A discovery made (Azalea & Fiona)

[Senior Enchanter Louis]

Night had arrived and the moon could be seen high upon the sky above Andoral`s reach, where within most mages had fallen asleep, except for Louis who had chosen to wander off between the ruins. “Fascinating” Louis spoke with a low whisper as he brushed the snow and frost of the carvings on the wall, seeing an image of warriors fighting a dragon. The ancient Tevinter ruins intrigued him and ever since he had sat foot in Andoral`s reach he had wanted to study them, which he now with the lack of sleep did.

Why were there carvings of warriors fighting a dragon, didn`t the Tevinters use to worship them? It made Louis wonder and the more he found out, the more he wanted to continue, writing down every discovery he made in detail within the book he had brought along. If the Tevinters fought dragons in the past, then that meant not all dragons or god`s as they saw them were friendly? Maybe it portrayed the wrath of some of them, he sure didn`t know, but he wanted to find out.

Following the carvings on the wall, Louis came to an oval room which was also about to fall apart. As his gaze traveled across the scenery, he noticed an alter that stood in the middle, surrounded by seven pillars that once had held the roof up. Slowly he approached, and as he reached out to touch one of the pillars it became clear that the seven pillars was carved in shapes to look like dragons, most likely representing the seven old gods that today is believed by the Grey Wardens to be the rumoured archdemons.

[Connor Guerrin]

With a nod of his head Connor looked down to the ground. The ruins had been a place that he could come to think about things. For the most part it was empty there during the night anyway. But he did not mind, for that was less things that could go wrong in his point of view. He had not been here at the Reach for that long, in fact the Templars had been chasing him for a time and they still were to the best of his knowladge. But he had found this place, and was happy to be behind its walls. Standing up he walked further into the ruins, back the way he had came.

The twenty year old mage had learned his lesson in the arts of magic. Yes he was still a curious guy, but he did his best to stay out of trouble, and away from desire demons, espically ones that wanted to make deals. He for one did not was anyone to make the sacrafice that his mother had. Yes his father lived, but at a great cost to them. But now he was resting and not by the hands of magic. Moving to the wall as he walked into the ruins further. He was caught slightly off guard when he noticed someone there.

Pushing back his hair a little he spoke up, "Sleep is hard to come by?" He questioned putting both arms back to his side as he stepped up to what the other was looking at slightly. With a small arch of his brow he turned to face the altar, and of course now would be the time his curoisty would kick in. He touched the altar, watching it flash a bright red, surely the other mage would have noticed, he also heard a crack in the wall split open as a door opened on the far left side of the room.

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[Senior Enchanter Louis]

As Louis studied the ruins with great fascination, he cared for nothing what happened around, which was why he got slightly startled when someone abruptly spoke to him. “Oui, sleeping is difficult when there is so much to study…” Louis answered, but did not turn to look; instead he kept taking notes, drawing the symbols he could see on the pillars and the wall. It was amazing, he thought, and wanted to solve the mystery about what it all meant. The more he figured, the closer he got to the truth. However suddenly a red light appeared and as Louis turned to watch what had happened, he noticed the young apprentice had done something with the alter. In frustration, Louis shouted angry. “Maker`s breath! What did you do, what did you touch?!” And then they saw a secret door open on the left side of the room. Who would have known, had the apprentice not been so foolish then perhaps they would never have discovered it. Whatever the young man had done, he was thankful, although Louis didn`t say anything.

In awe he watched the door move slowly and once it stood open, they could see a staircase leading down into the dark. With careful steps Louis approached, took a glance at the apprentice mage, before turning the attention back at what had been revealed. “Looks like your foolish ways benefit you, young man.” Louis spoke, as if he apologized for his earlier statement.

Reaching to touch the wall on the side of the staircase, Louis discovered there was more carvings and it seemed to continue into the shadow`s underground. It made him excited and he wanted to investigate further, although before he chose to step down the stairs he asked. “Want to help me look where this lead? I could need an assistant.” Louis said with a smile and then made the staff glow a bright light on the end, which would provide a better sight when traveling into unknown places.

[Connor Guerrin]

Right...study." Connor replied with a shake of his head as he inspected that was near by. He had never been one to study things, and was more of a hands on person. One might say that he was very impatient. Arching a brow at the alter he had touched and then looked to the other mage as he yelled at him. He gave a slight shrug at him moving his shoulders in an upward fashion as the door opened up. Conner was just all the way around curious about many things, including things that he had thought for a plit second were dangerous. He had never let that stop him before. "Of course, foolish ways." Connor replied with a small nod of his head as he stepped up to the door.

Looking down the hallway, and down the stairs Conner turned his attention back to the mage, "Can't hurt I suppose." Connor said started to follow, "Connor Guerrin. Pleasure." He said as his introduction. He had never had fear of people knowing what he had did, but it was highly unlikely that he did anyway. Connor had left Redcliff long ago, it was something of his past now. He let his fingers glide along the wall as he walked down the steps. Connor had always seemed to be in a daze, like off having dreams in the Fade. It had never left him as it seems, always being a part of him. That was something that had been hard to shake off, even after all this time of being in a secure zone.

[Senior Enchanter Louis]

Hearing Connor`s response made Louis smile and in return he reached out to shake his hand, introducing himself. “An honour to meet you Connor Guerrin, my name is Louis.” He said, not knowing much about Connor, except for what the rumours around in Andoral`s Reach had told about him. He knew he was a noble`s son, and obviously he was from Ferelden, but what he exactly had done in the past was unknown to him. None the less it was great to gain friends, and especially someone who would like to study with him. At some point, if Connor wanted to become Louis`s regular apprentice then he would need to speak with First Enchanter Irving, who currently held all responsibility for those from Ferelden. “Come” Louis spoke again, waving the hand for him to follow.

Just as he did so, Louis begun to walk down the stairs, holding the staff forward which provided light. Walking down the stairs they could both see carvings on the walls stretching far into the darkness, and once they reached the bottom, they could see a long tunnel leading straight forward. Where it went, Louis had no clue, but it was certainly something he was going to find out. With a look back, he sought to see if Connor was still following. “Be on your guard, places like this are known for their traps.” Louis spoke, warning his fellow student to be careful.

The tunnel seemed endless, and while Louis watched the steps he noticed it was getting moistly. Water dripped down from the cracks in the roof, which formed pools of water on the floor and the stormfull wind that came from the outside made a whistling sound. How exciting, Louis thought to himself and continued.

[Azalea Valdea]

Ugh. Why couldn't she sleep? These past few days she could do nothing but toss and turn restlessly, and it was growing rather irritating. Azalea opened her eyes with a sigh, being greeted by darkness and the soft sounds of others in the area. She turned over so she was on her back, staring at the seemingly endless ceiling far above her. She turned her head to look at her side to find that Louis was gone. Perhaps he was restless too? Azzy wondered when in the night he had gotten up, and wondered how she had not noticed him getting up, seeing as he was her main source of warmth right then and there. For several minutes she lay there, eventually flopping back onto her side and curling up into a ball, very much like a cat would.

Ugh. Just go to sleep would you? She urged herself, but alas, sleep would not be happening anytime soon, and she knew very well the reason why. Azalea placed a hand on her stomach, wondering just where the little life that grew inside her was. She felt guilt and fear about her discovery. Sure, she felt a bit of wonder and a very strange sense of happiness, but there was fear and guilt there as well. Guilt, because well, she didn't know who the baby belonged to, it was either Louis', or Fenris'. She was unsure whether to tell Louis this or not, because she feared his response, feared he would leave her because of it. And she felt fear because of that reason, and the fact they were basically in the middle of a war now. What if something she had the child, and the Templars chose to attack the Reach? What if she couldn't provide for the child? The mages here could barely help themselves as it was, and now here she was a burden because of her condition. She sighed, pondering what to do. Braith said she should tell Louis, and Azzy agreed with her. But, it wasn't so simple. She was glad that no matter what happened though, at least Braith would be there for her. Maker bless her.

Ok, there was no point in laying around if no sleeping was to be had. So, on that thought, Azalea slowly got up and carefully made her way out of the room, attempting to find out where Louis could have possibly went to. For several minutes she wandered about the ruins, finding intricate carvings here and there as she went along. After some time, she paused at the sound of voices, one of them sounding an awful lot like Louis. Azalea peeked around the corner, and sure enough, in the dark, she could just make out Louis' form, as well as someone else standing nearby. Feeling a sudden spark of mischief, she quietly made her way over to Louis as he spoke with another young man and grabbed him into a hug from behind. "Boo!" She said with a small giggle. "Aren't we up rather late tonight?" Azzy said with another giggle, letting Louis go, smiling a bit as well.

[Senior Enchanter Louis]

Standing in complete darkness after having stepped down into the tunnel, Louis spoke to Connor, but did not notice who came up behind him as he turned his attention back to where he was about to walk. Then unexpectedly he was grabbed and suddenly hugged, at first it scared him and frightened he jumped, although as soon he saw who it was, he breathed out in relief and smiled. It was Azalea, his beloved, whom he had grown very close to over the past few weeks. She was his joy in life, his reason for fighting on, when everything seemed grim and clouded, he had come to her, and since their mission in Perendale they had stayed together.

“Oh he-he, yes, I couldn`t sleep I`m afraid, these ruins calls to me. There is so much history here that is just waiting to be discovered, and thanks to Connor, we`ve already made a discovery, a passage way, deep underground the ancient fortress. We had no clue about this, imagine what other secrets may be lurking ahead.” He spoke in enthusiasm, while he used his staff to point forward into darkness, with the wish to investigate further.

“But why are you awake; I thought you would be sleeping at this hour?” Louis looked at Azalea and asked, with a pleased gaze as he adored her presence and her sudden manner of giggling, feeling so lucky to have encountered a woman like her. Surely his past had been full of pleasure with other women, but none was like Azalea, whom had captured his heart completely. He knew danger was approaching and perhaps getting attached was not a good idea, but if someone threatened to kill her, he would not hesitate to save her life, even if it meant he would die.

“Nevermind, perhaps you would like to join us on this adventure? Afterall, it may be more interesting down here than being upstairs with a pack of mages snoring around you.” He grinned and took Azalea`s hand, hoping she would accept his proposal. In the background Connor stood in the stairs, looking at the two mages in love, awkward he thought to himself, but remained silent until Louis turned to him and said. “Connor, maybe you could go and tell Fiona about this? I am sure she would like to know what we`ve found.”

“Yes of course, I`ll go and tell her.” Connor replied and with that he went off, leaving the two turtledoves alone in the dark, with only Louis`s staff as source of light.

[Azalea Valdea]

Azalea felt another giggle emerge when she felt Louis flinch with surprise at her sudden appearance. Good, that was the effect she wanted. "Oh dear did I scare you? I'm terribly sorry about that." She teased. And as if to make up for his little scare, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Louis' cheek, still grinning widely. Though moments earlier Azalea had been filled with negative thoughts, she felt herself lighten up quite a bit around Louis. However, it was only a matter of time before said thoughts would come crawling back to her.

As Louis spoke, Azzy listened carefully, and her eyes widened at the mention of the discovery of a passageway. "Good catch there Connor." She said enthusiastically. She followed the small amount of light Louis produced from his staff, and caught glimpses of the strange designs within the wall. Azalea knew little about Andoral's Reach, and knew not what it use to be or whom it belonged to. The prospect of exploring was more than enough to pique Azalea's interest. "Well, I certainly can't blame you for getting up in the middle of the night to look at this. Especially if you found a passage." She said with a little crooked grin. The grin faltered a bit when Louis asked her reason for being up. Quickly, Azalea tried to fabricate a logical reason that didn't tip off anything about what her real reason was. "I heard you get up earlier, and I wasn't really all that tired so I got up wondering where you went to. Plus, I got cold." She said, forcing a bit of amusement in her voice before she hugged Louis again as if to prove that she had been cold. At least not all of what she said was a lie. She did wonder where he had gone off too, and she was cold, but she was dead tired, and had been for days now.

"Oooooh adventure? You don't even need to ask if I want to go. You know the answer." She said with a genuine, beaming smile. Azzy loved adventure and exploring. It was just her thing after all. "And you're certainly right. I'd much rather be down here with you than with all the other mages." She said with another grin, letting Louis take her hand. Azalea had nearly forgotten about Connor until Louis spoke to him, sending him to go speak with someone named Fiona. Azalea flashed a sheepish smile at the poor boy, as if to apologize. But, at least they were alone now, with nothing but the glow of Louis' staff.

Azalea stood on her tip-toes again and stole a kiss from Louis, lingering for a few seconds. She gave another smile at her beloved. "So, where do you think the passage leads to? Out of Andoral's Reach maybe?" The young girl asked curiously, giving a little squeeze of Louis' hand. She felt excited now, and her previous thoughts from earlier were pushed onto the back-burner for the moment. There would be a time to speak with Louis about this...but now was not the time, for certainly he would forbid her from going down with him into the passage. Perhaps afterwards she would tell him? Yes, this seemed logical to her.

[Senior Enchanter Louis]

Truly, Azalea had managed to scare Louis in the dark, but the way she made up for it afterwards made it all a lot better. The sweet kiss she gave him, while standing on the tiptoes was both sweet and thoughtful, and in return Louis smiled happily. Oh how fortunate he felt to have a woman like her, who was not just a beauty for the eyes, but whom also was clever and kind. What would he have done without her, he thought, knowing that he would have been lost had she not been there to assist him through the winter.

In Andoral`s Reach it was already well known how fast their relationship had grown, and everyone could see that there was love between the two. What sort of love they shared was often debated among the people, especially the young mages such as Connor. Although Louis cared nothing of what other people thought about them, because he knew in his heart what really was true. Having Azalea around was comforting and she made him feel strange, in a good way, which was something he never had experienced before, only read about in books.

Hearing Azalea`s enthusiastic comment to Connor made Louis slightly laugh silently within himself, her ways of giving hope and joy was admiring, and he loved how opportunistic she saw everything as, even in the darkest of times. With a glance at Connor, then Azalea, he listened to what she further had to say. What she said about his run-off in the night and her problems with sleeping was understandable, but for some reason it also made him curious. It sounded truthful, but some parts of it did not seem to justify her words. She mentioned she was not tired, yet he could see she was and he knew very well she had problems sleeping lately. Whatever her reasons were, they quickly became forgotten as she hugged him to gain warmth.

Then as he asked the question if she wanted to join the exploration, she answered quickly in return and with eagerness she said yes. This was great news, together they could investigate the dark tunnel and perhaps if they were lucky they could rediscover old mysterious that many maybe thought had been forgotten. Although who should they tell if they did find anything, they certainly could not publish their founding’s due to the Mage-Templar War that went on. It was both sad and fun that Louis and Azalea got the chance to be on such a place, but no matter what they found ahead it could most likely give them an advantage later.


With Connor gone, the two turtledoves were finally left alone and just then, without warning, Azalea took the opportunity to kiss again, this time on the lips. It was a surprise, yet most appreciated. For a long time Louis had waited for the moment they could be alone, as above the ground there was always Mages around and little space to move. At least down underground none could complain about their kissing, and to experience it without someone constantly watching was a relief.

Not wanting to let go, Louis tried to keep the kiss going as long he could, but when their lips broke up and Azalea spoke again, he listened carefully with a bigger smile on the face. She had totally stunned him with the stolen kiss, though he found what she asked interesting. With the staff turned forward against the darkness, he held onto Azalea`s hand and felt her little squeeze as he answered. “If we are lucky, it might. Come, let us find out.”

Step by step, Louis walked forward with Azalea, the tunnel seemed endless. It was so dark ahead and they could not see where it ended, luckily the staff provided enough light for them to see where they stepped, even though Louis knew if they were not careful it could go them badly. “Watch your steps, places like these are often filled with traps. Who knows what the ancient Tevinter`s used this for…” He said and the words echoed between the walls, venturing far underground.

The floor was laid by stone bricks and on the walls one could still see the carvings continue, which most significantly told the story about the place. The wind howled through the cracks and on some places the roots of trees and bushed stuck out, as if the place was slowly crumbling due to frost and moist. And then there were rats, rats that scurried off alongside the walls by the sound of their footsteps. It was obvious the place had not been used in a while, perhaps not since Andoral`s Reach first fell to Andraste and her army. Fascinating, it was so exciting for Louis to explore such wonders, it had been a childhood dream of his and in the circle tower he had never been allowed to do anything of the sorts. It was good to be free, and especially with a woman who cared for him. With another glance at Azalea, he looked proud and excited and as they walked on, he still held onto her hand, not letting go.

[Azalea Valdea]

It felt good to be up and about and doing something a little productive, Azalea thought. It felt good, and yet it brought anxiety to the young mage. She was happy to be with Louis, and always felt that little sense of being lost when he wasn't around, a feeling to which she honestly did not care much for. But, she had always been that way when it came to attaching herself emotionally to someone. Perhaps she felt if she lost her sight on those she loved, they would vanish. A silly, childish way of thinking, but in days like these, it was almost true a good deal of the time.

But now here she was again, chasing after Louis like a lost puppy. Perhaps it was just more than just her want and need to be beside him that drove her to find him tonight, rather, is was perhaps more of her guilt egging her on than anything else. Azalea knew she needed to tell him about what was going on. Though it was only a matter of time before Louis would suspect what was happening. Azalea showed very little signs of her pregnancy, signs that could be shrugged off as perhaps sickness, or nervous, anxious habits that she had recently acquired. But in another month or two's time she would physically start showing of the little life she had growing inside her. But, such things could be held off a little longer yes? If Azalea told him now, there was no way he would allow her to explore the passage with him. And there was hardly anything else that Azzy enjoyed more than exploring.

Despite her conflicting, internal feelings, she couldn't help but smile at the way Louis smiled down at her after their kiss. She missed kissing him like this. Without the prying eyes of the others and hearing their whispering comments. Azzy knew their relationship was a small topic amongst a few of the mages, a topic often questioned. Honestly though, she didn't care. They could think what they wanted to because their opinion didn't matter. She would have thought it would be heart warming to see young couples, especially in such a dark, frightening time such as this. But, again, it didn't matter. What she and Louis did with their lives was of no concern to anyone else.

Once again though, Azalea felt a sense of excitement as Louis insisted they find out where the passage leads to. He held onto her hand as they walked forward, guided by the light Louis' staff emitted. She felt safe when he held onto her, which was a good thing considering they were descending down a flight of very old stairs. Azzy looked up at Louis from time to time, but became focused on watching where she stepped for fear of tripping and falling. At the mention of traps, Azalea looked up at Louis a little worriedly. "What sorts of traps do you think they would have set up down here?" She asked, looking back down at the ground.

Once they were on flatter ground, Azalea felt less tense about falling down them. Well, that was until she heard a very familiar squeaking sound and something brushing past her foot. Azalea gave a frightened squeak of her own and cringed away from the rat as soon as it touched her. She clung to Louis then, having wrapped her arms around his free arm. Oh Maker how she hated rats! "Rats...of all the things that had to be down here, it had to be rats." Azalea grumbled, slowly releasing her grip on Louis. She gave a nervous laugh then, feeling quite foolish just then. The feeling only lasted a moment as she felt her guilt prodding at her again, telling her that she needed to speak with Louis, especially now since they were alone. Well...mostly alone anyways.

"Um...Louis?" She hesitated, casting her gaze upon the wall that was slightly lit up due to Louis' staff. "There's something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you a few days ago actually." She paused again for a moment, looking at her love for only a split moment before looking back at the wall. "I...well, I think I'm...pregnant." Azalea said quietly, letting her last few words at no louder than a whisper. Now she waited, half expecting for Louis to make her turn around and go back up into the Reach, which was very likely to happen. Or perhaps he would end their relationship now that a child would be involved. Azalea felt that she should tell him her other bit of news, news that was perhaps a little more upsetting than the news of her pregnancy. But, she held onto that bit, unsure if it was the right idea to tell him. So instead, she remained quiet, letting her beloved mull over her words.