[It seemed such a silly little thing for Hawke not to know about him when he apparently knew a lot of big things, it made him wonder, for the first time, what Hawke's Anders hadn't told him.]
During one of my earlier escapes, I'd helped a nobleman in need and he'd been very grateful. He'd tried to gift me an amulet to show I had his favor, but I wasn't allowed to keep it when I was recaptured. Still, I hoped maybe he'd remember me despite the years, so I went to his estate after I lost the templars on my tail. Had it not been for the chaos the tower suffered and the templars being called back to help with the situation, I'm sure they would have caught me by the time I'd gotten to the Lord's estate.
But they didn't and when I got there, it was very nearly deserted. The whole family had been called to Denerim both for the Landsmeet and for the war, but some of the servants remembered me and allowed me to lay low in exchange for some help for a little while. I stayed there about a week, but the blight and darkspawn were spreading quickly and the lands weren't safe anymore. The estate was abandoned and I went with the remaining people to Denerim; safety in numbers and all of that. I stayed in Denerim for nearly a month, but I heard the Landsmeet was approaching quickly and it's not wise for an apostate to stand on the capitol's streets when there were bound to be plenty of nobility and chantry Templars along with the city guard, so I went north from there to Amaranthine.
Better I did, too, because the battle against the Archdemon apparently happened over Fort Drakon in Denerim proper. That would have been a nasty end. I was hoping to buy passage to Kirkwall, but there were a lot of refugees fleeing then because of the blight and it wasn't easy to find room, much less the coin to do it when I had nothing to my name. So I tried working where I could and when people would take me for whatever coin I could scrape together. The blight ended and things calmed down, saving up actually started to pay off.
[He looks down at the counter, one long finger tracing the wood's pattern slightly. The smirk that flicked across his face lacked it's usual humor or charm.]
It all seemed like it was coming together, actually. I'd learned some phylacteries had been stored in the city during the blight and there was a good chance mine was among them. I had an opportunity to try and find it and break it once and for all, so I bought my passage to Kirkwall and went to find it so I'd finally be free.
of course the blighted Templars found me that night. I never got on that boat of even got to see if the phylacteries were there. They probably weren't, I learned later they'd been moved at some point, it might have already happened by then. I don't know.
They dragged me off to Vigil's Keep just in time for the darkspawn to attack the resident Wardens and the rest is history. [That smirk widened into a sharp smile.] You know, listed like that, my life sounds like a never-ending streak of hilariously terrible luck, doesn't it? At least until the Commander.
[He sat up a little more and waved a bit at the air as though he could brush away his own melancholy.]
Better than others, though, so I shouldn't complain. The templars have ruined other mage's lives far more thoroughly than mine and continue to do it day in and day out, at least I'm free now. And alive! Alive is good, some mages don't even get that far, of course.
no subject
Here and there.
[It seemed such a silly little thing for Hawke not to know about him when he apparently knew a lot of big things, it made him wonder, for the first time, what Hawke's Anders hadn't told him.]
During one of my earlier escapes, I'd helped a nobleman in need and he'd been very grateful. He'd tried to gift me an amulet to show I had his favor, but I wasn't allowed to keep it when I was recaptured. Still, I hoped maybe he'd remember me despite the years, so I went to his estate after I lost the templars on my tail. Had it not been for the chaos the tower suffered and the templars being called back to help with the situation, I'm sure they would have caught me by the time I'd gotten to the Lord's estate.
But they didn't and when I got there, it was very nearly deserted. The whole family had been called to Denerim both for the Landsmeet and for the war, but some of the servants remembered me and allowed me to lay low in exchange for some help for a little while. I stayed there about a week, but the blight and darkspawn were spreading quickly and the lands weren't safe anymore. The estate was abandoned and I went with the remaining people to Denerim; safety in numbers and all of that. I stayed in Denerim for nearly a month, but I heard the Landsmeet was approaching quickly and it's not wise for an apostate to stand on the capitol's streets when there were bound to be plenty of nobility and chantry Templars along with the city guard, so I went north from there to Amaranthine.
Better I did, too, because the battle against the Archdemon apparently happened over Fort Drakon in Denerim proper. That would have been a nasty end. I was hoping to buy passage to Kirkwall, but there were a lot of refugees fleeing then because of the blight and it wasn't easy to find room, much less the coin to do it when I had nothing to my name. So I tried working where I could and when people would take me for whatever coin I could scrape together. The blight ended and things calmed down, saving up actually started to pay off.
[He looks down at the counter, one long finger tracing the wood's pattern slightly. The smirk that flicked across his face lacked it's usual humor or charm.]
It all seemed like it was coming together, actually. I'd learned some phylacteries had been stored in the city during the blight and there was a good chance mine was among them. I had an opportunity to try and find it and break it once and for all, so I bought my passage to Kirkwall and went to find it so I'd finally be free.
of course the blighted Templars found me that night. I never got on that boat of even got to see if the phylacteries were there. They probably weren't, I learned later they'd been moved at some point, it might have already happened by then. I don't know.
They dragged me off to Vigil's Keep just in time for the darkspawn to attack the resident Wardens and the rest is history. [That smirk widened into a sharp smile.] You know, listed like that, my life sounds like a never-ending streak of hilariously terrible luck, doesn't it? At least until the Commander.
[He sat up a little more and waved a bit at the air as though he could brush away his own melancholy.]
Better than others, though, so I shouldn't complain. The templars have ruined other mage's lives far more thoroughly than mine and continue to do it day in and day out, at least I'm free now. And alive! Alive is good, some mages don't even get that far, of course.