Natia and Alistair spoke to a woman, Zerlinda, about her and her son. She had been part of the Mining Caste, until she'd gotten pregnant by someone in a lower Caste than herself. Her father had thrown her out after she had rejected his ultimatum; either she kill the baby or leave it somewhere or she be cast from the family altogether. She had chosen her son, as a mother would. Natia managed to convince the man to take his daughter back-along with the child. It was either that, or go to the surface, where the caste system doesn't exist. But if she'd gone down that path, she would have never seen her family in Orzammar again. Thankfully, the situation was easily resolved.

They had also gotten the lyrium from Rogek, and Alistair was worried Natia wasn't acting as unsuspicious as she could be. I'd looked to the ceiling at that later, I remember, because he was looking around, the picture of shifty behavior. Whereas she was her normal, distant self.

Elissa and Aedan were accosted by a man dressed in chantry robes. How strange that must have been, seeing a dwarf wearing robes intended for followers of the Chant of Light. He wanted someone to convince the Shaperate to allow him to start a Chantry in Orzammar. In the Trade Quarter. Right next to Tapsters Tavern. They'd caught up with Duran and I just before we'd actually made it to the Diamond Quarter and told us what was going on. Of course, they felt for the man. The Maker was calling to him, and who could say they had the authority to deny the man? I'd sighed and said we would look in to it. That was when Elissa asked why we hadn't yet made it to the noble district.

"Well, there was an... incident." Duran had answered mysteriously.

I'd rolled my eyes, "I might have... told a dwarf... she could go to the, uh... Circle Tower to study magic, depending on whether or not Irving gave the okay."

"Dwarves can't study magic." she had blurted, bewildered as to why I would send a nonmage to a mage training ground.

"Well, she wants to study magic theory, actually. How it works. How to make it work better. How to control it better. Do you know how many mages have to be made Tranquil each year? Or even every month? A lot. More than I'd thought, even. Anyway, she was so excited, and I... I couldn't say no." I had thrown my hands in the air, "I just couldn't! Have you ever tried telling an excited person 'no'? It's bloody impossible!"

"'Bloody'?" Aedan had cracked a smile at my vocabulary.

"Would you rather I say any number of other, far worse words?"

"Er, no." he had blinked at me, "You're only nine."

"And yet I lead around a bunch of adults." I'd said flatly, "Now, we'll try talking to the Shaperate while we're there gathering information."

I'd turned on my heel and marched toward the large doors separating the nobles from the rabble.

So, while everyone else was doing their tasks, we were doing ours. We'd talked to the Shaperate and found out someone had stolen a tome. A book full of recorded memories of Orzammar. Before the shapers would hear us out about the chantry, we had to find the stolen item. And the culprit responsible.

Which led us to the Proving Grounds, incidentally. No one was covering it, so it was a good idea to check out, regardless. That was where we found the thief. He was trying to sell it to someone there, and we walked in on the transaction. It was a shame, but they left us no choice; they attacked us and we had to defend ourselves. The shapers were grateful, and Brother Burkel got his chantry permit.

And when we returned to the Shaperate, there was a young woman there, Orta. She'd asked us if we'd be going to the Deep Roads while we were visiting. I'd said we might, fishing for more information. She had said she wanted us to look around and if we happened upon any papers stating Ortan was a house with a tie to the Paragon Ortan, she could use them to get her family reinstated as nobles. She'd said Bhelen and Harrowmont were putting together expeditions to go to the Deep Roads soon, too. We'd known that, but it was nice to have a confirmation.

Funnily enough, we just happened to be roaming the halls of the palace for no other reason than to find someone worthy of our time to talk to. Of course. Duran stayed in the shadows with Zevran most of the time, murmuring directions and what room was what. In one of the rooms, we found two dwarves. One was worried sick, while the other was, well, sick. She was unconscious, laying in bed, and dying. It turned out, she had been the victim of an assassination gone wrong. She was in need of a potion called the Dwarven Regicide Antidote, and the man didn't have the ingredients necessary to make it. I pulled my herb pouch from my belt and handed it to him, said if he found what he needed, he could take it. Indeed, he did find everything. He swiftly made the potion while Duran, Zevran, and I looked on. A few moments after he'd given it to the woman, she coughed, and her body shook slightly. Just enough to be noticeable. She would make it.

And that was how we'd ended up in Bhelen's good graces. We'd done everything we could to help the dwarves we'd come across, within reason of course. We were tasked with taking down the Carta. We accepted, because we're nice people like that. With our loyalty proven, we were told to go to the Deep Roads to find the one and only Paragon Branka and bring her back to him. That was how we'd ended up meeting Oghren. He'd overheard Natia and Alistair's conversation with Elissa and Aedan. Weird how none of that happened when I was around, right? It couldn't be because I always surrounded us with a magical barrier that didn't allow anyone to eavesdrop, could it? Anyway, he'd met us at the entrance to the Deep Roads and essentially invited himself along for the journey.

Just before we ran in to him, I swayed and fell in to Zevran, who caught me in time to keep me from introducing my face to the stone ground.

There was a woman watching us from the shadows as we walked down a long corridor that had been dug out thousands upon thousands of years ago. She was following us. Studying. Learning. Waiting for the opportunity to strike. And she did. Eventually, future me brushed off the feeling of something else being in the tunnels with us and relaxed. That was when people started dying around me. That was when I was brought before a large, multi-breasted woman-creature with tentacles reaching out in every direction. It cut off abruptly after that.

Another vision followed on the heels of the first, and it was the same scene, only a red haired dwarven man was with us. The woman in the shadows came forward and talked with us, instead of attacking head-on. We went with her, fought so many darkspawn, I lost count, and we all lived to see the hideously terrifying woman-creature. And then we died.

Something sped by behind my eyes, and it propelled me from the visions.

When I came back to myself, I was standing still. Staring in to space. My eyes unfocused. I snapped back to the present, and my whole body shuddered. I went behind a rock and vomited. It was too much on my body, my mind, and I had to get rid of the aftermath. The horrible energy that came with the visions. What was that woman? She was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. I was shaken to my core. Something was very wrong with the vision, but I knew it had more to do with what future me knew, than anything I'd seen or felt through the experience.

"Ana, take deep breaths." Wynne murmured while rubbing my back.

I shrugged out from under her touch and straightened, wiping my mouth, "I'm sorry. I'm fine."

My eyes searched for the dwarf; we couldn't go without him.

As if I had called him, he walked right up to us, "Strangers! Have you seen a Grey Warden hereabouts?"

The others exchanged looks, but I stared. He met my eyes.

"I've been privy to the rumor that he... or was it she-you understand this was many mugs ago-was searching for Branka on Prince Bhelen's own command."

"I am a Grey Warden." I stated, "There are many among us."

"Well, if you're the best they've got, then standards must have fallen way down." he muttered, eyes roving the lot of us, "But I suppose that would account for a bunch of humans in Orzammar. Say, could I ask you a favor?"

Alistair groaned low, and I gave him a sharp look. Zevran elbowed him in the side for me, giving me a wink. Turning back to the dwarf, I had a grin on my face.

"Why not? Everyone else does."

"Name's Oghren, and if you've ever heard of me before, it's probably all been about how I piss ale and kill little boys who look at me wrong." he laughed heartily, "And that's mostly true, but the part they never say is how I'm the only one still trying to save our only Paragon. And if you're looking for Branka, I'm the only one who knows what she was looking for, which might be pretty sodding helpful in finding her."

"I heard she was looking for some ancient technology." Elissa interjected.

He didn't even spare her a glance, instead talking directly to me still, "Aye. Lots of folks know that, but you don't know what, right? I know what Branka wanted and how she was looking. You, I assume, know whatever Bhelen's men have dug up on where exactly she disappeared. If we pool our knowledge, we stand a chance of finding Branka. Otherwise, good sodding luck."

"I don't know." Leliana worried, commenting on his state of mind at the moment, "Will you behave yourself?"

"It's the Deep Roads. I'll kill darkspawn. Outside of that, what difference does it make? Branka was a brilliant girl, but half the time, she'd add two and two and make it fifty. You want to find her, you need someone who knows how she thinks."

"Sounds like we have a deal." The words were rushed, running in to each other, in my attempt to make sure no one said no.

I heard the inhalations of my companions as they geared up to argue.

"You should know that Branka was looking for the Anvil of the Void, the secret to building golems, which was lost centuries ago." Oghren explained, either oblivious to the reactions I was getting or just ignoring them, "The smith Caridin built it, and with it, Orzammar had a hundred years of peace, while it was protected by the golems forged on the Anvil. As far as anyone knows, the Anvil was built in the old Ortan Thaig. Branka planned to start looking there, if she could ever find it. All she knew was that it was past Caridin's Cross. No one's seen that thaig for five hundred years."

"Bhelen gave us a map. We can get to Caridin's Cross." I patted my hip, the paper tied to my belt.

"If we're going, let's get sodding moving. Branka's not going to sodding find herself."

"Of that, you and I are of one mind." I murmured, staring at the ground. I was lost in thought suddenly, barely registering the voices of those around me.

I could hear the argument that ensued, but it didn't reach me. It was more like background noise, than anything. I had a hard decision to make.

"Oghren," I broke my silence, speaking softly. Forcing everyone to stop shouting at each other and listen.

"I want you and a few others with me in the Deep Roads." I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath before opening them, addressing the rest, "Everyone else, stays here."

"What? You can't be serious, Anastasia!" Alistair's face was red, the veins on this forehead throbbing, "I refuse to let you walk in with so few people. Without almost, if not all, the Wardens with us."

I waited for him to run out of steam. It took several long, long minutes.

"Are you done?"

He opened his mouth to start anew.

I held up a hand, "I'll not hear it. I've taken what you said in to consideration, and I'm choosing to ignore it. I saw..." Here, I hesitated, searching for the right words to express what I'd witnessed, "I saw everyone dying. We didn't have Oghren with us, and you all died."

"What happened to you?" suspicion dripped from his words.

I started shaking again, my voice barely above a whisper, "Something awful. I don't want to talk about it." Blinking back tears, I told a white lie, "With Oghren, I saw only a few alongside us, and we lived. I was shown that for a reason."

"The Maker sent you to us for a reason." Leliana repeated, her tone somehow softer than when she'd originally said it, "He gives you these visions for a reason. Who are we to ignore them?"

"Easy for you to say, you'll get to go. She favors you rogues. The rest of us have to stay and twiddle our thumbs while we wait for you to return." the warrior's shoulders drooped, and I could see the fight had left him.

"If we do this my way, we'll be okay. I didn't see anything about what would happen to those that stayed behind, though, so I would still keep my guard up, if I were you. And don't let anything happen to my hound."

Seraphine barked happily, her tail wagging. She was looking forward to being reunited. I didn't blame her; I wasn't exactly dreading being even deeper underground in a more dangerous place, but I wasn't super eager, either. My feelings had more to do with what we would face.

"Everyone coming, are you ready? Is there anything you wanted to do first? Any provisions you think we'll need?"

"We should get more food, now that I think about it. We'll be underground, after all." the bard shuddered delicately.

"Alright. I'll be here, waiting."

Oghren started forward but paused and glanced back at me. He inched closer as the others went back to the Trade Quarter.

"Are you alright, girly?"

"I have visions, as I'm sure you gathered from that conversation."

"Yeah."

I tilted my head and regarded him. Something about him... There was just something about the man. It was strange. It felt like I'd always known him. Like I could look to him for advice. So, I confided in him.

"I want to leave before they come back, and I want to make sure the guards keep them out of the Deep Roads. None of them should go."

"You saw everyone dying, even with me there, didn't you?"

He caught on quick, for a drunkard. Imagine how intelligent he would be sober.

"Yeah. Hit the nail on the head. But, what I didn't tell them, was that there was a third one. It was lightning quick, but it was there, nonetheless."

"It was just you and me, and we lived?" He was somber, almost sounding sober.

My eyes searched his, and I nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Let's get to it. I've got enough food and ale for myself for two weeks, if I stretch it, in my pack. I'm ready to go."

"I've got enough for myself for a little over two weeks, if I'm careful. I carry the herbs, about a quarter of the healing potions, and a handful of poisons. We just need to buy the guards."

He raised an eyebrow but followed me wordlessly as I approached the men standing alert.

"I'm one of the Grey Wardens, and I'm here to bribe you all to keep the others from entering the Deep Roads." I held out two good sized coin pouches, "I think this should be sufficient."

The men exchanged glances and opened the purses, their eyes widening at the amount of gold in them. They snapped in to formation and saluted me.

"We will keep them out to the best of our abilities, Warden." one of them spoke for the whole group.

I nodded to myself, and Oghren and I stepped beyond the large doors. The clanged shut behind us, the sound final, somehow. I had an inkling Zevran would slip past the guards, no matter what they tried, so I didn't even bother trying to conceal our path. The others, though, they would listen to them. They would know they couldn't be here with us, not with the visions I'd described to them.