Dragon Age: Inquisition — Story Playthrough — Part Five
After speaking with the mages of Redcliffe, Iselia had discovered that they had turned to Tevinter for help. Now they were enslaved by a Magister Alexius who was, allegedly, part of a secret cult called the Venator whose sole purpose was to capture her, the Herald of Andraste. He was also messing around with a strange time magic that was only going to get worse and worse the longer it carried on.
She had asked Leliana to discover more of the situation, for the time being though, she had promised to see what a mercenary outfit could do for the Inquisition and so it was off to the Storm Coast.
Apparently there were some Grey Warden sightings on the Storm Coast and Leliana really wanted more information as to what they were doing. So Iselia would go to the Coast, check out these mercenaries, and look for Grey Warden activity.
Before heading off, Iselia visited the smithy and had some new armour and weapons crafted for herself with all the materials she had gathered over the past few days.
This would do very nicely... for the time being.
When they arrived at the Storm Coast, Scout Harding was already waiting for them. Apparently some of her scouts had gone missing while investigating the Storm Coast... they had been taken by bandits just along the beach. Iselia would have to get the men back and take care of the bandits.
They had been sent there originally by Leliana to search for the Grey Wardens. They hadn't really had the chance to look for them yet considering most of the men had been taken, but Iselia would get on to that too, after checking out the mercenary company.
They followed the sound of fighting and came across the mercenaries just below where Scout Harding had set up the first camp.
There a qunari fought alongside several men and defeated a group of Tevinters who had taken ashore. They were good fighters indeed and the Inquisition would be better for having them, she decided.
She learnt that the qunari was Iron Bull and he was part of the qunari spy network. He openly admitted that he had been sent to become a part of the Inquisition and gain intelligence to send back to the Qun. The qunari were concerned that the world was ending and if they should come march and be the ones to fix it... Iron Bull was to put them at ease.
While he was a spy for the qunari, there were other qunari spies that were gathering other information — information that he could offer the Inquisition to better their chances.
Iselia was impressed with his openness and forthcomingness and allowed them to join the Inquisition. It was for the greater good.
With that sorted, Iselia begun the search for the bandits who had taken her men. She soon found their encampment and made them pay for what they had done to her people.
Before reporting back to Haven, Iselia thought that she would scout the Coast herself and find any good camping spots for the Inquisition to increase their reach in this region.
On the way, they came across a giant fighting a dragon and they watched in awe as the two creatures battled.
The dragon soon flew away though, leaving the giant to sniff them out and start attacking.
They avoided the boulders it threw at them and attacked with all their might... until finally the giant lay dead and they could continue scouting the Coast.
There weren't that many good spots to camp in this region, but Iselia discovered two spots that would serve well and would make it easier for them to traverse this place further at a later date. For now they needed to get back to Haven, make sure Iron Bull and his men were settling in, get those horses from the horsemaster and see if Leliana had discovered anything more about the Tevinters at Redcliffe.
Iron Bull and his mercs, the Chargers, seemed to be settling in all right and many of Haven's residence were very impressed with their acquisition. They were good fighters, had a lot of coin to spend at the shops and tavern, and they had a wealth of knowledge to share.
Iron Bull however was a little confused as to one thing of the Inquisition. Just who was in charge? There was no Inquisitor leading them. Iselia shrugged. She, Cullen, Josephine, Cassandra and Leliana worked together as a team and it all seemed to be going swimmingly so far.
Iron Bull didn't think that would last much longer. There would need to be an Inquisitor to spearhead their movement. They should work out who was in charge soon.
Back in the Hinterlands, they found the wolves that were harrassing the farmers and took care of them, then reported to the horsemaster that the wolves had been taken care of and their commander had built watchtowers in the area to look out for bandits and raiders.
The horsemaster was pleased and thanked them profusely, and at last allowed them his horses. He'd send them to Haven immediately.
A scout suddenly came across Iselia and told her Leliana wished to speak with her.
In Haven, correspondence had been received from Magister Alexius at Redcliffe. He wished to speak with Iselia to negotiate the use of his newly acquired mages in repairing the breach. He asked Iselia to come, alone.
It was obviously a trap, but they could not ignore the Tevinter threat. They were a foreign power, in one of Ferelden's most fortified cities, and they had taken control of the mages. He was also practicing time magic and was part of a cult that wanted her. They needed to deal with him, somehow.
Cullen was most vocally against the idea of sending Iselia to Redcliffe into this trap. But Leliana knew a secret way into the castle from her time with the Hero of Ferelden, and suggested that they could sneak in and take care of any threats whilst Iselia went to speak with the Magister.
They would have the upper hand.
Cullen reluctantly agreed but told Iselia she didn't have to do this. Yes, she did. She refused to leave the mages in Tevinter hands. This whole situation needed to be dealt with.
Iselia took Varric and Blackwall with her to meet with Alexius, despite being told to come alone. Dorian waited on the sidelines ready to make his appearance as necessary and Leliana took her people through the secret entrance. Hopefully this would all go well. The faster they removed Alexius from power, the faster they could get to work on fixing the breach in the sky.
They arrived at the castle and entered the throne room, and spoke to Alexius, stalling a little to allow Leliana some time.
After some time had passed, Alexius asked her what she wanted to trade in order to use his mages. She told him, "Nothing." And smiled.
Leliana's people jumped out of the shadows and took down every guard in the room, then Felix and Dorian appeared. Felix told Alexius that he had told Iselia everything and could he just stop? He could stop working for the Venatori, leave the mages here to fix the breach, and just go home.
Alexius would have none of it and Iselia found out just why.
The mark that made her the "Herald of Andraste" was a magic stolen from the Elder One, the figure the Venatori worshipped. They needed it back. Iselia bristled. Were they the ones who had killed the Divine and ruined the world? Alexius said that it was necessary. Soon the Elder One would be their new God! Once Iselia had been dealt with and the mark returned to its rightful owner. The Elder One could heal Felix too — he wouldn't die!
Alexius whipped out a glowing amulet and before they could react, he imbued it with magic.
Dorian shouted and tried to stop the magic, but it was too late; a green swirl opened in the centre of the room and she and Dorian were sucked into it...
Until next time! 🐲⚔️