I never have any idea what's really going on in the old reprobate's head.
"How are you feeling?"
He watched me for a moment more, ignoring my question, before looking away and addressing Aedan instead.
"Thank you for coming. I wanted to talk to you before your templar allies start work, and give you a suggestion of how we should handle this creature." He gestured to the door beyond which the Architect slumbered, and then he looked back at me. "But first, I need some information from you,
your Highness
," his tone was formal, but almost teasing. I grimaced, and he grinned, the expression making him look even more skeletal than normal, "on the other similar darkspawn you mentioned."
"Corypheus?" I was surprised; I'd mentioned the magister to Jowan, Aedan, and Alistair in passing, but had never discussed that situation with Avernus that I could remember. "What do you want to know?"
"Perhaps it would be best if you started at the beginning."
I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and considering what I knew. And then I spent the next few minutes describing what I could remember of the downloadable content from the second Dragon Age game. I told them that Corypheus claimed to be one of the original magisters from Tevinter who breached the veil and entered the Golden City, and how he claimed it was black and the Maker's throne empty. How the Wardens had imprisoned the creature, but whatever had kept him dormant had started to wear off near the beginning of the Century. Some Wardens, and I didn't know who besides Larius, had kidnapped the pregnant wife of an apostate mage named Malcolm Hawke, and used her as leverage to force said apostate to use blood magic to bind Corypheus behind some sort of nested seals. Then, years later, Corypheus had called to some tainted Carta members in his dreams; they had attacked the children of the mage, needing the 'blood of the Hawke' in order to free him.
"Tell me about these seals?" Avernus requested.
"I don't know much." I tugged on my braid, trying to remember. "There were demons behind them, that he'd been forced to summon, I know that. And traps and puzzles in order to navigate them, though that could just have been a game mechanic to appeal to the gamers. There was a key - a staff, I think - that was tied to his blood as well."
"He wasn't a blood mage prior to that?" I shook my head. "And they let the mage go afterwards?" I nodded. "Sloppy." His tone was derisive. Jowan winced.
I ignored the comment, not wanting to get into any details of what he'd have done instead - I could imagine, and that was bad enough. "As far as how the seals worked, I don't know. There was the implication that they'd used some sort of ancient Tevinter ritual that the Wardens knew about, but I couldn't say if that was the truth or just an assumption I made."
Avernus scoffed. "Everyone assumes any ritual or mysterious magical effect comes from ancient Tevinter." He rolled his eyes. "No matter. I am familiar with a ritual like the one you describe." He sat up, fingers steepled, elbows on his knees. He looked back and forth between the three of us across from him. "I have a proposal for how this creature can be pacified, bound and imprisoned in such a way that he will not be able to break free like Corypheus did."
"I'm listening." Aedan had looked slightly ill at the prospect of imprisoning the Architect - and failing, like the Wardens had done with Corypheus. He gazed at Avernus intently, hoping for something to prevent that history from repeating itself, I knew.
"The first thing we need to clarify, before I begin, is that magic - whether spells, barriers, or seals, does not require things to be a certain size. Do you understand what I mean by that?"
He went on to describe a plan in detail - much more devious than I had imagined possible. And after an hour of discussion - and vehement objections by Jowan - I was convinced that it would not only work, but it would provide the best protection against discovery or rescue that we could possibly muster. And we already had everything we needed to make it happen.
********
I spent the rest of the day in meetings. Levi and I spent a couple of hours going through budgets, expenses, staffing, timelines for having the rest of the Keep cleaned up, and such. We needed more soldiers - which surprised and somewhat horrified me, given that I already employed almost fifty - but we couldn't expect them to patrol twelve or more hours per day without breaks, so we needed enough to cover the nights and the days, as well as time for combat training for each as individuals and then as groups. We were also going to need more housekeeping staff - cooks, cleaners, launderers, and seamstresses, as well as some basic maintenance staff for a Keep as old as ours. We'd do well to have a permanent stone mason of some sort available to keep an eye on structural stability and needed repairs, and he'd need general labourers to do the actual work. We could use non-magical healers and herbalists, and a gardener for Avernus' rooftop garden. We also needed someone to organise the training and determine the needs of the soldiers we employed.
I approved his requests to recruit for all of those positions. I reminded him we wouldn't discriminate based on race - anyone with the necessary skills was to be considered - nor would we pay differently for elven workers than for humans. And I requested that he consider the family members of current employees when hiring, so as to hopefully reduce the isolation of those working for me.
We took a quick tour of the Keep; he showed me the servants quarters, and I made requests for more braziers, basic wall tapestries and carpets to help hold the heat, and for organising family quarters for any staff with spouses or children who would live at the Peak. And I needed to know the numbers of children we'd be dealing with - between soldiers and servants - so I could arrange some sort of schooling.
There were enough barracks-style wings to support our current complement of soldiers and Wardens, but more of them would have to be cleared, cleaned, and furnished before we could expand. And I wanted at least a few family quarters there as well, for those who might have spouses come work as servants or labourers, and children too. Most of the soldiers, I knew, would leave their families behind in whichever city they hailed from - but the option should be there, if we had the space.
I'd decided I would try to run the Peak as an example to the rest of Ferelden of how things could be without discrimination, without segregation, and without taking advantage of the poor. We weren't going to have homelessness like the cities suffered from, but I still wanted everyone who lived at the Peak to have more than just their basic needs met. They should be able to afford the rare luxury, and save for the future as well. They should have time off to visit family elsewhere, or just to relax, and hopefully enough of a community would build up that eventually there would be socialization and the formation of families within the Peak.
I also met with Greagoir, and requested he keep us in mind for healers looking to leave the Circle. We had Anders, though I knew he'd be leaving, and I didn't want to rely just on Warden healers in any case. They had a habit of being out in the field fighting darkspawn, and if I was to have hundreds of staff and soldiers, we were likely to have illnesses, injuries, and even births eventually. I also asked him to pass on the need for a Chantry Mother or Sister to come and provide services and succor to the Andrastians living there. There was a small chapel near the main hall, and quarters for a few Chantry staff. I would also write to the Grand Cleric, but figured it couldn't hurt having him look out for likely candidates.
He also had a request for me that left me speechless: he was asking permission to have templars rotate through the Peak, to train with the Wardens in combat, become comfortable with the concept of mages outside the Circle - and learn from me, if possible. He wanted to screen potential candidates for resistance, and send those with the most potential to see if any could learn to do what I could. None of his had been able to form a shield, and it seemed working together like they did to suppress the Architect's mana wasn't successful for that ability.
I promised nothing except to think about it. I was concerned about having more templars about, making our mages nervous, and wasn't totally convinced that I wanted the Chantry having access to the abilities I'd learned. I knew I'd never use my powers to harm a mage, whether apostate, Warden, or Circle, unless directly attacked, but the Chantry could not say the same. I'd traded my knowledge for Anders' freedom out of necessity, not because I was keen on sharing. I wanted to talk it over with Aedan and Alistair, maybe Solona as the least biased mage I knew - and if possible, Leliana and Grand Cleric Dorothea - before making up my mind.
