Kirkwall - Lowtown
"Where are we going now Hawke?" Fenris asked after they'd stopped at the Hanged Man to collect Varric and Isabella.
"I don't have a destination planned. I heard a few rumours, but I should check on Uncle Gamlen. See how he's doing."
"No plan?" Varric exclaimed. "Maker, what's the world coming to?"
"Funny Varric." Kirah retorted. "It's not as though I need to solve every problem in Kirkwall."
"You may not need to." Isabella chimed. "But trouble always seems to find you Hawke. You're like the centre of a hurricane."
Kirah grunted, ignoring them as she led them down the street to Gamlen's house. He was his usual prickly self, but told her he was proud she was part of the family. As they were leaving, she spotted a crumpled note on the table and picked it up.
"Leave that be!" Gamlen grumbled. "It's nothing that concerns you."
"It doesn't sound like nothing. What's this about a gem? The note says someone has found it."
"It's none of your concern. I lost everything chasing that damned gem. Our fortune, my future, Mara...."
"Who's Mara?"
"None of your damned business girl!" He shouted. "Go bother someone else about their problems and leave me be."
Kirah left. It was clear she wouldn't learn any more from him, so they left.
"We going to go check this out Hawke?" Varric asked.
"Of course Varric. I'm curious."
"You're like a cat Hawke." Fenris grumbled. "Your curiosity is a dangerous thing."
"I like cats." Isabella smiled.
"You like a lot of things." Fenris retorted.
"Come on." Kirah said, ignoring them both. "Let's go to this meeting place."
They headed to Darktown and as they approached the meeting place, they saw several rough-looking, armed men waiting for them.
"You here about the note?" One of them demanded.
"What's this about a gem?" Kirah asked. "Who are you?"
"Who I am isn't important. We just want the gem."
"And what makes you think I have it?"
"We're not stupid. The note said whoever showed up would know all about it."
"I'm surprised you know how to read, let alone what a note is." Kirah retorted.
"I don't need to read. All I need to know is which pointy end of my sword goes where." He snapped. "Get them!"
Kirah tossed a confusion grenade and jumped backwards out of the reach of the man's sword. When she and the others had eliminated the group, Isabella found another note on one of the bodies.
"What's a wallop mallet?" She asked.
"I have no idea." Kirah replied.
"Doesn't your Uncle Gamlen have one hanging on the wall in his living room?" Varric said.
Kirah groaned. "Ugh. This is silly. Let's head back."
After speaking with Gamlen again and checking his mallet, they headed to the alienage. Why anyone would have made a wallop mallet from the tree there, was beyond them.
An elf overheard them talking and passed Kirah another note, saying he'd been told to give it to anyone who showed up asking about wallop mallets.
"Another note?" Kirah sighed. "This person is like a cheap whore, promising things and never delivering."
"A warehouse?" Isabella said as Kirah read the note aloud.
"You think the owners charge all these criminals a flat rate?" Varric wondered. "They seem to do a lot of business with the crime bosses around here."
"You're not planning anything are you Varric?" Kirah asked.
"I'm a businessman Hawke. Besides, if I own the building I could make a serious dent in the crime in Kirkwall."
"Uh huh."
"This is exciting." Isabella crowed. "It's like a treasure hunt."
"A treasure hunt that usually involves us getting ambushed or walking into a trap." Fenris reminded her.
"Oh shut up you. You're seriously cramping my fun."
They located the warehouse on the docks and were surprised to find the building empty.
"Pshaw!" Fenris snorted. "Fish, fish and more fish! Let's just find this crate and get out of here. I hate the smell of fish."
After searching the entire building, they headed up a flight of stairs where Kirah found the crate number they were looking for.
"Finally." Fenris said, relieved.
Kirah cracked it open and heard a click as she did. "It's a trap!" She cried as a green mist surrounded them. As they tried to move out of the cloud, several armed mercenaries flooded the room and attacked them.
Weakened by the gas, she, Varric and Isabella were unable to move for several minutes. Fenris was doing what he could to keep the mercenaries off them, but was tiring quickly.
"I'm coming Fenris!" She shouted as she stepped free of the toxic cloud. Reaching his position, she moved behind his attackers and took out two of them with several quick swipes of her blades.
"I'm about to fall." Fenris moaned, his voice weakening.
"Fenris!" She cried, taking up a position at his back. She tossed a confusion grenade at the enemies who were trying to flank him while passing him a healing potion.
Moments later, Varric and Isabella had joined them and together they took down the remaining mercenaries. Fenris gave her a grateful smile as he moved away to tend to his injuries. She wanted to follow and make sure he was all right, but knew he wouldn't appreciate her attention in front of the others.
"That was a lot of bad guys. And they were all here for Gamlen?" Varric asked.
"Seems like overkill." Kirah agreed. "It's time we got to the bottom of this."
Heading back upstairs to where she had triggered the gas, Kirah searched the box and found another note which directed them to a cave on the Wounded Coast.
Inside the cave, a handful of mercenaries blocked the path but they moved passed them quickly. Further in, they were met by an attractive woman armed with bow and arrows. She had long reddish brown hair and blue eyes and was surprised to see Hawke.
"All that work and he couldn't even be bothered to show up." She sighed.
Kirah frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Gamlen. I set this whole thing up and he didn't even come himself. Instead, he sent you cousin."
"You have a cousin?" Varric muttered from behind her.
"Who are you?" Kirah asked.
"You mean Gamlen never told you? Gamlen's my father. My mother told me all my life how much I reminded her of him."
"I hate to interrupt the family meeting." Said an angry male voice. "But I have a score to settle."
"Veld." The woman exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"This bitch killed my brother. I intend to pay her back and get the gem."
"But Mekel was only supposed to pass on a note. You let your brother go up against someone like Hawke for a stupid gem? You know what? I did find the gem, but you're not getting your pathetic little hands on it."
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way." He said, drawing his sword.
After the fight, the woman smiled at Hawke. "You're pretty useful in a fight. You don't take after Gamlen at all."
"And I wouldn't have taken you for his daughter. What with being able to fight." Kirah replied.
"I guess I should take that as a compliment." Charade said. "My mother, Mara, she left Gamlen before I was born. He was so fixated on finding that stupid gem, I doubt he even noticed she was gone. She told me about Gamlen before she died last year. I didn't even know about him."
"Why would she keep him from you?"
"I don't know. She might have thought she was protecting me." Charade admitted. "I baited him with the one thing I thought he cared about most, and he didn't even show up."
"Gamlen's not so bad. You might be surprised."
"Really? What do you think I should do?
"I think you should go talk to Gamlen. Does he even know about you?"
"I... I'm not sure."
"Having family might be more worthwhile than you think." Fenris said.
"Maybe give him a chance before you write him off." Kirah added.
"I think I will." Charade smiled. "Having a cousin turned out to be a good thing. Maybe having a father will too."
Kirah and the others returned to Gamlen's house to find out if Charade had decided to meet her father. Inside, she was pleased to see Charade had beaten them there. She and Gamlen spoke briefly and Charade promised she'd be in touch.
"I'm glad she came to see you Uncle." Kirah said
"I had no idea Mara was even pregnant. If I had, well..." He trailed off. "You know, I don't say this very often, but I'm glad you're part of the family. I had my doubts about you when we first met, but you've proven me wrong. I thought the Amell line would die out with me, but you've done our family proud. Seriously though, next time, stay out of my damn business girl."
Kirah smiled. "I'm glad Charade came to talk to you uncle. I think you need each other."
"Yes, yes." Gamlen groused. "Run along now. I'm sure you have more important things to do than stand around in my living room."