Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Dragon Age franchise. Excluding, of course, any OC characters and/or alterations to the story line.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Foreign Language translated into English"
Written Word
RedcliffeIt has been two weeks since the party had made their first camp and gave their personal tales to the rest of the group. While most of the party was mostly the same, being able to not let their personal emotions or the information they learned about the others, there was one new addition. Shale, a unique golem that was augmented by a mage, who lived outside of the Circle with special permission. She, as it was a she, was more human like than most golems, was shorter than most golems, and was covered in crystals that gave her mistic abilities in her physical attacks and defense.
The team came upon a merchant two days down the road from their first camp. He sold them a control rod and told them about Shale. Everyone figured a golem would be useful, so they took a detour, which added a week and a half to their journey, to the village were Shale resided. When they arrived the place was overrun by Darkspawn but discovered that some survivors made it into the mage's old home. They entered the home, cleared it of Darkspawn, and found the survivors, but came to a bit of a stall in their journey. Apparently, the son of the mage who originally owned Shale had a daughter that fled deeper into a restricted part of the tunnel. The mages son would only help them with Shale if they could rescue her.
So, some of the party went down the tunnel and found the girl being controlled by a bound desire demon. The team decided to free the demon from its binding, so it would let the girl go, and then put it down. After the demon was dealt with and the girl was returned safely the party went and awakened Shale.
When the golem awoke three things were discovered. First, Shale revealed that she was awake, in a sense, during her years of petrification. Watching as the towns people gawked at her, how she would sometimes be cleaned by her former owner's granddaughter, and how pigeons would defecate on her, which lead to the second discovery. That Shale was quite vain, and combined with how the pigeons would defecate on her, she became extremely aggressive to anything with feathers. So aggressive that Shale would go out of her way to kill any bird that got near her. The third discovery was that do to whatever event that led to Shale becoming a large lawn ornament also damaged the control rod's ability to give Shale commands. So, instead of having a mindless tool, as the group originally intended, they invited Shale to come with them to crush Darkspawn. A deal which she took, but also wanted a promise that she could kill birds with impunity.
Since then, Shale had been acting as the groups rear guard while the group was on the road and being an ever awake watchman at night, keeping an eye out for any Darkspawn… or birds. Bodahn and Sandal was lagging behind with their cart of goods, as usual. Staying out of the way of any possible fighting but close enough to be reached in an emergency. However, there were some discussions going on in the group as they drew closer to Redcliff.
Sten, who had accepted that Aiden had married a Tal'Vashoth, was making his discontent on their current course of action known. "I still don't know why we are going to this Redcliff. The Blight is down south. We should be marching down there to kill the Archdemon."
"I agree with the white haired fleshy one. We should be heading south and crushing the black blooded fleshy ones instead of marching away from them." Shale spoke out from the back.
"It is not that simple." Aiden began. "The Darkspawn that are currently on the surface is merely the vanguard of the horde, not the Blight proper. On top of that, we can't kill the Archdemon currently, even if we wanted to."
"Why? Slay the head of the horde and the Blight goes away. It is that simple." Sten said stubbornly.
"For one thing, we don't even know were the Archdemon is. History shows that the Archdemon stays underground until the entire horde is gathered and then leads it to the surface. So, unless you know exactly were in the Deep Roads the Archdemon is and how to get there we are forced to wait." Aiden continued to explain. "And before you go on about simply killing the Darkspawn that are already on the surface, that is just not a feasible goal. The Darkspawn numbers are ever growing on the surface, and it is only going to get wors. As for why we are going around to gather allies…The Wardens."
"Why do the Grey Warden fleshies matter? Does one kind of slayer for the black blooded ones really matter?" Shale barked out to Aiden's explanation before he could continue, Sten nodding to the golem's inquiry.
"One little detail that people tend to overlook is that it has only ever been a Grey Warden that has slain an Archdemon. Do you really think that in the nearly two hundred years of the First Blight that the armies of Thedas never managed to get close to the Archdemon, or managed to even severely wound it, and that it took a single order of warriors what entire nations couldn't achieve?" Aiden chastised. "No, the Archdemon likely has a method of regeneration or possibly even revival, and the Wardens have a means of disrupting it. However, there were only a few Grey Wardens in Ferelden before Ostagar, barely enough to fill a single military division. Now there are only the seven of us. So, if even one of us falls before the Archdemon is dealt with then the chances of ending the Blight significantly lesson. Do you get it now?" Aiden asked after properly explaining the situation.
"Hm, I believe I do. The armies act as a sort of buffer between the Wardens and the horde. Allowing the Wardens to deal with the Archdemon without neading to fear the horde surrounding them. Without the Wardens the Archdemon cannot die, and the Blight cannot end." Sten said, finally understanding why they are heading on this course of action.
"I would not have put it so cynically but essentially, yes. Loghain may not put much stock in the Wardens abilities, but by his betrayal all of Thedas is put at risk." Aiden said with anger filling his voice.
"Hmf, I still think crushing the Darkspawn under foot is the better option." Shale stated stubbornly.
Meanwhile, with Alistair and Annette, who are at the front of the group, are talking about what they should expect at Redcliff.
"Ok Alistair, what should we expect when we get to Redcliffe?" Annette asked the most senior of the Wardens.
"I don't know exactly." Alistair said as he gained a thoughtful look on his face. "The Arl and his brother are nice enough, and they have a great deal of loyalty to the king. So, if we can convince them that we didn't betray the king and that Loghain did, then we gain two steadfast allies. The only one that may give us trouble is the Arlessa." Alistair said the last part with some disdain.
"What do you mean? I know you said that she believed that you were the Arl's illegitimate son, but is she really that bad?" Annette asked with a bit of concern in her voice.
After taking a deep breath he began his explanation. "Whenever the Arl and the Bann would leave the area to negotiate some sort of deal or something, the Arlessa would go out of her way to make me miserable. She would force me to sleep in the kennels, deny me my bathing privileges, and claim that I was being a disruptive nuisance whenever the Arl or Bann returned. It is because of her that the Arl sent me to be made a Templar. She allowed her pettiness to act as a reason to make a child's life miserable." Alistair said with his voice filled with sorrow.
"How can anyone do that to a child? I know she is Orlaisan and selfishness is literally the name of their sick game, but to do that is simply disgusting." Stated a horrified Annette.
"Yeah, so try and not communicate with her to much. She will try and use anything you say to try and get something she wants. Either now or later." Alistair advised.
During all of this the others were either quietly listening to one of the conversations or the other. Taking in what they heard and storing it for later use.
-Time Skip-
Around noon the party finally made it too Redcliff. However, as they came nearer to the village of Redcliff, they saw that there were numerous ransacked houses and pyres, shocking the Wardens and Co. Then they noticed someone with a bow came rushing toward them.
"Halt! Don't come any closer! ...Wait are you the reinforcements we sent for?" The stranger asked as he came closer.
After taking a moment to look among themselves Ana decided to speak up. "We don't know what is going on. We came here to speak with the Arl."
"You mean no one knows what is going on?" Said the now heartbroken sounding man.
"What exactly is going on?" Thorin inquired.
"Speak with the Bann, he can explain things better. He is in the Chantry." The now tired sounding individual said as he stood to the side.
The group decided to head down to the Chantry and speak with the Bann that the villager mentioned. The outskirts of the town seemed completely deserted to even the trained hunter's senses, not even a rodent scurrying. However, the center of town was bustling with activity, but none of it was joyous. They saw an older man trying to train a rag tag group to shoot a bow and arrow. While others were being sloppily trained to use makeshift shields and spears.
As they entered the Chantry itself they saw that it was filled with woman and children, both young and old. Many of the younger ones were crying their eyes out. The older ones held haunted and haggard looks. Many of those not seeming to be able to be aware of what is going on around them. When they got closer to the front of the Chantry Aiden, Alistair, and Annette stepped forward to speak to the man giving orders.
When he noticed the group, he turned towards them. Revealing a middle-aged face with dark spots under his eyes, brown hair, and an unshaven face. "Hello strangers, I am afraid that you have arrived at an unfortunate time." He spoke in a respectful, yet tired, tone.
"Hello Bann Teagan. You may not recognize me, or probably even remember me, but the last time you saw me I was covered in mud." Alistair stated, showing his emotionally damaged state for the first time in the past two weeks.
"Covered in mud?... Wait, Alistair?! Is that you?" Asked a surprised Teagan.
"Yeah, its me." Alistair said.
"Sorry for interrupting this reunion, but what exactly is happening here?" Interrupted Aiden before either of the two other men could say anything else.
"Ehm, yes, to put it simply the dead are rising and attacking." Teagan let that sink in before he went into more detail. "You may have heard that my brother, the Arl, has been sick. He has progressively been getting worse over the past few weeks and has been worrying the whole family. It has gotten to the point that my brother can't even get out of bed." Here Teagan takes a pause of either tiredness or sadness, the others couldn't tell.
"Due to this development, I have taken over his duties for the time being. However, this whole disaster started last week. Me and the mayor were talking about how resources were and what needed to be done well into the evening. When the sun went down corpses started to rise from the lake and attack everything in sight. The whole thing was a slaughter, and it took everything the people had to fend the things off until sunrise when it just stopped. We tried to retreat to the castle, but the gates were closed, and no one would answer. We've seen people moving around the battlements, but if they are living or dead, we can't tell." Again, Teagan takes another pause to gather himself. "Since then, the attacks have been happening night after night, each time the numbers grow with our own losses. Attacking not just from the lake, but coming from the castle itself. I fear that we are pushed to the brink as it is and don't have the means of winning."
Aiden then waived Michael and Morrigan over and gave them the run down of the situation and asked for their opinions on the matter.
"A reanimated corpse isn't really a type of spell, but rather possession. A demon takes control of a corpse and, depending on the strength the body held in life, can transform it into something else. However, in this case it sounds like a relatively powerful demon has taken over a particularly powerful mage and is using them to act as a doorway for the other spirits." Michael gave his analysis.
"As much as it pains me to say it, but the Circle mage is right. This demon was either summoned by blood magic or promised them something in the mage's dreams. Based on the fact that they seem to be originating from the castle then we can assume that the abomination is in their as well." Morrigan supported Michael's claim, all the while Annette stayed silent due to having no experience in these matters.
"An abomination?! Are you sure?!" A panicked Teagan asked.
"Yes. A mage on his own, even with blood magic, can only summon and control a few demons at a time, even if they are not brought all the way through. With the growing numbers of reanimated dead bodies and the single goal they seem to share, an abomination is most likely." Michael answered.
"Is there anyone you can think of who could possibly be this possessed mage?" Annette asked Teagan.
"No, I can't think of… Wait, a while back Isolde, my brother's wife, brought in a new tutor for Connor. He always seemed strange, but never in a dangerous manner." Teagan responded.
"What was his name?" Asked Aiden.
"Uhm, it was Joseph, Jolan. Something like that." Teagan answered in an uncertain tone.
"Jowan!?" Exclaimed a shocked Michael.
"Yes, that's it." Teagan affirmed.
"Isn't he the mage you tried to help before being forced to leave the Circle? The one who used blood magic?" Asked Annette.
"The very same. If he was here, it is possible he became an abomination due to his fear of the Templars finding him, but I have a hard time believing that he had the potential to bring this many undead to life. An abominations strength depends on both the mage being possessed and the demon doing the possession. He was never the strongest, so there may be more to this than we know." Michael explained.
"In any case we need to help the town before we can make a move on to the castle." Aiden stated before turning back to address Teagan directly. "What can we do to help?"
"Wait a moment. We came here to seek aid against the Darkspawn. Since these people and the Arl are unable to help us, wouldn't it be more prudent to seek assistance elsewhere?" Morrigan asked with her usual dower pragmatism.
"Even if you took away the ethical responsibility this situation calls for, it is still in our best interest to help. For one, this ever-growing undead legion could eventually become as big of a threat as the Blight itself. Second, the Arl is the late king's uncle and a highly respected figure. Which makes him an extremely powerful ally against Loghain. On top of the fact that he fell ill around the same time Howe attacked Highever also makes the situation more suspect." Annette listed off the less emotional reasons as to why they should help the people of Redcliff. This seemingly satisfying the young witch.
"Anyway," Teagan began, trying to get attention away from the off-track discussion, "you can speak with the mayor. He is outside trying to organize the towns people into something of a defensive manner."
Aiden nodded and gathered the others to go talk with the mayor. As they were walking out of the Chantry a young teen girl pleaded for some help in finding her younger brother. Aiden said they would with some of the others voicing their agreement, mainly Annette, Michael, Leliana, and Ana.
As they stepped out of the Chantry, they turned to the man they saw earlier and began to ask about what they could do to help. The mayor told them about the few knights that they had were feeling disheartened, a mercenary dwarf and his men were refusing to help, how the local blacksmith was refusing to help anyone due to a mixture of fear and depression over his missing daughter, and how there was some kind of ruckus in the local tavern.
"Ok, the best way to handle this is to split up. Leliana and Alistair, you will go handle the situation with the knights. From what I have heard the knights of Redcliff are quite devout. So, the two of you are the best in encouraging them out of their current state." Aiden began to give out orders.
"What about the rest of us?" Natia asked.
"You and Morrigan will go take care of the mercs. The two of you has the best chance of talking some sense into those blockheads, try and bribe them if you must." Aiden answered Natia before turning toward Ana. "You and Theron will go search for the missing kid. It won't be safe for him outside of the Chantry when night falls. Also, check around the houses and stores for anything that can be of use." Aiden finished before Sten began to speak up.
"Are we really going to let these farm people just fight? They have no training and from the looks of it," Sten pauses to turn towards the training people, "have no chance of survival. Doesn't this region have actual soldiers?"
"They do, but most were sent to Ostagar, and those that remain are unlikely to gather without the Arl or Bann's direct orders… How about you take care of training them? You have the most experience with actually training people." Annette began to explain before coming up with an idea.
"How do you expect me to train these laborers. I would have better luck training imekari." Sten stated with bewilderment.
"Annette is right, you have the best chance at hammering some survival skills into them in a few hours. You don't need to make them a well-trained military, just well enough so that they don't stab each other with their own weapons." Aiden explained to the Qunari. After a moment of thinking it over he grunted in confirmation to the plan.
Then Aiden turned towards the rest of the group. "Annette and Michael, you are the most calming members of the group after Leliana. Go talk to the blacksmith, convince him to help. Do whatever it takes. Weapons can be made by almost anything, but armor can't. Shale, you just stay over here. If you want to wander around a bit and stomp on any birds you find, fine. Just don't damage any of the houses or scare any of the people. Thorin, you're with me in trying to figure out what the heck is going on at the tavern." Aiden finished before everyone went to tend to their task.
Alistair and Leliana went up the hill and spoke with the knights. After some conversation the two came to realize that the men were so desperate that they thought by having a blessed object they could survive the night. Instead of heading back to the Chantry and pestering the Revered Mother they broke them of the ridiculous notion they held. Alistair pointed out to the knights that prayer won't save them, action and strength of spirit will. Leliana, on the other hand, kept their religious fervor up by quoting the Chant of Light and giving guidance through this crisis.
Morrigan and Natia went to the very edge of town, to a house sitting rite on the edge of the lake. The dwarf they conversed with, his two men being silent and watchful the entire time, was both rude and idiotic. Thinking that he can just wait out the massacre. Morrigan then pointed out to him that these undead have killed quite a few others that thought the same and that eventually their supplies would run out. This ended up convincing the dwarfish merc, but he wanted coin up front for his services. Her Natia stepped in and began to haggle with him for both when the payment was due, who was to pay, and how much overall. At the end, Natia was forced to cough up a fifth of the payment up front and promised the mayor or Bann would provide the rest after the situation was resolved.
Ana and Theron, once they found the house the girl from the Chantry said was her family's, split up to better cover ground. Ana searched the house and found the boy hiding in his parents' closet, holding an old sword and declaring that he would defend his home. Ana remained calm with the boys protest to leave. Eventually she managed to talk the boy down, convinced him to return to his sister, and leave the fighting to those who are grown. Theron, meanwhile, began looking through some of the abandoned shops and stands. He eventually stumbled upon a merchants shop and found a large stockpile of oil.
Sten, through much frustration on his part, began to train the townsfolk on how to fight. Despite his reservations about training those who were not designated as warriors he remained determined in his goal. Eventually he began to look past the people's ramshackle appearance, and his own prejudices, and saw a fierce determination in the people's eyes. Something that almost matched the determination of the warriors of the Antaam, if not for the shear lack of skill. He began to see a strength in the people of Ferelden that he was blind to in his months of travel.
Annette and Michael managed to talk to the blacksmith into letting them in. The two then began to discuss on his daughter's situation. Once they realized that the daughter never left the castle, they came to a compromise with him. The two promised to look for the daughter when they went into the castle, but he had to promise to help the townspeople survive until tomorrow.
Thorin and Aiden went towards the tavern, finding it filled with men in hunting leathers trying to drown their woes. They also noted a pretty, red haired, young woman who was waiting tables and a large man with a beer belly. The two then went about speaking with the patrons and the woman to find out what was going on. They found that the owner of the tavern, the fat man, was charging drinks full price and refused to help in anything with the town's survival, him planning to barricade himself in the cellar and wait things out. This angered the duo greatly, especially with the hints the woman gave about how he was treating her.
So, the two had a private chat with him. He would help set up defenses, since he would be completely useless in a fight, and donate a third of his profits to the town when things were settled. After which, he would pack his belongings, hand over ownership to his overworked employee, and leave.
They then thought things were settled in the location and made a move to leave until someone caught Aiden's eyes. He saw a shady figure sitting in the back and drinking all alone. After catching Thorin's attention they went to question the man. After some firm discussion he revealed that he was sent by Loghain to keep an eye on Redcliff. With this information the two decided to give him an ultimatum. Either fight with the townsfolk and turn himself in to act as a witness to Loghain's treachery or be torn in two by the two very strong Wardens. It is safe to say that he chose the former option.
Shale throughout all of these events kept to herself mostly. For a time, she stood outside of the Chantry for a time before she got tired of the 'dirty soft fleshy ones' staring at her. After which she began to wonder around the town and chasing down any bird she managed to find on the ground, mostly ducks and carrion birds. Actually managing to catch a few by surprise and stomping them into a bloody, feathery paste.
After some time, all of the members of the Wardens party made their way back to the front of the Chantry. Each person giving a debrief on what they had achieved in their assigned task. After hearing this, and listing to talking with the Bann and mayor, Aiden decided to go over the battle plan with the others.
"Ok, here is the plan for tonight," Aiden began to the entire group in front of him. "Alistair, Annette, Natia, Leliana, Ana, and I will be up on the hill with the knights. If anything happens in the town itself Natia, Leliana, and Ana will rush back here to the Chantry. The rest of you will stay here at the Chantry. Theron and Morrigan, you two have the best night vision than any of us. So, both of you keep an eye out for anything moving around in the dark. For everyone else, your first and last priority is to keep the civilians in the Chantry safe. Not one of these reanimated nightmares is to make it past you. Do you understand?" Aiden finished out his orders and received various types of confirmation to his question. "And just as an extra precaution, Brutus and Nila will be inside as well, protecting the young and infirm." Aiden said while gesturing to the two dogs, who had been playing with the children since they arrived.
With that said, everyone began to go make the final preparations for the night. Some began to sharpen their weapons, or maintaining her bow string in Leliana's case. Theron and Natia helped to spread out the oil on some wooden spikes that Aiden helped to hammer into the ground up on the hill. The rest were just attending to the civilians and wounded, making sure that they stayed safe and out of the way of the coming fight.
-Time Skip-
The sun had set about an hour past, cloaking the entire area in darkness if it wasn't for some torches and fires that the defenders had set up for sight. The knights of Redcliff and the Wardens who were stationed on the hill were standing in a line a few yards behind the wooden spikes, and a few of the local archers behind them.
"Are you sure that the undead will come down the road? Even if these creatures are not very coordinated without their master personally directing them, they could still use another route." Theron quietly inquired to the knight captain.
"Yeah, I don't want any fucking ancestors be damned pile of bones sneaking up shanking us from behind." Natia whispered harshly in support of Theron's inquiry.
"Don't worry my friends, at least on this topic." The knight captain began in reassuring the two Wardens and the others who heard them. "These unholy creatures are in no way subtle. So, them sneaking up or past us on this front is not likely. As for their path, the road is the only way in or out of the town that isn't by boat. The defenders by the Chantry can take care of the undead that mite come from the water. While we defend against the frontal assault."
This seemed to assuage some of the defender's fears, and just in time. As soon as the knight commander stopped talking fog began to role in.
"Here they come people! Prepare yourselves!" The knight commander yelled out.
Soon shambling corpses are seen making their way to the town. Their appearance barely even resembling that of a person. Due to the affect possession has upon mortal forms the once citizens of Redcliff looked as if their skin had dried out and limbs becoming desiccated. When the undead creatures caught sight of the defenders they began to charge. As the first of them made it near to the wooden spikes, corralling the creatures into small openings, Annette fired a few small fire balls at the spikes. Causing the spikes, the ground around them, and the corpses to light up.
The corpses didn't slow down, they just kept coming forward the defensive line through the fire. Catching fire as they went, the corpses charged and slammed into the defenders. However, the corpses themselves, much of their flesh having already deteriorated from being possessed and being further weakened by the fire, did not way much and little in terms of strength. Allowing the defenders to beat them back and cut them down.
The Wardens were doing much the same as the knights. Ana was blocking the corpses with her buckler and cutting the things down with her blade. Annette was standing in the back to provide support, her lighter armor not being proper for a defending against a full-frontal assault. Blasting various elemental attacks at the undead and magic barriers or weapon enhancements to the others. Leliana was next to Annette, and the other archers, firing arrows at the corpses before they could get close to the defenders. Natia was going between the knights and attacking any corpses that were piling up in groups. Alistair was standing with the knights, helping to form a sort of shield wall the slammed the attackers back before their blades came down. Aiden was the most isolated of the group, standing with a space between him and anyone else. This was to prevent him from accidently hitting anyone while he swung his maul around the encroaching foes. Some of the undead being simply battered away, others being bisected by the axe blade, and some being smashed to pieces as Aiden brought his maul down upon them. It, at first, looked like they would win easily, but as time went on it became clear that the corpses just kept coming.
Seeing this Aiden came up with a quick idea. "Quickly push them back towards the flames! PUSH!" Aiden yelled out to the fighters as he smashed another body into the ground.
Realizing what the large man was thinking the entire shield wall began a slow march to the burning spikes. "FOR THE MAKER!," the knights of Redcliff shouted as they fought back. Pushing the undead back into the flames with each step. With this done, the undead were burning at a faster rate, keeping their numbers from overwhelming the defenders.
Soon, the undead were lessening in numbers until none were left from the assault. Giving a sense of calm to the weary knights, but a sense of unease to the Wardens.
"That…was too easy." Aiden declared.
Then everyone began to hear screaming from the town. Realizing that the undead must have begun a second assault from the waterfront.
"Natia, Ana, and Leliana, back towards the town. The rest of us shall stay here and make sure there isn't a second push on this front." Aiden shouted out his orders.
As the retreating Wardens came into sight of the yard in front of the Chantry, they were pleasantly surprised. Instead of coming upon a massacre, they came upon, thanks to the Wardens and their companions, a battle of epic proportions.
The defenses in front of the of the Chantry could only be described as shabby. Using makeshift fences made out of rough spikes and using random crates to help support them with one section being an overturned cart. The way these defenses were set up was that the fence was placed in a partial circle formation in front of the Chantry door. There were also three openings in the fence to help funnel the attackers onto three fronts instead of swarming around the fence itself.
On the leftmost opening, Shale was seen smashing, punching, and even occasionally picking up and tossing any undead that comes into her range. On the immediate other, Sten is seen yelling out directions to the villagers who are making a defensive line in front of the Chantry door, the dwarfish mercenary and his men between the civilians and the defences. While Sten himself is wielding his current great sword to savagely chop undead creatures and quickly blocking any attacks that come at him. Thorin is standing between the two heavy hitters in the middle opening, striking at his foes when ever they get near enough to be clubbed by his mace while constantly fending off blows with his shield. Michael is, surprisingly, standing on top of the roof of the Chantry and is unleashing area spells at the encroaching host and using barriers to help defend the others. Morrigan is on the roof of the smithy doing much the same as Michael, but she seems to be focusing almost entirely on offense. Using spells that target either wide areas or to confuse/befuddle the minds of the spirits inhabiting the dead bodies. On another building nearby was some of the archers that weren't on the hill, shooting arrows from above. Theron, at first, was not seen until he jumped off a lower roof of one of the houses. Quickly and efficiently striking the vulnerable zones of the undead before retreating once more and repeating the process.
However, despite how well the defenders were doing, they were still being overrun. More and more undead were slipping past Sten, Thorin, and Shale. Attacking the ragtag civilian militia in greater numbers with each encroaching wave. Seeing this, Natia used her experience as a quick thinker in the Carta to figure out a plan.
"Leliana! Start trying to find a vantage point to shoot down these undead fuckers! Ana, go help Thorin! That stubborn idiot doesn't know how to watch his back properly." Natia shouted out.
"What are you going to do, shorty?" Ana asked quickly.
"I'm going to give our resident 'wild elf' a hand. He is making to many close calls." Natia responded before hurrying off.
From there the other two females split up. Ana, using her slimmer form and quicker movements, slipped between the undead while also slicing a few down. In a matter of moments, she made it to Thorin's side. Helping to fill the gaps in his defense and dwindling the number of undead slipping through to less than half.
Leliana, meanwhile, began to search for a means of getting higher. It was then that she noticed that the villagers had set up a makeshift set of stares using some crates. Using these Leliana quickly made it to the roof and joined the defending archer's side. Using her far more decisive shots to strike down any undead creature she set her eyes upon.
Natia, unlike the other two, did not set about immediately striking at their enemies. Instead, she stuck to the shadows near were a fresh group of undead arrived. Waiting until Theron himself struck at them from the side. At first it looked like it would be another successful hit and run, but then the corpses did something unexpected. Instead of simply being unaware until Theron was done. They had a few rough shields raised in his direction, surprisingly quickly, halting his charge. As it looked like they were fixing to Natia came up from behind the group and struck at them herself. Cutting down a few and splitting their attention, allowing the two rouges to strike down the undead in a few quick moments.
The battle continued like this until morning. With the arrival of the three females the major wholes in the Chantry defenses began to be filled. Striking the undead down before they could make it even halfway to the door.
-Time Skip-
It is now morning, and the battle was a success. Thanks to the planning and preparation the Wardens and their companions did there were no casualties that night. Even the cowardly spy from the inn managed to survive.
Right now, the entire group was meeting at the windmill by were the fight on the hill occurred. They were then approached by Bann Teagan to discuss their next move. However, before they could get far into the conversation, they noticed two figures making their way down the hill at a hurried pace.
One was a warrior in Redcliff armor. He had no discerning features from what could be seen, but his eyes had an almost dull look to them. The other individual was a middle-aged woman. Her physical appearance was quite beautiful with pale skin and strawberry blond hair. Her choice of attire was a slightly more revealing dress of traditional Fereldan make.
Aiden hurried forth to meet the pair before Teagan announced. "Isolde! Your alive!"
"Teagan, thank goodness you are alright! Quickly we must return to the castle." The now named Isolde said in an Orlesian accent, the soldier beside her not saying a word.
"Wait one moment! Who are you?" Aiden spoke up quickly.
"I am the wife of Arl Eamon. Who are you?" The now revealed Arlessa asked in a haughty manner.
"These are Grey Wardens, Isolde. They came to help. Now tell us what happened. It been nearly a week since anyone saw you." Teagan requested in a calming voice, trying to alleviate any hostilities that Isolde may have brought out.
"Oh, it has been terrible. The undead rose and we have been sequestered in the upper levels since. We noticed that those undead fiends were less today than previously, so we quickly ran for it. However, we must return quickly… Its Connor, he is in trouble. You must come with me Teagan." Isolde pleaded.
"Wait, how did you escape?" Teagan asked.
"There is no time for that. We must return now!" Isolde pleaded once more, but this time there was an even greater level of urgency in her voice at first appearance. However, Aiden noticed that Isolde pleaded the second time as a form of deflection and hurry, worry and fear was secondary.
"Fine, I will go. Just let me give my friends here some instructions for further preparations." Teagan said before he guided Aiden back towards the others a little way down the hill. When they got closer Thorin, Annette, and Alistair strode forth to meet them.
"I don't like this. There was just too little in Isolde's explanation." Teagan said once he was sure Isolde couldn't hear him.
"Yes, when you asked about her escape, I noticed her emotions did not match with her response. She was hiding something." Aiden explained.
"But what could she be hiding? I remember that she wasn't the nicest of woman, but with her own child in danger I can't think of anything that would have her work against us." Alistair enquired.
"Maybe her son is the reason for her strange behavior. Perhaps he is the possessed mage that caused this disaster, or he is being held by them." Thorin tossed in his two cents.
"It would explain why she wouldn't be upfront about what happened. A mother will do anything if they think it can protect their child." Annette tossed out.
"Connor, a mage! I can't even imagine. Whatever the case I need to go with her, but I wont exactly be going alone. Here," Teagan says as he sticks his hand into his pocket and pulls out a key and hands it to Aiden. "This is a key to a secret escape tunnel for the Arl's family. The entrance is inside the old windmill."
"We will head in as soon as the three of you cross over the hill. Stay safe Teagan and watch your back." Aiden said before quickly shaking his hand. From there Teagan rejoined Isolde and the two of them, plus the guard, turned and headed back towards the castle.
After they began to walk away Aiden turned back toward his companions. "Thorin, we can't all go in there. There is just too much riding on us with the Blight over our heads. So only I, Annette, Alistair, Michael, Ana, and Morrigan will go in. I am leaving you in charge until we get back."
"What about if you don't get back?" Thorin asked, thinking about a worst-case scenario.
"Then you are to wait until noon before you begin packing up and leave within the next hour. You are to give instructions to the mayor and the knights to defend the civilians as best they can. I want Sten and Shale to stay behind and help. After that, you and the others need to hurry to the Circle Tower to get help. That is the first priority." Aiden ordered in a calm voice before turning to the two mabari's. "As for you two, I want you to head to the town and protect the children. Can you do that?" Aiden asked Brutus and Nila who responded back in excited barking before running off towards the town.
Thorin simply gave a grim nod towards his leader and turned back to rejoin the others. He told Morrigan, Michael, and Ana to meet up with Aiden while he told the others what they were doing.
"What are we doing oh fearless leader?" Morrigan asked in a snarky tone that could be mistaken for sarcasm.
"The six of us are going to enter a secret tunnel and sneak into the castle. I don't know what we'll find, but hopefully we can figure out some way to fix this mess." Aiden said. To most people they would just open their eyes in shock while the group of heroes simply nod their heads in acceptance.
Aiden and his group then turned towards windmill and started walking towards it. They made their way quickly through the windmill, finding the hidden door relatively easily, and were making their way through the tunnel. However, due to Aiden's large size he was forced to partially lean down the entire way.
The trip through the tunnel took about twenty minutes to reach the end. When they reached the end of it Annette, who was immediately behind Aiden in the tunnel, looked around and noticed something, Aiden was to busy trying stretch out his back from walking bent over for so long to notice himself.
"If I am not mistaken, we are in the dungeons." Annette said aloud to the group.
"And that matters because?" Ana asked in a tone that conveyed both confusion on the topic and mild annoyance on its irrelevance.
"To us, nothing. I was just noting it because it is either a fundamental flaw in the design or a stroke of brilliance." Annette stated simply.
"I can get the point about the design being a flaw. For any prisoner who is skilled enough at picking locks could easily escape through here if they knew about it, but I don't understand the last part." Michael stated as he walked out of the tunnel after Ana.
"I see were your coming from, but I think Ann's point is that the entrance is in such an illogical place no one would be able to simply stumble upon it." Aiden said after finally cracking his back. "Either way, we need to get going. Teagan and the Arlessa must have made it back here by now." Aiden said as he noticed Morrigan and Alistair coming out of the tunnel.
The group began to make their way through the dungeons after this but before they could get far they saw a group of undead trying to forcibly get into a cell. Not allowing the corpses a chance to attack, Aiden quickly pulled his maul to the ready and rushed rhem.
There were only five of them and one was nocked aside by the charging giant. Two were quickly smashed to the side of the chamber by Aiden in a single swing. Another, the one closest to the cell door, had its head bisected by the maul's axe blade. The last corpse, which had only just pulled out its sword, was smashed into pieces when Aiden followed the momentum of his last attack with a spin in the other direction to pull his maul into the air before bringing it down. However, the corpse that Aiden had nocked down previously was still functional.
As Aiden was coming down from his short adrenaline rush, he heard a blade being drawn. Turning around he saw the first corpse with a knife in hand, but before either did anything the corpse was struck down by an arcane bolt to the back.
"You really need to hold off on charging like that boss. We won't be here to save you all the time." Michael said in a joking tine, with his hand stretched out from the spell he had just launched.
As he and the others met up with their leader in front of the attacked cell, they noticed an occupant. When Michael and the occupant looked each other in the eye the two shouted, "Michael?!/Jowan?!"
"So you are here." Michael said after coming out of his shock.
"Yes," Jowan says simply as he sits in his cell.
"Are you responsible for what has happened here?" Aiden demanded from Jowan.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. If Michael is here, you must know that I am a blood mage and was on the run. I was nearly caught by the Templars before Ferelden soldiers stepped in and arrested me. Teryn Loghain himself sent me here to Redcliff on a mission." Jowan explains how he ended up in Redcliff.
"I don't like were this is going." Annette states simply before asking/demanding. "Are you the reason that the Arl is sick? How have you been able to hide what you are from the Arl and his household? You also are obviously not possessed, so who is responsible for this catastrophe?" Annette asked in quick succession.
"To put it simply, I was invited into the household as a tutor for young Connor, at least officially. Unofficially, the Arlessa invited me to teach her son how to control his magic which has started to develop. Just enough for him to have some control over his power to hide his abilities. She was the one that covered the fact that I am a mage from all but her most loyal servants. Even the Arl doesn't know that his son is a mage." Jowan says with a sigh.
"Why would she hide something like that?" Ana spoke up.
"Because the Arl is stanch traditionalist. Despite the Circle not being mandatory for mages here in Ferelden, the Arl still would have sent Connor there if he even suspected the boy had magic." Alister said as an answer.
"Yes, precisely right. The Arlessa was so fearful of this she hired me as soon as she found out I was a mage, not even checking to see if I was being hunted." Here Jowan takes a pause and releases a deep breath. "However, the mission Loghain sent me on was to poisen the Arl. I did so, but the poison isn't fast acting. It resembles the affect of a disease in order to disguise itself. This unfortunately led to our current situation."
"The boy, he's possessed, isn't he?" Morrigan asked in a surprisingly soft voice.
"Yes," Jowan says before closing his eyes in sorrow. "I have only been here a few weeks and haven't taught the boy the dangers of the fade in to great of detail. Which lead to Connor being so worried for his father that he drew a very powerful demon to him. What kind I don't know, but whatever it is, it has possessed the boy and is using his power augmented with its own to raise the dead."
"One last question, how did you even end up in the dungeons?" Michael asked.
"The Arlessa accused me of not just poisoning the Arl but also summoning the demon. She wanted me to fix them both, but I simply did not know how. So, she bound me, tortured me, and locked me up in this cell. I haven't seen anyone but a single guard with some stale bread and those walking skeletons." Jowan explained.
With this said the group decided to take a step away from the cell and talk amongst themselves in a huddle.
"Ok, what should we do? I don't know about all of you, but I am kind of out of my depth here." Ana said in a worried tone.
"We have to help the Connor! He is just a boy! We can't let him be killed for something he can't control." Alister stated firmly.
"We may not have a choice. In my years of self-study on the subject, a demon possessed mage is more likely than nought to be completely over come by the possessing spirit. In a few rare cases it has been noted that the mage fuses with the demon." Annette spoke in a morose tone about the situation.
"As much as it hurts to say this, but I believe that the Templar has the rite idea. A child should not be killed for something like this, but I will reserve actually taking a side until we see the boy ourselves." Morrigan stated, shocking some of the group.
"Michael, what do you think?" Aiden asked the resident Circle mage.
"I don't know." Michael says before explaining his response. "The fact that Isolde was still herself when she approached Teagan suggest that the boy may still be partially in control. Depending on what the demon offered Conner and his own strength there may be hope, but I can't be sure without seeing him first."
"What about Jowan then?" Aiden asked.
"Yeah, I don't feel comfortable leaving him here, but he also helped cause this mess in the first place. However, if we let him out, we can't be sure that he will help or cut and run." Alister spoke up.
Michael closed his eyes and thought for a moment before opening them and stating. "Jowan may be a blood mage, but he is also a gentle soul. My best guess is that Loghain offered him something he couldn't refuse. However, he could never have imagined what happed as a consequence of his actions. He will do whatever he can to make things right, for both our sakes and his conscience."
After Michael said this nodded his head and thought for a moment. He then turns around and marches back towards Jowan's cell.
"We have come to a decision, but before I tell you what it is I want to know one thing." Aiden says to the man in the cell while Jowan just nods. "Why did you do it? Why did you poison the Arl? Why did you cause all of this?"
Jowan didn't immediately speak. Instead, he closed his eyes and bowed his head before saying, "Lily," in a quiet voice as the others walked up. "Her name is Lily. I am sure Michael has told you already about how he ended up leaving the tower. Lily was, and still is, the woman I love, and she was sent to Aeonor for what I did. Loghain promised that he would arrange her freedom if I helped in his plot here…But I never intended this and I promise, I will do everything I can to help." Jowan claimed.
"Good, because we've decided that you're coming with us to fix this mess. However, just to be on the safe side of things, you're going to walk beside Alistair here. So, if you even think about running or attacking one of us, he has full authority to cut you off at the knees." Aiden said in a deadly serious voice. A voice that caused all but Annette and Morrigan to shiver in fear. Annette was simply unmoved by the voice while Morrigan felt a kind of rush go through her at the tone.
With that said, Ana got to work unlocking the cell. With Jowan freed the group began to move through the dungeons to try and find the exit. As they made their way through the dungeons, slaying as many of the undead they stumbled upon, they eventually made it to what appeared to be the servant's quarters. Not far in they managed to stumble upon the blacksmith's daughter. Apparently, she had been surviving by sticking to the most abandoned parts of the complex and stealing some dry goods from the larder.
From there they sent the girl back the way they had come and continued through the servant's quarters. After cutting down every moving corpse they came upon the Wardens and co. managed to find an exit into the castle's courtyard. It was here that the ran into their first real challenge in the castle. Instead of only facing the usual variety of moving corpses ambling about they came upon a large, dark, armored figure with a twisted aura around it and wielding a very large sword. No visible skin could be seen on it with its body being completely covered in its armor, with the only exception being its face, which was covered by shadows.
At first the Wardens didn't even notice it because of the creature standing at the base of the stairs. So, they didn't think of it as prudent to think of a more precise manner of fighting this new group of enemies. It wasn't until the creature summoned Ana with a pulling motion, which practically sent her flying in front of it, that it caught their attention.
"What the fuck is this thing?!" Ana yelled out in shock as she dodged the creature as it made a few surprisingly quick blows towards her with its sword.
"I have never seen one for myself, but I think that is a revenant. A type of reanimated corpse that occurs only when the body of a warrior of great strength or skill is possessed. I think it's safe to assume that one of the knights in the castle met such a specification." Michael yelled out as he was sending a few spells towards said revenant to distract it from Ana.
"That's great and all, Michael, but how do we kill it?" Aiden asked/demanded from the Circle mage as he sent three corpses flying.
"I don't know. From what I know it is resistant to both magical and physical attacks." Here Michael takes a pause to dodge a strike from a corpse coming from his side. He quickly retaliated by firing an arcane bolt at its head. "The best thing I can think of is to take out its head. Otherwise, we just have to keep hitting it."
Aiden quickly thought of a quick plan and yelled out. "Ana, keep it distracted, I'll be there to assist. Everyone else, clear the field." With that said the Wardens nodded their heads in understanding.
Ana kept the creature's attention by dodging its blows, not wanting to even attempt to deflect after seeing its sword cut through a stone block like a knife through butter, and striking at its joints. However, none of her blows really affected it. The armor was just too thick to pierce.
Aiden decided to charge the revenant while its back was turned to him. But as the large human got close to the undead creature it began to turn. Aiden barely managed to bring his maul up in time to stop the revenant's sword from cutting his face. Leading to a deadlock between the two. Aiden putting his entire weight into keeping the sword from moving. While the revenant was pushing its sword forward in equal strength with on hand.
Seeing that the revenant's attention was no longer on her, Ana tried to leap into the air and stab her foe in the head. But quicker than anyone could expect, its free hand shot out and caught Ana by the throat. Choking her while it remained focused on Aiden, slowly pushing him further back.
However, unnoticed by anyone during this situation, a raven landed behind the revenant. The second it touched down it began to be enveloped in a mild light. Transforming it into the much larger form of a fully grown bear. A bear which quickly brought its maw down on the head of the revenant and tour it off.
The two former combatants of the revenant quickly stepped back while recovering from their ordeals. They watched as the bear began to change once again after spitting out the head of the revenant. The form it next to took was the familiar sight of Morrigan.
"So…you're a…shapeshifter? Good…to know." Ana panted out as she was still catching her breath.
"It is actually called skin changing, but yes, I am." Morrigan said in a mildly smug tone before turning her attention to the remnants of the revenant. "So this is a revenant, interesting. I have to wonder who this once was before having their body possessed."
"If I would have to guess, I would say that was Sir Dannith. He was in charge of the castles guard when this whole mess started." Jowan spoke up before being softly ribbed by Alistair who harshly said. "Shut it, you're the reason we're even in this mess. So, pipe down or I will make you."
"Why does it look like that though? It is larger, armored, and far stronger than any of the other corpses. In fact, they are weaker than living people." Annette asked in confusion as she and the others walked up.
"I am curious about that topic as well. My mother went into great detail about the nature of spirits and demons, but barely gave a passing explanation on their effects on mortal forms. I have always wondered why these creatures always appeared this way." Morrigan spoke out, shocking a few in the group about her admitting not knowing something.
"I am not completely sure myself; I never spent much time studying the subject, but I think it has to partially do with the strength of the spirit. I believe that…" Michael began to explain before being cut off by Aiden.
"We can discuss this later. We still have a job to do." Aiden stated as he turned towards the stairs leading up to the doors to the main hall of the castle.
"Yes, our leader is rite in this matter. We have waisted enough time as it is." Morrigan stated in agreement.
The Wardens then regrouped and made their way up into the interior of the castle. Walking into a throne room with high pillars, statues of mabari, and a throne on a slightly lifted platform. The Wardens also saw that there was Redcliff soldiers standing in two lines leading towards the throne, each one sharing the same look the one that came with Isolde earlier had. On the throne itself was a boy younger than ten, this obviously being Connor. On his left side stood his mother Lady Isolde, who bore a very morose expression on her face. On Connor's right side stood his uncle Teagan, who for some reason wore a dopy grin on his face.
As the Wardens came closer, they were able to see Connor better. His hair and skin coloration clearly comes from his mother. While his eyes were shared with Teagan, and his bone structure was also quite similar to said uncle. However, his eyes had a look to them that showed a far deeper intelligence then what should be there.
"Who are these people mother? Why are they in my castle?" Connor asked/demanded his mother in voice that was far deeper than what it should be.
"These are you uncle's friends. Remember? We told you about them when we returned from the village." Isolde spoke in a soft tone.
"Ah, yes, now I remember. So what do you come here for?" The possessed boy asked towards the Wardens.
Before the others could walk forward and say something Aiden holds his hand up to stall them. "We are Grey Wardens who have come to speak with Arl Eamon." Aiden stated in a firm voice, not allowing any emotion to color his.
"Hm, oh really. Well why would you want to speak with him? I am the one who rules this castle." Connor announced.
"That may be…but are you really?" Aiden said in a calm voice.
"What do you mean?" Connor growled out. "I rule Redcliff! Its lands, creatures, and its people are mine to command as I see fit! No one dares to go against my will without paying the consequences!"
"N-o-o they do not." Teagan spoke out in a goofy tone, almost sounding drunk.
"Shut up uncle." Connor reprimanded the man.
"Connor, please calm down. Please, remember who you are." Isolde pleaded with her son.
"Quite mother! You have been nothing but an annoyance since father got sick. Maybe I should… Mother? What's going on?" Connor began to reprimand his mother before something changed. Instead of the demonic voice that the boy was speaking with he instead began to speak in a normal voice and his eyes losing their unnatural intelligence.
"Connor, my boy!" Isolde nearly broke down into as she reached out for her son. But before she could reach him the demonic presence returned.
"Get away from me!" The possessed Connor yelled out before turning back towards the group. "As for you…KILL THEM!" He shouted out to the mind dominated men in the room before quickly running off.
"These men are still alive. So try and not kill them." Aiden yelled out as he quickly slammed the pommel of his maul into a soldier's helmed head. The quickly followed by him pivoting on his feet to knock Teagan out, who was trying to stab him with a dagger, by slamming his maul as lightly as possible into the back of his head. Though the controlled man still collapsed like a sack of potatoes as a result.
"That is easier said than done!" Alistair yelled out in response as he protected both himself and Jowan.
The following battle was not difficult for the Wardens. Despite the controlled soldiers and Teagan being stronger and faster than the corpses, they were surprisingly less coordinated. This allowed the Wardens to easily outmaneuver and nock them unconscious.
The first to come to was Teagan. "Uhh, what hit me?" Teagan asked grogilly as he sat up as best as he could.
"That would be me. Your mind was being controlled by your possessed nephew. Now stay down, you may have a concussion" Aiden said as he put his maul down.
Before anyone else could say anything, Isolde, who was standing off to the side during the fight, rushed over and kneeled at Teagan's side to check on him. She then began to say. "It is not Connor's fault. He is under the control of an accursed…"
"Demon, we know. We know that Connor's a mage. We began to suspect something of the sort this morning. We also know that the tutor you hired was the one to poison your husband, though not on your orders. But most of all Lady Isolde, this whole situation is your fault!" Aiden barked out as he interrupted the lady.
"My fault!? It's that mage in the dungeon who caused all of this. He is the one that sent that foul demon to possess my boy." Isolde yelled back in her defense.
"I did no such thing your grace. I admit, I poisoned the Arl, but that is all I did. The demon. The undead. All of it is caused by Connor making a pact with a demon." Jowan spoke up as he walked forward.
"YOU! The rest of you would trust the word of this assassin then my own!" Isolde practically screamed in outrage.
"As far as we can tell, Jowan has been upfront with us. You on the other hand allowed this whole situation in the first place. First, you hid the fact that your son was a mage from everyone, including the Arl. Despite the fact that there are no laws in Ferelden that forces mages to join the Circle. Second, you hired the first mage you can find that wasn't tide to the Circle to train your son without checking what kind of history he had. Thirdly, you have been trying to cover your tracks as innocent people are being slaughtered without trying a single damned thing to fix anything. No asking for help. No sending word to the Circle of Magi. Not even telling Teagan after you went to get him. YOU allowed your Orlesian mentality of avoiding scandal to get in the way of doing the right thing." Aiden ranted to the shocked Arlessa while also gaining wide eyed stairs from most of the others.
Aiden then turned towards Michael and began to converse with him about the situation. "Now that you have seen him, do you think he can be saved?"
"Yes, but I don't know how we are going to be able to. The method I know of to remove a demon set this deep requires half a dozen mages and a ton of lyrium. If he was fighting the demon more constantly then maybe we could deal with it with what we have. But as it is, we simply do not have enough resources to deal with it without killing the boy." Michael said solemnly.
"Actually…" Jowan said stepping forward. "There may be a way."
"Don't leave us in suspense, tell us already." Alistair said in a annoyed tone.
"Blood magic," Jowan said as he turned his head toward Alistair before returning it to face Aiden. "Using blood magic can allow a mage to enter the fade with only a single extra mage and without lyrium. However, to draw so much power will require a someone to give up their life."
"Are you insane!? We're not doing that. Rite Aiden?" Alistair said before turning to Aiden looking for approval. However, he instead saw Aiden with a contemplative look upon his face. "Aiden, please tell me you're not really thinking about this."
"As Jowan puts it, no I am not, but something does have to be done." Aiden said before he began to start pacing. "We don't have the time to get to Circle and back before the demon begins to recover. We also don't want to simply kill the kid. So, blood magic is our only feasible course of action. The question is HOW are we going to do it." Aiden states.
"Use me. He is my son. I will gladly give my life for him." Isolde said while stepping forth.
"No, we are not to save the Arl's son while also killing the Arl's wife. We need to…" Here Aiden pauses his speech, stops his walking, and turns towards Morrigan. "Morrigan, has your mother ever taught you anything to do with blood magic?"
"She has taught me the theory, but due to our lives in isolation and lack of need I have neve preformed it." Morrigan states easily.
"Is it possible to share the burden of a single sacrifice between multiple willing participants with the same result?" Aiden asked seriously.
It took a moment before Morrigan answered. "In theory, yes, I suppose so. But to do such a thing would require more than one mage working in tandem. Not to mention the lack of energy drawn from death would require at least three, maybe four, participants to act as pseudo sacrifices."
"We don't have much choice but to take this route. Morrigan, advise Jowan on how to alter the ritual. Ana, run back towards town and give the others an update. Get them to extend our timetable by a few hours." Aiden said in a tone that said there was no room for further discussion.
"Wait, if those two do the ritual, who will go into the Fade?" Isolde asked, confused due to her lack of knowledge of the group.
"Annette here is a mage, she will go. As for the four of us," Aiden said while gesturing between himself, Alistair, and the two nobles not apart of the Wardens group. "We are going to act as the fuel for this ritual."
"Are you sure about this? Your companion said that this is only possible in theory. What if one of us starts to expire before the ritual is finished?" Teagan asked in a worried voice.
"That is where Michael comes in," Aiden said while pointing out the remaining mage of the group. "He may not be the most well versed in healing spells, but what little he does know will help keep the four of us alive through this."
"Are you sure Aiden? I have never been apart of something like this. For one of you, maybe two, I could possibly ensure your health won't drop, but four at the same time. That is pushing the lengths of my abilities." Michael said in a worried tone.
"Don't worry about it Michael. I have faith that you can do it. Besides, if things start to get to tough just drop me and Alistair from the healing. Between you and me, he could use some more toughening up." Aiden said, the last part being in a mock whisper that everyone could here.
"Yeah, don't worry about it Michael. You've got it cov…Hey! What was that about me needing toughening up? Rude." Alistair comments, though his end response makes it clear that he doesn't actually take offence at was said about him.
Time begins to pass after the conversation ended. Morrigan and Jowan converse on what needs to be done in order for the ritual to succeed. Alistair, Michael, Isolde, and Teagan go about trying to help the recovering soldiers as they wait on the two mages. Aiden and Annette talk to one another in a corner of the room, away from prying ears.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Aiden? I have never been to the Fade. Not to mention that this whole idea about a modified blood ritual is dangerous to say the least. Are you SURE that this is the best course of action we have?" Annette urgently asked her brother in a quiet voice.
"The best course of action, no. However, it currently is our only course of action. With the defeat of the undead last night and the demon's control over Connor being strained we have gained a very brief window of opportunity to stop these deaths. If we wait to get help the demon will be waiting and prepared." Aiden answered his sister in a similar tone as hers.
"Ok, I see the necessity of it, but wouldn't someone else be better for this. Jowan and Morrigan I can understand staying behind, but Michael actually has some experience in the Fade. Wouldn't he be the better choice rather than me." Annette asked her brother. Though she did not ask out of fear for herself, but rather fear for the whole plan's success.
"No, between the two of you Michael is the only one who knows any healing magic. He is the only chance myself or the others have of surviving if something goes wrong. Don't worry Ann. You are one of the strongest and most stubborn women that I know. If anyone can go into the Fade and kill a demon without specifically training for it, its you." Aiden said with conviction in his voice.
Annette was encouraged by her brother's words but before she could say anything they both heard, "We're ready." Turning towards the center of the room they see it was Michael who yelled out towards the two siblings.
The two begin walking back toward the others were Annette asked. "What do I need to do?"
"For you it will be simple. While the rest of us will form a circle around you, all you need to do is kneel on the floor and concentrate on your magic, the Fade around us, and the demon that is nearby. The truly difficult part about this fall upon my and lady Morrigan's shoulders." Jowan explained to the noble woman.
With that said, everyone got into position. Annette, doing as she was instructed, kneeled on the floor in the middle of the room and closed her eyes. Jowan stood in front of her while Morrigan stood behind. Aiden and Alistair took positions on Annette's right side. Isolde and Teagan took up position on Annette's left. Michael was the only one not standing in the circle. Rather, he stood nearby to keep a close eye on the conditions of the volunteers to power the ritual.
Suddenly Jowan and Morrigan began to mutter an incantation under their breaths and hold out their hands towards the two nearest non-mages to themselves. The four volunteers start to float a few inches into the air and begin to writhe and groan in pain as the process begins. The two mages then begin to siphon the life force from the four, which takes a physical representation resembling blood, that flows towards them before turning towards the space above Annette. When the four streams meet in the middle of the circle they turn from red and liquid looking to an orb of pure glowing white energy. Suddenly Annette's eyes shoot open glowing the same color as the orb above her.
-Scene Change-
Annette comes to in a strange place. One that does not resemble anything that she has ever seen before. Currently she is standing on what looks like an island floating in a void of greenish-yellow sky. There not being much on the island itself, only what looks like a foot path of some kind. In the distance she could see similar islands floating around, some moving while some are stationary.
"Well, this is strange." Annette said to herself in a bit of astonishment. Not truly expecting this to work as it did.
The warrior mage then began to walk down the path before her. When she reached what she thought was the end of the path she came upon what looked like the outline of a door. Inside the door was a semi-transparent black vortex. Looking around she could see no other way forward, so she said to herself. "Guess this is the only way."
Annette then took a tentative step through the doorway and appeared on a new island. Looking about she noticed this island had two paths. One which lead more upwards and the other that remained more level to the part she was currently on. Thinking that the upwards set path was more promising she began to make her way up. When she got to the top of the path however, she came upon a surprising sight.
Instead of seeing either Connor or a demon, Annette saw a man wearing clothes of Ferelden nobility. He was an older individual with a full beard and head of hair, both of which were grey in color. Despite this though, he was still strong in body. However, the thing that caught her eye the most was that this man had distinctive facial similarities with Teagan, noticeable even with the beard. Annette new in that moment she had stumbled upon the representation of Arl Eamon, who had most likely been dragged into the Fade by the demon that possessed his son.
She walked closer to the Arl's representation, but she began to notice something. The Arl did not seem to be aware of where he was. It was then that she realized that the Arl was most likely trapped in an illusion from the demon.
Instead of turning back to take the other path Annette instead walked in front of the Arl and putting her hands on his shoulders. This caused the Arl to break out of the illusion somewhat. Not truly realizing his surroundings, or at least the surroundings of his spiritual representation, but did seem to finally see Annette before him.
"Oh, sorry, I did not see you there. Uhm, who are you?" The Arl asked in a slightly distorted voice. Showing that his mind was not just under an illusion, but also seemed to be in a state of debilitation. Most likely to prevent him from realizing that he was in an illusion and breaking out.
"My name is Annette Cousland. You need to wake up Arl Eamon, we are currently in the Fade." Annette said in a firm voice as she subtly sent her magic out to break the Arl's mind out of its trap.
"The F-Fade! No, we are currently standing in Redcliff Castle's courtyard." The Arl said in a confused and slightly pained tone as he took a half step back while also putting his hand to his head.
"No, your grace. We are both currently standing in the Fade. Your son is possessed by a demon." Annette stated adamantly as she noticed the bit about Connor seemed to snatch the Arl's attention. "That's rite Arl, he is in danger. Even if you can't realize what exactly is going on, you must realize that your family is in danger."
"U-uh, yes, you are rite. Take me to them." The Arl demanded as he finally came out of the spells grasp.
Before Annette could say anything else the Arl began to glow, and he suddenly disappeared. Annete looked around confused, not seeing anything that could indicate were the Arl went. She then realized that the Arl must have returned to his body. If that meant that he was awake or not she could not tell.
So, instead of trying to look around for other clues on the Arl's fate Annette went back to were she first stepped foot on the island and took the other path from before.
As she went down this path, she began to see that it began to have a much steeper slope than she originally saw. As she began to make her way up, she noticed that there were two things near the end. The first was another doorway like the one that took her from the first island she was on to this one. The other was what looked like a representation of young Connor standing on a small plateau off to the side of the path.
As she got closer to what looked like Connor, Annette called out. "Connor is that you?" Annette asked cautiously.
"Yes, who are you?" The boy responded.
"My name is Annette. I am here under the request of your mother." Annette simply stated as she still kept a cautious eye on the seemingly normal young boy.
"Mother! Why did she call for you?" Connor asked is a slightly worried voice.
"She is very worried about you. Somethings happened with you that has her very worried." Annette said, trying to make the boy realize just how dyer the situation is.
"But I am helping father. Why would…" Here Connor's face begins to take a far more serious look to it and when he next spoke it was in the demonic voice that was heard from the physical world. "NO! You are lying! Mother did not send you! I WILL save Father and there is nothing you can stop ME!" The young boy roared out as a dark smoke began to cover him.
"CONNOR! WAIT!" Annette called out as she reached her hand out to grab ahold of the boy, but before she could get close, he was completely covered by the smoke and faded from sight.
"DAMNIT!" Annette screamed out as she fell to the ground and slammed her fist onto the ground. "I have to find that demon…and quickly." Annette said as she took a moment to take some calming breaths. Fully realizing that the boy only had a little while left before he was completely consumed by the demon.
Annette then hurriedly got up and ran through the strange doorway at the top of the path. The sight before her was much like it was on the previous islands, but instead of seeing a path forward she appeared in a circular area with what appeared to be ruins around the edges of the island. With a few rock-like structures standing out of the ground that Annette recognized as lyrium. However, the thing that truly caught her attention was the figure floating in the middle of the area.
The figure, despite being humanoid in shape, could never be recognized as human or any other mortal species. The figure was female in form, had a beautiful face, and wore next to nothing. Around its neck was gold jewelry and nothing else from the waist up except for some detachable cuffs that covered from the elbow to the hands. Around the waist it wore a loose wrapping cloth that barely hid its pelvic region. As for its physical features it had purplish grey skin, horns somewhat similar to the Qunari, clawed fingers and toes, a long serpent like tail. The things eyes were quite similar to the possessed Connor's, being almost completely black in coloration, and instead of hair it had purple fire flowing around its head.
In only a single brief moment Annette took in the creature's form. Coming to fully realize that the demon that has been terrorizing Redcliff was a desire demon. A creature that fed on the desires of people and manipulated them for its own end.
"So, you are the one who is disturbing the boy. Why? He is at peace." The demon spoke in a slow sensual voice, somewhat similar to Morrigan's but more malicious.
"You already know why I am here demon. To kill you." Annette said seriously as she pulled her sword from its scabbard. Which had thankfully formed with the other aspects as the other items she held when she entered the Fade.
"But why would you do that? I have only done what the boy requested. I helped him save his father." The demon said in a calm voice.
"Yes, but the Arl is still in a coma on top of you possessing the boy. Causing him to unleash untold death and destruction of Redcliff. Twisting his innocent childhood desires into unrecognizable horrors." Annette stated firmly while also analyzing the demon for any possible weaknesses that could be exploited.
"I only took what was promised to me, and are you so callous that you would destroy a child's fantasy. However, I can understand your situation. So I will offer you a deal. I will leave the boy for a few years and return quietly. This way the boy and the others will live, and I get what I want. As for you, I can give you any number of things for your cooperation. From knowledge, to power, or even something of a more…carnal sort." The demon said while running one of its hands down its form, trying to entice Annette.
At this Annette stands up straight, lowers her blade, and takes a relaxed stance. "Well to that I say…" Annette says as she begins to take a step towards the demon before suddenly becoming a transparent blur that moves towards and through the demon before it could react. The demon quickly turns around and suddenly finds a blade encased in fire being plunged where its heart should be. "You talk to much." Annette states simply in a deadly calm voice.
When Annette pulls her blade out of the demon a white light begins to glow from the wound. Cracks then starts to spread from the wound until they covered the demon entirely. Then the demon burst in an explosion of light that takes over everything Annette is able to see.
-Time Skip-
"Uh, what happened?" Annette asked to no one in particular as she woke up.
"Well looks whos finally awake." A voice spoke up from the side of Annette.
Opening her eyes, Annette looks around and realizes she is laying down in a bed. She then notices that Aiden, who was also the person to speak up, was standing to the side of the bed while watching over her.
"What happened? Is everyone ok?" Annette asked groggily.
"Yes, everyone is fine. Both Connor and everyone who went through the ritual is in fine health, but we are going to get some mages from the Circle to give Connor some tutoring and a mental evaluation. However, the Arl is still unresponsive. Currently he is still in a coma. As for what happened exactly, that deserves a bit more explanation." Here Aiden takes a pause before grabbing a chair from a nearby desk and sitting it next to the bed, facing Annette.
"To start with, the ritual was a complete success. Not long after your spirit entered the Fade a wave of power seemed to flow out through the castle and the surrounding lands. We took this as a sign of your success since you became more responsive afterwards, but were still unconscious. We found Connor not long after, also nocked out, and found that he was completely demon free. We then checked on the Arl and sent word of our success to the village." Aiden then takes a pause to catch his breath.
"How long have I been asleep? I feel like I have been in constant combat for the past week." Annette asked as she finally realizes how sore she is.
"Only about a day. Michael and Jowan suspect that due to the more unstable nature of the ritual had more backlash than originally expected. I and the others who offered our life force for the ritual are in a similar situation. As such, the others agreed to give us a few days to recuperate." Aiden explained.
"Speaking of which, what happened to Jowan, and the others for that matter?" Annette asked.
"For his help in the ritual I allowed him to flee before anyone else showed up. He may have inadvertently helped cause the whole situation, but he was only ever a pawn in a far greater scheme. Punishing him would have been pointless. He will be doing that to himself for the rest of his days." Aiden explained his reasoning. "The others are kind of spread about. Some are roaming around the castle, others are finding spots to rest, and the rest are helping around the town. Helping with either the repairs or giving the dead their final writes."
Annette nods her head and decides to get up, at least partially. She slowly tries to sit up in the bead and seeing this, Aiden rushes over to help her. When she was finally situated her back was resting against the headboard of the bed to better look at her brother, who is now sitting back in his seat.
"Have any plans been drawn out for what is next?" Annette asked, now feeling fully awake.
"Yes, in two days or so we will head out for the Circle. After we are done there, we will most likely begin looking for the Earn of Sacred Ashes to heal the Arl. According to Isolde and Teagan there is a scholar in Denerim who may have a way of finding it. Until then we are going to rest and resupply. As for you, you are going to stay in this bed until I get you something to eat." Aiden said with a smirk on his face at the last part. He then gets up and walks out the door. Before he closes the door, he tells his two mabari that are waiting for him to keep Annette in the bed. The large man then lets the two war hounds into the room and leaves as he closes the door.
A little while later Annette is walking around the castle, trying to work out the slight stiffness she is feeling from being in bed so long. She eventually stumbles upon a large study. She assumes that it is the Arl's study due to its close circumference to the nobles chambers.
Annette then decides to begin looking around to see if she can find anything that may help in the search for the Earn. She starts this by quickly looking through the papers on top of the desk but finds nothing of interest. She then decides to look the drawers for anything, but while she is looking through the drawers, she finds an ornate box with Alistair's name on it. Opening it she finds an amulet, one that looks like it was shattered some time in the past and was pieced back together, and two letters, both with Alistair's name listed on them in two distinctively different handwritings. However, what catches her eye about these two letters what symbol is on the seals. One has what is clearly the royal seal and the other is one Annette recognizes as the symbol of the Grey Wardens.
"What the heck is this?" Annette wonders aloud.
Ok, here is the next chapter and I would like to say some things. First, I made a goof up in my early chapters. I spelled out Leliana's name as Liliana. I blame this on a mix of my own inattention and Microsoft Word's auto correct. As for me skipping over those cut scenes about Loghain and such, I just didn't feel like bothering. Sure, they fill in some of the gaps in the story arc but are more or less just filler.
And if you could not tell, Annette used fade step to get past the desire demon. Using a mixture of the demon's own arrogance and Annette's ability to study situations is what made me choose this honestly less cinematic means of finishing the demon.
The blood ritual may also confuse some of you, especially the more hardcore fans of the franchise. I did this for two reasons. First, and I don't know why others don't use this particular route either, in DA Inquisition they make it clear that blood magic can be drawn from others without seriously injuring the sacrifice. Thus, allowing a serious piece of magic to be drawn from multiple sacrifices and allowing them to live is feasible. Second, it helps give true credence to the argument that blood magic is truly neutral in nature. Because, honestly, despite this argument the DA franchise only ever shows possible benefits of the magic if the playable character is a mage and chooses to preform blood magic. Any NPC character that uses blood magic typically goes off their rocker either rite off the back or later in the story.
I am not saying it is completely fine, but that it is simply a means to an end that is often pushed beyond moral limits.
