The Grey Witch
Morrigan sighed. Tevinter ruins, despite the knowledge and power they promised, were dusty. And she hated getting dust on her favourite robes. To make matters worse, the ruins were infested with darkspawn and spiders. Darkspawn were not a problem, but spiders were just so messy to kill, what with their bodily fluids spilling around. What was Flemeth thinking, sending her into such dirty places, searching for tomes that may not even exist? She knew better than to question her mother, however.
Another giant spider dropped from the ceiling, and she blasted it with a fireball. Ah, the smell of burning spider flesh. She walked along a narrow corridor before reaching some sort of ritual chamber. A mirror stood on the floor, yet it was no ordinary mirror. She could sense powerful magic emanating from it. All her instincts told her to back away, never to return, yet something invited her to inspect it. She gazed into the depths of the mirror, seeing visions of a city. Her mind screamed warnings as she extended her hands to touch the liquid depths of the mirror.
Ripples spread from the point where her fingers came in contact with it. And then she could hear whispers, a hint of a song, the yearning to meet the source, to bow before a power greater than any she could imagine. A wave of magic erupted from the mirror, and everything went black.
Half-blind, crippled, her mind ravaged by the song, she somehow crawled out of the ruins. Phasing in and out of consciousness, she saw figures; a bearded, middle aged man, and a young blonde male. The elder one pulled a potion out of his pockets. Tipping it to her lips, he said "Drink it. Rest." She was no longer in control of her actions, and despite her suspicions, she drank the entire potion in a single gulp. She could no longer hear the song, and that filled her with rage, which was quickly replaced with a sudden lethargy. She closed her eyes, and let sleep take her.
Dreams. To humans, they were mere illusions, promises of things that could never be, nightmares of creatures that could never harm them. To mages, they were much more, they gave them visions of the Fade. However, something was different this time. A huge dragon stood on a far away cliff. It would normally have been a beautiful sight, a magnificent high dragon, yet there was something wrong, it seemed tainted, corrupted, a creature of beauty twisted and driven towards insanity. And it called to her.
"Join me" it whispered. And then she woke up.
Later
"Ah, you're finally awake" she heard, as she opened her eyes. The middle aged man stood before her, his eyes filled with concern.
"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" she asked.
"We are at the fortress of Ostagar. As for what happened, I am not sure. We found you crawling out of the Tevinter ruins in the Wilds."
"There was strange mirror, I touched it. And then there was a…song."
"It is as I feared. This was no ordinary mirror, as you guessed. It seems to somehow gained the ability to transmit the taint."
"Th-the taint? Darkspawn? Am I to turn into a ghoul now?" she whispered.
"Ah, so you know about the darkspawn. You will most likely turn into a ghoul, perhaps a matter of weeks, months, nobody can tell. However, there is another way."
"I have no intention of turning into a fiend. Tell me what I must do"
"Join the Grey Wardens, and you shall gain immunity to the taint. There is a Blight upon Ferelden, and we need Wardens of your caliber. You are a mage, are you not?"
"Indeed I am. Very well, I see no other choice. I shall become a Grey Warden. Perhaps I shall get to see the world outside the Wilds. So you wish for me to collect a vial of darkspawn blood?"
"You mu- wait! How do you know of the Joining ritual?"
"I know many things, and as to how, they are none of your business." She snapped.
"…very well. I only ask that you do not inform others of this. It would only serve to cause great concern to potential recruits."
"As you say, Warden."
"Please, call me Duncan. We Wardens are family, joined by the taint." He laughed.
"Very well, Duncan. Should I make preparations to leave for the Wilds?"
"Not so fast. Search the camp for a Grey Warden named Alistair, and come back to me with him. I wish to speak to all the recruits together. You might remember him, he is the young blonde who was with me when we found you."
"Ah. Most interesting. I have always had a thing for blondes" she said, and licked her lips in anticipation.
"I would like to ask you to refrain from any sexual contact with fellow Wardens as well. It would only serve to destabilize us"
"Oh, very well. I shall seek out this Alistair of yours."
Ten minutes later
"You know one good thing about the Blight? It brings us all together" said Alistair.
"You are rather strange, aren't you?" she said condescendingly.
"So I've heard. You're the new recruit aren't you? I'm glad you survived, we need mages, even if they are apostates" he spat the last word out.
"Ah, you harbour hatred for apostates? Pray, tell, are you by any chance a templar?"
"Trained as one, never took my vows though."
"Ah, perhaps you won't be as lyrium-addled as the rest of your kind. Only time will tell, I suppose."
"Oh, you insulted my intelligence. That really hurts my manly feelings, you know?"
She sighed. "Do you really have to come with me?"
He grinned "Ah, you're not getting away from me so easily. I'll be coming with you for the Joining."
She rubbed her eyes. This was going to be a long day.
Author's note : So what do you guys think? I just thought this was an interesting AU concept of the Origins story. I don't think it's been done before, but if it resembles somebody else's story, it's not intentional.