After routing Corypheus’ forces in the Arbor Wilds, there were still a few things to take care of before we got on with our almost-god slaying, including a few prisoners to judge. First up was Mistress Poulin of Sahrnia, the town in Emprise du Lion that the Red Templars had nearly destroyed. The mistress had sold the villains the mine that eventually became a red lyrium factory, using the townspeople as breeding grounds. Even after discovering this, she kept taking the Reds’ money. Of course, there was nothing she could do, they would have killed her if she had refused, and the people would have been used to grow the tainted lyrium anyways. And, she used the money to buy food for the remaining villagers, who would have died without her assistance. So, I sentenced her to rebuild Sahrnia and work to gain the forgiveness of her fellow residents. If only they were all that easy.
Finally, there was Samson. Cory’s go-to Templar was an utterly broken man at this point, deprived of the final thing that had given him any worth. Despite this, he was still defiant, and argued his position well. As twisted as his mindset was, he had still done what he thought was best for his brothers and sisters. The fact that most others thought the path he led them on was horrific did not seem to faze him. Without Cory he would die from red lyrium corruption soon, and he was willing to talk. So, I handed him over to Cullen, to get what he could out of the poor soul before the poison finally killed him. Even I can’t make Inquisitorial judgment fun every time, though I do try.
On a brighter note, they had finally found me the perfect chair.
I had just been on the receiving end of several world-shaking-revelations in the Arbor Wilds, so I was relatively unfazed when another one cropped up. Morrigan wanted to meet with me and discuss a plan she had for taking out Cory’s dragon. When I went to her usual spot in the garden, however, she was nowhere to be found. Instead, I came across Leliana in front of the eluvian. Apparently, Kieran had somehow activated the portal and gone through it, and Morg promptly ran after her son in a panic. When I went through after them, I didn’t end up at the Crossroads, as I had before, but in the Fade. Which, if you remember and despite me already doing it, is not supposed to happen. I quickly found Morg, who was in a state I never expected to see her in: desperately terrified. We set out to find the boy, and after a swift search, discovered him. And a woman. A woman who turned out to be Morrigan’s mother. Who turned out to be Flemeth, the legendary, supposed-to-be-dead original Witch of the Wilds who featured in tales stretching back Ages. Who also turned out to be the elven goddess Mythal. I know, that is exactly what I said. I’ll do my best to sum all of this up quickly, but strap in, because there is a lot of ground to cover and it gets weird in a hurry.
Okay, deep breath… Flemeth was a human woman who, Ages ago, was betrayed by her former husband, who captured her and killed her current lover. While imprisoned, Flemeth called out for vengeance and was heard by the remaining, ghostly, piece of Mythal that still wandered the world after her “death.” Merging with the spirit, Flemeth took her vengeance and promised Mythal she would get hers, which was apparently going to be of the heavens-shaking variety, someday. The newly combined Flemthal then retreated to the Korcari Wilds in southern Ferelden to await her opportunity, gaining infamy as the Witch of the Wilds. She survived for centuries by siring daughters and then taking possession of their bodies when the time was right. This sounds horrifying, but Flemthal claims that the process cannot be forced upon the unwilling. Morrigan, her latest and last daughter, had suspected her mother was not fully human, and found the grimoire that outlined her possession plan. Morrigan convinced her companion and lover, the Hero of Ferelden, to kill Flemthal and stop the cycle. As you would imagine, that death barely slowed Flemthal down. I would later discover, in a discussion with Hawke, that the Champion of Kirkwall encountered Flemthal more than once. Both before her apparent death at the hands of the HoF and after, when Hawke was instrumental in reviving her. While Flemthal was mostly dead, Morrigan and the HoF succeeded in stopping the Fifth Blight by defeating the archdemon Urthemiel. They also succeeded in a ritual that ended up with Morg being pregnant with the HoF’s baby, a baby that was used to trap the Old God spirit that lived in the archdemon that was freed when the beast was killed and that would normally also kill the Grey Warden who struck the final blow. Immediately after the battle, Morg fled, intending to raise her child alone, but the HoF tracked her down and the two left through an eluvian, not to be seen again until years later, after the Inquisition was re-formed. During this time, Morg raised their child, Kieran, and grew to love him as a son rather than just a vessel containing the Old God soul. The entire time, she kept herself and Kieran hidden well enough that even the revived Flemthal could not find her, until the events at the Well of Sorrows. Because Morrigan drank from the well and was bound to Mythal, Flemthal could see through her daughter’s obfuscating spells, found Kieran and called to him, leading him through the eluvian and into the Fade. In the Fade, Morg and I confronted Flemthal, who revealed who she truly was by effortlessly controlling Morg’s actions when her daughter was about to get violent. Flemthal offered Morg a deal, give up the boy and be free of her, or keep her son and be hunted. When Morg was willing to sacrifice herself for her son, Flemthal removed the Old God soul from Kieran, returned the boy to his mother, and left us all to leave the Fade unscathed.
And, breathe.
I wonder how much godly power is committed to keeping that hair in place.
With Morrigan’s family drama settled, and after recovering from having yet another large part of my understanding of the gods I’d been taught about since birth be shattered, it was time to return to the task at hand: wiping out Corypheus, his dragon, and his remaining troops. Morg had gained the ability to transform into a high dragon from her mother, meaning she could go claw-to-claw with Cory’s fake archdemon while we took out the fake god himself. All we had to do was find him. Which he promptly made easy by going back to the Temple of Sacred Ashes and reopening the Breach. The bastard knew that most of my army was still on its way back from the Arbor Wilds. He also knew that I would come for him, because only I could close the Breach and stop it from consuming the world. Predictable or not, my only course of action was to gather my companions, head back to Haven and kick Cory’s arse for the last time.
The Breach was worse than it ever had been, and what was left of the Temple of Sacred Ashes and its surroundings were acting like they were in the Fade. Gravity was wonky, red lyrium was everywhere, and demons were popping out at an alarming rate. And then Cory tore the temple out of the ground, trapping him and us in the sky.
I believe this is the definition of something going “pear-shaped.”
Cory immediately tried to sic his dragon on us, but a larger and much scalier Morrigan intervened. That left us to chase down the ancient darkspawn magister himself and put an end to all of this. We fought a running battle through the ruins of the temple, hacking away at Cory and the demons he summoned. Everything was going quite well, until our ace in the hole fell from the sky. Apparently, learning how to transform into a dragon very recently does not completely qualify one to defeat a dragon that has been a dragon for the entirety of its existence. Morg had done her best, but Cory’s pet triumphed and knocked her out of the fight. She had severely wounded the beast before falling, but it was up to me and my merry band to finish it off. Which, being the experienced dragon hunters we were, wasn’t actually all that difficult.
When in doubt, go for the jugular.
Taking down the dragon left Cory standing alone. He had no blighted bodies to jump into, no fragments of his soul hiding and waiting to rise again, just one big, ugly form for us to kill. The would-be god tried his best, hurling both biting insults and powerful, red lyrium-infused attacks at us left and right. But, in the end, his dark powers were no match for the combined might of me and my companions. We bore the brunt of his assault and cut him down, and as he panicked and beseeched the Old Gods for help, the glowy hand tore the Orb of Destruction from his grasp, smashing it across his spiky face on the way. I used the orb’s power to close the Breach for good, and then gave Cory exactly what he wanted: to go to the Fade. By opening up a tear inside of him. A tear that imploded Corypheus into nothing and finally ended the nightmare that had started right there in the Temple of Sacred Ashes.
One shall stand, one shall fall.
No more demons.
With Corypheus finally defeated and the Breach closed, my thoughts immediately turned to relaxation and celebration. They almost immediately turned again when I realized that all the floating rubble, including the big bit we were standing on, was falling from the sky. After everything I’d been through, I wasn’t about to let some rocks or gravity end me. Everyone made it down safely, even Morrigan, who had survived her bout with the dragon. Solas immediately started acting strangely, lamenting the Orb of Destruction, which had been destroyed when I used it to close the Breach. Then, when my back was turned, he disappeared. The rest of us returned triumphantly to Skyhold, where there was only one thing to do: party. I mingled, talked to all of my companions and advisors, and retired to my chambers with the love of my life to enjoy a moment of peace.
Chilly peace, but peace nonetheless.
In the ensuing months after our defeat of Corypheus, things settled down in Thedas. Orlais remained peaceful under Empress Celene’s rule, with Briala helping from the shadows. The Grey Wardens started to build themselves back into a force worthy of the respect they’d lost. At the same time, however, a conflict inside the order seemed to be rising, possibly involving my friend Hawke at the Warden headquarters of Weisshaupt, but news of that conflict was hard to come by, even for me. The mages were more accepted in society, and reorganized under Fiona, establishing a new College of Enchanters to shape the future of magic users. Morrigan and Kieran vanished shortly after the battle, disappearing into parts unknown. The only real upheaval came in the form of the Chantry’s new Divine Victoria, formerly known as Leliana. A woman who had once claimed the Maker spoke to her, then broke off from the Chantry to form the Inquisition, was now in charge of the whole thing, and she immediately set about changing the place. She allowed races other than humans to join the priesthood, and put an end to the Circle of Magi, which allowed the mages to do as they pleased. As for me? Well, despite the peace, there was always inquisiting to be done. Thedas still had many problems, and I was determined to solve as many of them as I could. Soon after Cory’s downfall, for example, I got some interesting news from the southern part of the continent, in a place called Frostback Basin.
A far sunnier and more pleasant part of the Frostbacks than the one Skyhold is in.
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