As I woke up all I could feel was a giant headache. I noticed despite the headache that I wasn't where I was supposed to be, at home, in bed. Instead it looked like one of those old caravans you could imagine in the middle ages, made of wood with some cloth covering it. I looked around and could see some kids that should be between 5 and 15 maybe, hard to tell when you have a giant pounding in your head.

“Where are we?” I asked to no one in particular. My question breaking the silence. It was one of the older looking kids that answered.

“On our way to the Circle of Magi” he said with some disgust in his voice.

“Whaaat?”

“The templars must have hit you hard if you don’t remember what happened.”

I couldn’t believe it. Though a somewhat avid gamer I had played through the Dragon Age games a couple of times. It was one of the better singleplayer games in my opinion and I always looked forward to the next release in the series.

If my thoughts was true then that left me in somewhat a middle ages world with swords and magic, demons and spirits, armies of darkspawn led by a freaking dragon, the constant silent battle between the mages and the chantry and templars and not to mention the freaking hole in the sky that will appear and demons that will pour out and become the norm. I am certain there are more things but one thing is for sure. I have magic. I can do real magic, otherwise I wouldn’t be on my way to the Circle of Magi.

“So we are all going to the Circle of Magi? That means we might as well get to know each other since we will be together for a while right?” I said looking at the other kids in the caravan. The others perked up at this and the first one to answer was the same older kid that answered my question.

“Sigh, I guess that is true. I am Fargus, I managed to hide my magic for a little while before the templars found me in Denerim. I didn’t really put up a fight when they took me since it would have been useless, unlike you.” He looked like a normal kid of about age 15 though a bit dirty, but I guess that would be the norm in this world. He has short brown hair, white skin and a few freckles.

“Wait what??”

“Yes, when they took you from the orphanage I could feel the magic shockwave that you created.”

“I don’t remember anything of that..”

“As I said the templars seem to have hit you pretty hard.”

After our little conversation one of the other kids got the courage to speak up.

“Miya, my parents went to the chantry when they noticed I was a mage.” she said looking somewhat sad. I would guess she is a bit younger than Fargus. She had darker skin and shoulder length black hair in somewhat of a ponytail

I looked over to the younger looking kids.

“Hi, I am Timon. I can’t wait to cast fireballs.” He seems to be very energetic. He also has white skin but a darker shade than Fargus and blonde cropped hair. Nobody seems to want to wake him up to reality. That mages are little more than prisoners in the circle

“My name is Frei.” Was everything the last one said. She looked to be the youngest with black skin and long black hair, even longer than Miya.

All of them were now looking at me. I don’t know what happened for me to wake up here but after having read a few fanfics I am not unfamiliar with the situation. I guess I just have to see this as a new life or a second chance. And I can’t say I am not pleased with it either since back home was quite boring and I know for a fact that this world will at least be exciting. And with a new beginning a new name to start.

“You can call me Cain, I can’t remember much it seems.”

It was only a few moments after we had introduced ourselves that the caravan stopped. Someone shouted for us to hop out and we followed. What was waiting for us outside were about a dozen templars. And if you think that some armor in a game looks imposing let me tell you, that it couldn't compare to the real thing. They all had the typical heavy armor with the templar symbol on the chest. A few of them had helmets on so you could only see the eyes.

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One thing that I did notice though is that I had to look up at them. Not in the way that you are a short person looking up at a taller person no. Like how a kid looks up at an adult. I didn’t realize inside the caravan but it finally hit me that I didn’t look like a 20 year old, but that I had somehow woken up as a child.

The templars didn’t look aggressive though. Considering some if not most templars in the game I thought they would be outright hostile towards us but instead they just seemed to be a bit weary of us.

We had stopped for lunch and some of the templars started to build up a camp? of sorts. Two templars were looking at us and the one that was obviously younger one of them told the other kids to follow him to something that I would assume would be where they started the fire.

“How are you feeling kid?” The older looking one said taking my attention from the others.

“Like someone is pounding in my head.” I answered truthfully. I mean we are surrounded by templars that can negate magic and have swords. Swords that can slash and kill you very quickly, especially when you don’t have anything to protect yourself with nor any magic that you know of. Not that they would kill someone just for lying a little… probably

“I figured that. We had to dispel the magic that you were building up. Even mages will feel somewhat under the weather because of that, not to mention a little kid.”

“I just don’t remember anything before waking up in the caravan.” I said, trying to get some information besides the fact that seem to have lived in an orphanage.

“Ah ye, that tends to happen sometimes when young kids get their magic forcefully dispelled. We picked you up in Denerim’s orphanage. All you have to know is that we are on our way to the Circle of Magi in Ferelden where you will be able to learn magic in a safe way.”

Well that was something at least. Not anything useful but something.

“Ah, what do I call you ser?” I was trying to be polite here since they don’t seem to be aggressive towards us and a friendly relationship with the templars is always good.

“Knight-Commander Gregoir at your service.” He says with a bit of mocking tune.

I think I short circuited for a short time while looking at Gregoir. This was the first big character I have seen. He really was looking similar to what he looked in the games, just a bit younger. I would guess he is around  50, maybe 55. This gave me somewhat of an estimate when shit hit the fan.

After the introduction he took me to the others where a fire was started and sat down with us. I guess this is some way to get a somewhat good relationship with new mages so that we don’t become a pain in his ass later. Though he did seem a bit nicer than in the games. Guess something must have happened for him to be more bitter or maybe it just is the age.

“We have a few more hours before we arrive at Kinloch hold where the Circle is. You will have time to learn and master your magic in a safer way than without the circle. Just remember that magic is never truly safe and always be on guard against demons.” He gave us a little pep-talk if you could call it that.

Though I have my own theories about magic and how the fades work. I remember the spirit in Crestwood complained that nothing moved according to its will and asked a favor of the Inquisitor. So to put it simply if you have a strong will you can control the fade. But I will have to test that out and do a few other experiments to understand how magic actually works instead of relying on what everyone says considering the census that the chantry have been doing for ages.

After eating and packing the camp together we are on the road again. Despite my precious attempt to some form of communication it was clear that none of the other kids wanted to do anything else besides sitting in silence, well, besides Timon. Once he started he never really shut up and we all got to hear about how boring it was to pick potatoes from a farm and how excited he was to cast fireballs.

I wonder if this is what ignorance is a bliss comes from. If I rememberC correctly we won’t really be doing any magic since the main character in the games didn’t start casting any magic until he went through the harrowing. And he was definitely older than a 7 year old kid.

While the carriage continued and Timon finally ran out of energy I started to think up a rough plan.

* First was to study magic and hopefully confirm some theories that I have until Duncan shows up. Do I want to become a grey warden? I mean with the taint it is not really desirable and not to mention the whole fiasco with Corypheus. I rather not I think since I also believe it was mentioned that it lowers the lifespan and makes you impotent, it would be nice with a family sometime.

* Second: How much do I want to affect the story? I mean, depending on who Duncan recruits there are some variables. On the other hand it doesn’t really matter how much I change since I will still have a general idea of the future. It is not like the Dread Wolf will change his plans depending on if the Hero of Ferelden is a dwarf, elf or a human.

* Speaking of Solas. I should really lay claim on Skyhold. IT is such an epic castle. But that will not be possible until a couple of years and probably not until the blight is solved.

* Stoppin Anders could also be huge, I will probably need to talk to him or rather Justice anyway.

As I was planning my future I got interrupted by the carriage bumping into something. Looking over to the others it seems like they didn’t even react. WOndering why it took me a minute or two to realise that the roads are shit and that travel in general would be a pain if I didn’t wanna walk everywhere.

A solution came to me though. Magic.

I just have to invent some kind of teleport, it is possible since the Eluvians exist.

With my rough planning laid out I tried to meditate, tried being the keyword since I still have a headache.

After a while the carriage stopped and we were told to get out. What first came into sight was what you typically would imagine a somewhat sunken inn in a fantasy world. It was a two story house fully made in wood with just a few windows. You could see the wood beginning to turn green, probably from being so close to water. 

Turning around I could see Kinloch hold. It was a giant tower, that is really all you need to describe it. This would be where I would spend the next few years.

“Okey, I see that you have all seen what awaits you.” Gregory spoke while coming up behind us.

“This will be your home for the foreseeable future, here you will learn magic in a safe way and I want you all to remember because I will burn it into you every time I see you that magic is dangerous and not to accept anything from demons.”

“Otherwise we will have to take you down.” He said while making a gesture over to the other templars. It sure as hell ahad the intimidating factor that he was going for.

The others looked very scared of him, it didn’t help that he naturally had a scary face, the one ‘you don’t wanna mess with me’.

So this is Kinloch Hold. My first home in this world. My first step towards magic supremacy.