One year passes quickly in Kirkwall.
The Hawke family tirelessly work to try and regain what they had lost in Lothering: A place to call home. Carver, Bethany and Marian quickly make a name for themselves in the Underworld of Kirkwall. Mercenaries and smugglers now know them for people who could get things done, or if you make an enemy out of them; people who you should hide from. Marian, Carver and Bethany had made names of themselves for being 'good' mercenaries as they would only accept jobs that did not victimize anyone who did not deserve it. Leandra on the other hand was quick to try and regain the reputation the Amell name once had as well as reclaiming the estate. With her strict supervision, Gamlen was forced to straighten his life and with the backbone that his sister provided him, he was able to recover both the Amell name from disgrace and the estate when an anonymous tip was sent to the city guards that slavers were squatting inside their home. The slavers could not defend their claim on the property since the will and papers mysteriously vanished from the family vault.
With no one living inside the estate as well as proof that Leandra now owned everything, the Viscount granted them the estate back just after a months' time.
Aveline quickly enlisted and was accepted by the guards. With her extensive background as a soldier back in Ferelden, there was no reason for them not to recruit her. Her code of honour and drive to make things better for Kirkwall caught the attention of well-to-do nobles and with their favour; she quickly ascended the ranks of the guards. Although Aveline was a strict believer of earning your way to success, she was nevertheless happy that her new position as a lieutenant in the guards would help her in protecting the citizens of Kirkwall better. Of course, this fast promotion had its consequences as the current Guard-Captain, Jeven, would try and stonewall any idea she had to try and improve the city guard's daily lives.
Vasili, after the Hawke's left his High town estate went underground for that year. Just like what Manah advised him to do, he started his own mercenary group within Kirkwall as well as the rest of the Free Marches. He would absorb different groups into his own when he learned that their current leaders had somehow passed away. The mercenaries and smugglers did not hesitate when his offer to join his band came to their doorstep.
Although the name Vasili Attano itself did not gain recognition, the reputation of his company did. Dead Cell was the very first legalized mercenary company and possibly the largest in the Free Marches. They were known best for their protection services. They accepted other, less legal jobs than what they were known for but the discretion of both the client as well as the company itself made sure that only the most trusted and richest clients would be able to gain access to those services. But one thing that Dead Cell never dared touch was Slavery. Vasili never showed his temper to his subordinates. The only time he did was when one of the old officers of one of the groups he had integrated into Dead Cell argued that not tapping into the Slavery business was practically throwing away good money. Vasili had said his final piece on the matter but the officer insisted and downright challenged Vasili's leadership.
Vasili finally lost his temper and accepted the challenge.
Almost a year after, no one even dared think of going against him. The people present during the duel had remained tight lipped about what had happened, in both respect to their leader and fear in their leaders wrath.
Marian, Bethany, Carver and Aveline grew worried when they would try and visit him at his family estate but never seemed to be home. The servants were present but when asked, they would always say that Vas had not come home that day. Of course, this led to Marian asking her information contacts about their wayward friend. That in turn led to them finding about the quick rise of Dead Cell and its expanding influence in the Free Marches.
They had finally confronted him, however, when they had a chance encounter with him in Low town. Aveline had asked Marian, Carver and Bethany to accompany her in her patrol. Reports were coming into the Viscount's Keep that there was an outbreak gang related violence in Low town and the Lieutenant was sent to quell the disturbance. Of course, with the captain trying to sabotage/get rid of her she was sent alone when she was supposed to be accompanied by a platoon of other guards. This didn't hinder Aveline at all since she went straight to the Hawke siblings to enlist their help.
And that's how they found Vasili and three unknown's knee deep in dead bodies.
XXXXXX
One full year had finally passed in Kirkwall. You would think that one whole year would be a lot of time for someone to build his own mercenary group. And you know what? It was, although keeping as busy as I did will really make time fly. I spent every day working, working on creating a mercenary group, maintaining and expanding said group and making a name for ourselves. The first few months were the hardest as I had to find people trustworthy, or people easy enough to brainwash into trustworthy people, to work for me.
One of the first to join my group was a man named Sun Downer. He was a human who was at least seven and a half feet tall and probably weighed four hundred pounds easily. He was once a blacksmith back in Ferelden who had to flee from the Blight with his family to the Free Marches. He wasn't as lucky as the Hawkes and I since he had to give everything he had saved from his home as a bribe to the Guard-Captain. He had to beg or work for scraps to keep his family alive. At first, I hired him out of pity, but seeing him make weapons and armour and work in the smithy was like watching an artist. I got my gold's worth out of him.
Sun Downer was quite a simple man, with long black hair and a thick beard to match. He was friendly to anyone who was friendly to him in return. For such a big man, he talked in soft tones and rarely raised his voice. He loved his family above all else. I approached him in Low town with a job offer and at first he didn't want anything to do with a job that might endanger his family, but once I told him that my group would offer security services instead of hired killers and robbers he was quick to accept. He could easily wield a war hammer with one hand and was a decent fighter.
The second trustworthy person I found to work for me was a dwarf named Grom (Like that battering ram from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) who was raised back in Orzammar as a warrior. He didn't like the idea of staying underground, which was weird for dwarves born in the underground cities, and travelled to the Free Marches to start a new life. He was a master at wielding his shield and axe like they were just extensions of his own hands. He had no hair on his head except for the thick, braided red beard on his face. He also had an intricate tattoo where his hair should be.
The third and last trustworthy person I found was an elf maiden named Sin Kaiser, no idea about the origins of her name, who preferred to dual wield identical daggers. She was a savant at making and using poisons and traps and had the knack of being able to disappear when she stepped into the shadows. She wasn't a master of disappearing like I had become but she was pretty good. For a person who was good at disappearing, I guess you could say her looks worked against her. She had long, platinum blond hair and lightly tanned skin. Her most striking feature was her amethyst coloured eyes, and those only increased her ethereal beauty.
She was born and raised as a Dalish elf, but just like Grom, decided to travel around against the orders of her clan. She had told me once that she felt like an outsider in her family and here, with Dead Cell, she felt like this was meant to be her home all along.
Aside from those three, my most trusted generals so to speak; I had a few thousand 'employees' under my command. Most of them came from pre-existing groups like the Red Irons which I 'obtained' when the leaders either agreed to merge with us or mysteriously passed away. Hey don't judge, it's a dog eat dog world in the Free Marches, survival of the fittest and all that!
Sin Kaiser and Grom were usually the ones I would send out to acquire more groups and offer them a place in Dead Cell. If they agreed then they would be sent to Kirkwall to go through training with Sun Downer. I did this so not everyone was a bunch of useless cannon fodder. If I was the leader of a mercenary group, I would want all my men to be badasses. I want them to be the unexpected mini-bosses you find in RPG games.
Meredith was a big help with this, teaching me what I needed to know in managing an army. She taught me how to gain the loyalty of my men as well as the ability to micromanage a continent wide business, so to speak.
On a side note, this whole 'manipulating the darkness within' power was pretty fucking useful. It was a bit tricky to learn how to do it, but once you do you get the hang of it instantly. It's like how you learn how to wiggle your ears for the first time? It's hard to figure out how at first but once you do, it's a piece of cake.
Anyway, back on track, Meredith also helped improve my swordsmanship which also meant greatly improving my physical fitness. I tried training with her every night but could only manage at least four times a week. Either way I could feel myself improving every day. I got faster, stronger and reacted quicker. I thought I was fast and strong with my judo training but the visual progress was actually much more rewarding. In one word: abs
With my strength as well as my army growing fast, it wasn't soon that the politicians and do-gooders started seeing me as a threat. A lot of them petitioned for my arrest and to get my company either hunted down or immediately disbanded as well as giving them the fortune I had collected and earned. Other politicians hired assassins to get rid of me, quick and easy.
After months of this, I retaliated with a simple piece of parchment: a simple piece of parchment that stated that I had the backing of Grand Cleric Mana and Elthina as well as approval from the Templars under their jurisdiction. It was easy to get Grand Cleric Elthina's support when Meredith had my back. It also worked in my favour when I told her we only offered protection and security services for those who needed it. And that's how I 'legalized' Dead Cell.
All this was quite fun, like an RTS game except that you had to wait days to confirm troop movements. Without phones or radios or internet, I miss the internet, communication took a lot of time.
Everything was fine and dandy, but as the year ended another problem decided to show its ugly head. With the legalization of Dead Cell, lots of people were more willing to do business with us. Who wouldn't trust a company with Chantry and Templar approval? Of course this meant that any other mercenary groups that hadn't joined us yet lost a lot of business. This in turn led them to band together to try and get rid of me. I told them that they were free to join but they were a greedy bunch, wanting the spoils all to themselves. I gave them one last chance to back off before things got messy and instead of being smart about it, they started attacking my people in Kirkwall.
"Are you kidding me?" I heard myself asking Sun Downer. He had burst into my 'family' estate in High town bearing the news that we were under attack in Low town. The outposts and safe houses I bought were being attacked and fire bombed. Some of my people were injured but thankfully none of them got killed, yet. We had to act fast and as I summoned and formed the Didact's armour around my form I ordered Sun Downer to alert Grom and Sin Kaiser as well. He told me that they would split up to deal with any threat they came across in Low town and I only gave a nod before making my way to the damned stairs.
The situation was worse than I thought once I arrived. People were openly fighting in the middle of the streets. Civilians were trying to get away from the fighting and my people tried their best to protect everyone at the same time fighting off the attackers. I didn't waste time in forming the Daedric Great Sword from the shadows and chopping off one of the attackers head.
"It's the boss!" One of the Dead Cell mercenaries, my people, shouted in glee as I backhanded another attacker that tried to stab me in the back. Who were these people again? I can't just keep calling them attackers after all. I stomped on a shadow and every other reacted by spiking upwards, impaling a few dozen non-Dead Cell mercenary. My actions freed up my people to escort the civilians to safety and to support their comrades.
I marched through Low town, getting rid of any obstacle in my way. More and more of my mercenaries gathered behind me. With my arrival, morale was significantly boosted and my men fought more fiercely.
One of the rouges tried to stab me in the back but the shadows that formed my armour quickly lashed out and grabbed both the man's arms. I turned to bury my sword into his gut. Rogues were awesome when on my side but a real pain in my ass when against. I ripped my sword sideways, spilling the unlucky bastard's guts all over the dusty floor.
"Sir," one of the scouts called out to me and I turned to look at her, "Sun Downer and Grom are one their way here. Sin Kaiser was seen heading to the east side of Low town. She will join us once she clears that side of the city," Sin was really bloodthirsty. She wouldn't start killing everyone randomly, but once she knows who her enemies were, she wouldn't stop until all of them were cut down by her blades. I gave a short nod before proceeding further in. Hopefully the city guards would think twice before approaching us. Aveline could be pretty scary when she got angry.
"Spread out and secure this area, make sure the civilians are safe! The rest of you, wait for Grom and Sun." They were quick to comply with my orders and soon enough dozens were running into alleyways to check if we had left anyone behind, ally or not. I on the other hand walked towards a nearby crate and sat down. I watched as a dozen mercenaries stayed to clean up the streets.
"I thought you were on the other side of the city?" I asked. A second later, Sin appeared by my side as quiet as the wind. She was covered in blood but none of them were hers. Her armour, skin as well as her hair was practically drenched in it. She smiled at me before bowing.
"The situation there has stabilized. Our troops are in the process of cleaning up stragglers as we speak. I thought it prudent to be here with you," Her daggers were still in hand and with a casual flick of her wrists, she banished the blood to the ground. "Where are Grom and Sun Downer?"
"On their way down right now," I turned to look at her from the corner of my eyes, "Who the fuck is stupid enough to attack us in our home base?" I might have added too much menace in my voice because the elf maiden visibly flinched.
"I-It was the Flint mercenary company."
Weren't they the same people who killed Sebastian's family in Starkhaven? I thought to myself quietly. I turned to the troops trying to figure out what to do with the dead bodies and shouted, "Just pile them up and burn them later!"
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today!" That was Grom, laughing in his deep and scratchy voice. He was splattered with some blood just like Sin and Sun Downer behind him. He was the sarcastic one in the group and sometimes I just wanted to hurt him real bad.
"Now's not the time you stupid dwarf!" Sin hissed at him. She motioned the two of them to notice my less than stellar mood. I have to confess, I haven't been getting enough sleep this pass year. Everything was blurred into one long day and I really needed a vacation. I miss the Hawkes, especially Bethany. She was always a ray of sunshine that never failed to lighten my mood.
"Vas," Speak of the devil, I turned and saw the three Hawke siblings as well as Aveline making their way towards me. And by the looks of things, Aveline was not pleased at all. Ah shit
As the group of four of my first friends came closer, so too did my generals hover around me protectively. Hey, I said they were loyal and I improving their lives merited a life debt in Thedas. Sun was at the forefront and stopped them with a raised hand. He was about to warn them when I interrupted.
"Maker, stand down Sunny! Their old friends of mine," The three generals reluctantly moved aside, letting all four pass and stand in front of me. I stood up from the crate to properly greet them.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Hawke siblings and Aveline! I haven't seen you guys in a while!" I tried to sweep all four of them in a group hug but a palm to the face courtesy of Aveline stopped that before I could go any further.
"It's nice to see you too, Vasili. How long has it been since we last saw each other, a year?" Marian didn't mind hugging me in greeting and Bethany silently hugged me as well. I opened my arms mockingly to Carver but he just flipped me the bird, the tit.
"Has it been a year? Time flies when you're busy!" I say happily. Seriously, just being with these guys was taking off a weight from my shoulders that I didn't know was there. I smile a bit wider before asking, "So I've heard all of you made a name for yourselves! The Hawke siblings known for people who got the job done and Aveline, the Lieutenant of the City Guards who was able to decrease the crimes in Kirkwall significantly. Colour me impressed!"
"Not as impressed as we are when we found out that you're the founder and leader of Dead Cell. How did you manage that one?" Carver asked curiously.
"A silver tongue and a strong arm," Grom whispered to Sin who elbowed him in the face to shut him up. Normally she would have aimed for the stomach or the diaphragm but she tended to forget that Grom was significantly shorter than her. Or did she?
"Anyway," I turned to look at my three generals before looking back, "What brings you to this part of town?" Aveline stepped forward at this, clearly wanting to be the one to answer my question.
"There have been reports of attacks here in Low town, gang related violence and the like. Did you have anything to do with this?" Wow, Aveline was making it clear that she was accusing me of this, but luckily I was the innocent one. Wait, I've always been the innocent one.
"Blame the Flint Mercenary Company for this whole mess. They couldn't handle some friendly competition and decided to try and get rid of us!"
"Did they forget that you practically control all of the mercenaries in the Free Marches?" Marian was very well informed it seemed and that was a good thing. Although the information she knew was probably general knowledge by now.
"They forgot a lot of things. Like how Kirkwall is also our main Base of Operations in the Free Marches but, whatever, one less nuisance to worry about, right Aveline?" She only gave me a shake of her head as a response. As long as she wasn't shouting at me, I considered it good. "Anyway, why don't we get a drink and catch up? I want to know what my friends have been up to for the past,"
"Year," Bethany supplied helpfully.
"Yes, let's do that. There's a place nearby called The Hanged Man: A decent pub with drinks that taste like piss but with great atmosphere. What do you say?"
"I'm still on duty Vasili, I'll have to reschedule." Without another word, Aveline walked back towards High town to probably write a report about how things had settled. The Hawkes had nothing better to do so they easily agreed. After giving some last orders to my generals, I led them to the pub.
XXXXXX
We talked for hours.
I mostly listened to their misadventures, 'ooh'-ing at some parts and laughing at others. The three were more animated than when we arrived in Kirkwall. It would seem that without the one year of servitude, the Hawkes were able to benefit from their hard works faster than in the game. Not only did they have their mansion back but they also made quite a name for themselves.
Gamlen had cleaned up quite well, a man worthy to carry the Amell name and with Leandra, they played the political games in the Viscount's Keep. All in all, they had made a home in Kirkwall and even though the Blight had ended in Ferelden, this was their home now.
I told them about what I had been up to. Creating Dead Cell and spreading my influence through the Free Marches. They asked me about the jobs I took and I happily obliged them. I did have to omit a few unsavoury jobs I had to take to further my goals as well as keep quiet about how I freely manipulated people who got in my way. I also didn't tell them about the side effects I suffered through using the more subtle aspects of my powers.
And that's what we did throughout the night. We drank and talked and drank some more. I was happy to get away from all the stress, even for one day. Commanding your own army was fun but frayed the nerves something terrible. Even though Meredith's nightly comfort did help alleviate some of the stress, there was nothing like a good old drink with your friends to help ease your burdens.
"You guys are drunk," I laughed at how Carver was already unconscious, face down on the table. Marian just laughed and spilled her drink all over her brother. Bethany was leaning heavily on my side but I didn't protest, just like how she didn't mind how my hand was roaming her firm belly.
"Hey Vas," I turned to look at Bethany, her cheeks red and eyes glazed. She was as drunk as her siblings no doubt and the way she was looking at me was very distracting. "I've missed you," she said simply before going in for a never reached me since she fell unconscious on my armoured chest. I sighed and laughed at that before looking at Bethany who was eying me curiously, the drunken demeanour disappearing from her face entirely.
"You've been quite busy," Marian started as she looked into the depths of her drink, "It's surprising that you would create your own mercenary company, much less one that's spread all over the continent. I'd have thought you would aim for a simple and quiet life, judging by how Beth described how you were back in Kirkwall."
"People like us are trouble magnets. I'm just making sure I don't get caught with my pants down when trouble finally finds us."
With both Carver and Bethany down for the count, Marian and I talked for the remainder of the night. For the first time since meeting her, I noticed something off about the protagonist of DA 2. Was she always so, how do I put this, cruel?
She would describe a job they would do but would put in too much detail in how she killed one man or how she tortured another. What did this mean? Was she considered a renegade in this dimension? I always played my characters as the good guys in the first play through before going bad guy. There was something else though. When she was describing these certain parts of her stories, she would look me straight in the eye. It didn't feel disturbing but I think she was looking for a specific reaction from me and it seemed that she always found it. No idea what she found though since I didn't particularly like gore filled stories too much. Hell, I never watched the rest of the SAW movie franchise after the second one.
At three in the morning, I helped her carry Bethany and Carver back to their estate. I created a wagon so that we didn't have to shoulder them the whole way.
XXXXXX
It was the start of my second year in Kirkwall when an interesting and long awaited contract found its way on my desk. A dwarf from the merchant guild named Bartrand Tethras was interested in hiring Dead Cell for a security detail to an extended trip into the Deep Roads. Messere Bartrand wrote in his letter that the expedition would only succeed if the best in the protection business would agree to accompany them. Although the details were listed in the letter, he wanted to meet in person to iron out anything else.
Location of the meeting: Tethras Estate
I didn't bring anyone else with me, not my men, generals or my friends. This was going to be a business deal with a man who doubled the Tethras family fortune when he was fifteen. He was driven and ambitious and nothing was going to stop him from rebuilding his family name. Too bad he'll try to stab us in the back later on, we could have been friends.
I walked through the High town markets wearing my rarely worn finery. I never wear 'normal' clothes anymore and I much preferred my armour or my shadows. I was only wearing them now since looking like a pauper would make a bad first impression on the man who wanted to hire me and my company.
People in the markets waved and greeted me as I passed. I was quite well known now in Kirkwall, not because of Dead Cell but because of my family name. After all, a noble on the other side of the world is still a noble here as long as you had the money. I not only had the money to be a noble, I was overflowing with gold, but Manah was the Grand Cleric of the Anderfels. The Chantry was an authority anywhere and I being the sibling of a Grand Cleric was noteworthy to those who wanted to have my favour.
In ten minutes of normal paced walking, I arrived at the estate and saw someone I hoped to see. There, leaning on the front door with an apple in hand was Varric. He wore the same thing you would see later on when Hawke would run into him and had Bianca slinging from his back.
"You must be Serrah Attano," Varric says as he catches sight of me, "You're right on schedule!" He offered me his hand for a shake which I took. As I expected he had a really strong grip, "The name's Varric Tethras, at your service!"
"Vasili Attano, and from what your brother wants, I will be at your service in the near future."
"Ha! Depending whether or not your reputation holds true! Tell me," Here Varric Is leans in if he was about to tell me a secret. I play along and lean down a bit, "Is it true that you founded the Dead Cell mercenary company? The one that didn't even exist a year ago and now is the biggest and, most surprisingly; only Chantry endorsed mercenary company in Thedas?"
"I don't know about being the biggest company anywhere else, but biggest in the Free Marches," I was lying. I've already sent Sun Downer, Grom and Sin Kaiser to different parts of the planet to buy out the other mercenary groups. They were accompanied by at least half a thousand men to help train any new members or to put down anyone who did not accept our offer. "And also true for the second question. We are the only mercenary who has ever, in history, had the permission and the blessing of the Chantry as well as the Templar order to offer our services."
"How does one get the blessings of the Chantry anyway?" Varric asks as he scratches his face stubble.
"It's pretty easy when your sister is a Grand Cleric and all," Varric laughed at that and so did I. My first impression of him was a laid back kind of guy. He was easy to get along with that's for sure. We made small talk as both of us made our way to Bartrand's room/office.
I'm just going to skip the part where I introduce myself to him and he introduces himself, blah blah blah. That whole three hours was filled with business talks and the details of what he wanted me to do. Of course he told me had to inform me about the Deep Roads being infested with all kinds of nastiness. Worst of them was the Darkspawn. I told him it was of no consequence since I had my fair share of dealing with this world's versions of zombies.
Of course the neutral tone I said that with led to Bartrand wanting proof of how good Dead Cell was if I claimed that even Darkspawn was no problem for us. I replied with a demonstration of my powers. I summoned my armour and the sight of the shadows slowly creeping up my body and forming into the Didact's armour got both brothers jaws to drop. I also demonstrated the offensive capabilities of my powers and after that demonstration Bartrand was happy to hire me.
And that's how I got into the Deep Roads Expedition. All I needed to do now was to wait for Hawke to collect enough money to become a partner for the expedition. Even though they had reclaimed the former glory of the Amell name in the two years since arriving in Kirkwall, fifty sovereigns was still a large amount for anyone to just give away.
XXXXXX
Holy shit have I been really acting like that for the past two years? I cannot handle absolute power at all. Two years and I'm already building a not-so-secret army that could rival the Blight in its scale? Talk about letting the power go to my head! Maybe I should turn off the god mode cheat for a while, or better yet don't alter anything else in the storyline. From t=everything that I've done, something is bound to bite me in the ass down the road.
Seriously, I created an army, me? A gamer who hadn't even graduated college yet and still lived with his parents (not actually unusual in the Philippines, but you get the idea) created a mercenary company that spanned half of Thedas? I'm mind controlling people to get my way and killing anyone who got in my way. I'm turning into one of those characters who acts like one of the good guys in the beginning of the season but turn out to be the biggest backstabber in the whole series. I probably won't, but what happens if the situation is like Dante and Vergil in DmC? The big bad are dead and nothing else would stand in my way for complete domination but then my friends would rise up again to try and stop me. Time to wind down the evil furnace and go back to just enjoying the fact that I'm in a video game. Everything has gone way too serious for my tastes!
A few weeks after all that mess, I decided to just walk around Kirkwall and see the sights spend some down time doing absolutely nothing. I will enjoy walking around the city with nothing but a small wheel of cheese in one hand, a loaf of bread in the other and a litre of apple cider tucked into one of my coat pockets. I'm still going to bring and wear my gauntlets of course; I'm not that much of an idiot.
Motto for the day: Let everyone handle their own mess.
I found a nice, cosy spot in the gallows. The view was overlooking the entrance to the city and I could just watch the boats go in and out. It was calm and I was finally relaxing a bit. By the way, they really make good cheese here, believe it or not.
I take a bite out of the bread and a bit of the cheese.
Yup, nothing like basking in the knowledge of being sent into a video game to relax the mind and body. A few people, city folk, City Guards and Templars pass by where I was sitting without a second glance, because today I'm just another face in the crowd.
I take a sip from the cold bottle of apple cider.
I wonder if Hawke is already collecting money for the expedition. Did she meet up with everyone else: Anders, Merrill, Isabela, Fenris, and Sebastian? Will they take me along to meet everyone else? I wonder what Bethany is doing? I wonder what Meredith was doing?
Ok, this was more boring than I expected.
Back to work and being evil and shit…
XXXXXX
Ok, back on track. I'll try and avoid using game knowledge to get ahead in this dimension and stick to following Hawke and the gang. All this altering major points and leading a whole army is turning me into a bad guy.
I never knew that even the smallest game details you find in codex entries could have such a huge impact here. Knowledge is power here; even the smallest detail of a background character can change everything. And after two years of nothing but that and forgetting why I was here in the first place… Well I'll leave my subordinates with it for now.
I was walking through High town in full armour, on my way to visit Bartrand and Varric to reconfirm when exactly we were leaving for the Deep Roads. It had been what, a week or two? Since we last spoke and I haven't heard of anything from them or Hawke yet. But my informants did say that Bartrand was already scraping the bottom of the barrel in funding this expedition so Hawke would be meeting up with him pretty soon…
"No! Andraste's tits, human! You know how many people want to hire onto this expedition?"
… Or it was happening now. Hm, were they waiting for me or something? Was this one of those area activated events, wherein you have to be there for it to start? I turned a corner to see Marian and Bethany and Carver following a raging Bartrand.
"But we heard you're going into the Deep Roads. Surely you'll need all the help you can-" Bethany tried to reason but the dwarf easily spoke over her. Why was Bartrand so pissy anyways? Have the Hawkes been badgering him the whole day or was it the thought that he would be broke even before going into the Deep Roads? He was probably tapping into what remained of his family fortune to supply this trip.
"No! You're too late! Already done! This is the sort of venture that can make a man for life! I'm not about to take my chances hiring random humans!" It was Carver this time to try and convince the Dwarf as he stepped directly in front of Bartrand to halt his march.
"We've fought and killed Darkspawn. How many of your hired men can say the same?" At that point I actually thought that Bartrand was going to acquiesce to their pleading, but all he did was duck under Carver's legs and continued on his way. I actually laughed at that.
"Get in line, human. Half of Kirkwall wants to be my best friend right now. You're looking for a quick way out of the slums, right? You and every other Fereldan in this dump, find another meal ticket." I didn't plan on stepping into this confrontation but Bartrand had better eyesight than I thought because he quickly spotted me leaning beside one of the gigantic Dwarven statues littered around the courtyard here. "Vas, there you are you good for nothing, nug-humping topsider! I hired you for your security, so do your job and secure!" He points a finger to the Hawke family and the three of them stop when they see me.
"Calm down, Bartrand. I know them," He just stalks off muttering under his breathe while I approach the siblings. Marian and Bethany were happy enough to see me and Carver was friendly enough to give me a nod in greeting.
"Well, well, what have we here? I haven't seen you troublemakers in a while."
"Not for the lack of trying," Carver says with a heavy sigh. I notice that he changed from a Great Sword like Marian into a sword and shield combo. Bethany wore the gloves I gave her, so I didn't know if she changed her staff or anything. Marian, from the looks of things, had a brand new Great Sword. She wore a set of medium plated armour in dark colours while Carver wore a set of Heavy armour. Bethany didn't wear a mages robe, instead a set of civilian clothing lined with hard leather, chain mail as well as steel plates. You wouldn't notice it at first glance but on closer inspection the set did look pretty heavy. I'm guessing she was still taking my blending-in lessons seriously. "The past year has been harder than when we first came to Kirkwall. Apparently, everyone's been making use of Dead Cell's services and that doesn't leave a lot of jobs for freelancers like us." Carver gives me a pointed glare and I actually laughed a little sheepishly at that.
"Sorry about that, but I did tell you lot were welcome in Dead Cell! We could really use people with your skills and talent of getting every job done." I did try offering them jobs. You'd think that reclaiming their names would help them in the money department, but Gamlen practically bled their fortunes dry by the time we got here. They were making enough money to get by I guess; Food, Water, City tax and anything in between. But, I guess I sucked up all the other jobs that they were getting desperate. I mean, that was my tactic, actually, so that other bands would come to me. I guess I forgot about the Hawkes.
"Look," Wait, if I tell them how to get into Bartrand's good graces or if I give them the money to become partners, then they won't be able to meet with any of the other companions. But what should I tell them, then? I look around the courtyard and see the redheaded pickpocket near a side alley. So Varric would just be around the corner then, right? "Go that way," I tell them.
"Why?" Carver asks
"You want to know how to get Bartrand's approval; you have to go that way."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Carver argues
"Can you just take my fucking word for it?! When the fuck did I ever lie to you, you little piece of-!" Deep calm breathes, in through the nose, out through the mouth. I did notice that my patience was shot to shit and I was more aggressive then I was two years ago. I would have never snapped at anyone that bad back when I was still in Earth. I turn to look at both Marian and Bethany before saying, "Trust me"
Thankfully both the girls agree easily enough and soon I'm watching events I've seen dozens of times unfold right before my eyes. The redhead still bumps into Marian and steals her coin purse and Varric saves the day by shooting the thief in the shoulder and pinning him to a wall.
"I once knew a guy who could take every coin out of your pockets just by smiling at you. But you? You don't have the style to work High town, let alone the Merchant's Guild. Might want to find yourself a new line of work..." Varric easily rips the coin purse out of the thief's hands before punching him out cold. With a casual toss from over his shoulder, the coin purse flies into Marian's waiting hands. "How do you do? Varric Tethras, at your service! I apologize for Bartrand. He wouldn't know an opportunity if it hit him square in the jaw," Marian easily takes the offered hand into her own and quirks the side of her lip at the dwarf.
"And you would?" she asks plainly. Strange, I could easily tell what a person was thinking about just by how they moved or by the tone of their voice. When it came to Marian, she was a total blank though. I couldn't predict anything about her for some reason. Maybe it was because she was the main character in this little adventure and therefore special? Maybe I wasn't really all that good at reading people?
"I would! What my brother doesn't realize is that we need someone like you. He would never admit it, either- he's too proud. I, however, am quite practical."
"What makes you so certain we can help? You know nothing about us."
"On the contrary, you've made quite the name for yourself over the last year. Serving with groups such as the Red Iron as well as well as Athendril is no mean feat! You made them powerful two years ago, enough for the coterie to be worried! That is, until Dead Cell came along and absorbed all three of them into their own guild, so to speak. But, judging by that warm greeting you got from the great and mysterious 'Mercenary King', Vas over there, I daresay that you might also be the reason he was as successful as he is." That was my epithet? Mercenary King, really, I am quite disappointed. I would have thought my byname would be something with 'shadow' in it or better yet 'darkness? Mercenary King was kinda cool too, but I expected something that would strike fear in the hearts of my enemies.
"If you've heard about me, then you've heard about my brother and sister as well?"
"Sadly, I have heard only a little. I did hear that your brother is a quite the beast on the battlefield with that sword of his and your sister's… talents are spoken well of. The name 'Hawke' is on many lips these days!"
"Frankly, I'd rather you get the credit." She crosses her arms defensively, but aside from that she doesn't make anything obvious.
"I assure you Madame; your secrets are safe with me!" Varric gives a flourishing bow, complete with a friendly grin. Nice guy, reminds me of the 'Imp' from Games of Thrones. Or does the Imp remind me of Varric?
"You're part of Bartrand's venture?" Marian says evenly. She looks at Varric with a raised brow and a small quirk on the right side of her lip. She already likes Varric it seems and Bethany is slowly warming up to the guy. Carver's as guarded as ever. He's like that with me as well even though we've known each other for two years, five months and seven days already, but who's counting? He only trusts his family and anything that's not gets full blown paranoid suspicion for all eternity. I get where he's coming from, losing everything he knew back in Ferelden and starting from the bottom here with no one you know aside from family, plus me and Aveline, will drive some people into being protective. That's fine with me; I only really need Marian, Bethany and everyone else's approval. Carver and I can be suspicious of each other until he dies and I get thrown into another dimension, hopefully.
"That's right! The Deep Roads wouldn't normally be my thing, but I can't allow the head of our family to go down there alone. So as you might imagine, I have more than a passing interest in the expedition's success,"
"There must be some way to persuade your brother to hire us on,"
"We don't need another hireling we need a partner! We have all the security we need from Dead Cell. The truth is, Bartrand's been tearing his beard out trying to fund this on his own, but he can't do it. Invest in the expedition. Fifty sovereigns and he can't refuse. Not with me there to vouch for you,"
"Why would you stick your neck out for a complete stranger?" That was Carver this time, not Marian.
"I'd rather take a chance on someone with your reputation than head into the Deep Roads unprepared. And besides, we'd be your partners. I'm willing to give a little trust if you are,"
"Your brother doesn't seem like the sort who's willing to split profits."
"My brother is many things, but he's not stupid; far better to share the profits than be trapped in a Thaig with a thousand Darkspawn between you and the exit. Trust me. He'll come around."
"It sounds interesting, but if I had any gold, I wouldn't need this job."
"You need to think big! There's only a brief window after the Blight when the Deep Roads won't be crawling with Darkspawn. The treasure you find down there could set you and your family up for life!"
At that statement, the siblings turn to each other and speak in quiet tones, obviously deciding whether or not to do as Varric says. Of course, Marian always had the final say. She turned back to Varric and said, "It won't be easy, but it's a chance. I think we have to take it."
"Better to work our way into this expedition than sit around waiting for something interesting to happen." Bethany says happily. It was obvious she was all for going into the Deep Roads.
"I still think this is too much of a risk to chance. What happens if we don't find anything there? What if all the coin we collected was for nothing! We'd be better off just keeping the gold to ourselves!" And it was obvious as well that Carver was against the idea.
"We work together, you and me, and before you know it, you'll have all the capital you need. What do you say?"
Marian looks at both her siblings one last time, meeting each other's eyes before she gave a nod and turned back to Varric, "It's not like we had anything better planned."
"Perfect! Kirkwall's crawling with work. You set aside some coin from every job, and you'll have the money in no time!"
Game knowledge kicks in again and through my play through, I think I remember that even if you take on all the jobs available you'll still come up short by a few sovereigns. That doesn't even take into account how I'm sucking up all the money. I could give them all the money they needed right now, but then they wouldn't meet the other companions. The Deep Roads Expedition would be rolling in about two to three months, it took a lot of time to map out a route and without Anders' maps then it would really take that long. With his maps, we would be on our way in a month. I retrieve a small pouch from my belt and with a loud 'hey!' and tosses, the Hawke's are now twenty sovereigns richer. Hopefully that would be enough to help boost their funds.
Hopefully their pride wouldn't stop them from asking me for jobs. I'll just go wait and see if they want me to tag along in their job hunt.
I had to cut it off here. Next chapter is going to be very long.
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Have a question, ask and I'll try to answer as soon as I am able to but know that the questions you have will probably be answered in the next chapters.
Chapter 4 would be late, since I won't be able to access my computer for a week.
Until chapter 4 then, next weekend as always…
Bye