Chapter 10: Justice
"We arrived in the dead of night. We had been tracking the maleficar for days, and finally had him cornered... or so we thought. As we approached, a home on the edge of the town exploded, sending splinters of wood and fist-sized chunks of rocks into our ranks. We had but moments to regroup before fire rained from the sky, the sounds of destruction wrapped in a hideous laughter from the center of the village.
There, perched atop the spire of the village chantry, stood the mage. But he was human no shouted prayers to the Maker and deflected what magic we could, but as we fought, the creature fought harder. I saw my comrades fall, burned by the flaming sky or crushed by debris. The monstrous creature, looking as if a demon were wearing a man like a twisted suit of skin, spotted me and grinned. We had forced it to this, I realized; the mage had made this pact, given himself over to the demon to survive our assault."—Transcribed from a tale told by a former templar in Cumberland, 8:84 Blessed.
Kirkwall Chantry-Night
"Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter…Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter…Blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter" one of the Templars said frantically. The gang watched in utter fear as the watched mage tore the Templars into bloody chunks. Bethany crouched with her hands clasped tightly around her ears, trying to block out the sounds of screaming.
"Maker please, someone make him stop!" Bethany said in tearful fear.
"Anders! Anders, that's enough!" Ericks said. He tried to stop the mage from killing more of the Templars but he was just swatted away like a fly. Anders was about to kill the last Templar until he heard a familiar voice.
"I…Anders, what did you do?" The mage soon went back to his senses and looked back with wide eyes. Karl was looking around in a daze but somehow…tranquility was reversed. Anders ran to his friend, Karl looked around at all the dead Templars and he remembered what the mage did to them but that didn't matter to him…he was happy Anders killed the Templars. "It's like…you brought a piece of the Fade into this world"
Karl held himself and shuddered, tranquility was worse than death…at least when a person died; they were themselves before everything dark. When a person is tranquil, it wasn't just their dreams that was removed, their hopes, their desires…everything that make a person a person is stripped away leaving only a walking husk. And Chantry called this mercy…it was cruelty beyond measure. "I had already forgotten what that feels like"
Ericks crossed his arms with a frown. "Anything you like to say, Anders? Like what the hell that angry glowing bit was about?"
"It's like a gateway to the Fade inside you. It led me out of that fog like a beacon"
"I have…some unique circumstances, yes. But Carl, what happened? How did they get you?"
Karl sighed. "The Templars are far more vigilant than in Ferelden. They found a letter was writing you…" he said. "Tranquility….is so much worse than we all thought, Anders. The color, the music in the world, all stripped away from you.
"I would gladly give up my magic to be normal…but this? I'll never be whole again"
"This is what mother and father was protecting me from" Bethany said.
"What do you mean, Karl?" Anders asked.
"Whatever you did is fading, I'm…losing myself" he said fearfully. "Anders, you must kill me before I become empty again" Anders came forward and caressed his cheeks. Tears ran down his face, now Ericks understood Karl was more than a friend to Anders…much more. Whatever he felt about the mage and his strange powers was replaced with pity.
"Karl, no…" Karl gripped Anders' hand tightly.
"I would rather die a mage than live as a Templar puppet" he said. "Just promise me, my love, don't let this happen to anyone else" Anders pressed his forehead to Karl's.
"I got here too late…I'm sorry, Karl…I'm so sorry" he said sobbing. "You will be avenged, I promise you" Anders took out a dagger and stabbed Karl in the heart; he took one last breath as his eyes went dark. The mage then held his body and sobbed. Bethany came up and placed her hand on the Anders shoulder, despite her fear of him being an abomination…she still felt sorry for him.
"We must leave, Anders before more Templars come"
Anders' Clinic
The gang left the Chantry and went back to Anders' clinic in Darktown. Everyone was quiet on the way back, after what happened no one was feeling a bit talkative. However there was the matter of what Anders did or rather what he is. Anders was an abomination, a creature created when a demon possesses a living being with magical abilities. There are stories of abominations that have ravaged entire settlements or even gone on to tyrannize countryside for years after their creation. When an abomination appears, the Templars will go on high alert to destroy them due to the damage they do and the fact they will try to create more abominations. Ericks had to admit, this was one of the few times he wanted to go to a Templar but now that they were associated with Anders, they would not hesitate to kill them due to believing the gang were thralls too far gone to be saved. "So, let me guess. This is the part where you tell me you're an abomination?"
Anders turned and sighed. "You're wrong…but not that wrong" he said. "I…this is hard to explain. When I was a Grey Warden, I met a spirit of Justice who was trapped outside the Fade"
"We became friends and he recognized the injustice that mages in Thedas face every day"
Ericks raised a brow. "And…that's different from a demon?"
"Demons prey on the sins of mankind but there are good spirits who embody our virtues" Anders said. "Spirits of compassion, fortitude…justice"
"They are the Maker's first children, and they have all but given up on us"
"And this has to do with your eyes glowing because…?" Ericks asked.
"To live outside the Fade, he needed a host…there was a battle at Vigil's Keep" Anders said. "Long story short, it went bad for both us and here we are"
"It was disturbing at first…but then I had the idea of working together to bring justice to every child that were ripped away from their parents to be sent to the Circle" he then sighed. "But…I guess I had too much anger, once he was inside me, he…changed"
"Huh…and this spirit just lives in your head?" Varric asked.
Anders shook his head. "No, we are one. We can feel each other's thoughts" he said. "Not even the greatest scholar could tell you where I end and he begins"
"That didn't look like a happy, benevolent spirit back there" Ericks said.
"Since when is justice happy? Justice is righteous, Justice is hard" Anders then stopped himself. "I had too much hatred in me. Justice thought he would overcome that" But it was too much, the anger, the outrage at what the Templars were doing to his fellow mages but was powerless to do anything about it. Whenever it became too much, Justice would come out…but he was nothing like he was when Anders was in the Grey Warden. It was no longer about justice but vengeance and he had no grasp of mercy.
"Well, you certainly have an interesting story" Ericks said
"I know this was…more than you were expecting and despite that you stayed with me" Anders said. "My maps are yours, as am I, if you wish me to join your expedition" The gang turned in for the night after an exhausting experience. Varric took the maps with him to have his people give them a good looking over. Ericks and Bethany got home they found Gamlen waiting for them, he got a couple of letters all from Athenril on potential jobs. Now that Bartrand had a viable map to the Deep Roads, the expedition would no doubt start very soon. They needed to hurry and come up with the fifty sovereigns. Ericks found a letter that caught his eye, one of Athrenril's contacts named Anso. He was asking around for someone competent for a job, the man always paid well which meant there was high demand to snap up this job. Tomorrow it was time to get to work.
Lowtown Bazaar-Night
The next night, the gang headed out to meet up with Athenril's contract. Thanks to Aveline's promotion, the guardsmen were more organized than they ever were under Jeven. Because of that, Lowtown at night seem a little safer, safe enough to have a couple of people to be out at night anyway. At the bazaar was a black haired dwarf in fancy clothing, he was moving his wares. "Are you Anso?" The dwarf jumped up and quickly turned in shock.
"Sweet mother of partha! You can't just run up someone like that!" The dwarf was looking around nervously, what Anso expecting trouble? "Are you him? The human Athentil told me about? The problem solver?"
"Yeah that's me, everyone's favorite little problem solver" Ericks said. "You seem a little jumpy"
"Jumpy? Me? Oh no, no!" Anso said. "My apologies, human. I haven't been on the surface very long. I keep thinking I'll fall up into that sky any minute!"
Varric chuckled. "Bartrand used to be like that too. You should have seen him every time he stepped outside"
Bethany tilted her head. "Such a bizarre thing to be scared of"
"But I digress! I need some help…rather badly, in fact. Some product of mine has been…misplaced" Anso said. "The men who were supposed to deliver it decided not to. If you retrieve my property, I could reward you handsomely"
Aveline crossed her arms. "Funny you couldn't report this to the city guards" she said. "What did these men steal exactly?"
"Did I say steal? I don't know if I would go that far" he said. "They seemed like perfectly reasonable smugglers, they smiled and everything!"
"The goods are valuable, however. And illegal. And my client wants them very, very badly! You know how these Templars can be"
Aveline frowned. "So I see, you're smuggling lyrium to the Templars?"
Varric groaned at this, Anso was way over his head with this. Lyrium was a valuable commodity in Thedas for the underground and above ground. "Maker's breath. Between the Chantry, the Carta, and the Coterie…"
Anso paled. "Shh! By the Paragons, not so loud!" The dwarf's took deep shaky breaths. "My word…I'm not cut out for this. I should have taken that job sweeping the stables like Mother insisted"
"Wise woman…look, you make it worth my time and I'll help you" Ericks said.
"Oh I will! Or at least try to" the dwarf said. "The gentlemen conduct their business at night in a little hovel within the alienage"
"If you have to kill them, then I guess it can't be avoided. But I'm sure they're reasonable"
Kirkwall Alienage-Night
Kirkwall's Alienage is the home of the elves in Kirkwall. Every night the Kirkwall City Guard closes a great iron gate at the entrance to the Alienage. Yet, despite their poverty, the elves still take comfort in the fact that they are not as bad off as the residents of Darktown.
"Reasonable, my ass…" Ericks grumbled as he took down his seventh. When the gang arrived in the Alienage, they found the area heavily guarded with highwaymen. When they encountered the gang, there was no talking whatsoever, the highwaymen attacked without warning. Once they were done with the group outside, the gang headed inside where traps and more highwaymen awaited. After defeating them, Erick headed for the chest.
Aveline crossed her arms. "They were clearly expecting someone"
"It's empty" Ericks said.
Varric shook his head. "Waste of bloody time! Who put us up to this?"
Ericks sighed. "Another day, another empty wallet" he said. "Let's go back to Anso and tell him" The gang exited the hideout and was met with a large group of very heavily armed thugs.
"That's not the elf! Who is that?"
One of the thugs drew their blade. "It doesn't matter! We were told to kill whoever enters the house!"
Another long night! Next Time! Review and Comment!
