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Calpernia used to find comfort in absence. Silence gives way to wisdom, or so the verses of Dumat impressed upon her. Now, however, the stillness of the air of her Dock Town hovel only drives her mad.
The so-called 'Herald of Andraste' had succeeded where she had failed. Corypheus was slain, and nothing has changed; the Imperium is the same now as it ever was. She had been forced underground in fear of retaliation from what remained of the Venatori. After her meteoric rise to power under Corypheus, she has been cast aside once more, a dulled weapon that outlived its usefulness. All of her efforts to create meaningful change in her homeland had been for nothing. The despots and opportunists mock her still by bastardizing her rallying cry.
'For the glory of Tevinter reborn.' The words turn to ashes in her mouth now.
The betrayal of her mentor cut deeper than she could have ever imagined. Mentor? No, master, she clenched her fists. All she had done was change hands from one master to another. Erasthenes, Corypheus, their names matter not; perhaps she was wrong after all.
'Then I will return to Tevinter... if there is anything left of me.'
She had kept her promise to the Herald that she would return to Tevinter, but there was nothing left of her. Calpernia rubs her eyes as the light in her oil lamp dies out.
She rises from her makeshift desk to grab more oil. It was then that she noticed a few new letters shoved under the gap of her door. Probably more nonsense, she sighed as she crossed the shoebox apartment to grab the mail. As she reached to toss the pile into the dying fire in the hearth, she noticed a strange letter on top of the pile.
She tossed the other letters aside and carefully pried the strange envelope open. This letter possessed some kind of enchantment that obscured much of the contents. Even the wax seal was inscrutable; it was not the insignia of any magister she had ever seen. Dispelling the minor encryption spell was easy work for a mage of her talent.
"Hmm... what manner of letter is this?"
The letter revealed a call to action that made her hard gaze soften slightly.
The highbloods don't own us. They don't own Tevinter. If they will not share it, then we will take it from them. There are dragons in the shadows, too.
"There are more of us than them. Bring the light." Calpernia would have felt mocked, if the letter didn't sound so sincere. The letter was not signed with a name; just an invitation to meet with 'an old friend'.
Calpernia smiled at that as she looked outside her narrow window at the first signs of sunlight reflecting off of the still waters. The thought of sleeping didn't compel her now; she needed to see for herself if these so-called 'Shadow Dragons' could reignite the fire in her heart that lay dormant for so long.
Perhaps I might try living in the light once more, Calpernia mused as she set down her oil lamp and gathered her things.