Dragon Age: Origins

"I know." Aurelie nodded slowly, trying to keep herself under control. She sighed and shook her head quickly, attempting to shake off any unwanted feeling from the long day. She began to wonder if she was going to be allowed to meet King Cailan. "All I'm good for now is to be expendable in the army..." She sighed.

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"Sheesh, you guys doubt me so much... As if I'd ruin my chances of getting out of here!" Sage sighed out of nervousness, wishing that they wouldn't accuse her of things that she wasn't, such as untrustworthy without even knowing of what had happened. "I'm not exactly friends with the templars."

"Alright, we understand...." Jowan sighed, nodding his head. He looked over at the rod that Sage held. "Yes that's... all we need. We need to head down to the basement, to the Repository."

"I looked around the staircase and no templars are stationed there right now. We should be able to get there without any unnecessary questioning." Alim explained to everyone. "Well...I suppose that's it. Let's get going." He then turned and started towards the door.

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"Well..." Completely ignoring Arthur now, Kirk looked into his pack and pulled out a compass while walking after Alfred. He looked at it and held it evenly. "I suppose if it's north from here, it would be that way." He indicated in a northern direction, which happened to be going up along a river and Lake Calenhad.

"Don't think of yourself as expandable. You can do a lot more good if you're alive." Talon still had her arm around Aurelie, patting her as she did. "You have some sort of faith or something? I'm sure in it your fiancée isn't going to want you to waste your life like that."

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Relieved with that, Alika was quickly following Alim out. She only glanced back at the others once before paying most of her attention on to what's ahead of them. "And remember, keep as quiet as possible." She warned them before leaving the room.

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"Alright, so we're going north!" Alfred said in an almost preparing for battle like manner, which was slightly what he was expecting to happen anyway. Seeing Arthur not moving, he called out to him. "I'll come back here and meet up with you when I'm done!" Then he hurried on ahead to where the river was.

Grumbling something to himself, Arthur chose to ignore all that, walking off to not even pay attention to what Alfred and Kirk where doing. "Fucking idiots."

"Yeah....I guess so..." Aurelie sighed and nodded her head slowly. She didn't have any real beliefs, but it wasn't as if she would doubt that her fiancée would want her to get herself killed on purpose. "I hope it doesn't take too long to get there...." She mumbled.

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Following after Alika and Alim, Sage pretended to zip her mouth shut, as if to say she wouldn't at least try to make any noises. She walked with Alim and Alika, keeping away from Jowan and Lily whom had been suspicious of her.

Leading them down toward the stairway next to the stockroom, Alim carefully watched out for any people in authority. Fortunately for them, most mages were busy training, and most templars were busy watching the mages train. Among other things.

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Quickly following after Alfred, Kirk still hoped that Arthur would have joined them. At least this guy seemed to know what he was doing, or at least acted like he knew what he was doing. He looked at the river and towards the docks. "It would be quicker if we took a boat I think."

Looking around, having no idea where they were, Talon shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not even sure where this place is." She had never left Highever, and while she may have looked at a few geography books it wasn't the same as being there herself. The best she could do was recall historical events and formations of the place.

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Alika was keeping as quiet as possible, following Alim closely to also look out for anything just in case he missed noticing someone. Though there was hardly anyone around in the halls, and she was very grateful for that.

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Noticing the docks ahead just then, Alfred slowed. "Yeah it would." However he knew for certain that he didn't have a boat, nor did he have enough money to rent a boat either. "But I don't have a boat and I doubt I can afford one. How about you er... ah.... what was your name?" A sheepish smile came to his face as he realised he had never asked for Kirk's name since speaking to him.

"It will take some time to arrive." Duncan stated back to Talon and Aurelie who had wondered about how far away Ostagar was. "But we will arrive before nighttime."

"Ugh... And we're just gonna walk our way there... Aren't Grey Wardens supposed to have Griffons?" Aurelie complained, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. She wasn't in the mood for a long journey, instead, she felt more like having a keg of ale.

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Alim turned and opened a door on the side of the hallway, going through the doors into a room that had a stairway down into what looked like a basement. Taking the steps down, he led them inside the respository. "From this point on we should be free from any templars." He whispered back to the others. He approached a locked door. "Okay Lily, you have the password?"

Lily nodded before muttering some Templar chant quietly towards the door, and Alim put his hand against the stone of the door and released some of his mana energy into it.

"Is this where the stuff is gonna be?" Sage asked quietly, although wondered if she still had to be so quiet, since they were now in a basement.

"Not yet." Lily answered quietly to Sage.

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"Hmm? ...Oh, right, names." Kirk nodded slowly, also realizing he never found out who this person was. Despite that Arthur had said Alfred's name, they were never formally introduced. "I'm Kirk. And you are?"

The last thing Talon had wanted to do was walk an entire day's worth of a journey. Just escaping that damn town with its attack was tiring enough, she didn't think she could make it. "Or a carriage or some horses or something?" Ignoring that Griffons were extinct, but she didn't feel up to correcting that.

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Getting down to the basement, Alika paused for a moment to look back, again making sure no stupid templar was lurking around still. "We really need to hurry. There's no telling when those templars will come this way." She was speaking just as quietly as everyone else, worried about being caught, and started to walk quicker.

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"Kirk? You mean that? Ha ha. Wait until Artie hears about this. Your name is like his surname!" Alfred was starting to laugh when he heard that name. The coincidence was too funny to him. Though it did take him a while to calm down enough to introduce himself. "Oh yeah... and I'm Alfred Jones, hero extraordiniare!"

"Consider this part of your training." Duncan responded in a serious tone of voice. Although he was joking, sometimes it was really hard to tell the difference when dealing with him. He could seem so serious and hardworking all the time.

"You're kidding me." Aurelie mumbled irritatedly. This guy was a jerk, Aurelie could already tell. It was going to be hard to listen to someone like him. But if all goes well, at least she'd get to meet the king. And maybe she could mention something about that Arl's son to him and about what happened.

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"Now, what you need to do is use the Rod of Fire on the door right here." Lily indicated to an area on the magical door that she had just told a chant to. She stepped out of the way so that Sage could step up and do her part, since she had been the one to go get the Rod of Fire.

"I don't really feel like it..." Sage mumbled, inspecting the Rod of Fire that she held in her hands. It mostly just looked like a weird stick to her. It was also really light in weight. She knew it was a magical stick, but it was still interesting.

"Are you kidding? We're not on a stroll in the park, just do it already! You're going to get us all killed!" Jowan snapped at Sage, wondering just what this girl's problem was. She clearly was either completely spaced out or completely suicidal.

"What are you doing?" Alim stared at Sage, wondering what exactly she was trying to do by refusing to help. This was about her life as well, after all.

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"So Alfred... What should we do?" Kirk asked, looking out over the water. It was be extremely difficult for Kirk to swim across, but it was possible. And the boats were too expensive. And the bridge to the tower was destroyed so that the mages couldn't escape.

Whether he was joking or not, she really didn't care. Not that she could tell anyway. "This is just bloody wonderful." Sighing, Talon looked down at her boots, grateful they were actually flat. There was no way she'd make it walking otherwise. "It better not decide to rain on us." It was fortunate that they didn't have to walk in the rain, but if she had pointed that spot of good luck out, she was sure it would rain within an hour.

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(( I watched the mage origin on youtube, so if you still don't remember what to do I can help with it. ))

What? What the hell was wrong with this girl? Didn't she know the importance of what they were doing? "Don't feel like it? Are you insane? If we're caught down here we're all dead, including you." She crossed her arms and looked at the others impatiently. "We don't have time. Just take the rod off her if she won't help us." It didn't matter how rude she was sounding, but she wanted out as much as Jowan did. As far as she was concerned they were doomed enough with what they were doing. Whether they had to walk out on someone or not wasn't important as long as they got out alive.

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Alfred stared out at the lake, trying to come up with something. This should be easy without Arthur there waiting to shut down anything he had to say. "That Tower of Magi is out that way, right?" He pointed across the lake. "So all we gotta do is get a boat! The people here will help us as long as we tell them it's to save someone." Of course he was an optimist and he expected that everyone who wasn't "evil" would be helpful and kind to any hero.

"And now you've cursed us to rain." Kira shook her head and sighed out of annoyance, not wanting to go through with all this walking already. She'd especially hate it if it started raining.

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"I'm going to die anyway most likely..." Sage responded slowly, still looking down at the rod. She glanced up at Alika for a moment after she suggested that they take the rod off her, and she just sighed and handed it over to Jowan. "Eh...sorry... you guys shouldn't have to die with me."

"Finally." Jowan sighed before quickly pointing the Rod at the door. He put his magic into it and used it against the door, however, it didn't manage to do much of anything to it. He stared at it for a moment, wondering what was happening. "...No!"

"This door must be enchanted..." Lilly stated, watching Jowan trying repeatedly to open it. Shaking her head, she sighed. "It's hopeless! We won't be able to get anywhere."

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"You really think they're going to just listen to us? Heh." Kirk shook his head, just doubting that Alfred's plan would actually work. But if this guy wanted to try it, he wouldn't be completely against it. Whatever got him to the tower quicker, the better.

"If we do this quickly, no one will die." Alika sighed and put a hand to her hip as she watched Jowan's spell fail. Well that was just wonderful. She took a few steps back, just to be sure no one was coming now. "Speaking of which... we gotta get moving. I think I can hear someone." Maybe she was being paranoid, or it was just some random apprentices who really didn't know any better and were just passing by. Either way, she was expecting templars.

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"Yeah, I do. Come on." Alfred didn't realise it was a rhetorical question and just answered it as a normal question. He walked over to the first boat that was nearest, where he could see a person standing by it, assuming it was the owner.

The boat wasn't too big, though it looked about the size that needed more than just two inexperienced users to sail. "Hey, dude. Is this your boat?" The owner looked at Alfred, at first a little confused by the casual greeting, then quickly smiling, thinking this was a customer. "Why yes it is. Can I help you?"

"Hopefully you're right about that." Sage mumbled in response to Alika, though as she watched Jowan continue to try to open the door, she turned and looked down the hallway. There was another door just right there, and she just blinked for a moment, wondering if they wanted to know if that door was there or not. "Um... what about that door?"

Jowan was messing around with the door when Sage spoke up. Turning, he looked down the hallway and noticed the other door. He thought for a moment, not having realized that that door was even there in the first place, before nodding. "Well... I guess there's no harm in trying that door."

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Wondering how this guy could be so optimistic, Kirk sighed and shook his head before following after Alfred. He sort of reminded him of Sage in that way, in how that she was usually so optimistic about things. Sage, who was probably dead by this point, anyway.

"We need a boat. It's extremely important." Kirk responded as he approached the owner of the boat. He crossed his arms, wondering if this idea was going to work.

Turning to the other door that was pointed out, Alika walked back to where the group was. "I think it leads to another part of the basement." It wasn't a room used that much, but it wasn't something anyone bothered to keep secret. They only used it to store things. Just she never bothered to remember what was stored in there, it wasn't as if anything that went in there ever came out again.

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"Well this one here is a good boat for most of your needs. I can sell her at-" But before the merchant could finished anything, Alfred had interrupted. "Actually we don't have any money for a boat. But we need to save this little girl, and there's a lot of bad guys out to kill her. So we were hoping you could lend us the boat so that we could save her."

Too bad that didn't matter to the merchant. He quickly frowned. "If I had given away every ship I had to all you deadbeats that come here with a sob story, I wouldn't have a business. This isn't a charity case. You want a boat, either find a job and get the money to buy one, or go find a charity to lend you one."

"So if it leads to another part, there's probably still a way out? Right? Hopefully?" Sage looked over at the other door curiously. It seemed so obvious, but why would they have a door like that just out in the open that people could escape through? It seemed so odd to her.

"Well, it's worth a short, even if it doesn't lead out." Jowan replied to Sage before stepping towards the door down the hall. Secretly feeling pessimistic, he put his hand on the knob and twisted it. And with that, the door came open. "It worked! Let's go, quickly! Before any templars come!"

"Don't thank me or anything. How exactly did you not notice that door?" Sage muttered bitterly.

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"I bet that's easy for you to say. You weren't the one to lose your damn brat!" Kirk snapped, glaring at the merchant man. He had a thought about stealing one of the boats, but took that idea away shortly after it arrived. He may have easily lost his temper, but he mostly tried to follow the laws of not stealing and such.

"Right, thank you for making it up after taking your time with the rod and almost getting us caught." Alika replied with a teasing tone. Once the door was completely open she walked inside. "Just remember, we have to close this door too, or any guard coming to check here will notice what's going on."

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"Have a heart. It's not like we want to keep the boat, we just want to get across the lake." Alfred was trying to be the calm one, hoping to try talk the merchant into it, but the merchant was far too stubborn and ignored what they said. "I already told you that I'm not falling for any of your stories. Now get lost. I need to attend to the real customers, who bothered to pay for my service."

While they had been failing with the merchant, Arthur had returned in time to see part of the last of their conversation. Following him was another man, who was lanky and looked dazed. Although neither said anything at first, instead watching to see exactly if Alfred and Kirk were any successful with their goal. It didn't appear so.