Chapter One-Life of a Castless

Orzamar, Dust Town, one of the few inhabited houses

Natia woke up that day as usual. She raised from the floor as usual. And, always as usual, her back was hurting.

"Damn this floor." she told herself.

Once she was on her feet, she looked around to see if anyone else was awake.

The bed on which her sister Rica and her mother usually slept was empty, and since the bed had already been put back into order, she assumed Rica was the latter of the two.

"The old woman couldn't wait to drink again, could she?" Natia thought to herself bitterly.

Indeed, that was one of the many bitter things Natia thought of her mother. Ever since both Rica and her were children, she had spent most of her time getting drunk and leaving her two daughters to take care of themselves. Despite understanding the need she had to find comfort in the alcohol, Natia never truly forgave her for not being there for them.

In the attempt not to think too much about that, she began to put on her low-quality armor. But while doing so, she heard the door slam open.

"No." she thought "Don't tell me it's..."

"There you are." the voice of Beraht, the ruthless leader of the Carta crime syndicate, loudly said "And where is your sister? I want both of you here, now!"

"Shit!" Natia thought "Did I sleep so long or did that bastard have nothing better to do this morning?"

"I'll call her." Rica replied to him "I will take only a minute."

"You had better." Beraht said.

Natia hurried finishing dressing up and, when Rica arrived, she only had to put on her gloves.

"Natia, are you...?" the older sister asked as she opened the door.

"I'm here, Rica." Natia replied "Just give me a second to put on my gl..."

"You'll put them on later." Rica cut her off while grabbing her hand and pulling her out "Come on, come."

A minute later, they were in what could be considered the living room: a hole with just a few chairs and a table. And Beraht waiting on one of those chairs.

Ever since the two sisters were very young, Beraht and its Carta had been the only constant in it. He had been the only one to show interest into Natia's skills and had decided to recruit her into his smuggling ring as an enforcer.

But the relation between the two had never been harmonious. Beraht always kept Natia on a tight leash and threatened her family to make sure she'd neither disobey nor fail. Natia, on the other hand, detested being the stooge of someone that bossed her around and treated her like a dog. And the relation between the two had only worsened when Beraht had demanded Rica's service as noble huntress.

Despite the mutual distaste, the two had never parted ways. Natia, because she had no other choice. Beraht, because he found Natia and Rica too useful to dispose of. Until now.

"About time you arrived." he said.

Natia had to restrain herself from insulting him: "Sorry, but I think you got here a bit earlier than usual."

"Then perhaps you two have got to work harder if you wish that kind of comfort."

"What do you mean?" Natia said "We've done as you said. As always."

"I think he's referring mostly to me." Rica, who had sat on a nearby chair, interrupted her.

"Exactly." Beraht commented.

"Why? What did she do?"

"Nothing. And that is the problem. Lately, my investment on her hasn't born much fruit."

"Investment." Natia thought to herself "Sodding son of a..."

"She has been hanging around in search of a noble for weeks now, and without any real success. I'm starting to think I'd better get rid of you all."

"Actually..." Rica started "...I may have found someone."

"Oh?" the now intrigued Beraht said "And how is it I haven't been informed earlier?"

"It is nothing concrete yet. I met him a few days ago. Nothing has happened, but he seemed interested."

"You see, Beraht?" Natia said in an attempt to support her sister "Rica has got the noble, he will get his heir and you will get your noble status. Just give me my assignment for today."

Beraht snorted: "Your buddy Leske is waiting outside. He'll have the details you need."

"Hopefully, he won't be in a flirting mood today." Natia thought.

"See that you don't screw this up." Beraht warned "Because your family is not in my good grace right now." and then he left.

Once he was out, Rica told Natia: "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"And I'm sorry to have slept so much that you got barked at by that pig."

"Don't worry. I got used to it by now."

"Still, I detest how he treats you." Natia angrily commented "Like his little whore that should do everything he says..."

"You know as well as me that our only options to this are cleaning the streets, begging or going to the surface. Or you exterminating the darkspawn and becoming a Paragon."

Natia chuckled at that.

"What?" Rica asked.

"Nothing. It's just very unlikely those bastards of the assembly will ever make a castless a Paragon."

"It wouldn't be the first time, you know. There have been many that were from humble origins."

"Keep dreaming, Rica. Keep dreaming."

"For as long as I can, I will. I have to."

"Wish I shared the sentiment. I really do."

Natia then turned back to the bedroom and said: "We'd better get ready before Beraht comes back to complain of us wasting his time."

"Right." Rica replied in a sigh, before going to put on her dress.

Once Natia had put on her gloves and gathered her knives, she gave her sister one last farewell: "See you this evening Rica. Tell mother I said "hello". If she is sober enough to understand."

"I will." Rica sighed "Bye."

And, after that, Natia left.

Once outside, Natia had a look around and then managed to spot Leske, her one friend in her job as a Carta enforcer.

"Well, about sodding time." he cheerfully said as soon as Natia reached him "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, just finishing dressing up." Natia replied "Beraht got in the way of that."

"I bet. Wouldn't have been bad to come in there, though. Even just to eye that beauty of your sister."

"Here we go again." Natia thought while rolling her eyes.

"You know I don't like when you talk about her like that."

"What? Jealous?" Leske joked.

"You wish." Natia shot back. "So...what's the job today?"

"Boss says we're out for a search-and-discipline." Leske explained, his tone back to serious "One of his surface smugglers is holding out to him. His name is Oskias, and Beraht got word he's been selling some shipments topside that never made it to his ear."

"What sort of shipments?"

"Don't know. But I guess the usual things Beraht could cut heads to get: gold, spice, lyrium..."

"All right, and once we find him?"

"Well, if he truly cheated Beraht, we just kill him. Otherwise, we leave him be."

As the words "kill him" left Leske's mouth, unrest began to rise behind Natia's stoic face.

"Are these measures really necessary?" she asked.

"Of course." Leske replied "As far as I've heard, nobody's ever swindled Beraht and lived."

Natia rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Come on." Leske told her "You can feel bad later."

"Alright." Natia replied "Where can we find him?"

"No idea. Only thing I was told was "find him". But I guess we could start from the Commons. Maybe someone at Tapster's Tavern saw him."

"Good idea. Let's start from there." and they both moved away.

A couple hours later, they arrived at the tavern's entrance, ignoring all the grim looks they obtained from the other dwarves, and got in.

Once inside, they went to the bartender, who, as soon as he saw them, said: "No castless in here. Get lost."

"I don't really think you know who we work for." Natia replied.

"Maybe you should try to have another look." Leske added.

"Oh..." the bartender said as he realized who he was talking to "You work for Beraht, don't you?"

They both nodded, but only Leske smiled.

"So, uh...who did what?"

"A surfacer named Oskias." Natia replied "Beraht suspects he's..."

"Don't say anything else. I don't think I wanna know the rest."

"Smart."

"He's over there." the bartender pointed a table on the other side of the tavern, where a brown-haired man was sitting.

"You...do what you have to." he added "Just...try to keep this neat."

"Very well." Natia replied.

Before leaving, however, Natia noticed the bottles nearby and asked, with a hopeful tone: "Any chance you could serve us some ale first?"

"Beraht or no, you still have to pay for that. You have the coins?"

"Ehm...no."

"Then no ale."

"Sod it. I'll have to do this sober."

"Well, time to have a chat with him." Leske said "Let's go."

While the two approached the surface's table, Leske teased Natia with: "Thirsty, were you?"

"At least if I were drunk this would be more bearable."

"Nah, I know you. You'd just get twitchy and would make no difference."

"Thanks for the word of comfort, Lesk." Natia replied with irony evident on her face.

"Anytime, Natia."

One moment later, they were both just next to Oskias' table, where there were also a couple of bags near the guy and an empty seat right in front of him.

"There he is." Leske whispered "What are your thoughts of him?"

"He doesn't look like a tough guy to me." Natia observed "You?"

"Me neither."

"Maybe if we scare him a bit, it'll be enough to make him admit the truth. That way we can avoid a fuss."

"Any suggestion?"

"If I distract him by seating on that chair." she pointed the empty seat "You sneak behind him and then tell him we know who he is."

"Why me?"

"Because you're bigger and scarier than me?" Natia joked, making her buddy have a short chuckle.

"Alright, salroka." he then said "Let's do it."

With that said, the two split up and did as they agreed.

"Hey, I was saving that seat!" Oskias protested as soon as Natia sat.

"That's real thoughtful, Oskias." Leske replied after reaching the table "It's tiring work looking for you."

"H...how do you know my name?" the smuggler frantically replied.

"Let's just say we have a common acquaintance, a powerful one, and we're trying to save you from making a mistake." Natia answered for her friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You mut have the wrong guy. You see, I'm usually on the surface and..."

"And the Oskias we're looking for is exactly most of the time on the surface."

"Yup." Leske added "The turncoat, two-faced swindling duster Beraht told us about."

Oskias' eyes filled with realization as Leske spoke.

"I..." he began even more frantically "I swear I didn't do anything! Beraht's got no reason to send you after me!"

"If that were the case..." Natia observed "...you wouldn't be so afraid."

"I just...don't want anyone to do anything too hasty."

"Yeah, sure." Natia said, sounding unconvinced "What did you take from him?"

"And before you answer..." Leske added "...Beraht knows someone is cheating him. And his tips point at you."

"I...I...I..." the surfacer babbled.

"Leske?" Natia turned to her friend "Would you check his bags?"

"My pleasure." he replied as he lowered on his knees to do so.

"Wait!" Oskias interrupted "I...I do have something."

The smuggler took a sachet and gave it to Natia. The girl opened it and found two nuggets of pure lyrium. Her surprise was matched only by Oskias' fear.

"You know how suicidal what you did was, right?"

"I was going to bring Beraht his cut for this! I swear!"

"You still took Beraht's property." Natia said while taking away the sachet "Something he doesn't want anyone to do." Oskias' eyes filled with terror as Natia closed hers, closed her hand in a grip and sighed, before continuing with: "You know what sort of punishment it takes."

"Could everyone who isn't about to die please turn around for a moment?" Leske loudly said to the crowd around "This may be unpleasant."

As soon as he said that, all customers who were in the nearest tables either turned away their gazes or left. "Thank you."

"Y...you can't do this!" Oskias said in utter panic "Help!" he shouted around "Call the guardsmen! This is murder!"

"You two let me know if you need anything." the bartender told Leske and Natia from another point of the tavern "I'll be in the back." and he left as well.

"It's just a bunch of rocks!" Oskias desperately told Natia "You're going to kill me for that?"

"I wish I didn't have to." Natia admitted after another sigh "But Beraht is Beraht. If I don't, I'm dead, along with my family."

"Then, let's make a deal: let me go, and Beraht will never hear of me again. I'll even give you the lyrium for this!"

"I do that and he finds out, it will be the end for several people."

"He won't, I promise! I'll get out of the business, start a shop, anything!"

Natia's face remained neutral.

"Please." Oskias added "What would you do if it was you?"

Natia left a deeper sigh. She looked at Leske, who shook his head a little, and then turned again to Oskias.

"What I would do." she thought "Exactly what I always wondered every time someone like you stood before me."

She remained still, reflecting on what to do, and ultimately said: "The official version is this: you tried to buy our help with the lyrium and place us in the business. We were supposed to meet in the lava sinks behind the mines to make the final arrangements, but instead we threw you in the lava. Understand?"

"Uh...yes. I think I do."

"Good. Now leave before I have a change of heart."

Oskias rose from the table, told Natia: "Thank you. May the Ancestors bless your steps." and then ran away.

Natia also rose from the seat and approached Leske.

"Go ahead." she told him "I know you're thinking it."

Leske asked in response: "What?"

""You softie!""

"Actually, I was wondering: "was that smart"? If Beraht finds out he'll make us kill each other and stew what's left of us to feed the poors."

"Why do you think I said that story?" Natia replied "It's what we'll tell him if "He's dead. Don't worry." won't be enough for him."

"And if he doesn't buy it?"

"Why wouldn't him? What of it would suggest we're lying?"

"Well...the fact that you don't like each other?" Leske joked, in response of which Natia crossed her arms and began glaring at Leske.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You know it's true."

"And that wasn't as funny as you thought, I believe."

"Alright, alright, I take it back. Though I still think your conscience may have misguided you this time."

"Well, either way it's too late to change our minds. Oskias is probably halfway to the surface right now. And we had better get going before Beraht starts wondering where we are."

"Right." Leske commented "Lead the way."

Once out of the tavern, the two headed to Beraht's shop, which was, luckily for them, not too far.

But once inside, they saw that Beraht wasn't alone: there was also his second-in-command, Jarvia, who, unlike him, was a castless, but that did not make her any gentler than Beraht.

The two Carta leaders were having a discussion but they stopped once Natia and Leske got in.

"About time." Beraht told the two "What happened with Oskias?"

"As it turned out, he was cheating you, Beraht. Here's the proof." Natia replied as she handed Beraht the sachet with the nuggets.

As the crime boss examined the content of the sachet, he commented: "This is all he had?"

"Everything we found, yes." Leske replied.

"I guess the duster kept his main stash topside. And Oskias himself?"

"Dead." Natia replied.

"Is that so? Because, you see, my cousin was at the Tapsters this morning. He claims something changed hands between you and Oskias and then the duster stood up and walked away. Jarvia." he turned to his lieutenant "What does that sound like?"

"Sounds like some jumped-up-face-brand thought they could take a bribe and let him walk free." the woman replied.

"And I'm sure you know not to disagree with a lady." Beraht added.

"Oh, I don't." Natia began "In fact, that was how it was supposed to look like. Killing him in public seemed like a longshot, so we decided to lure him somewhere more...private."

"We told the duster we'd be helping him in exchange for the lyrium and then threw him in the lava sinks behind the mines." Leske explained "You won't see him again."

"Hmmm." Beraht snorted "I don't like looking weak...but it's smart keeping a low profile from the higher castes. Good work."

Natia and Leske turned to leave, but were stopped by Beraht's "Don't go anywhere. I've got another job for you."

As the two dusters returned to their positions, he began: "The Warrior Caste is housing a Proving later this afternoon."

"You mean those tournaments "may the best win" they usually do for special occasions?" Natia asked.

"Exactly. They're all showing off for some Grey Warden who wants to pick recruits for a life of eternal glory. And, as you can immagine, bets and money run a lot in these occasions. The most favoured fighter is named Mainar, some veteran of four darkspawn campaigns. On the other hand, there's Everd, a longshot young buck who just returned from a Deep Road offensive and has all the ladies drooling."

"And you want us to make sure he wins?" Natia asked, with an arched eyebrow.

"Exactly. So, since the fights are announced only to the fighters, find Everd, see who he's fighting and when. And when the name Mainar shows up, put this drug into the bastard's water." and he handed Natia a small vial.

"Won't the effects be noticed?" she asked.

"You think you're talking to some amature?" was Beraht's harsh reply "His reflexes will be slowed just enough to take the edge off but not enough to be noticed. But use it only just before the fight. It wears off quickly."

"Alright. We'll get in position immediately."

"This is your pass to get on the grounds." Jarvia replied as she handed Natia a badge.

"And remember" Beraht added "I've got a lot of coins on this. If I don't see Everd's name on the winner's sheet, you'd better make sure I don't see you two, or Rica, ever again. Clear?"

"Aye, boss." Leske replied for them both.

The two Carta enforcers then left and headed to the Proving grounds.