As Caelyra, her group, and Ser Perth's men walked through the front doors of Redcliffe Castle, it was evident that all was not well. Having grown up in a castle, Caelyra very well knew what it should be like... and it was nothing like that at all.
Quiet, eerie, no chatter, no guards at the doors, and only the small clap of a child's hands and a loud, continuous thumping could be heard through the earpiercing silence. It was unnerving.
They cautiously entered the great hall to find Teagan dancing around the room. The thumping was his body as he cartwheeled and rolled all around the floor, and the clapping belonged to a young boy by Isolde's side. That must be Connor.
Isolde looked downcast as she stood there and watched her brother-in-law perform as a circus entertainer all about the floor.
When Caelyra got closer, Connor stopped Teagan from his performance and then demanded why Caelyra was there, why had she killed his undead army, and then tried to convince his mother to kill her for being younger than her, and pretty besides.
During the confrontation, small appearances of a proper child broke through and Isolde fell to her knees, pleading for her son to return to her, only to be brutally shoved back as whatever had possessed him reclaimed control once more.
With a yell, Connor twisted the ensorcelled minds of Teagan and the guards and sic'd them upon Caelyra and her group. Unfortunately the guards died, but thankfully Teagan had his sense knocked back into him and awoke from the demon's control.
This was truly dire. They were going to have to kill the child!
During the chaos, Connor had run away; presumably to his room.
Isolde was inconsolable. All she had wanted was a mage to teach her son how to hide his magic and instead, Jowan had poisoned the Arl and her son had turned to demons for help, to keep his father alive. It was a giant mess.
She begged Caelyra not to kill her son, that she had seen with her own eyes the small snippets that proved Connor was still in his own body, he just didn't have control all the time. Surely there had to be a way to rid of him of the demon.
Jowan, eager to help fix the situation he had inadvertently started, offered his assistance. Using his blood magic, he could send another mage into the Fade to kill the demon controlling Connor, and Connor would be freed... only, a sacrifice was required.
Desperate to save her son, Isolde demanded to be the sacrifice. She didn't matter. Only her son did. She would gladly give her life for his.
Caelyra, Alistair, and Wynne weren't too sure, although Morrigan didn't see the issue. The sacrifice was a willing subject, after all.
Talking amongst her companions, it was decided. Isolde would not sacrifice herself for her son, no matter how much she wanted to. Neither could they kill the child and rid Redcliffe of the evil that way... instead, they would return to the mage tower and seek Irving's help.
With enough Lyrium and enough mages, they could do the same thing and there would be no casualties.
Teagan agreed if only they would go quickly. Who knew what the demon would do in the time it would take to travel there and back? They must make haste!
As fast as their feet could take them, Caelyra and her companions raced around the other side of the great lake and approached the mage tower once more.
First Enchanter Irving greeted them warmly. Things were going well at the tower and repairs were well underway. Everything was getting back to normal. That was fantastic. However, Caelyra wasn't there for pleasantries, she pleaded with Irving to help save the life of a child by helping them perform a ritual to enter the fade and kill the demon controlling him.
Indebted to her, as well as eager to save a child's life, Irving agreed and hurriedly gathered enough lyrium and the most powerful of his mages.
The trip back to Redcliffe was uneventful and much quicker, due to the carriages and, of course, the templars that accompanied them to keep watch over the mages. No one would dare interfere with mage/templar business.
Soon they were back in the castle, and Irving was discussing the plan with Jowan and Isolde.
His mages quickly prepared for the ritual and Irving asked who would be going into the Fade to rescue this child?
Caelyra chose Morrigan. The woman was adept at encountering spirits in the Fade and knew what was what and not to bargain with demons. She was the perfect choice.
And so, while the mages channeled the lyrium and Caelyra, her companions, and the castle staff looked on, Morrigan stepped into the Fade... and promptly removed the demon from existence.
With the demon gone, Redcliffe Village could go back to its business. Funerary rites were held for all whom had passed over the past few weeks whilst the demon had controlled their lives, and the village officially went into mourning to honour their dead.
Back up in the castle, Isolde thanked Caelyra for saving her son.
Teagan asked what they should do with Jowan. Caelyra did not hesitate. Whilst the man was remorseful and sought to help after all the trouble he had caused, he was still a blood mage and he deserved death. Teagan agreed.
While things were back to normal for the most part, there was still the issue of the poisoned Arl. Before he fell ill, he had been funding the research of a Genitivi, and Genitivi happened to be looking into the whereabouts of the Urn of Sacred Ashes. It was no myth; it was real. Only, Genitivi had disappeared.
Isolde begged Caelyra to go to Denerim, find Genitivi's home, and find out what had happened. Perhaps he had left some research behind that could help find either him or the Ashes.
It was the only thing that would save her husband's life.
Caelyra promised to look, but not for Isolde; because they needed Arl Eamon for when they faced Loghain. It was purely selfish, but it must be done. Loghain would face justice.
On the way out of Redcliffe Castle, Caelyra stumbled upon an amulet... it looked a lot like the one Alistair once told her about. An amulet that had once belonged to his mother, but he had thrown it at a wall in a fit of rage and shattered it. Here it was, but repaired. She pocketed it, and prepared to hand it to him once they got back to camp.
When they got back to camp that evening, before Caelyra could show Alistair what she had found, Wynne called her over and gave her yet another lecture, this time about having the audacity to possibly fall in love whilst being such an important person as a Grey Warden. One day she might have to make a choice between saving one she loves or a mass of people, and what would she do then?
Caelyra preferred not to think about it, thanked Wynne for her unwanted words, and went to look for Alistair.
Alistair thanked her for what she had done for the Arl's family, saving both Connor and making sure Isolde lived. When the Arl came out of his sickness, he would be glad to have both his wife and child at his side.
Caelyra reached into her pocket and pulled out the amulet. Alistair was surprised. This was his mother's amulet, the one he thought for sure had been smashed into pieces. The Arl must've repaired it. It was very unexpected and he thanked her profusely for finding it.
Having done several good deeds this day, Caelyra was ready to turn in for the night, however a stranger was approaching the camp. She wandered over to him and introduced herself.
Apparently she was a hard woman to find. This man, Levi Dryden, had been working with Duncan to find a long lost Grey Warden outpost in the region. Duncan wanted to find the outpost, and Levi wanted to reclaim his family's honour as his grandmother had been the Warden-Commander of the outpost back before it fell.
Since Duncan had passed, may he rest in peace, perhaps she could accompany him to the outpost ruins.
Caelyra looked at the location on the map. It was close to Denerim and that's where they were headed next, and so she agreed. But they would head out tomorrow. She'd had yet another day of Too Much Magic and needed some sleep.
Until next time! ⚔️🐲
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 