Leliana looked around the table of advisors and sighed knowing the topic they all wanted more information on but were looking at her for and she simply did not have it. "Leliana what does your network tell you about this Shartan." Josephine asked finally broaching the topic they had all been dancing around. "Nothing at all." She sighed. "What do you mean nothing you have had nearly three days to dig into this man's past and you know nothing!?" Cullen asked stunned while Cassandra looked unhappy, 'clearly she had been hoping to get more information on her soulmate.' Leliana thought sadly for Cassandra knowing how hard it was to know next to nothing about your soulmate like herself and Tabris when they first met.
Leliana glanced down at the notes she had compiled on their savior, after taking a deep breath she decided to tell the group everything they knew at this point. "Here is what we know about him so far based on what he has said and done and the few remarks from Solas." Cullen broke in at this point looking confused. "Have you not questioned Solas about him?" "I have but he refused to answer anything until he could confer with Shartan." Josie looked even more confused as Solas had been nothing but polite and honest with her. "Why does he refuse to speak of Shartan, I would imagine that he would want to prove his friend's innocence?" Cassandra spoke at this point as she was the only one among them who had been with the man the entire time. "It seems that once they might have been friends but something happened between them and he has never forgiven Solas for it and Solas seems to be absolutely terrified of the man."
"That is part of what we know." Leliana said bring the group back to what they knew not what they were guessing. "If he is to believed then he was the last high priest and soulmate to one of the beings the dalish once worshiped as gods, he also seemed to hint that he has been involved with shaping the world for some time." Cassandra raised another point. "He also claims that he and Solas worked together to create the veil and because of his work in that he is truly immortal now and has lived undying since and has watched me die over and over again every time I reincarnate." Josie made a sad sound at the sad tale, before they could say more a scout ran into the room panting saying that the advisors needed to come quick as the herald was up and in the process of killing a group of Templars. Cassandra swore remembering the hate Shartan bore to the chantry and ran out of the room.
Shartan woke up and immediately reached for his magic to scan the area around him before moving slowly so as not to startle the elven woman in his room. "Excuse me Dalen where am I?" The woman squeaked dropping the box and before it could it the floor Shartan stopped it with a gesture as he felt better than he had in years due to the mark strengthening his tie to the fade. After calming the woman down, he let her leave and processed to get dressed in his simple dalish hunter's clothes. Dyed in colours of pale browns and forest greens with a camo cloak thrown over top he left the cabin and was faced with a large crowd that he began to move through as they parted around him.
As he was nearing the edge of the crowd he heard a disgusted snort. "Ha like Andraste would send a fucking dalish knife ear and a fucking mage at that I mean even his name is heresy!" the leader of a small group of Templars who were all wearing full armor and full face helms. "But the maker loves all and Shartan was her campion before so why not a Herald this time?" Said a wisp of an elven woman and the lead Templar backhanded her hard enough to draw blood and send her sprawling in the snow. "Shut it knife her your kind need to learn you place!" at these words Shartan moved to the woman's side and rested a hand on her shoulder, channeling healing magic into her he spoke gently but using magic to carry his voice to all. "Thank you for defending our kind's honour Ma Falon, I am sorry you got hurt for speaking what you believed to be the truth." The woman clung to him and started crying and the Templars behind him laughed.
Shartan rose slowly and allowed his magic to begin swirling around him. "Was there something funny? Or has your order's corrupt lyrium chain finally reduced what little minds you had to mush?" Shartan asked in a cold voice eyes glowing and turning hard. "What did you say knife-ear? How about we teach you a lesson?" "And what lesson would that be how to be a mindless brute that can't count past three?" Shartan said snidely in an artic voice. With a roar the lead Templar drew his sword and charged the unarmed elf, Shartan simply sidestepped the man and tripped him sending him sprawling into the snow hard. The rest of the Templars drew their swords before moving to surround the elf with much more care than before and Shartan just laughed coldly. "Come on six Templars against one little mage surely the order has not fallen so low that it takes six to take one mage no wonder the mages rebelled if you can't manage a single mage how could you deal with a tower full?" Shartan taunted making the leader advance signaling his men to back off before he snarled at the mage, having lost his helm in the fall his burned and scared face showed.
"see these elf? I got them fighting your kind before don't think your little face markings will protect you, your whore goddess has abandoned you!" Shartan's face contorted into a mask of pure fury and Solas who had just entered the ring forming heard the words and paled as he knew what was about to happen. The blood writing on Shartan's face glowed brightly as his rage built and he started to glow even brighter until it was blindingly bright, when the light faded there stood Shartan's large pure black Hart form the only colour was the markings of Ghilan'nain showing on his head and muzzle. Rearing on to his hind legs Shartan crashed down on top of the Templar caving in the chest plate as the weight of his form crashed into the steel, under the plate the rib cage smashed piercing the heart and lungs. Shartan turned to the other Templars who were now backing away in fear of the large creature that had just killed their leader with ease and Shartan leapt attacking the second of the group and killed him just a fast and brutally as the last. He was about to kill and third when a voice called out. "Shartan stop!" and the large hart stilled at the sound of his soulmates voice and turned to face the seeker who was pushing her way through the crowd.
Cassandra flew down the steps of the chantry to where the large crowd was and she saw a flash of light quickly followed by the sound of metal screaming as it was forced into a new shape, shoving her was through the crowd she saw for the first time in the flesh the large hart of her dreams except this was not the tranquil wise hart this was a hart with eye burning from hate as it crushed another man to death. "Shartan stop!" she cried and to her relief the hart stilled and turned to her before changing back into his elven form with a warm smile upon his face as he watched her. "What are you doing!?" she yelled at him and he lost his smile and his face to a hard edge. "Teaching these Templars that striking an elf for defending her view is not something I will allow and besides they attacked first." Shartan said and Cassandra rounded on the remaining Templars who had tried to leave but found Solas standing there with magic glowing bright along his staff. "I believe the seeker and Shartan would like to speak with you fools." Solas said coolly, Cassandra glanced at Shartan and saw a look of approval cross her soulmate's face.
The Templars explained their side and by the end the other advisors had arrived and everyone of them looked like they wished that Shartan had killed them before the seeker could arrive. Cullen ordered his men to haul them to the cells, Shartan spoke up at this point as Cullen was ordering their treatment. "Make sure they get no lyrium at all, perhaps without titian blood in their veins they won't be so inclined to harm others." There were several gasps from those who knew the pain that would cause. "Do you know what the pain that would cause them herald?" Cullen asked angrily and Shartan looked at him with a look that cowed not just Cullen but made those around him back away in fear. "I have had to live through several of my soulmates quitting lyrium so they could remember our last years together, so yes commander I do know the pain as I have felt it through my mark and I have even felt the pain of one of my most devote soulmates begging the maker for release as the pain of dying from withdrawal burned her alive from within." Shartan's voice was colder than ice, Cullen nodded before ordering the men to be taken away. "Come we should speak inside, Solas if you could come as well please?" Leliana asked guiding the group to the chantry as the guards broke up the crowd.