Soundtrack:

Heart of the Forest ~ Inon Zur (Cleansing the Orphanage)

I had to do a double-take at seeing a single Templar in the Alienage but considering there had been Mages here, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. Although I would have expected there to be more than one.

"Is someone there?" he called. I stopped, a bit surprised. He turned to us. He was clean-shaven, bald, and scarred. And blind. His eyes were clouded over almost like a sheer veil, his scars mostly around them. "Maker's blessing to you, child." He seemed to sense my surprise at seeing a blind Templar. "Be not afraid. I still have some sight to see you by."

"I'm Realin," I greeted.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Ser Otto." He inclined his head. "I am a Templar. I lost my sight in a battle with a powerful Maleficar. He called flame from the air and burned my face. My scars have faded much but my sight will never recover."

"I'm sorry." That was what humans said to each other when they suffered a loss or pain, wasn't it? I knew I still had a lot to learn about the human world.

"Don't be. Many of my brothers died in that battle."

"What's a Templar doing here, if I may ask?"

"We'd heard rumors that there's an enclave of Maleficarum hidden in the Alienage." I was sure he was still able to perform his duties, otherwise, the Chantry wouldn't have sent him.

"Have you found anything?"

"I have found no evidence of Maleficarum in the Alienage. However, there is something else. This place... it's scarred, like me. When I came here, I immediately could feel an air of... hopelessness, despair. But over time, I've felt the wrongness runs far deeper than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. But the feeling of wrongness never wanes and so I attempt to puzzle it out. I don't suppose I could impose on you?"

"Alright." Why not? I seemed to have a sign over my head that said "Ask me to do anything! I'm not busy!"

"It took patience but some Elves opened up to me and I've heard their sad tales. But I've found no real evidence to support my fears. Ears alone have done all they can. I was hoping you could be my eyes. Look around the Alienage for anything out of the ordinary."

"What should I look for?"

"I don't know. I have a feeling that there is something to be found, though. You seem capable. I have hope that you will find what I seek. Maker watch over you, child."

We'd gone out of earshot of Otto.

"So how do we find a needle in a haystack?" Morrigan asked.

"And what do we look for?" Alistair asked.

Tristan barked and ran off.

"Where are you going?" We jogged after him to an abandoned building. A feral dog growled at us.

"Now that's just unsanitary," Alistair said, referring to a dead dog that looked like it'd been there for a while. "Even for here."

Zevran sniffed the air. "What smells like dragon farts?" he asked.

"How would you know what a dragon fart smells like?" Alistair asked.

I gave him an odd look.

"I quit trying to figure them out a long time ago," Morrigan said. The smell of bad eggs was strongest when we stood near a pool of blood that looked fairly fresh.

"I think this would count as out of the ordinary?" I said.

"I agree," Alistair said.

We started to head back to Otto when a young woman spoke. "You're not one of the bad men, are you?" she asked, a wild look in her eye. "I just want to make Grandma happy."

"Bad men?"

"The house men. They came the night of shouting. All of us orphans were in there. Then the blood. Oh, the blood! Still bleeding. Poor animals. Poor us."

"You're talking about the riots?"

"So many died... So many. The orphanage is all dead now. Don't go into the orphanage. The bad men will take you, too!" She huddled down. We looked at each other and went back to Otto.

Otto heard our approach.

"You return. What have you found?" he asked.

"We found a pool of blood that smells of rotten eggs." I swore if Zevran or Alistair said anything that sounded remotely like "dragon" or "farts" I was going to smack them both.

"There's been no fighting in the Alienage recently... Which means the blood is not congealing. I suppose there could be some explanation for it... Hmm, that's by the orphanage, right? A sad place. Did you find anything else?"

"What's the orphanage's story?" Alistair asked.

"When the Elven riot was being suppressed, the orphanage was stormed. It was... bad. Very bad."

"There was a dead dog in the alley next to the orphanage that looks like it's been there a while," Zevran said.

"I'll report that at once. I have heard afflictions can spread even from a corpse." He paused. "I suppose someone may not have known that... One odd thing I am willing to believe, but two is no coincidence. Let's head to the orphanage. Both of your clues were near there."

"Let's go."

For a blind man, Otto sure could move quickly. We followed him to the orphanage and went inside.

"Whoa," Alistair whispered, taking a step back.

"What?"

"I can't explain the feeling in this place."

"The... feeling," Otto said. "Is intense here. This is the right place. I know not if it's the work of Maleficarum but there is definitely evil here." He turned to me. "You go first. I will follow."

Alistair and I led, while Otto followed and Morrigan, Zevran, and Tristan followed at the rear. We stepped into a hall and we heard whimpering that sounded a bit like a child's. Odd, since the place looked like it'd been abandoned for months. We passed by rooms with abandoned toys littering the floor.

We passed into another hall and heard a little girl's voice.

"Do you hear me, Ser Wilhem, Ser Wilhem?" she sang. "I'm a falling, Ser Wilhem, today. I'm a maiden, Ser Wilhem, Ser Wilhem. But I'm dying, Ser Wilhem, Ser Wilhem, in pain."

I looked around. No one had been here in some time. The only footprints in the dust were from us.

"That wasn't creepy at all," Zevran said.

Morrigan actually shuddered. The orphanage was a bit creepy with the dirt and dust and abandoned toys littering the rooms and the voices we were hearing were not helping things.

"Let's... keep moving," Alistair looked uncomfortable. We slowly made our way through the halls.

I stepped out of one room and into another hall and took a step back, surprised to see the shadowy form of a child run away from me.

"No! Noooo!" He ran through a wall.

"Now I'm seeing ghost children..." The only sound that could be heard was our boots on the wooden floor. And with the thick silence, we sounded like a heard of halla stomping through the underbrush.

I pushed open the door to see the ghost of a woman, who laughed maniacally. "So red. So very, very red," She laughed again. "I can't die! I will never die!" Her laughter echoed through the room before she disappeared. The laughter slowly died moments later.

Tristan whimpered.

"One, two, Maric's run through!"

Alistair stopped at the child's voice singing about his father.

"Three, four, the kingdom's at war! Eight, nine, and now you die!" A very creepy child's laugh was heard before the silence took over again.

I could feel goosebumps crawling up the skin of my arms, causing me to rub them.

"I am officially creeped out," Alistair said.

Morrigan shivered. "You're not the only one. And I thought growing up hearing Flemeth's stories would help me not feel so."

We traveled farther into the orphanage. The closer we got to the heart, the heavier the air felt. And we began to hear screams.

"Creators," I breathed. If I wasn't creeped out before, I was now. Even Otto was beginning to become a bit unnerved. And the blood on the floors and walls wasn't helping with things. I fought the urge to turn around and run. But Grey Wardens don't run away. Especially Dalish Grey Wardens.

We passed into a room where I felt like a weight had landed on my shoulders and I felt nauseous. I stopped to gather myself and Otto took a few steps past me.

"You alright?" Alistair whispered.

"Do you feel that? I haven't felt anything like this since..." I couldn't finish my sentence.

He seemed to understand what I meant and didn't press, only nodded.

Otto held his hands out. "This. This is the center of it."

"Leave, mortal!" a deep voice suddenly cried, causing both me and Alistair to jump. Tristan's ears flattened and he growled. "You do not belong here!"

"Blessed be the Maker and His prophet Andraste—"

"Your pathetic Maker is nothing compared to my glory!"

Otto took a few steps forward. "I command you: show yourself, demon! Hide in the shadows no more!"

A fiery hand came through the floor, followed by the other hand, head, and torso. A Rage Demon. "You dare to command me!?" it cried as it pulled himself out of the floor. "Let us see if your precious Maker can protect you now, worm!"

Morrigan, Alistair, Tristan, and I all had experience against Rage Demons. Morrigan used her ice spells against it while the rest of us did the hack-and-slash approach. Until it summoned a couple of Shades to aid it. The demon fled, leaving the Shades to fight in its stead. Soon they all lay dead.

"We won...," Otto said, surprise in his voice. "At one time, I considered myself quite the warrior but you accomplished here what I never could."

"These aren't the first Shades we've faced," Alistair said. "Or demon."

"I see." The Templar still looked troubled. "Something still isn't right. I feel there is more to this. Nearby." He looked to his right. "The building next to us." He walked towards the wall and put his hand on it. "I can feel it, just on the other side of this wall." He turned back to us. "Let us go!"

We went through the door on the same wall that led to a long hall.

We heard a child's scared whimper. "Nan, who are they?"

"Please," a woman said. "Leave the children. Take me but just..." The woman screamed.

"Nooo!" The child began to cry.

"Andraste, I don't want to go yet," a little girl prayed. "Please... It's so cold now... So cold..." Her scream was a terrified one. Personally, I would be glad when we got to the bottom of what was going on here.

We wandered through empty rooms and halls before we found the ghost of a little boy. He looked at us surprised. "Leave me alone!" he cried. "Just go!" He turned and ran towards a door at the end of that hall. "The voices will protect me! They will!" He went through the door and a moment later two Abominations broke through the door.

"Nice," I drew my swords and rushed them. "They fall, run like hell." It was said for Zevran's benefit. I was sure Otto knew that already. They fell and we ran down the hall and were barely out of range of the blast.

"I hate that," Alistair said.

We went through the door the Abominations had come from.

"You think you are safe?" The Rage Demon asked.

Otto dropped to one knee. "Though the Golden City has fallen, I have seen Your face and Your light. I am Your—"

"Save your pathetic Chant for your sermons, Templar. You have killed my brood!"

Otto stood as the demon spoke. He stepped forward. "The Maker compels you: Show yourself!"

"The Maker? There is no Maker. There is no Golden City. But there are demons, yesss..."

A book rose into the air and barreled towards Otto as if it had been picked up and thrown. Otto must have sensed it coming and knocked it away.

"I hear not your blasphemy. By Andraste and all the Divine after Her, I order you to face me!"

The Rage Demon climbed out of the floor. "You delusional fool!" It attacked and we defended. It was no match for the six of us. It fell before it could summon anything.

Otto turned to me. "We have done it again. I feel the darkness receding. I have seen the work of demons before. Some Maleficarum consort with them. But the Maker must have guided—" His words were cut short by the sudden appearance of a trident. The prongs passed through his chest and with enough force to cause him to take a few steps forward.

"Otto!" He looked down and reached up, shock showing on his face.

Flames burst from the floor several feet behind him as another Rage Demon appeared. "And now you die!"

I watched in helpless shock as the demon lifted Otto several feet into the air and then dropped him. And that was a feeling I never wanted to have again. Otto landed on his knees and then on his side, the life having flown from him before he'd hit the floor. We drew our weapons and attacked. It and the demons that had come to its aid fell quickly. When it was all over, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from the orphanage. It felt much lighter.

I knelt next to Otto's body and closed his sightless eyes. "Creators guide you to your final rest...," I whispered. "And may you find peace with your Maker." I stood. Alistair nodded at me. I turned and something caught my eye. I picked up an Elven amulet. Something told me it belonged to the beggar woman we had spoken to earlier.

The moment we stepped out of the orphanage, the beggar ran towards us. "The bad men...," she said. "They are quiet. They call for blood no more."

I pulled out the amulet I found. "Is this yours? I found it in the orphanage."

Her face brightened. "It's my grandmother's! You found it, Ser! May I have it?"

I handed it to her. "If it was your grandmother's, then yes."

She put it on. Something in her eyes changed. They didn't have that wild, insane look any longer. "I feel... I feel like a mist is leaving. Oh, thank you, Ser. I have to... to live my life." She walked away, clutching the amulet around her neck.

"Shall we go now?" Alistair asked.

"Let's."

We found our way out of the Alienage and back into the world of the humans.