Maxwell, his guard, Cullen and Leliana were in the war room, a map rolled out in front of them. They were moving markers around, and occasionally making notes. He watched them for a moment. Theron looked oddly familiar to him. Suddenly it clicked. The dead elf in the room where they'd held Leliana, back in that strange future. He pushed the memory away. "What are you two doing?"
"Recreating events," Leliana replied. "Unfortunately from memory." She looked at Theron. "The Blades of Hessarian have reported stragglers on the Storm Coast, but not any groups larger than a half-dozen."
"And that makes no sense. One of the last reports we received put a nest in the mines here. With so many refugees in the area, there should have been sightings. Attacks."
"Perhaps there were, and it was assumed to be demons?"
"Possible, but there are enough veterans in the area you'd think someone would have noticed the difference." He tapped the map. "Here."
"I agree." She looked up at Maxwell. "Faren has already dispatched a team down there. Grey Wardens are best suited for that job."
"Agreed," said Maxwell.
"Now onto business," said Theron. "As you know my task was was assembled to take down an awakened darkspawn. Firstly I must ask how familiar are you with the events in Amaranthine, just after the death of the Archdemon?"
"What I heard ranges from the remains of the horde to another Blight with entirely new darkspawn."
"I'm afraid the latter is far closer to the truth." He told him of the Architect and the Mother, and the creation of the children.
"So Corypheus wasn't the first of these talking darkspawn," said Adaar.
"No," said Theron. "Fortunately Faren could see the dangers of allying with such a person. After that incident I took the body of the Architect and began autopsy. Then when we got wind of Corypheus, I did the same."
Erdic put the pieces together. "You think that the Architect was another ancient magister, don't you?"
Theron nodded. "They're both emissaries and able to talk. Also the name 'Architect' was a big clue. The abundantly clear that the ancient magister's took names to suit them. Corypheus is ancient Tevinter for leader."
"But you still don't now how Corypheus survived Hawke," said Ellana.
Theron shook his head.
"Then keep me updated," said Maxwell. "The sooner we know how he did it the sooner we can defeat him."
After the meeting was finished Maxwell and Theron were left alone they looked down at the map.
"You're doing a good job, Inquisitor," said Theron.
"Sometimes I think it's not enough," said Maxwell.
"You're doing everything you can, it's all we can do at this moment," said Theron. "Though I can give you advice, don't give in to hatred or fear. A leader who falls prey to these tend to hurt the people they are sworn to protect."
"You mean like Loghain," said Maxwell.
Theron nodded. "Not just him, there have been others. Zathrian, Anders, Meredith, and most recently, Clarel."
"Then I'll make sure I won't fall," said Maxwell.
"I hope so, for the sake of the Inquisition."
Adaar wanted a break from all the fighting and sat with Iron Bull in the tavern again. She really was beginning to appreciate him, he seemed to have this way of making her feel normal.
She smiled at him as she took a sip. "There are few here who know what it means to be Qunari."
Iron Bull narrowed his eyes. "You're not Qunari. You're Tal-Vashoth. World of difference."
"I still grew up like this in a world of mostly humans," said Adaar angrily pointing at her horns.
Iron Bull backed down slightly under her gaze. "Yeah, fair enough. You didn't turn into a murdering bandit, so I guess we're fine." He then looked at her apologetic look. "You want to talk anything about the Qunari, since we're talking about them?"
"What's your problem with Tal-Vashoth?" she asked, this wasn't the first time that he bought up her upbringing.
"As Ben-Hassrath, my job back home was keeping the peace, helping people live by the Qun. Tal-Vashoth turned their back on all that, decided they'd live like savages." She was about to speak but he then raised a hand. "The Qun isn't perfect, but at least there was some sense to it."
"My parents weren't like that. They live peacefully and raised me as well as any human parents could."
"Well, good. They ain't the kind of Tal-Vashoth I've got a problem with, then." He sighed and looked at her. "Look, if you're worried I'm going to attack you, don't be. I had a lifetime of fighting Tal-Vashoth. You're not the kind I hate."
She looked up at him. "I heard there's no marriage among the Qunari."
"Yeah, that's true," Iron Bull nodded. "Qunari love our friends like anyone does, but we don't have sex with them."
Adaar blinked. "Qunari don't have sex?"
He laughed. "Oh, we definitely have sex. There are Tamassrans who pop your cork whenever you need it."
Adaar stared at him. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. It's not a big deal like it is here," he assured. "It's like…" He pauses as he tried to find an example. "I don't know, going to see a healer? Sometimes it's this long involved thing. It takes all day, leaves you walking funny… Other times, you're in and out in five minutes." He then clicked his tongue. "'Thank you, see you next week!'"
She then stared at him. "So you're never really made love? Connected with someone in both body and soul?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. One time they used this thing called the Saartoh Nethrappan. It's a leather-wrapped ride on a harness…" He then blinked. "That wasn't really my soul, though. Also, there were more than two people."
Adaar shook her head inside it was best to change the subject. "The word 'Qunari'—does it mean that we are, the race, or that anyone who follows the Qun?"
"Depends who you ask. Are you Qunari or Tal-Vashoth? The humans and elves who follow the Qun are the Viddathari. The Qunari who broke away from the Qun are Tal-Vashoth. Deserters."
"What about Qunari who exist before the Qun?"
"People we came from… they're called the Kossith. But we don't use that word for the race. We came south to Thedas because the Kossith were…" He then frowned as if he was trying to figure out why. "I don't know. We had to leave. The stories aren't clear. But I don't expect that they looked much like us, whatever they are."
It was nice to spend the afternoon sitting with Josephine, sharing outrageous stories of various nobles. Not to mention her tales of Leliana. Josephine seemed to relax around Maxwell and he thought it was a very healthy for her.
He soon left and found Varric was talking to dwarven woman. Whispering conspiratorially might have been a better description. Maxwell decided to investigate.
"I appreciate the warning, but you shouldn't have come yourself. What if the guild found out? Or Whatshisname?"
The dwarven woman's voice held notes of laughter. "Are you worrying for me or for yourself?"
"A little of column A, a little of column B. I am the expendable one, after all."
"Awww." The dwarven woman placed a flirtatious hand on Varric's chest. "Don't worry. I'll protect you. We'll just have to—" She caught sight of Maxwell. "Well, this is a surprise. You're the Inquisitor, right? Bianca Davri, at your service."
He blinked. "Your name is Bianca?"
"It's a common name. Half the girls in the Merchants guild are named Bianca. The other half are named 'Helga.' I lucked out."
"I take it you're a friend of Varric's?" More than a friend, if he was any judge.
"Who isn't a friend of Varric's? You have met him before, right?" Bianca's voice was warm, and she smiled fondly at Varric as she spoke.
He looked between the two of them. "Why do you look like cats that got into the cream?"
"She's taken a huge risk coming here herself," said Varric eyeing her. "Maybe for both of us."
"You're such a worrier!" said Bianca shaking her head. "There's a giant hole in the sky. I think the Merchants Guild has bigger things to think about."
Varric jerked a thumb at Bianca. "Bianca's got a lead on where Corypheus got his red lyrium."
"The site of Bartrand's Folly, the thaig Varric found, has been leaked. There's a Deep Roads entrance crawling with strange humans carting out red lyrium by the handful."
Maxwell nodded. "How do we know they're not using multiple entrances to get to the thaig?"
"Navigating the Deep Roads isn't like the surface." Bianca shrugged. "There are no accurate maps of the whole system, and there are cave-ins, darkspawn, lava floods…" She gestured. "If you find a route that gets where you're going, you don't deviate. Trying to find another way could be deadly."
"Who could have given away the thaig's location?"
"There were a few people who knew." Varric scratched his head. "Hirelings from the expedition. A couple close friends."
"How they found out isn't important." Bianca looked from Varric to Maxwell. "What matters is we know where they are now."
"We need to deal with this. As long as he has this source, Corypheus is that much more powerful." And if they were lucky, they'd find information that could lead them to his general as well.
"I couldn't agree more," Varric said.
Bianca nodded. "I'll keep an eye on their operation. If you're interested in shutting it down, you've got my help." She grinned at Varric, and her voice became flirtatious. "Try not to leave me waiting too long, Varric. I've got my own work to do, you know."
Maxwell watched Bianca leave, and then turned back to Varric. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Right. That's not going to be trouble at all. Let me know when you want to head to the entrance."
He nodded to him. "We'll leave in the morning and we better take Erdic with us."
Adaar went up to Cullen, he apparently knew the red templars' leader and she wanted no more about what they would be facing against.
"You and the red templars' leader seem to have a personal history," she said.
"When I arrived in Kirkwall, Samson and I shared quarters. He seemed a decent man, at first," Cullen shrugged. "Knight-Commander Meredith later expelled Samson for 'erratic behavior.' He ended up begging on Kirkwall's streets. He committed further crimes, but managed to evade the Order's justice. Now Samson serves Corypheus as his loyal general."
She sighed. "Why do you think Samson joined Corypheus?"
"He had a chronic lyrium addiction. He spent every last coin buying it from local smugglers. Perhaps Corypheus appealed to his vanity, gave him purpose as well as lyrium. Perhaps that's all it took."
"It sounds like Samson had a miserable life."
Anger entered Cullen's voice. "The Order expelled him, but he had choices. He could have found another path." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "I don't understand how he became so powerful. Even with red lyrium, Samson's glory days are long behind him."
The entrance Bianca gave them was behind a waterfall. It was actually rather lovely. Except for the half-dozen Carta dwarves guarding it.
They hadn't gone far inside when Bianca's voice made all of them jump. "Finally. I started to think you weren't coming."
Varric gestured at their surroundings. "Nobody said you had to hang out in the creepy cave while you waited."
"Well, I did wait, so let's make this quick. These idiots are carrying the red lyrium out in unprotected containers." Bianca glanced over her shoulder. "We don't want to stick around long enough for it to start 'talking' to us."
Maxwell asked Bianca a few questions, and got them answered as much by Varric as Bianca herself. He gave the dwarven woman an appraising look. "If you're coming with us, I hope you can handle a fight."
"No. I thought I'd cower helplessly while you do all the work." Bianca rolled her eyes.
"She's a decent shot." The words sounded like they were being dragged out of Varric.
"Decent?"
"You want me to admit you're better than me in front of the Inquisitor?"
"Let's not waste any more time, shall we?"
Bianca and Varric kept up a fairly steady stream of bickering as they moved through the old dwarven outpost. Maxwell was starting to wonder how long the two of them had been married.
The presence of darkspawn made him glad he'd brought Blackwall along. He, Erdic and Blackwall engaged them in the archers picked off the leaders. Dorian also assisted by creating wall of fire that prevented reinforcements from assisting.
"How many can we expect to encounter? Blackwall?" Maxwell asked.
"It's…" Blackwall knocked one off the ledge with his shield. "Hard to say. Keep your guard up."
They kept on fighting their way through the tunnels and eventually lead to side tunnels that seemed to be the source of the darkspawn Dorian then focused is magic, collapsing the tunnel to fill it with rocks and debris, sealing it off.
Varric and Bianca were actually laughing and joking with each other as the party fought its way through the Carta's smugglers. Maxwell was surprised to learn that while Bianca was indeed married, but it wasn't to Varric.
Bianca led them to a door. "I built these doors. They probably shut this one from the other side when they heard the ruckus we were making." She fiddled with the door for a moment, and it suddenly slid open. "Ta-da."
A suspicion began to grow. Erdic just raise an eyebrow. "Admit it, you've been waiting to do that since we arrived."
"Of course I was." Bianca gestured. "After you."
They were soon attacked by the Carta and Erdic didn't look upset that he was fighting his old employers. It became clear that it was the Carta that had been smuggling red lyrium, however this seems more likely to be a splinter group, because Erdic and Varric would have heard something.
No sooner had the last of the smugglers fallen than Bianca was riffling through a desk. "There you are!" She picked up a key, then went to the door. A couple moments of fiddling with the lock, and then she stood up triumphantly. "They won't be able to use this entrance again."
Maxwell saw comprehension dawn on Varric's face. "Bianca…" Disappointment filled his voice. Bianca went still at the sound.
"You want to say something, Varric?" Maxwell raised his eyebrow at his friend.
"Andraste's ass, Bianca! You're the leak?"
"When I got the location, I went and had a look for myself. And I found the red lyrium, and I…" Bianca turned to face them. "Studied it."
"You know what it does to people!"
"I was doing you a favour! You want to help your brother, don't you? I just…" Bianca's shoulders slumped. "Wanted to figure it out."
"How did you go from studying red lyrium to giving the location to Corypheus?" Erdic asked crossing his arms.
"I found out that red lyrium…" She looked back at Varric. "It has the Blight, Varric! Do you know what that means?"
Varric threw up his hands. "What? That two deadly things combine to form something super-awful?"
"Lyrium is alive. Or…" Bianca gestured. "Something like it. Blight doesn't infect minerals. Only animals. And I found this guy, Larius. He seemed really interested in helping my research. So I gave him a key."
"Larius? He was the Grey Warden we met in Corypheus's…"Varric's eyes widened and rocked backwards. "Oh, shit. I knew something seemed off!"
Bianca turned the key over and over in her hands. "I didn't realise until you said you found red lyrium at Haven. I came here and…" She glanced at the door. "Well…" She swallowed. "Then I went to you."
"That name means something to you, Varric?" Maxwell raised an eyebrow.
"He was at the Grey Warden prison where we found Corypheus. And he definitely wasn't a mage before."
Maxwell nodded, and then turned back to Bianca. "You had to know we'd figure out what happened, Bianca. Why did you insist on coming with us?"
"Varric told me what people were doing with the red lyrium. I…" Bianca sighed. "Had to help make this right."
"You told Varric you had a 'lead' so we'd straighten out your mistake," said Erdic.
"I know I screwed up, but we did fix it! It's as right as I can make it!"
"This isn't one of your machines! You can't just replace a part and make everything right!" said Varric.
"No, but I can try, can't I? Or am I supposed to wallow in my mistakes forever, kicking myself, telling stories of what I should have done?"
"As if I would tell stories about my own mistakes!"
Maxwell stepped between them. "Oh, for pity's sake, would you two just get a room?"
"Sorry Inquisitor." Varric sighed. "We've done all we can here. Bianca, you'd better get home before someone misses you."
"Varric?"
Varric sighed, and then waved a hand before turning and walking away. "Don't worry about it."
Maxwell gestured for Erdic, Blackwall and Dorian to follow him, then turned back to Bianca. The woman's face looked like someone had just killed her puppy. After a moment, she looked up at Maxwell through tear-filled eyes. "Get him killed, and I'll feed you your own eyeballs, Inquisitor."
Maxwell nodded.
Once they returned he discovered that Faren was with Theron, Cassandra, Vivienne and Cullen.
"What's all this about?" Maxwell asked.
"We're discussing Anders," said Cassandra crossing her arms. "Faren was the one that conscripted him."
"At the time he was an apostate on the run from templars," said Faren defensively. "I saw him in action and thought his skills could help, I was also dangerously low on Grey Wardens."
"It's true," said Theron. "In truth he was the only Grey Warden left in the Keep, the others were either dead or captured by the Architect."
"And yet he allowed a demon to join his ranks," said Vivienne narrowing her eyes.
"And would you rather if I allowed him to run loose across the nation?" said Faren raising an eyebrow. "And he was a spirit of Justice. Listen when I first met Anders he wasn't the same man that destroyed the Chantry in Krikwall. He hated templars true, but he never made a move against them."
"And yet you allowed him to be possessed by a demon," said Vivienne furiously.
"I didn't," said Faren getting to his feet. "He told no one of his plans. Personally I think it was Nathaniel that suggested it, he suggested to Justice possess a willing volunteer and he in turn pushed Anders to make strikes against the templars and the Chantry."
"Why did he leave?" Cullen asked.
"There was little incident with the templars, a few of them tried to take him off my hands by force and I was forced to kill them. We then made a deal afterwards that seemed a respectful compromise, I would allow one of the templars to join the Grey Wardens so that they could keep an eye on Anders. Of course, at the time I had no idea that Anders was possessed. The templar that joined the wardens then discovered that he was possessed and tried to hand him to the templars."
"And then it led to the death of templars and Grey Wardens," Cullen finished.
Faren nodded. "We began searching for him, Stroud was among the search party, but he vanished. Only until later we discovered that he was in Kirkwall."
Maxwell looked at them all. "Look, Faren had nothing to do with Anders destroying the Chantry and he was killed by Hawke. There's nothing more we can do now."
"The Inquisitor is right," said Theron. "Anders was a complicated man and we may never figure out his motives."
"Agreed," said Cassandra. "We have more important work to do."
One by one everyone left leaving Maxwell with Theron.
"Inquisitor, I think you should know that we've been getting reports that Ellana's clan is in trouble at Wycome," said Theron. "I have informed her and told that Leliana has ordered them to pull back while we figure out what's going on."
"Good, just keep me updated."
"Will do."
