A bit of a talky chapter this time around after the insanity of the previous battle, and one long-delayed, but I hope you all enjoy it regardless. I've been planning on bringing Nimue into the mix since the beginning of the story, as like with Sagramor, I thought it would be neat to do something different than the usual stock characterizations we get sometimes with a lot of the protagonists in <i>Origins</i> novelizations. Let's face it, too often when we read a story featuring a female elven Circle Mage Warden, it's exactly the same character; a demure, beautiful young ing&#233;nue that Alistair immediately falls hopelessly in love with, and generally can't function without a Templar in snogging distance. Her culpability in Jowan's escape and the destruction in Redcliffe is never brought up, there's no tension between her and Alistair over how the man she helped evade Templar justice went on to poison a major father-figure in his life, and the Blight itself plays third-fiddle to their sweeping and passionate romance. That's not to say that all such stories featuring this archetype are bad ones, but it is an archetype nonetheless, and I felt like doing something different, introduce a more chaotic element into the party than what we normally get.<br /><br />With Geoffrey, I wanted to experiment a bit by adding a less combat-capable character into the mix; how does one deal with the threat of the Blight when you're not a total badass like Sagramor, Leliana or the rest of the company? I have an interesting character arc in mind for him, and I think you'll all be pleased by how it turns out.<br /><br />Regardless, hope you all enjoyed this long-delayed installment, please let me know what you think! Next one will be much more action-intensive, and feature an appearance by one of my favourite Dragon Age characters of all time in the bargain, so I'm super-excited to write that. Thanks again for your continued support!<br /><br /><span>As ever, the preview image was done by the awesome Poly-M and used with her permission (Source here: </span><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/deviation/512593800">BiowareClub contest prize</a><span>)</span><br /><br /><b>First Chapter:</b><span> A Day For Celebration -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/thephoenixking/art/The-Grey-Path-Chapter-One-A-Day-for-Celebration-311164927">The Grey Path - Chapter One: A Day for Celebration</a></span><br /><br /><b>Previous Chapter:</b><span> </span><span>The Demands of Duty, Part Two -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/thephoenixking/art/The-Grey-Path-Chapter-Twenty-Six-Part-Two-781216947">The Grey Path - Chapter Twenty-Six, Part Two</a></span><br /><br /><b>Next Chapter:</b><span>&nbsp;Mahariel's Calling, Part One -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/thephoenixking/art/The-Grey-Path-Chapter-Twenty-Eight-Part-One-823990740">The Grey Path - Chapter Twenty-Eight, Part One</a></span>