I have been getting a ton of things done, alas that little of it has been writing or editing.
Keeper
We all bathed that night - all of us who had been on the ramparts, including the Imperial soldiers we had rescued. It was still too early in the year and much too cold, but Harding and a few other soldiers kept a fire going on shore and stacked up a pile of furs for us to use. We grouped up by sex (ridiculous) and shivered our way through lightning-fast soapings and dunkings, and then hurried back to the fire to dress. By the time we emerged, even Cassandra's sense of propriety had gone numb with cold.
Afterward, we sat around the fire sipping tea and eating some rabbits that Harding had roasted with an oil-and-herb rub. Varric recounted our battle through the ramparts with relish. Dorian and Cassandra tried to rein in his more exaggerated claims, while Bull egged them on, suggesting ever more unlikely numbers. I leaned sleepily against Solas, my head not quite resting on his shoulder, and reveled in the sensation of being clean . I wished we were sharing a fur, but otherwise I was content to sit and listen for a long while.
Eventually, Solas spoke to me, drawing my attention from Varric's teasing and Cassandra's sputtering. Varric was telling a version of our story in which she nearly died heroically but was saved by a few well-placed bolts from his own crossbow, and I thought if he didn't stop soon, she might actually hit him. "I'm sorry for my anger earlier," Solas said, bending a little to speak the words into my ear. "I'm not accustomed to attention like yours - curious, intelligent, and penetrating. Though I am of course aware you understand the barrier spell well enough to risk experimenting, were it some spell you were less familiar with…"
I glanced up at him, feeling that he wasn't giving me a full explanation for his instantaneous and exaggerated alarm, but not certain what he was leaving out. "What happened to 'everyone must rely on instinct sometimes'?" I asked him.
He raised one eyebrow. "You learned the spell from watching me, and you might have relied on me instead of instinct. I would have been glad to act had you suggested the course."
I spent a moment considering him. I might have pointed out that I hadn't known at the time what his mana reserves were like or whether he had used up all his potions, but I knew what he wanted to hear, and at length decided to give it to him: "I wouldn't have done it had I been less familiar with the spell." It was, after all, more or less true.
His expression instantly softened. "Ma serannas. I apologize for treating you like an unruly novice. Your use of the spell was undeniably creative and saved us considerable trouble, and perhaps loss of life."
He was gazing at me with warmth and admiration, and I wished very much that he would kiss me, but we were still sitting near the fire by the stream, surrounded by not only our friends but a handful of Imperial soldiers. There was little choice but to content ourselves with shared smiles, at least until we retired to our tent.
In the morning, Harding told me about the Freemen over breakfast. "They seem to be simple deserters tired of fighting and dying for either the empress or the grand duke," she told me as I wrapped a hearth cake around the dried fruit she had stewed and took a bite. "Now they want the Dales for their own - and they're more organized than anyone could have anticipated."
"Suspicious," I commented around my mouthful.
"Particularly given the associations the Imperial soldiers have made between Freemen attacks and the rising undead," Vivienne put in from the other side of the fire. Everyone was already awake, though Varric was at the craft bench, applying the end-products of his alchemy to his bolts, and Cassandra had gone with one of the soldiers to look through our supplies for some decent leather to repair one of the straps on her armor. Cole was also nowhere to be seen, but that was hardly unusual. He would likely pop up if Harding said something that interested him.
"Could be coincidence - people link cause and effect in strange ways when they're scared," Bull rumbled.
"True," I allowed, "but it isn't something we can afford not to look into. If they are responsible, likely the real threat comes from elsewhere, and they are merely its messengers."
"Anyone want to bet against it being Corypheus?" Dorian asked. "No? No takers? I'm offering very good odds…"
"Well, I suppose it isn't as though Corypheus has anything to gain by sowing civil unrest in Orlais and weakening the Imperial army at the same time. Oh, except that's exactly what we're trying to prevent him doing in Halamshiral in a little under two months," I retorted.
"Yes, well…point taken," Dorian allowed, sounding vaguely affronted by my logic.
"There are Dalish in the area," Harding went on. "Our scouts came across a couple of their hunters last night - helped them put down some demons that were attacking. They were wary, but willing to trade information on Freemen and Imperial troop movements. We warned them about the undead, especially around areas where the Orlesians have been fighting."
"Thank you," I told her, more relief than I had intended coloring my tone. "I don't know which clan roams this area, but I'll go looking for them - perhaps today. They really shouldn't be here, and I wonder that they've stayed this close to a shemlen war zone. It's possible they're in need of aid to leave the area."
"I'll show you where we encountered the hunters on the map," Harding promised, "as well as where the Eastern Ramparts and Fort Revasan are. The grand duke's forces - "
"Revas'an?" I repeated, interrupting as I was caught off guard by the name.
"Oh - that sounds much prettier when you say it," Harding said, and I had the feeling she was probably blushing, even though I couldn't see her. "Is it - ?"
"Elvish," I agreed. "It means place of freedom. I wonder how a human fort ended up with the name."
"It's a good question…but not one I would have an answer to," Harding chuckled wryly.
"I would imagine the name of the place predated the fort, and when the fort was built, the builders simply didn't bother to change the name," Solas said. "That's most often how these things occur. I would, perhaps, like to dream in such a place," he added in a lower voice.
"Freedom does sound promising," I said, casting a smile his direction, even though I couldn't see him clearly. I ate my last bite of breakfast. "Show me the locations, Harding," I requested, rising to my feet.
Bull and Solas both came with me, no doubt curious. My sense of direction also wasn't particularly good - when there was no road to follow, it was best if someone else also had some idea of where we were going. "I want to make contact with the clan first," I said, biting my lip in consternation at the inefficient arrangement of my targets.
"Last we heard, Gaspard's forces held this side of the river," Harding told me. She pointed to a point on the other side. "Celene's forces were retreating here, to the Citadelle du Corbeau. They may have destroyed the bridge behind them - at least, that's what I would have done, if I had an army on my ass - but our scouts haven't made it that far north yet. We do know that they haven't made contact with anyone in over a week."
"Oh good, and here I was worried that reaching Celene's forces might be too easy ," I sighed. "All right - I need to convince the clan to leave and remove any obstacles that might be stopping them. Then I need to find Celene's people before I help any more of Gaspard's, or it may cause a major political problem, in addition to whatever dangers they may be facing across the river. Then we have to finish killing the undead on this side of the river."
"So far we've only discovered two rifts, here and here," Harding told me, pointing them out. "There are probably more given how weak the Veil is here."
"Probably," I agreed, glancing toward Bull and Solas. "Anything to add?"
"If the bridge is out, we'll need soldiers to repair it," Bull rumbled.
"Let me see if I can get scouts that far north while you're dealing with the Dalish," the dwarf said. "Maybe if we can find a good spot for a second camp…"
"Do what you can," I told her, "and we'll come help as soon as we finish. Depending on what needs to be done, I might even be able to send someone back to assist you."
"Thanks, Inquisitor, but don't spread yourself too thin. We have a score of soldiers, and a dozen scouts. We can get a lot done."
"Ma serannas, Lace." I was close enough to see her startle a bit at the use of her first name, and to see the blush that spread across her cheeks. "Let's gather everyone and go looking for the Dalish."
Clan Avisenuralas, led by Keeper Hawen, was not, in the end, all that difficult to find, as they were camped beside the very stream we had bathed in the night before, only further toward the river. It was the halla that led me to them. Though the wild ones wouldn't allow me to approach, they still led us when I spoke my request aloud. The rest of my companions, though doubtful at first, helped me follow our four-footed guides, and within half an hour we had reached the Dalish camp.
"They really do listen to you," Dorian said, his voice full of wonder.
"Of course they do," I laughed. "Truly, Dorian, only someone from Tevinter would doubt that beasts can be intelligent. Between mabari and halla, most of the rest of the world is well aware of the fact."
My laughter died as we approached the camp and I felt, even if I couldn't see, wary eyes assessing our company.
"An'daran atish'an, lethallan," the Keeper said as we came within easy conversational distance. I knew him by his aura - that of a mage - and by the reserve in his voice. He had taken note of my unfinished vallaslin , no doubt, and was sizing me up by speaking to me in our ancestral language.
"Tuelanen i'na i nar, Amelan," I replied, aware that my tone was a little stiff, even if the words came out with perfect clarity. "Ara melin re Inana Lavellan, amelan sul the Inquisition."
He hummed mild disapproval - of the role I claimed within the Inquisition, I thought, and not my use of Elvish. "I am Keeper Hawen of Clan Avisenuralas. Your Inquisition has offered our people no insult so far, it is true," he allowed, with the very slightest emphasis on so far . Then his breath caught "Lavellan, you say?" he asked more sharply. "Inana Lavellan. Ah." He raised his voice slightly, to make sure the nearby members of the clan heard. "Deshanna's disappointment."
A flush spread across my cheeks and, behind me, I heard Cassandra suck in a breath. I quickly raised my hand to forestall whatever she might think of saying.
"It…would seem the Creators had another path for me," I told the Keeper quietly, the weight of his disdain pinning my gaze to the ground as though I were still the child my own clan had named me.
He shifted, and I felt he had drawn himself to his full height, though I was staring at his feet - or the smears I knew were his feet, anyway. "And which of the Creators do you suppose laid that path at your feet, da'len? Fen'Harel ma ghilan?"
"If he does," I told the Keeper, my voice flat and stony, "he is guiding me to close the hole in the sky - a task that even Mythal would no doubt find sufficiently worthy of one of the People."
He tsked softly. "If you believe it so."
My temper slipped, and I felt my face pull into a fierce scowl - but before I could turn it on the fool baiting me, I felt Cole's arms wrap around my shoulders from behind. "Deshanna believes it a worthy task," he reminded me quietly. "He doesn't deserve your reasons, and wouldn't hear them anyway. It isn't worth the effort - he has already decided. For now."
No one else, I supposed, could see the spirit-boy - no one commented, anyway.
I took a breath and raised my eyes. "You shouldn't be here, Amelan, this close to a pointless shemlen war."
Hawen scoffed. "And you believe I need you to tell me that, da'len?"
"No," I insisted patiently, "I believe you need to tell me what is keeping you here, so that I can remove the obstacles to the clan's withdrawal. Quickly, before we lose yet another clan to senseless violence."
My pragmatism and grasp of the situation surprised him, I think - not because I was especially quick or clever, but because he had expected so very little of me. I could practically hear him teetering on the brink of sense, but then he once again dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "What will seven people accomplish that the entirety of my clan hasn't managed?" he asked bitterly. His count, I noted, excluded Cole.
"More than you might suppose," I replied, "as we may have specialized skills the clan lacks. But if we prove insufficient to meet your needs, I command a score of soldiers and a dozen scouts whom I can reassign from assessing and potentially repairing the bridge north of here, as needed."
"You command," he scoffed again.
"Cassandra," I said without glancing over my shoulder, "find and speak to the leader of the hunt and ask how the clan's stores fare. Perhaps the Inquisition can provide rations."
"Immediately, Inquisitor," Cassandra answered with the sound her her fist hitting the armor above her heart, and then I could hear her striding off toward a group of non-mage auras - no doubt the ones most prominently holding bows.
"Solas."
"Inquisitor?" he replied promptly.
"Do the same, but for the clan's supply of healing herbs," I instructed. "You know which ones we have a surplus of?"
"I aided Eugenie in taking inventory not two nights ago," he assured me before departing.
"Vivienne, Dorian - walk the camp's boundaries and ensure that whatever wards you find are fully intact. Repair any that seem to be fraying and report back on any gaps." I refocused on the Keeper as my companions acknowledged the request and left to see to it. "You don't appear to have a First, and it must be a strain to keep a camp this large fully warded."
"And what do you believe this display proves?" he demanded.
Cole's arms were still around my shoulders, and so I wasn't too tempted to snap at him. "That the shemlenaan accompanying me are eager to keep up the illusion that I am in command, if nothing else," I replied. "You may as well let us try, Amelan. What do you have to lose? We already know where the camp is if we were inclined to betray you to the Imperial soldiers. If we fail to solve your problems, how are you any worse off than you were before?"
He was silent for a moment. "Better, I suppose," he said bitterly, "that you take the risks rather than asking one of the People to do so."
I was insulted less for myself than for my maela. "We are all of the same People," I told him. "If you know Deshanna, then you know what she teaches her clan. Even the disappointments."
"And perhaps that is why the Creators took her own granddaughter as punishment for her lack of discernment," Hawen shot back.
"I - " Cole's arms tightened, and I bit back the cry that his words tried to pull from my chest: I am not lost.
"You cannot win him with your compassion," Cole whispered. "Not now."
"Your duty is to protect your clan," I reminded him coldly, managing to keep the pain his words had elicited contained. "I am offering you help in doing so. Accept it and hope for success and survival, or reject it and doom the clan to oblivion - but either way, stop wasting my time."
There was another long moment of silence, and at last I turned my head to order Bull to round up the rest of our companions, because I wasn't going to allow Hawen to toy with me all day when there were so many other tasks that we needed to accomplish.
"We came to honor our ancestors at Var Bellanaris," the Keeper said suddenly, before I could speak, "but found it overrun with demons. Sael Taven has, against my wishes, taken many of our young people on an expedition to the Emerald Graves, and our other young mage, Valorin, has gone missing. The shemlenaan dig trenches that foul the wheels of the aravels and trip our halla, and, though we usually come here to hunt the plains in spring, game is sparse this year thanks to a winter of hunting by the two armies that have decided to make the Dirthavaren yet another front in yet another war."
"I will see to Var Bellanaris personally," I told him, "send scouts to share our rations, and task them with finding a path south for the clan. I presume you intend to join your First?"
"I see little other choice."
"I will also have my people keep watch for signs of Valorin as they investigate the land," I added. "Bull," I said, addressing him at last, "find out how long everyone believes their tasks will take, and when they're finished, have them meet us upstream to close the rift Harding showed us."
"Sure thing, Boss," the Qunari agreed easily.
There was no more reason for me to stay - a fact I was grateful for. "En'an'sal'en, Amelan," I said, taking my leave of Hawen.
"Tuelanen ma ghilana, da'len," he replied so quietly that I almost thought I had imagined the words.
An'daran atish'an, lethallan: The place you go is a place of peace, kinswoman/cousin/clanmate
Tuelanen i'na i nar, Amelan: Creators be with you and yours, Keeper
Ara melin re Inana Lavellan, amelan sul the Inquisition: My name is Inana Lavellan, Keeper for the Inquisition
Fen'Harel ma ghilan?: Does the Dread Wolf guide you?
Sael: First
En'an'sal'en, Amelan: Blessings, Keeper
Tuelanen ma ghilana, da'len: Creators guide you, child