Emprise du Lion – Darkspawn and Secrets

Kost POV


Cold. Craggy. Dotted with Elven ruins. This is Emprise du Lion. These hills are home to Sahrnia, known for its quarry, and apparently has hot springs that dragons like. It was named in honor of the Valmot House. It is a place where the ancient and modern live side by side.

Of course, red lyrium is literally growing out of the ground now, so I think the ancient and modern lives are about to be swallowed up. Sometimes, I wonder why I thought it was a good idea to take that contract. Oh well.


So. Fun fact. Blackwall and Dorian didn't get along. At. All.

"You have something to say, mage?" Blackwall growled. I fought off the urge to groan as we hiked through the snow, heading for Sahrnia. "You keep glancing over like you do."

"If I had something to say, I'd say it," Dorian retorted. He sounded prickly. I tried to ignore them both. "Is that so difficult to understand for you?"

"I'd expect more from a man who can't stop talking about how clever he is."

"And I'd expect no less from a brutish thug."

"Better than a pompous brat." Ugh, I didn't want to deal with this.

"This place is weird," Cole suddenly said. So suddenly that I gave him an incredulous look. "The air smells like rocks." …Cole, I was gaining a great appreciation for you. You made me laugh. "Oh, it's good you laugh. It makes Dorian smile, and Blackwall relax."

"Then keep me laughing." I had been unnerved, at first, by how he dug through my head, but so long as my secrets stayed secret, I could deal with it. "So, has the arguing made either of you two warmer?"

"No," Dorian deadpanned. He shivered under his immensely heavy coat. He was easily the most bundled up of us. "Mountains. Cold. Let's bring Dorian! That'll be fun!"

"Are you so distressed that I would want your company?" I asked teasingly. It was fun to banter with him.

"Oh, of course not. It's only natural you would want someone as fine as me around. Just why did you have to go to the coldest place?"

"What I wouldn't give for some warm, spiced wine right now," Blackwall sighed. "Lucina makes the best. I think I'll ask for some when we return. Though, that does remind me." I had to bite off a groan as he turned his attention back to Dorian. "I can't believe you drank that swill at the tavern."

"I can't believe they served that swill at the tavern!" Dorian instantly retorted. I felt my thoughts blank as I tried to think of what they were talking about. "What is Skyhold coming to?"

"Then why did you drink it?"

"I couldn't stop. With each sip, it was 'it can't be that bad, can it?' and before I knew it, I was analyzing the nuances of its flavor, observing its effect on my nausea. A catatonic trance, fueled by the stench of disgusting dwarven ale." …He drank the dwarf ale?

"Or you're a drunkard with terrible taste."

"There is that." Dorian sighed, shaking his head. "It tastes like molded dirt."

"It's made with dirt," I deadpanned. I couldn't believe this. "Dirt and fungus. Though, not as bad as mosswine. That's toxic."

If there was a reply, it died on the wind. We hit the town. One second we were in snow, and the next, we were in the town. What was left of it, at least. This… was a place that had seen much, much better days.

"Pain," Cole whispered. "Pain, so much pain." He was shaking, and I rested a hand on his shoulder. "Can we help?"

"That's the plan, Cole," I answered. Slowly, I walked forward, looking for someone who might be in charge. Scouts had said we were welcome, but I wanted to be certain. "That's the plan."

Our group split up, to do whatever. Cole went to some people who were crying. Blackwall went to help another group move rubble. Dorian went to the dying fires and sparked them to life. I continued my hunt for someone in charge. It didn't take me long to find her. She had been looking for me too.

"I am so pleased you are here," she murmured, tugging me into a relatively intact house. "I am Poulin. I rule here." She glanced around, wincing at the too thin children listlessly playing not far away. "What's left of here, at least. The Scouts tell me you are one of the Inquisitors?"

"The one specializing in combat, yes," I replied. I gave her a little bow. "Kost Adaar. Samantha, the Grand Inquisitor and Herald of Andraste, sent me here, believing that it would take a fight to win back your lands." I crossed my arms, and leaned against the doorway. "You know why there's so many red templars here?"

She drooped. "The Red Templars are here because, fool that I am, I sold them my family's quarry." What. "They have taken every worker. We haven't seen them in weeks." I had… so many bad feelings about this. "And it's not enough. They keep coming. I cannot stop them."

"And you sold land to the templars."

"I didn't know. I thought they were knights, chevaliers." She drooped further. "Such pretty speeches. They said they would reopen the quarry, bring employment and trade back to Sahrnia. Everything was falling apart…" Oh, of course. The classic 'take advantage of the desperate' tactic. "It was good for a time. People went to work, were paid. Then they stopped coming home." And then they stopped pretending. "If not for Sir Michel, we would have been lost long ago."

"Who?"

"A chevalier, former one. He guards us, as best as he can." She pointed to the edge of town. "He's over there, standing guard. I don't know much more to tell you, but maybe he has information?"

"I'll go talk to him then." I bowed again. "Thank you." I paid close attention to her relieved smile. She was hiding something else. But I wouldn't press. Pressing now wouldn't solve a thing.

So, instead, I headed to the area she pointed out, and found the only person in this whole town that didn't look completely defeated. "Ah, good morning to you," the man greeted, giving me a rather respectful salute. "Michel de Chevin at your service, my lord." He bowed elegantly. "I saw the Inquisition's banners from afar. Never expected to see one of the Inquisitors. That is what the bracer means, yes?"

"Yes, it does," I replied. I nodded back. "Inquisitor Kost Adaar, specializing in combat." His name… "I think I know your story."

"I'm grateful for the 'think' part. The end is same, but the stories told are too simple." Weren't they always? "Despite all, I retain a strong arm and stout heart. I serve Orlais, regardless of what official records say." Well, look at the regular knight in shining armor.

"Guarding this place."

"As much as I can. Though, I must admit, it was not my original intention."

"Then… what was?" What brought him here?

"I hunt a demon." …That was very, very low on my list of expected answers. "Imshael, it calls itself. It settled in Suledin Keep, up in the hills." A keep, huh? If we could secure that, we could more easily hold this area. "He is free, because I made a mistake." Meaning he was trying to fix that mistake. "Now that the Inquisition is here, perhaps the Red Templars who guard the keep can be routed." Oh, I was definitely heading there, then.

"So, tell me about this demon." I was a mage. If there was a dangerous demon about, I really needed to know.

"A desire demon, more cunning than anything I have encountered." And he served in Court. He was a veteran of the Game. "And he has roamed the land for some time. He might have grown in power." Oh. Great. "Why he is here is anyone's guess, though." Marvelous. "Considering where he is, perhaps he has gained the cooperation of the Red Templars." Or vice versa.

"Well, I just got even more motivation to deal with everything." Ugh… "Time to take back the Lion."

"I wish you luck." I needed a lot of it. I could already tell. Oh well. This was the job. Time to just go for it.


Find a camp of Red Templars, slaughter everyone. Rinse and repeat. Set up camp. That basically summarized my entire day. Given the distance, it was decided that conquering Suledin keep had to wait one more day, meaning our group ran around doing other things to disrupt the Red Templars.

Though, now, I was on an errand for Leliana, basically. There was an abandoned Warden outpost somewhere around here. With the Wardens gone, there was some worry of darkspawn. Guess who had to deal with it? This idiot who really just wanted to point out that this was far beyond what I signed up for. Oh well.

"Finding the key to this place on a burnt husk of a corpse is not a good sign of things to come," I sighed, opening the gate to the place. Nothing. "Well, time to head inside."

"You take me to the best places, Kost," Dorian sighed as we all walked in. The place was old, and smelled of dust and blood. "Ah, I know just the thing to lighten things up." If he was going to throw fireballs, I was going to hit him for the pun. "Questions!" …Okay? "Cole, you saw Corpypheus when he attacked Haven, yes? You showed him to Samantha."

"Yes?" Cole answered. He kept frowning at the walls, and I wondered if he 'heard' anything from them. "Why?"

"Did you get a read on him? I'm curious."

"Fear inside." We hit some stairs and headed down. "Blackness, like a pool of hate." I did remember to post word to the scouts at the nearby camp, right? "So much had changed; I need to stop it. Bend it to my will."

"Did he actually walk into the Black City?"

"Betrayal, blurred at the edges, like a faded painting." Cole's quiet voice echoed eerily. "Too long ago, so much confusion."

"I'll… take that as a maybe."

"There were people trying to kill me. That makes it harder."

"Oh, no, I wasn't blaming you. I was just thinking if we had more information, made him more 'human', some of his followers might leave."

I opened another door, and something shrieked, jumping for me. I conjured up a spirit blade, just as Madam de Fer taught me, and cut whatever it was in two. I blinked slowly, tilting my head curiously. I think… I just got attacked by a darkspawn. In fact, I think there were a lot of darkspawn trying to kill us now. Marvelous.

Blackwall immediately charged, punching a hole through their lines, doing something that made the darkspawn focus on him. It gave me time to slip in behind him and guard his back. Taking advantage of the research papers I had read, I wrapped magic around my fists and feet, so that when I punched or kicked, I could flood my target with magic, and make fire, ice, and lightning burst from their backs. It was a bit more tiring than normal fighting, but so long as I got a good hit, it made it where I destroyed things in one burst.

Flashing daggers in the corner of my eye was the only hint I had of Cole's presence as we continued to fight. Dorian made his presence well known with fireballs and firewalls, alongside the reanimation of darkspawn corpses, marked with purple little wisps so we knew to not go after those. They were Dorian's toys, and he would not appreciate us breaking them prematurely.

The fight was long, but more on the tedious side. Punch, punch, kick, slash, punch. Rinse and repeat until they were all broken messes on the ground. It was a relief when they all died, though. We had picked up some injuries, and would definitely need to retreat to get fixed up.

"Shadows are gone," Cole murmured. He looked rather pleased. "We helped. The walls are thankful." Well, that made it worth all the pain. "But, I'm confused. When you charged them, Blackwall, you made them hit you?"

"Ideally, yes, and I'm glad it worked this time too. That's why my armor is heavier than yours." Blackwall sighed, rolling his shoulders. "Might have to get it checked, though. That maul got me good."

"Your armor is happy that it kept you safe."

"I… uh… thanks?" Blackwall gave me a 'what the fuck?' look, and I shrugged. Cole was Cole. And Cole was a bit weird, because he was a Spirit who simply thought differently.

"While we're on the subject of talking, Cole," Dorian began, changing the subject. He looked quite stern, and I half-wondered if he was annoyed that his clothes got bloodied. "Cole, you should really be careful dancing with those daggers when I'm throwing fire."

"Oh, it won't hurt me!" Cole replied, cheerfully. He even smiled. "It's friendly fire!"

"That…" Dorian looked a little stunned. He hadn't been expecting that one. "That does not mean what you think it does."

"Okay, children, out we go," I instructed, waving them towards the doors. My limbs ached. "Darkspawn are dead, we lock the door, and we get ourselves checked up for horrible things like infected wounds or taint or whatever." As we alked, though, there was something that struck me as odd. Why hadn't Blackwall warned us about the darkspawn before I opened the door? Weren't Wardens supposed to be able to sense them? Had he just been distracted? Had he thought it obvious?

Ah, I supposed it didn't matter. If it did, it would come up again. Blackwall was just like that.


Author's Note: Welcome to Emprise du Lion, one of the higher leveled areas iirc. A place where, in game, there's a grand total of three freaking dragons. Also quite a lot of climbing and snow. I put in the Valeska's Watch quest for one reason: additional foreshadowing for a certain companion.

Next Chapter – Crestwood with Samantha