighed and entered the main room of the Rose. She lead the way through the promiscuous crowd, ignoring any attention they tried to show her. Hawke's flustered face blanched as she watched Aveline cut through people with little concern.
S'aravi remained just outside the main crowd. While her outfit and mask hid her well, she did not need to test how it will stand up to so many people so close together. More than likely someone would notice her at least, in some small fashion.
Immediately, as she leaned against the archway parting the entrance and the main room she earned the attention of an elvish woman with a light tattoo on the left side of her face and long, flowing brown hair. S'aravi was not interested in what she sold, but she would try to sell it anyways.
"Dark and mysterious." The woman commented, "You're missing the tall part, but women are more interested in the mystery anyways." She was playing coy, standing close enough for their shoulders to touch.
"Well, this mystery is likely too shocking for even these lovely men and women to look passed." S'aravi offered, still watching Hawke as he spoke to a woman about the templars in question.
The elf smiled and leaned closer to S'aravi, turning to face the stranger leaning on the wall. She brought her arm up and lightly began to touch S'aravi's arm. She was amused and appreciated the attention even though she would not buy someone to sleep with. "Try me, I bet I'll surprise you." She laced her tone with honey and promises of an enjoyable night. All the while S'aravi was imaging this poor woman seeing beneath her armor and being more than frightened of the beast revealed.
"You are very tempting, but I prefer romancing my way into another's bed; not buying your time." S'aravi figured she would not waste the elven woman's time with games, she would never agree to it.
The elf pouted playfully, still hoping to earn this coin, but still interested in this stranger. "If you aren't here to browse, then what could you be here for?"
"Looking for someone, Wilmod and Keran. They came here and they have gone missing, we are hoping to follow their trail." S'aravi hoped someone would have answers, Hawke was still talking to the woman in the main room who appeared rather unhappy with Hawke.
"Sorry handsome, I'm not familiar with those names. Wish I could help in some way~" She leaned in, clearly still trying to get S'aravi in her bed. It made S'aravi feel-
Wait. Did she say 'handsome'?
"You do know I am a woman, yes?" S'aravi smiled, amused and mildly insulted it was not more obvious. Rationally she knew they would not be able to tell a khajiit's gender by tone of voice, being that they do not know khajiit's even exist. She was not remarkably curved like other stunning women walking around in loose clothing in the Rose, but she still felt the need to be seen as a woman.
The elvish woman's smile faltered for a moment. "Oh, my apologies, Serah." She had a moment of fluster, her initial guess at S'aravi's gender was wrong and that often makes people very upset. S'aravi was a little insulted, but knew she did not give the elven woman much of a chance to correctly tell her gender below the outfit that hung loosely. Not to mention the mask and cape designed specifically to obscure any information visible from her clothing.
"It is quite alright, I imagine it is not easy to tell." She shrugged off the elf's notable concern. It was less of an issue that S'aravi's ego was telling her, so she glossed over it.
"I would love to discover whatever you have beneath that armor, I'm sure someone who carries such weapons is very fit indeed." She was friendly certainly. Hawke had been dismissed from the other woman's company and began to move, S'aravi needed to join them and leave this woman behind.
"I am sure you would, for now my friends are continuing the search and I best join them." She pushed off from the wall and made a slight bow to the elf. "I appreciated the company though."
The woman smiled, "Come back and find me sometime. Ask for me, Ariathari. I really look forward to your company again sometime." She made this personal offer, S'aravi figured she liked the small talk they made enough to have this recommendation. While buying Ariathari was not an option she did like the sweetness of this elf. She would not be back to the Blooming Rose if she could help it though.
As Ariathari walked away, S'aravi watched her go before looking around the room for Hawke. Cursing, S'aravi realized she lost track of Hawke. Last she saw he was walking up the stairs on the far side of the room.
Skirting the edges of the main room, S'aravi made her way to the staircase and saw a few doors to guess. There's only two open, they have to be in one of those. She approached the closest room door that was open and saw a man placing gold on a nightstand. The man on the bed was in a state of undress and S'aravi quickly ducked back out of the room.
The door on the far right was open, but all she could see was a short hall to the actual bedroom. When she leaned in she could see Varric and Aveline and knew she had the right room.
There were low murmurs of an unfamiliar voice, she could not see the owner of the voice but upon stepping foot in the room she felt something strange wash over her. It was as if she felt light as a feather, calm, complacent. It was startling how she felt so moved by a presence she could not even see. She felt as though she was thoroughly romanced and waiting for a lover by a warm fire.
S'aravi growled and saw a glimpse of the woman in question. A particularly nasty look on her face and, though she was certainly beautiful, there was something sinister beneath the skin.
Whatever enthralling magic was at play, S'aravi was feeling it. Not the first time this has happened. Magic to control will was not unheard of by any means, it existed almost as commonly as the other major schools of magic. It took a specially strong and well versed person to perform it successfully and on multiple targets at once, naturally.
This snake of a woman was strong enough to do so, Aveline and Varric were both under this romantic spell.
Upon getting closer to the scene, S'aravi saw Hawke pull a blade from his belt and bring it up. At first glance she thought he managed to resist the spell and was retaliating before she saw him bring the blade to his own neck. "Bring it gently across your throat."
She could not use magic in this establishment to break the thrall magic on them, not without risk of making a scene and being questioned. Instead, S'aravi grabbed the vase off the table beside her and aimed at the woman. Should she get closer the spell might be proximity based, with luck this would break her concentration and free them. Just before S'aravi threw the vase she saw Aveline glance at her and the snake jumped on the sudden attention to the door.
"What-?"
You've been spotted! S'aravi, in panic, threw the vase at her and watched it shatter against the woman. She braced for the impact and it cracked over her defensive position. "Why you-!"
"I will not obey you!" Hawke growled and the dagger came to the woman's stomach. As she bent over in shock, the others came to and realized what was happening. They felt a wave of blurriness before the world became sharp again. It was an experience for all of them.
"Are you all unharmed?" S'aravi ran her hand over her head, the effects of the magic in her head was draining away. "I apologize I was not here sooner, I had not kept up with you and had to find which room you entered."
"I'm happy you showed up when you did, another minute and we all might've been harmed. How was that possible?" Varric groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and he addressed the woman's magic. It was definitely unique, he had not met someone with that ability before and had no need to cross mages with forbidden magic.
"Blood magic, it had to be." Hawke was very unhappy about this revelation. It did help explain why templar patrons would go missing while visiting a brothel. An apostate blood mage would likely jump at the chance to be rid of more templars, including this woman who had no issue attempting to murder people simply searching for answers regarding their disappearance.
As Hawke began to search the room, not that it was very hard with so few things in it; S'aravi came to inspect the woman's body. She was used to taking whatever was on the bodies of her dead enemies and benefiting from any valuables they carried. She knelt down beside the woman and found a few coins in her waist sash that she was happy to take. Other than that the woman carried nothing but the clothes on her back.
"Looks like our friends make their life in the Undercity, why don't we pay them a visit." Varric was still a bit bothered by the event. Without Hawke's resistance to the woman's magic they could have been hurt far worse than the slight dizziness they had after the magic wore off.
Hawke pocketed the documents that directed them to their targets and this time S'aravi was sure to follow closely. As they exited the Blooming Rose, S'aravi caught the gaze of the elven woman Ariathari and gave her a polite nod. The elf returned it with a sweet smile before she returned to her work. It was subtle enough to go under her friend's noses. They were focused on the task at hand and finding those responsible for this close call.
They hurried out of the Rose and through Hightown, heading directly for the seedy underbelly of Kirkwall. A place S'aravi remembered visiting and noted it smelled as bad as it looked. It was a shame to see people living in that terrible mess, it was as though they lived in the discarded trash of the rest of Kirkwall. It was not a nice place and they had an equal chance getting sick there as they did getting jumped.
Hawke was absolutely on a war path, that blood mage put him in a bad mood. She nearly caused harm to him and his allies, a line he did not like crossed. The safety of those following him were paramount, they followed him as friends, people who wanted to make some coin; all around people he thought were good. Their lives were in his hands while he took them on these adventures through Kirkwall.
This weight was not one he would admit to them. He considered himself responsible if any of them got hurt or, forbid the thought, died on these excursions.
Once they finally arrived in Darktown Hawke knew the exact hatch that was mentioned in the woman's documents. It was listed clearly in the texts and he wasted no time finding it.
The wooden door was dusty, but clearly still used to some degree. It did not have filth piled on top of it like every other elevated surface. Once he examined it and the documents to be sure it was the correct spot, Hawke lifted the hatch and threw it open.
Inside was a ladder leading to a deeper system below Darktown. This place screamed illegal activity. There were few places in the cities S'aravi had been to where when she saw them the first time she knew the immediate truth, made prevalent not by the people there, but solely based on the area; This place was a cesspool of low lives.
Hawke took point, opting to make the climb down first, followed quickly by S'aravi and the others. When she looked up she saw Aveline's boots and looking down she saw Hawke stepping off the ladder. He was not brandishing his sword, so there must not have been people nearby.
Hopping off the ladder, S'aravi came to stand beside Hawke and scanned the enclosed rooms ahead of them. It was empty, so far, nothing to write home about. A rather long room with trash piled in the corners and, oh- what appeared to be a decayed corpse on the far side. Nothing to bat an eye at. It was usual here, the impoverished died all the time and this was not their target.
As they descended the stairs ahead of them they walked through the room carefully, watching for traps or ambushes. Every corner turned was another with the potential of enemies hidden in wait.
Almost surprisingly there was nothing in the first or second main room they passed through. Either they found their targets unprepared or lying in wait for an ambush further in. It was likely the ambush option, if they had an agent inside the Blooming Rose prepared to handle investigators then those that woman associated with likely had their own preparations.
It was not until they came to a room littered with more decayed bodies that they found their answer.
The bodies hissed and snapped, each one rising from the ground as a splash of lava erupted from the dirt and emerged a demon. They encountered one like this before, when aiding Fenris in his search for his ex-master. It was not a hard enemy to face, the most obvious weakness was a flurry of ice and it worked like a charm.
Once S'aravi saw the fiery creature burst from the ground she lit up a frost spell ready to cast. Hawke knocked down the undead creatures closest to S'aravi while Aveline and Varric took care of the rest. They were not difficult to kill, but the demon was likely meant as a turning point.
With a fury of ice enough to freeze a man, the demon raged and roared at her, slinking forward to swipe. S'aravi brought her blade in front of her and took the slash to her sword, it heated the blade for sure, and knocked S'aravi's footing off balance. She saw the demon's other arm raise up and she ducked beneath the attack. It was not a subtle creature, it did not attempt to outsmart her and made it easy to dodge its attack.
Thankfully, it was slowing down due to the constant flow of freezing winds and splintered ice that she focused on him. The fires of its ever burning body would never die out, but it was considerably weakened the longer she did it from.
Once she was satisfied the cold winds had hurt it enough, she paused the magic onslaught to dash her sword through the fiery demon. As it howled and swiped at her, its brutish nature made it an even easier kill. As it got angrier and angrier she had a better time finding openings and cutting it apart. Slash by slash the demon faltered until it succumbed to her attacks.
It was not hard and by the time it fell into the dirt it emerged from, the others had cut down the last undead archer. They had been far too distracted with the other in the crew to focus on her. Once Aveline smashed the last undead creature to the ground with her shield, they all checked their surroundings for any more attackers.
"Not much of protection for a hide out for blood mages." Hawke commented, these creatures were easily to cut down and provided no real challenge even to other adventurers entering these abandoned alleys. "If this was meant to stop us, it was a poor attempt."
"Likely they do not know we are coming." Aveline offered her perception of this ambush. "It looks as though these were put here as security, a way to alert those we are searching for."
"Only way to find out." Varric holstered his crossbow on his back, gesturing to the path leading deeper into the alley.
Hawke acknowledged Varric with a nod and took lead. There was a short bridge between some buildings below them and another staircase leading into a larger room. As the approached the edge of the platform, they all assessed the room for more potential attacks.
It was hard to miss the glowing man hovering on the far side of the room. He was in a strange position, as if he was sleeping on his side. There was no one in the room, but it was unlikely they left this man undefended.
As the walked down the stairs and neared the glowing man, S'aravi's ears picked up the sounds of footsteps approaching. There would most likely be another fight, in the meantime, S'aravi examined the strange sight in front of them.
This strange man was hovering a good seven feet in the air, nothing was holding him there physically. All that they saw was the pale yellow light that had thin tendrils of light circling around him. S'aravi knew her magic and the magic in this land was different, it came from a separate place and held another kind of strength to it, but this light holding this man up was certainly strange to see. She cannot think of a kind of magic that she had ever practiced that could hold a man, in a sleep-state, and appear stable like this.
They all saw the woman and her small entourage enter the room from an open hallway beside them. She was not trying to be quiet and appeared overconfident in herself and her abilities.
"How wonderful, more vessels for our experiments." This woman had a strange look in her wide eyes, very unsettling.
Hawke turned away from the hovering man and made a quick judge of the woman. "Where is Keran?"
The woman raised her arms, "Perhaps the demons will find one of you suitable." Her skin was unnatural, the veins dark and visible beneath her skin. This made her look as though she was in pain, but she did not act so.
"Careful, Hawke. She could be an abomination." Aveline warned and, from what they could all tell, she was on the right track. S'aravi did not doubt this woman was unstable and they would have trouble getting her down should she attack.
"I am not some hopeless waif that ran crying to a demon - I sought them out and embraced them!" Aveline's statement angered the already mentally unsound woman. The black veins under her skin grew darker and appeared to pulse. Seeing this S'aravi was a bit more unsettled than she would like to admit.
"You do know I cut a path through your abominations, right?" Hawke did not sound nor appear impressed by this woman's hold on the Fade demons. It was easy to get here and while this woman seemed unstable enough to be a difficult fight, it would not be a challenge like fighting a dragon again.
The woman smiled widely, her eyes still manic, and exclaimed her approval. "Good, good. The demons like spirit." She changed her mood on a dime, sneering at the thought of templars. "If a few more templars fall to the demons, we can seed chaos in their ranks. How many abominations can they discover amongst their own before it drives the knight-commander crazy?" She expressed her joy at her imagination. There was no question, this woman was severely unhinged and dangerous.
"Good to know you're barking mad, that makes things easier." Hawke was ready to fight and the others were just as prepared.
Glaring, the woman rambled on. "In the days of old the Tevinter Imperium spanned the world. Demons were their allies - held in check by power and knowledge. With a wave of a hand I can do more than a templar could achieve in a lifetime, yet they command us? Absurd!" The venom in her voice explained enough to S'aravi, while the templar order seemed brutish from what she had heard, this was taking the situation too far. "We should be ruling them! We should rule you all!"
In a natural progression of things, the mental woman took her staff in her hand and issued her orders. "Kill the vessels only if you must!"
With a burst of fire and power the woman summoned more demons and abominations tore from her entourage. A strange horned demon floated from the ground behind them, she was adorned in gold and jewels and threw enough magic at S'aravi to stun her at least momentarily.
Being in the back of the group proved to be the worst position. The woman who summoned these monsters encased herself in a shield impenetrable by Hawke's blade or Varric's arrows, made clear by their attempts to strike her down. When that failed they were forced to turn their attentions to the creatures rampaging about. S'aravi aided them before handling the strange purple horned demon.
Hawke was capable enough to cut down an abomination alone, but with three pressing their attacks directly on him, his skill was strained. He worked towards the defensive rather than his usual aggressive fighting style. Though he was far better than these abominations, they were much larger and outnumbered him. Only when Aveline got off the ground from the initial blast did the fight turn around.
Aveline came to Hawke's aid, ramming her shield into the side of one creature and knocking it away from Hawke's flank. Varric loaded a heavier bolt to pin one abomination's foot to the ground to give Hawke an exit.
With only one bearing down on Hawke, he was able to step back from the fray. From behind Varric, S'aravi slid into place beside Hawke and took a running swing at the pinned abomination. Her sword sliced deep into the mutated flesh and it yelled in pain. Without a weapon and stuck in one place the abomination was easy to cut down to size. S'aravi ducked behind the beast as it tore the arrow out of its foot. She sank her blade into the back of its leg and it collapsed to the ground. Before it had time to react to this attack, S'aravi ended the creature's life when her blade entered its head.
It was a simple slaying a trapped beast, but the others and the demon behind them were not in the same position.
Aveline knocked the first abomination from Hawke's side, but abandoned that attack when Hawke retaliated with a powerful swing of his own blade. S'aravi functioned with a much smaller sword and it took more than one swing to kill something this size, but Hawke's greatsword had the weight and power behind it to nearly cut the abomination in half. It did not survive the depth his blade tore into it and once Hawke freed his sword from the corpse, they rallied beside each other.
This is not as hard as I thought it would be. These enemies are weak, ambitious, and overzealous. The manic woman preaching about the demons and templars believed herself strong, but she was driven by madness not real power. Hawke had strength and displayed it when he charged the horned demon firing powerful blasts at them. The woman remained shielded and did not join this assault.
With one last abomination to cut down, Aveline and S'aravi tag teamed it. Her shield and sword kept the creature distracted while S'aravi swung at its side. It attempted to handle them both, but ultimately failed. Another simple enemy outnumbered and made quick work of. Once S'aravi brought it down, Aveline finished by hacking the malformed skull from its body.
Varric was with Hawke and while Hawke made his own attempts to get around the demon's wards, Varric made a few careful shots. Though this demon could resist the usual physical attacks of Hawke's greatsword, it was not immediately prepared for Varric's bolts. The first one went right through her ward and pierced her rib, resulting in a very angry screech from the demon.
She saw Varric in the distance loading another bolt and widened her ward to brace these short burst attacks. As she did so, the magic sustaining her ward against Hawke thinned and it was not long before Hawke broke through.
Aveline and S'aravi joined breaking down this demon's barriers and by the time it realized it was outnumbered, there was no time to react. The woman who summoned the demons had sent them into an impossible battle with no way to win. Not only were the abominations weaker than Hawke and his crew, but they had not the weapons needed to beat them back even if they equaled their strength.
Seeing her summons perish to this do-gooder team, the woman enraged and threw whatever magic she had at them.
A funnel of fire engulfed S'aravi, to which she cast a powerful ward to keep the fire from licking her skin. The fire was a forceful push, but the woman was not done and while the fire danced she clouded the room in electricity. Aveline had her shield, S'aravi had her spells, and Hawke had his incredible, nearly inhuman, tolerance for pain that was absolutely alarming, but Varric remained undefended.
Hawke forced his way through the electrical tempest and speared the woman's chest with his greatsword. It was a bloody sight, but ended this insanity finally.
They were all singed and the smell of burnt cloth filled the room, but it was over. This fight was not a challenge, only caught them a bit off guard and caused some deal of pain to deal with. Varric, jolted from the magic, ran his hand over his hair and examined the burnt edges to his garments, smoking slightly. He was more than displeased.
As the woman fell and they caught their collective breaths, Hawke returned to the floating man encased in yellow light. He supposed that the moment the woman was dead, the magic that sustained this prison would fail as well. Sure enough, the light dimmed and sparked away like a whip.
The man hit the ground and Hawke kneeled at his side, hoping he was still alive. "Is it... is it over?" His voice was unsure, no doubt he had been trapped there for some time. He was likely to be exhausted.
When he stood and realized where he was, Hawke was glad to see they arrived in time. "Keran?"
"Yes, that's my name. Oh thank the Maker, I thought he had abandoned me." He seemed relieved though still disoriented. For a moment he looked around, trying to see if he recognized anything or anyone. When he was satisfied he did not, he gave Hawke a once over.
"But is it only Keran? It could be Keran plus one, a very nasty plus one at that." Varric spoke in a hushed voice, trying to warn Hawke of the potential danger. It was a valid point, but S'aravi had no idea what they were talking about. This information may not have been part of what she had heard.
"The cage has been opened, thank Andraste." He commented, hoping to get home soon.
Hawke was worried, for sure. This situation was a delicate and potentially dangerous one. "S'aravi, I don't suppose you could...?" Hawke questioned, but S'aravi had no clue what he could be asking her, when she tilted her head he gestured to the man. "Can you... see if he's possessed? I don't know, cast something that could tell us?"
S'aravi shrugged, "No mages back home have even heard of the Fade or demons like this; I'm sorry I cannot help." She knew Hawke understood her homeland's mages, but he was desperate and did not feel sure about his answer.
Upset at his last resort for this, Hawke sighed. "If there's even the slightest chance you're possessed the templars need to know." He did not want to risk innocent lives if he failed to confirm it was safe to be around Keran.
"No, no. I'm me, I swear." He pleaded, "Don't tell the templars, I don't know what they'd do to me. Please, I need to go back. Tell them I'm alright, tell my sister... I- I must go." He was nervous, scared for his life. S'aravi hoped Hawke would not punish this man for the actions of the insane mage that laid dead behind them. He seemed stable, terrified his life could end. Could demons imitate people so perfectly?
Once Keran, or what could be Keran left, the group made their path to the Gallows to finish this report.
S'aravi walked beside Hawke, hoping to gauge what will happen when they arrive. It could cost this man his life and she was not keen on Keran losing his livelihood after this attack. It was traumatic, but he appeared fine if shaken from the blood mage practiced on him.
"Hawke, what are you thinking?" She asked quietly, the stairs lead directly into Darktown and there were people around. Discussing demons loose in the city could be a bad thing.
When Hawke looked at the hooded and masked cowl S'aravi wore, he gave her a confidence smirk. "I have no idea honestly. Either he is possessed and the demon will emerge or he isn't and continues his service to the templars. If there is a demon in there somewhere, I doubt it would be dumb enough to show itself inside the Gallows; the heart of the Order specifically trained to kill demons."
A fair point, "Even if it did it would be dispatched quickly and with minimal incident. So long as templars were around, what if there is a demon and it rears while he his shopping with family?"
Hawke grumbled, "Well, I hardly think it's fair for him to be the victim of a psychotic blood mage and additionally stripped of his life out of fear."
"No, I would never suggest such a thing. Perhaps instead of bringing this news bluntly, offer a way out so that the templars feel assured with Keran around and he can make a living still." She looked forward to see a group of people walking towards them, S'aravi stepped to the side to allow them to pass and bumped into Hawke. "My apologies."
Hawke and the others went single file to get through the choke point between Darktown and Lowtown. "No problem, just... What did you have in mind?"
"Perhaps if the templars feel Keran is a threat, suggest they keep him under watch while he serves the templars. If he is possessed a demon would surely not remain docile forever, it would desire to emerge. Most demons we have seen are not unintelligent, but they have needs, correct?"
"Yes, demons can't live possessing a person without actually feeding or, well, doing anything for long. A possessed person is a vessel for the demon to feed on, if Keran is possessed over time that would be visible." Hawke smiled, realizing the way out. "One way or another at the end of everything here; Keran will be drained from a demon if he is truly possessed. Have him placed under watch, easy answer and allows Keran to continue his work."
S'aravi nodded, neither Aveline nor Varric had any information to volunteer. While S'aravi had no idea demons fed on their host, she was glad Hawke found the answer they needed.
Truthfully, she had no idea if Hawke already had this figured out. It seemed he was already on the right track to answering this issue himself, only S'aravi wanted to hear for her own conscious as well.
At the end of the day, she had no control of this situation. If it ended well then she would be happy, if not - things happen and it was outside their grasp.
S'aravi had not stuck around for the return to the Gallows, while she remained nearby actually approaching a templar in the Gallows directly dressed in dark, full body gear may not be the best thing to do. Instead of risking her neck surrounded by templars, she played the lone wolf and left the others to their own devices.
Kirkwall was large and it was beginning to grow dim. Hawke was planning to visit Bartrand after this trip to handle the blood mages, he did not anticipate it would eat their entire day. Since they would head to Hightown and speak to Bartrand anyways, she figured she would travel there before them and explore while she had a moment. It was nothing but a peaceful walk after an eventful day.
Her free stroll though Hightown was nice, she appreciated the plaza greenery and vines before nearing the Chantry board and spotting the many posts for help. It was not her kind of thing to accept potentially dangerous or questionable work in such a public place. Behind the scenes, under tables, and in back rooms was easier and cleaner.
The woman outside repeated phrase and verse of what they called the Chant. It was some major feature of the religion in this city, Andraste, the Maker, and all that. S'aravi believed in her religion, that of her home Cyrodiil. The Nine Divines were real and made themselves known, taking part in historic events with physical and visual evidence of their existence.
As she stepped inside the Chantry, golden statues accented the great pillars of this massive temple. It was grand indeed, the impressive work done showed that a lot of love went into its construction.
She wondered how long this Temple stood for. Was it old and well kept, or new and fresh in the citizens minds like it was in her own.
There were books titled after the Maker and Andraste, one had the quotes The less he does, the more he proves. S'aravi frowned and excused herself from the books laid out on the floor.
From what S'aravi picked up from her friends and the people around Kirkwall the Maker had not been seen or heard from. He makes no contact with him and seemingly offers no aid in desperate times. The Blight was a particular instance where their deity would come in handy and he had not risen to the pleas of his worshipers. S'aravi found this... questionable at best.
In Cyrodiil the Nine Divines have made themselves known, heard, and seen in rare cases when they were truly needed. The most obvious evidence being Akatosh's avatar defeating Mehrunes Dagon at the Temple of the One. That was hard evidence and displayed for all to see through time, now that the avatar of Akatosh turned into a statue in the very place Dagon fell.
S'aravi twitched, annoying herself with such thoughts. Ignore it, do not think about it. Move on. Her mind was so keen on addressing her loss that it was becoming difficult to ignore. This was not a place she wanted to think about, considering the Nine Divines - Akatosh, was not an easy subject.
It was necessary. Leave it at that.
As she reached the heart, she climbed the first stairs to a platform in the center, she kept her head down to avoid the obvious looks she received from the worshipers inside. They appeared to be priests of some kind, all dressed in the same colours and same symbols. They would not question her presence in a holy place, but they would not hide their distaste.
When S'aravi stood on the balcony overlooking the hallway entrance to the temple, she realized this building was larger than it looked. It was sectioned off so that frequent worshipers could pray here in the quiet and read the books stocked on the shelves, but the stairs to the side lead to more rooms and many more areas dedicated to the priests and priestesses that resided within the temple.
Still, she kept her head down, examining the beautiful simplicity of these very large red candles all stacked irregularly on the carpet. She imagined it was difficult to replace them and clean the floor beneath. Either way, it gave the grand room a beautiful warm glow.
When S'aravi turned around to take her leave, she realized she was looking at two giant golden feet. It looked very angular, detailed, almost like polished hammered metal. It was absolutely stunning.
As her eyes followed the feet to the rest of the statue, S'aravi found herself staring at massive golden statue easily six times as large as the other statues decorating the room. It was Andraste's figure, donned in armor, lovingly crafted and made the center piece for the worshipers prayers.
Staring up to the statue she remembered the last time she felt so small compared to a symbol of a god. A moment where a burning dragon, hunched from battle, flashed in front of her eyes. It was almost too perfect. With a final victorious roar that shook Cyrodiil it solidified to stone and Akatosh made his mark that ended the Oblivion crisis. It was almost crippling to compare these statues.
Surely a giant woman did not end great turmoil and turn to a golden statue, but somehow this statue of Andraste made her feel... weak. As if she was back in the Temple of the One, stunned to silence, experiencing fear, confusion, and dread that paralyzed her.
She dropped her head, breaking her gaze from the massive statue and hurried to make her leave.
The Chantry was not a place she would return to.
Before, when fighting with the pirate, S'aravi had not paused to discover the area around her. She was too busy keeping herself hidden and fighting people that wanted to kill them. Now, seeing it without pressure or threats on her life, she came to the conclusion that being here disturbed her heavily.
She bottled the thoughts up, the emotions it brought to forcefully to the surface, and stored them away to never touch on again.
For now she would head to Bartrand and wait Hawke's arrival, it was time to move on and prepare for the expedition.
As she passed more buildings home to nobles and the wealthy, she was curious which house was supposed to belong to Hawke's family. She knew it was somewhere nearby, but they never talked about it, specified which estate was theirs.
Thankfully it was a short walk to Bartrand's expedition crew, all still working on packing their wagons. As night came the workers were turning in and Bartrand was looking tired himself. There was frustration evident on his face, the stress of making this expedition work was stressing him out.
S'aravi rested against the corner of the square Bartrand stood in and looked behind her to see the path to the Blooming Rose.
Ariathari stayed in her mind, it was nice to think of the elven woman having real interest in her, but it was only business for the woman. S'aravi remembered her days back home, being a hero with titles to impress meant she never had a shortage of people in her bed.
She was not promiscuous like those in the Blooming Rose, though she did love the entertainment and satisfaction of a good lover. When she began to realize and act on her feelings, her desire for people to romance plummeted. While she had Martin she could not even consider being with another.
The Blooming Rose, more specifically, Ariathari, was a welcome change, but the feeling of appreciation and affection was shallow to S'aravi. She wanted to play with her lovers, she was desirable in Cyrodiil not just for her celebrity status. S'aravi had a silver tongue, she had significant skill in persuasion and knew how to romance someone she had interest in.
The fact that those in the Rose are trying to make a sell, like a merchant, diminished the excitement of earning a place in someone's bed.
As she stared thoughtfully towards the Rose she could hear the sound of someone approach, she assumed it was Hawke and the others by how many she heard. Not to mention Hawke had this strut that she could never mistake, the way he walked made her imagine him walking around with his chest out and a snarky smirk on his face. It was an amusing thought.
"S'aravi?" She heard Hawke's voice break her trail of thought. She barely caught Varric following what she was looking towards, before giving her a sly grin. Handle that another day. She rolled her eyes, assuming Varric thought her interested in the Rose.
She pushed off from the wall, "Hawke." She acknowledged their approach, her arms cross in front of her. "Bartrand looks like he is about to turn in for the night, was wondering if you would make it in time."
Hawke smiled widely, "Couldn't expect the Temlars to get over a little possible possession so easily. Took a few minutes to convince Cullen to accept Keran back into their ranks, but he seemed agreeable when we discussed it further."
"Of course, I am sure it was hard to persuade them." S'aravi came to follow Hawke as he neared Bartrand's expedition team.
"Actually, Hawke offered the option and Cullen jumped on it. Took about two minutes, we would've been here sooner if Hawke didn't get distracted at the weapons merchant right next to us." Aveline volunteered the information and Hawke gave her a desperate look, as if he was begging her to let him embellish the truth a little.
S'aravi laughed, "That explains the new sword strapped to your back, Hawke."
Hawke's face flushed red and he bit his tongue. It was hard to make the story more interesting than it was with two people who were there correcting him. Not that it was hard to disprove, Hawke was good at making jokes but S'aravi doubted his ability to debate successfully.
"Ah ha ha ha, I think that's enough of that." Hawke continued, "Time to get Bartrand in on this partnership. With this coin we'll definitely be on this expedition." He held the gold in a small, velvet pouch hanging from his hand. It was a decent amount of gold, but if he invested in this expedition he could earn far more than he had dared to hope for when his family arrived in Kirkwall.
They were never wealthy, so this would be a first.
When Hawke stepped up to Bartrand, his tired look switched to a sarcastic, though annoyed, expression. "Found your mystical horde of coin yet, human?" His arrogant and foolhardy doubt of Hawke's ability to earn said coin brought a joyful smile from Hawke.
"I do have your coin, in fact." Hawke held the pouch up and it jingled with the promise of gold enough to start the expedition.
Bartrand's tune spun on its heel, "You're joking."
"What did I tell you, Bartrand? Not bad for a human." Varric seemed to enjoy his brother's disbelief, more so proving him wrong. S'aravi could see the fun in that, she did enjoy one upping the occasional egotistical big mouths back home.
"All right, partner. Full share of the profit between you, me, and Varric." His tone of voice was lace with venom, while he was impressed before, he quickly acted to cover that up. "Now we just need a decent entrance into the Deep Roads." Bartrand crossed his arms and returned to doubting Hawke's ability.
Hawke, ever the one to perform, pulled out a folded bit of worn parchment. "These might be just what we need."
Bartrand examined the parchment decorated with tunnel systems he had never seen before. "What's this? Three... four entrances into the Deep Roads, all in the Free Marches? Where did you get these?" He was impressed with the coin Hawke put up, but this was a little bit intimidating. Hawke could find whatever he desired if he put his mind to it.
"Didn't I tell you we could find a Grey Warden? Mother didn't raise a fool. Well... she didn't raise two of them." Varric was all too happy with their progress, this was going faster and smoother than he hoped. Bartrand's shocked face definitely was a bonus for him.
"Well, colour me astounded! We just pick the most promising one and go!" He paced excitedly, ready for the trip. "Time to wrap up any business you have in the city, my friend. We'll be gone for several weeks at least. Let me know as soon are you're ready and we'll head out."
Hawke was surprised this time, "You're all ready for the expedition, now?"
The fair haired dwarven man nodded, "All we needed was the coin and the entrance, with it we're packed and ready. We have plenty of supplies. Prepare yourself and we're gone."
Varric didn't even think Bartrand had everything so well laid out already, "Well, what do you think Hawke?"
"Give me until tomorrow at least, I have some things to finish. After that I'll come back and we'll go." Hawke was not ready to leave tonight, there were some things he wanted to do and people he needed to see. Bartrand could not leave without him as Hawke still had the coin and he was not keen on leaving without it. For now, the expedition was having a day of rest before the journey.
Hawke waved Bartrand off and turned to go. Tonight was not over yet, there were still things he needed to do before he could turn in and now, on a tighter schedule, he needed to fit everything in.
"What's on our plate for this evening, Hawke?" Varric questioned, none of them particularly ready for this trip.
"We have to do somethings, I agreed to meet people. There is a man who posted need on the Chantry board and I already took care of the Flint mercenaries, I need only return the news to him. Afterwards I have to visit the Dalish camp just outside Kirkwall, there is something I must turn in." He sighed, he had far more work to do. "There are some things I need to look into, I do not know if it will turn into anything, but in case it does I must be sure."
S'aravi agreed with Hawke, many people had trouble in this city and Hawke seemed to have the right strength and determination they needed.
At this point it seemed they had a long night ahead of themselves.
GoldenLombaxGirl:
Haha yeah, poor Sean Bean - keeps getting killed over and over. :(
S'aravi is Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, I mentioned it before but in a nightly haze I may have mistaken Speaker for Listener. It may happen since I write often at about midnight when I'm super tired.
And yes, khajiit have the ability to see in the dark and Fenris is already SUPER uncomfortable around S'aravi. This may or may not come to a head later on. 3