Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. The author has no intention to profit from this work and it is merely a work of fanfiiction.  No copyright infringement is intended.

Dagda

Dagda puzzled over the crate.  To mundane eyes it was just a wooden box with the words 'property of Sandal' etched onto the top, but Dagda was anything but mundane.  Sure her eyes were as blind to magic as any dwarve's but her instruments were not and they registered some prety weird magic radiating through the unassuming pine surface.  The patterns were reminiscent of armor runes, but way way more complex.  They were unlike anything she'd ever seen and were almost certainly dangerous.  Only a fool would open it before running more tests.  She went for her crowbar.

Thanking the Stone that Harrit was not currently in the Undercroft, the dwarf riffled through her tool chest until she found the steel implement.  She was attacking the box like a cat tearing into a bag of catnip when the hollow echoe of the doors sounded through the granite walls.  The words, "Dagda, I need a new enchantment," soon followed in its wake.  The arcanist got only a glimpse of the box's contents, straw packed about a faintly glowing something before needing to whirl about.  She immediately strung a smile between her pudgy cheeks and placed her limited mass between the Inquisitor's gaze and her latest 'dabbling in forces better left alone.'

Inquisitor    

Dagda was definitely up to something.  You didn't have to be the Inquisitor or a templar to know that.  You just had to know Dagda and after three fires, two explosions and a badger abomination, Evelyn knew Dagda.  Specifically she knew to trust her about as far as she could throw the Iron Bull.

"What are you up to, Dagda?"  The Inquisitor immediately pressed.  "And by what I mean what exactly will be nearly killing us all in the coming minutes."

"It's nothing, Inquisitor... Mam... m'Lady... nothing to worry about," the dwarven savant muttered while unconsciously inching back from her ever armored and ever paranoid templar leader.  "Nothing dangerous... I think..."  With another step back, the dwarf's shoulderblades collided with something knocking if off its perch on the shelf behind and onto the floor.  A wooden box, the container hit the floor hard sending its contents scattering across the stone in all directions like spilt marbles.  They looked like rune stones but Evelyn, who was necessarily familiar with magic (know thine enemy and all that) did not recognize the deep phosphorescent colors or intricate patterns.  She had little time to ponder their nature however as one of the stones came skidding to a halt between her feet and exploded in a flash of blinding purple light.

Dagda

As soon as the box came clattering down the dwarf went into damage control mode, racing and clutching after the runes.  There was no knowing after all whether impact would trigger their effect or what that effect might  FLASH  be...  Dagda looked up, her hand partially gripping one of the offending stones.  As she blinked, echoes of the brignt light pulsated in her field of view like an amorphous star. It took her only three blinks to realize that the Inquisitor was nowhere to be seen.  "Ummm Inquisitor..."  She looked around and found herself alone in the hollow of the undercroft.  Borrowing a phrase from Varric, she groaned, "well... shit."