Chapter 47: Witch Hunt pt4
Cadash Thaig
The party went in deeper into the thaig fighting the darkspawn and the beasts of the Deep Road to find the Light of Arlathan. Using the ritual fueled by Ariane's blood, they found the magical vertices that showed the way to the lights. As they followed the paths, the party found out some harsh truths about how this thaig fell. After the fall of Arlathan, the elves escaping Tevinter's onslaught were sheltered by the dwarves of this thaig even though the dwarves were strong allies of the Imperium. Fearing Tevinter's wrath, the other thaigs banded together to destroy Cad'halash and hid all evidence of its existence. As predicted this information angered Ariane.
From this ruin, the thaig was rebuilt, repopulated and renamed Cadash. The streams of magic flowed and led them to one of the lights which turned out to be old magical lanterns. They were attacked by stone statues powered by lyrium and magic. Each lantern they found the guardians attack became more and more intense. Once all of the lights were gathered, they pointed to spot good for scrying, a valley of green hills where the sun shone through large cracks in the ceiling.
"Prepare yourself, the ritual might attract some unwanted attention" Finn said. "You'll have to protect me while I do the scrying" The lanterns were sat in a circle bathed in light, while Finn stepped in the center and began the ritual. Soon afterwards demons appeared and headed for the mage. Jenra sliced through several demons with his spirit brand while Ariane and Fenrir kept close to Finn and struck the demons down before they got close. After a while the demons stopped coming and Finn was able to finish the ritual. The mage sighed. "Am I bleeding?" He looked down at his robe. "Oh look, a rip in my robe" Finn soon fainted either from exhaustion or the little scratch that barely drew blood.
Ariane crossed her arms in annoyance. "What happened to, 'Ariane, give us your blood. Who cares if it hurts?'"
Finn got off the ground. "It's different if it's my blood"
Jenra shook his head. "Did the ritual work?"
"Uh, yeah I found another Eluvian…in a place with lots of bones"
"Bones…like a graveyard?" Ariane asked.
"The Dragonbone Wastes" Jenra then sighed. "And here I thought I would be done with such that place"
"Hmm, a graveyard of dragons….that makes sense, dragons are said have great power that stays with them even in death" Finn said. "The Imperium must have moved it there, thinking the ancient bones could enhance the Eluvian's power"
"But when I was there, and I saw no mirror"
"It might be hidden…or only appear to those who know its location" the mage said. "We examine this mirror. It might give clues to what Morrigan is doing. If she's looking for the Eluvians as well, she might even be there"
"I can only hope…" Jenra said to himself. "Let's go before more darkspawn show up"
Between West Hill and Amaranthine
"Aw, camping again?" Finn complained.
"Quit your whining it's only for one more night" Finn grumbled as the party set up camp. While she was setting up her bedding, Ariane noticed Jenra toying with the ring on his finger. The warden did it a lot when he was by himself and thought no one was watching him. The ring didn't look like anything special, just a twisted loop of rosewood but Jenra kept it close.
"That ring, you play with it often" she said. Jenra snapped out of daze and looked at Ariane.
"I don't play with it"
"Poor choice of words, perhaps. Is it special? Magical?"
"Morrigan gave it to me…a long time ago" Ariane was taken aback by his tone, it was sad and longing. Jenra told her that Morrigan was just a friend but the elf started to suspect that maybe their relationship was much more than he was telling her.
"I've often heard that a ring is very significant in human culture, are you and Morrigan…?"
Jenra chuckled. "As if she would allow herself to be tied in such a way, Morrigan is too much of a free spirit for that" he said. "The truth is I was in love with Morrigan…still am" Jenra told her the story of how he met Morrigan, their adventures together…how they got close. "The final battle was fast approaching, before we were thrusted into battle with the Archdemon…we made love" he said. "That union…produced a child, our child"
"If you two were in love then why did she leave?"
"She had a duty to the world of magic, just like I had a duty to Thedas" Jenra said. "And for a while it was easy to ignore that hole in my heart by burying myself in my duties but...hearing about her, everything rushed back"
"What will you do when you reach her?" Ariane asked.
"Whatever she is facing, I want to face it with her" he said. "And to be honest, I don't have a lot of people I call family left"
Ariane placed a gentle hand on Jenra's shoulder. "We'll find her, you'll have my word"
"Thank you, I'll get your peoples' book back. You have my word"
The Dragonbone Wastes
The party made it to the Dragonbone Wastes, a year after the defeat of the Architect and the Mother and the wastes was still a dreary and desolate place. The spirits of the dragons that inhabited this place was still as restless as they were before. The party would have to move quickly as to not to incur the wastes' wrath.
"We're here; keep your eyes open for dragons. And mirrors" As they headed for Drake's fall, they heard roars and inhuman growls. "Maker's Breath, what is that?" In the distance, Jenra saw several dragonlings with a mage in the back. The darkspawn was driven out and replaced with dragon cultists.
"Watch your surroundings, there are more nearby" Jenra cut down a lunging dragonling while Finn cast a protective spell to block the cultist mage. Ariane cut through two more dragonlings and rushed the enemy mage before he could get off another spell. With a flash of her swords, the mage fell and the party continued forward.
"I've never met a dragon worshipper before. Not much for small talk, are they?" Finn said.
"Why would anyone worship a dragon?" Ariane asked.
"Dragons are big, powerful, and they breathe fire" The elf just looked at him with a raised brow. "Some people are easily impressed"
"Don't underestimate the cultists; I fought some before….their strange abilities are deadly and their ferocity is matched only by the dragons they worship" Jenra said. Along the way, they fought more of the cultists and their dragonlings. They used traps to slow them down but it wasn't enough to impede there progress, after dealing with the latest wave, the party was close to the entrance of Drake's Fall. But something felt wrong, it was quiet…too quiet, Jenra had thought the dragon cultists had something prepared for them but nothing came. It wasn't like them to give up so easily, especially when it came to dragons. "Be on your guard…something doesn't feel right"
As they got close to entrance, Finn's eyes went wide and the mage pointed up. "What…is…that?" A large creature was on one of the towers….a strange creature that had the scales of a reptile but the multiple legs of an insect. Ariane backed away in fear.
"It can't be, they're only legends!" the elf said.
"Ariane?"
"A….a varterral…" she said. According to the Dalish, the first varterral was created in the days before Arlathan. A high dragon attacked a mountain city beloved by Dirthamen, and the elven god fashioned the fallen trees of the forest into a deadly guardian that drove back the serpent. Elves tell that the varterral has kept its vigil ever since, even over the ruins. They also say that if magically bound to guard something, a varterral will stay alive no matter how many times it is defeated, a lot like a golem. Varterrals thrive in secluded places and hunt elk and bears. They have a rocky carapace, attack with fast strikes and spit caustic poison.
At least some of them have no eyes and thus are completely blind, which is offset by the ability to feel movements through the ground like a snake and, according to legend, to taste the guilt of intruders. "It is said they were rock and tree, wind and rain, given form and breath by the Creators to protect the people"
The varterral then looked down at the party and with a low growl jumped down to face them. "To protect elves? Then why does it look like it's going to eat you?" Finn asked nervously. The creature then gave a loud high pitched screech and charged.
"Move!" It quickly turned around and spat out a purple goo out of its maw and Finn quickly put up a barrier to protect the party. It worked for a while…
"Maker's breath, it's actually eating through my magic…I've never heard of any creature doing that" Ariane and Jenra flanked the varterral from both sides to knock it off balance. It's scales were hard enough for their swords to just bounce off of it. Fenrir lunged at the creature but the varterral just smacked the hound back with one of it's limbs. Finn casts a lightning spell but all it did was just make creature madder. The party fell back to regroup as the creature circled them. "So if anyone has a plan on not to get eaten, I would love to hear it now" Finn said.
"Ariane, varterral's must have some kind of weakness" Jenra said.
The elf gulped. "Unfortunately, the legends weren't real clear on that" she said. "It is said the only thing that could match a varterral is a high dragon and even they have trouble with it"
"Oh Maker we are going to die!" Out in the distance they could hear more growls, this time behind them. "Don't tell me there are more of these things"
Jenra looked back and frowned. "No worse, the cultists are back" The dragon cultists charged down the hill with their dragons. An attack from both them and the varterral would be a death sentence. "Damn it…" The party prepared for the worst but to their surprise the cultists ignored them and attacked the varterral. The drakes and young dragons shot streams of fire at the creature while the archers hit it was a barrage of arrows. The mages bind it's movements while their reavers slashed at the legs. The varterral retaliated in kind by crushing one of the warriors and melting two of the cult's drakes while the party stood there in shock.
"Is this real?" Finn asked.
"Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth" Jenra said. "Let them fight amongst themselves"
"You don't have to tell me twice" The party retreated into Drake's Fall while the cultists and the varterral continued their battle.
Darke's Fall/ The Nest
Once they made inside, it was a long and surprisingly quiet trek to the end. These ruins were so full of the darkspawn's corruption at one point and now there is barely anything left of it. There were dragon eggs everywhere, now they understood why the cultists were fighting with such fury…a high dragon made a nest here after the darkspawn were cleared out of here. They made it to the deepest darkest part of the Mother's lair…again there was nothing left of the darkspawn's corruption, except one thing…the decayed remnants of the Mother's tentacles but her corpse was nowhere to be found. They continued on into the center of the lair, Fenrir started to bark and grew excited.
"What's with your hound, Jenra?" Finn asked. Fenrir soon ran off ahead of them, in the distance they could see a large mirror held in place by two large statues. In front of the mirror was a beautiful young woman, dressed in loose robes that showed off much her body. She was pacing as if she was waiting around for something or…someone. Fenrir came up to her and greeted her as one would an old friend; the woman went down on one knee and smiled as she pat his head. She then gazed forward with a serious and melancholy face for this was a bittersweet moment for the warden and the witch.
"Is that…?" Ariane asked.
Jenra nodded. "Yes it is, Ariane…Finn, I like you to meet Morrigan"
The reunion of two lovers…Next Time! As Always Review and Comment!