"Warden Galan."
Galan looked up to see Rell, one of the few Templars who hadn't run off to fight in the war between his comrades and the mages. The man was young with short, neatly groomed brown hair, sharp hazel eyes, and pale skin. If the man wasn't already a Templar, Galan might've considered recruiting him to the Wardens. Though, considering current circumstances, recruiting anyone into the Wardens wasn't a very good idea.
He leaned back into his seat, noticing that one or two fellow patrons in the tavern were eyeing them, before he said, "Did you get me anything?"
It seemed like Rell bit his lip slightly before he replied, "Not much. We'd heard only rumors of this 'red lyrium' before the mages rebelled, and any actual information on it would have been located in Val Royueax. Considering current circumstances, I doubt that anything regarding this new form of lyrium is still there, if it exists at all."
He lowered his head somewhat, cursing under his breath. He knew of the troubles in Orlais, beyond the Mage/Templar War. If he was going to travel to Val Royueax, he'd have to stay out of sight as much as possible. His priority was figuring out whatever he could about the red lyrium that was now appearing everywhere. He reached into his pocket and handed a few silvers to Rell. "That's not much to go on, but thanks regardless."
He stood up to leave, but before he could get two steps, he heard Rell say, "What do the Wardens want with this red lyrium exactly?"
He looked over his shoulder and contemplated telling him it was just 'Warden business', but he felt that saying that wouldn't do much to deter further questions. "Trust me, kid. You're better off not getting involved in Warden investigations. They tend to get… messy."
Before the Templar could respond, he looked forward and headed out of the tavern. It was still early, the sun not even halfway to its apex in the sky, so Galan figured that he should get started for Val Royueax immediately. He headed toward the stables to find his horse, noticing that he was attracting some attention. Mostly awe-struck children who had likely never seen a Warden in person in their entire life, though there did seem to be a few guards eyeing him too. Considering how it wasn't much of a secret that the Wardens were disappearing- which only led to speculation that it was the Wardens who were responsible for the Breach-, him appearing in a small town in Ferelden must have seemed very odd, if not outright suspicious.
Since being sent on his investigation almost a month ago, he had found little to no information on red lyrium. If he could, he would've gone to what was left of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, but with the Inquisition based near it, he couldn't chance it. He knew nothing about the Inquisition or its motives, so it was in his best interest to stay beneath their notice for the time being.
It would take him several days to reach the border, and a several more to reach Val Royueax itself. If he was lucky, he'd make the journey without any issues. If he was unlucky, he'd end up buried under a few hundred pounds of snow in the Frostbacks.
After three days on horseback, he had made it to the Frostback Mountains. He'd been lucky enough to avoid groups of rogue Templars and mages as well as bandits and the occasional Inquisition patrol. He had gone north to avoid Haven, which added an additional day to his journey. The trip through the mountains would be a slow one, but he had no other way into Orlais sort of turning around and heading north to Highever to take ship.
He had been having nightmares the past few nights. Worse than his usual darkspawn dreams. It felt like the Calling, but it didn't make sense. He had only been a Warden for just under a decade and had rarely fought darkspawn.
And that was without taking into account the nightmares themselves. They felt similar to his usual darkspawn dreams, but the whispers he heard in those dreams were faintly coherent if he listened closely enough. The whispers he heard in his nightmares weren't clearer as he would've expected. In fact, when he tried to listen to the whispers, he couldn't understand them at all. Was it really his Calling, or was it a fake? And if it was fake, what- or who- was causing it? He would have to ask about it when he returned to Weisshaupt. If he did, that is.
As he rode his horse along the path leading into the mountains, he heard something rustling nearby. He brought his mount to a stop and slowly lowered himself from the saddle. He grabbed his halberd from where it hung off the saddle, watching his surroundings. There were trees and bushed everywhere except in the direction he was originally heading. He searched for the presence of darkspawn, not finding any. That meant either local wildlife, or something more intelligent.
He shouldered his halberd in an attempt to look like he had let his guard down, daring his would-be attackers to strike. Sure enough, a pair of arrows appeared from the brush and he quickly ducked under them, grabbing his helmet off the saddle and slipping it on, getting himself into a battle stance as he heard his horse gallop to safety.
Multiple men in leather armor and one in heavy metal plate jumped out of the brush, getting ready to fight. The one in plate armor, who was apparently the leader, shouldered his massive battleaxe and gave a condescending laugh. "Well, well," he started. "And here I thought the Wardens had all up and disappeared."
Galan bit back a twinge of annoyance. "Glad to know you care about the fate of the Wardens beyond the Blight," he joked. "Warms the heart."
"It looks like we've got ourselves a smartass. If you're as smart as you look, you'll hand over your coin and your armor. Oh, and your mount too."
"Ah, well, I'm afraid I can't do that. Besides, I'd think someone like you would know better than to hinder a Warden investigation." He gave the bandit leader another look over. "Actually, I take that back. You do seem the kind of idiot to do something like that."
The leader growled and looked to his left, jerking his head towards Galan. Immediately, the four men on his left charged. One of them thrust forward and Galan deflected the blow as he twisted around and brought the blunt end to the side of the second man's skull, a loud crack sounding as a result of the blow. The second man collapsed to the ground as Galan kicked the side of the first man's knee, bending it sideways. As the first man collapsed to the ground, grabbing his now broken knee, a third swung on a downward angle. Galan let the blow connect with his shoulder plate, spinning his halberd around the blade and using it to keep it locked in place before kicked the man away, causing him to lose his grip on his blade. Galan released his grip on the blade and let it drop to the ground before bringing the blunt end to the third man's side, soon following up by bringing the blade into his opposite side before retracting his halberd. He felt a blow connect on his back and he swung the blunt end behind him, feeling it hit whoever was behind him. He spun around and spun his halberd above his head before bringing the blade down onto the fourth man's skull, killing him instantly.
He yanked his weapon back and turned to bring it down into the first man's back before shouldering it and turning to face the remaining bandits. "Huh. I was expecting a challenge. I'm actually disappointed."
The leader seemed to twinge in annoyance before motioning to the three men on his right to attack. The first and second men swung downward in unison, showing more coordination than the previous group. Galan blocked both with his halberd, pushing them back and brought the blunt end into the side of the first before chopping downward onto the neck of the second. He pulled back and swung around, swinging the blade high and aiming for the neck of the first. He felt it connect and heard as something hard and wet landed on the ground, soon followed by louder thump. He felt a blow connect to his side and spun around, only narrowly missing the third man with the blade as he rolled out of the way. The third man lunged with twin blades held in a reverse grip and Galan instantly brought his halberd to bear, impaling the man. He retracted and let the man fall limp to the ground as he turned to face his opponents again.
"Is this really the best you can do? We can stop if living is more appealing to you at this point." He planted the blunt end of his halberd on the ground and put some of his weight on it, making himself seem relaxed.
He brought his battleaxe forward, seeming like he was getting ready to attack. Galan tensed up, ready to fight, only to see the man sheathe his battleaxe on his back. "Fine. I'd rather not test my luck with you after seeing you kill half my men." He crossed his arms. "We'll leave you alone, Warden. So long as you do the same for us."
"Fair enough." He whistled for his horse and turned to mount it as it approached before pausing a moment. He half-turned, looking back at the leader. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a new kind of lyrium, would you?"
He furrowed his brow. "What kind of 'new'?"
"It's red. Very potent and very dangerous."
"Why would the Wardens be interested in lyrium?"
"Look, you were smart enough to know when to back off. I'd think that you'd know that I'd have less than no reason to tell you. Just tell me what you know and I'll be off."
He shrugged. "Don't know anything except that it was found at what was left of that temple near Haven. I'd guess those carta dwarves would know more about it. Maybe those Templars too. Good luck getting them to tell you anything."
Galan looked at him for a moment longer before turning back to his mount, placing his helmet and halberd on the saddle as he climbed on.
As he started riding away, he heard the leader say, "Wait, we just got our asses kicked by an elf?!" Galan started laughing as he rode along the path, heading into the mountains.