Chapter 5: Back to Basics pt1
The Champion's first year in Kirkwall had begun. Word had arrived from across the Waking Sea that the Hero of Ferelden had defeated the Blight and a new king was crowned. But that didn't mean anything to Hawke for Lothering was destroyed, Kirkwall was his home now. So he remained, paying off his debt, soon he would make a name for himself in the underworld as a man who could solve your problems…whether by charm or the blade. It was a busy year in the city, that's when the Qunari landed. A great storm caught their ship and left hundreds of warriors stranded in the city, waiting to return home. At the same time, that's when the trouble with the mages started to begin. Under the command of Knight-Commander Meredith, the Templars was a force to be reckoned with in Kirkwall. This would also be the time I would first meet the Champion.-Tales of Varric Tethras
At the height of the Tevinter Imperium's slave trade, Kirkwall's elite prospered beyond dreams of avarice. Hightown was built for the wealthiest slavers, its glitzy mansions rising atop a great wall of rock that borders, on one side, the Waking Sea. Lowtown cowered on its other side until Kirkwall's slaves rose to plunder and destroy Hightown's riches. Today, Hightown's prominent buildings are the Keep, home to the ruling viscount, and the chantry, home to the grand cleric and the city's religious center. Both are converted estates that once housed wealthy magisters, rebuilt and converted after the uprising.—From In Pursuit of Knowledge: The Travels of a Chantry Scholar, by Brother Genitivi
Hightown-9:31 Dragon
Hightown…the center of power in Kirkwall, all the of the power players in the city lives here and gives little thought to what goes on below them other than to complain about the stench from its factories or ancient mines. The nobles of Hightown feel secure here, not because of the strength of the city walls but because of the grand stairs leading to this district. Countless bloody battles have been fought on those narrow stairs and for several wars Hightown has often been the last stand when the other districts in the city have been taken. However as secure as the nobles feel, they often forget that those stairs are also their only escape. In the shadows of Hightown, a lone man was watching for the perfect mark, this district is often a popular place for pickpockets as the nobles tend not to keep a good eye on their wallets…then again with the amount of coin the nobles have, they could just buy a newer and better one.
The thief smirked when he found his prey; a pretty little thing in a red gown…women and the old was his favorite targets, too slow to react and too weighted down to give chase. By the time they called the guards, he would be long gone. As he was about to make his move, cold eyes fell upon him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Cold blue eyes met his and his blood ran cold…a pale blond woman in large Templar armor walked the streets with several Templars crowding her. Knight-Captain Meredith, leader of the Templars at the Gallows and the last person one wanted to cross. All of the boldness from the thief just went away and he quickly got away, not wanting to press his luck. From the alley, a brown haired grumpy looking dwarf dressed in red walked out with Bethany and Ericks close behind.
"No!" he said. "Andraste's tits, human! You know how many people want onto this expedition?" The Dwarven Merchants' Guild is a powerful and extensively connected organization comprised of surface dwarves. Some of the Guild's members left the dwarven city of Orzammar to pursue business and trade on the surface while others joined after being exiled from the city.
The upper-class surface dwarf members of the Guild are composed of two distinct groups; the kalna who insist on maintaining caste and rank and ascendant who believe in leaving Orzammar's traditions behind and embracing surface life. Bartrand Tethras, deshyr of the Guild had planned an expedition into the Deep Roads to take advantage of the Fifth Blight's recent end. Since the Deep Roads was seeing a large reduction of darkspawn, that meant the ruins and therefor its treasure was ripe for the taking.
When the Hawke siblings heard of this, they quickly quit their current gigs to attach themselves to expeditions…a huge haul from the Deep Roads meant a lot of coin, large enough so they can finally move out of Gamlen's hovel. "But you're going into the Deep Roads; surely you'll need all the help you can…" Bethany said.
"No!" Bartrand said. "We're all filled up, you're too late!"
"This is the sort of venture that makes a man for life!" he said. "I'm not taking chances hiring random humans"
"I'll buy you drink before we head into the Deep Roads, everyone wins!" Ericks said.
"Humph, half of Kirkwall have tried that just this morning" the dwarf said. "You want to get out of the slums, well, so does the rest of you dog-lords. Find another meal ticket"
Bethany sighed. "What now?" she asked. "We've got nothing to stop the person from trying to sell us out…this expedition was our last chance"
"Don't worry, Betty. I won't let any big bad Templars come get you"
"This isn't the time for your glibness, brother!" Bethany said frowning. "The Templars have much more of a presence here than they ever did in Lothering, if they find me the best case scenario is I'm locked away for the rest of my life! If they don't decide to kill me first!"
"We need coin, status, something we can hide behind, as long as we're just refugees, we're no one" she said. "Maybe Uncle knows someone who can talk to Bartrand for us…"
Ericks crossed his arms. "Or get us into servitude again, I mean what's three more years of paying off his debts anyway?"
"He's all we got…Maker save us" Bethany said. "We might as well ask…it's not like we have anything else to lose" The siblings started their way back to Lowtown when a man walked into Ericks, he found that his wallet was gone.
"Hey!" By the time, Ericks turned to chase the pickpocket he turned into the next alley. When Ericks turned into the alley he found the man pinned to the wall with an arrow. In front of him was dwarf with a rather impressive and large crossbow, he put it away and approached the pickpocket.
"You know, if you're going to pick someone's pocket you'll have to be a lot more delicate than that" the dwarf said. "Knew a guy who could take every coin in your pocket by just smiling"
"You got balls but not the style to work Hightown, never mind the Merchant's Guild" All the dwarf had to do is hold out his hand and the pickpocket gave up Ericks' wallet. "Just saying, best you find a new line of work" One punch was all it took to knock out the thief. "Nighty-night" He took his arrow and the pickpocket was laid out on the floor. He threw back Ericks' wallet.
"May want to pay better attention next time, even Hightown is not safe from people trying to rip you off" he said. "Varric Tethras, at your service"
"I'm…"
"Oh ho, everyone in the underworld knows who you are, Hawke. They call you the problem solver…damn good one too" Varric said. "You took a small time smuggler like Athenril and made her a big name in the underworld in one year"
"You're well informed" Bethany said.
"Have to be, when you handle all of the under-the-table stuff for the Guild"
"Wow and you just blurt that out in the open?" Ericks said. "Impressed by the boldness"
"The Merchants' Guild is the biggest supplier in all of Kirkwall, crack down on us and there will be a lot of angry people in the streets, rich and poor" the dwarf said. "Anyway I apologize for my brother, Bartrand wouldn't know an opportunity if it hit him square in the jaw"
"And you see opportunity?"
Varric smirked. "Bartrand doesn't realize that we need someone like you" he said. "Of course being the stubborn bronto he is, he would never admit it. I, however, am quite practical"
"So you're part of the expedition?" Bethany asked.
"That's right, Sunshine, you see usually I would put a healthy distance between me and the Deep Roads but since Bartrand's head of our family I have to be the good little brother and go with him" Varric said. "So as you can imagine, I have more than a passing interest in this expedition's success"
Ericks raised a brow. "You're going awfully far out of your way just to hire another guard"
"We don't need another hireling, what we need is a partner" Ericks and Bethany looked at each other. "I'll be straight with you, Bartrand's been tearing his beard out trying to fund this on his own but he can't do it"
"Invest in the expedition. Fifty sovereigns and he can't refuse…well, not without me to vouch for you anyway"
"No offence, but your brother doesn't seem the sharing type"
"He's many things but one thing he's not is stupid" Varric said. "Far better to share the profits than be trapped in a thaig with a thousand darkspawn between you and the exit, trust me he'll come around"
"Certainly intriguing…but where are we going to get fifty sovereigns?" Ericks asked. "Not sure if you've noticed but we're not made of money"
"Think big! There's only a brief window before the Deep Roads are crawling with darkspawn again" the dwarf said. "You find this treasure and you're set for life along with your family"
"Won't be easy but it's a risk we have to take" Bethany said. "Better to get into this expedition than sit around waiting to be thrown into the Gallows"
"We work together and before you know it, you'll have all the capital you need. What do you say?"
"What makes you think there's anything down there anyway?" Ericks said.
"Bartrand isn't one to go on hunches; he's operating on some good information" Varric said. "Parts of the Deep Roads are old…so old that even the dwarves have forgotten them"
"We get down there then Bartrand leads the way. You and I will be there to handle problems"
Ericks shrugged. "Eh, not like I had anything better to do"
"Perfect!" the dwarf said. "I'll line up the work, you set aside some coin from every job and you'll have the money in no time"
"Brother, maybe Aveline can find us some work; she is one of the city guards now"
"When you get the chance we should talk at the Hanged Man, I'll be there when I'm not with you" Varric then smirked. "Now let's see what trouble we can get into" They headed to Viscount Keep to see Aveline for any jobs available.
Viscount's Keep
The residence of the Viscount of Kirkwall and the seat of government for the city. It towers above the other manors and estates of Hightown and is only rivalled in size by the Chantry. The keep was originally constructed by the dwarves for Tevinter nobles. It is the home of current viscount, Marlowe Dumar and his heir Saemus Dumar. In addition to this the Keep serves several other functions for the city: it provides facilities for various institutions of Kirkwall's government and also functions as a meeting place for petitions to the Viscount's office. It also serves as a site for the conduct of public ceremonies. Located in the southern wing is the barrack, home of the Kirkwall City Guard along with the Guard Captain's office. The Viscount's office and Seneschal's office are situated in the northern wing. The eastern wing houses the throne room which is used for the conduct of public ceremonies as well as the coronation of the new Viscount or Viscountess. The party saw Aveline at the wanted board, shaking her head at all the postings there but nothing being done. She was in the orange and grey armor of the city guards although somethings it felt like she wore the armor for looks.
"Avi!"
Aveline groaned. "I keep telling you not to call me that, Ericks"
"Hey fair is fair, I get to keep bugging you and you get to keep spying on me" Ericks said with a smirk. "By the way, your men should probably lose the armor when trying sneak around, it just makes then look like jackasses"
Aveline just rolled her eyes and then looked at Varric with a frown. "So you're trying to get in with Bartrand, I would watch out for him, he's a son of a bitch"
"You got nothing to worry about, Aveline I'll be watching his back" Varric said.
"You'll forgive me if that doesn't reassure me…:
"So a person in your position seems like they might learn some profitable things" Ericks said.
Aveline crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "You know better than to ask that"
"One day you'll be frustrated enough to go for it"
"It's like I'm sitting on my hands, there are dangerous people in this city" she said. "I can't do anything but you can, I've got a job for you"
"Will it pay?"
"Accept it and we'll talk"
Time to make some cash! Next Time! As Always Review and Comment!
