Archmage of the College of Winterhold.

She was going to be the Archmage of the College of Winterhold.

Ancano was dead, and the Eye of Magnus was safely hidden away, she hoped, by the Psijic Order that appeared to have so much faith in her. Tolfdir, Onmund, and Vidar rushed in and tried to help her fight the Thalmor 'advisor', who was imbued with the power of the Eye. When he paralyzed them, something snapped in her, a fire ignited in her soul. Using every ounce of magic she had in her, and the staff, she severed his connection to the Eye and finished him off with a powerful Lightning Storm spell. The Master-level spell had left her exhausted, and she was certain she heard Tolfdir wrong.

Come the next morning, however...

"What do you mean I'm the Archmage of the college?!" Tanya blurted, taken aback as she sat up in her bed. She had been greeted by fellow apprentices with congratulations on her appointment, leaving her very confused. Tolfdir came and confirmed it, leaving her stunned, gaping and eyes wide. "You can't be serious, Master Tolfdir! I'm..."

"You're the one who lead us through this mess with the Eye from the start, and your magic is powerful." the old mage said, smiling proudly at her. "The Psijic Order believed in you, and so did Master Aren and Mirabelle Ervine. You did all the thankless work and studied hard. I believe with your brilliance and leadership, you will be the next great Arch-Mage."

The Dragonborn sputtered, blinking rapidly at him. "What about you?" she blurted. "You've been here much longer than I have, and you have more experience, and-"

"I will be your Master Wizard, Archmage." Tolfdir reassured. "I can handle most of the affairs here while you handle Alduin, so don't you worry, we know you're busy. But when you're done with Alduin, we'd be honored if you would be the leader this college deserves." He sighed. "I am an old man, Tanya. I...do not feel it would be best for me to take over as Archmage."

J'zargo cleared his throat, hanging out by the door with Brelyna. "If Tanya does not wish for the title, J'zargo would be honored to- ouch!" His ears flipped back and he gave a sly grin to Brelyna, who had elbowed him, hard. Her arms were crossed and she was giving him a very stern gaze. "Not that Tanya wouldn't make an excellent Archmage, J'zargo is just saying that if she doesn't want to..."

"Choose your next words carefully, J'zargo." Onmund growled. He was by the Dragonborn's side, and he turned back to give her a reassuring smile. "Do what you feel is best. I will support you no matter what, though I must agree with Master Tolfdir that you would make an excellent Archmage."

Tanya was silent as Tolfdir handed her the Staff of Magnus. Light glinted off of the staff's surface as it passed by candlelight. She took the staff and held it with both hands firmly, careful not to drop it. The mage stared into the orb and felt...right. The staff was comfortable in her grip, and her heart swelled. She gulped, praying it was not just power that drew her. "I...I don't know what to say." she finally stammered. She looked up to the others, exhaling sharply. "I will do my best."

"That's the spirit!" Tolfdir exclaimed, looking absolutely thrilled. He almost looked wistful, prideful. "It seems Magnus himself has favored you, Tanya. As have the gods, as you are Dragonborn. You can lead the college." He patted her back. "We have complete and utter faith in you."

He had no idea how much that terrified her.

Tanya had tried to steal away to Thedas, where she thought the Inquisition wouldn't be in the know yet. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she was spied in the courtyard with Onmund, she was set upon by Iron Bull, who ushered her to the Inquisitor's room. When they reached the top of the stairs, they found that a table with a cake and other goodies awaited, and the Inquisition's inner circle awaiting, all smiles.

"There she is! The newest Archmage!" Varric greeted. "Congratulations, Bookworm!"

The Dragonborn gawked. "What...how did you..."

"Vidar told us that you got a big promotion." Sera said cheerfully. "I mean, all this magic rubbish makes no sense to me, but you finally wiped that smirk off of Ancano!" She cackled. "That arse was the biggest elfy arse I had ever met, and now he's gone, so you deserve a cake for that alone." She threw an arm around her, bringing her to the cake. "Good, yeah? You're reallyfreaky smart, so you'll be good for that lot."

"Congratulations, darling, on behalf of us all." Vivienne agreed. "You could do so much better than Savos Aren ever did." She scoffed. "Talented in magic as he was, he took a far too relaxed position and allowed an obvious Thalmor agent to have far too much power. I have a suspicion that you would never make the same mistake."

Tanya frowned. "Archmage Aren was not perfect, Enchanter, but he was good to me, and he tried his best to-"

"-trying his best wasn't enough, darling. He made you do all the dirty work in handling Ancano, rather than doing it himself." Vivienne interrupted calmly. "You were truly the one who pulled the strings and did the work to restore order. I know you are not an idle woman, nor will you ignore issues." She smiled, either oblivious to or ignoring the frightened look on the Dragonborn's face. "Now that you're in power, you'll have to decide your plans, your direction, for the college. I'd love to hear any ideas you have thus far..."

"Oh, for pity's sake, Vivienne, let her relax for a little while." Dorian interjected, frowning at the other mage, his arms crossed. "We were throwing this party for fun, if I recall. We haven't even opened the good wine yet and you're interrogating her."

"I agree." Onmund interjected. "Leave her be, Enchantress."

Cassandra scoffed. "Not that she can even drink the wine without passing out-" There was a popping sound, and all heads turned to see that the Dragonborn was gone, the sparks from a teleportation spell fading. The seeker's eyes widened. "Where did she go?"

"She teleported herself in front of the eluvian and went into the Crossroads." Cole answered quietly. He looked to the Inquisitor. "Tanya's scared. Dragons can get scared, too. You should talk to her. You can help."

When Dawn came through the eluvian, she heard sobbing echoing in the Crossroads, from the direction of the word wall Solas discovered. She walked slowly, trying to keep her shoes from making too much noise and surprising the other woman. The herald walked down the path to her, and soon walked through enough fog to find her.

She paused at the sight of great gray dragon wings surrounding an obscured figure on the ground, back to the word wall. The Inquisitor approached slowly. "Tanya?"

"I'm sorry." the Dragonborn murmured. "I'm sorry I ran, I just...I don't know what to do."

"Can I join you?"

After a moment's pause, Tanya used her magic to dispel the wings and continued looking down. The Herald sat down beside her, leaning back against the wall with her. Tanya's face was red, and she hugged her knees, looking down at her shoes. Dawn cocked her head to the side, trying to see her face. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly. Tanya huffed.

"Will you tell anyone if I do start talking?"

"Never. What's said here is strictly between you and I." the Inquisitor reassured. "I've always got an ear to lend. I'm here to help."

Tanya thought carefully, silence reigning for a few more moments. She looked up to the herald, wiping her eyes. "How do you do it?"

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Do what?"

"Everything. You're a chosen one to the people of Thedas like I am to the people of Tamriel, and I don't know how you manage the whole Inquisition without losing your mind!" She looked away. "I'm a scholar, not a leader. Many would give me a proper scolding if I protested..."

The Inquisitor shrugged. "To be honest, I bottle up my feelings like fine wine, with occasional screaming into a pillow for good measure, but otherwise I just kind of...I don't know. It's not healthy, I know, but what else can I do?" She made eye contact with the Dragonborn. "Listen to me. I don't even know if I'm really the chosen of Andraste at all, especially after Adamant, but it doesn't fucking matter at this point. The people called upon us to help them, and in the end, what does it matter?"

Tanya blinked and cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that it doesn't change a Maker-damned thing if we're 'chosen' or not. It doesn't do any good to dwell on that part. You and I got to where we are because people have faith in us...faith granted by our actions." She leaned back against the word wall, crossing her arms, looking forward. "And obviously we must be doing something right. I just make it up as I go. What about you?"

The Dragonborn hesitated. "I...don't. I try to plan everything out. I like knowing what's ahead, but that's not always possible."

"I can respect that." She snorted. "The point is this: we're here and the only thing that matters is not how we got here, but what we do now that we're here. I chose to try my damned best to help my people, even if I fail sometimes, because I can't do anymore than that." She heaved a breath. "It hurts, sometimes, but I have friends who help, when I allow myself to let them." Her eyes turned back to her. "Now, you're trying your best, right?"

Tanya looked down, taking an oddly long time to decide her answer. Finally, she sighed. "I suppose I am. I'm always worried I'm not doing enough..."

"Then you're going to be fine. You've obviously been doing something right. You've earned the faith in you not by who supposedly sent you, but by what you did." Dawn smiled at her. "You at least talk about your feelings. Don't do what I do and bottle them up." She patted the other woman's back with a reassuring smile. "It's okay if you fail, a lot, so long as you keep trying. That's part of living."

The Archmage was silent for a few moments, wiped her face off, and smiled weakly. "Well, we should get back. That cake looked good."

Dawn beamed. "Couldn't agree more. Now, come along, I'm gonna help you develop a stronger alcohol tolerance. Let's have some fun and just...calm down for awhile. The world can wait for a bit."

"Do you think I could try that...chocolate liquor?" Tanya asked hesitantly. The Inquisitor nodded.

"Sure, but go easy on it. Your alcohol tolerance, for a Nord, is..."

"Pathetic, I know."

"No one's perfect, Tanya, and we all have start somewhere."

The Archmage was unconscious on the floor of the Inquisitor's room by the time the party was over. Drool was slipping out of the corner of her mouth. A plate with traces of frosting was by the snoring woman's fingers. Several of the others snickered, including a guilty-looking Inquisitor, Bull, Dorian, and Sera, while others merely glared at them.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Vidar scolded, kneeling over his sister, looking down at her. "You know Tanya has no alcohol tolerance."

"We only gave her a few shots of the chocolate liquor! She said she liked it, and she's a Nord! Nords like booze!" Bull protested.

"We do not!" Onmund snapped. "We...well, many of us like it, but that is a stereotype that is erroneous."

"Erron-what?" Sera asked, blinking.

"Wrong. Incorrect. Not all Nords are alcoholic, alright?" Vidar clarified. Sera gave a long 'oh' of understanding...then giggled again.

"All of them except for this one!" The elf gestured to the Dragonborn with a hand. "You'd think a dragon-Nord would be better at drinking. I was in Skyrim, I've seen all the mead. 'S good, too." Sera sighed longingly. "That's one thing I like about the Nords. Their mead is grand."

Vivienne's nose wrinkled, and she shuddered. "It is not. It's disgusting. It's so...thick, and alcohol shouldn't be hot. There's far too much honey in it as well."

"Next time, we'll start her on a single shot." Dorian suggested, examining the bottle. "This is low-proof. Still, it was a mistake to give her more than one."

When Vidar, Solas, Cassandra, and Vivienne continued glaring at them, Dawn groaned. "Fine! Half a shot next time-"

"No. No next time. The girl's going to have a bad hangover later." Solas pointed out. "I hope you all feel good about the fact she's going to be sick."

"She's not a girl, she's a woman." Dawn retorted. "Who likes chocolate liquor, apparently."