The Way Of The Champion

Chapter Four: "The Lyrium Wolf And The Arishok"

GARRETT

In hopes of gaining a bit more coin, Carver and I took on a variety of jobs that Varric helped us scrounge up in the city. I took on a job from our former employer, Meeran, Carver helped Aveline save another guardsman. I 'rescued' the viscount's son from a group of Qunari, who actually wasn't in need of rescuing, but came with me willingly. Carver saved a templar named Keran from a group of blood mages. Anders accompanied me to help rescue a mage boy by the name of Feynriel, and we'd helped him get to Keeper Marethari instead of turning him over to the Circle of Magi.

This job that Carver and I were both on now, had started from a letter I'd received. It had become kind of common knowledge that the Hawke brothers were searching for any and all odd jobs. We were on our way to meet a dwarf, and assist him with whatever it was he needed. It was supposed to be a one night thing, and so I wasn't worried. Carver didn't seem to think much of it either. We were probably going to bodyguards again in some way or another.

The dwarf was in the heart of Lowtown, but we must have startled him when we approached, because he jumped, "You can't just run up on someone like that!" He calmed down after a moment, "Wait, you're the boys that Meeran recommended to me, right? The ones looking for work?"

"Did you think I was going to attack you?" I asked.

"Oh, no. No, no. Or, I hope not, anyway. My apologies, human. I haven't been on the surface long. I keep thinking I'll fall up into that sky any minute. But I digress, I need some help. Rather badly, in fact. Some product of mine...has been misplaced. The men who were supposed to deliver it decided not to. If you retrieve my properly...I could reward you handsomely!"

"Just what did they steal?" Carver inquired.

"Did I say steal?" The dwarf, whom I only then recalled the name of from the letter, Anso, laughed, "I don't know if I would go that far. They seemed like perfectly reasonable smugglers. They smiled and everything! The goods are valuable though, and illegal. And my client wants them, very, very badly. You know how those templars can be."

I gaped, "You're smuggling lyrium to the templars??"

"Of course he is," Carver threw his head into his hands, "That's just bloody great!"

"My word, I'm not cut out for this," Anso sighed.

"This better be worth it," I decided, only agreeing because Carver and I were so close to our fifty sovereign goal. Bartrand wouldn't postpone the expedition forever.

"Thank goodness," Anso relaxed, "The gentlemen conduct their business at night in this little hovel within the alienage. If you have to kill them, I guess it can't be avoided. But I'm sure they'll be reasonable."

We found the area without much difficulty. The men within the hovel wouldn't back down though, and so we did have to dispose of them. Luckily for us, Carver and I had become particularly skillful fighters in the past year. We felled them easily. Once we were clear, Carver checked the only chest in the building, and it was completely empty.

More than a little discouraged, we shared a defeated look, and then left the building to go share the bad news with Anso. We'd barely walked out of the place though, when we found we were surrounded by a group of people in armor. My first thought was templars, but it wasn't the templar order. It was a completely different sort of armor.

"That's not the elf," One of them said, evidently surprised.

"Doesn't matter!" Another yelled, "We were told to kill whoever entered the house!"

Somehow, Carver and I managed to rid ourselves of that group too, and we started back towards Anso again, getting kind of frustrated with how the night was going. We were stopped by yet another man in armor on the steps out of the alienage.