Dragon Age: Inquisition — Story Playthrough — Part Two
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Iselia had agreed to become a part of the Inquisition and was now preparing to go on an expedition to the Hinterlands to meet with a Chantry mother who was helping the unfortunate people who had gotten in the way of the mage and templar war.
First though, she wandered around Haven and met with the people she would be working with.
First she headed in to Josephine's office to acquaint herself with the diplomat and ambassador of the Inquisition. She already had a visitor in the form of the alleged owner of Haven. Apparently just one of the many diplomatic situations they'd be finding themselves in.
He wanted the Inquisition off his land, but Josephine managed to convince him to allow their continued stay. She was a very persuasive character.
Finally they got a moment alone and she learned a bit about the woman. There was also a mage in her office who was researching the demons that Iselia fought against and would take any demonic materials off of her hands to further her research.
Iselia spoke with Leliana who seemed to hold a great amount of repressed anger, Varric who was simply concerned about how she was doing after transforming from wanted murderer to holy saviour within the space of a day, and Solas spoke of his life as an apostate and how he would help the Inquisition... for now.
Cassandra was concerned about whether or not she had made the right choice in instating the Inquisition. She had a habit of acting before thinking, but it was done now and they would do what they could to restore order to the land.
Cullen was helping to train new soldiers for the Inquisition, most of them refugees or pilgrims with no real battle experience. Apparently he had been in Kirkwall when the mage rebellion began and saw firsthand the chaos that ensued. He would make sure they were well trained to handle any threat that may come before them.
She was confident he could handle any threat; he could handle her any day. 😉
Iselia explored the area just outside of Haven and found various materials that could be useful in crafting. Mostly iron, elfroot, nugskin and ram fur, but surely there'd be a use for it all.
She found some materials for the requisitions officer and also found some alchemical notes that would be useful for the potions master.
Now it was time to head off for the Hinterlands and speak with the Chantry mother who had requested her presence.
When they arrived, the found the scout who had been investigating the area — Scout Harding — and got the lowdown of the area. It was dangerous here. The bulk of the mage and templar fighting had spread to this region and there were roaming groups of both that were blindly killing everyone who crossed their paths. They needed to be dealt with to make the area safer.
They had also come to requisition some horses from a stablemaster in the area, but they couldn't get to him thanks to the mage-templar business here and they didn't even know if the man or his horses were alive. And apparently the Chantry mother — Mother Giselle — was located at the crossroads just south of Redcliffe. It was time for Iselia to get to work.
Scout Harding hadn't been wrong — there were indeed a lot of mages and templars in this region causing chaos and fighting each other, as well as anyone else. At first Cassandra called out to the templars and Solas to the mages, trying to convince both sides that their little group was just trying to pass through... but no one listened. They had no choice. They had to kill them all so they could continue their passage.
There were several rifts in the region allowing demons to pour out across the Hinterlands. Iselia closed one and sent the Inquisition scouts out to find more in the area for her to deal with.
There were also several decent areas that could serve as campsites to further the Inquisition's reach.
Just outside the Crossroads where Mother Giselle was waiting for her, there were even more mages and templars fighting one another and causing chaos for the nearby villagers just trying to survive these hard times.
Iselia and her people quickly got rid of them and allowed the villagers a bit of safety.
With the Crossroads safe for the time being, Iselia found Mother Giselle who was rather refreshing for a Chantry mother. She did not abhor magic like so many of the Chantry and recognised its usefulness, and indeed had several mages with her ready to help heal the injured.
She believed that the Inquisition would be useful and said that she knew several people in Val Royeaux who might be amenable to them if they could be talked to. She suggested Iselia go there and try to speak with them, to show them that she wasn't the demon they believed her to be and just a woman trying to help.
Iselia thought it would be akin to walking into the lion's den, but she would do what she could.
In the meantime, while she was there, Iselia decided to help the people of the Crossroads as her advisors had suggested and start making a name for the Inquisition. It was what she was there to do, after all.
She found warm bedding for the refugees who had no homes, and plenty of food for them to eat too, all the while taking care of the rampaging mages and templars who fought across the Hinterlands.
There was a group of cultists who had taken to worshipping the breach in the sky as the will of the Maker and would not follow Iselia until she proved to them that she held control over the rifts.
She proved herself by removing the rift buried within their base and appealed to them to help the refugees that were escaping the war. Amazed at her ability to remove the rift, they agreed to help.
While wandering across the Hinterlands to find the horsemaster and his stables, Iselia and her group stumbled into the main templar encampment in the region and swiftly removed its threat. Now all they had to do was find the mages main stronghold and the area would be at least a tiny bit safer.
They had covered a good amount of the Hinterlands today and helped quite a few people. Talk of the Inquisition was spreading, as planned, and Iselia thought that now was a good time to return to Haven and see how those in command were faring.
Mother Giselle should be there by now offering her help to Leliana and maybe a small plan to mark the way forward was on the cards. Leliana did seem clever and capable, despite her repressed anger.
Back in Haven, mages and ex-templars who had joined the Inquisition were at each other's throats, accusing one another of being at fault for the Divine's death. Cullen was doing his damndest to keep the peace, but then Chancellor Roderick arrived and stoked the flames further.
He demanded to know just how they intended to restore order and that they weren't doing a good job of it so far. He was an arse and Cullen soon put him in his place, but he also warned Iselia that there'd be more like Roderick at Val Royeaux when they went there. She should prepare for similar pigheadedness.
She was used to such pigheadedness — she had grown up in a Circle, after all.
Before going to the War Room to plan their next move, Iselia visited with her colleagues. Leliana was as moody as ever and was threatening to have a man killed — Iselia quickly put a stop to that. They needed better ideals in a time like this and murder was not the answer.
After that, Leliana was in no mood to speak to her and so she visited everyone else.
Cassandra told her about her Nevarran family and how they were known historically for killing dragons. Solas spoke of his study in the Fade and how he turned to travel so he could explore more areas of the Fade. And after cornering Varric, she asked him of his book about Lyria Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. He was reluctant to speak much about that time.
At least Josephine was happy to have a little chat. Josephine asked her about her family and mentioned that the Chantry had discovered her noble lineage. That was a good thing. It gave the Inquisition a little more legitimacy. She then wondered how Iselia was finding Haven, after all, this wasn't exactly the bastion of civilisation and was no noble estate or even as comfortable as a Circle. Iselia said that she was fine here and that was the end of Josephine's curiosity.
She supposed she didn't really know anyone well enough to poke and pry too hard in their personal lives, but she was curious all the same... disheartened that no one really wanted to speak with her, she headed to the War Room to plan her next moves.
Until next time! 🐲⚔️
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