Chapter Text
That pretty much wraps up the story of How I Lost My Arm. At least, leaving the Winter Palace is the logical stopping place for it. Depending on what happens over the next few years, I may feel compelled to write a sequel (preferably one that doesn't involve losing any more body parts), but for the time being I'll just provide a quick summary of what's been happening since.
Before Dorian left the next day, we had a quick meeting with Cass and Leliana, mainly to agree to keep in touch and try to mount some form of organized effort against Solas. It was more a promise than a plan. Dorian would have his hands full with the fallout from his father's assassination and his new position as Magister in the short term, I wasn't entirely sure where I was even going to be living yet, and Leliana hadn't been at all forthcoming with her plans. The few things we could say were we would need to use agents that Solas was unfamiliar with for the bulk of the campaign against him, and unfortunately for Dorian, it was looking like Tevinter was going to be the focal point for much of what was to come.
Then we said goodbye and Dorian left. Not much more I care to say about that.
Leliana and Cullen accompanied Sera and me back to Skyhold. Sera spent a few idyllic days making plans (and maker knows what else) with her "Widdle" while I sorted through all the things I'd collected over the years, trying to figure out what I could and couldn't part with. Fortunately, I had the option of shipping the things I still wanted but couldn't cart around with me to my still-unseen estate in Kirkwall. I ended up sending a wagonload there; mostly souvenirs of the sometimes bizarre places I'd travelled as Inquisitor and gifts from friends. The things I felt were necessary to take with me would fit on a pack horse, probably with a bit of room to spare in case Sera had anything she needed to bring.
Many of the people at Skyhold had already departed, as Leliana's ravens had brought them the news of the Inquisition's disbanding long before we arrived. Those that were left were either still solidifying plans or — in the case of a very few — unsure where they were going to go from there. It looked like the place was going to lie vacant once again. Somehow that seemed appropriate.
We left Leliana finishing up whatever mysterious things she needed to finish in Skyhold, promising to keep in touch. I had no doubt she'd be able to find me no matter where I ended up settling. Cullen and his dog (which I hope he's named by now, or it's going to go through the rest of its life as Dog) accompanied Sera and me out of the mountains. I was surprised Dagna wasn't with us, but apparently she and Harritt were attempting to transport the entirety of the Undercroft along with them and coordinating that was proving to be a challenge.
We parted ways with Cullen once we left the foothills of the Frostbacks. He was heading back to Ferelden; we weren't. We bought fares on a merchant ship and sailed* to Val Royeaux; both of us had business we needed to conclude there.
* I could probably write a full chapter on that alone - sharing a cabin with Sera on a sea voyage was…an experience.
While Sera tended to whatever Red Jenny things she had going, I went up to the palace. Though I was technically something of a non-entity now, my stint as Inquisitor was recent enough that I didn't encounter any serious challenge to my right to be there. Say what you will, but my long leather coat and black palette (all right, the shaved head and missing arm may have helped too) made me pretty much instantly recognizable so I didn't have to piss about identifying myself repeatedly.
I was there to meet with Vivienne. As I said earlier, I was one of the few people in a position of power that supported the newly-formed College of Enchanters. She was a staunch supporter of the Circles and would now be able to smash the College if she so desired. She greeted me warmly and things started out well enough, but proceeded to cool quickly.
I won't try to transcribe everything word-for-word; a lot of it would probably feel rather repetitious if you weren't sitting there trying sway that maddening woman's opinion. She was firmly convinced that the bloody Circles are a bona fide Good Thing, and any miniscule problems they posed could be solved by small, conservative reforms overseen by her and her people. Darling.
My responses started out reasonable as I tried to get her to see my side of the issue, but as she continued to refuse to budge, they became variations on You're talking out of your ass and you know fuck-all because you've never actually been trapped in a bloody sodding Circle, DARLING.
I'm not sure how out of hand it would have gotten if Cassandra hadn't shown up (I'd had plans to meet with her later, but apparently someone had alerted her when they heard shouting. My shouting. Vivienne just sat there responding in the most condescending and/or bored tones she could summon up).
“What is going on here?” Cass demanded as she strode in. She was dressed in her Divine Victoria costume, minus the silly hat.
“You talk to her,” I growled. “She’s being a stubborn, condescending twat.”
“One could say the same of you, my dear, if one cared to descend to the gutter,” Vivienne shot back as she made a show of studying her nails.
“Both of you, stop it,” Cass commanded. “Do I even need to ask what this is about?”
“What is it ever about?” Vivienne intoned, boredom dripping from every syllable.
“Take one guess,” I said at the same time.
“You want to know what the new Grand Enchanter intends to do about the new College of Enchanters.”
“And that’s why she’s the Divine,” I said.
Cassandra looked at Vivienne. “Well, Grand Enchanter, what do you intend to do?”
“It is disorganized, unnecessary and potentially dangerous,” Vivienne snapped. “My intent is to put an end to it.”
“You don’t know a damned thing about it and you haven’t so much as given them a chance to get organized,” I snapped back.
“Kai, sit down please,” Cassandra said; I’d been pacing. “Thank you. I’ve heard what Vivienne thinks. What do you want? Do you want to banish the Circles in turn?”
“No.” I took a deep breath and tried to bring my voice down to a normal register. “No, I’m not saying we should get rid of the Circles altogether. I’m very aware that for some people they’re a wonderful thing. And that’s fine. But they do not work for everyone, and it’s fucking barbaric to punish those people because other people are afraid they might do something destructive.”
“It is not punishment,” Vivienne retorted. “It’s-“
“Fucking cruel, is what it is,” I snapped, cutting her off. “Honestly, do all you people think that only mages have the capacity to do something unspeakably violent and destructive? Would you like me to start recounting all the atrocities throughout history that weren’t committed by mages? Because I assure you I can. I had eighteen years in a Circle to read all the history books.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Cassandra said quickly. “I know you feel strongly about this, but please try to stay on topic.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You were saying what you would like to see happen,” she prompted.
“All I’m saying is give mages the choice. Those who feel safer and more secure in a Circle are more than welcome to join one. Though even they might feel better if you got the Templars to back off,”
Cassandra made an impatient noise.
“Sorry,” I said again, then picked up where I'd left off. “You want the Templars around in case of emergency? You want them there at harrowings? Fine. But there’s no bloody need to have them lurking at every corner, watching your every move, just waiting for you to make one big enough mistake so they can recommend Tranquility or just kill you outright, not to mention ensuring that privacy is nothing but a pipe dream.”
“You’re straying off-topic again,” Cass pointed out mildly.
I sighed. “Gah. All I’m saying is for those of us who don’t require the level of oversight present in the Circles, the College could be ideal. I am all for giving mages proper training, and I do think that should, as much as possible, be required. That’s what colleges traditionally do.”
“Oh please,” Vivienne rolled her eyes, “the College of Enchanters is no such thing. It’s just a gaggle of mages playing at politics.”
“So they should be encouraged to become a real college. That way when you find a young mage, by all means send her to get trained. But as long as she proves that she can handle herself and she’s not a homicidal maniac or a blithering idiot, once she’s trained let her leave. You’d likely find some mages even choosing to stay at the college to teach, do research, whatever. But give us a chance to have a fucking life.”
“Like the paradise that is Tevinter?” Vivienne snarked.
“Bollocks. That’s always the argument: ‘Give the mages a little freedom and we’re going to turn into Tevinter’. It’s a specious conclusion and you bloody well know it,” I shot back.
“Enough,” Cassandra glared at both of us. “Vivienne. While his speech was not the most eloquent I’ve ever heard, I do think Kai has a valid point. He is walking proof that not every mage needs to be kept in a Circle, wouldn’t you say?”
Vivienne looked at her sulkily.
“As are you,” Cass continued. “As Kai said, you have managed to avoid ever being kept in a Circle yourself, except on your terms. You’re as much an exception to your own rule as he is. And I notice that neither one of you has become possessed or gone on a murderous rampage.”
“I said I was willing to make some small concessions,” Vivienne protested.
I made a rude noise and Cassandra shot me a glare then returned her attention to Vivienne.
“That still sounds like a double standard. I honestly cannot find any fault with Kai’s position.” She stood. Somewhere along the line, she’d gotten the hang of looking regal. “Grand Enchanter Vivienne, I am asking you as Divine Victoria. Let the College of Enchanters alone. Let them discover if they can provide a viable alternative to the Circles that will still allow mages to train and live safely.”
Like a cat that was just seen doing something embarrassing, Vivienne acted like the last several minutes hadn't happened. She inclined her head graciously to Cassandra, "In the interests of amity between our two offices, I agree to your request. I do not support the College of Enchanters, but neither will I seek to disband them."
"Thank you, Grand Enchanter," Cass replied with equal grace. "Now if you have no objections, I would take my leave and ask Lord Trevelyan to accompany me."
"By all means. Fare well, the both of you." She gave Cassandra a shallow bow which Cass returned.
Well, if we're all going to play at being courtly… I bowed slightly to Vivienne as well. "A pleasure as always, Grand Enchanter. Though allow me to hope that our next exchange will be a touch more amicable."
"Quite," she said dryly, then switched tacks with bewildering speed. "You may want to consider exercising more caution, my dear. Remember, you no longer have the collective might of the Inquisition behind you."
"I'm well aware of that, Vivienne," I said flatly. "But that doesn't mean I can't still be dangerous."
Vivienne inclined her head, an inscrutable look on her face.
Cassandra made a disgusted noise. "Maker's breath! Vivienne, I will see you later. Kai, come with me."
"As you command, Your Grace." I grinned and followed her out the door.
###
I didn't intend to write that much about my meeting with Vivienne, but as you may have noticed, I'm rather touchy when it comes to that subject.
So, back to wrapping things up with a degree of brevity (something I don't seem to be particularly good at).
From what I've gathered, Josephine went back to Antiva. I haven't heard anything else about or from her, so I'm going to assume she's doing well.
Cullen, as I said, returned to Ferelden. I know he was going for a long-overdue visit with his family (something I need to consider myself at some point. Gah.). After that, I think he may have said something about wanting to help other former Templars, but I have to admit I wasn’t paying a great deal of attention when he said it.
Blackwall - excuse me, Thom Rainier - has apparently made redemption his life's work. I don't know if he had more of his old unit to make apologies to or not, but he said something or other about helping others to have a second chance. Not sure what that means exactly, but it seems to make him…not happy, precisely, but satisfied.
Iron Bull and his Chargers have gone back to mercenary work. I'm sure they'll be very successful at it. He also assured me that whenever and wherever I need some asses kicked, he'll be there.
Varric went back to Kirkwall, of course. I'm planning on going there shortly both to see him and to check out my estate, not that I'm even sure what counts as an estate there. I'm rather looking forward to it.
I haven't seen Leliana since we took leave of Skyhold, but she assured me she'll be in touch (for one thing, I did get her to confirm she owes me a black nug from the next litter). I know she's working on the Solas problem, and I have no doubt we'll hear from her once she has something up and running.
Sera I see almost daily. I've got some ideas about the Jennys, but I'm being very careful to run them by her and leave it to her to make the final decisions. Despite my ability to do so, I really don't want to start running everything again. Unless in future I actually need to (which would be yet another reason I'd like to bitch-slap Solas/Fen'Harel around every inch of that precious Fade of his). In the meantime, we do things. Sometimes it has to do with righting wrongs, sometimes it’s just for fun. Dorian was right - being a Jenny suits my personality perfectly.
And me? Well, I did end up in a city with Sera (and it doesn’t rhyme with ‘arse’, if that was that blonde Jenny’s idea of humour). I bought a rather nice house.* It’s nowhere near as luxurious as my quarters at Skyhold, but it’s mine and that makes all the difference.
* You don’t honestly think I gave every bit of money I amassed to the Inquisition, do you? I put aside a percentage of everything I sold, negotiated finders fees for several of the mining sites we discovered and marked and in general tried to make damn sure that when it all ended – and we all knew it was going to end at some point – I wouldn’t be left skint and having to go beg money off my family like I did when I left the Circle.
I’ve become accustomed to only having half a left arm. Some days are worse than others. There’s this thing called ‘phantom pain’ that happens, where your body or mind (I’m not sure who the culprit is) starts screaming at you that the arm is there and it bloody hurts. It can be anywhere from mildly annoying to get-drunk-enough-to-pass-out-so-it’ll-stop. I can only hope it’ll abate with time. I still run into balance issues at times, usually when I least expect it. On the positive side, I’ve been talking to both a brilliant dwarven artificer I met at a local pub and Dagna about prostheses. Some “with gadgets”, as Dorian said, and possibly something that’s both mechanical and rune-powered, though that will take some time if it’s even possible. In the meantime, I’ve been playing with the idea that a prosthetic arm could actually act as a replacement for a staff; all you’d have to do is imbue it with the same spells as a staff when it’s being made. You could easily add runes and/or foci to it, and suddenly you can walk around with something that does the same thing as a staff without having to carry a bloody great staff around advertising “Hey! I’m a mage!”.
Heh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to talk shop.
I suppose I need to mention Dorian. He made it to Tevinter safely, and he’s got his work cut out for him there. I’m glad he has Maevaris with him; she’s delightful and brilliant. We talk virtually every night, sometimes just for a few minutes, sometimes for a few hours. I miss him terribly, of course, but I have quite a few things to keep me busy. It’s another ‘some days are worse than others’ thing, but we all have those. We are discussing when I should make the trek to Tevinter. It will be reasonably soon, I think. Once I’ve got some working prosthetics and pay my visit to Kirkwall, I figure I could hook up with some group or another travelling that way and continue north. Maybe hire myself out as an outrider; Maker knows I have enough combat experience to take on a few highwaymen. As Dorian would say, it’ll be an adventure.
Finally, there’s the one thing I’ve barely touched upon – Solas/Fen’Harel and his mad plan to destroy the world.
We tried to tell the various heads of state throughout southern Thedas of Solas's plan, and for the most part were met with resounding indifference. As I indicated at the beginning, most of them simply can't accept the idea that elves could be a real danger. I also think some of them (I am looking at you, Arl Teagan) shrugged it off because they just didn't like the Inquisition. Perhaps Dorian will have a little more luck in Tevinter, but I highly doubt it. The Qunari are in their faces all the time, whereas elves are just an underclass barely worthy of notice. Getting any of them to heed the warnings before the world falls to pieces is going to be an uphill battle at best.
I really can’t say much else, partially because any plans we may have are in their infancy, and partially – and this should be obvious – because if I say too much, he could easily find out what we’re up to. Bastard knows too much already without me blabbing secrets in what amounts to a therapeutic vanity project. So you’ll excuse me if I just leave it at the son of a bitch (get it? Dread Wolf? Son of a bitch? Sorry, that's probably a sign I should wrap this up.) needs to be stopped.
If we manage to, then maybe I’ll write a tell-all book about what happened. If Varric doesn’t beat me to it.
Vitae benefaria,
Kai Trevelyan
9:44 Dragon