Chapter Nine - Anders and the free mages

Anders woke to the sound of someone knocking very loudly on their door. He got up, threw on a shirt, and then gestured to Fenris to wait beside the door.

"Look what I found," Alistair said as soon as Anders opened the door. He pointed at Isabela who was being held between two burly guards.

Fenris jostled past Anders to look at the group gathered in the hall. "She was in your bedchamber, I suppose?"

"No," Alistair said. "Fortunately, or the Queen would probably have demanded her head. That ... woman was working her way through the royal vaults."

Anders thumped his head against the door frame. "Of course she was."

Isabela wiggled against her two capturers. "I was testing your locks. They're rather shoddy, I'm afraid. For a small pittance, I can give you the name of a good locksmith who will have those vaults upgraded in no time."

Alistair looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "Let her go."

"Are you sure, your Highness?"

"Yes, and let's not tell the Queen about this little misunderstanding."

Isabela theatrically shook her wrists after the guards left. "Now, how about a tour of that bedchamber Fenris mentioned?"

Alistair glared at her and then pointed towards Anders and Fenris' room. "Get in."

"Ooh, all three of you at once? Well, as his Highness commands."

Anders closed the door behind them and then frowned at Isabela. "You couldn't wait until the morning to go exploring?"

"I do my best work at night."

"As well as morning, noon, and evening, according to Hawke," Fenris said.

Isabela preened.

Alistair scowled at all three of them. "You know I could have all of you thrown into prison for conspiring against the crown, right?"

"I've got nothing against the crown," Isabela said. "In fact I'd like to take it home and cuddle it and tenderly remove its pretty jewels and maybe melt it down into a hot little puddle of molten gold."

Alistair raised a hand and then dropped it. "That's it. She has to go. Anders has to go. Fenris, you can stay, you've been useful."

"I'm useful!" Anders said.

"Yes, but not enough to make up for the long, long hours I've had to spend listening to Wynne complaining about how rude and insulting you are."

"I apologized," Anders said. "I even sent her a lovely gift basket. Those assorted delicacies were not cheap, let me tell you."

"I think it was the collection of assorted mabari collars that Wynne objected to."

"The what?"

Fenris cleared his throat. "I added those."

"Now I know why Wynne won't speak to me," Anders said. "Have I told you lately that you're a real ass?"

Alistair dropped his head into his hands. "Fenris goes, too."

"I'd rather not go, it's been fun playing with your big, beefy guards," Isabela said. "Although my ship does get lonely without me, maybe I should take her out on the waves again."

"Maker," Alistair said. "Could you at least try not to attack Fereldan ships?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Isabela said. "I just take cargo from one port to the other. I'm a very boring and respectable Captain, I am."

Alistair turned to Fenris and Anders. "I suppose you two will be joining her?"

"I've always fancied the life of a pirate ... er cargo hauler," Anders said.

Isabela winked at him.

"Sadly, I have other work to do. Duty calls."

"The search for darkspawn and blighted animals thing you said was the official reason you're here? I thought that was a pretty weak excuse to have you wandering around. People tend to notice things like leftover darkspawn lurking in their bushes."

"It's a good cover!"

"How many darkspawn have you found in Denerim, again?" Alistair said.

"Oh fine. I'm going to contact some members of the Mages' Collective and see if they have any insight on how free mages can live peacefully with non-mages."

"If they end up marching on Kinloch Hold I will be very upset with you."

Anders looked thoughtful. "I like the way you think. The rebel mage organization finally rising up and ..."

Fenris clapped a hand over Anders' mouth. "I understand this collective has existed for years without creating problems. We are going to talk with them, not entice them to open rebellion."

"A rebellion would be bad," Alistair said.

"I will inform you if it looks like they will become a problem," Fenris said.

"You will do no such thing," Justice said. "Unless you mean to kill the templar-King right after you inform him the mages have risen up."

"Treason, definitely treason," Alistair said as he glared at the glowing Anders. "You're not selling me on the 'mages are harmless' spiel. At all."

"Mage, Justice," Fenris said. " Alistair is not your enemy. Do not make him one."

Anders gave his head a little shake. "Sorry, still, it would be like a dream come true to see the Mages' Collective rise up to free their imprisoned comrades."

"Your dream, maybe," Alistair said. "A nightmare for pretty much everyone else."

"You need to have smaller dreams," Fenris said. "That goes for you too, Justice."

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"Cat, staff, manifesto," Anders said as he packed. "I used to have more things, I'm sure I did."

"You forgot your going away presents from Enchanter Wynne," Fenris said as passed over a pile of books.

Anders scowled. "A History of the Circle, The Navarran Accords, Abominations through the Ages, The Depravity of Ancient Tevinter, The Depravity of Modern Tevinter, The Link between Hedge Mages and Insanity. Lovely choice of reading materials."

"I do believe she is trying to tell you something."

"You think so? She's wrong. Free mages are no more dangerous than I am."

Fenris muttered something.

"What was that?" Anders said.

Fenris cleared his throat. "I said, we shall see if your free mages sell me out to the Tevinter bounty hunters."

"Maker, how often do I have to tell you they don't all want to become magisters?"

"It only takes one."

"You could just stay here. Stop provoking Wynne and I'm sure Alistair will offer you a permanent position in the guards."

Fenris shook his head. "No, I'd rather be a moving target. It ... uh, the bounty would be just as attractive to anyone working in the palace as to the mages."

"Did you just admit that there is no difference between mages and non-mages?"

"Mages are just as corruptible as anyone else. Are you saying they are not?"

"No, I ... fine. We will trust no one and tell no one where we're headed next. Happy?"

"Not really, but if I could handle working with Merrill, the disgustingly cheerful blood mage, I can put up with meeting your free mages."

"Well, you'll see that free mages are perfectly capable of training apprentices and policing themselves without some damned templars watching over them all the time."

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"The Blacksmith is a mage?" Fenris asked.

"According to my Denerim contact, he is. Don't look so surprised, mages have to make a living."

"Most mages I know can't even lift a forge hammer, let alone use one," Fenris said. "Except Hawke, but he's ..."

"Exceptional," Anders frowned. "Isn't it about time you admitted that other mages can be exceptional, too?"

The blacksmith dropped the plow he was working on with a clang and stomped over to them. "I think it's time you two idiots stopped throwing words like 'mage' around so freely."

"There's no one else here," Anders said. "Are you Walt Smith?"

"Be a shame if I wasn't, what with you two and your flapping gums."

"Er ... sorry. I'm Anders and he's Fenris."

Walt growled. "Marielle warned the collective you two would be nosing around. She didn't tell us how careless you were, though. We don't all have the Wardens protecting our backs. You two need a lesson in manners and in keeping your mouths shut."

Fenris gave a nod. "A lesson you plan to teach us using your arcane powers, I presume?"

He flexed his biceps and looked down at Fenris. "I'd rather just give you a good thumping."

"No one wants a fight," Anders said.

"I do," Fenris said. "It has been a while since I had a decent sparring partner."

"It's been all of one week since we left Denerim."

"Your point?"

"Fine, go wrestle with the man-mountain. No weapons, and no breaking anything I have to heal. Don't hurt him."

"I wasn't planning to," Walt said as he sized Fenris up.

"I wasn't talking to you," Anders said.

"Hey, Ma! Da's fixing to wrestle with the Warden!"

Walt groaned as two girls poked their heads around the side of the building. "Those are my two youngest."

"Which one is that blighted fool planning to fight? The mage who took out dozens of darkspawn with one spell, or the elf who's taken down every guard who challenged him in Denerim?"

"And that would be my Essie and our eldest. We should, uh, probably shelve the fight for now."

Anders held up a hand. "I'm the only Warden here. Fenris is just ... Fenris."

"Hmph," Essie said as she and her daughter came outside and looked them over. "We were warned about you two."

"We're not here to make any trouble," Anders said.

"Is that so? You have a bit of a reputation, Warden Anders."

"Did you really run away from the Circle seven times?" The eldest daughter asked.

"Did you really get caught and dragged back by the templars seven times?" Walt asked.

"Only six," Anders said smugly.

"Are the ... other rumours about you also true?" The daughter asked as she twirled a lock of hair in her fingers.

Anders winced and stepped behind Fenris at the same time as Essie stepped in front of her daughter.

Walt rubbed his forehead. "Why don't we take this inside? Unless Ser Fenris really wants to wrestle."

Fenris shrugged. "I was mainly interested in whether you could refrain from using your magic during the fight."

Walt laughed and held up his hand with a small flame dancing on it. "Maybe you're used to the loudmouth battlemage there, but this here little flame is about the best I can do."

"That's plenty dangerous," Anders said. "You could put someone's eye out with that."

"If I'm close enough to burn them with this, then I'm close enough to punch them. I'd rather put their eye out with my fist, it's much more reliable."

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"Oh, no," Essie said. "I'm no mage, but my Father was. Walt was one of his apprentices, one of the few who stayed in the blacksmithing business after he learned to control his magic."

"Before you ask," Walt said. "None our girls have shown signs of magic. They're still young, though."

Fenris furrowed his brow. "Are many blacksmiths mages?"

Walt shrugged. "Some are. It's a good way to cover up any accidents when the youngsters are still learning control. No one questions why a blacksmith's apprentice ends up with a few burns."

"What do you do with the girls?"

"My sister's a cook," Essie said. "Same idea. Burns are explainable, and you learn a trade at the same time you learn magic."

"Do all mages have problems with fire?" Fenris asked and then pointed at Anders. "That one burned down a barn."

"I didn't do it on purpose," Anders said. "It's just that fire can get out of control so easily. The primal school of magic is just that - primal. It's instinctive and easy for most mages to accidentally call up."

Walt let a bit of ice form on his hand. "It's not just fire, ice and stones get summoned pretty easily too, but no one notices if a bit of ice forms in their clothing or some gravel gets kicked up when someone gets upset. A bit of fire on the other hand - well, people notice when their pants start burning."

"Blacksmiths and cooks," Fenris said.

"And farmers," Walt said. "A lot of mages end up as farmers. Or mercenaries, but not too many people want to spend their lives fighting."

"This isn't Tevinter," Anders said. "Free mages are just people here."

"Only because they have to stay hidden," Fenris said. "They'd be more like the magisters if they could use magic openly."

"What do you mean by that?" Essie said. "My Walt is a good man and I'll thump you myself if you compare him to a magister again."

"I was not ... my apologies. I am not used to mages who do manual labour."

"I do manual labour all the time," Anders said. "The clinic didn't clean itself, you know."

"Yes, but you are a very strange mage."

"Hawke is exceptional, but I'm 'strange'?"

Fenris smirked at him and then turned back to Essie. "To be honest I expected the collective to be comprised of more herbalists. Every fair-sized village does have at least one."

Essie scoffed. "There might be some mage herbalists, but they're damn fools. Herbalists are the first people templars head for when they go on a mage-hunting rampage."

Walt scowled at Anders. "Do not write anything down about the smiths and the cooks in that manifesto of yours. Let's not give the bucket-heads any ideas. Got it?"

"Would that be so bad?" Fenris asked.

"What? Having the templars raiding every smithy and kitchen in Ferelden? How could that possible by good?"

"Not that. I meant if you let people know the Mages' Collective exists and brought your members under the protection of the Circle of Magi."

"He's just asking," Anders said and then frowned at Fenris. "He won't do anything to betray you."

"I would not," Fenris said. "But have you ever considered the benefits of joining the Circle?"

"No," Essie said as she picked up a bread knife and looked menacingly at Fenris.

"The Circle could teach you better control over your magic."

"My control is just fine," Walt said.

"Are you not worried about being possessed and hurting your family?"

"It was the Circle that was overrun with demons and abominations, not the collective."

Fenris winced. "I suppose it was. But within the Circle you would be taken care of and would not have to work for a living."

"I will admit the library at Kinloch was damn nice," Anders said. "If limited. Not a single decent book on Tevinter, if you can believe it."

Walt rolled his eyes. "Do I look like a skinny-ass scholar? I happen to like my work."

"There are some Circle smiths," Anders said. "Not too many, but they work with the Formari to craft unique enchanted weapons."

"So you could have joined the Circle and still been a smith," Fenris said. "Have you never thought that life in the Circle may have been better than a life lived in constant fear of demons and templars?"

"Would I have Essie and the girls in the Circle? No, I would not. Elf, you ask the stupidest questions."

Fenris scowled.

"You kinda do," Anders said.

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"It's been an experience," Walt said.

"At least you didn't bring the templars down on us," Essie said.

Walt looked up and down the road before leaning close to Anders. "Warden? Where are you headed next?"

"We were thinking of making our way south for a bit."

Walt's voice dropped to a whisper. "You might want to consider heading for The Bannorn first. There's a little village near Townsend that would be worth visiting. Ask for the Widow Radrick if you go there."

"If you say so."

"What was that about?" Fenris asked as they headed down the road.

"No idea, but we may as well head for The Bannorn."

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People smiled and waved as Anders and Fenris walked through the only street in the village.

"Wardens! Thank the Maker you've finally come," a breathless man said as he stepped out of the tavern. "I'm Mayor Carter. I was beginning to think no one believed us."

"Uh, I'm just here on a routine inspection," Anders said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"There's a darkspawn emissary in the woods! Its been keeping everyone out for months now."

Anders blinked. "Really? That's rather odd behaviour for a darkspawn."

"That's what the Bann's men keep telling us when we ask for help," Carter said. "Never mind that we've lost two hunters, they tell us they won't waste their time chasing after some drunken villager's fade dream.'

"Has anyone gotten close enough to see this emissary?"

"Jess Radrick's hired boy barely escaped with his life. He's the one who warned us not to go into the north woods anymore."

"Radrick. That would be the Widow Radrick?"

"Yes, her boy's not one for making up stories," Carter said. "He's a good lad."

"Hey, I believe you," Anders said. "I've seen plenty of weird shit. Just point the way and we'll go talk to Jess and find out just what's up."

"Do you find it odd that the witness to this darkspawn emissary is living with one of the mages from the collective?" Fenris asked as the headed towards the Radrick farm.

"I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

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Fenris glared at Anders. "Just a coincidence you said."

Anders scowled at him and then turned back to Jess. "What I don't understand is why you told people it was a darkspawn emissary."

"What was I supposed to say? That my idiot mage apprentice," she stopped talking to give the boy sitting beside her a smack. "Woke up a revenant in the old ruins? I haven't spent decades avoiding the templars just to hand myself over to them now. I figured having the boy yell darkspawn would get the villagers to stay away until we could get someone to take it out."

"So you sent word through the mage collective, and no one could help?"

She shrugged. "It's a revenant. Not many of us can take one of them on, and those who can want to be paid in advance. Like I can afford their prices, especially after feeding this bottomless pit of greed."

"I said I was sorry," the apprentice said.

"Thirty years," Jess said. "Thirty years I've been teaching apprentices, and you're the first one who just had to go and poke the ancient phylactery. How stupid do you have to be to go around waking up old magic on a whim?"

"I just wanted ... um ..."

"Power?" Fenris said. "Typical mage. Blindly leaping into a mess without thinking first."

"Let's throw the blame around later," Anders said. "First we have a revenant to take out."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Jess asked. "I could help, from a distance. From a very great distance. I'm mostly good at spells that help you hide and run away. I've got a combination rejuvenation and haste spell that left more than one group of templars choking on my dust in my younger days."

"I can help, too," the apprentice said.

Fenris frowned at him. "What can you do?"

"I can hit a rabbit from two hundred paces away with my bow," he said as he puffed out his chest.

"It's true," Jess said. "The boy's a decent hunter."

Fenris groaned and held his head in his hands.

"Even mages have to eat," Jess said. "It's all well and good to take out a rabbit with a bolt of lightning until you try to eat it and find out it's too charred to chew."

Anders rubbed his hands together cheerfully. "Alright, first thing in the morning Fenris and I, along with the boy, will go and take care of your little problem."

"Clean up the mess made by a free mage you mean," Fenris said.

"Oh come on, it could have been woken up by anyone," Anders said.

"No it couldn't," Jess said. "That phylactery needed to be activated with arcane energy to let that creature loose."

Anders gave a nervous chuckle as Fenris glared at him.

Jess pursed her lips. "Go clean the privy again, boy."

The apprentice grumbled as he left the house.

"If nothing else good comes out of this," Jess said. "At least I'll have the cleanest privy in the village."

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"Mages can police themselves," Fenris said as they fought their way through a small army of walking corpses. "Your 'free mages' keep falling over themselves as they get in line to ask us to clean up their messes."

"They can't just ask for help from the local guards when one of them turns bad," Anders said. "You make it sound like they're all in trouble. We've seen dozens of them, and this is only the third time there's been a problem. Unless you count Nutty Nell."

"Why wouldn't you count Nutty Nell?"

"This is only the fourth time there's been a problem. And it's mostly just stupid mages, not maleficars."

"Hrm."

Anders ducked as another corpse popped up and tried to take his head off. "Alright, maybe there is a use for a ... a group of soldiers with ... templar-like abilities. Or maybe we could just train more mages in ways to kill other mages."

"You're very good at taking out rogue mages," Fenris said.

"That sounds so wrong."

"Time to die, weaklings," the blood mage they were hunting called out as he took the knife he was holding and slashed his arm open. "Ooh, I don't feel so good."

The dangerous maleficar swayed for a moment before falling down in a daze.

Anders rolled his eyes and then ran up to the mage. "That's because you hit an artery. It looks like this time the problem was a mage who's both stupid and a maleficar. I suppose I should heal him."

"Why bother?" Fenris asked.

Anders bandaged up the mage's arm and shrugged. "As far as we know he hasn't actually hurt anyone."

"Yet."

"Yes, well, I hate to say it but we should probably drop him off at the nearest Chantry and let the templars deal with him. Dabbling in blood magic, no matter how ineptly, is hard to forgive."

Fenris clapped him on the back. "We'll make a Circle supporter out of you yet."

"Bite me," Anders said.

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Anders stopped at the Gwaren gate to ask directions. "The inn our contact works at is located just off the docks. Ready to head over there?"

"I'm in the mood to fight another demon," Fenris said. "Do you think there will be another demon?"

"Very funny," Anders said. "There was one demon. One."

"And two Golems."

"The dwarves made those, not mages."

"It wasn't a dwarf holding the control rod."

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They had just settled into a room at the Knobby Staff Inn when there was a knock on the door and a breathless barmaid came in and bowed. "Warden Anders, Ser Fenris, we are so happy you decided to pay us a visit."

Anders sighed.

Fenris smirked. "What's the problem? Blood mages? Someone summoned something they shouldn't have? Weakened the veil with an ill-thought out ritual?"

She stared at them for a moment before stepping aside and letting a woman in Chantry robes step into the room. "I am sorry to disappoint you but there are no problems like that in Gwaren. This is Mother Ebris, she runs the local chantry orphanage and the hospice."

Mother Ebris smiled. "I understand you are a talented spirit healer, Ser Anders?"

"Yes, I would be glad to offer my services if they're needed."

"There's no pressing need for healing," she said. "I would rather enlist your aid as a ... teacher. There are not many mages in the collective who have mastered the healing arts, and I've learnt all that I can through books. I would like to learn more advanced healing magic."

"Pardon me?"

Fenris looked at her. "You are a mage?"

Mother Ebris bowed her head. "I am."

"Are you truly a mother in the Chantry?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Fenris and Anders looked at each other. "Yes," they both said.

She crossed her arms. "There is nothing in the chant forbidding a mage to join the Chantry."

"Well, not specifically," Anders said.

"If you are a believer ..." Fenris said, and then halted.

She raised her chin and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Should you not be in the Circle?"

"And how much good would I do locked up in a tower?"

"They do let some mages out."

She scoffed. "Yes, to fight in wars or to serve as a noble's personal pet mage. Every year I petition the Chantry to let me have a healer to help out in the hospice. Every year they deny me. I am an Andrastian, but I am not so foolish as to believe that Chantry doctrine is infallible."

Anders scratched his chin. "Forgive me, but it still seems odd that a mage would join the Chantry. You may be devout, but it was still a very risky thing to do."

Mother Ebris shrugged. "Not as much as you think. It was the Mother who ran the orphanage before me who pulled me aside when I first showed mage signs and convinced me to stay hidden. She had the same problems getting healers as I have, as every Mother since the orphanage was set up has had. I was not the only mage she kept hidden, and I have continued in her path and helped keep other mages hidden."

"Wow," Anders said. "You need healers, so you make sure you get some by finding children before they're sent to the Circle and making them into apostates. That's ..."

"Insidious," Fenris said.

"I was going to say clever," Anders said.

"It can be both."

"We do much more good than harm," Mother Ebris said. "Is that not desirable?"

Anders smiled. "It is always desirable to help mages stay free."

Fenris frowned at him. "She is playing a dangerous game."

"This is no game," Mother Ebris said. "Please refrain from lecturing me, or are you going to say that Andraste would disapprove of us doing what we must to save lives?"

"Of course not," Anders said. "I will be glad to help you. I'm not much of a teacher, but I'll do the best I can."

"Maker bless you, Warden."

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note:Went a little heavy on the OCs here. Mainly to answer my own question of where the non-maleficar apostates who know how to live in the outside world were during DAI when the Circle mages were running around Ferelden like chickens with their heads cut off (Tevinter? Brilliant move, Fiona, just brilliant).

-the sane mages were doing what all the other normal people in Thedas were doing. Keeping their heads down, living their lives, and hoping the crazies wouldn't notice them.