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Assistant: Title: The Tarnished Herald
        Author: Chasethedreamer Chasethedreamer 
        Chapter: 18/18 
        Summary: The Tarnished Eowyn realizes her journey to become Elden Lord is an unrelenting cycle. She breaks out of the Lands Between and finds herself in the strange world of Thedas as the Herald of Andraste.
        Contents: Chapter 18: Lessons in Glintstone and survival
    

    


  

  
  
    
    Though some of its gloom lingered, the day’s overcast weather had mostly cleared by nightfall. The Moon was a bright meniscus barred by wispy grayish clouds above Skyhold. Of course, the smaller moon was hidden until Satinalia, later in the year.The small candle flame of Grace swaying near the ascending stairway carried the soothing scent of a roaring campfire. Its faint illumination raised a multitude of questions for Solas, rather than the calm it promised. The elven man turned his head upward, not just to hide the Grace from his sight, but to remind himself why he was standing by the golden light in the first place.Solas had already found constellations that have become familiar in his travels. His eyes searched on reflex for Draconis to the south. The stars that depict its wingspan could be seen but the rest was obscured by the surrounding mountain range. Judex was easier to spot. While Solas connected the Sword in his mind’s eye he wondered if these stars held the glintstone secret that was so coveted by the Academy Scroll’s author.“Must these clouds so oft shroud the stars?” The Inquisitor’s voice rang like chimes into the night next to Solas. He didn’t hear any footsteps signifying her arrival, yet the tall pale woman stood by the Grace looking upward as if she had always been there.She was clad in what looked to be an elaborately crafted dress in the color of moonlight, hemmed to flare at her knees. A dark pearl the size of an egg rested on the collar. On her head was a wide brimmed intricately woven hat with a feather clipped on the rim. Hanging from a small gold chain just in her line of sight was a large gleaming emerald. The elven apostate resigned himself to an evening of tense restraint and dutifully kept his eyes on the Inquisitor’s own.“It is perhaps not the best night for stargazing, though I was already able to find some constellations.” Solas replied lightly. The Inquisitor slowly rotated as she looked up, taking in the night sky. The elven man berated himself as he tore his gaze away from her. He would not think of how her arched back lifted the dress enough for a hint of a creamy white thigh to be seen above her leather boots. He focused instead on how the Inquisitor shied away from certain darker areas of the sky. How her eyes would linger on one star dense spot, yet shrink back from another.“Doth yon stars e'er display such indifference unto the realm below?” The white haired woman asked with a forced nonchalance. Her gaze quickly retraced the sky under that wide hat.“What do you mean?” Challenged the hedge-mage as he stepped forward. “The stars are just that, celestial bodies. Massive orbs of fire an incomprehensible distance away. Indifference would come as no surprise when referring to something that isn’t alive.” Solas caught the Inquisitor’s affronted glance thrown his way.“They yet live. They just keep no vigil. 'Tis as if they possess no concern for the events that unfold in this realm.” The Inquisitor replied, eyes flicking up again. She fidgeted nervously like it was her first dance in front of an uninterested crowd.“Why would they? Stars do not possess any bearing on this world other than a way to show direction. Just as the moon controls the tides and nothing more, contrary to the beliefs of moon worshiping cultists.” Solas explained calmly, though Eowyn flinched back from him as if he shouted.“The cosmos teems with mighty beings that watch from afar. And Glintstone is the amber of the cosmos. So potent art yon stars, that their mere motion imbues glintstone sorcery with wondrous power.” The Inquisitor lectured earnestly in that peculiar brogue. The accent that carried her archaic speech was to Solas a transient memory. But her words implied an eldritch truth that itched the back of his mind.“The night sky of your home land seems alien, yet comparable to that of the Fade. The stars there reflect more than just distant light. The sky in the Fade can show memories and ancient insight among its constellations.” Solas expounded, his voice low and measured when speaking of familiar things like magic. The Inquisitor grew pensive, her gaze sliding down to where the Anchor was etched into her skin. Solas had seen her often do that when he spoke with her of the Fade.“Does the Anchor trouble you?” Solas peered at the faint mark on her hand.“I feel no pain.” Her Anchored hand hid behind her back, and her eyes behind a sheet of white hair.“That’s not quite an answer.”“Verily, all is well Solas. Yet I wonder, to what extent doth the Anchor have dominion o’er the realm of the Fade?” A shard of blue could be seen peering at Solas through the veil of silken hair that concealed Eowyn’s face.“Dominion? Do you wish to dominate the Fade?” The question was sharp. A warning.“If I could. If only to ensure the dread of mine homeland ne'er beset this realm.” Though he heard penitence in her soft murmur, Solas felt his hackles rise at the striking parallel of her words.“Closing the rifts would remedy that problem as quickly as any other.”“The Breach be but one of many paths through which the Fade hath wrought its malice upon this realm!”“The Fade carries no evil intentions in its danger! It is not something that can be subjugated like a thieving servant!” Solas couldn’t stop his ire from raising his voice.“Then we must possess more than a mere Veil to shield us from the Fade! This world needs battlements, or a suit of armor!” The passionate expression on the Inquisitor’s face stunned the elf for a breath before he shot back a reply. The elf privately knew his arguments were steeped in hypocrisy, yet still they readily formed at his lips.“And rob the world of what little magic it has left? The Fade is the only way magic is even possible in Thedas. Building a wall to keep it out would be like giving every mage the Rite of Tranquility. No, it would be worse, since most magic users alive would die if severed from their connection to the Fade!”  The gray in the apostate’s narrowed eyes was steel sheathed in ice. Solas felt his clenched fists digging into his palms.He thought he would relish seeing this naive woman’s eyes widen in horror when the realization of what she proposed was spat back at her. To feel vindication as her shining gaze fell, her fragile worldview shattered.But watching the panic enter the Herald’s shocked expression was like looking into an inverted mirror. A reflection of himself in a lost Eluvian, broken with regret and indecision. A sigh carrying things unsaid escaped him as Solas looked away. His defeated exhale was mimicked by the Inquisitor, and their kindred bond deepened with shared remorse.“Pray, let us dispense with frivolous musings and riddles.” The Inquisitor’s side step was as expected as it was unwanted by the apostate, though Solas allowed it all the same. “Thy pardon, O mage. Thou hast ventured hither for a lesson in Glintstone sorcery, not to lay waste to mine hubris with thine sensible wisdom.” The wide brimmed hat wobbled slightly as the Inquisitor shook her head, the emerald swinging hypnotically. When Eowyn looked up, a delicate smile precariously rose to her lips. Solas could only answer with a tightening of his own.“I’ve found that I can rely on my ability to multitask, Inquisitor.” The hedge-mage deadpanned. The ends of his lips twitched when a sputtered giggle spilled from Eowyn’s mouth. After a purging sigh, she shook her head again to focus.The Inquisitor reached out to use that uncanny conjuration. A notched wooden scepter tipped with an orb nearly consumed with glintstone crystals appeared into her hands. Solas unclasped the simple Glintstone staff given earlier from his back.“Now, thou shalt endeavor to wield the Glintstone Pebble. Recall the sacred words inscribed upon the scroll and channel thine magic into thy staff.” The Herald of Andraste held her staff close to her chest and began a demonstration. She swung the scepter’s length purposefully before her. A light blue stone about the size of a fist shot forward a distance. The Glintstone pebble left a starry trail before collapsing harmlessly against a stone wall.Requiring a teacher for a subject he knew little of vexed Solas, especially on matters that held his interest. It galled Solas to be in training for something like magic. Magic was as natural as breathing to the mage. Interacting with the Fade as routine as eating and drinking.Yet this sorcery was purely of a different world and had nothing to do with the Fade. Solas was at a loss. But how it burned him to not just need such a lesson, but to want it as much as he did.Solas reached out with the Glintstone staff gripped tight. The instruction he had been given was plain in his mind. The mage imitated the Inquisitor’s pose and swung the staff.Nothing happened.Back straight, he looked over, expecting a teasing grin on the Inquisitor’s face. He was met with patient cerulean eyes and relaxed shoulders. She swayed with her staff behind her back as if she could wait an eternity for his next attempt. He tried again with the same disappointing result. Five more attempts were made before the Inquisitor suspended his failure with more guidance.“Behold the stars and mimic their graceful dance. Even a glance shouldst be enough.”“I have more than glanced at the stars by now.” Came the nettled reply from the apostate.The Inquisitor banished her staff and moved closer to Solas, making sure her unwieldy hat was away from his face. Her hands gently pressed down on his arms, subtly altering his stance. A chaste touch to his chin brought his keen gaze upward, away from the inviting curve of her slender neck. Eowyn’s pale arm pointed toward the open darkness near the crescent Moon, yet outside its radiant glow. Her breathy whisper tickled his face. “Keep thy focus there. Thou shalt feel a fleeting encounter. Burn it into thine mind.”Solas concentrated diligently on the lesson and kept his eyes upward. The starry expanse above did nothing to distract him from the Inquisitor’s heady scent invading his other senses. Crackling applewood and a hint of cinnamon. He deduced she sat near the fireplace of the tavern before meeting with him, and Solas guessed she had at least one cup of spiced ale.The void he was instructed to focus on seemed to be only black nothingness, much less interesting to him than his instructor. Consternation built within him as time crept on. He knows he would already have produced results if they were in the Fade. However, Solas was loath to back down from a challenge such as this.The two of them stood still near the Grace, silently gazing at the darkness above. Then he saw it. A gasp escaped from his mouth unbidden. The swift movement of a shooting star countless distances away. Fleeting, ephemeral, but definitely real. Solas seared the enlightening vision into his memory, replaying the revelation over in his mind. The staff’s Glintstone tip produced a bright evanescent sigil as he swept it across his chest.“Well done!” The Inquisitor praised, beaming. Solas had just cast a tiny glintstone pebble, barely a dimly lit grain of sand that soared a few meters ahead before disappearing. Nevertheless, true joy filled the musical tone of Eowyn’s voice at his accomplishment. Solas found his lips lifting when his eyes returned to the Inquisitor’s delighted face.She stood close enough Solas could count the freckles dotting her nose. Her enchanted smile called to a b@@st@@l yearning in his chest. His vision was sidetracked by the Inquisitor’s long eyelashes, and the deep blue oceans they framed. His gaze flicked toward the emerald that swung so near to those dark, secretive lips.With just a simple movement, if he leaned forward just slightly…Solas shook his head and swallowed. The Inquisitor’s cerulean eyes were lidded, shining with sibylline intrigue. Solas cleared his throat, taking a step back with a furrowed brow.“What was that sigil that appeared when I cast the Glintstone pebble? I surmise it is a representative banner of a school of magic?” He asked an innocuous question to distract himself from that moment of reckless desire. She looked unaffected by their closeness, though Solas still had difficulty reading her expressions.“Just so. The Glintstone Pebble is the most rudimentary sorcery of ah, the Raya Lucaria Academy. Thus, thou shalt behold their sigil upon the casting of that spell and its ilk.” The elven man had to pull himself from his thoughts to understand the Inquisitor’s answer. He heard the Inquisitor's clear voice stumble over the name of the academy, and Solas could only speculate on that history. Was she a student there once?“How did you know a shooting star would be seen in that part of the sky?” Solas insightfully asked next. His question unexpectedly caused the Inquisitor to wince, and her frown was resigned when she answered.“Yon stars display their nature most candidly. All their paths art exposed 'fore us. I can foresee their courses with paltry effort.” To Solas, a clarification like that didn’t deserve the discomfort the Herald expressed with downturned eyes.“You seem to be reluctant to have such a talent. Why?” The query left his mouth before he could halt it. He carried on, ever ready to expound upon his thoughts. “I would assume being able to clearly predict the paths of the stars would be a boon for a sorcerer.”“Wouldst thou not feel a twinge of sorrow whilst gazing upon the paralyzed husks of thine guardians each eve, Solas?” Her answer unexpectedly stabbed the elven man with another knife of aligned regrets.“Yes. I understand more than you may know.” Only Solas knew how closely they described his every waking moment.  For him, that sorrow was every time he saw his people, the elves. Anytime he felt disconnected from the Fade. It seemed to be a night of sighs for Solas.“Thou must gaze upon the stars nightly henceforth.” The serious note in the Herald’s tone beckoned Solas to heed her advice. “Though lessened they may be, these celestial bodies possess the might required to grasp the art of Glintstone sorcery. Etch their courses upon thy mind and refine them into potent enchantments. Yet, prithee, undertake it with due caution, far from innocent folk!” The Inquisitor glared at Solas until he nodded in understanding.“Then I’m sure that means more nights of mine will be spent outside looking upward. When I’m not wandering the Fade, of course.” Solas huffed, his gaze trailing back to the stars of Judex. His gray eyes found their way back to the Inquisitor quickly, unable to stay away long.“My thanks, Inquisitor.” Solas deferred. There was a weight of real appreciation in his words that made a dimpled smile light up the Inquisitor's face. She soon smothered it with a grimace.“Call me Eowyn, or I shall fill thine waterskin with the sweetest tea I can procure, Solas.” Eowyn ordered, her stern gaze subverted by its laughing twinkle. The egg sized jewel hanging near her face glinted as if sharing her cheer.“My thanks, Eowyn.” He amended after a sigh, a sardonic smirk on his lips.“The staff belongeth to thee now. Welcome to the Academy of Glintstone sorcery, Initiate.” Eowyn’s smile was impish. However, this time her teasing voice carried a certain weight. He looked down at the staff in his hands and the gleaming stone at its tip. How long will it truly take to replicate this otherworldly magic? And what applications could it have for his plans?“Then I will take my leave. Good night, Eowyn.” Solas slowly, distractedly turned to his quarters, his fingers twisting idly around his staff.“Sleep well and dream.” Her deep blue eyes watched Solas walk away before giving the shining oxbow Moon her attention. When Solas looked back at the top of the stairs leading into Skyhold proper, Eowyn was gone.—The mountainous landscape of the Hinterlands held a chill Eowyn felt she couldn’t escape. Snow capped only the tallest mountains, and the slushy ground they tread did its best to qualify. Abandoning the horses to the forward camp was the prudent thing to do, but traveling on foot on icy unsure terrain for days on end would never be pleasant to the Inquisitor.While they were at camp, Solas beckoned Eowyn aside away from Varric and Cassandra. Varric continued to clean the inner workings of Bianca, but the Seeker’s eyes narrowed at their retreat.Eowyn stopped around a large, thorny bush and turned expectantly to her mage companion. His arms were swaddled in his thick cloak, and pulled around himself tightly. There were dark rings under his bloodshot eyes and his mouth was turned downward in a grimace.“What troubles thee, Solas?” Eowyn could already guess it would be related to the Fade. The elf wouldn’t bother otherwise.“As I explored the Fade, I felt the presence of an interesting artifact here, in the Hinterlands. I’ve marked the location as best as I could determine on our map, if you’d be willing to investigate.”Eowyn peered at Solas’ exhausted face, taking in the condition of her comrade before his words registered. She spared a glance toward the map covered table in the camp. Her white haired brows were furrowed and paired with an irate frown when she turned back to the mage.“Should I quest for this relic, might thou seek true rest? Thou art in a terrible state, Solas.” The Inquisitor looked down for a moment, then produced a dark blue clump of  moss into her hand. Solas gave the moss an alarmed glance and backed up.“Tis just a stimulating bolus. Tastes like naught but water, yet drains any slumber that lingers when ye wake.” Eowyn’s tone was gentle even as she pushed the medicine into his hand.“My apologies if I come across as worse for wear. This body is made to dream, Eowyn. It is not made to stay up late stargazing.” Nonetheless, the elf placated the stubborn woman by accepting the bolus and putting it deep into his cloak. Eowyn gave Solas another searching leer.“Then pray, give thyself a respite from stargazing, at least for a time.” Eowyn knew Solas was pushing himself by attempting two opposing magic schools. There were other ways to gain strength in sorcery. “Thou art mine Fade expert, I trow. Dwell in the Fade, if it pleases you.” Solas tightened his lips and nodded, ending further discourse.After asking the locals near the Crossroads about the Warden, Eowyn’s party deviated their path toward a lake higher up in the mountains. There was a modest cabin at the lake’s opposite edge, with wooden planks for a walkway to cross the water.Eowyn saw men lined up near the cabin holding shields and axes. Another man was pacing in front of them, and Eowyn caught words of encouragement and instruction from reading his bearded lips. If that was Warden Blackwall, he may already find favor in Eowyn for valor.The Inquisitor was distracted from her scouting when an arrow flew past her horned helmet. She turned to see armed bandits behind her, and her party already engaged in combat.“Hey Tarnished, we could use some help over here!” Varric called from behind an evergreen. Several arrows scored the tree at the dwarf’s height, and Varric was having trouble aiming Bianca for a clear shot.Cassandra was defending against a pair of sword wielding bandits, her round shield showering her in sparks as they struck it in tandem. The Seeker murmured a prayer to the Maker and braced, her shield defending her head. With a cry of ‘Maker take you!’ Cassandra launched herself forward, bowling over the two attacking men. She readied her sword, and went on the offensive.Ice flowed like a river from Solas’s staff, freezing a bandit in place. Another with a sword and shield blocked the icy discharge, though his undefended feet were frozen to the ground. The hedge-mage charged mana, a devastating spell on his tongue. The warrior bandit used the pommel of his sword to break the ice encasing his feet. Solas abandoned his incantation, and turned to gain distance.The Bolt of Gransax was in Eowyn’s grip with a thought. She kept her eye on the archer as she leapt back to throw the lightning spear. Golden electricity exploded from the spear, racing across her armored form. Eowyn released the thunderous bolt to strike the bow wielding bandit. The archer convulsed as dragon lightning burned him inside and out.The Star-Lined Sword appeared at the Bolt of Gransax’s banishing, and Eowyn was already on the move to intercept the warrior in pursuit of Solas. The hedge-mage fade-stepped away as Eowyn dashed in, direwolf cape furled behind her. The warrior bandit held his shield with practice and methodically swung his sword to minimize his openings. Beyond the shield Eowyn recognized the Eye-and-Sword on the warrior’s doublet. A scowl clawed across the Inquisitor’s face. Either murder, thievery or betrayal was committed by this man, if not all three.“Thou dare raise arms against thine Inquisitor!” Eowyn slashed in a criss cross pattern with the Star-Lined Sword. The Glintstone-charged attacks clashed against the bandit’s shield in a shower of blue mist and sparks. “Which of mine scouts didst thou slay?! Speak forth their name, treacherous serpent!”“If you want the name of every ‘quiz I killed, we’re gonna be here a while.” The sword wielding warrior snarled with a leer. Eowyn roared wordlessly, swiftly enraged by the murderer’s taunt. His shield dutifully blocked her Glintstone enchanted attacks.Eowyn spun with another magic imbued diagonal slash. Her blue eyes gleamed as she spotted an opening in the warrior’s defense. His shield arm was raised too high for his left shoulder, and the Tarnished quickened her pace to capitalize.The Inquisitor effectively disappeared from sight, appearing in the air above the bandit with her shining blade held aloft. Eowyn spun forward in a front flip, and the Star-Lined Sword shone with sharpened Glintstone. Her vertical spinning slash cut through the bandit’s mismatched armor into flesh and bone.There was only one bandit still alive after their botched ambush. A rogue, from the look of the hand sized daggers glinting in his fists as he ran from Cassandra. The Seeker paused in her pursuit to unclasp her shield from her arm. She reared back, and with a yell threw it with all her considerable strength. The shield whistled through the air like a cannon. The rogue looked back in time to see the shield slam into his face.“Sh@t. Well, I know running from you isn’t an option, Seeker.” Cassandra rolled her eyes at Varric’s quip.“Now why would you ever need to run from me, Master Tethras?” Cassandra tried to sound harmless, but the natural edge in her voice gave her words an interrogating quality. Varric’s wince as he picked up a spare bolt wasn’t from pain. His eyes flicked to Eowyn and he kept silent, his teasing mood soured.The Inquisitor’s company soon caught their breath and continued across the lake to where the man was training a line of young men. He barked out orders and advice in turns. It seemed this man was quite skilled in recruiting. As they came closer to the cabin, Eowyn could hear what the man was saying to his scared looking conscripts.“They will make this a fight, not us.” He grunted, then chopped his arm down between two of the men. “Line there. And there. No gaps. Remember how to carry your shields. You’re not hiding, you’re holding. Otherwise it’s useless!”Eowyn didn’t fight the grin that crept to her face at seeing the tall man work. Even if this wasn’t Warden Blackwall, she wanted to recruit him anyway. She got a good look at his face when he turned to another conscript. Thick facial hair dominated his stern face, with a beard fashioned to point down with twin horns. Dark, deep set eyes stared down the young farmers with known authority.Eowyn turned to Varric, pointing her armored thumb toward the practicing men, her voice low. “Behold yon beard! I hold a fondness for him already.” Varric’s raspy chuckle almost gave away their position.“How does he keep it maintained out here in the middle of nowhere?” The rogue’s flippant question had Eowyn covering her mouth to keep from laughing audibly. When she regained control of herself she made a shushing motion at Varric’s grinning mug.The Inquisitor felt she’d seen enough by now. She moved from her spot behind a large boulder and walked toward the practice area.Eowyn commanded the attention of the young men the moment she stepped into their view. She wore freshly burnished Veteran armor, steel she scrubbed herself til it gleamed. The long direwolf cape attached rippled behind her. Her greaves were liberated from the armory of a Banished Knight garrison. Deep blue eyes shone from under the horned Veteran Helm. Blackwall noticed his conscripts staring at something behind him and turned around.“Art thou Warden Blackwall?” Eowyn asked when his eyes finished their quick study of her armor and went to her face. The rugged man’s fierce countenance stuttered at Eowyn’s questioning gaze.“How do you know my name? Who sent-?!” Blackwall stopped his shocked questioning abruptly and dashed forward, his shield at the ready. Eowyn spun an about face just as an arrow glided rapidly toward her face. Her arm shot out instinctively to bat away the projectile. The arrow flew in two pieces harmlessly away and a glowing azure sword appeared above Eowyn’s head in retaliation. A group of bandits jumped from their hiding places to rush them.“What in the blazes?” Blackwall shook himself and sent a stern shout to his men. “Okay, they’re here! Conscripts, remember what I’ve told you!” He turned to Eowyn with a scowl. “Help or get out. Questions come after.”Eowyn sent her Glintstone sword toward one bandit, taking him out of the fight. The Inquisitor then held back, wishing to watch Blackwall. The man was true to his name. His massive shield was a bulwark the bandits could not breach, and Blackwall himself used it to its fullest effect. He bashed his shield into bandit faces and blocked the slashes of their axes with barely a recoil. The farmers he trained did their best, but their unease around violence cost them a few injuries. They still formed a line at Blackwall’s shouted commands, funneling their enemies toward the Warden.Eventually, the bandits were all dead and Blackwall was cleaning his sword of their blood. Eowyn looked toward the young conscripts. A few were analyzing their injuries with panic, but most wore looks of pride at defending their homes. The Inquisitor’s face was set in a determined grimace, her eyes locked on a young farmer’s sliced arm.Blackwall cleared his throat and sunk his sword into the ground. He walked up to address the men, sparing only a glance toward Eowyn.“Good work conscripts, even if this shouldn’t have happened.” He sighed bitterly, “Well, thieves are made, not born. Take back what they stole. Go back to your families. You saved yourselves.” He stated it like a fact, so that’s how the men took it. They stood a bit taller, and finally were able to look Blackwall steadily in the eyes.“Hey!” Eowyn shouted. The eyes of her party and the fighting men went to her. “Draw nigh, ye all! Pray, grant me leave to heal thine wounds.” Dumbfounded looks from the conscripts answered her along with Blackwall’s muttered curses.“Just do it. She won’t take no for an answer.” Varric crowed from Eowyn’s left.The dwarf caught Solas’ eye and grinned. They knew how Eowyn was when it came to injured people by this point. Even Cassandra hid a fond smile behind her hand.The conscripts stepped toward Eowyn while Blackwall watched her from a safe distance. Eowyn kneeled, her Golden Order Seal clasped in her hand. The gold waves of light that flowed from the Inquisitor’s Erdtree Heal incantation knitted together cut skin and soothed bruised muscle. A collective sigh escaped the farmers, and the one with the now healed arm was gazing at Eowyn like she were Andraste herself.The conscripted farmers started to make their way back home. Two of the men mumbled thanks to Eowyn for healing them before leaving. She answered with a kindhearted smile and tucked a warming stone into each of their hands. Blackwall regarded her after the men left, his bearded face giving the impression of a perpetual frown.“You’re no farmer.” He grunted, then looked at Cassandra and the Eye-And-Sword on her tabard. “You’re Inquisition. What do you want? What was that light?” His eyes went back to Eowyn when she stepped forward.“I am Eowyn, the leader of the Inquisition. We seek to uncover if the vanishing of the Grey Wardens art connected with Corypheus and the slaying of the Divine.”Blackwall’s eyes bulged and he wiped a hand over his face. “Maker’s bal- I mean, wow that’s a mouthful. The Wardens connected with who? Slaying the Divine? You’re not making sense.”“Doesn’t make much sense to me either, and I was there.” Varric muttered. Cassandra gave him a sharp glance.“Corypheus is a creature the Wardens once caged. Now he claims to be a god.” Cassandra finished, her countenance austere. Blackwall’s eyes swept from Cassandra to the wooden planks past Eowyn, before flicking toward the valley on Cassandra’s right. His arms were open and gesturing earnestly as he spoke.“Look, I heard something about a dragon that could have been an Archdemon, but the rest?” Eowyn saw true bewilderment on the man’s face.“Dost thou know aught of the Warden’s disappearance?” The Inquisitor’s deep blue eyes searched Blackwall for any deception. His posture remained forthright, and Eowyn began to doubt her information’s veracity.“First off, I didn’t know they disappeared.” His gloved finger pointed upward, in contrast with his bushy, down-turned eyebrows. “But that’s what happens, right? With no blight, Wardens aren’t worth a thought. First ones to be forgotten. But I know this much: no Warden killed the Divine. Our purpose is not political.” His upturned finger shook with his words.“We ne'er proclaimed it to be so. I merely seek the whereabouts of the Wardens. Thou art present, yet whither hath thine Order fled?” Eowyn relaxed her stance and put her Anchored hand on her hip.“You really talk like that all the time?” Blackwall’s sudden question caused Eowyn’s lips to twitch, breaking the tension that had inadvertently built during their exchange. She heard Varric chuckle beside her and scowled at him goodnaturedly. Eowyn looked back at Blackwall and raised an eyebrow. He put his hands back up in defense.“Look, I haven’t seen any Wardens for months. I travel alone, recruiting. Haven getting burned down lessened the interest, and with no blight, there’s no point conscripting. Treaties let the Wardens take what they need, who they need.”Blackwall lowered his hands and breathed out deeply. His head nodded toward the dead bodies of the bandits. “Those idiots forced this fight, so I conscripted their victims. They had to do what I said, so I told them to stand.”His deep set gaze was fierce behind thick eyebrows. The two horned styling of his beard added to his grim countenance. “Grey Wardens can inspire. Make you better than you think you are. Next time they won’t need me.”“The name Corypheus truly bears no meaning to thee?” Eowyn asked, her tone softer after hearing Blackwall out. The bearded man glared at nothing.“Other than being something I want dead, no. I never heard that name before you said it.”Eowyn believed him. The problem was now they had no leads on the missing Wardens. Perhaps the Nightingale would have a better time getting answers.“My thanks, Warden Blackwall. Mine curiosity hath been sated. For now.” Eowyn folded her gauntleted hands in front of her and held a bland smile. She watched as Blackwall’s eyes flicked to her and her party in confusion. Her abrupt end to the interrogation left him floundering listlessly.“Inquisitor, hold on.” Eowyn didn’t move, but her head tilted slightly and her blue gaze peered at Blackwall expectantly. “With that dragon and er, Cory-”“Corypheus.” Smiled Eowyn.“Yeah. That sounds like an Archdemon, and Wardens kill Archdemons. If this dragon has any connection to the Blight, you need a Warden. If I’m the last, I should help.” Blackwall’s determined glare heartened Eowyn to see, though she already knew her answer.“I shan’t leave here without thee by my side, Warden Blackwall. Thine inspiration to yon peasants moved mine heart. Thou wilt gather forth warriors for mine Inquisition and hone their skills in combat. What say you?”“What? I mean ah, good. I say yes. That’s what I’ve been doing for a long while anyway. Perhaps I’ve been keeping to myself too long, but I need to know what’s going on, just like you. Lead on, Inquisitor.” Blackwall’s mouth moved up behind the thick facial hair, and Eowyn took it as his smile.“Verily, I am certain we shall grow more familiar upon our return to Skyhold, my Warden. I yearn to hear more concerning those treaties thou didst speak of.” Eowyn kept pace with Blackwall and had him answering her list of questions all the way back to camp.–'
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