I thought I would be excited to finally be going to the Alienage, but the closer we get, the more nervous I become. I already knew that something bad had happened, from the fact that we haven't been allowed in any of the times we tried to go, but if even the queen has taken notice… I'm worried about what we'll find.
Even though we now have a writ from the queen to grant us access to the Alienage, Neria insists on only bringing a few people with us, so as not to cause too much undue panic from the Alienage's residents. So for now, it's Neria, myself, Zevran, Alistair, and Leliana; if you're going to bring a group of strangers into an elven Alienage, at least ensure that the elves outnumber the humans, Morrigan says. Which is unusually thoughtful of her.
When you enter the Alienage gates, you immediately walk onto a long stone bridge which crosses over the moat that curves around most of the city. The actual gates to the Alienage proper are on the other side of this bridge, and they're a lot smaller, and made of big wooden pikes rather than metal. Our house isn't far from the gates, so of course I dragged everyone there first.
"Shianni! Soris! Uncle Cyrion!" I call out, knocking rapidly on the door. Soris answers, and his mouth drops open in shock at the sight of me. "F-Faellathi? What are you doing here? How did you-?"
"I found Neria! She's a Grey Warden now, her and her friends helped me get out of you-know-where, and now they're trying to stop Teryn Loghain, who betrayed the Wardens and the king, and also stop the Blight!" I explain without stopping for breath.
"The…Oh, Maker…" Sorin says, dazed. I look to Neria, who waves awkwardly. "Hello, cousin," she says.
"Neria? You… you were the one that rescued me from Arl Howe's dungeon! I didn't even recognise you, I'm so sorry…"
Neria laughs and goes in for the hug. "I should be the one apologising, I didn't recognise you either."
"It was pretty dark in there, and it has been a while," Soris admits. "I…I didn't think I would ever see either of you again. Please, come in."
Introductions were made, and then Neria got straight down to business.
"I know you explained it a little at the time, but why were you in the dungeon, Soris?"
Soris grimaces. "Being stupid and hot-headed. There was to be a double wedding; mine, and my friend Nelaros- do you remember him? No matter. Anyway, the day of the wedding came around, and we had a chance to meet our brides before the ceremony. Vaughan and his lackeys come around, bothering the girls, you know, and Shianni gets it into her head to throw a bottle right at Vaughan's head. They were furious, but the chantry sister was there and she convinces them to go away. Then, in the middle of the ceremony, they come back even drunker than before. They… kidnapped the girls. Our brides, and Shianni, and a couple of the wedding guests," Soris says glumly.
"We went after them of course, tried to rescue them from the arl's estate. But by the time we got to the girls, Shianni had already been… well, she'll tell you herself, most likely. And my bride was already… they'd killed her." Neria put a hand over Soris' own.
"I'm so sorry, cousin."
Soris takes a deep, shaky breath. "Thank you. We managed to save the other girls though, including Nelaros' bride, but then Vaughan and his gang caught up to us. Nelaros was killed, but so was Vaughan, and I was taken to the dungeon."
"Merciful Andraste," Alistair breathed.
Soris laughed hollowly. "Hah. I know, right? I got off easy, in a way. I lived. Missed Teryn Howe's purge and the plague both."
"What's a purge?" I ask.
Both cousins look at me, and then away. "A purge," Neria says quietly, "is when shem soldiers are allowed into an alienage, to…kill. A lot of people. And then they leave."
Leliana gasps.
"What? How? They just come in and… and murder people?"
Soris nods. "I wasn't here, but Shianni said they claimed it was in response to an elven rebellion. There wasn't, it was simply revenge for the deaths of Arl Urien's son. Arl Urien himself died at Ostagar, and the new Arl, Howe, wanted to make an example. During the purge, people fought back, sure, but most of them died regardless. A few months later and we get hit by a plague."
"Maker, Soris… how bad is it?"
"I've seen a few sick people, myself, but by the time I got here it seemed to be under control. There are mages from Tevinter here, helping to treat it. But… I don't know, I think something else is going on. Shianni doesn't trust them either."
"Where is Shianni? And Uncle Cyrion?" I pipe up.
"Shianni is probably outside the hospice; she's been going there every day to kick up a fuss about the Tevinter mages. Uncle Cyrion was taken into the hospice for quarantine yesterday, but he seemed healthy enough, so I don't think his case is serious."
"Then let's go see them," I say, already heading for the door.
"Before you go, I know you've already done a lot for me, Neria, but could you talk to Shianni? Whatever is going on, I think she's in over her head."
"Of course, Soris. We'll be back soon."
Like Soris had said we would, we find Shianni hovering around a queue of people, outside a house guarded by mages from Tevinter.
"I've got children at home!" One woman calls out. "I can't wait out here for another day!"
"So go home!" Shianni pleads. "The best thing you can do for your children is not to trust these charlatans!"
One of the mages standing at the door rolls his eyes. "Everyone remain calm," he drawls, "We will help as many as we can today, so long as we can do this in an orderly fashion."
"Oh, you're 'helping' us, are you, shem?" Shianni replies, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Like Hahren Valendrian and my uncle Cyrion, you helped them, didn't you? Helped them never to be seen again!"
The mage sighs. "We've explained this to you before, girl. More whining will not persuade us to let you into the quarantine to carry plague back out to the Alienage."
"Quit trying to get us all killed, Shianni!" Another man calls out from the queue. "Some of us have still got things to live for."
"If this spell of theirs works, why are half the people they quarantine perfectly healthy?" Shianni points out. "They say they're here to help, and yet, funny thing, all the people they 'help' disappear!"
"That's not true, and you know it, Shianni!" A woman in the queue shouts. "Both my sisters got the Tevinter spell cast on them, and they're fine!"
"Where's your niece, then? And my uncle? And our Hahren?"
Neria nudges her way through the crowd with the help of the others, with me right behind them. "Shianni… Shianni!" She calls out over the crowd, waving her over to us.
"WHAT?! Whoever you are, I'm busy!" Shianni shouts back, elbowing her way through. "What? Who are you, what do you…You look familiar…?" she rambles.
"It's me- Neria."
Shianni's eyes widen. "Neria…? Maker's breath… I don't believe it… We were barely eight years old when you were taken by the templars. Our Faellathi…" Shianni's words catch in her throat. "She was still a baby, then… Did she find you, at the Circle? She had magic too, the templars took her from us almost a year ago, I told her to look for you if she was ever taken there, but-"
Neria struggles to get a word in edgewise. "I-I did, Shianni, I did, she's here,"
"What do you mean, she's here?"
At this point, I step out from behind Alistair and Leliana, and wave. I don't know why shyness had suddenly overcome me. I guess I've just waited for this moment for so long, now that it's arrived, I'm not sure what to do with myself.
Shianni locks eyes with me, and she charges, sweeping me up into a hug and twirling me around. "You brought her back!" she exclaims, overjoyed.
Then reality must have set back in, because suddenly I'm returned, very dizzy, to standing on my own two feet. "You brought her back," she repeats, realisation dawning. "The templars will be after her. They'll be after both of you, why did you come back here?"
"They're not after either of us, Shianni. I'm a Grey Warden now, and Faellathi… well it'll take some time to explain."
"Of course! That explains why you've brought shems with you! No offense," she gestures to Leliana and Alistair. "You'll all stay for dinner, won't you? Cousin, you have no idea… the things that have happened over the last year… I'm babbling aren't I? I'm just so happy to see both of you!" She trills, embracing us both tightly. "And the help of a Grey Warden would come in handy right about now!"
"About that, we spoke to Soris just before, he said you could explain what's going on with this plague, and the Tevinters?" Neria enquires, catching her breath.
"Is Uncle Cyrion sick?" I ask.
Shianni lowers her voice conspirationally. "Well that's just the thing. The Tevinters quarantined your father yesterday, Neria. I told him not to go to the hospice! Not one elf they've taken in there has come out again, and who knows what's become of them?"
"What kind of plague is it?" Neria asks, frowning.
"It came from the Blight. That's what they're saying, anyhow. People fleeing the darkspawn brought it with them. After the refugees arrived, people here got sick. And these Tevinter vultures began circling, bringing people into quarantine a few at a time," Shianni says, gesturing to the mages outside the hospice door.
"What can the Tevinters do about a plague?" Leliana asks, confused.
"They say the sickness spreading here is a Blight disease they saw in the Imperium ages ago. Magic can't just make it go away, but it can keep you from getting it, if you're healthy. So every day, new people line up to be magicked. And every day, the Tevinters pull someone out of the line and take them to quarantine."
"I know a little about preventative healing magic, but not about any kind that would prevent Blight-sickness. And even if that were the case, it wouldn't require inoculated people to undergo any length of quarantine," Neria muses out loud.
"Uh, you kind of lost me at the end there, but what you're saying is something is off, right?"
"Right. We'll go check it out; Fae, stay here with Shianni, ok?"
The group follows Neria to the front of the queue, ignoring the complaints of cutting in line.
"There is no need to push!" One of the mages says. "We will work our spell for each person in—Hessarian's mercy, how long have you been ill, woman?" He gasps, staring at Neria. "You should have come here days ago!"
"What are you talking about? I'm not ill," Neria's eyes narrow dangerously.
"You may not feel it, but anyone can tell by looking that you have been infected!" The mage insists. "All Blight diseases carry some of the corruption, and in you it is as obvious as blood in a bowl of water!"
"I'm a Grey Warden. We're immune to Blight disease."
"A Grey Warden?" The mage clasps his hands together in glee. "There's a hefty reward for your head, Warden. Take her down, men, we'll split the gold!"
The crowd scatters with screams of alarm as the mages attack. Neria and our friends were prepared for this situation to turn ugly, however, and it doesn't take long for the mages to end up unmoving on the ground.
"Maker, but you're a fearsome lot," Shianni comments, shocked.
"Take Faellathi back to the house, would you, Shianni? We're going inside to get to the bottom of this," Neria instructs as Leliana picks the lock on the hospice door.
"Was our cousin always this bossy?" Shianni asks me after they go inside, closing the door behind them.
"Uh, kind of, yeah."