The journey of Warden Commander Drako Amell, The Hero of Ferelden: (DA:O, DA:A, and Witch hunt)
I woke to a smell I had not savored in years. Pancakes. Orana had cooked a full breakfast for us. She seemed shocked when she was asked to join us in eating it. I took her out to the High Town market and bought her some new clothes and a few trinkets she fancied. I don't think she had ever received a gift before. So much must seem strange or even alien to her. It will take time for her to adjust to a life so different from what she has been accustomed to, but she was smiling. We return to the estate and with Bodahn and Sandel's help we put her things away in her room. Her favored item was a lute. She was playing it when I left her. I had to attend to other things today.
I made my rounds to check in on my friends. The past few days have been rather trying on some of them. (questioning beliefs and gifts) I try to be an anchor for my merry band of misfits. Sometimes I think I'm the only thing holding them together. We all meet at the Hanged Man around noon where Varric goes off into one of his wild stories. Had a good time. Afterwards, Aveline asks if I had spoken to Ser Emeric. I told I was going to see him this afternoon. She decided to come with me. If there was anything to his investigation then she would need to know about it anyway. Even if there wasn't, she would need to know that too. Isabella and Merrill come along as well. Issy spent most of the time trying to get details about Donnic out of Aveline. I think Merrill just wanted something to do...
...After speaking with Emeric we follow up on one of his leads. An Orliasian named DuPuis. Seriously, that's his name. A slimy little man. Caught him assaulting a woman. He fed me some story about his murdered sister and that he was stalking the true murder. Even without my lack of belief in his tale, the rest of what we found in the house makes him too dangerous to be allowed to be set loose in Kirkwall. Raising demons, kidnapping women, multiple vials of blood laid out around the mansion... He had to be stopped. And stop him we did. He summoned more demons to fight us verifying what I had already suspected about him. I find it hard to believe the city guard did not find these things, but most of them tend to get skittish around the city's nobility. They may not have gone in every room... or any of them... I know Aveline thinks highly of her Guardsmen, but they aren't all like Donnic. I wouldn't even consider his work ethic to be common among the guard force. She is working on that though. Have to credit her that...
...When we returned to the Gallows to inform Ser Emeric, we are told that he had left the Gallows to meet with me in Low Town. A letter arrived with the Amell seal on it. Those seals are tightly regulated. You can't just buy one at a market stall. Who wrote this and how did they get my family seal?... A matter that would have to be addressed later. We set out to find Ser Emeric. Whoever sent that note clearly had something planned for the Templar. Perhaps DuPuis had a partner or he could have been telling the truth even. Whatever the case, I was certain what we would find when we caught up with Emeric wasn't going to be good...
..We follow the instructions in the letter to an alleyway in Low Town. The place reeks of week old ******, sulfur, and... blood. As we approach, I already know what we will find. Either there will be a very old drunken smith with extremely poor bladder control OR a mass of demons have just claimed a victim. Odd as it is, I was really hoping for the former in this scenario... A hope that was crushed when we saw Emeric's body and a demon standing over it about to possess the corpse. We rush in and take the beast on only to find many of it's brethren near by. There was a demon of Desire leading them. Whoever summoned these creatures must be an extremely powerful summoner to bring a Desire demon through the veil and bind it to their will. They are second in power only to Pride demons. Controlling them is beyond difficult. Only a fool would even attempt it.
After the fight, a Templar rounded the corner not long after the battle, typical. Thankfully, Merrill and I were in a part of the alley where the Templar couldn't see us with our defense auras up and we had time to disspell them. That's one headache we don't need. We explain the situation and the Templar heads off to report to Meredith. I don't like giving Meredith more fodder for her arguments for tightening the leash on mages, but she needs to know if there is a mage killing people and summoning demons in the city. We accompany Aveline to the keep and piece together a report for the Viscount and then all head our separate ways. I stick around with Aveline for the meeting with the Viscount. I'm actually looking forward to hearing mother babble on about setting me up with random single noble women. If she knew about Issy and I, she would have a heart attack, come back to life, slap me, then have another heart attack... She doesn't approve of Issy. If mother only got to know Isabella... No... no, she would still hate her...
...I arrive home a little after mid day where I find Gamlen arguing with Sandel. Trying to get Sandel to say something other than "ENCHANTMENT" is rather difficult. Shouting doesn't help. Gamlen was upset about Mother not showing up for their usual afternoon tea. I wouldn't share tea with him when we were living with him, so I wasn't really concerned... until Bodahn mentioned that Mother hadn't been home all day. I had been out all night and most of the day running done Emerics leads, so I didn't know. Then Bodahn points out the lilies... white lilies .. It suddenly dawns on me. The killer I was tracking, he left white lilies at the homes of his victims. I knock over four people racing back up to the Keep to inform Aveline. She may be able to help...
...We trace mothers steps through the city and eventually come to the bazaar in Low Town. Everything was normal until we got there. Gamlen was there talking to a street kid who said he had seen Mother. He claimed to have seen a man who was injured that Mother tried to help. Aveline organizes the guards in Low Town to look for her while we follow the... blood... This could all still be just Mother trying to help someone and she lost track of time, but the longer this drags on, the worse this knot in my stomach gets. Something is very wrong...
...We find Merrill and Isabella at one of the larger blood pools. Merrill said she found this trail and that it was likely used for some type of blood magic. I explain the situation and they join our search. With every step I have one fear after another flash through my mind. We follow the trail to the Foundry. The place where Ninnet disappeared. There is a dark aura filling the foundry. Something evil is taking place here. We find a trap door inside. It wasn't here last time, or maybe it was just well hidden. We go down to find the source of this evil..
...The basement stinks of death. The place is crawling with demons and littered with the... pieces... of bodies. Amid notes of mad ramblings we find books on Necromancy and a shrine of a woman that looked like Mother. There was a note from someone helping this mad man. It was only signed with an O. I will not describe the condition in which we found Mother, but we killed the man responsible for it. I burned him, healed him, and burned him again... I killed him in the most painful way I could. If Aveline hadn't stopped me... While I try to pull myself together, Aveline goes out to find some of her guardsman to secure the area and transport Mothers remains and those of the other women to the Chantry. A ceremony will be held tomorrow. I don't care for the Chantry, but Mother did. It's what she would have wanted...
...Tonight, however, I sit in front of a fire and think about Templars and why they are the way they are... I find myself, a mage, thinking that the Templars are not being vigilant enough in their measures to keep people safe from evil magics. They seem content to punish mages that haven't done anything wrong. Assuming there are any in the Gallows that haven't had some type of dealings with demons. For four years I have seen nothing but demons and mages in league with demons pour out of that Circle. Those books on Necromancy came from the Circle. Whoever "O" is, he or she is clearly there... I'm not thinking clearly right now, but for the first time I understand the need for the Circle and the Templar Order... Father is gone. Bethany. Carver is with the Tmeplars. Now Mother... Isabella once offered me a place on her crew. Granted it was on a ship she didn't and doesn't have, but still. It didn't appeal to me then, but right now... Sailing far away from this place sounds pretty good...