Dragon Age: Inquisition — Story Playthrough — Part Eight

Haven had fallen.

So many people had died, but many others had escaped thanks to Iselia's bravery. She had met Corypheus and lived; he wanted her dead and she had lived.

Barely.

Sludging through the frozen wastes, alone, she had passed out in the snow, imagining Cullen's voice calling out to her as she collapsed.

It turned out that she hadn't imagined it. She had found her people and Cullen had carried her to the camp, to warmth and safety, and she could recuperate after the ordeal she had experienced.

Now while she rested and tried to regain her strength, Cullen and the others were shouting at one another as they tried to plan a way forward. It was hard to rest under these conditions. Their angry yells were all she could hear.

Mother Giselle sat by her side and offered what little comfort she could. She tried to convince Iselia that the yelling was a good thing. It was a luxury they had all thanks to her actions. They were safe. For now.

Iselia asked Giselle about what she thought of this whole Corypheus thing... he had said that he had walked into the Fade to serve the Old Gods and that the seat of the Maker was empty. Was he one of the old Tevinter Magisters that had started the blights in the first place? Giselle lowered her head. If Corypheus spoke the truth, then he was indeed.

Despondent, Iselia climbed to her feet and looked out upon the camp, watching as the survivors of Haven moped, as her friends and colleagues stormed away from one another and did their own things.

Mother Giselle started singing an old Chantry song to lift their spirits... and soon everyone joined in. The sadness in the air turned to hope.

When the song ended, Solas wandered over and asked to speak with her. Corypheus had been holding an orb... it was elven. He probably thought it was Tevinter since most of the Imperium had been built upon the ashes of Elven magic, but nonetheless, it was elven and he was worried for his people. If word got out that this creature was using elven magic... the elves would be more hated than they already were.

Iselia agreed that that would be awful and they should find a way to protect the elves from any fallout from this situation.

Pleased with her agreeance, Solas mentioned that while he wandered the Fade, he had stumbled upon an old fortress several days to the North of here... it would be perfect for the Inquisition, if she would lead them there.

After several days travel, climbing over several mountains... they soon set eyes upon the fortess Solas spoke of. Skyhold. It was real, and it was theirs.

Over the next few days, the people got settled into Skyhold. It seemed as though it had been built for them. There was even a tower there that would suit the mages. The fortress itself was in a state of disrepair, but they would fix it. It would be their new home.

After a week had passed, Iselia stumbled across her colleagues talking without her. Cassandra beckoned her over while the others went off to do something else.

Cassandra took her for a small walk and said that it was time for the Inquisition to have a leader: the one who had already been leading it. Iselia.

She led Iselia to a small stage that looked over the entrance to Skyhold where Cullen and Josephine had gathered all the people. They all looked up at her, waiting for her move.

She was shocked. They would truly have a mage as their leader?

They would.

Every person on the grounds of the fortress yelled their support of her as their leader, the one to guide them and the Inquisition through whatever trials that awaited them. Soldier, mage, and peasant alike.

In her moment, she proclaimed that she would set an example as a mage and show the world what they could do when allowed to prove themselves.

As everyone got back to their duties, Iselia and her colleagues investigated the fortress and took note of what would need to be repaired. They also needed to work out their next steps. People not of the Inquisition were already starting to hear about this place and some had come on pilgrimage to bear witness to the Inquisition. If ordinary people were hearing about Skyhold, then Corypheus would soon hear of it too.

They would need to be prepared.

Varric took that moment to waltz in and tell them that perhaps he may have already known of Corypheus and perhaps he had a "friend" who had dealt with him before. He could arrange for Iselia to meet her, but it would have to be done quietly... she wouldn't want to be seen so publically.

As he turned away and walked out of the keep, Leliana sighed... she muttered beneath her breath that if Varric had brought Lyria Hawke to them, after all this time of keeping her hidden, Cassandra was going to absolutely murder him.

Before finding Varric and his "friend," Iselia wandered about her new fortress and explored every nook and cranny. A forge had been set up in the Undercroft, a new War Room and Ambassador's room had been set up, everyone had seemed to have found an area to call their own.

Josephine suggested that they try to work with Orlais. It was possible that Corypheus' next move was to remove the Empress and conquer Orlais before anything else, as that was the only power in Tevinter's path. The Empress would be holding a banquet in coming weeks and Josephine wanted the Inquisition to have an invitation. To do that, they needed to make more of a name for themselves in Orlais rather than in Ferelden.

Dorian seemed a bit upset. All of his life he had believed that the tales of Magisters going into the Fade and corrupting the seat of the Maker and starting the blights that ruined the world were just that: tales. With Corypheus' existence... it was all true. It was hard to wrap his head around.

His homeland, the Tevinter Imperium, truly had destroyed the world.

While most people had settled in nicely to their new Skyhold fortress, they were still hurting after what had happened in Haven. It would take a while for people to feel at ease again.

After checking the ramparts with Blackwall and admiring the solid defenses they now had, Iselia found Varric... and Lyria Hawke.

Iselia learned all about Lyria's discovery of Corypheus. How he had been controlling Grey Wardens to find and release him, that she had almost lost Anders to him because of the darkspawn call Corypheus sung out to all tainted.

If Corypheus was here now, and he had affected Wardens before, and the Wardens had gone silent... Lyria sighed. It could all be connected. She had a Warden contact named Alistair that she had been corresponding with since everything that had happened in Kirkwall. He had been investigating corruption in the Grey Warden ranks and could possibly tell them more.

Varric said that Corypheus definitely sounded like a corruption in the Grey Warden ranks, then took his leave so Iselia and Lyria could speak alone.

Mostly Iselia was curious about Anders, the mage who had started all of this... and Lyria told her that Varric had spoken highly of her and the Inquisition. Varric had said that if anyone had a chance of fixing Anders' mess, it was them.

The sound of furniture being thrown around made Iselia bid Lyria goodbye. Downstairs Cassandra was hurling chairs at Varric and was yelling at him for hiding Hawke from her.

He in turn yelled that she had kidnapped him, interrogated him, of course he was going to hide his best friends away from her clutches. Iselia stepped in and forced Cassandra to cool herself, effectively taking Varric's side in this argument.

Cassandra said that they weren't trying to capture Hawke, they had wanted her to lead this Inquisition. They had known it was inevitable and they wanted a capable leader. Caelyra, the Hero of Ferelden couldn't be found, and then Hawke couldn't be found. If Hawke was there, they could've saved the Divine! It was all Varric's fault.

Varric left the room. Talking over his shoulder, he said that if Hawke had been with them at the Conclave, she would've just died too. Cassandra and all the people she represented had done enough to the poor woman.

The argument over, Iselia checked in with Cassandra and soothed her emotions, then check in with Varric and soothed his too. Varric in particular was rather saddened by all of this — he considered it his fault. He was the one who had led Hawke to the old Warden prison, and then they had obviously failed to kill Corypheus... maybe the Wardens had imprisoned him there because he could not be killed.

It was a dire thought. Iselia left Varric to his own musings and continued about the keep.

She came across Cullen working on the guard rotation that would protect their new fortress. If Corypheus struck at them again, they would be ready... he would not allow Skyhold suffer the same fate as Haven.

Iselia was glad that Cullen had made it out, that they had all made it out. He all but admitted that he had been torn, he had turned around as they had left to see her face the monsters head on, and had been frightened to have lost her. He was glad that she had survived.

Looking her dead in the eye, he swore that that he would not allow those events to ever occur again. She had his word.

Another argument started just beside them, so smiling at Cullen, she rolled her eyes and nodded at the commotion, then wandered over. This time it was Solas and Vivienne arguing... over Cole, the young man who had arrived to help them at Haven.

Apparently he was a spirit and Vivienne wanted the demon gone. Solas said that Cole was no demon, but a spirit, and he was helping them and should be allowed to continue helping them.

Iselia went over to Cole to speak with him and determine what he was for herself.

She witnessed as he hovered over the injured, sick and dying and emphasised with them and helped them whether it was a drink of water, a memory, or a sympathetic knife to the heart.

He was a spirit, not a demon, and he was trying to do good. She would allow him to stay. Much to the chagrin of Vivienne.

Heading to the War Room with her advisors, Iselia inspected the board and made a few decisions for their next moves. They sent out scouts to search for the Warden Hawke had spoken of, Alistair, and bade her forces investigate a few other matters that had been brought to their attention. They also hired an Arcanist who would be adept at enchanting their gear.

There were still other matters that Iselia needed to attend to. Before Haven had fallen, they were missing soldiers that needed to be found, now they had to find this Warden and also try and get Orlais and the Empress on-side.

If Iselia had thought she was busy before, she was even busier now.

 

Until next time! 🐲⚔️

 

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_{All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, @kaelci and are from the game: Dragon Age: Inquisition.}