Thanks for reading this! A few remarks, first. This story will likely be easier to understand if you have read "Sanctification" and "Spells" first. They are canon-divergent AU and Thedas is different from any possible game-canon state as a result.
But in short: There was a second Chantry schism, an anti-mage one. The mages won the Mage-Templar War outright, no stalemate, and are going into the Conclave as victors requiring major changes of the Chantry. Viscountess Hawke and her husband Anders led them, and they are now major geopolitical players. The Hero of Ferelden did not vanish and in fact has been well aware that something is wrong with the Wardens of Orlais. Finally, Red Templars already exist and the Venatori have already recruited disaffected rebel mages.
I am not confident of my ability to write detailed M/M content, so the way I write the Trevelyan/Dorian relationship will be focused on the emotions and romance rather than describing explicit sex scenes. It'll be a sexual relationship, but I just may not get into that in great detail. I also expect the story to be less graphically violent than my other fics.
Other relationships in the story will include Varric/Cassandra, plus the existing ones of Elissa Cousland/Leliana and Caitlyn Hawke/Anders (and minor ones involving other characters, like Carver/Merrill and possibly mTabris/Felix Alexius).
And lastly, this is a darker, more revisionist take on the Inquisition. There are hints of concern and cynicism all along from some characters, but until Trespasser, the overarching narrative is that the Inquisition is the only power with unselfish motives, just trying to stabilize Thedas and fight Corypheus. I'm writing something different. In canon, every institution and nation is either shattered or weak. That is not the case here. Ferelden is quite strong and the Free Marches are entering an era of greater unity and far better defenses. The Inquisition is one geopolitical power among others from the very start, pursuing its own interests and trying to impose its agenda on these rival-allies (who also have their own agendas and the capacity to challenge the Inquisition). It won't be "evil," but some of the inner circle will not have completely pure motives.
Rising Powers
Chapter 1: In the Eye of the Hurricane
The Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux, Wintermarch 9:41 Dragon.
Divine Justinia had convened a private council in her personal council chamber of the Grand Cathedral. A great and terrible war that directly concerned the Chantry had recently ended, but the Chantry had not been able to play a role in the proceedings. The victors had led the armistice and now were leading the reconstruction, and it appeared to Justinia that the Thedas that they were creating would be quite different from the old order. That was the way of the world, and Justinia did not fear change in and of itself. Indeed, the Maker had created His second children with the capacity to change the world. But it was crucial for the Sunburst Throne to not fall into irrelevancy.
Around the table sat the handful of people whom she still trusted—some a great deal more than others. Her Left and Right Hands she held in absolute confidence. Chancellor Roderick was loyal to her to the extent of being paranoid about anyone who differed with her on any point. She had great hopes for newly appointed Lord Seeker Lucius Corin to make the much-needed changes to the Seeker and Templar Order beside Cassandra. She trusted Revered Mother Hevara of Val Royeaux somewhat less than the others, because she was quite certain that the priest wanted to succeed her, but Hevara had ferociously denounced the anti-mage Marcher schism as heretics throughout the Mage-Templar War, and that was certainly a kind of loyalty—and courage—in a country as hostile to mages as Orlais. Revered Mother Giselle of Jader was definitely someone Justinia trusted, and she had exhibited courage as well, fighting back against Justinia's predecessor's lack of concern for the Blight refugees ten years ago.
Little did Justinia know that the minds of all six attendees were on something else, something rather dark. It was a common folk superstition in some areas of Thedas that seven was a very unlucky number for a conference. "When seven sit to scheme and plan, the first to rise will be the first to die." The superstition apparently had its origins in the seven Dragons of Tevinter, and the fact that Dumat, the first to rise as an Archdemon, was indeed the first to die by the hand of a Grey Warden. No one at this table would dare admit to thinking of the superstition—they were all men and women of the world, and faithful servants of the Chantry—but it was on their minds.
Justinia called the council to order. They did not wait a second to begin speaking—or shouting.
Revered Mother Hevara slammed a palm furiously upon the tabletop, glaring at the letter that rested on the table. "Who do those mages think they are, to address the Divine with demands and veiled threats in such manner as this?" the priest snapped.
Justinia gazed at the priest. "They think they are a head of state and a consort who just won a war and who have an arsenal of weapons that no one in Thedas can counter—weapons that reduced large areas of a great city to boulders," she said heavily. "And they are correct."
The letter that Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke and Anders of Kirkwall had sent Justinia almost seemed to glare defiantly at the council members. The letter was indeed quite aggressive to be directed at the Divine.
.
Your Perfection,
We write to you as leaders of Kirkwall and the Free Mages of Thedas to speak for the victorious side in war. The war that the rebellious Templars and declared schismatics waged against the Free Mages and allies has concluded. The Chancellor of Tantervale and Prince of Starkhaven have signed surrender agreements. The "Mage-Templar War," as it is being called, has been resolved in favor of the Free Mages and allies. The false divine-pretender is dead; the schism's "capital" lies devastated.
It is your role as leader of the Andrastian Chantry to broker terms of Chantry reunification, and the Free Mages will join you at the peace table to discuss our terms in person. However, we must also inform Your Perfection of the kinds of terms to expect from us regarding Circles and rights for mages.
The world has changed in the four years since the war began. Victory in war, bought dearly with loss of life, limb, and moral innocence, must be acknowledged and accommodated. Reuniting the schism with the Sunburst Throne cannot require concessions from the side that is clearly victorious.
At several dates beginning on 1 Verimensis 9:37 Dragon, various Circles separated from Chantry authority. The College of Magi voted for independence for the remaining Circles on 23 Molioris 9:40 Dragon. These independent Circles formed the Free Mages of Thedas. We defended our claim of independence with armed force and a clear victory, a victory earned with only our own capabilities and those of our allied cities. We understand the difficulties Your Perfection faced, but the fact remains that the Andrastian Chantry did not provide armed support to our cause. We won this war with our own forces and our own allies.
The Free Mages, in alliance with the City of Kirkwall, remain fully capable of continuing to defend their independence with armed force, magical and otherwise. This defense includes the rockets and bombs that we used against Tantervale. It behooves Your Perfection to accept and accommodate this reality at the peace table. In very blunt terms, the Free Mages won, and the schism and its rebel Templars lost. Peace terms must respect this fact. Any terms regarding mages that do not respect our clear victory will not be considered.
Signed the 22nd day of Cassus in the 40th year of the Dragon Age,
Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke of Kirkwall, Commander of the Free Mages of Thedas
Lord Consort Anders Hawke of Kirkwall, Enchanter-General of the Free Mages of Thedas
.
"It's disrespectful and arrogant," the Revered Mother insisted.
Justinia wanted to rub her temples; her head was beginning to ache already, but it would be a sign of weakness and fallibility. She sent a silent prayer to the Maker for strength, then replied. "I wish that the war had not ended in this manner. My Left and Right Hands know that I did not want Anders and Viscountess Hawke to use their explosive again after they broke the Siege of Kirkwall with it. And when word reached me that they had a secret weapons development program that my agents could not penetrate, I feared far worse yet—as indeed happened. I had hoped that the war would end when the College of Magi voted peacefully for independence. But I underestimated the amount of hostility in the Seeker and Templar Orders, so the violence continued. And what the Free Mages did was not even the worst thing in the war."
Hevara spoke up again. "With all due respect, Most Holy, they destroyed half of Tantervale, targeted its Chantry—yes, they were heretics, but it was still built as a House of the Maker—and sent chemical bombs into the sanctuary that burned their victims inside and out. That mage couple made no distinction between heretics and innocent civilians sheltering there. In my opinion, Hawke and Anders should be summoned to Val Royeaux to stand trial for war crimes, rather than issuing arrogant threats and demands to Your Perfection."
"Good luck to you if you try that," snapped Lord Seeker Lucius. "They have an arsenal and an army of—what? Five thousand battlemages? Who's going to bring them here? Which mouse is going to put the bell on the cat?"
"Enough," Divine Justinia said repressively. "The explosive rockets were certainly very destructive, but it was a siege, and all sides agree that Hawke gave Tantervale a chance to surrender before beginning the bombardment. The chemical weapons were shockingly violent and cruel—and I will have more to say about their use in the future—but unfortunately, the use of poison grenades and such is not unusual. The chemical rockets were simply larger and could fly great distances. In any case, the Lord Seeker has the right of it. We have to work with Kirkwall." She gazed out at them. "It was a terrible act, but they may well have felt that they had no choice in a terrible war. We all know what happened in the Circles of Tantervale, Starkhaven, and Dairsmuid—the cruelty of those Annulments.
"The mages won the war," she continued. "I deeply regret the fact that Hawke and Anders clearly do not trust me, but I believe I understand their point of view. This letter is in response to my intent to involve Chantry personnel in the Ansburg Trials. They likely see that with skepticism and worry, though my intent is just to provide additional legitimacy to the trials. And they're right about one thing: I didn't provide any armed forces to support them. I sent Cassandra to Kirkwall at the beginning of the war, in fact, to tell them that they would have to fight alone so that they could do the 'dirty' work that would be too controversial for the Divine to do. This is what came of it: The mages have won without the Chantry, and because the war was so bloody and cost them so much, they are not going to cede anything to us now."
"You did your best, Most Holy," Chancellor Roderick said.
She sighed again. "Perhaps, but this is not about my regrets. That is between me and the Maker now. He must judge me when the time comes, and it is for Him to determine whether my failures—and, yes, failures they were—caused unnecessary deaths and a terrible new epoch of warfare that none of us truly understand yet. My duty now is to the Chantry. If I rebuff the mages' assertion of independence, the Chantry will only shatter further. They might declare a schism of their own, and Grand Cleric Petrice of Kirkwall would certainly seize the moment. She was loyal in name throughout the war, but her loyalty extends only so far, that much is clear. This must not happen. A second schism occurred on my watch; it is my duty now to reunite them and to prevent more from occurring. I will announce that the Free Mages have won the war and that I recognize the Circles' votes to separate from Chantry authority."
Leliana, Cassandra, and Mother Giselle expected this declaration. But it did not go down without exclamations of concern and frustration from the others.
"Most Holy," Lord Seeker Lucius said, "I understand why you have arrived at that conclusion. But I have to speak for my Order and the Order I oversee. Many surviving Templars and Seekers—other than the defendants at the Ansburg Trials, of course—want to know what their role is to be, and to whom they will answer, if the mages are independent."
The victorious Free Mages and City of Kirkwall were conducting trials of the rebel Templars, Seekers, and Red Templars who had participated in the three Annulments—those whom they had been able to catch, at least. Unfortunately two of the remaining leaders, the Red Templars Samson and Carroll, had escaped from Starkhaven before they could be apprehended, and had taken two companies of Red Templars with them to parts unknown. The trials were occurring in Ansburg because the city was a comparatively neutral site, as a city that remained loyal to Justinia but whose leadership did not officially ally with Kirkwall during the war.
"That will be discussed," Justinia told Lucius. "Kirkwall's solution of using Templars to fight criminal mages when no one else can is a possibility."
"Are we taking orders from Kirkwall now?" Revered Mother Hevara groused. "You mention Grand Cleric Petrice. If she does want to succeed you, this sort of deferential behavior will only embolden her."
Leliana and Cassandra, Left and Right Hands of the Divine, gave her hard looks indicating that they knew exactly why she was concerned about an ambitious priest. Neither of them wanted the Grand Cleric of Kirkwall as Divine someday, and Justinia had in fact given them private orders not to let that happen. Petrice had risen to power by demagoguery against the Qunari, revived the auto-da-fé in Kirkwall, held public burnings of convicted schism supporters, and abused her holy position to help her ally Caitlyn Hawke put secular political threats away. But they were not blind to Hevara's specific, personal concerns about a rival.
Mother Giselle spoke up. "No one is 'taking orders from Kirkwall.' We are acknowledging reality—the reality that the mages won, that they can defend their independence, and, frankly, the reality that Kirkwall's use of Templars is a good idea. Should we discard a good idea because of where it comes from?"
Hevara gave Giselle a scathing look. "You would say that, wouldn't you?"
"I beg your pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"You know exactly what I mean. You were very quick to accede to the Dog—to the Fereldans when they took over Jader," she sneered. "So quick that one wonders about your loyalties, given your history of sympathy for Ferelden."
Leliana could not let that go unanswered. "Revered Mother Hevara," she said sharply, "such political bickering is beneath a priest of Our Lady Andraste. It is not for the clergy to take sides in disputes between nations unless the Maker's law is at stake. And it was not so in Ferelden's annexation of Jader. Had Mother Giselle led a rebellion against Ferelden in Jader, she would have been taking sides in a secular conflict."
"There were priests who sided with the Fereldan rebels in their own war against Orlais forty years ago."
"The Maker's law was at stake. Meghren and his lords were governing in ways that violated the command against doing harm without provocation to the least of the Maker's children."
"A convenient excuse for you to condone the clerical interference that you approve of," sneered Hevara. "But we all know about your loyalties now, and your Fereldan lover, don't we?"
"Enough!" Justinia interrupted sharply, her voice raised. "Revered Mother Hevara, you will be ejected from this conference if you cannot be civil. Revered Mother Giselle did what a shepherdess of the faithful must do." She turned to the rest of the attendees. "I will issue a Divine proclamation, as I have stated. But I also intend to call a Conclave—for this spring, if possible. We have much to discuss. We must reunify the Marcher schism, of course, and consider how that is to be done. Some of the priests, brothers, and sisters who declared for the so-called Orthodox Chantry may not be guilty of anything other than that declaration. Some may have simply chosen to remain in service at the Chantries of Starkhaven and Tantervale because that was familiar to them. I am prepared to pardon them of heresy if so and allow them to continue serving if they swear fidelity to the true Chantry."
There was general approval of this proposition. The only one who seemed to object was Revered Mother Hevara.
"May the Maker help you find any in Tantervale who survived the mages' poison gas attack," Hevara said. "I hear there weren't many survivors there."
"However many there are, they shall be judged on their actions," Justinia said evenly. "Next—the Conclave must address the matter of Circles, the role of Templars, and rights for mages. And whether we all like this or not, we must respect the victory they have won—just as their leaders' letter says." She gazed outward, studying them for signs of further defiance. Finding nothing but the discontentment she knew about, she continued. "It is my great hope that, once we amend doctrine and policies about magic, we might even be able to reunite the Tevinter schism." A beautiful hope flared on her aged face. "But... lovely dreams and prayers aside... the final matter I intend to discuss at the Conclave is—yes, Revered Mother Hevara—the use of weapons of mass destruction such as those Hawke and Anders used."
For once, the Orlesian priest looked pleased with what she had heard.
"The Chantry has a Just War doctrine. Naturally so, since our origins were in the just war of Our Lady against Old Tevinter. But we have never had to consider a doctrine of war against a backdrop of weapons that anyone—not just a mage—can use, which can kill hundreds in a very impersonal, very violent and cruel, manner from a great distance. Is it ever just to use such weapons? This will not be a matter of punishment for Hawke and Anders. They cannot in fairness be punished for violating a doctrine that did not exist. And it may be that there should be occasions when such extreme force is needed. I am prepared to hear all sides—and, yes, that includes Kirkwall. I hope they trust me enough to come, or at least to send representatives. But this is something that the Chantry must consider, now that this is what war means."
This seemed to be the end of the conference, and everyone present at the table—minus Justinia—tensed almost imperceptibly. It was proper protocol for no one to rise until the highest-ranked person did, and that was unquestionably Justinia. But—"When seven sit to scheme and plan, the first to rise—"
Justinia stood up, her silken Divine robes billowing down her figure.
No one dared say a word. They just followed, popping to their feet quickly in respect. The council members began to shuffle out the door, but Justinia gestured for her two Hands to remain. Leliana closed the door quietly, making sure that no one was listening through the keyhole.
Justinia spoke in a lower voice nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution. "It is clear to me that the Chantry will be, to a great degree, demilitarized," she said to them. "At the least, we no longer have the mages. We are also going to have fewer Templars and Seekers than before, between the convictions of atrocities at the Ansburg Trials—and executions—and the fact that some of them will simply quit out of disagreement with the new order."
Cassandra and Leliana nodded.
"This means that the threat of an Exalted March will dwindle," Justinia continued. "That is both good and bad. I am sure you two can see how."
"Yes, Most Holy," Leliana said, frowning in consideration. "The threat of political abuse of Exalted Marches will essentially be gone, no matter who becomes Divine in the future. There may also be more doctrinal freedom in Thedas when people are simply less afraid of facing the armed might of the Templars, Seekers, and Circle mages."
"But the Qunari are rising," Cassandra pointed out. "Their incursion in Kirkwall was no fluke, I fear."
"Yes," Leliana confirmed. "One of the Blight companions was a Qunari soldier who all but admitted that his government had sent him for reconnaissance of Ferelden as much as to gather intelligence on the Blight."
"Which would also benefit the Grand Cleric of Kirkwall," Cassandra said, "since she rose to power by raising people against the Qunari."
"We gave Most Holy our word that we would do everything we could to prevent her from becoming Divine if we outlive Her Perfection," Leliana said, with an apologetic look at Justinia for referencing her death. She did not believe in the superstition of seven schemers—and in any case, Justinia was a holy woman, Andraste's representative. Surely no silly folk superstition could harm her. But Justinia was older by several decades than Leliana or Cassandra. It was reasonable to assume that she would die first.
"And I appreciate that," Justinia said. "But—the Exalted Marches. You both make exactly the points I meant. There are upsides and downsides to our force reduction. Any offensive against the Qunari in the future, should that become necessary, will need to be an alliance among nations. That is harder to negotiate than an order from the Divine to the forces of the Chantry—as you know particularly well, Leliana, having lived through the Blight."
"That is all too true," Leliana said bitterly.
"And there is also the possibility that some of this 'doctrinal freedom' that the Left Hand spoke of will actually be heresy intended to destroy the Chantry," Cassandra said bluntly. "Do not look at me like that, Leliana. You know that not everyone who has freethinking ideas about the Maker and Andraste is as benevolent about it as you are."
Leliana sighed, not wanting to agree, but unable to disagree either. There had just been a war in which that very issue had been one of the main factors. It was called the Mage-Templar War in popular discourse, and the rights of mages were certainly the central issue, but it had also involved a schism—and the mages' rebellion itself raised the same question. Did the people of Thedas have the right, granted by the Maker Himself as their natural birthright, to determine their own ideas about His will without reference to the Divine or priests? Leliana wanted to believe so. That was an ideal that she had believed for over ten years. It was foundational to her identity. And it was devastating to her to see some people use that freedom in order to believe horrible things about the Maker—and, far worse, to act on them.
"Yes," Justinia said, observing Leliana's discomfort with compassion. "The anti-mage Marcher schism lost this war, but the idea of religious independence has taken root, and both they and the mages themselves brought that about. And without the kind of force that could effect an Exalted March, we are not really in a position to quash it—if that is even the right thing to do. I do not believe it always is. The Chantry in Rivain ran itself more or less independently, and they had no problems until the schism committed atrocities against them. In your own country of Nevarra, Cassandra, they believe things about spirits and the souls of the dead that no one else does. Even in Kirkwall... I have my criticisms of Petrice, but reports are that when the Kirkwall-Free Mage army set out for Tantervale, she blessed the march and declared that the Rite of Tranquility is blasphemous. It is an interesting interpretation, one that—after Pharamond's research—I feel increasingly inclined to agree with myself, frankly, but I could never have said so. Without the specter of an Exalted March, local priests can say things that are perfectly acceptable to their own communities, but that the Divine, who must speak for all Andrastians in Thedas, dare not say. But it still advances our understanding of the Maker's will when we consider every idea that we conceive of, in our exercise of the free will He granted us."
"I agree completely!" Leliana exclaimed enthusiastically.
Justinia smiled at her youthful idealism. "But Cassandra is right that not everyone who thinks for themselves about the Maker will arrive at good conclusions, or will even go through the process of thinking about it in good faith. Some will reach their conclusion first and then contort doctrine and logic in order to fit what they already want to think. Some will want to destroy the Chantry as it stands and usurp its power for themselves, as the late Elthina did. And it is for this reason that I have a... backup plan, let us say, in the event that the Conclave doesn't answer my questions."
Leliana and Cassandra waited.
"The Inquisition has not existed in long ages," Justinia said. "It has not needed to. But the world has changed. The order that our ancestors built has come crumbling down, and a new one is being built in its place. We must be sure that it stands on a solid foundation. The ancients made mistakes, and those mistakes compounded over the ages. Our generation was given the bill to pay. We must try to do better this time around."
"You want to restart the Inquisition?" Cassandra said, eyes wide.
"If need be," Justinia said gravely. "It is a plan of last resort, mind. I hope to learn what I need to know at the Conclave. But there is this matter of considering greater religious independence in the future, a future of a greatly diminished threat of Exalted Marches. We are coming out of a war involving a second Chantry schism. The Tevinter schism is heretical—they approve of slavery, in blatant defiance of Andraste's war to end it—but they really did just want to rule Tevinter as they saw fit. They did not seek to take over this seat. The Marcher schism did intend to do that. That was why they attempted to assassinate me. They wanted to reunite the Chantry, but on their terms—with that woman as my successor." She scowled at the thought of the dead Elthina, who had styled herself "Divine Fidelia I of the Orthodox Chantry." "It is imperative that we determine the motives of those who seek religious pluralism. Particularly those who are still anti-mage, but also the radically pro-mage. I would not put it past Grand Cleric Petrice of Kirkwall to declare her very own schism under the right circumstances. Who would dare fight her now, with her close alliance with Caitlyn Hawke and the army and arsenal that Hawke commands? So we must determine whether religious diversity in Thedas is feasible, a sincere and harmless idea that would not return the world to the chaos following Andraste's death; or whether it is intended for malign purposes to destroy the Chantry."
Cassandra visibly approved. Leliana felt weary and sad; she hated this, but she could see that it was indeed necessary—and she hated the necessity of it too. Both women nodded their assent.
"I do not want more schisms," Justinia concluded, "but I do want to assess the feasibility of local doctrinal freedom about specific interpretations of the Chant of Light, within certain guidelines. Ecumenism."
Leliana approved of this. "If you do have to restart the Inquisition, Most Holy, whom do you have in mind to lead it?" she inquired.
Justinia smiled pointedly at her Left Hand. "I am hoping to enlist your own beloved, Warden-Commander Elissa Cousland, the Hero of the Fifth Blight."
Leliana raised her eyebrows. "That is... unusual. She has never been a part of the Chantry, other than as a layperson."
"But these are strange times," Justinia said, "and it is important, in such a venture as this, to have a leader who is sincere, widely respected, of the utmost integrity, and neutral. It would look rather bad for an organization investigating religious dissidents to be led by a Chantry loyalist of mine in the immediate wake of such a divisive, violent war. And I think that if Lady Cousland leads the new Inquisition, this outcome will be avoided."
"Well," Leliana said stoutly, though she doubted that Justinia would get what she wanted in this case, "I will certainly plead your case to her!"
Justinia smiled. "I knew I could count on you."
The document that soon went out to all the chantries and heads of state in Thedas expressed Justinia's decisions from this conference, but it did not say a word about her private resolution to Cassandra and Leliana to restart the Inquisition if necessary to investigate religious dissent for its feasibility. That was still a closely-held secret, because they hoped it would not need to happen.
.
An Inspired Proclamation of Her Perfection Divine Justinia V
Whereas, on 1 Umbralis Dragon 9:40, the secular leaders of the cities in the so-called "Orthodox Chantry," Chancellor Joffrey Orrick of Tantervale and Prince Sebastian I Vael of Starkhaven, signed a surrender agreement with Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke of Kirkwall and the Free Mages of Thedas. This armistice indicates that the Free Mages and the Kirkwall alliance won the conflict known as the "Mage-Templar War."
Whereas, the Holy Chantry of Our Lady Andraste formally recognizes the votes of the Circles of Magi to separate from Chantry authority.
Whereas, the agreements binding the Circles to the Chantry were between the earliest Chantry and the mages who had fought in the Second Blight under His Imperial Majesty Kordillus I Drakon of Orlais beside His Majesty and Inquisitor Ameridan.
Whereas, the purpose of the ancient contracts was to establish regulation and safe training of magic users in an era of chaos, idolatry, and widespread abuse of magic, in which the Holy Chantry of Andraste had just come into existence in a formal manner.
Whereas, after eight ages of worship in the light of the Maker, the dangers that Thedas faced in the early Divine Age are lessened, and these purposes can now be fulfilled outside the Chantry.
With holy inspiration, Divine Justinia V declares that the so-called "Red Templars," those who use red lyrium in the discharge of their Templar duties or in any manner whatsoever, are a perversion of the Maker's sacred intent for His champions. Her Perfection calls upon the Red Templars to cease usage of this malignant substance and to return to the Maker's light.
Whereas, Her Perfection Divine Justinia V hereby calls for a Conclave on 1 Eluviesta 9:41 Dragon to be held at Haven, the final destination of the Disciples of Our Lady Andraste, for the purposes of establishing new doctrine and policies for the rights of magic users, determining the new role of the Templars and Seekers, reuniting the former schismatics of the Free Marches in the one true Chantry, and establishing doctrine concerning the use of weapons such as those used against the Grand Cathedral of Tantervale in the Mage-Templar War.
Her Perfection humbly calls upon priests of Andraste, heads of state, and representatives of the formerly warring parties to Haven to attend this Sacred Conclave.
Jader.
Elissa Cousland, Warden-Commander of the Grey in Ferelden and Arlessa of Amaranthine, stood at the gates of Jader near the head of the Fereldan march. The Queen, Teyrn Fergus, Teyrna Cauthrien, and Elissa's own second-in-command, Nathaniel Howe, were all close by. The Fereldans were leaving the city—at least, the royalty and higher nobility were. They had left behind a garrison and loyal stewards.
For Jader was now a Fereldan city.
Elissa marveled at that. How the tables turn, she thought. She had grown up on stories of the Orlesian Occupation, the wanton destructiveness of the pompous masked nobles and the tyranny of Meghren the Usurper. Now, it was Ferelden that was seizing Orlesian land. But not to tyrannize and plunder it, she thought. They have sworn fealty to the Fereldan Crown and will be treated the same as all of our other loyal subjects. For the first time, the landowners will have the right to choose the nobles they support, and the nobles—well, the Orlesians who switched allegiance—will for the first time have a voice in national affairs instead of lifetimes of toadying to an Emperor or Empress who has absolute power over them.
The Avvar who lived in the Frostbacks had been quite happy to live in Ferelden instead of Orlais, because the Fereldans of the mountain-adjacent areas were mostly descended from Avvar themselves and had much more respect for the holds than Orlesian chevaliers ever had. But it was diplomacy among the local petty nobles, well-to-do common folk, and farmers west of the mountains that had done the job there, rather than military exploits. The War of the Lions was simply so destructive—apparently the contenders' armies were wantonly burning whole villages that were not even enemy combatant sites—that they were willing to do something that would have been unthinkable just five years ago, and change their citizenship from Orlesian to Fereldan. All the King and Queen had to do was to offer protection from the Orlesian war, which they could readily provide. The divided forces of Orlais were no match for Ferelden's united army.
The leaders were shown their horses, and the highest-ranked nobles were ushered into a wheelhouse. Elissa grimaced as she boarded the monstrosity; she was a warrior, not some weakling. She could ride a horse and was not afraid. But it would be terribly rude to refuse the Queen's company. I am a warrior, yes, but I'm also a figure of nobility—an important personage—and I have to play that part from time to time, she mused to herself.
Along the way, they discussed the political situation as it now stood. Some of the nobles wanted to question Anora about her proclamation for the status of Jader and its representation in the Landsmeet. She had announced it to Jader, but had not provided all the kinds of details that would interest Fereldans.
"Celia is Princess of Jader," Anora said firmly. "For now, since she is just a child, the King and I will administer the city. But when she is of age, she will, until the Maker calls us. We have given consideration to this, and we will not insult the Cousland family, our longtime allies, by giving what is now the richest city in Ferelden to someone else."
Teyrn Fergus nodded in approval. "And the Couslands appreciate it, Your Majesty! I think I speak for my sister in this..."
"You do," Elissa spoke up boldly.
"Highever and Amaranthine would instantly raise our hackles if the ruler of Jader were just another noble," he finished. "But there's no threat or insult to the Couslands if it's the Princess's city."
Anora actually smiled faintly and briefly. "Denerim will continue to be the royal city, but Jader will henceforth be the city of the Crown Prince or Princess. It will be an opportunity, too, for the heir to learn the art of ruling."
"I hesitate to mention this, Your Majesty," Teyrna Cauthrien Mac Tir said, "but wouldn't designating Jader the city of the Crown Prince or Princess undercut the tradition of having the Landsmeet choose the next monarch?"
"We thought about that," Anora admitted, "but we have no intention of taking that right away from the Landsmeet. They can choose another successor over the Prince or Princess of Jader if they wish. The thing is, most of the time, the Landmeet chooses whom they are expected to choose anyway: the firstborn of the last monarch. This is just a way of better preparing that person for the duty of ruling."
Discussion subsided after that, and Elissa gazed out the window nearby once it seemed polite to do so.
Several prominent members of the royal family and nobility had stayed behind, including King Alistair himself with the Princess. He had not thought it prudent for a Grey Warden of royal standing to go along, what with the private Warden concerns that were roiling the Order—concerns that were thoroughly validated in Jader, it turned out. Elissa had had to go, and she had taken Nathaniel Howe and Finn Aldebrant along in case anything needed to be done with the Jader Wardens that she could not bring herself personally to do. Nathaniel was a very decent man, but he did have a taste for harder means than she did; and Finn was capable of far nastier magic than his mild, nervous visage would suggest. Right now the Wardens of Jader were forced into sleep so deep that they were actually asleep in the Fade itself, so that the darkspawn that had been working on them in their dreams could not reach them.
Nathaniel and Finn were not going all the way to Vigil's Keep, let alone Denerim. They were going to leave the convoy at Soldier's Peak with the captured Wardens, taking them before Warden Avernus for... interrogation. Elissa knew that it had to mean blood control of their minds to force information out. Avernus was certainly a blood mage. She shuddered at that, but it had to be done. Too much was at stake.
Fergus and Alfstanna's twins had been left at Highever with their mother, much to the warrior teyrna's dismay—but someone always had to stay at home. Elissa knew that well. If Rendon Howe had not attacked Highever so many years ago, she would have missed the Battle of Ostagar for being left at home. She wondered sometimes how her life would have gone—how history would have gone—in that case. It was futile to speculate. There were simply too many variables.
At that, she considered more recent events. Ferelden is in a strong position now, she thought proudly, but it wouldn't necessarily have been so if things had just happened a little differently. If the Mage-Templar War hadn't ended when it did, I'm not sure that we would have been able to risk sending the armies into Orlais. We were treaty-bound to aid Kirkwall. We needed to have our forces ready to sail north if needed. But that war is over, so we were able to take full advantage of the Orlesian one.
She also considered what it might mean for Ferelden that Viscountess Hawke was apparently doing the impossible and unifying the Free Marches. Well, not unifying them, exactly, but bringing them closer together than ever before. She has several cities in this new cross-Marcher mutual defense treaty of hers. Let's see... Kirkwall itself, of course. Markham, Hercinia, Tantervale—the Chancellor there wanted to sign as soon as he could, because he saw firsthand what Kirkwall's weapons could do—and who else? Hasmal, I think. Wycome... not Starkhaven yet, but it's probably a matter of time before Hawke has everyone. What will that mean for Ferelden? "An attack on one will be considered an attack on all"; that's their byline. She obviously formed this Vimmark-Minanter Treaty Organization to counter the threat of the Qunari and Tevinter, and probably Orlais as well, but what if she sees my country as a potential threat too with our westward expansion? We've been allies, but one thing I learned from my parents—and which I've seen firsthand time and again—is that any alliance can be temporary and limited.
She forced these thoughts out of her head too. Just as she could not guess what the world would have been like if Rendon Howe had not attacked, so she could not guess what lay ahead with the new order that was unfolding. All that she needed to focus on at this particular moment, she scolded herself sternly, was the trouble with the Grey Wardens.
The Wardens of Jader had been compromised by a master darkspawn. Elissa believed it was an original darkspawn, a Magister Sidereal as the Architect and Corypheus had been. She suspected the former priest of Zazikel, Old God of Chaos and Freedom, but it could be any of the ones that were not confirmed dead. For two years it had been harassing, via dreams, all of Elissa's Wardens in Vigil's Keep and Soldier's Peak—though not Gwaren—as well as Warden Anders, Consort of Kirkwall. That had been a source of severe alarm for her, since he was the consort—almost a regnant, from what Elissa surmised of power-sharing in their marriage—to a head of state who was embroiled in a world-changing war. But he had managed to fight off the darkspawn's attacks, or rather, he and his "passenger" had. King Alistair had not been affected. The King was in Denerim, too far east for the darkspawn magister to influence him, and he had also not taken the potion created by Avernus that ended the Calling but made the Wardens more vulnerable to other voices than those of the Archdemons.
The Wardens of Jader had been under the influence of this master darkspawn, and the Orlesian leadership had had no interest in resolving the matter. The way Queen Anora had dealt with the political problem shocked Elissa, certainly since she then gave Jader to her own toddler daughter... but the truculent Orlesian lords had had to go, and Jader believed that the assassins were locals who were outraged about the Orlesian war.
Elissa pushed that aside. They would have lived if they had cooperated with us. While she, Nathaniel, Finn, and their support team of Wardens were in Jader, they actually hunted for the darkspawn, but they could not find it. It seemed to have moved its operations south in anticipation of the Fereldan Warden offensive. That concerned Elissa. Whatever Avernus did to the Jader Wardens to get information from them might be ugly, but it was necessary.
Vigil's Keep, Ferelden, Guardian 9:41 Dragon.
A squadron of Wardens entered Vigil's Keep to the announcement of Seneschal Varel.
"Nathaniel," Elissa greeted her second-in-command once he had gained a private audience with her. "Welcome back."
Warden-Captain Nathaniel Howe bent his head in respect. "Commander."
She girded herself. "The Wardens from Jader. Have they... has Avernus..." She broke off, not wanting to ask explicitly.
Nathaniel nodded. "He got into their heads, all right. No difficulty. That darkspawn had already softened them up to magical assault. And what they have to say is dire indeed."
Elissa grimaced. "We were afraid of that. Let's hear the worst, then."
"They said that the master darkspawn had the Consort of Kirkwall as his top target for two years, but that the—endeavor—was going nowhere."
Elissa smiled grimly. Thank you, Justice. It was a good day that you fell out of the Fade. No one thought so at the time, of course, but perhaps it was the Maker's hand.
Nathaniel was one of very few people who knew the truth about Justice. Other than Anders' closest family and friends in Kirkwall, only Elissa herself, Carver Hawke, Leliana, and Nathaniel Howe had been entrusted with the secret. Nathaniel was curiously unsurprised when he learned, but then he had confided to Elissa that he had likely planted the seed of "sharing" in Justice's mind in the first place.
"Thank the Maker for Justice, then," she said quietly. "I've heard that Anders was the mastermind of Kirkwall's rockets. If Justice hadn't been there to shield his mind all along..." She broke off, shuddering at the possibilities.
Nathaniel nodded darkly. "Between his assistance and the willpower potion, the effort proved too much for our darkspawn 'friend.' The Jader Wardens don't know that, of course, but they do know that the darkspawn changed his plans recently." He gazed sharply at her, concern in his eyes. "He was trying to compel them all to go to Haven."
Elissa gaped, eyes wide with fear. "That can't be good!"
"No. It can't. The Jaderians don't know what he meant for them to do, but he apparently is planning something drastic at the Haven Conclave. Likely he has gotten to other Grey Wardens."
"Leliana," Elissa pleaded to her longtime partner, "I beg of you, don't let Justinia do this. We have this directly from the Jader Wardens that we captured that they were being manipulated by that thing and that it means to make some sort of attack on Haven now that it is no longer interested in suborning Anders. Justinia is the obvious target. She isn't a Warden like he is, of course, but if he somehow got to her..."
Leliana gazed back at her from beneath her black hood. She could not be in Vigil's Keep long, because she had to be in Val Royeaux by Justinia's side more and more lately. But she had an important thing to ask of Elissa, Elissa had said that her own news was also crucial, and she did not want to neglect her relationship, the love of her life, either. The demands of the Mage-Templar War and War of the Lions had not torn them apart, and she did not want this Conclave and Justinia's political affairs to do so either.
But she knew that Justinia would not likely be persuaded. Her words were heavy. "Elissa," she said quietly, "I will pass the word to her, but you do not need to be this worried. How could a darkspawn get to her? She does not bear the Taint."
"I don't know what it intends, and that's the problem. It might mean to attack her physically. And we've 'rescued' the Jader Wardens—we really have; they'll recover from what Avernus did—but who knows what other Wardens this thing has corrupted? It may have gotten to Montsimmard, Val Royeaux's post itself... even Weisshaupt. The only ones I'm certain of are Vigil's Keep, Soldier's Peak, Gwaren, King Alistair, Anders, and Stroud's Wardens."
"Word is that the Wardens of Tantervale overthrew the Templars when they took over the city amid the final siege, and that the Wardens of Ansburg opened up that city for the Ansburg Trials," Leliana pointed out.
"All right, its influence may be limited to Orlais," Elissa conceded. "But still—that's a lot of Grey Wardens. Justinia and everyone else present at Haven could be in grave danger. Please let her know."
Leliana took a deep breath. "I will do so, this I swear. But you should be prepared for her refusal, Elissa. This Conclave is extremely important. The Chantry must reunite the Marcher schism, set new doctrine to placate the Free Mages, come up with some role for the Templars, and determine when—if ever—it is acceptable to use such terrible weapons as Kirkwall's poison gas rockets. This is not going to be easy to delay, Elissa."
"Yes, but it won't matter if the Conclave is attacked or the Divine herself is somehow suborned for malevolent ends."
"Security can be increased, and that is what Divine Justinia is likely to do. And—I actually came in part to make a counter-offer of sorts, though I did not know that it would be so."
Elissa folded her arms, waiting. She really hoped that Justinia would surprise her Left Hand and heed the advice of the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, Hero of the Fifth Blight. I'm not some paranoid, easily frightened child! Elissa thought. I know how important this Conclave is. I wouldn't advise her to cancel it if I didn't think this was truly that dire!
"She told me and Cassandra Pentaghast in confidence that she might need to restart the Inquisition—yes, it is true," she said as Elissa gasped, "to determine the intent of the various religious dissident movements that have sprung up in recent years, and decide whether—in a new world in which the Chantry cannot credibly threaten an Exalted March—it is feasible to permit ecumenical religious diversity or whether such heterodoxy actually is intended to destroy the Maker's Chantry and return us to an age of darkness like that immediately following the death of Andraste. And she would like you to lead the Inquisition if she does need to start it."
Elissa gaped at her lover in disbelief. What was Justinia thinking? Apparently Leliana had not told her everything about the darkspawn plaguing the Grey Wardens, if Justinia thought this at all a good idea. Elissa supposed she appreciated that, but this was something Justinia should know. She could tell Queen Anora about the problems the Wardens faced, so the Divine could certainly know.
"Leliana," she managed, "this is impossible! You have to see that! I have already risked far too much as a Grey Warden who is being mentally attacked by an unknown master darkspawn, one who is very likely a Magister Sidereal."
"You have fought one such before," Leliana argued.
"Yes, and two of my Wardens have fought another—as well as the partner of one of those two," she added. The former Dalish elf, Merrill, had come to Vigil's Keep recently to be with Carver Hawke. He, she, Warden Darrian Tabris, and two Kirkwallers—Varric Tethras and Viscountess Hawke herself, oddly enough—had fought the ancient magister Corypheus in the Vimmark Fortress, and she had fought the Architect. "But this one is different. It's sneaky and sly, bothering us all in the Fade for two years but not doing anything except sending a squad of Jader Wardens to try to kidnap Avernus early on in the mental attack. Otherwise it's just insinuated and corrupted. I don't like it. I know that we can sense what this thing wants us to know through the Fade. What if the connection goes in two directions? What if it can get into our thoughts?"
"If it could, wouldn't it have known about Anders' and Hawke's weapons?"
"Justice has blocked it. Anders is a special case. I have no idea what it may know about the rest of us. When we were in Jader, we looked for the thing, but we couldn't find it. The Wardens there believed that it had headed south. And maybe it fled Jader's Deep Roads because it learned of the Fereldan offensive through ordinary means. We weren't exactly secret about our land acquisition! But what if it learned by reading our thoughts?"
"You don't know that," Leliana said.
"But I can't risk it, because I don't know what this thing can do," she said. "I've just been too careless, Leliana. I haven't told everyone who needs to know of this thing's existence, and I have risked that it could learn our plans. And there is no way it would be safe for me to lead an Inquisition with this thing lurking in the Fade all along. We have to settle it first. That is my duty as a Grey Warden."
Leliana was not surprised at her refusal, but Elissa's words about security did trouble her. "Please do not cut me off," she said.
Elissa gazed wearily and sadly at her. "I would do that only if I believed it necessary to protect you."
"That does not comfort me. You can be too dutiful sometimes, my love."
Elissa gazed back at her, sad desperation and pleading for understanding in her face. The two women faced each other silently for a moment before Leliana spoke again.
"I will pass this on to Most Holy. But, my dear... please... you are so dutiful, and I love that about you, but surely there will be enough well-armed people at Haven to handle a darkspawn attack. Even a darkspawn attack with corrupted Wardens. Representatives of the Free Mages, Templars, and the Chantry's own security will be there."
Skepticism and doubt clouded Elissa's face. "I wish I could believe that. But Justinia's confidence reminds me far too much of King Cailan's about the Blight—or Loghain's at Ostagar, that it wasn't even a Blight. We know how that ended."
Leliana gave her a sad look as she took her leave. When she was gone, Elissa went to Carver Hawke and Merrill. They were the appropriate people to send warning to the Kirkwall leadership. Perhaps she could not persuade Justinia, but she could at least try to persuade these leaders not to attend.
The Grand Cathedral of Val Royeaux.
Justinia considered Leliana's warning thoughtfully. "So she is going to clamp down on Grey Warden security in Ferelden because she thinks this creature may be able to get into their minds?"
"She is just afraid of what she doesn't know about it, Most Holy. She has no reason to believe that it can get into their minds, but she is being extra cautious."
"I see."
"I do not know how much stricter she could be, though. She has already refused to let anyone into or out of Vigil's Keep, Soldier's Peak, or Wyvern's Hold—the Gwaren Warden post—except for Wardens and their partners. And Warden Stroud of Ansburg is doing the same, apparently. But she did go to Jader with some of her Wardens, and perhaps she regrets putting other nobles at risk even though it was necessary to capture the Jader Wardens. I do not know." Leliana realized, discomfited, that Elissa had not been nearly as forthright with her as she would have liked.
Justinia clasped her hands together in thought, finally speaking. "I respect the Hero's concern, and she is certainly a very good Warden. She cannot be accused of shirking her duty. But between battlemages, Templars, Seekers, and security guards, there will be plenty of people who can handle anything a darkspawn and some rogue Wardens might try to stir up. After the horrors of the war—the murders of children in the Annulments and the destruction of Tantervale—that sort of threat seems almost quaint." She smiled wryly.
The Ostwick Circle of Magi.
"I want you to go," First Enchanter Gerard said to Enchanter Maximilian Castorius Tiberius Trevelyan—known as "Max." "You're the most noble-blooded mage in this Circle. A son of the Bann of East Peak. That will matter to this posh lot even though you are a mage... though maybe that means nothing anymore, after the victory Hawke won."
The young mage scowled. "To what end?" he replied. "This Circle was neutral through the war. We're profiting from a victory that we did not earn. What viewpoint am I supposed to advocate for at Haven?"
The First Enchanter scowled back. "'Modest in temper, bold in deed'—those are your family words, Maximilian."
Max glowered. His name was ridiculously Tevene-sounding, a family tradition of absurd names. Before he had manifested magic and been sent to the Circle, he had uncovered a bit of family lore that they were, in fact, related to Tevinter magisters, albeit distantly. That was probably where it originated, though the pious Trevelyans would never admit it now. "Don't call me that. And anyway, mages don't have families, right?"
"Looks like we do now! And you're going to take full advantage of yours at the Divine Conclave, understand?"
He scowled again but nodded curtly. His family certainly had wanted nothing to do with him after he had shown magic. It was known to be in the family line, and mage Trevelyans occurred every other generation or so. This was no secret, but his father the Bann and the other family heads wanted to pretend that it was not so. Evelyn, his sister, had been sent to the Chantry just after Max had shown magic, as if it was a sin—as if the Trevelyans had to perform penance for the fact of one of their children having been given the power of magic by the Maker. She had not wanted to go, and she had taken the first opportunity of escape, running away with an Orlesian merchant that she liked before she took her vows. And dying in childbirth. Max blamed his family for his beloved sister's death.
He had even heard that they had ignored the existence of his sister's child Alison, because the Viscountess of Kirkwall had taken her as a ward of sorts and they believed that meant she was probably a mage too. If they suddenly decided to claim him after all, after the mage-favorable outcome of a war in which neither Ostwick nor its Circle had even fought, he would see it for what it was: shameless opportunism. Bold in deed, he thought bitterly. Shameless, more like. If they truly valued him, they would have protected him.
"You will be a voice of moderation and reason," Gerard continued. "Everyone in Thedas knows what Hawke and Anders did to Tantervale. The 'Free Mages' may have fine ideas, and it looks as if the war has already settled the new doctrine for mages like us, but the Divine is also going to address the issue of weapons like Kirkwall's, and you are going to argue for the restriction of such things."
"As you say, First Enchanter," Max snapped.
He supposed that he was being ungrateful. It was sometimes hard for a twenty-three-year-old man to be as mature as he ought, he knew. He just deeply resented having missed out on what had to be the foremost conflict of this age, the Mage-Templar War, because his Circle was pigheadedly determined to be neutral even after literally every Circle other than those taken over by the Marcher schism had sided with the Free Mages. He had wanted to fight, but the chance had been taken from him. Now he was being sent to the Divine Conclave at Haven as some sort of... consolation prize.
Always an afterthought, always given consolation prizes, pushed aside, denied my dreams. I wanted to know love. We can't in this Circle, just brief tumbles behind the doors and between the bookcases.
I wanted to make Thedas a better place. I wanted to use my gift of magic, the gift that the Maker gave me, to make His creation better. How can that be wrong? I don't want to use my magic to harm others, to abuse my power, to "bring harm without provocation to the least of His children." I want to use it for good purposes. Viscountess Caitlyn Hawke was a mage of noble blood too and she got to fulfill her dream. She got to lead. She is a visionary idealist who got to reshape Thedas according to her ideals. Will my time ever come? What can I truly do at Haven other than take a backseat, just as my Circle did in the war?
Chapter Notes:
I have to give credit to the late Arsinoe de Blassenville for the idea of Ferelden seizing Jader in the midst of a major Orlesian crisis. Her very long AU Victory at Ostagar, completed in 2013, envisions a different crisis than the canon one (since it was written pre-DA:I), but I love the idea and readily adapted it to the canon War of the Lions. Credit also goes to Gene Dark, my real-life friend Bain Sidhe, and ThedasCharlatan/MxKelsifer for discussions about how Ferelden could have better taken advantage of this conflict.
As far as I can tell, the only reason Ferelden didn't do this was that there was fighting on its own borders from spillover of the Mage-Templar War. That was not the case here. (I can't see "Ferelden is still recovering from the Blight" as a major issue; we tramp about in the Hinterlands, Blight Ground Zero, and they look healthy and recovering.) In DA:O, Loghain has an item in his default equipment called "Borders Yet To Be." Apparently it's an expansionist map, a map of his vision of what Ferelden's borders should be. Anora is his daughter.
I think the chapter made it clear, but to be utterly certain: Anders and some dwarven smiths developed rockets like those used in the 18th century on earth and chemical weapon variants of them. He and his wife Caitlyn Hawke used them to end the Mage-Templar War. Tantervale, the schism/rebel Templar capital, was nearly leveled after a barrage of over 100 conventional rockets. Anders and Hawke aimed one big conventional one and four poison gas ones at the schismatic Chantry, making a direct hit (Chapter 90 of Spells). The poison gas was lethal and killed gorily (it burned skin away and basically liquefied the lungs if inhaled). I based the end of my Mage-Templar War on World War II, so this was "Hiroshima." Necessary? A war crime? Or both?
In DA:I, we can command assassins, agents, and troops wherever we need them by the war table, and we always have a path to victory. We're told that no one is strong enough to seriously challenge us (except Corypheus). This fic explores an AU scenario where there are rising powers that are strong enough. The Inquisition can have allies in defeating Corypheus, but my Anora and Hawke would not like its pro-Orlesian agenda. And what would a Free Marcher Inquisitor think of the pushes to prop up a dead (not dying, dead, killed by Fereldans 39 years ago) empire and extend the Inquisition's power everywhere? I think there would be divided loyalty and moral objections to some things, and that's how I intend to write Max Trevelyan.
Finally, I made up the superstition about "seven at a table" existing in Thedas, but its origin was, of course, the real-world superstition about thirteen at a table. Folk belief is that our superstition comes from the Last Supper with Jesus and the twelve disciples. It seemed appropriate to adapt, anyway.
My chapter notes will not usually be this long. :)
