It had been a year since Lyria, Carver, their mother, and Aveline had first stepped foot in Kirkwall after escaping the darkspawn and Blight in Ferelden.
News from across the seas said that the Blight had been defeated! But that didn't matter: Kirkwall was their home now. They had finished paying off their indentured debt to Athenril the smuggler and now they were on their own.
With the Blight over that meant the dwarven deep roads were less occupied with darkspawn, so a couple of surface dwarves were gathering up merceneries for an expedition into the roads to go loot some old thaigs while it was relatively safe.
Unfortunately, the leader of this expedition, Bartrand, had enough mercs and didn't want to hear anything from Lyria or Carver's mouths. They desperately wanted to go on this expedition and earn some significant coin, but it looked like it was going to be a bust...
Bartrand stalked away, unwilling to hear anything else they had to say, and Carver turned on Lyria. Now what were they going to do? They needed the coin to continue hiding from the templars that Lyria's magic would bring down on them. They had to do something before someone turned them in!
Suddenly a cutpurse brushed against Lyria and ran for it. He was too quick for Lyria to react to, apart from a half-strangled, "Hey!"
Luckily, a dwarf shot the cutpurse with a crossbow and stapled him to a wall while he retrieved Lyria's coinpurse. He then punched the cutpurse in the face, yanked the bolt from his shoulder, and demanded he get the hell out of Hightown.
With that sorted, the dwarf introduced himself to Lyria and Carver. He was Varric, brother to Bartrand, and had heard a lot of stories about Lyria over the past year as she earned her keep with the smugglers.
He said that despite what his brother thought, he believed they needed someone like Lyria on the expedition but since they didn't need anymore swordhands, perhaps they could join the expedition by becoming a partner to fund it.
It would cost around 50 gold to become a joint partner with Bartrand's expedition. That was money they definitely did not have — after all, if they had the money they wouldn't need to go on the expedition at all.
Apparently Varric knew people, and Carver reminded Lyria that Aveline had joined the city guard and maybe there were some bounties up. With those two avenues surely they would be able to save enough gold to buy into the expedition... whatever they found down in the deep roads could literally set them up for the rest of their lives.
Lyria had no other ideas, so she agreed to try and buy in to the expedition. What did they have to lose?
First things first, they were currently in Hightown which was where Aveline stayed in the barracks. So they hastened to see her and to find out if there were any bounties going at the moment. That would be some easy coin!
Aveline didn't know of any bounties and her Kirkwall counterparts weren't too pleased with her in their guard circle, being she was a Ferelden. But, thanks to keeping her ears on the ground she did know of a possible caravan attack that night. It wasn't her patrol but she didn't care. She knew about it and she would stop it. Would Lyria join her? Absolutely!
Lyria and Carver headed home to prepare for the caravan ambush that night. When they came through the front door, however, their mother and Gamlen were arguing — worse than normal.
Their mother was still livid that Gamlen had sold their estate. They should be nobility, but instead they were down here in Lowtown and her children had just come out of a year of indentured servitude. That was not how things were supposed to be.
She then suggested that perhaps she could talk with the people who had bought the estate. She just wanted to see the will that their father had left them. Gamlen fobbed her off and nothing was resolved.
When the two had left the room, Lyria spoke to Carver. Apparently their mother had given Carver a key to the old estate so they could sneak in and possibly find the will, still locked away in a safe. Carver wasn't sure there was any point, though. The estate's cellar now belonged to criminals. At least, that's what Gamlen had told him.
Lyria convinced him to do some good and use the key, perhaps they could find the will for their mother. Sneak in and out before anyone even noticed.
Carver finally agreed, but they had more important things to think about at the moment. Like finding work to earn enough coin to buy in to the expedition. And deal with a caravan raid that night. Alleged caravan raid.
Varric had said that he knew people who might need some work done, so they trundled over to The Hanged Man — the local tavern — to get some more information from the dwarf.
While they were in the tavern, chatter was loud and full of gossip about Ferelden and the defeated blight. Drunken gossip. Like just what made a hero anyway? And several drunken sods reckoned that they could kill an archdemon. Sure they could.
Meeting up with Varric, they discussed his plan. He didn't currently know anyone requiring their expertise and who would pay them gold, but he had heard that a Grey Warden had recently arrived in Kirkwall and he could be useful. Grey Wardens knew the deep roads and he may know of a good entrance, a safe entrance, that could lead them to the thaig they were after. A woman who had been helping the Fereldens — Lirene — could tell them where he was!
That was all well and good, but Lyria didn't even know if she would be able to fund this expedition yet. She needed more coin before she would go galivanting around looking for something she might not have a say in.
As they left the tavern, however, Varric waved them over to a door. It was Lirene's.
Ugh, Lyria sighed. Fine. Since they were already there.
The building was packed with other Fereldens, all of them seeking aid from Lirene. Some hadn't eaten in days. Others yelled that they needed the healer. One woman was going to give birth any minute now and needed the healer by her side.
Despite not having much coin, Lyria donated a gold coin to the Ferelden donation box then asked Lirene about the Grey Warden. Apparently his name was Anders and he was a mage, and she was protecting him from the cursed templars. If Lyria really wanted to find him he would be in Darktown.
Leaving Lirene's establishment, they were set upon by another group of Fereldens. The men had heard Lyria asking questions about the healer and were prepared to die to protect him.
Carver quickly intervened and told the men off. That they shouldn't pick fights with other Fereldens when the templars were after them all. He gave Lyria a glare.
The men suddenly changed their tune. They hadn't realised Lyria's group were also Fereldens, and after blessing the reign of Queen Anora they were allowed to continue onwards.
Since this healer was located in Darktown, and that was also the location of the hidden entrance to their mother's old estate, Lyria thought they'd kill two birds with one stone and make their way down there before night fell upon them. There was still plenty of time before the caravan ambush.
Within moments of stepping into Darktown, they were attacked by thugs and coterie rogues. The Coterie were the main players in the underworld and Lyria had actively opposed them whilst under Athenril's employ — it was no surprise they'd choose to attack them.
With the thugs dispersed and several dead, Lyria and her group weaved through Darktown until they found a single lantern beside a door. They opened it, and inside a man weaved healing magic around a young boy near death upon a table.
Several minutes passed then the boy woke, looking perfectly healthy, and hugged his mother. He had been healed.
Anders suddenly whipped around and entered a defensive posture as he faced Lyria. He asked her what she wanted and why was she threatening this place of tranquility and salvation?
She explained that she was no threat, but was seeking the Grey Warden mage. Any information he might have about the deep roads in these parts would be very welcome and could save lives.
After bad mouthing the wardens and complaining that the bastards had made him get rid of his cat, Anders said that he might be able to help, but for a price.
He had a friend in the Mage Circle here in Kirkwall who had been writing him several letters. Each letter more dire than the last, until he had stopped receiving any letters at all. The templars of the Circle here were power hungry and the Knight-Commander had turned the place into a prison. More and more mages were being forced to become tranquil and he needed to save his friend before it was too late.
Anders had written him one last time, stating that he would be rescuing him, tonight, but it was possible the letter had been seen by unintended eyes. It would be dangerous. But please, would Lyria help him? He would tell everything he knew about the deep roads and even give her a map of the region.
There was already a caravan ambush to deal with this evening, but the times did not clash with Anders' planned rescue. Lyria promised to help — she would help any of her fellow mages!
Carver was less than pleased. They were risking the wrath of a lot of templars! He hoped that Lyria knew what she was doing. She didn't. But she'd do it anyway!
With some time to spare before nightfall, they at last crept in to the old family estate using the key their mother had given them and prepared to investigate. The will was still here, somewhere, locked away in the vault, and they needed to find it and see what was really written in it.
The cellar was full of slavers guarding the area, preparing for another shipment of poor sods. Even if they couldn't find the will, Lyria was happy to be removing these despicable people from existence.
Soon they came into a larger area where a mage crossed the floor. He was the leader of this group of slavers and he demanded to know if Gamlen had sent them. The fool!
Before Lyria could say anything, he attacked... a stupid decision, for he was soon dead.
With the slavers dead, it was much easier to investigate the under-area of the estate, and it didn't take long to find the vault and the safe inside. The key opened it without a fuss and there it was... their grandfather's will.
Lyria skimmed over it, her eyes widening with every word she read, then thrust it at Carver. Gamlen had lied, substantially, about a lot of things.
They needed to get back to Gamlen's and show this to their mother as fast as they could.
Until next time! 😊🐲⚔️