Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Dragonage or anything else I may reference

Magic and the Inquisition

Chapter 34 Calm Before the Storm

Skyhold

It was to another cool morning breeze that the residents of the fortress went about their business. With Winter now officially over and the year having finally turned to spring the castle was filled with all types of activities. Down below in the main encampment merchants had already visited in earnest plying their wares, food was sold more frequently as the first of what was going to be many separate smaller harvests were brought into to feed the people. The soldiers however while still bothered by the cold and snow as one would expect given the mountainous location were in a far happier mood, their every action somewhat gladdened by the arrival of not only a new year but also with the idea of earning some glory in combat.

Winter one of the greatest enemies of the people of Thedas, who killed people in their sleep from the cold and starved them ruthlessly was finally over. But there was more to be thankful for, however, the Earthquakes that had one troubled the continent had subsided with the return of the Inquisitor and as such she and her group had been met with joyful applause. Corypheus too had thankfully been quiet past certain events. Now as the mountain flowers began to once again bloom giving streaks of colour onto what was normally a dull grey and white land thoughts on all sides turned once again to war.

"What state are the preparations in?" Valeyna asked her attention fixed squarely onto the table, thanks to magic the once large oak table had changed into something far more complex. Instead of there simply being a map with daggers that had been plunged into them in every which corner Nat had instead done some high-level magic to give forth a map of true brilliance to the group.

Real in seemingly every state of the word, it was as though the group was staring down as though they were a god onto the world, for instead of lines of a map there was instead dirt and water shaped as it was into the surface of the land. Hills, cliffs, caves, valleys, grass, flowers, trees, they were all present on this great wonderous map and all done in detail. They were even able to detect the current weather as it changed. Reaching outwards Valeyna still sometimes struggled to believe her eyes, it was like a great model, except so accurate thanks to the methods used that this was no doubt single handily the most advanced maps in all of Thedas. Even the borders of the different nations, what was at times always so hard to make out had clear defined lines indicating them, hiding her smile she turned her attention back to Skyhold, a perfect little fortress accurate to the last detail from when it had been sighted was there.

She glanced over to her other advisors watching amusedly as like her they stared at this new great map. Cullen seemed the most fascinated his comments often being on the sheer detail as it showed the inclines and declines, about how such a map could be used to perfectly plan out future battles. But there was more than just the simple map that was brought in 3D instead Nat had shown using some commands information hat was revealed, here they could know where troops, spies and other things were located, they could add and take away symbols change colours and so many other things that they needed. With a demonstration Nat has shown them the location of the Inquisitions and where they were spread, then there were fortresses that were under their control, the location of where rifts were blazing and would have to be put down, previous missions that had yet to be attended to were marked and with another simple flick like touching a holographic screen they were able to learn more as well as enter and take away words or descriptions.

"Well, Gunpowder and metal products have been tripled, we have since built an additional six thousand rifles, as well as eight hundred cannon, three hundred rocket artillery pieces and enough ammunition for at least five major engagements and at least two standard uniforms for each soldier" The group stopped their attention turning wildly to the wizard.

"How?" Cullen said in shock. Recoiling from the number he tried to think of anything that might have kickstarted such a giant increase in such a short time since the last meeting. Though he found no problem it was still shocking to hear of the industrious way in which war was being prepared for.

"Factories Cullen, factories and… experimentation"

"Magical experimentation" Valeyna inquired curiously, she didn't often care about what Nat did to support the military, yes she supported it and it could certainly be said that his production of the most advanced weapons known to the continent was scary, but weapon production was not something in her interests, at least not something she wanted to visit.

"Indeed, while I don't have access to the vast amounts of natural resources that I would back home, or the knowledge of the workers, I do however have access to magic. And seeing those Sha Brytol, the way they imbued their weapons with lyrium to get it to work, well it got me thinking. If I were to imbue the factory with a source of lyrium, have that power as much as possible then we could speed up work, we could start to magically mechanize the workforce. Dorian helped me quite substantially there, but trust me when I say, it's merely the start of magical engineering"

"And just where are these factories located, how long will it take for them to deliver supplies to the soldiers," Cullen said his mind already turning onto the logistics of war. Gunpowder he heard more then he had seen was a terrifying weapon to fight against, before magic was a worrying thing to fight against. There could be bolts of lightning scorching you're skin or fireballs hurtling towards blasting you apiece or perhaps even being frozen to death, it was why they were kept in towers until recently and even during wars it wasn't common to allow more than one or two to join the fray. But gunpowder was different, he had watched the displays from Nat's soldiers, the drilled disciplined soldiers going about in a simple but easy to remember way as they reloaded and fire their weapon.

A musket was a loud weapon, slow compared to a skilled archer, but that was the thing. Guns had far less training required then a bow, such as the speed of training that new inductees into the Inquisitions ranks were no longer even sent into thew older groups of soldiers where they would be trained day after day in how to use a sword, shield and how to wear armour, instead they were simply given a uniform and told to report for training. There they then spent their days marching as a long thin line and shooting. Hour after hour they shot their rifles, so much so that when one moved away from Skyhold the sound of gunpowder being fired either by cannon, musket or rocket artillery had become so prevalent that It was strange to see them without it.

"They're separated, there's at least two in Orlais, two in Ferelden and there's one here"

"That could cause some problems with the nobility, have you considered expanding the factory here" Josephine spoke as she walked over to the side of the map where Antiva was located, it was strange seeing her home like this, so far away yet so close.

"I considered that but I'd prefer not to put all of our eggs in one basket. Should the war turn against us and we lose Skyhold then we could lose the war. On the other hand, spreading our production does mean it's less effective but we minimise the risk of losing our major arms producer and also it means that our soldiers in the field can be far more readily supplied in the field then having to wait from shipments here. It keeps them fresh, shortens the supply train and, you won't have to worry about the nobility. With Orlais still in civil war, the people there are desperate for any way to keep themselves fed. I offered them a chance to work for the Inquisition, a fair wage for their labour, enough to buy them their food and a little bit extra for themselves and family."

Josephine gave an approving smile as she understood the situation perfectly. "If they tried to stop them the people would turn against them and the Inquisition could use it as an excuse to deal with them saying that it's to help protect the war effort" Nat raised his cup of tea and nodded his head towards the woman, it felt good to be complemented by that woman.

"Exactly, by providing jobs we have boosted the local economy of the area, gaining the loyalty of the people to our cause and expanded our reach. Also thanks to Leliana we have also managed to grab a hold of some land that belonged to some nobles and brought it under our grasp, it isn't a ridiculous amount but given my people's knowledge on agriculture, we should be able to rapidly increase crop yields in the area." Valeyna stopped her eyes going as wide with dinner plates, it hadn't been that long since the Titan, she still remembered the dark and worried look that Nat had presented at the time the fear the emotion, now once again it was all gone and replaced with something else.

A small amount of certainty, there wasn't arrogance or pride in his voice, but where before Nat had been remaining mainly neutral now he seemed to be confident, almost certain that he could beat Coryphaeus. It was strange, yet she couldn't help but find it rather heart-lifting, if Nat thought they could win, perhaps they really did stand a chance.

"You worked fast to get this done, but why not try to engage Coryphaeus's forces in an open battle, why land"

"Caution" Nat warned firmly. "I realised it after the Titan's death" He continued. "we have been acting so sure that we can defeat Coryphaeus quickly, within the span of a year maybe. Because we've seemingly managed to win every encounter so far we think Coryphaeus is on his last ropes, but the Titan got me thinking. The blight isn't a fast thing, it's slow poisonous, it likes to linger in places centuries after the darkspawn in an area has been destroyed. Coryphaeus is corrupted by the blight, how much so compared to a regular being is unknown, but all the same, there is a chance that even if we beat him now he will wait, that he may bide his time for now, hiding as he rebuilds his strength. And it made me think, the war will be over by Christmas"

"Christmas, that's the holiday from you're home, the one at the end of the year. What does that have to do with anything?" As Nat's face once again slipped into that emotionless cold mask Valeyna wish she hadn't asked, Nat had been more positive just a moment ago reflecting on their victories seemingly feeling invincible like the Inquisition could do anything, now he seemed to think back to darker things, no doubt once this meeting was over he would return back to the planning of the war"

"Over a century ago, at the beginning of the First World War there was a general sentiment amongst the people, all of them it didn't matter if they were civilian, general, politician or soldier, they all thought that when they were shipped to France to fight the Germans, that it would be a quick war. They thought it would be over in a few months, they would go over there, show what for and it would all be over by Christmas where they would be home with their families. Of course, that didn't happen and that hope died as the year ended" Sighing Nat focused his attention onto the map specifically the area he knew Coryphaeus was located he was still hunkered in one place he saw, the same place he had been guarding ever since this all began, his own prison. He did not mention that to the others, there was no point in forcing another battle yet, not until they either had to or a way to bring the monster down permanently.

"You're expecting a long war," Cullen said sullenly, Nat nodded.

"I would very much prefer to avoid it, but I cannot deny the possibility that this war could take years to finish, and just because we're winning now does not mean it will always be so, and even if we do win as early as we desire that does not mean another war will not come straight off the heels of it" Valeyna narrowed her eyes, there was something else at play she could tell.

"And who would that be"

"Our foreign dignitaries for the day, the Qun"

"Bulls people, why are they here, have they come to meet him?" Valeyna said her mind focusing on the large Qunari, why did she have a bad feeling that whatever they wanted from him would not be good.

"We don't know, they didn't state only that they wanted a meeting, they'll be here shortly when they arrive we'll meet them. But my point still stands, we have to be ready for either an extension of the war or another one emerging from other areas, even if it's not the Qun it could be Fen Harel or another Blight. Merlin knows we have enough enemies"

"Fen Harrell" Even as she said it there seemed to be a dark silence that fell upon the group at that name, of all those they were now having to fight against it was that name that has the most concern to them. At first, Valeyna knew that she had been the most concerned with this individual, one going by the name of one of her gods, but now as the war mildly simmered on they all seemed to direct a substantial amount of attention to this elven god and his possible plans. "Do we have any more information on them, what they want to do, their followers"

"As quiet as always" Nat commented. "As for followers apart from Solas"

"Solas?" Valeyna questioned. "Are you sure"

"Positive, I don't know how deep the man is into Fen Harrel's ploys, but the more I watch the more I'm convinced. There's to much evidence to go against him"

"But if he's been trying to hide his connection then how have you figured it out"

"Because the man is arrogant. Don't get me wrong Solas is brilliant, powerful, intelligent but arrogant. I don't think he ever expected us to notice the little dots he's been waving around, the wolfs jaw bone he carries around his neck, his knowledge on the ancient elves, so much so that's capable of teaching me the language, his cryptic answers, the way he looks down on the Dalish and regular elves, not to mention his magic as well as other things. The man is definitely a spy, he just never expected anyone to pick up on things and of course, there are the other things I can sense"

"Other things, what are you talking about?" Nat glanced around then without warning he sent out a rapid series of magical pulses, though lasting only a few seconds he finally brought it to a close with a series of intricately cast series of wards, then when he believed it was safe enough to speak again without a problem, he revealed the truth to them.

"You know how I can sense things right, how using magic I pick up on people's presences" Valeyna nodded. "Well there's more to it than that, most of my people can only read very high amounts of magic being unleashed but those who are trained for combat learn to sense far more. For instance, I can tell your gender and age simply by your presence and Solas is not young"

"As in what, he's forty-fifty?" Cullen joked.

"As in over a thousand" Nat admitted. All around the reactions of the group were as one, a shocked and unbelieving expression at the statement, glancing to one another they seemingly attempted to have a mental conversation of some kind but before they could get very far they were stopped loudly as Nat spoke again. "I'm not lying I can tell all of your ages, it's like looking at a person or object, it's not a definite thing, but you can get rough ideas, Solas is Ancient. It's why he knows Elven it's why he knows Arlathan, it's why he's interested in Dorian's magic and is annoyed how Tevinter seems to claim magical excellence when his people discovered it first. It was one of Solas's people who went to my world, it was their magic which connected our worlds and sent me here. Solas is ancient, he's an old elf and I have a feeling he is one of the most important people in Fen Harrel's little group"

"That would make sense of why my birds told me," Leliana added ignoring the growing feeling of dread as though they were hiding away from some truth as a murderer came to get them undefended. "A while ago I sent some of my birds to investigate Solas's birth village. They found the remnant of the place, but they said it had not been occupied for so long that they couldn't tell when it had been abandoned.

"That's why Solas was concerned when you killed the Titan when you destroyed it" Nat nodded, it had been a rather angry Solas that had yelled when the Titan had died. The man when giving him a lift had believed he would have done something else, instead of when Nat had slain the titan, his blade piercing into the rock imbuing it with a mix between his own power and that od the dragon forcing the heart to explode did he finally see the look of horror and concern dawn on his face as though he had done some great deed, one that haunted him to this day. Afterwards, the man had yelled exclaiming how like spirits the titan should have been protected, it was all a lie of course. When he had tricked the others into the idea that he had thrown the heart and all it's fragments away, sending them to the bottom of the titan's corpse, did Solas gaze at him with a mark of both sorrow and anger.

Solas had wanted the heart of the Titan it seemed, but for what?

"Then what do we do?" Valeyna said her eyes going grim. There was no time to debate such an idea, had Nat made such accusations earlier, at a different time she would have fought him on that front, but now she could see where he came from, how the pieces he had discovered all fit together.

"We watch, carefully mind you. If Solas is as high ranked as I think he is then it's possible that he's either hiding his true power or that he may be in contact with Fen Harel. Given his age there's a very high chance that the two of them could have been planning something for a long time, no doubt whatever it is will be intricate"

"It's strange to think, Solas as our enemy"

"Actually it makes sense, Solas's actions gave him a reason to be at the Conclave explosion. Do you remember how one of the first things Solas told us about was he need to gain whatever tool Coryphaeus had used" As she spoke Leliana quickly and intuitively began to touch the new table, as she did so she noticed to her delight that it responded to her touch? It was an easy interface system she found one that she was soon able to find all the information that she had laying around seemingly stored into one place.

"The explosion was planned?" Valeyna nearly yelled as she did so she felt her body become pale and weak, her mind began to race as she remembered Corypheus and the explosion of being trapped in the Fade of being so near death. Though she did not know why as she felt her body shake from the idea that Solas of all people had wanted her dead, she moved her way around the table until she was then beside Nat allowing his mere presence to seemingly bolster her own sense of safety. Noticing this Nat with a roll of his eyes patted the woman on the back seemingly relaxing her at that moment and allowing her to regain her thoughts back. As he did so the eyes of the Inquisitor's eyes hardened at the thought. "This is his fault, everything, the Fade, the death of the Divine"

"Not so fast" Nat warned his own attention falling onto the map specifically at the ruined remains of Haven, carefully he stroked his chin. "I do not think Solas meant for what has happened to occur and neither do I think he desired it, instead I think he was tracking that orb perhaps as a mission from Fen Harrel. Whatever Coryphaeus did must have released the contained magic within and set of the course of events causing the explosion"

"He manipulated us. That bastard" In an instant, the blonde-haired elf turned towards the door her vallaslin glowing alight with magic as she began to imagine how she would torture the man who was responsible for so many of the bad things that had happened to her. All this time the man had known, and not once had he dared to speak of it, her mind flashed back in anger to all those times when Solas had belittled her and her people the way he had called her wrong, stupid even in their own conversations. If Nat was right and she knew without a doubt that Nat was right because he, she knew could trust entirely then the man was an enemy one who was using the Inquisition to Fen Harrel's own purposes. As she reached the door however she found that out of nowhere the handle allowing themselves to escape vanished within an instant. Angrily she turned back to the one other person who could accomplish such a thing.

"We need to be careful Inquisitor" Nat warned. "I understand the reason for hating the Egg, but this is war. We have to play it smart. Solas believes he has the edge on us that we have no idea that he could be a member of Fen Harrell's little cult and even if he does, he thinks he can handle us. We can use that against him. If we continue to feed him false information, we can use his own strength against him.

"Is that wise though, Solas knows of our most secret plans, if he were to suspect something…" Joesphine said concernedly.

"We're buggered, and thanks to us we've dealt and defeated some of the largest threats facing the world, threats that could have possibly halted him. Which is why he's waiting for Corypheus to be defeated, were he to strike now, he and his god would have to face the wrath of the other nations, but if he waits allows us all to tire ourselves out then when he does emerge into the open he is in the strongest position. That's why we have to come up with a plan now, a careful one. We could destroy the man but in doing so we could make things worse, possible contacts Solas might have could be turned against us and he very likely had support from some of the other elves.

"If he's so ancient though how do we defeat him?" Demanding the most powerful magic user she knew, Valeyna hoped beyond anything that Nat would have an idea. How could he not, he was the slayer of gods, ruined a leader of darkspawn, destroyer of demons and vanquisher of Titans, how could one simple elf hop to stop him. Yet as Nat remained silent his face seemingly in cold concentration she could not help but fell ill. It was not so much the idea of war but just how concerned Nat was with this threat if he was fearing conflict with Solas that greatly it did not bode well. Could they even win the war if Solas turned against the, they may have men and resources and power but if Solas was ancient he had far more at his command, the spirits of the Fade.

"I don't know, poison won't work. I had a plan to deal with the man fairly quickly in case. Unfortunately, Solas is able to feel my magic even when I'm being as subtle as possible, so the easy route is out"

"Poison?" Valeyna exclaimed in shock. Nat chuckled.

"Oh sweet merlin no, I wouldn't waste my time with poison, I tried placing magic on some laxatives to see if he would sense the magic, he did. My true plan, however, was far more efficient"

"I have a bad feeling about this" Cullen muttered.

"Oh please it's nothing fancy it was just a grenade, I would have shrunken it down to into the form of a pill, hidden it inside his food and when he ate he would ingest it. With the magic on the pill, it wouldn't cause a problem. The moment Solas turned against us I would activate the magic, the grenade will explode with enough force to take down a castle towers and it would send his entrails all over the place".

The group blinked, then as one they recoiled, horrified visages making themselves known. Cullen looked at the mage as if he had committed some great crime like a young mage who had just summoned demons forth into the tower when he was in Kirkwall or had done blood magic, Joesphine turned pale as she swallowed down small bile of vomit. Leliana, on the other hand, could not help but give a slightly impressed look, it was a horrible bloody way to die, but she could not help it was an effective one, poison deliver in the same manner could word, but resistance or spell might simply have it out of a person system before it could take effect, however, an explosive device inside the body kept there would mean a very fast very untimely death, one which might also prevent anybody else from interfering. She made a note to speak to Nat later about getting some of these so-called devices.

Valeyna forgetting the anger she had aimed towards the man instead simply gave a lone sigh before shaking her head. What was it with Nat and explosives? sure she could see the plan working but the idea of simply flinging a grenade into what could be a dangerous mage and killing them that way rather than engage in a great fight was rather well… anticlimactic.

"Why am I not surprised" Smiling she walked towards him as a small nervous chuckle escaped her lips. "And what's plan two"

"If he's still at present strength, we trap him in an area and force a powerful explosion, one which is hopefully powerful enough to blow through any ward he could put up" Feeling a headache coming up, Valeyna pinched her nose.

"Is there a less violent way?"

"We could fight him in a one on one engagement, hope our combined power and skill is enough to overpower him, but if we did that Solas may be able to call in backup and we have serious problems then"

"You mean Fen Harrel showing up" Nat nodded.

"If Solas is powerful and skilled then Fen Harrel will be far more so, likely enough to destroy the both of us and there's a chance he won't be alone"

"What are you talking about, and why do I not like the sound of it"

"It's something Varric said, back when he was with Hawke somebody they encountered. I can't help but wonder"

"Another enemy, and who would that be, noble, mage, Templar" Leliana demanded harshly her eyes already focusing on the area that was around the old City of Kirkwall. Remembering what Varrick had said she looked at every single destination that the group had visited, trying to work out which one it could be. It did not help however that the Champion of Kirkwall had defeated many opponents when she was in the city and had slain many foes, then there were other escapades such as Tallis. Giving up she turned back and waited for the inevitable answer.

"Flemeth"

"Morrigan's mother?"

"The Witch of the Wilds, what could she possibly have to do with things" Josephine added.

"I'm not entirely sure. But when Varrick talked about the amulet about how Merrill treated her with such deference, it makes me think. Solas has mentioned he talked to some of the Dalish, no doubt he heard of this woman, perhaps he sought her out and contacted her. Even if there is no connection I'd still be concerned anyway given that she supposedly made a Horcrux"

"Horcrux" Cullen inquired.

"Black magic. Highly illegal and knowledge on the subject is under strict ministry control, anyone who even inquires about the subject can often find themselves under investigation, even arrested. They watch anyone who enters and leaves the country, has charms guarding portkeys, flu network and other magical means "

"Then how do you know about it?"

"I took an aeroplane. A giant metal machine that can fly. Funny thing really, despite the minister being a muggle-born she's been in the magical world for so long now that despite her desire to bring the magical world more into the muggle one, she kind of looks past things. For all her defences all I needed to do was buy a ticket to another country buy the book there and nobody's the wiser"

"And a Horcrux is what exactly?"

"Soul magic, specifically one breaks their very soul into pieces, then when it's done they hide in on objects, because of this a person can't seemingly die as their soul is not intact preventing it from passing on"

"Passing on, I thought you didn't believe in a god" Nat rolled his eyebrows, so it had finally come to that discussion, great. Hadn't they started this entire conversation on something else entirely?

"The vast majority of the magical world at home do believe in an afterlife, I don't. The short reason being is that there's no way to definitely prove it using the equivalent of the scientific method. Just because the soul exists does not mean that an afterlife exists also. Anyway back to the topic, the fact that Flemeth was able to make a Horcrux could mean that Solas went to her, either for advice or to perhaps learn from her to make sure he didn't die"

"This only gets worse, first an ancient darkspawn magister whose soul jumps from body to body, now one of the witches in our culture could be one using dark magic and now we have Solas who is a servant of Fen Harrel who could do the same thing. Where do they learn such magic" Nat shook his head, it was a very good question to ask, one in which they all wanted to know and why he understood the reason for not allowing information on the topic to be allowed to leak back to the general populace.

"Oh trust me, if the rest of the magical world were to learn about my adventures and this death escaping stuff, people would start having a fit, especially Potter"

"Right, then how do we stop this, do we destroy these Horcruxes?" Nat nodded. "Great then how do we find them?"

"I don't know"

"Ministry?" Valeyna said knowingly, though she didn't know much about Nat's government the way he spoke about it preventing information getting out was making it rather frustrating.

"Yep, admittedly were I in contact and explained the situation to them, they would probably be more lenient with that info, but given at the time I was curious about the subject I was still a kid and no threat, not a chance. Hell even if there were a threat they'd leave it to the Aurors"

"So no information then?"

"Not unless I make a portal back home soon no. I can't even really speculate on how Potter and his lot went about it, there aren't any spells in the books I looked in for tracking them down, so my only guess would be an I in-depth character study of the man Tom Riddle was and using that to hunt down artefacts. We do have slightly one saving grace"

"And that is?"

"The way the spell is worded heavily implies that the artefacts have to have some connection to the caster, for instance, you couldn't just pick up a random piece of sand, put half your soul into it and then fling it at the bottom of the sea. Of course, it doesn't have to be something that one has directly interacted with before, it could be something like an object that you've only heard about it but due to a strong emotional desire it would allow the spell to take hold, It's for this reason why it's likely the Hogwarts Relics would have been selected for the spell by Voldemort, he may not have had them for very long, but his desire and pride in regard to them would have allowed it. But then again this could all be useless given that our magic works differently, there may be more or fewer limitations to the magic here"

"What if we had someone who knew her, someone close" Nat narrowed his eyes at Leliana's comment, she had a strong point.

"You would have to know where such a person would be and as for a spell, you would need Dorian's help with such a thing not mine"

"Oh come on Nat you could make a spell"

"Not on the level of complexity we're talking about, I've only ever studied such complex magic, never any practical. Dorian on the other hand… well we all know what he managed to accomplish"

"Yeah, that's what concerns me, Dorian's very good, perhaps too good" Valeyna commented as she remembered her time in the grim darkness of one year of the future. Looking back at it in hindsight, the magic was certainly impressive and the man managed to keep his cool, but the fact that he managed to find a way to warp time itself was still a terrifying prospect one in which she had executed the only other man who had information on it simply to prevent Corypheus's use of it.

"Well he's the most experienced mage in stuff this complicated we have if we exclude Solas, and I don't trust Viviene in the slightest, Were she to get her hands on that type of magic she would abuse it to no end."

"It's a good plan, but I think you both are acting too quickly, we have no evidence if Flemeth even is an enemy or not. If we continue to imagine enemies and plan wars against them, it will be a very difficult time increasing our allies" Berating them Joeshpine couldn't help but smile as the two young magic users looked at one another and nodded, it was cute in a sense, as though they were partners and could be trusted entirely.

"Very true, we have gotten long off-topic, we need to focus on the Qun for. They have already arrived and are waiting for us in the hall, so unless there is anything else to discuss, I believe it's time to meet our guests" With no other matters to discuss, the group left the table and soon headed for the door the handle materialising as soon as they went to leave.

Emerging into the large court area the sun streaming down from behind them lighting it up with an ethereal glow, the group quickly took their positions. At the top was Valeyna who quickly jumped at the opportunity to sit down and cross her legs as she gave what she believed to be an emotionless look but in truth only made her look slightly angry. Leliana quickly walked back in the direction of her office using the others in the room to act as cover whilst Joesphine and Cullen stood to her right as they stared at their guests ready to give advice and Nat was located right by her, standing to her left the last line of defence.

Laying their attention on their guests, the chatter that had once filled the halls though far quieter than usual as it was only filled by a few Guards and Bull fell silent as Joeshpine called out the group to step forwards.

"Good to see you Hissrad," The elf leader said in a happy tone as he approached his fellow Qun agent"

"Gatt" Bull cried happily his face turning up at the sight of the elf man. "Last I heard you were still in Seheron" Nat glanced over to Valeyna, so they knew each other, this was not good.

"They'd finally decided that I'd calmed down enough to let me go back again into the world" The man replied with a happy chuckle.

"Boss this is Gatt," Bull said introducing the man as he broke protocol and began to climb the stairs, treating the man more like a friend or a member of their group rather than an enemy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Inquisitor," Gatt said politely giving a large bow as he met eyes with the woman who sat upon the throne. "Hisraads reports say you're doing good work" However as he turned towards Nat there was sudden tension, gingerly the man's eyes drifted towards the soldiers that stood either side of the hallway.

Dressed in the scarlet uniform that was quickly becoming not only the symbol of the more advanced troops of the Inquisition but also that of the colour of the Inquisition and the presence of the wizard who had accomplished such things, the elf could not help but feel a small amount of concern. Yet he said nothing instead turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

"And you must be Nathanael, Hissraad has also said a great many things about you" Nat made a note of that if that qunari had made another secret code system… He turned his eyes towards the elf but held off on his desire to invade the mind, Solas was too nearby and mind magic was a set of magic he'd prefer not to reveal until it was absolutely needed. Even without it, however, he could sense the man's caution.

As much as the elf wanted to pretend he was a dangerous assassin with those weapons on his back he was no doubt aware of his reputation and it made itself known as he saw the calculating look on his eye, the one that indicated that the elf had a plan in how to kill him. Too bad it would fail.

"Iron Bull's name is Hissraad?" Valeyna inquired her eyes glancing towards the man.

"Under the Qun, we use titles not names"

"My name was Hissrad because I was assigned to secret work. You can translate it to as keeper of illusions or…"

"Liar" Gatt said suddenly. "It means liar" Bull growled in a menacing way.

"But you didn't have to say it like that"

"Keeper of Illusions, what a fancy term," Nat said quickly his own attention glancing to the other agents of the Qun. Ever so subtly they were trying to space themselves out amongst the hall, increasing the distance between them so an area of effect attack would not hinder them as heavily and to get close to the number of guards and others that were located within to help defend the group should something go wrong. "though that sounds far more like a title for a mage rather than an agent of Espionage."

"I look forward to working together" Valeyna stated peacefully.

"Hopefully this will benefit both of our people. Tevinter is dangerous enough as it is without this Venatori Cult. If this new form of Lyrium helps them size power, the war in Qunundar could get worse"

"With this stuff, the Vint's could turn their army of slaves into magical freaks. We could lose Seheron and see a giant Tevinter army heading back down here" Concern echoed in Bull's voice, major concern Nat noted. He could understand why of course yet apart from the large army that would come down here, he was failing to see the major problem of Tevinter crushing Seheron, If anything it was desirable, were the island to fall it would give Tevinter a foothold north, threaten Par Vollen itself and force the Qun to divert resources or lose the war. It was a victory in any case one Nat desired to see brought about.

"The Ben Hassrath agree, that's why we're here. We have a dreadnought nearby, one which will help us deal with the shipment however there will be mages when we arrive, we'll have to eliminate them and signal to the dreadnought that it's safe there they can then come in and take out the smugglers ship"

"What do you think Bull" Valeyna turned slowly expecting a dark reply instead Bull simply turned his head up to her left side where Nat just stood then with a confident smile he boasted proudly.

"Normally I don't like Dreadnought runs, too much crap that can go wrong. Our scouts estimate fewer enemies then we expect and we're dead, we don't lock those mages up and the ship is dead. However if the kid is with us, even if our scouts underestimate our numbers the kid will deal with them and even if the mages hit the ship the kid can deal with that"

"You overestimate my abilities Bull" Bull snorted loudly a horrid guttural noise that echoed from somewhere behind his nose filling the air as a loud chuckle was promptly sent roaring.

"Overestimate" Bull laughed as though he had been told the funniest joke in existence. "I've seen you, fight kid, there's no point in even bringing a dreadnought, just send you and the Venatori would shit themselves as they ran"

"Please Bull" Laughing even louder, Bull was barely able to contain his laughter when the slightest chill ran down his spine giving a shiver down in the most unlikely and cruellest of places. Jumping in surprise the man turned his glare to the wizard only to find that Nat had instead focused on the elf.

"Bull has a point, this sort of operation requires a delicate touch, soldiers can't exactly go about this, it would have to be a stealth mission, one with talented people" Gatt smiled diplomatically at the comment for the wizard then with a smirk on his sharp-pointed face he gave a nod.

"Indeed, I think if we were to work together it would show the commitment from both of our parties to such an agreement don't we think" And allow them to get extra accounts to report back to the Qun Nat thought. There was more to this meeting he knew, and this was only the beginning.

"If your ships are so powerful why not wait until the smugglers reach open water" Valeyna commented suspiciously, she didn't like this, either way, If Nat didn't like them then there was a dammed good reason to mistrust them.

" Any decent smuggler ship can outrun a dreadnought in open water" Gatt replied angrily.

"Then why not just send more"

"The Qun can't afford to waste such resources, a Qunari Dreadnought it, not some meagre vessel it's one designed for war, the greatest ship to ever sail the sea's, powerful far more so then any ship Tevinter can produce. But like any vessel bringing a wooden ship near land where mages are will lead to disaster" Nat nodded that was a point that didn't need to be brought up, as powerful as a dreadnought for the Qunari may have been, the fact remained it was still made of wood and wood had a slight tendency of combusting into flames, combine that with gunpowder and the result was not exactly pleasant for those on board.

"In that case why not send some agents to deal with the ship on land"

"Oh yes, and what are they meant to do, somehow swim undetected through some of the most dangerous waters in Thedas, where they could get swept up by the tide and crushed against rocks. No, unless the Inquisition has some hidden navy squirrelled away in some forgotten corner, the Dreadnought will be the only ship involved, and we will not endanger it with foolish attempts."

"Do we?" Valeyna said her gaze turning towards the wizard expectantly.

"What have a hidden navy stashed away?" Nat asked in amusement. When Valeyna nodded, he made a note to be careful of just what the woman expected of him. "Then no, I have no hidden navy stashed away" At the admission of a lack of any type of navy Nat observed as Gatt seemingly smiled in relief, perhaps he believed that without any navy that the Inquisition was far more limited in power. He sighed internally, he was going to have to destroy any such notions and quickly. "However if such a thing is required, then the creation of warships and materials in a fast time frame could be completed"

"Can you have one done by the time of the venture, to join the Qun's dreadnought" She turned back to Gatt. "In the spirit of cooperation of course, if we are both providing ground forces it would only be fair if we were to send a naval force as well".

"It could be done" Nat spoke slowly his mind working fast not only to see if such a thing was feasible but also as he made sure to make that he made the right impression on the Qun spy. "So long as the materials, blueprints and everything else is already in place, then yes I can give you a ship within a week" Valeyna nodded.

"Good, Josephine you have connections with sailors correct, can you try and find some trustworthy men who would sail for the Inquisitions banner. Nat, I leave the rest to you"

"Of course Inquisitor, I shall not disappoint"

"I know you won't"

The rest to him? Nat looked at the woman calmly not for a moment giving a hint of emotion away, despite this though, he couldn't help but wonder if the woman was giving him some sort of test. He was no soldier, no sailor, no person who had served in the armed forces, but he did know some certain facts and one of those was that it was far harder to build a navy up then it was an army, traditions had to be made, training was far more essential, people who knew how a ship worked, and had sailor for some time, in an army such a thing was necessary for it to work, for a Navy it was vital far more so than any army wherein large conflicts a good large amount of troops would only have gone through basic before they were thrown to the wolves.

That was just the crew alone, however, knowing the Inquisitor she expected not some small ship, but a powerful ship one that would outsize the Qun, that she could show up in and impress the world, but it would also have to be capable of fighting. That left out anything that Thedas could produce, too little time to design a warship, prepare its armament and build it, on the other hand, it would be easy if one had access to books with information on centuries of warfare.

What type of ship did he build, immediately any ironclad was out of reach, as rapidly as weapons were being produced now, he would not have access to that much stell, not within a lone week. That left wood and more specifically a ship of the line. He sighed to himself, he needed to build a ship of the line within a week, that was the easy part if he had the wood and the blueprints he could assemble the thing in an hour, but the rest of it, cannon, crew, maps, he'd have his work cut out for him not to mention finding somewhere on the coast to build it.

"I look forward to seeing what the Inquisitions second in command can produce" Gatt replied with a growing smirk. "Though I do hope it will not be much of a challenge given the small time frame"

"The enemy will be dealt with, either way, you can be sure of that" Nat replied meeting the man in a stern gaze. He did not have time to waste of such nonsense, the sooner the Inquisition could get back to the matter of war the sooner he could start to look at being able to go home.

"Though speaking of such a thing, I must now let you know of the Quns… displeasure over the Inquisitions recent activities"

"Displeasure" Valeyna asked.

"You're creation and utilization of an exploding powder, specifically in the use of cannons. While the Qun appreciates that this is pressing times for the continent, it has tasked me to inform you that it does not care for your fragrant abuse and theft of its technologies"

"Theft?" Nat spoke softly his hand ever so gently reaching towards the longsword on his hit. "Last time I checked the Qun used a different material in the usage of its own cannon and such cannons were less developed than our own. Such a claim is nothing but a lie I assure you, instead I simply have gifted the Inquisition usage of my people's technology"

"It does not matter, the Cannon and all weapons created and used with a blasting power are properties of the Qun, whether the same material is used is irrelevant, the Inquisition is using weapons that do not belong to them. The Qun demands in recompense for such a transgression demands compensation."

"Gatt" Bull warned desperately his eyes glancing towards Nat in growing fear as.

"No Bull, allow him to speak, it's not as if his or his government demands will achieve anything"

"You are aware that by refusing to such terms that you ruin the risk of an alliance with my people"

"We know" Nat admitted then slowly he began to descend the steps, one by one the residents in the room watched with a bated and terrified breath. "I understand perfectly why the Qun desires the destruction of our weapons and the return to old ways of fighting, it makes perfect logical sense for your people. However, the Inquisition is not simply going to refuse to use new technology simply on the whims of another nation. Therefore I will have to decline on the Inquisitors behalf."

"Then let me inform you if you refuse to accept the offer, to lay down your illegal powders and surrender your arms, then when the threat of Corypheus is over then the Qun will have no course but to see you as an enemy. Any offer of a political alliance will be suspended and any further assistance shall be halted until due course"

Outrage filled the hall amongst those present, instantly Valeyna jumped out of her seat her eyes sparking with fury, Cullen meanwhile had gripped his sword tightly while his normally pretty face was snarling like a dog, Josephine on the other hand also looked offended but instead began to scratch rapidly on her paper, Leliana, on the other hand, gave a simple command and at it, the soldiers in the room lowered their rifles and took aim at the Qun spies

"Cute words," Nat said his face still calm. "But it is not wise to go seeking out enemies when there is already one war going on. The last thing either of us requires while Corypheus still abounds is a two-front war. And before you go mentioning that such a thing will occur afterwards, be serious, there will be conflicts between our people soon enough and that will devolve into war. Surely we can come to an arrangement without the senseless spilling of more blood, of ending more lives and all for what…"

"To destroy your corrupt system, to free those who would be oppressed" Gatt responded angrily his own hands moving towards his daggers, as he did so Nat moved back up to the stairs causing Gatt to grin. Nat however did not back away because of Gatt's snake smile but instead because being right next to a person when they had daggers were not a wise suggestion and he had no intention of dying today.

"Freedom, may I ask how is it freedom when you sew the mouths of those who were born different shut simple because they were born different, or to force people into roles simply because they would be good for such a thin or because they have to have a place rather than because they chose it."

"You don't understand, you're a…"

"Mage, yes I am" Stopping Nat levelled his full attention on the man, as he did so the air seemed to turn thin around them, breathing became harder for the elf and he started to struggle and was soon gasping for breath. "Believe me when I say I will defend these people, my people Mr Gatt. If you or you're Qun think for a moment that you're welcome to do as you please here on this continent, to oppress as the cruel tyrants you are, then I hope you bring a big enough army to see that plan to fruition. Because my people will not simply stand to be oppressed by despots like the Templars, like Corypheus, like your beloved Qun."

"Are you threatening us" Gatt warned his voice a barely audible whisper. This was not just any threat all in the room could tell, if an insult was thrown it would not be a case of spurned representatives but instead the weight of the entire nation of Par Vollen would be set upon them. Their enemies would increase drastically, the blood spilt would more than double and even more innocents would have their lives cut down before their time was up.

Nat stayed still for a brief moment his eyes glanced towards the others in the room, not just towards the leaders and most powerful people but also the common soldier, they had signed up to defend their home from Corypheus, He wanted to say it was not his position to send the Inquisition hurtling into another war to not send more to their deaths. Had he not killed enough under his own orders, yet as he looked at the Qun and his mind turned to Solas and whatever his master's plan was for the world he knew he could not simply sit idle. To do so would be folly, to allow chaos to reign when it could have been prevented or at least mitigated. Neither of the two nations would cease their machinations for this continent, they did not care how many died just so long as they won.

He could not allow that he thought grimly.

"We will not make the ones who sent this continent into a sprawling mess" Nat spoke his words were soft though his tone was anything but. "However if war is the only course of action you have for us, then we will meet you, and we will destroy you"

"Bold words" Gatt scoffed

"Then perhaps you should look to actions. Now unless you have anything else less to discuss with the Inquisitor, then we shall meet you at the Storm Coast on the stated date. Until then please enjoy your stay in Thedas. Bull if you so desire you are free to accompany your friend, catch up if you will" Looking up to the Kid Bull had already seen that he had begun to climb the stairs again except his back was turned, wide-open Bull thought if Gatt wanted to kill the kid then he could do so now. Gazing at his friend he looked into the man's eyes and saw that the thought was rapidly going through his mind as well, calculating the distance seeing how far he could get before the kid turned around or the soldiers fired at him.

Given the closeness and the lack of armament on the two mages, Gatt no doubt thought he would be able to kill them quickly, a single slash of his knife to the necks of the two most powerful people and the Inquisition would be over, the blood of their leaders spilt all across the rocks. There would be no escape of course, yet Bull could see the man debating whether to destroy the Inquisition now as a good deal or not.

It was at that moment that Gat turned his dangerous look towards him and instead of one that was filled with a cold calculated look it was instead mixed with a silent plea, one which asked that if he were to make the first attack, that he would stand by his friend stand with the Qun against the inquisition. Bull turned his attention towards the leaders of the Inquisition, he could charge Cullen head-on, attack Leliana whilst the others attacked the guards, if they were quick they could catch them off guard, long enough for the deed to be done.

Yet as he stood there he was unable to stop shaking silently, a familiar and horrid feeling washed down his body as his attention lingered onto the boy, the sensation of his large muscular hand around the neck of Nat, the feeling of his life in his hands ready to be taken if he dared snap the boy's neck. For a brief moment, he felt that strength felt it and then like a waterfall it left him as memories of the boy and his accomplishments came full mind.

Flashes of death crossed his mind, of strong powerful men dressed in full armour and equipped with mighty weapons, all cut down as if they were nothing to the child as though their lives meant nothing, were nothing, not even a mere bug. With a simple spell, he had ended their lives, either impaling them with spears or arrows, blasting their body into nothing more than a meaty paste which before had been a spectacle but now only sent existential dread down his spine, of the child that when an Arch Demon had attacked the home of it's most feared rival had stood his ground taking on its power in the defence of others.

"Bull" Nat's cheery voice sent a lance of icy fear down his spine like when one was wearing a shirt and somebody dropped a snowball down the back of it, only a thousand times worse. "Go catch up with you're friend, we'll discuss matters later"

"Yes, of course, come on Gatt let's have a drink" And with far more hurry then perhaps he should have done Bull rushed towards his friend grabbed the elf by the arm and led the man out with as much speed as he could muster without breaking into a full run. Only when he had taken the man outside of the main castle and across the bridge did he then stop and look at his friend concern deep in his eye.

"Gatt, what the hell were you thinking back there, threatening the kid. You do know what he's capable of? you must do if the higher-ups sent you"

"Oh please, he's just a child, a mage yes but he's just-"

"He's not a child" Bull almost roared at his friend. "You haven't seen what I have, what he's done, Gatt. If you did… and threatening him with war, with the Inquisition. We both know that the Qun is in no position to send ground troops to fight a full-scale war with Corypheus and you threaten a full-scale war."

"He stole our technology Hissrad. Secrets and knowledge that were for the benefit of the Qun alone, he took for himself and now he's developed it, is making weapons to arm these slaves. How long do you think we will survive the war if Tevinter gets hold of cannons, we both know the sacrifices that have been made to prevent that"

"That's a low blow Gatt"

"Is it" Gatt snarked angrily not caring in the slightest if he hurt the man's feelings "Because from what I saw in there you seem to forgotten who you are, what you are"

"What are you talking about," Bull said his voice dropping to a low purr.

"You could have supported me in there, supported the Qun. Instead, you simply stood still and stayed quiet, no it was worse than that I saw you quake, you were afraid of a child"

"You're eyes must be going bad Gatt because there's no way I would quake from"

"That's not what you're report said. Remember the one where you told us that you went into the Fade itself. How do we know you're not a demon anymore, not a spy for Coryphaeus"

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no way I could be a spy"

"And how do you know that?" By now the air around them was growing far colder, spring may have come to the world once again however that did not mean that the mountains were a warm place and the lack of clothing that these northern people were used to was showing itself as they all shivered.

"Because the kid saved me"

"And there's the problem. All you seem to do is yip at his heels from time to time, he's domesticated you. You Hissrad, all-powerful all strong who destroyed mage after mage on Seheron for their wicked acts yet here you are afraid of a simple mage child and from what I've been hearing you've fallen in love with a Vint" Bull's eyes widened drastically, for a second he glimpsed back to Skyhold to where he knew that man slept.

"You leave Dorian out of this"

"Dorian" Gatt sneered. "You even call those slaver scum by their first name." Sneering Gat was eventually forced to turn his head downwards. "What happened to you Hissrad, you were better than this, a true member of the Qun, yet this place, what they've done to you"

"Done to me. I chose this Gatt, they have done nothing to me except help take down the bastard who started all this, for getting revenge for our people on the original tyrants. I am still loyal to our people, I still fight for them still split Vint heads open to keep them safe"

"Then prove it"

"What" Bulls chest tightened, there was no way, Gatt couldn't be asking him to do that of all things. Not to Dorian not to the others, they were good people he thought, even the kid no matter how many times he seemed to look at himself as though he was a monster.

"Prove it Bull, during the mission in the Stormcoast, you will escort the second in command to us, where we can try him for his crimes against the Qun" Bull shook his head once again the images of death, blood and darkness flashing past him.

"No, Gatt, doing that is the worst betrayal of our people that we could do. We would be killing our own people, slaughtering them"

"No he will murder them, he will die and even if he does somehow manage to escape, there is not much he can do on his own. He will not reach Seheron let alone Par Vollen"

"GATT" Bulls voice quivered with a fearful rage. "This isn't something to be fucked around with, the kid isn't just some mage, he's the most dangerous person in the world. If we attack him, he will burn our continent to the ground, tear down our civilization, butcher our people"

"Then you are a traitor, should I call you Tal-Vashoth now"

"Gatt"

"You know your responsibility Hissrad, as you said if you are not forced to make any decision then you will show who you truly are. What is your true name, Hissrad or Tal Vashoth" Without another word uttered Gatt not wanting to turn the conversation into something even more emotional turned on the boot of his heel and proceeded to march away his face full of anger as his mind began to think about how to deal with the possible ramifications.

"He's here to kill you," Valeyna said in surprise.

"Yes, as well as to secure Bull's loyalty to the Qun. No doubt that during the mission they will find a way to have Bull try and kill me to cement his loyalty. Most likely it will be during the battle when the two of us are alone, it would be best to hide my death as a result of enemy action rather then him killing me"

"And you're just fine with that" Valeyna spoke her eyes full of concern.

"It's just an attempt on my life, it's no big deal" Nat responded casually. "Anyway, I have a plan no need to worry about it. That leaves us back to the other set of problems we have. The Empresses ball is only a week away" Nat continued onwards ignoring the shocked and concerned look on the Inquisitors face, no doubt if it was important she would wish to speak to him later about it. Despite the fact that clearly showed she wanted to stop this moment and discuss it something that was noticed by the others as they shared glanced towards one another, she said nothing, instead, she allowed the conversation to carry onwards.

"A week, I thought we still had a month" Cullen mentioned confused

"There's been a change of plans, the Empress is highly concerned that the date stated would give Corypheus time to gather what forces he had and attack the ball directly, by bringing it forward she hopes to prevent that, not to mention it's part of the great game" Josephine explained.

"Game" Valeyna asked

"Orlesian politics" Nat answered. "But anyway I get why they did it, makes perfect sense. But on the other hand that gives us next to no time for the preparations, I assume that you've already sent for a uniform to be created"

"Only the very vest Tailors in all of Ferelden and Orlais" Josephine smiled.

"Great, in that case, we'll need somebody to teach the Inquisitor here to dance."

"Dance, you mean I'll have to dance with the nobles. But I thought that the Orlesian nobles hated elves, why in all the Gods would they want to dance with me" Nat turned to her.

"Yes the Orlesian's don't care for the elves politically, however, they do like pretty things and things that hold power. You are both" Valeyna sensing yet another opportunity to tease her second in command sent a flirtatious wink at him.

"Calling me pretty, why that's the first time I think you've ever complimented met that way. Go on tell me more, what exactly do you like about me, is it my hair, my eyes, my shape, what about my personality is that pretty as well. You know if you want to, I can show you some other pretty areas"

"Anyway, the fact remains Inquisitor, you need to learn how to dance and I have too much on my plate. Joesphine take my slots and give them to the Inquisitor, Merlin knows she needs the teaching more then I do"

"I'm going to have to put aside the entire two weeks if we want any chance of you not embarrassing yourself you're going to have to practise all day and night"

"Is there anyone that we need to be particularly careful off at the Ball, from what I've been told the nobility like to wear masks, that's going to make it harder to identify people in a crowd and I doubt that either the Empress or Gaspard will simply allow one of us to be with them at all times"

"We're going to need to divide ourselves at the palace when we arrive, Josephine should be kept nearby the Inquisitor at all times, if anything happens her experience will be useful. As for Leliana, you'll need to see if you can uncover any information"

"And what about yourself Cullen," Valeyna asked the blonde.

"I'll be keeping a careful eye on the Duke and Empress at all times, if a fight breaks out we need to be close at hand to defend them"

"That just leaves Nat. Where do you think you would go best"

"Similar to Cullen" Nat answered. "We're attending this ball, in the end, to keep the Empress safe and ensure that Coryphaeus cannot weaken Orlais so his army of demons can take over. While we do need to play politics, we can't forget about why we're there, ultimately anything else is secondary to ensuring we have a ruler of Orlais who will support us. That being said, all five of us are going to be under intense scrutiny, if any of us want time to sneak around the palace to look for clues, we'll need to make distractions, in which case it also comes to a careful decision of who we take with us if for whatever reason we are limited in our number. I recommend Sera"

"Sera, but I thought the two of you hated one another" Valeyna said.

"We don't get along true, but she has experience with the nobility and for all her immaturity she is both observant and efficient, not to mention she will be ignored more easily because of her elven origin. Also if she does get caught she has the skills to deftly handle the situation"

"In that case why not take Cole along, his ability to go undetected" Nat shook his head.

"Cole doesn't have the mind for espionage, true he's good at sneaking but he leaves an uncomfortable impression when he leaves as though people have forgotten something. That would only increase the guard's alertness and that's one of the last things we need" Valeyna nodded it was true that she had heard complaints from some of the staff about Cole. While he may have been a spirit of compassion, the aura he gave off, the feeling as though something was wrong with him was incredibly disconcerting and there was also the worry of what would happen if Cole was to confront Corypheus.

"In that case Cassandra should also come, if we're worried about how people are going to react then it's best. Bull will only draw attention and Blackwall could be identified not to mention as a Seeker she could be seen as the head of the Templar's for what it's worth"

"Then that leaves us with our mage" Leliana continued her eyes already going back to the holographic map as she already began to plan missions for her agents while continuing the conversation. "If Coryphaeus does turn up then we want as many mages as possible to be present, the problem is that it gets tricky"

"Not Solas" Nat added quickly. "The last thing we need is him relaying political reports back to his master, as for the other two… I'll admit that technically Vivienne is the smarter option of the two, however, I'm concerned with what she'll do. She knows the Orlesian court like the back of her hand, she singlehandedly made the position of court mage a powerful one, she has friends, allies, people who she has no doubt told of us and her distaste for me personally. But all the same, she is the intelligent choice"

"What if we took someone else, we already have two mages in the form of the two of us, if we replaced Viviene with Varric perhaps we might have more luck"

"Too risky, the thing to remember is that if there's an attack our magical forces will be split. If I'm trying to delay Corypheus so somebody else can try to defend and get the royalty to escape, that leaves a rather noticeable gap in combat for dealing with the main force, we need another sorcerer"

"Then take Dorian" Cullen stated. "I understand why you think it's best to leave him given his Tevinter heritage, but he's more reliable then Viviene and he has a noble upbringing. He may not be the best at it but he'll know how to act and perform, plus it shows that we have even a Tevinter to protect Orlais"

Conjuring another cup of tea, Nat hid his face drinking as he considered Cullens words. It was not something he hadn't thought of himself, Dorian was always the first person he wanted to go to for magical means, he was brilliant, witty, intelligent, he reminded him of his fellow classmates back when he was a Ravenclaw, always talking with excitement about one thing or another as they learned and theorised about a new subject that they had been taught.

Were it not for his own position he would have loved to talk more with the man, act far more as he had back in school where he was not fighting optically to save a continent and could, therefore, concentrate on his learning, but that was not the case and now he had to rely on his Slytherin side if he dared to win the day.

Dorian was the comfortable choice he knew, and there were benefits to taking it but his thoughts turned onto that hated woman, that was Vivienne, of all the people he knew she was by far one of the vilest repugnant creatures he had ever had the misfortune of knowing. There were times when he simply desired to kill her there and then, to end her existence and stop the threat she posed to his people and the mages. Yet he couldn't, she was powerful politically and his own desires were less important than that of saving millions of lives. Most importantly however it had to be done, the Inquisition was excluding her from enough meetings and talks, eventually, she would pack up and leave and with it her resources, that was something that could be ill afforded.

"No we still keep Vivienne, just keep a watch on her, anyone she makes contact with in any way, make a note off" The others nodded firmly leaving the discussion to continue onwards.

"If we succeed and Coryphaeus continues to look for information. Where would he find it"

"The Ancient Elves" Nat answered without a moments delay, if they had the magical ability to connect to my world then surely they had the ability to enter the Fade as they desired."

"That doesn't help much, there are ruins all over the place, how would we know which one he intends to look at"

"Again I don't know, without knowing what Corypheus does I can only guess at what his plans would be. But as you said he could go to any set of ruins in the world for information. Worse we could try to beat him to every ruin but even if we did it would be of no use as we can't read the ancient language. We could end up protecting a child's toy for all we know instead of some great magical portal. Suffice to say, no idea"

"Okay if I'm corypheus and I need to learn more about the ancient elves, where to find ruins then the first set of people I would go to other then demons would be the Da… Dalish" At the very mention of her people, Valeyna felt her heart crumble in her chest. Gingerly she gripped the table her attention turning back towards the map as her eyes shifted rapidly from place to place. "He's going to hunt down the Dalish one by one until he can find the right set of information"

"Is there any way to warn them, send out a message maybe" Valeyna shook her head.

"No the clans move too often for that type of communication, it's rare for two clans to meet apart from great meetings every so few year's. Even if I were to send a warning to my clan in hopes of passing it on, it would be too slow, we need to warn them quickly." How did she deal with this Valeyna thought, there were a few clas that she knew would be in a very rough area at certain times, but it was not precise, entire forests may have to be searched in place and their numbers were dwindling by more and more as clans were wiped out. Letters would be useless and Nat's magic would be of no use, all he might do is put on a map a picture of every elf on the world there was, she needed something that only the Dalish would wear or have them, every clan would have it but what was there. Weapons, clothing and armour were out that varied drastically on the clan and location, brushing her hair out of her hair she barely noticed the light blue on her skin before stopping.

Of course.

"Nat you're spell, the one that can locate anything if you have a picture of it. Could you use it on my Vallaslin?" Nat looked at her his attention on the design, it would make sense only the Dalish held the mark on their faces both in respect to their gods but also making it far easier to recognise themselves and distinguish themselves from the other elves that they may come across.

"That depends, is yours a common pattern" Valeyna nodded.

"Yes, it's the mark of Mythal the most common vallaslin there is"

"Then I can do it, here" Without any warning,

Valeyna felt as there was a surge of magic in the area as Nat had brought out his wand and then after a quick point at her face the tip of the fine crafter device was pointed towards the table where with another spark the light shot into the table. For a moment there was nothing as the magic was absorbed but then afterwards the options on the map at the time geared towards showcasing the location of troops instead were removed as all at once a series of dots appeared on the map.

One by one Valeyna's sapphire blue eyes landed onto the little cluster of glowing blue dots, every single one of these people was Dalish she realised. She stared a moment her eyes simply in wonder at the amount, though she knew that not all in a clan would have the mark of Mythal it was still amazing how little she could count and as she did so, attempting to count all the little clans most often far from human villages and towns did she realise just how few of them there were in the world.

"Strange, ever since I was a little girl I was told stories of how when the Dalish would have a home again, about how we would all come back at once and repopulate, about how we would make our people strong again. I always imagined lines and lines of elves from every corner of the world greeting us like lost comrades and living together, of great cities, I never realised there were so few of us"

"There's still a few of you" Nat commented however Valeyna instead rounded on him her eyes filled with despair and anger

"No more than seven thousand around the entirety of all Thedas and that's with the clans. I heard rumours when I was younger that clans were starting to disappear, the one that fought in the Blight was destroyed and their members were forced into other clans. There was another clan in Orlais that we were friends with but last year it was discovered that they were all murdered by something, and there was another clan here in Ferelden where the Brecclian forest is, they're all gone. Something is killing my people"

At the mention of the clan in the Brecillian forest Nat's eyes once again flashed back to that day when he had entered the area. There had been no avoiding the area, exhausted he had been too tired to try apparate, he had tried to move quickly but the dammed elves had believed him a threat and only the arrival of Imshael had perhaps saved his life as he had taken the offer in a heartbeat, he had to did he not a war was waiting and the elf would have jeopardised that. Still, that demon was likely the cause of all the trouble that had destroyed that clan.

"We can never rebuild the Dales" Valeyna's voicer was the barest whisper, harsh and ruthless the reality finally struck her, all those bedtime stories, everything that her people believed in, it was simply impossible. As she mourned the loss of her peoples future however Nat instead directed his attention onto Solas.

Was that part of Fen Harel's plans. The Dalish were nearly all bus destroyed, scattered and without a great leader to unite them, the group would no doubt fall into nothing but different clans who only shared a rough foundation rather then the so-called family notion that they so bragged about, if they hadn't already that was. Of course, that must have been Solas's original role, to go to the Clans to show them what they had lost and to offer them a way to regain it if they instead simply followed Fen Harel. Solas was an ambassador, not some great warrior that would lead the armies of his god, instead, he acted like a person behind the scenes pulling the strings to make sure everything could go off.

"Yes you can, all you have to do is"

"No, we can't. The Clans are too divided even if we united now we wouldn't have the strength to last against one of the human nations let alone if all of them launched a war against us."

"Well I'm sure you'd find a way"

"Oh and how am I meant to do that, The only person I can see being able to scare the rest of the nations away is you, and you're not one of us, you won't help us, the moment you finish here you're back to your own home without a care in the world"

"You can always"

"What lead them through the forests when all this is done, to gloriously lead my people through the monotony of life, barely able to survive to hope that year after year we will have the gold to be able to buy food from villages that won't kick us out or to be run from our home. What can I do for my people"

"You can warm them" Nat reacted his eyes turning harsh."If someone is hunting your people would you rather them all die, would you prefer that Corypheus finally wipes out your people that the original destruction that was dealt to your people by Tevinter is finally dealt with. You are aware that there will be none to carry on your legacy, perhaps in a few centuries some eves may stumble upon the ruin of your camp, but will they be able to revive your people or like now will they simply gaze back at a different time and interpret things differently"

"You're telling me to fight against Corypheus, to try and rally the clans against him"

"No I'm telling you to try and preserve your people, but the fact of the matter is the Dalish need to be warned. We can't ask for anything more than that. it's impossible to try and constantly redirect them away from Corypheus would they be found by him, but we can at least hope that they have the common sense to leave the land that is more likely to become a battleground. Head north to either Antiva or Rivain, hold there for as long as they can"

"Plus it could hopefully stop his plans if Coryphaeus is looking for the Dalish and they're far north, then that means he will have to move his forces north allowing us to quickly fortify Southern Thedas" Cullen added.

"Then why not concentrate them into Ferelden or Orlais, Sending them up north put's them near Tevinter" Nat sighed and sipped his tea again when he was done he looked at the map to see the woman's point, the Dalish were not in a good position. Valeyna yelled hoping that there was a way to resolve this issue without having to drag her people into the war more than they already had. Didn't they lose enough she thought grimly? First, they lost Arlathan to Tevinter and was forced to try and rebuild in the Dales, then they lost that to Orlais and now their members were so diminished that unless they were somehow to join all the clans as one then it was likely that as time went on the Dalish would simply whither and die.

"If they go north they end up near Tevinter, a country who would no doubt happily enslave the elves, if they stay in Southern Thedas there's a good chance they could end up being casualties in a massive war zone as they are either hunted down and destroyed or they get caught in the crossfire. Neither is a pretty option and it would be up to the clan to decide"

"It's also a question of reach, the core of the territory we can defend is Ferelden, southern Orlais and the Free Marches. Were we to build a navy we could better protect the continent, if the elves move North and Corypheus follows them then we can take them on a ship back to Southern Orlais if we keep them where they re then we can ship them north until the trouble passed away"

"No that's stupid, if we try to ship any Dalish people away from their homeland against their will, they'll simply turn on the Intuition out of spite. As you said all we can do is warn them even if the order comes from me" Why did it hurt so much to say that. Every part of her was seemingly screaming in pain as though the force of gravity had increased and hooks were thrust into her heart and were trying to take her downwards in a constant never-ending pressure. Right there and then she wanted to scream, it wasn't fair it was wrong, Corypheus was a nightmare, but nothing could be done. There was no strength left in the Dalish neither were there in dwarves for they would not provide assistance, that left only the humans and they cared little as they continued fighting.

Only the Inquisition, the organisation that she left could actually save her people but even then could she act fast enough. Her advisor's gods bless them actually cared about her people and were trying to protect them, yet they were not a priority as hard as it was to say. They were the last of a civilization yet practically all their thoughts and effort went into defending the humans in their kingdoms or Orzammar to continue the fight.

"That or destroy Corypheus before it gets to that point, but we've already discussed that and the problems associated at length" Nat admitted. "Fact is we need to find a way to keep the bastard down if we want any chance of winning, otherwise even if we beat him he'll likely just commit suicide to escape"

"We'll keep searching on that front, but for now we should focus on the Qun. We'll need to act fast to make sure that any trade ships aren't destroyed and that we also don't have a fleet of dreadnoughts arriving on the stormcoast. You do have that handled commander" Nat looked at the spymaster as though she had just told a funny joke.

"Wooden ships, explosive powder in the hold, fire magic, bad combination. They could sail a thousand of their dreadnoughts into the stormcoast and they'll still light up like a match thrown to petrol. Now were I facing a proper dreadnought, on the other hand, well that would be ever so slightly harder. But no, the Qun's naval forces will not be a hindrance, we'll have the Venatori dead before they knew what happened"

"Good because I don't want you there," Valeyna said clearly.

"Pardon?"

"I gave you an instruction to build a warship, knowing the advancements of you're people you're the only one who will be able to command her in such a short time frame"

"Uh no," Nat answered. "I hate the ocean and sea, I hate boat's when they're on the water and I most certainly have never sailed a ship let alone commanded one"

"What about with magic"

"Yeah I could do it then but if we want people who can actually sail her and any other ships properly then you need proper sailors"

"Make the ship, make it able to fight and meet us at the camp," Valeyna said in a bored manner.

"You don't want me starting a war do you?" Nodding to the simplified version Valeyna watched as Nat seemed to start planning out just what he was going to build in such a short time frame. there was little doubt he could do it, this wasn't like asking him to negotiate with Orzammar this was a simple job, one that his magic would make easy and keep him distracted from the idea of starting to kill the Qun.

"You're views on the Qun, are rather... stubborn, and the last thing we need is you making our position worse as you would no doubt kill them when they're not looking and then blaming it on the enemy. Besides if they want to kill you it's hard of them to do that when you're at sea on a ship and they're on land"

"I guess it's pointless then for me to inform you that with the current technological and magical process that a ship is hardly safe just because it is at sea"

"Just, make you're dammed ship"

"Of course Inquisitor, Josephine, please fine me a crew" Giving a graceful nod the group watched as Nat then walked away his task assigned to him. Only after leaving the room and the group was sure he was out of earshot did they finally talk again."

"Good call, you're getting much better at this" Leliana complimented.

"Are you sure this is the right course to take, Nat is one of best allies if we start sending him to do small missions won't it hurt us"

"As you said yourself, Inquisitor, he's very stubborn on matters and relies too heavily on every plan he makes on his own personal power, have you ever noticed how he never has once spoken of a plan about what to do if he was to die." Valeyna stopped that was a good point, so far she had been happy to use Nat as he swept aside all their enemies, blasting them into dust and destroying their enemies plans, but she had to think about what would happen If they lost him. It was not a pleasant thought she had shared it once in another meeting and it had forced them all to think about how the Inquisition was to carry on if they were to die.

It had been discussed that all bar two members of the Inquisition were replaceable, the two who weren't, however, were arguably the two who perhaps needed a secure replacement and that was her and the second in command.

"True, but I think we can all agree that if Solas is a traitor then that leaves very little in our armoury in which to fight Coryphaeus without endangering ourselves"

"Well we better think of a plan"

Elsewhere

"Where the fuck is an Ikea when you need one. Seriously, make a warship Nat, you have 1 week to make it Nat, I'm not going to say it, but I expect this single ship to be able to beat anything on the seas with no problem so get busy Nat" The sounds of a rather annoyed and irritated wizard filled the large cavernous area in which he was in, bouncing off the wall's and echoing back to him Nat could only begin to wonder how he was meant to do anything.

"Next time I should just say no, I swear." He swore even louder as with more force than normal he began to unload the first stack of wooden logs to the side with a flick of his wand where followed after he then proceeded to dry them and then remove the bark leaving nothing but the wood within. "That fucks up the plans for the artillery regiment. That bloody woman"

What was it with her he wondered, yes he knew he could build a warship if he was given a decent amount of time to do it, time such as to read on ancient shipbuilding properties how the wood needed to be treated, bent, lacquered, and put into place. Did the planks have to be placed in an overlapping pattern or instead slotted within one another? All answers were bound to be in some book or the other, as it was new golems had to be created simply in order to now start ravishing all nearby woodland to start gaining the timber but that wasn't a small job. He swore he remembered reading something that during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that England had practically cut down all their forests simply so they could keep building the warships that had protected their island so much during the constant wars.

The number of trees that would need to be cut down for one ship was going to be rather large, then there was the cloth for the sails and flags, as well as the copper to cover the hull with as old British warships had copper-covered hulls in order to increase speed. Getting the warship even built however wasn't the worst of his problems, in fact, it was the easiest, despite the monumental task magic would make it go over relatively quickly, once he knew what he needed a simple point me spell and he had access to thing. His factories could also produce the copper and craft the timber, not to mention he had already changed the production of cannon being made to larger ones as well to suit the fact that they would be mounted on a warship. Ammunition was also drastically increased alongside black powder and an increase in steel so that all members of the crew might be armed and dressed appropriately.

That left to the worse problem, one that his mind was focusing on and despite his own outward calmness he could not help but start to freak out.

Crew single handily was the worst factor, he needed several hundred men for this one ship and even if Josephine found them for him In a single day and they could adjust to a larger ship rather quickly, that still left the major problem of training them in naval warfare.

"Sweet Merlin, of all the fucking things she could have given me she wants me to make a navy. Why couldn't she just send me to deal with the problem myself? Far easier that way, apparate in, slaughter everyone, blow up the ship, problem solved. But no the Inquisition needs a navy that can be crewed by other people without the use of magic, as though I can just cast a couple of spells on people and bam, perfect crew. Golems would work fucking better but no, alive people." Feeling his anger flare as he flicked through one of the few books related to the topic of naval warfare during the Napoleonic warfare, Nat couldn't help but sigh at the monumental task that awaited for him.

"I'm going to bloody kill that woman"

1 week later

Stormcoast

"Admiral, we're approaching the site" As the sounds of thunder and rain hammered the are around them it was all that Nat could do to not currently rush away from his position on top of the bridge of the ship. For all his stern visage as he glanced at the men around him, he was not really able to think about the mission instead his attention focused more on the sea starting downwards into that dark endless black cacophony.

Every second he looks he could feel his stomach churning, not from the movement or the waves but at the constant nagging feeling in the back of his head. A feeling that he was being watched, as though a pair of black predatory eyes on some form of creature lined with sharp white teeth was observing him waiting for the perfect moment to leap out of the water wrap it's powerful jaw around his frame and snap him in two with a single powerful bite. He shivered.

"Admiral," The captain said. "Admiral?"

"Yes good, prepare the men for combat, there's a chance we could be engaged with a Qunari Dreadnought at any moment" The man was relatively old by his appearance, in his fifties he was bald without a single hair, his eyes, however, were a stern dark grey, one that indicated that he had seen all sorts of trouble on the open ocean and no doubt had fought it before.

"Aye Admiral," The man said in an annoyed tone making his displeasure known. Of all the opportunities to come his way becoming captain of the Inquisitions most powerful ship was a rare and unexpected one. It was a mighty thing this ship the largest in Thedas outsizing even the mighty Qunari Dreadnoughts by at least a third and most certainly outgunning it by a fair margin by a minimum of five to one in terms of cannon if not more. On her hull was of all things copper plating, at first he had questioned the move but seiner the extra speed it seemed to give he made no complaint. After that was her masts, there were three standards as with most ships, however perhaps because of her gigantic size they were also far larger than any masts he had seen before and designed in a different manner in which he used to allow her to catch the wind far more easily and use it to pull them towards their destination. It would have been a faster speed he reckoned were it not for the weight that the ship carried in her armour, complement of men, supplies and armament.

Never before had such a monster of the seas been brought to life, her simple visage as the ship sailed the rough waters of the coast its intimidating presence causing more than one ship in the distance to stop in its tracks was their crew instead rushed forwards to merely gaze at her as she slipped through the ever-thickening fog was one of pride. He felt powerful up here the captain thought, nothing could touch this ship, no foe could board her no enemy destroy her, he was on top of the most powerful ship on the world and he was only second in command.

Second, in command, the mere thought of it sent anger down his veins, he had commanded ships for most his life and had sailed ever since he was a child and now when he was at the pinnacle of his career given a rare chance he was put under the command of a mere boy. He sent a glare towards the boy as the child kept his attention as he had done for most of their journey locked squarely onto the sea.

This was the infamous butcher, the one who had slaughtered Templar's led the command of forces and was second in command of the Inquisition and her forces, as she looked at the small mage form of the boy he couldn't help but wonder just how overblown the stories were, the little shit didn't even know how to command a ship[ in the slightest yet he was an admiral of all things. It made no sense and the kid he could tell did not like being on the open ocean.

Despite this, though there was not a single thought of mutiny in the captain's mind, yes the ship was powerful and yes they could have perhaps given them a better admiral, one who was not seemingly on their own transfixed with the sea as though it were about to swallow him whole, but the fact of the matter was the kid was both a mage and the butcher. He himself had seen the terror he had inflicted when the templars were impaled on spikes if that kid was capable of doing that he did not want that type of anger directed towards him.

Besides, there was that creepy shit he did.

"Captain" Nat turned around his attention leaving the water, yet as he did so he only felt more exposed. I'm sorry I haven't been more… active. I know I'm not setting a good example, the fact of the matter is, I'm not comfortable at sea which is rather hilarious considering the history of my nation, but alas"

"The ocean's not about to come out and grab ya, boy, pull you're head out you're ass and command. You're meant to be the bloody admiral and all the men see is you sulking"

"How is their competency with the cannon?"

"Well they can shoot the thing's now without blowing up, but that speed you want is not going to happen, not unless you can somehow slow down time" Nat chuckled slightly at the idea, perhaps he should have asked Dorian for his help in this affair, given the scenario having the men far more trained would have been better than the buggers only having a while two days to learn to shoot them.

"We'll have to hit hard and fast if we do come across the Dreadnought and engage her she will wreck us if she is able to get in close and board if can't deliver a good volley or two before we close the distance"

"Agreed, the cannons good but I've seen Dreadnoughts. Nasty pieces of work, no doubt they'll want to capture your little beauty and take it back" The captain replied cautiously, as he did so Nat's eyes flickered with rage at the idea, this ship that he had worked his ass off in the hands of those… scum, never.

"They can damm well try" The captain nodded at the dark and malevolent tone in the boy, whether it was an act or genuine feeling didn't bother him in the slightest, so long a the kid could sound threatening when it came down to the time that men began to shit themselves that's all that mattered. One good man who could stay and fight with a cool head was better than a hundred knights who would run at the first sight of trouble.

"Should we take her down" Nat shook his head.

"I'd prefer to disable the Dreadnought, if we can do so I'll deal with the crew and take the ship for the Inquisition, a prize like that is a great tactical asset, however, if it becomes too dangerous I want you to sink it. You have more experience then I do and you know how these things go, it's why I've been quiet captain, on land, it's easier at sea… it requires a certain experience."

"On your own kid, you think you can seriously take a qunari dreadnought on your own? The moment you get on their ship those fuckers are just going to see one of the most important officers in the inquisition alone and unprotected, and you want to go alone" Nat smirked.

"They'll be what two/three hundred qunari"

"Four hundred if they have warriors and extra soldiers; which they will do given how far they are from home" The captain replied cautiously.

"That won't be a problem, if we get out first few attacks in our guns will shred them to pieces or leave them immobilised long enough for me to kill them individually" The captain looked at him in shock, the kid couldn't be serious right, yes mages were powerful, the ability to fling a fireball on a ship was a horrific sight, but if the kid wanted to take the dreadnought then he would have to fight individually and there was no way to win against such odds with such limitations.

"We're still talking hundreds of soldiers"

"No captain, we're talking about soon-to-be corpses. I don't want a single Qunari left alive by the end of the battle. Once the Inquisitor has dealt with the forces of land a signal will be sent that will warn the dreadnought to move it inland, by that point we should have decimated the dreadnought and we can take out the smuggler's ship ourselves. I expect things to go well"

"And if they don't?

"More corpses to the pile"

"Right," The captain said not believing the grimness of the voice for a second, he'd seen more than one rich boy trying to act all tough simply because they were born from a posh woman's twat, no doubt the boy would enact his stupid plan get killed horribly and then the inquisition would have to find a replacement and he would be free to captain this beauty of a ship, one he thought could do with a rename, it's current one was far too foreign.

"Captain, you've been around the continent do you think this ship could make a cross-ocean voyage?" The man blinked, that wasn't a question he expected still before he could be shown up he answered.

"She's the largest ship I've seen, her provisions could no doubt last her a few months if the hold was stocked full and rationed properly, and her speed is decent. Why are you asking, are you planning on sailing the world because trust me it's a foolish idea. More then one captain has looked east and thought they would find another land, they never do"

"None of those ships was designed for the ocean crossing, this one is. But never mind, it was just an idea"

"No, I'm curious why would a kid want to go exploring, treasure, glory?" Nat shook his head and then began to face the ocean again, if the water was going to sneak up on him, at least he would be prepared.

"To try and stop another war"

"What?"

"The population of Thedas is very near to hitting the peak of people it can sustain at some point there's just going to be too many people and not enough food. When that happens there's going to be a breakdown of order and we get war which means more dead people. On the other hand, if there is land elsewhere, land that can be colonised then that may mitigate the problem for a while, besides it could be what allows the continent to survive in the future"

"So that's what she meant." The captain muttered as he remembered the Inquisition lady saying something about their strange commander. "I'm not interested in discussing these matters with you. I was hired to captain the ship because you can't, not make small talk" Nat rolled his eyes.

"And here I was trying to improve the relations with my crew, how foolish of me. However fair enough and if you want to stop glaring at me that would be appreciated. I also take it you don't want to tell stories of your sea adventures"

"No"

"Shame" Then without warning or because he was bored conversing with a child, the captain quickly left the commander his hard shoes leaving a nonviable loud as they trod upon the wooden frame of the ship and move to a position that would allow him to command both the crew better from aside the wheel, ready to steer her at a moments notice if needed.

Nat now alone however thought of his other point, the ship provided a more secretive purpose, if things went poorly in this war then he had a vessel that was capable of sending him far away that could not only cross an area that other ships could not, but could also destroy any challengers. As the wind blew a harsh salty wind on his face he turned upwards to where he heard the sound of loose cloth flapping, a smaller piece of cloth had come undone, one which was now being put into place by another crew member as they rapidly climbed up the rigging as they likely had done their whole life.

It only lasted for a moment though as in a second he could feel his stomach lurch again and his attention turned downwards back at the ocean and his ever-constant warning. The faster they could get this mission with Bull sorted the better, he wasn't made for ships and large seas, there was a Kraken down in the depths of Earth. Amongst other things.

The captain had a point though he thought. As his hand went down to the sword at his waist, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Battling on land was fine, in theory, they had infinite amounts of the territory he could go to and he rarely had to worry about destroying the thing he was standing on, but on a ship. Explosive magic would either sink the ship or cause a catastrophic explosion as it detonated the dreadnoughts own gatlok or powder reserves. Fire magic was excluded for the same thing, that left cutting curses, it could work but in a cramped and limited space unless he could learn to fly then the bodies would no doubt act as a shield. That left a sword and he did not have the skill for that.

Naval warfare was best, enough shots from cannon into the hull and he could disable the dreadnought, but that left the question of the crew, they would not surrender and had to be dealt with, and he could not risk the lives of these men, he'd already done that too many times. If the dreadnought could be taken he would have to take it, perhaps see if he could lead it to shore were once on land he had more freedom to be dangerous as he could simply repair the ship afterwards, but for now.

"Captain, large ship spotted" The cry from one of the crew members called out from across the deck. "Starboard side sir, I think that's a dreadnought" Grabbing his interest both Nat and the captain rushed to the side of the ship as they focused on where the man was pointing... As he drew out his binoculars, fixing them to his eyes, Nat was able to see afar into the distance and to where the man pointed.

At this distance and with a thick fog it was hard to make much out, yet with the benefit of technology, Nat was gradually able to make out the rough ship. The vessel that he could see, was indeed a long one, at least by the standards of the people who live in this world. No doubt it outsized most standard vessels by a margin of at least twice, but compared to his ship the vessel was smaller.

It was a relatively broad vessel he noticed somewhat fatter then he had expected but when one looked towards the front to where a long powerful ram gilded in god and shaped into the form of a monster as it jutted out then it was obvious to tell that the vessel was designed more to rush into its enemies. For the rest of the shape, the ship was most certainly foreign, tall thick black oars jutted out on both sides and continued to push ruthlessly against the sea propelling it forwards. At the back, there was a built-up area, though more in design to a barracks or a small fort as he could make out the shapes of crenelations on the vessels as well as slightly larger gaps in places that were no doubt large enough to place a ramp on. What caught his attention however was the familiar shape of metal cylinders that were loaded on the top.

Cannons.

There weren't that many at most from what he could see and then duplicating that to the other side of the ship and accounting for the one facing directly ahead, there were thirteen cannon. It accounted for six on either side and one central one.

Nat peered close at the ship, enchanting the binoculars slightly so he could see further and better despite the storm, soon he was able to see the ship in great detail and look at its hull for the holes that cannon would typically be fit int. The moment a ship got near it could unleash its payload, it would open those hatches and fire on command.

Still despite what he now knew had to be the Qunari Dreadnought, he needed confirmation, something that was gained when he looked at the sails and saw the symbol of when of the many Qunari emblems that Bull had given him, specifically one that correlated with both the navy and a certain type of group.

"All men to battle stations" Nat called his voice filled with a sense of enthusiasm and seriousness as they locked their attention on the soon to be enemy vessel. With that word uttered what had once bee a relatively calm vessel by ship standards suddenly blossomed into an organised yet chaotic flurry of action. A bell that was located on the vessel began to ring out loudly the ringing cries alerting those below deck that they were about to fight. With that bell sounded and the men alerted, those men on the decks began to rush about their feet striking hard against the wooden deck of the ships as they rushed to their positions near the cannon. The officers of the group followed shortly after taking up a commanding position around the decks in order to best relay the order to give them.

As the men made a mas scramble to their guns, the sounds of the ships cannon being pushed forward into position, men screaming and shouting as they did their best to remember how to load a cannon became known. Aside from that and though he couldn't hear it Nat knew that the doctor was now rushing round to his own station ready to try and help injure the wounded should they become injured became readily noisy to all.

It took about ten minutes or so for the ship to become put in a position of battle-ready, far more so then Nat would have liked, however, he had to give them a certain amount of leeway, this was both the largest and most technologically advanced vessel in Thedas. Positions that men could normally reach quickly were instead slowed down as they rushed up the stairs, then there was a lack of training. Two days was all they had to learn how to load and fire, and while thankfully the art of gunpowder was a simple one, to make one talented at it required a great amount of time and practise, something that this ship didn't have as of yet.

"It doesn't look like they've seen us, captain, would you agree?"

"Aye, the fog is too thick and we have the advantage of the weather, what are you order?"

"Get into an accurate range and bring us into a position that we can unleash a full broadside on her hull, we need to cripple her before she can either fight back or get away"

"What about the flag sir, when do you wish to unveil it?"

"I don't" Nat answered coldly. "I don't plan on leaving any survivors and if that should happen the last thing we need is the Qun reporting back to their commander in Parvollen that they were attacked by an Inquisition warship.

"No flag, aye sir. What about the command of the ship, movements"

"She's your's captain unless I say otherwise and when I give the command to fire," Just as he said, Nat stepped back from the bridge instead moving to the side as the Captain came full into his element ordering the sailors with short sharp commands that were occasionally punctuated either with the ring of a bell, the blow of a whistle or beat of a drum.

As the dark skies ahead continued to gently shower the area Nat watched silently. Best not interfere with this, instead, as the men went about the cannons and loading them, or performing some other essential task, Nat instead drew his wand waiting in case the sense of magic made itself present to the warship. Finally, however after slowing their pace down just enough so the men could make sure that they were ready and in position but fast enough to keep up, the call for maximum speed was given wherewith a rather powerful push from the wizard on board, the vessel began to approach from behind.

Though not moving as fast a proper Dreadnought could with its modern engines and turbines and propellers, the Ship of the Line was soon racing towards its opponent on the dreadnought's port position. Once the ship was in range they would unload the first volley, hopefully blasting apart and stunning the Qun response just enough that they could keep the vessel down long enough for them to sail around the ship and then unleash a broadside from the other direction.

Their speed quickly allowed them to catch up until finally out through the grey fog the ship that could only bee seen via binoculars or a spyglass became a small dot on the horizon, though it quickly became larger and larger, and larger until all members could see it making it plain and obvious.

"A message from the dreadnought Captain, they're asking us who we are" The captain glanced towards the boy, yet Nat his new naval outfit blowing slightly in the breeze simply nodded at him, it was up to the captain now, he was merely here to give a wide overview and supervise.

"Ignore them, get in close and get ready to fire" Acknowledging the order the ship of the line drew it's intercept line and drew closer and close to the ship, the large and powerful bulk not only displacing water but also very likely concerning the soldiers on the deck of the dreadnought as this strange vessel began to approach rapidly.

"Captain they're demanding now, they say if we don't answer they will shoot" As though perfectly times the sound of thunder couples with a flash of light roared from the ship as it raced towards them where a moment later a mighty splash shot upwards forty or so metres away from. As the water continued to soar upwards before then seemingly stopping as it lost all momentum and then raced downwards the crew now in position turned to their captain an uncertain look on their face.

Had they only just comprehend the situation they were in Nat wondered as he looked at their both worried and concerned faces. He could understand why, these me3n may be on the most powerful ship in Thedas but she was untested, a new design and her crew knew her very little. In contrast, they were going up against the infamous Qun Dreadnoughts, the most powerful ships that had torn asunder many a sailor as they cannons shot metal balls the size of a man's head and ripped their vessels to shreds.

"Steady lads, that's the maximum range of her guns, soon we'll be able to return the greeting" Boom, another shot roared outwards from one of the ship's cannons sending a fire red plume of light into the distance followed by the screaming sound of metal before like the last one it struck the ocean with a mighty fury and sending a large splash of water upwards.

When after a third and final warning shot, Nat's ship did not alter course instance continuing on it's heading that was when the atmosphere changed. As he peered through his binoculars again he could see the men and women on the ship surging forwards from down below and their bridge as a great many deals of men rushed outwards weapons in hands before then racing towards the side of the ship where with a display of rare unity and discipline they began to layer themselves in a tortoise formation. They were expecting arrow fire.

That was good, Still, the ship sailed catching up to the vessel more and more, soon they would be alongside them and begin being able to fire, but not yet, for now, they were still maintained outside the range of the Dreadnoughts cannon a fact that was no doubt concerning for the Qunari as the ship began to shift and turn, it's course changed as it was forced to alter the path to fight.

It was a good thing he had made the ship so large then Nat thought, as a smaller vessel may not have gained the attention of the dreadnought until later wherewith speed and agility a vessel like a brig or a frigate may have been able to dance around giving smaller barrages of fire, whittling it down until it sun. This ship, however, proved it's majesty, not simply a political statement of the Inquisition power but also ship that could be changed to carry a large number of people or materials. As it was the sheer size and ferocity of her was forcing the enemy commander to try and intercept him, no doubt to not only capture such a prize but to deal with the threat before it could go wherever that place was.

The question was whose ship would win. That awner was about to be given as with the last bit of speed needed, Nat's ship had finally pulled in far enough to get that hull facing hull action that he wanted, a full broadside was imminent, now was the time to close the gap.

Another shot of cannon filled the air from the dreadnought however instead of one lone shot warning them to back of it was instead followed by a full-wave of six cannon shot each fire in rapid succession each sending a plume of fire and smoke as metal was flung off at rapid speed through the wind howling as though it was violating. Another series of splashes landed this time twenty metres away.

One more volley he reckoned they could avoid Nat gathered.

"Get us in close Captain, I want our first volley to give them hell" Nat roared through the growing howling echoing so loudly that not even the sound of thunder from the echoing cannons could be heard. The captain said nothing instead concentrating purely on his task commanding the vessel as he and his orders allowed the men to use the wind as best they could.

There was another volley this time landing only five metres away, the plumes were so large this time however that when the water rocketed upwards in it's spouting as it splashed the nearest sailors in its salty throes. Undituburbed by the water falling upon their backs soaking their shirts and clothes however the men instead kept going about their work, some offering a final few words to their maker or another god as they prepared for what could be a bloody horrid end.

Finally, after only a half a minute after the last volley, the dreadnought changed to a full-on crash course, they would pull up alongside Nat knew, attach their ship with claws and rakes fire their cannon s at close range before their men would board and slaughter everyone they knew. Closer the ship got, closer and closer till each of the forms of men and women on board could be clearly seen their grey skin almost hiding in the fog, yet as their face became visible their weapons in their hands armed with bows and crossbows,

Once again using his binoculars, Nat would be lying if he said that he did not enjoy the looks of shock and awe on the Qunari's face tas they gazed upon the majesty of his ship. Yet as those who were on cannon duty on the top deck continued to go about their duties as desperately as they could ready to give another salvo, this time one that would hit, it was then that the collective set of eyes weren't from the scale of the ship facing them and instead to the hull, specifically, the things they could now make out were jutting out of the hull. As their eyes went wide in horror, the first person who noticed went to call out

"FIRE"

Without warning the sound of a thousand thunderstorms crashing with murderous intention rocketed through the dark grey sky unleashing the furious terror at once as roaring with more ferocity then even the mythological creatures of old, cannonballs were blasted from, their homes with a bright red flame warning the enemies of the deadly intent.

There was no time to react for the Qunari, the closeness of their ships designed more for ramming and fighting ion the deck of the ship was instead taken by surprise as a full load of a broadside was unleashed with the sounds of the heavens battling one another for supremacy. Wood splintered, bone was powdered and flesh was torn asunder as in mere seconds the weapon of the Qunari was used against them. Cannonballs shredded through the hull of the dreadnoughts with a loud and tearing noise, breaking, smashing, devastating and eviscerating the ship rapidly as the raw kinetic damage struck home through the wooden timbers of the ship, through the cavernous inside and out to the other side. Splinters were sent flying impaling all nearby the impact zone all over with sharp jagged wooden bits tearing apart skin from their bones and impaling eyes and those were the lucky ones. Those that were directly in the path of a cannon had no moment to recognise what happened as a metal ball the size of at least a football crashed and simply obliterated their body. Torso's were ripped from their legs, heads simply vanished leaving nothing other than a bloody stump, arms that were lucky instead had everything that was below the joint torn off. With legs blown off, head turned into pulp blood splattered in all directions coating the members of the gun in the life force of their very own blood.

As for the ship, as the smoke of the cannons faded ever so slightly, it was to a great cheer on Nat's ship as the once-mighty wooden walls of the Dreadnought were now shattered and broken, large gaping holes yawed everywhere and in the lower levels, water began to rush into the ship. They were not given the chance to celebrate more however as a raw and loud order from the captain was bellowed down demanding that they reload.

Shook and unexpected Nat watched as the members of the gun began to react, so many of them were dead he thought with grim satisfaction, even now he could see bodies lying limp, pools of blood soaking into the wood beneath as the oarsmen below once thought safe could now only stop and stare in absolute fear as they now saw the row upon row of cannons pointing towards their ship.

Cries and screams echoed across the distance, friends and brothers rushed towards one another their duty temporarily abandoned as despite their education the damage done was unimaginable, horrid even that they could only stare at their dead. One person tried to rally them rising onto their feet, they grabbed another qunari who was hunched over the corpse of a dear friend whilst another simply stayed there in shock unable to move as he could simply stare as his legs were blown off his body. With their limbs tattered and broken and their resolve broke temporarily as even the gun crews lost their speed, not use to seeing their ship taking such damage and only use to dealing it out could only stare.

That was a costly mistake for as the initial shock of battle wore down and the Qunari had realised just what they were dealing with and attempted to rush for their positions, the Ship of the Line had already crossed their bow and not having been fire upon had loaded their port cannons onto the flank of the ship.

"FIRE"

Once again music sounding as though all the elements of the world had turned itself into a murderous symphony sang through the sky as cannon opened fire it's red hues of the gunpowder igniting as it launched it's payload the first indication before it then shredded it's way through man and ship alike destroying everything that was in its path with such anger, that where the holes on the previous side could be holes, now large chunks of the entire vessel simply collapsed and fell into the sea. The oarsmen were far worse as sat in their little lines every cannonball that fires straight preceded to cut them down into ribbons before emerging out the other side and splashing out of the side of the ship and crashing into the water.

Smoke, fire, water and death flooded the senses of all those near and it was at this moment that the Captain looking at his crew gazed at the child who had just delivered a devastating and horrific blow to one of the most dangerous vessels on the seas. Yet instead, o seeing horror or sadness for his invention had just killed or seriously harmed at least over a hundred men in a single instance, he instead saw flat content and even a dark smile.

The captain shivered as the boy played with the handle of his sword his eyes hidden as ever behind those strange black devices gazing upon the beaten and shattered remains of the dreadnought. Two volleys he realised, that was all it had taken to turn the entire tide of naval war on its head, this ship a new invention had single handily not become the most dangerous weapon in all of Thedas but was so incredibly powerful that not even the previous masters of the sea could ever hope to challenge them.

As the second barrage ended the smoke drifting into the fog, Nat stared cruelly at the Qun. Their numbers had been eviscerated, cries of pain drifted across from the men, there were some calls for mercy that he could hear over the distance. He looked only to see that the person was likely meant to be the captain of the vessel lay dead as did their support leaving a broken and leaderless ship adrift and slowly sinking.

He felt content in this music the sounds of his enemies dying gasps like beautiful music in his ear. The enemy had been devastated their attempts and plans thwarted and the dreadnought the mightiest vessel that had once existed and played terror with the other ships and sailors of the world was now on it's way downwards. Yet this was not enough, even now as he watched the made scramble could he see those more disciplines race towards their cannon, desperately taking over the place of the dead crew member as they prepared to fire back upon their enemy.

It was a futile effort, for as they rushed Nat merely looked at the now exposed hold of thew once great warship to where he could see crates stacked in a protected manner. It was their powder. Without a second thought, he raised his wand and then unleashed a fire spell, quickly it darted unopposed the men on his ship watching in a surprise as a blast of light dashed across the ship sinking into the hold of the dreadnought before then catching the barrels of powder.

The sound that followed was a roar of unimaginable proportion as the powder caught alight and with a great fury exploded in a powerful echoing explosion. Light blossomed and burned the grey the sky I such a manner that it was if for a few moments a second sun had erupted in on the planet. Wood was turned to ash, wood was eviscerated and forced apart from the very seams sending it flying in all directions as the structure expanded past its limits allowing for a great plume of fire to fly out on all side. Upon the ship, the crew could only react for the nearest fo seconds as they saw a thin line of grey ripple out from the explosion hurling over the ocean before then reaching their positions knocking those still standing backwards and off their feet thumping them across the deck before the shockwave continued otherwise.

As the ocean now littered with falling debris of what was once a ship began to burn, the crew could only go about their job with a bit of slowness as they stared at the wreckage of the great mighty warship, yet as the muskets were placed in their hands and the order was given, the sound of smaller thunder was heard. One by one the surviving qunari were executed, those who had survived the blast soon finding their bodies lodged with a large cavernous whole as a musket ball rattled through it. Not even the more intelligent ones survived the onslaught for even as they tried to dive underwater in order to stop the projectiles from hitting them, they soon found that their bodies were forcefully dragged out of the water by magic were hovering in thin air they were promptly shot down and joined the dead adding their blood to their own. Finally, when all the survivors had been cut to pieces, Nat turned from his position gestured at the captain and the wheel and stayed still.

Capturing the vessel would have been impractical, for now, they had an Inquisitor to assist.

"Captain, return to course" Staring at the water and then at the child who had just obliterated the enemy with no care of remorse the captain swallowed and then nodded giving the command, H had learned, one did not anger the second in command of the Inquisition, there would not be survivors if one did.

"Aye admiral"

Inquisitor

With a final slash downwards Cassandra grunted as she kicked away the now dead member of the Venatori. That was the last of the dam bastards she thought, all this time they had spent fighting to remove the Venatori thugs from the shore and they had finally killed the last one, destroying their encampment and reaching a raised hill that gave them not only a good view of the land but also of the ocean.

"Well done Inquisitor, they do not underestimate your talents do they" Gatt huffed as he climbed the position having just finished his own kill. "Still I'm surprised you didn't bring your second in command, I had heard the two of you were rather close"

"He's commanding the navy" Valeyna admitted not caring much for the snarky look that had blossomed on the man's face.

"May I ask why?"

"It's simple if we are to work with the Qun as equals as you said then it only makes sense that one of us would lead the ground forces and the other would lead the naval forces. And given how you were the one on the ground it made sense that I would assist you."

"Right"

"Speaking of which Boss, soon you'll see the pride of our navy, a very real dreadnought. I'm sure you'll be impressed" Gazing out to the still foggy and now rough seas the group squinted into the distance. Desperate they attempted to find the location of this so-called giant warship, yet as they looked they could see nothing in the distance, no silhouette and no sound.

"Well it's not just a dreadnought Bull there's also Nat's ship" Gatt snorted at the statement. The woman had to be kidding right, she had assigned a mere child to command the only vessel that the Inquisition had its command. No doubt when she had made her command at him to make them a vessel it was a punishment of some kind, after all, how could it not, a week to make a warship, then there was a matter of crew, they would have noticed if that many skilled sailors went missing, they had to, a navy that could challenge the Qun had to be put down before it could be established.

"I'm sure the child will make a grand entrance," Gatt said.

"You really don't like him do you," Cassandra asked noticing the utter disdain and loathing that came from the elves mouth.

"He has refused polite requests to stop the use of black powder"

"Requests," Valeyna asked confused. "What requests"

"The requests we sent to the Inquisition informing you that you were breaking the law"

"What law Gatt, this isn't Par Vollen, the kingdoms never agreed to not use weapons, they simply don't know how" Gat growled

"The point still stands, he messed with the order of things and when Coryphaeus is defeated he will be made to answer for his crimes"

"Crimes" Varrick joked his eyes locked onto the sea where somewhere the kid was. Perhaps it was a bit strange but as he looked at it from this angle he realised, this must have been around the area that Hawke and her sister had boarded the ship that had taken them to Kirkwall all those years ago, how bizarre. "The kid won-"

Before Varrick could finish his sentence the sound of combat raced towards them. Turning their heads rapidly the group could only watch as there in the distance, Bulls men were under attack.

"Boss" Bull spoke loudly his hand tightening around his axe, his men were tough but as he looked past the initial fight he could only watch as more and more Venatori agents spilt forth from the mountainside charging with weapons.

"Halt Hisraad, if we abandon this position the Venatori will destroy the dreadnought"

"They'll die" Bull yelled.

"Then they died for the Qun, they died doing the job. If we abandon our position, that ship gets away and any alliance is over with the Inquisition. You must agree Inquisitor, Bulls soldiers will die but in the big picture isn't it worth it for an alliance, think of the lives that will be saved."

"Bigger Picture" Valeyna's voice was barely a whisper as she said those words. The man wanted her to look at the bigger picture of about the live she would save, the arrogance. Yes as much as she wanted to deny his words as false she knew they weren't, having the Qun as their allies could seriously help in their war against the Qun, there would be more spies, more manpower a larger distraction that could apply enough pressure to stop Tevinter from reinforcing their enemy later down the line, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Just the very term of the big picture made her mind flash turn to Nat, wasn't he always focused on the bigger picture, trying to win the war in earnest and what had it cost him. His friends were dead, his reputation was that of a monster, one who slaughtered his enemies, it was bad enough that mages were feared when he was trying to help them but she had heard the rumours that were said. He was a demon human form, a demon who was like Anders seeking nothing but vengeance on the living. That was utterly false, for all the strength he tried to showcase, the unflinching attitude of a mage unbothered by small insignificant matters, she had seen him terrified.

The way his body shook, in how his voice seemed not to quake but rather shatter like glass as his normal calm and organised mind began to utterly crash as he could not find a solution, in the titan she had seen him as he was panicked, terrified to move forwards lest he is forced to fight something of colossus power. And it was not the first time too, as cruel as the Nightmare had been, by revealing their weaknesses she couldn't help but feel as though she knew him better now.

Nat acted out of fear. His decision to help the Inquisition and fight Coryphaeus hinged on him being afraid for his own people should a portal become possible again. His slaughter of the Templars was out of fear of what they would do to him when the war was over, his destruction of the dwarf kingdoms was not done in a diplomatic way instead he had acted out of fear once again. His escape from the Deep Roads was predicated on fear, the destruction of the demon called Imshael was on the fear of what that demon would do. She had been forced to send him away from this mission lest he kills the Qun diplomats in fear of what they would do, yet as she looked at the sea a horrid feeling began to set in.

If Nat was afraid of the Qun becoming more powerful and was so eager to kill the diplomat and she had handed him orders to make a powerful warship that could help them in their fight then… She stopped, no.. he wouldn't have.

"No, it doesn't I've seen what happens when someone gets caught in the bigger picture, Bull we save the chargers"

"Inquisitor, the alliance"

"Fuck the alliance" She roared. "The chargers are more important than some warship. Bull come on let's save the charges"

"Halt Hissrad, if you do this then you know what you will become, Tal Vashoth. I came to make sure that you had not forgotten your way friend."

"The chargers are more important" And with that, the man following the Inquisitions lead raced across the distance to join the fight and defend their men" Now left alone Gatt was forced to retreat allowing the incoming Venatori mages to take their positions in the shoreline. Snarling at the traitor and the inquisitor he gritted his teeth, they would pay for this betrayal. Still when the battle came to an end and the chargers were made safe the group could only watch as finally a great massive shape began to make itself known.

"That's not a dreadnought" Bull muttered as he saw just how large the vessel was. "The Kid" Valeyna's eyes widened dramatically the ship but her eyes turned down towards the Venatori mages, a little bit close and the ship would be in the range of fire magic. "We have to"

And then there was a cacophony of rolling thunder as jets of fire splashed in the distance as cannon was shot forth. With cannon balls shooting forth the mages had no time to prepare and were promptly torn asunder as high fastballs of metal ripped into their torsos as it did the men behind.

"Fucking hell" Bull yelled throwing himself to the floor in an instinctive reaction as he heard the sound of cannonballs whizzing nearby before promptly smashing into the area around utterly obliterating the area around in a series of debris. Those Venatori who were not killed instantly found themselves also ducking for cover, however, with the death of the mages there was nobody to conjure a barrier as a series of balls this time proceeded to fall from the heavens with tremendous power as the ships onboard mortar's unleashed its own firepower.

Though it couldn't be seen, from the shoreline the Venatori ship desperate in its gamble attempted to sneak around, however it was promptly bet by a series of cannon fire as it was still forced into the extended range of the cannons which promptly obliterated the side of the ship and sunk it within seconds.

As the sounds of guns continued to blast and tear apart the earth cleaving it and reshaping it into a hole covered mess, as cannon and mortar utterly ignored the standard rules of war the sound of dying and broken men filled the air until finally after a total of ten minutes the remaining members were either dead, dying or had surrendered. Finally however when the sound of cannons no longer filled the air and the Venatori emerged with their hands in the air as a symbol of surrender did the fight end. As this occurred a small rowboat was lowered from the warship and loaded with a single passenger was promptly sailed towards the coast before landing.

"Inquisitor" Nat greeted the woman as he stepped out the boat.

"Nat" She greeted with a bored yet knowing look. "You're new ship?" She asked as she gestured towards the Ship of the Line as she now dominated the foggy horizon. "What's her name?"

"Well considering how I am very far away from home, she's a very heavily armed ship with the ability to provide scientific study if needed and can cross vast distances, well there's naturally only one name. Warspite"

"Warspite?"

"She's named after the most highly decorated British Warship in history and she's modelled after the most famous. She's pretty much an exact copy of HMS Victory, a ship of the line who won us a glorious victory against the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar, securing the defence of our island against the threat of invasion and allowing for the next hundred years to become part of the Pax Britannica. It was only natural that such a type of warship would be given a well-earned title and if there are more to be created then they shall also receive such prestigious names"

"Already planning an entire fleet" Valeyna gave a mirthful chuckle.

"Ark Royal will be next, after that there's, Invincible, Indomitable, Indestructible, Glorious, Furious, Iron Duke, Dragon, Queen Elizabeth, Price of Wales"

"Woah, Woah slow down, we've only got the one for now, don't you think that's enough"

"No," Nat said earnestly as he turned to look at Warspite with affection, she may not be the original dreadnought and she could not fly the colours of the Royal Navy, yet he couldn't help but feel that for at least the smallest moment as though an injustice had finally been rectified to some amount. The Grand old lady sailed again and once again she would help those of her island home defend that home, whatever the cost may be.

"Fucking hell kid, how many fuckling cannons did you put on that dammed ship," Bull asked as he gazed toward the large ominous machine of death hat had just proceeded to pound the enemy Tevinter mages into a bloody pool of blood now spilling into the sand.

"A hundred and four"

"A hundred and four" Bull's voice was a squeak. "Dreadnoughts only have twenty-five and that's on the largest variant. That thing has a hundred and fucking four?"

"Yes"

"Fuck"

"One hundred and four guns" The sound of Gatt's voice echoed through to the group grabbing their attention. "Where's the dreadnought, why isn't she here" He demanded harshly.

"We encountered a Tevinter ambush on the way here, by the time we arrived to assist the Dreadnought was already badly damaged"

"Then where's the crew?" Valeyna asked. "Surely you rescued some of them."

"Dreadnoughts don't sink inquisitor, they…"

"Blow up catastrophically and take all hands with them" Nat answered for the man.

"Yeah… that"

"If there are any survivors they'll wash up on shore eventually. Had we more time then I may have searched longer, but after the first ambush I decided to sail further away from sure to protect the ship also we had to make it in time, the last thing we needed was for the smugglers to get away, as such I could not linger around long to look for survivors"

"Liar" Gatt hissed.

"You lie, there were no Tevinter ambush points located on the stormcoast, you must have attacked the dreadnought" Nat turned towards Bull and put on a fake confused look.

"Bull, you're dreadnoughts would you say that were I to get into a battle with one that it would leave some rather large holes or battle damage in the Warspite"

"Yeah, of course, she may carry fewer cannons but she's a dreadnought if there was a battle there would be some obvious damage"

"Right then how come Warspite isn't damaged?" It was a pretty louse argument Nat knew, anyone who knew his abilities could say in an instant that he could have simply repaired the ship as if it was nothing leaving the Wartspite in perfect condition, yet bull wasn't in his right mind. Alone and with no Solas around he peered into the mind of his fellow member of the Inquisition and gazed silently into the emotions that were running around his head.

Pain, anger, hatred, betrayal. He could use this.

"Hissrad, he's a mage and you heard how he spoke in the halls, you said"

"And what reason would he have to attack the Qun" Valeyna spoke suddenly. As stupid as Nat's actions were as hypocritical as they were, engaging the entire continent for his own feelings, she knew she could not turn against him, she dared not. Nat as an enemy was a thought she dare not ponder even in her worst of nightmares. "We're trying to beat coryphaeus and yet you imagine that we would be so foolish as to add the Qun as our enemy. We're in the middle of a war, Nat and his ship just completed the mission as I said he would and now you're complaining. No worse then that, you demanded that Bull give up his friends that he sacrifice his friends for this alliance and all you care about is a ship?"

"A dreadnought" Gatt corrected, but it was too late, he could see that the tables had turned substantially, the moral quandary he had put Hissrad had failed, the man choosing to betray his people to save some random mercenaries. Then there was the target of his so-called assassination mission, he could not attack out here in the open, now when a warship of unrivalled and strength lay just off the shore it's cannons still aimed towards the beach as they prepared to fire.

This was going to have to be reported back to the Qun he knew, not just the failure of Hissrad, but also of the threat that the boy posed. He had scoffed at the idea of him being powerful enough to bring down any meaningful wrath but now, he could not help but panic for his island home. Tempest was a challenger to the Qun, no worse than that, Tempest was singlehandedly the greatest threat that the Qun could face.

He was not simply a powerful mage, he was a powerful mage with growing power as the IOnquistion continued to grow its political power, a mage who had access to the most advanced weapons known to mankind and could produce them at a rapid rate, that he doubted even the Qun capable of. He gazed towards the ocean back at the so-called Warspite.

The name said it all really, the ship was a warship one of such enormous power to make it unrivalled by even the Qun screamed loud and clear that the Inquisition would not allow the Qun have any influence over the continent, not even when more pressing matters such as Corypheus came to mind. Yet even as he thought these things his attention feel was focused on the boy.

How long would it be until more of these warships got out, that the other nations started to produce them? Already there was rumour in Orlais and Ferelden about. If the child decided that it would be better off allowing these countries access to these weapons, how long would it be before the Qun's place in the world was destroyed? Tevinter alone was managing to keep the war going on Seheron for so many years if they then suddenly gained access to cannon and these muskets he had seen. As he closed his eyes all he could see and hear were the cries of dead members of the Qun. Cannon roared forth, people executed in the street as a simple Venatori soldier gunned them down there and then.

Tempest could not be allowed to live. Already his presence may have been responsible for Hissrad, if the boy continued to survive he would only become more powerful and"

"Gatt, when we stopped by the wreckage we found some kind of note, what was strange though was that it had been protected, I thought we could discuss it," Nat said hiding his smile as he felt his blood begin to pump round his body even more. He had crushed the Qun in this battle, sinking their vessel and weakening their strength so far south, no doubt they will be forced to keep their fight restrained to the north, something that the presence of Inquisition warship will help enforce.

That simply left the loose ends, specifically Gatt and his group.

Gatt looked at Tempest not with suspicion but rather in anger, the loss of the dreadnought of Hissrad and now the discovery of vital secrets has been learned by the Inquisition. Tempest could not be allowed to live, it was for these reasons, his hatred and fear for the boy and what he would do to Par Vollen that he happily accepted the private invitation of the child and instead directed him towards a cave he had discovered sending a silent order to his men.

Seeing what was happening Valeyna went to protest but a quick wink sent her way reassured her somewhat. Nat had this, of course, he did, there was no way that some Qun assassins would be able to kill Nat, not at this point.

So five minutes later as Nat entered the cave entirely out of sight of the others surrounded by all sides by members of the Qun did he smile. When they finally reached further down and hit a wide space did the group space themselves out around.

"Yeah, very obvious trap," Nat said in a bored fashion as he came to stare at the Qun agents their weapons in their hands as they glared at him. Perhaps because he was in an enclosed space they felt safe or maybe because he was surrounded and outnumbered. Either way, it mattered little to the wizard, instead, he turned to Gatt.

Before Gatt or any of the others could answer, either in words or with actions as they would have no doubt shouted at him, their weapons flew out of their hands at rapid speed and jumped into the internal pocket of the wizard, this was then promptly followed by the group freezing as one.

They could still see and hear, feel the cool breeze that drifted in from the entrance, yet they were unable to move only stand stay where they were entirely frozen as though they had been flung into a picture and was now stopped at that moment. With no way able to react fear sprung up in some of them but other then some rapid eye movements and their heart speeding up nothing could be done as the wizard turned to their leader. With them now contained however and no way to fight back or react though the assassins had no defences as with quick and decisive action nat send a quick series of cutting cursers at the trapped men and women decapitating their bodies in an instant. Second later with the assassins dead and the loose ends dealt with, Nat vanished the bodies and walked back out of the cave.

Upon returning to the Inquisitor and others a silent look was shared between them, all of them knew what had just happened. Valeyna sighed and could only feel remorse, of course, he had.

"Well there goes our alliance"

You do realise that they had plans to put a new servant into poison your food every day for a while right" Nat said in a bored tone entirely ignoring the woman as he instead concentrated on the Qunari. " Bull," He said in a loud and commanding voice. When the man looked at him Nat could see the turmoil that went between those eyes, his actions had just meant that he was cast out. "You made the right choice, you're friends are alive because of you. Good Job, my friend"

"Friend?" Bull paused shocked, had the kid seriously just called him. "Kid, no offence but I don't think you know what you did"

"You feel like you've abandoned your people somewhat that they have betrayed you. I can't say I know the feeling personally, only the aftermath, but for what it's worth, you made the right call, don't ever doubt that. If you hadn't… it would have haunted you forever"

And me. Nat thought grimly as he thought of the idea of Bull joining the corpses he had made from the rest of the Qun.

"The Qun won't know it was us right?" Valeyna asked worryingly.

"No, I and Leliana have seen to that. We have however lost access to the Qun spies, but that was bound to happen given technological advances. Anyhow we're going to have to be careful when they're spy and dreadnought doesn't show up, they're going to send more assassins"

"So, you're saying we're at war with the Qun" Valeyna closed her eyes at the thought. Every effort made to try and ensure that the war had gone in their favour, and this was how Nat repaid her. Had he not told her time and time again that she had to learn and when she finally did, the first thing he did was make her point useless.

"No, there's no evidence"

"Besides" Bull interrupted "They don't have the strength to take on the rest of Thedas, and when we have a fleet of those ships, they won't dare attack"

"Fine, well I'll see you soon Nat, I guess the next time we mee will be at the Winter Palace. Save me dance will you" Nat quirked an eyebrow but then gave out a small chuckle.

"I'll… consider it. Anyhow, I need to get the Wartspite back to port, the men need more training on the cannon and there's also a case of fancy clothes. Merlin forbid I hate parties"

"You could always come back with us you know, if I didn't know any better I would say you're avoiding getting measured up for your uniform" Valeyna gave a sultry look "You know if you wanted, I could take the measurements, I would be very through"

"Well what do you know, time for me to leave," Nat said turning around and began sprinting to the small rowboat, jumping in and then started to row back to the ship, finally when the ship pulled back into the fog did Valeyna turned to Bull. "Nat is right Bull, you made the right choice. Gatt demanding that you sacrifice the chargers" She shook her head. "Anyway if you want to talk about it just let me know, otherwise I've got to hope that either Leliana or Joesphine can guess Nat's measurements correctly, that man can be so slippery at times"

Bull didn't respond instead he simply stared at Krem and the others as they began to chat happily amongst themselves, alive and well. He was going to have to live with his decision as would the Inquisitor in the days to come.

"What was the point of all this boy, why attack the dreadnought," The Captain asked.

"To send a message" Nat replied calmly as he leaned against the back of the ship. "As well to buy time"

"Time against what exactly"

"The enemy of my enemy is an enemy I'll deal with later"