"Anders, what do you know of blood magic?" Nathaniel asked the mage.
Anders looked up at him, surprised at the question. "Blood magic? Thinking of taking it on as a hobby?"
Nathaniel laughed "No, I'm just curious what it is about. I mean, why is it so bad?"
Anders mused for a moment. "Well, blood magic uses blood, obviously, which is kind of icky. Sometimes the practitioners would use a lot of blood and that required sacrifices, as in human sacrifices. Once you've crossed that line, well, generally you're going to cross others as well, maybe even striking up a deal with a demon to get even more power."
Nathaniel nodded. "What else? Isn't there blood magic that can control others?"
"Oh right. That's another reason why people are afraid of it. If you have someone's blood you can control them. They're called "blood puppets". The Chantry is afraid that a mage might do that to a monarch or lord, that's another reason why we're kept under such careful watch."
Nathaniel bit his lip thinking. "Could you erase someone's memories with it? Or give them new ones?"
Anders frowned. "I don't know. All the texts on blood magic have been removed from the tower. What little I know comes from gossip amongst the mages. I suppose anything is possible." He looked at Nathaniel cautiously. "That's a very specific question. Why do you ask?"
Nathaniel decided he needed help and he showed Anders the drawings and told the story of Elissa's kidnapping and her nightmares.
Anders pointed at the vial the man was holding. "That looks like a phylactery. A vial used to store blood. If Elissa were held for a month, they could have drawn a lot of blood from her."
"All the other children that disappeared, most of them never were returned although a few were. Could they have been used for their blood?" Nathaniel paced, trying to make sense of it all.
"It's possible. You say the story she tells of this is nothing like these pictures she draws and yet she has no memories other than what she says?"
"Yes," Nathaniel replied, "and the story never changes or wavers. It's almost as if she is reciting something. Yet something replays in her dreams at night but she can't remember the next day, except for these drawings."
Anders mused. "This smells fishy, Nate. What about the other children that were returned?"
Nathaniel shrugged. "I don't remember many of them, maybe Elissa does. But they were all children of Banns or Arls. I wonder if they remember anything?"
Anders's eyes narrowed. "It might be worth finding out."
Val Royeaux, Orlais
Empress Celene I patiently endured her nails being buffed and polished while the mage spoke with her.
"Your Majesty, we just discovered a journal amongst your uncle's documents that might be of interest to you," he held out a book filled with chicken scrawlings that made no sense to Celene.
"I cannot read this. What does it say?"
"It is written in ancient Tevinter, there are few that can read it but we did find someone to translate it. We have translated a dozen or so pages. It seems your cousin, the Emperor Florian, was working with a blood mage in Ferelden. There was a rather long term plan to gain control of some of the important houses, perhaps even the crown itself."
Celene stood and dismissed everyone else from the room. When they left she turned to the mage. "Blood magic?"
The mage nodded, "Yes, your Imperial Majesty, a mage by the name of Lucius Iunius wrote this journal and appears to be the brains behind the plot."
Celene paced the room, tapping her elegantly buffed nail against her teeth, thinking. "That's a Tevinter name, isn't it?"
"Indeed. Apparently the mage came from there and managed to elude the Chantry in Ferelden. He came to Orlais to offer his services to your uncle."
"What more have you learned?" she asked the mage.
"Only that this appeared to happen quite some time ago, perhaps thirteen years ago. He mentions some of the children he abducted. There seem to be two lists, one list of those that died and the others that survived. The survivor list is particularly short." He held up the book for her to see.
"Why is that one circled?" she asked.
"That is Elissa Cousland, the Hero of Ferelden, sister to the Teyrn Cousland."
Celene held up her hand. "Oh for Maker's sake, I know who she is! She was obviously one of the survivors. What does it say of her?"
"Lucius was particularly interested in her due to her status as the daughter of a Teyrn. We haven't translated far enough into the journal to know exactly what was planned but it seems obvious they were looking to gain control over key nobles."
Celene thought carefully. "Is this blood mage still alive?" she asked.
The mage shrugged. "I do not know, Majesty."
Celene nodded. "Let me know when you have translated more. This is very interesting."
The mage bowed and turned to leave.
"One moment more, mage," Celene said. "Who knows of this journal?"
"Just myself, the mage translating the journal and the First Enchanter, Majesty," he replied.
"I don't need to tell you that discretion is of the utmost importance do I?" she said.
"Of course, Majesty."
"Thank you, you may depart," she waved him away.
Celene rang her bell and asked that her spy mistress be sent to her.
"Your Imperial Majesty," the elegant woman bowed before the Empress.
"Agnes, I need you to find someone for me. He might be difficult to find. His name is Lucius Iunius and all I know right now is that he was a mage from Tevinter and lived in Ferelden roughly thirteen years ago. I know that isn't much, but if you could start sending out inquiries perhaps I can get you more information later."
The spy mistress nodded and bowed.
"Oh, one more thing. Please see the First Enchanter has an fatal accident."
Agnes looked startled for a moment then regained her composure and bowed and left.
Interesting, she mused. My uncle may have left behind blood puppets, just waiting for a puppet master to make them dance. She smiled with pleasure. The way to take Ferelden isn't through force, you finally saw that, didn't you Uncle Florian? Too bad you didn't live long enough to realize your plan. She laughed remembering those heady days. Killing her Uncle and three cousins at age seventeen without scarcely a jot of suspicion had been her boldest move to date, but perhaps picking up with her Uncle's plans of controlling Ferelden with well-placed blood puppets would surpass even that.