Chapter 98
In fact, it took them a month to sort out the mess in Amaranthine. Emma made sure to send a letter to Varric Tethras at the Hanged Man, with a request to tell Hawke not to take the last remaining sibling into the Deep Roads. She got Aedan to sign it in the hope that it would lend the missive more credence.
It turned out that Oghren had been sent to the Keep by King Alistair to offer support to the Wardens, and he had no intention of joining the Order. When questioned by Emma, he replied rather succinctly. "I heard you the first time, lass. I've got a good sodding job with the King's army, and I ain't gonna ruin what I've got with Felsi and the little one."
She did her best to change how Anders viewed the Chantry, but she had a feeling it was all for nothing because as soon as he reached Kirkwall and saw the way the mages were treated, all his anger would come back. However, she held a slim hope in her heart that he might at least avoid merging with Justice – only time would tell. She also talked Mhairi into foregoing the Joining. Varel tersely reminded Emma that they were trying to recruit Wardens, not dissuade them, to which she replied that a dead Warden was of no use to them, but a living warrior would be.
With Aedan's charm and good sense, he managed to avert the rebellion from the farmers and citizens, and he dealt fairly with those he had to judge. During the course of their time in Amaranthine, he even managed to become friends with Nathaniel Howe which was surprising considering how badly their first meeting had gone. The two had stared at each other with hatred for about a minute until Emma got bored and told them to stop with the pissing match as they had other things to do. Her words had shocked Nathaniel into laughing which had eased the tension and began a tentative truce between the two men.
They recruited Sigrun and ventured forth into Kal'Hirol, where they wandered around for hours killing darkspawn and finding empty chests until Aedan realised that Emma had the map and they'd been going around in circles. After he passed the map to Oghren, they soon found themselves in the lower reaches of the once great city and took on The Disciple and the Inferno golem. They also took out three broodmothers just by dropping a lyrium storage chamber on them. Oghren expressed a view that all broodmothers should be placed under such contraptions, as it made them a lot easier to kill than the first one they'd encountered. When they finally emerged into daylight once more, Aedan swore he would never go down in the Deep Roads again, at least not with his wife reading the map.
In the City of Amaranthine, they managed to have a quick catch up with Wynne, and Emma sadly realised that this was the last time they'd ever meet. The party also dealt with smugglers, collecting bottles of poison and a few other quests, while Nathaniel got to meet his sister, Delilah, and finally learn the truth of what his father had done. It also led to a rather awkward moment when Delilah announced that her father had tried to set her up with the 'stuck-up Cousland boy,' and then dug a bigger hole for herself by stating it was a suggestion she had never liked. Emma had glared, Aedan had laughed and Nathaniel had quickly introduced his companions to his sister, whereby she apologised profusely, and also offered her condolences for what had happened to the Couslands.
The next location was the Wending Woods, where they met Velanna. After chasing the mage around for a while, they finally cornered her. Emma had never liked the elven mage, deeming her manners rude and abrupt, not to mention the fact that she'd killed a lot of people on the roads. Not having the same easy-going personality as Aedan, she punched Velanna on sight; this led to a brawl which ended in a draw, a shaking of hands, and a friendly rivalry between the two for the rest of their stay in Amaranthine.
They had their first encounter with the Architect in the Silver Mines. After Velanna's sister, Seranni, freed them, the party set off to retrieve their armour and weapons. While fighting some undead, Oghren gave a shout of anger and charged at one particular skeleton. After a heated tussle, Oghren rose, triumphantly holding the helmet of his Legion of the Dead armour. Emma got so angry at seeing a darkspawn handling her new staff, that she forgot all about her magic and kicked it in the groin, before snatching her staff back and beating it over the head. Eventually, everyone got back their own armour and weapons, and they searched for an exit, finding Armaas and a chest full of the remainder of their equipment. Emma blushed when the merchant asked if she needed a replacement saartoh nehrappan, and she quickly changed the subject by offering him a position as a merchant at Vigil's Keep. They finally got out of the Silverite Mines and completed the rest of the quests in the area, before heading back to the Keep for Velanna's joining.
Whilst there, the Private who handled the messages beckoned Emma over and handed her a sealed note. The letter was from Varric, and it was cautiously worded, expressing surprise that he or Hawke were even known to the Hero of Ferelden, and curiosity about how the Hero knew of the planned Deep Roads expeditions. However, he also promised to do his best to persuade Hawke's sibling to stay on the surface.
Their next mission took them to Blackmarsh, and Emma groaned; even in the game the place looked horrible, but with one of their Grey Wardens missing, they were left with no choice but to investigate the area. By the time they reached Kristoff's body, they were all heartily sick of the place, with Anders stating that he was ready to leave. When The First, another talking darkspawn, transported them into the Fade, Anders commented that this wasn't quite what he'd had in mind. They found Justice standing up to the Baroness, and The First, who regardless of his ability to talk, still had no brains, had allied himself with the evil woman.
After the Baroness got bored of their harassment, and when it became obvious that she was losing the battle, she used the life-force of The First to return everyone back to the real world. This, of course, stranded Justice outside of the Fade and scared the crap out of everyone when Kristoff's corpse started to move. They returned back to the burnt down mansion, and as Justice had predicted, they found the Baroness waiting for them. Even with the whole party involved in the fight, it still took a long time to take her down and left quite a few with injuries. After the wounded had been healed, it was decided to leave the spectral dragon for now.
Aedan and Emma worked tirelessly to get Vigil's Keep fully upgraded, ensuring the soldiers had the best armour and weapons so that they were fully prepared for the final battle. When they returned from Blackmarsh, Varel notified them that word had come in about an attack on the city of Amaranthine. Oghren was left in charge of defending the Keep with Sigrun, Anders, Velanna and Mhairi, along with a battalion of well-equipped soldiers.
City of Amaranthine
Aedan, Emma, Nathaniel, Justice, and Revek arrived at the city of Amaranthine to find the place in flames, and darkspawn everywhere. They quickly cleared the entrance to the city, which included a difficult fight with an armoured ogre. "Great, when did they start putting armour on these things?" Aedan grumbled. Once the darkspawn were dead, they were approached by Constable Aidan of the City Guards, and yet another talking darkspawn simply called The Messenger. The creature explained he had been sent by The Architect to warn Aedan that Vigil's Keep was under attack from darkspawn sent by the Mother. The Constable's report was no less disheartening; according to him, Amaranthine wasn't worth saving, as there was a plague running rampant within its walls.
Aedan didn't even hesitate in his decision to enter the city and save as many people as possible. There were some protests from the companions who thought they should head back to the Keep and help out their fellow Grey Wardens, but he changed their minds with a few well-spoken words. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of burning flesh as they raced through the streets, saving as many people as possible and killing any darkspawn that got in their way. With a final sweep of the city, they admitted there was no one else to be saved and they made their way back to the gates. When they reached the Constable, he told them that a message had been received confirming the location of the Mother's whereabouts.
