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A... little. Obviously charm wins out in the end, but. I was a bit nasty.

[ A bit. Yeah. ]

What was it that changed? That made you that way.

Oh, well, I guess that's how I am when I decide that I really, really want to rule a city-state.

Oh. So you got hit on the head or something, then.

[ Okay, that earns a snort of laughter. ]

Yes, you really would need to hit your head to ever agree with the templar side of things. Just about ever.

[ That's a word that's unknown to him. ]

Templar?

Soldiers for the Chantry. [ But even that must be a new word. ] Church. Religious soldiers. Mage-killing religious soldiers, at that.

[ Stating the obvious: ]

You're a mage.

Now you begin to see the problem.

So...Were you not a mage in this version of events?

No, I was. It's only... well, I can't honestly say they were never a threat, but their hands were pretty tied when it came to dealing with me in particular.

[ Oh. ]

Because you were even more terrifying than usual, I'm guessing.

...I really need to stop joking about how scary I am.

[ She's not! Not really! Usually? ]

No. If I'd been the usual variety of rogue mage, I'd have been arrested and dragged off to the Gallows, assuming they didn't find an excuse to kill me on the spot. You know, like looking at them funny or something. [ Someone's not a fan of templars, clearly. ] But I managed to stumble into the oh so lovable role of Champion, so arresting me would have caused more trouble than it was worth.

[ She is totally scary. She blew up a house. With her mind. ]

You found some position of power, and that protected you?

[ ...fine. Maybe a little scary. ]

Something like that. I'm sure it helped that I wasn't just some nobody who strolled in to save the day, but becoming the Champion definitely protected me from a lot.

So what really happened with the templars? In the life you lived.

Incredibly long story short, their leader went insane. She was going to annul the Gallows, whereas I thought that was a terrible idea and tried to stop her. I could say everything sort of caught fire from that point, but the city was already burning at the time.

Huh. And was that the end of them?

The end of the Knight-Commander, yes, but the templars?

No.

Those were only the ones at Kirkwall and enough of them survived to hold the tower. What was left of it, anyway. Those ones were also the ones who, thankfully, agreed that it was all crazy, so I got to walk away at the end. Far, far, far away.

[ A low scoff, not quite of amusement. ]

I guess that's a happy ending. When the craziest ones die out.

I'm not sure happy is a word I'd use, but it was an ending.

Yeah. I guess happy in a situation like that is just the last bad option.

The one that left slightly fewer people dead, at least, so there is that.

Right. Only some light betrayal, some of the people who died actually deserved it. About the best you can hope for out of life.

Ah... [ Well, she can't actually disagree with that, but that doesn't mean she can't sound sad about it. Just a hint. ...yes. Yes, I suppose that is the best you can ever hope for, isn't it?

[ It's about what her life seemed to have boiled down to, at the very end. There's a sigh, a long, drawn out breath of air, even if it is a quiet one. ]

But I've kept you for long enough. I should let you go.

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