56 réponses à ce sujet

[Qun00]

It is one thing to discuss first impressions and such, but for anything beyond that we already have the "What did you do today?" thread.

Dedicating an entire thread to a single person's playthrough is an unnecessary display of vanity.

[Medhia_Nox]

It is one thing to discuss first impressions and such, but for anything beyond that we already have the "What did you do today?" thread.

Dedicating an entire thread to a single person's playthrough is an unnecessary display of vanity.

 

Thinking I care about your opinion is also an unnecessary display of vanity.  If you wish, feel free to report it.  If the Devs desire to take it down or lock it - they can do so.  

 

If they don't... I guess you can try to derail it with your insightful commentary.  

[Qun00]

As if this were going anywhere worthwhile.

Derailing it toward any other direction would be an improvement, like teaching about the purpose of this beautiful place:

http://forum.bioware...-da-verse-oops/

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Thinking I care about your opinion is also an unnecessary display of vanity.  If you wish, feel free to report it.  If the Devs desire to take it down or lock it - they can do so.  

 

If they don't... I guess you can try to derail it with your insightful commentary.  

 

Ignore him. You keep on going with your Dalish playthrough writings. IMO, I find it to one of the most fascinating Dalish playthroughs out these, especially because you don't resort to the holier-than-thou, you Humans are all racist so we can be mean attitude that the Dalish fandom typically adopts.

[GoldenGail3]

My Dalish Playthroughs have been kind of weak to be honest...

 

*Artemis is okay about all races and isn't prejustice against any. Hates the Dalish for being prejustice against humans for no reason

 

*Oh and he's a Mage, too.

 

*Romanced Cassandra because he liked that she didn't mind that he was an elf of all things.

[Mikoto8472]

Yes, do continue OP, I'm finding your playthrough perspective fascinatingly different from mine.

[Qun00]

My Dalish Playthroughs have been kind of weak to be honest...

*Artemis is okay about all races and isn't prejustice against any. Hates the Dalish for being prejustice against humans for no reason

*Oh and he's a Mage, too.

*Romanced Cassandra because he liked that she didn't mind that he was an elf of all things.

Ahh, a welcome addition! The more people participate, the less narcissistic this is gonna be.

A group place rather than a Me!place, if you will.

[Medhia_Nox]

@GoldenGail3:  I started as a mage - but, I felt like switching to a warrior was playing against type.  When you say "weak" what do you mean?  That you weren't feeling them?  I had that feeling so far... that I had no ties to all this "human nonsense" and since I wasn't running on Dalish rage... I felt a little adrift... but, he's finding things to care about. 

 

@Mikoto8472:  I'd love to hear about your playthrough.  I recommend you make a thread like this! 

 

@Qun00:  Man, you're gonna be so pissed when ME: A comes out - and if not that, then DA:4.  Because I'm really enjoying myself and I'm going to log ALL my playthroughs in those games this way.  You'll be able to appeal to your sense of mediocrity quite a bit then. 

[Vit246]

especially because you don't resort to the holier-than-thou, you Humans are all racist so we can be mean attitude that the Dalish fandom typically adopts.

 

 

*Artemis is okay about all races and isn't prejustice against any. Hates the Dalish for being prejustice against humans for no reason

 

 

*Sigh*

Fvcking hell, I don't want to start something and I'd rather just watch the OP do their thing, but are you people so incapable of seeing things from the Dalish POV that you think the Dalish have absolutely no reason at all to act the way they do about humans? They're never justified? There's never humans out there who have no problem hurting them because they're racist scum?

OP, all I ask is you don't go overboard with anything related to "My Species Doth Protest Too Much" or the "Defector from Decadence" or whatever.

[Degenerate Rakia Time]

i played a Dalish once, first thing i did was kill the Dalish

[Voidinist]

 

 

 

*Sigh*

Fvcking hell, I don't want to start something and I'd rather just watch the OP do their thing, but are you people so incapable of seeing things from the Dalish POV that you think the Dalish have absolutely no reason at all to act the way they do about humans? They're never justified? There's never humans out there who have no problem hurting them because they're racist scum?

OP, all I ask is you don't go overboard with anything related to "My Species Doth Protest Too Much" or the "Defector from Decadence" or whatever.

 

 

I doubt any of us think they're absolutely never justified, but the Dalish literally believe that an entire race is a plague against their special snowflake immortality. Not even the big bad humans have anything like this in their core belief system.

 

on topic, keep going, OP. I think it's refreshing and interesting.

[Heimdall]

I also played a Dalish warrior 

 

Keep Going!

[Heimdall]

 

 

 

*Sigh*

Fvcking hell, I don't want to start something and I'd rather just watch the OP do their thing, but are you people so incapable of seeing things from the Dalish POV that you think the Dalish have absolutely no reason at all to act the way they do about humans? They're never justified? There's never humans out there who have no problem hurting them because they're racist scum?

OP, all I ask is you don't go overboard with anything related to "My Species Doth Protest Too Much" or the "Defector from Decadence" or whatever.

 

Being able to see thing from the dalish perspective doesn't mean you can't have a problem with it.

[Medhia_Nox]

 

 

 

*Sigh*

Fvcking hell, I don't want to start something and I'd rather just watch the OP do their thing, but are you people so incapable of seeing things from the Dalish POV that you think the Dalish have absolutely no reason at all to act the way they do about humans? They're never justified? There's never humans out there who have no problem hurting them because they're racist scum?

OP, all I ask is you don't go overboard with anything related to "My Species Doth Protest Too Much" or the "Defector from Decadence" or whatever.

 

 

I'd like to see if you think I do this at all. 

 

Do you think I've been anti-Dalish so far? 

[SandiKay0]

I am truly enjoying your perpective, please continue.

[Medhia_Nox]

Dorian Pavus:  We entered the Redcliff chantry expecting a trap.  What we found was Dorian Pavus.  He seemed cavalier about fending off several demons at once and delighted to see us.  Perhaps he's a bit deranged, or maybe it's a Tevinter thing to deal with demons as if they are little more than a nuisance.  Whatever the case, he did finally appeal to us for aid.  I hadn't realized I was standing there simply watching him.  Solas prevented further demons from entering through the rift.  Vivienne, Sera and I assisted Dorian in dispatching those that slipped past Solas.  

 

I've been asked what closing a rift was like several times now.  It's like reaching out beyond yourself into a kind of cobweb.  A sticky ichor that almost seems to hum when you pluck at the various strands.  It isn't really humming.  More like just vibrating in my ears and teach.  I pull at it, plucking each strand until I find the one that unravels it, and then unravel the entire thing until the portal snaps shut.  

 

When silence descended on the room, it was Dorian that spoke first.  I got the impression then and there that he was the type to always speak first.  Every sentence had a flourish.  He was like the Orlesians I had met, but with a deeper authority.  The Olesians were peacocks strutting and putting on airs.  I got the impression that Dorian had more of a reptilian quality about him.  A serpent lazily basking in the sun.  It's glittering scales portraying a beauty that belies the danger you're in. 

 

I needed answers and I didn't have time for pleasantries or for Dorian's vanity.  He explained everything, and I was a bit taken aback by his forthright nature.  Soon Felix also showed, and explained his ruse and why he was siding against his father.  It wasn't long before I felt out of my element again.  All the indignation of moments earlier, how assured I was that these Tevinter scum would pay, and here I was meeting two of those scum who were prepared to undermine Alexius.  It did not slip past me that for Felix, this was his father and for Dorian, his mentor.  

 

But what was I supposed to do about time magic?  Dorian said he knew everything about it, but I knew nothing about Dorian.  Could this all still be an elaborate trap?  I felt really stupid again, and increasingly aggravated.  Why weren't Cassandra, Cullen, Leliana and Josephine dealing with these problems?  Talking to these people?  

 

I knew I was less pleasant than I intended to be as we left.  We headed back to Haven to report what we had discovered about the rebel mages. 

 

Blackwall:  We had sent scouts out to what the Ferelden's called the Storm Coast to set up a forward camp.  In the meantime I headed back to the Hinterlands to look into reports of this Grey Warden.

 

We found Blackwall near a lakeside.  He was training some farmers in how to hold a sword and shield.  Were these warden conscripts?  I held the group back for a moment to observe.  Wardens were famous even among the Dalish.  Every clan had a warden story.  My father told me of one from clan Ghilain.  My mother mentioned that clan Lavellan had had several.  They were warriors beyond compare.  So, I took a moment to observe his technique and perhaps glean a bit from it.

 

He had skill, there was no question, but I didn't see any technique that I could not produce.  No flourish of the blade that I could not copy.  Truth be told, I found him a little rigid in his manner.  But, he was only teaching these farmers the very basics. 

 

When we approached he turned ready to attack.  Were wardens always this skittish?  I declared our intentions for coming, but before we could continue further the reason for his guarded nature became clear.  Bandits attacked us.  Blackwall rallied his recruits and we joined the battle.  I was impressed that he had emboldened a trio of farmers to defend themselves.  Perhaps that was the talent of a Grey Warden - to make men better than they otherwise would be. 

 

After the fight, I asked him about his compatriots. Where had they gone?  Why had he not gone with them?  But his answers were fruitless and it seemed this was a dead end. He seemed eager to join us. A point which made me curious, but there was no blight.  Did wardens find other work to occupy their time when blights had ended?  I'd have to ask Leliana. 

 

A runner informed us that Scout Harding had found a spot for camp in the Storm Coast. So we set off to the coast. 

[Medhia_Nox]

The Storm Coast:  This was what I needed!  The briny sea air, the earthy smell of the coastal pines and the rain on my face.  There was not a village for miles up and down the coast and ahead was open ocean.  The Waking Sea was rough as it lapped against the shore and the geometric outcroppings of stone.  The land was, by and large, wilderness but for a few derelict buildings throughout.  I had to admire one thing about humans.  Their determination would see them put dwellings up in the most inhospitable terrain.  There was no place to grow food here.  Game was plentiful, sure. But there were no lakes for potable water and you weren't going to get ground water on the rocky mountainsides that composed the majority of the coast.  

 

And no people.  Yes, I had come to be fascinated by the larger Thedas beyond my clan, but the constant scheming had grown too much.  I longed for the soft, wet grass beneath my feet - air not spoiled by industry and waste - the noise only of the gulls and the rhythmic drawn out tamping of the ocean waves against the rocky beaches.  I needed some time to recharge.

 

Vivienne didn't appreciate it, and she was in a foul mood when her, Varric, Blackwall and I headed out. She was nasty to both of them.  Her ill mood did not endear me to her.  She thought them both idiots.  What did she think of me?  The Dalish from the far flung clan who accidentally stepped into position? Whatever she thought, I'd only hear what advantage we could turn this to.  Her snobbery was beginning to wear on me.  

 

We continued our search for information about wardens, and Blackwall had said that some important warden relics were also out here and he would like to find them.  We set out doing both when we came upon the Blades of Hessarion. 

 

The Blades of Hessarion:  Humans fight in pretty regimented groups that are easy to dispatch once you break them apart.  It's likely due to the training of massive amounts of soldiers and the need to do so quickly an efficiently.  Any one soldier is inferior, but in a group they're dangerous. Fortunately for me, I'm quick on my feet and dance around their heavily shielded front line and dispatch their archers before those heavy soldiers have a chance to respond. Then, it's a matter of positioning them where my allies can dispatch them quickly.  

 

I'm told they're named after the blade that killed Andraste.  Was that supposed to be intimidating?  I'm told they actually serve Andraste and are a religious order.  I, well, I don't get it.  I'll have to read up on the texts to see if it makes any more sense.  I'll have to introduce myself as the Blade of Elgar'nan... that ought to frighten exactly nobody, since I'm sure there's precious few humans who know anything about elven religion.  But, I'll educate them in between their perplexed stares.  

 

Blackwall suggested I challenge their leader.  It makes sense.  I'm supposed to be a Herald of Andraste... and these are supposed to be the sword of Andraste... so, sure, I get why it makes sense.  We'll have to hunt down some materials to make this amulet.  I don't get why I can't just go kill him and say:  "I'm your leader now."  But, if they need me to wear a medal, I'll wear a medal.  

 

The Iron Bull:  Where humans tended to fight in tightly knit groups, the company that fought under the Iron Bull was something more familiar.  Each one was a specialist in his own right and they carved their way through Tevinter soldiers with delight.  I joined the battle specifically because I still had the foul taste of my meeting with Alexius in my mouth.  If I was going to be forced to fight Tevinter to free the mages, then I decided I had best use this moment to learn a few of their techniques.  

 

Iron Bull himself was a massive Qunari.  I had seen some before, and none of them were quite so broad.  I was no impressed that he seemed to relish the slaughter.  He killed men with careless ease.  I wasn't squeamish.  When I had to kill a man, I did it - but I tried to do it quickly and without enjoying it.  That last part was no always successful.  But this Iron Bull had no such reservations.  

 

After dispatching the group he sent his men to slit throats and open casks.  In truth, it was the party among the dead that bothered me more.  Where I would have slit throats so men didn't suffer further, he did it so there were none to slink back to Tevinter.  I had to admit it amounted to the same thing in the end.  But drink and revelry among corpses?  I became less and less sure of this. 

 

And then he goes and tells me he's part of some group called the Ben Hassrath and that Ben Hassrath are spies and that he would only spy on the Inquisition a little and then tell us what the Ben Hassrath knew.  I just shook my head and told him that I'd feed him to Leliana and Cassandra if he did wrong by us.  I would have been less self-assured about bringing the Iron Bull into the Inquisition if I hadn't, only a mile back, taken down a giant.  Even at the moment, Bull looked small.  His men fought well, and I could already think of several uses for them.  What did that mean?  Maybe I was getting used to this Inquisition stuff.  If my "advisors" were going to send me around Thedas making uneducated decisions on behalf of our organization - I was at least not going to waver any longer over whether those decisions were the best to be made.  I made it.  End of story. 

 

If it came to it - I'd slit his throat personally.  

[SoSolaris]

I was about to roll my eyes after reading the first sentence of this thread because I assumed this was going to be like so many others' special snowflake Lavellans who aren't like those "other" Dalish, and conveniently never truly believed in the Creators anyway.

But I appreciate how your Lavellan hasn't actually turned out to be just another tired trope and is quite a nuanced character, and I like your writing approach in these posts.

[Vit246]

I was about to roll my eyes after reading the first sentence of this thread because I assumed this was going to be like so many others' special snowflake Lavellans who aren't like those "other" Dalish, and conveniently never truly believed in the Creators anyway.

But I appreciate how your Lavellan hasn't actually turned out to be just another tired trope and is quite a nuanced character, and I like your writing approach in these posts.

this this this

These special snowflake Lavellans tend to annoy me so bloody much.

[Medhia_Nox]

*excerpt from the minutes kept at the war table* 

 

"You dragged me here, quite literally, in chains.  I barely protested.  My execution was one misstep away, and I played your little games.  I bent to the will of your Chantry, I tolerated the accusations of Chancellor Roderick. Then, you throw me at a giant glowing tear in the sky.  I accepted, but as much because I cared about closing it as the fact that I knew I had no other choice. You would feed me to it, if i did not go willing.  

 

And, I closed it.  Not only did I close it, but then you both *let the records show that the Herald points to Cassandra and Leliana* find out that I was in this mess because I tried to help your Divine while we were at the Conclave. 

 

Then you have me traipsing around the countryside.  Me, a Dalish elf, winning the good will of the people all to boost your reputations and your power base.  Forget that I actually care for a moment.  Forget that I even committed myself to moments that won us little support of much use.  I didn't do it for good will.  I didn't do it so you could impress another Orlesian noble.  I did it, because these people are as much a victim of your power struggles as any Dalish has ever been. 

 

You people play with names, and power, and position like toys.  But, holding up all these things are people.  People who's hands are worn by the earth, who's backs are bent with toil, people who's skin is burnt by the sun.  People who fear the swords held by those in power.  And that's all this is to you three.  *let it be known the Herald motions to Leliana, Josephine and Cullen.*

 

I've been accused of gathering power beyond our station.  I've been accused of undermining established authorities so that a few outcasts can gain position.  I swear, if I find out that is true, this Inquisition will continue without its "Herald". 

 

I've met elves scratching out a living alongside human peasants faring no better.  I've met mages dragged into a war they had no say in.  Templars who, in their naivety, believe their leaders have their best interests at heart.  Dwarves, who, I am told are abandoned by their kin because they had the courage to walk on the surface.  

 

And then, there are the Tranquil.

 

You want to know why I made the decision I did.  I made it because the Templars made the Tranquil out of fear... the mages ignored them out of fear, protesting only to save their own skins... and this Magister killed them to sate his curiosity.  I made it because the Tranquil are marginalized, ignored and sent to slaughter without a single care.  The Tranquil are victims who have been deprived of the faculties to even apply for help. 

 

So, the next time you three *let records show that the Herald means Leliana, Josephine and Cullen* want to question why the Dalish elf you sent out into the world as your puppet... made a decision you didn't like... you can damn well crawl out from behind this table and go DO something.  Because all I see you three do, day in and day out, is nip at each other like wolf pups trying to establish dominance.  

 

Someone had to make a damn decision... and, I did.

 

*end minutes*

[Medhia_Nox]

Champions of the Just:

 

My stint in the wilderness seemed too brief.  Before long I was back among the Orlesian nobles and headed to Therinfal Redoubt to speak with the Lord Seeker.  Leliana had protested when we finally came to decide to seek out the Templars for aid.  For my part, I felt it made more practical sense.  I was no mage, I could offer no insight into the workings of time magic, or mage plights or the dangers of not having mages watched.  Yes, it's true, in my clan we allow our mages to study freely, but we Dalish also no do have a lot of mages in our number.  I secretly wondered if what happened to Minaeve often happened to a lot of Dalish young who were mages.  I didn't know anything about it, and resigned myself to simply hoping that my clan was different.

 

Cullen used to be a Templar, Cassandra used to be a Seeker... and I knew the ways of combat and military far better than how to deal with possession and the powers people like Solas wielded.

 

And so, we headed to Therinfal Redoubt with a cadre of Orlesian nobles to demand an audience with the Lord Seeker.  We all knew that, if it came down to it, Lucius would have to be removed if he wasn't going to willingly give up his templars.  I hoped it wouldn't come to that.  I knew I was going to be the one that was going to have to do it.  

 

I decided to take Solas with me.  I'm not sure why.  He was an elf, like me, so that wasn't going to win any points and an apostate mage and that would only grate on the Templars nerves.  Perhaps, again, for the distraction he was to them.  If it came to fighting, putting them down why they tried to break past me and get to my mage allies would make the fight easier.  It wasn't the noblest intent, but after speaking with Solas about it I felt better. 

 

I took Vivienne as a representative of loyal mages who had not forgotten their duties.  I didn't care much about the politics of it, but it was a chance to potentially shame the Lord Seeker.  If there were mages that had not broken with the Chantry, then surely the Templars had had no right to forget their duties.  And, again, she was a distraction.  But, more than that... I thought maybe, once this madness was over... she could play an important part in bringing peace to the land by having a hand in decided what to do with the Templars. 

 

Last, was Varric.  Out of everyone, I think I understood him best.  Sure, he was a larcenous businessman by his own accounts with a penchant for tawdry fiction.  But, he cared about people and, like me, he wasn't tied too deeply in the politics of what was going on. 

 

Upon arrival we met a Ser Barris.  He had been at Val Royeaux and had questioned the Lord Seeker's condemnation.  I knew he was who we had to work with to win over the templars.  Ser Barris brought us into the courtyard where he requested I participate in some strange ritual of flags.  He asked me to hoist them in according to importance.  One represented "The People", one "Andraste" and the last was "The Templars".

 

The people I hoisted the highest, what purpose was I here for if not them?  As for the other two, I simply didn't care much.  I chose the Andraste flag as a representative of my own gods.  Would I put Elgar'nan or Falon'din over our clan's hunters?  I hadn't given it any thought really.  We don't have these kinds of tests back home.  But, the hunters served the people and the people served the gods.  So, I chose the Templars last.  Perhaps someone smarter than me would have pointed out flaws in my logic, but nobody smarter than me was asked to do the ritual.  So here we were. 

 

I knew we were in trouble the minute the Lord Seeker had sent a proxy.  We didn't even get far before the templars had played their hand.  I admit, I was thankful for it.  Long hours of brokered peace listening to the Orlesian lord's doublespeak and the templars preaching their dogma would have driven me mad.  But the sword, I knew.  The Lord Seeker's proxy slew the Orlesian noble and the templars which had not yet succumb to the ingesting of the new red lyrium.  Ser Barris fought with us and we quickly dispatched the room.  The din of battle rang heavy beyond the door. 

 

Red lyrium.  Varric had told me stories about it.  I had seen it growing in strange formations at the sight of the Conclave explosion and in various areas throughout Ferelden.  Aside from standing in the strange red illumination the stuff gave off, I didn't feel much from it.  Varric had said it had taken years for it to corrupt the people in Kirkwall.  

 

We fought our way through the castle until we reached the steps that led up to the keep.  There, stood the Lord Seeker himself.  I ascended the steps ready to strike and put an end to this debacle.  He threw himself forward and grabbed my pauldrons.  The world around me suddenly kaliedoscoped and shifted... and stopped. 

[Medhia_Nox]

Was this the fade again?  It seemed different.  Smaller somehow, and more comfortable.  More familiar.  

 

I was in a dream?  Before me spread out the howling dead that had been frozen in flame at the Conclave. Green fires pooling in gaping mouths and hollowed eye sockets.  What was this? 

 

Leliana, Josephine and Cullen stand there.  Leliana's voice isn't her own.  She mocks and laughs and slits Cullens throat.  A demon?  When had I met a demon?  I was fighting the Lord Seeker.  

 

Cassandra surrounds me.  I watch as Inquisition soldier's hold swords to me.  She condemns me and I am in chains again.  Things are mismatched.  Out of place. It's not playing out correctly.  A voice speaks and mocks and prods.  Probing questions I try not to answer.  Painful taunts I try to ignore.  

 

I stumble through cells, I listen as the future - not mine - plays out before me.  Me, but not me, conquers the world.  Crushes it under the name of the Inquisition. I condemn, I scheme and I murder.  I become all the scheming Orlesians.  All the despot Tevinter.  Every black impulse that drives nation's to war.  

 

Until, I find the room.

 

Another voice intrudes.  It centers me.  Puts things in perspective.  The young human wears a wide brimmed hat which, had I been in some other predicament might actually have looked comical.  He claims he's here to help.  That this is not the Fade, but my mind and we were in a dream like state which I possessed all the power I needed to control.  This angers the first voice, which our helpful young man - who identifies himself as Cole - say is a good thing.  Cole says that it is an Envy demon.  That angering it helps to stretch it. And, if stretched too thin - it's power will snap. 

 

Cole shows me how to turn blue flame into water just by thinking.  Solas had mentioned once that mages changed their dreams, and the Fade, to their will.  I saw now why it was such a rush.  Is this what it was like.  Someone puts an obstacle in your way and you just think and the obstacle changes?  I'd have to ask if I escaped this place. 

 

I pushed forward.  The world was more lucid now.  I could make out the impractical images set out before me.  I illuminated strange jail sells with veilfire and dispelled their demonstrations.  The phantom Inquisition fled before the blue fire.  I pushed on at the protests of this Envy demon.  Broke through its barriers.  Dispelled its illusions.  Cole had gone, but my mind remained centered.  I could focus better now and it bothered me less, the phantoms set before me.  I ascended.  Cole said that ascending was tantamount to escaping. 

 

When I broke the bonds of Envy.  I shattered the world it made.  Time began anew.  I had forced the creature through the great doors of the keep.  It howled and protested and finally fled.  But the Templars were there to shatter the barriers.  After a fight with its forces, the barrier came down and my companions and I faced off against the beast itself.  It proved far less daunting a creature in the flesh.  

 

What was more disorienting was seeing Cole.  He was more than a fiction then?  He fought alongside us, but I do not think the others saw him.  

 

When the fight was done, I approached the Templars.  Those that remained had gathered to bare witness to the slaying of the Envy demon.  Ser Barris was at their head and committed them to our purpose for whatever end.  I told them that they had been wayward.  That they had lost their purpose and that because they had acted blindly and allowed their leadership to abuse that they could no longer stand as an order.  I told them that the Inquisition would be their purpose.  Had they not once been the Inquisition?  They would find their meaning again.  Assist in closing the Breach. 

 

After that, it was just another human problem.

 

When we returned to Haven.  I was requested to come to the war table for a council.  I didn't know how they would feel, but I made a decision.  I had to because nobody else would.  Is that what Bull had meant?  He'd said that's what a leader was.  All I knew was that while everyone was pursuing their own agendas the Breach remained.  Demons were crawling across the countryside, and everyone was in danger.  I had committed us to our action - for better or worse. 

[Medhia_Nox]

In Your Heart Shall Burn:  

 

The celebration did not last long.  We had closed the Breach.  Solas had guided the templars to channel their powers through me.  The sensation was, extraordinary. I was beyond myself, plucking at the heartstrings of creation.  The great yawning vortex yielded with a thundering boom and the sky roiled with threatening clouds, but otherwise remained steady and silent.  

 

We had taken a reprieve and spent time congratulating ourselves.  Food was served up in heaping platefuls - tankards were passed about - and song rebounded through Haven.  I watched Minaeve and a few others dancing.  Their euphoria was almost infectious.  They had spent weeks working to bring down the gaping hole in the sky.  Each one had sacrificed in their own way.  Elves and mages and Chantry-folk had all found unity in hardship.  

 

Cassandra congratulated me, but she was the one who had brought us together. She had gathered us from desperate paths and unified us to our purpose.  I admired her humility.  It would have been so easy for her to turn the Inquisition to her own ends.  Who would have stopped her really?  Leliana maybe, but it's Leliana that I'm more reserved about.  The woman has seen things, and whatever those things are have made her cold.  

 

Varric asked what I'd be doing now that I'd saved the day.  I had to admit it felt a little heavy to have had that responsibility.  I hadn't even considered failure, but thinking of it now exhausted me in a way I'd never been.  I told him that I needed a rest which made him laugh.  Good man, Varric, he's a listener and sometimes I just need to let someone, anyone, know just how crazy all this has been for me. 

 

Weeks ago I was sent out into the world.  I wanted to see the great cities of men, visit their vast markets, stand among the throngs of people and take it all in.  I wanted to see great architecture and learn how to read and talk with great thinkers and learn from great generals and see great magic.

 

But the world is big.  Far bigger than I had ever imagined.  I was glad this was done.  I would return to my clan for a while.  I wouldn't stay, but I would enjoy the familiarity while I was there.  The stones were harder than I had imagined.  There were so many people, but never had I felt more alone.  Great men weren't good men - and while I had started getting to know Cassandra and Cullen and Solas - our relationships were still more work than friendship.  The buildings were tall, and everywhere, but they weren't the forest on a summer day.  

 

Cassandra started me out of my reverie.  We talked about the Inquisition - about a new purpose.  Would I return?  I didn't know.  Cassandra was the leader here.  Or, she should have been.  Maybe I'd come back to help - but, my story was done.

 

That was when torch fires appeared like starlight across the mountain range... 

[The Serge777]

Okay, so this is pretty cool.  Please continue.

[Medhia_Nox]

Cullen was the first to action.  He rallied the troops and set to preparing what defenses we had.  Haven was no fortress.  A few walls made of field stone, tiered landscape that could assist in giving the attackers an uphill fight, and the chantry itself - the only truly defensible building in the place.  Dancing dissolved into running, music into screams.  I watched around me as a moment of celebration became chaos.

 

And I was proud.  These people didn't panic.  When they ran, they ran to their posts.  When they screamed, they were screams of warning or calls to arms.  The chaos was ordered in its fashion.  A hive of ants working to defend its home.  Though a minute ago these men and woman were laughing and no doubt thinking of their own homes they had, in the span of a breath, moved to defend this place.  This home.  

 

I realized I would not go back to my clan after all. 

 

I met Cullen at the gates.  Josephine asked under what banners these men marched, but there were none to be had.  She seemed shocked at how uncivilized this was.  It was not something she could solve with words.  We sent to her to the chantry and turned to defenses.  Something pounded at the door, but we knew the enemy was still some distance.  A familiar voice called to us from the other side of the gate.

 

Once again I found myself surprised at the Tevinter mage who, instead of demons, now stood among a collection of fallen enemy soldiers.  He could not wield a sword, and armor would have chaffed against skin more accustomed to silks, but Dorian could handle himself and was clearly masterful in his craft of magic.  We ushered him inside.  Though he had been victorious, he was clearly the worse for wear. 

 

That was when I met Corpyheus.  

 

Dorian told us of Corphyeus, the Elder One, and his second - Calpernia.  They stood there on the cliffside overlooking the soldiers marching toward us.  I could not see much, but this Elder One was tall - like a Qunari - but rail thin and broken in strange angles.  Beside him, this Calpernia woman looked entirely ordinary.  

 

It was Cullen that came up with the plan.  We knew that there was no way to defend the place, but we weren't going to simply roll over and give them a victory.  I fought my way toward the trebuchets that had, up until now, simply served as monuments in our camp.  What sieges would we have laid at the time?  Many had thought it silly and I had heard more than once a soldier question their purpose. Now, I quietly thanked June for their presence. 

 

The battle was hard fought, but we made it through.  They wore Tevinter armor and brandished Tevinter weapons.  Their soldiers were trained to fight in tandem with their mages.  I could not help but find myself taking notes as me moved through their ranks.  My allies held them off while I prepped the great siege engine.  A single shot might take out a few men, but it would never have been enough.  Instead, we had aimed for the mountainside and the snow that lay there waiting.

 

Mythal deliver us.

 

Time hung in the air as the bullet sailed toward the mountainside.  I found my thoughts moving faster than the situation.  All around me the din of battle as my companions finished off the last of the assailing Venatori.  Solas was shouting some warning to Varric.  I heard Vivienne deliver some quip even as she battled.  But for my part, I could not take my eyes off the mark.  As if I could will the bullet to some vulnerable place along the mountainside.  Had I been a mage, could I have pulled down the snow with my very will?  I felt suddenly so inadequate.

 

But then it started to fall.  Small sheets at first, and then a deluge of white powder roared down the mountain and into the ravines where the enemy soldier marched.  The torchlight extinguished and I heard horns blaring in the distance.  My heart leapt into my throat.  Even as I knew lives were being snuffed out in the valley below, I felt alive.  I was saving my friends.  I was defending my home.  

 

I turned to cheer.  To share my exultation with my companions.

 

The world erupted in dragon fire.