An illustration of who I assume is Solas has been around for a bit, so I was inspired to believe it is part of his backstory. Solas is really interesting to me; I think there's a lot more to him than just some bald elf guy.

Also, the next two chapters will deal with the Orlesian Ball everyone has been so excited about. I personally am looking forward to seeing what would require the inquisition to attend a ball (especially since my Inquisitor doesn't seem like much of a ball person).

As the civil war between Templars and Mages broke out, there was desperation flooding the ranks of both sides. Many mages turned to blood magic and just as many Templars turned to the volatile and dangerous red lyrium.

Solas was not one of those to cling to the dangerous magic. He was the leader of a small apostate camp. Despite his elven heritage, the camp consisted of any magic users. They were rather nomadic, staying out of the thick of the fighting and only defending themselves when necessary.

It wasn't that they didn't believe in the mages cause, they did. But with the Templars beginning to turn to red lyrium, it became much more dangerous to ally themselves with the other mages. With the fade beginning to tear open, they lived in dangerous times.

Solas and his camp were not only trying to stay safe from the Templars, but being mages and knowing the fade they were also trying to find a way to stop or fix the tears.

"Solas?" Moirah, a human female with bright blue eyes and thick red hair called from her tent. Solas turned to look at her. He had been sitting on a log in the camp looking at a map and trying to see if there was any correlation between the tears appearing.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a smile. She winked at him.

"Don't you think you've been out there long enough? It's getting late. You should come to bed."

Solas nodded. "I'll be there in a moment."

Moirah frowned, walking to stand beside him. "Solas, you're going to run yourself ragged. You've been pouring over those papers and that map for three days now. Some rest will do you good." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please, come to bed."

Solas stood to press a quick kiss to her mouth. "We need to be prepared. These tears don't look to be accidental; I think I can figure this out with a little more time."

Moirah pouted, but didn't press any further.

"Alright, if you think it's necessary, I'll leave you to it."

Solas watched her until she disappeared inside her tent. They were all apostates, mages running from the circle, and had been together for nearly four years. They consisted of all races and ages, from old men to newborn babies.

It was a hard life, but life under the control of the Templars would be even worse. As the elven mage began to circle different places on the map, he heard a shout from their lookout. His heart sank and despair settled in his gut.

There was only one thing that would cause their lookout to panic like that: Templars.

"Solas!" the lookout shouted, "Templars! Hundreds of them! Coming this way!"

The panic began to spread through the rest of the camp as people scrambled to grab their belongings. Tala clutched her baby to her chest as she ran. Devid and Kylee broke down their tent and scrambled to gather their things. Moirah crawled out of her tent, her eyes wild with terror.

"Moirah!" Solas called to the terrified woman. She was shaking. Solas looked around at the other panicking mages and clenched his staff tightly in his grip. "Go!" he shouted, fire sprouting from his wooden staff, "I'll hold them back; you all run!"

As everyone tried to run, the Templars attacked. Solas cast a fire ball into the thick of them and glanced back in time to see Moirah slit her palm.

"Moirah!" he shouted in horror. Her smile was wide and her eyes were blank as she stared at him. She had more reason than most to fear the Templars. Her parents had been slaughtered in front of her by them and had been nearly killed by them a few years ago.

"I won't let them take me again. Never again!" she screamed, blood magic pouring from her fingertips. Solas wanted to scream.

"Don't do this! I love you!" he shouted as she ran toward the Templars. Her flesh bubbled and burst into open sores as she became an abomination. And then it was too late. Solas had lost her.

Solas fought with all his might to protect his people, but as he fought, those who ran were either killed by the Templars surrounding them or turned to blood magic. It was a lost cause and soon Solas was the last of his camp left. He surrounded himself with a force field as they charged him before evaporating into smoke, performing a stealth move he had learned from a rogue several years ago.

The Templars didn't stay long in the apostate camp, only long enough to destroy what was left and be sure the other apostates were dead. Solas revealed himself once he was sure the Templars were gone. He glanced around at the broken remains and the burning bodies of his friends.

He had lost everything that day. Everyone he cared about, everyone he loved. With the veil tears worsening with everyday, he knew the only way he could honor his comrades' memories was to finish what they had started together: investigating the veil tears.

Nearly a month later when he was feeling hopeless and broken due to his lack of success at his endeavors, the inquisitor found him. His cause found new purpose and beside her, he knew he would succeed.

His friends and family would not have died in vain.