The ring opened a secret passageway inside the mill as Teagan had promised. It was dusty and cold in the hallway the party found themselves in, it was also filled with corpses. The corpses were very interested in a cell door. Ezra and Alistair took care of the corpses easy enough and when the corpses lay dead the heard a voice coming from the cell.
"Hello? Who's there? Is there anyone alive out there?" the voice asked. The party approached the cell and saw a man inside. He was wearing simple robes splattered with blood. "Wait... you don't look like the arlessa's guards. Are you from outside the castle?"
"Yes. We came in from the tunnel," Ezra said immediately regretting it. They had no idea who this man was and telling him about the tunnel could possibly spell trouble.
"There's a tunnel? Then...why hasn't anyone in the castle used it? We could have all escaped by now!"
"I wondered that myself actually," Ezra mumbled to himself. Except he was louder than he thought and the man heard him.
"Hmmm. Curious. None of this makes any sense, not that anyone cares much what I think," the man in the cell said. "My name is Jowan. I'm a mage Lady Isolde hired to tutor her son, Connor. Until they, ahhh, threw me in the dungeon here."
"So you're the one who poisoned the arl?" Alistair asked.
"I'm not proud of it. The arlessa had no idea what I was hired to do when she took me in to tutor Connor." Jowan paused. "I...I know it looks suspicious, but I'm not responsible for the creatures and the killings in the castle. I was already imprisoned when all that began!
"At first, Lady Isolde came here with her men demanding that I reverse what I'd done. I thought she meant my poisoning of the arl. That's the first I heard about the walking corpses. She thought I'd summoned a demon to torment her family and destroy Redcliffe. She... had me tortured. There was nothing I could do or say that would appease her. So they...left me to rot," Jowan explained.
"Why did you poison the arl?" Ezra asked.
"I was instructed to by Teyrn Loghain. I was told that Arl was a threat to Ferelden, that is I dealt with him Loghain would settle matter with the circle. You see, I'm a maleficar: a blood mage."
"A blood mage! Well that isn't good," Alistair said shaking his head.
"I dabbled in the forbidden arts, and they condemned me to death for it. I thought Loghain was giving me a chance to...redeem myself..." Jowan sighed. "But he's abandoned me here, hasn't he? Everything's fallen apart, and I'm responsible! I have to make it right somehow, I have to!"
"Calm down, getting upset will help no one," Ezra said. "Why did the arlessa need a mage to tutor her son?"
"Connor had started to show..signs. Lady Isolde was terrified the Circle of Magi would take him away for training."
"Connor? A mage? I can't believe it!" Alistair exclaimed.
"She sought an apostate, a mage outside the Circle, to teach her son in secret so he could learn to hide his talent. Her husband had no idea" Ezra listened to Jowan's words and nodded. He had one more question for Jowan.
"Why would Isolde be frightened of her son becoming a mage?" Ezra asked.
"Because he would be taken away. Forever. A mage cannot inherit a title, even the son of a powerful arl. She is also a pious woman. Her son having magic was...humiliating."
"I see. I think I understand."
"I never meant for it to end like this. I swear. Let me help you fix this," Jowan said.
"He wishes to redeem himself...doesn't everyone deserve that chance?" Leliana reasoned.
"I don't know," Alistair said sighing. " He is a blood mage...but this is an unusual situation."
"Give me a chance, please!" Jowan pleaded.
Ezra thought about it. He knew blood magic was dangerous but ancient elves had used it and even elves he knew today used it. Merrill even used it to help him. Could men not control blood magic without it reeking havoc? Would releasing Jowan only cause more trouble down the road?
"What would you do if we released you?" Morrigan asked interrupting Ezra's train of thought.
"I'd... well, I'd try to save anyone still up there. There must be something can do."
"That is commendable for most," she said. Morrigan didn't trust him, and Ezra was with her on that.
"I'm glad you think so. So what now?" Jowan asked.
"I think we'll let you stay here for now. There are no more corpse so you should be safe," Ezra said .
"Then I will wait. If you change your mind, I will be here."
Ezra and his party continued through the passage to the castle. There were corpse littered through the halls and rooms. The party fought them off and finally came to the end of the passageway. They ascended the stairs and entered Redcliffe castle.