Chapter 38; Unlikely comrades in arms
Characters of the chapter
Iledia Agent of the Inquisition, mage advisor in matters of the arcane in the court of Queen Daenerys
Isabela Captain of the Siren'sCall II, admiral of the Felicisima armada (self-appointed)
Lyanna Mormont, Lady of Bear Island
Meera Reed Lady of Greywater Watch
Ser Caleb Threestones, Knight of Westeros,Second to Lyanna Mormont
Tallis Ben Hassrath operative
The Iron Bull Leader of the Bull's Chargers mercenary group, former Ben Hassrath operative, Agent of the Inquisition
Jaqen H'gar A faceless man
Varric Tethras, Viscount of Kirkwall, businessman and storyteller
Tallis stirred when she heard the lock of the cell door click. The door opened and two men she didn't recognize entered. They were dressed as Westerosi and that might have fooled most, but she recognized the look of Tevinters about them. Had to be the ones Iledia had mentioned having installed.
Wordlessly one of the two moved to her and began to undo her restraints, while the other one closed and locked the door again. She realized her magical bindings were already gone, having disappeared.
As soon as she was free she stood up, eyeing the two guards warily. Her legs felt a little wobbly, but supported her well enough. She was hungry, thirsty and stiff all over from being chained in place for so long but she suspected she would be just fine once those matters were attended to.
The guard that had locked the door tossed a sack to her, which she caught.
"You equipment. Get dressed. We will bring you to the meeting after." The guard commanded.
Tallis examined the contents of the sack. Indeed, it held her stuff. It seemed to be all there, intact. She had half expected to find something stolen or broken, but someone had apparently ensured that had not happened.
She turned her eyes to the two guards. "Wait outside."
"Our orders are to keep you under guard until the meeting." The other guard said curtly.
She rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to escape. The window here is too narrow for even a child to fit through, the floor under the straws is solid rock, so no way for me to have dug a tunnel, even if I had not been restrained the entire time. There door is the only one way in and out of this room, and you will be waiting just behind it. I just want a little privacy."
The guards looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged and left through the door, leaving the door unlocked. Some moments later she emerged from her cell in her full outfit, her daggers sheathed at her back. The guards nodded to her wordlessly and began escorting her through the corridors, keeping close by just behind her. None of them showed it openly, but tension was clear between them, the Tevinters keeping their hands on their weapons, her glancing over her shoulder at them every now and then, ready to act if they tried anything. She was their enemy, and they were hers. Neither side had forgotten that fact.
She still couldn't believe she had agreed to any joint operation with Tevinters, even if it was better than the alternative and even if it was supposedly for the good of the Qunari as well. The Qunari were reluctant to work with outsiders in general, but it had been done on occasion, when circumstances required it to be so. Her role entailed she often had to work with people outside of the Qun, sometimes in disguise, sometimes in the open. But the Imperium… they were an arch-enemy of the Qunari. And due to her origins she had personal reasons to dislike that people as well.
This was crazy. And by no means was this authorized by the Qun. Her superiors would not be pleased that she had done this. If they heard about this through their own sources before she had a chance to return to them and explain herself, they might just decide that she had gone rogue and declare her Tal-Vashoth. That would be a disaster too terrible to contemplate.
As far as they were concerned she should have tried to accomplish her mission until her dying breath. That was what would have happened had the enemy not unexpectedly decided to take her alive and succeed in the attempt. Since she had not been killed the demand of the Qun was that she try again as soon as that was possible. But there was no doubt the objective was beyond her at the moment. She was alone in an enemy stronghold, surrounded by hostile soldiers and kept under guard at all times. She could not hope to defeat them all on her own, especially now that her incarceration had left her weakened. No doubt security around the Gaatlock had been tightened as well. If she tried anything she would be cut to pieces long before she could reach the place where the powder was. And for all she knew the Gaatlok, or some of it, would have been moved elsewhere, somewhere where she could not find it. That's what she would have done had she been in charge of this. Of course the Qun would expect her to try anyway. So long as the greater whole was served the Qun expected willingness to self-sacrifice for its tenets. To hold the group over the individual was worthy.
She had been a follower of the Qun for most of her life. She believed in it despite its flaws, believed that it could make life better for many. It had done so for her. Every mission she had undertaken in their service had been her taking a risk of losing her life for their sake. She had understood that, had accepted it. But she was not a proponent of dying stupidly, without any chance of accomplishing anything worth a damn. Far better to wait and plan for the moment when it mattered.
And even as she didn't entirely trust Iledia's word, the mage had described a threat that sounded dangerous. If there was any truth to it, then dealing with that would be very important as well, hopefully enough to make up for any failures here. If not… she would have to try to improvise a solution of some kind.
She had to wonder if her friends would have gone along with this in her shoes. All of them would have been upset by the loss of the others. It would have been just a matter of whether of not they could overcome that. Dart might have been easiest convince. He was young and thus impressionable. Even limited appeals to the existence of a common threat would have been enough to sway him. Calm on the other hand would never have done this. She was a diehard loyalist of the Qun and its tenets. She would have never worked with an enemy of the Qunari without direct orders, even under threat. Not even when doing so might have been to the benefit of the Qunari. Hammer on the other hand might have fallen somewhere in between those two extremes. He would have asked Iledia many tough questions to try and determine if this was worth his time. Any threats to his person he would likely have been unfazed by. But his appearance meant he was rarely put on missions where it was necessary to blend in with the locals. So he had had little opportunities to learn to know the bas as a people. He would have been extremely mistrustful of a bas asking for his aid. Especially a Tevinter Saarebas.
It was not exactly comforting to realize that the one of her friends most likely to do what she had done was the most young and naïve of the bunch.
As she and the Tevinters walked along the corridors a guard walked by them, a bored expression on his face. He did not pay enough attention to recognize her, but her eyes widened first, then narrowed again in anger.
"Wait." She told the Tevinters. "There is something I need to do."
"Our lady told us to bring you to the meeting without delay. We cannot tolerate any…" One tried to protest.
"This won't take long." She reassured, already heading past them, straight at the third guard.
"Hey!" She shouted and the guard turned. She was feeling less than herself, but even then her punch was rock hard. It connected with his unprotected face and he fell flat on his back.
"That… was for the beating." She snarled as he lay there stunned.
"And this… is for the rest of it." She said before kicking him as hard as she could. He coughed and groaned, curling into a ball on the ground. She bent down and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him upwards.
"Where is the other one?" She asked, her voice icy.
"Other one? What? I-I don't…" He whimpered before being cut off by another punch.
"The other one! The one with a piece of his lip missing thanks to me! You will tell me now if your life is a precious thing to you!" She snarled.
"I-I don't know! He's not here. He's not here, he is off duty and I haven't the fairest idea where he spends his time." The guars said.
With a deliberately unhurried motion Tallis unsheathed one of her daggers and placed it against the guard's throat. "Liar!" She accused.
Somehow the guard went even paler than moments ago. "I'm not! I swear! By the gods and the Maker I swear! I don't know! Please, please don't kill me! Please…" The guard pleaded, closing his eyes.
Tallis gave a dry look. The guard's pleas sounded genuine. He likely was telling the truth. "Pity." She said, released the guard, then kicked him hard enough to knock him out cold.
She turned back to the Tevinters, pausing when she noticed they had drawn their swords, pointing them straight at her.
"At ease. You're not in danger." She said, sheathing the dagger in her hand. "That was just something personal I needed to do. I'll behave from now on, don't worry."
"Well, I believe there was a meeting I was supposed to attend. Without delay I think you said? So, shall we go?" She said nonchalantly, moving to walk past the two as if nothing had happened at all. The guards still looked tense, refusing to sheath their swords, but they permitted her to pass and resumed escorting her to the meeting.
They led her out of the cells, and into the Small Council chamber behind the throne room, passing two more soldiers standing guard along the way. The mage was waiting there, as were several others.
"Ah. You're here. Good. We can get started." Iledia said on noticing them enter.
"You two can go now." She told the Tevinter guards.
"You should know the prisoner attacked a guard on the way here." One of them said.
Iledia raised an eyebrow and turned to Tallis.
"One of the two to interrogate me. Simple payback." The elf explained matter-of-factly.
"Is he alive?" Iledia asked.
"Yes."
"And the second of the two?"
"Did not find him. Doubt I'll get an opportunity to with all this going on."
Iledia considered for a moment. "I suppose I should be grateful there are no corpses. That would have been rather awkward to explain to the Queen. Alright. I'll let this go. But do not do it again."
"Fine." Said Tallis.
Iledia nodded to the two guards, who departed without another word.
"Seeing as you likely have had a lean few days I arranged to have some food brought for you. Soup, bread and water. Simple stuff, but enough to get to get you back on your feet I should think." She said then.
Tallis gave the mage a puzzled look. "I'm surprised that you bothered."
"You shouldn't be. You are needed fit for duty. Attending to your physical needs is required for that." Iledia said.
"I see. Well how practical of you." Tallis said, her voice still icy. But as she went to sit at the table and eat she was secretly grateful that food and drink was available. The mage had been right in that. It had been a lean few days.
As she ate she turned her attention to the others in the room. Most were people she had never seen before. Other's however… her eyes briefly narrowed in hostility at the sight of Iron Bull. Him she knew. By reputation, though not in person. One of the best agents in the Ben Hassrath, until he had turned traitor and defected to the Inquisition. And then there were…
"Varric?" She said as she recognized him. "And Isabela? You're both here? And apparently have both been roped into this? Small world…" She added, noticing the pirate leaning against a wall.
"Hello Shivs." Varric said, smiling in delighted surprise. "And you can say the small world part again. You're perhaps the last person I expected to see here." He continued, while Isabela gave her a nod and a smile in greeting.
"Didn't expect to be here to be perfectly honest. Things went rather wrong." She said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Wrong in what way? How did you end up here?" He asked.
"She got caught running a mission for the Qunari. Now, in exchange for her life and freedom, she has agreed to assist us with this mission." Iledia said.
"Wait. She's Qunari? You said nothing of that." Said another woman at the table, looking at Tallis with sudden hostility.
"Yes. Her name is Tallis. She is a member of the Ben Hassrath. In essence a spy for the Qunari. An oversimplification but it will have to do."
"Asking me to join forces with someone who defected from the Qun was bad enough. Now you want me to work with a full on Qunari? Her people are as much our enemy in this as the Tevis are. More so, because her people are actively at war with Westeros." The woman argued.
"I do expect it of you, yes. As does your King. The threat we are being sent to deal with requires us to set aside any rivalries we might have amongst ourselves until the mission is complete." Iledia said. "ALL our rivalries." She added, giving Tallis a meaningful look.
"I'm willing to do my share if she is. There is a war, but I'm not here to fight you. Not this time." Tallis said. "Tevis?" She asked in an aside of Iledia.
"Vints. Tevinters. Local slang." Iledia explained with some dryness in her voice.
"But how can we trust her?" The woman asked insistently. "You've said that this thing we are after is powerful. Powerful enough to give the advantage to anyone that possesses it. So how can we be sure the real reason she wants in on the mission isn't so she can claim the artefact for the Qunari?"
"Come on, I didn't even know there was any artefact before I got captured. And you're crazy if you think I got caught deliberately. It's completely paranoid of you to make that kind of assumptions." Tallis protested.
"Is it?" The woman said pointedly. "Even if you weren't planning on it before, who's to say you're not going to do it now that you know? I would assume you're as capable of taking initiative as the rest of us. Or have the Qunari trained that out of you?"
"The risk you speak of is real enough. But not just when it comes to her." Iledia cut in just as Tallis was about to reply with an angry retort. "Your accusation you speak of could convincingly be made of any one of us. Take you for instance. Lyanna Mormont, of Bear Island, who has lost her home to an enemy she is unable to defeat with the means available to her. But with the orb in your control and a willing mage to wield it in your name… why, you could destroy the Qunari and retake you home with ease. They wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of power. So how do we know that isn't the reason you're really here?"
"Mormont? Well that explains the hostility then…" Tallis thought.
"How dare you…?" Lyanna was trying to protest in the meantime.
"I myself could be considered a risk." Iledia kept on speaking. "More so than the rest of you in fact, since I'm the only mage on the mission. I'm the only one of us who can use the orb the moment we find it. If you are going to be worried of someone, worry about me. I think it's safe to say all of us have or might have reasons to take the orb and use it for our own purposes, whether we acknowledge those reasons or not. Furthermore any of us might have allegiances that the rest of us know nothing about. I thank you for bringing attention to this issue. A solution has been devised to prevent this being an issue during the mission. Next I would like to demonstrate how this solution is to work in practice."
"Before you do perhaps we might start with some introductions? While some of us clearly are already familiar with each other, I see more than a few stranger's faces here. If we are to work together we ought to know who all of us are." Another woman with curly hair said.
"Agreed." Iledia said. "I am Iledia, but I believe my name is already familiar to you all."
"But I wonder how many here know it is just a ruse? A mask for you to wear, to conceal the truth of you? Do any of them know?" Tallis thought. Aloud she said nothing.
"And I am Kieran. A mage in the service of the North Kingdom. It has been decided I won't take part in the mission, but I have another purpose in this meeting we will get to in just a moment." Said a young man sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. A slight disappointment in his voice on mentioning he was not on the mission did escape Tallis's ears.
"Here we have Meera Reed, Lady of Greywater Watch. Here, Lyanna Mormont, of Bear Island. Both are sworn to the service of King Jon. Then we have the Iron Bull, Commander of the Bull's Chargers mercenary group. Here, Varric Tethras, Viscount of Kirkwall. Both are here at the Inquisitor's request. Tallis here I think requires no further introductions." Iledia continued, motioning to each in turn.
"And this is Isabela. She is the Captain of the ship that will carry us to our destination and back, but will not participate in the mission further than that." She finished.
"Damn straight. Between the Vints, the Qunari and the overzealous goons in the Merchant Marines, loitering in the Narrow Sea is dangerous enough as it is. No way I'm going into the midst of Vint central when you're about to try a crazy stunt like this." Isabela said.
"I do remember you being involved in risky stuff like this before though." Tallis commented.
"Ha! True enough. I have been. The Qunari probably still remember that whole Tome of Koslun thing. And I would have come on that whole Chateau Haine caper had Hawke not decided to take different people with him. But my guts says this will be different. Way more risky." The pirate said.
"You could be right. I must say I'm somewhat surprised that they managed to convince you to do even this much. No offense, but I can't really picture you sticking around when there is a war on. How come you're even here?" Tallis said.
"Turns out you're not the only one who had things go very wrong and ended on some strange situations as a result. And after a while… Westeros kinda grows on you." Isabela said. "As to why I'm offering you a ride on my ship… they're paying me, plain and simple. Like, a lot of money." Isabela explained.
"Ahem. If you two don't mind, I'm not quite finished." Iledia said. "Here we have… uh… actually what is your name again?"
"A man has been asked to call himself Jaqen H'gar." Said the man that had been quietly watching the situation until now.
"Asked to call yourself? What do you mean?" Meera asked.
"Arya Stark has asked a man to use that name for the sake of clarity, but man has no name in truth. A man is no one, a servant of the Many Faced God. We are often called the Faceless Men."
"A Faceless Man? Alright, having a Qunari agent with us seemed bad. This is a plain crazy idea. You know what they say about these types, right?" Lyanna said.
"I know, I know. I was skeptical myself when this was proposed to me. But Arya Stark says she knows him and has assured me all will be well. I have no particular reason to question her judgement in this. So unless I see some reason to distrust him in the future, I will allow him to say. We will really need the help." Iledia said.
"I suppose I don't get a say in this either. Fuck, at this rate I'll have to be more worried about getting killed from inside the group than outside." Lyanna muttered.
"A possibility the countermeasure will go a long way to preventing. Now that we are finished with introductions he can show you what Kieran has come up with." Iledia said.
She was about to continue, but just then the door swung open and another person stepped through. "Hold. There is one more person that ought to be introduced. Namely myself." Said he.
At the sight of this new person Lyanna stood up abruptly, eyes wide in surprise. "Caleb!? What are you doing here!?" She exclaimed.
"Mister, this is a private meeting handling classified information vital for the security of the Twin Kingdoms! You will leave at once, or I will have you arrested for trespassing! How did you even get past the guards!?" Iledia said angrily.
"Not an easy thing to do. I was concerned I would have fight through them to get here." Caleb admitted. "But when I explained to them I wished to volunteer for this mission you are planning they gave in quickly enough."
"What!? Caleb, I have given you direct orders to look after my people! That was my command!" Lyanna said, anger starting to rise in her voice.
"It is. But our people are as safe as they conceivably can be." He said.
"Safe!? With Qunari and these darkspawn creatures encroaching upon the Kingdoms!? That is safe to you!?" She argued.
"If either of those threats manage to get through the armies of the Kingdoms and our allies I alone am never going to stop them. I will do more good here." Countered he.
"That is not your choice to make. You are sworn to my service. As your ruling Lady you are to obey my commands, even if you disagree with them." She said, her voice stern.
"You are not the only person I have been sworn to." He said in challenge. "I have spoken with the King. He has granted me permission to join this mission. Here is the written order." He continued. Then he turned to Lyanna again. "I'm afraid the King's authority supersedes yours My Lady. You can dismiss me from your service over this, as is your right. But you will not prevent me from coming along on this mission."
Briefly Lyanna stared at him in shock over his words. "You went over me just to get your way? How could you do that to me? How dare you?" She said, now sounding equal parts angry and hurt. "You! I demand that you send him back to Winterfell this instant!" She then said to Iledia.
As has her response Iledia examined Caleb's papers more thoroughly. "The King has clearly given you permission according to these. What is the Queen's opinion on all this?" She asked.
"She has not raised an objection. Frankly I don't think this matter was brought to her attention at all. She has many other concerns to think about. And as I am a northerner my case is for the King to decide, not her." Caleb said.
Iledia considered for a moment, then shrugged. "In that case the matter is quite clear."
"No way… you're just going to let this stand!? You utter bitch!" Lyanna snarled.
"There is naught I can do to overcome a royal directive." Iledia said, her voice rising slightly for the first time during the entire meeting. "Not that I am terribly inclined to look for a way. I'm not going to refuse a volunteer of able means. My concern is for my work over anyone's personal drama, including mine." She then stated coolly.
"But in the interests of that work I must insist that whatever personal issues you have with each other it will not get in the way of the mission. Argue, yell at each other, knock out a few teeth if you must. But once the time comes you are to set personal matters aside and fight together, work together and strive to accomplish our task to the utmost. You will not hold back and you absolutely will not do anything that will endanger our task. Fail to accomplish this and I will have to deal with it, by whatever means I judge to be necessary. Am I absolutely clear on this?" She said then, this time addressing her words to the entire group.
"Perfectly." Caleb said.
Lyanna merely gave an annoyed growl, sat down and pouted. Iledia interpreted that as an affirmation. The others gave silent confirmation as well. Tallis too nodded. It made sense. She had her own animosities, but letting that get in the way of the job would only create unnecessary trouble. In that much the two of them could at least agree.
"Good. Now that that is sorted out perhaps we might finally get on with the actual purpose of this meeting. Next we will introduce the countermeasure against trouble from inside the group." Iledia said.
"Kieran?" She said to the other mage, who nodded and walked to her. Iledia raised her left arm for him, pulling back the sleeve.
"Observe" He said and grasped her wrist, closing his eyes in concentration. There was a strange crackling sound, like the sound of ice breaking underfoot, a green glow emanating between her fingers. When he removed his hand everyone could see that her wrist was now crisscrossed with softly glowing green lines in the pattern of fractured glass."
"This thing on her wrist is a magical binding mark. I have worked on designing the spell for quite some time, ever since I realized the people participating in this mission might not get along and might have ulterior motives." Kieran said.
"…And… what does it do?" Meera asked, somewhat concerned by the mere sight of magic at work.
"For one it allows the bearer to locate anyone who also carries one such. You merely need to place your hand on the affected wrist and think of the one you wish to find and you will get a sense of where the said person is. Should one of us need to be found for any reason, this will allow us to locate them." Kieran said said.
"Another aspect of the spell is that it sustains itself through proximity to others like it. So long as there is another one of these within about two miles the spell will remain stable." He then explained.
"So… what happens if someone carrying one of these marks is further away from another one like that?" Varric asked, sounding worried.
"If someone exceeds those limits the mark begins to feed on itself. Two or three days of separation, and it kills the bearer." Iledia said calmly.
"Holy shit!" Varric exclaimed.
"What? Why would you design something like that?" Asked Tallis, equally shocked.
"Because this way should someone, say, try to steal the artefact, they won't get very far with it. And it will give us a nice incentive to keep each other alive, since unless at least two of us survive, none of us will be coming back." Iledia said.
"In the same line of thinking there is also a way to destabilize the mark even when it is in proximity to others. To do so, again picture the person you want to affect in your mind, but add a sense of something tearing apart and will it towards the person in question. Here, I will demonstrate." She continued. She then closed her eyes and placed two fingers on the mark. The mark started to change color, turning from bright green to a menacing red color, and the mage's expression became pained. Before the mark had completely transformed the mage withdrew her hand and the color returned to green.
"Damn, that's a lot more unpleasant than I thought it would be." She muttered to herself, grimacing. "That is how the mark behaves when it is becoming unstable. But for someone to be killed by this method, it requires all other living bearers to agree to disrupt the mark at the same time. So we will be safe from each other unless we have unanimous opinion that someone needs to die." She then told the others.
With that Kieran moved his hand across the mark, wisps of blue light emanating underneath his palm. The green lines shrunk and disappeared. In seconds her arm was as if there had never been anything on it at all.
"As you can see, the magic can be dispelled. But I am the only mage that knows how to do it. Iledia here has deliberately limited her knowledge of this spell. Any other mages out there would know even less. Once you have returned from the mission I shall remove the marks from you. Until then it is best you not entertain notions of being rid of them." He explained.
"But we have only your word that this works like you say it does." Lyanna pointed out.
"You'll get to test the functionalities of the mark as soon as they're on you." He countered.
"Though I would appreciate if you refrained from murdering anyone with them for the time being." Iledia quipped.
"As for your other concern… I can tell you I have not taught her any of the specifics of this magic. And this is new kind of magic, so it's unlikely she could have figured this out on her own. More assurances than that I cannot give. It will have to do." Kieran said.
"Sure you're not overthinking this? All this just to keep us in check? Odds are none of us are even going to cause trouble." Iron Bull said.
"You could be right. I might be overthinking this. I'd prefer it. But make no mistake: The fate of our world could hang in the balance. So I will prepare for every potential scenario I can think of, and will do my utmost to be ready should unforeseen circumstances arise." Iledia stated firmly.
"So that includes putting chains on us? You'd enslave us to the mission." Tallis said, clearly uncomfortable with the prospect of it.
"I will not force it on anyone. If you do not want it, merely say the word and the spell will not be cast on you." Iledia assured. "But understand this: If you do not accept it, you will not be coming on this mission. This is what is required for your participation, for otherwise you cannot be trusted."
She nodded to Kieran again, and once more he applied the mark on her.
"The time has come to choose. For reasons of security I will not reveal details to anyone who is not committed to the mission. I am willing to bear this mark." She told them.
It was Jaqen that responded to the question first, stepping forth at once and offering his arm to Kieran. Iledia raised an eyebrow at him, surprised at his total lack of reluctance. Nonetheless Kieran applied the mark to him, and Iledia feelt it connect with hers. Lyanna gave a disapproving shake of her head, but stepped forward anyway. Caleb followed, which earned a sour look from Lyanna. Meera looked extremely hesitant, but followed the example of her fellow Westerosi. When the mark was on her she could not remove her eyes from it, suppressing a shudder as she stared at it. Varric offered no verbal protest, but the look in his eye and his uncharacteristic silence revealed he liked this no better than the others did. Iron Bull grumbled something under his breath but cooperated.
Tallis was left last. She was hesitant, repeatedly looking at the mage, the door, her wrist and the floor. She really did not want to go through with this. She could live with enchanted items or mages using their powers to her benefit in combat. But magic like this that would be put directly into her… she wanted nothing to do with that. But how much choice did she have in the end? If the others refused they at least had the option of walking away and returning to their lives. But she was much more starved in her options. If she refused she would face a trial and an execution. And as she had already concluded, that would be a stupid, pointless death…
"Shit!" She finally spat and offered her wrist to the mage. At least receiving the mark was not painful. There was a brief tingle followed by a wave of coolness on her wrist, but that was it.
"Good. Thank you all for your cooperation." Iledia said then.
"Wait. What of her?" Meera asked, nodding towards Isabela.
"She will not be receiving the mark. It would be highly impractical for her to have one given that we may need to travel deep inland, whereas she has categorically stated she will not set foot on the soil of Essos. By the time we return to her ship our mission should already be complete, so there is no real danger from her anyway." Iledia explained.
"Oh. Well, fair enough." Meera said.
"Now that all of us that are supposed to have the mark have it, I can continue to explain to us our mission." Iledia said.
"You have all been told why you are here, with the possible exception of our newest member. But to briefly summarize our objective, we are after a magical orb that greatly enhances the powers of a mage or mages that make use of it. It has already been used to attack the Dothraki, destroying a horde that numbered in the tens of thousands. So now we are to locate it and destroy it before the Imperium can make any more use of it." She then continued on.
"The exact position of the orb is unknown. But my inquiries have put its approximate location somewhere in slaver's bay. My contacts also tell me that the fifth legion is currently in the city of Bellidarius, known to some of you as Astapor. The fifth was also involved in the battle where this orb was first used. So for the time being that city is our best bet to start looking for the orb." She told them.
"What if the Imperium moves the orb somewhere else? Sends it to another part of Essosor ships it to the Imperium?" Caleb asked.
"We have the means to track the approximate location of the orb. It won't disappear from us. Should the imperium decide to move the orb the bigger issue will be catching up to it. Which is why we should endeavor to move as quickly as possible, so we can reach the artefact before the Imperium has a chance to send it anywhere. Fortunately I think it rather unlikely the orb would be sent to Tevinter at this time. Essos and Westeros are the Imperium's targets for expansion, so they'll keep the orb where it can be used to assist with that." She replied.
"The task will not be easy. The orb is immeasurably precious to our enemy and they will protect it accordingly. There is a very high likelihood that some or all of the members of this team will not make it home. And given the importance of this any and all casualties, including civilian deaths and the destruction of our team, will be acceptable as long as this mission is completed." She concluded.
"Well, shit." Varric said quietly.
"And you waited this long to tell us this? Waited until we could no longer back down? I've my people to look after so I'd rather not give my life for this mission. This would have affected my decision." Lyanna said, her tone accusing. Varric and Meera nodded in agreement. Even Caleb, who has so steadfastly insisted to join the mission, looked a bit more hesitant than earlier.
"I know it is much to ask, and we will of course try to make sure we come back from this. But make no mistake: If we do nothing this weapon will inevitably be turned against us, and everyone you've ever known will be at the mercy of Tevinter and the Venatori Loyalists. And trust me, that is the last thing you want to happen. For the causes and people you fight for, this must be done, even if it kills us." Iledia said.
Lyanna considered. "I suppose… since you put it that way… there isn't that much choice for any of us. So fair enough. Still, next time tell me information like that ahead of time. I would like to know what I'm getting into before agreeing to anything."
"Yes, perhaps I should have done that. My apologies." Iledia agreed. "But for what it's worth I didn't for a moment think you were going to walk away from this once you understood the stakes. I just needed you to stay put long enough to hear them."
"Fine. But this orb better be as important as you're saying it is." Lyanna said.
"Is there anything else we know? Like what kind of defenses the Tevis have put around this thing?" Meera asked.
"Sadly no. Our efforts have revealed nothing on that and it's dangerous for my people to poke around. If the loyalist notice that they'll be put on alert and this will become even harder for us. We will not be able to have that kind of information until we manage to locate the artefact. We do know of a potential ally in Essos. Queen Daenerys has told me of one Daario Naharis, a commander of a mercenary group known as the Second Sons and an old ally of hers. At one time he had been given stewardship over Slavers Bay. After being ousted from that position he has tuned his mercenaries into a resistance movement, fighting the Imperium in the Queen's name. As someone local he has better knowledge of the area and potentially contacts within the cities themselves. And the numbers he commands might be useful in assisting us as well. Once we reach Essos we will seek to contact him, though our primary focus must remain on finding and neutralizing the orb. With the Queen's assistance messages have been sent advising him we might seek to do so." Iledia said.
"When do we set out?" Tallis asked, breaking off her contemplation of the mark on her wrist.
"At once. Waiting only increases the odds our enemy will get a chance to use the weapon a second time. Captain Isabela tells me her ship is already supplied for the trip and ready, so as soon as everyone has packed their things, we will be setting off."
"Well then, seeing as the meeting looks to be over I'll get back to my ship. And from the bottom of my heart… you're all fucking insane for trying this. Oh, and one more thing: My ship, my rules." Isabela said. "That goes for you too, Miss Spy Lady." She added to Iledia.
"Understood, but why am I being singled out?" The mage said.
"You look like someone who's used to giving orders and getting her way. But if I'm to get you to Vint territory and back safe and sound I must have full control. I can't be second guessed or challenged by anyone, for any reason. Plus it's my ship and I won't have anyone giving orders on her but me. I'll get you to where you need to go, but I'm not about to take any other orders from you." Isabela said.
Iledia nodded. "I won't challenge your command of the ship."
Isabela departed the room. Lyanna left soon after. Caleb tried to speak to her but she waved him off, clearly not in the mood to talk. Meera and Jaqen left soon as well. With nothing to pack Tallis decided to finish her food.
"One thing has been bothering me about this. The one thing we know for sure is that these orbs can cause huge explosions when mishandled. For all we know we could end up causing another one when we try to break the orb. Not necessarily what might happen, but it could. And you said this one might well be in the middle of a city. I don't fancy getting blown to bits, but we know the risks at least. But I'd rather not risk levelling an entire city if we can avoid it." Varric said, he and Iron Bull lingering in the room.
"Agreed." Iledia said. "If we have that luxury I'm all for moving the orb into a remote location before attempting to destroy it. But we might not have that option, so I can't promise anything. The orb must be destroyed, even if it means risking a city. You do understand that?"
Varric sighed. "Yeah, I get it. I just hope we get lucky."
"Just out of curiosity, where did you get the idea for these… marks? They look a bit like the anchor Rydeon had." Iron bull said.
"It is in fact based on the same brand of magic, a result of Inquisition studies of the Breach and the anchor. That is one of the reasons a mage other than Kieran would have difficulty dispelling it." Iledia said.
"What the… are you shitting me!? You do realize the anchor nearly killed him!? And cost him an arm!?" Iron Bull protested.
"Calm yourself. I said based on the same magic, not that it was an exact replica. And this magic has been tested. There is no risk of it becoming unstable like the anchor. It is safe." Iledia said.
"Tested… how?" Varric asked.
"By placing it on a test subject. I carried out that experiment a few days before this meeting." She explained.
"I thought you said you didn't know how these marks work?" Bull asked.
"I did. I used a variant of the magic in the test. Kieran's version is sufficiently different that I can't undo what he did. But one close enough to my version that I'm not worried. Considering I bear the mark myself, I think that should be assurance enough." Iledia said.
"I also examined her notes from her research. She was very thorough and like her I am convinced this is safe to use. And yes, I can verify that her use of this magic was sufficiently different the she won't have the knowledge to dispel the marks." Kieran supplied.
"This test subject of yours… I hope it was a volunteer at least." Varric pressed.
"Uh, no. But someone rather involved, so you needn't be upset." Iledia said, while Tallis nearly chocked on a mouthful of bread on hearing the words.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some last minute tasks to oversee before our departure." Iledia said, turned around and strode from the room with Kieran.
"That one… playing a very dangerous game she is." Iron Bull growled.
"Tell me about it…" Varric concurred as the two left the room.
Tallis meanwhile was staring at the magical mark on her arm with wide eyes. "Test subject… the magical shackles… that bitch!"