Human Commoner Origin
Chapter 1 - Redcliffe
"Shh, there she is." Fallon said quietly, putting his had up to stop Derek as his glanced around the corner. "Follow my lead" he said as he sliupped his hood over his head.
Derek pulled his hood over his head and watched his friend sneak around the corner, unnoticed by his quarry. Sighing, Derek rolled his eyes and followed his friend quietly. he watched as Fallon snuck up behind Kaitlyn pinched her.
"Fallon!" Kaitlyn screamed, spinning around to slap him, only to find a surprised Derek standing a little ways behind her, with Fallon nowhere in sight.
"It wasn't me! Honest!" Derek said. He ducked Kaitlyn's slap and ran after Fallon, who he found buckled over with laughter. Kaitlyn growled again and stalked off to look for her little brother.
"Honestly Fallon, you are going to get us in so much trouble." Derek grumbled.
Fallon wiped his eye of tears and grinned. "Come on Derek, loosen up. Lets go down to the wharf and fish for a bit."
Derek nodded and followed his friend down to the shore of Lake Calenhad. he made a show of fishing but most of his attention was towards Redcliffe castle. "Ever been up there?" he asked.
"Nah, whats up there besides stuffy nobles?"
"Valena likes it up there, she says the Arl is quite nice. Doesn't say much about the Arlessa mind you."
"Hey, why don't we sneak in, have a look around."
Derek rolled his eyes again. "So much trouble."
"Come on, I know a way in!"
Shaking his head, Derek reluctantly agreed.
The boys abandoned their fishing and headed up the hill to the windmill towering over the village. Near the door, a templar looked at them dubiously. "What do you lads want then?"
"To have a look inside the mill, Ser Horace, can we?" Fallon pleaded.
"Fine, but be quick" Ser Horace replied, and went back to his bottle of lyrium.
Slipping inside, Fallon led them to a trap door. "We can't unlock the trap door, it needs key, but there is a way past it." As it turned out, one of the boards around the door was loose, allowing them to bypass the lock altogether. They slipped inside, into total blackness. Fallon found a torch, and quickly lit it. The small room had a ladder down to a tunnel deeper in. The y followed the musty damp tunnel until they reached a brick wall, inset with a wooden door. Fallon used a set of lockpicks to open it, and looked carefully inside. "Clear" he said, and snuck in, with Derek right behind.
Derek found himself in what appeared to be the dungeons. "Well, we had better be careful or this may be our new home," he muttered. All the cells were empty. They quietly walked through to a set of stairs up to the castle cellar. The cellar was piled with old armour, swords and other equipment, as well as food and not a few rats. Fallon eyed a few daggers, before choosing one that was not too rusty. Derek picked up a longsword and scabbard. He fitted it on, unsheathed the sword and swung it a few times, valiantly scaring away a rat. "We need to put these back, you know" he said.
"Right, whatever" Fallon grinned. "It's not like they'll be missed"
"So much trouble"
The boys made it out of the cellar, quietly slipping past the Mabari kennels. They were now in the castle proper. They bypassed the opulent chantry and made their way into the kitchen pantry'
"Where do you think you're going" Derek heard from somewhere behind them. Derek spun around only to find noone there. The voice was a ways off behind a door they passed a moment ago. Looking at each other and nodding they snuck back the the hall and approached the door the voice had come from.
"Hey, let me-" A girls voice this time. Dereks eyes narrowed, "That sounded like Velena and it sounds like she's in trouble." he whispered. Both boys took a running leap at the door, smashing it open. Derek rolled and got to his feet, pulling out his sword.
A man in a guards uniform was holding a slim blond girl down. The man was slovenly and unkempt, despite being, apparently, a guardsman. "You shouldn't have interfered! He growled, pulling out his own, much sharper, sword and and advancing on the two would be rescuers.
Fallon and Derek split up and circled the man. He focussed on Derek, who was bigger and seemed more of a threat, lunging at Derek, swinging his sword an an arc, meant to disable and disarm. Derek countered as Fallon leapt on the mans back, slicing his throat.
Valena stood up shakily and hugged Derek tight. "Thank you, he was..." She shuddered.
"Hey, what about me?" Fallon mugged grinning. Valena hugged him too, laughing through her tears. "He isn't a real guard", she said, "I didnt recognise him and followed him in here, when he grabbed me. It was stupid.."
Derek calmed her, "it's alright, at least we got him before he did anything bad."
Fallon rummaged through the mans possessions, pocketing some coins, before finding something. "Hello, what's this?" He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"I am trusting you two to do the job and get out quietly. Don't draw attention to yourselves. Signed L"
"So, he has a partner. We need to find out who it is, and what they were up to" Derek said.
"Wait a minute" Valena said, "thanks for the rescue but you two shouldn't be here. if you get caught.. You should get out while I take this to the Arlessa"
Derek shook his head. "Absolutely not, now that we are here, we'll finish it."