Author's Note: This may not be accurate lore for Baldur's Gate or Dragon Age. Baldur's Gate was only recently released and I have yet to get very far into the game. I have also not played Dragon Age in quite some time- so don't expect everything to be lore accurate. If you notice any major discrepancies, feel free to let me know- and I may or may not fix it. This story will be cross-posted onto AO3 once my account is approved there. Updates will be every Sunday and Wednesday. Until then: Enjoy.
It started with falling. Astarion can't imagine that he'll survive, because some crazy lunatic decided to crash the nautiloid ship. It felt almost unreal to him to be approaching death so soon. Sure– he'd lived longer than most, but after all he's been through, it seemed almost a shame to come to his untimely death in this manner. Still, he could at least appreciate that the world was merciful enough to end him before he became a tentacle monster courtesy of the tadpole in his skull. Astarion watched the ground quickly approaching and closed his eyes, hoping for one last moment of peace. No Cazador– no mind flayers– just falling out of a ship until his untimely death. There's no way he would survive– not even a vampire spawn could live through a fall that high.
Yet, that's not exactly what happened. He didn't get a peaceful death– no. Instead, he was being rudely awakened by a human woman in armor. A cleric, maybe. To be honest, he wasn't sure exactly how he had gotten himself in this situation. One moment he'd been falling to his death– the next he's in a dark room, chained, with a green hole spewing magic in his hand. Yet wherever he was, he was away from Cazador, and not a single mind flayer was in sight.
Astarion looked down at his hand once again and gasped in pain as the magic sent a sharp stab of pain up his arm. This… thing was hurting him quite a lot; yet he sensed something very unique about it. Something very… powerful. It was clearly very magical, so perhaps he would be able to use it– assuming it didn't kill him, first. He grunted in pain as the tadpole squirmed in his head– clearly, the two weren't getting along very well. It also served as a dreadful reminder that he would need to get out of these chains and to a healer soon; he truly didn't fancy becoming a mind flayer. Especially not a mind flayer with a powerful green hand.
Astarion was pulled out of his thoughts as the woman circled him and looked down upon him.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now. The conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except for you." the woman says darkly, the anger practically rolling off of her.
"You think I'm responsible?" Astarion asked incredulously.
The woman held up his arm, putting his glowing hand in front of his face. "Explain this." She says, as if Astarion had any clue why his hand was suddenly glowing green.
"I…can't," Astarion replied, looking away from the woman.
"What do you mean you can't?" The woman asked angrily.
"Oh, of course, I'm an expert at knowing everything that magically appears on my hand out of thin air. It's not like I'd have any reason to be baffled by this mysterious phenomenon, or anything." Astarion says, a mix of sarcasm and hate dripping from his voice.
"YOU'RE LYING!" The woman shouts, approaching him, but is quickly pushed back by another woman.
"We need him, Cassandra." She says, then turns back to face Astarion.
"So… what now?" Astarion asks, hoping that torture was off the table. In another situation this might actually be quite hot– but he's already had enough pain and anguish for one day, and Cassandra didn't seem like the type to make it fun.
"Do you remember what happened? How this began?" The nicer of the two women asked.
Astarion didn't trust either of these women– and he most certainly didn't need them prying into his life. Usually he'd lie his way out of a situation like this– yet in this case, it might be better to tell the truth. So that he could clear his name… and very possibly get medical attention. "I remember… falling. I thought I was as good as dead. Then…. Darkness." Astarion says. It was the truth, yet not the whole truth. He wasn't sure what they knew– so he would keep the mind flayers a secret, for now. He knew he would most certainly die if they found out he was a vampire spawn that could turn into a mind flayer at any moment. Especially now that he has acquired a glowing magic hand on top of it.
"Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take him to the rift." Cassandra said, leading Leliana towards the door. Leliana left, not so much as a look back towards Astarion.
"So… what did happen, if you don't mind me asking?" Astarion asked, as Cassandra unchained him from the floor. He wasn't sure how much she knew; but it might be helpful if she would fill the gap in his memory in between falling and waking up here.
"It will be easier to show you." Cassandra said, helping Astarion up. She kept his arms chained, so she could lead him away. Not that it really mattered, because Astarion was sure he could kill her easily if he needed to. All it would take is one teeny-weeny bite…
Cassandra led him to the door. Astarion tried to pause, as there seemed to be a good amount of light outside, but Cassandra tugged him along through the doorway and into the light. Astarion winced and looked away from the light, holding his arm up to cover his face. When he realized he was, in fact, not burning, he turned his face to look at the sky. To say what he saw was unexpected would be an understatement. There was a massive swirl of dark clouds, green light, and lighting in the sky. Astarion knew the mind flayers were powerful– but he knew they were not that powerful. Whatever was in the sky was most certainly not related to his near-death experience in the mind flayer ship.
At least the clouds provided some cover from the sun; or else Astarion was sure he'd be dying right now. He hasn't seen the sunlight in almost 200 years and he didn't intend on seeing it today.
"We call it the breach. It's a massive rift into the world of demons that grows larger with each passing hour. It's not the only such rift. Just the largest. All were caused by the explosion of the conclave. Unless we act, the breach will grow until it swallows the world" Cassandra explained.
"Look– that seems like a crazy situation and all, but I really am not sure why you think this is my prob—" Astarion started to say, but was cut off when he felt a surge of pain from his hand and had to gasp in pain once more. He fell to his knees, clenching his hand tightly, the pain still spreading.
"Each time the breach expands, your mark spreads… and it is killing you. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time." Cassandra said, looking down at him, almost pitiful.
"You said it may be the key, but to doing what?" Astarion asked, willing to hear her out since she seemed to know more about the magic hand than he did.
"Closing the breach. Whether that's possible is something we will discover shortly. It is our only chance, however. And yours" Cassandra replied.
"I… understand. I'll do whatever I can. Whatever it takes." Astarion said, giving into her request. He thought it was annoying to actually have to help her with this, though. He would really rather have stayed away from unstable magic portals in the sky– but it didn't seem like he really had much of a choice. The glowing hand would probably kill him faster than the mind flayer tadpole would. Probably.
Cassandra once again helped him stand, then began walking through the camp. "They have decided your guilt. They need it. The people of haven mourn our most holy, Divine Justinia, head of the chantry. The conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She brought their leaders together. Now, they are dead. We lash out, like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves. As she did. Until the breach is sealed. There will be a trial– I can promise no more." She said, then finally freed Astarion's arms in one swift cut.
Astarion honestly didn't give a crap about the nonsense she was spitting out. Peace, and all of that. But, at least she seemed to trust him enough to free him.
"Where, exactly, are you taking me?" Astarion asked.
"Your mark must be tested on something other than the breach. Open the gate– we are headed into the valley." Cassandra responded, walking with Astarion through a very large doorway and onto the open road.
"Oh, what fun." Astarion said, following her down the path.