The shady merchant was a fellow named Levi Dryden. He said something about a Keep, Duncan and demons. Hrotti wasn't really paying attention, but he got the basic premise.
They would kill some demons or spirits infecting a castle and find some documents that would prove that Dryden should not be a casteless clan. In exchange the Wardens would get a cozy castle to hide in while the Blight raged on in Ferelden. It sounded like a fair deal, so the party took a detour off the path to Soldiers Peak to do some ghost busting.
The affair went fairly smoothly. They killed a bunch of demons, closed a demonic hell gate and allowed an elderly Warden man to take the position of steward. He was to old to fight demons, but he was going to continue his alchemy hobby which would benefit the Warden. Just with a bit less blood and torture this time.
After selling the excess loot, Hrotti took Leliana, Alistair and Morrigan to the Spoiled Princess for some drinks. Thumper rested in camp, since he was a tired little doggy. And his taste in alcohol was too expensive.
The Innkeeper did not know of any Genetivi and the name wasn't in his resident log, so after a few swigs of ale the group left the Inn. Outside they met some rowdy people and had a nice scuffle. Then Hrotti sent Morrigan back to camp, he was going to drop by in the Tower to ask about the treaties, since they were in the area.
The Tower had it's share of troubles. Apparently there were abon-i-bee-nations running about, causing trouble. So the templars had locked the door and were waiting for someone braver to swat those bees. Hrotti offered to be that guy. Normally he would have been a bit wary, but after fighting the undead, evil trees, tiny dragons, werewolves and a very visscous squirrell he felt he could handle a few bees.
In the Tower he found some mages, one old, three medium and two rare erm kids. Leliana had been very distraught over the locking the mages in with the bees, so Hrotti made an effort to show some tact this time and not attack the mages while frothing at the mouth. Eventually they decided that the old mage should join them in fighting the bees. Hrotti made some not tactful comments about her age and she replied with some tactful threats about beating him black and blue with a cone. Hrotti approved of her attitude.
The bees were a bit bigger than Hrotti had expected. And on fire. But the whole thing went fairly smoothly. The old woman had some magical kisses on the hurts, which made trekking very easy. Things got a bit complicated on the third floor, where they met a nice demon who told them to take a nap and teleported them to a giant, green nap room.
Sadly, the nap room also had Duncan. Who wanted to hold hands and sing songs. Hrotti had been hoping for some soft dwarven bosoms and was feeling a bit cheated. Things got heated and Hrotti killed Duncan, for the second time. Better not mention that to Alistair.
Hrotti then had a nice stroll around the green corridors the humans and elves went to when they slept. It was quite magical, but in the back of his mind he felt a bit like this experience was being wasted on a simple mind like his.
...
Eventually he managed to track and herd Alistair, Leliana and the old mage in one place, where the nice demon was standing. The demon was quite sad and promised to do better next. Hrotti felt a sting in his heart, having spoken the same speech to his mam one night when she was deep in the bottle. Alas it was time for a thrashing.
The nap ended with some mage who made a grand speech about stuff. Hrotti wasn't really listening. But the mage teleported them back to the third floor on the tower and Hrotti repaid the favor by stealing the mages book. It's what he would have wanted.
The rest of the journey to the Harrowing chamber was largely uneventful. Outside the chamber they found a man stuck in a pink drapery. It was a templar. He told them that a mage name Uldred was keeping the First Enchanter and some other mages prisoners at the top of the tower, but judging by the screams and crying the prisoners were probably dead or ensnared by the blood mages. He suggested keeping the mission statement "Kill all blood mages and demons" active. Hrotti agreed, with a heavy heart.
The old lady apparently did not agree, but she didn't voice it until after the templar had spoken. She hadn't read the posts before this either or was unwilling to try and pass the persuasion check. Leliana tried to coax her into trying to use persuade, but was sadly unsuccessful.
Alas old lady, I never knew you at all.
Once her head hit the floor with a wet thump, a wild Morrigan appeared. She had grown tired of waiting and decided to check out the tower to see if they needed help. Her bird form had been most helpful. Sadly, Thumper was too heavy for her to carry up all those floors, but he sent his best wishes.
So she joined the group in kicking Irwings butt. Or was it Uldred? The bald one. The other one was carried down the Tower (alive and well) to report on the fight.
Gregoir was very relieved to have his friend back. After a brief embrace and some sharp words to the templar from the drapes he went to organize a cleaning team for the tower. To get the red gooey stuff on the wall and patch up the rest of the mages.
Irwing waved him off and then shook hands on that he and the rest of the mages would help fight the blight.
With that treaty in the bag the team returned to the Spoiled Princess for some celebratory drinks. The Innkeeper was overjoyed to see them, hugging them and claiming that they "saved his family" and "those brutes were holding them hostage". Hrotti felt a bit strange over all this affection, but was happy to learn the reason why the man had an Inn so close to the Tower. Since all the people in it were his family. Morrigan groaned over this deduction and Leliana explained to Hrotti that Genetivi's man-maid had lied to them and attempted to trick them into an ambush! Hrotti felt amazed that such magic was possible, turning an entire tower into bees!
Either way, they needed to learn the truth. So back to Denerim they left. While there they fought a street gang, stole some silver, found some bodies and did some business. And they also killed the man-maid, found a dead guy and in a box and Genetivi's diary. Which was not as saucy at Hrotti had hoped, but had the direction to a quaint little village in the mountain.
The destination was set to Haven, but that is for another post.
Since this was supposed to be a short. Ugh. Kudos to you if you read all the way. Hope you are not too broken by my nonsense.
Retour en haut
]
)
I was hoping for an all non human companion set up this game. If Abelas rejects Shale, Fen'harel the Dog may be playing most of the game with Abelas to keep the goal.
I never knew. I also love Fenharel the Dog. He growls. He will definitely stay with me whole game. Abelas is quite taken with him, and he's the only creature Abelas trusts completely.
