Chapter 45: Witch Hunt pt2

Lake Calenhad dock

Jenra, Fenrir and Ariane made it to the docks of Kinloch Hold. After some interesting talks with the Templar guarding the docks, they were able to take a boat to the circle tower. Ariane looked in awe of Kinloch Hold, she heard the stories from the defector but seeing it up close the stories did not do it justice. If there was one thing the shems were good about was making such titanic structures. It didn't take long for the elf to come to her senses and remember what the mage said about the tower. She could never forget the anger and bitterness in his voice when talking about Kinloch Hold. "Jenra, I do not understand it…why do shems keep their mages locked up in…this prison?"

"To protect them from being a danger to others and themselves…at least that's what the Chantry says" Jenra said. "Magic is to serve man, never to rule over them"

"Surely there are better ways to do this than just making them prisoners?" Ariane asked. "In my clan, mages are people of great wisdom and power which is why the Keepers have always been mages"

"What do you do when a mage becomes an abomination?"

"We must unfortunately put that mage down lest they become a danger to everyone else" the elf said. "But possession is very rare among the clans, mages are taught the dangers of magic and spirits but other than that they are free to live their lives as they choose"

"Most Templars would shudder at the thought of freedom for mages" Jenra said. "They and the Chantry fear the Tevinter Imperium of old could come back even though it's not possible"

"So…they fear the mages and the mages fear them. That is so awful, that is no way to live"

Jenra sighed. "I agree, but things will never change unless both sides stop fearing each other and start talking" he said. "But alas, I doubt that will happen within our lifetime"

Kinloch Hold

They made to the tower and went inside. Kinloch Hold had recovered nicely from the demon attacks last year, but Jenra could also see that the Circle beefed up security with more Templars. A fair-skinned Templar with dark-reddish brown hair stopped them, a new face Jenra had never seen before.

"Welcome to Ferelden's Circle of Magi" he said. "Please, keep your hound under control. Some of the apprentices are easily startled" the Templar then looked at Ariane. "And I see you have a Dalish elf with you"

Ariane crossed her arms. "Is that a problem?"

"Ariane can be trusted, should anything happen I will take full responsibility" Jenra said.

"Very well, I shall keep you to that Warden" he said. "The Circle is glad to have you as a guest, as you can see much have changed from when you were here last"

"I can see that, where's Greagoir? And Irving for that matter?"

"The Knight-Commander is in Denerim, attending to some important business and Irving is overseeing the Harrowing for one of the apprentices" he said. "My name is Hadley; I lead the Templars in the Knight-Commander's absence"

"I need to go to the library"

"You can start in the index section, as the Warden-Commander, you and your guests are free to explore the first floor of the tower without an escort" The party continued into the circle where the mages were studying their magic or keeping the circle tidy. No one bothered them, or talked to them, the mages just continued to do their duties which for some reason annoyed the elf.

"I see why Keeper Solan didn't want me to come here" Ariane said. "It is all too tempting to overturn the tight order of their little world" the elf heard Jenra chuckle a little. "Something funny, Warden?"

"Just reminiscing…you know Morrigan said something similar when we were here, too" As they headed for the index section, they could hear some of the gossip from the mages about Jenra. Some of the rumors about him were quite exaggerated much to the warden's chagrin. Meanwhile the longer they were in the circle, the more Ariane was annoyed which made her all the more tempting to try something which earned her an earful for Fenrir.

The elf snorted. "I was not!" Fenrir gave a disapproving whine. Ariane was taken aback at how perceptive the mabari was…perhaps the rumors about the hound's intelligence were not rumors after all. "Oh, all right, a little. You have to admit, it's tempting, right?" she said in a huff. "All these mages, so complacent, thinking they're so important" Fenrir gave a stern bark.

"You think I need to relax? Well, maybe" They made it to the library and Ariane eyes went wide, all those books. She had never seen so many. As they were walking about, many mages stopped what they were doing to gaze at Fenrir. Many mages had never seen a mabari hound before, Ariane came close to Fenrir. "Hey hound, you think you could sneak up on the mage over there?" Fenrir gave a soft annoyed bark.

"How high do you think he'd throw those things if he turned around and saw you looming over him?" Fenrir disapproved of her idea. "Oh, lighten up. This place is like a tomb. A few surprises would be good for them" Fenrir gave an unhappy bark. "Warden, your dog is lecturing me again…"

Jenra sighed." Enough you two, I swear it's like I'm handling two quarreling children" They made it to the index room, and quickly searched for the Eluvian. When they couldn't find anything in the index room, Jenra and Ariane spread out and searched the library.

"Warden! I recognize the character on this page" Ariane said running to Jenra. "I think it makes up of the word Eluvian"

"Is this like the book you lost?"

"Similar, the bindings are in the same style but the script is different" she said. "Perhaps there is another book that could help us translate this" Ariane and Jenra continued their search in the library, Jenra found a catalog of elven relics under mysterious artifacts and pulled it out. Using the translation book, he was able to locate a chapter on the Eluvian. As Ariane was prepared to read, Fenrir got up and barked.

"Whoa! Who let a dog in here? And what are you doing? Be careful!" Ariane and Jenra looked back to see a brown haired human mage dressed in a dark grey robe, he carried an unusual staff of crescent moons.

"You're in my light" Ariane said annoyed.

"Oh sorry, I'll just…hey why am I apologizing? You're the one misusing circle property" the mage said. "You're bending the book too much! It'll crack the spine and cause the pages to fall out!"

"Just thinking about it is making me dizzy"

"Look, we're in the middle of something important…so if you don't mind" the elf said about to turn back around.

"From the way you're carrying on, I take it you are familiar with this book" Jenra said.

"I've used it, though I don't know it by heart" the mage said. He walked up behind Ariane and browsed the book; the lack of personal space annoyed the elf. "Hmm…browsing the chapter o the Eluvians? No one's actually found one, you know"

Ariane scoffed. "Like you know what an Eluvian is, mage"

The mage just gave a smug grin. "It's old elvish for 'seeing glass' Mirror"

Ariane looked at him and frowned. "How do you know that?" she asked. "Even my people haven't been able to translate"

"Cross-referencing, educated guesses, process of elimination. Found the answer in an old Tevinter scroll" the mage said. "Eluvian isn't just any kind of mirror, it's special"

"Special how?" Jenra asked.

"When the Imperium sacked Arlathan, they took the mirrors and tried to unlock their power" he said. "The best they got was long distance communication"

"What do you think, Ariane?"

"The keeper thought Eluvian was a place…hmm, my people crossed paths with another clan not too long ago" she said. "Two of their young hunters encountered a strange mirror in some ruins, one disappeared and the other became deathly ill"

"They never found the lost one, and the other died. They left Ferelden and traveled north to forget their sorrows"

"And the mirror?" Jenra asked.

"Shattered. Destroyed" Ariane said. "It was…corrupted by the darkspawn, beyond hope of recovery. It was for the best" The mage started to pace back and forth while muttering to himself. "What a strange human" The mage then clapped his hand together with a big grin on his face.

"This is so exciting! We have to get to the repository. Hadley has the key"

"Uh 'we'? We don't even know who you are"

"Ah yes, Florian Phineas Horatio Aldebrant, Esquire at your service" the mage said with a bow. "But may call me Finn"

"I'm Jenra of the Grey Wardens and this is Ariane and Fenrir" Jenra said. "Aldebrant? Magistrate Aldebrant of West Hill is your father?"

"You know of my father?"

"Most people in Ferelden do, he's a stern but fair hand in matters of justice" he said. "Though a bit of an oddball on his off days"

"You're knowledgeable; I guess being a warden has its advantages" The party when to meet with Hadley who just finished making his rounds. "Now let me do all the talking, I can get you anywhere in the tower" Finn said. "Hadley! Just the man I was looking for"

"Not looking very hard, were you? I'm always here"

The mage gave an awkward chuckle. "Good one. So I…eh…need to go into the repository"

"No" Hadley said simply.

"We so much for 'getting us anywhere in the tower' Ariane said dryly.

"N-No? Why not? I'm not some drooling apprentice"

The elf crossed her arms and frowned. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"No, the sentinels have been behaving strangely, so the repository is locked for everyone's safety" Usually Templars distrusts anything from the Fade but Sentinels was different. They are Fade dwellers that have possess suits of armor and guard the repository of the Circle Tower and will attack any intruders even those from the circle itself. Presumably, there is some sort of a password that will prevent their activation, as the repository is infrequently used by the Templars or senior Circle mages.

"Oh…well then, er…sorry for bothering you"

"Do you know why they are acting this way?" Jenra asked.

"No, we do not. I could be anything really, who knows with the Fade" Hadley said. "Fortunately the repository isn't crucial for day to day functions of the Circle, so we've left it until we could spare the men"

"How about you us handle this?"

Hadley sighed. "Very well, it's your necks but before you go, what's so important down there?"

"There's a statue down there, it knows things about Tevinter and I need to speak to it"

"Alright. Be careful and keep the mess to a minimum" He gave Jenra the key and the party headed for the basement.

Mage Tower-Basement

The Kinloch Hold basement is a restricted area, protected by Sentinels, as phylacteries and other magical artifacts, many of whom belonging to the ancient Tevinter Imperium, are locked away. The entrance, called "The Victim's Door" by the Chantry. Built of two hundred seventy seven planks, one for each original Templar, it is a reminder of the dangers mages can pose. The door can only be opened by a Templar and a mage. The Chantry provides a password, "Sword of the Maker, Tears of the Fade", which primes the ward, while the mage touches it with mana by casting a spell to release it.

The door to the phylactery chamber is protected from magic because of the wards carved into the stone by Templars. As such, normal keys which the First Enchanter and the Knight-Commander of the Circle Tower possess must be used. However, the magi are able to access the chamber by destroying a wall from the artifact vault as it shares a common wall, which was covering another entrance.

"You know that talking to inanimate objects is a sign of insanity?" Ariane asked dryly.

"Not when it talks back" Finn said casually

"You think this statue talks…to you?"

"It's complicated, it wasn't always a statue" he said. "You'll see"

What secrets will they find? Next Time! As always Review and Comment!