Ending 2: Minseok "The Noble Mage"
The Well of Emerald WatersThis is part of a multi-post. Please be sure you've read from "The Fade" before continuing.
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The following story was pieced together somewhere near the end of the Dragon Age, 9:45, sometimes under the name "The Noble Mage" which would be later added to the ending of A Compendium of Stories in the Dragon Age. Its origins thus place it within the realm of possibility that Minseok, otherwise known as Xiumin the Great is the true hero of the Well of Emerald Waters, a legend and certainly a place thought lost to our times. Though the authenticity of this tale makes us a little suspicious, some say the author may have been one of the Three Adventurers. On the other hand, modern scholarship proceeds to qualify it a little more than 'fanfiction'. Perhaps we shall never truly know.
Now first of all I want to tell you that so many people cannot get their heads around the idea that Minseok and Xiumin were two people! No, seriously. I have seen those parchments that make their rounds, and those songs that get about the taverns. Minseok this, who is Xiumin that, or maybe they don't even know the two names and they just refer to him as "The Noble Mage!"
Well, Pfft! is what I say that. Minseok, noble? On my Maker's pretty arse. Why, that little runt of a mage (he was definitely shorter than myself) was just as foolish and me- I mean, as anybody. He fell in love with a templar of all abominations. And after he stole and broke that poor templar's heart, he went ahead and did a stupid sacrifice at that little fountain thingy.
At least they say it was worth it. Kyungsoo lived, and the "noble" mage's dear, evil maleficar of a brother got a new heart and a magical desire to do ONLY THE GOOD THINGS. Good thing too I guess, for Xiumin the Great (I can't believe bards call him that now) actually did a great service to Thedas in the intervening years. Instrumental to the Inquisition, I heard. Or was he more of a bother? Who knows anymore, all the stories seem the same: which is to say, weaving and impartial and probably full of lies. Except mine of course. Mine is the only trustworthy tale.
Where were we again?
Right! Minseok, the noble mage, did a sacrifice, and who knows now how he actually lived. We all thought he would die, since you know, you hear of somebody sacrificing themselves at the well of this evil place of magic and you obviously think "well he's a goner." But no, Minseok lived. Well, he almost died. In fact he was definitely dying, but his brother (whose name is actually Xiumin, please do not confuse the two) took sudden compassion on this sibling of his. And because he'd been granted something akin to immortality (but not quite) along with his new and renewed good heart, before the weird magic in the pool fully disintegrated, Xiumin took a sip too and wished so hard for his brother to live. See, not a bad fellow, even if he almost got us killed a million times.
So Minseok lived, and he ran off with that lovestruck templar and they apparently lived happily ever after. Until you know, that minor little war where the templars and the mages got into a fight over some lame little breach in the sky. I once heard of a fellow who knew a gal who found the bodies of a mage and a templar laying peacefully (dead) on a picnic blanket in the hills south of Redcliffe. No way though. Maybe they were fools, but they definitely weren't that foolish. No, in fact, I visited them about ten years later. Me and my elf lover Kai (I'm the elf by the way) took the kiddos and spent a week on the southern shores of Nevarra where they'd apparently made their new home. No kids yet, but lots and lots of dogs. They seemed cool. Kept in touch with the gang, mostly. Even that beastly dragon, WHO BY THE WAY I TOTALLY SLEW ONCE! Yeah I did that, that was me. I mean kinda. Shall we just call it a friendly skirmish between friends? Makes such a nice cup of tea though, after he patches you up, Yixing. Maker's breath, dragon wounds are brutal.
How do I end this now? Oh right. The End.
Was this ending not your cup of tea? Try a different one! Or go ahead and skip to the EPILOGUE
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