Part 3: Hope
Chapter 25: Resolve
After about ten minutes of Lady Isolde's particularly grating voice, Aedan's temples throbbed so much he wasn't sure if Orlesians weren't raised to have weaponized voices and that, unlike Leliana, Isolde had neglected to refine hers.
Lady Isolde and Bann Teagan bickered outside the windmill. Much to everyone's shock and relief, her entire family, including Arl Eamon, lived. She had scrambled out of the castle after the sun had risen. Now she asked the impossible: for Bann Teagan to go into the castle, alone, without any clue to the dangers within.
Although Aedan had been only a small child, he still remembered the controversy surrounding Eamon and his Orlesian wife. Even more damning was that she had been the daughter of the Orlesian governor of Redcliffe during the occupation. After the occupation, she decided to stay with Eamon out of love.
Whispers among the nobles contained nothing good. "She's only with him because he spared her life" or "She's a dirty Orlesian spy waiting for her brethren to come back."
Indeed, Loghain had never enjoyed the company of Isolde. To be fair, not many did, but Arl Eamon obviously adored her. Despite her husband's affection, such slights from the nobles led Isolde to stay behind in the estate most of the time. Even Aedan could not blame her for such a scornful attitude towards others, when all others always scorned her.
Still, her attitude didn't simplify Aedan's job. The former noble considered his strategy: the arlesse, a devoted family woman and relatively secluded due to scorn, would most likely respond well to a courteous attitude and positive comments directed towards her child, Connor, and her husband. Teagan had already wasted enough time trying to pry information out of this woman. Perhaps under normal circumstances the Bann would have know the right words to say, but weeks of battling undead had dulled his tongue and patience.
The warden approached the pair and bowed slightly to Isolde. "My Lady Isolde, I apologize if we seem to be intruding on your private family matter. I understand you and your family have gone through much; you have every right to suspicious of those from outside." He remembered that expression he put on for other nobles: calm, smiling, and devoid of all ill intent.
Aedan's unfamiliar courtesy threw Isolde off guard. "I...I too apologize for my rather brash introduction," said Isolde, avoiding eye contact. "We have been rather wary of outsiders ever since the incident..."
There we go, keep talking.
"Is this incident in reference to perhaps the Arl being poisoned?"
"He...he has simply fallen ill. Nothing else!" shouted the Arlesse who took a step back.
Damn, she seems to have gotten angry. Should trade some information to regain her trust.
"My lady, I may have information that pertains to this. I interrogated an elf who was hired to keep a watch over the Arl's condition...by Loghain. It concerns me greatly if you or your family were to be put at risk by even more of his treachery."
Isolde now turned directly at Aedan. Looking at her face, Aedan saw eyes red from crying.
"I...yes...perhaps we should speak in plainer terms. Thank you for revealing that to me. It clarifies some of a situation that is still beyond my understanding." She stopped wringing her hands, and finally made eye contact with Aedan. Alistair could only stare dumbfounded as Aedan charmed the woman who had spent ten years making his life a living hell.
'Situation beyond her understanding.' Yet she dares not reveal what lays inside the castle. Why?
Aedan needed to clarify indirectly. "I, and Alistair here, are both Grey Wardens. We are trained to deal with such occult situations, through force-"
For the split second after he said that word, Isolde's face contorted in fear. Aedan picked up on this, and continued with his planned statement.
"Or peacefully."
Her expression softened.
Whoever, or whatever, is related to causing this, she doesn't want to be hurt. I doubt she'd have such concern for her maids or soldiers. Therefore, the most probable candidates are Connor or the Arl himself.
Isolde relented and explained what she understood: a mage had come and poisoned the Arl, then summoned the undead. Aedan believed the first part, yet the concern Isolde had shown made him suspicious as to the true perpetrator. How did the Arl or Connor fit in with the undead? Perhap the guilty mage now held them hostage. Whatever the case, Aedan doubted Isolde's further usefulness. She herself stated she did not truly understand the situation.
Aedan crossed his arms and gave her a traditional bow, indicating an offer of his service. The bow hid his frown.
"Warden, an aside." Teagan motioned him over to a shady part of the windmill. Whilst the two departed, Aedan let his eyes wander to Isolde: she trembled a little less, and her breathing had calmed. At least his courtesy did some good.
Once Teagan and Aedan were alone, the Bann spoke. "I will comply with Isolde and go with her alone. I trust Isolde enough not to bring me to get killed, but I know I cannot do this alone. There's a secret entrance in the windmill to the dungeons. I will be the distraction, while you come in and ambush whatever is in there."
The distraction?
"You're a brave man," said Aedan, "but be careful. I have a suspicion that whatever is in there, Isolde wants us to deal with it peacefully."
With no hesitation, Bann Teagan turned back to him and uttered, "Just remember. Me, Isolde, everyone else is expendable as long as my brother gets out alive."
Those words struck at Aedan's heart. It reminded him of his parent's final moments, as they sacrificed themselves to save him. Someone who thought of others before themselves. This man, without a doubt, was somebody worth keeping alive in this world.
"I will save everyone. Not just Eamon. I promise." Aedan clenched his sword hilt in his hand. His right arm trembled to stop whatever madness threatened this family. He would not let the chaos of the Blight consume anymore than it had to.
Teagan smiled. "I'll hold you to that."
With that, Teagan and Isolde set off alone for the front entrance of the castle. Eventually they disappeared over the distance into the lone gate. Once the two had entered, Aedan directed the others to the passageway Teagan had shown him. Aedan lead the way forward with a spare torch. The passage was surprisingly large and fit even Sten height-wise; perhaps it had been meant for emergency evacuation. Never did it's makers suspect it'd have to be used for infiltration.
As they navigated through the underground passage, Alistair asked bitterly, "I couldn't even get her to smile for 10 years, how'd you do it?"
"Experience," Aedan replied, "She was harsh on you I'm guessing."
"Harsh doesn't begin. Always berating me and treating me like something less than human. Did I mention she once made me sleep in the kennels?" Sighing, Alistair leaned his head back between his hands. "I guess I can't blame her. There were rumors swirling around that I was the bastard of Eamon himself. No grown woman's going to take that laying down."
Perhaps Alistair was an outlet for all her pent up rage, thought Aedan.
"Still a shit thing to do."
"Yeah, she could have been been less of a Morrigan."
Aedan stopped midstride. "Excuse me?" Depending on Alistair's next choice of words, Aedan would have to duck for his life.
"Ah yes. I've come up with a new ranking system. There's okay, then annoying, then 'infuriating to the point of wanting to rip my hair out', then Morrigan."
"I am so pleased to see that I am setting new records. Mother would be proud," called Morrigan from the back of the group. Much to Aedan's surprise, she did not take offense to Alistair's disingenuous assertions- perhaps she simply viewed Alistair's opinions as no more than the chirping of birds.
"We've really got the worst luck in women, haven't we buddy?" Alistair guffawed and slapped his friend on the back. Scratching the side of his head sheepishly, Aedan tried not to think about what had transpired between him and Morrigan the day before.
Unsurprisingly, undead roamed the dungeon. This implied, however, that dead bodies lay in the dungeon prior. Arl Eamon seemed a kind man, and perhaps the dead were before his time. Then again, just like Aedan, every man had enemies. Eamon perhaps had simply jailed and starved his.
With that thought in mind, Aedan spotted one such enemy cowering in a corner. The fact that he lived did not intrigue Aedan, but rather his attire: dirty mage robes. Sweat slicked bangs hid the mage's face. The undead had sent the man into a state of utter panic. Trembling, he crawled out of his corner and gazed upon the group.
"Jowan," gasped Wynne.
Aedan turned to her. "You know him?"
"He escaped the Tower." Her eyes narrowed. Aedan rarely saw Wynne so hateful. "By means of blood magic."
Now everyone directed their attention towards Jowan. Those two simple words reminded them of what had transpired at the Circle Tower. That beleaguered mage now posed the highest threat. Sten placed his hand on his hilt.
"Oi." Aedan banged his knuckles against the rusted steel bars. Jowan lifted his head from his hands. He sighed in relief and rushed up to the door. He had on a sad sort of smile when his eyes met Wynne.
"Hello, Wynne. I didn't expect to see you again," said Jowan.
"Neither did I, Jowan," came Wynne's quiet response.
"Did you ever think that when you were teaching me as a young child, that it would come to this? Me, locked behind a cage like some animal?"
Wynne didn't respond. Her gaze broke from Jowan's.
After that icy silence Aedan knocked against the bars again. "Focus. Did you summon these undead?"
"No, but...I did something terrible." Jowan turned away...in shame? For a blood mage to admit the fault of his actions surprised Aedan. He grabbed at the bars and leaned in closer.
"Explain. I need all the information I can get if I'm to have chance at fixing this."
A tense quiet ensued, until Jowan answered, "I poisoned the Arl."
"Why?"
"On orders from Loghain. I had been in hiding since before the Ostagar incident, so I hadn't learned the full truth behind his betrayal. So when someone like Loghain asks you to do something for the good of the kingdom, and then offers you your life back, how can one just say no to that?"
"And so you'd poison an innocent man?"
"I didn't know! Loghain told me I was saving lives. That it'd redeem me." His eyes welled up. "That I'd see Lily again."
"Did you didn't summon the undead?"
"No! I didn't summon them, I swear!"
"But there's no other mages here that could have done it."
A little softer, Jowan replied. "There's one more."
Aedan took a sharp breath in. The final piece.
"Pardon?"
"Connor, the Arl's son, is a mage. Lady Isolde hired me to train him and keep it a secret from the outside world, lest he be taken by the Circle, like me. When his father took ill, a demon possessed Connor and summoned the undead."
The puzzle pieces crashed together. Why Isolde had wanted a peaceful resolution, and to keep outside warriors from coming in. Why the demon had occurred a few weeks after the Arl's illness, not right after. Aedan grimaced. The lengths a mother would go to to save one's son.
"I'm not an expert on magic, but I'm assuming then that Connor has made some sort of deal with the demon in exchange for his father's well being."
"That seems the most likely explanation. I doubt the demon actually helped the Arl at all, and simply took advantage of the boy's naivety," said Morrigan.
"Despite Jowan's usage of blood magic, I know him well enough to say that he would not summon undead." Wynne's words came as a shock to Jowan. He hung his head in shame for betraying such a woman's trust.
"We need to get to Connor first and subdue him. Then we can decide how to proceed." Aedan turned back to the apostate. "Thank you for the information. Your cooperation helped greatly."
Jowan clasped the iron bars. "What about me?"
Aedan paused. "What about you?" He didn't need to ask that question; everyone knew what the mage wanted. The question was whether or not he was a threat.
"He is a blood mage. We cannot trust him," stated Wynne whilst avoiding eye contact with Jowan.
"So we just leave him in here to die? Then how are we better then him?"
She didn't reply. Wynne's heart was wavering at the sight of her former pupil, despite how far he had fallen. Aedan could tell. Deep down, Aedan didn't really think Wynne wanted Jowan to die.
"I know that I screwed up." Jowan looked towards the floor and clasped the bars with all his might. "I know that. But I want to set things right, please! My happiness has already been taken from me. At the very least-"
"-I can defend someone else's," finished Aedan. Blood mage or not, he had on the same expression as Bann Teagan: earnest and determined.
With one blow and before anyone could object, Aedan broke the rusty lock. Morrigan covered her small smile.
For the first time in weeks, Jowan exited his cell. "I'm going to need to gather some things, but I have an idea how to stop this. I'll meet you at Connor, wherever he is. I owe him that."
Jowan vanished down the hallway. Whilst the sound of the his footsteps carried, Aedan wondered if he had made the right decision. At the very least he had absolved Wynne of her guilt. Aedan, by making the decision, had taken the consequences onto himself. Wynne would not need to feel so conflicted. Out of the corner of his eye Aedan saw her waver between a frown and a smile. The fact that she wasn't completely frowning satisfied him enough.
"That was not a wise decision. Mages, especially blood mages, are dangerous," muttered the qunari, still looking down Jowan's path of exit.
"Sten, he could help us. Sometimes our swords do more harm than good." Aedan kicked at an undead on the floor in thought. The qunari quieted in contemplation.
Although not as effective as qunari explosive powder, lyrium-based explosives sufficed enough to break all of D's layers of security.
One final bomb blasted away the remains of the final reinforced door. The underground warehouse had gone completely dark. Under normal circumstances, Adair would light a fire and illuminate the whole place. His objective in this case might be destroyed as well if he did just that. He'd have to lure out D.
The grizzled veteran cleared his throat. "You know, D, buying lyrium-based explosives is really expensive."
No response. Adair grumbled. At the very least he had hoped to gauge D's position by sound.
"Stealing them is a lot harder though. Although, I guess I really have to thank you for them, don't I?" he sneered harder.
A growl from the darkness. Adair almost felt like prey. Almost. He was the hunter here though. D had taken his bait. Adair turned to the noise.
"Invading my territory with my own weapons. How impudent," echoed D's voice.
Adair smiled upon hearing his old ally's voice. "I've nothing against you, D. Just hand me the documents, and we can all walk out of this without any trouble. Hell, I'll even stop disrupting your shipments. How about that?"
"Interesting. And what would you suggest you give me in exchange for all of my men you've killed? All my supplies you've stolen?"
"Your life." Sparks flew as Adair's twin swords scraped against the marble floor. The cloaked figure of D approached Adair from the front.
"Interesting, interesting. I could have let you walk after blowing up my entrance."
The sound of a cloak being unfurled.
"I could have let you walk after nearly killing Teharel."
The sliding of daggers against their holsters.
"Hell, I could have let you walk after what you did all those years ago."
A single breath of utter rage.
"But the minute you suggest that my life is anybody else's but mine?"
A snap of the fingers. Torches were lit. Daggers flew. Swords sliced. The dance of the warriors had begun.
Watching from above, Aedan could only think that his own fighting so far had been child's play. The scene below far exceeded his sessions with Teharel; these were two masters in their prime. they moved with breaktaking speed, parrying and dodging simultaneously. Sharp, exact blows blurred about. It felt less like a dance, and more like two forces colliding- like a gale against a tidal wave.
"You've gotten slow, Adair." D's dagger landed straight at the heart, right past the swirling defense of Adair's swords.
"So quick for the vitals, aren't you?" laughed Adair. The dagger bounced off Adair's breastplate harmlessly.
"Never hurts to try. Looks like I'll just have to slit your throat instead."
Both of Adair's swords smashed down on the shelf D stood behind. The crimelord leg spun in midair and kicked a falling golden statue into Adair's face. For the first time since Aedan had saw him, Adair staggered backwards. He wiped the blood from his lip. With a single glance at the red stain, Adair hurtled at D.
A flash of metal, followed by the shriek of Adair's sword slicing through the air. D's dagger had been raised. He lifted two fingers.
Aedan and Fergus nodded at each other. D had given the signal. Atop the shelves, they launched various artifacts and statues down at Adair, forcing him to sidestep even more. The first part of the plan was to attack Adair at an angle from which he could not defend while fighting D. Of course, the statues never did do much damage; Adair's reflexes would kick in and he would either dodge or smash the object away. However, that split second he spent was enough for D to push him backwards and slice at him.
"You are getting on my nerves, whoever is up there!" Adair whipped his sword against a nearby shelf and it broke in two. As the structure crumpled, Aedan jumped over to where his brother was. A soft thud alerted Adair to where he had landed. He struck again, and this time both Fergus and Aedan had to leap.
"Is that the best you have? Little distractions?" Whipping his leg around, Adair slammed a golden gryphon statuette back at D, right into his chest. D staggered backwards and caught himself on a shelf.
An explosion sent Adair flying backwards. The prone D grinned and tossed another flask in hand.
"Come now, old friend- I am the one you stole those explosives from."
"Very well then…" Adair wiped his face of sweat and whistled. "Victor, take care of the one's up top, will you?"
The slicing noise of metal rang in Aedan's ears. Adair's associate and attempted assassin of Maric, Victor, had finally climbed up to the upper levels.
"Brother, to the next one, I'll handle this guy!" Aedan motioned Fergus to the next designated shelf. The young noble stood between his brother and Victor. Victor cracked his neck, his swords brandished. "Looking forward to our rematch, little noble boy. I underestimated you at the Alienage."
The shelf wobbled beneath Aedan's feet. The young man staggered backwards. He could see a flash of a smile from his opponent. "What's wrong?" said Victor, "Unused to such unstable conditions?"
Victor lept forward, aiming for Aedan's throat. At the last second, Aedan drew his shield and deflected the forceful stab. His sword swung from above, and yet was parried by both of Victor's.
Aedan charged forward and and pushed Victor back like a battering ram. He needed to keep him away from both Fergus and Kylon.
A little bit further! thought Aedan. Retreating backwards, Aedan barely avoided Victor's swords from chopping off his head. He hurled himself to the next shelf, whilst Victor followed. It soon became a frantic race of leaping from shelf to shelf.
"You think you can escape me?" said Victor mid leap.
If Victor could see Aedan's grin, he would not be as happy. Little by little, as Aedan jumped more and more, he had gained a slight lead- at that instant, Victor was in mid air, whilst Aedan was firmly on the shelf.
"Sod off." Aedan slammed his shield against Victor's face. The younger assassin throttled down towards the floor and landed belly first on the floor. Struggling to get up, Victor cursed his own overconfidence before losing consciousness.
Meanwhile down below, D continued pushing Adair back with help from Fergus. He raised his hand to throw his dagger, raising up two fingers. Fergus dropped a golden statue. Adair sidestepped both.
D raised another dagger, raising up just one finger. Adair dodged the dagger, and jumped to avoid the statue. A small explosion threw him back. Wiping his brow, Adair grimaced at his dilemma, groaning while holding his bleeding side. He couldn't tell which of the statues were to be explosives.
Much to Adair's surprise, D stepped forward to attack, daggers in hand. This however meant that D had no more explosives to throw. Adair gritted his teeth as he forced his battered body to continue slicing. With a single thrust of both his swords, Adair aimed for D's stomach. The other man turned, narrowly fitting in the gap between the two. Yet still the edges grazed his back and stomach. Blood dripped from D's torso and the crimelord grunted in pain. A quick side-kick pushed Adair far back enough so that his sword were out of range.
"Time to finish-"
All of a sudden, Adair found himself hanging upside down by his feet, tied by rope. Kylon, holding a taut rope that looped into a pulley on the ceiling and now wrapped about Adair's entire body, gave the assailant a smug wave.
Everything, the statues, the bombs, D fighting Adair, had all been Fergus's plan to lure Adair into that one spot without him noticing. The rubble from the shelves and statues had hidden the looped rope. Once Adair had stepped into that spot, Kylon had triggered the trap.
Adair attempted to hoist himself up to cut the rope, but Aedan rushed out from the side and bludgeoned the man back down with his shield. Momentarily dazed, Adair finally dropped his swords.
It seemed almost too good to be true. Aedan swiped the vials of noxious green liquid from beneath Adair's coat and stuffed them into his knapsack. The man hung upside groaning, while Kylon restrained Victor.
"I'm going to get these to the mages, they should be able to concoct an antidote." Aedan peered at D's scraped and bleeding body. No doubt Adair's poisonous swords had gotten him too. "I'll get one for you too, don't worry."
"I'll have my own people concoct one, it'll be quicker. Less Chantry oversight on what the mages can and can't do." said D who snatched the vials away from Aedan.
"I can't thank you enough."
"Let's just add it to the enormous pile of debt you owe me, in addition for all my broken goods." The crime lord placed his hand on Aedan's shoulder to lean on. The sinister grin on D's face sent cold shivers down Aedan's spine.
It seems Aedan had just traded one problem for another.
Author Notes
Hey everyone, this week's chapter is on time as well. I've generated a bit of a backlog, so for the next few chapters you can expect weekly updates.
Starting this chapter on, I'd like to take the time to response personally to the recent reviews:
TLMonkey: Yeah, sometimes I get so excited having finished a chapter I sort of rush to post it up and miss a lot of the errors. This time around I did good read through and I think I caught everything. Thanks for pointing it out!
Jarjaxle: Interesting comment about the relationships, because that's what I'm trying to focus more on, without detracting too much on the Origin's story. For me, DAO was the first companion-based game I had ever played (having migrated from MOBA's and RTS), and it really struck me how a game could make me care about these characters. So for me, DAO is about the relations between these characters, and how this creates the team, and Warden, that saves Fereldan. Regarding the character choice, you're right it's the most popular; Bioware put up a survey showing a wide margin for Male Human. I guess it's easier to empathize with.
Looking ahead at the future of this piece, there's about two more chapters left in this part, then a brief one chapter original story interlude, then the next themed part. Those three are about 75% done.
Once again, thanks for reading and feel free to leave review, constructive criticism, or just ask questions. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!