You are led from the cell where you have been 'under observation'. You had to stamp down your prideful fury as the door opened, the guards do not deserve your wrath. You and your escort enter into some kind of central courtyard where the First Enchanter waits. Merrill and Xandar are there too, looking relieved.
You do not wait for the First Enchanter to speak. "I assume that you have proven to your satisfaction that I am, in fact, what I say I am."
You will give the old human this, he does not visibly react to your provocation. "Indeed. We've investigated this barrier the Dalish invented. It's quite interesting and I look forward to seeing how it can be used. I am unsure how useful it is for a student though."
You fight the urge to sneer. "It allows the student to only face the dangers when escorted and prepared for it. There is no being taken by surprise and the student is thus safer."

Your answer seems to satisfy First Enchanter Irving, there is little else of note in the rest of your conversation. Despite the rising irritation this whole situation causes, you manage to extract yourself from the building without causing any further damage to your relations with the circle. On the ride home Merrill and Xandar bombard you with questions about your wellbeing, which you answer with as much grace as you can manage. Their concern is touching, even if the constant questions try your patience.
You do manage to ask a question of your own despite the flurry of inquiries. "What is 'the Rite of Tranquillity'? And a 'Tranquil', for that matter?"

To your surprise it is Xandar, rather than Merrill who answers. "The Rite of Tranquility strips a mage of their connection to the Fade. It is used primarily on dangerous mages or those who cannot resist demonic possession."
Merrill, not to be outdone, volunteers some additional information. "It results in people who feel no emotion. No fear, no joy, no will of their own. Many outside the Chantry believe it is used on political opponents or simply as a punitive measure. Given how tranquil see no reason not to obey those in authority over them, some even claim it is used to make slaves out of those who were mages."
Merrill's words cause your control to fail you. Your face contorts in an expression of rage so thunderous that it ends the conversation on the spot. You do not speak again until the next day, for fear you will rage futilely at the injustices of Thedas.

Despite calming down after that first day, your emotions remain volatile for reasons you cannot quite discern. You arrive in the town of Lothering, a large trading town on a strategic crossroad, halfway through the second day of travel. At your mental urging, Orundómë comes to a halt.
"I think we should take a short rest here, while we can." You inform your companions.
They look surprised, and you cannot blame them. On the way to the circle, you had ridden through Lothering without stopping. This time though, you want to address this growing unease. You do not wish to lash out at your students. They have done nothing to deserve it.

Contrary to your expectations the two mages agree to the break without persuasion. They both wander into the town to stretch their legs or visit stores; you did not hear which, you had other concerns to focus on. Where was this unease, this niggling irritation coming from? You rule out the events of the circle first, though they had driven you to rage it should be fading by this point. As you wander the streets, you find yourself drawn south. You stare out of the gate at the road running to the fortress of Ostagar.
"Somethin' the matter citizen?" A guard asks.
You shake your head and turn away. "No, I had a question, but it seems I found my answer."
You walk back into the town seeking something to distract you from the growing darkness to the south.

You decide to spend the rest of your break surveying the various happenings in the town. You have not managed to make it far from the gate before your attention is drawn by a loud call.
"Join the Grey Wardens! A life of adventure, occasional mortal peril and the chance to be a legend. Assuming you don't die, of course!"
A man with short blonde hair is standing by the main road. He is the source of the call you have heard, though as recruitment pitches go you have heard better ones. You recall that the Grey Wardens have some connection to the darkspawn and decide to investigate this man further. You manage to get within arm's reach before the man spots your approach.
"Here to join the Grey Wardens?" He asks your chest, before looking up to meet your eyes. "Wow you're tall."

You tilt your head, considering his question. "I do not know. What is involved in joining the Grey Wardens?"
The man blinks a few times. "Uh. Yes, right. Wasn't expecting anyone to actually agree if I'm being honest. So, the Grey Wardens protect people from the darkspawn. There's a test but it's a secret."
"That seems rather difficult to maintain. What about those who leave? Have none of them shared the secret?" You ask.
The man winces. "Yes. Right, about that. Joining the Grey Wardens is a lifetime commitment. Nobody leaves."
"Then I will not be joining." You answer immediately. "I have far too many things to do to commit my entire life to fighting such creatures."
The blonde man sighs. "That figures. Most people aren't interested, not that the majority of them could even make the cut. We really need fully trained warriors, not ordinary peasants."

"Why is that?" You ask. "Surely even a new recruit could spend some time training. They may never reach the same pinnacle of skill as one who has trained from birth, but that does not make them useless."
The man's eyes dart to the side while he says, "Oh, you know. Always more darkspawn, no time to train up new recruits and all that."
He is a terrible liar. You dearly hope he normally wears a helmet with a visor, lest his eyes give away his every thought in battle.
"Does this perhaps have anything to do with what is happening in the south?" You ask.
"How on earth… No. I'm not falling for that. I've already said my piece and if there's nothing else, I have to get back to yelling fruitlessly at fruit merchants." The man replies.

"I understand that some things must be kept secret for security reasons, but you cannot believe that people are stupid enough to have not noticed what is going on." You attempt to sway the Warden with logic. "Horses are fleeing the Wilds, Ferelden is preparing for war, any half decent mage can tell you that the Beyond is filled with turmoil. That something is happening is obvious, that you are only recruiting those ready for combat seems obviously related. You do not need to disclose everything to a total stranger, but do not insult my intelligence by lying to me."

The Warden stares at you for a while, then he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, I can't really say anything about what's happening in the south. We don't know all the details yet. What I do know is that the test isn't for the faint hearted. And that's all I can say on the matter."
You decide to allow his obvious evasion. The man goes back to calling out to passers-by to a continued lack of a response.
"You do not seem to be attracting much in the way of a response." You observe after a while.
"Maybe it's got something to do with the terrifying armoured giant looming over me." The blonde snarks at you.
You shake your head, causing several heads to turn to stare. "Unlikely, most humans find me impossibly attractive."
"And very humble too." The Warden responds swiftly, glaring at the gawkers.

"If you would answer some of my questions, I can help you improve your pitch." You offer, ignoring his sarcasm.
It takes some further cajoling to acquire the man agreement, but you are long used to such things.
"I'm Alistair by the way." The now named Warden comments as the two of you step away from the road. "Figured if we're doing this, we should introduce ourselves."
"Nelyafinwë Maitimo Russandol Maedhros, eldest of the sons of Fëanáro." You introduce yourself.
Alistair blinks at you for several moments. "Riiight. I'm going to move right past that. What did you want to know? Remember I can only say so much, and no questions about the south."

"So why are the Grey Wardens recruiting?" You ask, tone conspicuously innocent.
"What did I just say?" Alistair groans.
"I asked nothing about the south." You point out.
The Warden glares up at you. "I hate you, so much."
"That is a rather unusual coincidence. I hate being told what I can and cannot ask questions about." You note idly.
The blonde man runs a hand over his face. "Really? You're pitching a tantrum about not being told secret information."
There was no need to put so much stress on the word secret, especially when it is simply untrue.

"There is no secret here. Something is happening. Ferelden is preparing for war, horses are fleeing the Kocari wilds, your order is recruiting and darkspawn are wandering through the forests or massing in the Deep Roads. I am not a fool, I know something is happening. But the one person I have met who could tell me what it is, is not saying anything." You hiss the last words with exactly as much emphasis as the Warden had placed on secret.
Alistair is obviously taken aback by the naked rage in your voice. He glances around to see who is listening, as though you would be foolish enough to attract attention by outright yelling.
He looks back to you when he is confident that nobody is watching. "Listen, I can't just tell you these things. They're secret for a reason. I already told you I wasn't going to share anything secret, just ask something else."

This is a difficult situation that you had gotten into due in no small part to your own pride. Fortunately, this is hardly a new scenario for you. A quick study and a short conversation is all you have to decide the best way to decide how to convince this man to tell you something he considers a secret. For some, it would be impossible. For you, it is only slightly difficult.
"I admit, I have perhaps been somewhat unfair." Begin with an apology, to soothe his pride. "It is hardly your fault that you have been ordered not to give me the information I seek."
Alistair relaxes slightly, he seems to be about to speak, but you are not finished.

"However, you must understand my position. There is very obviously a great calamity approaching. While I fear nothing, and were I alone I would leave this be, I am responsible for others who cannot do not share my prodigious abilities." An appeal to the need to protect others, to build a case that you need to know what others do not. "I am responsible for more than one hundred souls. Few of those are warriors. It would benefit me immensely to know what is to come."
Alistair is clearly uncomfortable, his eyes continuing to reveal his every thought. "I get that, but still. I can't just go around telling everyone secret information."

Now for the finishing blow. "If I may speculate a moment. I assume that you are concealing the exact nature of what is transpiring in order to prevent fear spreading. However, without information I will have no choice but to assume the worst possible outcome, which will be far worse than whatever this is."
Alistair is clearly sceptical. "Come on, it can't possibly that bad. I mean what's the worst thing you can think of?"
If he is going to give you an opening like that. "The Veil fails, catastrophically. Elves regain their immortality, just as demons flood the land killing all they meet. This is only the beginning of the worst case scenario I envision."

Alistair blanches as you continue to go into detail about the hellish existence of elves being killed, reborn and killed again.
Finally he has clearly had enough of your words. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you what I know, just please stop describing whatever that is. Look, step away from the road so we're not overheard and we'll just get this done."
You follow him away from Lothering, towards the nearby river. After slaying some angry bears, the blonde Warden speaks.
"Ok, keep this to yourself because we don't want to cause a panic." He whispers.
You nod. "I will refrain from revealing this information carelessly."

Alistair nods to himself a few times, it takes some time for him to gather his courage enough to speak. "We think that there might, and I stress might, be a blight coming."
You frown, confused. "A crop blight? That does sound concerning but I fail to see how it requires a military response."
"You don't know what a blight is?" Alistair says in disbelief. "Have you perhaps been living in a swamp for the last however long it is since you were born."
Rather than argue the point, you decide it is easier to simply agree. "Assume that I have. What is a blight? How does it relate to the military preparations and Warden Recruitment?"

Alistair rolls his eyes. "Of course, the only person persistent enough to find out about this is also completely ignorant of what it means. A blight is when a horde of darkspawn assemble under an archdemon and attack the surface. Hence the armies being prepared. We're recruiting because you need Grey Wardens to end a blight, they're to only ones who can kill an archdemon."
For a moment you remain silent, as the designs of the enemy become clear to you. You bite back a curse.
"That is it. It makes so much sense." You hiss, turning away to hurry towards your horses. "If you need my aid, you can find me at Endataurëo. Ask around Lannerch, they know the way."
You leave a very confused man behind you as you call Orundómë and seek your companions. The forces of darkness are preparing for another Battle of Sudden Flame, and you will not be taken off guard a second time.

The darkness in the south continues to grow.

The night after you left Lothering, you are keeping watch as the others sleep. Well, meditate in Merrill's case. Your eyes are drawn back to the south again and again. You are too experienced a campaigner to allow them to linger there long, but the attraction is undeniable. Due to your heightened state of alertness, you hear Merrill as she stirs.
"You are up early." You remark, too quietly for human ears. "What has disturbed you?"
You keep your eyes scanning on potential threats as Merrill makes her way over to you.
"Sorry I didn't catch that." Merrill whispers at a more human, though still quiet, volume. "What did you say?"

Upon hearing your question repeated, at the same volume, Merrill replies slightly quieter. "Uh, right. Nothing disturbed me. I'm still getting used to the whole 'not needing to sleep' thing. It means I don't always get the timing quite right."
You nod, your eyes returning to the south for the third time since Merrill reached you.
Merrill follows your gaze and whispers a question. "What are you looking at? Are we in danger?"
You are about to shake your head, before pausing.
"In a sense perhaps." You explain, continuing to speak softly, lest you wake Xandar. "There is some darkness to the south. It has left me uneasy since my arrival."

Merrill's eyes widen, and she stares into the south. You briefly catch a flicker of what you assume to be her own senses stretching out.
After a time, she whispers, almost to herself, "I hadn't noticed anything."
You shrug. "Perhaps I am simply sensitive to such things. Perhaps I know what to look for due to experience. Perhaps your people do not share my own's visceral reaction to the wrongness that evil brings to the world. I cannot say for certain."
"Still…" Merrill murmurs.
A few moments of quiet contemplation pass. Your eyes are growing heavy, and if Merrill is going to be up for much longer, you intend to ask her to take over the watch.

You are pulled from your thoughts when Merrill speaks again. "Hey, Nelyafinwë?"
You take a break from your watch to give her a flat stare. "If you wish to speak do so. Such introductory questions reveal your nerves and contribute nothing to the conversation."
Merrill gives a huff, something both amused and irritated, but continues. "I was wondering if you'd help me get a handle on everything while we travel?"
You turn back to the darkness. "Is that wise? Should you not learn your own abilities as a child does, to better understand them without my opinions colouring your views?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. I can't say for certain." Merrill replies quickly. "You can say no if you like, I'll do it even if you don't help. I just want another set of eyes, someone to give me ideas to try."
After a moment of thought, you agree.

The next day you and Merrill ride side by side, picking up your discussion from last week.
"Since I can't visit the Beyond in my sleep you'd think that I would struggle to regain fade energy, but I actually found out I can kind of absorb whatever's in the area. If anything, I actually gain it back faster if there's a lot around." Merrill finishes.
"That is very interesting. It stands in sharp contrast to my own experience in the matter. I cannot wield fade energy in any capacity. I have my own source of energy within me and trying to take anything else within me is pushed out by the pressure." You observe. "I wonder where the difference lies?"

"Perhaps it's because we were always supposed to have fade energy inside us, and the Veil prevents it?" Merrill proposes.
"Would that not result in a statistically higher percentage of the elven population being mages?" You disagree with her statement. "It seems unlikely."
Your conversation wanders from that topic onto magic more generally.
"I think my magic's gotten stronger." Merrill observes. "It's hard to tell because I haven't been in any fights yet, but it's much easier to cast the spells I usually use."
"Would you say that is because the spells is more powerful, so you need to use less energy, or would you say the same effect costs less energy?" You ask.

"Aren't those the same thing?" Merrill asks.
"In effect perhaps, but it is a crucial distinction." You reply. "If you have grown more powerful, that is something any mage can do, correct? But if you are more efficient in your use of what you already have then something about how you use the energy has changed."
Merrill pauses for a moment, considering what you have said.
After a time she nods. "I understand what you're saying, but I have no idea how to tell the difference."
"I have an idea. If you cast the strongest spell you can remember casting, that will tell us which is which." You inform your student.

You had given this some thought during your conversation. There were not many options that might reveal the difference between an increase of strength and an increase in, for want of a better term, endurance. You were tempted to give her a task that requires fine control; but between Merrill's experience with magic and your own lack of it, you think that it would be far more likely to prove nothing.
Merrill raises a concern "Surely that will just result in the spell being stronger whichever it is."
You shake your head. "I want you to try and cast it as you remember. If you have grown stronger you will see a stronger effect, if you have grown more efficient it should be easier to cast."

Merrill remains sceptical. "I still think it is going to have the same effect either way."
"I suppose that depends on how your magic works." You concede. "Would you say that your magic is method based or results based?"
Merrill gives you a flat stare. "I have no idea what you mean."
"What I mean is, do you visualise what you want to happen, and the rest fills itself in or do you have a process that delivers results?" You clarify.
Merrill looks at you and opens her mouth, only to pause. The silence stretches out past the time a casual conversation would allow for thought.
"I don't know." Merrill confesses. "Kind of both? But also neither?"
"Truly, the more I discover about your magic the more I despair for this world." You state, massaging your forehead. "Perhaps we can simply attempt the experiment and see what happens."

Merrill begins to chant. "Oh Mythal, guard us from evil!
Oh Dirtahmen, reveal to me the secrets of ice!
Elgar'nan! Hear me! Grant me vengeance! Let death take those who harm my people!"
The great spike of ice that transfixed a dragon rushes up from the ground, directed behind the party to avoid harming anyone or damaging the farmland you ride through. You can tell that it is significantly larger than it was in your memories, and the icy chill that radiates from it suggests it is also colder.
"Well this seems to be firmly in the more powerful category." You note, turning to Merrill.

Your student is swaying slightly on her horsed, but she does not seem to be in danger of falling off.
"That took everything I had." The elf pants.
For a moment you do not register her words. After that moment passes you give Merrill a disappointed look.
"Merrill, do you mean to say that you used all your magical energy to cast that spell?" You ask, keeping your voice level through sheer force of will.
Merrill nods at you. "And I'm not about to fall unconscious! It seems that I'm much more durable now."
"That is wonderful, but this experiment proves nothing!" You state forcefully, not yelling, as that would be undignified. "Since you used all your magic, if you are more efficient then it would have the same results as having more power at base!"
The sight and sound of Merrill's palm hitting her face soothes your desire to box her ears.

"Given that we seem to have put an end to that particular line of inquiry for today, perhaps we should focus on the physical changes for now. You say that you are more durable, and you no longer need sleep. Do you notice anything else?" You ask, after a few minutes of calming your temper.
Merrill pauses in thought as her horse ambles along. "Well, I can hear better than I used to, I think I can see better but it's hard to tell with the other senses I picked up."
You nod in understanding. "True enough, it must be hard for your mind to process a new sense it was not born with. Fortunately, it is an easy question to answer, what colour is the insect that just moved on that stalk of wheat?"

Merrill's eyes follow your pointing finger. "Sort of dark blue, I guess? It's hard to see."
You nod again. "You missed the subtle black markings, so your eyes are better than a human's but worse than mine. It makes sense, given you struggled to hear me last night. We can likely assume this is true of all your senses."
Merrill seems a little taken aback. "You can see black markings on a dark blue insect while moving? How good are your eyes?"
"The horizon arrives before I lose the ability to make out all detail." You reply calmly. "We should move on to any other changes rather than getting bogged down in this discussion."

"I suppose we should first speak of the most important changes." You say, glancing at the sun as it reaches its highest point. "Though it seems like that may be the only change we have time to discuss. Lest we spend twice as long on the road as we need to."
Merrill nods. "That's fair, hard to say what exactly are the most important changes though."
You raise an eyebrow at your student. "I would have thought it obvious. The most important changes are those to your spirit."
Merrill frowns. "That doesn't seem correct. I mean, we've already discussed magic, isn't that more important? Not that spirituality isn't important, but the most important?"
You sigh. "Merrill, your soul or spirit is you. Any changes to it should be the first, most pressing concern you have."

"Right!" Merrill says, nodding rapidly. "The only problem is I have no idea how to judge what has changed in my spirit."
"Well I have some ideas about what might be affected." You stroke your chin in thought. "I will ask you some questions and if that prompts any idea you should take off in that direction."
Merrill clenches and unclenches her fists. "Ok. Right. I can do this."
You pause to smile at Merrill. "If your spirit had changed dramatically enough to be a concern one of us would have noticed by now. Relax, it is hardly the end of your world."
Merrill nods once, then takes several deep breaths. You wait for her go ahead before you begin to ask your questions.

"The obvious first question would be do you find it easier or harder to override your desires. I want you to especially focus on things like hunger, thirst or exhaustion." You begin.
Merrill immediately has to think for some time. You allow her the time to do so, though the fact she has to think at all seems answer enough to you.
"I don't think I can answer that one." Merrill eventually decides. "It's never really come to something that I think I couldn't have done even before hand. So, I don't know. Though I suppose it's been easier to get lost in my work and forget to eat or drink."

"Interesting." You state. "I would not have expected that. Next question, what would you say you value most in the world?"
"My clan." Merrill replies instantly. "Or maybe knowledge, but those two things are pretty closely related. I want to know things to help my clan."
You sigh heavily. "That is not what I was asking. Recall our conversation about how humans desire power at their base. At your core, at the foundation of all your other desires, what is it that you truly want."
Merrill's silence drags on for far longer than you had expected. It goes on so long that Xandar asks the two of you if something is wrong. Merrill mutters something about thinking and you end up discussing the nuances of road construction with Xandar. It is almost an hour before Merrill speaks to either of you again.

"Experiences." Merrill informs you out of the blue.
"Related to what exactly?" You ask, jolted from your conversation with Xandar.
"Your question. About what I want." Merrill clarifies. "Sorry, I've been thinking about it, so I kind of forgot that you'd probably moved on."
You wave your hand. "It is unimportant. So, you would say your core drive is experiences? What do you mean by that?"
"Pretty much exactly that." She explains. "I want to experience things. I want to know what's over the horizon, I want to learn things. I want to have a family and I want to be the keeper. I still care about my clan obviously, and I want them to come with me, but I just want to experience things. It sounds kind of selfish, now that I say it out loud."

You reach over to grasp her shoulder, a gesture of comfort you are using more and more lately.
"All such things can seem selfish, but it does not have to be." You reassure her. "Helping someone is an experience, as is fighting to protect others. As long as you do not cease to care for those around you and privilege your desires above theirs, I doubt it will be a problem."
Merrill smiles at you. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."
You shrug. "Now for the final question, do you feel as though you are being called somewhere?"
Merrill blinks at you several times. "No. What kind of a question is that?"
"It was possible that your soul had a lingering connection to the Beyond, which would manifest as a sensation of being called somewhere." You explain.
"Oh. Do you feel anything like that?" Merrill asks.
Your eyes dart to the west, and the sea. "Yes."