Kitranna awoke to someone speaking to her.
“So you are the Commander of the Gray Wardens,” it was the enormous man from before, his voice was soft, strangely muffled. His hands were long and clawed. “Do not be frightened.”
She tried to open her mouth, and tell him she wasn’t frightened of a jumped-up darkspawn, but nothing moved.
“Your injuries have been tended to.” he tilted his head to the side, and Kitranna felt a surge of magic pulse through the Fade. “I apologize for what I must do,” he said, and he sounded genuinely contrite. “I did not wish to be your enemy.”
He certainly didn’t, she tried to say, but her limbs were heavy and her mouth wouldn’t work. Her thoughts felt sluggish, and it seemed she should have been more concerned about that than she was.
He paused, considering her for a moment. “Now is not the time for this,” he said. “Sleep.”
Kitranna truly awoke in a prison cell. Her companions were just waking up as well, everyone with bleary eyes and confused expressions.
None of them had their weapons or armor.
Velanna looked around, and upon spotting someone just outside of the cell, she jumped to her feet.
“Seranni!” Velanna rushed to the bars of the cell and reached out for her sister. “What have they done to you?”
Seranni took Velanna’s hands as the others crowded around Velanna, eager to hear any explanation Seranni might give.
“They haven’t done anything to me,” Seranni assured her sister. “I’m fine—it’s not me he wants.”
“What do you mean?” Kitranna asked.
“I have to get you out before something bad happens,” Seranni said. She glanced over her shoulder, towards the door of the dungeons. “The darkspawn have your things—you can get them back if you’re quick, but you have to get out of the mines."
“Seranni—what about you?” Velanna said, gripping Seranni’s hands tighter. “Let us out, and I can take you home!”
Seranna tugged her hands out of Velanna’s grasp and began to work on the lock of the cage. “You have to run,” she told the Wardens. As soon as the door swung open, Seranni bolted.
“Seranni--!” Velanna cried. “Wait--!” she began to chase after her sister, but Kitranna grabbed her arm.
“Don’t,” she said.
“What?” Velanna snarled. “Why not? You do not command me!”
“Don’t get yourself lost down here,” Kitranna snapped. “She’ll be fine—she knows the place. We need to get our things and get out of here.”
Velanna growled and yanked out of Kitranna’s hold, but didn’t chase after her sister. “Fine,” she snapped. “But we will find her later.”
“Sure,” Kitranna said. “But now, we have to get out of here.” she growled to herself and the group began to move. Velanna, Anders, Kitranna and Justice could all give them some form of magical protection, but they were frighteningly vulnerable without their armor and weapons.
They did find their things later—oddly , some of the darkspawn had taken them. Even more peculiar, some of the darkspawn had taken and worn their armor, which fitted them just fine. This was very, very strange in the case of Nathaniel, Kitranna and Velanna, who all had clothing custom made for them, and therefore their gear shouldn’t have fit random ghouls or darkspawn.
With some luck, they managed to kill the darkspawn and take their possessions back. The mines were a maze, however, filled with more darkspawn and peculiar experiments and chemicals.
Finally, they reached an enormous chamber. On a ledge on one of the high walls, the huge man stood, flanked by a dwarf with a Casteless brand on her cheek and Seranni herself.
“Seranni!” Velanna cried, spotting her.
Seranni glanced at Velanna then put a hand on the man’s arm. The man tilted his strangely-shaped head to her, and they had a silent exchange.
Kitranna stepped forward.
“Want to tell us what’s going on?” she said, tapping the handle of her sword with extreme menace.
"Seranni..." Velanna said, stepping forward.
The man exchanged a look with his companions, and none of them said anything. “Anything?" Kitranna said, hands outstretched. "Was there any point to any of this? The darkspawn killing the Dalish? Anything?"
The man pursed his lips, there was another series of looks, and then they just turned and...left.
"Seranni!" Velanna called. “Wait!”
The man brought down the mine behind him, Seranni, and the dwarrowdam, so they could not be followed. Kitranna and the others were forced to make their way out of the mine with no answers or explanation.
“Well,” Kitranna said, putting her hands on her hips. “What a colossal waste of my time.”
“Why wouldn’t Seranni come with me?” Velanna wondered, wringing her hands. “This makes no sense…”
“Maybe the darkspawn did something to her,” Sigrun suggested gently. “I mean—who knows what the talking ones can do, right?”
“Why did she free us if she was just going to go with the darkspawn anyways?” Nathaniel asked, his brow furrowed. “That makes no sense.”
“It doesn’t,” Kitranna agreed.
“Not unless the darkspawn already got what they wanted from us,” Anders said with a slight frown.
“What could they possibly want?” Kitranna demanded. “Apart from all out things?” she fingered the handle of her blade in a protective way.
“Since when do the darkspawn go for outright stealing?” Sigrun asked. “They’ve never done that before. And did you see the size of that—darkspawn—man--thing?”
Kitranna sighed. “Never seen anything like that before.”
Sigrun shuddered. “I haven’t either.”
“We need to keep moving,” Kitranna said. “I need to get to Amaranthine and then we need to head back to Vigil’s Keep—Velanna, what are you going to do?”
“She could be a Warden,” Sigrun suggested. “We need more people, don’t we?’
“A Warden?” Velanna said.
“She should not be a Warden,” Justice rumbled, disapproving. “That would not be just.”
Velanna snorted. “As if you would know a thing about it, spirit,” she grumbled. Kitranna appraised Velanna.
“You could be with us,” Kitranna said thoughtfully. “Darkspawn haven’t killed you yet.”
“Commander--” Justice said.
“Lots of criminals join the Wardens,” Sigrun pointed out to the spirit.
Justice paused. “Yes,” he agreed. “This body knows of some—but it is not just.”
“Would it kill you to stop banging on about just?” Kitranna asked. She hummed. “Would you want to join us?” she asked Velanna. “I bet we could help you find Seranni.”
Velanna thought about that. “I have no more Clan—no more friends,” she said. “Ilshae will never take me back—too weak-willed, too cowardly—and I do not know if I could find Seranni without help.” she nodded. “If you will have me, i will join your Wardens.”
“Alright, great. Nice to have you aboard,” Kitranna said.
The travel to Amaranthine was frustrating, Kitranna in a bad mood, and Velanna generally grumpy. Everyone else was feeling offset by the behavior of the darkspawn, and everyone was jumpy and unhappy to several degrees.
Velanna didn’t get along with most of them, though Sigrun and Nathaniel both made an effort to be polite to her. Justice didn’t like her and Velanna didn’t appreciate Anders’ and Oghren’s senses of humor in the slightest.
Sigrun, apart from being friendly, seemed to actually get on alright with Velanna.
“You’re the first elf I’ve ever met,” Sigrun told her one day. “Well—second, after the Commander. But she’s not Dalish so I’m sure it’s different.”
“She is from a Circle. Of course she and I are different.” Velanna said in response.
“Do you feel honored?”
“What?”
“That you’re the first Dalish elf I’ve ever met. You’ll shape my opinion of your entire people.”
“Oh—thank you. I needed more anxiety." Velanna sneered.
Sigrun smiled at Velanna. “Glad to help!”
There was a pause, and then “How did you come to be a part of Surana’s band?” Velanna asked. “You are no surfacer dwarf—you were born in Orzammar.”
“She rescued me from darkspawn,” Sigrun explained. Her face fell. “We—my contingent, with the Legion, we ran right into practically a whole Horde of them in Kal’hirol. They killed the rest, and I ran—I almost got out, to the surface, but they caught me and would’ve killed me but for the Commander.”
“I helped too, y’know,” Anders said. He’d clearly been listening to them. “About half of your bones were broken.”
“Don’t listen in on private conversations,” Velanna snapped. Anders raised his hands and sighed heavily.
“Fine, fine--!”
“So—your Legion is dead, then.” Velanna said, very deliberately turning her back on Anders.
Sigrun nodded. “Not everyone. Just the ones I was with.”
“I suppose we have that in common, then.” Velanna didn’t sound happy to have anything in common with anyone.
“Yeah…” Sigrun said with a shrug. “I’m sorry. Your friends--you knew them well?’
“My whole life. I grew up with them.”
“Oh—maybe that’s worse.” Sigrun frowned. “I only knew the Legion for a few years.”
“They chose to come with me,” velanna said. “It is my fault. I lead them into that darkspawn-infested midden.” she scowled. “The darkspawn are not your fault. You were simply overwhelmed. It is different.”
“I used to wish I could just get away from all of them,” Sigrun said. “The Legion, I mean. Now they're gone and I just want them back.” she looked down at the ground. “Silly, isn't it?”
“No,” Velanna said. “No, it isn’t.”
“The Commander says I should just forget about them,” Sigrun confided. “But I don't think I can.”
Velanna glanced in Kitranna's direction, her lips pursed. “I could not tell you a better way,” she said. “I think there must be a better one, though.”
“Yeah,” Sigrun glanced up at Velanna with a slight smile. “Yeah, I bet there is.”
Velanna flushed and looked away.