Ragnar had received several letters, including one from a Lord Bensley, who was requesting his help in rescuing his daughter, who had been kidnapped.

They headed towards the meeting point where the kidnappers had Lord Bensley's daughter. They soon crossed the wooden bridge that led them to an old ruin, and there they found the kidnappers.

"Another step, and poor Lady Eileen dies," the bandit leader warned. He then found them. "Where's Lord Bensley? The deal was he'd give us the money himself."

Ragnar stood firm. "Lord Bensley sent the Commander of the Grey instead."

One of the kidnappers' eyes widened. "Th-that's one that fought over hundred darkspawn by himself. Andraste, preserve me."

"Shut your trap. We still have the girl," said the bandit leader, though he did sound slightly nervous.

"You won't see a sovereign until I see the girl," said Ragnar firmly.

The bandit leader turned to one of his men. "Hawk, show her." Hawk walked off and soon returned to a frightening-looking girl. The bandit leader then looked at them. "Now, hand over the gold. Now."

Ragnar narrowed his eyes. "Send the girl first. Then I give you the money."

The bandit leader looked as if he was in two minds, but then he turned to Hawk. "Hawk sent her over."

Lady Eileen ran up to them, and he couldn't believe how stupid the bandits were. "The money. Now."

Ragnar smirked at the stupidity. "No. That girl was the only thing keeping you alive."

The bandits' eyes widened as before then drew their weapons.

"Defend yourselves, men!" The bandit leader commanded.

They didn't stand a chance, a swing of a sword, a battleaxe, the twinge of a quiver, and some fireballs later, and all of them lay dead on the ground.

Lady Eileen looked at them with admiration and gratitude. "Thank you," she said.

She then kissed Anders on the cheek and ran off.

They continued into Trader's Bay. Anders spread his hands and threw his head back. "Ah, can you smell that? That is the smell of freedom." Walking openly into a city was a somewhat new experience for him. Usually, he had to skulk. "It comes complete with the smell of dogs and dust, but the freedom is in there, too."

Ragnar raised an eyebrow. "You really don't care for the Circle of Magi, do you?"

Anders shook his head. "I escaped from the Tower seven times. After the last time, they put me in solitary confinement for a year." He gestured with his staff. "Eventually, I'm sure they would have branded me a maleficar, true or not, and executed me."

"Was the Circle of Magi so bad?"

Anders kicked a rock as they walked. "The problem is that mages are tolerated. Barely. It's like you need permission to be alive. There's nothing a mage can do to prove himself. Everyone needs to be protected from you. The end."

"I can sympathise."

He blinked and then looked again at his Commander. The words sounded… honest. "That's good." He smiled. "Why aren't you in charge of everything, again?" He sighed dramatically. "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools."

Ragnar raised an eyebrow. "I think you're aiming too low."

He laughed. "True. I want a harem, a banquet, and the ability to rain fireballs upon every templar in creation." He shook his head. "Never mind me. Now and again, I recall that I'm not sitting in a cell, and I have to smile, that's all."

They soon reached the city, but before they entered it, one of its guards stopped them.

"Excuse me, but I need to search your packs for smuggled goods," said the guard.

Ragnar frowned and crossed his arms. "I am the Warden-Commander of Vigil's Keep."

"But I have to! Constable's orders. We've been having trouble with smugglers and—"

It was then that the constable appeared frowning at the guard. "What are you doing, man? Are you accusing the Commander of the Grey of smuggling?"

The guard stared at him. "But I… I… you said, everyone—"

The constable pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "You are dismissed."

Slightly complexed, the guard bowed and left.

The constable looked at Faren with an apologetic look. "I apologise. Smugglers and thieves have all but taken over the city."

Ragnar nodded. "Glad to see you're taking precautions."

"Yes, Warden-Commander. The smugglers have us scrambling, to be honest," the constable frowned. "We could certainly use your help in this."

"What exactly is happening here?" Ragnar asked.

"With trade slowed to a crawl, smugglers have moved in—selling stolen goods at exorbitant prices," the constable explained. Then rub the back of his head. "If we could shut down the operation and seize the supplies, we could distribute it to the need."

Ragnar nodded. "How do I find the smugglers?"

"There is a smuggler doing business in the market. He probably knows where the hideout is. We haven't been able to get anything from him, but maybe you can."

He nodded.

They soon found the smuggler that the constable described in the market, and when he saw them, he turned and smiled.

"Greetings, could I interest you in—" He then frowned at him. "Wait a minute… my lads said they saw you talking to the—" His eyes then narrowed. "You should learn to stick your nose where it doesn't belong!"

He then made a run for it, and then out of nowhere, some of his goons appeared and did their best to stop them, but with very little success.

They practically chased him all over the city, fighting his goons along the way. If nothing else, they were certainly cleaning out the city and soon they saw him run outside the gates. They followed him until they reached an abandoned cottage just outside the city and found someone guarding it.

"Here to put a stop to our little operation? I can't allow that," he says as he drew his sword.

It didn't take very long for them to cut their way through into the cottage. They found no trace of the smuggler, but there was a trapdoor.

The trapdoor soon led them to secret passages underneath the city itself, and even a small dock led out towards the sea. Clearly, they use this dock to smuggle their ill-gotten gain in and out of the city.

They found an extra passageway and discovered that it actually led to the tavern strangely enough. They return to the constable, and he was greatly believed that the smugglers would no longer cause any problems of the city of Trade's Bay.

As they wandered through the city, Wartihog looked around as if you were searching for something. "So, er… you think there's an apothecary around here somewhere?"

Ragnar frowned. "Are you injured?"

"Er… you could... say that…"

He didn't want to know. "We could dig up some poultices for you."

"I've tried those, but they only stop the itching for a few hours…" He really didn't want to know. Wartihog kept talking anyway. "Right, look. For the past few days, I've had this… burning rash. The skin's actually got some sort of greenish look to it…" The man actually started to unfasten his greaves.

"I'm sure it will go away soon," Ragnar said quickly.

Wartihog nodded. "You know, I bet it's that Grey Warden stuff we had to drink."

Ragnar blinked. "I've never heard of it causing a rash."

Wartihog just smiled. "I'm special." That was certainly one way to put it. "Eh, I'll just see if I can't find some nice minty balm somewhere in this town."

As they walked around the city, an elven woman saw Anders and gestured him towards her.

"Oy! About time you showed up!"

Anders blinked. "Namaya? You're still here?"

She poked him in the chest. "I keep my promises. Here, turns out you were right. The cache is here in Amaranthine."

"It is? You found it?"

"I did. What you do with that information is up to you. I, for one, am done dealing with mages." She thrust a parchment at him, and he took it.

"Er, I guess I should thank you…"

"Damned right, you should." She narrowed her eyes. "You get caught, Anders; I'm not helping you again. That's all I'm saying." She stalked off.

He turned and rubbed the back of his neck. "I… suppose that requires some explanation."

Ragnar raised an eyebrow. "Friend of yours, I take it?"

"She's normally more welcoming than that," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "A lot more. Namaya is… a friend. Last time I escaped from the Tower, I asked her to look into some things." He sighed. "That's why I was in Amaranthine. The Templars thought I'd come to take a ship, but it was to meet her."

"What did she learn?"

"During the Blight, the templars moved their store of phylacteries to Trader's Bay for safety." He hesitated and then continued. "My phylactery is among them, Namaya learned. So long as the templars have that sample of my blood, they can find me. I need to destroy it."

Ragnar frowned. "But your Grey Warden now."

Anders crossed his arms. "What's to stop the Chantry from deciding mages in the Grey Wardens are apostates, too? I want to be sure they can't even find me again. Ever."

Ragnar sighed, it was clear that Anders wasn't going to let this go, and he needed his head in the game. "It makes you feel happy we'll help you."

Ander just stared. "I know we're busy killing darkspawn and all. But the sooner we find this vial, the better I'll feel."

They found the warehouse all right. Ragnar felt this was rather too easy, especially considering there were no guards.

Anders clearly felt the same as he tightened his grip on his staff. "No guards? Maybe they don't want to draw attention."

Then Rylock stepped out of the next room, accompanied by a dozen templars. He really hated that woman. "And here I almost believed the infamous Anders wouldn't take the bait."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose I should have known it would be you," he grumbled.

She turned to Ragnar. "You made a poor choice with this one, Commander. Anders will never submit, not to us and not to you."

Ragnar narrowed his eyes. "He has made a fine Grey Warden so far."

Anders stared. Rylock smirked. "'So far', yes." She gave Ragnar what she probably intended to be a reassuring nod. "I'll make sure this murderer is never a bother to anyone again."

"What? No, you can't arrest me! King Hiccup allowed my conscription," Anders said in desperation.

She sneered. "The Chantry's authority supersedes the crown in this matter. You cannot hide within the Grey Warden's ranks."

"He's beyond your jurisdiction now," said Ragnar firmly.

"Hardly surprising. The Grey Wardens have ever been a haven for criminals and maleficar. I do not know how you inspire such loyalty, Anders, but it will avail you nought. Now you come with us."

She started to take a step towards Anders, and he quickly tried to cast a spell only to find that his magic had been negated. She then drew her sword, and Ragnar quickly engaged her. He then performed a powerful spinning kick, hitting her right in the chest. It was so powerful, in fact, that she was sent flying into the wall, and she slammed into it so hard she broke her neck.

Anders still had a disbelieving look on his face. "Hmmm… I wonder if Namaya knew about this? I guess it doesn't really matter." He shook his head. "Thank you. You stood by me, and I appreciate that."

"You're a friend. Friends stick up for each other," he said.

Anders was taken aback. "I… guess they do." He looked around at the corpses. "Anyhow, let's go before someone rushes in to waggle a finger at us."

Moments later, they reached the tavern, The Crown and Lion, and Ragnar approached the bartender.

"Something I can do for you, friend?"

"Did a Grey Warden named Kristoff come through here?"

The man sneered at him. "And who are you supposed to be, that's asking?"

"I would be his commander."

The man started to shake his head. "An elf? I…" He stopped, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Yes, of course!" He spoke with forced friendliness. "Haven't seen that Kristoff fellow for almost a week now. Not sure where he went. His room's paid up to the end of the month. I guess he expected to be here a while."

"Did you ever speak to Kristoff?"

"Not much. He chatted up Sorcha a bit when she brought him his dinner. Maybe talk to her." He gestured at a young serving girl.

"I'd like the key to Kristoff's room."

"Of course. Here you go." He pointed. "It's the last room at the end of the hall. If he comes back and gets upset, however, it's on your head."

He walked to the barmaid. She gave him an appreciative smile. "I understand you spoke to Kristoff?"

"We chatted a bit. He was a friendly sort for a Grey Warden. Spent most of his nights here, drinking. Wasn't ever loud or too forward. Haven't seen him for maybe a week, now?"

"Did he ever talk about what he was doing?"

"Said he was tracking some darkspawn. One particular group that's been raiding outside the city. He told me they were acting strange, those darkspawn. Acting obvious, like they wanted to be caught or something. I expect he caught them. Probably why he hasn't been back, right?" she said it confidently.

"Where did he go? Do you know?"

"No. He took a lot of notes while he drank, always writing things down. Maybe there's something in his room?" she smiled. "Send him my best when you see him."

He nodded and made his way to Kristoff's room; he did like this one that. Sounded as if he was walking into a trap; he really hoped he wasn't too late.

Once they entered Kristoff's room, they found it almost completely bare, except for a wooden crate, some notes on a table and the map of the area.

"Let's look through his things; we might find a clue," said Ragnar.

Wartihog began looking through the chest. "Bah, just some personal items," he said.

Anders looked through the notes on the table. "It mentions a place called the Blackmarsh and something about a monstrous worm with legs," he read.

"I've never heard of such a thing," said Ragnar frowned.

Nathaniel looked at the map on the wall. "Several areas been crossed out except for the Blackmarsh," he said, studying it thoroughly.

"Looks like we're heading to the Blackmarsh," said Ragnar.

Wartihog folded his arms. "Do you think that the ease new darkspawn have any link to the talking ones we've encountered?"

"I don't know, but if Kristoff found something, we need to know what idiots," said Ragnar.

"Still can't quite get over the whole talking darkspawn thing," said Anders. "You would have thought the Grey Wardens would have encountered something like this before."

"Who's to say they haven't," said Ragnar looking at him. "It's a very secretive order. Not even the most senior members know everything about the Grey Wardens."

"You're the Warden-Commander; don't you need to know these things?" Nathaniel asked.

"I'm still relatively new to the order, and the only reason I have given the rank of Commander was for my actions during the Blight," Ragnar explained. "Not to mention the political concerns surrounding mistrust between Midgard and Asgard. Either way, this is the only lead we need to find out what we're up against."

Hiccup and his convoy had just crossed the border, and they had stopped for the night. The men were already pitching tents, and both he and Astrid were having their meal. As he ate, Hiccup thought were still with Ragnar.

"You're concerned about Ragnar, aren't you?" Astrid asked the reading his mind.

"That obvious, huh?" Hiccup sighed.

Astrid smiled. "He said himself that Ragnar is more than capable of handling this situation."

"I know, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. I mean, it is a massive undertaking rebuilding the Grey Wardens influence within Midgard, not to mention dealing with the minor nobility who had their prospects crushed when we killed Johann."

"I won't say that I'm not concerned about leaving Midgard, with so many noble families dead that it changed the entire power structure. Not to mention this still the problem of the south."

Hiccup remembered that refugees had attempted to rebuild the homes they had lost in the south, but the land had been blighted. There was also the concern of the Free Folk elves, who were now establishing a new colony in Ostagar. Additionally, there was the logistics to help the dwarfs and negotiations with the templars and Circle of Magi.

"There is a lot of problems to deal with," Hiccup admitted. "However, the immediate concern is with Asgard. The last thing anyone wants is an invasion after we managed to fend off the darkspawn."

"Yeah, after all the last we suffer, the last thing we want is another war," Astrid agreed.

"The divine must have seen into the future when she called this age the Dragon Age," Hiccup sighed. "She named it not only because of the reemergence of the dragons but also because she predicted that this age would be the bloodiest."

"She wasn't wrong," Astrid sighed. "I don't suppose there's any chance of things improving."

Hiccup shook his head. "The Blight caused a large number of refugees to spread into other countries; we have no way of knowing how those with repercussions will affect the continent."