The entrance to New Crestwood village was under attack when the group arrived a few minutes later, the broken blades of the undead swinging wildly, sometimes injuring each other more than the guards fending them off. By the time they were close enough to engage, the bout was over, and the guards wearily waved them through. Crestwood village was a knot of houses wrapped around the curves of muddy hillsides, with a sparse market area in the middle; a layout that attempted to mimic the city of Denerim on a much smaller, damper scale.
Cassandra pointed out a column of smoke rising from the left hill, and they followed her up the slope to another open market area. This section was centred around a carved statue of a man and woman in loving embrace, the details of their features weathered beyond recognition. On the base of the statue was an inscribed list of names, and words to mark the memory of those lost in the flood. To the left of the area, a fenced-off pyre burned defiantly in the rain while a chantry sister recited the Chant of Light. Ellethir approached the sister, and after a brief, hushed conversation, returned with the added task of returning the remains of those who had perished in the flood, if the party was fortunate enough to come across any.
The chantry sister also gave them directions to the mayor's house, which was tucked away in a corner of the housing district they'd passed earlier. It was like any of the other village cottages, aside from the two bronze mabari statues that flanked the front door. The mayor welcomed them inside, and they were all grateful for the warmth radiating from the fireplace at the far end of the dwelling. Plush rugs carpeted much of the floor, and there were tall bookshelves on either side of a imperious-looking desk. Bronze wall sconces added to the faint orange glow emitted by the fireplace; all in all, the mayor's house looked exactly how Fae had imagined it would, made extra cosy in the context of bleak weather outside.
Varric made the introductions, and the mayor's eyes widened. "The Inquisitor herself! Mayor Dedrick of Crestwood Village," he said eagerly, shaking Ellethir's hand with both of his own. "At your service, despite everything. Are you… here to stop the undead?"
"We should. We could. Everyone here is so scared," Cole muttered nervously.
"The undead are appearing because of a rift in the Fade," Ellethir explained. "I can close the rift, but do you know how I can get to it? I heard mention of caves beneath the lake itself."
"That's the light in the lake?" The man's eyebrows shot up. "Aye, it's coming from the caves beneath Old Crestwood. Darkspawn flooded it ten years ago, wrecked the dam controls during the Blight. It wiped out the village, killing the refugees we took in besides."
Varric let out a low whistle.
"Sister Vaughn mentioned a dam," Ellethir added. "If we use it to drain the lake, I can get to that Fade rift."
Mayor Dedrick's eyebrows somehow raised even higher. "Drain the— there must be some other way, surely?"
"There is not," Cassandra said firmly. "The Inquisitor is the only one who can close the rifts, and for that to happen we must have access to it."
Dedrick's shoulders stooped as he sighed. "The dam controls are in the old fort, Caer Bronach. But there's bandits holed up in there, you'd have to evict them first and I can't ask you to risk your life."
Ellethir put a hand on his shoulder. "I've already fought worse than bandits," she said softly. "And from what I've seen, Crestwood can't last much longer. Let us help."
"Then I… I suppose it must come to this," Dedrick admitted wearily. He turned around and opened one of the drawers under the desk, rustling papers around until he found what he was looking for. "This key unlocks the gate to the dam controls. Thank you, Inquisitor. Maker go with you."
As per the increasingly soggy map of the region, the party made their way down the old market road, which split into two paths halfway to the fort. Taking the correct path wasn't so much of an obstacle with the destination already in sight, but it was narrower, forcing the group into a two-by-two formation on their mounts.
"I don't believe that mayor was telling you the whole truth of the matter, Inquisitor," Blackwall called from his horse, trotting directly behind Ellethir's.
"What makes you say that, Blackwall?" Ellethir called back.
"Man claims the darkspawn deliberately sabotaged the dam controls to flood the village. Darkspawn aren't clever enough to come up with a tactic like that."
"Some of them are more intelligent than others," Fae piped up beside him. "My cousin said she met one that could speak the common tongue, once. A darkspawn like that could have given the order; there is some hierarchy between them all."
Blackwall squinted at her through the sheet of rain that had picked up again. "Thought you said us Wardens don't share information with those outside the Order?"
Fae smirked, looking straight ahead. "Neria saved the world, she can say whatever she wants."
"We're close!" Ellethir warned. "Everyone quiet down after we dismount, hopefully the rain will deafen our approach and we can catch them off-guard. Blackwall, Cassandra, with me."
The three of them crept up to the massive wooden doors at the front of Caer Bronach, with everyone else a few paces behind. Blackwall drew his silverite greatsword, and with a mighty heave, brought it crashing down on the padlock that kept the doors locked. The sword cleaved the lock in half, and Cassandra barrelled straight into the door on the left with her shoulder, pushing it open wide enough for everyone to rush through. Two snarling mabari charged at them, only to be caught directly in the blast of Vivienne's ice magic.
"Archers on the roof!" Varric yelled, and a volley of arrows aimed at Ellethir pinged uselessly off Fae's protective ward. Further into the fort, they met more resistance on the stairs, brutish men wielding hand-axes and heavy tower shields. The party pushed on, and a woman on the floor above them shouted orders to keep moving as she rushed towards the apex of the keep.
"Follow her!" Ellethir ordered, and the next set of stairs led them to another round of fighting.
"Chief!" A young woman cried out, and Fae turned to see a hulking man with a horned helmet, carrying a hefty maul over his shoulder as he roared out a battle cry. He swung the maul at Cole, who simply disappeared before the maul could make contact. A well-aimed bolt from Varric lodged itself in the chief's knee, drawing a strangled cry from the man as he lurched sideways to relieve the pressure. Cole picked this moment to materialise behind him, brimmed hat obscuring most of his face in shadow as his scimitar tore through the unwary chief's throat.
"Well done, everyone," Ellethir winced as Fae healed a nasty-looking gash on her arm. "Did anyone see where the dam controls might be?"
"I did," Cassandra pointed over her shoulder briefly while she tried to wrangle a broken buckle on her greaves. "Downstairs, we passed a door labelled 'dam access.' But what of this keep?"
"What about it?"
"We cannot let it fall back into the hands of bandits and ne'er-do-wells, Inquisitor."
"Shouldn't we tell the mayor that it's clear? He can send men to occupy it, give the villagers sanctuary."
Cassandra smiled, although it was more of a grimace. "That would be ideal, but I don't believe the mayor has men to spare for such an endeavour."
"Perhaps we might take the keep under the Inquisition's protection, for a time?" Vivienne suggested, catching on quickly. "Our soldiers can help to maintain stability in the area, once we have finished our business here, and the villagers will have their safe harbour."
Ellethir nodded tiredly. "That's fine, so long as the mayor will allow it."
"I don't think the mayor is in a position to outwardly deny us, at the very least," Dorian pitched in, already tying a red silk handkerchief to the flagpole where the bandit's colours hung until recently. "We can have Josephine send over an official Inquisition flag, but for now, at least this is one of our colours."
The room labelled 'dam access' was decidedly underwhelming. There were a couple of large kegs, a few mouldy crates, and… not much else, besides another door at the far end of the room.
"I'm guessing this will be the room for the dam controls," Ellethir said, swinging the door open wide. It opened up to reveal the bare landscape of Crestwood, with the glowing lake in the distance. "Or not."
"That building over there must be it, Inquisitor. It's right on the dam," Blackwall pointed out an oddly-shaped building preceded by a stone bridge not far off.
When they reached the building, Varric steadied the carved brass sign that was swinging wildly on its hinges by the door. It was shaped like a giant's skull, with a large trumpet horn wrapping around it. The inscription on the bell of the horn read 'The Rusted Horn.'
"They kept the dam controls in a tavern?" Dorian wondered sceptically.
Varric shrugged. "I've seen stranger things in taverns. Shall we?"
Inside, a fireplace crackled, and two adolescents giggled, entangled in each other's arms.
Fae immediately halted in her step. "…Oh."
"What in—?" The girl gasped.
"Don't mind us, just passing by!" Dorian sang cheerily. "Come along, Inquisitor."
"The Inquisitor?" The boy exclaimed. "We didn't know you would be here, my lady! Please, don't tell anyone!"
Ellethir rubbed the back of her head. "My lips are sealed."
"Thank you. Lonnie's mum and dad would have had my head," the boy explained guiltily.
"How did you even get past the…?" Ellethir shook her head. "Never mind. We're looking for the dam controls. Do you know where they are?"
The girl pointed upstairs. "There a big wheel thing in that little room up there to the left, that might be it…?"
"Thanks."
The two lovers exchanged glances. "Well, go on, run along," Dorian shooed them away, and they obliged, gathering their things quickly.
"We'll have to wait an hour to go back, your father will still be up," the boy muttered to Lonnie.
"I knew this was a mistake," she mumbled back grumpily.
"We could try the caves?"
"You hate spiders."
"You find somewhere next time."
Leaving the quarrelling lovers behind, the dam controls were indeed to be found upstairs, in a little room to the left.
Varric looked over the large wheel. "It doesn't look broken, but I guess the best way to figure out how is if we try to use it."
Varric, Blackwall and Cassandra each took a position at one of the giant spokes of the wheel, and pushed. The wheel obliged, gradually turning until a low clunk sounded, and a quiet roar from outside began to build up.
"That'll be all the lake water being released onto the other side," Blackwall explained.
"So it worked?" Ellethir said hopefully.
"Aye. Which begs the question- who fixed it?"
"A question for the mayor, I should think," Vivienne crossed her arms. "It will take time for the lake to drain. We can ask him while we wait."
Crossing back over the bridge towards Caer Bronach, the rain had escalated into a full-blown storm, and a streak of lightning gave them pause as it cracked deafeningly against the stone. Then came a screech, followed by a dark shadow that flew by above them so fast that they only saw its retreating form.
"The High Dragon Scout Harding warned us about," Ellethir shouted past the rain. "It's been terrorising what farmlands they have left!"
"This village can't catch a break!" Varric yelled. "Are we one hundred per cent certain it's not legitimately cursed?"
"Another question the mayor could answer for us, I think!" Dorian yelled back.
Back in the mayor's house, the party stood dripping in the entryway while Ellethir asked the mayor about the fixed dam controls. Mayor Dedrick looked genuinely puzzled at first, and then his chin wobbled a little before he covered his eyes with one hand. "It must have been Robert," he croaked. "Our wheelwright. He kept himself busy with mending things after the flood. He vanished a month later. We found his…his body hanging from a pine that Spring," he let out a shaky breath. "Please- I can speak no more of this. That poor soul deserved better. They all did."
Cole chose that moment to announce that they were scared when the water came, but that it was mostly gone now, so they took the ominous decree as their cue to leave.