Caelyra had defended Ferelden from the most recent Blight and helped to restore order across the land, and more recently she had pursued an interesting breed of darkspawn in Amaranthine — Darkspawn who were wanting to end the Blights themselves, forever, so they would no longer hear the "Calling" that made them search for an archdemon and bring forth doom upon the land.
That whole encounter had given her cause to think, and now she was seeking her own way to end the Calling that coerced these creatures... and her fellow Grey Wardens. For the longer they were tainted, they started hearing the Calling too, and she didn't want that for neither her or Alistair.
Caelyra had contacted the other Grey Wardens and someone else now sat as Arl of Amaranthine, and now she and her trusty war dog, Xander, who she hadn't been with for some time, travelled deep into the Wilds where they had once encountered Flemeth. They were searching for Morrigan.
It had been a year now.
After defeating the archdemon in Denerim, Morrigan had said that she would disappear and not to try and find her or her baby, Alistair's child, but right now Caelyra thought Morrigan was her best bet.
One of her scouts had seen movement around Flemeth's old hut, so here they were. Hoping that movement had been Morrigan.
It was not.
A young Dalish woman said that her name was Ariane and that she had been sent here by the Keeper of her clan in search of The Woman of Many Years, the witch Asha'bellanar.
Flemeth? Caelyra asked.
Yes, Flemeth. For her daughter Morrigan had caused great unrest amongst the Dalish. Morrigan had stolen a book of theirs, one of the very few books of any existing Dalish history, and they wanted it back. The Book of Eluvian.
Ariane said that the book had been liberated from the Circle of Magi after an elven mage grabbed it and ran away to the clans with it. Perhaps the Circle had more old Dalish books, perhaps one that would help them find Morrigan.
It was as good a plan as any and Caelyra had no other leads. They would go to the Circle.
When they arrived at the Circle they were greeted by the Knight-Commander who was in charge whilst Gregoir was in Denerim on business.
Caelyra asked if she could gain access to the library and he allowed it.
The libraries were certainly in better shape than when she had last been here, and it was good to see that the incident with the demons and abominations hadn't touched the books.
While leafing through the indexes in search of anything that appeared Elven or Dalish, Caelyra overheard snippets of conversation from the apprentices. One was jealous of her dog and wished he could have a pet, and some others were gossiping about a situation in Kirkwall. Apparently large groups of Fereldens had fled there at the beginning of the Blight and it wasn't going too well.
Finally they found what they were after. A book of Elven lore and a translation guide in order to actually read the thing.
Turns out they didn't need to read it though. A mage came stamping over and demanded they stopped manhandling that book. They were crinkling the pages and stretching out the leather spine!
Then he saw what they were looking at and released a great deal of knowledge at them. The book spoke of eluvians, which was the Dalish word for mirrors. But they weren't just any mirrors, they were used for communication.
Ariane mentioned something about how one of the Clans had come across a mirror in an old ruin, and one of those who found it had vanished, the mirror destroyed. It had been corrupted by the Darkspawn.
The mage was suddenly excited. His name was Finn and he knew exactly where they could find even more information about this and led them to the Knight-Commander to request permission to enter the Repository.
The Knight-Commander denied the request as the Repository was currently in a rather... dangerous... state. Caelyra, of course, declared that she would deal with the danger if they were let in.
He acquiesced and then asked what was so important down there. Flynn said that he needed to talk to the old statue. Both Caelyra and Ariane raised an eyebrow. Talking to statues? But apparently this particular statue talked back.
Down in the Repository, they fought against the Sentinels that guarded the knowledge that was locked away from the apprentice-mages. There were strange tears in the veil here and each time they fought a group of Sentinels, they were able to repair the rift and then the Sentinels would return to their duties.
Once all the Sentinels had been restored, they continued through the Repository until they found the old Tevinter statue.
They questioned it about the Eluvians and how if one was broken, could they use it to find the others. With a bit of the broken glass and some scrying, one could. To scry the pieces would have to be illuminated by the lights of Arlathan, deep in Cadash.
Caelyra knew Cadash... they had gone there with Shale; it had been her home centuries ago when she was still blood and flesh and not made of stone. At least she knew where it was located and it looked as though that would be the next step.
Finn offered to come with them. He had been granted leave a while ago for study and he hadn't yet taken up the offer — to find a real Eluvian? This was worth his study time!
Caelyra could always use a mage by her side. She agreed.
They arrived at the Cadash Thaig, with minimal resistance from the darkspawn who roamed the deep roads. The mage was already complaining about being down there, but Caelyra could hardly blame him. It was not her favourite place either.
Finn suggested that the elven artifact they sought would be hidden and that it was likely they would be unable to see it, but with the blood of the elf at their side they'd be able to see that which was meant only for elven eyes.
Normally Caelyra wouldn't entertain such magic, but this wasn't actually true blood magic involving the bargaining of demons and it was for an important cause.
Once the spell had been complete, they were able to find pockets of magic that allowed them to be guided towards the artifacts they sought — the lights of Arlathan.
Unfortunately, even though they had an elf with them, each time they found a Light of Arlathan, the spirits of ancient elven guardians would appear and fight them — trying to deter them from capturing these lost relics.
It was disappointing that they had to fight these beings and they wished they could question them instead.
While down in the Thaig, they found reference to the dwarves who had once helped the elves... and been destroyed for their efforts by another group of dwarves who were trade partners with Tevinter.
Soon the last Light had been found and they could go to the Elven ruins where the alleged Eluvian had been shattered. Hopefully there was still a shard of its glass yet remaining.
They trekked over to the other side of Ferelden where the forests grew thick and thanks to Ariane they found the old elven ruins very quickly.
Inside the ruins were scores of elves infected with some sort of sickness and they attacked without question. They had no choice but to defend themselves. It didn't seem like they were infected with the blight, but it was something.
One of the infected elves had a key in his robes... and that key led them to a chamber with the broken eluvian within. It was an amazing construction that looked quite different from the Dalish constructs Caelyra had seen.
Truly the elven race had been a marvel before the Tevinter Imperium brought them to ruin.
Finn began his scrying ritual with a shard of the mirror and the lights of Arlathan, and suddenly they were beset upon by a score of demons. They attacked Finn and tried to interrupt the ritual but Caelyra and Ariane protected him well.
Soon the ritual was complete and all the shade demons lay dead.
Finn was excited. He had located another Eluvian! This one was in the Dragonbone Wastes. Perhaps the Tevinters had placed it there so it could draw more power from the dragon bones.
Caelyra raised an eyebrow. She had literally just been there a month or so ago, destroying The Mother and dealing with The Architect. And she had fought a dragon there. Of course this was going to be where the next Eluvian was. It was typical.
After a very, very long walk, they finally made it to the Dragonbone Wastes. Again.
So far there was no hint of Morrigan, no hint of mirrors, and a dozen dragon cultists and their pet drakes were there, probably reclaiming it for their own now that the darkspawn were gone from the area.
The cultists, drakes and dragons were everywhere! Caelyra almost wished that it was merely darkspawn here once more.
Then, as they reached the old Tevinter ruins where Caelyra had defeated The Mother, a strange creature appeared on top of a tower and screeched at them.
Ariane was horrified. It was a creature of Dalish legend, a creature she thought was only a myth — a creature that lurked in certain areas to protect elven artifacts of renown.
Why hadn't it been there when Caelyra was there earlier? Perhaps Morrigan was here and she had activated this creature, somehow.
The creature would not let them past; they had to defeat it.
Almost as difficult as the high dragons, the beast kept disappearing and summoning the nearby dragons and drakes to attack in its stead, then finally, it lay broken upon the ground. They could now pass.
They entered the ruins and travelled all the way to where Caelyra had bested the Mother, her egg sacs and tentacles still lying across the area and filling the air with a sickly stench.
Caelyra had not noticed before, but there was another path that lay beyond where the Mother had died...
...a path that led to another Eluvian... and Morrigan.
Now that she was face-to-face with Morrigan, Caelyra didn't know what to say, and indeed Morrigan didn't really give her a chance.
She warned Caelyra about Flemeth because although they had killed her — Caelyra inwardly cringed, knowing they had not — the woman was not a human, not a demon, not an abomination, but something else entirely. She would return. Morrigan had taken her baby and was going inside this Eluvian, this portal, and would not be coming back. They would be safe in there.
Morrigan also warned that change was coming to the world. Great change. That many fear change and will fight against it with every fibre of their being... but the change will set them all free.
It was cryptic and Caelyra didn't understand.
Before Caelyra could ask any other questions or seek help for what she desired most, Morrigan told her she knew why she was there and had left a gift for her, bade farewell and stepped into the Eluvian. And disappeared.
There was a small camp just in front of the Eluvian. Caelyra assumed it to be Morrigan's and wandered over to have a look. There the book Ariane was searching for lay and also something else... the 'gift' that Morrigan had mentioned.
It was a bundle of scrolls. Hopefully there was something of use in there that could help her with what she sought... a cure to the Calling.
She would have to investigate these scrolls thoroughly. But for now, all she wanted to do was leave this wretched place of darkspawn stench and forgotten magic and tell Alistair of all she had found.
These scrolls could lead her elsewhere on the morrow.
Until next time!!!! 🐲⚔️
All screenshots in this post are courtesy of me, 