Abigail wasn't sure how they'd get a bunch of Dalish elves into Kirkwall, so she went ahead to ask Aveline for some help getting them into the city, on the promise they'd be out soon enough.
Getting the group into the city was a bit of a coup, but manageable enough. The elves were all quite surprised with the size of Abigail’s home, and several of them were very taken with it.
“What is that noise?” Ilen asked, his nose scrunching.
“Oh—that's the eluvian,” Merrill said. “Here, let me show you,” she showed them into the eluvian room. “We could use the eluvian to go to different places,” Merrill pointed out. “There's some lovely caves and forest it connects to.”
“Or we could not,” Vandathdain said. “It isn't safe, I'm sure.”
“I've been through it a dozen times,” Merrill countered. “It's safe.”
“It was safe when I went through it,” Pol piped up, and they all looked at him. He shrank a little.
“You went through it?” Vandathdain looked upset.
“It was fine!” Pol said. “Merrill said it was safe, so I went through, and it was!” he looked away. “I—I didn't listen to Merrill once,” he said. “And I almost got eaten by the Varterral. So I guessed that she was right this time. And she was! Or—she is!”
Everyone looked rather skeptical.
“That bloody thing still killed Mahariel and Tamlen,” Vinell said.
“It was broken,” Merrill said. “Poisoned—I cleaned it! Cleansed it! It's fine now.”
“It carried the Taint,” Vinell insisted.
“It didn't, actually,” Merrill said. “It's a mirror. If it had the Taint, it would be a living thing—but it's not, so it can't. It—the magic had turned bad, like old meat, and it looked like it had the Taint. But I cleansed it, I promise! No one has died from it since I cleansed it!”
The others muttered amongst themselves. Finally, it was Feynriel who stepped up to the mirror, and put a hand against it. He startled when his hand went through, then pulled his arm back out.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” he said. “Vandathdain?”
Vandathdain scowled, but nodded. “It doesn’t...feel like there’s anything wrong,” she acquiesced, and scuffed one foot on the ground.
“I told you!” Pol said. “Look, it’s fine, see?” he put his hand through the mirror, then went through altogether.
There were several startled gasps, and Pol stuck his head out. “See?”
First cautiously, then more boldly, the others all went through the eluvian. The only one who suffered any ill effects was Feynriel, who was a bit queasy, but nowhere near as sick as a full-blooded human.
After they finished exploring the eluvian, they had a meeting. There was a question that needed to be answered, and it was a tricky one.
“So...who's going to be in charge?” Ilen asked.
“Oh, I don't know,” Merrill fretted. “I mean—I do live here, and it’s my eluvian, but—you don't have to stay, if you don't want to, and there’s not especially any rules, and--”
“Merrill could be a new Keeper,” Pol spoke up.
Merrill averted her eyes and flushed. “I could never be a Keeper,” she said.
“Marethari chose you as First,” Vinell pointed out. “And never chose another.”
“That doesn't mean I should be a Keeper,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and still didn’t look at anyone.
"We followed you all the way here, Merrill,” Maren said with a smile. “We had to have some trust in you.”
“We're not—we couldn't really be a Clan,” Merrill said. “We have no aravels or—or halla, and I live in Abigail’s house--”
“You have an eluvian,” pointed out Arianni.
“I—I do, but--”
“And it works,” Arianni added.
“For a given measure of working,” Vandathdain grumbled, but it was just for show. She had been just as enamored with the Crossroads as the others had been.
“But I—oh, I don't know,” Merrill wrung her hands. “Couldn't—couldn't Vinell be in charge?” she asked. “Or Vandathdain? Or—or even Feynriel?”
“I barely speak Dalish,” Feynriel said.
“Oh, don't be ridiculous,” Merrill said. “You speak it perfectly well—or, well, well enough.”
“I couldn't be a Keeper,” Vinell said. “No magic.”
“Vandathdain?” Merrill turned towards her.
Vandathdain shrugged. “I could try, but who would listen to me?”
“I would!”
“I also don't know the first thing about Alienages or the city or anything. Merrill—you're the only one who makes sense,” Vandathdain closed her eyes. “And I can't believe I just said that.”
“Merrill, you have a Keeper's knowledge, and have lived in this city for many years,” Vinell said kindly. “You are the one Marethari named to succeed her, and have always been—even when you and she didn't agree--”
“When she was telling you all to be frightened of me, you mean,” Merrill grumbled.
“--she never named anyone else. We have precious few options—and you claim to have done all this,” he waved at the eluvian. “For the Clan, and the People. I say it is time you prove that claim.”
“You—really want this?” Merrill asked. “You want me as a leader? After all I've done, everything Marethari has told you?”
“It's been made clear that Marethari did not always make the best decisions,” Marel said. “You are alive, and she is dead. By rights, you are our leader, Merrill.”
Merrill closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After a long moment, she spoke. “Well—what could we have as a name?” she wanted to know. “I don’t think we should be Sabrae anymore.”
There was a moment of quiet where everyone considered that.
“Tualsalis,” Paivel said at length. “'The Eternal Rebirth.'”
“Oh, that's a lovely name,” Merrill said. “That's perfect!”
“I don’t know,” Vandathdain said. “It’s not very proper—no noble house of the Dales was called Tualsalis.”
“Oh, forget about the noble Dalish families!” Arianni exclaimed. “I bet there’s—a hundred Clans who aren’t named after nobles! And look where nobles have gotten everyone—I don’t see them doing anyone any good!”
“What about Abigail?” Merrill pointed out.
“Well, she’s one,” Arianni said. “But I don’t think it matters if it’s proper or not,” she huffed. “’Proper’ was what made my old Clan toss me and Feynriel out on our heads.”
Vandathdain looked away. “I suppose that’s true,” she sighed. “And...it is a well enough name, Paivel.”
Paivel smiled.
“Well—since you made me Keeper, and I like the name, that’s what we’re going to call ourselves,” Merrill decided. “If—that’s alright?” she added.
“Of course it is,” Vinell assured her.
“Then—then we’re Clan Tualsalis,” Merrill said, straightening her back.
After a day or two, the group went to the Alienage, to see if they could find more permanent living spaces.
The elves were all rather astonished when they got to the Alienage (all except for Pol, Feynriel, and Arianni, of course)
"Oh, goodness," Maren breathed. "It's...it's quite large, isn't it?"
Merrill nodded. “You'll get used to it,” she promised. The others looked dubious.
Ashalle wrapped her arms around herself. "...The vhenadahl is very beautiful," she said at length.
“It is,” Ilen agreed. He stepped forward to examine the tree, reaching out a hand but never quite touching it.
“Merrill.”
“Oh—Hahren!” Merrill jumped and offered a sheepish smile to the elderly elvhen man who was now surveying the crowd with a raised eyebrow.
Hahren Josiah tilted his head to one side, looking at them. “Maker, girl, I thought you’d up and moved to Hightown with Lady Hawke,” he said.
“Well, I did, but--”
“Who are all these people following you? Are they your Clan?”
“Ah—yes, actually,” Merrill straightened her back. “They need to stay with me.”
The Hahren sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well—hello,” he said, opening his eyes and inclining his head. “Don't know why in the name of Andraste you lot decided to stay here instead of out in your forests, but—I suppose I can't stop you.”
“Ah—ander'an atish'an?” Ashalle said with a tiny wave. She glanced around at her companions. “I—I hope we're not—imposing--”
“As long as they're not like Merrill's other friends and you don't wake the whole bloody Alienage up in the middle of the night, I don't care what you do,” Josiah said.
“Oh—Hahren, that was a long time ago, I'm sure--” Merrill started.
Josiah snorted. “Long time ago, my foot! That silver-haired friend of yours still needs to grow himself some manners,” he said, shaking his cane.
“I'll—I'll tell him that,” Merrill said, hiding a smile behind her hand.
The Hahren squinted at Arianni and Feynriel. “Didn't you two have some trouble with Templars a while back?” he asked.
“Oh—that was a misunderstanding, Hahren,” Arianni said.
The Hahren rolled his eyes. “Right,” he said. “Well—as long as you don't bring any demons here, I suppose,” he said. “You watch yourselves, right? Like Nyssa needs another heart attack...”
“What happened to Nyssa?” Arianni asked.
“Her man Huon got hauled off to the Circle a year or two ago,” Hahren Josiah explained, shaking his head. “Just about went crazy, to hear her tell it—ah, it doesn't matter. Just don't start any trouble, understand?”
“We won't, Hahren,” Merrill promised.
“You bring your friends round for supper once or twice, understand?” Josiah told her.
“All of us?” Ashalle exclaimed.
“Yes, all of you!” Josiah said. “Maker’s mercy, you’d think no one had ever shown a little hospitality in their lives.” he grumbled.
“Hahren, do you think there’s any place they could stay?” Merrill asked. “We’ve all been staying with Abigail—Lady Hawke—but I don’t think we could do that the whole time.”
“Hm...” Josiah considered that. “Well, there’s your old place, for one,” he pointed out. “I don’t think anyone’s moved into Velanna and Sigrun’s old place either—or yours, come to think of it,” he said to Arianni and Feynriel.
“Really?” Feynriel asked, surprised. “Why not?”
Josiah shrugged. “Ah, bloody fools going on about it being haunted or somesuch nonsense,” he waved a hand. “Either way, you could probably live in them. Andraste knows living with us is probably better than living with all those shems in Hightown.”
Vandathdain chuckled. “Well—it will be nice to be around other elves,” she said.
“Exactly so, young lady!” Josiah nodded in approval. “Well, you let me know if anything comes up,” he said. “And don’t do anything too weird or magical. Last bloody thing we need is the Templars coming and bothering people again.”
"Alright, Hahren,’ Merrill said.
After that, they set about making themselves at home in the Alienage, though they left the eluvian at Abigail's house, to keep it safe. The newly-named Clan Tualsalis could not stay there forever, however. After a time, they started to explore the Crossroads, and even stay there for many days on end. The Crossroads were pleasant enough for elves, even half-elvhen such as Feynriel. It appeared the only people who got headaches and sickness from the Crossroads were full-blooded humans.
They set up camps on the opposite sides of functional eluvians, most favoring the snowy ruin in the mountains, which they realized was in the Frostbacks. They mapped out other places as well, and Merrill tried to repair other eluvians.
Now that she had repaired the one, bringing it up from a box of shards, repairing others that were in fewer pieces seemed much easier. She began to open more and more of them, letting the Clan go many different places.
Merrill wanted to contact other Clans with her knowledge, but she had a hard time finding any. They moved so quickly, and many of the eluvians were deep in hidden places, away from any commonly traveled roads or trails.
She was determined to tell the Coalition what she had found, however, and resolutely kept searching.
Merrill and her Clan considered contacting Queen Aeducan, as it was possible the Frostbacks eluvian was close to Orzammar, but they initially decided against it. This information needed to go to Dalish hands first, and anyone else second, no matter how close their alliance might be.
In any case, dwarves might have the same adverse reaction to eluvians that humans did. Merrill had no idea, as Varric refused to go near her eluvian, so she couldn’t test it out on him.
The Clan eventually got some Alienage converts who wished to join them. At first, some of the Clan didn't want city elves joining them, but after some stern words from Arianni, Feynriel and Pol, they got over it.
Most notable was Huon, the husband of a shopkeeper named Nyssa. Huon was an apostate that had been dragged off to the Circle almost three years ago, but had escaped during the Qunari attack and had been on the run ever since.
He was an amateur blood mage, and something very bad had happened to him in the Circle. The first time he saw Nyssa again he frightened her half to death with wild ranting and extreme mood swings, and Nyssa only barely had a grasp of magic to begin with. She pleaded with Merrill for help, and Merrill met Huon one evening when he was trying to see Nyssa again.
Merrill persuaded Huon to come through the eluvian, to one of the sites that Tualsalis had claimed as their own. Vandathdain and Feynriel could help him, and Merrill had a feeling Huon would like being out in the wilderness instead of cooped up inside a building.
Huon agreed (especially after learning Merrill was a blood mage as well), and was doing much better away from Kirkwall. Nyssa was still leery of seeing him, but Merrill hoped that perhaps once Huon got his head screwed on right again and Nyssa grew more comfortable around magic, they would be able to come to an accord.
Abigail, for one, liked having the Clan around, and the eluvian made her feel more at ease, despite her difficulty in using it. The city was still very tense. There was still no Viscount, Meredith and Elthina were still in charge, and First Enchanter Orsino was getting edgey and restless. Something had to break, and soon.