Varric Tethras is a fraud, a cheat, and a very skilled liar, as writers are wont to be.
There was a story that Varric Tethras told Cassandra Pentaghast, a tale of Abigail Hawke and her journey to becoming the Champion of Kirkwall. The tale was romantic, thrilling, full of heroic maidens and dastardly villains, but it was in no way accurate.
The woman who was to be the Champion of Kirkwall arrived in the city with her family. Her brother and sister, Carver and Bethany, her mother, Leandra and the newest addition of Aveline Vallen. They fled Lothering when the darkspawn attacked, and would have been lost in the wilderness were it not for the assistance of an elderly apostate. They came over from Gwaren at the height of the Blight, when Kirkwall was so afeared of the Blight that they cut the city off from everyone but the most reputable of traders. Only people with money or goods could get in, and refugees such as the Hawkes had neither.
Leandra was born to the noble house of Amell, which might have given them some leverage at one time, but the Amell name was not worth much anymore. A mage in the Amell family and Gamlen Amell’s habits and ill-use of his fortune had lost the family its noble title. The fact that Bethany and Abigail were apostate mages would have meant that appealing directly to an administrative authority was out of the question, for fear of getting Templars involved. All of that meant that the Hawkes were having a great deal of trouble getting into Kirkwall.
Gamlen, however, still had enough contacts with the local smuggling gangs that meant with some effort, he could get the family into the city. To pay back the cost, Carver, Bethany and Abigail could be hired under Athenril, the leader of the smugglers. Aveline offered her services as well, not much liking being in debt to smugglers. As she was only one woman and technically not part of the Hawke family, however, her debt was lower, and she only had to work for Athenril for three months instead of a year.
It was a neat solution for one problem, but the problems did not end simply because they succeeded at getting into the city.
Gamlen had managed to gamble away the entire family estate, down to every last candleholder and curtain in the Amell mansion. The Hawkes and Aveline crammed themselves into Gamlen's tiny Lowtown slum, a fact which Gamlen complained about at length.
After about a month in the service of the smuggler Athenril, Abigail managed to talk Athenril into letting Carver and Bethany off the hook for debt repayment. Abigail was the best suited to smuggling, better with people and better with violence than either Carver or Bethany.
For all that Carver had been a soldier, his capacity for violence was very small, though he would often claim otherwise. Bethany was a spirit healer, and had a healer's heart. Abigail did not want to force either of them to be warriors if they didn't have to be.
Smuggling gave Abigail the chance to make some connections in Kirkwall's extensive criminal underworld, but other than that, the year Abigail spent in Athenril's employ was hardly worth mentioning, apart from how it allowed Abigail and Varric Tethras to meet for the first time.
The initial meeting of Abigail Hawke and Varric Tethras was far more ignoble than Varric would have people believe.
A fortuitous and charming meeting? Hardly. It was as simple a thing as this:
Varric needed something from the black market. Abigail secured it, and brought it to him.
“Are you Varric Tethras?” Abigail asked him, spotting the only dwarf in the Hanged Man. Dwarves were common enough in Kirkwall, but more often in the Merchant's District and Hightown, not slumming in a filthy den like the Hanged Man.
“That's me,” Varric said, giving her half of a grin. He was a redhead, a less than common sight. What truly made him stand out was that he chose to forgo his beard, which was a bit of a crass fashion statement for dwarves, especially dwarven men.
“I have something for you,” she passed the package (innocuous and wrapped up with brown paper and string, as if it were a legitimate package) over to him.
“Thanks,” he flashed a full smile at her. “Tell Athenril thanks for me, would you? I've been waiting for this.”
“Of course,” Abigail said with a tiny smile in response.
And that was how they met. Not nearly as flashy as Varric himself would tell it, but then again, Varric always did have a soft spot both for Abigail and for the dramatic arts.
When her year of service for Athenril was up, Abigail immediately set about finding different work. The legality of smuggling work put Abigail on edge, and made the rest of the family extremely nervous. There were little work options for apostate mages, as both legal and illegal options opened the possibility to detection by Templars, but illegal work had the added danger of the Guards. Aveline may have managed to join the Guard, but she was by no means in a high enough position that she could get Abigail out of serious trouble.
In addition to the trouble of getting work, the Templars had become much more vigilant within the recent year. Many rumors circulated as to why this might be, and it was generally agreed upon that it had something to do with the Gray Wardens, but no one knew for certain.
Since word had come from across the sea of the defeat of the Archdemon and the end of the Blight, one would think that the vigilance of the Guards and Templars would decrease, but it seemed that something had happened that put them all on edge. There were rumors, of course, but everyone knew not to trust rumors in Kirkwall.
Whatever the case, it made getting work very difficult for many people, apostate mages most of all.
Bounties and treasure hunting were some of the few jobs that were fair game for mages of all kinds, treasure hunting especially, as it involved going to far away locales where people could use a mage and might be less than picky about the legality of magic.
After the Blight, the Deep Roads were supposed to be easier to traverse for a little while. Because of this, there were about a dozen expeditions to the Deep Roads that were planned by various merchants, mercs, and treasure seekers. Carver, Bethany and Abigail had been to everyone in town who might have been hiring, but had been turned away every time. Most expeditions simply did not want any very young, mostly inexperienced refugees on their teams.
They had no luck until Abigail came across Bartrand Tethras' expedition. Bartrand was a sour, unpleasant dwarf with a quick temper, but he was Varric's brother. So Abigail bypassed Bartrand entirely and went straight to Varric.
She, Carver and Bethany met Varric in his preferred locale of the Hanged Man. It was never quite clear why Varric loved the Hanged Man so very much, as the drink was expensive for how unpleasant it was, the smells and general atmosphere were vile, and the company was even worse. Nevertheless, it was where Varric could almost always be found, and he even maintained a room there. It was possible he liked it because of the cheap lodging, but he never confirmed that one way or the other.
“I heard that your brother's been planning an expedition to the Deep Roads, Varric,” Abigail told him, sitting down across from his desk.
“Now where'd you hear that?” Varric said with a grin.
“Are you going to help us or not?” Carver demanded.
Abigail rolled her eyes and elbowed Carver in the ribs.
“Easy, Junior,” Varric said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “I'll see what I can do—Bartrand doesn't need any more sell-swords.”
“It seems as if no one does,” Abigail said with a slight frown.
“No one wants any healers either,” Bethany said with a slight sigh, leaning her head on her hand. “I'd've thought they'd at least want someone who could stitch up wounds...”
Varric grimaced. “You're a little late in the game," he said. “Everyone's scrambling to get into the Deep Roads, especially after that whole thing in Amaranthine.”
“What happened in Amaranthine?” Carver asked. “I’ve heard about a dozen rumors, and they all sound ridiculous.”
“Athenril heard it was something about darkspawn attacks,” Abigail said. “The Wardens ended up burning down the city—or something of the sort.”
“Yeah,” Varric said. “The Ferelden Wardens had some trouble, and now it turns out the Deep Roads aren't as empty as we thought.”
“And how does that relate to burning down Amaranthine?” Carver asked, shocked.
“The place got overrun by darkspawn,” Varric said. “Not sure what happened, but the city basically got destroyed. Not exactly what I’d call one of the Wardens' finest moments,” he added with a grimace.
Abigail sat back in her chair. “Well, in any case—about Bartrand's expedition...?”
“We're in the same boat as everyone else,” Varric said. “We already have as many mercs as we need, and we already have a healer.”
“You could use more than one?” Bethany suggested.
Varric snorted. “Not to hear Bartrand tell it,” he said. He sighed and leaned back. “Truth is, Bartrand's been tearing his hair out, trying to fund this expedition.”
“What are we supposed to do about that?” Abigail asked.
“Well, if you helped fund it somehow, we could take you on as a partner,” Varric explained.
Abigail frowned, spreading her hands. “Varric, our entire problem is that we don't have any money. If we did, we wouldn't be joining such a dangerous expedition.”
“It's not as bad as all that,” Varric said, waving his hand. “Anyway, no one else wants to pitch in—if you got me so much as a single sovereign, I'd be happy.”
“Do we even have enough money between us for a sovereign?” Carver asked, a fairly reasonable question.
“I do have some leads on some bounties,” Varric pointed out. “And some people who might want help. Paying people.”
“That's better than what we have,” Abigail said. “Which is nothing.”
“You gotta start paying attention to the bounty notices around town,” Varric said with a chuckle. He leaned back. “I can give you the names of a few people who might pay you,” he said.
“Why can't you do any of these jobs?” Carver asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Well, a lot of them need more than one person,” Varric said, his tone dry. “And I'm kind of busy with the merchant thing. If you wanted me to help out, I wouldn't say no—but like I said, a lot of these jobs need a team, or else they're just suicide.”
“Alright,” Abigail said. “But first—why doesn't anyone want to fund your expedition? Is there something wrong with it? Is it more dangerous than the other ones?”
Varric shook his head. “Most people want to sign on with a big Orzammar expedition,” he said. “Or with one of the larger Merchant's Guild families. And honestly, no one likes Bartrand. That's the big problem, right there.”
“So it's not a problem with the expedition itself?”
“Nah—everyone's just crowding us out, is all.”
Abigail nodded. “Well, alright. But I'm keeping an eye on things, to be sure. Anyway, you said that you have some bounties we could do?”
Varric had actually been keeping track of several bounties, just in case the chance came up. He and Bartrand really were having a difficult time trying to get the funds for their expedition. Abigail mentioned the possibility of taking on one of the smaller bounties together. She, Carver and Bethany had up until now been one team, and were always short a lockpicker. Varric knew about the picking of many locks, as he told them, and he was quite happy to join them.
Varric, it turned out, was an excellent and experienced fighter with one of very, very few dwarven crossbows this side of Kal'hirol in his possession. They went on one short errand with him—someone with money had lost something of theirs, and wanted someone else to retrieve it. After successfully retrieving the item, Varric and his crossbow became a far more permanent fixture with Abigail and her siblings.
Of course, there was one other person Abigail and the Hawkes could count on both for help, and for a semi-steady supply of work.
Abigail went to visit Aveline at the barracks of Viscount's Keep. She caught the redhead in between patrols, idly cleaning her sword.
“Oh—Abigail!” Aveline looked up, surprised. She had taken her Guard armor off, and was dressed in a soft shirt and pants, her feet barefoot. She had freckles all down her arms, put there by the light of the Kirkwall sun.
“Aveline!” Abigail smiled and they grasped hands as Aveline got to her feet. She towered over Abigail, and just about everyone else she ever encountered. In benefited her greatly when she was arresting people.
“What are you doing here?" Aveline asked. "You know I'll come by sometime next week...”
Abigail shrugged. “I wanted to know if you had any more work,” she explained. “How's the Guard life? Any more problems with the Templars?”
Aveline's face fell.
The Templars and the Guard were very intertwined in Kirkwall, and it chafed on Aveline in unexpected ways. Few decisions were made by the captain of the Guard that weren't also run by Knight-Commander Meredith. Meredith didn't interfere with Guard business very often, but the fact that the Guard was constantly informing the Templars of their business was somewhat unnerving.
“What is it?” Abigail asked, her eyes narrowed.
Aveline opened her mouth to speak, but looked over Abigail's head, and her eyes widened. She grabbed Abigail’s arm, tight enough to bruise, and guided her around a corner.
“You need to be more careful,” she said.
“Why? What's the matter?”
“That business in Amaranthine riled the Templars up,” Aveline explained. “They're here more often now than they ever were.”
“Aveline, let go,” Aveline was still holding on very tightly to Abigail's arm. Aveline looked down at her hand with slight surprise, as if she hadn't realized what she was doing, and released her. “The Templars have been all over Lowtown, too—what have you heard about Amaranthine? I heard the city was burned down--”
“By the orders of the Wardens,” Aveline said in an undertone. “Surana, the one who killed the Archdemon--”
“I remember.” everyone knew the name of Surana, the hero of Ferelden. Everyone knew the story of how she killed the Archdemon. Though the details changed, the outcome remained the same. “Why does that concern the Templars?”
Aveline pinched the bridge of her nose. “It's ridiculous,” she said. “But some decisions King Alistair and Surana made stepped on the Templars’ toes, and I suppose the burning of Amaranthine was the last straw, even if it was to do with darkspawn. Apparently the Lady Seeker--”
“Who?”
“The Seekers—those the Templars answer to. Apparently the Lady Seeker has told her Templars to be on the lookout for Surana, as they have no idea where she is.”
“I still don't really see what that has to do with us.” Abigail frowned, a line appearing between her brows.
Aveline spread her hands. “Since the Blight is over, they think she shouldn't have the authority she does—and Amaranthine proves them right. So now they’re all over everywhere, in case any Wardens and squirrelled away, I suppose.”
Abigail folded her arms. “What exactly happened? Do you know?”
“All I know is, Amaranthine is destroyed,” Aveline said, her tone dark. “I don't think it means the Templars should be sticking their nose in Guard business, but I understand why they're doing it. Destroying a city cannot go without consequence.”
Abigail held up her hands. “Fine—I didn't come to talk about this.”
“Oh—yes, of course. Why are you here?” Aveline asked, a look of concern crossing her face. “Is everything alright? How are Leandra and Bethany and Carver—is Carver still trying to find work?”
“We’re...managing.” Abigail said. “Gamlen's complaining a little less since you've moved to the barracks.”
Aveline rolled her eyes. “He's moved on to complain about other things, I'm sure,” she said.
“Yes. Carver applied to the Guard, or at least that's what he told me. Did you hear anything about that?”
Aveline grimaced. “I did.”
“And?”
“And, I told the Captain not to take him.”
“Why?” Abigail asked, surprised. “He could use a job—you know not many people around here want to hire refugees.”
“He's temperamental, doesn't like taking orders, and he's very young, Abigail,” Aveline said, shifting from one foot to another.
“He isn't too young to do merc work,” Abigail pointed out.
Aveline snorted. “The hiring standards of mercs aren't up to me. If we were to take him on, I worry that he'd become something of a loose cannon, and that's the last thing we need.” she paused. “And hiring him would bring more scrutiny to your family,” she added. “We do conduct background checks, Abigail, and they'd dig into your family history. Even one mage is a red flag for them,” she shook her head. “And if they found out about you and Bethany--”
Abigail sighed and closed her eyes. “I see,” she said. “Yes, that'd be a problem for us.” she put a hand on her hip and rubbed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. “Do you have any bounties?” she asked. “Mother's still trying to find some steady work, so is Carver, but Bethany and I can't.”
“I do have one or two, actually,” Aveline said. “And there is some Guard business I could use some outside help on.”
“Maybe Carver and Varric could help you with that.” Abigail stroked her chin in thought.
“Varric?”
“Varric Tethras. He's trying to fund an expedition to the Deep Roads, and he's the only one who might sign us on, so we're helping each other out. He doesn't really have a steady job either, but he's good with a crossbow. He has one of those dwarven ones.”
“Really? I don't think I've even seen one of those before,” Aveline said, raising her eyebrows. “Just the Ferelden ones, and they don't even use those up here.” she snorted. “The Guards all prefer the longbows. The Captain says ordering crossbows would be too expensive, no matter how many times I try to tell him they're easier to use, and faster--” she shook her head. “Anyway, Abigail—a Deep Roads expedition, really?”
Abigail shrugged. “Carver can only get merc work, and Bethany and I are pretty limited in the jobs we can take, even the—not so legitimate ones,” she said. “No one wants to hire Gamlen, and Mother's looking for work but no one wants to hire a Fereldan, either, never mind that both of them have learned all those things nobles learn--”
“Abigail, you should have come to me sooner if it was a problem,” Aveline said, her brow furrowed. “I have lots of bounties and leads—.”
“I hardly want to be doing merc work forever, Aveline. You of all people know there is a fairly short list of old mercs around,” Abigail said.
“There is, at that, but even fewer is the list people who've gone to the Deep Roads and back.” Aveline furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, tapping one bare foot on the ground in thought.
“And if we do make it back from the Deep Roads, we'll have enough money to get out of Lowtown,” Abigail insisted, turning over her hands in a placating gesture. “Maybe even get the estate back from whoever Gamlen sold it to.”
“Maker, Abigail, you should kick that man out of your house,” Aveline said, rolling her eyes.
“It doesn't belong to us, it belongs to him.” as Gamlen repeatedly reminded them.
“After he somehow gambled away an entire fortune, he'd probably deserve to be thrown out,” Aveline told her with a scowl. She and Gamlen had constantly gotten into fights when she had lived with the Hawkes.
“That’s entirely likely,” Abigail agreed. “Look, I can't get anywhere near the Deep Roads, or anywhere else for that matter if I’ve not any money, so if you have any bounties we could get, that would be just perfect.”
Aveline sighed and brushed a strand of red hair out of her eyes. “If you're so bound and determined to risk your neck, I suppose I can't stop you,” she said. “Just—tell me if you're doing anything that you might need help for. Don't drag me into anything illegal.”
“I won't,” Abigail assured her. “Or, I will endeavor not to.”
“Abigail...” Aveline rubbed her forehead.
“One of the errands I still need to do isn't illegal,” Abigail said, switching tack. “I need to go up to the Sundermount.”
Aveline looked surprised. “Still? You haven't delivered that--” her lip curled. “--amulet yet?”
“I haven't the time,” Abigail explained, pushing her bangs off her forehead and putting a hand on her hip. “And I don't know anyone who could come with us who knows the mountain.”
“You can take a map, you know,”
“Not a good decision,” Abigail said. “It's not like other mountains. Everyone I've talked to has stories about demons and Dalish and who knows what else. It isn't exactly a day hike.”
“That is a problem,” Aveline agreed with a grimace. “Most Guards don't even like to patrol anywhere near there.”
“Varric has gone up there once before,” Abigail said. “He says he'll come up with us, but we shouldn't go in a group less than four. I'm still wrangling everyone together. We need at least five free days, but more likely we'll need something closer to a week. Ten days at the worst.”
Aveline considered that. “Are you sure you should even be doing this errand?” she asked. “I know that Flemeth helped us, but we don't even know what kind of people she wants this delivered to, or why.”
“I said I would, and she got us to Gwaren, so it's the least I can do,” Abigail said. “Anyway, who knows what would happen if we were to break our word? It might be cursed. It certainly feels magical enough.”
It did, too. The small amulet fairly bent the Veil around it, and felt heavy in Abigail's pocket.
“That's possible, I suppose,” Aveline said. “I don't think I can manage to get away from the Guard for three days, never mind ten, but I'll see if I can find you some of our more accurate maps.”
“Thank you,” Abigail said, letting out a relieved sigh. “I didn't want to have to rely on something second-hand.”
Something caught Aveline's eye and she glanced to the side, then took Abigail's elbow and guided her out of the barracks entirely.
“If you have to find me here, send Carver, at least for the next month or so,” Aveline said in an undertone. “You don't need any more Templars breathing down your neck.”
Abigail nodded, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She was only armed with a small dagger. In Hightown, it was frowned upon to walk about heavily armed, doubly so with the quarterstaff Abigail favored. A proper mages' staff was completely out of the question. She would find it very difficult to defend herself against a Templar.
She left Aveline then, and when she came out of the Barracks, she saw a Templar in full plate headed into the Viscount's Keep. She ducked her head and averted her face, but kept an eye on him.