Chapter 3
A letter from the Commander of the Gray in Ferelden to Divine Victoria
To her most holy,
I must congratulate you on your ascension to the Sun-Burst Throne. I apologize for the Wardens of Ferelden being unable to assist your Inquisition during the entire struggle with the Breach and all the problems that came with it. However, I must taint this letter to you with the most depressing news. It seems that the Hero of Ferelden and former Warden-Commander has perished. He has apparently died while taking an army of Darkspawn with him though as we all knew he would. Even then, we believe that it wasn't the Darkspawn themselves that brought him down but nature itself had to intervene. A collapse of significant magnitude in the Deep Roads trapped him too far for us to get to him. Enclosed in this letter to you is a letter for your spymaster Leliana Nightingale as I am told she works for you now. Please see to it that she receives it.
The griffons will fly again,
Nathaniel Howe Commander of the Gray in Ferelden
The enclosed letter to Leliana and Alistair
Dear Ms. Nightingale and Commander Alistair,
I understand you would normally hate to receive any sort of correspondence from me but I must agree with Nathaniel that since I was the last person to see the Commander alive I should provide you with the story of what happened.
He was desparate for an idea. You know how much combat that does involve. The two of us and his hound packed and we left for the Deep Roads. Now that we have received word from the Orlesian Wardens that Corypheus was the cause of what we were trying to solve, I wish we could turn back time and inform him that you both shared similar goals.
We searched for a massive horde that could truly free his mind and allow thoughts to come together. And we found it. Eventually. We decided to rest before we started the fight just in case. That was only the beginning of our problems.
He got antsy again. Couldn't sit still. He left the hound with me and went to scout out everything. After a few hours when he didn't return I got concerned but I could still sense him. I could still feel the Veil having not been touched with any kind of magic to pass through it. He was not in danger.
That's when the horde moved. Suddenly and without warning. They converged on his location. I could sense the thirst for his blood through the Taint. Whatever he was doing, he got their attention. We moved to assist. Tried to thin the heard. Regroup and retreat.
That's when a new feeling came over me. One of utter terror. I felt it through my senses and by how he acted Barkspawn did too. That's when another feeling overcame us. This was physical though and snapped us out of terror. An earthquake. One of magical origin. And it was powerful. Your brother quite literally brought down the entire section of the Deep Roads we were in. I was lucky to grab the hound and make it out alive. After heading back the only thing we could sense was the blood of the fallen. Crushed under rocks. Using my blood magic I was able to push my senses farther than most wardens. There was no living thing but the hound and I for miles. Blighted or not. The Hero of Ferelden died by his own cave in to make sure the horde we found wouldn't ever trouble another soul.
I am sorry I couldn't save him. It is my greatest regret.
Avernus