Lothering was in chaos.

First of all, law enforcement was so lax that no one had been able to do anything about the group of thugs running an extortion racket right outside of town. Fortunately for any refuges that had not yet arrived Elisa wasn't in the mood for grandstanding idiots and the group killed them all. Secondly the entire town was full to the brim with refuges and the surrounding fields had been turned into a camping ground for those who could not find shelter, ruining the farmers' livelihood. Granted that the fields would no doubt be destroyed by the approaching darkspawn but it still showed how the place had fallen apart.

As they approached the village proper Kallian asked "Since I'm the one who'll most likely be in charge of the illegal stuff I have to ask; do we have any money, or am I going to have to start stealing?"

Elisa didn't even look back "One, I'm sure your good but at the moment your pickpocketing is still a unknown quantity so my sister would be in charge of the illegal stuff and two;" she held up a coin purse "the treaties where stored next to the warden's monetary assets and I took as much of Highever's treasury as I could carry with Howe's men at arms and Templars on my ass when I left."

Kallian accepted the answer briefly then frowned "wait are you saying that I should be good at pickpocketing because I'm an elf?" she asked indignantly

"Are you good at pickpocketing?"

"…yes"

"Then don't complain about me making assumptions; you're death with knives and you're poor, claiming that you can't pickpocket would be like a pirate claiming that he hadn't slept with the tavern wench on his way to the healer."

Guessing the question that her sister was about to ask as Alice turned toward her, Elisa said "Howe's men were just leaving when I got there; one of them had a maul and they weren't interested in preserving our family history" her voice was sad and she smiled grimly "I couldn't undo what they had done but I could teach them a lesson about the value of history" the smile went from grim to downright frigid "I can't imagine any of Howe's remaining men will be destroying family relics anytime soon"

Alice shivered; she loved her sister but some days she wondered if Elisa went a bit too far.

oOo

Reaching the village gates, Elisa turned to the group in an all business manner; cutting off any musings her sister would have had. "Right," she said "Alistair, Alice, Solona and Theron, you will go to the chantry board and see if there are any jobs that you could take to improve the lot of these people; we don't know what Loghain's been saying about the grey wardens but I doubt it's very nice, try to gain some goodwill from helping these people. Don't advertise that you're grey wardens but don't try to hide it either, I'd bet good money that Loghain's released our descriptions in case we survived so that won't be too hard to do. Morrigan, Kallian and Natia, you're in charge of getting us supplies; camping essentials, food, health poultices, injury kits, raw materials, whatever you think will help us. Duran and Neira, you're with me, we're going to the tavern to see what news we can pick up about Loghain, what's going on and what people are saying; Duran you're good with politics, albeit the other end of them, so keep an eye out for that kind of stuff. Neira, you're good with picking up hostility; let me know what you find"

Duran turned to Neira and asked "You're good with spotting hostility?"

Neira shrugged "I'm a powerful, outspoken mage who made herself impossible to ignore; if I didn't know when I was starting to piss off the Templars I'd be dead right now"

Giving Morrigan the money she felt she would need at the absolute maximum and handing over a smaller amount to Alice in case it was needed, Elisa set a meeting point just outside the village two hours from now before the three groups headed off to complete their separate tasks.

oOo

Elisa headed to the tavern, listening to the refugee's chatter as she walked. As they entered the tavern they were greeted by a group of soldiers "Well, it looks like it's out lucky day boys." The commander said "didn't we spend the entire morning asking if anyone had seen these three? It seems like we were lied to" The soldiers moved in and Elisa and Duran moved to draw their weapons while Neira readied her staff and began a spell.

"Gentlemen please," a woman in chantry robes and carrying a pair of daggers approached the soldiers "These travellers are weary and not who you seek"

Elisa grinned "Sister, if these men are looking for a fight then I will happily oblige"

The fight was over as quickly as it began.

Surrounded by the corpses of his men the commander desperately yelled out "I surrender!"

Stopping her swing, Elisa waved Duran to keep an eye on the soldier while she picked up a sheet of paper on of the soldiers had been carrying. Looking at it briefly she then turned to commander, and with a single flash of her blade, removed his head.

The sister turned to Elisa and snapped "They had surrendered!"

"Right now Loghain doesn't know how many, if any wardens are still alive, I have no intention of giving them that information."

She sighed "I'm sorry if I interfered but I couldn't stand by while others were in danger"

Deciding not to point out the now obvious lack of danger that the three had been in Elisa nodded "I see, so where does a chantry sister learn to fight like that?"

"Many have had lives outside the chantry" she replied "I learned such skills there"

"Very well, good day sister" Elisa turned to leave

"Wait! Those men said you were grey wardens, I would like to aid you if you would have me."

Elisa considered it "I do need help that's true"

"That and the Maker wants me to go with you"

Elisa blinked "Can you… elaborate?"

The sister flushed "It must sound crazy, but I had a dream and then you are here; it must be a sign. What you do, what you are meant to do; I cannot sit idly by while I could be helping others."

Elisa looked like she was considering her own sanity when she replied "I will not turn away aid where it is offered."

Duran looked like he had already decided on the state of Elisa's sanity "Elisa, are you sure you want to bring her with us? She's an Archdemon short of a blight"

Elisa chuckled "Yes, but the voices in her head are telling her to kill darkspawn; I can live with that"

The sister smiled at Elisa "So glad for the vote of confidence, I am Leliana; let us get on with the task at hand yes?"

oOo

As Alistair, Alice, Theron and Solona completed the last of the tasks that the chantry board had presented, the brother not only handed them the payment but also presented them with a well beautiful sword of very fine make "Take Oathkeeper" he said "For such a weapon should not lie unused and you are clearly ones to do the Maker's work"

Alice and Alistair looked at each other; while Oathkeeper was a magnificent weapon, their own swords were of better make, as were the swords carried by the others of the group. They turned to give their regrets to the brother only to see that Solona had taken the weapon from the brother and was looking it over. Seeing the odd glances that the other members of the group were giving her she stammered "I-I've always been f-fascinated with swords and I was t-thinking that Elisa could t-teach me"

Alistair frowned but Alice stepped forward and examined the blade "It's a fine weapon" she said "and it has an extra rune slot where you can place and enchantment; Elisa usually carries a few runes that will allow a weapon to conduct magic in case she needs them and she could do the same for this one" Alice hesitated "You might not like how the runes work however"

Alistair raised an eyebrow "Elisa can enchant?"

"Only certain runes and the way she binds them to the weapons is… unusual"

Thinking back to when she had held Blood, Solona paused and thought it over before nodding "I've had a look at Blood so I think I know what you're talking about and I'm ok with it"

"You're ok with the use of such magic?"

Solona shrugged "My main issue with the use of power is how it corrupts; if Elisa was to be corrupted she would have been by now" Alice twitched before Solona continued "My only curiosity is where Elisa found such unknown magic"

Alice did not reply.

Alistair raised an eyebrow "Isn't this where you're supposed to smile secretly and tell us we'll see?"

"It would be better if you did not see"

Theron grunted "If this secret of your sister's impedes our quest, I will leave you tied to a tree in the Brecilian forest with no food and water for a week; if you survive then I will reward you by slitting your throat"

Alice ignored his threat "I trust my sister" was all she said.

"Now how about we see the revered mother about that qunari that we saw" Alice changed the subject.

"You know, I'm kinda curious on how you intend to convince the revered mother to release a mass murder into the custody of a group of young – I don't know, soldiers, mercenaries, dangerous people?"

"One, by now she'll have heard rumors of some alleged grey wardens who have been helping around town; in a small town like this gossip spreads like wildfire and revered mothers always hear – and tell – the best gossip. Two we just completed a number of tasks for them to the point that they gave us an Oathkeeper"

"Their Oathkeeper actually" interjected Solona "see the marking there? That means that it's The Oathkeeper of the Lothering chantry, the sword they use to knight the Templars that complete their training here as well as take and acknowledge oaths; they only give a sword like this away if they feel that the recipient has or will do a great service to the chantry"

"Or the place is about to be razed by darkspawn and they want their shem relic safe while they claim it means they backed the grey wardens if we succeed and can deny everything if we fail" Theron muttered as Alice and Alistair looked at Solona in surprise, "What?" she blushed "I grew up in the circle, it's just one of those things I picked up."

Alice grinned; for all her powerful magic, it seemed that the young mage was quite a bookworm "Even better" she chuckled "and third, the revered mother will like me."

Alistair looked at her "How can you be so sure the revered mother will like you?"

Alice turned to Alistair and flashed him a dazzling smile as she ran her hands lightly down her body; drawing the attention of both the men to the fact that she had quite the figure, even covered by armor "Don't you think I'm likeable?"

Alistair snapped his gaze back up to her face "Y-yes, well I do but I think that the revered mother will like you for that reason"

"Well maybe she'll like you then" with that Alice turned and headed towards the chantry building leaving the others to follow as Theron muttered to himself about "Shemlen entrapments" and Alistair nearly walked into the chantry board while watching the sway of Alice's hips. Solona finished securing Oathkeeper's sheath across her back and caught up to the others; they would get the key from the revered mother, secure the qunari's release and then meet up with Elisa and the others before the brother realized that Alice had suggested seducing the revered mother.

oOo

Waiting for the others while Elisa and Duran went to help Morrigan, Kallian and Natia carry the supplies they had bought, Neira and Leliana sat at the meeting point swapping stories of the good and bad points of the chantry; understandably Neira had more bad stories than good and Leliana had more good stories than bad. However, neither was blind to the evil or good of the chantry and so it made good conversation for the two to compare and contrast the views of one who had willingly gone to the chantry and was allowed to leave against those of one who had been forced to acknowledge chantry governance and had only recently been shown a chance to leave.

"So let me get this straight; this Templar, Jorran, raped your friend? A mage that he had sworn that he would protect until the times that she showed the desire to do others harm?" the revulsion was clear on Leliana's face.

Neira bared her teeth in anger "And then had her marked as a maleficar and executed when he realized that she was going to tell the knight-commander" Neira's face twisted into a terrifying smile that reminded Leliana of an interrogator that she had encountered several years ago; full of malice and the promise to hurt you in the worse way possible. For a moment she could almost see the walls of the cell and smell the stench of blood and other fluids that had permeated that dungeon; she shook her head and placed her hand on the grass she sat on and leaned back to feel the sun's rays on her face, bringing her back the present. She then turned her attention back to what Neira was saying "…gave him nightmares every night; it's a pity that Elisa killed him, in a few more days he would have confessed and then killed himself, making the other Templars more cautious in how they treated mages"

Leliana was thrown off-guard by what Neira had said, wondering what piece of information to address first. "Wait, why would a Templar's confession and suicide improve the lot of the mages?" she asked, deciding to address that topic first.

"If he had confessed to something else, like murdering his brother or even raping someone who was not a mage it wouldn't have. But since he would have confessed raping and killing a mage, everyone would have wondered if his actions were the work of another vengeful mage, or a spirit that the girl had given access to his mind to, or something else that involved magic" Neira explained, her smile changes once again; this time to devious "It's sometimes useful that magic is such an unknown in our world, people are so quick to blame weird stuff on it, especially around the circle; and it can be quite easy to get away with stuff that nobody knows about"

"But you didn't get away with it, did you? Elisa mentioned that you were forced to flee the circle after being accused of blood magic" Leliana asked

Neira shrugged "True, but that was more about the fact that I was always getting up in the Templars' faces about stuff; mages are always under scrutiny for corruption and no matter how dedicated you are to the truth, you're always more likely to suspect the person that you don't like over the one that you do" Neira's face fell, sadness showing on her delicate, elven features "Not to mention the fact that I was best friends with a confirmed blood mage didn't help"

The approach of Elisa and the others cut off what Leliana had been about to say. Jumping on the chance to escape from the painful memories of Jowan's betrayal, Neira turned to Elisa and asked "What have we got?"

Elisa dumped the bags she had been carrying on the group "Tents, flint, cooking utensils, healing poultices, more herbs then I can name, materials for weapon and armor repair, weapons and armor for Leliana, and a couple of other things that might come in handy; Morrigan picked it out and Kallian made sure we got a good price, so it seems like we're all set once the others get here. Leliana, catch" she tossed a set of leather armor as well a sword and a bundle of daggers and knives to the girl, followed by a quiver and bow.

"Thank you" Leliana took the armor and weapons and went behind a tree to change into the new equipment.

"Hey, I can see Alistair coming over the hill; everyone's with him and – holy shit" Kallian's observation on Solona's new weapon was interrupted by the shock she felt at seeing a giant following the group "Where the fuck did they find that guy?"

Elisa looked over to observe the giant "Kossith, moves like a fighter, so most likely Beresaad or Tal-Vashoth, possibly Ben-Hassrath but that's unlikely"

Kallian looked over at Elisa "That told me absolutely nothing"

"Qunari, most likely a Vanguard or renegade, maybe a mix of priest and spy but that's unlikely"

"Mix of priest and spy?"

"To qunari it's the same thing"

As the five approached Elisa turned and called out something in a different language, the qunari seemed taken aback "I did not think that I would hear my own tongue for some time, it is a welcome sound" The qunari inclined his head in acknowledgement "We have not met, but I have heard of you, basalit-an and am glad to find that you are our leader; I am Sten of the Beresaad"

Elisa turned to the others "A vanguard of the qunari people" she explained "Greetings Sten, you will be a welcome addition to our group, I am Elisa; may I ask how my companions came to recruit you? And where is Asala?

"I was attacked by darkspawn near Lake Calenhad; they rose out of the ground and attacked me and my brothers. When the last of the monsters was slain I collapsed; when I awoke Asala was not in my hand. Several farmers had taken me in and when I awoke without Asala I asked them if they knew where it was they said they did not; I panicked and unthinkingly struck them down."

Elisa accepted his answer "The mark of a true warrior is the ability to maintain discipline no matter the situation; barring that, it is best to remember what our scars show us by honouring our mistakes and becoming stronger by them" she admonished

"Of course basalit-an"

"Know this, our paths will lead us to Lake Calenhad; I promise that we will search for your sword when we are there"

"Thank you basalit-an"

"Ok, raise your hand if you didn't understand a word of that?" Neira quipped as she raised her hand, along with everyone save Duran, Theron and Morrigan, who stated they "think they got it"

"Sten was attacked by darkspawn, Sten killed them all, Sten passed out from his injuries and woke up in a farmer's house, when Sten found out that his sword wasn't there he panicked and killed the family that lived there" Elisa clarified

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Leliana

"Without excuse, but he will redeem himself by helping us end the blight." Elisa replied

Sten interjected "I would not question your prowess, basalit-an but I must ask if we need those of such" he paused before continuing "questionable discipline"

"Not all discipline knows the qun so readily; would you say that someone could not speak because they did not speak the qun?"

"Of course not"

"Then recognize that not all discipline is bound to the discipline of the qun; everyone here is powerful and disciplined in their own way, failing to recognize that would lead you to take dangerous mistruths to your people and I doubt you want that"

"Of course not, I will try to see if there is truth in what you say, basalit-an"

"I would not expect anything less from a Sten. Now" Elisa turned to the others "Let us be off, it would be best if left Lothering immediately, we can find armor and weapons for Sten later on. Solona is there any reason you are carrying a sword?"

Solona blushed "I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight"

"I could teach you how to use magic in a fight, of course. It wouldn't be like my fighting exactly; I think a different style would suit you better, but I could teach you. We'll start when we break for camp"

The group divvied out the equipment for everyone to carry and headed for the highway, when they got close they heard a voice calling out for help around the same time they sensed darkspawn. They drew their weapons and headed toward the call; Duran handed his greatsword to Sten, who accepted it with thanks, before drawing his sword and shield. The group found a dwarven merchant and his son being cornered by darkspawn, the group fell upon the attackers and killed them before they had registered the attack of the wardens and their allies.

After the fight was over the dwarf came over to them and said "thank you friend, I'm much obliged. I'm Bodhan and this is my boy Sandal"

"Hello" Sandal said, apparently the boy was a bit simple

"I'm always happy to help" Elisa said, "May I ask, what goods do you carry?"

"All sorts, are you interested in something?"

"I need a greatsword, heavy armor for my friend here" she indicated Sten "a shield and a set of chainmail for her" she nodded to Solona "and two tents, if you have them"

"You know I have just the thing, how does this work?" Bodhan presented the requested equipment to Elisa, who confirmed that the armor would fit and then agreed on the price. "Say" the dwarf said "would it be alright if we accompanied you for a time? I would think that the road would be much safer with your party"

Elisa nodded "It's a bit complicated but you are welcome to come along"

"Complicated? I bet that's only half of it. Come on boy, let's get this wheel fixed"

oOo

Never the less, when the group made camp Bodhan came by soon after, asking if they would allow him to stay. Elisa allowed it and he gratefully offered a discount should they want to purchase anything. At that point Solona approached her about learning how to use a sword. "Sure" she replied "the first thing we have to do is enchant the sword so it can channel magic, thankfully I have a rune for that"

"Would you like my boy to enchant the sword for you?" Bodhan asked "He's quite good at that sort of thing"

"Thank you, but your boy works with Lyrium, no?"

"Of course, how else can you enchant something?"

"Like this" taking a rune from her pocket, Elisa took Oathkeeper from Solona and pressed the edge into the palm of the hand in which she held the rune, cutting her hand. Her blood moved along Oathkeeper's blade making strange patterns that appeared to be connected runes, albeit ones that Solona had never seen before. The blood stopped moving and then glowed briefly, before disappearing into the blade. When Elisa removed her hand, the rune was gone.

Solona gasped in amazement "I saw something like that in Blood but I didn't realize that it would be so effective when added after the smithing; where did you learn to do that?"

Elisa just smiled.

After that the two found a clear area and Elisa began to teach Solona the basics of Arcane combat; showing her how to direct her magic inward to augment her strength and to a lesser extent her speed. Solona had easily gotten that down; it was the easiest part of fighting with magic. Elisa also went into how to channel her magic down the sword – even with the enchantment it was different to send magic through steel as opposed to a staff – and some basic techniques on how to use a sword and shield and on fighting in armor. When Morrigan called out that dinner was ready Elisa ended the lesson and the two went to eat with the others.

After they were done eating Alistair spoke up "Ok what's the plan?"

Elisa cleared her throat "Right now we're caught between an immediate threat, Loghain and a long-term but more serious threat, the blight. We need to gather an army to replace what was lost at Ostagar and to that end we'll use the treaties" she held up the treaties "however we also need Loghain off our backs and Ferelden settled, for that we'll need the support of the Arls; Alistair, you mentioned you were raised by Arl Eamon of Redcliff?"

"Yes, he wasn't at Ostagar so he still has his armies and he's a good man, he won't stand for this if he knows about it."

"Then we'll split up into two groups; Redcliff and the circle aren't too far apart so we'll go to those places first. Alistair, Alice, Kallian, Leliana, Morrigan and Theron, you'll go the Redcliff and see if you can gain the aid of the Arl. Sten, Duran, Natia, Solona and Neira, you're coming with me to the circle of magi; hopefully the knight-commander forgot to dust off the rule books on warden recruitment after we left. We'll camp here tonight and head out tomorrow morning"

The first leg of their journey completed and the second planed out, the group mentally prepared for the trials they would face at their respective destinations.

A/N So a couple things. One, as you saw Elisa has worked with the qunari before, I imagined that she would have met them at one point or another and impressed them with her discipline, hence her knowledge of the qun and her "basalit-an" status (something along the lines of someone who knows the qun without being part of it, for those who haven't played DA2) I think I'll either work that story into a conversation at some point or make a one-shot about it, maybe both, we'll see. The reason that Sten was so willing to divulge information that it took forever to get out of him in the game was a matter of respect; while he wouldn't just tell everything to some random warden he's heard stories of Elisa's skill and ability and respects her as a result – I've always gotten the impression that basalit-ans are very rare, so I think they'd be one of the few things that the qunari talk amongst themselves of. Second, the reason that I had it so Duran, Theron and Morrigan followed Elisa and Sten's conversation was because Duran and Theron both have a warrior's discipline and that allows them to understand the conversation – I originally considered Alistair understanding as well for this reason but he's simply too silly most of the time to use his discipline to understand something like that. Morrigan understood it because even if she doesn't have a warrior's discipline, she has spent a lot of her life observing customs that she does not understand and so is adept at figuring out what people are talking about.

As always please review.

This story is brought to you by homework – that thing I should be doing.