A/N: If you have not read Stormchasers: Ogre's Bane and Stormchasers: The Outlaw over in my Grim Tales, you might want to do that first. This story will be the first of several focusing on Alim Surana's new travelling companions, and their adventures in Ferelden after the Blight. Look for cameos of other known Dragon Age characters as we proceed, well, without any more rambling here is the first of my Stormchasers stories.
Stormchasers: Treason at the Tourney
Chapter 1: The Redboar Tourney
Se Adam Redboar's tournament had been advertised to be one for the ages.
For months word had been sent forth, an open invitation to the greatest knights in the realm. The Blight was over, and now at last it was time to celebrate. Many a brave warrior had distinguished himself during the darkspawns' brief invasion, and the Civil War that had raged in its wake. What the tourney offered was a chance to show that greatness to both the entire realm and beyond, that, and the promise of twenty thousand sovereigns as prize had been more than enough to catch the attention of every lord, knight, and hedge knight in Ferelden.
So it was that on a bright summer day, the lords and ladies of Ferelden were to gather on Ser Adam's land and test their might. Jousting, a melee, and a test of archery were to be contested for large sums of the overall prize. Knights were coming from everywhere, from Redcliffe to Denerim, many brave men and women descended on the tourney grounds to test their mettle, to win both fame and fortune.
Yet it was more than that, it was a chance to show the world that Ferelden was on the road to recovery. Orlais and Nevarra had offered aid to their weakened neighbor. The Free Marches sheltered many a refugee that lost his or her home to the Blight. Many in those august nations might have pitied Ferelden for what it had suffered. The Native Fereldans did not want pity. The test of arms on Ser Adam's land would prove to all that they were not weak.
Let no man or woman say that Ferelden was nothing more than a nation of refugees and beggars.
The tourney also offered a relief from the mud and blood of rebuilding. The lords and ladies of Ferelden welcomed the distraction, regardless of the prize, Ferelden was still recovering, and much suffering remained in the areas most affected by the darkspawn advance. Both the lords and smallfolk had lost much to the monsters' advance, with the Archdemon dead, they now looked for someone to blame.
Too many had come to blame their king.
King Alistair Theirin, the warden king, had done all in his power to make his home strong again. Yet he was still contested by some of his nobles. No sooner had the Blight ended that he found himself facing an inquest, and investigation into his heritage. It had ended with the findings said to be inconclusive, yet still questions remained. The lords may have allied with him to fight the Archdemon, but with the beast dead, they were left to question his legitimacy, and they were not the only ones. The merchants and small folk had their own opinions about the warden king. He was seen as either a champion of the small folk, or merely a puppet of the Lord Chancellor. When a food shipment was delayed, some blamed the king. When a crop failed or too little rain fell the crown was blamed. What resulted was a sense of unease in the realm, a sense of distrust.
That lack of trust was seen by some…as an opportunity.
It was for that reason that the king could not let the Red Boar tourney happen without having at least one pair of eyes to watch over it. Both the king and Chancellor Eamon both agreed on that. The only question remained now, was who to send?
For the king, there was no question.
Alistair turned to the one man that he knew he could trust; a hero that he knew wanted nothing more than to ensure what they had built together.
The king once again called on his warden brother, Alim Surana, Surana Stormbreaker, the Hero of Ferelden, if there was something off at the Tournament, he would find it.
If trouble was brewing, if treason was afoot, Alim would find it, if anyone could ferret out deceit at such event…
…it was him.
IOI
Alim Surana made his way through the crowd, past the brightly colored pavilions of the knights and nobles, not to mention the various merchants, food vendors, and entertainers plying their trade. Mummers, acrobats, fools, and puppeteers kept the people entertained as the knights readied themselves for the first tilt of the day.
The elf's expression was wistful; it had been a long time since he had seen true merrymaking here in Ferelden, his life as a warden usually kept him to the darker places, the troubled places.
It was nice to step out of the darkness, even if that light might be hiding more than the darkest of shadows.
One of his earliest happy memories had happened at a tourney. He had been five, perhaps six years old. His father had served the Bann of Lothering as Kennel master back then. The Bann had held a tourney in honor of his daughter's name day. It had been nothing as grand as this, if his memory served, but still an exciting day for a little boy.
He remembered sitting on his father's shoulders, cheering loudly, watching as the knights rode tilt after tilt, their lances exploding with every strike against a shield.
The thought was happy, yes, but it was also a little bitter sweet.
Alim's father would die a year or so later, a victim of the giant spiders that had haunted Lothering back then. His mother had done her best to continue on without him, but in the end she had lost her son to the Circle of Magi, a loss that she had never recovered from. She had died a few years later, fearing to her end that he son blamed her for letting the Templars take him.
The warden shook his head.
It was all gone now. His Mother, his Father, even Lothering itself, swept away by the darkspawn horde, its land defiled, even the beautiful field where his mother's ashes had been scattered.
The thought brought a brief flicker of anger to the elf's eyes, for a moment the clouds above seemed to darken, thunder rumbled in the distance.
Alim took a deep breath and pushed that anger away, and with it the storm that threatened to rise from his magic.
You're not some angry child anymore, his conscience chided; you are a fully trained mage and a warden.
Bloody well act like it.
He took another deep breath and centered himself, just as Irving had taught him long ago. When he opened them again, he was back in control.
I've lost much, he thought, but I've gained as well, friends, love…
He smiled at the thought.
Leli.
His love's face swam into his thoughts, her blue playful eyes, her generous mouth, always ready for a smile or a kiss, hers and one other. The one they had to keep hidden, at least for now, a tiny babe with bright blue eyes and a shock of fiery red hair...
…A babe that had smiled at him when he had left, he had kissed her pale forehead and made her burble happily.
My world, he murmured.
You are the stars in my sky
She was safe, he knew, they were both safe, protected by both Leliana's lethal skills and a small army of priests and Templars, Templars loyal to Leliana's mentor, the Revered Mother Dorethea.
The old lady had promised that she and hers would watch over those he loved, it was a promise he would hold her too. Leliana assured him as well.
"We will be fine dearest," she had said, "go be dangerous."
She had smiled slyly.
"We will be much safer when you are through."
Wise words, he knew, Alistair's enemies were likely his enemies as well. If Ali fell, it would be only a matter of time until his enemies targeted his friend the Hero of Ferelden.
It was for that reason that he had agreed to come to the Redboar's tourney.
For his ladies, he would do anything.
He and the chancellor would never be friends, Alim recognized that, too much had happened between them, but that did not mean that they were enemies. They both had Alistair's interest at heart, and they both agreed that something was wrong with Ser Adam Redboar and his tourney.
Ser Adam had been an ally of Teyrn Loghain, his holdings modest, typical for a landed knight of his stature. Once he had paid tribute to Bann Bronic, one of the men who had opposed Loghain during the Civil War. When the Teyrn had crushed the Bann and destroyed his family, he had given a piece of his lands to Ser Adam. Alistair likely would have returned those lands to the Bann's heirs, but alas his house had been wiped out between the Blight and the Civil War. As a result, the Redboar got to keep his ill-gotten gains, but that was not why the Chancellor was concerned.
It was the tourney itself.
Twenty thousand gold in prize money, which was not chicken feed, eight thousand to the champion, four thousand to the runner up, five thousand to the winner of the melee, and three thousand to the greatest archer, that much gold was not easy to come by. King Cailan and Queen Anora's wedding tourney had only had a prize of ten thousand. Such a prize seemed…excessive, and it led to a question.
Where had Ser Adam come up with such a prize? He was not so well off that he could simply give away such a fortune? The Couslands of Highever would be hard-pressed to offer such a prize in such hard times.
The Chancellor believed that someone was backing Ser Adam, to what end Eamon did not know.
It was Alim's job to find out.
Find out who was behind the tourney, and determine if their goals were a threat to Ferelden. If they were, then he was to act in whatever way he saw fit.
Whatever his methods turned out to be, the king would understand.
Alim had smiled at that.
"I know this is not warden business Lim," Alistair had said.
"No, it is not," he agreed, "But I'm not doing this as a warden."
The elf had placed a slender hand on his warden brother's shoulder.
"You're my friend," he said, "I take care of my friends."
Just like with Jowan, his conscience chimed in, making Alim grimace.
Hopefully this favor for a friend will not end like that.
Alim had said no more, he had struck out of Ser Adam's land without a moment's hesitation.
Not that he faced this threat alone, oh no.
During the Blight Alim had learned the value of having others at his side.
It was a lesson he had not forgotten.
The first of his allies was Ser Oswald of Dragon's Peak, known to his fellows as Ser Oswald Ogre's Bane. Though young, Oz had no shortage of courage or humor. As a squire he had risked his life to save his knight from an ogre. By striking at the beast, Oz had provided the perfect bait for Alim to arrive and take the monster down.
Oz had been knighted for that. His fellows, having misheard Alim when he called the young squire Ogre's Bait, gave Oz his nickname. Alim said nothing to correct them. Oz deserved to be treated with respect for his bravery, and besides…
…Ser Oswald Ogre's Bane had a nice ring to it.
The two of them might have been enough to deal with this matter, but Alim had thought it wise to seek out a third blade.
In Tristan Merry they had found that.
Tristan Merry was an outlaw that he and Oz had encountered on the king's road, an outlaw with both skill and a bit of a reputation. Merry was also known as the Prince of the king's Highway, or Lord of the Gutter, He had been preying on the nobles for months. He was a handsome lad that dressed like a dandy, and wielded a dragonbone longsword. He had become infamous for both his skill and his sense of courtesy when dealing with victims that caused him no trouble. Young women in particular proved especially vulnerable to his charms.
In truth he had reminded Alim a bit of his friend Zevran Arainai, that, and the fact that the outlaw had chosen to spare a young boy for trying to defend his sister's honor had been enough to convince the elf to invite him along on this little mission. He did not trust him that could only come with time but he was willing to bet that the outlaw was smart enough to try to gain the king's favor.
Between the three of them, the warden hoped to get to the bottom of this, to find out what was going on behind the scenes of Adam Redboar's tourney.
As a noble, Oz would be welcomed among the highborn and knights that would gather in the lord's box. Tristan Merry was familiar with the underbelly of such gatherings, if something untoward was going on, he would likely hear about it. As for Alim, he realized that he could not simply show up as the Hero of Ferelden, everyone knew how close the warden was to the king.
So, he had chosen to show up as someone else.
The hat, coat, armor, and weapons that most people knew him to wear were safely hidden. He walked the tourney grounds today in simple breaches and a plain cracked leather vest. A rounded straw hat kept the sun off his rather large elven ears. His feet were wrapped in the way common to elves that could not afford shoes in the Alienage.
If anyone asked who he was, he was simply Lem, a kennel hand to Dragon's Peak, serving as squire for Ser Oswald at this glorious event. The young knight had yet to take a squire. For the tourney, his humble rabbit, Lem would have to do.
Alim had smiled at that. Oz had not understood why he chose to come to the tourney in secret.
"I don't want to scare off our prey," he had informed the knight.
"Fair enough," Oz had agreed, "But why Lem? Why a kennel hand?"
The warden had chuckled.
"My father's name was Lem, and if my magic had never manifested, I would have been a kennel hand."
His ears twitched with amusement.
"That life may have been denied me, but that does not mean that I have forgotten where I came from."
His expression turned sad.
"I will never forget."
Lem could go where the warden mage Alim Surana could not, he could speak openly with the elven servants who heard more than their lords ever realized.
Between the three of them, they would get to the bottom of what was going on here.
If there was treason afoot, they would find it.
The sound of trumpets in the distance drew all eyes to the tourney grounds. As one the crowd moved, jostling each other as they tried to find a place where they could see.
Alim blended in among them.
The crowd was being summoned for the first tilt of the day.
The Redboar Tourney was about to begin.
A/N: Next chapter, the introduction of another of the Stormchasers, the hedge knight known as the Cat. See you all next time; if you like this story please shoot me a review, you know I like them.