Knight Commander Meredith threw the two letters down in front of Ser Thrask and asked, "Notice anything?"

Thrask picked them up, and after a moment looked up in horror and said, "Orsino?"

Meredith nodded, her fury starting to increase even more. "That's right. The First Enchanter, in league with a blood mage. A blood mage who murdered members of the Circle. Gather the Templars. I am issuing a death sentence upon the First Enchanter. Afterward we will conduct sweeps and examinations of every mage in the Circle. Understand."

Thrask hesitated for a moment before asking, "How many Templars?"

Meredith's expression hardened and she answered, "All of them. We will end the maleficarum threat within the Circle once and for all."

Thrask nodded, "Of course Knight Commander. It will be as you say."

The assembled host of Kirkwall's Templars awaited Meredith as she approached main courtyard of the Gallows. As she arrived to overlook them there was a swell of pride at the silver steel of the Templars armor. The heavy infantry at the front were armed with broadswords and shields, each laced with lyrium to grant some degree of defense against the spells thrown at the man holding it. Behind them stood the archers, with longbows or crossbows ready. Even the recruits waited behind the veterans, all in their own less ornamented armor. The recruits functioned as light infantry, using smaller shields and short swords.

As she looked over the force, nearly one thousand strong, she announced, "The First Enchanter has been found to have conspired with a blood mage, and given members of the Circle over for murder and experiments. His wickedness stops today, and the maleficarum who choose to follow him shall face the same fate."

There were no cheers as Meredith concluded, no great exultation, just the grim understanding of what had to be done. The Knight Commander descended the stairs, and as she did so she ordered Thrask, "Go into the city, and inform the Guard Captain of what is about to occur. The Kirkwall Guard will need to be ready if some of the enemy escape."

Thrask nodded and began down to the ferry into the city.

Orsino could hear the Knight Commander's speech and he pulled out the item he'd found so long ago, and since worked on so diligently. With a gesture he sent a slight jolt to the mages he knew would join. The rest would follow when it became clear Meredith was willing to purge them all. Grimly he set about putting on the very special clothing he'd had prepared for this day.

One by one the mages who had been selected arrived and picked up their own item. He looked over the assembled followers and said, "Gather the others in the main hall. We shall finally overthrow the accursed Templars, and mages will reclaim their rightful places atop the world."

The two forces met in the main hall, the mages assembled along the walls, and the Templars arrayed in full battle formation in the center. Orsino strode down the stairs, slightly uncomfortable in the apparel beneath his robes. Meredith strode to meet him and announced, "First Enchanter Orsino, I strip you of your position and sentence you to death."

Calmly Orsino responded, "You cannot. My position is elected by the Senior Enchanters and confirmed by the Grand Cleric of Kirkwall. You have no power to remove me without cause."

The Templar lines tensed, several archers knocked arrows.

Meredith answered, "I have cause, you have conspired with a blood mage, killing members of this Circle. You are maleficarum, and have no rights under the Circle rules."

One of the mages, Meredith wasn't sure which shouted, "And then you annul us all!"

She started to answer, but one of the Templars fired, striking and killing one of the students. She whirled to see who had done it, but before she could one of the mages shouted, "They aim to kill us all."

There was a roar from amongst the mages, then the spells began to fly. Just a few at first, then the rest joined. All around Meredith Templars died. The fighting erupted in full and Templars charged at mages, only to meet demons summoned from the Fade by Blood Magic.

Meredith pulled up her sword and charged at Orsino, but as she did so he flicked one hand behind her, and a dozen Templar recruits collapsed and began to twist, and finally rise again as abominations. She set that image out of her mind and stabbed at Orsino, only to have her blade clash against metal.

Orsino responded by drawing forth a long red blade, and smashing aside Meredith's own sword. Then he laughed and threw back his robe, revealing the plate armor underneath. Meredith started at it in horror and Orsino snarled, "It seems the Fereldans rediscovered the art of the Arcane Warrior. Now so have I." He swung the sword and then continued, "Recognize it? It used to be yours after all."

Meredith carefully swept forward with her own sword, easily penetrating Orsino's sloppy defense. As her blade closed however it impacted on a magical shield surrounding the First Enchanter. He lunged, but Meredith batted his arm away with her shield. As the two circled each other Meredith asked, "How?"

Orsino smiled, "Remember the thieves I caught? They managed to get the idol from your quarters, but I caught them. And just to be safe I wiped their memories with blood magic."

He rapidly began raining blows down on the Knight Commander's defenses. Meredith put her years of experience to use, easily blocking or dodging each inexperienced attack. But even as she did so Meredith glanced behind her to see the room was rapidly filling with the bodies of Templars. More demons had been summoned forth, from the lowly rage demons roasting Templars inside their armor to the gigantic pride demons rampaging through the formations of the Templars.

Even as she watched Knight Captain Cullen was blasted with a wave of ice fired by a despair demon, before being smashed aside by a pride demon. The young Fereldan flew across the room, arms whirling as he tried to slow. It didn't matter as he impacted on the far wall and crumpled, obviously dead.

Meredith whirled and smashed down the most powerful ability she could, the mighty Smite. The lyrium she drank to maintain her powers burned for a moment, but a small area of the battle cleared and the Templars retreated into a circle, their shields and swords pointed out against the demons and spells coming against them. She turned back to Orsino, just in time to block yet another blow. But she heard a horrible metallic sound, then felt an impact on her armor, and a sudden loss of feeling.

The Knight Commander tried to breathe in, but nothing happened. She looked down and saw a giant metal blade sticking through her chest. She looked up, and saw one of the statues lining the room had stabbed her. A moment later Meredith Stannard, Knight Commander of Kirkwall, the most powerful person in the city, died.

Around her, her charges died with her. More statues rose as the red lyrium of Orsino's followers unleashed more power. The bodies of the dead Templars rose as well, given new life by the necromancy of the blood mages. Small groups of bodies were crushed together, and arose anew as giant mounds of flesh. The army of the dead Templars, demons, and flesh golems swept outward. Those mages who might otherwise have turned on Orsino were left certain they could never surrender to the Chantry now…

Chapter 16

Hawke sighed as he sat down in his usual place in the Hanged Man. Varric looked up from his papers and said, "Long day?"

Hawke nodded, "You could say that." He quickly explained what had been going on, and Varric whistled.

"A Templar trying to make every mage in Thedas Tranquil…" He shook his head. "As if the tensions weren't bad enough."

The pair were interrupted as the serving woman outside started saying, "I'm sorry Ser, but Ser Hawke is discussion important matters with Ser Tethras," Varric snorted at that, "and cannot be disturbed."

A voice Hawke sort of recognized answered, "This is business from the Knight Commander herself, so unless you want…" He was silenced as there was a horrible sound from outside, wailing and a series of blasts.

Hawke and Varric were on their feet immediately, and the pair rushed from the room, grabbing their weapons as they went. They almost ran into Ser Thrask and the server, but neither paid any attention in the rush to get outside. The noise worsened as Hawke reached the open door and started to push through the gathering crowd. He stopped as Varric pulled him aside, then up a stairway to one of the tallest points in Lowtown. They looked out in the direction of the noises, the Gallows, and saw a green mist forming over the water, and figures moving across it. Not in boats, but walking.

A moment later Thrask joined them, and he gasped, then said, "So they lost…" He quickly explained, "The Knight Commander uncovered evidence the First Enchanter was in league with a blood mage, and possibly one himself. Every Templar in the city was ordered to converge for Orsino's arrest." He looked over the coming fog and then said, "It seems the mages fought back, and won. We need to warn the city guard."

A/N: This section is separate from Varric's narrative.

From within the fog came the dark figures, some small, others giant. The first creature to emerge was a pride demon, ripping into the shieldwall of the city guard standing watch over the docks. The guard, all veterans of the battle against the Qunari, stood their ground, and steadily encircled the pride demon, hacking it down from all sides until finally the monster fell.

They reformed as the sound of marching boots followed. From behind the demon came the ranks of the Templars, all dead, and all still fully armed and armored. The Templars barely slowed as they moved into the shieldwall. Guard swords flashed out, hitting armor or flesh. There was no reaction. The Templars answered in kind, slamming their larger and heavier shields into the wall, and then bringing their swords down. Guards fell, and with none of the hesitation which might have occurred had the Templars been alive they surged through the gaps in defense. Moments later the Guards were all dead. Without pausing the Templars marched on, up into Lowtown.

Behind the Templars came the other magical creations; demons and flesh golems; and finally the mages who controlled them. They were led by the mages who had originally sided with Orsino, each carrying a staff mounted with red lyrium. The song was already spreading outward, even to those who did not follow willingly.

"Form up," Aveline shouted as the guardsmen came rushing out of the rebuilt barracks, the only part of the Keep fit for inhabitation. Most of these guards were new, few had seen combat. At the center of the line were the veterans, led by Donnic, Aveline's husband. Hawke could see the worry in the Captain's face as her Guardsmen prepared to march down to face the mages.

Two thousand guardsmen turned in unison and began to march, Hawke and Aveline at their head. They arrived in the Market District of Lowtown as the undead and demon army arrived. The guards immediately locked shields into a wall and advanced.

The undead Templars met them, and the two sides began to battle. Hawke started to join, but Ser Thrask grabbed his arm. "No," The Templar said. "Fighting the undead is pointless, we must kill the mages or demons who are controlling them." Hawke nodded and followed Thrask down one of the many side passages. They circled around, and emerged just behind the mages.

Thrask paused and closed his eyes. A moment later he said, "I think those are the mages controlling the undead." He motioned toward a group of mages hanging back slightly, and as Hawke followed the gesture he gasped as he saw their staves, lined with red lyrium.

Thrask noticed and asked, "What is it?"

Hawke quickly answered, "Their staves. I've seen that lyrium before. Years ago we discovered lyrium which might have been Blighted, and it looked exactly like that."

Thrask looked closer, then nodded in understanding. "Of course. Be careful, we have no idea what it can do." He raised his sword and said, "Ready?" Hawke nodded and Thrask answered, "Go."

The pair charged across the square toward the controlling mages. As they approached the mages Thrask unleashed his own powers, blasting the mages with a magic clearing blast. As the ability was unleashed the Red Lyrium embedded inside the staves flashed, and negated the attack.

One of the mages turned, and threw one hand out toward Thrask, and as he did so the ground began to shake and pieces flew up, then flew at the Templar. Thrask brought his shield up to catch the stone, and pushed on, blocking another spell as he did so. With the mage's attention diverted a group of the undead stopped, then slowly collapsed as the magic powering them ended.

A moment later Hawke approached from the side of the mages, and managed to bring his sword down on one, and struck her throat. There was a slight gasp and she fell. In the ongoing melee a section of the Templars suddenly seized up and collapsed, giving the guards a reprieve to reorganize their lines behind the line of battle.

As Hawke brought his sword toward the next mage the man brought his staff around, and the Red Lyrium flashed as the two weapons collided. Time seemed to slow down for a moment, then Hawke felt his feet leave the ground and he was knocked back into an alley.

As he sailed backward he could barely see Thrask being swarmed by demons.

The breath was knocked out of him as Hawke impacted, and there was a crack as his left arm broke. He reached over and using his right hand help the left arm out of the shield straps. He started to stand, but was knocked back down by another spell impact. A moment later the mage he'd been fighting moved into the alley, a dark smile on his face.

The mage advanced, but suddenly seized up as blood magic overwhelmed his own power, and a moment later he fell dead. Hawke glanced up and saw Merrill, shaking, her hand bloody. The realization Merrill had been a blood mage all these years didn't have time to sink in as she grabbed Hawke's hand and said, "Come on, we need to get out of here."

Hawke started to protest, but as he did so he looked back and saw that the Guard was in full retreat back into Hightown. The Templars marched behind them, barely slowing. Across the Market lay the bodies of dead Guardsmen and scattered remains of undead Templars.

Hawke nodded shakily and said, "Follow me."

Varric arrived at the Fereldan embassy to find it swarming with people throwing documents on fires. He stopped Valena as she threw another stack into a pyre and asked, "What's going on?"

She turned and answered calmly, "We're evacuating. King Alistair gave strict orders that if a revolt started we were not to get involved."

"What?" Varric shouted. "You can't just leave without doing something. There has to be something that can be done."

She shook her head, "I'm sorry Varric, but our instructions are very clear. We are to destroy any records and fight only if we are cornered. The king's instructions were very clear."

"Then where's Clark?" Varric asked, "Surely he could…"

"No." Valena answered sharply. "Even he's not going to ignore direct orders at this point. Clark is checking our escape route into Darktown. He should be back in a few minutes at most."

Varric swore, but after a moment he turned and left. There might be another force which could reinforce the Guard. He never made it to the Carta though, the green mist had spread over every exit from Hightown and was rapidly spreading inward. The dwarf ran back into the sound, as behind him the city streets were emptied as people fled from the mist.

Hawke and Merrill made it to back at the Keep's ruin just as the Guard was reforming their shieldwall. More Guardsmen had arrived, giving Aveline just over 2,500 soldiers. Aveline gave a sigh of relief as she saw Hawke and asked, "Thrask?"

Hawke shook his head, "Dead. He was swarmed by demons. Do we have any other forces?"

Aveline shook her head as well, "None. Normally I might call on mercenaries to help, but the Red Iron was wiped out in the Dales, and most of the others lost much of their strength in other battles."

Hawke nodded, "We need to target the mages, not the creatures. If we can kill the mages the others will go as well."

Aveline quickly passed the word on to the marksmen amongst the Guard, and they prepared for another stand, blocking the entrances.

Varric arrived a few minutes later, looking furious. He waved off Hawke's questions however and took a place amongst the marksmen. The Guard was prepared for the next assault by undead, they had a plan to fight and possibly to win. It didn't matter. What came out of the mist wasn't undead Templars followed by mages, instead half a dozen flesh golems slammed into the shieldwall, which buckled almost immediately.

Guards were thrown out of the way as the giant monsters tore through their ranks, and then the undead and demons came. Despair demons leapt over the Guard ranks, blasting ice into the rear of their formation. Pride and Rage demons shattered what little remained of the Guard organization.

Hawke couldn't concentrate on any of that however as he leapt onto the back a flesh golem after seeing some kind of creature embedded into it. As he did so he raised his sword and brought it down on the monster. There was a screech as his blade hit the creature, which started to flail to either grab him or throw him off. Hawke held on as he brought the sword down again, digging deeper into the golem. This time its efforts were successful and Hawke was thrown from the monster, landing a few feet away.

Even as he impacted however he realized his sword had been left behind, and the movement drove the blade deeper into the creature. It seemed to stop for a moment, then suddenly fell forward, dead.

Hawke stood, and started to draw his blade, but Varric shouted, "Hawke, come on, we have to get out of here."

He looked around and realized the battle had turned into a rout. Abandoning his sword Hawke ran, following where he was almost sure the dwarf was shouting from. He found Hawke and Merrill waiting, and as he arrived the two started back to the Hawke estate, the last place the Guard might be able to rally.

They arrived and found Aveline had managed to gather perhaps two hundred survivors, and the door was standing wide open, smashed off its hinges. Hawke stared at the door and asked, "What happened?"

Aveline looked at it and said finally, "No idea. The door was like this when we got here."

She started to continue, but the noise of marching from the direction of the Keep signified that the battle was not yet over.

As the marching grew closer Aveline turned to Hawke and said, "Go, get inside and run. You can use the passages under your house to get to Darktown, then sneak out of the city."

Hawke stared at her and said, "What?"

Aveline looked at him with tears and said, "I lost Donnic today Hawke, just like I lost Wesley so many years ago. I'm not leaving the city. You should though."

Hawke took a moment to respond, then said, "I'm not leaving. I'll…"

He was cut off as behind him Merrill silently placed one hand on his back and rendered him unconscious. She turned to Varric and said, "Get him out. Please. I'll stay to help hold them back as long as possible."

Varric nodded, crying a little as he did so. "I will Daisy." He grabbed Hawke and pulled him inside the house. Behind him he heard the sounds of fighting, and could see Merrill getting ready to fight against anyone who tried to follow.

He half-carried, half-dragged the unconscious Hawke to the passage when he met Clark and a pair of Fereldans coming back, Clark looked immensely relieved when he saw Hawke. As Varric saw them the dwarf asked, "Oh, feeling a bit guilty?"

Clark glared at the dwarf and answered, "I promised Bethany I'd get Hawke out of the city, and I intend to."

Varric let the two Fereldan soldiers take Hawke and said bitterly, "Maybe if you cared about the city as much it could have been saved."

Clark sighed and said, "We tried Varric, but sometimes a situation can't be saved. The city was a powderkeg, it has been for a long time." There was a blast from above them and the Fereldan said, "I suggest we discuss it another time. The ship is ready to go, we just need to make it out of the city. The route is already decided. Come on."

"And?" Cassandra asked.

"And what?" Varric answered. "We got out of the city. We met a Fereldan ship a few miles outside the city, and they took us to Ostwick. Clark, Valena, and their staff continued on to Amaranthine, with the other survivors who escaped. Hawke and I got off, then we went our separate ways."

"But where is he?" Cassandra demanded.

Varric shrugged, "No idea. Like I said we separated. After six years and the loss of virtually everyone we knew in the city just was too much for Hawke. He went north I think, I tried to save the Tethras fortune." He looked down at the tattered clothing he had been caught in, "As you might be able to tell, I was unsuccessful. Hundreds of sovereigns lost, all to the damn mages."

He thought then said, "And you know what happened after Kirkwall fell of course."

Cassandra nodded sadly. "Starkhaven happened. The Lord Seeker died there, along with almost half the Templars in Thedas. Sister Nightingale barely escaped with her charge in time."

Varric looked curious at that, but was smart enough not to ask the obvious question. Instead he asked, "What now?

She looked at the map on the wall, the black of New Tevinter stretching across the entire Free Marches, parts of Nevarra, and almost half of Antiva. Small pins marked the battles, blue for rebel victories, gold for Chantry. There were depressingly few of the latter. In Orlais the blood red of the rebellion stretched across nearly half the country, Imperial White covered only the northern and eastern parts of the Empire. In the south Fereldan gold covered the entire bottom of the map, the only nation untouched by the rebellions. Tevinter was scattered with multiple colors: Imperial purple centered around the cities of Val Dorma and Marnus Pell, slave rebel blue centered around Minrathrous, the light green of the Kingdom of the Spire centered around Brynnlaw and covering Arlathan, and the bright blue of the Empire of Perivian stretching from the Minanter River in the south to the Eyes of Noren in the North; and from the Vyran River in the West to the edges of the Arlathan Forest in the East. The Anderfels were the only other country relatively unchanged from ten years ago, but only because the chaos of that kingdom made the addition of one more faction less a civil war and more a minor annoyance. And always to the north there were the kingdoms of the Qunari, the gray of Seheron and Par Vollen.

Varric followed her gaze, and knew she was thinking the same thing he was, "We're going to lose, aren't we."

Cassandra looked around to make sure no one was within earshot, then finally said, "Yes. With Fereldan sitting the out the war, Orlais falling apart, and even Nevarra more concerned with the territories seized from Orlais we simply don't have the power to stop the mages. They will overrun Antiva before the year is over, then they will conquer Nevarra and Orlais before attacking the Fereldans."

Varric nodded, "Can they win?"

Cassandra shrugged, "Who knows. Maybe their little geniuses will come up with a city destroying weapon, or a steam golem immune to magic. But just on their own, I don't think so. That's why we need Hawke. He's the only person who isn't hated by someone, perhaps he could have used his own experiences to rally the neutral Circles: Val Royeaux, Ostwick, and the others, to back the Chantry over New Tevinter. Tell me, do you know how I could find him?"

Varric sighed, then finally lied, "No." He paused and continued, "And even if I did I would not tell. Hawke has been through plenty because of me. He deserves rest wherever he is now."

Cassandra nodded sadly, "I was afraid of that." She turned and said, "Then come with me Varric. We still have more work to do if this war is to be won."

Varric stood and followed her, and as he caught up with her he thought back to a poem he had heard once, he couldn't remember where, "Then spake out brave Horatius, the captain of the gate, death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods." He paused as Cassandra looked down at him, then the dwarf said, "I don't know how I can help Seeker, but I will help however I can."

Sister Nightingale watched the pair leave from her own room, behind the enchanted window. A few minutes later Cassandra joined her and asked, "Well?"

Leliana turned to the Right Hand and answered, "Bethany had no idea where Hawke went after Kirkwall." She paused, "And Fereldan is still unwilling to openly support the Chantry against the mages. The king told me that the peace between their own Templars and mages is strained right now. They are willing to provide transportation and messaging, but no military action."

Cassandra sighed, "Why can't they see what's happening? If Orsino wins over the Chantry they will be next."

Leliana scowled, "Yes, I think the king knows, but they are still recovering from the war with Orlais, and most of the standing army is held down on occupation duty. Alistair doesn't think the populace will rally around the flag again so soon. He is willing to host talks between the Chantry and the neutral Circles, to try to bring them in against the rebels. The Divine has set up a conference at the Temple of Sacred Ashes. Apparently the Fereldans finally managed to finish it, and just two thousand sovereigns over budget."

"Anything else?" Cassandra asked.

"Maybe," Leliana said, after thinking for a moment. "It might be nothing, but several times my appointments with the king were pushed back a few days to an hour. And each time Arlessa Amell seemed to be in the capital."

"I wonder why?" Cassandra mused.

Leliana shrugged, "I'm not sure. I trained the palace guards personally, and they had shut all the old passages I might have used." She paused as she tried to remember something else, then finally said, "There was one thing, Solona, sorry the Arlessa, looked sick. Very pale and she could barely walk a few times. And her hand was bleeding."

The seeker frowned, "I wonder what could be wrong." She paused, then said, "I have heard reports from the agents we have in Fereldan that the Wardens have all been withdrawn into the Vigil. And no one has been allowed inside for almost two weeks. The Steward has been hosting court in Amaranthine."

Leliana nodded, "Probably related then. Every Warden in Fereldan disappears just as the darkspawn start appearing amongst the Mage armies. We have more important things to do though. There is a conference to set up after all.

A/N: Please note that Meredith's accusation that Orsino handed members of the Circle (in particular the disappearance of the woman Thrask was investigating in the game) to Quentin are my own speculation. Given Orsino's eventual reveal as a blood mage himself, and his known contact with and interest in Quentin's work I do not believe it to be a big leap of logic. Admittedly, and this is probably fairly obvious from the way the plot goes, I'm on the side of the Templars in virtually every playthrough, straying only when Bethany is in the Circle, so that may be baseless.

Also, given the level of power mages regularly display throughout the games I find it rather difficult to believe they are actually LOSING the war in-game. This is one of the main reasons why I've had them doing so much better in-story.

This is the end of The Road to Hell. I will post a number of historical segments to clean up certain things, in particular pieces of Fereldan and Orlesian history. I have recently moved however and do not have internet access in my new apartment, so I am not sure when final part will start being posted, I will do it as I can however.

To guest 12: He forgot Alrik because by this point that personal quest would have occurred over 5 years had passed since he arrived and, despite being a despicable character, Alrik just wasn't particularly important in the game. As for Meredith, she's not rabid, she's a paranoid zealot. In her mind the mages have almost certainly been infiltrated by blood mages and other maleficarum, and that the Kirkwall Circle is mostly corrupted regardless. And here's the thing, she's RIGHT, just as she was in the game. The First Enchanter IS a blood mage, most of the Circle had little difficulty turning to demon summoning and blood magic immediately, and we met a grand total of two important mages in the game who weren't either consorting with demons or blood mages (Bethany and Feynriel, the second of whom can go to Tevinter which IS a blood magic haven) by the end, this includes Malcolm Hawke who was a blood mage.