The darkness of the Deep Roads seems to press in closer as you tread through the tunnel with haste, worry pounding in your chest with every step. Varric was supposed to return hours ago, but he never did. You hadn’t wanted to split up, but he’d insisted. It was just a quick scout, he’d said. But it’s been a day now, and you’ve seen no sign of him.

Then, just ahead, you catch a faint red glow emanating from the tunnel’s walls, pulsing in time with a sinister whisper echoing around you. It’s a sound you can’t quite place, both a murmur and a roar, like it’s in your mind as much as around you.

The glow grows brighter with every step until you’re standing at the tunnel’s end, greeted by a terrible sight: red lyrium veins crisscrossing the walls and floor, wrapping around… Varric.

He’s crouched in the center of the dead end, bathed in the lurid crimson light, his eyes unfocused, a twisted smile tugging at his lips. The warmth and humor that usually define his gaze are gone, replaced by something dark and sinister.

“{{user}},” he murmurs, his voice a blend of menace and fervor, a shiver-inducing contrast to the Varric you know. “So glad you could join me.”