Chapter Four
Conspiracy and Thaigs
We had taken care of the spectral dragon easily enough… after sensing the Dragon Blood within me, it didn't even fight; just bowed to me as Aedan took her head.
We arrived back at the Vigil just in time for the Riot to start.
"Seneschal! I refuse to allow our people to starve; have you not been making sure everyone has enough to feed themselves and their families whilst we've been away?" I asked, and the shouting stopped as everyone turned to me.
"Well… no, My Lady. I didn't think…" Varel looked chagrined.
"Natia, escort these people to the Grain stores and help them get what they need. And give each of them one gold sovereign for their troubles in having this matter delayed." Natia saluted me before calling out for the people to follow her.
"Forgive me, your Ladyship, Commander… I didn't even think of it." Varel explained when we approached him.
"I understand, Varel. Rendon was a right bastard, but I hope we can care for those under our rule. Alistair would be more than willing to help, too, if you send him a letter with my crest of office."
I felt Justices approval from behind me, as well as the others; even Velanna.
"As you say, my Lady. I'll draft a letter to his Majesty at once to request aide in the form of foods," Varel folded both his arms over his chest and gave me a bow before telling Aedan that there were some Nobles who were waiting… Natia must have taken care of court while we were gone. According to Varel, she recruited Alec the Sheepherder, let Danella bring her family to the Keep, returned the land to Ser Darren, and imprisoned Ser Temmerley the Ox during an… investigation.
I dragged everyone else into the Keep before they could wander off.
Esmerelle was there with a few other nobles. "I am here about the good Arl… the good Arl you killed!" I chuckled. "You're still loyal to Arl Howe?" Varel asked in disbelief.
"Rendon was good to us; good to me… and now his death will finally be avenged!"
As expected, Varel jumped in front of Aedan and took an arrow to the side. I had Esmerelles head off her shoulders in less than a second while the others jumped into the fray. When it was over, I used magic to remove the Arrow from Varel and heal him, much to his shock.
I winked and stood. "Thus ends the conspiracy…" Aedan groaned. Captain Garevel promised to get it cleaned up and kept quiet while Varel told me he'd take the 'secret' of my magic to the grave. I headed back outside and spoke to Voldrik, giving him the granite filled void-bag. He gave me a look, but I smirked and motioned for him to open it. He did, making the silly mistake of tipping it upside down and winding up with granite covering every inch of the area around him.
"Stone's embrace, Lady Cousland… how?"
I chuckled, "That bag is magic, that's how. The stone work here at the keep was crap and needed something stronger. I found Granite in the Wending Wood and decided to collect all that I could find for you… is it enough?"
"Well, the walls did need help… yeah, I think this will be more than enough. Also, we cleared that rubble in the basement if you can get the commander to clear it?"
"On it… just a moment."
I collected the bad from Voldrik and headed over to Wade and Herren. I pulled a second void bag from my belt, placing the first into my magic bag.
"Herren! I found Silverite Ore in the Wending Wood, there was Viridium under the keep, and I will be bringing Iron back with me from Kal'Hirol… will that be enough for Arms and Armor for our troops?"
I tipped the bag near Herren and a metric Ton (2000 lbs) of Ore – both Viridium and Silverite – spilled out around us.
Herren widened his eyes. "More than enough!"
I pulled Wade aside "I also found some Ancient Heartwood and an Eldest Dragon bone… want them?"
Wade reached out and snatched the bag containing not only the two materials, but everything he'd need to work with them.
After he looked inside and saw that, he reached out and grabbed me by the arms before pulling me in to kiss each cheek.
"You, my good woman, are a perfect miracle! Thank you! Oooh what shall I make?"
Herren had come over after seeing the kiss and looked in the bag before groaning. "First the Commander and now you?"
I giggled. "Wade works Miracles with Materials… maybe that should be your slogan? Besides, I get complements on anything he makes; I point those people your way, as I have for the past several months."
Herren sighed. "You're right, of course… we have had more buissness since you found us with those Drake Scales than ever! Our prices have gone up because of it…"
"Wade… for the Bone, make a Longsword – whatever you think is best on its attributes. With the wood, I want a bow in a style never seen before. I want people running into walls trying to get a look at it because it's so unique… I will bring you a special golem shell from Kal'Hirol that you can make a breastplate out of too. Oh and I have this Starmetal for you… I want a shield that looks like this. As long as the shield has this look, the rest is all for you to design." I handed him a drawn picture of Cullens Inquisition shield
Wades eyes lit up at the challenge I had laid before him. I will admit, I was thinking of Sebastian and then – maybe after he gets his family bow – Sera; and for the sword… I had plans. The armor could go to Carver.
After that, I found Aedan and dragged the men along while Velanna was… occupied. We cleared out the Deep Roads entrance then took care of that fucking shade. Our base was now fully upgraded since I had also given Dworkin his sand… according to Aedan it was too much so I knew it was just the right amount.
Later that night, after her Joining, I handed Velanna an empty journal. I had chosen a thick leather-bound journal with a tree of life symbol on it.
"This book is empty… why have you given me a useless object?" she sounded annoyed.
"Isn't it obvious? You're going to fill it!"
"With what? Recipes for roast boar and pudding?" she quipped and I laughed.
"No, sweetie! Stories for the Dalish. You could even start with Garahel. He was a city elf, said to be handsome and charismatic, with high cheekbones, curling blond hair and brilliant green eyes… he had a sister named Isseya and he was the ender of the Fourth Blight." I told her almost everything I knew of him, only leaving out the clutch of Griffon Eggs his sister saved.
"You know… that's the silliest idea I've ever heard…. But it's brilliant too. The Dalish will never recover what we've lost. It may be time to start creating tales anew. Perhaps one day it will be what connects my children and their children to their past; to me. Thank you."
"You're quite welcome… also don't worry about running out of space. I have it enchanted to add new pages as needed. It may always look as though it only has like 20 pages, but when you open and flip pages, it will always have more room." She smiled and I shot her a wink before kidnapping Nathaniel for bed.
After a night of rest, we headed back up to Amaranthine, took care of Rylock during the whole Anders quest, turned in some chantry missions, bought more supplies, then headed down to Kal'Hirol in Knottwood Hills.
After dealing with the Deepstalkers, I heard Sigruns struggles and let my wings shoot out to fly toward her, carrying Aedan with me. Our arrival was just the distraction needed to allower her to gain an upper hand and 'escape'. Sigrun was 4'4, with black hair cropped short and dark green eyes. He skin was rather dark for a Dwarf and her face tattoo was really all over.
"Well… that was close. For a moment there I thought I was really going to join the Legion of the dead."
"You okay, sweetie?" I asked. "Well I might have cracked a rib, but it's hard to be sure since everything hurts."
"Need healing?" Anders asked, his hands already glowing blue. "No, no, I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath… Anyway I can't chat for long. I need to get back, as foolish as that sounds, see if there's anything I can do." She panted.
"Is there a fight we can join?" Aedan asked, and I giggled.
Sigrun gave him a funny look and said, "The old fortress of Kal'Hirol. There's something going on there; I think the darkspawn may be breeding an Army…" she looked like she felt crazy so I nodded. "Fits with what we've been hearing. Let me guess, Legion went to go investigate, but were quickly overrun and now you're the last one?"
"Yeah… well, I hope not, but it's most likely. The darkspawn have… changed; they're smart now. They destroyed my Legion detachment and I saw them take some of the women… I wasn't going to stick around for that."
"Smart since they turn women into Broodmothers… want help clearing the place? Grey Wardens make up all but one in this group…" I shrugged. I saw her look at each face before she gave the tattoo on Velanna the once over.
"It's not her; I'm the one that's not a Warden." I chuckled in amusement at her face.
"Well, in that case, let's not waste time. Kal'Hirol awaits, and Darkspawn – when left to their own devices – get up to all kinds of nonsense." I chuckled as she led us to the entrance.
She was telling us of how Kal'Hirol used to be a center of Learning for the smith caste; how it was unique in its structures too. "You know Caridin has likely not come through here yet… we should be careful around the Golems in case the Darkspawn have found the control rods."
Sigrun looked at me. "So it's true? Caridin walks among us again?" she sounded adorable when she was excited.
"Yeah. We managed to convince him to gather the remaining Golems and try and return their free will to them. He's pretty cool; made me a crown when he heard I was with Alistair." Sigruns jaw dropped. Oghren grunted, "It is a nice Crown… don't know why you don't keep it with you."
"I have Alistair keeping it safe for the duration of this problem. I'm taking it with me when I kidnap Anders and Justice in a few months."
There was a silence before Anders said, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Aedan, do I have permission for that?"
"If I said 'no' would that change your plan?"
"Not really…"
"Fine."
We saw Jukka then, and everything else was put on hold while Sigrun rushed to him.
"It's Jukka! He's hurt; it's bad." She rushed to pull fallen rocks off his back and I used my magic to help. Anders began trying to heal him while everyone else kept guard for enemies.
He groaned, "S… Sigrun?" we had him uncovered now; his hair was brown and his eyes a soft gold; like hash-browns.
"Yes, it's me; try not to talk!"
"You can… stop; I feel my death upon me. Sweet release. You must… listen… the Broodmothers… breeding an… Army. You must… stop them. Beware… the Children… abominations… even among… the darkspawn. Forgive me." He collapsed, releasing a final breath. Sigrun cried out, "Jukka!"
I pulled her into a hug. "Ancestors look kindly on you, brother. We have to finish what the Legion started. Those Broodmothers need to be destroyed!"
"And they will be. You know… they are conveniently under an easily dropped stone that will squish them like bugs…"
"All the better for us then huh? However, it is quite late. We need to set camp, and continue in the morning," Aedan responded looking grim.
"It's for the best… I sense no one else alive down here. My tent will repel the Darkspawn." I handed Sigrun off to Aedan who just held her while I set up our magic home. One thing I never told anyone was that it wasn't necessarily us sleeping here. I was able to connect it to a 'pocket realm' so to speak. This meant that I could connect several places to it if I chose to.
When we entered, Sigrun was staring around in awe. "How is this possible?"
"I'm special; now, get cleaned up – all of you. Take turns and get clean. Sigrun, you're first. Then it will go Velanna, Justice, Anders, Nathaniel, Oghren then Aedan. I will use magic to clean myself up then cook dinner. Aedan gets last because he is gonna want to talk to me."
They nodded and got to setting up for their showers. Aedan followed me, but I saw Anders and Justice talking in a corner.
"Why do you plan to take two of my Wardens to Kirkwall with you?"
"Well… they won't be your Wardens, Teyrn Cousland. But they are needed there. If you release them to me, it'll be easier, but they will still go regardless of my interference." As I spoke I moved around the kitchen, preparing chicken and a side of veggie stir-fry and rice. I would be having a bit of baked buffalo chicken and buffalo sausage… red's hot, cheese, chicken and sausage… yum.
Aedan looked curious. "Why are you preparing a separate dish?"
"Hmm? Oh I… I like spice, you know. And I really feel like having this particular form of spicy food…"
"Spice? What if the others want to try?"
"Anders doesn't like spicy food, Justice and Velanna won't eat meat, but everyone else is… -sigh- go see who wants spicy vs regular chicken with their stir fry." He nodded and ran off.
When he got back, I had put the stir-fry together and just needed to cook it. "Sigrun sounded interested, Oghren said spice goes great with his ale, Nathaniel said he'd love to try it, and so would I… Anders said make him one of each to try. He said he doesn't usually like spice but he's loved everything else you've made."
I snorted. "So only 3 regular Chickens and 6 spicy for 8 people; when Anders takes only one bite of the spicy one, I claim the rest as mine."
Aedan grinned at that. I was right; Anders took only one bite before I gave him some milk and took the chicken, much to the amusement of everyone else.
"You're really going to eat after him?" Velanna asked.
"Hey, food is food. Besides, I know where he's been; he's clean. I mean, if he'd been giving oral sex before this, maybe not."
That got a laugh from everyone but Anders who smirked and shot me a wink.
The next morning, I woke everyone at dawn after making pancakes and sausages. Sigrun was already awake however, since she was used to the Legion.
After breakfast and more teasing (Anders had taken to faking being in love with me to piss off Aedan for some reason), we fought our way to the main entrance of Kal'Hirol.
Sigrun sighed. "The Legion got this far without trouble… but we got careless and complacent. We stormed the main entrance; up those stairs… it was a disaster. The Darkspawn were waiting; they turned the old defenses against us."
"Well what do you suggest, Ara." Aedan asked.
"Same thing Sigrun would, bro. Side entrances hidden lever is right… here," I pulled the chain hidden in the decorative mouth thing off to the left and a section of wall moved to the side. Sigrun looked startled. "Most of the old Dwarven fortresses had hidden entrances… I'm glad you knew where this one was!" I smiled at her as Justice gave me a calculating look.
"We are avoiding the main fight?"
"Oh, no… we're going to flank them; come from behind. No way am I letting those things live to bite us in the ass later! But Sigrun is right about it being booby-trapped to hell and back; we need to come from a direction they don't expect and take out the mages or we'll have to fight Golems." Justice nodded. "A sound strategy. Very well; lead on."
Kal'Hirol was more than 100x the size of the game; it was meant to house hundreds of Dwarves after all. 50 Darkspawn had covered the entrance, but my presence had 'blocked' them from sensing the others; thus, we had surprise on hand when we took them out.
That first day, we only managed to clear the Market Center. The second day, we managed the slums and trade district… the third day was the Nobles district, and also the day I got my first ever major injury.
"So you're telling me that the one who started the Blight is also behind this mess?" Sigrun asked as we entered the housing area for nobles.
"Yeah. Aedan, Oghren, Velanna, Nate and Anders have all met the bastard… he locked them up and took some blood for his sick rituals. I could have prevented it, but that place needed to be cleared out and Velanna needed to see her sister. I… I am sorry for not at least warning you," I directed that last part to Aedan.
He sighed. "No, you were right. If I had known I would have tried to stop it, and you said…"
We were rushed from the side by one of the withered. I screamed in pain as its sword cut my arm completely off. Anders was by my side in a moment, trying to stop the blood. I waved him off, "Go… fight. Focus on them… I will be… okay."
I wasn't sure how I knew; it certainly wasn't a vision, but something told me I was fine.
I was grunting as I watched Aedans daggers swing wildly in a tornado of slicing, magic swirled and arrows flew. I closed my eyes as I knelt safely behind the fighting line.
I heard Aedan yelling to Anders to heal me, but Anders shouted back that I had sent him away. I reached into my pack and took out a whisky shooter and downed it.
"Are you alright?" Aedan asked, making me aware that the fighting had ended. "How long?"
"What?"
"How long did I black out? I missed the fight…"
"Oh… uh, no more than half an hour. How do you have that?" Aedan was pointing at something, so I turned to look.
Where my arm had fallen to the ground after bring sliced off, it had evaporated. Continuing to turn my head, I noticed my arm had grown back. I knew it was a new arm, because there was no blood on it at all.
"Huh; that's new. So I can… regenerate? That will be helpful for the future."
"How are you so calm about this?" Anders shouted while Nathaniel looked like he would be sick.
"Well freaking out would solve nothing…"
Velanna was writing in her journal. "What are you doing?" I asked with trepidation.
"Regardless of what you really are, you've been adopted into a Dalish Clan, making you one of us. You'll have your own stories in this book."
I groaned. "I suddenly regret giving you that. Oh well, too late now. I know it's early, but can we make camp? I'm drained from regen." Aedan nodded and justice helped me to my feet as Oghren handed me a flask. I smirked as Aedan protested and brought it to my lips.
"What, brother? It numbs the pain…" I was still smirking as I handed the flask back to the Dwarf. Aedan grumbled as I set the tent. I fell asleep in the bath.
When I woke up I was in my bed, next to Nathaniel. For his sake, I was glad someone had dressed me.
I woke him. "It's dawn, hun."
He groaned, his arms around me tightening.
"Who carried me from the bathroom to bed and got me dressed?" I asked, putting a mischievous note in my voice.
"Not me. Justice carried you to bed while every other male here turned away, then Velanna and Sigrun helped put you in… that."
That's when I realized I was only wearing one of Nates shirts… nothing else. I knew I could fit tall mens clothes from earth – my dad was 6'2 and I loved taking his old clothes), but I guess the same applied here. That's also when I realized one of his hands was on my bare skin… at the hip. I smirked.
"I didn't know you liked me like that, hun… I wouldn't have stopped teasing you."
His hand shot away from my hip. "Don't worry so much! I know I'm not your type, though I do know a woman who might win your heart one day… when we meet back up in a few years, I'll try to introduce you…" he looked curious but nodded. I really thought he and Bethany Hawke would make a wonderful… just then I got a vision and smiled.
"What's that look for?"
"You two… I was right. You'd make an amazing couple. Just don't be an ass just because she's a mage!" he looked startled but slowly nodded.
After a breakfast of eggs with potato and egg tacos – bacon strips on the side for those who ate meat – we headed off to clear the Kal'Hirol Smithing and Learning quarter… otherwise known as the heart of Kal'Hirol.
We found armor stands that had amazing armor; even finding some in Sigruns size which she instantly swapped out for since hers was damaged. When we got to the Golem and the 'Lost' withered, I put up heat shields on all of us; making it easier to kill them. And as stated, there was a large Lyrium block located right above the two Broodmothers making it easy to kill them.
After Aedan recruited Sigrun – at my urging – I handed her a spyglass.
"This… this is a spyglass! My friend Varlan told me about them, but I didn't know they were so shiny. He said that on the surface, Spyglasses were used to see things that are leagues away. May I… keep it? I know I shouldn't; we aren't supposed to have belongings in the Legion."
Aedan spoke up. "Wardens are more than welcome to have belongings… encouraged to, even."
"As you say, Commander! Thank you," she directed the last part to me.
