Evelyn Trevalyan felt like she hadn't done much living when she faced the end. Her magic had shown itself fairly early, at the age of seven, and the next thirteen years had been spent in a gilded cage. The Ostwick Circle of Magi was more lenient than others, more relaxed and focused on learning, but still Evelyn had reached the age of twenty with very little to show for how her years had been spent. She was an accomplished mage, to be sure, but her studies were the only notches in her belt, the only experiences she had ever had. Her delicate white hands had only ever known the work of academia, her fingertips and palms only suffering from paper cuts. She had the hands of a scholar. That may have still been the case even if her magic hadn't shown itself. She was from a noble family, after all, she may not have ever had to toil in her life even without magic. At least out there, though, she would have had a choice one way or another. Now she would never know what may have been.
Yet a year ago everything had changed. Kirkwall had happened. The mages rebelled. She had a chance to do something; but she had known no other life, longed for no other home but the Circle. The chance to take some control over her fate had appeared. But she had hesitated, frozen by the fear of the unknown, unwilling to risk her safety for the chance at freedom. The Ostwick Circle remained neutral, and was able to stay out of most of the violence. But their neutrality had further secluded them, increasing her gilded cage's isolation. For the most part, she kept to her studies, pretending as though the world outside wasn't falling apart. Then the summons came; the Conclave, a last chance at peace between the mages and Templars before their war threw Thedas into further chaos.
She had hardly paid attention to what was going on around her, sheltered as she was, and suddenly she was thrown into the middle of it all. The First Enchanter ordered her to go with their small delegation. The command had been a gentle if not firm push to get out into the world from an older woman who had also only ever known life within the Circle. It was an opportunity to travel, something Evelyn hadn't done since she was taken to the Circle as a girl. It was an opportunity to make a difference, to see history happen, and maybe help direct its course. The course of all mages, of all Thedas. Evelyn had been faced with the unknown, terrified and unsure of herself, but she had heeded her mentor's insistent encouragement to go. The First Enchanter confided in her her before she left that she didn't want her to end up as she had; a caged bird, never knowing life beyond the bars of the Circle.
But now there was just darkness. Evelyn's short life had ended with a bang, quite literally. She could remember the deafening roar of the explosion, but not what preceded it. Now there was only darkness. She must have been unconscious, waiting to enter the Fade. Maybe she would see Bron again…They said the ones you loved and lost would greet you when you crossed into the Fade for the last time. Little Bron would be there to greet her. Although vaguely she wondered if he would still be little. It had been years since she had seen him. Her musings were interrupted by a voice, and rasping, gurgling sounds near her. She felt her brows flinch, trying to frown. Was that Bron who greeted her? Or was it her mother…
The voice called out to her again, more urgently this time. It was female, so it couldn't be Bron. Perhaps it was her mother, after all, though she hadn't expected her. Slowly she opened her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering as she struggled to look around her surroundings. It was definitely the Fade, but it wasn't any part of it she had ever seen before. It was dark and she could hardly see except for the green mist which surrounded her. The sounds near her grew louder, and she looked behind her.
A strangled cry escaped her lips as she turned and began to run. The gurgling and rasping noises were caused by corpses, rotting, decaying flesh falling off of them as they eagerly struggled toward her. She was going to be surrounded soon. The voice called out to her again and she looked up to see a woman far above her, lit as though from within, as though she were just light in the form of a woman. She was reaching out a hand to her. Desperate, confused, Evelyn threw herself into a sprint toward the woman and away from the corpses. Up the sloping ground before her, her lungs searing as she tried to reach the outstretched hand...
Her lungs were searing? She stumbled as she was momentarily made aware of how corporeal she felt. She had never felt this physical, this real in the Fade before. And yet she knew she was in the Fade. So how were her lungs searing? She reached the woman. She stretched her arm out, and suddenly the palm of her left hand exploded in agonizing sensation as a green light blinded her. She cried out in pained surprise and sank to her knees, her vision slowly returning as she looked frantically about herself.
No longer the Fade, it couldn't be…She saw soldiers running to her, no longer surrounded by living corpses. Instead she knelt amidst smoldering wreckage, ruins, fire, and charred, unmoving corpses. The soldiers were approaching cautiously, awesome terror evident in their eyes. Her vision began to blur, and one last thought of how? crossed her mind before darkness engulfed her once more.