Another hard-to-write chapter, mostly because of my attempts to maintain a balance between keeping Loghain both multilayered and unsympathetic. While I do agree with a lot of the Dragon Age fandom that he's not really a cackling supervillain (that's Howe's job), I did want to emphasis that at the end of the day, he is one of the Big Bads of the story (the other being the fallen dragon-god trying to kill everyone). Hence, this chapter focusing primarily on him and his growing Legion of Doom (we'll see more of them in the future, along with Anora). Raynald is also going to play a role in Leliana's character arc, and besides, every would-be tyrant needs a bunch of psychopathic, kill-crazy mercenaries to help out, doesn't he? (Bonus points to whoever gets the reference of his name).
Like with Chapters Four and Five, my initial plan was for this installment to be a lot bigger; it would feature both Loghain's machinations at court, along with Sagramor and company finally reaching Lothering. I decided to split it up due to length considerations, as well as the fact that the Sagramor stuff needs a bit more work, and at this point, I was just eager to get this chapter up already and move onto something else.
As ever, thanks for all your support and comments, I really appreciate it. Please let me know how I did with the characterization in this chapter, there's always room to improve, especially since I'll be examining Anora in detail later too. Thanks again!
First Chapter - A Day for Celebration (thephoenixking.deviantart.com/…)
Previous Chapter - Flotsam and Jetsam (thephoenixking.deviantart.com/…)
Next Chapter - The Road to Lothering (thephoenixking.deviantart.com/…)