And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

[thespaceopera]

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[steeledskin]

I recall. [ a small, understanding smile. it had sounded like a perfect tale. ] Was it not the end of the story, my lady?

Be prepared for walla of text ajdbsjs

[bryces_pup]

Of the overarching tale? No, it wasn't. But for this particular tale? It was the end. More precisely, it was the goal of the tale I am going to tell you.

[She takes a breath before she starts.]

You see, in order for us to confront Loghain, we needed the aid of a man named Arl Eamon. He is the Arl of Redcliffe and an influential noble in Ferelden. He was the uncle of the late king, and... "raised" the man who would become king next.

[There's a slight sneer in her voice. Riona is not Eamon's biggest fan.]

We went to his home to enlist his help. [And a ton of stuff happened that she won't get into. That's a whole other story.] We discovered he had been poisoned and fallen into a slumber that no known cure could bring him back from. His wife had sent knights to find the Sacred Ashes. They are said to be the ashes of Andraste, a prophet who existed a thousand years ago and brought the word of the Maker to Thedas. Legend said that her ashes could cure any ailment, so we had no choice but to go and try and find them for ourselves.

[steeledskin]

And, my lady, have ashes to do with dragons? [ unless it's the dragon who burned this prophet. and that she could very well believe. ]

[bryces_pup]

Ah ah, we'll get there.

[She wags her finger playfully before continuing.]

A scholar by the name of Brother Genitivi had found the location of the ashes, but he had gone missing. We tracked him down to a village called Haven. The town had been cut off from the rest of the world for centuries, and thus did not take kindly to outsiders. When we told them we were going to find the ashes, they reacted... poorly. [Grimace.] They attacked.

We had to fight off well over a dozen of the villagers, including their spiritual leader. But we did find Brother Genitivi, though he was in poor shape. After we patched him up, he led us to an old ruined temple in the mountains... filled with more angry villagers. He stayed behind while we were forced to fight our way through. The villagers were fanatical, but we couldn't understand why. They simply did not want us getting to the ashes.

[She takes a breath.] The dragon is coming soon. Promise. The temple led into a series of caverns that wound their way up through the mountain. We ran into several dragonlings and drakes - male dragons that are much, much smaller than their female counterparts. Their presence typically indicates that a high dragon is nearby or at least lives nearby. Very odd, considering humans were also in those caverns and there were no signs of humans being munched on by them.

We discovered the truth when a leader of the villagers - Kolgrim, I think his name was - confronted us as we were leaving the caverns. Apparently, the villagers had taken up worshiping the local high dragon, believing she was Andraste reborn. The leader beseeched me to pour some of the dragon's blood into the ashes. For some bizarre reason, they thought if that happened, Andraste would be released and be allowed to assume her true form, or some such nonsense. I said no. They got mad, and they attacked.

[Rinse and repeat.]

After that battle, we finally emerged from the caverns. There was a slope that went down, and then rose up again, leading to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. And sitting above said temple was a sleeping dragon.