Part 64: Eight Simple Rules For Possessing My Teenage Daughter

PART 64: EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR POSSESSING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER


[The people have spoken and, with almost one voice, they said ‘Dentist’.

No, wait. Duelist. Duelist. Sorry.]



[The basic Duelist ability is ‘Dueling’, a sustained ability that gives us a bonus to our attack score (chance to hit). Not very exciting, but as it only costs 5% of our stamina to keep active, useful to have around.

The 2nd level ability is Upset Balance, a cheap, quick cooldown debuff attack that slows and weakens a single opponent in melee range.

The 3rd level ability is Keen Defense, a permanent improvement to our defense stat (chance to dodge rather than damage resistance).

The final, 4th level ability is Pinpoint Strike, which makes all our melee attacks Critical Hits for a short time. Very damaging, but has a 3 minute long cooldown.]



[All in all, I think Duelist is the most useful specialisation for a Rogue. Nothing exciting about it, just a bunch of powers that make you slightly better in a stand up fight.

Wait, didn’t we get that book Morrigan was looking for?]





What? You found Flemeth‘s grimoire?

I had it all along. I picked it up when we first went to the Tower.

…And why did you do that, exactly? The book would have been of no value to you back then.

Ah, come on, Morrigan. Big creepy book covered in black ‘leather’? Strange mystical symbols scribed on the cover? Distinct smell of burning? It’s got doomsday device written all over it.

So you decided to pick it up and stuff it in your knapsack, did you? Next to your emergency sandwiches and spare unmentionables?

Well… yeah. It’s been keeping them warm.

…

No one likes cold unmentionables, Morrigan.

…Regardless, I’m glad you found it. When I spoke of it to you, I did not truly hope... ah, but this is a most fortuitous event!



You have my thanks. I will begin study of the tome immediately.

You’re welcome.

I do not intend to squander this opportunity to learn more than Flemeth wished me to know. This should be... interesting.





[Someone new has joined the Camp since we helped out the Dalish.]



You witness the rarest of things, Warden. The Dalish stand ready to defend Ferelden.

Why’s that so rare?

Have you seen this kingdom? Have you seen what they do to elves? Man, fuck Ferelden.

This really isn’t going to be a Coalition of the Willing, is it? Do you need anything?

We have assembled on a short schedule. Certain factors of equipment could be better.

Crafting components would serve best. Basic ones like elfroot and deep mushroom.



[Like Emissary Pether before him, Emissary Caron has a crate in which we can deposit materials for an XP reward and a nebulous improvement in the quality of our army for the Final Battle.

Seriously, the game’s been out for almost 7 years now and still no one really knows what these crates actually effect.]





What’s on your mind?

Why did the spirit choose to help you?

I have always had an affinity for the spirits of the Fade. As a child I never feared my dreams, because I knew they were there...

You must have been a strange child.

I've always been able to feel the spirits, even if I never saw them. And as I nurtured my talent in the Circle, I became more sensitive.

I began to notice, every time I was in the Fade, whether it was in a dream, or in magical practice, that I was being watched.

Creepy.



Sometimes I would see it... a glowing, nebulous form. Most times I would just feel its presence--gentle and comforting, but somehow alien.

I think it is a Spirit of Faith. They have never been seen before and perhaps I am wrong, but something tells me I'm not.

It always felt like the same... entity. This one spirit was curious about me and was... guarding me, for want of a better word.

You mean it protected you?

There were times, when I was in the Fade, that it seemed to stretch forth to shield me, keeping me safe.



And I think it gave me strength in my most terrible battles, Ostagar being one of them.

I suppose it felt it wasn’t your time yet.

I don't know why I was chosen. Perhaps it knew that there was something more that lay in store for me.

I like to think that I was given a rare chance, and I'm going to make the best of the time so generously given to me.

I’m glad you think travelling with me is worthy of your time.



I will not lie motionless in a bed, with coverlets up to my chin, waiting for death to claim me. That is not the death for me.

And so I will fight alongside the Grey Warden, and help prepare her for the task that is yet before her.

So you had better listen to me, because I swear, if I should fall before the end and you don't seem to be doing things properly, I’ll get up again to give you a good finger-wagging.

I’ll hold you to that promise.

You know, I think you’ll be all right, even without my help.



[I love that Wynne has a backstory suitable to a teen girl protagonist- Magical Spirit Friend! Secret Guardian! Special Powers! -but she’s really a sarcastic old lady who complains about her back.]



I have been studying Mother‘s grimoire. Do you wish to hear what I have found?

The real magic was inside you all along?

Yes, actually.

…What did you find?

‘Tis... not what I expected. I had hoped for a collection of her spells, a map of the power that she commands. But this is not it.

Yet you look disturbed.

Disturbed? Yes, perhaps that is the right word. One thing in particular within her writings disturbs me.



Here, in great detail, Flemeth explains the means by which she has survived for centuries.

Let me guess. She drinks blood? Eats children?

That is closer to the truth than you might think.

Flemeth has raised many daughters over her long lifetime. There are stories of these many Witches of the Wilds throughout Chasind legend, yet I have never seen a one and always wondered why not.

And now I know. They are all Flemeth. When her body becomes old and wizened, she raises a daughter. And when the time is right, she takes her daughter's body for her own.

Are you certain about this?It is kind of a cliché.



Indeed. That is primarily what this tome details. The various daughters that Flemeth has... acquired. Their preparation and training.

I recognize all of it. I... am to be her next host. This is my purpose.

So why would she risk sending you with me?

I do not know. Perhaps 'tis as she said: the darkspawn threaten her as much as they threaten anyone else. Or perhaps she believes that this journey will make me more powerful.

According to the tome, if the... host... is already powerful and trained in magic, it takes far less time for Flemeth to... settle in.

So if you died she would have another daughter?



Not by any natural means. Perhaps I should take this as a vote of confidence from her in my capabilities?

Or perhaps she simply wished me gone from the Korcari Wilds so she could prepare her ritual in peace. A disturbing thought.

So is Flemeth immortal or not?

Whatever spark of the demon that made her what she is remains within her keeps her from dying of old age. But her body deteriorates. Eventually she would be so wizened as to be senseless and immobile.

So she must seek a new body, a fresh body, and start the cycle anew.

Can this body be anyone? Or must it be a daughter?



I am... uncertain. According to her writings, certain hosts are better than others. The more a host is prepared, the quicker... the transition will be.

I am... sorry. This simply takes me by surprise. I would have thought I would have had some inkling, some notion...

No one thinks the worst of their own mother.

Flemeth is no doting mother. She is an abomination and a sorceress and I should have at least suspected something.

So what do you intend to do about it?



Oh.

There is only one possible response to this: Flemeth needs to die.



I will not sit about like an empty sack waiting to be filled. Flemeth must be slain and I need your help to do it.

Kill Flemeth? Isn’t that a little extreme?

It may seem so, if you think of Flemeth as a mother. Think of her, instead, as an ancient abomination that intends to use her own flesh and blood to extend her life beyond all natural limits.

She did not wish anyone to get ahold of this information, least of all me. Now I have. If I do not act on what I know, then more the fool am I.

Very well. I’ll help you, if I can. Although, if this is some stupid game between you and your mother, I will be very irate.

It isn’t a game, I promise you. No one wants an irate dwarf.



What needs to be done is for you to go back to Flemeth‘s hut in the Korcari Wilds... without me.

If I am present when she is slain, I cannot be certain that she will not be able to possess my body right then. So I must remain at the camp.

Confront her and slay her quickly. I doubt she will truly be dead even then, but it will take her years to find a new host and recover her power... if that is even possible.

The thing I must have is her true grimoire. With it I can defend against her power in the future. Everything else in her hut is yours.

Great, all the mud I can eat.

There are also some twigs and moss, if you like.

Do I have a time limit on this?



Not really. But the sooner the better, no?

I’ll see what I can do.

I am grateful. The sooner this can be done, the sooner it will set my mind at ease.

[Fighting Flemeth is really difficult, and a bad idea unless you’re high in levels and well geared up. However, you can unlock this sidequest as soon as you beat the Circle Tower, assuming you’ve been nice to Morrigan. I imagine this has resulted in a lot of people getting smashed flat by Flemeth by fighting her waaaay too early.]



[We’ll save Flemeth for another time. Let’s see what Barkley’s up to.]



(Barkley digs furiously in the ground at your feet.)

Trying to find a way through the earth, are we?

(He listens and then goes back to digging.)

It’s going to take some time, you know.

(He continues digging.)

Don’t need me to kill your parents or anything, do you?

(He pointedly ignores you, and keeps digging.)

Well, good luck with that then.



[The open road beckons once more…. But which way are we going?]

DESTINATION VOTE!

1. WEST! To Orzammar! Where a final reckoning with our backstabbing brother awaits.
2. EAST! To Denerim! On the trail of a renegade scholar who has the key to thwarting Loghain.
3. BACKWARDS! To the Past! Witness Leliana’s youth as a freelance murderer/musician.

Also feel free to put in your party selections, except if you’re voting for the flashback episode as the party is chosen for us there. I will also use my LPer’s veto to say that if we go to Orzammar, we’re taking Shale.

Voting closes in 72 hours. See you then!


NEXT TIME: Old friends, old problems