The Daughter of Tethras
Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Age
A/N: Oh don't worry, there's definitely a reason for the theory. Actually, I never thought Thedas was the whole planet, I figured there were lands outside the map. Based on the party banter in the War Room where Josephine asks if anyone's ever thought about what was outside of Thedas, but Leliana tells her they have too much going on to even bother thinking of it.
Chapter 24 (The Western Approach)
The blade made a sloshing noise as it sank into the tarred body of a Shade demon. A heated feeling approached from behind and she turned to see the demon of fire known as a Rage demon. Her eyes widened as it began to grow as though someone doused it in oil.
As it neared the peak of its height, it was instantly turned to ice. Thinking fast, Bianca shattered the demon with her axe and smiled when she saw Solas standing with his staff ready. "Thanks for that." He smiled back and lowered his staff.
"You looked as though you could use the help." Bianca chuckled and glanced to the right in time to see another shade demon approaching. She rolled her eyes and smacked it with the flat side of her weapon, causing it to fall back and look around as though disoriented. She then followed through by swinging the blade down in an overhead arc, slicing the creature in two.
"The more help, the merrier." She let out a grunt and felt her left hand vibrate. Her eyes traveled towards the rift in the sky and she raised her hand, sighing as she used the anchor to close the rift.
The rift slammed shut and she clenched her hand while holding in place for a minute. Her breathing was deep and fell from her lips in heavy pants while her hair clung tight to the sweat on her forehead and her neck.
"Those things are easier to fight than humans," she muttered. Her eyes traveled towards the ritual building in the distance, with only a sea of brown desert sand between them. "Thane and Stroud said the grey wardens are meeting out here? Why out here, of all places?"
It was hot, the wind burned her tongue and her body was rough from the sand that blew onto her body. "I suppose it's as good a place as any."
The Western Approach was one of the lingering reminders of the second blight, and it had almost every enemy traversing the deserts. Whether it was darkspawn, the Venatori that worked with Corypheus, or whatever was causing the problems with the Wardens.
After meeting with Stroud in Crestwood, she learned that Corypheus had every Warden in Thedas hearing a fake calling. The calling was supposed to be a noise that made the wardens believe themselves to be dying, and now they were working on some insane plan to end all future blights under the guidance of Warden-Commander Clarel.
"Thank god there are no corpses walking around here, at least." Crestwood was littered with undead that arose from a flood that occurred during the last blight. After they captured the Keep and released the waters, in order to close the rift causing the dead to rise, they discovered it was Crestwood's mayor that caused the flood in the first place.
Cassandra sheathed her sword and took a deep breath. "How many rifts have we closed so far?" Bianca shrugged and looked to her father. Many had already been closed, and scouts were reporting less and less in existence. "Clearing them all sounds excruciating."
"It does." She and her father discussed the process of making sure all the rifts were closed before they stopped Corypheus and left the country, but they hadn't discussed the option with the others yet. Since it was still a thought and not a decision, she didn't want to upset anyone or get anyone thinking something was going to happen when there was no such promise being made yet. "Dad and I are going to ensure they're all cleared out though."
Varric nodded and his mouth curled into a confident smirk. "Yeah." He returned the crossbow to its holder on his back and glanced towards a hyena running in the distance. "Whenever my kid can officially retire from fighting demons, I'll be thrilled."
Cassandra raised her eyebrows and the group started towards the building. "I wonder Varric. When all of this is over, what do you have planned?"
"Not sure yet. We've got some ideas."
The others looked to Bianca and she flashed a smile. "I'm planning on staying with Dad if I can. I've spent too long looking for my father to just separate from him now. We might leave the Inquisition when it's all said and done, though…" Cassandra's mouth turned to an oval and Solas started to hum.
"The purpose of the Inquisition was to restore order to Thedas," Solas said, "I imagine once Corypheus has been stopped and the new Divine is elected, there will be no more need for the Inquisition."
Cassandra grunted on the possibility and shook her shoulders. "I suppose not, but if so, it will be in need of a leader once you leave." She folded her arms and leaned her head to the right. "I would not ask you to remain after everything is finished if you do not wish to stay, Bianca."
"Thank you." She looked at her father, who walked on in front of the group, then back to her father. "Finally meeting my dad, this is my chance to have a normal life. No offense, but the Inquisition gets in the way of that."
"I truly understand, I would not hold you from doing what you wish."
Cassandra picked up the pace, stepping alongside Varric. Bianca watched the two with a smile, listening as her friend apologized for the fight they had before. Solas lagged behind a bit, turning towards her. When she met his inquisitive eyes, she stopped next to him.
"Is there something you want to talk about, Solas?" She smiled at him and he responded with a subtle nod.
"Yes, I was making my rounds the other day and I overheard you and your father." She raised an eyebrow and followed the man closely. "When the two of you were outside Skyhold. You were discussing something, I didn't want to disturb you of course."
"Yeah, what did you hear?"
"You wish to leave Thedas?" She leaned her head back and her lips parted briefly. The old elf furrowed his brow and frowned. "Neither of you appear to be happy here. It's not hard to see."
"There's not a lot of good left in this country. I see no reason to stay when all I have are bad memories. So yeah, we were talking about sailing out to another land…" Her gaze traveled towards Cassandra and her mouth slid into a sad smile. "It isn't something we've decided on just yet, so I didn't want to bring it up with anyone."
"You have made friends here."
"Sera, Cole, Cassandra…everyone." Her heart sank as she thought about leaving them all behind. It was gut-wrenching, but she was certain they'd understand. "It's a fresh start, away from it all. Away from people who hurt me in the past, away from people who hurt my father…so just the two of us."
"I fully understand." His hand rose towards his chin and he scratched beneath it. "You two were speaking of a theory of sorts, something that one of his friends ran into on her travels."
"Yeah." She ran her hand across the back of her neck, sighing as her skin started to sizzle at the touch. "How much do you know about ancient elven history, Solas?"
"Plenty. I know enough that, if you wish honesty, I can say Varric's theory comes very close to reality." Her eyebrows rose and she looked swiftly at him, holding back a gasp of surprise. "There are a few differences to the story, and I don't know the fullest details. I do know that your father's friend is right that humans in another land are startled by the stories of Thedas. The ancient elves saw the dangers of magic and did not wish to corrupt the rest of the world, so they locked Thedas in with a powerful barrier."
"So, they wanted to keep people in and people out?"
"Yes. It is extremely difficult for sailors to leave, and no one comes in unless they were allowed passage through the barrier once before." She was curious how he knew so much about the barrier and its magic, but since he was so well versed in the Fade, it didn't surprise her too much.
"What do you know about dwarves? Anything? Are we just really short humans or something?"
Solas leaned his head back and let out a loud laugh which caused both Cassandra and Varric to turn their heads back momentarily. "Yes. The reason dwarves cannot use magic stems from the two factions of humans that originally sailed to this land before the time of the barrier."
"Oh?"
"They were laborers with their growth stunted by whatever work they'd done from where they came from. They came with military leaders from other lands, those who were average sized or taller. The two groups separated upon reaching land because the laborers wanted to get to work while the other group wanted to get to know the 'natives'. One group mingled with the ancient elves, and that is why humans can perform magic whereas your ancestors built roads and tunnels that eventually led underground."
It took a moment to process the news that her ancestors simply chose not to bother with the ancients, and therefore they couldn't perform magic because it wasn't in their blood. It was an interesting concept, and even more interesting the explanation of why they were still just simply short, her ancestors never mated with the humans or the ancient elves.
"I do not know much more than this, however." Solas crossed his arms and his eyes slanted as they approached the ritual grounds. "I believe it was said that the ancients created the barrier when the humans began to take advantage of the magic. The war that began thousands of years ago between the elves and humans may have resulted in that barrier being erected for all I know."
"Interesting if true." She scratched her head and chuckled softly. "I can't imagine what everyone in Orzammar would think about the fact that we're just short humans to the rest of the world. And that war resulting in the barrier? That's…I don't know what to say to that."
"Honestly it could be a number of things. The ancients may have erected it when the magisters that entered the black city started the blights." A thoughtful hum drifted from her lips and Solas moved his eyes to the side. "At the same time, it may have been before that. The barrier is what holds the blights inside Thedas. The rest of the world is 'pure' while Thedas is corrupted. The barrier may have saved the rest of the world if it was up already…there is no telling what is the truth unless we were to speak to an ancient elf."
"If only…"
"The truth of the matter is, you nor your father have any idea what is outside that barrier. The land may not be impacted by darkspawn, magic, or the blights…but those lands are not without their own troubles."
"I wouldn't expect them to be. It's the adventure I think that matters, really."
"Pilgrimage. Has Varric's friend reported anything more?"
"A little." The outside world had a different calendars than they did. The dominant religion was similar to what the Chantry had with Andraste and the Divine; but like Tevinters had a male Divine, the other lands had a male head of their religion. "They don't have a Divine. They have kings and queens, they have something called a Crusade, and they have Templars…"
Solas choked on the air and put his hand to his chest, stammering out in shock. "Really? They have Templars?" Bianca's brow furrowed and her lips pressed together.
"Yes, but Isabela says they're nothing like the Templars we have here. They can't stop magic of course, they don't take Lyrium-I doubt they know what Lyrium is-and they sound like they think on a much different scale than the Templars here."
"Less oppressive, I hope."
"Yeah. They're tied to the religion of the other lands."
Solas rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Unsurprising."
They reached the ritual grounds and found a Tevinter magister performing a binding ritual on mages. It was horrifying to watch the grey wardens creating demons and being bound to Corypheus's will. When she tried to stop them and make them realize what was going on, it failed.
The magister, Erimond, tried to rip the anchor from her-which was an excruciating ordeal-but she managed to break free. A fight with the Wardens broke out, much to her chagrin. She was grateful when it was over and they could leave.
What they learned was even more chilling: Corypheus was using the fake call to make the wardens believe they were going to end all future blights while controlling them and generating an army of demons that could be used to take over Thedas.
On their way back to Skyhold and after Bianca finished processing everything, she glanced at Solas and muttered under her breath. "And yet you wonder why I would love the opportunity to leave Thedas behind." Whatever problems this mysterious land across the ocean may bear certainly couldn't be as bad as the hell they were enduring here and now.
What are your thoughts? You know, the talk in this chapter makes me think I could probably do a sequel later on. That's down the line. Now, I know Bianca Davri isn't really introduced until after the Fade questline, but do you think I should bump that up? 24 chapters and I feel it's about time to introduce Bianca Davri...The Cadashes found Bianca and Varric (Granted they had no idea he was there), Bianca certainly would know to get there by now...