Act II: Lux in Tenebris
The air itself rent asunder,
Spilling light unearthly from the
Waters of the Fade
- Canticle of Exaltations 1:2
Codex Entry: Idhren Lavellan
Lightning can be dangerous, even deadly - one need only witness a single lightning storm to understand this. It is not easily contained, nor controlled, and behaves erratically in nature. For this reason many scholars and practical mages have written off most forms of storm magic as unworthy of further examination or refinement. However, is something deemed useless simply because it is difficult to understand? How many forms of magic that we now consider commonplace were once deemed impossible or unworthy of study? There is great potential in the untapped resources of storm magic, if only we would take the time to find them.
- Excerpt from a dog-eared volume titled Potentia Tempestatis. The author's name has been carved off the cover and replaced by 'Idhren Cyrus Lavellan' written in neat script.
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Haven, Ferelden, Guardian 9:41 Dragon
When the door opened the light that it let in was blinding. Idhren winced and tried to bring his hands up to shield his eyes, only to be stopped by the manacles that held him. He heard the heavy falls of booted feet, the clink of armor and the distinctive hiss of weapons being drawn. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he saw a woman standing above him. Her face was set in a glower, eyes hard and a hand on the sword at her side. The chest plate of her armor was emblazoned with a crest of an eye wreathed in flames. Idhren did not recognize this particular icon, but he recognized what it meant. Templar.
"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now," the woman sneered.
Templar. And he a mage, shackled in such a way that he could not cast, could not defend himself. Not that being able to use his magic would be of much use against a southern Templar. Idhren's mind kicked into a panic, trying to remember everything Keeper Istimaethoriel had told him about southern Templars and their laws. "I am a harrowed mage," he blurted out, attempting to sound as confident and self-assured as possible. "Member of the Circle of Vyrantium. You don't have the right." Although with the southern Circles in rebellion he wasn't certain how much any of that would help.
The woman's frown deepened, as much as Idhren had not thought it possible, and she stepped closer. "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone who attended is dead. Except you."
Everyone?
The air left Idhren's lungs in a rush, his chest clenching in horror.
Tainan.
Tainan had been with him in the temple.
If everyone there was dead, then that meant... Tainan could not be dead, though. It was impossible. If Idhren had survived then surely--
Roughly, the templar woman grasped one of his shackled wrists and held it up, revealing the strange spitting green mark that had appeared there. "Explain this," she snapped.
Pulled roughly from his own thoughts, mind still trying to comprehend what she had told him, Idhren stared blankly at the glow. But he had no explanation. It felt like magic, but not like his own. It was like feeling someone else casting in close proximity, almost like holding the Fade itself in his hand. But he had no idea what it was or how it got there. "I can't."
The woman scoffed and threw his hand back down painfully. "What do you mean you can't?" she demanded.
"I can't," Idhren repeated insistently. "It's not my magic; I don't know what it is or how it got there."
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Dragon Age: Semper ad Meliora
FanfictionIdhren was born a slave, and that's what he expected to be the rest of his life. Until he develops an unexpected talent for magic. The first mage in his pedigree for generations. In the Tevinter Imperium, mages rule. But an elven mage, a slave grant...
