Calren Agorian sat hunched over a letter he'd been writing from within the confines of the deep mountain tunnels he and his men had called home for the past month and a half. Hailing from the great Tevinter Imperium he would literally have preferred to be anywhere but some cold damp cave in the backwater nation of Ferelden but he was more then wise enough not to question the orders of his superior Magister Gereon Alexius; the very man Calren was currently scrawling a note to.
"To my dear friend Gereon.
You will be pleased to hear that the rumors of red lyrium in this accursed place have actually proven to be true; even better though is the seemingly endless supply of free labor we have been able to acquire from the surrounding villages. It seems the locals lords are far to busy to worry about the fate of some forgotten coast towns-this has also allowed me to make great strides in my expiermentations, the results of which I am sure you will be extremely pleased to see.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that the amulets given to us by our soon to be master have done as promised-none of my six fellow mages have seen any negative side effects despite our prolonged exposure to the red lyrium. This however has not been the case for our volunteer work force, the people of which seem to share a pattern of declining madness quickly followed by uncontrollable violent urges. As it stands now our workforce has been completely depleted save for a handful of men and women who work within my own personal lab, the rest of the lot having been drivein to the point where we can no longer feasibly control them.
This has lead to us locking the scum within the Southern tunnels effectively blocking off any surprise guests for the time being-likewise the front entrance is still heavily fortified by the undead I and Radaborn were able to raise along the way here. The younger mages in our group are actually scared of these beautiful works of the arcane, the fools. Needless to say within the next day we shall be journey out into the surrounding areas to bring back more workers. As usual I shall keep you updated with anything worth mentioning and the shipments for this month look to be right on schedule.
Sincerely your dearest friend,
-Calren"
Looking his handiwork over Calren seemed pleased, the old mage folding the fragile parchment and sealing it with a wax stamp of his personal signature. Standing from his desk, which was crammed alongside his bed in the tiny place he called a room, Calren wasted no time making his way out of his room and into the larger chamber where the rest of his cohorts resided. As he walked he held his robes up slightly with his one free hand to keep them dragging on the dirty ground; his other hand clutching a black menacing looking staff.
Making his way into the largest tunnel by far in their little mining operation Calren was quick to track down a younger mage, his grumpy face scowling at the first passerby who happened to be a poor soul named "Donovan!" Calren snarled, hobbling his way over to the recently startled young mage. Apparantly Donovan had chosen the worst spot to read his book that night "Its about time you make yourself useful to the cause, here." He hastily shoved the recently written letter into Donovans hand. "Ride this to our men in Redcliff-and I'll know if you dally, clear?"
"B-But...will I have to walk past those...things out front? The young mage stuttered as he did his best to meet the razor sharp eyes of Calren.
"Not at all boy, by all means take your chances with the lunatics in the back passages-you know, the ones my magic doesn't control. Stupid fool." Without waiting for a response Calren turned on his heel, no doubt off to perform some twisted experiment in his laboratory.
Knowing just how unwise it was to upset Calren Donovan set out immediately. He made it just out of site from the caves before a arrow tore threw his throat. Perplexed at the newfound sensation Donovan stared down at the vast amount of blood now rushing from his neck, however before he could even properly respond another arrow found its mark square in his chest dropping the young Tivinter noble. He was dead before he hit the ground, never having seen the bandit that killed him.
@Saarebas@Major Ursa