Somebody knocked on the door of his office, making Cullen look up from his work, "Come in." He said as he signed some papers, and the door opened to reveal Varric, smirking at him.

"Honestly, Curly, do you ever sleep?" The dwarf said as he made his way to his desk, sitting down at the chair in front of his table and crossing his legs, "You've been trapped in this room the whole day."

He snorted, "I'm just catching up on some paperwork, Varric, since I was too busy training and drilling our men while you and the Inquisitor were away." He looked down at his desk again, reading requisition papers as he continued to speak to the dwarf, "I trust Lady Bianca has left? The real Bianca, I mean."

At this, the dwarf scowled a little, and he could understand why. The person who made his crossbow… and his former paramour, Bianca Davri, came to Skyhold a few weeks ago, telling Alex that she had found the cave were the red lyrium was coming from in the Deep Roads, and that there were humans mining it. Varric had asked the Inquisitor to accompany him and Bianca to help in closing it, and Alex agreed.

Alex, Varric, and Solas helped Cassandra look for the Seekers and Lord Seeker Lucian first, as they hadn't seen an inkling of the man since they saw him in Val Royeaux. They soon found out that the man had sold the Seekers to occultists known as the Order of the Fiery Promise, who called themselves the "true Seekers". They also found out that the Lord Seeker they had met at Redcliffe was a demon of Envy, permitted by the Lucius to take his form and lead the Templar Order to their doom, while he headed for Caer Oswin with the Seekers. Since the Seekers were resistant to the effects of red lyrium, Lucius forced them to take it, causing them to die one by one.

The Lord Seeker told Cassandra that they were 'abominations', who created the Circles, the Templars and a war that cannot be won. He wished to destroy the world, so that he can create a new order, a 'pure' one, willed by the Maker. This caused Cassandra to draw her sword against him, and they had to kill him to get his book, which detailed several unknown secrets of the Seekers and of the Templar Order.

They then headed to the Hinterlands, where Bianca had told them where the entrance to the Deep Roads was. After searching the area and defeating darkspawn, Varric and Alex realized that it was actually Bianca who leaked the information about the thaig's location. She had sought to find answers about the red lyrium, and met with a Grey Warden Mage named Larius, who she gave a key to so he could head back down to the thaig. But he ended up betraying her, as it turns out that Larius was not a mage, and was probably controlled by Corypheus all along. Although her information about the red lyrium was just regular lyrium that had become Blighted by the Taint was somewhat useful, she and Varric parted ways in a bitter note, as the other dwarf was rather disappointed with her decision.

"Yeah, she's gone." Varric said as he leaned back, "Alex is resting since the red lyrium made her head hurt a bit, but she'll be okay."

"Will you be seeing her again, then?" Cullen asked him, and the dwarf smirked, "I always do. But anyway, I'm not here for that, Curly. Come on, you need a break from all this work."

The Commander looked up at him as the dwarf stood again, "Excuse me?"

Varric grinned, "The Hawkes and Alex's siblings just came back from Kirkwall, and Solona has invited us for some drinks and Wicked Grace." He said as he went around the table, "She asked for your presence, Commander."

"What?" Cullen said in surprise, and he looked down frantically at his desk, "But…"

"Oh, come on." Varric said, pulling on his hand to make him stand from his desk, "You know we're not allowed to deny the Hero of Ferelden wishes. She'd burn us to a crisp if we did. I'm supposed to fetch Alex too, once I've gotten you to the tavern. Besides, she'll be leaving tomorrow. Might as well give her a proper send off."

Cullen groaned as he stood up, before glowering at the dwarf, "Fine. But if there are too many people, I'm coming back here."

Varric chuckled as they headed out of the office and through Skyhold's battlements, heading for the tavern, "I'd like to see you try, Curly. Anyway, just get on in there. I've got to fetch Alex."

He snarled a little as the dwarf left, heading back to the main castle and presumably up to Alex's room, and he headed to the tavern only to see one massive table filled with people. Solona, Maxwell, Daylen, Marianna and Carver were there, as was Cassandra, Dorian, Cole, Blackwall, Iron Bull and Josephine.

"Well, well, well…" Solona said as he entered, and her brothers raised their tankards to him, "Look who decided to get a life after all."

"Varric told me to come here, but it seems that there are enough players already." Cullen said as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "I should head back to my tower…"

But the twins had pulled at his arms, making him sit between an empty seat and Blackwall before patting his back. "Sorry, can't let ya do that, Commander." Maxwell said as he headed for the chair beside Dorian's seat.

"It's our sister's last day, yeah?" Daylen continued, sounding disturbingly like Sera as he sat down beside Cassandra, who blushed fiercely when the man looped an arm around her shoulders.

"We should give her a proper send off, yes?" Maxwell added.

"The Hawkes are leaving tomorrow, too."

"But not us."

"We're staying."

"Yes… I remember." Cullen said in an effort to stop the twins from their usual chain of talkativeness, "You're under Lady Morrigan and Empress Celene's orders, so you can't leave until we've defeated Corypheus."

"Exactly!" The twins said simultaneously, and Marianna threw a piece of peanut at him to get his attention, "Looks like you're stuck with them for a little while longer, Cullen."

"Andraste, preserve me… my headaches are never going to stop now." He teased as he looked at the twins, making them laugh out loud and raise their tankards at him, before he turned to Marianna, "You're heading to Weisshaupt, then?" Cullen asked the two Hawkes, and they nodded.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning." Carver said as he drank from his tankard, "But I do remember promising a certain dwarf a drink, so here we are."

"I found her, Ruffles! Deal her in!" Varric shouted as he entered the tavern with Alex, looking fresh and well rested behind him. As the dwarf took his seat, Alex kissed Cullen on the cheek before heading over to her sister, her brothers and her cousins to give them a warm hug before sitting between Josephine and Cassandra.

"I do hope I recall the rules." Josephine said as she shuffled the cards before her, and giving them around the players, "It's been ages since I've played a Game of Wicked Grace."

"Are we playing cards or what?" Iron Bull said as he looked down at his cards.

Cassandra looked down at her cards and scowled, "Are three drakes better than a pair of swords?" She let out a disgusted noise, "I can never remember."

Daylen laughed as he reached over and took her cards, "I think it's better if you let me play, love." Cassandra blushed at his words, but she moved over and gave her cards to him.

"Seeker, remember how I said, 'don't show anyone your hand'? That rule includes announcing it to the table." Varric told her as he took a swig of his drink.

Cole's head inclined to the left as he looked down at his cards, "There's a crown on his head, but… a sword too. He didn't want either."

Varric smiled gently at the boy, "Don't talk to the face cards, Kid." He told him, and Maxwell stood up from his seat and moved it so that he's at the back of Cole's place, "I'll help Cole play." Max said as he took his cards, and the boy gave it willingly, "I know that Dorian plays this game already. And Cole needs my luck more than he does."

Cullen scowled a little, "You seem to have enough people. I have a thousand things to do."

Alex looked at him, and his gaze saw her as she pouted her lips in pleading as Dorian said, "Losing money can be both relaxing and habit forming. Give it a try."

"Curly, if any man in history ever needed a hobby, it's you." Varric seconded, and Cullen looked over at Alex and smirked at her. I do have a hobby… it's having Alex in bed, Cullen thought as he winked at Alex seductively, causing the woman to blush red before laughing aloud.

"Dealer starts. Oooh… I believe… I'll start at… three coppers." Josephine said as she placed the coins on the table, before looking a little torn, "Do you think that's too daring? Maybe I'll make it one? No! Boldness! Three it is!"

Iron Bull scoffed as he threw some coins into the table, "Seriously? Who starts at three coppers? Silver, or go home."

"Sounds good, I'm in." Blackwall said as he threw his coins into the table, and Dorian smirked as he threw his coins, "The bolder, the better right? I'm in." Varric, Daylen, Maxwell, Marianna, Solona, Cullen and Carver followed, throwing their money in to the pot and saying , "Me too."

Varric looked at Alex as she took her cards, "So, are you in?"

Alex smiled as she placed ten silvers on the pot as well, "Just remember that I'm still new to this game."

"Don't worry. You'll pick it up in no time." Varric said as he arranged his cards in his hand as Cole looked at Maxwell's coin and said "So shiny…"

Dorian looked over at Maxwell and smirked, "Just remember, if you run out of coin, you can still bet your clothing." He winked at Max, who wiggled his eyebrows at him seductively as Blackwall's eyes widened in surprise, "What?! You didn't tell me that!"

Solona laughed heartily, as Marianna smirked, "Maybe we should forsake that rule for Blackwall, eh? I want to be able to still sleep at night."

"Is it my turn? Is this when I place my bet?" Cassandra asked as she raised her hand to put coins in, but Daylen lowered her hand, "I've put in a bet for us, love. Don't trouble yourself. We'll play together and split our winnings equally."

Solona laughed a little as she looked at her cards, "Betting clothing in a card game… this reminded me of my time in the Circle." She said as she grinned up at Cullen, "Do you remember that, Cullen? What had happened to Templar Carroll during his first night at Kinloch Hold?"

The man blinked up at her, but soon he laughed out loud as he remembered, "How could I forget? Knight Commander Greagoir had it in the record books and kept it under lock and key."

Alex looked up and blinked at her sister and Cullen, "Templar Carroll? Wasn't he Red Templar captain I battled in the Emerald Graves? What happened?"

Cullen and Solona looked at each other and grinned as the Warden raised her tankard at him, "You should tell the story of that one, Cullen."

Cullen smiled and leaned forward, "You see, Carroll used to be a templar in the Kinloch Circle, but of course, before that, he was a recruit, having just left his home and having no inkling what goes on in a Circle…"