Chapter Three
Blackpowder Courtesy
"Serah Hawke…" The Arishok sounded annoyed.
"Yes?" Hawke asked.
Hawke and I had brought Fenris, Varric and Sebastian along with our dogs.
"Last we met, I did not know your name; did not care too, despite the company you keep. You have changed your fortune over the years; the Qunari have not. I offer you a courtesy, Hawke. Someone has stolen what they believe to be the formula for Gaatlok; you will want to hunt him."
"Excuse me, but this sound like quite the feat! Someone managed to steal from Qunari?"
"It was allowed. The formula was a decoy. Saar-qamek – poison gas, not explosives. A small amount is dangerous enough to your kind, but if made in quantity, perhaps by someone intending to sell it…"
"That merchant… Javaris?" Hawke lifted an eyebrow.
"Would he be cautious, or would he assume success and make enough to threaten a district. As I said, a courtesy; you will want to hunt him."
Hawke sighed and, keeping up pretense of me not being a seer for the sake of the two Templars at my flanks, looked to Varric, "Any ideas where we can find him?"
"Well, I heard about a sell off… Merchant territories and such; they don't do that unless someone left in a hurry. I'd have figured he rooked some noble; he's sure not a burglar."
"Location, Varric…"
"I haven't actually kept up on it; ask the Coterie."
The Arishok gave a small nod, "Panahedan, Hawke; I do hope you do not die."
"Panahedan, Arishok." I gave him a small bow. He looked at me and made a gesture. A Sten moved forward, causing the one Templar, Axel, to tense.
The Sten handed me a dagger, Qunari made and I grasped it. "You have been one of us, but not, for some time. You are Basalit-an, and one of the Stens and a Ben-Hassrath have both accepted you as Kadan. Both have called you Katari; one who brings death. You know the importance of this."
I nodded and strapped the sheath to my waist, "A warrior is nothing without their blade. It is their Asala; their soul." He nodded. "You are not Viddithari, but you have earned the respect of ours."
I bowed my head, "Meravas; Panahedan, Arishok." So it shall be.
"Panahedan, Katari."
"Only you, feathers! Anyone else walks into a Qunari compound, they're treated as trash, but you get gifts and called family!" Varric was gushing as we descended into Dark Town.
The Templars looked nervous. Axel was 6 foot tall with shaggy brown hair, green eyes and lightly tanned skin. His nose was crooked from too many fights and he had a scar or two along his stubbly jaw.
The other, Basilio, was an Antivan. He had pretty blond hair, stood at 5'8, and watched me with dis-trusting blue eyes that sat against deeply tanned skin. His face was smoother than a baby's bottom and I'd heard the other Templars tease that he looked way too young.
I'd learned Axel was 34, but Basilio was only 28. Cullen was never teased about his age, though I got the feeling no one knew and he was their Captain anyway.
"Varric, I've been like that everywhere I go. Orzammar Castles, Dalish Elves, Qunari and even Ferelden Nobles have all called me family. It's one of my… many charms."
I heard Basilio cough and give me a glare. "Problem, recruit?"
"How many of them did you have to sleep with for that?" Hawke, who had been speaking to the Coterie lady, had a Dagger to the recruit's neck. "Apologize, now."
"Hawke, lower your weapon. He's just jealous he's not on the list. Pity for him, since Cullen or Alistair learning of this would cause the poor man a transfer to a Chantry… a career killer for Circle Templars! Especially if they were put on Laundry duty… the horror."
"The Knight-Captain would never believe the words of a whore."
"Ooh, did yourself into that hole, Basilio. Axel, hun, are you willing to testify to his words, or do I need to make a deal with this lovely woman here for her testimony?"
"I'll testify, my lady. You been nothing but good to us Templars; didn't need to let us into your home, let alone give us such nice accommodations."
Basilio threw a fist at me; I side-stepped. If I used Magic, the bastard would try to kill me. Fenris growled and restrained the Templar.
"Well, I will also testify to this!" Sebastian looked horrified. "Thank you sweetie; why don't you and Fenris escort him to my home? Let Cullen know what just happened. Varric, Hawke, Axel, the hounds and I can handle the rest. We'll come meet y'all later."
And they were off. The lady from the Coterie looked at me, "You have some friends in high places, don't ya?"
"King Bhelen, King Alistair, the Arishok, both Ferelden Teyrns, a couple Arls, the Knight-Captain… I suppose being Alistairs Mistress and the sister to both Teyrns makes that possible."
"You're the Hero of Denerim? I'd never have guessed it. Javaris owes me, too, so I don't see the harm in telling you. If he's avoiding patrols, I'd put him at Smuggler's Cut; it leads to a cave outside town. Tell him I said, 'don't come back'." I gave her a small hug, much to her surprise, and we headed deeper into Dark Town to find the passage she pointed us to.
Axel was quite the gentleman and according to him, it was part of Templar training to have the skills to be guests of court. Dancing, Manners, Dinner lessons, even chivalry. All this information was given to me because I'd casually mentioned an Earth saying… 'And they say Chivalry is dead'. He'd looked horrified and asked what I meant, so I explained how men were where I came from.
"No wonder you're so taken with Alistair, Fenris and Cullen. If the men where you're from hardly ever hold open a ladies door…" Hawke commented. "Huh… never thought of it like that…"
Axel nodded in agreement with Hawke just as we exited the 'cave' and got attacked by the Mercenaries Javaris hired. There were 20 of them so Axel shouted for me to use Magic… I smirked and used magic to lift 20 throwing stars, embedding them into necks and foreheads, causing dropped jaws.
"What? I was given permission…" I said when Revas came over and nudged me. I smiled and gave him some petting while I reached into my magic pack and pulled out three beef jerky sticks; one for me and one for each pup.
"Why didn't you do that kind of thing before?" Hawke grumbled, likely thinking of when we were at Chateau Haine or the Deep Roads…
"Didn't feel like showing off? Besides, I prefer to keep things… fun and use less magic; but when a Templar tells you to use magic, it's like the Divine telling you to jump – you don't ask how high, you just assume they mean as high as you can and hope it's enough."
Axel laughed. "I can't wait to see the Captains reaction! Please, can I accompany you the rest of the week?!"
"What about off-days?" I asked.
"I'm only allowed one a week, and that was yesterday. If I'm not with you, I'm at the Gallows…"
I shrugged, "Ask Cull – I mean, your Knight-Captain. You're pretty chill, so I got no trouble with it."
We approached the trembling Javaris. "Well, is that any way to greet an old friend?" Hawke asked with a grin.
"Granny's Garters, she would send you. I can't seem to buy a break on a discount! You know what? Go ahead; take my head and pike it back to that sodding elf! I need the rest."
I giggled as Hawke turned to me. "As the only elf involved in this situation that I know of… what did you do to this poor man?"
"Me? Why, Hawke… I'm as innocent as the Divine in this matter!"
"Seeing as you're incapable of telling a… untruth, as you put it… I suppose I'll have to believe you. Javaris, anything you'd like to add?"
"Wait… so are you working for the Qunari then? Then she did it… that bitch-born elf got them after me for nothing!"
"Hey Hawke… I think the obvious thief was a bit… too obvious. I believe our man here is innocent."
Javaris sighed and gave me a woeful look, "Look, I was minding my own buissness, same old, when some elf comes out of nowhere and tries to kill me! She says she's got the Qunari powder and I'm her cover. I slipped her, hired some guards and ran for it. And now here you are."
"This elf… what did she look like?" Axel asked.
He pointed to me, "Red hair, lighter than yours and much shorter – I'd say shoulder length – uh… green eyes, skin a bit darker than yours, couldn't tell height; I'm a sodding Dwarf, everyone is taller than me. Her voice was kind of… soft but annoying. No markings so I take it she's city, not Dalish - wore a lot of green, though."
Hawke sighed, "Any idea where she went, at least?"
"Of course. I had a man follow her so that I knew if I needed to run faster. She's in Lowtown, district 6. Last report said she was carting in 8 barrels of the powder."
"It's… ahem; it's not Gaatlok, it's poison gas. It will make people go mad and attack anyone they see. I just wanted to get out with my… dead… guards… thanks for that, by the way."
"They attacked first…" Axel said.
We made it back to Kirkwall, stopping in at my place for Axel to give Cullen his report about Basilio, and bringing the Knight-Captain, Fenris and Sebastian with us while the other two Templars escorted their 'brother' to the Gallows. He'd likely only get re-assigned.
Arriving at the Area, Axel looked giddy; Cullen kept shooting the recruit looks and, when asked, simply said, "You'll see, Captain!"
I gave each person in our party surgical masks; then promptly had to assist each person in putting them on.
"Tell me again how these will help?" Cullen asked, poking at his gold colored mask… I couldn't resist matching his to his eyes.
"It's something from my homeland that helps filter the air you breathe. Even if some poison gas makes it through, it won't be enough to kill you or drive you mad… maybe make your throat itch, or your eyes will water, but not much else."
"Why is he the only one with a gold mask?" Hawke whined.
"Because I like the way it makes his eyes look. Quit your bitching, Hawke, blue looks nice enough on y'all," Axel was sniggering as we encountered the City Guardsman.
"All of you; I can't fight the damned air! You want to live, stay out."
"Keep your post, Guardsman; we'll handle this. As you can see, we have special gear for it," Hawke was likely smirking behind his mask.
We began walking past him as he said, "Shit."
Wow; there really was a cloud of green fog all over the district! I levitated 50 throwing stars; if I needed more than that at one time, we were fucked anyway!
Cullen looked at me startled as Axel motioned, "Enemies approach!"
Well, he wasn't wrong. I was disappointed that it was only 15 in the first wave.
"Is this how you cleared Kinlock Hold?" Cullen asked.
I snorted. "Back then, I was still too new to my magic to have this… ability. No, we cleared Kinlock the old fashioned way, love. That and I can see Auras, so I knew who was or was not a Blood Mage. If I marked them as such, they died. When we… got to you, we had just dealt with a sloth demon trying to trap us in the Fade. I was in a dream… my son and husband… it was still such a fresh wound. My baby, his name was Levi, would be 7 next month; 24th of Bloomingtide."
"I'm… sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
"You couldn't know just how fresh that wound was at the time. I had only been… lost to my family a few weeks at that point. Less than 2 months. When I saw you… well, no point dwelling in the past."
Wave 2 came, 33 strong. When wave three – 26 strong – was over, I had managed to latch the fourth barrel and heard that damn Elf speak.
"Is that… Serah Hawke! You and your hero friend have enemies… well, her not as many… but I'm glad it's you. These poor people… you are a much better target!" she had blackened veins running along her face and I saw my companions all shoot me grateful looks… I assumed for the masks…
Hawke was pissed; he lost all façade of joking and shouted, "Explain yourself; now!"
"The Qunari take my people; my siblings forget their culture, then go to the Qun for purpose… we're losing them twice! So I get help from your people! We'll take the Qunari thunder, make some accidents, and make them hated… but this… I don't know what went wrong! I followed the recipe, I know I did!"
Hawke sighed. "The second crazy person in less than a year trying for the Powder… maybe you should set up a class, Ara…"
"I am not teaching these people how to make gun… blackpowder, Hawke. They're Crazy enough. Varric would have said… 'I often look at every second idiot and think… they need more power,' I refuse to provide that power, Hawke!"
"You! You know how to make it?" the Elf shouted.
"Well, yeah… it's the most basic weapon form where I'm from…"
"Kill them all… but leave the elf ali-"
I used my magic and they were all killed in an instant. I looked at the two Templars. "This information… about me knowing how to make the damn powder…"
"Doesn't leave this group. I'll not let anyone take you!" Cullen growled.
"That's sweet of you, but I'm afraid it's worse than that. If the Qunari knew that I could… they wouldn't just take me. They'd either kill me, torture me for information, or submit me for 're-education' before chaining me up like their own mages, when they found out I have Magic… and sew my mouth shut in the process so I can't tell anyone anything."
Cullen and Axel both Blanched. Hawke and Sebastian looked horrified… and Fenris yanked me into him and growled, "I won't allow it. I know what they do to their prisoners… they can't have you."
"My hero… now come on… we need to speak with the Arishok."
Cullen stood on my right, Fenris to my left, Axel at my back as I stood to Hawkes flank.
Hawke had just spent the last 15 minutes explaining everything he knew. The Arishok looked at me, with my entourage. "You continue to amass a following Katari."
"I'm likeable," I shrugged.
"So it would appear. What are your views on this… matter?" I hid my astonishment better than many of the Qunari around us. The Arishok, to my knowledge, didn't ask such things from one who was not of the Triumvirate.
"This situation will get more volatile. It will escalate to the point of no return."
He nodded and refocused his attentions to Hawke, "They say we were careless with our trap, that this was our fault. But this elf was looking for death; there would have been death enough without the Saar-qamek. The bas was determined to lay the blame at our feet. Selfishness, want, denial… how do you allow this to continue?" he directed the question at me, so I stepped forward.
"Change does not come in a single night. Even those sent to be re-educated by the Tamassrans and Vidathiss spend more than a single night, Arishok."
"Since my… arrival, I have seen nothing but greed and weakness Dwarves, humans, elves… all of it just festering; no order, no goal. You are two of the few I have met with any ability and yet this too was random, the result of selfishness. I cannot fathom ow a mire like this can be justified. How can you bare to stay in this… chaos?" his deep voice seemed to echo as he pointed to Hawke.
"My welcome to the city was no so different from yours."
"And yet you suffer it."
"It's an opportunity to make a real difference." The Arishok stood from his perch and paced forward the 4 steps to the very top of the stairs before him.
"Karasten are soldiers; the Qun made it so. They can never vary from that assigned path, never be other than they are meant to be. But they are free to choose within that role – to accept and succeed or deny and die. Glory is clear and defined. You claim it is no different anywhere else; we deny that with a certainty that would benefit not just you, but this whole city."
I saw Hawke and… well the whole group other than myself, stiffen and close ranks around me.
"Have you come here to convert us then?" the Arishok actually looked amused.
"You surround the one person who needs no protection. She is not your leader, nor is she defenseless. I know not how a female earned status from a Sten to begin with, but she is Basalit-an."
I snorted. "Did the Sten tell you nothing? I am a threat to my enemies and an Ally to my Kadan, Arishok. Think not of me as a female, think of me more as… an omen. Weather it is a good one or bad is entirely dependent on how you treat not me, but those around me. Sataareth Kadan hass-toh issala ebasit; it is my purpose to do what I must for those I consider important. That is my role. If it means the death of their enemies, the fall of an Archdemon was within my abilities. If it means I stand aside, then I will kneel and know my place. Where I am from, Arishok, you would be seen as a tyrant, a dangerous fool; yet I have not treated you as my people demand, I have treated you as one of my Kadan would!"
There were people of all kinds gaping at me. "An Omen, hmm? Indeed. I will remember this, Katari. You have given me much to think of."
When we got far enough away from the compound, Cullen pulled me into an alcove. It seemed all 5 men and both dogs were in on it, because the others all moved to stand guard.
"Are you crazy? Do you have some kind of death wish? What if the Arishok took that as provocation?"
"He wouldn't; he asked for my opinion, I gave it. The fact that he asked was unprecedented. The Arishok takes advice only from the Arigena – the leader of the workers – or the Ariqun – the leader of their religion. The Arigena is always female and the Ariqun can be either male or female… I guess my sex really had no bearing on this… but when one of the Triumvirate asks for an opinion, they won't attack just because they don't like the answer. I think the Sten told the Arishok of my… relation to leaders; either Alistair or Aedan… if he didn't then… well, it won't be good."
"Why would he ask your opinion if he didn't know of your relations?" Cullen sounded worried.
"He may be intending – if he attacks the city – to put me in charge. This might have been a test to see if I could hold up to being a leader. I hold a Qunari made weapon, I know my place in society, I have proven my honor and my role would change little if I embraced the Qun… it could even be why he gave me the blade in the first place. It's very rare for a non-Kossith Qunari to be put in charge, because the Viddithari are not usually deemed worthy enough for lead; but it does happen. Honestly the fact that I'm telling you this should prove that I have no loyalty to the Qun… they would never give secrets to outsiders." Hawke and Fenris both nodded at my words. "No, they wouldn't. The fact that you know such secrets is probably what makes him think you are Viddithari however. This could be why the Arishok trusts you so much…" Fenris acknowledged. "Great. I get a Sten drunk one time and I'm in the good graces of the Qun. I even get a fancy title. This is just… ugh!" I snarled as I leaned my forehead against Cullens armor.
"You know all this because of the Sten getting drunk?" Hawke asked, obviously horrified.
"No. I think the Sten only got drunk because he already viewed me as Kadan; family… I know all of this because of my past. This was common knowledge among my people… at least the ones who wanted to know. I could give you a damn book of their language and translate most of it for you, it was that well known. This is bullshit! Well… if the Qunari attack, I will stand with Kirkwall."
Cullen nodded and I moved away from him. "Let's get moving before I decide to do something… inappropriate here in an alley way."
Cullen and Sebastian both went bright red at my words.
I got home, and looked through the mail that one of the Templars had been nice enough to collect for me. I cursed and shouted, "I have to go out tomorrow!"
Cullen peaked out of his office, "I'll be at the Gallows, but Axel has requested being your… permanent guard so you'll see him 6 days out of 7. Basilio has been replaced with a woman named Becca who will be here in two days. Caspar is needed at the Gallows tomorrow but Alano will be available."
Alano… that was a Rivaini name; he must have been the one with the black hair and grey eyes that always seemed to be laughing; his skin was the color of cocoa and he stood at 5'10. He certainly didn't have the accent; no surprise as, if he had been raised in Rivain, he wouldn't be a Templar – they don't have any.
Caspar I had met at the gallows once or twice, he was Nevarran, and related to the king by marriage, not that he cared much. He was like Cassandra in that respect. He was from Cumberland, son of Duke Sandral Anaxas of Cumberland. He stood at 5'9 with brown hair, green eyes and skin that shouted 'sun-bather'.
Becca was actually from the free marches, Kirkwall had at one point been her home city. She was from Lowtown, originally and had been sent to Orlais then Ferelden for her teachings. She was blond with grey eyes that had streaks of blue within them, he skin was lightly tanned from being back in the sun but when I had met her, she was almost as pale as me.
"Awesome! We're headed up Sundermount to see the Dalish."
He froze, "Why?"
"Remember Feynriel? He's there and needs my help; nothing too bad, Serah. Your men will be asked to wait at the entry with the Hunters, but otherwise we should be fine. I'll be back by supper-time if we leave at dawn."
Merrill would be coming with us; she'd already made her request of Hawke and I and we had already agreed to take her when we received word about Feynriel.
He growled, "I wish I could come with you, I have a bad feeling about it…"
"I promise you, love, we'll be fine. Now I need to get some rest, will you let Alano and Axel know?" he nodded and made for the Barracks.
I yawned and Revas whimpered – he missed Anders' cat. Unlike in the game, Ser Pounce-a-lot had made it to Kirkwall with us… but the poor thing had recently died of old age. Apparently, the tabby was very old when we found him at the Vigil. Pal – what I called the cat – had slept his last year away, hardly being interested in anything else.
