Inquistor Arya Lavellan and the four companions that had accompanied her to the follow mire To rescue some inquisition soldiers who had been captured by Avvar tribe, were returning to Skyhold, and Arya couldn't help but think about the mission the group had just returned from, Having saved the soldiers and recruited the Avvar named Sky Watcher as an agent.
"So, what do you think the boss is going to do next?" Varric asked Arya as they were heading back to skyhold. "I'm not sure" Arya replied, she was curious, About Varric friend who had apparently fought Corypheus once before and who could potentially have information on how to beat him again.
As the group was traveling through the mountains, Arya noticed a group of people approaching the gates of Skyhold.
"Are those three the grey wardens that liliana was telling us about?" Solas asked, Arya looked closer and noticed that the group was indeed made up of three wardens.
"Looks like they're headed here, We should meet them at the gate." Varric stated, as the group hurried towards the gate.
"Are you the Inquisitor?" A tall elven mage with a Sword and Shield on his back, he was wearing what was known as the Sentinel Armor, With a blue cloak over top that had the embroidered symbol of the gray wardens.
"I am" Arya replied, "My name is Arya Lavellan."
"Nice to meet you Inquisitor, I'm Uther Surana warden commander of ferelden" Uther then turned and gestured to the elven mage behind him "And this is my second in command Nathaniel Howe."
"It's an honor to meet you, Inquisitor." Nathaniel stated.
"It's nice to meet both of you" Arya replied, before turning her attention to the woman behind them.
"And who are you?"
"I'm Jacqueline Cousland, former warden I'm better known as the the Queen of Ferelden"
"Ah, yes the Hero of Ferelden, it's an honor to meet the woman, who defeated the Archdemon during the fifth blight."
"And it's an honor to meet the Inquisitor." Jacqueline replied.
"We've been expecting you" Arya stated, "Liliana had mentioned that she sent word to you and you hadn't been replying to her letters."
"We weren't exactly at the Liberty to respond to letters since we were in the middle of the hunterborn mountain range, Only I select few of individuals knew where we had gone and were able to send messages to us" Uther explained.
"I understand, we were actually just returning from a mission ourselves." Arya explained.
"Well, now that introductions have been made, why don't we head inside and discuss why we've come to see you?" Jacqueline stated.
Arya nodded, and the group headed inside.
Once everyone had arrived in the war room, Liliana Hug to friends Right before the discussion began.
"So, Liliana did mention that you we're looking for a cure." Arya asked.
"Yes" Uther replied, "I had been looking into information involving the Theirin bloodline, Apparently Alistair's ancestor became a an extremely powerful Reaver. after consuming great dragon blood."
"So, what does this have to do with the inquisition" Varric asked, Uther sighed before continuing
"It's complicated to put it simply Alastair's mother was once a warden, I suspect the Great Dragon blood that flows in the Theirin bloodline Is what resulted in her being cured."
"Cured, from what?" Arya inquired, curious as to what Uther was trying to imply.
"The wardens Go through a process known as the joining that connects us to the blight and is why we're able to kill the archdemon, however this comes at a terrible price many would consider to be a fate worse than death." Uther explained, his voice trembling, as he struggled to continue. "Worse than death" blackwall repeated,
"And you're saying there's a cure" Blackwall asked, "Yes" Uther stated, "And it was successful, Nathaniel, Jacqueline, and I are proof of that, I intend to cure the rest of the wardens under my command once I get back to Vigil's keep." "Wait, before I forget the grey wardens across Orlais have vanished." Liliana said,
"You're joking" Nathaniel asked,
"Unfortunately no, Blackwall was the only warden we were able to find." Liliana replied, then adding " The Inquisitor was going to meet with Varric's friend, who was going to shed some light on Corypheus."
"alright, Jacqueline and I will join you to meet with this friend" Uther said.
"Agreed" Nathaniel stated,
"Alright," Arya declared, before she and the other's exited the war room.
"So, who is this friend, you wanted us to meet Varric" Uther asked.
"Well to be more accurate it's a group of friends I had to reach out to Isabela and Fenris, in order to find him." Varric replied,
"Do I even want to know?" Uther asked.
"Trust me it's going to be an interesting story" Varric assured the group.
"If you say so, let's get moving." Uther replied.
Arya lead the group to the rampart above tavern where the meeting was to take place.
"Uther, is that you?" a voice called out from behind them. The group turned to find the source of the voice.
"Carver Hawke" Uther replied, "What are you doing here." "My older brother and twin sister thought it would be a good idea for me to get away from wardens since they've been acting rather strangely as of late." "How so?" Nathaniel asked, "we all started hearing the calling." Carver stated,
"So, Morderd and Bethany had Avalene get me as far away from the Orleans Wardens as possible."
" So that's what we heard last night, I suspect a powerful fear demon is behind it." Uther replied, "But I need more information before I can be certain."
"So, this friend, of yours has shown up yet Varric" Arya asked,
"He's waiting for my signal inside the tower." Varric replied As his friend emerged from the tower, Varric announced.
"Inquisitor allow me to introduce Mordred Hawke the champion of Kirkwall." Hawke was wearing the mantle of the champion with the Finesse and Spider's Heart Daggers On his back, walking beside him was an Elven woman with Mythal Vallaslin marking on her face she is dressed in White Raiments of the Dalish Pariah armor, she had a The Sylvan's Heart staff on her back. "And the Champion's wife Merrill" Varric said gesturing to the elven woman, "It's a pleasure to meet you." Merrill said, "Likewise," Arya replied,
Two other individuals emerged from the tower behind Morderd and Merrill, An Elven man with White hair and lines across his body The armor he wore was the Grafted Spirit Hide and the great sword Blade of Mercy on his back, Beside him was a woman with a deep tan and brown hair She was dressed in Threads of the Eastern Seas.
"And our friends, Isabela the queen of pirates, and her husband Fenris the tevinter slaver hunter." Varric introduced.
"So, you're the one they call inquisitor, huh." Isabela stated.
"Yes, I am" Arya replied, "Why are you here?"
"Varric contacted Fenris and I since we were the only ones who knew where Mordred and Merrill had gone." Isabela answered. "I see" Arya said, she then directed a question at Mordred Hawke "Verric mentioned you had fought Corypheus before?"
"I had" Mordred confirmed, "Fought and killed, The grey Warden had imprisoned him But he somehow used his connection to the dark spawn to influence them." "Corypheus, Got into their heads messed with their minds and turned them against each other." Varric added.
"If the other wardens have disappeared, they could have fallen under his control again." Mordred stated.
"So Corypheus has venatori, the Red Templars, and possibly even the gray wardens wonderful" Arya groaned.
"It's not all bad I have a contact in the Orleans gray wardens, His name is Stroud he was looking into something unrelated for me but The last time we spoke, he was worried about corruption in the warden ranks."
"We will need to speak with him as soon as possible" Uther stated.
"I agree, Is there a location where we can meet with him?" Arya asked
"In our last conversation stroud said he would be hiding out in an old smuggler's cave near Crestwood." Mordred answered
" If you didn't know Corypheus, what were you doing with the wardens?" Jacqueline asked.
"The Templars in Kirkwall started using a strange form of lyrium it was Red, I had hoped the wardens would be able to tell me more about it"
"I've seen red lyrium, I've never heard of templars using it" Nathaniel said,
"Lyrium is supposed to be blue, the red stuff is the kind that drives men mad"
"Corypheus gave the templars, red lyrium, the stuff can corrupt people, It can even turn them into the monsters." Verric said,
"Varric, You might wanna run because Cassandra Pentecast is coming up the stairs and she looks like she's ready to strangle you" Uther remarked,
"I'd like to see her try" Varric replied, "She can't kill me, if I'm already dead."
"I would run if I were you." Isabela suggested.
"I don't suppose there's any chance of talking our way out of this, is there?" Varric asked,
"No" Uther replied,
"Right" Varric then bolted, and Cassandra gave chase, "Get back here Varric!" Cassandra yelled,
"I better go break this fight up before it gets out of hand" Arya stated, as the others watched Cassandra chased after Varric.
"Are the two of them always like this?" Morderd asked.
"Considering Varric probably lied about not being able to contact you, She probably thinks knew where you were all along" Fenris chimed in.
"That does sound like him" Isabela agreed,
"What do you think is going to happen when she catches him?" Merrill asked,
" It looks like he just ducked into this blacksmith shop which probably doesn't have a way out" Uther answered,
"If I know Cassandra, she will probably try to grab him."
"Oh no" Merrill exclaimed, "What's the matter?" Uther asked. "This place is full of weapons, and if Cassandra is as angry as you're implying, She will probably grab the nearest thing that looks like it can be used as a weapon." Merrill answered.
"All right I need to stop this before It gets out of hand" Arya stated Before making her way down towards the blacksmith/sleeping quarters. Arya entered the sleeping quarters to find Cassandra Attempting to grab Varric to ring his neck.
"You're conniving a little Shit You knew where Hawke was all along" Cassandra shouted,
"You kidnapped me, interrogated me." Varric replied,
"I did everything I could to get him to tell us the location of Hawke" Cassandra interrupted.
"Everything except ask politely," Varric shouted, as a blacksmith hammer hit the wall.
"Enough!" Arya commanded,
"We should probably explain why we're here." Fenris suggested,
"Yes" Isabela agreed, "Varric didn't really know where Hawke and I had gone." Merrill chimed in,
"Mordred and I were looking into the red lyrium That had been circulating within the ranks of the Templars and Kirkwall and is the reason why he had to step down as viscount."
"Only Fenris and I knew where Hawke and Merrill had gone," Isabela finished.
"Is this true Varric?" Cassandra asked,
"yes, I was telling you the truth, at the time." Varric confirmed, "I was in no contact with him, Aside from the letters here and there that I sent to Isabel who relayed them to hawke." "I see" Cassandra replied.
Now that Cassandra had cooled down the Queen of Ferelden to make an announcement.
" I must take my leave it was good to see Liliana again but I need to get back to Denarim" Jacqueline declared, "I understand" Arya said, "Safe travels to you, your majesty" "Thank you, Inquisitor" Jacqueline said, before heading out.
"Nathaniel and I need to get back to vigil's keep we'll distribute the cure to my inner circle and then we'll rendezvous with you in Crestwood." Uther declared, "I will meet up with you at the edge of Crestwood, Oh and one more thing inquisitor you might want to master a subclass it'll come in handy against tougher challenges. " Nathaniel declared. "I will keep that in mind." Arya said, " We'll see each other again in Crestwood."
Notes:
So yes I had Carver live to become a gray warden So my head canon explanation for this is that Abilene's husband Wesley Was the one who sacrificed himself to save the Hawke matriarch allowing for Carver to live during the first year in Kirkwall, Mordred joined up with the smugglers while Carver joined the mercenaries.
carver would also accompany Mordred into the deep roads a decision that his brother would come to regret because it resulted in Carver having to join the gray wardens in order to survive because he ended up contracting the taint.