The darkspawn horde had moved further north than they had expected, appearing to bypass Redcliffe and other larger towns and principalities to head straight for Denerim.
No one had yet seen the Archdemon, but it had to be there. Alistair, Kitranna and Riordan's dreams of the Archdemon grew both in intensity and frequency, and Riordan swore that he could almost make out words when it roared.
Loghain's quarrels had lost them precious time and allies. No Orlesian Wardens or possible reinforcements would be coming, and any support from the Free Marches or further north would take far too much time.
Teagan, being the coordinator of the Redcliffe forces, arrived in Denerim several days after Loghain had been arrested. With him came the Dalish, Orzammar, and Circle representatives, all ahead of the bulk of the Wardens' allies. Teagan had asked to meet with Kitranna before they had a larger meeting with all the separate representatives.
“Teagan, good to see you,” Kitranna said when she met with him. Teagan looked haggard but no worse than anyone else. “How are things?”
“Better than they could be, not as good as I would have hoped,” he said, running a hand over his beard.
“What's the problem?” Kitranna tapped a foot on the ground, restless. She'd taken to wearing her armor most of the time, even indoors.
“The darkspawn are moving faster than we anticipated—they picked up speed several weeks ago.”
“We heard, they're coming straight to Denerim for some reason.”
Teagan nodded. “Some of the Clans in the Brecelian have had to deal with darkspawn groups, but for the most part the bulk of the horde is avoiding skirmishes for now.”
“Any reason, do you think?”
“I was hoping you would know.”
Kitranna shook her head. “Sorry—it's not like I can understand the Archdemon.”
Teagan sighed. “And there are other problems as well, among your allies.”
“Such as?”
Teagan rubbed his forehead. “There's still infighting between the Dalish and the Templars...it's gotten bad.”
“Bad how?” Kitranna asked, narrowing her eyes.
Teagan paused. “Do you know of those...emotionless mages?”
“The Tranquil? Yeah, obviously. What do they have to do with this?” she folded her arms and suppressed a shiver. Even if one lived with Tranquil all their life, they never stopped being unnerving.
“One of the Dalish recognized one of the Tranquil during a meeting a few months ago.”
“Oh,” Kitranna frowned. “Not good?”
“The Tranquil was apparently his daughter.”
“Oh,” Kitranna covered her mouth. “Definitely not good.”
“No, not particularly.” Teagan sighed. “And there's other conflicts, as well. The dwarves are beginning to take sides, and there are several elvhen Circle mages who've given the Templars the slip and joined up with the Dalish. I'm sure the Templars would be attempting to go after the Dalish mages if they had more people and time.”
“Not surprising,” Kitranna said, curling her lip. She rubbed the back of her head. “Have Oshathyla and whoever's representing the Templars spoken at all?”
“The last time they did that, they nearly came to blows. Mistress Oshathyla does not wish to speak with the Templars in any capacity, and Knight-Captain Gregoire does not wish to speak with her.”
Kitranna pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well—we just have to have everyone get along until we kill the Archdemon.”
Teagan nodded. “Mistress Oshathyla is worried about the long-term ramifications of this alliance,” he said. “Apparently many of the Dalish Clans are concerned that they will be targeted by Templars and other humans after the Archdemon is dead.” he leaned back on his heels. “And there have been problems between some of the dwarves and the Templars, also.”
“Yeah—you said they're picking sides?”
“Many of the dwarves don't take kindly to the Templars' use of lyrium.”
Kitranna blinked. “But they're the ones who sell the lyrium.”
Teagan shrugged. “That's just what Ambassador Talvi told me. Some of Redcliffe's forces don't like the Dalish, the mages, or the dwarves, there have been a few fights between the mages and Redcliffe's soldiers...”
“Well, pretty soon they'll all have someone else to fight with,” she said. “Anything else?”
Teagan hesitated. “It is beginning to seem as if we must pick between Dalish and Templar assistance,” Teagan said after a moment. “I am not exaggerating the hostilities—several Dalish Clans split from the alliance entirely when they learned of Templar involvement. There have been many fights, quite a great deal of arguing, and for all the tensions everywhere else, at least the other representatives continue speaking to each other. Mistress Oshathyla and Knight Commander Gregoire refuse to even be in the same room.”
“We can't split up our forces now!” Kitranna exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “Not with the darkspawn on our heels and—we've just gotten the Landsmeet sorted!”
“I know that as well as you,” Teagan said.
Kitranna shook her head. “How long do you think we have till the horde reaches Redcliffe?” she asked.
“Three months, at the most.”
Kitranna swore. “And at the least?”
“Six weeks.”
“Wonderful. Well—I suppose we need to get them both into a room and work this out somehow.”
Teagan grimaced. “Easier said that done. Now—about Anora taking the throne...”
“What about it?”
“Are you sure she's trustworthy?”
“Well, she threw Loghain in prison, so she's not all bad. Anyway, she and Alistair are going to get married. Probably.”
“Probably?”
“It depends on if we all don't die.”
Teagan nodded.
“The point is that someone is in charge, and that that someone isn't a paranoid bastard who wants to kill me.”
“A benefit, I must agree,” Teagan said.
After much struggle, they did manage to wrangle Oshathyla and Knight Commander Gregoire into the same room. Ambassador Talvi was there as the dwarven representative as well, so there were at least some buffers between the Templar and the Dalish woman.
“Alright,” Kitranna said while Oshathyla and Gregoire glared daggers at each other. “I'm told there's some problems between the Dalish and the Templars. What's the issue here?”
“The Dalish Clans house many apostates,” Gregoire growled. “And they perform many forbidden magics—speaking with demons, summoning demons, I am sure there are blood mages and other maleficar--”
“Alright, that's great,” Kitranna cut Gregoire off. “Mistress Oshathyla? Problems?”
Oshathyla glowered at Gregoire while she said “One of the Tranquil mages was of Clan Uvunlan—Doshiel Menalle Uvunlan. We thought she was dead, but apparently, the Circle stole her and then mutilated her. There are several other Clans who have lost children, and we worry that they are in the Circle as well.”
“That young lady asked to be made Tranquil,” Gregoire snapped, placing his hand on the table. “She worried that she would not have passed the Harrowing, and that she would be a danger to those around her.”
“That does not change the fact that you stole her from Clan Uvunlan!”
“I was under the impression that the Dalish abandon mage children,” Gregoire sneered.
“If that were so, then you would not be stealing them from us, now would you?” Oshaethyla growled.
“Yeah, that abandoning children thing?” Kitranna said, picking at her nails. “That's a lie. It doesn't happen.” she looked Gregoire dead in the eyes. "Though I think you probably knew that."
“Even if there was a Clan that did, Clan Uvunlan certainly does not abandon their own children,” Oshathyla said, folding her arms.
“So, Gregoire, I'm gonna have to go with Oshathyla on this one, but that still doesn't change the fact that you people need to work together for at least the next few months.” Kitranna said.
“Our people cannot possibly work with child-thieves!” Oshathyla exclaimed, throwing a hand in the air. “We have enough worries as it is without being concerned that the Templars will take our children in the night!”
“And we have enough concerns without rogue mages doing as they please,” Gregoire snapped.
“There been any demon problems so far?” Kitranna asked.
“No,” Oshathyla said.
“Werewolf problems?”
“No.”
“Spells backfiring?”
“Not particularly.”
“Well, then, Gregoire, looks like you're going to have to suck it up and leave the Dalish alone,” Kitranna said. “Because the last demon attack I saw was in the Circle, so it's not like you'd be doing a great job at stopping any other ones.”
“But--” Gregoire began, but Kitranna cut him off.
“The darkspawn are close,” Kitranna said, placing her hands palms-down on the table. “The Archdemon is close. They're going to roll right over this country, and that includes everyone, and unless we all stick together and fight the things we're all going to get eaten. Save the infighting till later.”
“I have lists of Dalish elves the Templars stole from our Clans!” Oshathyla exclaimed. “We cannot simply ignore that!”
“And we cannot ignore the maleficars and apostates that populate your army,” Gregoire insisted, aiming a glare at Oshathyla.
“Look, if it were any other time, I'd tell you to have at each other to your heart's content,” Kitranna said. “But the fact is that we are all we have. There are no reinforcements coming for months, there are a grand total of four Gray Wardens in this country, Ferelden's military is already completely decimated from Ostagar and the nobles' infighting, and you can bet that no one wants or is going to get aid from the Orlesian military. If we don't stop the Archdemon right now it won't be stopped.”
Oshathyla and Gregoire both sat back and glared at each other.
“I mean, really, I'm all for anything that inconveniences Templars,” Kitranna said. “But darkspawn are also bad for everyone else, so we can't really do this right now.” she looked at Gregoire. “I just want you to know that the Gray Wardens support the Dalish, not you.” she looked at Ambassador Talvi. “What about you, Ambassador? Anything going on I should know about? Heard that some of the dwarves don't like the Templars either. I can get behind that--" she ignored Gregoire's snort and venemous glare at this pronouncement. "--but I kind of want to know why.”
Ambassador Talvi sighed. “Many of our warriors come from Mining caste backgrounds,” she said. “And when they learned what it is exactly that Templars do with lyrium—well, some people got upset. It's not really a big problem.”
“Big enough for you to mention.”
Gregoire coughed. “Well, a few Templars have gotten an earful from dwarves about the use of lyrium,” he said, suddenly looking sheepish. “And I have had to hear about it.”
Oshathyla smirked.
“Yeah, I don't care,” Kitranna said. “As hilarious as I find it when Templars are getting shouted at, I would appreciate it if you all got along.”
“But what if the Templars—or other humans—attack our Clans when the Blight is done with?” Oshathyla asked. “Warden, the Dalish alliances with humans have not gone well in the past, if you recall.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kitranna said, heaving a sigh. "I've studied history too, y'know."
“We are putting ourselves in a vulnerable position. You cannot say that this will not endanger us.”
“Surely we can promise you that the Ferelden people will not attack Clans who have helped them so,” Teagan interjected. He glanced at Gregoire. “I can say nothing for the Chantry, but I would hope that they focus their efforts on apostates of immediate danger.”
“You cannot promise that,” Oshathyla said. “If you recall, we no longer have a homeland, and that was promised by your Andraste herself.”
“...ah.” Teagan looked away and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes."
“Well...” Kitranna tapped her thumb on her lip. “I can promise you that we'll all die if we don't defeat the Darkspawn.”
“I am well aware of that.” Oshathyla was not moved.
“Well that's...good, right?”
Oshathyla let out a humorless chuckle. “Does it do us any good if we will simply be hounded and attacked afterwards anyway?” she shook her head and leaned back. “We are but several thousand,” she said. “What need have you of us? We could leave and you would be none the lesser for it.”
“Well--sure we would," Kitranna said, spreading her hands.
“How so?”
"Only about a hundred mages survived the demon attack in the Tower," Kitranna glared at Gregoire as she said this. "And mostly that was kids and the elderly--we only have a couple battlemages and trained healers. That's not even getting into the losses at Ostagar. Without your people, we'd have a lot fewer healers and warriors--and we need all the help we can get. Darkspawn aren't something you can out-maneuver easily."
Oshathyla looked dubious.
Ambassador Talvi leaned forward. “Could Orzammar help at all?” she asked. “We hardly want to be killed by an Archdemon either. If we promise to continue our alliance with the Dalish until after the Blight, would you stay?”
“Why would you do that?” Oshathyla asked.
“Orzammar has no mages, if you'll recall,” Talvi said.
“I also recall that the dwarves have not stepped forward to help the People in many hundreds of years.”
“Queen Aeducan wishes to have better relations with the surface. This is one way to go about that.”
“You would willingly let maleficar and apostates into your city?” Gregoire asked.
Talvi looked at Gregoire, a flat expression on her face. “We are dwarves,” she said, as if Gregoire might have forgotten. “There is little about magic that troubles us.”
“Even demons?”
Talvi shrugged.
Gregoire scowled. “Then I suppose you will learn better.”
“Right,” Talvi drawled. “I'm sure.”
“Alright, great,” Kitranna said. “So if the two of you want to work that out, that'd be wonderful, but for now, are all the alliances sticking around?”
Everyone agreed, even Oshathyla.
Kitranna sighed in relief and sat back. “Wonderful.”
After the meeting, Kitranna went to speak with Oshathyla in private. “Mistress Oshathyla,” Kitranna said. “I was wondering if you'd be interested in speaking to the Denerim Alienage?”
“The Alienage?” Oshathyla grimaced. “I am not sure...why do you ask?”
Kitranna shrugged. “I know Alienage elves have mages too. I mean--they've got an apostate or two hanging around.”
“And...?”
“And maybe if they know your people better, fewer of their mages will end up in the Circle,” Kitranna said.
A look of understanding dawned on Oshathyla's face. “Ah, I see.” she said.
Kitranna narrowed her eyes. “You have a problem?”
“Well...my Clan accepts city elves,” Oshathyla said. “Other Clans do not, and some reject city elvhen as kin entirely.”
“Why? We all have pointy ears, don't we?”
“Racial ties don't--they are not quite the same thing. Those who are not Dalish, are not Dalish. Quite literally in many cases they are not our kin. We have spent so long apart from them...” she frowned. “And those of the alienages are the elvhen who surrendered to the Chantry during the Exalted March of the Dales. We who are Dalish did not surrender our language, our faith, our culture—but they did. How can we call ourselves kin when they do not want to be our kin?”
“They do still have a big tree in the Alienage,” Kitranna said. “Call it a Vhenadahl. Isn't that a Dalish thing?”
“Oh, yes, I know about those,” Oshathyla said. “It is a pity—the Dalish cannot grow them because we are always moving. If we planted one in a forest, we would have to leave it and move on very soon afterwards.”
“Doesn't that mean they haven't abandoned their culture entirely?”
Oshathyla looked at Kitranna and sighed. “Perhaps,” she said. “But I do not know. And what could we do for one another? Even now, the Dalish are not wanted in Denerim, and it is very hard for a city elf to come to us. I am sure that if we think they are not our kin, they must feel the same way.” she fussed with a pendant that hung from a string around her neck.
“Hey, you never know until you try,” Kitranna said with a shrug. “Couldn't you swap recipes or something at least?”
Oshathyla stared at her. “...I suppose...” she said, frowning.
“Look, you should at least stop in and say hello,” Kitranna urged. “I mean—they just had a bunch of people taken by Tevinter slavers--”
“They what?” Oshathyla exclaimed, her demeanor completely changing.
Kitranna let out a hard breath through her nose. “Yeah,” she said. “There was some unrest, rebellious kind of stuff, and Loghain thought slavers would be the best way to put it down.”
Oshathyla went pale and began to pace. She muttered something to herself in Dalish and shook her head. She looked at Kitranna. “Who should I speak to?”
“You actually want to now?” Kitranna raised an eyebrow.
“I don't care if they're all half-human, of course I would want to speak to them!” she said something else in Dalish then switched back to common. “Mythal's mercy, Tevinter slavers? You're quite sure?"
Kitranna nodded and rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah,” she said. “We got them, but not before they got at least twenty people.” she pinched the bridge of her nose. The memory of cages made her slightly sick. “If you want to speak to anyone, you should talk to either Shianni or one of the Tabrises,” she said. “It was Shianni who figured there was something wrong with the front the slavers were using. And Mistress Uvundar Tabris got arrested for stabbing a human noble, so, you know, you'll like her.”
"Uvundar?" Oshathyla was thoughtful.
"Does that mean something to you?"
"It's--well, it's elvhen pigdin," she explained. "It means 'star blade.' I...perhaps we have more in common than I had considered."
"I don't know. Maybe. I mean, I'm not Dalish, after all." Kitranna couldn't help the note of bitterness that crept into her voice.
Oshathyla looked immeasurably sad at that for a moment. "Wardens are their own people," she said. "But--if this ends, and you kill the Archdemon, know that you are a friend to us. We--" she laughed a bit. "We do all have pointed ears, don't we?"
Kitranna grinned. "I guess so."