Ser Perth and his guardsmen walked right into our ambush! Exactly where they wanted us!

Here’s our initiative order:
18 Perth
17 Aitor
15 Jhelian
15 Martaine
14 Eliseath
14 Cale
12 Maim
12 Masaad (Going simul with the soldiers)
12 Perth’s Soldiers (Going simul with Masaad)
10 Lindel

The last couple of days have not gone well. We are stumbling around in the dark trying to piece together Bann Morten’s plot and what if anything it has to do with Orlais. Eli and Aitor have done good work, despite some slight setbacks. My own efforts through a combination of cunning and luck did manage to get us a contact with the Orlesians and convinced me that the head of the garrison didn’t know much about Morten’s plots either. I may be overthinking it but I assume the leader of your armed force is someone you want in the loop.

Having uncovered hints of fell deeds to be committed in the alienage, Bann Shianni Tabris’s agents seek to understand the relationship between Bann Morten and Empress Celene of Orlais. In an effort to ply information from a group of drunken Chevaliers found reveling in the Gnawed Noble Tavern, Cale, separated from his allies, managed to get the Orlesian Knights to not only accept him in their celebrations, but in fact become central to them as he was carried off on the shoulders of the several knights, given wine fit for a king and songs sung in his honor as he was carried off to the estate housing the Empress and her escort as shocked Fereldan nobility watched on.

It is the night of the celebration of the end of the Fifth Blight, and all of the Nobles of Fereldan, and any Fereldan who could manage to come to Denerim, have gathered to honor the triumph of Fereldan and rejoice in its strength. The arrival of the Empress of Orlais, however, has added more than its fair share of trepidation to the celebration, as memories of Orlais’ occupation are still fresh in the minds of some, particularly given the civil war that nearly destroyed Fereldan during the Blight, at which Orlias remained a central point.

It has been one year since the end of the Blight in Fereldan. One year since the Archdemon was slain atop the tower of Fort Drakon by the Warden Commander, at the head of an unlikely alliance of Dalish Elves, Dwarves, Mages, and the combined forces of Fereldan. A celebration is being held in Denerim, and Emperess Celene has arrived, both to formally recognize the new King of Fereldan and, publicly, to extend a hand of friendship to the once occupied land. Many see this trip as an Orlesian attempt to gauge the strength of the Blight-weakened land, in preparation for a new invasion, and many on both sides are looking at each other with daggers in their eyes and honeyed words on their lips. The appearance of Teryn Fergus Cousland and Teryn Cauthrien at the event has also set the city on edge, given the known animosity Cousland has for Cauthrien’s former superior. The Warden-Commander is also scheduled to attend, but it is rumored that Amaranthine’s troubles require special attention.

The Elven Alienage, spared the worst of the siege as a result of their exclusion from the rest of Denerim proper, is having a brief experience of prosperity, as their labor is helping rebuild the city. The creation of an Elven Bann to govern the alienage has upset many of the nobles and common folk, but the inclusion of the Elven forces in the Siege of Denerim has warmed many to the idea of elves living alongside humans, if only the idea.

Bann Shianni Tabris has done what few imagined possible and bettered the status of elves within the Capital and made quality of life improvements to the Alienage, but has had trouble gaining the respect and aid of her fellow nobles. That, combined with the minuscule funds coming to her from her “subjects” and only a small stipend from the crown for rebuilding have made efforts on her part difficult, and she has had to resort to using what resources she has at her disposal to get things done.