"So you're a qunari, huh?" Shepard said to Garrus who was at her side. "I wonder what that is…Guess I can't ask since you're right here."

Garrus shrugged. "A different sect of humans, maybe? You're in a better position to know than I am. You knew that Mordin had turned into an elf and Grunt had turned into a dwarf. This place taps into a lot of your human mythology and fantasy."

"Makes you wonder where the hell we are," Shepard muttered a little frustrated.

"At least we didn't get separated." As he said this, Garrus interlaced his fingers with Shepard's, something he had taken to doing now that they were much more physically comfortable around each other. Both almost halted their steps to marvel how their fingers now fit naturally since Garrus was now humanoid. Embarrassed, Garrus almost let go but Shepard squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"What in the world is that?" Kasumi exclaimed as they passed a small enclosure. The whole group paused to look. Inside was a man dressed in robes waving his arms over his head in intricate circles. Gusts of snow and ice whirled around him. Shepard could almost feel the cold wind on her face. The two armored guards told them gruffly to move along and not disturb the mages. Kasumi, Samara, and Mordin lingered a moment longer with Mordin anxiously gathering as much data as he could.

"Are you the mercenary group that Duncan brought in?" A white haired, elderly woman asked as Shepard walked by.

"Yes, I am. Ayn Shepard." She held out her hand.

"Wynne." They shook hands. "Are you getting paid for this?" Shepard shook her head. "That's the best news I've heard all day. Tell me, have you or your group fought a darkspawn before?"

Shepard frowned. "No, but I have fought similar monsters. Have you?"

"Yes. It is…not pleasant but something that must be done. I wonder, have you heard the myth of how the darkspawn were created?" Shepard gave her a questioning look, giving Wynne the signal to launch into her tale.

Jack tuned out right after the old lady had introduced herself. Winnie, or something. She hadn't decided to stay just to listen to an arrogant king blabber on about how he was going to win the battle or listen to an old prune talk about myths. Jack started wandering off. Shepard would call her on the radio if she was needed. She passed a woman on a platform yelling something at the soldiers below. Did everyone in this place have to talk so much? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Duncan going over papers near a fire. At least he wasn't flapping his lips at someone. Then she heard the distinct sound of a dog in pain.

Telling herself she was just curious, Jack followed the sound to a kennel. The kennel master was leaning against the side of the kennel, whispering comforting words to the dog inside. Jack joined him, peering into the kennel. The dog was cowering in the corner, obviously hurt but in what way Jack couldn't tell.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked.

"He drank some darkspawn blood. The poison's moving through him. If only I could get this muzzle on him and give him something for it. I'd hate to put down such a great mabari."

"Mabari?"

"Yes, they're smarter than normal dogs and bigger too. Not smart enough to talk though. Do you want to try and put the muzzle on him?"

Shrugging, Jack said, "I'll do it." She didn't say try. She knew she could do it. If the beast proved difficult, her biotics would put him in his place. The kennel master handed her the muzzle and let Jack into the pen. The moment she stepped in, the dog backed away. He bowed his great head almost as if in respect to her. Carefully, Jack put the muzzle onto the mabari. She felt a strange affinity with the animal. It too had been trained to fight, but at least its master cared for his livelihood more openly than the Cerberus researchers had cared for hers. Before she left, she patted the mabari on the head, but refused to do anything more than that.

As the kennel master let Jack out, she asked him, "What're you going to do now?"

He sighed. "I have some medicine that will help but it won't cure him. I need a flower that grows in the Korcari Wilds. The flower is white with a red center. If you're heading out there, you can keep a look out for me. Other than that, I thank you for helping me."

"Yeah, whatever," Jack muttered, waving him away as she stalked off. There was an idea crawling in her head. An idea she didn't particularly like but she was going to try it anyway.