Jowan: Hero is a Good Look on You

Something Has Changed.

I am Lily, myself, alone. There is no-one in this cell except me, and I am myself.

I write these words each day. At Aeonar, it's wise to remind yourself of these things. Especially now.

The last inmate the Templars brought in was a boy, wearing velvet with one sleeve torn off. A noble from Hercinia, the whisper ran, suspected to be an apostate hidden by his family while he practiced blood magic on their servants. The Templars locked him in a cell. He ranted and cursed at them, but the rest of us grew quiet, waiting.

Aeonar is a prison designed to let things in. The Veil here is so perilously thin that even I can feel it. The denizens of the Fade gather like monstrous shapes pressing against a fine curtain. And if you are a maleficar or an apostate, you are a beacon to them, ripe for possession. Thus, the Templars bring those here who are accused, but whose true nature cannot be proven. Aeonar is the terrible, final test.

Within a few days, we all heard it from the boy's cell - that horrid, gobbling shriek that never becomes familiar. The Templars were quick. Knight-Captain Brynn sees that keep their swords sharp as mercy. We exhaled again.

I am Lily, myself, alone. I am no maleficar, just a Chantry initiate who loved deeply, and foolisly. My lover... my Jowan... revealed himself as a blood mage and was forced to flee his Circle. I wanted to go with him. I wanted to stand by his side. He swore the rumours were false - that he'd never think of using such terrible magic. But it was a lie, one of many he must have told me.

It has been years now, studying and praying in my cell or walking the halls where Tevinter mages once did their experiments. New faces arrive, and I lie awake waiting to hear the shriek. Sometimes the Templars administer... tests, as abominations can be cunning and patient. The tests leave their scars, but each time I pass. I am Lily still.

"I will speak to my superiors again", Knight-Captain Brynn told me. But something has changed. There have been no Chantry messengers in weeks, and the Templar's frowns deepen. The last messenger fears there might be open war between the mages and the Templar Order. What does that mean for us? Aeonar is an isolated fortress, a fine prize for any mage skilled in demonology, and the Templars might decide to purge this place, for their own safety.

With no new orders, Knight-Captain Brynn must decide for himself what to do. He's a good man. But as Aeonar teaches, sometimes being a good man means having a well-honed blade.

- From a diary sent to Seeker investigators, who later found Aenoar deserted with no signs of violence.