Paying the Ferryman is a short story by Joanna Berry. It's a supplementary story to Dragon Age: Inquisition and details the backstory and motives of Calpernia, the game's secondary villain.
Can be read here
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The story provides examples of:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Calpernia struggles to fit both with her fellow slaves and with her new Venatori companions. She ends up leading both groups eventually.
- An Arm and a Leg: Anodatus gets both of his armed burned away by Calpernia in the final scene of the story.
- Catch and Return: A magical variant. When Anodatus attempts to kill Calpernia with a magical projectile, she easily interepts the attack and sends it right back towards the magister.
- Dramatic Irony: Calpernia describes Corypheus (or "Teacher" as she calls him) as a benevolent figure with a divine purpose to reshape the word for better. Anyone who played the games knows just how wrong that perception is.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: The story details how Calpernia goes from a household slave with a vague magical affinity to a Venatori mage in the process of building an army on behalf of her god.
- Not Used to Freedom: Calpernia has some difficulty getting used to freedom, not really knowing how to behave and being constantly distracted by all the things she could do and own with her newfound status.
- Only Friend: Not counting the "Ferryman", Marius is Calpernia's sole friend and confidant. Her grief upon being separated from him helps activate her magical talent.
- Start of Darkness: Played With. Though the story does describe how Calpernia entered Corypheus' service, she does not actually do anything evil in the story itself and is honestly convinced she's joined a righteous cause.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: Erasthenes, sort of. He is not particularly cruel or rude towards his slaves and seems somewhat fond of Calpernia, enough to spend time teaching her magic when disposing of her would have been easier. Even still, being his legal property is not fun, and when Calpernia sees a chance at freedom she abandons Erasthenes to an unknown fate without much consideration.
- A Taste of the Lash: Not an uncommon way to punish slaves in Tevinter, as Calpernia attests.
- Underestimating Badassery: Anodatus attacks Calpernia in his rage, expecting her to only know a few petty tricks at most. He regrets it a few moments later.
- Unskilled, but Strong: When Corypheus first meets Calpernia, the girl has no magical training beyond knowing how to keep her powers from bursting uncontrollably. He still instantly senses the potential in the girl and offers her a position beyond that of her master.
