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Chapter Seven: Arthuria Hawke, The Champion of Kirkwall

Only a select few of us were going to the ritual site- most everyone else would be sent forward towards Gryphon Wing Keep in order to take it from the Venatori. Aside from myself and Morgana, Varric, Warden Blackwall and Dorian would be accompanying The Inquisitor.

Trudging through the sand, all of us were mounted on Dracolisks, except for Varric, who was atop a Battle Nug.

"So I have to ask, Hero, where are Alistair and the rest of the Fereldan Senior Wardens?" Varric inquired.

"No where easily reached, even by messenger bird," Morgana replied evenly, though there was a slight frown on her face.

"Something wrong?" I ask in concern.

Morgana sighed. "Times like this, I wish Anders had never left The Vigil. I know they can take care of themselves, but I'd feel alot better if they had a dedicated healer with them. Velanna is only marginally better at that, than I am."

"He was a healer?" Dorian asked in shock.

"One of the best I've ever known. The only one better was Wynne, but she had decades of experience on him," Morgana informed him.

"If not for all the times he saved our asses, I'd wish he'd stayed in Amaranthine as well," Varric grumbled.

I remained silent.

Only the two of us were really all that cordial with Anders towards the end. The more influence Justice gained, the more surly he'd gotten. Just him being in the same room with Fenris was a recipe for disaster and even Merrill and Isabella had gotten pretty fed up with him. As the days passed, even Varric had begun to tire of him. Especially when Orsino and Meredith began to have their near daily shouting matches in Hightown.

I did my best to mediate between the two of them, but if I did a favor for one, the other would barely speak to me. Meanwhile, I was all but officially doing the job as the Viscount due to the fact that Meredith refused to let a new one be appointed after the death of Marlowe Dumar. I tried to get Bethany, Cullen and Elthina to intercede on my behalf, but Cullen wouldn't show any sort of initiative, despite it being desperately needed, and Elthina did what the Chantry had always done best: Do nothing and let Templars sort it out (which was the root of many of the problems in Kirkwall). Bethany, at least, could get me in to see Orsino so that I could appeal to him directly, but there was only so much he could do and even less that he was willing to concede on. It probably helped that despite doing my best to remain neutral between the Templars and mages, two of my friends were well known apostates.

"What exactly do you have them doing, if you don't mind my asking?" Varric inquired.

"I have them looking into something that may or may not help with curing the Blight... Or rather, curing The Calling," Morgana answered.

"Is such a thing possible?" Blackwall asked.

"As a matter of fact, it is," Morgana replied. "Almost forty years ago a Warden managed it."

"Truly?" Dorian inquired. "That would come in handy against Corypheus."

"Not really. They're mostly chasing down rumors and wild speculations. I'd have liked to have been able to get some input from the former Warden in question, but she died at Haven," Morgana replied.

Warden Blackwall shook his head. "A lot of good people were lost at Haven."

"Yeah, but she was one of the attackers, confirmed to have been killed by Inquisitor Adaar," Morgana informed us.

"One of the Rebel Mages then," Dorian stated. "A high ranking one I'd imagine, if they were notable enough to have been killed personally by the Inquisitor."

Morgana nodded her head in confirmation. "Grand Enchanter Fiona. To the best of my knowledge, noone, not even Fiona herself, is quite sure how she managed to become cured of The Blight. It was ruled a freak accident by Weisshaupt and they shut down any research into replicating the feat."

"Why would they do that?" Blackwall asked with a frown on his face.

"Couldn't rightly tell you. Weisshaupt keeps their own council on a number of things. I do know that they forced Fiona to retake The Joining, but whatever happened to her to cleanse her of The Blight also made her completely immune to it- something that is unheard of as not even Grey Wardens are completely immune to The Taint," Morgana stated. "Afterwards, she didn't part with the Order on good terms. I had hoped that since she was said to have been an old friend of Warden-Commander Duncan's that she'd grant me an audience- seeing as how many consider me Duncan's protege. That's typically enough to get me in the door with most people around Fereldan- the ones who aren't already awed by me being the Hero of Fereldan at least, but she always refused to see me. I even offered to meet her at the College of Enchanters in Cumberland, to give her home advantage. Being the foremost expert on The Blight in all of Thedas, I had hoped that I might catch something in her travels with Duncan and King Maric that she and the other Wardens might have overlooked. Fortunately, according to old Warden writings we found at Soldier's Peak, Fiona might not have been the first, but we can't be sure."

"You seem rather desperate to rid yourself of The Calling," The Inquisitor observed.

Morgana sighed. "Fereldan has no current heir to the Kingdom and Nora is disinclined to remarry or even take on a lover. The strongest candidates to take the throne in the event of something happening to her are Teyrn Fergus Cousland, who'd have my backing and is the son of the late Bryce Cousland- who was nearly crowned King of Fereldan himself, after King Maric was pronounced dead, and Arl Teagan Guerrin, who is considered a Hero of the Fifth Blight and is a maternal uncle to the late King Cailan. He's also my chief political rival. I don't want him crowned King and he wouldn't want someone who I'd have influence with to be crowned, so the chance for civil unrest, if not a another full blown Civil War, is very real in Fereldan's near future."

"Wasn't Teagan an ally of yours during The Blight?" Dorian asked.

"Until I betrayed his brother at the Landsmeet before the Battles of Redcliffe and Denerim," Morgana replied. "After the Battle of Ostagar, it was because of Teagan's suspicions over Cailan's fate and those of the Grey Wardens, that the Civil War during The Blight started and Loghain and Howe became too busy to truly dedicate themselves to making sure all of the Fereldan Grey Wardens were killed in the battle's aftermath. This allowed us to move about more freely than we otherwise would have been able to. When we showed up at Redcliffe, Alistair and I rallied the townspeople and joined to militia in repelling the undead horde that had been plaguing them at the behest of a Desire Demon. From there, Teagan and I had the start of a bond of mutual respect forged in blood and battle. Unfortunately, that bond was tested almost from the start."

Morgana took a pull from her canteen before continuing her tale of things that had been left out of the the varioius tales about her adventures during the Fifth Blight. Apparently, Sister Nightingale's tales of Morgana's exploits were about as selective on details as Varric's accounts of our adventures were. "While we managed to save Arl Eamon's son, Connor, we did so by sacrificing Arlessa Isolde's life in a Blood Magic ritual. After finding the Urn of Sacred Ashes and using them to restore Eamon, Eamon still proceeded to hand Jowan over the the Circle of Magi to undergo the Rite of Tranquility, inspite of me involking the Rite of Conscription. On top of that, Eamon tried to shoehorn Alistair into becoming King of Fereldan so he could attempt to usurp Anora and use him as a puppet, despite Alistair's wishes on the matter. Unbeknownst to Eamon, the ONLY reason I went out of my way to help him is because of Alistair's loyalty to the man and not because I needed an ally against Loghain."

She frowned at this point while shaking her head, making it very clear to us just how much she seemed to dislike Eamon, the former Arl of Redcliffe. "Personally, I would have been fine dealing with the Bann of Rainsfaire acting as the Regent of Redcliffe, but both Teagan and Alistair insisted that we should help the Arl. Between how Eamon had treated Alistair as a child and what he'd done to Jowan... I didn't consider him to be anything more than an ally of convenience, so before the Landsmeet, I brokered a deal with Anora. She got to remain Queen, I'd lead the Armies against the Darkspawn Horde, Alistair would remain a Grey Warden, her father would die if he refused to step down as Regent and Eamon would be sidelined and rendered irrelevant. Needless to say, Anora and I were able to topple both Loghain and Eamon simultaneously, which wasn't all that difficult, given the debts of gratitude owed to me by several noble families. Debts Eamon had been hoping to take advantage of by his association with me. He'd really been pushing for Alistair to become King, so when it was shown that I supported Anora for the crown, and that Alistair supported me, not even protesting the idea of swearing fealty to Anora and very willingly relinquishing all rights to the Kingship of Fereldan, Eamon lost a lot of influence- especially after it became known that he no longer had an heir. His loss of influence became complete when Anora made me her Chancellor as well as the Arlessa of Amaranthine, something that the other nobles might have protested against if not for the fact I'd just slain the Archdemon and that I was very obviously in a relationship with Alistair Theirin. So, despite the fact that he'd relinquished all claim to his heritage for both him and his heirs, there is still a chance the Theirin line- the Lineage of King Callanhad- would still continue through me."

Dorian whistled in awe. "I have to admit I find myself both impressed and very glad you were born a southerner. Had you been born in the Imperium, you'd probably be Archon have the Magisterium eating out of the palm of your hands."

Morgana sighed. "Unfortunately, it's extremely rare for Grey Wardens to have children and since both of us have undergone the Joining..."

"The chances of you and Alistair having children is next to impossible," I finish for her. "That's why you're looking to end The Calling- to produce an heir to the Throne of Fereldan and prevent a potential Civil War."

"That isn't the only reason, or even the primary one, but I would be lying if I said it didn't factor in to my decision to look for ways of curing The Blight so I can actually give birth," Morgana chuckled humorlessly. "You know, there was a time when the thought of becoming a mother was abhorrent to me. Children born to mages in the Circle are immediately seperated from their mothers. Those shown to have magical talent are sent to other Circles. Those that don't are raised by the Chantry to become Templars. For those reasons, pregnancies within the Circle are rare. When Alistair first told me how difficult it was for Wardens to have children, I was relieved. Later, as we grew closer, I had no reservations being with him because becoming pregnant was something I wouldn't have to worry about. I was fully capable of giving everything of myself to the man I loved without having to worry about what would happen to any potential children we might have. That first night out of Lothering when he informed me of the low Warden fertility rate, I didn't give it so much as a second thought as I had no plans to ever become a mother. I was vehemently against the idea. It wasn't until I returned to court after the Siege of Amaranthine that I began to contemplate what it would be like to actually have a child. It was Habren Bryland, of all people, who put the thought in my head."

"To be honest, motherhood wasn't something I ever stopped to contemplate either," I admit. "There was always too much to do in Kirkwall to give the matter any serious thought. Anders and I would occasionally bring it up in a joking way- he'd also warned me early on that children weren't likely to happen, but we'd always laugh it off, make the obligatory joke about enjoying the practice of making them. It wasn't until after the Mage Uprising that I wished we'd taken the matter more seriously."

Varric scowled. "Considering you went on the run after that, it was probably for the best that you and Blondie didn't have any kids."

"Maybe," I reluctantly agreed, though I still felt plenty conflicted on the matter. I couldn't hide my bitterness over the whole matter, nor did I want to. Despite his actions, I still loved Anders and nothing was going to change that. "But I'd have liked to have something more than a knife stained in his blood to remember him by."

An awkward silence fell over our little retinue after my bitter admission. I couldn't help but be jealous of my cousin. She was a declared hero of an entire nation. I was the champion of a single city. She had, for the most part, suceeded in everything she'd ever done. I was nearly a picture perfect example of a complete failure. Her travelling companions, even after years apart, were like siblings. Mine could barely stand each other. She'd gotten all of her people through the Blight alive. The small company I led fleeing Ostagar had met a gruesome end, except for Carver and I. My Brother had been killed as we fled Lothering. My mother was killed by the blood mage I'd been tracking down for years and Anders... The love of my life had died at my own hand, while Morgana was not only deliriously happy with her paramour of choice, he was off on an adventure of his own, with the hopes that the possible reward at the end of the journey was for them to gain the ability to start a family of their own.

I killed the previous Arishok. The current one considers her a close personal friend. She killed an Archdemon, while I failed to kill Corypheus. The two of us had contributed to the situation that gave rise to the Elder One and his Venatori- not to mention the start of the Mage/Templar War. But those situations happened in spite of Morgana's actions and because of many of my own.

Whatever people thought of me- many people across Thedas hated Anders and rightfully so. Varric was especially critical of him whenever he came up in conversation. It was like a stab to the heart everytime I heard someone badmouthing him- especially when it was my friends doing the badmouthing. Even after all the time that had passed, I still loved him and missed him dearly. As horrified as I had been that he had tricked me into helping him blow up the Kirkwall Chantry, a small part of me believed that if he had told me the truth of what he planned, I might have helped him anyway. Despite the fact that he was likely to go down in history as one of the greatest monsters in the history of Thedas, I still wished I had more than the knife I murdered him with to remember him by.

Morgana and I shared a look.

Of everyone I knew, the only ones who didn't ever talk bad about Anders were Bethany and Morgana. Most of my friends avoided talking about him all together, though Isabella and Aveline were always willing to offer what comfort they could. After Varric, they were my closest friends and confidants. The Rivani pirate was a better person than she gave herself credit for. Fenris' hatred towards all mages- the sole exception being Bethany- meant that he would rather sell himself back into slavery than say anything positive about my long dead lover. Even Sebastian, whose perpetual bright and sunny disposition sometimes got on my nerves, couldn't help but disparage Anders every chance he got. It was like they'd all forgotten the good times we had all had together. What always hurt the most, however, was the fact that Varric, my best friend, had taken to occasionally cutting Anders out of the stories of our adventures, as if trying to forget that he even existed. Bethany, at least, was willing to reminisce with me about the good times we'd shared with Anders before she went to the Circle and even let me talk about the moments I fondly remembered after she had submitted herself to the Chantry's oversight.

Morgana though, was different. She didn't judge Anders for what he did. One some level, I suspect she even agreed with what he'd done. At least the reasoning behind it, if not the action itself. She'd even shared anecdotes of her own about him- from their shared time together at the Circle in Fereldan or Vigil's Keep in the Arling of Amaranthine. Unlike my friends or even my sister, she too mourned his death. While the nature of her relationship with Anders was far different from mine, it was easy to tell that cousin Morgana still thought of him fondly, despite what had become of him.

"Did you ever get to hear his rants about the statues of Andraste?" Morgana asked with a small smile, directing the topic of Anders into a more positive light.

I actually had, and the memories of those rants caused me to snort. A quick look back at Varric and even he was lightly chuckling. This was something that was very uncharacteristic of him in reference to Anders in the aftermath of the Mage Uprising in Kirkwall.

Dorian turned to Blackwall. "And suddenly, I am all too desperate to know, while being far too afraid to ask."

"Blondie reasoned that since Andraste was a fisher girl born in Denerim who grew up in Highever that the various statues and stained glass windows with her likeness couldn't possibly look like her," Varric replied.

"He had a five minute speech about how she was probably ugly and how the Chantry prettied her up to draw in more followers," I stated smilingly.

"Honestly, I thought his reasoning was sound, though I did argue against Andraste having the face of a mabari, insisting that she was probably more plain than outright ugly," Morgana added. "The Andrastian Chantry is Orlesian in origin after all and if there is anything Orlesians hate more than anything else, it's the thought of anything of importance being plain."

Inquisitor Adaar, Dorian and Warden Blackwall each looked at the three of us in various degrees of incredulity, as if to ask if we were actually serious. The looks on their faces made Morgana, Varric and I laugh.

"You're having us on!" Blackwall shouted with good humor.

Morgana dabbed her eyes as her laughter died down. "We truly aren't. Anders, more than anyone I'd ever traveled with, before or after the Blight, had a knack for starting some of the most ridiculous conversations known to man. I remember one day walking into the Great Hall of The Vigil to find him and Oghren having a serious debate over the practicalities of replacing a hand with a prostetic weapon like a sword or a crossbow instead of a hook. The two of them used to drive Nate spare."

"I learned early on that he wasn't allowed to name anything that wasn't a cat," I inform them. "Anything he named would have some sort of ridiculously cute name. The stray I found in Darktown he named Serrah Meowser."

"The one I gave him at The Vigil he named Ser Pounce-a-Lot," Morgana added. "He had to leave the poor thing behind when he left Fereldan. Gave him to Nate's sister Delilah."

"It's strange to hear about Anders sounding so..." Blackwall said, while trying to find the proper words.

"Ordinary? Human?" Morgana offered.

"Yeah..." Blackwall replied. "When people talk about him, he seems larger than life. The Revolutionary... The Madman... It's hard to determine what is and isn't true."

"Just imagine what people will be saying about us in a few years if we actually manage to defeat Corypheus," Dorian commented.

Varric chuckled. "You all had better be nice to me, since I'll be the one determining alot of what will be said about you for years to come."

"Dwarven business practices... If it's not bribery, it's blackmail," Morgana commented.

"Milady Hero, you wound me!" Varric replied with false innocence.

"Bhelen Aeducan and Jerrik Dace both consider me friends," Morgana pointed out. "I know better than anyone how dwarves get things done both above and below the surface. The Merchants Guild isn't so different from the Noble Caste."

"Touche... And Ouch," Varric responded lightheartedly, before shaking his head. "That's probably because most of the Merchant's Guild families were once part of the Noble Caste before getting kicked out of Orzammar. Like I told Sparkler not too long ago, we all come to the surface with the skills our ancestors' gave us. Running things and counting money is what my ancestors were good at. Fixing provings... Not so much."

"Hhhmmm... That would do it," Morgana replied. "I don't think there is anything in Orzammar that dwarves take more seriously than a Proving."

"I always wanted to go to one, just to see what all the fuss was about," Dorian commented.

"You'll never see anything like them topside. The Grand Tourney comes close, but even that pales in comparison," Morgana responded. "Though I admit, I'm not exactly unbiased. Orzammar is probably my favorite place in all of Thedas to visit. I've even participated in a few Provings myself."

"I find that hard to believe," Dorian rebutted. "While in Tevinter we have a general distain for all things Orlesian, even in Minrathous, we regard the Grand Tourney very highly."

"It's had to put into words to someone who's never been to one, but Dwarven Provings have..." Morgana replied, trailing off as she searched for the right words. "An energy to them that topside competitions lack, despite the fact that Dwarves will hold provings for practically any reason they can get away with. Lord so and so's son is gaining his first command: Let's hold a Proving! House Whatitsname just killed a legion of darkspawn: Let's hold a Proving! This House used the same underhanded tactics we employed against them earlier this year..."

"Let's hold a Proving!" Dorian exclaimed in amusement.

"Sadly, she's not even exaggerating," Varric confirmed with a shake of his head. "I think it has to do with the way Orzammar Dwarves emphasize venerating our ancestors to near deity status. Many Houses have been allies or rivals since before the fall of the Dwarven Kingdoms and each representative of a given House in a proving is basically meant to represent the sum of everything that house has ever been or will ever be and the winners of the Provings are basically considered the Ancestors' Chosen and hold within them all the honor and glory of Orzammar within themselves. And it's the same for every proving."

"You can't say that Orzammar being so close to the frontline in the fight against the Darkspawn doesn't factor into it," Morgana pointed out. "Provings are a great way to distract from the constant threat of Darkspawn Incursion and a slowly dwindling population."

"Harsh as his methods might seem to most- particularly the Deshyrs of the Assembly- King Bhelen has been making great strides to counter that. Partly due to your influence, no doubt, Warden," Varric prodded.

"Very little of it is my influence. Bhelen is craftier than most give him credit for and his plans have been in the works for years- long before the deaths of his father and elder brothers even. He might not have an honorable bone in his body and wouldn't know what to do with honesty if it slapped him in the face, but he will drag the Dwarven People to glory, kicking and screaming if he has to," Morgana justified. "Really, Empress Celine and Grand Duke Gaspard could both take a lessons from him. He might be a Tyrant, but he's a tyrant who actually works for the betterment of his people whether they like it or not. Though I'm not sure if his and Branka's inability to get along is a blessing or a curse."

"Probably for the best, all things considered," Varric stated.

Morgana seemed to agree, changing the subject. "Speaking of... Varric, I need you to describe the manner of creature Orsino became."

"Haven't you read my book?" Varric inquired, not really wanting to do so. That grotesque abomination was something that still gave me nightmares, so I could fully understand and appreciate why he was so reluctant to do so.

"I have, that's why I want to hear it's description from you- in your own words. Arty, feel free to chime in, anytime," Morgana said turning to me.

"Why is it so import to you that they do so?" Inquisitor Adaar inquired.

Morgana answered his question with another question. "Varric, how familiar are you with Jerric Dace?"

"We're old friends. I helped him finance his own expedition into the Deep Roads. It was part of the reason why Bartrand was having so many problems financing our own expedition. We lost a good deal of coin in that endeavor," Varric answered.

"Did he ever tell you why he sent that expedition?" Morgana asked further.

"No, but that's not unusual. We might be friends and business partners, but professional courtesy only extends so far," Varric replied. "I just know that he went to some remote Thaig called..."

"Amgarrak," Morgana stated. She was silent for a moment, contemplating what she was going to reveal to us. "His younger brother lead the expedition. When they went missing, he came to see me in Denerim personally to enlist my help in locating the expedition and finding out what happened to them. There are three pertinent facts are that you have to be aware of. First, post-Caridin golem research was being conducted there. Secondly, despite being long abandoned, Darkspawn presence is thin there compared to other areas of the Deep Roads- like Bownammar and Kal Hirol. Thirdly, and most importantly, despite overwhelming evidence of golem research going on there, Branka- the woman who knowingly and gleefully sacrificed her entire house in the name of getting her hands on the Anvil of the Void and regaining the ability to make golems- actively avoided going there."

"Wait, you're telling me that Jerric sent an expedition to a place that even Darkspawn and a crazy madwoman like Branka avoided going to?" Varric asked incredulously.

"Oh, it gets much worse," Morgana resonded with a fake smile. "While there, we found out that a Tevinter mage had been hired to help with the reasearch in hopes that what little of Caridin's research that remained could help the dwarves of Amgarrak rediscover the method of creating golems. Naturally, something went wrong and all contact with the Thaig was lost- overrun, not by Darkspawn as some might have assumed, but by a creature created in the Forges of Amgarrak itself that they called The Harvestor. Your descriptions of what Orsino became match that of the creature- which was by all indications, a Blood Golem created from corpses- that Jerric, Brogan and I encountered in Amgarrak."

"One has to wonder how safe it is travelling with the Hero of Fereldan, the Champion of Kirkwall and the Herald of Andraste," Dorian points out with a slight shudder. "The things the three of you seem to encounter by yourselves is enough to give anyone nightmares. Maker only knows what would have to be conjured up to to collectively challenge the three of you at once."

"Another one of those creatures... Kind of makes you wonder what else might be out there. Makes you wonder if Corypheus is as unique as we all assume he is," Blackwall reasoned.

"Let's hope so. One of him is bad enough as it is," Varric replied.

"That's something we can all behind," Dorian says with full agreement.

Only I seemed to notice just how silent Morgana had gotten as the Inquisitor's companions continued on with the conversation.