In the ballroom of Vigil's Keep, three mages stand in a triangle, as far away from each other as possible. At one point, an old woman in the robes of a senior enchanter of the Circle. She looks calm, but a tad annoyed. She is not thrilled to be participating in this farce. At the second point, a tall human man with blond hair and perma-stubble. He wears a black coat that shares many similarities with Tevinter mage robes – the shoulders are heavily feathered. He's grinning, but there is a darkness behind his eyes. The last point of the triangle is held by a girl, young and dark-haired. She wears blue robes of the Kirkwall Circle. She's chewing on her lip, her brown eyes are bright with excitement. In the middle of the ballroom, a golem stands, flanked by two mabari hounds. All three stand as still as statues; if one didn't know better, they'd think that all three were made of stone, not just the golem.
The ballroom itself is huge and opulent. It's long and wide, with a high ceiling. At one end, a grand staircase leads up to a balcony level that overlooks the rest of the ballroom. The rest of the party perch on hard stools and peer over the railing to the contestants below. Also on the balcony, opposite the stairs, two women survey the scene from somewhat more comfortable seating. One is a slight Dalish elf, the other a tall and curvaceous human. They have in common the qualities of a rogue; they sit lightly on their chairs, alert, ready to fight or flee at the slightest provocation. There is a slight glow about them; the result of a spell meant to enhance their voices, to ensure that their words would carry above the chaos about to erupt. Not that anybody wanted to listen to what they had to say, but the women insisted anyway.
"So here we are, Round One – The Mages That Keep Us Alive. The participants in this round are Wynne, Anders, and Bethany. Would you like to do the honors, Hawke?" The elf asked her human companion.
"Don't mind if I do. Shale, on your mark, let the battle commence!" Shale raised her arm and the dogs retired to the base of the stairs. The three mages bowed to each other briefly. Shale's arm came down and all three went into a defensive posture, staffs at the ready. Their glances darted from opponent to opponent, and Shale took the momentary confusion to retreat towards the dogs.
The girl is the first to move. She lifts her staff in the air and a pulse is felt throughout the room. The other two mages are thrown backwards, the male hitting the wall with a loud thud. Up on the balcony, a very drunk dwarf falls off of his stool.
"Hawke, I'm not surprised Bethany made the first move. She is after all the youngest of the fighters today, and not even primarily a healer if I remember correctly."
"That's true Mahariel. But frankly, she fits better in this fight than in the other mage battle. Besides, it's not like she's an inexperienced healer. She's been patching me and Carver up since we were little – dad got very tired of doing it by himself."
"No wonder. I bet just keeping you from dying is a full-time job."
"Hah! Wait... is?" Mahariel's attention was back on the fight. Bethany was preparing another spell, but Anders had stood up, a soft light dissipating around him, and was also starting to wave his staff. Wynne was still in a ball on the ground. Bethany and Anders ignored her for the moment. They aimed their staffs at each other and fired bolts of pure spirit energy. A blinding white light filled the room as the bolts met in the middle. The peanut gallery shut their eyes as soon as the bolts fired, but Anders and Bethany weren't so lucky. When the light dimmed to an acceptable level, both mages were stumbling blindly, and clutching themselves in pain. Bethany waved frantically, creating another burst of light with her healing spell.
"You know Mahariel, I just realized – this fight could go on for a while."
"Because their offensive spells are weak?"
"That, and they have the ability to you know, heal themselves."
"That too..."
By now Wynne had stood up and was glowing with a soft white-pink light. Anders' eyes were starting to glow too; bright blue and harsh.
"Uh-oh."
"What?"
"My sister's in trouble."
"Why?"
"She's not an abomination."
"CIRCLE MAGES, YOU WILL BE FREE!" shouted Anders in a voice much deeper than normal.
"Is that Justice?" Mahariel asked with a start.
"Well, he's Vengeance now, but yeah."
"So Anders is an abomination? So there's one, but Wynne isn't an abomination... she's just..."
"Dead and possessed by a spirit?"
"When you put it like that..."
Elsewhere in the balcony, the pirate wench rummaged around in her sack and took out three pairs of smoked eyeglasses, two of which she handed to the elves on either side of her – the light emanating from the mages below was getting ridiculous. Anders was whipping off spell after spell, but his aim had gone completely. Most of the spells hit the walls of the ballroom, leaving behind scorch marks. A few found the spectators in the balcony, most of whom ducked, though the half-naked witch took out her own staff to redirect the errant spell back at it's caster. It hit Anders on the shoulder and an overpowering aroma of burning feathers filled the room.
"I always *cough* wanted to get rid of *cough* Ander's clothes. *Cough* But not like *hack* this!" Mahariel tried to choke out through the acrid smoke.
"Oh so you never slept with him? *Cough* Didn't you want to?"
"Well I thought about it, but I was to busy you know, being a Commander of the Grey Wardens and all."
"Your loss. He's quite good." Hawke shrugged. Finally one of Anders' spells found its mark, hitting Bethany with a crack. The spell lifted her slightly above the ground and held her immobilized. Every so often her body twitched in pain. Hawke gripped Mahariel's arm tightly. Mahariel shot her a look, but didn't comment or remove the offending hand. Anders raised his staff...
...And was promptly hit in the back of the head. Anders fell to his knees and at the same moment the spell holding Bethany disintegrated, dropping her into a crumpled heap. Wynne stood behind Anders holding her staff like a bat. The Warden's original companions cheered loudly, and a few of Hawke's companions joined them; noticeably two men and the male elf. The residents of Vigil's Keep looked a bit downcast.
Bethany stirred and lifted her head. She and Wynne exchanged a look from across the room. Unsteadily Bethany rose, leaning heavily on her staff. Wynne waited patiently while the younger mage recovered her poise. Then with a nod, Bethany aimed her staff at the still-kneeling Anders. Wynne lowered her staff, and the two women fired off simultaneous bolts of magic.
Whatever they did caused a gigantic boom. Anders flew straight up, hitting the very center of the ceiling with a gigantic crash. He opened his mouth, but instead of a scream, there was a stream of blue light. The light came down and streaked past the two dumbfounded mages, out the door and out of the ballroom. The women started to follow, but then looked up as they realized Anders was now on his way back down. Before they could do anything however, the mabari were there, a litter harnessed between them. Anders landed with a soft thud on the litter, and the two dogs bore him out.
"How did they get a stretcher? They have no hands." The small dark-haired Dalish whispered to the red-headed guard next to her.
"Shale probably hooked them up." The guard replied, although a little uneasily. She was pretty sure the golem hadn't moved since the beginning of the match, and for that matter, she didn't remember seeing the dogs leave either.
"Oh, right, of course. Silly me."
"Well Hawke," Mahariel said when she could find her vocal cords again. "It looks like we have our first companion down."
"Looks that way, elf. such a shame too. I thought one who was with both of us would last a little longer."
"I know I thought his experience would show more. Maybe he just didn't get enough practice with you Hawke."
"Well, he clearly didn't get any with you..."
"What do you think that blue streak was?" Mahariel said quickly.
"I think Anders got the spirit of Vengeance kicked out of him." The balcony groaned. "What! Come on! It's true!"
" Ladies and gents, Justice has left the building! That was an amazing show of teamwork by Wynne and Bethany."
"That it was Mahariel, that it was."
Back on the floor, Wynne and Bethany were circling each other warily. Bethany had apparently cast another healing spell; she was somewhat steadier on her feet. Fatigue, however, was written all over her face. Her early onslaught used a lot of energy, and she lacked Wynne's experience and spirit-assisted gifts. Wynne, on the other hand, looked as calm and fresh as she had at the beginning of the match.
Up in the balcony, the spectators were shifting in their seats. Occasionally there was a flash of gold followed by a clinking sound as gold changed hands, most of it ending up in the palms of the beardless dwarf with the crossbow. The bowman bearing Vigil's Keep arms looked especially grim as he handed over a heavy purse.
The circling continued. Bethany was looking everywhere around the room, searching for something. Wynne's eyes never left her opponent. The younger mage suddenly twirled and a fireball left her staff. A shimmer came up in front of Wynne and the fireball bounced off of it, going into a pillar. The two mages continued their dance around the perimeter.
"You know, I'm really glad I had this room spell-proofed... Voldrik said it wasn't necessary 'The stone will hold!' he told me. I told him, you can never tell when a mage will go crazy, and I'm glad I did. The scorch marks are going to be a bitch to get out as it is."
"You thought a mage would go nuts in your ballroom?"
"Of course. Does Kirkwall not have a problem with insane mages turning into abominations and the like?"
"You have a point." A flash of light brought their attention back to the action. Bethany walked over the spot where Wynne had been at the beginning of the match and was now unable to move an inch.
"Ooh, a glyph! Wynne's so smart. What do you think she's going to do next Hawke?"
"I don't know." Hawke said through gritted teeth. Everyone on the balcony leaned forward. Wynne pulled her staff arm back then, with unexpected force, she lunged. A huge fist hit Bethany square in the chest and she fell backwards like a tree in the forest. A quiet fell over the room, and for a moment, nobody moved. Then Shale stepped forward and picked up the unconscious mage.
"It breathes." The golem intoned in a gravelly voice. Wynne sniffed.
"Of course she does." Shale left the ballroom, still carrying Bethany. Wynne started to follow, but then stopped and looked up expectantly at the balcony. First Mahariel stood, followed by Hawke. The others of the party followed soon afterwards. The qunari started a slow clap, picked up by everyone until the room reverberated with the percussive applause. The blond man wearing a crown whooped and hollered. Wynne gave a significant nod.
"Thank you. Now I must see to the other two." With that, she exited through the same doors as Shale. The clapping and cheering continued until the doors shut behind her, to be replaced by the gabbling of excited companions. More coin changed hands. Three people, the king, the older man in heavy armor, and the ginger guard threaded their way through the crowds and headed down the stairs.
"Well that was certainly quite a match. And we have our first champion!"
"I know Mahariel, and we've still got five more. And the final one. Although remember, I'm the Champion."
"Of course you are. Hopefully our healers get enough of a breather. We're going to need them."
"Truer words were never spoken."
"Alright everyone, onto the next round!"