Dragon Age: Revengeance
ACT I
Chapter 4
Hawke awoke in her cabin aboard the Siren's Song. Almost immediately she sensed that something was … off. The air felt wrong, and she couldn't feel the deck heaving and shifting beneath her. Everything was eerily silent and still. She got up and opened her cabin door. The Fade lay beyond, the sickly green light casting sinister shadows.
Hawke sighed. "You might as well show yourself," she said aloud. "I know you brought me here."
The Maker materialised a short distance away and beckoned for her to join him. "Come," he said, "There's something you should see."
He was standing at the edge of a floating chunk of rock, upon which sat a section of the Siren's Song, mirroring the vessel within the physical realm. Hawke peered down when she reached him, and almost immediately regretted it.
"A little warning would have been nice!" she gasped after almost tripping over herself in her effort to back away. Not so far below the little island they were perched upon was nothing less than the Black City itself. She had never seen it from above, much less within spitting distance. Few people had, she suspected.
"You're afraid," observed the Maker. "Do you know what lies inside?"
"Nothing good," she replied, trying to regain her composure. Her heart was still racing.
"The Chantry would have you believe that I once resided down there, until seven Tevinter Magisters intruded. Then, or so the doctrine claims, I cursed the Magisters with the Blight, and cast them back into the world as punishment for their hubris."
Hawke swallowed and nervously approached the edge once more. "I take it that's not what actually happened?"
"In actuality the elves speak the truth of it; the city contains their imprisoned gods, the Evanuris. Sealed within by Fen'Harel when he created the Veil. He also imprisoned their enemy - the so-called Forgotten Ones – in the Void. A dark place far below even the Deep Roads."
Hawke frowned. "The Old Gods of Tevinter were the enemies of the elven gods?"
"Yes. The song they sing keeps the Evanuris imprisoned within the city below. If all of the Old Gods are destroyed, their song will end and the Evanuris will be free. That would be very bad for everyone."
She risked a glance at the Black City and winced uncomfortably at the sight of it. "So what blackened the city, then?"
"The Chantry is right about that, but not for the reasons they think," he answered. "They say I created the Blight and inflicted it upon the world as a punishment, but in reality the Blight existed long before Corypheus ever set foot inside the city. The Blight comes from the Void. In ancient times, Andruil – one of the elven gods – would enter the Void to hunt her enemy. Eventually she contracted the Blight, and it changed her. She became something very much like an Archdemon. Mythal was able to cure her, but as you might expect, if all of the Evanuris were infected with the Blight it would result in unimaginable horror."
"Oh, I think I can kind of imagine how bad that might be," said Hawke, not liking the implication one bit. The Maker smirked.
"Regardless, Dumat tricked Corypheus into entering the Golden City. More importantly however, Dumat told Corypheus that in order to succeed, he and the other Magisters would need to use the Blight. He claimed that the Blight was merely a powerful magical tool, one that would grant them the strength to pierce the Veil and enter the city." The Maker spread his arms in a grand gesture. "The truth is, the blackening of the great Golden City was simply the magical equivalent of catapulting plague ravaged corpses over the walls of a besieged city. It was the final blow in an ancient war that had long since faded from memory. The Old Gods used the Magisters to carry the Blight into the Golden City, tainting it and everything within it, including the Evanuris."
Hawke regarded this revelation with all of the horror it deserved. "So the Black City contains the imprisoned Evanuris, all of whom are tainted with the Blight, and we've been killing off their greatest enemy one by one..."
"And when the Grey Wardens slay the last Archdemon," he continued for her, "The gates of the Black City will open, and a host of brand new Archdemons will be unleashed upon the world. Not one by one, but all at once."
"Oh," said Hawke. "...Why exactly are you telling me all of this?"
"Because someone needs to inform the Grey Wardens. I can hardly do it myself, they'll think me nothing more than a deceitful demon. You do have a cousin you are on good terms with, however. A certain Warden Commander, if I'm not mistaken, who might be inclined to listen."
She nodded, her eyes widening. "Solona, of course! I'll send word to her. She will listen to me, and if anyone can convince the Grey Wardens to understand, it's the Hero of Ferelden." She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "Well then, if you'll let me wake up, I'll write to her without delay."
The Maker raised a finger. "There's one last matter before you awaken."
"Marvellous. What now? I'm not certain I can take more bad news."
"You intend to track down Anders, to enlist his aid in your war against the Chantry. I regret to inform you that he has been captured by Templars, and is due to stand trial at Val Royeaux for the destruction of the Kirkwall Chantry. Make no mistake, Hawke, the trial shall be a farce. Grand Enchanter Vivienne shall serve as judge, and your old 'acquaintance' Sebastian Vael intends to prosecute … and execute. With extreme prejudice."